Eat This Blog: Zingerman’s Sourdough and Farmhouse Breads

Posted on 24 April 2008 under Baking, Eat This Blog, Michigan Cuisine | 3 Comments

World-famous Zingerman’s, mentioned by Chef Mario Batali on multiple shows over the years and written-up on Serious Eats out of NYC as well, isn’t all that far away. The bakery and store are about an hour’s drive to the north in Ann Arbor. But there’s no need to go that far if you live in NE Ohio or SE Michigan. The Zingerman’s delivery truck makes the drive to The Anderson’s Market in Toledo each morning, delivering all kinds of tasty goodies to go into the display cases next to The Andersons’ own handmade baked goods.

The top image is of Zingerman’s Sourdough Bread. Soft on the inside with a mildly-hard crust, this is a great bread for sandwiches, from coldcuts to BBQ pulled pork.

The image below is of their Farmhouse Bread. This loaf has quite a hard crust, with the softness of the sourdough inside combined with the flavor and extra density of a wheat bread. I like to just slather this with real butter, but it’s also amazing toasted for a fried egg sandwich.

Nope, neither of these loaves are going to last long around here.

Click on either of these images for a larger version.

Recipe: Golden Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Posted on 9 April 2008 under Baking, Recipes | 6 Comments


(Click on the photo for a larger version.)

For the past couple days Mary’s had quite a hankering for some Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. Yesterday evening she took a basic recipe for these cookies and kicked it up just a bit while she made them. She used dark brown sugar to give the cookies and added richness and a beautiful color. She also decided to use golden raisins for additional color and a bit more sweetness. The cookies turned out wonderfully, soft and delicious, with the golden raisins giving some bites a great texture.

Golden Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Makes 36 cookies

Ingredients
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1-1/2 cups oats
1 egg
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup 2% milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup golden raisins

Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F. Using a fairly fine mesh, sift the flour, soda, salt, and ground cinnamon together into a large mixing bowl, then stir in the oats. In another mixing bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients. Add them to the dry mix and stir until well-blended.

Using a tablespoon, gently drop the dough onto ungreased cookie sheet about 2″ apart. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 18 minutes until the cookies are golden-brown and slightly firm. Remove them to cool on a wire rack.

Note: Feel free to add more raisins if you’d like. You could also use 50/50 dark and golden raisins, or even replace some of the raisins with small chunks of banana.