This was really awesome:

A whole wheat bread/cracker (think Weatables), bread and butter pickle chip, duck liver pate, and a Dijon and English beer mustard combo on top. Sweet, sharp, savory, and crunchy. Mmmmmmmmmm.

After several attempts at Lahey's all-the-rage no-knead bread (all of which consistantly fell short of what I wanted), I turned to Bittman's recipe for basic French bread. And holy crap it was AMAZING.

I didn't take any pictures of making the dough, but you mix in a food processor for maybe 30 seconds. That's it. And it's crazy easy and crazy good. After making the dough (instant yeast, flour, salt, water), you let it rise for 2 hrs. Then shape it, and let rise 2 more hours. Here's a shot of three loaves rising in my homemade "couche"

And then 25 minutes of baking turned out this:

nice razor blade cuts (thanks to Tracy via her friend Adam)! I didn't have a spray bottle to mist the oven, so I just kept a tin of water in there the whole time.

Which worked well... Check out that crust!

And a great crumb.

This was the best baguette I've ever had. Honestly. I don't see how I could go back to Lahey's approach after this... This was way easier and much better!

Lori made this breakfast this morning. That's my tridux bread, with a hole cut in it, toasted in a cast iron skillet for a minute, cracked an egg in the hole, keep cookin for a minute, flip, cook for another minute and serve with chopped parsley on top. Plus a piece of that Applegate Sunday bacon which is perhaps the best bacon out there. Kicks nueskie's ass if you ask this new englander... Er new yorker. Awesome breakfast!

I love a snack turns into dinner like this.