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We have a restaurant customer who wants us to make challah loaves for his french toast. He'd like a loaf to yield as much as possible, so the question begs: is there a way to ensure a more even lengthwise top to the bread? He won't be using the heels, but still, he'd like to get as many consistently sized slices as he can. Any thoughts? Cheers, Steve Smith

Hi All, I'm looking for a date bread recipe from Martha Stewart Wedding book. Does anyone have the book? I have a catering job coming up next month( I'm just doing the apps and desserts for a wedding). I was planning on a taragon chicken salad on date bread. I've made this bread before( at a previous job) and the texture is very sturdy and its not that sweet. Its more like a bread than a cake.

I've never given much thought to breading. The breaded and fried (either pan fried or deep fried) or baked cutlet or chop has never been part of my culinary repertoire. Lately, however, I've been dipping a toe into the ocean of breading, particularly with chicken tenders and cutlets, those universally beloved foods of today's youths (one of whom lives under our roof). So, can we talk about breading? There seem to be a whole mess of ways to do it. You've got your breading itself, which can be bread crumbs of various kinds (toasted, fresh, panko, herbed), or cereal (corn flakes, etc.), or other stuff (ground up pretzels, crackers, whatever). I guess some people also use just flour -- is that technically breading? There are also batters -- is that breading? Then there's the liquid you use to make the breading adhere to the meat. That could be milk, or eggs, or some people seem to do both in stages. I'm not really sure I understand how that works. There also seem to be different methods of getting the breading on to the meat: the zipper bag "shake and bake" method, the shallow bowl method, maybe some other methods I've not noticed. Then of course you have to cook the stuff. Who's going to give the primer on all this?

Inspired by hummingbirdkiss' mention in the Starting a Sourdough topic, where she talked about the use of juniper berries, I decided since I live in the land of junipers, I would give it a go! To start with I have made a sourdough starter once before. I used organic grapes from our local co-op. Everything went according to plan, but after about 6 months, I got tired of feeding it and looking at the grungy jar, so it was laid to rest. My spouse, however, has nagged me to make bread ever since, but my interests have leaned much more sweetly since that time. But with hummingbirdkiss' mention lingering in my mind I set off to collect the berries. Now, if I'm going to do it, I'm going to give it my all. I decided to hike up our highest peak and gather the berries off of the top of the mountain, that way I could call it Bear Mountain Sourdough (nice ring, huh!). As many great tales begin...it was a dark and stormy day. Not really a day recommended for climbing a mountain. But I did. My pups and I loaded up a small sack and decided to race the rain. Curiously, the weather wasn't too bad going up, but there was enough humdity in the air that I noticed the smells that are normally lost to our daily dryness. The smells (and this is no exaggeration) were of grocery store baking bread! A good omen I thought. I got 2/3 up the mountain making very good time, and the scent shifted just a bit. I've learned to pay attention to my nose up in the mountains because my dogs are surely smelling the same thing, and they love to chase animals. This scent was unmistakably - bear. Not good. I saw a bit of fresh scat, and some tree scratchings so we just started singing Valderi, Valdera loudly enough that it would scare off any animal. But the scent got stronger. I assumed we were following the bear (and he was probably wondering why we were chasing it singing a stupid song). I hit the summit, logged in the summit journal, and pulled out my ziplock. I quickly filled it with a dozen juniper berries - the biggest, plumpest, whitest ones I could find. I did my best to not knock off any of the natural yeast that coated the berries. I didn't even know this was yeast until hummingbirdkiss told me. Not even a minute after picking the berries, the thunder started roaring like a loud bear (the comparison to the forbidden fruit was not lost on me). My dogs are used to hiking with me, and we've been in some tight spots before so I'm sure they understood clearly when I said, "We need to get off this mountain right now." And we did, we ran as fast as the trail allowed down the path. The thunder kept getting louder and the rain started to fall. All scent was gone now - no bear, no bread...had I destroyed the garden of knowledge?! (This will seem anti-climatic) Then we got to the car and drove home incident free. I went to the kitchen and pulled out my materials. I used hummingbirdkiss' formula of 1 C. flour, 1 C. water and 6-8 berries. I covered the jar with saran wrap with small holes cut in it and kept it in a warm place. One week later I had this: A good start (or starter in this case). Two days after that I had this: This was looking really good! But then things fizzled as I tried to feed it. Now, nearly a month later I have this: Don't be confused by the bubbles, they're from me pouring into a new jar moments before the picture. I have a good sour-smelling pancake batter. So that is my story as of today. I'm looking forward to a resurrection of sorts with this starter. Any ideas?

