Hi Lovely Loaves!
Thanks to everyone who swung through earlier today for a deep gluten dive into five of my favorite breads in NYC. As usual, I had not eaten anything before we started the live video, which was great because then I got to have not one or two but five carbo-snacks. (I also had wet hair; enjoy!)
To recap, and in no particular order, here are the breads I cut into today, what I made with them, and what else you should order when you go bread shopping.
Baguette from La Bicyclette
Why: A perfectly-sized loaf, crisp but not too shattery on the outside (I prefer not to have my upper palate eviscerated when enjoying a jambon buerre), tender and tight-crumbed on the inside.
What I made: I cut a 3-inch length, split it open lengthwise, and enjoyed with European-style butter and flaky salt. C’est classique!
When you go: Treat yourself to a café au lait and the apricot oreillon pasty. TO DIE.
Tip: Butter too cold? Use a vegetable peeler to shave off thin slices, which soften almost immediately.
Campagne from La Bicyclette
Why: A textbook sourdough boule. Deeply browned on the outside, nice open airy structure inside, sour as hell, smells insane. Use it for fried bread, avocado toasts, homemade croutons, panzanella, ribollita, pappa al pomodoro, dipping into bean soups.
What I made: Tomato toast with Kewpie, Mama Teav’s, sliced tomato, flaky salt, and a pinch of MSG. Gaaaahhhhhhhhh.
Tip: Crusty breads demand beefy bread knives. Here’s the one I used on camera.
Feta Dill Scone Biscuit from Librae Bakery
Why: Ignore for a moment the question of whether or not a biscuit is bread. Is a hotdog a sandwich? We don’t have time!!! Librae calls this sturdy, stacked, airy, individuated, laminated biscuit a scone on their menu. But it’s a biscuit. And what a biscuit! Tall as a tower and bedazzled with actual feta and so much fresh dill. What a treat.
What I made: I just stuffed it in my face.
When you go: Get the sea salt mocha and a croissant. Their croissants are insane.
Sprouted Rye from She Wolf
Why: The queen bee of health breads, this pullman-shaped rye is absolutely bursting with sunflower seeds and flaxseeds. I’ve held this loaf on my counter for two weeks without it going bad (benefits from toasting as time goes on). Just an insane loaf of bread.
What I made: A cream cheese-smoked salmon-sliced onion-caper situation.
When you go: Also grab their sesame loaf. One of my absolute favorites.
Tip: Most sources say to store naturally-fermented breads at room temperature, wrapped loosely in a paper bag. I will do that for the first couple of days, but as the bread loses moisture, I switch to a plastic bag, left open. You can also cut the bread in half, or into slices, transfer to a freezer-bag, and freeze. That’s something I do when I’m in danger of a bread going really stale.
Pain de Mie from Bien Cuit
Why: Close your eyes and visualize what sandwich bread would be if it were the Greek goddess of tender crumbs and golden crusts. That. This bread is what every jar of peanut butter strives for. What every French toast can only dream of. Where chicken cutlets go when they ascend to sandwich supremacy.
What I made: Cosmo’s recipe for PB&J: Crunchy peanut butter, raspberry jam, honey, flaky salt, untoasted bread.
When you go: Snag a quarter-miche, the leather-bound journal of the bread world.
I’ll be back on Monday with a new original recipe (hint: it’s pasta), and will see you IRL-ish next Wednesday 9/17 for another Live vid. HMU in the subscriber Chat between now and then for any/all of your Food Processing needs.
