The master baker

I've finally made the perfect loaf of bread. Well, the crust could have been crustier, but still, this loaf turned out marvelously. I made a garlic sourdough bread by using a slight variation on a reciped contained in my bread baking bible, The Bread Baker's Apprentice, by Peter Reinhart. I'm not sure that you can tell from the picture, but this loaf is about 2 feet long, and four inches thick. The garlic flavor is fantastic. It smells friggin awesome. And man, is the texture right on! Look at those holes in the picture on the left. I've been trying to get a crumb like that forever. The secret - high protein flour and a super wet dough - almost too wet to handle. The flour can be hard to find - I got mine at a Whole Foods-like grocery store, and I paid probably more than necessary. I'm told you can also go to your local bakery or Pizza Restaurants and they might sell you a bag. I tried that at a bakery here, though, and they thought I was nuts. "Um, this is not a grocery store," is basically what they said. Jerks! To avoid going back to that hippie grocery store, I ended up just purchasing a 50 lb sack online through Honeyville. This weekend, I'm going to use a similar recipe, and I'm going to try to make some traditional baguettes. I'm not too good at getting them shaped right. I'll let you know how it goes.

Big Hugs,
Godfrey

P.S. Arizona is a State of Mind