Saturday, June 5, 2010
A word on "healthy"
I tend to find these days that I use the term "healthy" somewhat differently from those around me. From what I can tell, they usually mean "low calorie" instead. When I say something is healthy, it means that you know every ingredient which goes into it, and most of it is good for you in terms of vitamin and mineral content, and generally isn't actively harmful. I am also of the opinion that if you cook for yourself, you'll generally produce food lower in salt and calories and fat than stuff you buy from the store. Even for things which don't have a whole lot of redeeming value beyond taste like alfredo sauce will be infinitely tastier and healthier if you make it yourself than if it comes from a jar. I dislike the taste of many preservatives, and don't need excess salt or vinegar used as preservatives either. One of the worst offenders of the preservatives genre to me is 99% of bottled iced teas. I cannot taste anything but preservatives and simple syrup. There's a question for you- does anyone but me notice that simple syrup tastes very different from actual sugar?
Bouillabaisse and rouille
My fiance's family were (supposed to) get together to "help" her choose a dress. I thought that it would be a nice gesture if I made a really tasty dinner for them all, something really nice and fresh. Scanning the pathmark weekly, I saw that several fish and littleneck clams were on sale. So I figured, why not a bouillabaisse? I had some ingredients at home, and I was tired of staring at all my plants and not doing anything with them. At the least, I could use some of the basil freshly picked.
So I got up early that chilly Saturday morning and went to the store. Hot damn, beef spareribs and pork back ribs were on sale. I don't normally like ribs, but I have developed a findness for beef spareribs. And my fiance adores them, so it should work out well. I went to the meat section but couldn't find either. I found one of the meat department guys and asked what happened, and was told that they were cutting them at the moment, to come back in ten minutes. Fair enough, think I, and I continues shopping. I come back and see the pork ribs are out. I found one that looks pretty meaty (the rest were way too fatty) but couldn't find the beef ribs. Annoyed, I found another of the butchers and asked what happened. The guy apologised and explained that one of the workers had just had a heart attack, and it would be a little while. Well. I felt like a bit of a dick. I went to the fishmonger and chatted with him a bit. I wanted to buy ~4-5 pounds of scraps to make the stock with, but apparently they don't sell those to you unless you at least call ahead of time. Instead I bought some cheap porgies and had them cut up and bit. Porgies have little meat on them, so I got a whole bunch of the smaller ones which were cheap enough and coudn't really be eaten anyway. The secret to bouillabaisse is that you really want a large variety of fish, but I didn't have THAT much money on me, so I bought three different kinds (I really don't remmeber what kind anymore, it is unimportant) and some of the clams. I joked with the fishmonger that at least the guy who had a heart attack wasn't on the meatcutter at the time. The fishmonger told me that actually, the guy had recently hurt himself on the cutting machine and had just that day returned from sick leave. "Man," I said "some people will do anything to get out of work."
I went looking for saffron. You don't need much, so I wasn't too worried about buying it. I check the spices aisle, and can't find it. I go to the information desk. The woman tells me to check the spanish aisle. I give her a blank look. "But...saffron is grown in India!" I exclaimed. And as a spice, wouldn't it be in the spices section? Nope, spanish food. So, okay, I go over. Nope, not there either. No fucking saffron out of an entire pathmark. I was flabbergasted. After wasting 20 minutes on this, I gave up and called my fiance and asked her to go to the local C-Town, which always sold the stuff in tiny containers right next to the cash register (you know, in case you unload your food and suddenly realize you're running low on saffron...). She called me later to tell me that after much argument with them, they grudgingly admitted to having been sold out. I finally gave up and made my recipe without it.
