No Knead Bread

Let me start by saying a couple of things: 1. Crusty, chewy bread is one of my very favorite things in the world. 2. this bread is quite possibly the best thing I’ve ever baked. 3. it’s also one of the easy things I’ve ever made.

I’m a bread lover, it’s true. I love a good, crusty french loaf probably more than the next person. I believe that it’s one of our greatest triumphs as humans, creating crusty bread. But I’d never, ever tried to make it at home.

It was just so daunting. I’ve looked at a thousand recipes for it, most of them calling for no fewer than 3 rises, lots of kneading, some voodoo and a bread dance. It just seemed so complicated! But when I stumbled upon this recipe last night, I knew I had to make it.



It’s from the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a day, which I don’t own, but I’m now seriously considering purchasing it. This is so easy, and requires only 4 ingredients.

My brother exclaimed “This tastes just like Panera’s bread!” which is a high compliment coming from him, as he can eat a whole long loaf by himself. Get yourself in the kitchen and make this right now. It’s that good. It'd be perfect for sandwiches, bread bowls for soup, or even pizza crust.

Recipe notes: It might seem difficult to incorporate all of the flour into the yeast mixture, but just keep mixing. You can add just a little bit of water at a time to help, if needed. The recipe calls for a pizza stone, but I don’t have one, so I just used a cast iron skillet instead. Also, my second rise took a bit longer than the 40 minutes suggested, probably about an hour and 15 minutes to get to the size I wanted.



No Knead French Bread
From Artisian Bread in 5 Minutes a Day via The Ivory Hut


3 cups of lukewarm water

1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast

1 1/2 tablespoons coarse salt

6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour


Grab a very large mixing bowl, or a large container that you can cover. In it, mix the water, yeast, and salt. You don’t have to heat up the water to a precise optimal temperature for the yeast. I’ve even used just regular tap water, and it’s worked well for me. Just let that sit together for a while (you don’t have to wait for the yeast to dissolve completely), then dump the flour all at once and stir with a wooden spoon. You don’t need to knead this, and you’re not looking to make it come together into a dough ball. You just want everything mixed well, with no streaks of flour left, and you’re done.


Leave it in your container, covered (but not airtight, or it’ll pop), for a few hours. When it has risen and then deflated a bit, your dough is done. It’s ready to be used or stored in the refrigerator.

To bake the bread, just grab a chunk of dough, about the size of a grapefruit. Dust your hands with flour to help prevent sticking, and gently pull the sides of the dough toward the bottom, rotating the dough, until you get a roundish shape with a smooth surface. It should only take you about a minute or less to do this. The dough won’t be entirely in the bottom, where it may look bunched up, but don’t worry about it.


Put it on a cutting board that’s been dusted with cornmeal to prevent sticking, and let it rest for at least 40 minutes. No need to cover it. If the dough has been refrigerated, it helps to let it rest a little more, until it’s no longer chilled.


Twenty minutes before you are ready to bake, put a cast iron skillet (or a pizza stone) in the middle rack of your oven, and put a broiler pan (I used a cookie sheet) in the bottom rack. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Dust some flour on the top of your loaf, and slash the top, about 1/4-inch deep.

After twenty minutes of preheating, it’s time to bake. (You can put the bread in after 20 minutes, even if your oven hasn’t reached 450 degrees yet.) Slide the loaf onto the baking stone, and then quickly pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the broiler pan. Then quickly shut the oven door to keep the steam inside.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until you get a nice brown crust. Remove and let cool completely, if you can wait that long.

Blueberry Muffins, plain and simple.

Apparently the snowpocalypse is upon us. My area is under a severe snow warning or something of the sort. What do I do in such situations? Bake muffins, of course. These won't be winning any beauty contests, but they sure are tasty.

Blueberry Muffins

Adapted from All Recipes
Makes exactly 12 regular size muffins

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
  
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Black Bean Brownies

Black Bean Brownies. Black Bean Brownies?!

When I first stumbled upon this recipe, I was a little bit repulsed. It seemed sort of gross, beans as the main ingredient in brownies? I kept coming back to it though, and the idea grew on me.

