THE IRONWEED KITCHEN
40. BREAD RULES
Look at these beautiful loaves. Our community is so fortunate to be the home of a baker with such skill and uncompromising integrity.
My first encounter with Shelby Kibler, master baker, was memorable. He passed me a beautiful loaf of sourdough. It was still warm from one of his wood-fired brick ovens and I just wanted to tear off a hunk and get after it.
I’m certain, by the grin on his face, that my enthusiasm was appreciated. At least, that’s what I meant to convey. Unfortunately, things headed south in a hurry when I asked Mr. Kibler if this stunningly gorgeous loaf of Italian Sourdough could be sliced.
What came over his face was unadulterated contempt. I actually thought he was going to forcibly take it back rather than suffer the indignation and humiliation of trading with such a rube.
Fortunately, his memory for faces is not so keen as subsequent encounters have been just fine. I was, and remain grateful to be reminded by this fellow artisan, of the necessity of uncompromising integrity in one’s work and that our standards, to insure excellence, must always meet our own benchmark.
Mr. Kibler bakes for himself, not for me. This is what I refer to as “Bread Rules”. He would no more bend or compromise his principles than he would jump over the moon which is why he deserves the support of our community. It helps that he is probably the finest baker in America and apparently I’m not the only one who believes that.
Carol Ann and I also have bread rules.
• On those occasions when we do enjoy a loaf of bread, it must come from Mr. Kibler’s Field and Fire Bakery.
• Always sourdough – that’s all he does.
• No whole grain (may contribute to leaky gut).
• No two loaves ever look the same.
• Full of air pockets and holes.
• Must be baked in wood fired brick ovens.
• All ingredients must be hand selected and organic.
Just like everyone else, Carol Ann and I have always considered bread to be a staple. In our later years though, we have reconsidered this assumption and now choose to eat bread only on occasion or special circumstances.
When doing a bread thing seems right, we make a big deal of it because it’s going to be the centerpiece of a meal. This means that the day and hour we go to Mr. Kibler’s bakery is on the calendar and the accompaniments are available and at hand. Typically this means just wine and cheese.
About ten minutes prior to serving (this is a rule), whomever will be participating in the meal must be ready to indulge because timing is everything when bread rules the moment.
I’m happy to demonstrate how Carol Ann and I prepare a loaf of Mr. Kibler’s bread for such an occasion.
With the few photos that follow, I will reveal the simple techniques I use for developing an explosively crispy crust and a hot, tender and moist treasure inside. In practically every instance I serve either a baguette or a tordu.
Note: I tend towards the tordu which is more rustic in appearance and texture.
Before you move on, please scroll back to the two loaves in the opening photograph. The larger loaf is the tordu (translated in French as “twisted”). The smaller is the baguette. Both are perfect examples of a wood fired oven bread prepared by a master baker.
Aren’t those magnificent loaves? Fortunately, I spotted this particular baguette, whose crust had gone slightly over the edge, and quickly laid claim to it. Bread (toast) with some char is highly esteemed in this household.
Please don’t cut your baguette or tordu with a knife. I always use kitchen scissors by just cutting the crust and not the inner loaf. A knife will crush the bread no matter how sharp.
I began by cutting this baguette in half for a single meal. The other half I’ll wrap in plastic wrap, put into a baggie for another time. Bread freezes so nicely.
Note: In this close-up you will see how clean the cut is and that nothing has been crushed or smushed. That is impossible to do with a knife.
Bread without holes is fake bread.
Look at the holes and look at the structure of the crust. If your baker’s baguette is not full of holes, it’s a fake baguette and not worth eating. If you can’t find such a bread in your area, do research, complain or learn how to make your own. There is simply no reason to compromise on something as heavenly as a great baguette.
Before I serve our bread it is returned to the oven for its re-birth back into a near state of “bread” perfection. Almost as if we just took it out of the oven.
Note: This method of restoration works to revive even bread which you may think is past saving.
The first thing I do is to pre-heat the oven to 375º with the rack in the middle.
I’m using this water filled bowl, rather than the kitchen sink faucet, to demonstrate how to prepare the loaf for the oven.
The object is to develop a thick and explosively crunchy crust while driving steam into the loaf to restore or resuscitate the bread to its near original state – just as it came out of the baker’s oven.
I do this by thoroughly wetting the crust, typically under the faucet. In this instance, I’m using a bowl of water to demonstrate. I am not simply dampening the crust. I am wetting the crust. The object is to end up with an explosive crust crunch and a sensual and moist inside with absolutely no sogginess. This is how its done.
As with all things, too little is useless and too much is too much. You will learn how wet to get a loaf. My experience has proven that a thorough wetting works just fine. However, I do confess that I have had no experience wetting a crappy loaf of bread and cannot attest to the result that may occur.
Important: Do not take it out of the oven if there is any give when the crust is squeezed. It should be firm and not squeezable. When I believe it’s time to take the loaf out of the oven, I give it another minute or so to make certain that the crust is explosive.
This half loaf just came out of the oven. Notice I am holding the end with a towel and cutting lengthwise both on top and the bottom. Then I’m going to cut up the two long halves in smaller pieces.
Ripping is also a legitimate and desirable way to handle breads like this. It all depends on what’s being served with it. Ripping does tend to squash the soft innards and I usually prefer that it remain intact so I can do the squashing with my teeth rather than my hands. It’s all about personal preference.
Like this.
And like this.
Ending like this.
A note of explanation: This bread exercise took place during my Really Risotto essay 39. The plan was to do a carbohydrate blowout by serving both a risotto AND a baguette at the same sitting. However, after cutting up the bread, Carol Ann and I couldn’t contain ourselves and opened a bottle of wine, grabbed the EVO and goat butter and went out on the deck and finished off the bread while it was hot.
The risotto was terrific without the baguette, by the way.
MORE IRONWEED KITCHEN ESSAYS
37. lamb & eggs
38. chicken stock from the barbie
39. really risotto
40. bread rules
41.eggs, hash & coffee
42. cannellini soup
43. lemon guacamole
44. smokey salsa verde
Thanks for visiting with me.
Paul V’Soske
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