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Anyone else here use one of these? It's a typical style, with a rolltop lid. Doesn't seal tightly at all, but that has never been an issue, until now. Our last bread (we make our own, in our machine) got moldy within just a day or two. Does anyone have any ideas on how to avoid this? I would really like to avoid storing it in our tiny European fridge. I guess I would just like to know if there is something we should be wrapping the bread in? Sitting it on? Thanks!

If you love bread in all its forms (hats, dresses, curtains), have never seen it made or smelled fresh bread and have 6.50 Euros burning a hole in your pocket, go to Jean-Paul Gautier’s show at the Foundation Cartier. Otherwise I’d advise skipping it despite the New York Times review July 25th; it’s but the latest attempt of the FC to emulate the late unlamented American Center in Bercy’s taste in contemporary art. While I’m totally incompetent to judge the artistic merits of haute couture, I know my bread.

Aunt Ilea's Cornbread (Sweet) Serves 9. I like the Southern "sour" corn bread as well and have tried many recipes, but here is the one I always come back to, an unusual version using light cream instead of a fat and milk/buttermilk combination. It's from a great aunt, one of my paternal grandfather's seven sisters, who could have done a "Great Cooks" series all on their own. 1 c flour 2/3 c cornmeal 1/3 c sugar 4 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 1 c light cream (half and half) 2 eggs Throw everything in a bowl, beat with a whisk until smooth and bake 25 minutes or so in a greased 8" or 9" square pan at 400 degrees, or until top browns. Keywords: Bread, Easy ( RG1145 )

Aunt Ilea's Cornbread (Sweet) Serves 9. I like the Southern "sour" corn bread as well and have tried many recipes, but here is the one I always come back to, an unusual version using light cream instead of a fat and milk/buttermilk combination. It's from a great aunt, one of my paternal grandfather's seven sisters, who could have done a "Great Cooks" series all on their own. 1 c flour 2/3 c cornmeal 1/3 c sugar 4 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 1 c light cream (half and half) 2 eggs Throw everything in a bowl, beat with a whisk until smooth and bake 25 minutes or so in a greased 8" or 9" square pan at 400 degrees, or until top browns. Keywords: Bread, Easy ( RG1145 )

Corny Bread Serves 6 as Side. I made this corn bread when I was in the middle of making the "Bacon Chipotle Cornbread" from here on RecipeGullet and discovered that I was out of cornmeal. Eeek! However, it turned out great and fantastically moist, like savory corn cake. 1 T butter, salted 1 10oz can of corn 5 chipotle peppers (canned) 1 egg 3 strips bacon, cooked 1 c flour 1/2 tsp baking soda 1-1/4 tsp baking powder 1 tsp kosher salt 1/4 tsp black pepper 1/2 c buttermilk Preheat an 8" iron skillet in the oven at 350 degrees. Add the butter to the skillet and leave it in the oven. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Take the can of corn & its juice and blitz it in the blender with the buttermilk and egg. Add this to the dry ingredients and just barely combine. Then add the bacon and chipotle, and pour the whole thing into the skillet on top of the nicely browned butter. Check after 20 minutes, but mine took about 25. It will be extremely moist and cake-like, nothing like the corn bread you've made from those blue Jiffy boxes. The salted butter seems to produce a nice crispy outer texture to the bread, so I specify salted butter rather than unsalted. You will be transformed into a corn bread eating machine. Keywords: Side, Vegetables, Easy, Pork, Hot and Spicy, Tex-Mex ( RG1140 )

Corny Bread Serves 6 as Side. I made this corn bread when I was in the middle of making the "Bacon Chipotle Cornbread" from here on RecipeGullet and discovered that I was out of cornmeal. Eeek! However, it turned out great and fantastically moist, like savory corn cake. 1 T butter, salted 1 10oz can of corn 5 chipotle peppers (canned) 1 egg 3 strips bacon, cooked 1 c flour 1/2 tsp baking soda 1-1/4 tsp baking powder 1 tsp kosher salt 1/4 tsp black pepper 1/2 c buttermilk Preheat an 8" iron skillet in the oven at 350 degrees. Add the butter to the skillet and leave it in the oven. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Take the can of corn & its juice and blitz it in the blender with the buttermilk and egg. Add this to the dry ingredients and just barely combine. Then add the bacon and chipotle, and pour the whole thing into the skillet on top of the nicely browned butter. Check after 20 minutes, but mine took about 25. It will be extremely moist and cake-like, nothing like the corn bread you've made from those blue Jiffy boxes. The salted butter seems to produce a nice crispy outer texture to the bread, so I specify salted butter rather than unsalted. You will be transformed into a corn bread eating machine. Keywords: Side, Vegetables, Easy, Pork, Hot and Spicy, Tex-Mex ( RG1140 )