It doesn’t make any sense, but these are good. Not the best brownie ever, by any means, but good. I’m not even sure if brownie is the right word for these, black bean fudge might be better. There’s a lot going on - the coffee flavor, the agave nectar, and of course the beans and the chocolate. Somehow it all works together.

I made mine in an 8x8 baking pan instead of a jelly roll pan, and I have to say that I think they would have been better thinner. Mine were super gooey - a little too gooey. The ones on the outer edge were much better than those in the center, because they were firmer. Also, I found the coffee flavor a little over powering, I’d definitely cut it down, probably half it, if I made these again.

Will I make them again? Probably not, but it’s an interesting option if you're gluten intolerant or diabetic.



Black Bean Brownie Recipe
From 101 cookbooks

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups soft-cooked black beans, drained well ( canned is fine)
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
¼ cup (granulated) natural coffee substitute (or instant coffee, for gluten-sensitive)
¼ teaspoon sea salt
4 large eggs
1½ cups light agave nectar

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line an 11- by 18-inch (rimmed) baking pan (or jellyroll pan) with parchment paper and lightly oil with canola oil spray.

Melt the chocolate and butter in a glass bowl in the microwave for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes on high. Stir with a spoon to melt the chocolate completely. Place the beans, 1/2 cup of the walnuts, the vanilla extract, and a couple of spoonfuls of the melted chocolate mixture into the bowl of a food processor. Blend about 2 minutes, or until smooth. The batter should be thick and the beans smooth. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the remaining 1/2 cup walnuts, remaining melted chocolate mixture, coffee substitute, and salt. Mix well and set aside.

In a separate bowl, with an electric mixer beat the eggs until light and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the agave nectar and beat well. Set aside.

Add the bean/chocolate mixture to the coffee/chocolate mixture. Stir until blended well.

Add the egg mixture, reserving about 1/2 cup. Mix well. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Using an electric mixer, beat the remaining 1/2 cup egg mixture until light and fluffy. Drizzle over the brownie batter. Use a wooden toothpick to pull the egg mixture through the batter, creating a marbled effect. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the brownies are set. Let cool in the pan completely before cutting into squares. (They will be soft until refrigerated.)

Just a quick note: I realized today I've been having a lot of real emails go into my spam folder instead of my inbox. If you've seen me an email in the past and I haven't responded, that's why! I'm so sorry, feel free to send it again. :)

Citrus Tart

It’s dark, rainy, and gloomy here today. I used to swear up and down that I preferred rain to sunshine. I have no idea why - maybe it was true then, but it’s definitely not true now. I like a good rainstorm, especially in the summer, when they are quick and full of thunder, but in the winter when they last all day, make it so dark outside it seems like evening all day long, I don’t care for it at all. I crave sunshine and the warmth it brings along with it.





Since there’s no chance of that today, I decided to create some sunshine of my own, in the form of this yummy citrus tart. It has a delicious buttery shortbread crust and a tart but sweet lemon & lime curd-like filling. It’s brightened up my day, for sure.






Citrus Tart
from Martha Stewart

Ingredients
Serves 12 to 14

FOR THE CRUST
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 cup whole blanched almonds
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 large egg yolk

FOR THE FILLING
5 large eggs
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (from 6 lemons), plus 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (from 4 limes)
2 tablespoons heavy cream (optional)
Garnish: red currants or raspberries and confectioners' sugar

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the crust: Butter an 11-inch fluted tart or quiche pan with a removable bottom (or use a pie plate). Whisk together flour and salt. Pulse almonds with confectioners' sugar in a food processor until finely ground.

2. Beat butter with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in almond-sugar mixture. Add yolk and flour mixture, and beat until combined.

3. Press dough evenly into bottom and up sides of prepared pan. Prick dough all over with a fork. Freeze for 20 minutes.

4. Bake crust for 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Press down bottom and up sides if needed. Bake until golden brown, about 13 minutes more (I pressed down the bottom and sides again). Transfer pan to a baking sheet, and let cool for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees.

5. Make the filling: Beat eggs, granulated sugar, and salt with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Add juices, zest, and cream, and beat until incorporated. Tap bowl on counter to release air bubbles. Pour into prepared crust. Bake until set, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely. Garnish with currants or raspberries and a dusting of confectioners' sugar.
6. Garnish just before serving.

