Bread

[filkertom]

So, I baked bread today.

First time I've ever tried such a thing. Used the Cooks Illustrated recipe for Almost No-Knead Bread 2.0, which modifies a recipe that appeared in the NY Times a couple of years back. Slightly different proportions, and also the addition of distilled white vinegar to give it some tang and a little bit of beer to add yeasty flavor without using a starter.

I mixed this with a spatula for, like, a minute. Let it rest overnight, kneaded it for maybe fifteen seconds, let it rise for two hours, baked it in a pre-heated Dutch oven, bam.

I should've taken a picture of it before I cut into it. I wasn't thinking that far -- the aroma was amazing. Beautiful, crusty bread (I don't usually like a hard crust, but this is very nom-worthy), wonderful crumb, great flavor, just begging to have some butter on it.

My first attempt at baking bread will not be my last.

What culinary goodness have you committed lately?

Comments

Bread

[markiv1111.livejournal.com]

This is actually a rather neat post. I have baked bread once in my life (with a woman named Page Ringstrom, who is now Page Appelbaum, very much out of contact with local fans and not returning my phone calls; she and I were platonic roommates) and found it a wonderful experience, and really can't figure out why I have not been inclined to do it again. I did find out that baking bread is considered such an upbeat and fulfilling thing, and a thing to help get one in touch with the real world, that in mental hospitals a lot of the patients spend time in the bakery just to do what you and I have done, and in the process getting centered again. To me, this makes perfect sense. Note that I am a serious bread fan. I just like bread, and have strong tastes and opinions even buying off the grocery store shelves. If I were sure I had no higher priorities for my time, and comparably sure that my home-made bread would be better than the best I could buy at the store, maybe I would bake bread for the second, third, and fourth time -- etc.

Nate

Re: Bread

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

:) Part of the reason I tried this recipe is that it promised very good bread for almost no work, and it delivered. Literally, what I told you above was almost all the effort involved, apart from a bit of parchment paper, some plastic wrap, a floured mat for the kneading, and some Pam For Baking. Hardest work was lifting the cast-iron Dutch oven to get the bread out. Active time? Negligible.

And I am a bread fan -- having Zingerman's in town will do that for you. Their various ryes, the sourdough, the farm bread, the Paesano (absolutely perfect for a good rip-and-dip into olive oil or balsamic vinegar), the pretzel bread, and especially the Parmesan Peppercorn... oh man.

[karjack.livejournal.com]

This is so cool. Welcome to the bread-baking fold. :)

I bake the bread for our household. My favorite recipe involves a sourdough starter named, by pure coincidence, Tom. As in Baker.

My latest culinary goodness involved roasted root vegetables in white wine. I haven't put that recipe up yet, but I try to post the good ones I keep coming back to in my LJ under the 'recipe (http://karjack.livejournal.com/tag/recipe)' tag.

If the current economic downturn has had one positive outcome in our household, it has been the joy of reacquainting myself with the kitchen. Not only is it cheaper to cook at home, it is immeasurably satisfying.

Congrats on your first loaf!

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

My favorite recipe involves a sourdough starter named, by pure coincidence, Tom. As in Baker.

[snort] Who?

[hms42]

Matzoh Ball Soup last weekend for dinner. It was good and only the 2nd time I have made it from scratch.

I used the family secret recipe. (The one on the side of the box.) :) Added some carrots like my mother does and forgot to add some onions since she was not going to eat it. (Food allergy.)

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Good on you for Noms for your Mom. :)

[jss]

A no-effort corned beef brisket back at the beginning of Passover.

Tonight, lemon-thyme roasted chicken, currently in the oven. It'll be served with a salad (butter and leaf lettuces, roma tomatoes, thyme, bacon bits, and italian dressing) and thyme roasted red potatoes.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Well, that works with karjack's comments, above -- you're a Thyme Lord.

[nimitzbrood.livejournal.com]

I really have to get around to setting up the breadmaker. I used to make all sorts of strange loaves of bread.

I used to love coloring the loaves with green-blue food coloring and then making people think I was eating moldy bread. ^_^

One of the best loaves I made was a dark chocolate one using semi-sweetened baker's chocolate. It came out awesome!

