Imagine a foot long loaf of warm, yeasty, crusty bread 2 hours out of the oven… then imagine the loaf being portioned in half by a mother, who watched in horror as the grubby fist of her 8 year old tore through the soft, chewy crumb just to feel the texture of the bread as it squished from airiness into a dense lump. That obnoxious little kid was me… and the horror of my mother had more to do with the mangling of a precious loaf than the proximity of my arm to the knife. Yes, the flavor, the smell, the impossibly crisp crust of homemade bread makes it more attractive than the plastic baggie version in the store. But the texture — the chewy, moist bite — is what makes homemade bread irresistible.

My latest culinary adventure has not really been an adventure at all — I neither am experimenting with spices or textures, nor tinkering with a cooking technique. I’m merely trying to produce an edible version of something that humans have been making for thousands of years. Somehow, my great-great grandmother was able to bake massive, puffy loaves without the benefit of commercially produced yeast, and my dough won’t rise even after a jaunt in the fancy new mixer. After years of failed attempts and piles of misshapen pseudo-loaves, I could write volumes on what to avoid while baking bread. While it may not turn you into an artisan baker, these tips will at least save you from a pitiful mistake:

Proof the Yeast
Proofing is, technically, an optional process that involves mixing yeast with warm water between 110-115 degrees Fahrenheit to activate fermentation. Yeast converts sugars in bread into carbon dioxide, creating air bubbles that lend both form and texture to bread. Dead yeast? No bread. Experienced bakers can get away with dry mixes or sourdough starters pinched from years, even generations, of loaves. But novices should stick to proofing even when using dry yeast — better to ensure your yeast is alive before investing hours into raising dense, lifeless dough.

To proof: mix 2 packages yeast with 1 tblsp sugar in a small bowl. Add 3 tblsp warm water. “Warm” as in bath water from the tap, not like recently cooled boiling water… boiling water kills yeast. Cover with plastic wrap for 30 minutes in a warm place — if the mixture is foamy and puffy, then voila — active yeast. If the mixture is still a liquid, then throw it away… trust me, it will not pop back to life in the flour, and at 30 cents a pack, it’s worth your time and sanity.

Rise Until Doubled — Not Longer
Bread rising is not a contest to create the largest dough mass. Oven-risen dough equals over-stretched gluten threads, which decrease elasticity and reduces the size of air pockets that create puffy loaves during the final step. Take a lesson from the girl who has left bread rising during entire afternoons of errands, only to return home to overgrown blobs that eventually become meager ½ inch thick loaves… double it and no more.

Do Not Touch Your Proofed Loaf
Is your foolhardy attempt at free-form bread failing, as the dough rose outward and off the baking sheet? This result is probably due to the former issue of over-rising, but do not propagate the problem by shoving the dough back onto said sheet and re-shaping. The dough will not rise again, nor will it save itself in the oven. At this point, try to not touch the growing mass, and carefully slide the baking sheet into the oven — the dough will not drip between the racks. At worst, you may need to use a spatula to remove the bread with oblong air pockets from the oven — but at least you won’t have a 4-pound dumpling to dispose.

These instructions probably won’t result in a perfect French or honey oat bread — I still haven’t figured that one out yet — but at least now, novice bakers, you will have a fighting chance at a decent loaf.

Anna Fishman
www.thesaltedlemon.blogspot.com

All Purpose Flour: Blend of hard and soft wheat; it may be bleached or unbleached. It is “plain flour”. This is the most common flour in America. If you want a high protein flour then use “unbleached”. Bleached flour is chemically bleached, but do not despair as it has uses. It is best for pie crusts, pancakes, biscuits and cookies. Unbleached flour is good for yeast breads, pastries, popovers and strudel type dishes, and for the classic British Prime rib you use this for making Yorkshire pudding.

It will keep for 8 months or so if kept wrapped in the pantry or refrigerator. In the freezer it will keep a year. Professionals recommend that you do not keep flour for more than 8 months.

HINT: keep a bay leaf in your flours as bay leaves are natural insect repellents.

Bread Flour: Wheat is hard, high protein white flour. It has more gluten and protein and is unbleached. This gives it more density and more ascorbic acid which makes it great for yeast breads, sourdough and foccaccia.

