no-knead bread by ingredient weight

I did a cursory google search for "no knead bread ingredients by weight," but didn't find a good reference for the standard (3.5 cups/flour) loaf I usually make, so I weighed it out as I measured it tonight. in case anyone else here also prefers to bake by ingredient weight, here's what I came up with:

• flour (bread flour or all-purpose): 15-3/4 oz or 450 grams
• water: 1 oz 1-1/4or 320 grams
• kosher salt (I use Diamond Kosher salt, which measures a bit differently than Morton's): 1/8 oz or 7 grams
• active dry yeast (I use Red Star): 1/4 teaspoon (don't bother trying to weigh that; it won't register) 

it's so much simpler to just put the bowl on my scale, zero it out, put in the flour, zero it out, put in the water, zero it out, etc., plus I don't have to wash measuring cups that way. so laziness is my main motivator.

try this pumpkin bread recipe from Baking Bites! you won't regret it.

so tonight, I decided to try a pumpkin bread recipe from Baking Bites, and yes! I am so glad I did. I don't think I've ever tried one of Nicole Weston's clearly brilliant recipes before, but I definitely will be checking out many more of them in the near future. when I first spied her recipe for one-bowl pumpkin bread with toasted pepitas, I knew I had to try it. it just sounded so scrumptious, yet was simple enough to mix up all in one bowl.

I did make a few changes, as is my wont, and while they worked out well, I have no doubt the recipe as written will come out perfectly as well. my changes: I baked a double batch, since I didn't want to store half a can of pumpkin puree. the cans I bought were 15 oz cans, so instead of a full 8 oz cup of pumpkin per loaf, I used 7.5 oz each and it was no problem at all. because I prefer its nutritional profile, I used melted butter rather than vegetable oil. to keep the one-bowl integrity of the recipe, I simply started it off my melting the butter in the bowl in the microwave. other minor changes: I used my own homemade pumpkin pie spice (using this super-easy and delicious recipe from The Kitchn. lastly, I didn't have coarse sugar on hand to sprinkle on top of the loaves before baking, so when they were about halfway done, I spooned a somewhat-uneven, rather sparse layer of white sugar over the loaves to form a crunchy, sweet topping that partially glazed for that touch of extra sweetness.

the results? incredible. make the recipe exactly as written, or customize it to your ingredients/preferences -- there are several variations suggesting in the recipe, or you can wing it (as long as you're comfortable with making successful substitutions in baking recipes). you're sure to be quite pleased with this pumpkin bread. it is now "my" pumpkin bread -- the recipe I'll be making for years to come.

when you try it, please leave me a note and let me know how yours came out! for now, I will focus on mustering up the willpower to wait until tomorrow morning for another piece. wish me luck!

orange poppyseed bread

most of the recipes I've seen for this sweet, light tea bread call for artificial butter flavoring and lemon extract, neither or which are ideal ingredients, IMO. also, most of those recipes make two loaves, and I only want to bake one at a time. it's easy enough to double the recipe if you want an extra loaf.

for the bread:

• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk (just about any kind of milk will work; I used homemade almond milk, because it's what I had on hand)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon fresh orange (or lemon) zest
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (spoon into measuring cup and level off to get an accurate measure)
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 1/2 cup coconut oil*, warmed so it's liquid (I used refined, but if you want the flavor of regular coconut oil in this, feel free to use it)

for the glaze:

• 2 tablespoons orange (or lemon) juice
• 1/3 cup confectioner's sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh orange (or lemon) zest
• a tiny pinch of salt

preheat oven to 350 degrees F. butter a 9" by 5" loaf pan. in a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, sugar, citrus zest and vanilla. measure the flour and baking powder into a sifter or fine mesh sieve, and sift it into the liquid mixture. whisk just to combine. add the salt, then pour in the coconut oil while whisking to incorporate -- this prevents it from solidifying when it hits cool ingredients (which is why I never try to mix it into the eggs and milk first). mix just until combined, without lumps, but don't over-beat. pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 45-55 minutes; until lightly browned. a toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean. place on a rack to cool.

in a small bowl, whisk the citrus juice, confectioner's sugar, zest and salt until sugar is dissolved. this will make a relatively thin glaze. while the bread is still warm, gently poke holes in the loaf at even intervals (about 1" apart), then spoon about half of the glaze over, distributing fairly evenly. allow a minute for the glaze to be absorbed, then spoon the remainder over. after the last bit of glaze has been absorbed, remove the bread from the loaf pan (I ran a butter knife around the edges to be sure it wouldn't stick, then placed a plate over the top of the loaf pan and inverted it, then flipped the loaf over so it ended up right-side-up). allow to cool. slice to serve.

this should keep for a few days at room temperature, covered.

