No-knead bread

Okay, I admit it. I have long been intimidated by the idea of bread baking. Perhaps my fears can be traced back to childhood. I have memories of my mother and sister making bread in our family kitchen-flour flying everywhere, the entire room being taken over by the task. This was no short-term job either; I remember my mom and sister devoting several hours of the day to the process. And when the bread finally came out... Well, the finished product was okay, but I couldn't help thinking, "Why not spend a few bucks, buy a perfectly okay loaf from the grocery store, save yourself the time and the trouble, and move on with your day?"

Nonetheless the craft of bread baking has maintained a certain mystique. The idea of creating something so potentially delicious from not much more than flour and water, the magic of using yeast to make the simple ingredients combine into a leavened, doughy, form... not to mention my idealized notion of creating that perfect, warm, fresh-out-of-the-oven, crispy-crusted and moist-centered loaf... that's what kept bread making in the back of my head.

And that is why the words "No knead bread" caught by eye on a recent visit to a food blog. Turns out this recipe has been hailed as a miracle, or if not a miracle, than at least pure baking genius. Writers claim that the recipe is so simple that a 4-year old can follow the instructions and yet so good that its product rivals any artisan bread that you might purchase from a well-respected professional bakery. You can find the original NY Times article in which food-writer Mark Bittman describes the bread: here, and the blog post that originally caught my eye is: here.

After reading these praises I thought, "hmm...even I might be able to do that." I was not disappointed (i.e. I did it! I did it! I baked good bread!). I highly recommend that you try this recipe. Trust me, if nothing else, it's a great way to boost one's confidence in the kitchen and impress your friends and family! You can find the recipe for this bread at the links above. Below I have written some comments and tips.

Comments:

When I first read this recipe, I ran around trying to find the appropriate pot in which to bake the bread. We do not own an 8-quart pot with a cover that is oven friendly. Finally, I found pot that was approximately the right size, placed a metal pot from another pot on top, baked away, and it seemed to work just fine. My mother also suggested that I could have tried using aluminum foil as a cover. I might try this next time.

The first time I baked this bread, I made the mistake of not completely pre-heating the pot. I probably stuck it in the oven 15 minutes prior to baking instead of the prescribed "at least 30 minutes before." The result was that the finished bread stuck to the bottom of the pot. I was able to scrape most the bread off, but it was still disappointing to have this otherwise near-perfection bread stuck to the pot.

This bread does not keep well after the first day. I recommend planning to eat it almost immediately after baking. We didn't finish ours and it molded after a day or 2 of sitting out. This bread is so delicious though that I imagine many won't have the problem of left-overs!

Strawberry rhubarb pie

I don't have any pictures to post, nor will I be writing a specific recipe here. However, I am very excited to share some recent discoveries in the world of pie baking!



First, a bit of history: A little over a year ago I developed a pie-baking obsession. The spree began after I watched the movie Waitress. Admittedly, the movie isn't anything amazing (though still worth watching for a light and relaxing evening). In it, though, the main character prepares these beautiful and creative (in terms of name and ingredient) pies! I was completely inspired. Pies provide a basic template with which I can experience and represent the seasons, as well as my mood. And thus it began.



Fast forward to today. I'm still working on perfecting my pie crust, and my pies in general. I've made some amazing discoveries with regard to pie shells, but I'll leave notes on those for another day. What I want to share with you today are my exciting strawberry rhubarb pie filling discoveries.



I have made 2 strawberry rhubarb pies thus far this season. The first one, while delicious, was a soppy mess. I'd estimate that the filling was 1 part fruit to 2 parts liquid and after slicing it resembled more of a wet cobbler than a pie. The second one was beautifully solid! I attribute the success of the second to the following steps:

1.) I prebaked the crust. Specifically, I preheated the oven to 375, placed the crust dough in the pan, placed foil and pie weights on top of the dough, and then baked for 15 minutes. After, I removed the weights, glazed the bottom and sides of the crust with a beaten egg, and sprinkled 2 tablespoons of oats on top of the glaze. I then baked for another 20 minutes.

2.) For the filling, I strained the strawberries, after slicing them, very well. Then, I mixed my filling spices, strawberries, and rhubarb with 4 tablespoons of tapioca plus 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and allowed this to sit for about 20 minutes. Then--and this I think is the most important step I think--I cooked the mixture on the stove top (medium high heat) for about 5 minutes. This allowed the mixture to thicken up. I removed the mixture from the stove after it resembled a loose jam.

3.) Finally, I assembled the pie (topped with streusal this time!) and baked at 350 for another 30 minutes or so, until the crust was beautifully browned.

I wish I'd taken a picture of the final product to share. We gobbled it up though, and believe me, it was tasty and, importantly, not runny!

Salted Rosemary Flatbread

I'm obsessed with this recipe, which I found on my favorite food blog: www.smittenkitchen.com. Really, the recipe is genius, pure genius. Delicious, easy, and did I mention delicious? It's essentially a pizza dough recipe topped with olive oil, rosemary and salt. The bread makes a wonderful accompaniment to a tapas style dinner. We've been enjoying it with hummus (we'll have to share that recipe with you in another post), cheese, and spring vegetable salads.

Here's the recipe as published on the smittenkitchen blog (which the blog author adapted from Jim Lahey's Pizza Bianca recipe, which was published on marthastewart.com), with just a few extra suggestions and modifications.

Salted Rosemary Flatbread, a.k.a. Jim Lahey's Pizza Bianca

3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon instant dry yeast
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Fresh Rosemary

1. Combine flour, 1/2 tsp salt, sugar, and yeast in a bowl and mix*. Slowly add about 1 cup cold water. Mix until a smooth dough-ball is formed.

[In the published recipe, she says to do all of this in a bowl using an electric mixer. I prefer to perform the mixing by hand.Therefore, I have found that a slightly stickier dough is better than a more rubbery one, and so it might be necessary to add slightly more water.]

2. Form a ball from the dough place on a floured surface and knead for ~10 minutes until smooth.

3. Place dough in an oiled bowl and allow it to rest 2 to 4 hours until it has doubled in size. Split the dough into halves and form each into a log. Place each on a floured surface and allow to rest until each doubles in size, again at least 1 hour.

(Note: Each time I have made this, I've skipped the second rise and it's worked out just fine!)

4. Put dough on a lightly floured baker's peel. Dimple dough by pressing it down with your fingertips. Work the dough outward toward the edges of the peel until you reach your desired size and thickness, about 1/4 inch. (you can also roll out the dough). Drizzle with remaining olive oil, rosemary and sprinkle with remaining salt.

5. Place a baking stone/pizza stone in the oven. Set oven to HOT (500 or so degrees). Slide pizza onto baking stone with the baker's peel. Bake until the bubbles range from golden to deep brown in color, 10 to 12 minutes.

*Note: Sometimes I add the rosemary to the mix at this point, along with the salt, sugar and flour, rather than sprinkling it on top at the end.