- Anna Maria Junus
Make it Monday: Ah, Bread
The day of making things.
*****
Here is bread, which strengthens a man's heart, and therefore is called the staff of Life.
- Matthew Henry
I have never, ever, been good at bread. Through the years I've tried my hand at it. Carefully measuring out the yeast and sugar. Kneading it until I was tired. Adding flour because recipes said it should be smooth, not sticky. Letting it rise. Punching it down. Letting it rise. Punching it down. Letting it rise. And unless I was baking it in a bread machine, I always ended up with with something that tasted good, but could also be used as a door stop. When I got gifted with a handy dandy Kitchen Aid I thought "now I can make good bread." But nope. I could make quick breads, and cakes, and cookies. Not pie dough. My pie dough was like a patchwork quilt of scraps. But I could bake everything but pie dough and bread. I had given up hope of ever making a good loaf of bread. Something that could be cut into slices and used for sandwiches. Something that tasted good beyond the first hot slices with warm butter. It's a good thing survival did not rely on my bread making skills.
In the Lord's Prayer the first petition is for daily bread. No one can worship God or love his neighbor on an empty stomach. - Woodrow Wilson
And then I discovered....
No Knead Bread.
And angels sang.
It happened during Covid: The First Wave and people started talking about the magic of no knead bread. So I discovered this recipe from Jenny Jones of all people.
To those who don't know who she is, back in the 90's she had one of those Who's Your Daddy talk shows. You know, when you have paternity tests. Or you surprise your crush. (That got her into trouble). Or you tell your spouse about your affair on national tv.
Anyway, I put aside my thoughts about her and tried out her bread recipe.
It was sooooo easy.
And it worked!
The art of bread making can become a consuming hobby, and no matter how often or how many kinds of bread one has made, there always seems to be something new to learn. - Julia Child
It worked so well that I had to buy a new bread knife because my current one squished the bread when I was cutting it while it was hot. Okay, I know you're supposed to cut it cold but who can wait when fresh bread comes out of the oven? So now I make it every now and then. I've also done this adding onion powder and other spices. And yes, I've done it in a regular bread pan. I believe I made a tin foil tent to keep the heat in. All you need is butter. And cheese. Cheese is good.
If you have extraordinary bread, and extraordinary butter, it's hard to beat bread and butter.
- Jacque Pepin
