Daily bread

There is no reason not to make your own bread, and this one is easy and delicious. (because if you eat Wonderbread, then the terrorists have won.)

The thing that make this bread different (and easier) is that there is no need to knead. Just mix the dough together, let it rise, then bake it. I make the dough at night then bake it in the morning. If you want a slightly fluffier bread you can use 2 1/2 cups bread floor and 1/2 cup whole wheat floor or just 3 cups bread flour.

(If it’s cold in your home turn the oven to the lowest setting for a few minutes then turn it off)

In a large bowl combine:

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 cups bread flour

1/4 teaspoon yeast

1 1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cup blood warm water

mix well with a wooden spoon until completely incorporated and it starts to look like dough.

Cover bowl with a towel and place somewhere warm (like the oven) for about 12 hours (I’ve forgotten about it and left it for 18 hours, it was fine)

Dust your hands and a board with flour, bring dough together into a ball (it will be a little sticky) dust with flour and cover again with towel, let rise again for 1 to 2 hours.

Preheat a 5 quart dutch oven with lid in oven for 475F (you might have to remove the rubber handle from the lid. you don’t have a 5 quart dutch oven? go buy one. seriously you’ve got 2 hours while the dough rises, if I was only allowed one piece of cookware it would be a 5 quart dutch oven, spare no expense it will be around longer than you if treated well. You can bake this on a pizza stone and it’s still great but the crust will be slightly less uniform)

After the second rise carefully take the hot pot out of the oven, with flowered hands gather the dough into a ball and tip it in, cover and bake for 30 minutes, remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes until it’s dark brown and delicious. Or just throw it on the pizza stone for about 45 minutes to an hour.

Let cool on a rack for at least an hour (you should hear it “sing” while it cools. I told you that was easy!)

- Adam

Blackberry Maple Old fashioned

Muddle a good sized chunk of lemon, a small handful fresh blackberries and 1-3 teaspoons real maple syrup (to taste) in a shaker

Add 2-3 ounces bourbon and ice, shake vigorously, then strain into an old fashioned glass.

Garnish with a thin slice of lemon and a few more black berries. (Top with soda if desired)

- Adam

Freedom Pizza

Ingredients:

Pizza dough

1 bottle of obscenely expensive French wine

Olive oil

Butter

Parsley

Garlic

Fancy mushrooms

Shallots

Snails

Brie, Camembert, Raclette or other good French cheese, whichever you like

Truffle salt

Preheat oven (with pizza stone!) 475F

Purée a good amount of room temperature butter, a clove or three of garlic, salt, pepper and a large handful parsley with an immersion blender and set aside. (make a lot of the parsley butter, it freezes well and has many uses.)

Sauté some minced shallots and finely chopped mushrooms in a little oil and butter, deglaze with a splash of wine, add a spoonful of parsley butter and set aside.

Drink remainder of wine.

Dust a large board of pizza peel with cornmeal. Roll, toss or stretch dough into a large thin disk and spread mushroom mixture evenly on top. Smear each snail with parsley butter and arrange on pizza in between chunks of cheese. Slide into oven and bake until golden and bubbly, about 14 minutes. Sprinkle with truffle salt before serving.

- Adam

Monday Night Football

Wings and Sweet Potato Fries with Curry Dipping Sauce

Wings:

1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
2 dozen chicken wings
1/2 cup light butter
1/2 cup Frank's hot sauce
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
vegetable oil

• In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, salt, cayenne pepper, and paprika.
• Wash the chicken and pat dry with paper towels, then toss in the dry mixture to coat (reserve the leftover mixture).
• Refrigerate the coated chicken at least 1 hour.
• Pre-heat vegetable oil to 375^OF (set the burner to high-medium heat).
• Heat the butter, hot sauce, pepper, and garlic powder in a saucepan over low heat, just until butter melts, and keep warm.
• Coat the wings individually in the leftover flour mixture, then deep fry, 12 pieces at a time, in the oil for 13 minutes.
• Drain the chicken on paper towels, then transfer to a Tupperware container.
• Pour half of the hot sauce mixture over the first 12 pieces, then toss to coat.
• Repeat with the second batch of wings.
• The wings can subsequently be frozen and reheated in a 400^OF oven for 10 minutes.
• Serve with ranch or blue cheese dressing.

Curry Dipping Sauce:

2/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup sour cream
2 to 3 tsps curry powder (Penzey’s Hot Curry Powder is great)
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp salt

• In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise and sour cream.
• Whisk in the curry powder, ginger, turmeric, chili powder, paprika, and salt.
• Cover and refrigerate 1 hour to overnight.