I'm getting ready to open a retail bakery and I've realized I can't quite make the baguette of my dreams. My bakery will specialize in desserts and breakfast pastries, but we will also offer pre-made sandwiches and salads. Breads are not going to be our mainstay, but we'd like to at least produce them ourselves. I can probably get the hang of it sooner or later, I'd just feel more comfortable with somebody with a little more experience. Ideally, I would like to hire someone proficient in making artisan breads, croissants, and brioche. My question is how much would they expect to earn? Also, since we will be very small at first, this person will also likely help with various prep items and such, just to flesh out their hours. I'm located in Seattle, WA. If you'd like to be confidential about your answer, please feel free to PM me and I will keep your answer in strict confidence for my reference only. Thanks.

There was a place in La Grange, Texas called the Bon Ton. They made the most incredible white bread know to mankind - REALLY!!! Does anyone know how I might acquire the recipe???

I was talking to a friend today, and I want to get a breadmaker. The thought of making my own pizza dough and wholemeal loaves sounds great I'm not sure which one to get though, is it worth spending more or is it just for bells and whistles? In Argos, they sell for between £25 and £100. Is the extra spend worth it?

Hi all - I didn't want to hijack the recent cornbread thread, but I'm looking for a recipe for a cornbread bun. Its got to be a little sturdier, less crumbly, but still have the good corn flavor. Perhaps cut the cornmeal with flour and use a yeast bread recipe? My idea was for pulled pork sandwiches on cornbread buns. thanks for the insights...

I'm in the middle of making cheese straw type of bread sticks with puff pastry and just realized that the last of the eggs got used this morning- now I don't have an egg yolk to brush the pastry with. Can I use something else or do I really need to run to the store??

