Alton Brown's Baked Brown Rice

Change to: servings US Metric

1 1/2	cups long grain brown rice
2 1/2	cups water
1	tablespoon unsalted butter
1	teaspoon salt

• Brown rice Side Dishes
  
• Oven Side Dishes
  

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF.
2. Boil the water and add the butter and salt. Stir to dissolve salt and melt butter.
3. Place the rice in an 8" casserole dish. Pour the boiling water mixture over the rice and stir.
4. Cover with foil and bake on the middle rack for 1 hour.
5. Fluff with fork and serve.

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/2	cups butter or margarine, softened (12oz)
1 1/4	cups granulated sugar
1 1/4	cups packed brown sugar
1	tablespoon vanilla
2	eggs
4	cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
2	teaspoons baking soda
1	teaspoon salt
1	package (24 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (4 cups)

1.	Heat oven to 350ºF. Mix butter, sugars, vanilla and eggs in large bowl using spoon. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chips.
2.	Drop dough by rounded measuring tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.
3.	Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until light brown. Cool slightly. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack; cool.

Easy Crockpot Week 2

Pork Roast with Spicey Cabbage and Apples

Recipe: Pork and Apples Serve over rice. The flavors of moist pork tenderloin and tender apples are wonderful in this easy crockpot dish. Category: Crockpot Pork Time to Prepare: 10 minutes Time to Cook: 8 hours Number of servings: 6 Ingredients: 2 pound sliced pork tenderloin 2 large apples 1 cup chicken broth 1 tbsp dried minced onion 1 tsp dried rosemary ¼ tsp black pepper Instructions: Spray crock pot with non-stick cooking spray. Place sliced pork tenderloin in slow cooker. Core, slice, and peel apples, place on top of pork. Add chicken broth and spices, cover and cook on low 8 hours or high 4 hours. Notes: Source: www.natalies-recipes.com I left out the apples but added: 2 lbs red cabbage, shredded finely 4 large onions, peeled & finely diced 4 large apples or pears, NOT peeled, finely diced 4 garlic cloves, peeled & finely minced 4 tablespoons soft brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves salt & pepper 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar 1 ounce butter Layer in the crockpot: Red cabbage, then salt & pepper; Apples or pears, onions & garlic, then the spices & brown sugar;keep layering this way until everything has been used up. Dot the top of the red cabbage with the butter and pour over the red wine vinegar. Season once more with salt & pepper and cook for 6 to 12 hours on High in the crockpot, until everything has broken down, is soft and it is a rich red colour. Serve with brown rice. Pepper Steak This is easily one of my favorite crockpot recipes - so easy and so good! Category: Crockpot Beef Time to Prepare: 15 minutes Time to Cook: 5-6 hours on low Number of servings: 6 Ingredients: 2 lbs beef round steak ¼ cup soy sauce 1 cup chopped onion 2 cloves minced garlic 1 tsp sugar ½ tsp black pepper ¼ tsp ground ginger 3 chopped green and/or red bell peppers 1 undrained 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes ½ cup flour Instructions: Spray crockpot with cooking spray. Place strips of beef into slow cooker. In bowl, combine soy sauce, onions, garlic, sugar, black pepper, and ginger; pour over beef. Cover and cook on low 5-6 hours. Add bell peppers and tomatoes. Cover and cook 1 hour. Use flour to achieve desired thickness, mixing in and cooking for 15-20 minutes. Serve over rice. Notes: Source: www.natalies-recipes.com Ginger Beef and Broccoli A tasty way to enjoy this classic. If fresh or bottled minced ginger is used, reduce to 1 tbsp. Category: Crockpot Beef Time to Prepare: 15 minutes Time to Cook: 5 hours Number of servings: 6 Ingredients: 2 pounds beef round steak 5 medium chopped carrots 2 medium chopped onions 2 tbsp ground ginger 2 cloves minced garlic ½ cup water ¼ cup soy sauce 1 envelope brown gravy mix 4 cups broccoli 6 cups noodles Instructions: Spray slow cooker with cooking spray. Slice meat and place in crockpot. Add carrots, onion, ginger and garlic. In a small bowl, combine water, soy sauce and brown gravy mix. Pour over meat and vegetables in slow cooker. Cover and cook on high 4-5 hours or low 8-10 hours. Stir in broccoli, cover and cook on high 15-20 minutes (25-30 if using frozen broccoli). Notes: Serve over noodles. Source: www.natalies-recipes.com