Sweet Potato Fries:

3 medium sweet potatoes (about 1½ pounds)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
vegetable oil

• Cut sweet potatoes into strips about ¼ of an inch thick. You can theoretically use a mandolin for this, but sweet potatoes are kind of tough, and you may have better luck just cutting them with a knife. Pat dry with paper towels.
• Heat the vegetable oil over-medium high heat. Blanche the sweet potato strips in batches for about 3-4 minutes, until soft.
• Use a slotted spoon to transfer the sweet potatoes to drain on paper towels.
• Now crank the heat on the vegetable oil to high (If you want to recharge the oil, add Canola oil). Go back through and re-fry each batch of sweet potato strips for about 2-3 minutes to crisp them up.
• Sprinkle with the salt and pepper, and serve warm with the curry dip.

- Josh

Pizza!

For dough (to make 2 thin crust 12 inch pizzas):

Mix 1 cup warm water (100-110F) with one package yeast and let stand for 5 minutes. Mix 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup bread flour, 1 tablespoon salt in a bowl (you could probably use a different flour ratio, if you do let me know how it works) Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to the yeast water then stir in flour mixture. Stir with a strong arm for 10 minutes until dough is well mixed. Place dough ball in an oiled bowl and cover with a towel, place somewhere warm until dough has doubled , about 2 hours.

After dough has risen, place a pizza stone in the oven and set to 475F

(you don’t have a pizza stone? Are you poor? Okay you can use a large unglazed ceramic tile, or unglazed quarry stone, or a big flat slab you take from your neighbor’s patio under cover of darkness. You must be certain to use an unglazed stone though, as glazes contain lead and other chemical and you will die. If you can’t find a stone you can use an over turned cookie sheet, though a stone is ideal as it absorbs moisture and will result in a crisper crust)

Sprinkle a large cutting board generously with cornmeal (if you have a pizza peel good for you, use that) Cut off half the dough ball and roll out to a thin 12 inch disc.

Top with stuff, then slide from board to stone (if it doesn’t slide easily you didn’t use enough cornmeal) Bake for about 10-17 minutes until crust is golden (all ovens are different, keep an eye on it)

I say top with stuff because you can pretty much use anything, let your imagination run free!

I made a pizza with acorn squash, caramelized onions, bacon, local cheese, bitter greens, balsamic and honey that was amazing, I highly recommend it.

For one 12 inch pizza you’ll need:

1 small or half a large acorn squash

a scant quarter cup bacon (I used good lardons but a few chopped up slices should work)

1 onion and a few cloves garlic, sliced

bitter greens, I used young chicory, arugula or maybe young radish leaves should work

a local semi soft sharp aged cheese, see what you can find at your farmer’s market

good balsamic vinegar

honey (local and seasonal, obviously)

for the acorn squash, slice thinish, sprinkle with salt and olive oil and roast until tender, about 20-40 minutes at 350F. (bake acorn squash halves while you’re at it to make the roast jalapeño corn pudding in acorn squash, or bake dessert while you’re at it, such as clafoutis. And while you’re at it wash the seeds, toss with a nice amount of salt and canola oil and spread out on a cookie sheet, roast for 20 minutes, eat as is, sprinkle on salads or grind and add to chili)

on to the pizza!

Render bacon until crispy and reserve. Add onion and garlic to bacon fat, sprinkle with a little salt and cook over low heat until soft and caramelized (it might take a while, don’t rush it, add olive oil if needed)

Top pizza dough with squash, caramelized onion, bacon and grated cheese. Bake on a pizza stone until golden and remove to a board. Top with some greens, drizzle lightly with balsamic and honey.

Enjoy!

- Adam

Couscous! (the food so nice they named it twice)

Couscous

(the food so nice they named it twice)

this will feed quite a few people. please send me to Morocco so I can tell if this is even remotely authentic. Either way it’s delicious.

You will need a 5 quart dutch oven to cook and a large deep platter to serve.

Adjust meat, vegetables and spices according to what’s in season, what you have and what you like.

For this I used/recommend:

Olive oil as needed

Butter as needed

4-6 thick bone in rib or loin lamb chops

2-4 boneless chicken breasts

4 cups chicken stock

1 onion sliced

4-6 cloves of garlic sliced

2 red jalapeño seeded and sliced

1 Hungarian wax pepper seeded and sliced

1 small green pepper sliced

a few carrots sliced

a small piece of ginger grated

1 stalk celery sliced

an ounce or two of orange juice

1 small butternut squash, peeled seeded and sliced

a potato, peeled and sliced

a few tomatoes, sliced

1 apple, peeled cored and sliced

1 summer squash sliced

1 zucchini sliced

3 small asian eggplants sliced

1 t cumin

1/2 t turmeric

1/4-1/2 t thyme

1/4 t coriander

1/2 t paprika

1/4 t cinnamon

dash allspice

pinch of saffron

salt and pepper

1-2 T honey

1/4-1/2 cup raisins

1 cup canned chickpeas

3 cups couscous

parsley, scallions, mint and sesame seeds for garnish

season meat with salt and pepper. heat oil on medium high heat, add a tablespoon of butter, when foam subsides sear lamb for 2 minutes a side and remove to a plate. Sear chicken for 3 minutes a side and remove to a plate. Sweat onion, garlic, peppers, carrot, celery and a good pinch of salt for a few minutes, add half the spices and cook another minute, deglaze with orange juice. Add the rest of the spices, potato, tomatoes, eggplant, squashes, and let fry for a minute, add stock and honey, bring to a simmer, cook 10 minutes. Add meat back to pot with chickpeas and raisins and simmer on low, covered, until meat is cooked, about 20 minutes or up to 30 it you like your lamb well done.

