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Cornbread From the cornbread thread. It seems as if there are as many cornbread variations as there are "perfect" fried chicken recipes, but here is one of the myriad ones taking up my recipe box that seems to work quite nicely, with a little honey added for sweetness. Also it helps to not work the batter too much as it will result in a less risen final product. We also like homemade maple butter to go along with it. For the cornbread 1-1/4 c ap flour 3/4 c yellow cornmeal (I use stoneground for a little coarser texture) 1 T baking powder 1 tsp salt 2 lg eggs 2 T honey 1 c milk 2 T melted unsalted butter For the maple butter 1/2 lb unsalted butter 1/2 c maple syrup 1/4 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp salt preheat 8 inch cast iron skillet in 425 oven with 3 tbsp Crisco for 15-20 mins Whisk together dry ingredients. Whisk together wet ingredients. Add the wet to the dry until just combined. Remove the skillet from the oven and pour in mixture. Bake for 20-25 mins. Keywords: American, Bread, Easy ( RG235 )

Cornbread with Flour As discussed in the cornbread thread. Here's a recipe with flour, from my recipe box. 1/4 c oil or drippings 1 c corn meal 1 c flour 1 T baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1 c milk 1 egg Heat oil or drippings in a 8 or 9" skillet in a 425 oven. Combine dry igredients; add egg and milk and some of the grease from the hot pan. Pour batter into pan; bake 20-30 minutes. Additional Notes: 1)If using a 12" skillet, double all ingredients, but still bake for 30 minutes. 2)Can substitute water for milk, plus buttermilk powder (2 Tablespoons per cup of liquid) Keywords: Bread, Side, Easy, American, Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Dinner, Snack ( RG234 )

Sarah's Cornbread As discussed in the cornbread thread. Here's a no flour recipe, from my friend Sarah. 1 c buttermilk 1 c stone ground yellow cornmeal 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 egg 1 T butter or drippings Preheat oven to 450°. Put some grease (oil, drippings or lard) in one 9 inch round iron skillet in the heating oven. Stir the cornmeal, salt and baking soda together. Add the egg and buttermilk and mix well. Remove skillet from the oven, add some of the melted oil/drippings and pour the batter into the skillet. Bake at 450° for 30 to 40 minutes. Remove when cornbread is brown. Keywords: Easy, American, Bread, Side, Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Dinner, Snack ( RG233 )

Skillet Cornbread Version Without Flour 1 c buttermilk 1 c stone ground yellow cornmeal 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 egg 1 T butter or drippings Version With Flour 1/4 c oil or drippings 1 c corn meal 1 c flour 1 T baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1 c milk 1 egg From The Skillet Cornbread Thread: Version 1 (Without Flour) Preheat oven to 450°. Put some grease (oil, drippings or lard) in one 9 inch round iron skillet in the heating oven. Stir the cornmeal, salt and baking soda together. Add the egg and buttermilk and mix well. Remove skillet from the oven, add some of the melted oil/drippings and pour the batter into the skillet. Bake at 450° for 30 to 40 minutes. Remove when cornbread is brown. Version 2 (With Flour) Heat oil or drippings in a 8 or 9" skillet in a 425 oven. Combine dry igredients; add egg and milk and some of the grease from the hot pan. Pour batter into pan; bake 20-30 minutes. They are both great recipes, just that the addition of flour in the second one makes it quite different. My friend Sarah also says that some people add a bit of sugar to the batter. Keywords: Side, Snack, Vegetarian, Side, Intermediate, Bread, Breakfast, American ( RG226 )