Ginger sour cream buttermilk banana bread with praline soybeans w/ chocolate sauce <p style="text-align: center"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1139/707609363_7bfd814150.jpg" height="500" width="333" /></p> <p style="text-align: center">(Banana tart with soybean praline base, enrobed with banana chocolate sauce)</p> Nuts, especially peanuts and walnuts, are <strong>lethal</strong> for my oldest child. They are also delicious, found in many of the desserts that make life worth living, and are almost impossible to simulate. I do not like peanut butter, don't miss it, but I have always felt bad that my daughter has never had a <a href="http://www.frenchquarter.com/dining/pralines.php">praline</a>. I think I first had a praline at a <a href="http://www.stuckeys.com/">Stuckey's</a> in Texas, when we were driving down from Iowa, back in 1979. We were moving to a place we had never visited and a sort of landscape and heat we had never experienced. I was a bit shell-shocked from the intense aridity and brightness that you have in those mineral lands, so different from the humid monotonous cornfields that I had always known in my childhood. We stopped for a break and got out into the life-draining heat and sun that immediately set my black hair on fire with absorbed heat. We ran into the cold of the Stuckey's, all new to me, and I walked around marvelling that a whole store that seemed to sell only candies with gobs of nuts stuck to them would be plunked down in the middle of nowhere. I think their biggest item is the <a href="http://stuckeys.com/shop/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=04-00001&Category_Code=plr">Pecan Log Roll</a>, a white tooth-fusing confection with pecans molecularly embedded on the surface. I begged my dad for just a bit of something and that turned out to be a praline. I adored it and left all pecan log rolls for others with less refined palates (kidding). My favorite place to get and gobble pralines is <a href="http://www.auntsallys.com/">Aunt Sally's</a> in New Orlean's French Market. You can (or you use to be able to) stand and watch them make huge kettles of pralines. When we were at home and not in New Orleans, My mom would make them during our <a href="http://www.justinwilson.com/">Justin Wilson</a> phase (Ah Gaahrontee). For me pralines are a seldom treat and not something to really binge on once you buy or make them. I love making them because their aroma is just about 1000 times more enticing than any cake or cookie or baked chicken will ever smell. They are also relatively easy to cook up and you don't need to know how long to store them because they never make it past about 5 minutes. A good banana nut bread is in that same category. For these reasons, I have been hunting around for a way to make nut-free but nutty pralines and banana nut bread and my first try came out with something so decadent and amazing that I am going to share it with you today but I do not think we will make it again for some while, its that fattening! I used <a href="http://www.soys.com/">roasted unsalted soybeans</a>. Yup. You see them in the store but I bet you don't buy them much. They are hard to snack on because they have skins on them. Annoying. I finally figured out how to get rid of the skins on a cup of beans. Rub a handful in your palms and then, as you pour the beans from one hand to the other, blow away the skins. It can be messy but it works! I used <a href="http://www.sacofoods.com/culteredbuttermilkblend.html">dried buttermilk</a> from <a href="http://www.sacofoods.com/index.htm">Saco</a> to boost the complexity of the flavors. I love cooking with this stuff. If you do not have it, simply omit it and this recipe should work for you. <p style="text-align: center"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1434/717038406_9165c9f48a.jpg" height="500" width="333" /></p> <strong>Ginger sour cream buttermilk banana bread with praline soybeans</strong> (adapted from the <a href="http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,174,148174-254204,00.html">basic sour cream banana bread recipe</a>) <strong>Ingredients:</strong> <ul> <li>1 c. butter</li> <li>1 1/2 c. sugar</li> <li>3 eggs</li> <li>1 1/2 c. bananas, mashed</li> <li>1 tablespoon vanilla</li> <li>1/2 teaspoon minced ginger</li> <li>4 c. flour</li> <li>1 1/2 tsp. baking powder</li> <li>1 tsp. baking soda</li> <li>6 tablespoons <a href="http://www.sacofoods.com/culteredbuttermilkblend.html">dried buttermilk </a></li> <li>1 1/2 c. sour cream</li> <li>1 c. praline soybeans (see below)</li> </ul> <p style="font-weight: bold">Directions:</p> Cream butter and sugar together very well. Add in the ginger, vanilla, eggs and beat until incorporated. Mash the bananas and then mix with the butter-sugar well. Whisk dry ingredients together (flour, buttermilk powder, baking powder, and baking soda). Add the well-mixed dry ingredients to the creamed mixture alternately with 1/2 cups of sour cream. Fold together until smooth. Gently fold in the cooled praline soybeans. Pour into 2 large greased and floured loaf pans and bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes at 350 F. Use the knife test to see if its done, when it comes out clean, the cake/ tart is done! For the tart shown at the top, I greased a small tart pan with a removable bottom. I put down a layer of soybeans and then poured praline mixture over the top of it to set it into a "crust" for the tart. Pour some batter over the crust and bake the small tart for about 30 minutes, check with a knife. <p style="font-weight: bold">Praline soybeans</p> <p style="font-weight: bold">Ingredients:</p> <ul> <li>1 C water</li> <li>1 C white granulated sugar</li> <li>1/2 C 1/2 and 1/2 cream</li> <li>1 C de-hulled roasted unsalted soybeans</li> </ul> <p style="font-weight: bold">Directions:</p> Simmer water and sugar in stainless steel pot until it begins to become a medium brown and is thickening. CAREFULLY add the cream (it will pop and spatter really HOT molten sugar), stir to bring it all up to temperature. Let simmer until it reduces about 1/2 and add soy beans, mix, pour out onto greased foil, cool. <strong>Banana Chocolate Sauce</strong> <strong>Ingredients:</strong> <ul> <li>1/2 C water</li> <li>1/2 C sugar</li> <li>4 tablespoons chocolate powder</li> <li>1 teaspoon vanilla</li> <li>1/2 teaspoon <a href="http://www.flavorchem.com/spiceryshoppe/nonalc.htm">all natural banana liquour</a></li> </ul> <strong>Directions: </strong> In a small saucepan over medium to high heat, dissolve sugar in the water, bring to a boil. Turn to medium low and add the chocolate. Heat until just simmering and remove from heat. Add in vanilla and banana flavoring. Enrobe your favorite things. <p style="text-align: center"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1063/708831908_1542c1bf0b.jpg" height="500" width="333" /></p> This is my original recipe (as adapted somewhat loosely from the <a href="http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,174,148174-254204,00.html">basic sour cream banana bread recipe</a>). All photos are held under my copyright, all rights reserved. For licensing, contact Nika at nika.boyce@gmail.com. This recipe first appeared on July 6, 2007 at Nika's Culinaria ( http://nikas-culinaria.com/2007/07/06/banana-bread-plus/ ). Keywords: Dessert, Bread, Snack, Vegetarian, Cake, Brunch, Intermediate, Chocolate, Fruit, Dinner, Lunch, Tart ( RG1999 )

