Friday, February 5th, 2010

This is my story and I'm sticking to it.

posted by lizzie    « 11 Comments »    tied to deliciousness   

Micah’s version is slightly different, but I’m writing this, not him.

First, I have been making our bread for the better part of two years. I really liked the recipe I was using, and since I got it from one of my best friends I felt like it was important that I stick with it, if only for the illusion of some sort of added connection between the two of us. But then, over the past few months I started noticing that I was the only one eating the bread, and more often than not at least part of it would go bad before I could get to it. At about this time, I started hearing and reading about Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day from other friends. I was interested, but if I was going to make the switch, I wanted Micah to be excited about it too. Because if I was going to be the only one to eat the bread anyway, I might as well make my special-friend bread and pretend that it meant something special that I was using the special-friend recipe.So I told Micah about it and he was kind of like, “Nyeh.” So I didn’t do anything about it. And then some friends offered to let us borrow their copy of the book and Micah was kind of like, “Nyeh.” So I didn’t do anything about it. And then Micah was looking for ideas of what to get me for Christmas and I suggested the book and he was kind of like, “Nyeh.” And then I thought, well, I’ll just try it and if it is easier and if it Micah eats it, then I’ll make the switch. So a few days after Christmas I whipped up a batch of the basic “boule” dough and baked a loaf. And Micah raved about it. We ate three (admittedly small) loaves in three days. So we decided to borrow the book from our friends to see if it was worth getting. We had it in our possession for about 7 hours before Micah was like, “Let’s just do it. Let’s just get the book and the storage containers and the pizza stone and do it.”

And I was like, “Huh.”

ps We’ve been using this recipe (also in the book) to make granola for our breakfast and it is rather tasty. I roast it at 275 for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes, just until it starts to brown and it turns out really delicious. Like I can’t wait to get home from my run so I can eat some. That kind of delicious.

Comments

  1. Jolena says:
    February 5, 2010 at 5:00 pm

    I've been making bread lately too and just love it. I totally want to try this!

  2. jamie says:
    February 5, 2010 at 8:29 pm

    Oh goodie – another Artisan Bread convert. Welcome to the club. I'll have to try their granola now.

  3. micah says:
    February 6, 2010 at 1:26 am

    I won't go into too much detail, but my point of view is definitely different. I was very interested in the idea from the beginning, but just didn't pursue it right away due to a stack of other projects we had going on at the time.

    My bad. It really is tasty bread. I am excited to try the pastry dough as well.

  4. Jodie says:
    February 6, 2010 at 12:14 pm

    Ooooh, I bought this book for Adrian for Father's Day last year and he's since made a ton…(he does the bread in our house). I have to seriously suggest the blueberry lemon curd ring. It's time consuming but so-far my favorite that he's made so far. Yum!

    Don't know why we haven't tried the granola, though. Off to find the ingredients list…

  5. micah says:
    February 7, 2010 at 3:36 am

    I am glad to hear the blueberry lemon curd ring is good. I saw it in there and have been drooling ever since (figuratively, that is).

  6. Missy says:
    February 8, 2010 at 3:02 am

    Yeah! We borrowed Age's copy and LOVED it. Haven't bought it for some odd reason, but totally loved it.

  7. Natalie R. says:
    February 9, 2010 at 11:51 am

    That's awesome, I'll have to see if I can get my hands on a copy of the book. I tried to make homemade bread for a couple of months, but I couldn't get it to rise properly, and it really didn't taste very good. When no one wanted sandwiches, I felt it was time to switch back to store-bought, but I do have this dream of always having homemade bread. Good job for making it work!

  8. Missy says:
    February 9, 2010 at 2:05 pm

    I had to look up that granola recipe, and I've loved it! I just followed the recipe and roast it in batches at 350 for maybe 25 minutes, stirring once in the middle. It works great at our house since I am anti-cold cereal (too expensive, waste of milk, and not filling–even the hearty stuff, top my list of whys) and even if I make it fresh in the morning, they eat it with milk and are THRILLED to have "cereal" again. So thanks!

  9. Missy says:
    February 9, 2010 at 2:11 pm

    BTW — I could just do it in 2 trays and rotate it like they recommend, but one of my baking sheets is currently being used as a platform for the Great Wall of China. Ah well, the way we're eating this stuff
    I'll need to make an octuple batch to last a week and bake it in batches anyway!

    Thanks again!

  10. lizzie says:
    February 10, 2010 at 6:16 pm

    Natalie, you can totally do this. It really requires very little work and is so easy. I recommend looking up the basic recipe online and giving it a go. :)

    Missy, I tried baking it the way it said, but I think our oven must be hotter than it says it is because it burned on the edges. I'm glad your family likes it too. Unfortunately Simon isn't a huge fan, so he gets his raisin bran while Micah and I enjoy the good stuff. :)

  11. Erik Dalzen says:
    February 11, 2010 at 3:43 am

    This was the straw that broke my lazy back. I heard about no knead bread for the first time maybe two weeks ago. I thought Carrie should make it and she was kind of like, "Nyeh." After reading your post, a bunch of other recipes, and watching some videos I gave it a go last night and pulled out my first fix this morning. Pretty decent indeed. I am looking forward to tomorrow morning so I can bake another loaf.

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