Homemade Bread...

...using a bread machine. I actually want to try making the 'no-work' artisan bread that I recently read about in How to Cook Everything (my father's day gift from my mother) but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Incidentally, the Bread Machine (a very nice stainless Cuisinart model) was ALSO a gift from my mother. It has seen a LOT of use in the last couple of years between making bread and making pizza dough and is still going strong.

Bread!

Hardware:
1 Bread Machine or a Stand Mixer

Software:
1.5 cups water, 90 degrees (filtered if your municipal water is high chlorine)
3 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
1 tablespoon honey or sugar
1.5 teaspoons salt
4 cups bread flour
1 packet active dry yeast
(Optional) 1/4 cup dry nonfat milk

Put the ingredients into your machine (don't forget the mixing paddle!) or your mixer's workbowl (use the bread hook attachment) in the order listed above.

If using a bread machine, simply choose 'regular white bread' or whatever the equivalent setting is and '2 lbs' loaf size, and walk away!

If using a mixer, knead the dough for 10-15 minutes, then cover and leave in a warm place to rise for 1 hour. Punch down, let rise again for 1 hour. Turn out, shape into a round loaf, and place onto a pizza stone in an oven preheated to 400 degrees. Bake for 45 minutes or until the bread reaches an internal temp of 205 degrees.

Either way, let the bread rest for at least 30 minutes before devouring.

So what's up with the dry nonfat milk, you ask? Basically, adding the milk proteins helps the bread to have a very consistent internal structure without a lot of giant steam bubble tunneling. In other words, it will make your bread look more like 'store bought' and be easier to slice for sandwiches and the like. It is completely unnecessary in terms of baking a good loaf of bread.

As for the flour, you can replace up to 50% of the bread flour with whole-wheat flour (although I don't really see the point myself)

40 Cloves and a Chicken

Hope you like garlic! Preparing this will protect your home from vampires for at least a week, and it is delicious to boot. The crazy thing about it is that it really isn't 'garlicky' at all - the long, slow cooking turns the garlic into this smooth, creamy, sweet spreadable stuff that is like mild garlic butter. Obviously it is best if you have some delicious homemade bread to spread it on!

Hardware:
Large oven-safe skillet or saute pan with tight-fitting lid

Software:
2-3 lbs chicken pieces
40 cloves of garlic, peeled (about 3 bulbs worth)
1/4 cup olive oil (NOT virgin)
bundle of fresh thyme sprigs
salt and pepper

Start by peeling lots of cloves of garlic. Supposedly some megamarts will sell pre-peeled cloves but I haven't seen them in my neighborhood H.E.B.

Once you have your 40 cloves, take your chicken pieces and toss them in a splash of olive oil and salt & pepper.

A side note about the chicken - you can do this a LOT of different ways. The cheapest is to buy a whole chicken in the 3lb range and butcher it yourself; I tend to go the route of buying de-boned chicken thigh 'fillets.' You can also use the standard boneless skinless breasts for this dish but they won't taste as good as the darker, fattier cuts :)

Regardless, preheat your oven to 350 and heat your skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken on each side (will take 5-10 minutes if using thighs.) Add the garlic, the oil, and the thyme sprigs, cover, and move to the oven. Bake at 350 for 1.5-to-2 hours (depends on what cuts of chicken you are using.) The chicken at the end will be nicely browned with a crusty roasted exterior and falling-apart tender.

I recommend serving the oil and garlic on the side as a dip/spread for the fresh homemade bread you should have made to go with this :)

How healthy is it? I guess that depends on your definition of healthy - this is fairly high in fat, but it's 'good' fat from the olive oil, and garlic is really good for you. A couple of deboned thighs with a hearty slab of homemade bread is probably 600-700 calories, so it's definitely not 'light.'

Vichyssoise (a.k.a. Potato-Leek Soup)

Ah, vichyssoise. Not actually French, interestingly enough - it was invented by the (French) head chef at the Ritz-Carlton in NYC around the turn of the 20th century. He named it after his hometown of Vichy, and until the 30's the Ritz's menus were published in French - hence, vichyssoise!

Despite the hard-to-pronounce name and somewhat pretentious history, it is very easy to make provided you have an immersion blender (sometimes called a stick blender.) You can technically puree the soup in an upright blender but pouring a gallon of hot soup is not my idea of fun (or safe.)

