TWD | Baking with Julia : White Loaves

Our family runs the spectrum in food tastes. Our oldest is picky, the middle boy is as adventurous as his father and the baby and I like what we like but will sometimes try new things. There is nothing more that we love on our plates than bread. Slathered with peanut butter or hot off the grill oozing with cheese, we know that we can come up with a quick meal if we have a loaf of bread in the house. We went through a phase when we baked a fresh loaf of bread once a week especially through the winter but then we just fell off the bread baking habit.

It was nice to see that the first Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was a simple white loaf of bread. I knew it would be delicious and easy--we have even used the exact recipe from time to time. When it came to bake the bread I made a huge mistake. I started the process without thinking about how busy my day was and that resulted in over-risen bread when school pick up ran late. Combine over-risen bread, two quick moving boys bringing their lunch boxes into the kitchen and one slammed lunch box and we were left with two deflated loaves sitting on the stove. I threw them into the oven knowing that they wouldn't be picture worthy but hoped they would be just as tasty. Forty five minutes later, the loaves were out and a while later sliced. The outer crust was rock hard but the inner part of the loaf was spongy. My boys did not care one bit and gobbled their slices up.

One week later I took another crack at it. I made sure my morning was free and little boys were barred from the kitchen until after the loaves were baked. These loaves were perfect and were made into numerous varieties of sandwiches over the next three days. I think that we may get back into the habit of baking bread once a week.

I followed the recipe as written and the results were fool proof.

Are you inclined to give it a go for yourself? Check out Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan or visit Laurie or Jules, the TWD | Baking with Julia Hosts for this month.

Ad Hoc at Home: Buttermilk Biscuits

 I grew up eating biscuits from a local corner bakery--they were soft and bland but went down easily with a pat of butter on the top. My husband grew up eating biscuits out of the pop open can. Those cans have made an occasional appearance in our home, usually after we bring home a baby and operate in survival mode. Those biscuits out of the can are not my favorite and anytime I serve them to my children I feel a little bad.  I have been on a search for the perfect biscuit recipe. I wanted something that was crunch on the outside and soft and spongy on the inside. We have tried a ton and have never found 'the one.' This morning,  I heard my man tell the boys that he was going to make biscuits. I made my way into the kitchen and took over. I don't mind him in the kitchen you see, but I know that it comes at a cost and that cost usually means cleaning up. So I prefer to do the cooking, thank you very much.

He found a recipe for buttermilk biscuits in Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller and we gave it a go. My! These were the best biscuits I have ever had. They were perfect and tasty and between the five of us and some jam we ate them all up. So go make them now and follow the recipe as it is written to avoid any mistakes. I will add that I used my mixer to combine the butter into the flours and it worked out. The key is to cut the butter into tiny pieces, put the butter into the freezer for a while and then mix until just combined.

I have to tell you, we have made these every Sunday morning for the last month. MMMmmmmm.

Are you interested in giving it a go yourself? Check out Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller for the recipe.