Skillet Cornbread with Bacon Serves 12 as Side. Here's a link to the Corn Bread, Baked in a skillet thread. Ingredient Notes: 1) Instead of buttermilk you can use 1-1/4 cup milk + 1/4 cup plain Yogurt or Sour Cream) – I like to use sour cream and skim milk. 2) About the Sugar: use 1-3 Tbs, depending on how sweet, or not, you like your cornbread. 3) Optional ingredients: corn kernels, shredded cheese, chopped sautéed hot peppers, chopped cilantro 2 Slices Bacon 1 c Yellow Stone-ground Cornmeal 1 c All-Purpose Flour 3/4 tsp Baking Soda 2 tsp Baking Powder 1-1/2 tsp Salt 3/4 tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper 2 T Sugar 1 Egg, lightly beaten 1-1/2 c Buttermilk (see note above for substitutions) Heat the oven to 350°F. Place cast iron skillet over low heat and slowly cook the bacon. Occasionally stir and slice the bacon (I use 2 knives) until the bacon is crisp and the fat has rendered, then place pan in the oven (leave the crumbled bacon & grease in the pan). While bacon is cooking, sift together the cornmeal, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, sugar and pepper. In a second bowl, combine the egg and milk. When the bacon is done and the skillet is in the oven, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients along with any optional additions (see notes), and stir to mix fairly well. Quickly open the oven and pour the batter into the skillet and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Turn the cornbread out on a rack so it doesn't get soggy as it cools. Picture Credit and Bacon Notes: Thanks to eGullet member claire797 for the great picture. She pointed out that leaving the bacon in the skillet creates a "bacony crust." If you want the bacon mixed through the bread then remove & drain the bacon (leaving the grease in the skillet), crumble and mix into the batter before pouring it into the pan. Also, please note that the size of your skillet will affect how long the cornbread takes to bake. The pictured skillet is 8" in diameter and took 25 minutes to bake. I cook mine in a larger skillet, the bread is only about 1 1/2" in the center when done and takes about 18-20 mintues to bake. Keywords: Side, Intermediate, Snack, Dinner, Lunch, Pork, Bread, American, Barbeque ( RG163 )

Chapattis (Griddle baked flatbread) Serves 4 Chaptis are comfort food to most any Indian. No meal can compare to a simple home cooked meal of a vegetable, daal and chapattis. Light, nutritious they are a perfect accompaniment to an Indian meal, chapattis are one of a few things that bind India together. Across India they are made with very slight variations for most any meal. At our home we would call them Phulkas which referred to the fact that they puff up as they are made. Us siblings would enjoy getting our perfect ball, have my mom put some ghee on it and then enjoy piercing a hole on it from which the steam would escape. In winter times this steam would give us a moment of warmth followed by a tasty meal. And now in New York, most friends are most happy eating daal, sabzi and chapattis. Suvir Saran 2 c atta (Indian wheat flour) 1/2 tsp salt 1 c (approx) water for kneading 1. Combine the flour and salt together. Put into a bowl. 2. Knead the dough adding a half cup water into a well you make in the center of the flour. 3. Knead for close to 15 minutes using as much water as needed, The dough should be wet, soft and pliable but not sticky. 4. Heat a skillet over medium heat and place some flour on the surface where you will roll the chapattis. 5. Divide the dough into 12 –16 large marbel sized balls. Roll each in your palm into a smooth circular ball. Flatten these by pressing them. Coat these with flour and roll them out into a circle around 5 inches in diameter. 6. Place chapatti on the griddle and cook for a couple of minutes or until the top side seems opaque. Now flip the chapatti over and cook the other side for a brief minute. 7. With a tong, take the chapatti to the flame and bake on the fire till it puff up. 8. Serve hot with any Indian meal. Keywords: Indian, Intermediate, Bread ( RG142 )

Monkey Bread for Bread Machines Great for kids after school. Pan variations include cupcake pans, mini loaf pans. (spelt flour can easily be used instead of regular flour. Use 1 oz less of water) 1 c water 2 T butter 1/4 c sugar 1 tsp salt 1 tsp cinnamon 3 c bread flour 2-1/2 tsp bread machine yeast 1/2 c buttter, melted 1/2 c brown sugar 1 c raisins, optional Place the first 7 ingredients into the baking pan of your bread machine in the order directed by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle and press start. When dough is completed, place dough on floured surface and knead 10-12 times. Melt the cup of butter and stir in brown sugar and raisins if using. Cut dough into 1 inch chunks. Drop each chunk into butter mixture, 1 at a time. Loosely layer coated dough pieces in a 6 inch bundt pan or loaf pan. Cover and let rise in a warm draft free place for 20 minutes. Bake at 375 for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool slightly Place plate over pan, and turn upside down. Slice and enjoy! Keywords: Snack, Easy, Bread, Bread Machine ( RG131 )