Remove meat to a plate to rest, turn off heat and cover vegetables. Ladle off 3 cups of broth to another small pot with a tight fitting lid and add about a tablespoon butter, bring to a rapid boil, stir in couscous, cover and remove from heat for 5 minutes.

Dump couscous into a mound on your platter, fluff and spread out in a pile with a well in the middle (like a volcano) Pour vegetables into the well, slice chicken breasts and pile on top, arrange lamb around that. Garnish with scallions, parsley, mint and sesame seeds.

- Adam

Clafoutis

(pronounced kla-foo-TEE)

Clafoutis is a traditional French dessert made with unpitted cherries, but I pit them when I make it with cherries. I’ve also made this with blueberries, clementines, pears, apples, there are lots of options, my favorite, however , is raspberries. Make the batter with more or less sugar depending on your taste. You can also add flavoring to the batter such as vanilla, almond, cinnamon, rosewater, etc. it’s up to you, I like half a scraped vanilla bean with raspberries. You can cook it until it’s well brown and cakey or light and custardy depending on your taste, I like it somewhere in the middle.

Butter as needed

1/2 cup flour, more for dusting pan

3 eggs

1/2 – 3/4 cup granulated sugar

Pinch salt

3/4 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup milk

3 cups fruit (raspberries in this case)

Powdered sugar

Flavoring (optional)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 10 inch round deep pie plate or porcelain dish, by smearing it with butter, just a teaspoon or so. Dust it with flour, rotating pan so flour sticks to all the butter; invert dish to get rid of excess.

In a large measuring bowl with a spout (or just a bowl, but the spout makes things easier), whisk eggs until frothy. Add granulated sugar, salt and flavoring if using, and whisk until combined. Add cream and milk and whisk until smooth. Add 1/2 cup flour and stir just to combine.

Place fruit in dish, it should come just about to the top. Pour batter over fruit to as close to top of dish as you dare; you may have a little leftover batter, depending on size of your dish. Bake for about 40-60 minutes, or until clafoutis is nicely browned on top and a knife inserted into it comes out clean. Sift some powdered sugar over it before serving. Traditionally a clafoutis is served warm or at room temperature and not to be kept longer, but I think it’s great fridge cold the next day too.

- Adam

Grilled Shrimp and Eggplant with Nuoc Cham

You could use other vegetables - broccoli, bok choy, etc. Black rice or rice vermicelli, squid or scallops instead of shrimp… what’s fresh and in season? Use that.

Chop eggplant on a bias into small pieces and toss with a little oil and salt, grill outdoors on a grill basket or indoors on a grill pan until very soft and browned. Toss shrimp with some oil and salt and grill until cooked through (skewers might help)

Pile eggplant in a bowl, top with shrimp, garnish with one (or preferably all) of the following: cucumber, mint, avocado, scallion, basil (Thai basil if you’ve got it)

serve with a bowl of nuoc cham to drizzle over before eating.

nuoc cham (Vietnamese dipping sauce):

nuoc cham keeps very well in the refrigerator and is wonderful on all types of things, doubling or tripling the recipe to have on hand might be a good idea.

2 cloves garlic, minced or grated

2 fresh birdeye or other red chilies minced, seeded or not depending on how much heat you want (you might be able to use jalapeño or serrrano try to get red ones)

about a 1 1/2 inch piece peeled fresh ginger, finely minced or grated (use a spoon to scrape the peel off the ginger, it’s easier and more efficient than a knife or peeler)

4 tablespoons fish sauce

2 tablespoons lime juice (about 1 lime)

4 tablespoons water (or fresh young coconut water if you happen to have it)

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon finely julienned or grated carrot (optional)

To make, mix all the ingredients together. That was easy.

Some people like it more sour, others prefer it more sweet or spicy. You can add rice vinegar, more lime juice, more sugar, etc. to suit your taste.

- Adam

A Fall Cocktail (Suggestions for a proper name are welcome)

Ingredients:

- Spiced rum

- Apple cider

- Lemon

- Angostura bitters

Have a dear friend clandestinely distill a fine spiced rum in his basement.

In lieu of that use a good aged rum or whiskey.

Fill a glass with ice. According to taste mix spirits, fresh local apple cider, a twist of lemon and a few dashes angostura bitters.

Drink.

- Adam