Skip to main content

Like all good things...


My travels with the trio of bakers from A Year in Bread have come to an end. Back in February, and simply on an impulse, I decided to bake the breads Susan, Kevin and Beth baked in 2007. From March that year to February 2008, they picked ten themes and each of them baked a bread for each. I gave two of the themes a miss, but the other eight were a phenomenal success. I might not bake Susan's white sandwich bread that often and have found another recipe for pizza but some, like Beth's Wheatberry Bread and Susan's Carrot Rolls are now staples.

I think the experience made me a better baker. And I never thought I'd say this, but just like Beth, I no longer measure out ingredients when making a pizza. I've also found depths of flavors I never thought possible in a bread - like Beth's Pesto Rolls or this last one, Kevin's Gougeres.

The last theme was bite sized breads. Susan sat this one out; Beth made Onion Cheddar Breadsticks. And Kevin made something that's been on my mind a lot lately - the buttery, cheesy, gougeres. It's eclairs dough, which means you cook water, butter, flour then beat in the eggs, mix some gruyere cheese and let the steam puff it all up.

A fitting finale to a great year!

Gourgeres are my entry to High Tea Treats, this month's edition of Meeta's monthly mingle hosted by Aparna.
Labels:

Comments

Srivalli said…
What a sight!..you have some patience!
October 15, 2009 at 6:27 AM
notyet100 said…
yummy,..wish u hapy diwali,..
October 15, 2009 at 10:26 AM
chef and her kitchen said…
Bite size breads look lik pakoda/bonda's for me dear..:)
nice way to eat breads..
October 15, 2009 at 10:33 AM
Aparna Balasubramanian said…
They look puffed and pretty. You didn't fill them? :)
Thanks for joining us for High Tea.
October 15, 2009 at 4:40 PM
lubnakarim06 said…
Wow...that's an mini bread....looks yum...
October 15, 2009 at 8:04 PM
Debbie said…
These look soooooo good! I have never baked much of the bread type things ... looks like I may have to start!
October 16, 2009 at 6:47 AM
Bharti said…
You sound like such an expert! Good for you...and Happy Diwali!
October 16, 2009 at 8:23 AM
Spice said…
mini breads just like a finger food....good idea.I should give it a try sometime.
October 16, 2009 at 10:14 AM
CurryLeaf said…
Awesome Simran.Love the gougeres,but given a choice,i would have gone for breadsticks.
But yes this is also n my list, let me tackle the challah first
October 23, 2009 at 7:49 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I've found my perfect cookie

It's a bite sized cookie, with flavors of a pie, shape of a croissant and a pretty, pretty name. It's Rugelach. I first heard of this cookie when it became the baking pick for Tuesdays with Dorrie a couple of months back. The looks, the concept - everything was fascinating. And I've dreamed of making this cookie ever since. I ditched hundreds of recipes floating around and went straight to the master. It's Dorie Greenspan's recipe that I used, and ain't I glad I got it so perfect the very first time. So what's rugelach? It's cream-cheese pastry dough, rolled then cut into wedges, spread with jam and sugar and fillings of choice, rolled into crescents and baked. First the dough. Dorie did it in her processor, but I just went and did it by hand. Put 100 gms cream cheese and 100 gms butter out of the fridge until they were soft but still cold. Added both to a cup of plain flour (I omitted the salt because I use salted butter). Rubbed the flour and but
10 comments
Read more

Aloo Paranthas

In all these years of blogging, I've somehow never managed to talk about aloo paranthas, the potato stuffed flatbread that's a standard breakfast in North India. Possibly because they are such a staple in our home, I found there wouldn't be enough interest in the recipe. But I've also realised over time that my mom's recipe is unique, using a combination of flavours and spices that make these paranthas delicious. But that's not the only reason for this post. I also wanted to tell you about a super cool party and some ways we found to make aloo paranthas even better and believe it or not, healthier. The party in question was hosted by Rushina at her cooking studio a few months back. For a while now, Rushina has been talking about the merits of cling film, parchment and something called cooking foil made by Asahi Kasei. Because we won't believe that you can really cook without oil but using science, she invited a bunch of us over for a potluck lunch.
1 comment
Read more

Mystery Fruit

This only happened a few times every year, just when the rainy season kicked in. A street hawker will come by, straw basket on head. He will yell "kaul chapni" and I will run out to buy a bundle of these. Stuck together like flowers, they looked like a bouquet. Every hole contains a little fruit. You break out the package, peel the tiny fruit that pops out and eat it. Done slowly, it can take you an hour to eat an head. Or did, when I was about 12 years old. That was the last time I saw this fruit. I've never seen it again, didn't even know what it was called or where it came from. Three weeks back, Vikram Doctor wrote about a store in Khar that sells Sindhi foods. He described this fruit and I knew it came from my vivid childhood memories. And finally, I knew we were talking about lotus fruit. Now talk about coincidences. Last weekend, I was passing by a lane in Bandra and for the first time in many, many years I saw the straw basket filled with my mytery fru
14 comments
Read more