Some years ago, on a cooking trip to France, I bought every manner of French ingredient I could fit in my suitcase (removing the dirty clothes to an extra folded bag that came with me for this exact purpose). I visited gourmet markets, specialty traiteurs and big box grocery chains. It was marvelous. I tucked in jars of fine herbes, herbes de provence and a jar of quatre … [Read more...] about French Apple Hazelnut Loaf with Quatre Épices
bread
Celery Popovers
Popovers are sort of kitchen secret weapon. They are so easy to make but produce such impressive results. Watching the simple batter transform into fluffy sculptures is one of the glories of cooking. My sister-in-law was given a popover pan years ago and I used to ask her to make them all the time because I thought she had some special secret. She eventually got tired of my … [Read more...] about Celery Popovers
Brown Butter Bubble Bread
I like to call this bubble bread, particularly with the alliterative use of browned butter, but some people call it monkey bread. The sweet breakfast version was always a treat when I was a kid – I had a friend whose mom made it after sleepovers - but that version used canned biscuit dough. It never really occurred to me that you could do it from scratch until a few years ago. … [Read more...] about Brown Butter Bubble Bread
Herbed Focaccia Dinner Rolls
If you search through the bread recipes on this site, you will see that it maps out my quest to bake fresh bread without too much effort. I am not one who is going to carefully nurse starters or delicately knead and form stylish loafs of artisan breads. The mysteries of yeast sometimes elude me. I love a shortcut, but I do love the smell of fresh bread baking and the sense of … [Read more...] about Herbed Focaccia Dinner Rolls
Pumpkin Popovers with Sage Browned Butter Spread
Sometimes, there is so much prep for a Thanksgiving meal, that the bread basket is left as an afterthought. But I think that is a shame, because there is a lot of scope in a simple bread. I’ve traditionally gone full Southern with Pumpkin Sage Biscuits or Sweet Potato Angel Biscuits. This time however, I am inspired by my sister-in-law, who makes great popovers, and she has … [Read more...] about Pumpkin Popovers with Sage Browned Butter Spread
