Mystery Food Week 4 and Library School Gymnastics

I’ve spent the week with my head in two very different worlds. My spring semester was challenging in a way I’d not expected. I took a course on managing prison libraries, which forced me to weigh access to information against public safety and take a very honest personal inventory of my thoughts and subconscious judgments about the incarcerated population. What I learned was that prison librarians have an incredibly important role. These are the men and women who lead the book group discussions that teach positive socialization, help prisoners locate and comprehend legal materials, and ultimately manage and circulate resources to prepare them for life post-incarceration. It takes a certain amount of determination and resiliency to face what is often a difficult population to serve, whether those difficulties arise from the imprisoned or the bureaucratic “hurry-up-and-wait” nature of prison administration.

When it came time to register for summer courses, I finally decided to stop procrastinating and got around to signing up for a required research methods course. The specific topic for the course is “action research.” While I’m still grasping the concept, it seems to deal a lot with how research acts as a continual, fluid learning process that has no fixed beginning or end. For my other course, I chose a class on selecting materials for children ages 0-4. So you can imagine that going from writing about the constructivist theory of learning to evaluating a copy of Clifford: The Big Red Dog might make some mental gymnastics a necessity.

Nonetheless, I remain determined to share the joy of local food with the world and so present to you Mystery Food Week 4. This was the best haul so far (in my humble opinion).

Here we have some arugula, garlic, spring onions, kale, a potted basil plant (Yay!), a summer squash, and some lovely yellow plums.

…And now a confession: I have never eaten a fresh yellow plum. But the delightful smell as I opened the little container was so sweet that I immediately chose and bit into one.

Oh. My. God. Juicy, fruity, and wonderful. Like a tiny, golden nectarine. Immediately visions of chutneys, preserves, sauces, and salsas danced through my brain. Yes, yes, yes to fresh, in-season yellow plums.

I baked a few of them with some peaches for dessert last night, but wanted to save a few for a spicy plum salsa to go with a grilled pork loin I plan to make for a late Father’s Day BBQ this weekend. (Hey, we do things at our own pace here in the “south.”) I just finished the menu plan and it’s chock-full of delicious goodies. I’ll try to take some pictures.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone. Mine will be spent at my favorite market and then celebrating with family. Oh, and maybe a little homework will sneak in there too…all in all, not a bad way to spend a few days.

Ciao for now!
-Neen

Mystery Food Week 3 and Doing the Can-Can

I took advantage of waking up incredibly early this past Saturday and decided to take a trip out to Bluemont, VA and visit Great Country Farms. That’s where I’ve purchased a CSA share from this year and their weekly newsletter noted that tart cherries were ripe for picking.

It took about an hour to drive to the farm from Arlington, but it was a peaceful, sunny morning and I spent the next hour or so in cherry trees looking for the chubbiest, dark red specimens. Well, 6lbs. of cherries later I finally decided that I had enough for jam and drying. The trees were so lovely and the landscape was incredibly serene. It was nice to be somewhere so quiet.

Sunday morning I at last christened the new canning rig…Now this is canning Tim Taylor/Jeremy Clarkson (“POWERRRRRRRR!”) style:

I whipped up a batch of fabulous tart cherry jam. No-sugar-added jam is actually quite easy to make. The canning process adds a few extra steps at the end, but the actual method for jam-making is very straightforward.

 I used 3lbs. of cherries, 1 1/4 cup of white grape juice, one box of no-sugar/low-sugar pectin, and a 1/2 tsp. of citric acid to preserve the vibrant red color. To get started, pit the cherries and put them in a big pot on the stove over high heat. Smash them up with a potato masher, sprinkle in the citric acid (you can also use a squirt of fresh lemon juice) and let it come to a simmer. Whisk the grape juice and pectin together and then add them to the cherries. Let the mixture come to a full, rolling boil (one that does not stop when stirred) and cook for 1 minute. Turn off the heat and skim the foam off of the top of the jam. Let it sit for 5 minutes and then stir before ladling into jars. This short rest period followed by stirring keeps the fruit from floating to the top and separating from the juices. Even though it’s very liquid-y when hot, the jam will set as it cools down.