*note: I'm especially perplexed at other recipes' use of imitation butter flavor, because I think the flavor of butter interferes with the floral citrus and toasty poppyseed notes here. refined coconut oil adds no scent or flavor, which is how I prefer it, but the tropical scent of regular coconut oil would be an interesting change of pace. butter just isn't the right flavor here for my tastebuds. however, if butter is the right flavor for you, substitute a stick of melted, unsalted butter for the coconut oil.

Thanksgiving dressing (the good stuff): UPDATED for extra deliciousness

like many of the best holiday dishes, this is an amalgam of recipes from family, friends, things I learned in my former life as a chef and a few twists of my own. and like all the best recipes, it changes just a little every year. dressing is extremely malleable and customizable, so don't be afraid to change it up, add/subtract ingredients, make it your own. that said, I want to give you a recipe rather than just the general idea, so here's what I made this time.

start by baking three different breads (my recipes are linked below):

1. buttermilk cornbread, made with brown butter (see the brown butter batter bread recipe notes for directions to make it) in which I sauteed about 1/4 of an onion, plus a tablespoon of finely chopped fresh sage, 4-5 good slugs of Tabasco and 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
2. brown butter batter bread
3. biscuits (one day I'll publish my own recipe, but today I made them with Pioneer Buttermilk Biscuit Mix, and they were wonderful. just promise me you won't use canned biscuit dough, if you can avoid it -- the baking mix is just as easy and bakes pretty great biscuits). I made a batch from 3 cups of baking mix and 1 cup of milk.

after you bake each kind of bread, cool it, crumble coarsely and toast in baking pans in an oven heated to 400 degrees F for anywhere from 15-25 minutes -- you want to dry it out a bit (to avoid soggy dressing) and get the crumbles golden brown. I do all of this -- baking and toasting -- the day before. dressing tastes better when the bread is a day old.

by the way, baking all that bread will give you enough stuffing for an enormous crowd, but it doesn't make sense to bake a half loaf of bread, so once I got to this point, I took out about 3 quarts of the bread crumbs and froze them for future use. you can totally skip baking the biscuits if you don't want to deal with too many extra crumbs (though I find those crumbs useful for topping casseroles, making croutons, etc). one note re: making extra veloute (white sauce/gravy): you'll have the base for your turkey gravy all ready -- all you'll have to do is add turkey drippings after you roast the bird; very easy & very delicious. I highly recommend this time-saving method.

• 3-4 quarts of the aforementioned crumbled, toasted breads -- about half of the total if you bake full batches of all the breads
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter
• 4 tablespoons schmaltz, a.k.a. rendered chicken fat (if you don't have this on hand, substitute an equal amount of butter)
• 1 large or 2 small yellow onions, chopped finely (shallots would be lovely here, too)
• 4-6 stalks celery, chopped finely
• 1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped finely (or 1 teaspoon dried, rubbed sage)
• 1-2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped finely (or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme)
• 1/2-3/4 teaspoon dried poultry seasoning, to taste
• freshly ground pepper, to taste
• salt to taste
• 2-3 medium carrots, peeled and diced finely
• 1 bunch green onions, cleaned and sliced thinly
• 1/4 cup of finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup heavy cream or half-and-half
• 1 small bay leaf
• pinch of nutmeg
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

*this is the best dressing I've ever tasted, at least so far!

