Fancy bread that's easy too

I think I successfully avoided any copyright issues with that title.

I used to avoid yeast breads because I didn't like proofing, kneading and double rising. Then I went to a RS class about artisan breads and I had no more excuses. No proofing, no kneading, and no double rising.

I adapted the recipe below from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. It's perfect to eat with soup.


1.5 cups lukewarm water
2 and 1/4  t yeast
2 t salt
1 and 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

Mix everything together in a bowl or a stand mixer. Don't knead. Let rise at room temperature for 2 hours or until the dough rises and collapses. Longer rise times are fine. Refrigerate dough in a lidded, but not airtight, container (plastice wrap works too).  The dough can be refrigerated up to two weeks.

On baking day, dust dough with flour and break off a 1-pound piece - about the size of a grapefruit, or about half the dough. Dust with flour and then quickly shape in into a ball by pulling top of dough around to the bottom and rotating a quarter turn each time. (Does that make sense?)  Allow dough to rest on a cornmeal covered pizza peel for 40 minutes.

Twenty minutes before baking time preheat oven with baking stone inside* to 450. Place an empty broiler pan** on a lower rack.

Sprinkle loaf with flour and make two slashes with a sharp knife. They can be criss cross, parallel or any other pattern. Slide the loaf onto the hot stone, pour one cup of water into the broiler pan and close door. Bake for about 30 minutes until loaf is brown and firm. Cool on a wire rack before slicing.


*If you don't have a baking stone just use a cookie sheet with parchment paper. They say it's not as good as baking right on a stone, but I did it that way for a long time.

**Don't use a glass pan or it will shatter, but I have used metal or other ceramic pans.

***I have forgotten both the slashing and the steam steps and the bread still turns out perfectly edible. It's hard to mess up.

Shrimp Fried Rice {My Favorite Meal}

We don't eat seafood very often thanks to its pricetag, but I occasionally splurge on a bag of frozen shrimp and this is what I make with it.  It's so simple, but so good. The sesame oil really makes a difference. As a bonus, I've included a variation using chicken and peas, which is probably more realistic for most of us, and still quite good.

Shrimp Fried Rice  recipe by Mark Bittman in Parents magazine

2 T peanut or other neutral oil
one bunch scallions (green onions), chopped
3-4 cups cooked brown rice, refrigerated for a few hours
1/2 pound chopped shrimp
2 T soy sauce
1 T dark sesame oil

Cook green onions in hot oil 5-7 minutes until they soften. Add rcie, crumbling with hands as you place it in the skillet. Cook, stirring and breaking up rice lumps until rice begins to brown, about 10 minutes. Add shrimp and cook, stirring frequently, until the shrimp turns pink and is cooked through. Stir in soy sauce and sesame oil, add salt and pepper if needed.


Chicken and Peas Fried Rice

2 T peanut oil
3-4 cups cooked brown rice
1 cup cooked chopped chicken
1 cup frozen peas
2 T soy sauce
1 T sesame oil

Follow recipe as above, adding the rice to the oil as soon as it's hot and adding chicken and peas once rice begins to brown.

Our Favorite Smoothie

Smoothies. Gotta love them. This one is our favorite, and interestingly, we tend to have it more often during the winter than the summer, which is good because there's a lot of good cold-busting ingredients inside.

 

I don't really measure when I make smoothies, so just put in whatever amount seems right and adjust as needed.

Purple Green Smoothie

Orange Juice (a higher quality juice makes a better smoothie)
A couple handfuls of spinach
Frozen blueberries
Half a frozen or very ripe fresh banana
Plain yogurt
Wheat germ or ground flaxseed, optional


Whiz it all together in the blender, pour into a glass, insert a straw, adjust your goggles, and enjoy.