So, storytime over. Now to the recipe. I like leeks and onions so I added perhaps more than necessary. I chopped about a cup worth of onions and another 4 small leeks and added them with some olive oil to a large soup pot to simmer. Since they'll be going into the soup, if you undercook them a little it isn't so important. You want to sweat them but don't need to caramelize them. I took several cloves of garlic and had fun with my new stainless steel garlic press from Ikea. Yea, you can feel free to chop it really finely, whatever. I like the press, thank you. Keep in mind that the oil is now hot, and garlic cooks very quickly. And it will burn in the blink of an eye, so watch out. If you burn the garlic, you pretty much have to start all over again, because that taste WILL carry through. So only cook the garlic for a minute or two. Having done so, I added a couple of pounds of rough-chopped tomatoes. I always reccomend that you get nice tomatoes if you can. These were nice as they were perfectly red and still on the vine. And on sale. Anyway, they were really nice. So those got dumped into the pot. After cooking these over a medium heat for about five minutes, I added 5 cups of water, a bay leaf, several sprigs fresh parsely chopped up, zested a half an orange, a large pinch of fennel seeds, a bunch of freshly picked basil leaves chopped finely (a word of caution here. If you are using fresh basil, chop it up. Basil, on being cooked whole, will turn into a somewhat slimey weird and ugly mass that nobody wants in their bowl, believe me) a dash of salt and pepper. If you have saffron, this is also a good time to add it. Now is a good time to grab some cheesecloth and wrap your scraps/hacked up tiny fish and tie the ends in a bow to make a rough bag. You want the water to penetrate, and you don't want the fish too squashed, but you don't want it open so the heads can fall in the soup, or so that some of the solids from the soup can get into the bag if you can help it. Congrads, you have just made a raw-fish teabag. I like to lower it into the pot, then stick a wooden spoon through the "handle" of the cheesecloth so that I can occasionally move it a little. It also makes it much, much easier to remove, believe me. Have the handle hand from the middle of the spoon, then lay the spoon across the top of the pot and leave to boil uncovered for ~30-45 minutes. Before you walk away and leave it to boil, drop in one peeled potato, in halves. Make sure you know where it is- search for it later is a pain. Once done, pull out the scrap bag and place into a collender on inside another bowl- the bag will drip a large quantity of broth and juice and we don't want to waste any. At this point, you can cover with a lid and leave it alone until you are close to dinnertime. Have a taste- it should be delicious by now, so you don't need to mess with it later.
While you wait for dinnertime, make the rouille. I took a nice red bell pepper and chopped it into pieces about one inch by a half inch. In a small pot, bring water with a lot of salt to a boil. Pour the chopped pepper into the pot and let it simmer until the pepper is just slightly firm (not mushy- mushy means you've boiled all the flavor out). Taste the pepper- it shouldn't be terribly salty as it won't absorb much from the water. Drain the pepper. dump the pepper, the now cooked potato you fished from the soup, 4 cloves of garlic, and some more fresh basil, all into a food processor. If you want an exercise in masochism, you can use a mortar and pestle. For everyone else, the food processor. Process it in pulses until smooth. Add a small chilli pepper, or a few drops of Tabasco- you should just barely taste the tobasco, it's not supposed to be hot. Once that's done, blend in 4-6 tablespoons of some really nice first cold pressed extra virgin olive oil. As I said, taste it.
When dinnertime comes around, toss out the fish scraps and pour the juices from the bowl into the main stock. Bring the stock to a boil about 20 minutes before serving. Once boiling, add 6-8 pounds of cubed fish and shellfish to the pot. It only needs to boil about twenty minutes, and then it is ready to eat.
Take several tablespoons of the soup itself and add it to the rouille and again blend it until smooth. Serve the rouille in a small bowl with some crustily toasted french bread. The bread goes quickly, so have more on hand. Using a slotted spoon scoop up fish and shellfish from the pot and deposit them into the bowl, then using a ladel, pour soup over the fish. The rouille is nice to add to the soup as flavoring, or to spread on the bread, then dip into the soup. On finishing, you can freeze the rest. This should make enough for 6 hungry people. Bon appetit!
A word of warning for those of you watching your salt. This is a very healthy dish. However, don't add any salt to the pot until the very end to taste as the fish will naturally make the soup a tad salty.
