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

Kadhi Chawal

I just can't think of what to write today. That's what my absolute favorite meal does to me, I just want to stop talking and dig right in. So I won't ramble and go straight on the recipe for kadhi. First, make the pakoras that would go in the kadhi. Slice an onion lengthwise. Make a batter with 1/2 cup chickpea flour (besan), salt, red chilli powder and water. Dip onions in this batter and deep fry until crisp. Keep aside. Now blend 1 cup yogurt and 1/3 cup besan into a paste. Add 3-4 cups water to make a very thin blend. Heat a tbsp of oil in a pan. Add a tsp each of mustard seeds, cumin seeds, ajwain (carom seeds) and methre (fenugreek seeds). Let splutter for a few seconds. Now add a large onion, cut lengthwise into thin slices and cook until browned lightly. Pour in the yogurt/besan mix and add 1 tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp red chilli powder. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and let simmer for at least half an hour. You have to stir this occasio...
17 comments
Read more

Dukkah

Talk about myths busted. I went to Dubai planning to buy zat'ar, the fragrant herb and spice mix. And Dukkah, the interesting blend of nuts and spices. Not sumac, because I still have a pack left in my fridge. So zat'ar was easy - every Carrefour supermarket had that one. But no one had dukkah and I was like, how can they not have dukkah? It's a middle eastern thing, right! But well, they don't sell dukkah in Dubai, so I came back and armed with recipes from 10-odd blogs (all roughly the same), I set to make my own. The key to making dukkah is : line up all your ingredients, toast each of them separately in a heavy non-stick pan till they are fragrant and lightly roasted, then put everything in a blender and grind coarsely. This is your dukkah. Now dip your bread in olive oil, then dip it in dukkah and indulge. A final word of warning: this can be highly addictive. And finally, my list of ingredients: 1/4 cup almonds 2 tbsp coriander seeds 1 1/2 tbsp sesame...
14 comments
Read more

Bibimbap

This is the reason I love taking part in Taste & Create . There is so much new to learn and try when you meet new partners. This month, I am visiting Kitschow in Vancouver for a course in Asian cooking. She also tries a lot of other cuisines, but wok is her favorite way to cook. I first thought I'd find very little vegetarian choice at her place. But as luck would have it, she has recently done a lot of vegetarian cooking and eating for lent and I had a virtual rainbow to pick from. Everything looked so delicious it was tough to pick one. I picked the one with the cutest name : Bibimbap . Bibimbap is a Korean rice, usually topped with beef and vegetables but Kitschow made a vegan version for Lent. The recipe has three parts. First you cook the rice. Then, when it's almost done but is still moist, you arrange vegetables on top so it looks colorful and pretty. For the vegan version, Kitschow just put raw veggies there and let them cook in the steam. But I liked the i...
13 comments
Read more