It will keep for six months. Buy all flours in small amounts. Always keep all flours tightly wrapped and stored either in pantry, refrigerator or freezer.

Cake Flour: Fine, soft wheat, high starch. It is not a substitute for high gluten flour. Note that it is very fine, almost powder with the lowest protein content of all the wheat flours. This is great for pastries and dessert because it combines well with sugars that help it rise and bind in such a way that it is less liable to fall. Cake flour is also good for greater volume like in cupcakes or muffins and some kinds of cookies. Ever have a cake or Italian yeast bread fall? Check your flour. If you don’t have cake flour, well, then do this: use bleached all purpose flour and subtract 2 tablespoons flour for each cup by volume, or 1 ounce per 8 ounce by weight.

Because cake flour is chlorinated and kind of acidic a cake will set faster. This acidity helps the butter fats and sugar distribute evenly throughout the batter. Keep in mind that the more sugar the more rise and the better hold with cake flour. Don’t use cake flour for dusting meats to sauté or as an ingredient to pizza dough.

If you must store your flour for more than a few months freeze for two days and then keep as usual. Never ever, do not, no, never mix old with new flour.

Pastry Flour: Soft wheat, the protein/gluten content is between all purpose and cake flour. Great for biscuits, pie crusts, quick breads and cookies. This is good for crumbly style crusts or for lattice on top of pies. It’s more difficult to find in regular grocery stores, but since so many people are demanding more and more ingredients that are either professionally based or old-timey the availability is getting better than it was in the 20th century.

Throw away any flour that has an off odor, smells bad or has weevils. Don’t even try to salvage. Flour is cheap, your taste buds are not.

Whole Wheat: High fiber, high nutrient, whole kernel wheat. Draw back is that it has a very low gluten level. This is good for some dishes and diets. When baking yeast breads with whole wheat flour you have to add all purpose, bread or high gluten to help it rise. Most of time we use whole wheat flour as an ingredient not as the main attraction although whole wheat breads are delicious, they have to be helped along the way so that it is not too dense. If you use too much whole wheat (or even rye flour) in a bread it will be dense as wet red clay.

Whole wheat flour does not store well so buy small quantities and use within 3 or 4 months. You can store in the freezer, but really, just throw it away and use fresh. Rancid flour is awful and whole wheat flour goes rancid in 6 months on the shelf.

Self-Rising Flour: Oh yes, the charm of biscuits in 20 minutes is hard to beat and this is the flour for that home style fast food treat. I’ve made donuts with self rising flour as well. Sometimes it’s OK to cheat a bit and this is your easy out on measuring or if you are out of baking powder. To make your own “phosphated flour”: dry measure 1 cup all purpose flour, 1 1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder and 1⁄2 teaspoon salt, and then mix.

Do not use self-rising flour with yeast or yeast breads as the volume will rise and collapse, in other words, it will not work. Too much of a good thing is simply too much. Self-rising is really considered cheating by some but on the other hand, it does come in handy. I’ve made biscuits on the Big Green Egg grill with this flour when I needed some bread in a pinch after smoking ribs.

Semolina Flour: Pasta. It is made from hard wheat called Durum. Durum winter wheat has the highest gluten content of all flours. Mix this with all purpose for making pasta or Italian desserts. It is good for dusting your pastas after they have dried as well.

Durum Flour: This is North Dakota flour, very finely ground. Although semolina is made from Durum flour it is not necessarily interchangeable in recipes so follow directions on how to use this in the recipes you are using. I don’t use this very much, but it is good to have in the freezer for that extra firmness you may need in a recipe.

Hi-Gluten Flour: I use this a lot for making Italian breads and grill breads. It is made from spring wheat, has high protein content. It is great for nonwheat bread mixes and for mixes that require a strong dough. The thing that makes gluten flour important is that it bonds and rises well with biga/starter dough, with sweet potato and tapioca starches for dim sum style doughs, and as a general additive when you need a little extra “punch” to help your triple rise breads rise and form a good crust.

Do not store any flour near onions or other dry goods that have a strong odor. Flour absorbs anything that comes near it. Same thing for storing any baked goods in your refrigerator in that they will absorb any odor that is near by. Did I say that you can store it in the freezer? You may and you can in a plastic bag.

