In France, they just call it “bread”

I am all about baking bread lately. Check out these lovely baguettes I made last night. Nice and crusty and very good. Once again, The Joy of Cooking comes through, although their breads have been a little salty. I’ll remember that next time and cut the salt in half. There’s something about baking bread that really satisfies. The process involves this almost baffling alchemy of rising and kneading, and then surprise, it’s bread! It’s like the Calvin and Hobbes strip where they try to figure out why bread goes into the toaster and toast comes out. Where does the bread go? It’s kinda like that.

Holla’ for Challah!

Holy crap, I made challah and it doesn’t suck. Thank you Joy of Cooking! The fork is for scale. This thing turned out way bigger than I thought it would. Recipe says to bake 30-35 mins., but it could have been taken out after 20 mins. since our oven tends to be a bit hot. Maybe I’ll finally learn that now. But it’s good, and it sure looks nice, doesn’t it? Not bad for a first go.

Happy Thanksgiving, Paesano!

We had Thanksgiving spaghetti and garlic bread for dinner today (just like the Mayflower pilgrims–little known fact), preceded by orzo-and-cheese-stuffed squash in the mid-afternoon, and some pumpkin bread in the morning. It was nice, still a celebration of sorts, but not really a big deal. It was just the two of us, so it wasn’t really worth doing a whole big thing. Here’s the spaghetti sauce recipe:

Spaghetti Sauce:

28 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes (or equivalent fresh)

16 oz. can tomato sauce

8 oz. can tomato paste

3 or 4 tablespoon chopped onion (I use red onion)

3 cloves pressed garlic

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. oregano

2 or 3 bay leaves

A “dash” or two of hot sauce

1 lb. ground beef

Combine all ingredients (except the beef) in a large sauce pan and simmer covered for two hours. Add the browned beef (I season lightly with a bit of salt and pepper, garlic powder, oregano, and basil), cover and simmer for another hour at least before serving over spaghetti (duh).

My Version of a Spanish Tortilla

I’ve come across various recipes for a Spanish tortilla, which is basically a sort of omelette, and I’ve tried a few, but last night I hit upon a different method of cooking them that I really like. Here’s my version:

4 eggs, beaten

1 small potato chopped into small pieces

As much chopped red onion as you prefer

Olive oil to cover the bottom of a medium saucepan

1 clove of garlic, pressed or finely chopped (two would be good, too)

Sauté the chopped potato in the olive oil in a medium saucepan (yes, saucepan, this is where my version differs); preferably a non-stick pan. Start the potatoes before the onion, as they will take longer to soften. When you can push a fork into the potato chunks, add the onion and garlic for a few minutes. Pour the beaten eggs in the pan, season with salt, pepper, and rosemary to taste, reduce the heat, and cover. When the center is firm (about 15 minutes, I think, but it may vary depending on your stove), the tortilla is done. Slide a knife or spatula around the edges and gently shake the tortilla loose from the pan. I then put the lid back on, upended the pan, and let the tortilla fall into the lid, then upended that onto the plate. It’s fast, easy, tasty, and filling. I had this one for dinner, and it was very satisfying, followed up by a chocolate cupcake seen in the Tupperware in the background of the shot above.  Mmmmm.

Banana Bread

I don’t typically like banana bread all that much, but The Joy of Cooking comes through again with a light, not-too-heavy-on-the-banana bread.  I’ve made a couple of little changes based on experience.

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup (6 tbsp. or 3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp. grated lemon zest

2 large eggs (beaten)

1 to 1 1/4 cups mashed very ripe bananas (2 or 3)

1/4 cup finely chopped dried apricots

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in one bowl and set aside.  In another bowl, beat together the sugar, butter, and lemon zest, then add the beaten eggs and mashed bananas.  Add the dry ingredients in three parts, beating until smooth after each addition; also add the chopped dried apricots.  Scrape/pour batter into a greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan and bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for 1 hour.  Let cool before removing from pan.

Lemon Orzo Soup

When life gives you lemons, make tasty soup.  This week, I made Greek Lemon Soup (Avgolemono) from the venerable The Joy of Cooking (75th Anniversary Edition) and it was so easy and good, I wanted to pass along the recipe, somewhat altered:

3 cups Chicken Broth

1/2 cup orzo

2 eggs

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

dried dill or parsley (fresh is better, but dried works)

salt & black pepper

Mix the orzo and the chicken broth in a medium saucepan and bring to a rolling boil; reduce heat slightly and cook uncovered until orzo is tender (about 5-10 minutes); reduce the heat until soup is hot, but not boiling.  Whisk the eggs and lemon juice in a bowl, adding two tablespoons of the hot soup.  Gradually add the mixture to the soup, and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Pour into bowls and garnish with dill or parsley.  That’s it!  It’s super easy and very good.  

The original recipe calls for an extra 1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice, added at the end, but we found this made the soup a bit too sour.  If that’s your taste, just add the extra juice.  If you’re squeezing your own lemons, I found that two medium-sized lemons provided just the right amount of juice.  Also, the original calls for rice instead of orzo, but we prefer the texture of the orzo, and the pasta has the added benefit of cooking faster (5-10 minutes instead of 20 minutes).  

All together, I think it only took me about fifteen minutes to make this, and it lasted the two of us for two nights, served with crusty bread and a couple of slow-cooked chicken breasts.