So I got up early that chilly Saturday morning and went to the store. Hot damn, beef spareribs and pork back ribs were on sale. I don't normally like ribs, but I have developed a findness for beef spareribs. And my fiance adores them, so it should work out well. I went to the meat section but couldn't find either. I found one of the meat department guys and asked what happened, and was told that they were cutting them at the moment, to come back in ten minutes. Fair enough, think I, and I continues shopping. I come back and see the pork ribs are out. I found one that looks pretty meaty (the rest were way too fatty) but couldn't find the beef ribs. Annoyed, I found another of the butchers and asked what happened. The guy apologised and explained that one of the workers had just had a heart attack, and it would be a little while. Well. I felt like a bit of a dick. I went to the fishmonger and chatted with him a bit. I wanted to buy ~4-5 pounds of scraps to make the stock with, but apparently they don't sell those to you unless you at least call ahead of time. Instead I bought some cheap porgies and had them cut up and bit. Porgies have little meat on them, so I got a whole bunch of the smaller ones which were cheap enough and coudn't really be eaten anyway. The secret to bouillabaisse is that you really want a large variety of fish, but I didn't have THAT much money on me, so I bought three different kinds (I really don't remmeber what kind anymore, it is unimportant) and some of the clams. I joked with the fishmonger that at least the guy who had a heart attack wasn't on the meatcutter at the time. The fishmonger told me that actually, the guy had recently hurt himself on the cutting machine and had just that day returned from sick leave. "Man," I said "some people will do anything to get out of work."
I went looking for saffron. You don't need much, so I wasn't too worried about buying it. I check the spices aisle, and can't find it. I go to the information desk. The woman tells me to check the spanish aisle. I give her a blank look. "But...saffron is grown in India!" I exclaimed. And as a spice, wouldn't it be in the spices section? Nope, spanish food. So, okay, I go over. Nope, not there either. No fucking saffron out of an entire pathmark. I was flabbergasted. After wasting 20 minutes on this, I gave up and called my fiance and asked her to go to the local C-Town, which always sold the stuff in tiny containers right next to the cash register (you know, in case you unload your food and suddenly realize you're running low on saffron...). She called me later to tell me that after much argument with them, they grudgingly admitted to having been sold out. I finally gave up and made my recipe without it.
So, storytime over. Now to the recipe. I like leeks and onions so I added perhaps more than necessary. I chopped about a cup worth of onions and another 4 small leeks and added them with some olive oil to a large soup pot to simmer. Since they'll be going into the soup, if you undercook them a little it isn't so important. You want to sweat them but don't need to caramelize them. I took several cloves of garlic and had fun with my new stainless steel garlic press from Ikea. Yea, you can feel free to chop it really finely, whatever. I like the press, thank you. Keep in mind that the oil is now hot, and garlic cooks very quickly. And it will burn in the blink of an eye, so watch out. If you burn the garlic, you pretty much have to start all over again, because that taste WILL carry through. So only cook the garlic for a minute or two. Having done so, I added a couple of pounds of rough-chopped tomatoes. I always reccomend that you get nice tomatoes if you can. These were nice as they were perfectly red and still on the vine. And on sale. Anyway, they were really nice. So those got dumped into the pot. After cooking these over a medium heat for about five minutes, I added 5 cups of water, a bay leaf, several sprigs fresh parsely chopped up, zested a half an orange, a large pinch of fennel seeds, a bunch of freshly picked basil leaves chopped finely (a word of caution here. If you are using fresh basil, chop it up. Basil, on being cooked whole, will turn into a somewhat slimey weird and ugly mass that nobody wants in their bowl, believe me) a dash of salt and pepper. If you have saffron, this is also a good time to add it. Now is a good time to grab some cheesecloth and wrap your scraps/hacked up tiny fish and tie the ends in a bow to make a rough bag. You want the water to penetrate, and you don't want the fish too squashed, but you don't want it open so the heads can fall in the soup, or so that some of the solids from the soup can get into the bag if you can help it. Congrads, you have just made a raw-fish teabag. I like to lower it into the pot, then stick a wooden spoon through the "handle" of the cheesecloth so that I can occasionally move it a little. It also makes it much, much easier to remove, believe me. Have the handle hand from the middle of the spoon, then lay the spoon across the top of the pot and leave to boil uncovered for ~30-45 minutes. Before you walk away and leave it to boil, drop in one peeled potato, in halves. Make sure you know where it is- search for it later is a pain. Once done, pull out the scrap bag and place into a collender on inside another bowl- the bag will drip a large quantity of broth and juice and we don't want to waste any. At this point, you can cover with a lid and leave it alone until you are close to dinnertime. Have a taste- it should be delicious by now, so you don't need to mess with it later.