Black Bean Soup So easy - just put all the ingredients in the crock pot and turn it on! Category: Crockpot Soups and Appetizers Time to Prepare: 10 minutes Time to Cook: 4-6 hours Number of servings: 6 Ingredients: 2 15.5 ounce cans (drained) black beans 1 cup diced carrots 1 medium diced onion 1 cup diced celery 2 cloves minced garlic 4 strips cooked crumbled bacon 1 tbsp ground cumin 1 tbsp chili powder ¼ cup chopped green onions 1 cup chicken broth 2 cups water Instructions: Spray crock pot with cooking spray. Put all ingredients in slow cooker and stir. Cover and cook on low 4-6 hours, until vegetables are tender. Notes: Source: www.natalies-recipes.com

Creamy Seafood Chowder Using the soup base makes this often difficult to make recipe super easy! Category: Crockpot Soups and Appetizers Time to Prepare: 10 minutes Time to Cook: 8 hours Number of servings: 10 Ingredients: 2 cans cream of chicken soup 2 cans cream of potato soup 1 tsp garlic powder 2 tbsp minced onion 1 cup half and half 1 cup milk ¼ tsp black pepper 1 cup celery 2 10 ounce undrained cans of clams 1 tsp creole seasoning 4 medium peeled and chopped potatoes 1 16 oz package frozen corn 1 pound tailed and devienned shrimp Instructions: Spray crockpot with cooking spray. Combine all ingredients except shrimp, mix well. Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours or high 3-4 hours. Add shrimp, cover and cook on high and additional 30-45 minutes, until shrimp is tender. Notes: Source: www.natalies-recipes.com

Cashew Chicken Vary the taste of this dish by picking different stir fry sauces. Category: Crockpot Chicken Time to Prepare: 10 minutes Time to Cook: 7-8 hours Number of servings: 8 Ingredients: 2 medium chopped onions 1 can drained mushrooms 1 can drained can drained bamboo shoots 1 can sliced (drained) water chesnuts 2 pounds boneless skinless (cubed) chicken breasts 1 ½ cups stir fry sauce ¼ tsp ground ginger 1 16 ounce package frozen stir fry vegetables 1 cup cashews Instructions: Spray crockpot with cooking spray. Combine all ingredients except cashews in crockpot, stir well to mix. Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours or high 3-4 hours. Just before serving, stir in cashews. Serve with rice. Notes: Source: www.natalies-recipes.comStir fry sauce: 2/3 cup soy sauce 1/2 cup chicken broth 1/3 cup rice wine 3 1/2 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon sesame oil 1/4 teaspoon white pepper 2 tablespoons cooking oil 1 tablespoon minced garlic 1 tablespoon minced ginger 2 tablespoons cornstarch 1/4 cup water In a bowl, combine soy sauce, broth, rice wine, sugar, sesame oil and white pepper. Dissolve the cornstarch in 1/4 cup water. Heat a pan over high heat; add the cooking oil, swirling to coat; add the garlic and ginger; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add the soy sauce mixture; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 1 minute. Add the cornstarch solution and cook, stirring, until the sauce boils and thickens. Lentil and Barley Soup 1 cup lentils 1/3 cup pearl barley 1 cup carrots (chopped) 1 cup celery (chopped) 1 cup onions (chopped) 2 garlic cloves (minced) 1/2 teaspoon dried basil 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme 1 bay leaf 3 1/2 cups broth 2 1/2 cups water 14 1/4 ounces Italian-style tomatoes or regular stewed tomatoes or crushed tomatoes 1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped (optional) 2 tablespoons cider vinegar (optional) Crock Pot One-Dish Meal Low Fat One-Dish Meal Lentils One-Dish Meal Italian One-Dish Meal Fall One-Dish Meal Sort through lentils to remove debris and shriveled beans, then rinse. Add lentils to crock pot, along with barley, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, dried herbs and bay leaf. Pour in broth, water, and tomatoes. Cover and cook on low heat for 12 to 14 hours, or on high heat for 5 to 6 hours. Discard bay leaf and just before serving stir in parsley and vinegar (if using.).

