Making Ciabatta

Is that a beautiful loaf or what?

Fall is in the air. Thoughts of root vegetables and comfort food fill my mind. I no longer lust after juicy summer tomatoes but rather crave squash and meat and potatoes and the like. Like bread. Yep. Homemade bread, still warm out of the oven with a slather of butter. Just like that. Nothing more. It doesn't get much better than that. It is so gratifying to bake the bread and then to be able to eat it right out of the oven. Bread I made. When I first made this bread I would just stand over the bread and make ohing sounds. Now that I have had more practice I actually have some self control and can wait for dinner or at least until my husband gets home so we can have some together.

I love Ciabatta. It is the perfect bread. It's hard on the outside, but soft on the inside. It has lots of air bubbles which help to make the bread light and airy. I use it quite often to make crostini but I also love it toasted for breakfast. It tastes good alone or with stuff on it. It also freezes very well. If I buy a loaf I immediately cut it up and put it in a freezer bag and freeze it. That way I can pull out a slice at a time and it always tastes fresh when I want it.

What bothers me is that a nice artisan loaf of bread is getting close to 5 bucks these days. It occurred to me that this bread is really only flour and water. For 5 bucks??? Hum. For years I had a wish that I could make bread myself but after taking a couple of bread classes and buying several bread cookbooks I wasn't much closer to making anything I really wanted to eat.

Then one day I was watching America's Test Kitchen and they were making ciabatta. Fool proof ciabatta. Yea right! I had heard that before. I sat there watching every step very closely. I had recorded the show and proceeded to watch it a couple more times over the next couple of weeks. I finally sat down with a pad of paper and wrote down all the instructions and decided to get in the kitchen and give it a try. They were right, it was fool proof. I had success on my first loaf. But it was not quite good enough for me so I made it again and again and again. I am now happy to say that I think I have perfected this recipe. I can get in the kitchen and whip up a loaf of ciabatta like it's nothing. That being the case I have been making a loaf a week. That's about how long it lasts with two of us in the house.

The one thing about this recipe that you need to know is that you must start the biga (starter)the night before. I will typically do this on either Friday and Saturday night before bed depending on my day the next day. You have to be home for several hours to perform all the steps and get it baked. So plan ahead.

I am sure you can probably go on the America's Test Kitchen web site and pull up the recipe, which I would recommend. I have included the notes I took from the show below. I made a couple of slight changes to the instructions so if you dowload the recipe there will a couple differnet directions. You will need a pizza stone and the bread will be baked on a sheet of parchment paper. In addition I always use a kitchen scale to measure the ingredients when I bake. It is important that the ingredients be exact and the only way to accomplish that is to use a scale.

Ingredients:
Biga: 5 oz all purpose flour
1/8 tsp active dry yeast
4 oz water - room temp

Bread:
Biga
10 oz all purpose flour
1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
6 oz water - slightly warm
2 oz milk - slightly warm

To make the biga: Add water to mixer bowl with paddle attachment. Sprinkle yeast over water and allow to dissolve. Turn machine on low and add the flour. Work for 1 minute. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to sit overnight or at least 8 hours.

To make the bread: In mixer with paddle attachment add water, sprinkle with yeast. Allow to dissolve then add the rest of the ingredients. Turn mixer on low and allow to come together for about 1 minute. Dough should be sticky. Increase speed to medium low for about 4 minutes. At this point it should start to pull away from the side of the bowl. Change to a dough hook and mix on high for about 10 minutes. All of these steps are building the structure of the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to double in size, about 1 hour.

Spray a large rubber spatula with cooking spray. Turn the dough on to itself starting at the outside of the bowl pulling into center. Do this all the way around the bowl about 6 to 8 times taking care not to deflate the dough more than necessary. Cover and allow to rise 30 minutes. This process helps to develop the air holes you want in the bread. Repeat this process. Allow to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. It is important that the oven be very hot.

Place pizza stone in center of the over and preheat to 450 degrees. Cut a piece of parchment paper the size of the pizza stone and then sprinkle with flour. Turn the dough onto the paper and pull gently to form a large square, taking care not to totally deflate. Do not allow the dough to take in more flour, you want it sticky. Slide parchment paper with dough on to pizza stone and spray with water. Bake 5 minutes then spray with water again. Bake 22 more minutes or until center temp is 250. Total cooking time is about 27 minutes.

Allow to cool for one hour.

A word about dough rising time. The temperate of your kitchen is going to determine how quickly or slowly the dough rises. I have grantie counter tops so if I leave the bowl of dough on the counter the temperature is so cold that the dough does not rise as it should. Therefore, I have to put the bowl on something else to allow it to rise properly. When a recipe gives a time for rising it is only an estimate. You will need to adjust as you watch the dough rise to catch it at exactly the right time. This comes with practice.

