Breaking into Bread

No-Knead Bread

Published: New York Times, November 8, 2006
Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery
Time: About 1½ hours plus 14 to 20 hours’ rising

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.

For more info: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/08mini.html

Foccia

Sponge:
1 t active dry yeast
1/2 c warm water 105°f to 115°f
3/4 c unbleached all-purpose flour

Dough:
1 t active dry yeast
1 c warm water, 105°f to 115°f
3 t olive oil
Sponge, above
3 1/4 – 3 1/2 c unbleached all purpose flour
2 t kosher salt

Sponge:

Sprinkle yeast over the warm water in a large bowl, whisk it in, and let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in the flour. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until very bubbly and doubled, about 45 minutes.

Dough:
Sprinkle yeast over the warm water in a small bowl, whisk it in, and let stand until creamy, about 5 to 10 minutes. Using a heavy-duty mixer, add the dissolved yeast and the olive oil to the sponge in the mixer bowl; mix in with the paddle attachment until well blended. Add in salt. Add in flour 1/4 c at a time – when you get to 3 cups add flour slower checking it until dough stops being very sticky and is only slightly sticky.

Change to the dough hook and knead at medium speed until the dough is soft, velvety and slightly sticky, 3 to 4 minutes. At this point you will be able to pull the dough up into peaks with your fingers. Finish by sprinkling 1 tablespoon of flour on your work surface and kneading the dough briefly. Transfer to a bowl lightly coated with olive oil and cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled 1 1/2 hours, or so.

Second Rise:
Empty bread onto on a jelly roll pan. Shape into an flat rectangle, approximately 1/2″ – 1″ thick .  Once you have dough in pans cover with plastic wrap and leave for second rise in a warm area. Let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Baking:
Preheat oven to 400°f. Brush top with olive oil and bake for 25-35 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy.

Pizza

An added bonus to making pizza at home is that even though pizza is never going to be a diet food – if you make your own rather than eat the huge over-stuffed craziness you get most places, it will help stop the westward expansion of your ass. (Yes, that ass! The one you’re sitting on right now!) Near as I can figure a pizza decked out with sauce, veggies, some fresh mozzarella and basil comes in around 500 calories. And it’s seriously tasty.

Crust
4 1/2 cups bread flour, chilled
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1/4 cup olive oil
1 3/4 cups ice cold water
semolina flour (for dusting)

Mix together dry ingredients with paddle in mixer. With paddle mixing, slowly pour in olive oil followed by water. When ingredients are incorporated, switch to dough hook and mix for 5 – 7 minutes.

Pour dough out onto floured surface and shape into shape that will make it easy to cut into equal pieces.

Divide into 6 parts. Place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Place cookie sheet in a ziploc bag and place in the refrigerator over night or for up to 3 days.

(To freeze at this point just coat with a bit of olive oil and place in individual freezer bags.)

Two hours before you want to cook take individual dough balls out of refrigerator and flatten out. Cover and let sit.

One hour before serving, preheat oven to 500°f with pizza stone placed on the bottom of the oven.

Prepare pizza peel by sprinkling liberally with semolina flour. When oven has been preheated, use the floured back of your hands and knuckles to stretch it out into a round. Place on prepared pizza peel.

Top with your desired toppings. (My desired toppings are a bit of roasted tomato sauce, mozzarella, romano and gorgonzola cheese.) Slide onto pizza stone. Bake for 5 – 10 minutes, or until cheese is brown and bubbly.  Once the pizza is out of the oven top with fresh herbs.

Munch on seriously good pizza.

Biscuits

2c cake flour
2c all purpose flour (or 4c southern soft wheat flour like White Lily instead of the mixture)
2 1/2T baking powder
2t salt
1c butter cut into 1″ chunks
1c buttermilk

Put powders in a food processor and process a bit, to mix. Add in chunks of butter so that they’re coated in flour and not touching each other. Process until chunks are pea sized.

Stream in buttermilk until mixture is combined. Pour out onto a flour coated surface.

Food Gift 2.0

Ultimate Brownie in a Jar

This brownie is the based off of Baked‘s brownie in their first cookbook.  However, I’ve adjusted it and stuck it in a jar to give someone as a gift.  Like, super amazing brownies that you give to someone in a jar and they can make… whenever they want.  It’s super awesome (if you ask me.)