I am a fairly experienced bread baker but I still have trouble sometime with my shaped loaves sticking to the slider board (is there a technical term for this? is this the "peel" or is that what I use to pull the finished loaves out with?) I use a thin piece of smooth wooden board. maybe my loaves are too moist (and maybe someone can advise on how to determine the optimum moisture before baking.) I typically leave them for about 60-120 minutes to final rise lying on a floured tea towel. anticipating sticking problems, I also usually dust the board with fine cornmeal (as per a pizza) or coarse whole wheat flour. but even today, by time I flipped a loaf onto the board, reached for my blade to slash them... when I went to slide them onto the tiles, the middle half had stuck to the board making sliding impossible and a holy mess of that shaped loaf. any suggestions as to moisture content, or choice of sliding gizmo?? Peter

This came up the other day when I cooked breakfast for my wife. I made the dish where you cut the center out of a slice of bread and fry the bread with an egg in the hole that was cut out at the same time. My wife had never seen or heard of this. She grew up in SC and OH. My Mom, who grew up in the South, never really made this, but I saw it in the mess halls as an army brat kid called Sunrise Breakfast since it was always sunny side up eggs. Do you know this dish? What did you call it and where did you grow up?

I"ve been working on my baquette technique for the last 6 months. They are looking as good as anything available commerically. But, I remain disappointed that the crust and crumb are not quite what they should be (I was especially reminded of this when comparing to local bakery product during a recent trip to France.) My crust usually lacks thickness and crunch. My crumb lacks denseness (density?) and chewiness. It always seems a bit fluffy. I understand there will always be limitations to home baking. I am using unglazed terracotta tiles in the oven and do the water toss to try to generate some steam I also try to give the dough long slow cool rises. Can anyone offer any suggestions on how I might take my product up a notch or two? Peter (PS. the attached photos seem short because they came from a narrow width oven.)

I love making fresh bread at home but for various reasons need to make it low GI. The commercial bread mixes available here don't fit the bill so I'm going to have to create my own mix. Does anyone have a good, low GI, bread mix recipe? Thanks

I had some good experience with WholeFodds bakery, but not much so with Panera (or I don't really remember what stood out there). Does anyone have a favorite in either place to recommend?

OK, I've been trying for months, obviously I'm using the wrong recipes My breads come out tasty but heavy, dense, solid, and, when fully baked, with the bottom crust hard as a rock -- they usually look like this: Here's what the light, airy, crunchy-but-soft crust ciabatta from my local bakery (Silver Moon in NYC) looks like (and it tastes as good as it looks): Can someone point me to a recipe for a light ciabatta? And are there rules of thumb for producing light breads? Thanks! ~ beau

Swiss Züpfe This bread is traditionally baked on Friday and is supposed to last over the weekend but rarely lasts that long because everyone devours it. Ingredients 500 gr. of bread flour 1 package of dry yeast 1.5 teaspoons of salt .5 teaspoon of sugar 75 gr. melted butter 1 egg yolk 1 cup of milk 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 teaspoon of milk and a pinch of salt for the glaze Preparation: Mix flour and salt in a bowl, add yeast sugar, butter, egg yolk and milk, knead until soft (15 minutes by hand or 8 minutes in a machine) Cover and let rise one hour until size has doubled. Cut dough into two equal size pieces. Braid as shown below. Step 1: Roll out 2 strings of dough... Cross them... Cross one over the other... then again... ...and again... Keep crossing and building it higher... ...and higher... until you run out of dough then roll it over on it's side, strech it out a bit and tuck under the ends. Put on a cookie sheet and brush with water and let rise one hour. Before baking brush it with a beaten egg yolk mixed with a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of milk. Bake for 40 minutes in the lower part of a preheated oven (200° C) Allow to completely cook before slicing.

I've never had the patience for baking but I've had some free time of late and figured why not! I mostly used this recipe 4 hour baguette The shape of the baguettes were a bit off, as were the slashes but I guess that'll come with more practice. They were baked in a 450 degree oven with a cup or so of ice cubes on the over floor. Apoligize for the crappy cell phone pics It had a great crust with a nice light inside; the flavor could've been a lil deeper but for a short time frame I can't complain. All in all it was definitely enough to get me to delve in to bread baking deeper.