While you wait for dinnertime, make the rouille. I took a nice red bell pepper and chopped it into pieces about one inch by a half inch. In a small pot, bring water with a lot of salt to a boil. Pour the chopped pepper into the pot and let it simmer until the pepper is just slightly firm (not mushy- mushy means you've boiled all the flavor out). Taste the pepper- it shouldn't be terribly salty as it won't absorb much from the water. Drain the pepper. dump the pepper, the now cooked potato you fished from the soup, 4 cloves of garlic, and some more fresh basil, all into a food processor. If you want an exercise in masochism, you can use a mortar and pestle. For everyone else, the food processor. Process it in pulses until smooth. Add a small chilli pepper, or a few drops of Tabasco- you should just barely taste the tobasco, it's not supposed to be hot. Once that's done, blend in 4-6 tablespoons of some really nice first cold pressed extra virgin olive oil. As I said, taste it.
When dinnertime comes around, toss out the fish scraps and pour the juices from the bowl into the main stock. Bring the stock to a boil about 20 minutes before serving. Once boiling, add 6-8 pounds of cubed fish and shellfish to the pot. It only needs to boil about twenty minutes, and then it is ready to eat.
Take several tablespoons of the soup itself and add it to the rouille and again blend it until smooth. Serve the rouille in a small bowl with some crustily toasted french bread. The bread goes quickly, so have more on hand. Using a slotted spoon scoop up fish and shellfish from the pot and deposit them into the bowl, then using a ladel, pour soup over the fish. The rouille is nice to add to the soup as flavoring, or to spread on the bread, then dip into the soup. On finishing, you can freeze the rest. This should make enough for 6 hungry people. Bon appetit!
A word of warning for those of you watching your salt. This is a very healthy dish. However, don't add any salt to the pot until the very end to taste as the fish will naturally make the soup a tad salty.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Perfect Pancakes
Alan and I just had these for a leisurely Sunday late breakfast - perfect! Make sure you have real maple syrup to serve them with!
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
3 tablespoons melted butter or vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups Plain/All purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 cups milk
3 tablespoons melted butter or vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups Plain/All purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
If you know how to make American style pancakes you can just run with the great recipe above; otherwise, here are the directions how to make the pancakes:
1. Beat the eggs and milk together thoroughly. Stir in the butter or vegetable oil.
2. Whisk the dry ingredients in to evenly distribute the salt, baking powder and sugar.
3. Let the batter rest for at least 15 minutes, while the griddle is heating; it"ll thicken slightly.
4. Heat a heavy frying pan over medium heat, or set an electric griddle to 350°F. Lightly grease frying pan or griddle. The pan or griddle is ready if a drop of water will skitter across the surface, evaporating immediately.
5. Drop serving spoonfuls (approx 1/3 cupful) of batter onto the lightly greased griddle. Bake on one side until bubbles begin to form and break, then turn the pancakes and cook the other side till brown. Turn over only once. Serve immediately.
I recommend serving with butter and maple syrup.
Enjoy!
