recipe 20...bread...just bread..yummmm

So the book club is back up and running. I know I've said it before, and I'll say it again....I love reading books chosen by people around the world. I'm sure I would never have picked up "The Undomestic Goddess" by Sophie Kinsella if the book club didn't lead me to it. I enjoyed it, as much as I enjoy any other chick-lit, as it was an absolute girl book. After my Italian vacation I've been reading Italian fiction as well as cookbooks....(there are many soups in my future), so the trip to England via "TUG"was a nice change of pace.

The recipe that grabbed me most was for bread, plain and simple...bread. So I've been baking, and baking, and baking. We have spread butter, homemade nutella (yum by the way), cheese, and marinated tomatoes in oil and garlic (king of the show) on the bread. We have also grabbed hunks and eaten them right down. So easy, so simple, so delicious.

SPEEDY NO-KNEAD BREAD

by: Mark Bittman via The New York Times

ingredients:

3 cups bread flour

1 packet instant yeast

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

oil as needed..(not kneaded...hee hee)

did I say simple?????

Step 1

Combine flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Add  water and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest about 4 hours at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

Step 2

Lightly oil a work surface and place dough on it; fold over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest 30 minutes more.

Step 3


At least 30 minutes before dough is ready heat oven to 450. Put a 6-8 quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready carefully remove hot pot from oven and slide dough into pot. (I didn't oil up the pot for my first batch and bread stuck to pot....used lots of butter and oil next time and bread popped out). Shake pan once or twice to distribute dough. (mine fell into place just fine)

Step 4

Cover with lid and bake for 30 minutes, remove lid and bake 15 to 30 minutes more, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on rack......or let slightly cool and pull apart and eat and dip and eat......so good!!!!

 

 

 

recipe 19 lasagna

I recently mentioned that dear family and I just traveled to Italy. I now understand why people are transfixed with Italy. I feel that my taste buds are labeled before Italy, during Italy and after Italy. To be perfectly honest the during Italy is my favorite. Our trip was a world wind tour of the Italian Alps. We skied, ate, drank, skied, ate, slept, marveled at the fairytale setting that we were so lucky to be experiencing, and ate some more.  I recently read a New York Times article that discussed why food in Italy taste so differently than Italian food prepared in the US. The theory is that all the local proprietors that would supply ingredients to restaurants and markets are just that....local. So the cheese is from the cows a kilometer away. The eggs for the pasta are from the farm 2 kilometers the other direction. The veal. pork. beef are from another nearby merchant...the tomatoes and herbs are...you get the idea. It makes good sense to me. I know the best produce I can get outside of my backyard is from my local farm. So, in turn great local ingredients produce great food. Once preservatives and additives are thrown in the mix quality suffers, as do our taste buds, sadly.
The first day on the slopes we skied into a small cafe in the middle of nowhere. We were all so excited to experience our first real meal (night one was very good pizza). All of our meals were wonderful, but dear daughter ordered the best, lasagna. It didn't have the traditional cheese inside but a bechamel sauce instead. It made it light, airy, and almost cloud like. Oh and did I mention the bolognese sauce.
 

Here's the recipe from:

While the sauce was cooking for hours

I cooked the noodles and made the bechamel sauce. I made a classic version...feel free to use your favorite or simply google for a sauce that suits you....not too buttery, not too floury etc... Mark Bittman's is great.

I started with a layer of sauce, added noodles, bechamel, sauce, noodles,bechamel, sauce, noodles, until my pan was full. A little fresh mozzarella rounded everything off on top.

We added a green salad, bread and of course vin rosa. Buon appetito.

 

blog continued recipe 18...kale

So I've been thinking about kale lately. I know, I know "very exciting life" you may be thinking. Actually I just spent an unbelievable week in Italy. The food was amazing. I have been itching to make a few yummy based on the trip...polenta, various pizzas, veal dishes, crepes, and I am curious about a homemade Nutella.....hmmmmm getting hungry just thinking about the possibilities. Anyway I digress...today I am focused on kale. I know there are the fancy purple and black kales, which have eluded me at my markets, I'm talking your basic green kale. I threw caution to the wind and threw together my own recipe, (so no cook book attached to this blog).
I love collard greens and broccoli rabe. I feel their flavors improve with pork....(try broccoli rabe with chorizo, you won't be disappointed), so I had some ham and chopped it up, and went from there.



chop 1 cup or so pork leftovers. 

put 2 cloves garlic, 1/2 cup olives, anchovy (1 or 2)
crushed red pepper to taste, and lemon juice.

add mixture to coated pan and saute until browning.

rinse kale, add to pan and cook, cook, cook. 

 

                                          Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with grated cheese.
                                                                           Enjoy!