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bread

Making lahoh like a professional Yemenite baker

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say this is the most difficult recipe I’ve ever written about. I have tested it literally 50 times over the course of three years, and my family has eaten hundreds of mediocre flatbreads as I attempted to crack the secret to perfect, bubbly lahoh …

Apple chunk breakfast loaf

My apple guy is one of my favorite market vendors. Always with a ready smile when I’m buying or even just passing by. Last time I was there, he introduced me to his grandchildren, though you’d hardly guess he’s a grandfather by his looks. And, oh, he likes to sit …

Near-instant sourdough bread

“What have you done this past week?” my husband asked rhetorically. “You gave birth. And then you made a loaf of bread.” “Two loaves,” I pointed out. “No one would believe you if you told them,” he finished. What can I say? This bread really is next to instant — …

Saluf, traditional Yemenite flatbread

Walking through the Yemenite quarter one Friday morning, I passed an open window advertising fresh lahoh. What more of an invitation do I need? But there was no one there. Peering inside, I couldn’t even see any bread — none of the telltale bags of stacked lahoh or saluf, full …

Pici — handmade Italian pasta

The next best thing to going to Italy and learning to make pasta from an Italian mother is having your cousins go and then teach you. (And the next best thing after that — hopefully — is learning about it on my blog.) Paul was my friend before he became …

Banana oatmeal muffins

What’s driving me to bake in the middle of this infernal summer? Maybe it’s heatstroke. Or maybe it’s the surplus of overripe fruit in the house. And it just might have something to do with the cute new cupcake wrappers I ordered off eBay. I had three mushy bananas sitting …

Green tea brioche with sweet beans

Much like we westerners like Japanese food, but alter it to suit our tastes, Japanese people like western food, but often with a Japanese twist. At the Uomo subway station in Tokyo, there's a little bakery full of western-style breads (OK, there are actually tons of such bakeries), where you …

Mom’s challah

I’m not entirely sure where my mom got this recipe, but I got it from her. It’s a surefire way to impress at a Friday night dinner. It has this warm, yeasty flavor in the hours after it’s baked that dissipates as the hours pass, turning it back into just …

Quick soda bread with zaatar, sun-dried tomatoes, and more

In honor of St. Patrick’s day, apparently there’s been a debate raging about soda bread. The conclusion is that once you start adding things beyond flour, buttermilk and baking soda, it’s not traditionally Irish. Well, that’s fine with me. I added zaatar and sun-dried tomatoes to mine, and I make …