on a trip trough some liegeois patisseries my executive pastry chef showed me some small fruit/creme d amande tarteletts. she said the dough used is a mixture of a heavy yeast dough and pate sucree... i certainly have never heard of it.. how is it called, and what is it made of? maybe someone has a few special recipes ??? cheers torsten s.

I just came across mention of lava bread and cockles while searching something else. It certainly sparked my interest. Here are two links: Welsh Icons - Lava Bread The Secret Life of Cockles Has anyone here ever eaten lava bread and cockles?

We are having a picnic for our wedding reception in a few weeks time. The wedding takes place in Tenterden, Kent. We are looking for good bread - sourdough baguettes would be perfect - but are struggling to find any artisan bakeries nearby. Can anyone help or suggest a good supplier in that neck of the woods? Thanks, Gareth

Can anyone help me source really good Riveria bread or Genoa Bread in the NJ/NY area? Thanks in advance...

Just finished a new project by sous vide poaching banana bread batter. I don't have the exact recipe on the batter but I was able to accomplish an actual firm, slightly dense, and flavorful banana bread. This was my only first attempt but I have a feeling if I adjust the recipe and timing...I can come up with an even better product. The original idea was to create the "goo" of banana bread without having the extra waste of the outer edges of banana bread. Anyone have any ideas or input? ...oh and tell me if someone has already accomplished this. Here's the photo on my blog. (Also on my flickr account)

I need some help tweaking a very simple yeasted bread recipe (minimal knead/rise) to produce a lighter and less tough texture. It will be taught to a bunch of 6-year olds. The recipe is Jamie Oliver's Brunch Breads recipe. I'll be using it for a fun breadmaking activity for my younger daughter’s birthday party. Basically, we’ll have a bunch of 6-year olds mix, knead and shape the dough into pigs in blankets and filled buns under my lead. The above recipe pretty much satisfies all my prerequisites: simple ingredient list, easy to mix, requires minimal kneading/rise, dough is easy to work with, and we can go from bowl-to-bread in just over 60 minutes. Bread flour (500 g) Dry active yeast (11 g) Lukewarm water (312 ml) Salt (1 TBS) Sugar (15 g) Instructions: Mix and knead into dough. Roll out dough, shape and let rise for 15 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees F until golden brown (30-35 minutes). What can I do to this recipe to make the end product less tough? Change flours or incorporate some milk instead of water? Add butter/oil? I’m a decent beginner bread baker and have some vague ideas of where to start, but I really need some direction. I’ll also only have time to make two more test runs at the most. The technique also needs to be kept simple, within what a ham-fisted 6-year old can handle and in a relatively short time frame. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I was looking at the challah recipe on the back of a package of instant yeast. The yeast is dry granules that are meant to be mixed first with the flour, with liquids added after. The recipe called for 1 Tblsp. vinegar; the rest of the recipe goes like this: 1 kg. flour, mixed with 1 pkg. yeast 1/2 cup sugar 4 egg yolks (used 2 whole eggs instead) 2 tsp. salt 100 grams margarine (yech, I used a little olive oil instead) 1 Tblsp. vinegar 1 1/2 cups water (too little water; had to add about another 1/2 cup) The challah was alright, but nothing to rave about. I prefer a lighter dough at any rate, but was left wondering what vinegar is supposed to do. A simple chemical reaction with the horrible margarine? Flavor enhancer? Please edify me, someone. Miriam

