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Okay, this is not new. My dad was raving about no knead bread about a year ago and the recipe was made popular by Mark Bittman in the NY Times about three years ago. I admit it. I’m slow. So I’m NOT proclaiming to have discovered the next best thing. I’m just here to tell you that it’s even easier than not kneading.

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
• ¼ t active dry or instant yeast
• 1¼ t salt
• 1 5/8 C water

Directions

The magic of this bread, of course, is that you don’t have to knead it. By letting it sit for 14-20 hours, the yeast works its magic in turning your flour into just the right gluteny consistency.

Start by mixing all the dry ingredients together. Wonderful thing #2 – you can use either active dry or instant yeast pretty easily. Usually, you have to activate active dry in a little warm water and sugar. No worries. You let it sit so long that it’s able to work without the foreplay. You may want to add just a pinch more though, just in case you’re worried.

Next add your water and mix thoroughly. I’ve been making cheese lately, so I have a lot of whey. I’ve substituted whey for water and found that it makes the bread naturally sweet. After mixing cover, set on top of the refrigerator, and wait. Or, wonderful thing #3, go about your life and don’t worry about the dough. You have to let it sit at least 14 hours, but you can always let it sit MORE. Don’t feel like you’re tied the finicky rising of your dough. This sucker is very forgiving and will be just fine if you forget about it.

If you think you’re going to go well over 20 hours, and that kinda worries you, you can throw it in the fridge at some point. I will start a loaf at night before I go to bed and then put it in the fridge after I get home from work the next day in order to use the next day for dinner. This bread does make you think a few days in advance, but that’s about the only work you actually have to do.

At least 2 hours before putting it in the oven, pour the dough onto a well floured surface. By this time, the dough will softened and you’ll see bubbles on the surface. Fold it over on itself a few times. Cover and let sit for 15 minutes. Then quickly form into a ball and place seam down on a WELL floured kitchen towel (not terry cloth) and cover with another towel. Don’t skimp on the flour or you will not get the dough off your towel. Ever.

And here’s wonderful thing #4 about this dough – the minimum time to let the dough rise here is 2 hours, but it can wait a lot longer. I’ll do the above steps after taking the dough out of its night in my fridge. Then it will rise while I’m at work all day. I swear, this bread is not like a child – it does not need to be supervised.

When the dough has doubled, or when you’re good and ready, heat the oven to 450 with a dutch oven inside. You’re going to need a 6 quart dutch oven. OR, you guessed it, wonderful thing #5 – you can half, quarter, 1/3, double this recipe to make the size that works for you, or your smaller dutch oven (mine is only 2 quarts). Unlike other baking projects, the proportions for this are pretty forgiving.

After preheating the oven and dutch oven for about a half hour plop the dough in the hot dutch oven. Slosh it around a bit, cover it, and put it in the oven. If you do the regular size, check the loaf at 30 minutes. It should be starting to get golden. Leave the lid off for another 15 – 30 minutes until the crust has a dark golden hue with a split in the top. If you do a smaller size, check earlier. I ended up doing about 20 minutes with the top on and another 20 minutes with the top off for my 1/3 recipe. And I think I may have had the oven at 425 instead of 450. Have I mentioned how forgiving this recipe is?

Take it out of the oven and cool on a rack. Or wait until you don’t burn your fingers/mouth on the bread and dig in. I really like making a third of a recipe because it’s enough for two, with little to no leftovers. This bread is amazing when it comes out of the oven. It’s still good the next day, but when it’s so easy to have the fresh from the oven experience, why not make it fresh?

Breakfast is not only the most important meal of the day… it’s also my favorite. Sweet. Savory. Doesn’t matter. Just give me a cup of coffee, some good company, and load up my plate! One of my favorite things to get when I go out to eat is eggs Florentine for the same reason that I love to get fillet mignon at a nice restaurant – I can make it myself, but getting the insides cooked just enough, but not too much, and getting the sauce just right, well, that’s a lot of work! So I created this low fuss version using some fresh arugula.

I splurged on myself this given morning, but breakfast is always better with two, so just double the recipe and enjoy.

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1 C packed, sliced arugula, or any other tasty green of your choice
• 2 T butter
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 – 1/2 lemon
• 1 T coarsely chopped fresh tarragon
• dash or two of cayenne pepper
• salt to taste

Directions

First things first, gather all your materials. The thing about working with eggs is that things happen fast, so you need to be prepared. Make sure you’ve got everything together so you can act fast. There’s nothing worse than cold eggs.

In this picture you can see one of my lovely tarragon plants peeking in. He really is an attention hog. I started growing perennial herbs in my window about 6 months ago. And this is the benefit – I don’t have to pay $2+ whenever I just need a tablespoon of an herb.  If you’re interested in your own window herbs, really good herbs include tarragon, thyme, rosemary, sage, and mint. While basil and cilantro are annuals, they will also thrive in a window for their short lives.

Okay, off my soapbox/window sill and back to the recipe…

Chose your favorite method for soft boiled eggs. This is my first shortcut. I HATE poaching eggs. I don’t have the equipment for it and am usually sad with what I get out of my attempts. Forget it – just soft boil the eggs!

Place a metal strainer above the boiling pan and put the arugula in it. Toss it a few times till it’s the consistency you like then take it off.

Next, comes my trick for making Hollandaise sauce. Melt the butter and toss it into a blender. Yes, you read that right. Use the blender. Trust me. With the blender on low add the egg yolk and then slowly squeeze in lemon juice. If you like things tart, use half a lemon. If you don’t, use about a quarter or less. Add about half the tarragon and salt and cayenne pepper to taste. Then pour into a shallow pan and place above the boiling water pan, whisking continuously. Really, you just want to use this makeshift double boiler to keep the sauce warm until your soft boiled eggs are done.