Easy Crockpot Week

As the baby was soon to be with us I needed a week of VERY easy crockpot meals. Throw it all in in the morning and walk away kinda thing, AND having protein and veg and if possible carbs all in one go to.
Here's what I came up with (shopping list to be added shortly) :




Crockpot Chicken Chow Mein


8 boneless skinless chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 lb)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 medium carrots, sliced diagonally (1 cup)

2 medium stalks celery, coarsely chopped (1 cup)

1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 cup chicken broth

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon finely chopped gingerroot

2 tablespoons cornstarch

3 tablespoons cold water

1 cup fresh broccoli florets

1 cup fresh snow pea pods

6 cups chow mein noodles



1. Remove any fat from chicken. Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces. In 10-inch skillet, heat
oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook about 5 minutes, turning once, until brown.

2. In 3- to 4-quart slow cooker, place carrots, celery, onion and garlic. Add chicken. Mix
broth, soy sauce and gingerroot; pour over chicken.

3. Cover; cook on Low heat setting 6 to 8 hours.

4. In small bowl, mix cornstarch and water until smooth; stir into chicken mixture. Stir
in broccoli and pea pods. Increase heat setting to High; cover and cook 15 minutes. Serve
over noodles.






Pork Roast



You can use any kind of mustard in this delicious, homey recipe. You can also thicken the
juices if you wish after removing the roast and vegetables. Just pour the juice into a
saucepan and add 2 Tbsp. cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup water, then bring to a boil.




* 1 lb. small red potatoes, cut in half

* 16 oz. pkg. baby cut carrots

* 3 lb. boneless pork loin roast, trimmed of fat

* 1/4 cup Dijon mustard

* 1/2 tsp. dried tarragon leaves

* 1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves

* 1/2 tsp. salt

* 1/4 tsp. pepper

* 1 onion, chopped

* 2 cloves garlic, minced

* 1-1/2 cups beef broth



Preparation:
Place potatoes and baby carrots around bottom edge of 4-6 quart crockpot.
In small bowl,
combine mustard, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper and spread over pork roast.

Place roast
in crockpot and sprinkle with chopped onion. Pour beef broth over all. Cover crockpot and
cook on low for 8-9 hours until pork is thoroughly cooked and vegetables are tender.








Slow-Cooked Pork Stew





2 lbs lean pork loin, cut into 1 inch cubes

8 ounces baby carrots

3 large new potatoes, cut into 1 inch cubes

2 parsnips, cut into 1 inch cubes

1 onion, cut into wedges

2 leeks, thoroughly washed and sliced into 1 inch strips

6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 (8 ounce) packet frozen spinach, thawed and well-drained

2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper, to taste

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon salt, to taste

1 pint vegetable juice

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon mustard

4 teaspoons tapioca






1. Place the pork in a crockpot, and add the carrots, potatoes, parsnips, onions,
leeks, garlic, spinach, pepper, thyme and salt.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the vegetable juice, brown sugar, mustard and tapioca.

3. Pour it over the pork and vegetables.

4. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 4 hours.







Granny's Slow Cooker Vegetarian Chili




1 (11 ounce) can condensed black bean soup (or canned black beans in juice)

1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed (sometimes I use
lentils)

1 (16 ounce) can vegetarian baked beans

1 (14 1/2 ounce) can chopped tomato puree (I use large 29 oz. can crushed tomatoes)

1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained

1 onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

2 zucchini, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 (4 ounce) can diced chilies

1-2 jalapeno, chopped (depending on how much heat you want)

1 tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoons cumin

1 tablespoon dried parsley

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon dried basil

1 tablespoon cilantro (optional)




1. In a saucepan, saute the onion, bell pepper, zucchini, and celery for about 5
minutes.

2. In a slow cooker, combine black bean soup, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, baked
beans, tomatoes, corn, onion, bell pepper, zucchini, jalapeno, chilies, and celery.

3. Season with garlic, chili powder, cumin, parsley, oregano, basil (and cilantro if
using).

4. Cook for about 6 hours on low.

5. Serve with tortillas, cornbread, rice, or French bread.

6. Enjoy!

7. This freezes well!

8. Leftovers are good on top of nachos!







Slow-Cooked Vegetable Curry





2 cups sliced carrots

2 medium potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

8 ounces green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 cup coarsely chopped onions

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca

2 teaspoons curry powder

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 (14 ounce) can vegetable broth

1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes

8oz coconut milk

2 cups hot cooked rice





1. Add the first 12 ingredients in order to a 4-quart slow-cooker.

2. Pour vegetable broth and coconut milk over all.

3. Cover and cook on LOW for 7-9 hours.

4. Add in undrained tomatoes; stir to combine.

5. Cover and let stand 5 minutes.

6. Serve over cooked rice.









Slow Cooker Jambalaya




1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)