Hardware:
large stock pot with lid
good potato peeler (I actually recommend the Titan peeler of infomercial fame)
immersion blender

Software:
Approximately 1.5 cups of diced leeks (the yield from 2 large or 3 medium leeks, white and light-green parts only)
Approximately 4 cups cubed russet potatoes, peeled (the yield of 5-6 medium potatoes)
1 quart good quality chicken broth or stock
6 tablespoons butter, divided
1 cup whole milk (or half & half, or cream)
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
salt to taste
dash ground cayenne (optional)

Remove the leafy green heads and root ends of the leeks. Starting where the stalk turns light green, split and chop the leeks into half-rings. Peel the potatoes and cube, set aside.

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in the stock pot over medium-high heat. Add the diced leeks and a pinch of salt; cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until translucent and softened. Add the potatoes and chicken broth, bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 25-30 minutes or until the potatoes are fork-tender.

Turn off the heat and stir in the butter, milk, parmesan, vinegar and spices. Once the butter is melted, use your immersion blender to puree the potatoes and leeks until smooth and creamy. Season to taste and serve immediately, or chill and serve with a splash of milk to loosen the soup (it will be slightly thin when hot, but will thicken considerably as it cools to room temperature.)

The 'traditional' preparation adds a splash of brandy or cognac at the end but I find it to overpower the subtle flavors of the soup.

If you are using good quality chicken broth (which is lower in sodium, generally) you will find that this dish takes a LOT of salt to taste right. If it tastes bland after adding the spices try adding more salt before adding more spice.

Asparagus with Garlic-Lemon Vinagrette

I picked up this recipe from Alton Brown's fascinating travelogue, Feasting on Asphalt: the River Run. Somewhere in the Midwest he and his troupe came across a 'pick and pay' field of asparagus and that night his French cameraman prepared it this way. I concur with Mr. Brown that this is the best asparagus I've ever tasted.

Hardware:
Large saucepan or small stock pot, with lid
Steamer basket
small mixing bowl
balloon whisk
(optional) garlic press

Software:
1lb fresh asparagus, woody ends removed
2-3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
juice of one lemon
1/4 cup good quality olive oil

Preparation:
Place your steamer basket in a pot with 3/4 inch of water and set to boil.

In a mixing bowl, crush the garlic and salt together until they form a paste. Add the lemon juice and mustard, whisk until combined. Slowly drizzle the olive oil into the mixture, whisking vigorously, until they form an emulsion.

Steam the asparagus for 3-5 minutes (depends on how thick the stalks are.)

Remove cooked asparagus to a serving bowl. Toss with vinagrette. Serve immediately!

Goes really well with steak (and if you're like me, you will find yourself using the remaining vinagrette in the bottom of the serving bowl as a steak sauce - yum!)

I was really impressed with Sydney's ability to help make this. She snapped off the ends of the asparagus stalks, mixed together ingredients, and insisted she could be careful enough to pour the oil into the vinagrette. I was skeptical but i shouldn't have been - she did perfect. Too bad she wouldn't try the final product :)

Pasta e Fagioli

This recipe is one of my very favorites. Serves a small army (or gives lots of leftovers, which freeze very well) is surprisingly healthy, and easy to make.

I reverse-engineered this recipe from the Olive Garden's dish of the same name. When Rebecca was pregnant with Sydney she craved pasta e fagioli constantly, and I'm not really a big fan of Olive Garden. After several long waits for a table at the nearest franchise I said to myself 'surely I can figure out how to cook a soup' and after a couple of tries, I came up with this.

Hardware:
Large 12-quart stock pot with lid
cutting board
chef's knife
colander
garlic press (optional)

Software:
1lb ground beef
several stalks celery
several cloves of garlic
1 medium onion
1.5 cups matchsticked carrots (I buy them pre-cut in a bag)
1 cup orzo pasta
2 cans red kidney beans
1 large 28oz can diced tomatoes
1 jar marinara pasta sauce
1 quart beef broth
1 teaspoon tabasco pepper sauce (optional)
3 bay leaves
several pinches each dried basil and thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Dice the onion and celery, crush or mince the garlic, set aside. Pour a splash of oil in your stockpot and add the beef, garlic, salt, pepper. Brown over medium-high heat. Add celery, onion, carrot and continue cooking until slightly softened.

