Chocolate Challah

This one is a week late, (I have been out at a physics conference in Colorado), but better late than never.

One of my good friends had the first step of his medical boards last week, and so I baked him a loaf of chocolate challah (seen at left). A nice cake-like bread, braided like the traditional egg-bread, with chocolate chips and cocoa powder added. Typically dense and very moist. I baked it two days before the test- Hopefully everything went well for him-

I should catch up on the CSA stuff over the next few days, if moving doesn't consume all of my non-work hours-

Kris

Fourth of July Bread

Whats more patriotic than a big pile of bread, homemade for an outdoor grill out?

Around 4 pounds of fresh, slow fermented, Pan a l'Ancienne loafs- One of Amy (and my) favorite breads from The Bread Baker's Apprentice, and the first loafs to baked in her (now our) oven as we migrate away from cooking at my apartment. Hardy, chewy with a good balance between crust and crumb- simply quite delicious.

-Kris

CSA- Week 4

Lots of Greens this week-

In no particular order:

Lettuce, Garlic Scapes, Zucchini, Broccoli, Kale, Peas, Parsley, Basil

I have some fun ideas for the vegetables - Just finished off the turnips from a few weeks back mashed up with potatoes and served with garlic and parsley crusted chicken for dinner tonight.

For tomorrow, I am planning on some cumin beef with broccoli and tomatoes. The recipe comes from a book I just got for my birthday.

On the baking front, after some experimental breads, one which I dubbed a zucchini fudge foam (It looked somewhat bizarre, but tasted quite good, almost like a bread pudding),

I made a Portuguese Sweet Loaf. Should serve as good sandwich bread for lunches for the upcoming week.

Marble Rye-

Baked my first rye bread last night-Recipe from The Breadmaker's Apprentice-
Seems to have come out alright. Rather dense, same texture but different flavors from the light and dark doughs. This one might earn a spot in the daily bread rotation.

Turtle Bread

After Amy pointed me to an inspiring website, I decided to try my hand at bread sculpture. Instead of the Sourdough that Boudin Bakery uses (as they are from California, their choice of bread makes sense), I used the Challah recipe from The Bread Maker's Apprentice, replacing the sugar with honey. The dough shaped quite well, as you can see in the before and after shots below.

Suggestions for other animals?

-Kris