Customer Reviews

Cooking With Artisan Bread

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
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I'll be honest--I have not yet cooked recipes from this book, but am buying it now. The reason I am writing this review is that the other reviewer is mistaken. She says that the book is not about "Cooking with Artisan Bread." The book is about precisely what it says: using artisan bread in your cooking. What the reviewer Jane means is that the book is not about baking bread, and the book does not pretend it is about that. (Think: cooking is not baking.) She should have read the editorial descriptions and the recipe list to realize that. The recipes are for dishes--panini, bread pudding--in which you USE artisan bread. I am buying the book so that I can use loaves more fully. Sometimes after the first day of plain bread with a meal, the loaf sits there unused. My bread-loving family will probably devour the dishes from this book!

I was given this fantastic little cookbook several years ago and was checking to see if it was available on Amazon as I recommended it to someone. I was amazed to see the first review of the book. Can't imagine how that reviewer could have inferred that it was a bread cookbook as the cover makes it abundantly clear it's all about cooking WITH/USING artisan breads. I've loved every recipe I've tried; they are clearly but simply written and produce great results. This is a definite must have for anyone trying to stretch their food dollars and use every last morsel and crumb of really good breads.

The title of Cooking with Artisan Bread is a bit misleading. Bassetti and Galton give only one recipe for artisan bread at the opening of the book. That one bread is indeed excellent. The crust is chewy and the interior is moist and delicious. However, be aware that the recipes in the balance of the book are for dishes one would serve with the bread -- having only a passing connection with artisan bread; e.g., Macrina's Ham and Cheese Panini is delicious but is not "cooking with artisan bread." In summary, the book's misleading title is a disappointment for those of us interested in artisan bread. So make your purchase based on the book's actual content, not what the title purports. A better choice for bread bakers would be The Secrets of Jesuit Breadmaking by Brother Rick Curry; it's filled with wonderful recipes and bread lore.