My last shortcut – skip the bread. Who keeps English muffins in their house? Really? I don’t. And I don’t really care about them. So I just skip them. If you like them and have them in the house, I apologize for insulting you. Feel free to put them on the bottom of the pile. Otherwise, plate the steamed greens and sprinkle with the remaining tarragon. Then peel the eggs and place on top. Cover the whole thing with the sauce. Dig in!

Yesterday I was searching for an easy, quick and chocolate dessert. I initially had the idea of pudding cake, however, I have yet to find a deep, dark chocolate version. I turned to my cookbooks and ended up in the Joy of Cooking. Amazingly enough the chocolate soufflé recipe looked to be just what I wanted – quick, easy and chocolate. Even better it could be made ahead! This dessert looks very impressive and has a great chocolate flavor. Whipped cream or a custard sauce would be a great accompaniment.

Ingredients

• 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate
• 3 Tablespoons butter
• 1 Tablespoon rum or bourbon
• 3 eggs, separated
• 1/4 cup sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat four 6 oz. ramekins with butter all the way up the sides. Pour sugar into each ramekin and make sure sugar thoroughly coats inside of ramekin.

Combine chocolate, butter and liquor in the top of a double boiler. Stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Let cool for 10 minutes then whisk in the egg yolks.

Meanwhile, in a separate bowl beat the egg whites on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the sugar and continue beating until the egg whites make stiff peaks (but not dry). Using a large rubber spatula stir 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Carefully fold the rest of the egg whites into the mixture until they are thoroughly mixed.

Divide the batter equally into ramekins and smooth the tops. Bake in preheated oven 15 minutes, until risen and set.

Note: The soufflés can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 24 hours before baking.

Yield: 4 soufflés

The New York Times Magazine 2009 Food Issue is out today. Yum! What a wonderful treat to read over breakfast this morning. Loaded with lots of current thinking about stuff like locavorism, Slow Food, and Michael Pollan’s rules for eating. All great reads.

Something occurred to me as I read the piece on Jamie Oliver. I think the shift has been happening over the last five or so years, but it really seems that food choices are becoming less about simple tastes and more about activism. For Slow Food, it’s about maintaining genetic diversity, supporting local farmers (as opposed to agribusiness), and reducing your carbon footprint. For vegetarians and free-rangeterians it’s about animal rights. When you see the work that Oliver is doing with healthy eating and a foundation that helps low-income kids go to cooking school, Oliver is not longer just a fun and feisty cook on the Food Network – he is a fun and feisty food activist.

For too long, too many of us have simply inhaled barely edible processed “food” while working, in the car, in front of the TV, or even while surfing the web. As a result, we barely taste the food, much less think about the implications of eating that food. However, it’s so encouraging to see the new wave of food activists who think a LOT about food on all levels.

The great thing about food activism is that you literally get to enjoy the fruits of your labors. This is a point really brought home by Barbara Kingsolver in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle:

“Doing the right thing, in this case, is not about abstinence-only, throwing out bread, tightening your belt, wearing a fake leather belt, or dragging around feeling righteous and gloomy. Food is the rare moral arena in which the ethical choice is the one more likely to make you groan with pleasure. Why resist that?”

Indeed.

I had chicory/escarole (I can’t tell the difference) twice so far in my farm share and neither time had I found a recipe that was anything above barely tolerable. Bitter greens are always easier to cook with if you blanch them first, but I always feel like I’m losing all the nutrients, and hence, the reason you’d eat greens in the first place. I was about to give up all hope and just turn to the Southern style of greens which consists of cooking with bacon, ham, or other pork parts. However, I was reading Wally Lamb’s I Know This Much is True and was inspired.  In it, a character talks about eating lentils and escarole as prepared back in the old country (Sicily). I thought, “I love Italian; I bet this will work.” Of course, there was no recipe in the book, so I had to make it up, to what I think is a pretty tasty concoction.

Ingredients

• 1/2 C French lentils
• 4 C Free range chicken stock
• 4 T olive oil
• 1/4 C chopped onions
• 1/2 C chopped carrots
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 C white wine
• 1 bunch chicory/escarole
• Salt and pepper
• 2 C cooked small pasta (I used orecchiette, but any small pasta would do)
• Grated Italian cheese for garnish (Parmesan, Asiago, etc.)

Directions

In a large frying pan over high heat, warm up some olive oil. Add the onions, celery, and half the carrots. Cook till the onions start to turn translucent. Add half the chicken broth, half the white wine, and all of the lentils. Stir and reduce the heat to medium. Add salt and pepper to taste. This will need to cook till the lentils are tender, which will take anywhere from 30-45 minutes depending on the bean. Let it simmer uncovered adding water if the liquid runs out.

Meanwhile, in another large pan over high heat, heat the rest of the olive oil. Saute the carrots for a few minutes. Then add the chicory and saute for another minute. Salt the greens with a few shakes of the salt shaker. Then add the rest of the chicken broth and white wine to the pan. Turn the heat down to medium-low and allow to simmer until the greens are wilted and tender. This takes about 20-30 minutes. At 20 minutes test the greens. If they still taste bitter, let them cook some more. Add more salt and pepper to taste.

When both the lentils and the greens are done, mix them together. In this way, you’re using the liquid that has many of the healthy nutrients from cooking down the greens. There should still be a little bit of liquid, but not a lot – it should be just a little bit saucy. Mix in the cooked pasta. Serve with a healthy helping of grated cheese.