In a 1 quart jar pour in 1c white sugar followed by 1c brown sugar.  Chop very finely 11oz dark chocolate. Add that to the jar.  Add in 1T instant espresso or coffee powder.  Put lid on jar.  In a bag put 1 1/4 c flour and 1 t salt.  Close bag and tie it around the jar with these instructions:

Ultimate Brownies

You will need 1c butter, cut into 1T squares, 5 eggs and the contents of this jar.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 9×13 pan.

Simmer water in a saucepan over medium heat.  Remove powder mixture from jar.  Empty jar into a large bowl and add in butter cubes.  Put the bowl on the saucepan and let contents melt together, stirring with a scraper as needed.

When chocolate & butter has melted together, take it off of heat.  Let cool for 10 minutes.  Add in  3 eggs and stir until completely incorporated, then do the same with the last two eggs.  Add in flour packet and mix in until combined.

Pour into 9×13 pan.  Bake in oven for 30 minutes.

Caramel Sauce

1c sugar
6T butter
1c cream

In a heavy bottomed pan with high sides pour in a thin layer of sugar. Cook over medium to medium-high heat until sugar begins to melt. Lightly mix it around so that the sugar doesn’t burn, but not so much that big lumps form. (Big lumps take longer to melt, which is not optimal.) When it is all liquid cook it until it is as dark as you want it to be without it burning. (This really depends on how high your tolerance for culinary risk is. It’s a very thin line between liquid sugar and burned sugar. If it starts to smoke, turn off the heat immediately. Until then, it’s anybody’s game.)

When sugar is as dark as you would like it to be, take it off heat and add in butter. Stir it in small circles in a big circle around the outside of the pan until butter is entirely combined.

Chocolate Truffles

8oz dark chocolate, chopped
8oz milk chocolate, chopped

1 1/3 cream
11T great butter
2T – 1/4c booze or flavored vinegar (optional)
1c cocoa power

Line a 9×13 pan with plastic wrap.

Melt chocolates in a large bowl over a saucepan, until liquid. Remove from heat and add in cream, stirring in small circles around the edge of the pan. Use stick blender to add in butter 1T at a time. Add in next T of butter as soon as the last one is incorporated. Add in booze until it reaches desired flavor. Pour into 9×13 pan. Stick in refrigerator overnight.

Flip truffle mixture out onto another plate or pan. Cut into 1″ squares. Roll each square until it’s in a rough spiracle shape. Toss in cocoa powder. Put onto parchment lined cookie sheet and chill. Serve to someone you want to make happy!

Tapas Night – Churros with Thick Hot Chocolate

We had a lovely tapas night with a lot of great food, wine and talk. This is the recipes for the churros with chocolate I made, hopefully others will post their recipes in the comments here.

xxoo,

- K

Churros
2c water
1/4c brown sugar
1t salt
2/3c butter
2c white flour
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2t vanilla extract
1/2c sugar
1t ground cinnamon, depending on taste
peanut oil for frying

Put flour into bowl of Kitchenaid mixer. Boil water, butter, sugar and salt over high heat. With the mixer running with paddle attachment pour water in slowly. When dough has formed, add in eggs and vanilla and beat until combined.

You can let dough rest, covered in a refrigerator over night if you wish. Let dough come up to room temperature before you fry.

Heat oil up to 375°f. Take a pastry bag with a large star tip, fold the top of the bag outward and fill with dough. (You can rest the bag in a tall glass, tip down.) Put sugar and cinnamon in a small paper bag and shake up. Line a cookie sheet with paper towels. When oil is up to heat, pipe churro dough into oil in 4″ (or so) lengths. Flip the churros when they are dark brown and cook other side. Remove from oil, drain for a moment on paper towels. While still hot, toss in paper bag until covered with sugar and cinnamon.

Serve with thick chocolate.

Thick Hot Chocolate
4c whole milk
10oz dark or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2t rice flour
1/4 – 1/3c sugar
2 T kahlua (optional)

Heat milk over medium-low heat. . When milk gets warm, whisk in all the rice flour and chocolate in 1oz portions. When all of the chocolate is whisked in, taste and add in more chocolate or rice flour if you want it stronger/thicker. Whisk in sugar in portions tasting after each addition until it reaches your desired sweetness. Add in Kahlua. Serve in espresso cups (or mugs) with churros.

Dinner in 60 Minutes with Tastebud Tart

A sampling of MN cheeses with breads from Grass Roots Gourmet greets our guests.