I bought some almost-made papadam bread at a grocery today and want some input on how to make it. In college, I would throw them into a microwave for 10 seconds and voila, but we don't want to use our microwave. Any tips????

Steve- Welcome to e-gullet, and thank you for taking the time to chat with us. So, you are going to live the rest of your life on an island, you can only have three cheeses and a loaf of bread. Which cheeses would those be? I'll make sure to check them out next time I find them. Elie

I've had some trouble getting a new sweet bread recipe to rise. I've been playing with a recipe including dried pears and crystallized ginger. Anyone know if ginger inhibits yeast activity? Probably the problem lies elsewhere, but I thought I'd check with you smart people just in case.

Over the next week, at my day job, I'm taking up my new duties as "team leader" in the bakery (essentially manage that department). We've just recently switched to a new bread supplier. These are artisanal breads of excellent quality from one of the leading local purveyors; the price points are higher and part of my job will be selling the new product to our longtime customers. However, because of the higher costs, another part of my job will be ensuring that we get maximum utilization out of the unsold product. For the unflavoured breads, I don't anticipate any difficulty locating recipes for upscale bread puddings (or using them for breadcrumbs or stuffing or what have you); but many of the breads we're buying are savoury...black olives, peppers, onions, cheese, and many other suchlike ingredients. Are there any traditions of savoury bread puddings out there? We do a carved item every day, so I wouldn't lack for meals to pair them with, but I'm unsure about how they'd be received. Bread puddings, for a lot of people, conjure up memories of frugal grandmothers and stale-tasting sodden goo. If there was a traditional style of savoury bread pudding, now, I'm thinking that I could put it across as an ethnic specialty...something that would perhaps garner a more sympathetic ear from my customers. Anyone know of anything? Got any ideas?

i have seen several ways described for the second rise in the refrigerator. what is the "proper technique", should the dough be allowed to rise and double overnight, or should it be flattened during the first hours of refrigeration untill the yeast activity stops?

Is anyone here familiar with the Hot Breads chain in the US? Yes, its the same Hot Breads that started in Madras and then franchised, rather disastrously, across India. After that turned out badly, the owner focused on Madras and then the global market - expanding to the Gulf, then the US and now even Paris where he has two outlets. I'll admit here that I'm doing a story on them, but I'm not asking these questions for it (the story is almost over anyway, just taking a break between finishing it). What I found interesting, and relevant to many of the discussions we have here on fusion food, is how the food served here fits in, and what people here make of it. Its been described, by no less than Robb Walsh, the Houston based food writer who's featured on eGullet (and mentioned Hot Breads), as a "wacky fusion of French pastry and Indian food". Here are a couple of links to Walsh on Hot Breads: http://www.houstonpress.com/issues/2003-01-23/cafe.html http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=36735 And here are some descriptions (still Walsh): "potato-filled pastry known as an aloo croissant, which has an exotic fenugreek aroma and tastes like sag paneer inside a puff pastry" or a "tangy chicken croquette, masala-spiced chicken and cheese wrapped in pastry dough" or, what really excites him, "goat doughnuts... flaky croissants filled with cumin-scented ground goat meat in zesty curry sauce." (Its not his fault, I guess, that these descriptions sound like the menu descriptions on Air India's in-flight menu - there is, I guess, no other way to describe dishes like these to a non-Indian audience). What interests me is what people make of the concept - Indian foods in Frenchish wrappings and sold in markets abroad where the target is mostly Indians living abroad along with (increasingly) non-Indians in these markets looking for something different. That's the niche that Hot Breads decided to focus on after their Indian franchising misadventure, and that is what has brought them big success. Mr.Mahadevan, the founder, tells me that people drive from Philadelphia to Edison to get their products. In some markets their clientele is 80% desi (Indian), although in others like Texas its approaching 50:50 desi: non-desi. They also have other products targetted at desi niches, but with potential for moving beyond - for example, eggless cakes for Jain customers which people allergic to eggs are now snapping up. In many ways I think this is great and Mr.Mahadevan is certainly an entrepreneur I admire. When American fast food chains are spreading across the world, its certainly neat to see a reverse flow and one that has found such a good niche. The only thing that sort of depresses me is, well, I grew up in Madras myself and am familiar with their products and while they aren't exactly bad... they don't exactly get my juices going. There's something bland and processed and sort of subliminally greasy about everything. As fast food goes - and it is fast food at the end of the day - its not bad and I suppose the spice makes it more interesting than most of what's available, but the idea of people driving miles to eat it is somehow profoundly depressing. Do people really do this? Does the Hot Breads stuff seem that interesting and different when its in the US? What do people on these forums make of it, if they've eaten it? Vikram

