My Very Own Bread Recipe

Well, I've been making bread for some time; partly to eat, but mostly to relieve stress. Tina and I end up eating most of it, feeding Otto some (he loves bread like no dog should), and, more often than not, throwing a little bit away. All of those efforts, both successful and, well, not so successful, led me to have a go at it without any books; only a sense of what I wanted. Making bread, the creation of something very solid and tangible from powder and oil and water (and a little magical thing called yeast) is one of the things that I enjoy most as a hobby. So, with the ingredients in the cupboard and an idea of what I wanted, I settled down in our small kitchen and made two batches. The results are pictured below.

The first batch I did as an un-scored boule and the second batch a long loaf, baguette of sorts. We dug into the first loaf (pancetta and meunster paninis with recently harvested heirloom tomatoes) and will break the baguette tomorrow when Brian and Tisha come over for Tina's Bastille Day French meal. I'll let you know how it works out.

For Andre: I use a Canon Digital Rebel XT (http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=215&modelid=11209) with a 50mm (1:1.8) single focal length EOS lens. I won't tell you how I do the lighting. . .

~Josh