NKOTB - No Kneading Of The Bread!

Okay, so I'm late to the party with the whole no-knead bread thing, apparently, but since I was home last week with the plague/cold, I had lots of time to catch up on my surfing the net and watching food network. Woohoo! And when I finally felt a little less congested, I tried my hand at it this weekend. My kitchen is part spice rack, part kitchen appliance cache, and part science lab. I've been baking bread for several years, but I've always stuck to basic loaves of mostly whole-grain bread. I had to see if this weird method would work.

The technique is simple really. You just have to plan ahead and allow time to work its magic.

Simply combine 3 cups all-purpose flour, 1 and 3/4 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast, 1tbsp olive oil, and 1 and 1/2 cups plus 2 tbsps water. Then you can season it with whatever herbs or spices strike your fancy. For this, I used rosemary, lemon peel and (because I had it) sumac. I could picture doing different variations... parmesan and kalamata olives, cinnamon and raisin, oats and honey... anything you want, really.

Cover it up tightly with saran wrap and keep at room temperature for 12-14 hours.

Goodnight, bread. See you in the morning!

And just like that - magic!! It's all risen and doughy!

Now, you simply flour your surface and turn out the dough. Sprinkle flour on the dough as well, and flour your hands A LOT. Then fold it on itself, sprinkling a little more dough as you go.

Once....

Twice....

I love bread dough. It's the closest thing to playing with playdough that I have!

Now squish it into a ball and cover with saran wrap again. Leave it for 15 mins.

After that, take a tea-towel (but not the terry-cloth type unless you like fuzzies) and sprinkle some corn meal on it. Form the dough into a ball and place on the towel seam-side down.

Sprinkle the top with more corn meal and then cover with another towel and let rise for 2 more hours. While we're waiting, here's a picture of my Le Creuset. I only own this because I won it at a church silent auction. It was the happiest moment of my life. Well, maybe not, but I wanted to feature it because, yes, I own a Le Creuset! In fact, I own two items, if you count my cherry red butter crock.

A half hour before the two hours is up, preheat the oven to 450 degrees and put your 2 and 3/4 quarts Le Creuset (or dutch oven) in the oven to get it nice and hot. When the two hours are up, take out the dutch oven and carefully try to plop the dough into it, seam-side down. Don't burn yourself!

Into the oven she goes, with the lid on for 30 mins. Then take the lid off for another 15 mins so it develops a beautiful golden-brown crust. The smell of baking bread.... so good!

And here it is - beautiful! It turned out great. Perfect for dipping in a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar. If you've got a little time on the weekend and a little bread-making ambition, give it a try!

Relentless corgi

Corgis are herding dogs. Mine thinks it's her job to herd the cat. And this morning, when the cat was up on the table trying to escape from the corgi, Ginny decided it was A-OK for her to get up there, too.

What are you doing? Bad corgi!

Get off of the table!!

Off! Now!

You see? She mocks me!

Ginny can definitely be a pain. But she has her cute moments. Especially when she's tired.

Tomatillo Chicken - Not for the faint of heart!

With all this talk of Mexican Swine Flu, I thought I would take you on a culinary trip south of the border, from the comfort of your own home. Your own sterile, flu-free home... This recipe is yummy, but it is very bright-flavored and has a little heat. I'm just saying.


First, grab a bunch of tomatillos and then... what? What's a tomatillo, you ask? Tomatillos are like the tomato's sassy little Latina cousin. They're fresh, bright, tangy, and GREEN. And covered in a husk. They look a little like this:




To start, throw a buncha de-husked tomatillos (7 or 8 medium sized tomatillos should do the trick) on the broiler pan with a jalapeno and broil away.





While that's going, get a large pan out and cover with olive oil. Add 4 or 5 cloves of minced garlic and start to saute on a low heat.



Once your tomatillos start to get little brown spots, you can take the tomatillos out, but leave the jalapeno in just a little bit longer. We want it nice and roasty. Then throw everything in your Cuisinart, or if you're not cool enough to have a Cuisinart, give it a spin in the blender.





