Sunday, January 10, 2010

Let there be bread...and pasta...and pizza..and jam?

I've inherited a bread machine. Thank you to the kind individual supplying my mother with this piece 10 years ago. At first, I was giddy with endless possibilities, then I read the manual. For me comprehending a bread machine manual is like taking a standardized test...

I am not a strong test taker. Note to self: use process of elimination.

Luckily, I am head-over-heels for a determined Italian with a ferocious appetite. While conducting my 15 minute tirade of dinner being completely ruined, and vowing to never bake bread again, Anthony salvaged tasty morsels of "toe."

I'm not sure if this is a universal term. In my family the crusty ends of bread are called toe. My world was shaken when someone questioned my use of the word. What else would we call it, crust? That's something entirely different and at times avoided by every child I have ever met, including myself for several rebellious years. Whatever the preference in expression may be we had just enough to compliment the pumpkin turkey chili I bookmarked while reading up on healthy winter recipes on Serious Eats.

The recipe was altered a tad. I omitted the cilantro, used some bacon salt (of course), mixed in tons of clove and added a dash or two or five of the banging rum hot sauce mi madre bought Anthony while on a cruise to Bermuda. We topped it with Canadian cheddar, a recommendation from the cheese-monger at Downtown Cheese. $6 for a quarter pound and so worth it. Complex in it's sharpness yet creamy, not like your typical Helluva cheese. I paired it with a 2007 Blue Mountain Vignoles. The sweet wine went well with the pumpkin and clove. Although, it did get a bit too sweet after the second glass :)

And then there was banana bread. Decadent chocolaty banano bread, pulling me out of the depression caused by the doughy monster birthed from my refusal to read directions. I do not know where I would be without quick breads. Probably throwing my new bread machine into the Schuylkill. Just kidding!

Side note: No bread machines were harmed in the blog post.

Final note: Days later a second batch of bread was successfully made and devoured within minutes of cooling. Perfect match for my roasted eggplant, tomato, and garlic ratatouille.

3 comments:

  1. You are hysterical. TOE????? My friend used to start her bread (cinnamon) the night before so her children would wake up to the smell.AAHH what working women won't do....

    K

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  2. In my circles, the end of the loaf of bread is called the heel. But... of course, a loaf has two ends, so it stands to reason, then, that the other end would be the toe... Seems legit to me!

    Kristina
    Sweetfern Handmade

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  3. Hmmm...the heel sounds oddly familiar. Mmmm, toasted heels and toes.

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