Recommended Books


Breadmaking
Robertson, Laurel et al., The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book. New York: Random House, 1984.
This book covers it all, from milling your own flour to building your own oven. Especially helpful is the section on using sponges to time rising to suit your schedule. Many interesting recipes like black bean bread with raisins (everyone raves about this one.) Includes quick breads--all whole grain.
I don't agree with everything in this book, but there is no other resource like it.

Alford, Jeffrey and Naomi Duguid, Flatbreads & Flavors, a baker's atlas. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1984
Breads from around the world: bagels, lavash, pita, focaccia, dosa, etc., etc., etc.

Silverton, Nancy, Nancy Silverton's Breads From The La Brea Bakery.New York: Villard, 1996
I don't know why I waited so long to get this book. It's terrific--very creative breads with careful descriptions of procedures. Don't be intimidated by the 2 and 3 day recipes. They're actually quite manageable, especially for working people. And feel free to use your own good starters in place of hers. You don't have to start from scratch with crushed grapes and flour. Now I can bake at home those La Brea Breads I could never afford except as "day old" at half price.

Bread Machines

You may have noticed that I know nothing about bread machines. So how can I recommend books about them? I can't. These recommendations come from my e-mail friend Deborah Bell in Kansas City, Missouri. Deborah, like me, began baking bread 30 years ago using the Joy Of Cooking; she now finds it less messy and easier to use bread machines at least part of the time. She heartily recommends these two books:

Eckhardt, Linda West and Diana Collingwood Butts, Rustic European Breads From Your Bread Machine. 1995 "The breads I've tried were VERY European and VERY rustic - heavy, even - but the taste is great. They do a lot with sponges and various other types of homemade starters. You can make a very sticky bread in a bread machine if you want to. Usually they are done (in this book) on the dough setting and then shaped and baked."

Rehberg, Linda & Lois Conway, Bread Machine Magic. "Is very good for general bread machine breads. It's a paperback, definitely still available."

Other Baking

Malgieri, Nick, How To Bake. New York: HarperCollins, 1995
Encyclopedic, with beautiful photographs. Much about bread, but cakes, etc. also.

Barenbaum, Rose Levy, The Cake Bible. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1988
An apt title; this is everything you need to know about cakes (broadly defined to include quick breads.) There's a special section for professionals and passionate amateurs with large scale recipes. See also her other books: A Passion For Chocolate, Meltingpot

Other Cookbooks

Witty, Helen, Fancy Pantry. New York: Workman Publishing Co., 1986
From the author of Better Than Store-Bought, elegant homemade delicacies with which to stock your pantry: fresh ginger jelly; hazelnut noodles; tapenade. I won a blue ribbon using her Ultimately Cheesy Cheddar Bread recipe.

Vegetarian

Sahni, Julie, Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking. New York: William Morrow and Co., 1985
This is a good beginner's guide to Indian cooking with menus, sources by state; glossaries of equipment and ingredients; recipes from many Indian States.

Wagner, Lindsay and Ariane Spade, The High Road To Health. New York: Prentice Hall Press, 1990.
Good vegan recipes with menus; many recipes for making meat substitutes.

Magazines

Cook's Illustrated
This excellent bimonthly contains no advertising. A typical article summarizes the experiments that led to the recipes. I like to know the role of each ingredient. Cook's Illustrated always tells me this. Also included are product and equipment tests. This magazine is becoming more widely available. Keep your eyes open for it.

Sources For Bread Making Supplies

Please tell me about your favorite books.
bf940@lafn.org

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