I've been missing in action for awhile! I've just been so occupied with scratch cooking, baking and managing several Facebook groups I've neglected this blog! I thought it was long overdue to give this blog some attention! I have several entries in mind that I will try and post in the near future! Today I would like to do a book review!
I have a pretty extensive cook book collection. That's even after I went through and purged books that I haven't looked at in years! Some don't even relate to my cooking preferences now. It's always a good idea to review what you have on your bookshelves and if you have books that are not useful, pass it on to a cook who will make good use of it. I donated quite a few to our local library used book sale. I am sure there were customers there that were glad to buy them at bargain prices and the library will benefit from the sales too!
Making room on the shelf gave me more space for my personal recipe collection. I blogged in the past about creating a legacy cookbook. Collect favorite recipes in binders (or you can make them as a digital collection if you prefer). I have so many great recipes found online and received from friends. Organizing them into binders has helped me so much. I actually have several in different categories. http://malekmusings.weebly.com/blog/creating-a-legacy-cookbook
The cleared space on the shelves also allowed me to expand my book collection more related to my current passion, baking bread. I have a few that I bought new, but most I've found second hand in thrift stores and online. Even bread machine recipe books have great recipes!
Today's book review is for a favorite of mine. Bread (A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes) 2nd ed. written by Jeffrey Hamelman. I bought this book new after having a chance to review it when I checked it out from my local library. It's not a beginner's book. If that's what you are looking for, check out a book by Josey Baker. http://malekmusings.weebly.com/blog/josey-baker-bread-a-book-review . If you are looking to expand your baking knowledge and already have a good grasp of the basics of yeast baking...give this one a look. It could be for you!
Jeffrey Hamelman is a well known and respected baker. In fact, according to the book jacket, he is the bakery director at King Arthur Flour Company and teaches professional level classes there. He has written a very useful and thorough book that is well worth the investment.
This book has several "Parts". Part One covers ingredients and techniques. Part Two has recipes for a great variety of breads, from straight yeast baking, preferments, sourdough, and other types of breads. He also has great diagrams for braiding techniques and shaping methods. I made a handful of recipes from this book, and so far, they have turned out great! There is also very useful information on a variety of topics included in the book's appendix.
If you can get this book from the library first, do it. You can look it over and see if you are ready to move on to this moderate to advanced level of baking. If you like it, buy it. It's well worth having. It is available in your choice of digital or print format.
Visit Amazon for a sneak peek look inside.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B29XZVY/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?ie=UTF8&btkr=1#reader_B00B29XZVY
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1118132718/ref=rdr_ext_tmb
Here's some of my breads made with recipes from the book. Some are made as written and some with a bit of creative license. I like to use organic ingredients too.