There's been some mention of this unique product here but as a bread lover I think this operation deserves it's own thread. Yesterday I stopped by Transilvania (sic) Peasant Bread in the 3400 block W. Broadway and picked up one of most outstanding bread products in the city. A tiny bakery offering only one kind of bread done in a wood-burning oven this bread is delicious and hearty-to say the least. The wood heat somehow converts ordinary ingredients to the nutty rich and complex flavours not found in any other bread I've tasted in the city. The reference to mighty loaf isn't hyperbole-it's rich dark and heavy bread and a loaf must weigh 2 pounds if it's a gram.Rolls are also sold for those wanting a taste before committing to a serious relationship over a number of days My only regret is that my late Uncle Mike isn't here to share it with me-he was an ethnic Ukrainian born in Transylvania and no doubt ate and thrived on a similar bread in his youth.

Never tried them. Want to give it a shot. Not much of an organ fan, though, so I want to start with the best. Where should I go?

Garlic Bread This is the recipe (approximately) for Susan's Garlic Bread. This is the garlic bread that gave my burgeoning catering business its biggest boost, back in the day. Proportions are approximate. 1 stick softened salted butter 3 T grated parmesan cheese (coarse grate) 2 minced garlic cloves 1 tsp Italian seasoning Mash everything together with a fork. Slather evenly onto bread with a spatula. Susan would either do rounds or slabs (cut the loaf lengthwise, then into sixths or eighths) of Alfaro's 4-Seed baguettes, and put under the broiler until molten and just browning around the edges. I'd stack that garlic bread up with any recipe/technique in the world. Keywords: Side, Bread ( RG1083 )

Garlic Bread This is the recipe (approximately) for Susan's Garlic Bread. This is the garlic bread that gave my burgeoning catering business its biggest boost, back in the day. Proportions are approximate. 1 stick softened salted butter 3 T grated parmesan cheese (coarse grate) 2 minced garlic cloves 1 tsp Italian seasoning Mash everything together with a fork. Slather evenly onto bread with a spatula. Susan would either do rounds or slabs (cut the loaf lengthwise, then into sixths or eighths) of Alfaro's 4-Seed baguettes, and put under the broiler until molten and just browning around the edges. I'd stack that garlic bread up with any recipe/technique in the world. Keywords: Side, Bread ( RG1083 )

I just bought half a pound of lamb sweetbreads from the farmer's market this morning. I love sweetbreads but I've never tried cooking with them, and I'm not sure I've even tried lamb sweetbreads. Any suggestions?

I have been on a bread-baking frenzy and have had some surprisingly good results BUT whenever a recipe calls for a 4 1/2 x 8 1/2 x 2 1/2 inch loaf pan, my bread always rises so far above the top of the pan that it becomes more crust than loaf. This has happened on many occasions and with many different doughs. I have measured my pans over and over and they conform to the specs. What gives? Thanks, as always, for your insight.

