No Knead Bread

I can't take credit for this, not even a little bit. This came from the Minimalist's New York Times post and it is the MOST PERFECT bread I have ever had. It's so perfect it makes that last sentence grammatically incorrect. This not only puts every bread I've ever had to shame, but just about every bakery bread I've ever had in this country to shame, too.

Every attempt at French bread I've made before this has been WAY too dense; not bad as far as bread goes, but definitely not worthy of the French title. The inside of this bread, on the other hand, is perfectly chewy, and the crust perfectly crackly. You can hear the crust crackling and singing when you pull it out of the oven. This is worthy of a real French bakery.

I had said I didn't change a thing, but that's not true. My method has been changed to suit my needs, and here it is :)

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour (375 g.)
1/4 tsp. instant yeast
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1 5/8 cup water

Directions

1. Combine yeast, salt, and flour in a large bowl. Add water (dough will be ugly and shaggy looking), cover with plastic wrap, and let sit for 18 hours (as little as 12; I started it at 2 p.m. then went to the next step at 9 a.m. the next morning). Here it is when just mixed:



18 hours later:



2. Dump dough out onto a generously floured surface (dough will be VERY sticky) and pat down a little; fold lengthwise into thirds like you're folding a letter into an envelope, then do the same width wise.

3. Pull out and shape into a ball (at least that's what the Minimalist says; mine was WAY too sloppy for this, like trying to shape mud into a ball, but I did the best I could and it turned out fine) and place on a VERY generously floured tea towel***, then fold the tea towel over the bread and let sit for 2 hours






4. 30 minutes before bread is ready, place a ceramic pot (or pyrex, or anything else that's at least 4 inches high, has a cover, and can withstand 450 degrees) in the oven and preheat to 450 degrees. (It's important to let it heat for all 30 minutes!)

5. When dough is ready, dump it out into the pot (if it's messy, no worries! Shake it out to make it even if you have to), COVER, and let bake for 30 minutes

6. Take off cover and let cook for another 15-30 minutes (15 was fine for me), until crust is nicely browned.

7. Take out and let cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting

***This totally stuck to the tea towel for me, and I had to scrape it off with my fingernails. The bread wasn't any worse off for it, but maybe if you want you could try to put a silicone baking pad or parchment paper underneath.

Easiest alfredo (ish) sauce ever

This makes for a very quick and easy meal; another one of those meals that's ready before the pasta has finished boiling!

You could make this REALLY easy and omit the mozzarella and parmasan!

I also added steamed broccoli to make it at least marginally nutritious, and I really recommend the addition. Actually, you can sneak pretty much any vegetables in here; I tried it with frozen spinach (excellent!) and peas (a little strong for my taste, but Murat liked it).

Ingredients:

3/4 lb. pasta
1 package (5.2 oz) boursin cheese (or allouette, not partial to brands)
1/2 cup milk (more or less, depending on how creamy you like it)
1 handful mozzarella cheese plus a couple T. parmesan (I used the 4 cheese pre-shredded Italian blend)
Pepper to taste

Crepes (dinner and dessert)

Most "Craperies" in this country use these crepes for dinner as well as dessert. Posh! These are very clearly dessert crepes. If you want to fill your crepes with dinnery things then see recipe below for savory crepes, better known as "galettes".

Ingredients

1 cup flour (125 g.)
1/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
(1/2 cup water)
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 T. melted butter
Butter for pan



Directions

1. Combine all ingredients except water in a blender; if it doesn't look runny enough, add up to 1/2 cup water



2. Ideally, let the blended ingredients sit in the fridge for an hour (it will tear less easily)

3. Place about a ladle full of batter onto the side of a lightly buttered pan over medium-high heat, then pick up the pan and swirl the batter around the pan until it covers the entire pan



4. When the top looks dry (and maybe a bit bubbly), turn the crepe over and lower the heat to medium (I find it easiest to use a rubber spatula and a burger flipper; if you can flip it in the pan by using the pan handle, more power to you)

Dry looking edges, a bit bubbly:



5. Here is when you should add butter and sugar if you are making butter/sugar crepes



DINNER CREPES (Galettes):

1/2 cup Buckwheat Flour
1/2 cup All-Purpose Flour
3/4 - 1 cup Milk
2 Eggs
2 T. melted butter
1 tsp Salt
Water just in case (you want it to look like a runny batter)

You can also try 2/3 Buckwheat and 1/3 All-Purpose. Won't be as easy to work with but will have a stronger flavor.

Fill it with any savory fillings you want, but if you want to go for the classic galette, filling should include ham, egg, sauteed mushrooms (sauteed with say, olive oil, garlic, and white wine), and gruyere, or any combination thereof! Can also use turkey if you're husband is a zealot. *cough*

Don't forget to let it sit for an hour!

Spinach Ricotta Ravioli

I had a recipe for pumpkin ravioli in a cookbook that looked delicious, and it suggested that you use wonton wrappers for the pasta. In theory, that sounded great, but in reality, they were puke-worthy (and it was a pregnancy cookbook! How cruel!)

I recently decided to try again, this time using something called "pasta sheets". Well, maybe you can find them, but I couldn't. So I decided to make my own. I don't have a mixer or a pasta roller, just a bowl, a spoon, and a rolling pin. If you have a pasta roller, more power to you.

I think the filling can't really be screwed up; just taste it until you like it. I made it with way more spinach than is probably appropriate because I love spinach and thought it would be a bit healthier that way.