If you’re interested in canning this recipe for long-term storage or gift-giving you will also need a big pot of boiling water, 5 or 6 pint jars with flat lids and rings, and something to lift the jars in and out of the boiling water. Jar grabbers are available online for less than $10. If you have mason jars hanging around, the actual jars and rings are certainly reusable, but it is important to always use brand-new flat lids as the adhesive on them will only form a tight seal once.

Sterilize the jars and rings by washing them with hot soapy water or running them through a dishwasher with a heated dry cycle. While you prepare the jam, place the flat lids into a small pan of simmering water to warm up the adhesive. Gently ladle the hot jam into the jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace at the top. Wipe the edges of the jars with a damp towel, place on the flat lids, and then screw on the rings. Place the closed jars into the pot of boiling water, making sure that they are completely submerged, and boil for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the hot jars and place them somewhere to cool undisturbed. Over the next several hours, you might hear tiny popping noises--it’s a good thing. It means that the air-tight vacuum has formed and that the jar has properly sealed. After 24 hours, check all of the jars by pressing down on the flat lid gently. If it doesn’t pop back, the jar is safely sealed. Store the jars in a cool, dark place for up to a year. Homemade jam will start to lose its firm set after about 8 months, but is still safe to eat (albeit a bit runny) as long as the jar remains sealed.

Here’s the final product, from farm to table in one weekend:

Not a bad way to spend the weekend, I must say. And of course, a mere two days later it was time for more goodies:

That’s Mystery Food Week 3 and included in the basket this week were collard greens, red leaf lettuce, beets, broccoli (my personal favorite), and cilantro. Cilantro and I don’t get along so well, so that plant will probably be given to a good home. I’m sorry cilantro, it’s not you, it’s me.

I’m still thinking up creative ways to use everything, but those collards look destined for my favorite application—sautéed in a bit of bacon fat with a whole lot of garlic and white beans. Food just doesn’t get more comforting than that.  Have a great week all!

Ciao for now!
-Neen

Mystery Food Week 2

Here’s this week’s delivery of red chard, mixed salad greens, potted chives, spring onions, and strawberries:

My goodness, look at that chard! It’s beautiful. How beautiful do I think it is? It was beautiful enough that it got me out of bed 20 minutes early this morning so that I could think of something to make with it for lunch. Now that is some serious motivational power.

I still had a small bunch of (oddly not wilted) kale from last week’s delivery, so I chopped that up with several handfuls of the chard and sautéed them in olive oil with garlic, spring onions, and about 1 and a half cups of cooked garbanzo beans. Seasoned it all with a few heavy pinches of salt and some red pepper flakes and then took it off the heat and added about 2 tbsp. of grated parmesan cheese. The whole process took about 10 minutes, and if you can believe it, the chard got even more vibrant as it cooked. Normally, I’d just eat that as is, but I like to have a little bit more protein at lunch for a mid-day boost. I boiled a few eggs this morning and will likely chop one up and put it over the greens and beans.

The strawberries were exceedingly ripe and therefore needed to be eaten immediately (oh darn!). I baked a version of yesterday’s Goodbye Gluten Peach-Berry Crumble, changing out the blueberries for strawberries. It was every bit as incredible as I dreamed.

My own little garden is looking pretty fantastic this year. I attribute this mostly to good spring rainfalls and a few doses of bone meal and blood meal at the base of the plants. Here are some of the lovely cayenne peppers and zucchini that are growing:

I was surprised how much larger the peppers have grown this year. Those two are already the length of my hand!

The garden also has two watermelon plants (that seem to grow longer by the hour) and several Romanian sweet pepper plants that are starting to bear vegetables. The spinach plants have been harvesting big, beautiful leaves for the past month, but are about finished now. Finally, there’s the tomato plant. I’ve never had much luck with tomato plants in the past, but I bought a smaller variety this year and already have three little green tomatoes.

All of this makes me very excited to be receiving Well-Preserved: Recipes and Techniques for Putting Up Small Batches of Seasonal Foods by Eugenia Bone in the mail today.  I want to christen the new pressure canner with something fabulous.