1 medium green bell pepper, chopped (1 cup)

2 medium celery stalks, chopped (1 cup)

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 can (28 oz)diced tomatoes, undrained

2 cups chopped fully cooked smoked sausage

1 tablespoon parsley flakes

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon red pepper sauce

3/4 pound uncooked peeled deveined medium shrimp, thawed if frozen

4 cups hot cooked rice




1. Mix all ingredients except shrimp and rice in 3 1/2- to 6-quart slow cooker.

2. Cover and cook on low heat setting 7 to 8 hours (or high heat setting 3 to 4 hours) or
until vegetables are tender.

3. Stir in shrimp. Cover and cook on low heat setting about 1 hour or until shrimp are
pink and firm.
Serve jambalaya with rice.






Slow Cooker North Woods Wild Rice Soup




2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)

2 medium stalks celery, diced (1 cup)

2 medium carrots, diced (1 cup)

1 cup diced smoked turkey (6 ounces)

1/2 cup uncooked wild rice

1 teaspoon dried tarragon leaves

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) chicken broth

1 can (12 ounces) evaporated fat-free milk

1/3 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour

1 cup Green Giant® frozen sweet peas, thawed

2 tablespoons dry sherry, if desired




1. In 10-inch skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Cook onion in oil about 4 minutes,
stirring occasionally, until tender.

2. Place onion, celery, carrots, turkey, wild rice, tarragon and pepper in 3 1/2- to
4-quart slow cooker. Pour broth over top.

3. Cover and cook on low heat setting 6 to 8 hours or until wild rice and vegetables are
tender. Stir in peas last 15 minutes of cooking.

4. Mix milk and flour; stir into soup. Cover and cook about 20 minutes or until thickened.






Slow Cooker Chicken Stew with Pepper and Pineapple





1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces

4 medium carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces

1/2 cup chicken broth

2 tablespoons finely chopped gingerroot or 1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 tablespoon packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon red pepper sauce

1 can (8 ounces) pineapple chunks in juice, drained and juice reserved

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 medium bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces




1. Mix all ingredients except pineapple, cornstarch and bell pepper in 3 1/2- to 6-quart
slow cooker.

2. Cover and cook on low heat setting 7 to 8 hours (or high heat setting 3 to 4 hours) or
until vegetables are tender and chicken is no longer pink in center.

3. Mix reserved pineapple juice and cornstarch until smooth; gradually stir into chicken
mixture. Stir in pineapple and bell pepper.

4. Cover and cook on high heat setting about 15 minutes or until slightly thickened.







Easy Crock Pot Macaroni and Cheese




1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons minced onions

1/2 teaspoon paprika

3 cups milk

1 cup of grated cheddar cheese (or your favourite kind of cheese)

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni




1. Spray crockpot with non-stick spray for easy cleaning.

2. In a saucepan, combine first 5 ingredients.

3. Pour in milk and stir with a whisk until no lumps remain.

4. Heat and continue stirring until mixture boils and is thickened.

5. Add cheese and then macaroni.

6. Stir until well mixed.

7. Pour into 3 1/2 quart (3. 5L) slow cooker.

8. Cover and cook on low for 2-2 1/2 hours or on high for 1 hour.







Vegetable-Beef Barley Soup




1 1/2 lbs lean stewing beef

1/2 cup bell peppers, chopped

1 (16 ounce) package frozen mixed vegetables (I use a gumbo blend.)

3/4 cup chopped onions

2/3 cup uncooked barley

2 1/2 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons beef bouillon

2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans diced tomatoes

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce






1. Rinse the frozen vegetables under cold running water to separate and partially thaw
before adding to soup.

2. Mix all ingredients in 3 1/2- to 6-quart crock pot.

3. Cover and cook on low heat setting 8 hours or until vegetables and barley are
tender.

Blender Carrot Cake

This is DS' and mine's favourite cake at the moment, although he doesn't like walnuts so I only put them in one of the cakes - that way we each have our own!

It used to be such a chore to make carrot cake. I remember having to peel and shred (by hand back then!) lots of carrots, having to beat egg whites very stiff, having to buy expensive ground almonds... as much as I love baking, this was too much of a hassle and I went for years without making carrot cake.

