Dear friends,
Yet another low-profile week, yet another set of profuse apologies. I am up to my figurative elbows in egg history, lore and trivia. I will be back properly, I swear it.
In the meantime, I am happy to share some quick visuals on some actual fruit-bearing labor. When I thought I couldn’t read one more textbook extolling the virtues of lecithin in egg yolks, I put the laptop down, took a deep cleansing breath, and went into the kitchen to fix us a nice loaf of rice bread, courtesy of Elizabeth David’s English Bread and Yeast Cookery. Mrs. David, in turn, credits Eliza Acton’s English Bread Book as the inspiration for her recipe.
If you think it looks good, well, dears, you should only taste it. It is not only one of the best loaves of bread I know how to make, it is also one of the easiest. We are having it for our chicken sandwiches tonight, but really, the best way to eat it is as toast, lavishly buttered, lightly salted. You can add the jelly or jam of your choice—apricot jam is very nice on this toast, particularly if your apricot jam is enriched with brandy and hazelnuts—but in my opinion, to jelly it is to guild the lily. Butter, salt, amen, full stop.
View from the top crust:
View from the side crust:
View from the inside:
That looks delicious! I need to learn how to cook…