Artisan Bread, Revisited

I spent lots of time a couple of weeks ago raving about the new book I bought, Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. I know you've all been waiting on the edge of your seats to hear about the freshly baked homemade loaves of bread now coming out my ears, so I thought I'd share them with you.

1. You've already seen my first masterpiece, the boule:















2. I followed the order in the book (I'm type-A like that) and made a baguette next. There was a little snafu getting it from the cutting board to the baking stone, hence the cute little 90-degree bend. I guess that's why the authors recommend using a pizza peel?! I wanted to taste a little piece before Andy got home, and the little knobbie was the perfect size.



















3. Next, I made a ciabatta. This is typically what I pick out if I'm buying a loaf at a bakery, so I had high hopes. It was pretty darn tasty.















4. Finally, I just had a bit of dough left over, so I made a mini boule. I ate it for lunch today, hot out of the oven, with apple butter, sliced fresh figs, and some parmesan cheese. Pretty much the best lunch ever.















Next, I plan on tackling the challah dough from the book. I'm excited! Doing that will also give me something to cross of my Foodie To-Do list, which you can see over there on the sidebar of my blog.

Speaking of the to-do list, it's chicken peanut dumplings and fried rice for dinner tonight!

Also, this week is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement for us Jews. Andy and I are hosting a "Break Fast" on Thursday evening. Pretty self-explanatory, but for those who aren't familiar, it's the traditional meal after the 24-hour fast. In my experience, it typically consists of lighter brunchy-type foods like bagels, fruit, and juice. My ideal meal, although after fasting, anything looks good. Hopefully we'll have a better turnout than our Shabbat Luck in August. I think we will.