Ravioli (pasta)

Ingredients:

3 cups flour (375 g.)
4 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1 T. olive oil
a couple tablespoons of water (as needed)

Directions:

1. Mix together the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre.

2. In the well, add the 4 eggs. Beat the eggs inside the well, then slowly incorporate them into the flour to create a dough.

3. Dump dough out onto kneading surface (should be shaggy looking with lots of loose flour).

4. Add olive oil, then water a tablespoon at a time while kneading until a cohesive dough forms

5. Knead for about 5 minutes, or until smooth and consistent

6. Divide into 4 parts and cover with a damp towel; allow to rest for 20 minutes while you make the filling!


Ravioli (Filling)

Ingredients

1 15 oz. container ricotta
2 shallots (could probably use a small, mild onion, like red)
1 cup frozen spinach
3-4 T. grated parmesan
4 T. grated mozarella (optional; it might not hold together well without it, or you can use an egg)
olive oil
a couple dashes of nutmeg
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Saute the shallots in the olive oil until tender (about 2 minutes), then add the frozen spinach and cook on medium-high until all the spinach is melted

2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix the ricotta with the parmasan and mozerella.

3. Add spinach to the cheese and a couple dashes of nutmeg. Salt and pepper to taste!


I haven't perfected a way to put it altogether yet; Murat managed that part. Basically it involves putting heaping tablespoons onto the dough, folding the dough over, and sealing it.

Boil for 4-5 minutes than serve! I like it topped with plain parmesan.

Cranberry Orange Scones

These are a little sweeter than traditional scones, which are kind of bland (but not overly sweet, I promise!). If you are more of a traditionalist, you can use a little less sugar.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (I like King Arthur white wheat) (313 g.)
1 whole orange (you'll use the zest and the juice)
1/2 cup sugar, plus 3 T. plus more for sprinkling
almost 1 T. baking powder
1/2 tsp. allspice (while not totally necessary, it really adds to it! Could also prob. use large pinch of clove and 1/4 tsp. nutmeg)
1/2 tsp. salt
6 T. cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup heavy cream (I haven't tried it, but you could probably replace with yogurt)
1 whole egg
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, coarsely chopped (like, in halves)
Milk for brushing (trust me on this)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400

2. Mix chopped cranberries with 3 T. sugar; set aside

3. Whisk together flour, baking soda, allspice, salt, rest of sugar, and orange zest

4. Add cold butter to dry ingredients and rub between your fingers until mixture resembles course meal

5. Mix in the cranberries

6. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, egg yolk, heavy cream, and juice from half of the orange

7. Stir together dry and wet ingredients until JUST holds together

8. Dump it out on the countertop and don't knead it, per say (you don't want the dough overworked!) but fold it a couple times to make sure it's well mixed

9. Shape how you want it*** on a cookie sheet with parchment paper

10. Brush scones with milk and sprinkle with sugar

11. Place in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown and a soft crust has formed on top.


***You can do "drop" scones, where you just dollop them on the pan in the size you want, or you can make triangular scones by flattening the dough into a 1/2-inch tall disc and cutting across the dough through the diameter of the disc

Tofu and sweet potato penang curry

This is based off of the one from Chef Chloe's blog (I think I've exhausted it at this point!) REALLY tasty Thai food, although to be honest it didn't taste much like the penang curry I've had at Thai places.

Chef Chloe recommends serving with rice. After making it with rice, I think it might be even better with rice noodles. I also didn't believe it but it would be really good and filling by itself as well.

Ingredients

1 package firm tofu, cut into 1 cm cubes
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized cubes and steamed
1 13.5 oz. can coconut milk
2 whole shallots, finely chopped
2 T. fresh ginger, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
peanut, canola, or olive oil for cooking
1/3 cup chunky peanut butter
2 tsp. tumeric
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. coriander
Almost 1 T. red curry paste
2 T. lime juice (lime zest, too, if you're using a lime!)
4 T. brown sugar
8-10 oz. frozen spinach
salt to taste
handful of peanuts of cashews per serving

Directions

1. Saute ginger, garlic, and shallots in a large skillet (with a cover) in olive oil until tender (about 6 minutes)

2. Mix together tumeric, coriander, cumin, curry paste, and peanut butter

3. Whisk peanut butter mix into coconut milk, lime juice, zest, and brown sugar together until smooth-ish

4. Lower heat, add coconut milk mixture to pan and bring to a simmer, then add tofu, sweet potatoes, and spinach and cook covered on low heat for 20 minutes

Pumpkin Pasta

This is INCREDIBLY filling. I didn't make it with the pears but after trying it I think that pears could have greatly improved the recipe. This looks like a lot of work but it's really simple to prepare.

Ingredients

1/2 - 2/3 lb. pasta (ideally penne; I used shells)
1 small-medium yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil for cooking
1 14 oz. can pumpkin
1 heaping tablespoon tomato paste (or a little pasta sauce)
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 large pinch cloves (optional)
1/3 - 1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 - 1 cup fresh milk (depending on how creamy you like it)
Handful fresh rosemary, finely chopped
2 T. brown sugar
A couple handfuls of chopped walnuts
1 handful chopped pears
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Boil pasta; while pasta is boiling (turn off the heat when it's ready, of course!)

2. Saute onions in olive oil until soft but not yet fully translucent; add garlic and saute for a couple minutes more.

3. Puree onions and garlic with can of pumpkin and tomato paste in a food processor

4. Transfer to the pan you sauteed the onions and garlic in; add a giant heap of yogurt (about 1/3 of a cup or more) then milk until it's the consistency you like

5. Add rosemary and brown sugar; salt and pepper to taste

6. Add sauce to still hot cooked pasta mix in.

7. Toss with walnuts and pears if you have them.