The Village Baker

I've had this copy of the The Village Baker by Joe Ortiz for years. It is now out of print and the prices reflect that scarcity. A friend of ours left bread on our porch last month and I pulled out this book to try to make some bread of my own. I'm no great cook. I don't like to cook. I do like to bake, though. Cookies and both quick breads and kneaded breads are my favorites. My all-time favorite baking book is the Fannie Farmer Baking Book, also no longer in print. 

The Village Baker has several recipes have you begin by making a poolish, a wet sponge. I picked a recipe that included whole wheat flour and started with a poolish. I used the liner from my medium-sized Crock-Pot to hold my sponge while it did it's thing overnight. 

In the morning it was a bubbly delight to uncover. 

I added the rest of the ingredients and kneaded the dough. Greased the stainless steel mixing bowl and covered for the next rise. 

The next rise went quickly and the dough easily doubled. 

Some more kneading and into the loaf pans they went. 

Some slashes and into the oven. 

Finally, onto the cooling rack. They aren't fancy but I made bread. This recipe was simple to follow with very simple ingredients. I used some for my tuna salad sandwich at work. It was delightful. I don't think I'll work so hard to make a good crust, though. Hard crust just isn't for me. 

I will have to pull out my copy of the Fannie Farmer Baking Book to see if she shared any fun breads that start with a sponge.

Books and supplies (affiliate links):
The Village Baker by Joe Ortiz
Fannie Farmer Baking Book
Crock-Pot
stainless steel mixing bowl
loaf pans
cooling rack