mk2mer wrote: I smell a road trip coming up..... I'd drive 3 hours for some awesome bread, to meet a GRMer and to support someone doing something they're absolutely passionate about.
So...we put together a spring cruise-in to the new Red Guitar Bread digs?
Deal. You bring the cars, I'll make the food and the music.
alex wrote: I really like Suzanne Dunaway's book *No Need To Knead*. I picked it up at a thrift store and had immediate success with the recipes. Actually, my focaccia is based on hers. And the Lahey/Bittman recipe for no knead bread (the one that's baked in a pre-heated Dutch oven) that everybody's been gaga over for the past couple years really does turn out a pretty nice loaf. Generally speaking, Peter Reinhart is my go-to source when I'm stumped on anything from an ingredient to a dough acting weird. His book, *The Bread Baker's Apprentice*, is pretty much my bible. Chad Robertson's *Tartine* cookbook is pretty good, though a little preachy at times, and his bread, while basic and simple, takes a little bit of babysitting. Worth picking up and glancing through at the bookstore, anyway. Actually, the last half of the book that's devoted to the bread-centric recipes at his cafe are particularly compelling. And the photography is really good. But I'm more than happy to answer questions, make diagnoses, etc. Aside from a couple things, I'm not a terribly secretive baker. Given the same formula and ingredients, two good bakers will often wind up with a very different product. Nobody but *me* can make *my* bread. As much science is involved with baking, you reach a certain point where you really can improvise with a good knowledge base to guide you through the causes and effects of different variables. No two days baking are ever the same, that's for sure.
Sweet, I'll have to look for those books.
In the meantime, what would you do to this recipe to make it more interesting/better? There is nothing particularly bad about it, it is just super easy and probably could be better:
4 cups flour
2 cups warm water
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp yeast
Mix yeast and water together, mix in flour and salt. Let sit overnight, then stick it in the oven. Easiest recipe I've ever done.
Any advice for sourdough, or is it too hard for a beginning baker?
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