Has anybody found a tried-and-true recipe for baking Japanese-style white sandwich bread (i.e., shokupan)? Preferably one that is adjusted for North American flours and ingredients. My wife and kids crave this stuff, although I prefer something more substantial. We can drive across town and buy a reasonable facsimile from our local Chinese bakeries, but I'd really prefer to master it and bake it myself. Texture-wise, the closest I've come to achieving the same lightness and texture is with challah recipes (except for the yellow color, of course). I've tried a few Japanese recipes and haven't hit success so far. I'm also fairly new at baking bread, so maybe my technique is to blame. Any tips or hints would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

What do you think are the best breads in NYC today? Where are you all buying your bread these days, and where is that bread coming from? Me, I'd say 90% of the bread I've been buying for the past year or so has been one of these five. I get the occasional other item, but these are my tried-and-true mainstays: - Bread Alone organic whole wheat sourdough miche, purchased at Fairway on Broadway and 74th. You can also get Bread Alone breads at a number of the greenmarkets. This is, to me, one of the best artisanal breads you can get in New York. It's made with no commercial yeast -- it's a true sourdough -- and has incredible flavor from its long fermentation and fundamentally excellent ingredients (organic flour ground to the bakery's specifications) and facilities (brick ovens built by French craftsmen). It's long lived, and also freezes exceptionally well for toasting later on. - Pain Quotidien baguette a l'ancienne, purchased at the 84th & Madison branch of Le Pain Quotidien. I guess you're getting the idea that I like chewy breads made according to a slow-rise sourdough process. I just love the Pain Quotidien baguette -- every time I taste it I marvel at how consistently excellent it is. I only wish they made a smaller one, because it has to be eaten same-day -- it's just not a great bread to reheat, and it's a lot of bread to eat alone in a day (not that it stops me). I know they do or did make individual rolls in this style for Jean Georges that they don't seem to sell at the bakery -- I wish they did sell them. - Eli's stupidly named "health loaf," purchased at Fairway on Broadway and 74th. This is my freeze-and-toast workhorse for sandwiches. The slices are small because it's a long square loaf, so I usually make two sandwiches at a time. The marketing literature calls it "a toasty mosaic of seeds and grains," and it really is -- I can't think of a better way to describe it. I think Eli's breads are not on the whole quite as good as those from the handful of top artisanal bakeries, but I think Eli's sets a very high standard for large-production commercial bakeries. I could certainly have a fulfilling bread life only eating breads from Eli's. - Eli's bagels, purchased at Vinegar Factory. Every once in awhile I read some roundup of best bagels in New York, and I have never seen Eli's mentioned. In my opinion, however, these are the best bagels in New York. They're dense, chewy and have great flavor. They're so faithful to the old-style texture and flavor of a bagel that many of today's bagel eaters reject them -- they'd rather have something caky like an H&H bagel or something bagel-like but not seriously dense like Ess-a-Bagel or Tal. And they're sold at room temperature, the way bagels should be eaten -- they're baked in the bakery and delivered to the two stores. None of this hot bagel business (though if you have leftovers and you freeze them they toast up nicely). You can get them at Vinegar Factory or at the Eli's store on Third Avenue -- I don't think I've seen them around at other places that sell Eli's bread. They don't make a whole lot of them -- by 11am on a weekend they're out of most varieties. - Balthazar Bakery levain in the boule shape, purchased at the Nature's Gifts market on Lexington Avenue between 87th and 88th. I wish I had better access to Balthazar breads other than the baguettes (which I think are not great), but at least the levain -- my favorite -- is readily available in my neighborhood. It's the best straight-up white sourdough bread I've been able to find.