Ciao for now!
-Neen

Something Sweet for Sarah

My cousin Emily and her boyfriend Josh had their beautiful little girl Anna Marie baptized this weekend. She looked like a little angel in a christening gown made from the train of my grandmother’s (Anna’s namesake) wedding gown. The event was a great excuse to make a trip to Pittsburgh and see my family, most of whom I haven’t seen since the winter holidays.

And everyone looked great! At the reception I was sitting and chatting with my cousin Sarah. A while back, she learned that she has some kind of gluten intolerance and has been avoiding wheat. Unfortunately for her, this meant that she could only taste the (divine) frosting on the white almond cake from Oakmont Bakery. Boo. That’s no fun. Even our gluten-free friends should get to have some sweets.

Well Sarah, this one is for you. Not only is this a fairly clean dessert, but it is entirely free of wheat products and is pretty perfect for summer. Plus, it doesn’t require any babysitting—I made this during Stanley Cup Finals, and hey, I have priorities.

This recipe can be doubled if you’d like to bake it for a larger crowd, but I generally only cook for two so I make it in a loaf pan or small round casserole dish.

Goodbye Gluten Peach-Berry Crumble

Filling:
-2 small peaches, pitted and diced
-2/3 cup of berries (I used blueberries this time, but strawberries or blackberries would be delicious, I'm sure.)
-1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch
-1 tsp. natural, unrefined cane sugar, sucanat, or palm sugar (It’s a small amount—you can get away with regular white sugar if that’s what you have on hand.)
-1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Crumb Topping:
-2 tbsp. stone-ground cornmeal
-2 tbsp. rolled or Scottish oats***
-2 tbsp. natural, unrefined cane sugar, sucanat, or palm sugar
-1 tbsp. walnuts
-1/2 tbsp. butter
-1 tsp. cinnamon

***If you are extremely wheat or gluten-sensitive, check the label and buy a variety that is made on equipment that does not also process wheat ingredients. Bob’s Red Mill, Glutino, and Glutenfreeda are some brands that offer a specific gluten-free variety of oats.


Method:

Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F.

In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the filling and set them aside while you prepare the topping. (The fruit will get wonderfully juicy!)

In the bowl of a food processor or a regular mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients for the topping. If you’re not using a food processor, chop the walnuts before you add them.

Cut in the butter using short pulses (in the food processor) or the tines of two forks until the mixture resembles a coarse meal like this:


Lightly grease a small baking dish and add the fruit. Sprinkle the crumble topping over the fruit—no need to press it down—and bake for 50 minutes or until the fruit is softened and the juices are bubbling.



Heap a generous serving-spoonful onto your plate and enjoy! Share if you must.


Yep, I could eat that everyday. Hope you like it, Sarah. :-)

Mystery Food Week 2 to come later...

Ciao for now, folks!
-Neen

Mystery Food Week 1 and Twist on an Old Favorite

This is what was waiting for me when I got home from work today:

Onions, a potted dill plant, strawberries, a glorious amount of lush kale, and salad greens.

I ran outside and planted that dill in my garden, which has already supplied me with a generous amount of spinach this year. The other plants (zucchini, peppers, cherry tomatoes and watermelon) are all looking good as well. I'm crossing my fingers for a good harvest.

In the mood for simple comfort food, I decided to dress up one of my favorites with some of that gorgeous-looking kale.

Parmesan-Black Pepper Pasta with Crispy Olive Oil-Garlic Kale Chips



It's a pretty basic pasta dish: Whole-wheat rotini tossed with olive oil, coarse salt, lots of freshly ground black pepper, and a few handfuls of grated parmesan cheese.

To make the kale chips:

Pre-heat an oven to 300 degrees F. Simply remove the hard ribs and stems from a bunch of kale. Toss the leaves with a little bit of olive oil and then lay them in a single layer on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle the leaves with coarse salt, pepper, and garlic powder and then bake for 20-25 minutes or until crispy. Cool on a rack.

