16 Comments
Jun 12, 2023Liked by Andrew Janjigian

That peel-apart instant film image looks EXTREMELY cool. This weekend I baked a loaf of bread I've baked dozens of times (Ken Forkish's standard loaf, from Evolutions in Bread) and uh, I guess I need reading glasses more than I thought I did, because I used 580 grams instead of 380, and then spent some time trying to fix it, and it was a good exercise is bread-baking intuition (trying to fix it) but the resulting loaf was pretty mediocre.

Also, every time I see anything about Night Moves Bread I get so excited. Her new bakery is a 10-minute walk from my house and I am super excited about it. Every time I walk by with my dog I press my face against the window.

Expand full comment

That last sentence reminds me of the scene in Victor Victoria, with Julie Andrews’ face pressed against the restaurant window while someone’s eating spaghetti. ☺️

Expand full comment

It's exactly that, except it's watching the ovens get installed and once talking to a guy mixing joint compound, who told me all about the espresso machines. So essentially exactly the same as Julie Andrews, yes! 😂

Expand full comment

Ha ha ha.. that cracks me up because that would be me, exactly! Nose pressed up, seeing the changes, wondering what’s going in that new space, interrogating, I mean, interviewing anyone working on it, because, you know, inquiring minds want to know!

Expand full comment
author

I'm going to visit NMB next week for a sneak preview!

Expand full comment
Jun 15, 2023Liked by Andrew Janjigian

This is extremely exciting news! For me, personally. What if they're like, "yeah, we know there's interest in the community because every few days this lady with a dog flattens herself against our front windows trying to spy on us."

Expand full comment
author

I'll ask them lol

Expand full comment

the peel image is brilliant! i vote for more for your book! thank you for all your hard work!!

Expand full comment

Baked. A lot. A loaf of yeast-based rye bread that turned out well. I live in a rye bread desert. A dozen amazing commercial bakeries around the Bay Area and not a loaf of European style rye to be had. Acme (Steve Sullivan) makes a good NY rye but our local shops don’t carry it any more.

Since I hauled out the yeast & flours for bread, might as well make pizza dough, so 1 batch split between rye & whole wheat. A nice last-minute pizza last night: mix up a base of farmer’s/ricotta/fromage blanc + crème fraîche + parm, seasoned with nutmeg, black pepper & maras chile. Sautéed shallots & mushrooms, salted capers (soaked & drained); finish with fresh thyme, parm, pine nuts & parsley.

Tried out Deb Perelman’s Rhubarb Snacking Cake and, oh boy, that’s a winner! Another one is from her new book, Smitten Kitchen Keepers, a Blueberry Pancake Cobbler. I’ll never go back to biscuity topping again! And weirdly, it really does taste like pancakes with blueberry sauce!

And... a kouign amman. Not the precious little individual ones so rampant these days, but a multi-serve 9” version like I had in France. This was going swimmingly and excitement was at pitch fever. My last turn before shaping and baking, and oh my! A dog emergency. As in, “Hey the dog got into the compost and is dragging chicken bones all over the place!” Damn. Ok. You know what comes next, right? Yup. Threw the dough in the fridge. Twenty minutes later, it’s a ragged mass of weeping, torn goo. Ack. Scooped it into the tin and baked it off anyway. While still delicious, it loses all layers and flakes and becomes more bready. I’ll use it as a base for a raspberry bread pudding later this week.

Expand full comment

Wow cool! I finally fed my dried starter and should be ready to bake by tomorrow morning.

Expand full comment

I did a test run of Canneles! They actually turned out really great! I’ll probably be adding them to my bakery menu sooner than later. Brought back so many memories of Bordeaux. ♥️

Also made a couple of tavern style pizzas. Did the traditional Italian sausage and giardiniera. Soooo good!

Expand full comment

Which film are you using? (My partner worked at Polaroid.)

Expand full comment
author

This is Fuji FP-100c. I have some Polaroid, but it's very expired at this point, so we'll see if any of it is useful.

Expand full comment

If I remember correctly, the Fuji is more saturated than the Polaroid equivalent.

Expand full comment

Love your photos!

As to what I got up to this weekend-- it’s definitely not baking. The weather was too nice and I’ve got a stash of sourdough loaves in the freezer to get through. So I went cycling (lots) and also did some evening photography around Battersea Park in South London 😄

Expand full comment