And yes, you can make the whole batch and put the leftovers into a ziplock bag to store. Microwave them for about 30 seconds or so for a nice, lazy breakfast the next day.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Matzo Meal Pancakes
I don't know why I don't make these all year around because they are really a lovely thing to eat for breakfast or even better a leisurely weekend brunch. Perhaps it's the extra effort of beating the egg whites because if you just mix in the eggs whole, the end result while pleasant is just indefinably wrong.
Ingredients:
3 eggs, separated
3/4 cup cold water
1/2 cup matzo meal
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
honey (runny style in the UK) or maple syrup if you absolutely must (sigh)
oil or unsalted butter for frying (do NOT use olive oil!)
In a medium size mixing bowl, lightly beat the egg yolks. (Use a whisk for this process.)
Whisk in the water.
Stir in the matzo meal, sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt.
Let stand for 25 minutes to absorb all the liquid.(in the refrigerator if possible)
(Wait till the liquid is absorbed before starting the next step.)
Use an electric mixer to beat the egg whites until stiff. Make sure the bowl you use is metal or glass (not plastic!) You want to beat the egg whites to the stiff peak stage.
Now gently fold the egg whites into the matzo meal mixture until just blended. Make sure you fold, do not stir!
-------------
*How to fold - a useful technique to know
Use a large spatula for this procedure. Scoop up a good dollop of whipped egg whites on your spatula and gently mix it into the matzo meal batter. This will "temper" the batter and lighten it.
Hold the egg white bowl over the mixing bowl containing your batter, and tilt it so that the egg whites slide out onto the batter. Using the large spatula, cut a path down the middle of the mixture with the edge of the spatula. Then gently turn half the mixture over onto the other half. Continue cutting down the middle and turning a portion over. Don't stir. The point of folding is to retain the air you have beaten into the whites. Be careful to only work the batter enough to incorporate the whites. It's ok if the mix looks a little streaky.
-----------
Cover the surface of your griddle or large flat frying pan with some oil and heat over medium hot.
When the oil starts to sizzle, drop the batter, 1 tablespoon at a time, onto the griddle/pan. Don't crowd the pancakes, make several batches.
Fry the pancakes until they reach the level of golden brown you like, (about 2 minutes or so per side.) Flip them over and and cook the other side.
Remove the pancakes from the pan and let drain on a paper towel while you fry the next batch.
To serve - I recommend drizzling them very lightly with honey (or maple syrup if you insist but honey is better and traditional for Passover.)
If you have leftover pancakes, they're a pretty nice nosh snitched directly from the fridge.
Ingredients:
3 eggs, separated
3/4 cup cold water
1/2 cup matzo meal
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
honey (runny style in the UK) or maple syrup if you absolutely must (sigh)
oil or unsalted butter for frying (do NOT use olive oil!)
In a medium size mixing bowl, lightly beat the egg yolks. (Use a whisk for this process.)
Whisk in the water.
Stir in the matzo meal, sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt.
Let stand for 25 minutes to absorb all the liquid.(in the refrigerator if possible)
(Wait till the liquid is absorbed before starting the next step.)
Use an electric mixer to beat the egg whites until stiff. Make sure the bowl you use is metal or glass (not plastic!) You want to beat the egg whites to the stiff peak stage.
Now gently fold the egg whites into the matzo meal mixture until just blended. Make sure you fold, do not stir!
-------------
*How to fold - a useful technique to know
Use a large spatula for this procedure. Scoop up a good dollop of whipped egg whites on your spatula and gently mix it into the matzo meal batter. This will "temper" the batter and lighten it.
Hold the egg white bowl over the mixing bowl containing your batter, and tilt it so that the egg whites slide out onto the batter. Using the large spatula, cut a path down the middle of the mixture with the edge of the spatula. Then gently turn half the mixture over onto the other half. Continue cutting down the middle and turning a portion over. Don't stir. The point of folding is to retain the air you have beaten into the whites. Be careful to only work the batter enough to incorporate the whites. It's ok if the mix looks a little streaky.