I like to crumble the kale chips over the top of the pasta. Mmm, delicious. And Tuesday-night-easy.

Not a bad way to start off the CSA season. Now to go enjoy some of those strawberries...

Ciao for now!

-Neen

Mystery Food: 2010 Edition

Last year, blogging my weekly CSA share really helped to keep me writing more regularly so I’ve decided to take on that project again this year. Not only does it encourage me to think more about creative ways to use my share, but it also shines a spotlight on some of the beautiful, locally grown fruits and vegetables here in Northern VA.

This year, I’ve purchased a half-share from Great Country Farms, located in Bluemont, VA. The weekly box will be delivered on Tuesdays (starting today!) for 20 weeks. I’m looking forward to a summer full of fresh, inspiring food and new recipes.

It’s been awhile since I’ve had a chance to update Neen’s Notes. Spring was full of new challenges. As I come closer to completing my MLIS in December, I’m doing more and more research and writing a lot of papers. Sometimes after a day of writing and e-mailing at the office and then reading and writing for school, I just don’t have it in me to be a blogger too. I do think it’s important to “turn-off” for a little while before going to bed at night otherwise all of the day’s thoughts have no time to settle down.

One of the challenges I’ve also been dealing with lately is how to get back on the clean-eating wagon after taking a pretty nasty spill. When things got stressful and busy, it was much harder to avoid falling back on easy take-out or delivery solutions. As a consequence, I put on a bit of weight around the middle and haven’t been feeling like I’m at my best. So I thought that starting up my “mystery food” blogs again might help me win back some of my motivation.

You’ve got to start somewhere, right?

I just keep reminding myself that two steps forward and one step back is STILL progress.

Ciao for now. Look for Mystery Food 2010 Week 1 later!

-Neen

Project Yogurt: Fun with Fermentation

It’s an underestimation to say that I like yogurt...

I find it hilarious to type that because it was only a few years ago that I distinctly recall wretching at the taste of the various low-sugar/low-fat yogurts I tried to choke down in a vain attempt to get some protein. To me, most of it tasted like chalky, artificially-flavored goop. I decided that yogurt just wasn’t for me and it never would be.

Then I started using it in baking. As you’ve probably noticed if you read this blog regularly, I use Greek-style plain yogurt as a replacement for oil or buttermilk in a lot of my recipes. At the outset, it was just to add some protein, but along the way I found that it brought a softness to the texture of muffins/quick breads that applesauce or other fruit puree didn’t seem to copy. It was a win-win situation in my head: the benefit of yogurt without the taste!

One day at the farmer’s market, the vendor I regularly bought ricotta cheese from was selling tubs of fresh, homemade Greek-style yogurt. “Alright,” I thought, “maybe I’ll like fresh yogurt. After all, I can flavor it myself and peaches are in season.” At worst, it would end up in my latest loaf of strawberry bread. Not a bad fate.

But that yogurt was destined for greater things. One spoonful and I was hooked. I started eating it nearly every day with a touch of raw honey and whatever fruit I could find. Peach-cinnamon, strawberry-apple, blueberry-banana…the possibilities were endless. It was so rich and creamy I found it hard to believe that it was fat free, but the vendor swore up and down that it was. Soon, every week I came home from the market with at least 2 tubs of it that might last the week (if I was lucky).

Then came winter. And we were pummeled with snow. I couldn’t get to the market as often and missed my yogurt. In vain, I searched for a store brand that didn’t taste goat-cheesy (not my thing), runny (gross), or somehow…off. (I get it, I’m picky about yogurt. Sue me.) I even tried the more expensive, organic “all-natural” flavored ones and they were tasty, but had enough sugar to make me remember why I’d scratched them off the list years ago.

I also began to consider just how much money I was spending on that particular dairy product (oh dear). The label read only: skim milk, non-fat dry milk, live active cultures. Could it really be so hard to just make it myself?

Answer: Nope.

