SC - Bread

[Bonne of Traquair]

Kareina, your guidlines pretty much describe my breadmaking!  

The winter I committed myself to learning to bake bread, I worked 
closely with a book called "Breadtime Stories".  Tacky name, but one of 
the few books that describes the process rather than simply giving a 
recipe.  The instruction on how much ignoring a batch of bread could 
take, and the very apt descriptions of the texure and feel of the dough 
at each stage surely cut a lot of trial and error out of my learning 
process.  It was as good as having an experienced baker visit every 
Saturday and keep an eye on me through my first half dozen attempts.  
The book opens with a history and materials chapter.  Then follows a 
long chapter on "the basic loaf".  Something like 4 pages of text and 
illustration on the making of a loaf.  A chapter on common variations 
(of flour, liquids etc) and the difference those ingredients make in the 
finished loaf.  A chapter on shaping and baking techniques somewhere in 
there.  The book closes with an international collection of bread 
recipes paired up with soup or stew recipes from the same culture.

Bonne

>
>I always start with a bread sponge. 
>
>All that bread really needs is flour, yeast, water, and salt--the rest 
is
>optional depending on today's inspiration.  Once I've mixed it all 
together
>and kneaded it well I set it to rise and hour or three or more and then
>punch it down and let it rise again before shaping. Many recipes say to
>omit second rising to save time--but if you are doing the bread in 
small
>bursts of energy while working on some other project it is really worth 
the
>extra time in terms of texture.  I often set the sponge either the 
night
>before, or in the morning before leaving for work, then I'll have time 
to
>do the rest later.
>
>Yes, this is more of vague description than a recipe, 
>--Kareina
>

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
============================================================================

To be removed from the SCA-Cooks mailing list, please send a message to
Majordomo at Ansteorra.ORG with the message body of "unsubscribe SCA-Cooks".

============================================================================