For clarity, by bread bag clips, I mean these [CLICK]. As a child I remember a drawer in my grandmother's kitchen full of them ... all sorts of colours & sizes. She never really re-used them, thus the fullness of the drawer. She had to be collecting them. Today, I have a smaller collection (in a smaller box in the tin foil/plastic wrap drawer) that I periodically clear out. Sometimes I'll even revert to my childhood, breaking them in half, "clipping" one half to the tip of my index finger, and flinging it across the room at our dogs, or my wife if I'm feeling brave. Anyone else? A.

This is a book review. Site listed below. When you read this you wonder if this could be done here in the US. ".............the most interesting bread story in all of France. A few years ago, in the inland Normandy region known as La Perche, a refugee from one of the big industrial bakeries took over a small mill. He recruited local farmers to plant traditional varieties of wheat, and then recruited local bakers from around the region to follow a single recipe. Now, every day, more than a hundred stores bake the baguette du Perche, a delicious rope of bread that is rebuilding some of the frayed ecological and economic infrastructure of this corner of France. The central government has helped the process, mostly by granting the makers an A.O.C. certificate—the appellation d'origine controlee mark previously reserved for wines and cheeses. It means this bread can only be made in this place with these ingredients, and it has spurred a fierce local pride. For after all, we eat not only with our tongues but with our minds as well. ......." And here is the rest of the story, ( well, the beginning too ) : http://www.christianitytoday.com/bc/2007/003/1.12.html

Well I found myself(at 10:00 at night) deciding to make a big batch of scones and then I will give most away tomorrow morning...I am a big scone fan but was wondering..... What is everyone's favorite quick bread for whatever time of day or meal? Look forward to hearing everyone's favorites...

I saw that this year's IACP baking book winner is Bread Matters: the sorry state of modern bread and a definitive guide to baking your own, by Andrew Whitley. I haven't yet seen a copy, and I have enough baking books at this point that I hesitate to purchase anything without having a good look through it first. Have you seen this book? Do you use it? How does it compare to other bread-baking books? Thanks, MelissaH

my boss would like to use fry bread as a component for a menu item, and the task of making the dough has fallen to me. i've never made this before - actually, i've never even eaten it before - so i thought i'd check here & see if anyone has any recipes or tips to offer. i've been trolling google for recipes, and they all seem very similar - hard to figure out what makes a good fry bread recipe, and which are not so good. if anyone has any thoughts they'd like to share, i'd really appreciate it - kerry

So, my butchers and i have had this thing for the past couple of weeks. It started when i innocently enough asked for some pigs trotters for a Xiao Long Bao recipe. He shook his head and said i'll have to come back later in the week as he'd have to order some in. In passing he asked if i wanted anything else, not thinking about it i said i'd always wanted to try pig cheeks. I go back to them a couple of days later and what do you know in addition to my trotters there's four pig cheeks to pick up too! Ok, this time as i leave i ask for some Osso Bucco as i know i've never seen them in his shop. The next week i'm back and good as gold he's managed to get two veal shins - he'll cut steaks out of one for me to take home straightaway and save one for me to pick up later - fantastic! Right, this time i'm really going to test him out - "got any, er, veal sweatbreads?". He laughs, he'll "see what he can do". I pop in every so often to pick up my 'normal' stuff - rib-eye steak and pork belly draft, and i laugh about how he still can't any veal swetbreads for me. I joke and say that i'd settle for lamb ones... Today, with a big grin on his face this is what he presents to me: Help, does anybody have any good recipes for these? I've had throat sweatbreads before in a couple of restaurants and they were sublime. These look like gullett (how apt) ones and are much bigger than ones i've eaten before.