And here’s how I did it…

Basic Yogurt


*image from treehugger.com

Ingredients and Equipment

-2 quart-sized mason jars with lids and rings. Plastic containers are also fine, but make sure you sterilize whatever you use. I do this by putting the jars in my dishwasher on a heated dry cycle. Leaving them in a pot of boiling water for 5-10 minutes works too.
-1 large saucepan.
-1 candy/fry/probe thermometer that you can leave in said saucepan.
-A warm place for incubating. I created a small incubator by placing a heating pad set to “low” on the bottom of an insulated cooler and placed the jars of yogurt on top of that. A crockpot set to “keep warm” works well, as does simply wrapping up the containers in thick bath towels and setting them in a warm place in your house.
-Half-gallon of the milk of your choice. It can be pasteurized, but avoid ultra-pasteurized varieties as it is more difficult to cultivate the necessary bacteria in these. I used skim milk, but any fat content will do.
-1/2 cup of plain yogurt containing live active cultures OR a powdered yogurt starter (which can be found on Amazon.com). I used a small container of store brand plain, non-fat yogurt.
-1/2 cup of non-fat dry milk to aid in thickening.

For thicker, Greek-style yogurt, you will also need a colander lined with several layers of coffee filters or cheesecloth set over a large bowl.

Method

-Begin by placing the half gallon of milk in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and putting the pan over medium heat. Clip the candy or fry thermometer to the saucepan and allow the milk to heat to 185 degrees F.
-Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the milk to cool to 110 degrees F. (You can do this quickly by gently setting your saucepan in a sink full of very cold water.)
-Once the milk cools to 110 degrees F, add the 1/2 cup yogurt and 1/2 cup dry milk and whisk until smooth. Ladle this mixture into the jars or containers and secure lids and rings.
-Incubate the yogurt in a warm place for 7-8 hours. At this point, it will have thickened and some liquid (whey) will probably have settled on the surface.

At this point, you may CHOOSE YOUR DESTINY!

You can either move the jars directly from incubation to the refrigerator. After several hours of cooling (overnight is best), you will have delicious yogurt that can then be flavored with any number of things. Fruit puree, jam, raw honey, cocoa powder/raw honey, agave, cinnamon, and even herbs are all great.

Or if you’re like me and love the thick, rich flavor of Greek-style yogurt, pour the just-incubated yogurt into a colander lined with several layers of coffee filters or cheesecloth set over a large bowl. Set that in the refrigerator and allow it to strain for several hours. You will be left with a colander full of thick, wonderful, protein-rich yogurt and a bowl full of whey (which you can discard or use in other recipes). Ladle the yogurt back into the jars and store in the refrigerator.

What does one do with nearly two quarts of yogurt? Well if you’re like me that won’t last you very long, but if you need some ideas these are my favorites:

-Mix 6oz. yogurt with 1 tbsp. all-fruit strawberry preserves and a drop of vanilla extract for strawberry creamsicle yogurt.
-Mix 6 oz. yogurt with 1/2 tbsp. raw buckwheat or apple blossom honey and a shake of cinnamon. This goes great on top of diced apples or peaches.
-Mix 2-3 tbsp. yogurt with a can of tuna, some Dijon mustard, and assorted vegetables for a high-protein tuna salad.
-Mix 4oz. yogurt with one small cucumber, pinch of thyme, and cayenne pepper and use it as a spread on sandwiches or as a vegetable dip.
-Mix 4oz. yogurt with 1 head of steamed, diced cauliflower, a dash of cayenne pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and a handful of parmesan cheese.
-Blend 4oz. yogurt with 4oz. light cream cheese, a can of drained artichoke hearts, a few tbsp. of parmesan cheese, herbs, dry mustard, and some sautéed leafy greens and garlic for a fantastic dip.
-Use in Zucchini-Apple Quick Bread (see the post before this one!)

So you see, yogurt has a multitude of sweet and savory uses. Usually, if a recipe calls for sour cream or mayonnaise, I like to see if part or all of that can be replaced with yogurt. It adds a significant amount of protein and is also a great source of calcium.

There you have it: Yogurt 101. Go to it!

Cheers,
Neen

Battle Zucchini Bread!

It all began with a simple craving: Zucchini Bread.

