I have made bread all my life (my grandma taught me how when I was about eight), but my repertoire is limited. I’d like to expand it some, but my requirements do not seem to be popular. So I am asking the bakers on the Dope if they can steer me in a direction here.
I have exactly one bread book, a falling to pieces old Laurel’s Kitchen Bread Book circa the 1980’s. I’ve made a number of their breads many times, and most of them not at all, because the majority of their recipes are ‘desem’ (I guess this would be sourdough more or less) breads, and frankly, sourdough and I just don’t get along. It’s because I have chronic fatigue syndrome and never know on any given day whether I can make bread or fool with my starter or it’s going to be another absolutely nothing accomplished day. So when I make bread it has to be start to finish that day.
However, what I do like about it is that it is all whole grains. I don’t use white flour for baking.
What I would like is a whole-grain based baking book that is not all about sourdough or bread machines (another thing I do not have nor ever intend to get).
I’d like to make ethnic recipes like naan, lavosh, scandanavian crispbreads, stuff like that, too.
Tassajara Bread Book is what got me started. – hey, it’s still around. I have no idea what ‘updated for a new generation’ means; but, if it turns out to mean ‘bread machines’, there seem to be a lot of old used copies out there.
Heck, there are a lot of used bread machines out there, to the point where none of the consignment shops in my area will take them, even if they are in an unopened box.
“Artisan Bread” appears to be a one-technique book of making dough ahead and refrigerating chunks of it so it is ready without mixing it up. That isn’t what I need. I have lots of time and don’t need to be revolutionized, and I do not need convenience, I just want some variety.
The Bread Bible may be a contender, although I wanted one with an emphasis on whole grains and that doesn’t seem to be. Looks like a good book though, worth having as a reference.
I long ago had the Tassajara Bread Book – I actually used to live at SF Zen Center – I remember it as one of the those folksy hippie books that abounded in those days. I may look into it again.
Not sure how some of the responders read my OP as “I want a book with bread machine recipes” when I said the opposite in bold.
I may very well get the updated Laurel’s Kitchen … they have a practical, level-headed and health-focused style which is congruent with my own.
Hot Bread Kitchen might be what you need. I don’t have it yet, but it’s on my list of future cookbooks. I just requested it from the library, so I can review it and report back.
I like No Need to Knead, but it doesn’t have a wide range of ethnic recipes. It’s mostly a Italian-style bread and American things. I made the buttermilk bread and took it to a potluck, and someone asked me where I bought it.
I got the Hot Bread Kitchen book from the library. I like it, and I’ll probably buy a copy of it. It doesn’t have a lot of bread recipes, but it has a good range, including unleavened and leavened flatbread, crusty bread and enriched doughs. It also has recipes for things to eat with the bread, like doro wat to go along with injera.
I have two recipes I want to try—coconut buns and m’smen, which will probably be a total failure, but it looks so good, I have to try it.