Poor little tomatillos.... sassy though they may be, they never deserved a fate like this. Oh well, they will be yummy.



Once everything is thoroughly blended, you can dump it in a pan and put it on the stove.





At this point, you need to put two chicken breasts under the broiler (don't forget to spray the pan with Pam first!). 8 minutes on each side should do the trick.

Okay, back to the tomatillo sauce. Let's add the seasonings: salt, pepper, and plenty of cumin.
Then a splash of lime juice, and let it simmer to reduce. Check the seasonings and adjust as necessary.



Once the chicken comes out of the oven, stick it in the sauce, put a lid on it, reduce to a medium low heat and cook for about 10 mins.





Now, take a bunch of cilantro, and using a chef's knife, remove the leaves from the stems. Take the lid off of the pan and sprinkle the cilantro over everything.





Let it wilt briefly before plating. I served with rice (which I pre-seasoned with lots of cumin and garlic salt). Once you plate it, sprinkle with a little shredded cheese.



Enjoy the fresh, tangy, bright, , citrusy, sunshiney (and slightly spicy) flavor of Mexican Springtime. Minus the Swine Flu.

Cheers!

The Office Scavenger Hunt!

I used to write poetry.

Poetic inspiration came from two sources:
1) Reading the works of great poets, and admiring their use of language to create meaning.
2) Being pissed off at someone else. Nothing fuels poetry like angst, especially for teenagers.

However, in recent years, I haven't written any poetry. Mostly, that’s because I am not required to write poetry to earn a grade. The past week, however, I have rediscovered my poet’s soul, because I have had to create an office scavenger hunt.

To preface, our office is not unlike THE Office; our manager rides around our office on a motorized cooler, pranks are encouraged, and Halloween is the most important day of the year. Each team also has a team bulletin board that mostly just has pictures of the teams on a fun background. Our team is currently pieces of fruit living in a forest. It’s super cute. I’m a bunch of grapes. It is fitting for me because I’m also a wino.

One of the other teams had recently changed their board to be a big cardboard king running through a valley of flowers and butterflies. It was not very manly looking. The king looked like the spitting image of the creepy Burger King on the commercials.

So, about a week ago, I stole him and hid him. In his place, I put up a ransom note signed from “The Somalian Pirate Crew.” We all thought it was funny. The next day, the woman who makes their team's board was desperately trying to find him. It seemed like she was actually upset about it, and because she is such a sweet lady and I felt bad that she might actually be worried, I put him back on their board. Only after that did we find out that she actually thought it was funny and was playing along!

And so the games begin.

It started with a clue left on their board that would lead them to someone in the office who would give them another clue that would lead them to someone else, and so on, until they found the king.

The clue reads:

The King has been captured and taken away
By one who once lived where the moon shone at day
Upon a two-wheeled chariot, this one took the King
For a military son, a ransom to bring.

The poetic juices are now flowing, people.

Next, they put up a big cardboard pirate lady on their board with a sign demanding that their king be returned. Since they obviously didn’t know what to do next, we added another clue to the board that basically giving them instructions.

If the King of Bookings you wish to find
You must read the clues and use your mind.
The clues will lead you on your way,
Our little games you must now play….

Turns out they figured out the clue, which was actually kind of tough (it’s someone here who lived in Alaska, is a bicyclist, and has a son in the army). But now they’re stuck, because THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO NEXT. Instead of finding the person with the next clue, they’re spending their time printing ransom money and talking about coming up with a SEAL extraction team to find him and recapture him. It’s really not a difficult concept. All you do is solve the clue and then get the next clue from that person.

So, I put up even more instructions, thinking that this would help them understand what they need to do.

The King despairs; he knows not when his people will come seeking.
A clue was left, but will you search? And yet, the time is fleeting….
For now we see the Pirate Bride demands the King’s return
But if indeed you wish to see His Highness, you must learn
To follow clues both far and wide across this kingdom fair,
And then when you have rescued him, return him to his lair.

It ended with “P.S. This is a Scavenger Hunt.”

They still don’t get it yet, but on the plus side, they’re working together as a team, which is pretty cool. It makes me happy.