Tonight though we're using up the last of the bacon-wrapped steaks we got on sale at Costco many months ago and froze. My wife for some reason can cook steak better than I can. *shrug*

What I've been cooking a lot of regularly though is chicken stir fry:

2 boneless chicken breasts - cubed.
6 - 8 baby carrots - shredded.
1/2 lb of snow pea pods.
1 container water chestnuts - drained.
1 container bamboo shoots - drained.
1 bell pepper, slivered lengthwise - red preferably but any will do.
1 handful of bean aprouts.
2 green onions - finely chopped.
Optional - broccoli florets in varying amounts.
Teryaki sauce in varying amounts.

Using two tablespoons of oil in a frying pan or wok ( hot wok - cold oil ) cook the chicken (stirring regularly) until it's just done inside then set aside and clean out the wok/pan. You can add a bit of teryaki sauce while cooking the meat but add it slowly and not enough to puddle in the bottom of the pan.

After the pan is cleaned out put another two tablespoons of oil in the wok/pan then start by putting in the snow pea pods, the bamboo shoots, and the water chestnuts. Cook those while stirring for about 5 minutes or so then add all the other ingredients and cook for another 5 - 10 minutes.

I usually cook the entire vegetable mixture until the bell pepper and pea pods just starts to soften and become floppy. The texture is completely up to you.

Anyway when the vegetables are being close to done I start drizzling the teryaki sauce as I'm cooking so it soaks in a bit. Alternatively you can thoroughly mix a 1/4 cup of it with some arrowroot or corn starch and make a glaze that you can coat the entire dish with when you add the chicken back in. (You add the chicken back in for a couple of folds after you're sure the vegetables are done.)

Serve over crunchy noodles or rice. Enjoy! ^_^

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Sounds great. I did a stir-fry once, many years ago -- came out lousy. I think I have a better chance of doing it right, now that I have the smallest clue of what actually to do in the kitchen; I hope to try it something this spring, before it gets too hot.

[pjhandley.livejournal.com]

new cheesecake recipe: Orange-Cranberry. I found a recipe in my cheesecake cookbook, but didn't have the ingredients called for (fresh cranberries, orange juice). I substituted with what I had in the house, and it came out amazing! I'll definitely be making this flavor again.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Yum. I'm trying to get past my dislike of cranberries, and mixing with something I love (e.g., oranges) often helps. And I haven't had cheesecake in years.

[palenoue.livejournal.com]

I used to do a lot of machine bread making because I was either living in a college dorm (the other students used to complain that my room smelled too good, distracted them from study) or in apartments with tiny kitchens. Had lots of fun developing new recipes and such. One of the easiest breads was also the most popular with friends and family. Just mix a can of diced tomatoes with flour and yeast, add some oregano, set the machine for regular bread and a couple hours later you have really tasty sandwich bread.

Now I make variations on the no-knead bread like you just cooked. Usually I just add a teaspoon or two of herbs, like dill or sage. And when I talk people into trying no-knead bread I always urge them to add some beer, so you beat me to the punch this time.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I'm not going to make it all the time -- you have to kick the oven up to 500° for a half-hour, and 425° for the next hour -- but it really is good. I have to try one of the rye variations. For regular bread purposes, I buy Pepperidge Farm Whole Wheat Double Fiber. Very healthy, very tasty. (I tried Nature's Pride's version of the same thing, and the flavor was good but the texture was like foam rubber.)

[smallship1.livejournal.com]

And years from now, there'll be a small bakery on a street somewhere in Michigan, and people will look at the happy smiling proprietor and say "didn't he use to be some sort of musician?"

...and filkdom will be MINE, hahahahahahaha...

We have a bread making machine, but we stopped using it because the result was a bit too hard on the Countess's teef, and now it's stuck in a cupboard behind boxes of videos we're not quite ready to throw out yet.

I'm a rote cook, and not as in "rote-isserie": once I learn a recipe I can do it the same every time, but new stuff is tricky. I have the Countess's veggie stew pretty much down pat now, but I'm sure she must be getting bored with it...