combine the breads in a large bowl, stirring together lightly (keep it a bit fluffy). use 3 tablespoons each of the butter and schmaltz (or 6 tablespoons of butter, if you're not using schmaltz) to saute the onions with a pinch of salt and about 1/3 each of the sage and thyme until tender, translucent and golden brown, seasoning as you cook with a bit of freshly ground black pepper and some poultry seasoning. when done, set aside 2 tablespoons of the sauteed onions in a small bowl, and scrape out all the rest of the pan into the bowl of breads. in the same pan, do the same with the celery, sauteeing w/the same amount of butter and schmaltz (or just butter), a pinch of salt, and 1/3 each of the sage and thyme -- everything you did with the onions, including adding 2 tablespoons of the sauteed celery to the bowl with the reserved onions, then adding the rest to the big dressing bowl. add 3 tablespoons more butter/schmaltz and a pinch of salt, and cook the carrots and green onion together with the remaining sage and thyme just as you did the onions and celery, seasoning as you go, setting aside 2 tablespoons of the cooked carrots/green onions with their yellow onion and celery friends, pouring the remaining carrot mixture into the dressing bowl. now, add 3 tablespoons of butter to the pan, place over medium heat, add the reserved sauteed yellow onion, celery, carrots and green onion, and saute for just a couple of minutes. then add the flour and mix into the fat -- it should combine to become a roux that's approximately the texture of peanut butter. add more butter or schmaltz if it's too dry. lower heat to medium low and cook the veggies and roux, stirring/scraping the bottom of the pan constantly, for about 5-6 minutes, allowing the roux to darken a bit (adjust heat accordingly if it starts browning too quickly or doesn't brown/bubble at all). next, whisk in 3 cups of the chicken stock and all of the cream (or half-and-half), and add the bay leaf and a pinch of nutmeg. raise heat to medium and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly, and cook until thickened -- it should coat the back of a spoon nicely; it will be a bit thicker than a regular white sauce. season to taste with salt, pepper and another small pinch of poultry seasoning, and then ladle about 1.5 - 2 cups into the dressing mixture, and stir to combine. you want to add enough to moisten it all, but not soak it. some of the larger chunks of bread will still be a bit dry in the center, but it will hold together fairly well. taste and make your final seasoning adjustments. set aside the remaining sauce for now*. whisk the eggs in a bowl with the baking powder, and fold it into the dressing mixture. spoon it into a 9x13 buttered baking dish, being sure to not pack it down. cover with buttered foil or parchment (butter-side-down) (you can prepare it a day ahead at this point -- just refrigerate, then take out from the fridge about 30 minutes before you want to bake it, so it can come to room temperature). bake the dressing covered for 30 minutes, then remove foil or parchment and continue baking another 15-20 minutes, until top is nicely browned and crisp.

*re: the extra sauce you set aside and that remaining cup of chicken stock: strain the sauce through a chinois or a fine metal mesh strainer and throw away the solids. add the cup of chicken stock and bring back to a simmer, stirring frequently, until thickened -- it should be right thickness for gravy. set aside; that's your gravy base (when you finish roasting your turkey, remove excess fat from the turkey drippings, add them to this gravy base, adjust seasoning and voila! your gravy will be done and very delicious!).

potential additions to the stuffing if you'd like (it's fine to do one or two of them, but I wouldn't suggest doing them all:

• add a moderate amount of fresh, finely chopped rosemary
• add 1-2 peeled, diced apples, sauteed in butter with the onion, celery, etc.
• add a container (I think they're usually 8-10 ounces) white button, cremini or baby bella mushrooms, cleaned, quartered and sauteed in butter/schmaltz like the other veggies
• add 1/2-3/4 cup dried fruit, plumped in just a bit of hot water or chicken stock -- cranberries or cherries would be especially good

feedback on this recipe particularly welcomed!

banana bread

• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt (or 1/2 teaspoon finely ground sea salt)
• 2 large eggs
• 3 very ripe bananas (slightly over-ripe is ideal)
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla (Mexican vanilla is great in this)
• optional: 3/4 cup toasted pecans, chopped
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda

preheat the oven to 350 °F (325 °F if using glass pans). butter a loaf pan or a 9 x 13 cake pan.

cream the butter, sugar and salt together thoroughly in a large mixing bowl; it should be light and fluffy when finished (a sturdy wooden spoon is perfect for this; switch to a sturdy whisk for the next step). add one egg, beat until fully incorporated, then add the other, and beat again until mixture is smooth and light.

peel the bananas and break up into chunks into a smaller bowl, then mash with the milk, cinnamon and vanilla. whisk banana mixture into the butter/sugar/egg mixture until smooth (small chunks of banana are not only fine, of course, but desirable). add pecans (if using).

add the flour, baking powder and baking soda to the banana mixture and whisk in carefully, until just combined. the batter will be fairly thick. using a spatula, transfer batter to baking dish and lightly smooth out the top. place in oven and bake ― 60-70 minutes for loaf pan; 45-55 minutes if using cake pan. banana bread is done when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out perfectly clean. place pan on cooling rack before cutting into serving pieces.

introducing whole grains to improve "no-knead" bread

update 03/05/2012: flour and water measurements adjusted slightly -- recipe writing is, indeed, a process.