Organic Flour: Is regular all purpose flour that is raised by organic standards and is in no way genetically modified wheat. This kind of flour is available in health food markets and high end grocery stores.

Now, it is neat to buy bulk, and even more fun to get your dried products from bins, but don’t buy flour this way. Only buy what you can use in a short time and only in sealed containers, tins or bags.

March 20
Mud Bug Festival at 5 Seasons Brewing Westside
Crawfish Boil, Alligator Etoufee, music and more. Visit www.5seasonsbrewing.com for more.

March 22
Scotch 101 at 5 Seasons Brewing Prado
Starts at 6:30 and costs $20 per person. Visit www.5seasonsbrewing.com for more.

March 23
Don Julio 1942 Tequila Dinner at Agave
Starts at 7pm and costs $70 per person. Visit www.agaverestaurant.com for more.

Let’s start with Brandi’s World Famous Hot Dogs (1377 Church Street Ext NE, Marietta, 770.422.3681). This area classic started as Betty’s World Famous Hot Dogs. Betty retired and sold the — along with her famous chili recipe — to Brandi.

At what is now Brandi’s hot dog shack, young professionals rub elbows with the white hair overalls set to get their spicy chili dog fix. This chili is so hot the waitresses offer to strain the chili (taking away some of its fiery sting) for the less tolerant. One of these pork/beef dogs smothered in chili will only set you back $1.85. You’ll need at least two.

My next stop is Barkers Red Hots (5000 Windy Hill Road, Marietta, 770.272.0407). Barker’s began as a downtown push cart operation in 1984, Atlanta’s first fully licensed street vending operation. They are now a Windy Hill strip storefront, but the food is every bit as good, if not better.

Barkers serves up a unique plump, juicy, fat beef dog made exclusively for them by Sahlen’s, a popular fifth generation sausage maker in Buffalo. Glenn Robbins (owner) tediously stands over each dog pressing them against the heat to ensure a blistery charcoal char. The classic and most recommended toppings here is Barker’s hot sauce, onions and pickle sliver. The hot sauce isn’t a fiery napalm like Brandi’s chili, but the singe slowly accumulates until perfectly around the outer edges of the mouth.

March 8-14
Inman Park Restaurant Week
Twelve of Inman Park’s best restaurants. Each restaurant will have a choice of offering a 3-course tiered menu, which will be between $15 – $35. Restaurants include The Albert, Fritti, Kevin Rathbun Steak, Parish, Park’s Edge, Sotto Sotto, Wisteria and Zaya. For additional information, please contact Clifford Bramble directly at 404.524.8280 or to see additional information, visit the website.

March 11
Share Our Strength’s Great American Bake Sale
Share Our Strength invites Atlantans to tie on their aprons and join the fun for the Great American Baking Contest on Thursday, March 11, at The Cook’s Warehouse – Midtown. The festivities will continue from 6:30 – 9pm. Great American Baking Contest general admission costs $25 per person and begins at 7:30pm. VIP admission costs $35 and includes a champagne reception at 6:30pm with Q100’s Jenn Hobby and a sampling of her own special baked treat. Tickets are also available at www.strength.org/bakingcontest.

For those who have never read my Letters From The Editor of the past will notice these aren’t the standard issue “letters from the editor” you’ll find in other publications that highlight the articles you’ll find inside the paper. Rather, these small articles — limited by print real estate — are intended to be quick “food for thought” pieces, and nothing more.

Those of you who frequent the Atlanta Cuisine website know that I’m a poll geek. Truth be told, I’d position polls more prominently on the site if it were up to me.

To Govern, Or Not To Govern
In a recent poll our readers struggled with the touchy subject of whether or not to regulate terms such as “local” and “farm-to-table.” At the end of the day, those in favor of less regulation eeked out a slim margin of victory with 50% of the vote, “yes to regulations” registered 48% while “not sure” took up the remaining 2%.

I’m not surprised that our savvy readers voted “no” to regulations, but I am shocked by how close the results. Perhaps we as a society are too quick to govern.

We the people make a habit of trying to control everything that isn’t perfect. Then it winds up in the hands of a government-like body.

Oh my! Those little imperfections suddenly don’t seem so bad now, do they?