-----------
Cover the surface of your griddle or large flat frying pan with some oil and heat over medium hot.
When the oil starts to sizzle, drop the batter, 1 tablespoon at a time, onto the griddle/pan. Don't crowd the pancakes, make several batches.
Fry the pancakes until they reach the level of golden brown you like, (about 2 minutes or so per side.) Flip them over and and cook the other side.
Remove the pancakes from the pan and let drain on a paper towel while you fry the next batch.
To serve - I recommend drizzling them very lightly with honey (or maple syrup if you insist but honey is better and traditional for Passover.)
If you have leftover pancakes, they're a pretty nice nosh snitched directly from the fridge.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Lemon Curd
Forget the stuff they sell in stores as Lemon Curd. Even the stuff in little gourmet places claiming to be homemade, organic, etc. This is the real thing. This is sunshine of the gods. This is the sun spread on your toast.
This is IT!
4 lemons - the grated rind and juice
4 eggs - lightly beaten
4oz butter - unsalted
12 oz castor sugar
Pot of barely simmering water with a large glass or metal basin (bowl) that fits comfortably on top
note: I like this much better than a double boiler, the bowl shape gives a better result.
1. Grate rind of lemons and squeeze out juice.
2. Put sugar, rind and juice, butter and beaten eggs into a large basin on top of a pan of simmering water.
3. Stir with a wooden or silicone spoon until the sugar has dissolved. Then continue heating gently and stirring for about 20 minutes, until the curd thickens. It should coat the back of the spoon.
4. Pour into warm sterile jars, cover, and label.
5. Refrigerate!
This recipe makes about 1 1/2 lbs (3 cups) of lemon curd which is just about enough for 1 nice jar for you and 1 small jar to give away to someone who'd better be damn grateful and worship you for the goddess (or god) which you are for making something as heavenly tasting as this and then giving some away.
Warning: Lemon curd doesn't keep. Make small batches, keep cool, and use within 2-3 weeks. (That's why they have to put extra stuff in commercial curd or it would never make it to the customers.)
You can double this recipe if you need a larger amount but not more than that or it won't cook smoothly.
This is IT!
4 lemons - the grated rind and juice
4 eggs - lightly beaten
4oz butter - unsalted
12 oz castor sugar
Pot of barely simmering water with a large glass or metal basin (bowl) that fits comfortably on top
note: I like this much better than a double boiler, the bowl shape gives a better result.
1. Grate rind of lemons and squeeze out juice.
2. Put sugar, rind and juice, butter and beaten eggs into a large basin on top of a pan of simmering water.
3. Stir with a wooden or silicone spoon until the sugar has dissolved. Then continue heating gently and stirring for about 20 minutes, until the curd thickens. It should coat the back of the spoon.
4. Pour into warm sterile jars, cover, and label.
5. Refrigerate!
This recipe makes about 1 1/2 lbs (3 cups) of lemon curd which is just about enough for 1 nice jar for you and 1 small jar to give away to someone who'd better be damn grateful and worship you for the goddess (or god) which you are for making something as heavenly tasting as this and then giving some away.
Warning: Lemon curd doesn't keep. Make small batches, keep cool, and use within 2-3 weeks. (That's why they have to put extra stuff in commercial curd or it would never make it to the customers.)
You can double this recipe if you need a larger amount but not more than that or it won't cook smoothly.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Honey-wheat bread
Evidently, my formspring questions have been showing up on this blog. Formspring is stalling out so I'm not going to answer any questions there until it gets sorted.
However, to make amends for this error, I'm going to post my first recipe here. It's the most basic bread recipe I know. I've made it the last two weekends in a row, because it's cold out and cold weather makes me crave warm bread. I'm also addicted to bread. It has 6 ingredients and could not be simpler. The result is a crusty, slightly sweet wheat loaf that toasts beautifully and makes excellent sandwiches, particularly with freshly sliced ham.
