Roasted Onion and Asiago Miche

Roasted Onion and Asiago Miche

Here it is November 12, 2014, and I just realized that I never posted the last bread in the challenge.  I did indeed bake this bread at the end of the year in 2010, but I just never posted it.

Here is what I remember about this bread.  It was good. The onions were difficult to deal with, and it doesn't look as good as I would like, but it had good flavor.

Here are the pics:

#42 Potato, Cheddar, and Chive Torpedo

A Bit Misshapen, but Oh, So Tasty!

Close-Up of the Pockets of Cheese

A Little Still Life

Cheese spilling out of the loaf - yum!

#41 Whole Wheat Bread

Whole Wheat Bread

It has been a while, admittedly, but as I recall, many of my fellow BBA bakers were not exactly crazy about this particular bread, so I was somewhat wary as I approached it. Much to my surprise, though I loved it! I should probably state, however, that I do love whole grain breads. In fact, one reason it took me so long to finish the challenge was that I kept taking detours back to my favorite whole wheat bread.

This is at least equal with that bread; in fact, it may possibly have edged it out a bit, because it has such great flavor.

#40 - White Bread

Sourdough Baguettes and White Bread Shaped into Dinner Rolls

This white bread recipe was decidedly better than my first white bread recipe, which was my first bread-baking attempt some 38 years ago. This recipe made wonderful rolls. I made them for my birthday party in November. They went very well with the turkey meatballs and sauce. After the party, we froze those that were left. That was a great idea, and since they thawed out so quickly, whenever I wanted a fresh roll, I just popped one into the microwave for a few seconds and had fresh hot bread at a moment's notice. Wonderful!

While I vastly prefer whole wheat bread, if I need basic white bread, this will be my go-to recipe.

In the Oven

The Finished Rolls

# 39 Vienna Bread

Gorgeous!

Yes, these loaves of Vienna bread are absolutely beautiful, but far too sweet for my taste. The little boys next door loved them though. I like my bread to taste like bread, not cake. The Tuscan bread was similar, but had that great Italian flavor, much more to my liking.

Beauty

The Finished Loaves

#38 - Tuscan Bread

This time, the beauty of the loaf matches the texture and the flavor - fabulous!

I am currently re-reading the first section of Elizabeth Gilbert's great book, Eat Pray Love, in which the author spends four months in Italy learning how to live life the Italian way - in pursuit of "Il bar far niente," in English, "The beauty of doing nothing." Although she doesn't exactly do nothing - she eats - and writes about what she eats - quite well. Almost as well as Steinbeck writes about food.

This bread, in my imagination, has me sitting in a trattoria in Rome or in Florence, ripping off a chunk to accompany a lovely pasta with a robust tomato sauce, redolent with garlic and herbs. It is a somewhat salty loaf, which somehow translates to Tuscany in my nascent Italian vocabulary.

A great loaf, and since I cook a lot of Italian food, I imagine this one gracing my bread basket many, many times.

The Close-Up

The Finished Loaves

# 37 - Swedish Limpa

Looks good, I know. But its good looks belie its flavor.

This one was just okay. Not stellar, by any rating scale - just okay. I had one slice and gave the rest away. But with 43 breads, they can't all be winners like the Poilane style miche, which, by the way two weeks later - thawed from the freezer - still makes the best toast - ever.

The Extreme Close-up

The Finished Loaf