Red Letter Day for Mail

[akirlu]

Many good things came in the mail today -- a reimbursement check from our homeowner's insurance agent (dang those guys are quick!), my 23AndMe kit, and the Curt Phillips for TAFF anthology! It's a damn-fine looking fanzine and offers up a lovely selection of Curt's fan writing. Highly enjoyable stuff. Get yours today! Also, Curt Phillips for TAFF!

And yes, I've gone and gotten myself signed up with 23AndMe. Thinking about going to England just tends to spur my curiosity about my biological father. It's a long shot that any immediate relatives will turn up, but even if not, there should be genetic information from the mystery side of the family, and a sense of where those folks are from. Plus I went ahead and did the consent to participate in research because genetic! research! The kit is easy to use, as is the registration process, although it's certainly one of the longest TOS agreements and Privacy Statements I've ever seen. Not surprising, but impressive.

I also put together another batch of dough for bread for the week today. This first loaf was the best yet. You would not believe the noms. Crisp crust, chewy consistency with a custard crumb. Just seriously amazing bread. Who knew it could be this ridiculously easy to make really top notch bread? Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day -- highly recommended.

Comments

[replyhazy.livejournal.com]

That bread photo is causing me to want to gnaw the screen.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Well, about the only thing between you and having your own loaf at home just like it is possibly the baking stone -- though in a pinch a cast iron frying pan, unglazed tile, or a big terra cotta planter saucer will do. The rest of the process is so easy it's crazy. Three cups lukewarm water (100°F or somewhat less), 6.5 cups all purpose flour, 1.5 T yeast, 1 T salt. Stir it all up until there's no dry flour, cover it with a towel and let it sit for 2 hours (or longer is fine too). When ready to bake, put a metal broiler pan (empty) on the lower rack of the oven and your baking stone in the middle rack, preheat to 450°. Sprinkle a liberal amount of flour on top of the dough, and carve a chunk off the dough about the size of a grapefruit, form it into a round loaf by stretching and tucking the dough under the bottom (or you can roll it long, cut in thirds, and braid, like I do), sprinkle the top generously with flour, and let it sit for 20 minutes on a cornmeal strewn peel (or you can use a cookie sheet, as long as it doesn't have a lip all around). Pop that in the oven on the baking stone, and pour a cup of cold water into the broiler pan and close up the oven quick and set a timer for 30 minutes. Pull that puppy out and good luck waiting until it's cool.

The rest of the dough (and there will be enough for two more loaves left, at least) goes in the fridge in a covered container for the next time you want fresh bread -- it's supposed to store several weeks that way, but I have yet to make it to the outer limit. Among other things, between the baking stone and the dough ready to go, it's really easy to do midweek home made pizza.

Fancifications I do -- add a bit of beet syrup (molasses, effectively, and honey would work too) to the warm water to give the yeastie beasties extra feed, also a generous sprinkling of dried minced onion, which give s a mild oniony flavor to the final loaf that I like, and this time I substituted sesame seeds for the flour sprinkling on the loaf top. I've also been playing with a mixture of bread flour and all purpose flour to get it extra chewy, but none of these are crucial.

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

No kneading? What?

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Yep. No kneading necessary. Also no yeast proofing, no loaf proofing, no punching down the dough for a second rise. Basically, Hertzberg and Francois have experimented on steps to cut out and still get good bread and it turns out that if you make a wet dough, you don't need to knead it.

Their basic recipe instructions are here.

[athenais.livejournal.com]

Making bread is the most satisfying thing I know of to bake or cook. That looks lovely.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I think I've made more yeast bread in the past month or so than my entire life previous. The no-knead approach makes it way more appealing to me. Before this, it was mostly quick breads because, well, quick. :)

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

It was a great fanzine -- we got it yesterday, and I've plowed through same already.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Don't forget to vote! Send Curt to the UK so he can look for Akirlu's relatives too.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Yes! What he said! Curse this LJ-type-thing with its lack of clicky "Like" buttons forcing me to type actual words to express agreement or approval or the fact that I read something, but, Yes! What he said!