I've started a new blog called fields and woods! It's not going to replace this blog, it's just so I have a space that is less food-centric. It will be filled with some of my photos I don't post here, quotes and things I find inspiring. So head on over there if you'd like!

Apple Cake

I didn’t want to go to the grocery store today, but as I was flipping through recipes every one called for an ingredient I didn’t have. Then, I came upon this one. I had apples and a lemon, it was meant to be.



I love simple cakes like this one. Not too sweet, just a little bit dense, and covered in fresh fruit. They are comforting and delicious. Perfect with coffee after dinner.



German Apple Cake
from Rustic Fruit Desserts

1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
zest of 1 lemon
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 apples, peeled, cored, and each cut into 6 pieces
2 tablespoons of turbinado sugar

Preheat the oven to 350. Butter a 9 inch round baking pan.
Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl.
Cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest on medium-high speed for 3 to 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition, then stir in vanilla.

Add the flour mixture all at once and mix on a low speed just until incorporated. Pour (more like spoon, it will be very thick) into the prepared pan.

Score the peeled side of the apples with the tines of a fork and arrange the apples atop the batter around the perimeter with 1 slice in the middle (I cut each large slice into 3-4 small slices)

Sprinkle with turbinado sugar and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the cake is lightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Sometimes the batter around the apples looks slightly underdone, but don’t worry; it’s just the moisture from the apples.

Sometimes a girl has got to just buy herself some flowers.

Pancakes with Blueberry Maple Syrup!

It seems I’ve come down with a cold. The nasty kind that lingers and zaps you of any energy. It’s no fun and I haven’t felt like doing any baking, needless to say. This morning though, I was craving pancakes. Pancakes are so easy, comforting and require so little effort, I just had to make them, despite feeling sick.



This recipe is one my mom has used for a while (honestly, she makes them better than I do!) and it’s so close to perfection. I love the fluffy, buttery golden pancakes with the bright, summery flavor of the blueberries. You really need that pop of sunshine in these cold winter months. A stack of these beauties topped with blueberry syrup and I’m already feeling better.



Also! Can I just sing the praises of White Lily flour? I’ve heard that old ladies swear by it, and I understand why. It makes the most perfect baked goods -especially pancakes and biscuits. If you can get your hands on some - buy it!



Near Perfection Pancakes

1 1/2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbs sugar
1 egg, beaten
3 tbs melted butter
1 cup milk (buttermilk is fantastic)

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a medium bowl, whisk to combine. Add egg & butter, stir lightly. Add milk and whisk - not too much, it’ll make your pancakes rubbery.

Heat about half a tablespoon of butter a frying pan over medium-high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/3 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides, turning once. Top with homemade blueberry syrup and fresh blueberries!

Blueberry Maple Syrup

1 cup Maple Syrup (not pancake syrup, the good stuff!)
1 cup blueberries

Heat in a small sauce pan until blueberries are have burst. From here you can Press through a fine sieve to remove blueberry skin or leave them in - it’s up to you!

It's snowed today! I can't even express how much I love snow. It's been a bit like living in a snow globe, around here you usually wake up to a winter wonderland, not watch it as it falls.

I've completed my first week of Project 365 and I'm really enjoying it. It's a great excuse to take your camera everywhere, and stop every time you see something pretty. I'm much too comfortable taking food photos and this is really pushing me out of that box.

If you'd like to participate, it's not too late! It's a lot of fun and you won't regret it. If you're a food blogger, you should join the project 365 food blogger group!

Spicy Cheese Crackers

These crackers are delicious. Really, really good. Buttery, spicy, cheesy and not a bit sweet. I’m a bit burned out on sugar, to be honest. After all those Christmas cookies and that amazing cobbler, I needed to change it up a bit.



I agree with Clotilde who said they are like cheese shortbread. Dry, crumbly, spicy shortbread. I’m sure you could make them look nicer than mine if you rolled the dough out and use a pretty cutter, but I hate rolling out dough, so I just made it into a log and cut slices.



These practically no time at all, especially if you do it in the food processor. I think they’d be perfect with soup, maybe Chili. Try them out!



