Cheddar and Bananas

We have had The Bread Bible checked out from the library for just over a week now. We have experimented with 6 different bread recipes. I will share our results on 4 of them today:

1. Sacaduros

Sacaduros comes from "the Portuguese saca, which means to take out, and duro, which means hard, referring to taking them our of the oven when they have a crisp hard crust" (The Bread Bible, 315) . I walked in the door after work one day to a warm house and the scent of freshly baked bread. As I took my first bite out of the rolls I was surprised to discover a little treat in the middle! The little bundles of bread encased a tiny cube of butter. Mmmmmm bread and butter. . .

Verdict: 4 of 5
Suggested Pairing: Plain; A dish with a gravy such as a beef pot roast.

2. Banana Muffins












My favorite thing about these muffins is the contrast in texture. The outside of the muffin is crisp and crunchy, while the inside is airy and light. The light, airy texture is achieved by infusing air into the sour cream, egg, and the bananas in a food processor (we used a blender as a substitute). In my opinion, the muffins were a little too light on the banana flavor and I didn't appreciate the lacing of lemon zest like some might.

Verdict: 3 of 5
Suggested Pairing: None

3. Cheddar Loaf

(We are still working on picture quality so we hope that future pictures will do justice to the breads we make.)

This bread was an unexpected surprise in the flavor department. Few will guess that this bread tasted like a cheese-flavored, salt-crystal topped snack of childhood remembrances. Yes, this bread tasted like a Cheez-It. Not what Michelle or I were expecting. I was expecting something else . . . maybe next time we will try an Asiago bread :)

Verdict: 2 of 5
Suggested Pairing: None

4. Pugliese

This loaf helped us discover that our knives were not as sharp as they need to be. Ideally, the bread is supposed to have nice serrations along the top of the bread. Our knife got caught, tore the fragile gluten strands and slightly deflated the top of the bread :( That means we have a great excuse to buy sharper knives!

The flavor of this bread was one of the best yet. I think the key to this more complex flavor is the addition of a small amount of pumpernickel flour. The crust was crisp right out of the oven; the center was warm, soft, and relatively airy. The loaf was not quite as tall as it should have been but we will work out the kinks in our next attempt. This loaf was a definitive win.

Verdict: 4.25 of 5
Suggested Pairing: Butter; fruit jam; olive oil & balsamic vinegar

Now what does Zander think of all this bread making???

"My hands are so much yummier than your bread!"

Tis Food that Brings Us Together

Yay for our very first post!

It has been just over two years since we started our journey together. After two years, we still enjoy one of the main catalysts that brought us together in the first place -- a love of food and cooking together.

About a week ago we were meandering our way to the Parenting section of the Provo City Library to peruse the books on how to help your baby sleep more soundly through the night, when we passed the Cooking section. I stopped and asked Michelle if she thought the library owned a copy of The Bread Bible. Two years ago I stayed at my Aunt and Uncle's in Delaware for New Years and my Aunt and I experimented making croissants and a hearth bread. I had a marvelous time with my Aunt and I recently related to Michelle that I wanted to try our luck with other recipes from that book. She replied that we could search the card catalog after we selected our baby sleep solution books (More on our successes and failures in another post).

We checked the catalog and discovered to our great delight that the library not only had the book, but that it was also available for check out. We found the book on the shelf and excitedly skimmed over the host of recipes.

A day or two later, Michelle selected Sacaduros as our first experiment. They turned out quite well! Well enough that we made them again Sunday for dinner. Over dinner yesterday, I mentioned that we should take pictures of our experimental breads so that we have a record of our adventures together. I came home today and Michelle suggested that we take pictures and post them on our very own blog.  I readily agreed and thus we are creating our first blog post tonight!

We hope to both document our adventures in food and parenting. Mr. Zander will make his first blog appearance soon enough for those who were wondering about our first bun out of the oven.

--Dustin