PheMomenon has moved!

You should be automatically redirected in 5 seconds.

If not, please visit http://www.phemomenon.com and update your bookmarks and RSS feed.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

BBA #1: Anadama Bread


It is true. I've joined yet another baking group. The thing of it is thought that it is all about breads this time. The book The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart in fact.


When Nicole at Pinch My Salt announced on Twitter that she was going to bake her way through the entire book, in order, and asked if anyone wanted to join in the fun, it didn't take me too long to decide to go for it. So, over the next 40+ weeks, I, along with 199 others have committed to the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge - seriously, who couldn't go with some kind of homemade bread every week. Nicole has even created a map that shows where we are all scattered around the globe.


Nicole plans to post her breads on Mondays, and since that seems like a good day to me, I plan to try to just post them around the same time, or at least one each week. Since it is an amazing book with so much more information than just a recipe though, we won't be posting the recipes on our blogs - you should really get the book!

Thank you Nicole for such a great idea!!

I actually love making breads, probably just as much as I like making desserts, which for me is saying a lot. The book is the perfect choice for learning how to work with yeast and bread making since it is chock full of great information, while still being accessible to a beginner. I figure since I have been working with yeast and making bread for several years but don't know a whole lot about the mechanics or science of how it all works it puts me somewhere in between.

The first bread in the book was Anadama Bread. I've heard of this before, but never had or made it. It is a fairly soft loaf made with bread flour, coarse cornmeal or polenta and inclues molasses as well. They are all ingredients I like, so no problem there!

There are several explanations about the source for the bread's strange name, some of which are explained here.

I made a simple chicken salad for sandwiches with my bread - just some shredded roast chicken, mayo, a little Dijon mustard and some chopped walnuts. Very yummy!

26 comments:

CB said...

Mmmm... bread. {Homer drool} I wish I had time to join BBA but it's all I can do to keep up with TWD these days. Sad face. I have the book on my Amazon wish list though. Looking forward to more bread posts!
/Clara

Tania said...

I wish that I had joined....but the boys don't eat anything but store bought whole wheat bread. And Jason talks about taking his lunch but never does (he's a dork.
Anyway...I love your pics, the bread looks delicious. Looking forward to following you all as you bake!

Barbara Bakes said...

Gorgeous bread! Sounds like a fun group!

Unknown said...

Great photo montage! Glad to be baking with you. :)

Engineer Baker said...

This is perfect for sandwiches, I agree. A nice easy one to start out with :) We'll see how long I can keep up with a 1x/week bread baking...

Sean said...

Your bread looks good. Really good looking crumb. Congrats.

Susie said...

Wonderful photos. It makes me want to bake it again. :) Great baking with you.
:o)
Susie

Nikki57 said...

I LOVE anadama bread. You need to make some grilled cheese with that bread asap. It is my favorite bread for grilled cheese

Snooky doodle said...

I love bread especially if it s good like this one :)

Dave Reed said...

Those are beautiful loaves! I'm assuming you did the two 1.5 lb loaves? They look really great.

Unknown said...

Great pictures! Your bread looks wonderful. I've never had anadama bread either but all of the posts about it recently really have me wanting to try it :)

LaDue & Crew said...

Sounds fabulous! You're right, who wouldn't love homemade bread every week!

Jordan said...

Ohhh! I wish I had heard of this group. I would totally go for a bread making group and this bread looks FABULOUS!

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous bread! I love the mosaic of all the different shots. I am also very jealous of how evenly sprinkled your cornmeal garnish is - mine looked very haphazard!

Good luck on the Artos!

Anonymous said...

Wow! Your loaf looks fantastic!

vibi said...

This beautiful loaf could have very well made the book's front cover!!! For sure!

...and I was almost fooled in thinking (at first glance), it had!!! LOL

Katrina said...

That's some great looking bread. Have fun with the new group. (I don't know how you do it all!) So anadama isn't another ingredient? That's actually what I thought as I've heard of this bread before. Funny.

Tammy said...

Your pictures are so professional...and so is your bread!

Manggy said...

Oh dear, that is a strange story related to the name indeed. But even with that attached to the bread, there's no denying that it does look and sound absolutely delicious :) (I'm a molasses fan myself!)

Kayte said...

Oh la la is that one very lovely bread...and those thick slices are so beautiful. Great job. Happy to be baking with you at BBA and TWD...such fun!
Kayte
www.grandmaskitchentable.typepad.com

Nico said...

Very nice pictures your bread looks very good!1

Anonymous said...

Super impressive result! You rock. Loved this bread, but mine was not nearly as beautiful as yours. Gonna investigate oven temperature as a possible culprit. Jules - gammaraygirl

Melanie Anne said...

Yum this bread sounds amazing! Your looks very nice!

Mermaid Sews said...

Looks great, I can't wait to make this, I have the book and hope to find time to bake along.

Mary said...

I love this book and I've always been curious about the anadama bread. After seeing your post, I may have to give it a try!

Di said...

Your bread looks wonderful, Holly! I bet it was terrific with the chicken salad. I had tuna salad with mine. =)

Blog Widget by LinkWithin