Tuesday, November 16, 2010

more Baking!

As previously mentioned I am working to expand my baking skills. With that in mind I had some serious practice last week. Friday I attempted Focaccia and a true Sourdough and Sunday I baked some Cheddar and Leek Muffins! The results were mixed but leaned toward satisfying and worth an encore performance.
First off the above focaccia was fluffy inside, had a nice crunchy crust and was packed with flavor. I sprinkled sage, oregano minced garlic and shredded parmigiano-reggiano. A little more practice and I'll be adding this to my regular food making rotation.

Next up is the below 2 loaves of sourdough I made using King Arthur's extra tangy sourdough recipe as my guide.

The final product was tangy, but ended up being a little too dense for me to consider it truly successful. The crust also left something to be desired. Nevertheless the results were edible. Certainly a bread which resembles sourdough, but not quite there yet.

Last up were the delicious Cheddar and Leek Muffins from Apartment Therapy sub-site The Kitchn.
In short, these muffins were full of savory fall flavor, and weren't all that difficult to make. I highly suggest heading to the above link and baking a dozen or 5 right now! Just look at the final product:

Up next is most probably another soda bread, another attempt at sourdough, and something random and fun.

6 comments:

johanna said...

Those look fantastic along with the other items in.
I need to acquire a little more patience for making bread but you are surly tempting me.

Veggie PAK said...

Boy! I like the bread, but those muffins look absolutely delicious!

Fred said...

Johanna- I have no baking skill whatsoever. I simply found something I wanted to learn to make (sourdough bread) and went from there!
Veggie PAK - The muffins are fantastic and weren't that challenging, give them a shot!

Robin said...

I'm the baker around here.... but I have to admit that I have never baked a loaf of bread! Every winter I think that I will try my hand at it. Maybe this year...yours looks great!

Fred said...

Robin - If I can do it anyone can! Get in touch if you want some really easy recipes to start with!

Anonymous said...

The muffins look fantastic. I love savory muffins, so I will definitely be giving these a try.

Have you ever tried the No-Knead bread recipe? It was in the NYTimes a few years ago and caused a minor sensation among foodie bloggers. It does make awesome bread, and the baking technique translates well for other breads. I'm thinking the sourdough recipe would do well with that technique.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html
Ali