It’s pretty sweet that my poetry skills have amounted to creating office scavenger hunts for cardboard burger kings.

Easy as (pizza) pie... an easy, breezy weeknight fix

A few years ago, I was traveling in Europe with a friend, and when in Rome.... we ate pizza. We also ate pizza in Florence and Venice. I know it sounds cliche, but it really is very different than your American Pizza Hut Variety. Light, flavorful and easy. Almost like a flatbread with toppings. The biggest difference was that the pizza I ate there had NO PIZZA SAUCE. Instead, it was drizzled with olive oil, and topped with sliced tomatoes and mozzarella. The recipe below is easy and is my best effort at replicating authentic Italian pizza.

Step one: Make yourself a martini. Vodka makes cooking fun!

First, lay your pizza dough out on a greased cookie sheet. If you have a pizza stone, you can use that too. Sprinkle it with a little sea salt and pepper to give it a bit more flavor. I bake the pizza dough for 4 mins in a 425 degree oven to get it to firm up a bit before adding any toppings.

Q: Can you make your own pizza dough?

A: Of course I can. You basically just use bread dough. I will feature bread-making in the future, but it is far too complicated to get into right now. Pre-made pizza dough works ok in a pinch (it's by the Pilsbury crescent rolls at the store.)

Next, drizzle a bit of olive oil over the dough. Olive oil is unique in that it actually imparts a nice, subtle, earthy flavor, unlike the canola oil or vegetable oil that many people are used too. It also has more heart-healthy fats in it than other types of oil. I don't think I could live without olive oil. It's that important. Use a brush to spread it all around your pizza dough.

After your dough is nice and glistening with olivey goodness, spread a thin layer of pesto all over the dough. Pesto has lots of flavor, but it isn't overwhelming if you spread it thinly. Basil, pinenuts, parmesan... it's all there in one easy to spread sauce. The layer of oil already on the crust will help the pesto spread more easily.

Next, thinly slice some red, ripe tomatoes. None of those mealy, hard, off-season tomatoes, please.

Layer the tomatoes on the pizza. See? It's all starting to come together! Oh, at this point, a little more salt on the tomatoes is a good thing.

Next up, zee mozz-arella! Slice 'er up, layer evenly in the pizza and pop it in the oven. That's it!

10 more minutes in a 425 degree oven until it's ready. Your mozzarella will be browning ever so slightly and the tomatoes should break down a little bit. You're done! See that ooey-gooey goodness? That's the good stuff.

Slice yourself a pizza pie. Yum.

Eat some pizza, watch a little Dancing with the Stars, make another martini. Perfect.

Cheers!

A Mother's Letter to her Newborn Blog

Dear Blog,

Like a mother with a newborn child, I have such hopes for you, and lofty goals for your future. I dream that you will someday be filled with beautiful pictures, interesting stories, ironic witticisms, and funny anecdotes. I wish that many people will find you and love you, and that someday you will make me a lot of money and take care of me in my old age. But underneath that hope, sometimes buried deep in their psyche, every parent fears that their child will eventually be a nuisance and a disappointment to them. I doubt you because I doubt myself. I worry that I will try too hard to make you seem “cool” and not allow you to just be yourself. I fret that your stories will not be engaging and your jokes will fall flat. But for now, my little Blog-baby, you are fresh, new, and fun.

I hope that you and I will travel together, cook together and experience and unparalleled joie de vivre. Together we will tell beautiful stories to our friends that one day a publisher will happen to stumble upon and offer us a million dollar book deal. And then we can travel to even more exotic locations, and perhaps upgrade the kitchen, and people will love you so much that the first thing they do when they wake up in the morning will be to check in on you and see if you have anything new to say to them. They will wait with bated breath for you to speak. And your words will be wisdom, and inspire them to live better lives and perhaps even cure cancer.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, shall we? We’ll take it day-by-day, and I will learn your quirks and idiosyncrasies and I will do my best to nurture you and help you grow. I will try my best to let you develop at your own pace and see where life takes you. And now, my little Blog, I will take you into the world, with hope in my heart.

Love,
Your Mama