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Breads, Quick Breads, and Rolls
Breads are the immediate go-to food to accompany a bowl of soup, and the emphasis in this chapter is on breads with a crunchy exterior to serve as a foil against the inherent softness of the soup. Just as there are soups from around the world in the previous chapters of this book, the breads are also international in scope. Many of the soup recipes refer to these breads because they complement each other so well. You’ll find long, crisp Parmesan Breadsticks (grissini; page 228) and flavorful Focaccia (page 214) to accompany Italian and other Mediterranean recipes. And there’s nothing like a wedge of Skillet Cornbread (page 223) to perch on the edge of a bowl of chowder or gumbo.
Yeast Breads If you number yourself in the group of cooks who are afraid of working with yeast, now is the time to take the plunge. The whole process could not be easier, and here’s a primer on how to work with this live leavening agent. Yeast is a single-celled fungus, of which hundreds of species have been identified. Those of the genera Saccharomyces and Candida are the most useful for breads and beer. The single cells are very small: hundreds of millions of them would fit into a teaspoon. While green plants feed via photosynthesis, yeast feeds on carbohydrates and excretes alcohol while producing carbon dioxide. That’s why yeast is as
good a friend of the brewer as it is of the baker. Given plenty of air and some food, yeast grows fast and produces a lot of carbon dioxide. It is the pressure of this gas that makes the bread rise. There are two types of yeast on the market. Active dry yeast is a dormant form of yeast and needs to be rehydrated (or “proofed”) prior to being used in a recipe. This means that the yeast needs to be dissolved in warm water, as explained below. Instant yeast is different than active dry yeast in that it does not need to be proofed prior to using in a recipe. The granules of instant yeast are smaller than those of active dry yeast and you can add the yeast directly in with all the other dough ingredients without letting it activate in warm water first. It’s best to use the type of yeast specified in a recipe, but if you want to save the ten minutes of proofing time, you can substitute instant yeast for dry active yeast. All bread depends on the interaction of some sort of flour, liquid, and leavening agent. When the proteins in wheat flour combine with water, they form gluten. Gluten is both plastic and elastic. This quality means that it will hold the carbon dioxide produced by the yeast, and will not allow it to escape or break. It is this plasticity that allows bread to rise before it is baked, at which time the structure of the dough solidifies from the heat of the oven.
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