Category Archives: Breads

Homemade Yeast Doughnuts

Posted on August 19, 2011 | 13 Comments

This has been quite the whirlwind week.

Once again, I’m preparing to move:  this time from Cincinnati, Ohio to Silver Spring, Maryland.  This past week has been devoted to finishing up my projects at work and cleaning and packing up my apartment.  But in between those two activities, I have been doing my best to take advantage of my last few days in Cincinnati.

Last Tuesday night, I drove to Mt. Adams, the neighborhood overlooking downtown Cincinnati from its eastern perch.  I got lost navigating the winding one-way streets, as always, but eventually found a narrow street sandwiched between two apartment buildings and leading up to the edge of the Mount.

I unpacked my camera, set up my tripod, and took in the lights Continue reading →

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Posted in Breads, Breakfast

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Jalapeno-Cheddar Cornbread

Posted on August 7, 2011 | 9 Comments

Cornbread is a so-called quick bread, because it doesn’t contain yeast and doesn’t require any rising or kneading.  All of which makes it ready to bake in a flash!

Another great thing about cornbread is that no two recipes need be alike.  You can mix and match ingredients as you see fit.  Play with the type of cornmeal (coarse or medium), the flour (whole wheat or not), the cheese (cheddar or monterey) and the acid (buttermilk, sour cream, or yogurt).  Add corn or jalapeno slices . . . or both . . . or neither.

I made this particular recipe twice, Continue reading →

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Whole Wheat Banana Oat Yeast Bread

Posted on May 28, 2011 | 4 Comments

Over the last few days, I’ve watched my bananas go from a bright yellow, worthy of wearing the leader’s jersey in the Tour de France, to a soft brown, like a tattered and mud-splashed elementary school bus.

Banana bread and banana muffins are always easy options for an overripe bunch.  But banana bread is – let’s be honest – closer to cake than either bread or a trip to the bottom of the food pyramid.  For that reason, I took my overripe bananas and turned them into real banana bread – not the quick kind.  Indeed, if you know me, you know that I often enjoy taking the long and meandering route, passing through several culinary steps and preparation detours over what might have otherwise been a one-step, ten-minute trip, down the intercity highway (see curried couscous).

While this banana bread requires kneading and resting, rather than mixing and pouring, it is Continue reading →

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Classic Gingerbread Cake

Posted on March 29, 2011 | 3 Comments

When I’m in the supermarket checkout line, I often look longingly at the Cook’s Illustrated in the magazine racks.  The magazine always looks so informative and helpful.  The sleek black and white drawings, the hands-on, practical tips, and the absence of advertisements.  But at $5.95, it always gives me that moment of pause.

So I was particularly excited Continue reading →

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Posted in Breads, Desserts

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Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

Posted on January 24, 2011 | 6 Comments

Growing up, we used to devour this stuff.  I can remember my younger brother popping two slices into the toaster, waiting for that mechanical “pop,” and then throwing a slab of butter between the warm slices as he placed them on his plate.  After which, he put two more slices into the toaster.

This past Thanksgiving, I showed my youngest brother how to make scrambled eggs.  Saturday night we went to the Kroger, picked up a pan, a whisk, a dozen eggs, and a DVD from the Red Box.  After a quick tutorial, we settled down on his dorm couch to scrambled eggs, raisin bread, and The Girl Who Played with Fire.

My mind must have wandered to that night.  That, combined with my love of bread-baking, inspired me Continue reading →

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Garlic and Cheese Naan

Posted on December 19, 2010 | 5 Comments

The Cincinnati football team is named the Bengals, and takes, as its logo, an image of a leaping Royal Bengal tiger.  The Bengal tiger is native to India and Bangladesh, and can be found in the aptly named Bengal region.  With a population of close to 250 million people, the region is one of the densest and most populous regions in the entire world.

This is not the only link between the city of Cincinnati and the Indian sub-continent.  Despite the city’s German roots, the city is home to a thriving Indian community, particularly given the relative size of Cincinnati.  The public library’s collection includes a significant number of Bollywood videos and books in Bengali.  The Clifton area boasts an Indian grocery, and the city itself is home to about a dozen excellent Indian restaurants.

When Caitlin first visited Cincinnati, we went Ambar India, which is now Continue reading →

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Homemade Baguettes

Posted on September 12, 2010 | 1 Comment

There’s a certain moment in the bread-baking process where you remember exactly why you spent all that time kneading, crafting, and waiting.

It’s not the moment you take the bread out of the oven, or the moment you finally bite into a slice.  It’s several minutes before that time.  It’s the moment when you perk up, and notice that your entire apartment smells of freshly baking bread.  It’s that moment, above any other, that reminds me why I enjoy the bread-baking process.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt Continue reading →

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Whole Wheat Oat Bread

Posted on August 22, 2010 | 5 Comments

It’s funny what we find intimidating.

For the longest time, the idea of making bread scared me.  It just seemed so complicated.  You had to make sure the yeast reacted.  You had to make sure the water was at the precise temperature.  You had to coax the dough into rising.  You had to knead the bread – whatever that meant.

But then, I decided to just go for it.  I opened up my cupboard, Continue reading →

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Yogurt and Blue Corn Cornbread

Posted on May 3, 2010 | 4 Comments

A few weeks back, Caitlin and I went to Santa Fe for her Spring Break.

Driving into Santa Fe, we were greeted by breathtaking scenery, snow-capped mountains rising in the distance, with parched tracts of desert-land and spotted cacti dotting the roadside.  The city itself encapsulated this sense of beauty and wonder.  The entire city burst with color.  Every building in Santa Fe was built in the adobe style, and the pink hues created a stark contrast with the cloudless blue sky.  Dragon-red chili peppers hung from nearly every veranda, tempting both your visual and olfactory senses.  The city teemed with art – from the Georgia O’Keefe Museum to the record number of galleries to the Native American artists selling their craft in the open-air downtown square.

The cuisine was yet another form of art available in Santa Fe.  New Mexico is justifiably famous Continue reading →

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Irish Soda Bread

Posted on March 22, 2010 | 1 Comment

Despite my blog name, there’s very little overlap between my time in the kitchen and my time in the courthouse.  But last week, Caitlin gave me a fitting opportunity to meld the two seemingly disparate fields.

The day after St. Patrick’s day, Caitlin sent me an article by Clarence Darrow, the famous criminal defense lawyer.  In the early 20th Century, Darrow represented a number of high-profile defendants, but none more famous perhaps, than John Scopes, the public school teacher who faced prosecution for teaching  human evolution in Tennessee.

Several years after the verdict in the Monkey Trial, Darrow published his thoughts on selecting a jury in an article that appeared in Esquire.  At the time of publication, Darrow was at the end of his illustrious legal career, and near his death.  Yet, the article held nothing back.

“Selecting a jury is of the utmost importance,” he notes, and “choosing jurors is always a delicate task;” sentiments no less true today.  But the insights he offers Continue reading →

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