I've been continually baking homemade bread for a few weeks now, ever since I finally tried Jim Lahey's "no-knead" bread. along the way, I've made some slight changes to the technique. I've scaled down the basic recipe to use a little more than 2 cups of flour/batch (which makes a loaf both my roommate and I like), and I've also been maintaining a lively sourdough that I use that to raise the bread. it's easy to substitute for yeast -- use about 1/4 - 1/3 cup recently-fed, vigorous loose starter (I keep mine about the thickness of pancake batter just because it's easier to deal with) to substitute for the 1/4 teaspoon yeast called for in the recipe, and adjust the amounts of flour and water down a bit to accommodate. I do add the tiniest dash of yeast to ensure the dough will rise in a reasonable amount of time (which for me is 8 - 16 hours); I could just as easily leave that out and allow a full 16 - 30 hours for a slow rise (part of that in the refrigerator, to develop flavor and keep from exhausting the yeast), but I prefer to keep my bread proofing on the countertop. I've scaled the flour and water adjustments below to work with a mixture of King Arthur Bread Flour and King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour to get some whole grain into my daily bread, and the flavor and texture are excellent. please do remember that flour is different everywhere and dough acts different almost every time you bake it -- you're looking for the same dough characteristics at the beginning (sort of wet and shaggy) before the bulk rise, and will add more flour after that when you actually CAN do a little bit of kneading if you want , although you really only need to do a couple of folds. when I fold, I use a roll-up fold, scroll down a bit after you click the link to see it. when I'm in the mood to knead, after the fold I just give it a bit of a knead, just a few times. you don't want to knock all the bubbles out. proceed with the recipe technique as in my own variation on the classic "no-knead" recipe, but use the following ingredients to add flavor, some whole grain and interest to your loaf:

• 1/4 - 1/3 cup sourdough starter** (and I often, OFTEN augment this with the tiniest dash of Red Star active dry yeast -- maybe 10 grains?). if you don't have sourdough or just don't feel like feeding it, use 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast.
• 1-1/4 cup King Arthur bread flour
• 1 cup King Arthur White Whole Wheat flour (*a note on this flour: it uses a different variety of wheat and is ground finer than regular whole wheat flour, but still uses the whole grain. it produces a creamy, ivory-colored flour with a wonderful whole-grain flavor that's more refined than regular whole wheat flour -- I love it! and the crusts of the finished loaves come out the most gorgeous burnished, shiny brown color, with an off-white/ivory crumb)
• 1 cup filtered water
• 1 teaspoon mild rice vinegar (*optional, depending on the sourness of your starter; if not desired, add another tablespoon filtered water if needed)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

the dough will seem a bit wetter than regular no-knead at first -- that's because it takes the white whole wheat flour a bit longer to absorb water. mix it together well with a wooden spoon, cover with plastic wrap and bulk-ferment overnight (8-16 hours -- it's flexible), then check the texture and you should find it's just right. if anything, it may need a sprinkle of flour to knead.

the finished loaves are tasty and lovely! I'd love to hear what you think.

**I'll post on creating and maintaining a happy sourdough starter with a minimum (or no) waste very soon -- this latest one is the simplest, liveliest and the most effective sourdough I've ever used.

no-knead bread for two

I love no-knead bread — Jim Lahey's recipe (published in 2006 in the New York Times) turned everyone into fabulous baker boys (and girls). not only is it outrageously easy, it's also beautiful and delicious with nothing more than the four essential bread ingredients (flour, water, yeast and salt). and talk about versatile! you can add all kinds of wonderful things to the dough (kalamata olives, roasted garlic, rosemary, sun-dried tomatoes, chunks of Italian cheese and salami — or go the sweet route, with dried cranberries and orange zest, cinnamon and raisins — you're pretty much limited only by your imagination), and/or you can make a few delicious variations on the crust (sprinkle it with a bit of sea salt, poppy and/or sesame seeds, grated parmesan, etc.). just don't add too much of anything, because you want to leave plenty of crust exposed to get wonderfully browned and crunchy. I've found the original recipe, which calls for three-cups-of-flour, makes a bit too much bread for two people, so I make a two-cup loaf with slightly altered proportions and baking times.

note: I know these instructions are long for such an easy recipe; I want to include all the tips/tricks I've learned along the way (including my ridiculous OCD-influenced clean-as-you-go habits). despite my verbiage, this is probably the easiest bread recipe you'll ever encounter, and the loaves you bake will be gorgeous, rustic beauties that make you wonder why you ever paid $5 or more for bread that's THIS easy. but you're not one of those chumps; you're a baker now!