Then I came across a recipe that involved using the blender. I tried it very warily but was delighted to find it worked! Having said that the recipe itself was not to my taste so I adapted that and 2 other recipes to come up with this one.
I've reduced the sugar in the recipe quite a lot and might try reducing the oil amount too but if I do the usual trick of substituting apple sauce for all or even just part of the oil, I find the result is inevitably more pudding-like, too moist for my taste.

It seems like a lot of folk are obsessed about getting their cakes as moist as possible. I strive for a perfect balance: a dry cake is definitely a disappoinment but an overly moist one is too much a reminder of my mother's bread puddings which contained just about anything she could lay her hands on, bread and a huge amount of dried fruit. The result was always slightly different in taste (as there was no basic recipe she used, she said she 'invented cakes') but always the same in texture: soggy pudding with an overload of raisins. Just not my thing. My brothers and my mother would wolf it down though and to this day this is still what my mother calls her 'cakes'. I now can't stand raisins in baking except maybe in Pain aux Raisins - so long as they're not too soggy!

Anyway, now for my recipe for Blender Carrot Cake

8 3/4 oz	Organic carrots, unpeeled
1 1/2 cups	Oil
3/4 cups	Brown sugar
4	Large eggs
2 ts	Vanilla
8 oz	Wholewheat flour
3 oz	Shredded coconut
1 tb	Cinnamon
1/2 ts	Ground nutmeg
2 ts	Baking soda
1 1/2 ts	Baking powder
1 1/2 ts	Salt
3 oz	Walnut halves, roughly chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 375F/160C.

Grease two 4 x 8 pans (I use reusbale non stick liners which I cut to shape).

Cut carrots into large chunks.

Place carrots and oil in blender.

Blend for 2 min.

Add sugar, eggs and vanilla.

Blend for 2 min.

In a large bowl whisk together the remaining ingredients, except the walnuts.

Pour contents of the blender into the bowl.

Stir until just moistened.

Fold in walnuts if using.

Pour batter into the prepared pans.

Bake at 375F/160C for 35-40min.

Cool on a rack.

I find organic carrots so different in taste to non-organic that I wouldn't ever consider using non-organic carrots. I'd rather go without cake (or carrots for that matter!) than have those alien-like orange things that have no taste.

Another thing, I can't believe I never came across this idea before: blenders are SELF-CLEANING! Just fill them 2/3 with hot water, add a drop (nor more though!) of detergent and blend. Thanks to someone called Canadian Gardener for this (and many, many other) tips.

Maddi's Magnificient Yogurt

After literally YEARS of trying I have finally found a way to make smooth, creamy, mild yogurt every time.
The key, I am sure, is in the ingredients.

3TB Yeo Valley Organic Full Fat Plain yogurt
1/4 Cup powdered milk
850ml Moo Organic Semi Skimmed UHT milk
Using the Easiyo Yogurt Maker but bot the Easiyo sachets ;-)


Place yogurt, powdered milk and 1/4 cup milk in the Easiyo jar. Stir until combined.
Add the rest of the milk. Stir.

Fill the Easiyo up to the indicated level with boiling water. Place Easiyo jar in the Easiyo. Screw on the lid and leave overnight.
In the morning remove the jar and refridgerate. Refridgerating it firms it up

To make the next batch proceed as above but use 3TB of yogurt from the previous batch.

Yum!!

Stretch and Fold

Wow....a new method I haven't yet tried.
Plus my starter tripled in volume and was crying out to be used.
Plus I need breadcrumbs and croutons.

Irrisistible. ;-)

So here we go:

250g starter (actually ended up being 240g)
275g water at 20C
300g organic plain flour
130g organic wholewheat flour
70g organic rye flour
1 1/4 ts Saxa table salt

Using the Stretch and Fold Technique although I rounded the dough twice before placing it in the clay pot to prove. Room temperature: 20C
Started proofing at 11:30am

3:30pm slashed the dough and placed the proofed dough in a cold oven before setting the oven to 250C. Baked for 30min covered and 20min uncovered.

Result? Delicious!
Conclusion? A very good family-friendly method for making sourdough.

Oh, those gnocchi!

Ever tastier this time than the last!
This time I used King Edward potatoes (no idea what I used last time) and homemade ricotta.
That ricotta is so unbelievably tasty and very, very easy to make at that. I had to stop myself from eating it plain. I used semi-skimmed milk and single cream but it still tasted amazingly creamy.