Assemble:
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 packet yeast
1 cup warm water
1/3 cup nonfat milk
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/4 tsp kosher salt
Then do this:
1. In a large bowl, mix the warm water and yeast. Stir to dissolve (I use a big wooden spoon.) Add in everything else but the flour. Stir until everything's dissolved (the oil won't be, obvs, but that'll mix in fine when you add the flour.)
2. Stir in the flour gradually until you can't really stir it anymore and you have a big ball of dough in the bowl.
3. Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 6-8 minutes or so until it's all nice and smooth and your arms are tired.
4. Put a little oil in a clean bowl and turn the dough over in it to coat it. Cover the bowl loosely and put it somewhere the cats won't step in it.
5. Let it sit there and rise for an hour.
6. Take it out of the bowl and shape it into an 8-inch loaf and then put the loaf in a lightly greased loaf pan.
7. Cover the loaf pan with lightly oiled plastic wrap and leave it there until the dough rises an inch above the lip of the pan. (It took over an hour the first time I did this because my apartment was freezing. The second time it only took 30 minutes.) Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350.
8. Take off the plastic wrap and stick in the oven. Bake for about 40 minutes total, but after 20 minutes, take it out and loosely cover with foil.
9. Stick it back in for another 15 minutes or so. Enjoy the aromas wafting out of the oven. Then take it out, take off the foil and brush the top with a little oil so it turns nice and brown for the last five minutes.
10. Take it out and tap the top of the loaf, if it sounds hollow it's done. If it thuds, it's still wet inside and let it go a bit longer.
11. When done, turn the loaf out onto a wire rack, or if you're too lazy to get out the wire racks, just leave it on a stove burner to cool.
At the end you get this:
Warm, sweet, delicious bread. Serve with butter.
However, to make amends for this error, I'm going to post my first recipe here. It's the most basic bread recipe I know. I've made it the last two weekends in a row, because it's cold out and cold weather makes me crave warm bread. I'm also addicted to bread. It has 6 ingredients and could not be simpler. The result is a crusty, slightly sweet wheat loaf that toasts beautifully and makes excellent sandwiches, particularly with freshly sliced ham.
Assemble:
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 packet yeast
1 cup warm water
1/3 cup nonfat milk
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/4 tsp kosher salt
Then do this:
1. In a large bowl, mix the warm water and yeast. Stir to dissolve (I use a big wooden spoon.) Add in everything else but the flour. Stir until everything's dissolved (the oil won't be, obvs, but that'll mix in fine when you add the flour.)
2. Stir in the flour gradually until you can't really stir it anymore and you have a big ball of dough in the bowl.
3. Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 6-8 minutes or so until it's all nice and smooth and your arms are tired.
4. Put a little oil in a clean bowl and turn the dough over in it to coat it. Cover the bowl loosely and put it somewhere the cats won't step in it.
5. Let it sit there and rise for an hour.
6. Take it out of the bowl and shape it into an 8-inch loaf and then put the loaf in a lightly greased loaf pan.
7. Cover the loaf pan with lightly oiled plastic wrap and leave it there until the dough rises an inch above the lip of the pan. (It took over an hour the first time I did this because my apartment was freezing. The second time it only took 30 minutes.) Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350.
8. Take off the plastic wrap and stick in the oven. Bake for about 40 minutes total, but after 20 minutes, take it out and loosely cover with foil.
9. Stick it back in for another 15 minutes or so. Enjoy the aromas wafting out of the oven. Then take it out, take off the foil and brush the top with a little oil so it turns nice and brown for the last five minutes.
10. Take it out and tap the top of the loaf, if it sounds hollow it's done. If it thuds, it's still wet inside and let it go a bit longer.
11. When done, turn the loaf out onto a wire rack, or if you're too lazy to get out the wire racks, just leave it on a stove burner to cool.
At the end you get this:
Warm, sweet, delicious bread. Serve with butter.
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