I am always somehow astonished at how much people love just baked bread.

When I had Mistress Augustine’s on a Friday and Saturday night we always baked two lots of bread. One just before service and one during, the second round slow proving in the coolroom.

One night I dropped a tray of the second, mid-service batch on the floor and was brought to a levelling point with a bitter complaint from an elderly Italian who had been brought in for dinner by his children. He was very angry that we had run out of bread, and when I explained that I had dropped a tray and that it took time to recover making a new batch during service he was unimpressed.

“You could have picked it up from the floor, you were baking, and no one would have known”. Holy shit. he may have been right, but I wasn’t up for something going wrong and the health department being called in.

There’s only one thing to remember about yeast baking…there is no specific timeline. When a recipe says doubled, get a texta and mark your bowl and be patient.

Many of our bread recipes are the generous recipes of others. In particular, New York baker Jim Lahey, the late Greg Malouf and others. Sure oer the years they may have been tweaked ever so slightly, but without their base recipes we would have never got to the end road.

Click on the left image below to go straight to the recipe. There is so much more to come, at least another half a dozen recipes.

updated AO 23 novEmBER 2024

jim Lahey
no knead
bread

Jim Lahey’s from new york’s sullivan street bakery…no-knead bread. Absolutely brilliant recipe and does not require an electric mixer to make.
this bread can be baked in a dutch oven, or terracotta, but I usually choose to just akes loaves and bake them straight onto baking sheets
above the loaves are just floured but for a nicer, crunchier crust, I like to dust them with coarse polenta

our basic
white
bread

this was our go-to bread at mistress augustine’s…above limited flour and sashed loaves
dinner rolls seventy grams, brushed with egg yolk and either lain or dipped in poppy seed
the same bread yet another variation, this time lightly floured, randomly rolled and brushed with beaten egg white

light rye

STILL QUITE DENSE BUT MOIST AND TASTY AND KEEPS QUITE WELL…GREAT FOR SANDWICHES AND TOASTED FOR CANAPÉS
VERY EASY TO MANAGE AND SHAPE INTO ANY BREAD FORM YOU FANCY…IF I KNOW I AM USING IT FOR SANDWICHES OF THE ELEGANT TYPE I USE MY LIDDED JAPANESE BREAD TINS
YES YOU HAVE TO BE OBSESSED, BUT THIS IS ALL INTHE PREP AND SERVED ON TOASTED RYE WITH A DAB OF MAYONNAISE AND A LITTLE BIT OF FINELY CHOPPED SHALLOT MARINATED IN LEONARDI WHITE BALSAMIC…IT’S HEAVENLY! 

molasses
rye
bread

the molasses rye is a personal favourite, dense and delicious it does not cut well when it’s straight from the oven. It can be toasted but I prefer it plain and buttered
a lot of bakers will scoff at the idea of oiling and flouring tins, but I like to ensure my bread comes out perfectly
SIMPLE, BUTTERED, SOOME DRAINED FISH CONSERVA, RED ONION AND EGG YOLK

greg
malouff
pide
bread

MY KITCHEN WOULD BE LOAST WITHOUT THIS VERY VERSATILE BREAD…REGARDLESS OF HOW IT’S FORMED IT’S ALWAYS A WINNER
CLASSIC PIDE BREAD FORMATION, DEEP INDENTATIONS YOUR BEST EXTRA VIRGIN AND A SCATTERING OF SEA SALT
MY FIRST CHOICE FOR MEZEZ STYLE STARTERS OR JUST AFTERNOON DRINKS, TOASTED IT’S BRILLIANT

butter
milk
sour
dough

THIS ONE IS NOT MADE SO OFTEN BUT STARTS WITH THE BUTTERMILK FROM MAKING OUR OWN BUTTER
QUITE A SOLID DOUGH IT’S EASY TO FORM AND THE HARDEST THING ABOUT THIS BREAD IS TO BE PATIENT WITH THE PROVING
SUPER CRUSTY THE CENTRE IS LESS DENSE THAT YOU MIGHT EXPECT…KEEPS WELL FOR TOAST

japonese haikodo
bread

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PICTURED ABOVE VINTAGE BREAD
whilst this bread is traditionally made from the first grapes of vintage, it is delicious made with any type of fresh grape
click on the image to go to the recipe

there's so much
to come

The exploration of yeast takes more than one lifetime, probably more than three. I have been cooking professionally for forty five years and I know I will never reach the end.

With yeast comes so many memories of cooks I have loved and respected, and only a few of them professional chefs or bakers.

If I ever make piroski, the late Mrs Rozenberg’s recipe I caress the dough and remember her words. “The dough must feel like a little baby’s bottom.” The truth is I know nothing about a baby’s bottom, but I can guess from her wonderful dough.

Ben Shewry [Attica Melbourne], in his recent book “Uses for Obsession” railed against anyone using his recipes. I find this frankly ridiculous. Every one of my recipes has its root in a recipe from someone else, and I do my best to honour that by keeping their name on the recipe.

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