Drain and rinse the beans in a colander. Drain the tomatoes. Add beans, tomatoes, pasta, beef broth, and pasta sauce to the pot, stir to combine. Add bay leaves, tabasco sauce, other spices. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 1 to 2 hours. Serves 6-8 adults as a standalone dish, or serve as a soup course before your favorite Italian entree.

Surprisingly, a 1.5 cup (12oz) bowl of this only has about 300 calories, and it is VERY filling.

Baked Ziti

Unlike King Ranch Casserole, this is one my kids will actually eat. On the other hand, they can't do much of the work on it either...

This is a delicious, easy, fairly quick meal that serves a lot of people - easily 5 or 6, maybe more. It reheats best in the oven (cover with foil and bake at a low temp.)

Hardware:
9x13 baking dish
foil
large pasta pot
colander

Software:
1lb penne pasta
2 jars pasta sauce of your choice (I like to use a basil, garlic and olive oil tomato sauce, but any tomato-based sauce will work)
4 cups shredded italian cheeses (mozzarella, parmesan, asaigo, romano, etc)
(Optional) 1 cup ricotta cheese
(Optional) 1 teaspoon red pepper flake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large pasta pot, boil 6 quarts of water and a pinch of salt. Cook penne pasta, drain. Return to pot and stir in pasta sauce, 1/2 the shredded cheese, and the ricotta and/or red pepper flake (if using.) Spoon the pasta mixture into the 9x13 dish and cover with foil. Bake for 1 hour or until the center is thoroughly heated. Remove foil and top with remaining cheese; return to oven for 10-15 minutes. Allow to rest 15 minutes before serving.

Pro Tips:
I find that the ricotta adds calories, and little else.
The red pepper flake adds some needed zing to the dish, which can taste flat without it.
Some recipes for this use a ragu (meat sauce) or add finely diced pepperoni or some other cured meat to the dish. I have tried this but found the final product to be way too greasy.

Homemade Pizza Dough

The nice thing about homemade pizza dough is that it freezes really well! Pressed into a 3-4" disc in a ziploc bag, a pizza's worth of dough can be thawed out in about an hour on a countertop or overnight in a refrigerator.

We will address the baking of pizzas in a separate post :)

Best Pizza Dough

Wet Ingredients:
1 and 1/3 cups warm water (90-100 degrees F)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil

Dry ingredients:
4 cups bread flour
1 and 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast (i.e. 1 packet)

Hardware:
either a Bread Machine capable of handling 2 lbs of dough OR a Stand Mixer with a bread hook attachment.

Procedure:
Combine wet ingredients and dry ingredients in the pan of your bread machine (make sure the stirring paddle is in place.) Set to the 'dough' setting and for '2 pounds' if your model allows for varying recipe sizes. while the machine is mixing the dough, scrape down the sides of the pan occasionally. You may need to drizzle in a small amount (1 to 2 teaspoons) of additional water onto the dry flour if it is having trouble merging with the ball of dough.

Once the dough is mixed, either leave it to rise for 90 minutes in the machine, or if using a mixer, remove to a large bowl and cover at room temperature for 90 minutes.

After the first rise, punch the dough down (i.e. fold it in on itself several times, squeezing out the large bubbles of CO2 that have formed.) Form the dough into a tight ball, place in the large bowl used for the initial rise, toss in a drizzle of olive oil, cover, and place in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours. This stage is called the 'cold rise' and gives the dough its tangy, yeasty, chewy texture and flavor.

After the dough has cold risen you can either use immediately to make pizzas, leave in the fridge for another 2-3 days, or freeze. The recipe makes enough for 4 small (~10-12 inch) pizzas

For best results with freezing, separate the dough into portions, place in small ziploc bags, and press the dough into a flattened disc shape. This will make for MUCH faster thawing than a tight ball.

Pro Tips:
Use bottled or purified water if your tap water has a LOT of chlorine in it, as the chlorine will kill the yeast before they have a chance to chow down on the sugar.

You can substitute up to 1/2 the total flour with whole wheat flour, if that's your thing. I find it messes up the chewy, yeasty texture that I like, though.

I have had terrible luck over the years with the 'jars' of instant yeast - no matter how I store them, they seem to become ineffective very quickly after being opened. I have turned to buying the individual use packets as I have had very high rates of success with those, even though they are technically more expensive per usage.