Using all of my Google-fu, I searched the vast depths of the Internet looking for a whole wheat zucchini bread recipe. I found thousands, but the vast majority had this in common:

1 cup of sugar, raw honey, brown sugar, or other sweetener
1/2 cup of oil

Not okay. I just don't think that a full cup of sweetener is necessary for one loaf of zucchini bread. At that point, aren't you just masking the taste of the zucchini rather than accentuating it's natural sweetness?

The 1/2 cup of oil seemed excessive too. Some recipes replaced part of that with applesauce, but I was out.

Still, I understood the need for a good deal of moisture, especially in a whole-grain bread. I had a small, sweet honeycrisp apple in the fridge and suddenly....it all just came together. Recipe out of nowhere.


Sweet, sweet victory. Moist, fluffy, sweet (but not cloying) and perfect with a dollop of plain yogurt on top. Even if you don't like zucchini, try this recipe. It's one of my favorites to date.

Whole Grain Zucchini-Apple Bread

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup spelt flour
1/2 tbsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

1 apple, grated
1 zucchini, grated
1/2 cup plain non fat greek yogurt
1/4 cup honey
1 egg

Method

-Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F and grease an 8x4 or 9x5 loaf pan.

-In a large bowl whisk together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

-In a separate bowl whisk together the grated apple, grated zucchini, egg, yogurt, and honey.

-Add the wet ingredients to the dry and fold until just combined.

-Spread the batter in the prepared loaf pan and bake until golden brown, 40-45 minutes.

-Yield: 10 slices

Nutritional Information per slice:
112.7 calories
0.8 grams of fat
23 grams of carbohydrates
2.8 grams of fiber
3.7 grams of protein


Mangia!

Cheers,
Neen

A Delightful Trio of Bread

I am constantly amazed at the variety of ways people respond to stress. Joe goes for video games. I see the appeal in that---particularly because he likes the role-playing games where the story changes based on the decisions your character makes. There's a certain amount of control, and yet a freedom in the whole escape aspect of it. I have other friends that smoke, and some that simply insist that there's no better way to unwind than a glass of red wine or a cocktail. Still others would chime in that the best way to relieve stress is a good, hard run.

I don't see any of these responses in the light of "good" or "bad." More and more I think that we need to be lenient with ourselves. Technology has allowed communication (and thus, work life) to speed up so much that I think people take what they can get to find some relief from the constant barrage of work communication. No, smoking isn't really a great habit. Nor is drinking to excess. And if you played video games or exercised 24-7 that would be a problem too. But I think that every person needs an outlet. To say that choosing to do yoga over watching a movie is "better" because of its benefits to the mind and body is oversimplifying, in my opinion. There are days when I need yoga.

But there are also days where I need...to knead. Like I said, some folks go dancing to unwind...

I bake bread.

What is it about bread in particular? I don't know. I've always loved bread. As a kid, my family teased me about being the carbo-queen. At family dinners, I'd gladly opt out of dessert in favor of another slice of fresh, warm bread.

And so maybe it is those memories of childhood... the thought of dad's Easter bread peeking out of the oven, golden-yellow and perfect from being baked at just the right temperature after receiving a careful egg-wash... the thick slices of soft Italian bread covered in butter I used to get at Primanti's before I was old enough to enjoy the sandwiches... the perfect toast at Jo Jo's that sopped up the rich yolks from fried eggs on Sundays after church...

When I'm stressed out, sad, or just wanting to feel better, there is nothing so soothing as making bread. The very idea of creating the food that is the very symbol of a "staple" and sharing it with others always makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Focaccia (Roman Flatbread)


The first yeast bread I ever made was focaccia. It seemed logical to start out with something that wasn't entirely dependent on rising or shaping...but I fell in love. A basic olive oil flatbread became heaven on a plate with a sprinkle of coarse salt or the addition of some chopped rosemary. This also makes a great pizza base. In fact, I was making a batch of this last week when Joe came home from work exhausted and prepared to order a pizza. The dough was already in the middle of rising. "No need," I told him, "I'll make you one." He looked at me like I was a little bit crazy, but 25 minutes later he was eating homemade pizza.

