Sunday, November 19, 2006

The BIGGEST Boule I Ever Made

A few days ago I was reading in The Amateur Gourmet about a recipe for bread that Adam was raving about. This isn't the "no knead" bread from the NYT Food Section that everyone is taken with but rather a back to basic flour, yeast, salt and water bread that he had made because he didn't want to wait overnight to enjoy some cheese he had received in a "care package". The recipe Adam was using is from Nigel Slater's Appetite and requires some kneading (nothing technical just some smooshing and squooshing) but that is all. So, spurred on by Adam's imploring his readers to make this bread, I decided to give it a whirl. The recipe made what I swear is the biggest loaf of bread I have ever made. This thing was the size of a basketball when I put it the oven and when it came out it was a deep golden brown.



It was all I could do to not tear right into the loaf as soon as it came out of the oven but patience rewarded MBH and I with a crunchy, crusty outside and chewy inside. While watching an old Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes DVD, we enjoyed the bread with a bit of smoked salmon, brie, cheddar and a raw milk gouda from Smith's Farmstead and washed it down with a glass of 2005 Bordeaux. It was a delicious late Sunday snack!