I've been eating lots of sweetbreads lately--cooking some for myself, eating them in restaurants and also at friends' houses. I've tasted a pretty wide variety and have reached a point where I have some questions. I like the crust you can get on a sweetbread when it is seared in a pan. Sometimes on the inside it can be chalky and sometimes it is juicy as all hell. I don't know what issues are at play that combine to cause these results. Is there collagen in a sweetbread? Ought it be served rare? The best I've had of the species is at an NYC restaurant called Prune. They deep fry. I wonder if deep-frying obviates the setting in boiling water. I wonder if setting is necessary? When I cook a steak, I do it fast and hot. I want it crusted on the outside and rare and tender on the inside. When I cook a lamb shank, I sear first for browning reaction flavors and then cook it low and slow to melt the collagen. I do things this way in no small part because of Mr. McGee's scientific explanations in his book "On Food and Cooking." I'd like some similar explanations of sweetbread cookery that take into account the specific properties of the sweetbread. Anybody got any?

Hello James, Thank you for taking the time to answer my question(s). I am a big fan of baking and I bake pretty often. However, I feel that somehow I am not getting the right flavor and I am curious if the yeast I use could be the problem. I have used Fleischman and Red Star yeast and I have tried instant, active dry, fresh, etc. But I have really never gotten very familiar with their relative differences. The most common one I use Red Star active dry yeast and I use it because Costco sells it there in bulk so I don't have to buy tiny packets at the store. I store it in an airtight mason jar in the freezer (is this bad?). What type of yeast do you use and why? Do different types of yeast yield better results? Can you direct me to any sources or brands? Am I barking up the wrong tree? Does yeast even make that big a difference? Should I be looking at the flour I use more closely (king arthur unbleached white or bread)? Thank you very much, Jorge

Dear Mr. MacGuire, First let me say how sad I am that Le Passe-Partout has closed. Although I was far from a regular diner, some of the best meals I've ever had have been in your restaurant (particularly a confit de canard once at lunch that I still dream about). I now live in the Eastern Townships and about once every six weeks would drop by the bakery to load up on bread, which we froze and then enjoyed for the months to come. What am I going to do now?? I have never had sourdough bread or walnut bread to compare with yours and now am down to our last loaf of sourdough, which I guard in the freezer like Fort Knox. (I'm not even mentioning the croissants, pastries, cheeses and mousse de foie de volaille....). My question to you is: where in Montreal can I get bread comparable to yours? Au Pain Dore and Premiere Moisson are both okay, but a pale imitation of yours. Are there any other places you can suggest? Thank you for the information you've shared thus far on eGullet and best wishes to you on your future ventures. Bryan Tremblay Knowlton, Qc

I have a very good recipe for challah, but since I moved to Israel I am having problems with the bread holding its shape. This recipe has two risings and I braid the bread after the first rising. Everytime I make it the dough spreads out and the braiding is lost. What am I doing wrong? The ingredients are as follows: 2 C. lukewarm Water 3 pkg. dry Yeast 8 C. unbleached Flour (or more) 1-1/2 C. Sugar 1-1/2 tsp. Salt 1/2 lb. Butter or Margarine 4 beaten Eggs 1 beaten Egg for glaze BTW - I use the 3-braid method.

Front Page, The Dallas Morning News: Evolving Mexican tastes chip away at tortillas' niche Writer Laurence Iliff quotes corn chamber director Jose Enrique Tron as saying "The tortillas in the United States...are better than those in Mexico City". Is this true? I wouldn't know but how can it be true?

Let me add my thanks to everyone else's - and how I'm jealous of those around here who have experienced your baking firsthand. Despite hearing stories of 25 year old starters killed in two days, my own failed attempts, small successes and all the conflicting advice, I can't seem to let go of the sourdough addiction. What have been the best learning moments of your sourdough experience? What do you think are the most common sourdough misconceptions? In the end, do you think its worth it? :)

Hi, I'm a working pastry chef who has just dabbled in bread making from time to time and I'd like to add some bread products into my work schedule. I'm not going to be able to replace our purchased breads for ala carte service. My labor costs wouldn't make it as profitable as time spent on sweets. BUT I personally want to take on some bread making to increase my knowledge. Can you make some suggestions on which breads might give the most preconcieved value to our kitchen? Is there any short cuts I could use to help me fit those into my schedule? For instance, could I make a large batch of it in the beginning of the week, refridgerate it and just pull out what I need daily to bake off?