It’s that time of the month again- the Secret recipe Club time. Amanda from Amanda’s Cookin’ started this fun club as a way to try other recipes and help introduce bloggers to each others’ blogs. Every month, each member is assigned another member’s blog and he/she has to try and post about a recipe from that person’s blog. My assigned blog for this month was Heather’s Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks.
Heather has a great blog with a lovely collection of recipes. She is a special education teacher and loves reading and of course, cooking. Occasionally she also posts reviews of the books she reads as part of her book club. Though she likes cooking, but baking is where her heart lies, much like me. So it had to be a baking recipe of hers that I decided to give a try.
I haven’t made bread for the longest time ever- been too lazy- not too lazy to make bread but extremely lazy to clean up after the baking is done. I hate that part of doing anything in the kitchen. I do not mind the cooking or baking but hate the utensils that pile up after I cook or bake, and that makes me lazy to make anything. And, being careless as I am, I make a whole lot of mess in the kitchen while I am at it, so the clean up just puts me off before even starting. But Heather’s Jalapeno Cheddar bread caught my eye and I knew this was what I wanted to make. So out with the lazy bones.
The only change I made to Heather’s recipe is that I substituted a part of the bread flour with whole wheat and reduced the cheese used to 1 cup instead of 1 1/2 cups (I love cheese but sadly, my waist and hips don’t)
I read this quote a few days back and found it so true. It sums up every mother so well! And especially mine!
Happy Mother’s Day mom! I hope you know how much you mean to me.
Love you and sorry for all the trouble I keep giving you!
You will always be the best human being for me.
Hope one day I can sacrifice my piece of pie for you. Till then, here’s a whole bread for you!
I recently downloaded Mark Bittman’s iPhone app, How to Cook Everything. And, the first recipe that caught my eye was Jim Lahey’s No- Work Bread. Quoting Bittman, who used to write the food column The Minimalist for the New York Times, the introduction for this bread goes as follows:
This innovation- the word “recipe” does not do the technique justice- came from Jim Lahey, owner of Sullivan Street Bakery in NYC. Jim has created a way for home cooks (and not even ones who are serious bakers) to nearly duplicate an artisan bakery loaf, with a crackling crust, open-holed crumb, light texture, and fantastic flavor. All without kneading, fancy ingredients, or special equipments.
Bittman’s description is bang on target. The beauty of this bread- it needs no kneading- you just mix everything together- sit it out in the refrigerator or outside if the temperatures are cool- take it out the next day, shape into a ball and let it bake! And you have a crusty, heavenly smelling bread. A wet dough, along with slow fermentation is the secret to its yeasty flavor and open crumb.
You do need to plan ahead for this bread. It is a 24- hour long process, but you would be in the kitchen for only 15 minutes working on it.
from the original post.
The method involves the bread to be baked in a covered pot in the oven. One could use a dutch oven but I do not own one. I used a crock pot. The crockpot website says that if the pot/crock is detachable you can use it in the oven. Instead of the lid I used aluminium foil. It worked for me but you should try it at your own risk!
True to myself, I goofed up while transferring the dough to the crock pot. But, you guys be careful and keep the seam up, to get a beautiful crack on the top of the bread. So that you can brag about how professional you have become at bread making!
I have made the basic version, which makes a fantastic bread, but of course, you can be more adventurous with the formula and use whole-wheat and other flours and different seeds to make it to your liking.
*UPDATED* (March 2014) : I tried this bread by substituting 1 1/2 cups of the bread flour with a mix of whole wheat flour, soy flour, flax seeds, wheat germ, barley flour that I use. And it still turned out great. The updated pictures are from that loaf. Also, I now do own a dutch oven. This one, in case you are wondering- Lodge Double Dutch Oven and Casserole with Skillet Cover
3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, plus flour for dusting (400 gms)
½ tsp scant instant yeast
2 tsp salt
2 cups water at 70 F
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (optional)
cornmeal/semolina/wheat bran, as needed
Instructions
Combine the flour, yeast, and salt in a large bowl. Add the water and stir until blended. The dough will be sticky and that's how it should be(add a little more water if it seems dry). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, or transfer the dough to another greased bowl, and turn the dough to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap.
Let rest for about 18 hours at about 70 F. (You can put it in the refrigerator overnight and about 5-6 hours before you want to bake it.)
Lightly flour a work surface, remove the dough and fold once or twice; it will be soft, but once sprinkled with flour, not terribly sticky. Cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let rest for about 15 minutes.
Using just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking, gently and quickly shape the dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton (not terry cloth) towel with cornmeal. You can use silpat like I did. Put the dough seam down on the towel and dust with more flour or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel (or plastic wrap) and let risefor about 2 hours.
When it's ready, the dough will be more than doubled in size and won't spring back readily when poked with your finger.
At least half hour before the dough is ready, heat the oven to 450 F. Put a 3-to-4 quart covered pot (with the cover)- it may be cast-iron, enamel, pyrex, or ceramic- in the oven as it heats.
When the dough is ready, carefully remove the pot from the oven and turn the dough over into the pot, seam side up. (It's messy, and it probably won't fall in artfully, but it will straighten out as it bakes.)
Cover with the lid and bake for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and bake for another 20-30 minutes, until the loaf is beautifully browned. (If you feel the bread is scorching, lower the temperature.)
Let the bread cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.
I have been MIA yet again, missed Easter celebrations too (hope y’all had a great Easter day). These disappearing acts are all thanks to traveling but now my close-to-three-months long India vacation is over and hopefully, jet lag permitting I should be more regular with my posts!
After a very, very long plane journey from Kerala to Phoenix, and then a four hour drive to our town, I am finally at home, back to V- back to married life, back to keeping the home clean, doing the dishes, washing clothes (though the excuse of jetlag is keeping me from doing any of that)!