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Two things you may be very interested in: Cooking For Engineers (http://www.cookingforengineers.com/), and Michael Ruhlman's new book Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1416566112?ie=UTF8&tag=tomsmithonlin-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1416566112)

[devospice.livejournal.com]

Jen has a bread machine and uses it to make her own pizza crust from scratch. Makes for DAMN good pizza!

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I so want to make my own 'za. That pizza stone is burnin' a hole in my -- AAAAAAAAAH FIRE FIRE AAAAAAAAH [spa-lash]



... All good.

Strawberry shortcake

[msminlr.livejournal.com]

Start by taking the Cool Whip out of the freezer.

I baked my own shortcake using a Bisquick-based recipe:
Approximately 2 cups Bisquick, half a cup of sugar, a third of a cup of margarine. Cut all together with a fork, then add milk until the batter will just barely pour from the bowl.

I use a piece of parchment-paper to line the bottom of the baking pan (9 inch square) and make sure the shortcake comes out cleanly.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 25 minutes, cool on a rack until it is cooled enough not to blister your fingers, then turn out upside down on a board and peel the parchment paper off. Let cool completely, then cut into quarters and freeze three of them for future use. Cut up the remaining quarter into about 1 inch cubes and divide into two bowls.

A few months back I'd pureed a bunch of strawberries and frozen the puree in molds to use in punch. Hadn't used up all of it, so I thawed one of the molded chunks to stir in with the quart of fresh-cut strawberries from the store earlier today. Add a quarter-cup of sugar or Splenda to that and set in the fridge.

When supper is done, pull out the strawberries and distribute about half of the batch between the two bowls of shortcake. There's going to be enough strawberries left over to put on pancakes in the morning.

Top with Cool Whip to taste.

Re: Strawberry shortcake

[madrona.livejournal.com]

Cool hwhip?

[ericthemage.livejournal.com]

I mixed this with a spatula for, like, a minute. Let it rest overnight, kneaded it for maybe fifteen seconds, let it rise for two hours, baked it in a pre-heated Dutch oven, bam.

That sounds like an Alton Brown recipe.

"Mix for 5 minutes, let rest for 2 hours, beat for 5 minutes, let rest for 3 hours, flip over on itself, let rest overnight, put in a bowl, let rest for 20 minutes, put in the oven, let it bake for 2 hours, take it out, let it rest for 30 minutes, slice it up, let it rest for 20 minutes..."

[madrona.livejournal.com]

That bread has chronic fatigue or what?

[alverant.livejournal.com]

Get this, I made bread today too. OK it's a store mix and I'm using a bread maker. I don't know how it will turn out. I added a little extra water to counter some more dried spices I added. That might have made the mixture too wet. It's cooking away but it may not be useable in the end.

I also started a pot of herbs (basil, cilantro, chives). I hope that works out and the seeds don't become squirrel munchies.

I moved my plants outside and fixed the drywall in my bathroom. Tomorrow I sand and paint.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Very cool. I've gotta start my window garden, now that I've got a window to start it in.

[madrona.livejournal.com]

Sadly, although I'm known in the family as the food nocker, I've been too busy nursing a new babe to make food for anyone else.

I can't make yeast bread anyhow. It never rises for me.

However, my husband has been learning to cook under duress. The same man who had to ask, repeatedly, what the ingredients of a turkey sandwich should be has been turning out some mighty fine beef stews.

And my sister found filet mignon at the store for four dollars a pound. Four. Dollars. A pound. Nom.

[jss]

If your yeast breads never rise, you're most likely either using dead-before-you-started yeast or you're killing it off, most likely by using too-hot water.

[kestrels-nest.livejournal.com]

I have a lovely cottage-cheese batter bread recipe, out of Craig Claiborne's Complete Book of Breads, first edition. (I have both versions of the book. He left some of my favorite recipes out of the second one, so I kept the first.) It's one of the few recipes I actually follow pretty closely, because, well, it doesn't need messing with. It's very easy with a stand mixer; don't know what the difficulty factor would be by hand. Anyway, I'll try to post it later.

Otherwise? I've been cooking, baking, and generally enjoying the heck out of myself in the kitchen. Pot roast, Rosemary chicken (which reminds me that I need to make stock out of the bones), assorted and sundry cakes, you name it.