Cheese Crackers

Adapted from here and here

1 1/2 cups (about 6 ounces) grated extra-sharp Cheddar cheese

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick or 2 ounces) unsalted butter, softened and cut into 4 pieces

3/4 cup flour, plus more for dusting

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon half-and-half (I used cream, because it’s what I had)

Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a food processor, combine the cheese, butter, flour, salt, paprika and red pepper in five 5-second pulses until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the half-and-half and process until the dough forms a ball, about 10 seconds. (you could also use a pastry blender and do it by hand)

Shape the dough into a log or whatever sliceable shape strikes your fancy, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm enough to be easily sliced, about an hour, and up to a day. (You can speed things up by placing the dough in the freezer for 20 minutes instead.)
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Remove the dough from the fridge, slice it thinly and arrange the slices on the prepared sheet (they will expand a little, so give them just a bit of elbow room). You will need to work in batches; return the dough to the fridge between batches.

Bake for 10 to 14 minutes, depending on your oven and the thickness of your slices, until golden. Let the cheese thins rest on the baking sheet for a minute before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Apple Cobbler with Cheddar Biscuits

While this cobbler isn’t the typical way to begin a new year (black eyed peas? no thanks!), it certainly was a delicious start. I used to balk at the idea of apples and cheese together. When you think about it, it just sounds wrong. But it’s a combination I’ve grown to love, and this cobbler is no exception.



This recipe is from a cookbook that I purchased just after Christmas called Rustic Fruit Desserts. The book is absolutely beautiful, and if all the recipes are like this one, I can tell it’s going to get a lot of use. The recipes seem well thought out, this one mentions to start pre-baking the apples while you make the biscuit topping, so they will be nice and soft when it’s done.

The biscuits on top are salty from the cheese and just a tad sweet, and the apples cook perfectly. It’s sublime, and I’ll definitely be making it again.



I used a combination of Cameo and Braeburn apples, which were a nice accent to the brown sugar/cinnamon mix. You’ll need to put a piece of aluminum foil under the pan while baking, the juices bubble up a lot and chaos ensues. (sugar! burning! in the oven! smoke detector going off! dogs barking!) Also, I’ll make my biscuits just a tad smaller next time, as the bottoms were a bit on the under done side. Overall, it’s a great recipe, and it might be my new favorite cobbler.



Apple Cobbler with Cheddar Biscuits

from Rustic Fruit Desserts

Ingredients
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature, for dish
For fruit filling:

1 cup packed (7 1/2 ounces) medium brown sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

8 large apples, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4 inch thick (3 1/2 pounds prepped)

Juice of 1 lemon

1/4 cup (2 ounces) unsalted butter
For biscuits:

2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 cups (4 ounces) grated extra-sharp Cheddar cheese

1 1/3 cups cold buttermilk, or more as needed


Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 375° F. Butter a 3-quart baking dish.
To make the fruit filling, with your hands, rub the brown sugar, cornstarch, salt, and cinnamon together in a large bowl. Add the apples and toss to evenly coat. Gently stir in the lemon juice. Let the apples sit for 15 minutes to release some of their juices. Mix the filling more than one time before scraping the contents into the prepared pan. Cut the butter into small cubes and scatter over the apples.
Cover the pan with foil and bake in the lower third of the oven for 20 minutes. This gives the apples a jump start on cooking while you make the biscuits.

To make the biscuits, whisk the flour, 1 tablespoon of the sugar, the baking powder, and the salt together in a bowl. Add the cheese and toss until evenly coated. Make a well in the center of the bowl and add the buttermilk. With a rubber spatula or fork, or by hand, stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened. The dough will be shaggy and moist. If the dough seems dry, add a bit more buttermilk, no more than 1 tablespoon at a time.

Take the baking pan out of the oven and remove the foil. In 1/4 cup portions, place the dough atop the fruit, distributing the biscuits evenly. (You should end up with about 9 biscuits.) Sprinkle the remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar over the biscuits.

Return the cobbler to the oven (this time without the foil) and bake for an additional 30 to 40 minutes, or until the apples are tender, the juices are bubbling, and the biscuits are golden brown.

Storage: This dessert is best served the day that it is made, but any leftovers can be wrapped in plastic wrap (or foil) and kept at room temperature for 2 to 3 days.



If you'd like to keep up with my project 365 progress, I've put a link over in the side bar to the flickr set where I'll be uploading all the photos.