Top Chef Popularity Contest
Last December I ran a poll asking you to vote for your favorite Atlanta Top Chef star. Richard Blais and Hector Santiago were runners up with 18% of votes going to each. Eli Kirshtein finished up the rear with a lowly 4% while Kevin Gillespie — to nobody’s surprise — was the decisive winner ringing up a whopping 60% of the vote.

I wonder if he’d score that high today, after making some unpopular comments about barbecue that didn’t sit well with some locals during a recent interview with the AJC.

What is it about barbecue that makes the gloves come off?

Is Atlanta A Top 5 Food City?
This poll will run until midnight March 10th. It’s been an interesting one to follow thus far with “no” racking up 58% of the vote. It was close till the halfway point, but there’s plenty of time to go in this one.

I’m not sure if we are top 5 material, but we can’t be too far out. Let’s see, there’s the obvious leaders: New York, San Francisco, Chicago and LA. Any clue who falls in behind the Big Four? Don’t you dare say Charleston or New Orleans, Atlanta’s food scene (ethnic et al) is not only better, but superior in comparison. Well, The Big Easy does hold its own, but Charleston, SC? Really?

Click here to see polls.

While eating at INC. Street Food (984 Canton Road, Roswell, 770.998.3114) last week, I found most dishes to be too heavily sauced and entirely too busy, a trait commonly encountered during the old school — largely French influenced — cooking of the ’80s and early ’90s.

Pork tamales (see photo below) arrive smothered in thick, though mild guajillo sauce and a crema fresca squiggly, a technique that went out of style with parachute pants. Today, the more circular dots and dollops are en vogue. The light corn flavors of the skimpy portion of actual tamales were lost in the muck.

Thickly coated Argentinian style empanadas are lost in translation underneath a heaping pile of pickled vegetables, pico de gallo, and a disturbing heavy layer of herb (their description, not mine) cream, which tasted more like a garlicky ranch than anything else.

Carnitas tacos appear to be mindlessy deep-fried and coated in flour, rendering them to dry flavorless cubes of tough pork. I prefer the tender slow braised citrus-y notes of the more traditional methods.

Despite suffering from “past due” kitchen ideology, the menu is surprisingly well thought out. I found some unique dishes not easily found here in Atlanta, even at the so-called “authentic” places.

I was happy to see Albondigas (see photo below ), a classic Mexican meatball soup. But this version lacks depth and soul.

The best dish in the house by a mile was an order of calamari rellenos (see photo at top of page), squid stuffed with rich braised oxtails and squid ink rice, topped with a tangy green mole. These were judiciously topped, the squid was tender and the playful squid ink rice was fun.

Ladies, don’t take your date here, men enjoy about a 15:1 female to male ratio. This place is an estrogen fest, it’s packed with woman drinking from the inventive margarita list while nibbling on decent food that lacks modern day finesse.

Like all great Atlanta pastry chefs, Jeffries suddenly vanished from the local food scene. But unlike the others before him, Jeffries returned to local soil last year with biscotti in hand. And just as he changed the way we looked at desserts, he’s administered a free-spirited shot in the arm of the humdrum biscotti world.

Throw everything you know about biscotti out the window. These aren’t those tooth-chipping hard bites that require a good soaking — not a quick dip — in coffee.

Jeffries produces his spruced up italian biscuits in Suwannee. They can be purchased at Whole Foods, Savvi Urban Market, The Cook’s Warehouse (Ansley Mall) and Return To Eden. Just ask for David Jeffries Kitchen biscotti.

Flavors
My favorite is the savory pear & rosemary, which starts on the tongue as an even battle between sweet and zesty, but finishes with a slightly fiery Indian red pepper singe.

A close second is the orange-spiced hazelnut, rounded in full with cardamom and real orange zest.

Also look out for the slightly salty sun dried tomato Asiago cheese and cinnamon pistachio.

Flavors change with the seasons or whenever chef is struck by a creative whim, a frequent occurrence.

Follow Jeffries on his website to keep up with flavors and places to buy his biscotti at www.davidjeffrieskitchen.com or call 404.325.5051.

March 6-14
Buckhead Restaurant Week
Buckhead’s best restaurants will each offer a $25 (excluding alcohol, tax and gratuity) per person prix-fixe, three-course menu consisting of an appetizer, a main course and a delicious dessert. Participating restaurants include Buckhead Life restaurants, MARKET, Craftbar, Home, Aja, Prime, Cantina, Capital Grille, Aqua Bistro, Gordon Biersch and Dantanna’s. A complete list of participating restaurants and their menus will be available online at www.brwatlanta.com. For more information, contact The Reynolds Group at 404.888.9348.