This time I froze the gnocchi straight away (before cooking them) as before now if I haven't cooked them straight away the dough has gone spotty with black dots in a matter of hours. They cooked wonderfully from frozen.

Back to Sourdough

Well, I couldn't stay away too long , could I?

This time I am documenting each step so that hopefully in time I will see what works best for me.

200g white leaven at 20C
325g water at 16C
500g organic all purpose flour
1.5ts Saxa table salt
room temperature 20C

1. Whisked leaven and water until comined.
2. Whisked in salt
3. Dumped all the flour in one go.
4. Mixed until roughly combined.
Leave 10min.

5. Knead 10sec on a lightly oiled surface. Cover with misxing bowl and leave 10min.
6. Repeat step 5
7. Repeat step 5
8. Knead for 10sec and place dough in lightly oiled bowl. Dough temperature 20C. Cover.
9. After an hour, deflate and round on a rye-flour dusted surface. Leave for as long as it takes to tidy up kids' toys and brush the cat (!) (about 15min). Dough temperature 20C
10. Round again. Place in a rye flour-dusted clay cooking pot. Cover and place in veg drawer of fridge. Time: 11:30pm

next morning...
8:30am The dough has expanded about twice it's size. Due to the size of the clay pot the dough has mainly expanded horizontally.
I put it in a cold oven and set the temperature to 250C.
30min later I check on the bread to find it has doubled vertically this time! Hurray!
I remove the lid and let it bake another 20min by which time the crust is quite dark and oddly very shiny and without a single crack.
I take it out of the oven and leave it to cool for about 4 hrs.
The top sounds very hollow when tapped. As I guessed, upon cutting the loaf open it appears the crust has 'ballooned' about 1/2in from the rest of the crumb.
The bread is delicious though, the crumb has reasonable size holes.
This method is very user-friendly for me.

I'm off to research about this crust...

Gnocchi with tomato sauce and goat's cheese

Tonight I made Homemade Gnocchi from Recipezaar



I'm really please because I found an method that makes them so easy to make I can have them from raw ingredients to the mouth in about 15 minutes (provided the potato was cooked before that is)!

Here's what I did:

I made the dough in my Kenwood Chef (marvel of the kitchen gadget world)...
first using the whisk beater to beat the potato and eggs and then using the dough hook when I added the other ingredients. I processed it until the dough was smooth.

Then I rolled the dough out on a floured board using a rolling pin until it was about 1/2 inch thick.
Next, I used a pizza wheel to cut the dough criss-cross, making little squares.
Much easier than rolling and cutting individual squares.









Finally I dusted the squares with flour - just enough to stop them sticking together.


Then the usual boil until risen to the surface + 10 seconds and voila!
A beautiful, tasty, homemade dish that my 2 year old loved! And the best tasting gnocchi I ever had.

I believe the rolling pin and pizza wheel trick make a lighter gnocchi as the dough is manipulated very little compared to the usual method.
I suppose purists would say that the little ridges are missing but it doesn't bother us!

Laurel's French Bread

I've decided to have a little break from sourdough breads after a series of disappointments.
My husband surprised me on my birthday with some homemade bread he made and that rekindled my desire to bake a wholesome 100% wholewheat yeasted loaf. Also, I treated myself to a digital probe thermometer for my birthday and was eager to experiment with it. Having tried it I think it's a must for the keen bread baker!

Yesterday I made the standard Loaf for Learning from Laurel Robertson's book. I felt I needed to make a successful loaf as so many in the past week have been bricks. As usual, this basic recipe did not disappoint and baking it was sheer pleasure.
Today however, with my confidence a bit higher, I decided to try the French Bread recipe which is also 100% (like all Laurel's breads). This recipe had the added attraction of trying out a new technique: pouring 2 TB warm water over the bread that has risen in a Pyrex bowl before covering the bowl and baking it in a very hot oven.
If anyone else but Laurel had 'told' me about this method I never would have tried it - it sounded crazy, stupid and definitely not the way to go for a crisp crust.
But she was right. The crust is crisp and shiny and the bread is a pure delight.

This is a picture of the crumb but it really doesn't do it justice:

It is wholesome, tasty, chewy without being a jaw-breaker - basically it has tremendous 'mouthfeel'. Definitely one to make again.

It's a big improvement on last week's sourdough loaves which rose promisingly in the proving baskets only to collapse upon slashing:

I think the loaves were overproofed and also I'm just no good at slashing!