Do you all test your yeast before using it in a recipe? It seems that every recipe in the universe recommends first putting your yeast in warm water and waiting for it to bubble to ensure its vitality. I have never done this. I just add the powdered yeast to the bowl with everything else. Yesterday I had a little scare because the dough wasn't rising, but when I moved it to a warmer spot it did its thing just fine. The incident gave me pause, but not enough to add this extra step to my baking routine.

Hey, I just stumbled upon what looks like an excellent glossary of types of flour available in China in English, Chinese and pin yin. The link is here, hope it helps! Also, a little off-topic but; I just got an email from Pantry Magic Corporate saying that they've been trying to get the new Beijing store (near Worker's Stadium) to close down since mid-February for 'serious non-compliance'. What's up with that? P.S. I'm not connected to that bread web site or Pantry Magic in any way, for you jaded, snarky-types lurking out there!

Hi, I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, but since it revolves around the bacteria used to make idli I thought I'd ask: Are there any breads which use the bacteria that rise idli? Are there varieties of idli which use flours or other grains instead of rice? Thanks,

I have a plain-vanilla bread machine on the way from Amazon. I'm unable to bake free-form or in pans in the oven at the moment. I’ve done both successfully in the past. I had a bread machine a long time ago after seeing Julia Child demo them with Jane Brody on her PBS series 'Baking with Julia.' I enjoyed using them for some time, then was able to move on to oven baking both in loaf pans and free form sourdough. Im interested in making just toast and sandwich bread at the moment. I’ve studied the older threads and have gotten some great tips, including the one from andiesenji about removing the blade prior to the last rise and bake. Brilliant! I wish that had occurred to me years ago. Im hoping to use the machine by weighing the ingredients as is the current practice by 'seasoned' bakers. I hope to find recipes that measure 'by weight.' My library has a large number of bread machine books, but these come from the era before most bakers at home had decent digital scales. I did find this ref: http://www.erikthered.com/flwm.html This may be all I need. Does anyone have worthwhile ‘tips?‘ Any further references to more current web sites that measure by weight? Has anyone successfully retarded dough in the refrigerator and then used the machine another day for baking? Ive gotten my yeast from King Arthur, and will use their flour available at Trader Joe’s. Eventually, I may be able to use the machine for the mixing and then bake in the oven. Thank you

