Post Punk Kitchen Forum

now that the weather is starting to cool off a bit, hubby suggested it might be nice to have hearty rustic breads with some of our meals. i have vegan recipes (they came out so yummy!) for cornbread, 3 grain brown bread, and a biscuit recipe, but need to branch out ;)

anyone have any suggestions for a cookbook that consists primarily of biscuits/scones, yeast breads, and quick breads? i am not looking for sweet, i'm looking for savory recipes.

(also i don't need the suggestion of 'quick & easy vegan bake sale')

TIA!

I've found Peter Reinhart's bread books to be solid for yeast breads and breads involving sourdough. Artisan Breads Everyday is good if you're too lazy to knead dough (I just pulled a big loaf of airy ciabatta with big air pockets out of the oven and had to stop myself from pulling off the crust), but I also have his whole grain book, which contains a great struan recipe as well as a whole grain pizza dough that doesn't taste too "granola".

Seconded. I love Peter Reinhart's books because he's very good at teaching why things work the way they do. That way, you know how to problem solve, which is important because a lot of baking bread is about intuition. He also has a blog with a few recipes on it, if you want to test some out first (his books are pretty expensive).

I have Artisan Breads Everyday and I like it a lot. The English muffins are really great! The recipes aren't vegan, but are so easy to veganise that it's not a big deal (basic stuff like switching out milk).

I've also been making the crusty no-knead bread from World Vegan Feast on a twice-weekly basis for the last few weeks. The recipe is really quick and easy and I highly recommend it. I haven't tried the other bread recipes in there yet, but the book as a whole is worth owning anyway!

i have gotten most of my bread recipes from the Fresh Loaf site- the awesome struan recipe, rye, and the cinnamon raisin that will make you cry, it's so good. http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/cin ... tmealbread

i also have the Healthy Artisan Bread book, just got it and made something, so far so good.

forgot to add, i do not have a stand mixer, nor the budget to purchase one. do Peter Reinhart's books offer instructions for just using a big bowl and a spoon?!

Yes they do. I think in most (if not all) cases it's better to use your hands, anyway, so that shouldn't be a problem.

I forgot about the fresh loaf. If you really get inspired, yeastspotting has a weekly list of blog posts on bread.

Yeah, I don't have a stand mixer either! Artisan Breads Everyday definitely has instructions for hand-kneading. I just use a hand mixer with dough hooks, though (it's pretty annoying to stand there holding it for like eight minutes, but it gets the job done).

A lot of Reinhart's recipes rely on the fact that letting dough sit overnight strengthens the gluten and so don't require much kneading at all. I have a food processor, which is currently in my mum's kitchen, and I very rarely used it to make bread dough. Cleaning the damned thing afterwards is usually more hassle than hand-mixing the dough.

I have both Peter Reinhart's and the Artisan Bread Everyday whole grain books. If you more or less know how to bake a loaf of bread, then I would favor Reinhart's book - it explains more, has vegan subs listed (ie if a recipe calls for milk, he'll list whichever plants milks he thinks are appropriate as options), and has whole grain variations of many traditional types of bread. The Artisan Bread whole grain book is ok but a little less vegan friendly and has more weird breads invented by the authors (which may be a plus for you, but wasn't what I was looking for).

I would also check out the recipes on the king arthur flour blog and recipe page - I've had great success with their no-knead harvest loaf and veganizing their english muffin bread.

I will add to the choir on Peter Reinhart. Also, if you want to try no-knead baking, the first ever bread I made was based on the Sullivan Street Bakery one which was popularized by the New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html

It's easy and gave me the confidence to bake my own bread more often. Here is a video at Breadtopia that takes you through it:
http://www.breadtopia.com/basic-no-knead-method/

I have Peter Reinhart's whole grain bread cookbook and love it. His technique results in the best whole grain breads I have ever baked, and I am a very experienced baker. I love that book!

I have both Jim Lahey's cookbooks (My Bread and My Pizza) and they're really interesting, although my first (and so far only - just got the book a bit ago) attempt at no-knead bread was too charred on the bottom.. it sounds like putting my cookie sheet under the dutch oven will fix this.

It's an oldie but a goodie, but I use the Better Homes & Gardens Bread book. I also have the Fannie Farmer Baking Book, which has recipes for anything you could want. I have a bread machine and make a lot in there by multiplying things to come out to ~4c flour. These aren't vegan books, but bread is usually close enough to vegan that the subs are obvious.

Another vote for Peter Reinhart!

I have Better Homes & Gardens All-Time Favourite Bread Recipes (1979). It was my introduction to homemade bread as a teenager and I still bake from it today.

I have to give a shout out to the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book. It taught me how to properly bake with whole grains and is one of my most used books ever. I've been baking with Laurel for over thirty years.

Cripes, I'm old.