The concept of barrels in brewing dates back to the Middle Ages. Back then, beer was barrel-aged by necessity. Oak was most common and is today the most widely used wood for both beer and wine barrels. The advent of steel made the brewing process both cleaner and easier. Even today, the barrel is almost exclusively used outside the actual brewing process — more as a flavoring device than a true fermentation vessel. Scottish brewers, in particular Innis and Gunn, are credited for repopularizing oak barrels for flavor. The past couple of years have seen a significant number of U.S. brewers sporting wood…barrels in their beermaking operations.

The Scotch have three standout oak-aged beers that should be a part of any wood-flavored beers. The aformentioned Innis and Gunn Scotch Ale is a yardstick example of the classic Scotch Ale. It has a strong caramel malt backbone with little detectable hop profile, a beautiful wood-rounded finish. Brewdog, the three year old brewery, has a series of its Paradox Imperial Stout in various liquor casks, including Bowmore, Macallan, Glen Grant, and Speyside Whiskey. All are subtly different but share the soft oak finish and delicious taste. Perhaps my favorite, however is the Harviestoun Ola Dubh series — their Old Engine Oil in Highland Park single-malt Scotch casks of various ages. What is remarkable is the difference in taste between the base beer, the classic aggressive roasty stout, and the incredibly smooth beers that come out of the casks. They come in 12, 16, 18, 30, and 40 year-old Scotch cask varieties. The 40 year Ola Dubh is often ranked among the best beers in the world.

The rest of Europe holds their own with oak. BFM, out of Switzerland, has a series of exciting oak-aged beers, most notably his Abbaye St. Bon Chien. It has a slightly sour Flemish taste with complex malt arrangements and interesting add-on ingredients. Each year is a different recipe, down to which wine cask he ages the beer in. The brewer often changes casks mid-fermentation to adjust the flavor of the beer. The Belgian brewer Petrus also cask-ages their Pale Ale for a fresh twist on the classic style. Oak has even invaded Italy, which produces the Dolii Raptor (the barrel thief) and Panil Barrique — a Flemish sour.

Closer to home, Allagash has probably the broadest selection of oak-aged beers. For a different take, I recommend the paired set of Victor and Victoria. Both are aged in white wine casks — Chardonnay for Victoria and Sauvignon Blanc for Victor. Both will appeal to the wine-lover in your family that turns his or her nose up at beer. They also produce another of my all-time favorites: Curieux — a bourbon-aged Belgian-style Tripel. It is the beer equivalent of Bananas Foster, with fruits, caramel, spices, and bourbon swirling concert. Finally, their Interlude is aged in French Merlot barrels giving it a distinct flavor of plum and mushroom. This is one exotic and delicious brew.

Dogfishhead also does some impressive barrel-aged beers, including the Palo Santo Marron, a brown ale aged in Paraquayan hardwood. This is another roasty, malty beer with an aggressive finish of caramel and vanilla.

Weyerbacher brings us another before and after story with their Old Heathen Imperial Stout, which, after oak aging, metamorphs into Heresy. It has a remarkable smooth finish with belies its 8.2% abv, with notes of vanilla and coffee over a deep base of cocoa. They also produce Insanity, their Blithering Idiot barleywine aged in bourbon. This one is not for the faint of heart, at 11.1% abv you might get drunk just smelling this delicious concoction.

Light or dark, wine or liquor, there is probably an oak-aged beer out there that fits your palate. Next time you buy a beer, ask yourself —can I handle the wood? I know you can.

Kraig Torres is the Chief Hophead at Hop City Craft Beer and Wine, Atlanta’s only craft beer specialist. Hop City carries over 1,500 different beers, 1,000 wines and home brewing supplies. Hop City is located at 1000 Marietta St in the Brickworks complex – at the corner of Marietta St and Howell Mill Rd, next to 5 Seasons Brewery. 404-350-9998 www.HopCityBeer.com Hop City Craft Beer and Wine is proud to be Citysearch’s Best Wine Store in Atlanta for 2009.