Molly introduced us to Kitchen in the Market and her co-kitcheneers.

Julia for a Night

Last night we had our first in what I hope to be a series of pot luck Sunday suppers with themes to help us learn how to cook better. For this first one we tried our hand at Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Mastering, which is now, almost 50 years after it was published, a number 1 best seller. I love this for a few reasons, first, Julia rocked. Second, because French food celebrates the seasons and the places that grow the finest ingredients possible. And third, because it signals to me that people are willing to start looking at food anew by going back to the beginning. The french paradox isn’t a paradox, we are meant to eat cream and butter. When we do eat cream and butter, we naturally eat less and stay full longer. If butter and cream really made people fat we would have been fat all along – not just in the past 20 years since we’ve become fat-phobic.

So why not embrace Julia’s love of cream and butter as well her masterpiece? Particularly since we have such awesome dairy products in Minnesota. In my book one of the best frenchy uses for butter is making croissants. They’re also really easy to make. Two things you need to look out for are heat (if your butter melts there’s no point in going further) and time. (It doesn’t take much active time but it does take all day.) I promise that the recipe that follows works.

I served these croissants with the foods that follow the recipes. Hopefully, folks will add in their recipes. As always, the food, company and conversation were excellent. I hope you can join us next time.

Croissant

dinner + movie 7/2/09

Did you miss FRESH & Tasty, our 3 course dinner and screening of the movie FRESH at Corner Table? Really? What were you thinking? Oh, well, I guess you can just look at these pictures and pretend you were there. That ought to do it.

No. It won’t do. Won’t do at all! Okay, so here’s what you do:

1. Go to the Birchwood Cafe.
2. Have yourself a tasty snack and buy a copy of the FRESH screening kit.
3. Invite over your best friends, family members, farmers and a mayor.
4. Grab yourself some chefs and cook up some dishes featuring local foods and Thousand Hills grass fed beef.
5. Feed your guests.
6. Show the movie, outside if possible.

That’s better. Now all you need to do is study these pictures to show you just what you need to do.

First there is some cooking. Make sure you have lots of cooks.

Guests were greeted by a bunch of discussion questions about food and what should be done/if something should be done to make it safer. (More on this on tobemrsmarv.com, soon.)

Then comes the serving of some drinks.

A small bite to start off the food. (No, I don’t know what it is.)

Look at us gettin’ all inspired!

I am probably the luckiest girl in the world. I don’t mean to be, I just am. I’m friends with several of the best chefs in Minnesota. Not only are they great cooks, but they have created philosophies and ways of doing thing which makes each them completely unique and wonderful. To top that off they even love to teach, which means that I get to call them up and say, “Hey, what’s on your mind? Anything you want to share with some of my favorite cooks?”

When I asked my friend Scott Graden, owner/chef of the award winning New Scenic Cafe in Duluth that question and he answered, “Inspiration is everywhere and it’s so much more important than recipes and ingredients. I’d like to talk about that.” In my head I shouted, “woo hoo!” Then we chatted and brainstormed on how to go about doing a workshop on inspiration, came up with a plan and that he promptly forgot.

I, however, did not. It turns out that the things that inspire him most are the people and the land around him. Hence, on our weekend in Duluth we got to meet with Stephen Dahl his herring fisherman and David Rogotzke his maple syrup maker and salmon fisherman.

It really was the best adult field trip for cooks ever.

GMOs, Food Allergies and Us! Oh My!

Hello cooks!

I was putting together a list of resources for the folks joining us for dinner + movie at Corner Table (Go forth! Buy tickets!) next week and I just couldn’t help but feel like this information is so important for all of us that I’d just post the list a bit early so that everyone can learn and we can have an really excellent discussion on these topics with those who come to the dinner.

As anyone who has been within earshot of me knows, I’m really most interested in good food. For me, good food is good food, and a lot of the time I don’t much care where that food comes from.  It just so happens that animals and vegetables that are treated well are the best food.  So, I  get to eat yummy stuff and feel superior.  Yea!

I don’t feel like I have the luxury to do that anymore.  I think we have to start fighting.  See, what we’ve done is sold our food system, and by extension, our bodies to corporate America.  And what we’ve gotten for that is obesity and disease.  Now, I’m not against corporate America, but I’ve worked for large corporations and really, they don’t care about you.  It’s not that they’re not caring people or out for world domination.  It’s just that they care about making their shareholders money and what their stock prices are at each day.  That’s what they’re there for, making money.  If keeping you healthy and giving you awesome food was what they existed for, then they would do that.  They’re not.