I must say, that V has kept the house pretty pretty clean. Much cleaner than what I would expect from a guy. Barring the kitchen, I think everything has been pretty much under control. I also got home to flowers (I know- awwww…) and wait for it…..a Macbook! V surprised me with a new laptop for me- an anniversary cum valentine cum his bonus gift :)! (Hmmm….I hope this was not his way of showing how happy he was to have me away for such a long time and the gift was a way to thank me for the peace he had while I was away =/)
Either ways I am a happy girl! And this post comes to you from my new Mac! It is so white that I actually washed my hands before using it. I am still getting used to the changes. A lot of the Windows OS functions do not work on Mac and I need to figure that out. But its a good thing – that would keep me busy for a while. I need something to keep me occupied. Even though it feels great to be back, I miss home. I miss the hustle bustle in India- the oh so many people- crowded streets, markets- it is just so empty in the US! I am eagerly waiting for my Friday coffee morning now- and catching up with my gang of girls after what seems likes ages.
I am still reeling under my India trip hangover. The last few days in Kerala with my parents were great. I have fallen in love with Kerala food. We had the most amazing prawn curry and king prawns at this resort in Kovalam called Uday Samudara. We had our table right at the beach, which was perfect. The beautiful sea breeze and the noise of the waves splashing made a delicious meal even more special.
I also got a chance to go on a Lion Safari. There is a small national park near Neyyar dam in Kerala where the lions are kept in their natural habitat. We saw two lioness’ and one lion up close from our bus. It was pretty exciting! After that we went to a crocodile farm, but it was sad to see the way the crocodiles were kept in cages. I did notice that crocodiles are pretty lazy reptiles. They just lie around half immersed in water and stay still the whole day. What a life!
But the best part of my Kerala trip, besides the ayurvedic massages, was the trip to the Duke Forest Lodge. Its a 130-acre Rubber plantation and is home to various spice trees and plants including cocoa, vanilla, coffee, cardamom, cloves, pepper, nutmeg. Unfortunately, the vanilla blooming season starts in June so I could not get my hand on any vanilla pods, but the manager told us that in June-July the whole estate smells of Vanilla when the green Vanilla flowers turn black. Its a lovely time to visit the estate.
The manager showed us around the estate, giving us small tidbits now and then.
At the lodge they also grow cacao trees- yes, the trees that give us cocoa, the key ingredient for chocolate, chocolate which is something that most of us can not do without. The Cacao fruit pulp is white and if you suck on them they taste like custard apple. The beans along with the pulp are fermented and then dried, where the pulp trickles off, leaving behind the cocoa beans. The cocoa beans are then shipped off where they are processed to make cocoa powder, cocoa butter, nibs and the likes.
The Lodge is perched in a Rubber plantation. They have about 3000 rubber trees and a good rubber tree gives about 2 bowls of latex sap daily. Each bowl sells for about Rs 80 (roughly $1.50), so it is quite a profitable business for the lodge. The Duke Forest Lodge also is a beautiful place to stay if you plan a trip to Kerala. They have 14-day packages where the stay includes yoga, ayurvedic massages and detoxification meals. They have villas with Jacuzzis and of course, you have the added benefit of being surrounded by spices of all kinds.
And if you are in Kerala, you have to visit the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple, which is an architectural wonder. There is a dress code there though- the men have to the Kerala Mundu (white Dhoti- piece of white cloth wrapped around the legs), and keep their chest bare. The women need to be dressed in a sari. Both the dresses are available for hire or to buy near the temple.
Also one should not miss a ride in the backwaters of Allepey-Kovalam, a trip to the tea plantations in Munnar (unfortunately, my Munnar trip did not happen this time) and the Jewish synagogue, the Kathakali performances, the Chinese net in Cochin. And while you are doing all this, do not forget to feast on the local Kerala cuisine- appam and stew, Kerala parantha, prawn curry, fish curry, coconut water– just thinking about it makes my mouth water. As souvenirs pick up spices from the local markets. In Thiruvananthapuram, you could also go to Sarwaa, in Sasthamangalam where handmade products, organic and ayurvedic ware cover a good part of the shop.
There are a lot of other places to cover in Kerala but these are the ones that I have visited and would recommend.
And since you all have been so patient reading while I have been blabbering non stop, I am posting a recipe too. Its been long since I made a 100% flour recipe and god I miss such breads. Of course whole wheat is healthy and it is tasty, no denying that but its nice to have a no wheat just plain ‘ol flour bread. And this one here hits all the right spots!
This is a bread machine recipe but of course it can be made without one. For making a bread without a machine check this post out.
MILK LOAF
makes 750 gms
Ingredients
50 gm butter, softened, diced
1.5 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
260 ml liquid milk
400 gms white bread flour
1 tsp yeast
Method
Put ingredients according to your bread maker’s instructions. Set loaf size to 750 gms and use appropriate cycle.
If you do not have a bread maker, you can see this post.
It’s that time of the month again- the Secret recipe Club time. Amanda from Amanda’s Cookin’ started this fun club as a way to try other recipes and help introduce bloggers to each others’ blogs. Every month, each member is assigned another member’s blog and he/she has to try and post about a recipe from that person’s blog. My assigned blog for this month was Heather’s Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks.
I haven’t made bread for the longest time ever- been too lazy- not too lazy to make bread but extremely lazy to clean up after the baking is done. I hate that part of doing anything in the kitchen. I do not mind the cooking or baking but hate the utensils that pile up after I cook or bake, and that makes me lazy to make anything. And, being careless as I am, I make a whole lot of mess in the kitchen while I am at it, so the clean up just puts me off before even starting. But Heather’s Jalapeno Cheddar bread caught my eye and I knew this was what I wanted to make. So out with the lazy bones.