These notes are for a friend with whom I'll be baking this weekend. Bitch is a ref to my starter, comments/concerns? --thx Jon Basic naturally Leaveneåd bread workflow (sourdough? maybe.) --notes for bitch session; assumes you have a starter in hand-- The thing about naturally leavened bread is that it requires time and forethought. Attended work? not so much but this is not a bread you can make from start to finish in an hour or so. Day one (my days count from evenings, you could of course use am, noon whatever)- Make a Poolish or Biga from your starter; think a fistfull of dough or so. This will be used in a day or two to levain your bread. -Poolish is a 50/50 mixture of starter and flour +water by weight or SWAG- think loose slimeball -Biga is starter+enough flour or water to make a fairly stiff dough - add no salt in either case as it retards yeast and lactobacilli reproduction which is the point of this exercise. (I prefer a poolish) The Biga has a more sour result. France tends to prefer poolish while Italy tends towards Biga. Let that sit in a covered bowl at room temperature overnight or so, it will get spongy and can now be held in the fridge for another day or two without ill effect. At the same time put ¼ to ½ cup flour in the jar you removed the starter from (unwashed, still has remnants of starter in it) and enough water to make a creamy slurry. This should be left on the counter overnight or until quite bubbly and can then be stored in the reefer until you decide to make bread again. If you leave this in the fridge for an extended period of time it may separate, hootch on top- that’s OK just mix it all up, discard half add flour and water and leave it out loosely covered until it bubbles and wakes up. I’ve revived neglected starter after a year in the fridge this way and it revived just fine. elapsed time 24+ hours, actual work 5-10 minutes at most. Day 2 (or 3 or 4 if you have been busy): Make a 60% hydration dough (flour = 100% weight, water 60%) e.g. we usually take a kilogram of flour and add 600 ml H2O + the poolish which adds a few % water to the mix. Knead by hand or in your stand mixer until it just becomes cohesive and let it rest for ½ hour (this allows some enzymes to work their magic to create sugars and also fully hydrates the dough). Once that time elapses add 2% salt by weight or SWAG and knead for 5-7 minutes if using a mixer or if by hand a full 10-12 minutes. Depending on ambient humidity, the phase of the moon etc. you may have to add a little flour or water to achieve a good consistency. The resulting dough ball gets a little olive oil or PAM sprayed on it, goes back into its bowl covered with shrink wrap and rests in the fridge at least overnight but up to a week (the batch above lasts us about a week for baguette, boule, pizza whatever...). You don’t want to make more than ⅓ to ½ of the capacity of your storage containers capacity of dough as otherwise it will try to escape. Actually it might try to anyway. The bitch is nothing if not vigorous. elapsed time 48 hours to a week, actual work 30 minutes or so Days 3-7 (Baking bread or the like): A couple of hours before you want to make bread grab as much dough as you need from the fridge as you need, I’m assuming 2 Baguettes since that’s what we’ll do in the session so about 2 fist sized chunks of dough. Knead these (separately) into 2 tight balls seam down using bench flour as needed let warm up covered @ room temp for an hour or two. Start oven preheat as hot as it goes after that, also begin to form the baguette; keeping seams down. If the dough resists have a martini and let the gluten relax. Once the baguette are sufficiently formed cover and let rest while the oven continues its pre heat. Gently place the baguette into the form (or on a peel if using a baking stone)- grab the sharpest knife you have and slash lengthwise across the top just prior to putting them into the preheated oven. Also have ½ cup of water or so available to throw onto the floor of the oven just a few seconds after you have put the bread in- this will help oven spring. Leave the temp on max; door closed. After 10 minutes you should check and maybe rotate the loaves 180 degrees to even browning. Check internal temp after 18ish minutes, once the interior of the loaves reaches 200F they can be set aside to cool. Do let them cool, they actually taste better after a rest. elapsed time 72 hours to a week, actual work 40 minutes or so Rinse and repeat with the rest of the dough if you have any left. We do pizza, focaccia (make the dough 70-75% hydration if you want foccacia), rolls, boule, pita, english muffins and such.

The classic 'tell tale' sign that bread is ready is having a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom, almost every bread baking recipe happily recommends this as a fool proof way of telling bread is done. But, quite apart from figuring out just what a 'hollow sound' is, how reliable is this method? It would seem to make sense that as excess moisture is driven out and the crumb is set that it should sound more hollow. But I have certainly had breads that sounded hollow, but were under done, or even had a core of unbaked dough in the centre. Clearly temperature is the most reliable indicator, but is tapping a decent substitute (or are there any others?), and why always the bottom?

We will be going on vacation in July and it so happens we will be in RI/MA at the same time as a one day workshop by Ciril Hitz. Minor modifications to our schedule would allow me to attend (10 hours in the car with kids in one day instead of stretching the drive to 2 days with a ton of stops). Has anyone here attended any of these workshops? Are they worth the time and money? The one that fits our schedule is an 8 hour workshop titled "Artisan Bread Fundamentals". I'd say that I am at least an intermediate home baker, and the description says for "all levels". I have and really like a couple books by Ciril Hitz and he seems like a good teacher from what I have seen on youtube. Thanks for any input! Jess

I'm no kind of pastry chef or even a particularly keen pastry eater. (I tend towards the savoury rather than the sweet.), but I thought this article by the BBC would be interesting to all the eG pastry chefs. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24609525. Nice to see innovation.

Hi Pastry Professionals, I have been looking for years for impression mats for gingerbread. It is easy to find the 3" X 6" plastic mats with rock and brick patterns. I would like to find a larger mats, maybe 9" X 11 in. I have seen them on TV being used by Jacques Torres. Just don't know where they might be purchased. A decent mat might make a house like this a lot easier to construct. Thanks, Tim

Suppose I could adapt one of my own recipes, but, hey, I'd love to see your successful ones for 7-grain bread. Hate to be picky, but I don't use a bread machine so those aren't needed. Thanks much! Sidecar Ron