Ingredients

18 oz. flour (I use half white and half whole wheat)
12 oz. warm water
1 tbsp. active dry yeast
1 tbsp. sugar
1.5 tsp. salt
1 tsp. olive oil

Method

Combine water, sugar and yeast and let stand until foamy (about 5 minutes). Add the flour, oil, and salt and mix well. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth.

Let the dough rise in an oiled, covered bowl until it has doubled. Punch it down, and then stretch and press it out onto an oiled sheet pan. I generally make two round loaves (about the size of a medium pizza) with this recipe. Let rise again for 15 minutes.

Brush with olive oil and a bit of coarse salt or herbs and bake at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes.

Yield 16 slices.


Perfect Bread Knots


I can take no credit for this recipe. In fact, after years of stealing leftover bread knots after holidays at my parents' house, I only recently (think: December) got around to asking my dad for the recipe. It makes 24-2.2 oz. knots, but as you can see in the picture, it works for larger shapes as well. I made three small loaves this last time around. It makes a perfect sandwich bread, but I think it's best when it's warm or toasted.

Ingredients

1 tbsp. active dry yeast
1.5 cup warm water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sugar
6-7 cups flour
1 egg
2 tsp. salt

Method

Combine water, sugar and yeast and let stand until foamy (about 5-10 minutes). Add the oil, egg, and salt and mix well. Then add the flour, one cup at a time until a cohesive dough forms. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Roll into a ball and place in an oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with a tea towel or plastic wrap.

Let the dough rise at room temperature for an hour, then punch down and let rise again for a half hour. Alternatively, you can just let it rise in the fridge overnight. I think that works best, honestly.

Shape the dough into loaves or knots and then let them rise for another 15-30 minutes. Brush lightly with an egg wash (1 egg mixed with 1 tbsp. water). Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes for small knots or about 30 minutes for larger loaves. The bread is done when it is golden brown or sounds hollow when the bottom of the loaf is tapped with a finger.

Yield: 24 dinner-sized rolls


No Knead Artisan Bread


This is the easiest bread I've ever baked, and frankly tastes like it's straight from a bakery. The minute I pulled the first crusty loaf out of the oven I knew that this would become my "go-to" bread recipe. The ingredients and method can be found here.

Note: I don't have a stone or a pizza peel and this still comes out fantastic. After shaping the loaf, I simply put it on a piece of parchment paper and put a baking sheet in the oven while it is pre-heating. When the bread is ready to go in the oven, I just take it on the parchment and set it on the pre-heated baking sheet. It's not exactly the same, but it does produce a slightly crispier crust.

If you're someone who has always wanted to bake bread, but feels intimidated, it's a great recipe to try. I find that the loaves are more flavorful after the dough has been sitting in the fridge for a few days, so don't worry about using it all at once. For a few minutes of your time before or after work, you can have fresh-baked bread that is worlds better than anything you can find at the grocery store. Trust me.

When I finished baking these various breads, I felt good. But let me tell you the best part of it all:

I got to feel good again when Joe smiled as he sunk his teeth into a 3rd slice of the focaccia pizza...
And again when Amanda's eyes lit up upon seeing the bread-knot loaf I made for her...
And again when I passed one of my artisan loaves along to Roger during a week where he had little time or energy to cook...

Bread-baking is the gift that keeps on giving. So bake some bread, and pass it on. You'll be glad you did.

Cheers,
Neen

65 Dozen

What I baked for Santa:


Cherry-Walnut Thumbprints, Peanut Butter Blossoms, Gingersnaps.


Gingersnaps and marshmallows dipped in tempered chocolate and chopped, roasted peanuts.

Chocolate-peanut covered marshmallows, "mini-s'more" marshmallows, and vanilla marshmallows.


Cherry-walnut thumbprints, peanut butter blossoms, walnut-cashew torrone, gingersnaps, caramels, spicy-sweet nuts, homemade oreos, and gingerbread.

And a merry little tree!

Happy holidays...hope you got everything you wanted:

Cheers,
Neen