• 2 cups flour (King Arthur bread flour is the BEST, darn them to heck for not paying me to say that, but all-purpose flour works great, too)
• 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon filtered water
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon yeast (it still takes the same amount of yeast, for some reason) (I heart Red Star yeast — there's an affiliate link below to buy it at Amazon, if you can't find it locally — it's about 10 times tastier and more reliable than Fleischman's)

mix the dough ingredients together. no need to knead (har); just mix it in a bowl with a wooden spoon or whatever you prefer, until it's sort of shaggy and the ingredients are reasonably distributed. it won't be smooth or perfect at this point, and that's fine. cover your bowl (I use a dinner plate; plastic wrap's fine, too). make sure your bowl's big enough to allow to dough to double in size!

now walk away from it and forget it for 12-18 hours — I like to make mine in the early evening, and then bake it first thing when I wake up. 

when it's time to bake:

• remove the plate and beam down at your dough. it should have risen and will have some bubbles on the surface. sprinkle a little flour on the top and on your hands, and dig down in there to loosen the sides of the dough ball from the bowl. fold the dough over onto itself a couple of times.
• wipe the plate free of condensation, set it on the counter and sprinkle it with some flour. tip the dough out onto the plate, and dust the top with yet more flour. put the bowl in the sink and fill with cold water to soak (you don't want to activate the gluten in the flour when you're cleaning out the bowl — it's a mess!).
• get out your trusty Le Creuset casserole (or cast iron dutch oven; I've heard even Pyrex will work — just make sure it's big enough to hold your bread once it's expanded, made of thick material that will heat evenly, and that any knobs and/or handles it may have won't melt) and put it in the oven, lid and all. set the oven temperature to 450 ∘F and let it heat for 30 minutes.
• in the meantime, form the dough into a boule (ball). do this by cupping your hands over the top of the dough, smoothing it down the sides and tucking it underneath. rotate the dough a little and repeat (keeping your hands/the boule lightly floured as needed to prevent sticking). after the first couple of rotations, turn the boule over and pinch the seam at the bottom together, but just do it ONE time — after that, don't worry about it. you're going to flip the boule upside-down when you bake it, and the seam will function as a slash would; allowing the dough to expand (plus the finished loaf will look all professional and artisanal and whatnot. trust me). shaping is KEY for this bread, IMO. some people say it doesn't matter, but the texture of the finished bread is so much better when the dough is well-formed into a nice, tight ball, so keep going for a few minutes until you get there. your bread will taste good regardless, but a well-formed boule will make you feel like a rockstar when it's baked.
• once you've formed your rockstar boule of dough, clean out that bowl you stuck in the sink and dry it. place it upside-down over the dough while the oven continues to heat to keep the boule from drying out.
• after the oven and casserole have heated for 30 minutes, peek under that bowl on the counter to see if the dough has risen sufficiently. if you don't feel it has, give it another 10-15 minutes to do so. the boule doesn't have to double in bulk. I find 30 minutes of rising is usually plenty (unless my kitchen is really cold), but it doesn't take me long to shape the dough — maybe 3 minutes total? if it takes you significantly longer, give your dough a bit more time to rise.
• once the oven's nice and hot and the dough's risen, put on your good pot holders and remove the HOT casserole (or dutch oven) from your oven. take the lid off and set aside on top of the stove for a moment (somewhere it won't melt through everything down to the center of the earth). you want to take your lovely boule of dough and flip it upside-down, ending up seam-side up in the casserole, without burning yourself or completely deflating the dough in the process. experiment to find the method that works best for you — I pick up the dough gently, ending up with it seam-side-down in my hand, and then I flip it over while placing it in the pan. don't worry too much about getting it perfectly centered or anything like that.
• slip those potholders back on. at this point, you can gently shake the dutch oven to get the dough better-centered/more even, if you want. I find that if you've formed the boule correctly, it all works out no matter what. put the lid back on and pop the whole thing back into your oven for about 25 minutes.
• after 25 minutes, peek under the lid and check out your bread. at this point, it should have risen nicely, and should be a light golden-brown (if it's still pale, put the lid back on and bake it for 5-10 more minutes). take the lid off and place the casserole back into the oven to let the crust brown for 10-20 minutes longer (I find 12 minutes is just about perfect for mine), until it's a lovely burnished brown. use those potholders one more time to remove the casserole from the oven and set it down somewhere safe (again, like the top of the stove). remove the bread from the casserole pan to a cooling rack (I use a couple of wooden or non-melting silicone spatulas — you use whatever works for you).
• let it cool at least 20 minutes before slicing into it; longer if you can stand it — it's still finishing baking inside, even after it's out of the oven. when it's cool enough, slice with a sharp bread knife and check out your awesome bread. yes, you do rock.