And bread-baking is what I've always gone to when I was stressed. When the going gets tough, the tough start baking! (And her husband gets to destroy the evidence....*g*)

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

It's not something I'm going to do a lot, because we have got several artisan bakeries in town, including Zing's. But it was easy, way fun, and with great results. And it gave me an excuse to use the cast-iron Dutch oven I got cheap at CostCo. ;)

[regalpewter.livejournal.com]

Oh fresh bread!
One trick I use is my baking stones(Okay, they are pavers from Home Despot. But they work and were cheap.) They help the heat maintain in the oven.
I posted yesterday about the spaghetti carbonara in my blog. Right now, the Bride and Joy is broiling chicken for our salads for dinner.
I will be thinking up something fun to do with the beef cubes in the freezer, tomorrow.
YIS,
WRI

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I love my baking stone, even though I haven't baked much directly on it. I need it specifically for [a] pizza, which I hope to do this summer, and [b] oven-smoked barbecue ribs, where you smoke the ribs over Lapsang Souchong tea leaves.

[bardicwench.livejournal.com]

I made some kick ass chocolate brownies last weekend... some with cream cheese frosting, some with strawberry, and some with chocolate. ^_^ I brought them to the mandatory IRT meeting on April 11th. Everyone who ate them thought they were wonderful, so that made me happy.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Mmmm... brownies. ;)

[jannyblue.livejournal.com]

I peeled and chopped up a whole pineapple about 10 minutes ago.

In my previous experiences, "preparing pineapple for consumption" always involved a can-opener, so this was new territory for me.

So I did what any sane tech-savvy person would do: I googled for instructions.

Something I learned the hard way: Pineapples are very slippery once you get the skin off.

[jss]

True about many things, not just pineapples. Mangoes especially.


AMC has been rerunning Blazing Saddles a lot of late, so all I can think of is "Candygram for Mango."

[drzarron.livejournal.com]

We did an oven baked sandwich that Diana found, not unlike a Philly Cheese Steak. Very tasty.

Yesterday we did Garlic/Ginger chicken with brocolli, first time we've done this one too.. excellent.

[huskiebear.livejournal.com]

I've been making no knead bread from the book Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. Basically you mix up a bunch of flour, water, yeast and salt into a wet dough, let it rise a couple of hours and throw it in the fridge. Take out a chunk when you want fresh bread, shape a loaf, let it rise a couple of hours and throw it in the oven. Fresh, hot bread every day if you want it! As the dough stays in the fridge, it ferments a bit and takes on a bit of sour, and if you don't clean out the container in between, you basically get sourdough. I've made two batches of basic white bread and one batch of challah so far. Amazing for french toast!

[huskiebear.livejournal.com]

Almost forgot! My current bread mania started out with this copycat recipe for Olga bread. NOM!

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

I like good bread. I used to bake a lot. Bread, cakes, pies, biscuits, cheesecakes, cookies. I was brilliant.

But lately, my culinary skills seem limited to popping turkey or ham or sweet potatoes in the oven, opening bags of carrots and sometimes adding ham and broccoli to boxed Mac & cheese.

I really ought to make a black-bottom pie soon.
recipe here: http://www.geocities.com/valarltd/pie.html

[peachtales.livejournal.com]

It's hard to overstate how much I like cooking and food. My dad originally studied and worked as a chef, so I grew up with it all around me.
Can't think of any one specific thing right now though ;)

[lizard-sf.livejournal.com]

Ethiopian cooking. Very unusual, but surprisingly easy and great for parties with friends.

[zellion.livejournal.com]

We had guests over this weekend so I made a lasagna and a double chocolate cheesecake.

[sunfell.livejournal.com]

This recipe is why I want to blow $200 on a Le Creuset dutch oven.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth, I used a $25 cast-iron Lodge that I got on special at CostCo. There are good ones out there for a lot less than $200; here's a comparison (http://mycookbooknook.blogspot.com/2008/01/le-creuset-vs-tramontina-cookware.html) between the Le Creuset and the Tramontina (cheapest at Wal*Mart, but not onerous elsewhere for those of us who despise Wal*Mart). Don't forget the ovenproof knob for the lid!

[acelightning.livejournal.com]