Bread Spread

Bread lovers should be in heaven today.The New York Times Dining section is entirely devoted to the staff of life.This is a great edition with drool worthy pictures and interesting stories about bread makers.All the greats from Pete Wells to David Tanis weigh in .There's even a tasty recipe for a sweet and savory butter to slather on the slice of your choice. One of the best articles of the issue is the one written by Dining regular Jeff Gordonier.He wrote about the return of true artesanal bread with bakers harking back to ancient methods of fermenting the dough first.There a big push also to return to grains that have almost been forgotten.Bakers such as Peter Endriss of Brooklyn"s Runner And Stone is influenced by his German roots where bread has a deep brownish black hue and rye flour is liberally used.His almond croissant is not a golden sticky bar but a crescent that is gnarled and mahogany in color.Another bread maker,the Finnish Simo Kuusisto of nearby Nordic Bakery creates a dark chewy rye, the kind of loaf he grew up on.There is definitely a movement that these men are a part of ,that is to go back to an era when bread wasn't a cookie cutter loaf with a spongey middle and an embarrassing, mushy crust.Spelt and kamut along with stone ground whole-wheat .The one country not into this are the Japanese who make a delicious sounding milk bread that begins with a flour and whole milk starter.The results are perfectly square loaves with buttery golden crusts.There is even a pictorial featuring the best breads of New York City. The bread issue also includes recipes(including the Japanese milk bread one above)There is a recipe from San Francisco's famed Tartine Bakery.Baker Chad Robertson creates a chewy, crusty loaf .The key is how its kneaded with the dough being folded into a kind of envelope .Of course there is the untraditional addition of rice flour to the recipe mostly as the layer that will be for the crust. Florence Fabricant also contributes her recipe ,an earthy walnut and whole wheat one, sweetened with maple syrup.Any of these would work well with the aforementioned savory butter.This is from Melissa Clark in the Restaurant Takeaway column, It involves adding chicken fat to butter along with a tablespoon of maple syrup.Bay leaf is also added for zing .Ms. Clark also contributes a spaghetti recipe made with bread crumbs, egg yolks and anchovies.She heartily recommends making your own crumbs, using the heels of stale Italian and French loaves.The bread crumbs are good for other recipes too, from stuffed mushrooms to coating veggies for frying.She also has another article about homemade English muffins.This is a must save although the recipe is labor intensive.David Tanis of A City Kitchen gives us his recipe for the perfect slice of toasted bread.The best one is one made from a baguette. he takes a slice and rubs olive oil and garlic,Spanish style on both sides.He also recommends rubbing a fresh sliced tomato too for a tangier taste.Imagine this with a salad Nicoise or a fragrant bouillabaisse. The brewed issue is definitely a must save.It has some of the best recipes from actual loaves to bread centric ones.Try them for a change from the ordinary store bought ones.