A variation on the brioche recipe of yesterday is the brioche mousseline. The word mousseline in French refers to fabric, like silk or chiffon. Light and smooth, creamy and rich. Like the sounds of the group I have the Absolute Pleasure of singing with tonight at Target Field—The Baby Blues is the name of the […]
I made Brioche before following the Baking Illustrated recipe, which uses only half the yeast and is, in bulk, half the amount of this one. This recipe could feed a small village for breakfast. Lots of butter, lots of lift. Also different is the traditional shaping of various brioches (about which The Village Baker goes […]
Just a variation on yesterday’s snails–but healthier. Off to the Flying Pig Marathon Cincinnati! Pain Au Lait Raisin-Cinnamon Snails Adapted from The Village Baker Dough 1 package dry yeast (one cup of sourdough starter) ¾ cup water 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour 1 ½ tsp salt 2 tbsp milk powder 4 tbsp sugar 3 eggs […]
The lowpoint was today when Karl-Peter arrived at work to find his parking lot unshoveled. He parked on the street, and waded, in his business slacks and shoes, through feet of soggy white drifts. Tonight, we will go on a mission to seek warm, dry land. More on that. This cheesy bread I included in […]
Well, instead of dancing around a May pole, as of last night, we are wading through the snow drifts wailing Mayday Mayday! An unthinkable blizzard. Huge tree branches down in the front yard, powerlines, phonelines too. Get us out of here. Already 6 to 8 inches by 10am, and still snowing. Nothing like a piece […]
Happy May Day! In college I had a professor of Middle English who insisted on this day that we go outside and hold hands in a circle and frolick while singing “Sumer is a cumin in, Loo dee sing kuku.” In medical school, when I lived next to the unforgettable, ever endearing Miss L’Heureux, on […]
I just made the biggest loaf. Seriously, this one almost didn’t make it out of the oven. Something having to do with the warm weather, I think, has made my yeast into super yeast. The dough from this seigle was trying to push its way out of the bowl and crawl out the back door, […]
This is my last bread from the Central Asia region, from Tibet. Barley is a staple in Tibet. This recipe comes from the northern Amdo region, wherefrom the present Dalai Lama harkens. It is a region known for its monasteries. This bread is the Tibetan Buddhist equivalent of Jewish Challah. Very rich and tasty! Tibetan […]
“For me writing has always felt like praying, even when I wasn’t writing prayers, as I was often enough. You feel that you are with someone. I feel I am with you now, whatever that can mean.” I met the person who wrote these words (from Gilead) today, Marilynne Robinson, my literary hero. We had […]
I think more than for their food, I love Italians for their words. Grissini. This word for breadstick struck me on a personal level because it hybridizes two of the nicknames my mother had for me when I was young, well, young but old enough to be mischievous. The nicknames weren’t so much monikers of […]