batter bread 2 and french bread

Guy followed up his amazing batter bread 1 with (what could be better?) more batter bread 2. Then he made two loaves of French bread, too.

The Batter bread 2 used the same recipe as before (from Esther H. Shanks' Mennonite Country-Style Cooking). We still have no bread loaf pans, so he cooked the Batter bread loaf in a stoneware baked-bean casserole pot. The finished shape of the loaf is beautiful, although it occurs to me that the loaf resembles a giant muffin.




Here is a photo of the giant loaf of Batter bread 2 as well as the two loaves of French bread. The French bread recipe was also from Esther H. Shanks' Mennonite Country-Style Cooking.

The French bread is decorated with slashes and poppy seeds sprinkled onto brushed-on egg whites.

The bread tastes every bit as good as it looks!

Batter bread

Guy's cooking is flourishing! He made a batch of batter bread the other day and it didn't last 12 hours in our house before it was devoured. The source of the recipe was Esther H. Shanks' Mennonite Country-Style Cookbook.

We had no loaf pans, so Guy shaped the bread onto a cookie sheet. When it came out of the oven, he made sure to spread the loaf with plenty of butter.


The resultant loaf tasted very good -- both hot and cold. Some of us ate it plain, others spread cream cheese on it.

Review:

5 forks for flavor
5 forks for presentation

One of the best cookbooks ever

Thought I should mention that I rely heavily on my own first-hand experience in the kitchen and on a small collection of very well used cookbooks.

One of my favoritecookbooks is Mennonite Country-Style Recipes and Kitchen Secrets by Esther H. Shank. My copy was published in 1987, but newer editions are available. I can vouch that the recipes are pretty easy to make --from easy to find ingredients. My family has enjoyed some of the recipes so much that they become family favorites.

This cookbook would make a great present for young people cooking on their own for the first time.