See, we have to make it so that we’re a priority for them, so I made you this list of stuff to look at.

If you haven’t seen it, you should check out The Future of Food.  It’s a very important critique of food corporations and their modification of the DNA of foods like corn and soy beans and it’s free to watch on hulu.

Do you keep rolling your eyes at all of the freaking out about food allergies in the news? I do. But allergies in kids under the age of 18 are up, way up:

In terms of the absolute number of children below 18 who were hospitalized each year with diagnoses related to food allergies, there has been a sharp increase, too. From 2004 to 2006, the average annual number of discharges related to food allergies for this group was 9,537. This is marked higher than the corresponding figures of 4,135 from 2001 to 2003, and 2,615 from 1998 to 2000.

Holy crap!  That’s more than double over in two years!  And that’s hospitalization – not some little sniffly business.  This specific quote is from a blog Natural News – but you can find the same information from traditional news sources as well as the CDC. There are several problems with the loose way this data was collected, but the experts agree that the numbers are way too high to be an anomaly.

Natural News goes on to talk about possible reasons:

Broadly speaking, the root causes of allergic reactions are a state of over-toxicity in the body, or poor health and a weak immune system in general. When the body is overloaded with toxins, it cannot cope as well as it should with certain foods.

(If that doesn’t make fodder for an interesting conversation on keeping our families healthy, I don’t know what does.  And I’ve stopped with the eye rolling, turns out that was just mean.)

More info:

UK article on the link of hyperactivity to food colorings

Allergy Kids – an organization set up to inform and advocate for kids with allergies.

So just in case I’ve depressed you so much that you’re going to have to eat an entire cake sitting cross legged in a dark closet all by yourself, here are some links with information you need and ways that you can avoid the worst offenders and/or join some great advocacy groups to try to instigate change for the better.  (Remember if one person claps in a room, they just look weird: whole bunch of people clapping makes a big loud noise. Noise is good.)

Vegetables to buy organic

Additives banned in Europe still legal in the US

What’s on my food?

Slow Food’s movement to get real foods in school

Eat Local America!

And last but certainly not least Cooking Minnesota!  I plan to continue on with the classes and events I started last year creating great food from scratch and building a community of like-minded folks to share information as well as strategies to incorporate whole, artesanal, yummy foods into our hectic schedules.  We’re working on classes on curing, cheese and yogurt making, creative bread making, beer brewing, mother sauces, how to deal with ingredients you’ve never used before and more events with my favorite chefs.  We’re also working on a Harvest Extravaganza™ at our member Michelle’s farm.  We will have a day full of workshops on subjects from preserving herbs and vegetables and canning to how to design your kitchen to be more green.  (We’re even working on some fun stuff for the kids!)

I hope this didn’t get to be too much. It is a lot.  It’s also very important.  I do hope you join me with the clapping – I think we can make a lot of noise.

Love always,

Kris

FRESH & Tasty (dinner + movie)

Award winning restaurant, Corner Table, and cooking group, Cooking Minnesota, have paired up to do 3 nights of dinner + movie at Corner Table. The dinners will be 3 course meals featuring the best that harvest season has to offer, served family style. Beer and wine will be available for purchase.

After dinner we will be moving outside to watch FRESH: New thinking on what we’re eating. The movie takes on the large subject on reinventing our food system. It’s already sold out 3 showings in Minneapolis.

Beer and popcorn, both locally produced, will be available while we watch the movie and facilitate a discussion about how home cooks can incorporate conscientious food choices for our families, health and planet.

The cost for the whole evening is $55 (dinner, movie & popcorn.)
Dates are June 30, July 1 & July 2.
Dinner at 6:30 and move at 9:00 PM
Seats are limited to 40 each night.
Tickets will also be available for just viewing the movie at $15.

Tickets will be available through Corner Table or Cooking MN.

About FRESH
A film by ana Sofia joanes FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision for a future of our food and our planet.

Among several main characters, FRESH features urban farmer and activist, Will Allen, the recipient of MacArthur’s 2008 Genius Award; sustainable farmer and entrepreneur, Joel Salatin, made famous by Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma; and supermarket owner, David Ball, challenging our Wal-Mart dominated economy.

http://www.freshthemovie.com

About Corner Table
Corner Table is a restaurant that listens to the fields, farms, pastures, and seasons that surround us. That source of inspiration guides our creativity and our entire menu, which is crafted from foods sourced locally and in season from responsible family farms. This approach is completely sustainable, and it’s grounded in our respect for our history, nature’s perfection, and our place in the world. Corner Table will be celebrating its five-year anniversary during this event.