Red Star Baking Yeast is available through my Amazon affiliate link if you can't find it locally.

buttermilk cornbread

this yummy cornbread has been my favorite way of using up all the buttermilk I produce when making butter (see here for my previous post re: homemade butter). speaking of buttermilk: I do think there's a difference between the cultured skim-milk "buttermilk" that's available at the store vs. the real thing, which is the liquid I drain after I churn cultured cream into butter. I like the flavor of real buttermilk, and its consistency is different -- it's thinner than store-bought; just a little bit thicker than fresh milk. the lactic acid content is similar to the store-bought stuff, because I always culture cream before making butter: culturing cream introduces a compound called diacetyl, which is very buttery in flavor. theoretically, real buttermilk may make baked goods more tender, the theory being that certain emulsifiers being released when fat globules in cream are disturbed by churning. all that said: store-bought buttermilk, regular yogurt thinned w/milk to the consistency of buttermilk, or fresh milk with 1/2 teaspoon of white vinegar or lemon juice added -- all work beautifully in this recipe; you'll be happy with the texture, rise and flavor of this perfectly balanced cornbread. note: there's sugar in this recipe because I like my cornbread a bit sweet, but if you don't like it, leave it out and reduce the salt by about half.

preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup brown sugar (any kind of granulated sugar will do)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt (or a little less, depending on taste)
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1-1/2 cups cornmeal (Bob's Red Mill Medium Grind Cornmeal is my favorite)
1 cup all purpose flour

butter a cast iron skillet or a 9-inch square baking pan, and put in oven while preheating. combine the butter, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. crack in the eggs and pour in the buttermilk, then whisk thoroughly to combine. add the cornmeal and flour to the mixture, and whisk just until combined. remove pan from oven and pour in the batter (using a spatula to get every bit into the pan). tap gently to level it, then bake for 25 - 30 minutes, until center is set, and a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

possible additions/alterations: I love to add freshly-ground black pepper and a few shots of Tabasco. also, I've substituted olive oil for up to 75% of the melted butter with no problems (it just tastes less buttery, but the buttermilk provides plenty of that flavor). other additions that will always be good include: chopped jalapenos (fresh or pickled), sauteed green onion, fresh or frozen corn, grated cheddar, etc. -- just not too much of anything. the *best* batch I ever made utilized the last of this summer's maque choux -- so good. but even plain, it's still probably the best cornbread I've ever made.

darned good sandwich bread

I have an ancient (well, at least 20-year-old) Zojirushi bread machine. I'd get a new one, with all the cool new features, but this one refuses to quit. so I love it, despite its funky-shaped loaves. when it's cooler out, I use it to knead the dough, and bake in the oven -- the best of both worlds. but it's still hot here, and I started getting tired of my usual bread machine recipe -- just wasn't doing it for me. I tweaked it and came up with something I really like. it has a nice, tight, fine crumb and tasty crust and works perfectly for toast and sandwiches.

1.5 cups milk (water's fine, too -- I just had some extra milk I needed to use up; buttermilk would also be good)
1.5 tablespoons sugar (or honey)
2 teaspoons salt
1.5 teaspoons yeast
2 tablespoons olive oil (sometimes I use butter)
3 cups unbleached white flour (currently liking Bob's Red Mill or King Arthur)
.5 cup whole wheat flour

dump it all in the machine in order, set machine for a 4-hour cycle (on mine, this is called "dry milk basic bread," for some reason). the extra kneading and rising cycle makes a difference here. next time, I'll try using a higher proportion of whole wheat flour.