Synopses & Reviews
Maggie Glezer, the uniquely qualified, totally obsessed certified bread baker who teaches and writes about bread for both laypeople and professionals, set off across the country in pursuit of the best breads and best bakers in America. And she returned with the goods—impeccable recipes that reproduce the excellence and craft of the best breads being made today, scaled down and written for a home kitchen.
But in addition to the recipes, she offers sumptuous color photography and portraits of the bakers, in words and pictures, that tell the story of America's artisan bread movement, from the wheat breeders in Kansas to a gristmill in Rhode Island, and specialty bakers from Berkeley, California, to Long Island City, New York.
This is a book to bake from, to learn from, to read for the sheer pleasure of realizing the devotion and mastery that go into the making of our best daily bread, whether it be a dark rye, a Neapolitan pizza, a baguette, or a bialy.
Whether your interest is epicurean, avocational, or vocational, you will be guided by step-by-step instructions detailing the best professional methods. Each recipe is categorized by skill level from beginner to advanced, and there are also helpful mail-order sources for ingredients and equipment.
To savor the crust, crumb, and aroma of these breads fresh out of your home oven is to be touched by the soul of the specialty baker and his or her passion for excellence.
If these truly great breads don't lay waste to the old adage that man can't live by bread alone, then nothing will.
Review
andquot;
Prairie Home Breads is packed with interesting breads and fascinating stories from the Heartland. These unique, traditional breads should be lovingly made at home and shared with family and friends. You'll never find them in a bakery. Create your own baking traditions using Judith Fertig's inspiring recipes.andquot; --Amy Scherber, author of
Amy's Breads and owner of Amy's Breads, New York City
andldquo;Prairie Home Breads reminds me again of what it is that makes bread so specialandmdash;its ability to connect us to something deep inside. Whether a taste memory or that warm place of comfort, bread, and certainly these breads from our own prairie Heartland, expand our awareness of the universal implications of that simple, but infinitely profound, staff of life.andrdquo;andmdash;Peter Reinhart, author of The Bread Bakerandrsquo;s Apprentice and Bread Upon the Waters
andldquo;Prairie Home Breads is a deceptively humble title for a fascinating book of modern homemade breads infused with the flavor of yesteryear. Americaandrsquo;s Heartland has been almost a secret cache of enviable breadbakers and Judith Fertig has given us a taste: family recipes, bakery specialties, a sense of place, a whoandrsquo;s who on the baking scene. Maybe we donandrsquo;t grow our own wheat or churn our own butter anymore, but we can most certainly bake our own bread with the heart-to-heart soul of American bakers in every loaf.andrdquo;andmdash;Beth Hensperger, author of The Bread Loverandrsquo;s Bread Machine Cookbook and The Best Quick Breads
Synopsis
Glezer has traveled across America and persuaded the country's most gifted artisan bread makers to share their best recipes and techniques for home-baked breads. Along with recipes, the bakers tell the story of the artisan bread movement in America. 200 color and b&w photos.
Synopsis
Nothing is more satisfying than savoring the crust and aroma of truly great home-baked bread. Maggie Glezer has traveled across America and persuaded the country's most gifted artisan bread bakers to share their very best recipes and techniques so that home cooks can now reproduce sourdoughs, pizzas, corn breads, and baguettes that are truly out of this world.
Along with the recipes and the sumptuous photography, the fascinating portraits of the bakers tell the story of the artisan bread movement in America. Visit wheat breeders in Kansas, a gristmill in Rhode Island, and specialty bakers from Berkeley to Long Island City. Share the apprentice experience and visit a baking competition where Baking Team USA is selected. Glezer opens a window to a world never before revealed.
Synopsis
Prairie Home Breads proves that not only is the Midwest where Americaand#8217;s grains are grown, but itand#8217;s also where the art of bread baking is taken seriously.
To create these 150 recipes, Judith M. Fertig visited artisanal bakeries, working farmhouse kitchens, rural church suppers, urban bakeries, farmerand#8217;s markets, and typical home kitchens. She found yeast breads as varied as Amish Pinwheel Bread and Roasted Sweet Pepper Bread, as well as naturally leavened breads like Brewhouse Bread and whole grain breads like Northern Prairie Barley Bread. There are also buns and rolls, as well as quick biscuits, popovers, and crackers. Along with elegant tea breads and homey muffins there are scrumptious coffeecakes, kuchens, and strudels. Last but not least, there are recipes for accompaniments and for using up leftovers.
Prairie Home Breads is also filled with rich stories of ethnic and regional culture, agriculture, Midwestern culinary traditions, and warm celebrations of Heartland food.
About the Author
Ben Fink received his art education at the University of Memphis and Memphis college of Art. A freelance photographer since 1986, he has photographed for magazines such as
Saveur, Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, and
Scientific American. He lives in New York.
Maggie Glezer is an American Institute of Baking-certified baker. Her first book, Artisan Baking Across America: The Breads, the Bakers, the Best Recipes, won a James Beard Foundation award when it was published in hardcover. It is now available in paperback under the title Artisan Baking. Ms. Glezer is also the author of A Blessing of Bread. She specializes in teaching and writing about bread baking for amateurs and professionals and contributes to publications such as Fine Cooking, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the newsletter of the Bread Bakers Guild of America, and King Arthur Flour's The Baking Sheet. She lives in Atlanta with her husband and two children.
Table of Contents
BAKING BASICS
Ingredients, Equipment, and Techniques (3)
Breads by Category (20)
STARTING WITH FLOUR
The Soul of Bread (25)
Into the Wheat Fields (41)
Threshing Days (49)
Stone Grinding (57)
Roller Milling (71)
CRAFTING BREAD
Unraveling Sourdough (87)
In Praise of Pre-ferments (101)
A Very Small Artisan Bakery (109)
A Very Big Artisan Bakery (121)
A Baker's Wood-Fired Oven (129)
SPECIALTY BREADS
Old World Rye Breads (141)
A Neapolitan Pizzaiolo (151)
Pandoro: Patience's Reward (161)
A New York Bialy (169)
THE BAKING LIFE
A Baker's Training (179)
Following Tradition (197)
Competition Baking (207)
Sources (222)
Addresses (224)
Acknowledgments (226)
Index (229)