Nicollet Avenue at 43rd Street, Minneapolis MN | 612.823.0011

Spring has sprung! (Lets cook something!)

Spring has finally hit our little corner of the tundra. (Yea!) So, now we get to go out and get things that were grown here and cook them up. To that end I invited a special guest, Michelle Licata, a chef and teacher who shares her philosophy of good food and healthy eating with her eight-week wellness program, “Inspired Wellness,” upcoming cookbook, “Olives and Pearls,” and classes around Minneapolis.

This particular event happened almost a month ago, so there was very little available at the farmers market for us. But, what there wasn’t in variety, there was in flavor. Everything was beautifully fresh. We had chicken, trout, eggs, radishes, greens, grains and amazing artisnal sheep’s milk blue and fresh cheese. So we were forced to make due with just that. (Can I get any pity out there? Hm. No, eh?)

Alright, fine. The food was excellent. Michelle was an amazing and vibrant guide through a world of fresh and healthful eating choices. If you ever have the opportunity to take a class from her, I’d highly recommend it and I think anyone who was with me would as well.

Michele dazzling us with her charm and knowledge.

Linda starts to work on the roasted chicken. She decided on butterflying the chicken and dousing it with a mixture of olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon juice with thyme, salt and pepper.

Naomi is getting instruction while working on the radishes. (I think.)

Michele overseeing the risotto.

Ah, the fritatta needs some seasoning.

Meeting over the trout. Turns out the trout wants to be dipped in beaten egg, rolled in some panko and spices and then baked until done.

Michelle wokrs on panko/trout construction.

Frittata construction. Oh yes.

Linda carves up her chicken.

The finished frittata. (It was as good as it looks.)

‘

This salad of greens, arugula, radish and Northern Lights blue cheese is good, but not quite done. It needs a vinegarette.

Ava looks on.

Michele demonstrates how to drizzle in the appropriate amount of olive oil for the emulsion of a proper vinegarette to take place.

Trout breaded in Panko & Herbs with Honey Dipping Sauce

trout, cut into bite sized pieces
1 egg, wisked
pinch of salt
1/2 t ginger

sauce
2 T honey
1 T white wine
1 t sirracha
pinch salt

Preheat oven to 375&degf;.

Whisk egg in a bowl. Place panko, salt and ginger in another bowl. Take pieces of trout douse them completely in egg and then coat in panko. Place on a baking sheet.

Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 12 – 15 minutes or until fish feels firm.

While fish is cooking bring dipping sauce together over low-ish heat.

Serve fish with sauce.

Fritatta

4 radishes, sliced thinly
radish greens, ripped
1 T butter
6 oz fresh cheese
6 eggs
3 T cream
1/4 parmesan
oregano
salt
pepper

Preheat oven to 375°f.

Saute radish in 1 T of butter over medium high heat until translucent. Toss into frittata dishes with greens and cheese.

Whisk together eggs, cream parmesan and spices and pour over radish stuffs. Put onto a cookie sheet and bake for 45 to 60 minutes. Frittata is set when you press on the middle and it fights back.

Quinoua & Lentil Salad

Quinoua is not an ingredient that I’ve done much with – but as Michele pointed out it’s very easy, light and nutritious.

1 c quinoua
1 c water
salt

1/2 c lentils
1 1/2 c water
1 t salt
1 sprig rosemary
1 sprig thyme

juice of 1 lemon
1T honey
1Tmustard
salt to taste

Boil quinoua in water until done. Boil lentils in water with sprigs until done.

Put both into bowls and add in lemon, honey, mustard and salt to taste. Serve. People will be happy.

Lemon Thyme Roasted Chicken

1 chicken

juice from one lemon
2 T olive oil
2 t thyme
1 t salt
1 t pepper

Preheat oven to 400 °f

Butterfly chicken by cutting out the backbone and bending the chicken so that it is flat, breast side up. Put into baking pan.

Whisk together the rest of the ingredients and liberally cover the chicken. Put into oven and cook until chicken is browned and reads 160°f on a quick read thermometer. Cover and let sit until it comes up to 165°f. It will be perfect. Enjoy!