Repeat this process once a week and start counting all the money you are going to save!

Sardine Crostini

I have wanted to try sardines for many years now, having read several articles about them, and seen many recipes and television shows about how good they are, and how good they are for you. I was somewhat awe struck with the idea and a bit intimidated.

I had this impression however, that they were going be very salty strong little fishes, I guess maybe I was thinking they tasted more like anchovies, which I love, but they are used sparingly. I managed to purchase a can of sardines at a Spanish market I found last year and the can remained in my pantry until last night. I must have finally been in the mood.....it was a warm spring evening, we were going to open a good bottle of wine, and play cards on the balcony. That always gets my brain working, what we need is good appetizer to go with that. I thought of the can of sardines and enlisted my husband to help. He was all jazzed about trying them.

Get all the components of the dish ready and then assemble.

1 loaf bread, thinly sliced, Ciabatta or baguette style

1 fresh garlic clove

Juice of 1/2 Lemon

Sea Salt

1 jar roasted red peppers, well drained, and cut into bite size pieces

1 tbsp capers

Very good quality olive oil

1/2 half a white onion

Prepare the sardines. Open the sardines and dump the can upside down on to a plate and separate them. They are very delicate so be careful. They were packed only in olive oil, and there was quite a bit of it, so I got rid of a some of it. Then I took half a lemon and gave them a little dressing. We sampled a tiny bit and found that they needed salt. A sprinkling of good quality salt made all the difference.

Slice the white onion in very thin slices.

Drain the peppers and slice into bite size pieces.

Drain the capers.

Brush the bread with olive oil, and bake in oven only until they start to turn slightly brown. Depending on your oven this might take 5 to 10 minutes. (I have also used my toaster oven for this if I am only making a few.) Immediately upon removing the crostini from the oven take the garlic clove and brush over the toasts. The heat will cause the garlic to melt on the bread.

Next top with all your ingredients, the sardines, capers, peppers. Once they are all assembled drizzle very lightly with a little fresh olive oil.

There are lots of strong flavors going on there. I hope you enjoy them!

Risotto with Artichoke and Lemon

Risotto. Gotta love it.


It can be made so many different ways. Risotto with mushrooms, seafood, broccoli, it is all based around arborio or carnaroli rice. Carnaroli can be found in Italian markets, or ordered on-line, while arborio is readily available in most supermarkets and Trader Joe's. I use the arborio on a regular basis because it is easy to find. It has become a staple in my pantry. The Carnaroli I pick up when I go to the Italian market, which is rare, maybe every few months. I recently bought some to make a special dish from Venice, using fresh shrimp, and had some left over that I used in this dish.

Even though artichokes are in season right now I did not use them. I find that the frozen or jarred are just fine for some dishes. In this case I used the jarred. If made fresh, you must discard all the leaves on the outside of the choke to get to the heart, and it pains me to throw all that out. You can decide for yourself which type you want to use.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 small onion or 1/2 a large onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup carnaroli rice
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp white pepper

1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 32 ounce can chicken broth
1 5 to 6 ounce jar artichoke hearts
Zest of one lemon
1 Tsp Lemon juice
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Drain the artichoke hearts well. Set aside.

In small saucepan heat the chicken broth until hot, then reduce the heat but keep hot. It is important that any broth or water added to the dish be very hot.

In a heavy bottomed large saute pan heat the canola oil, add the onion and saute about 7 minutes. The onion should be more than soft but not yet browning. Add the garlic and stir for one minute. Add the rice, stirring for a few minutes to coat well and slightly toast.

Start adding the hot chicken broth one ladle at a time. This process will take about 20 minutes. Add a ladle of broth and stir, almost constantly, allowing all the broth to cook off before adding the next ladle.

Add the salt, pepper and thyme. Stir well. Add the artichokes but stir gently so they do not completely fall apart.

Once the rice is done, turn off the heat and add the lemon zest, lemon juice, and Parmesan cheese. To test for doneness you must taste it. Do not judge by time alone.

If the risotto gets too dry add a little hot water, that will loosen it up. And it is ready to serve.

The majority of the flavor should come from the zest which is why I love this dish so much. The combination of the zest and the artichoke is wonderful. You can hardly detect the other ingredients which is what you want. They are in the background, and add to the overall flavor, without you really knowing they are there.

Hum....what kind of wine should we serve with this dish?

Baked Pears with Lemon Zest and Anise

This recipe literally came to me as I was making it. I had two pears in the kitchen I needed to use and realized I had not had a baked pear in a long time. I don't make dessert very often these days but the thought of a special dessert on a Sunday night seemed like a nice thing to do. Lets see, what to put in them? I was going to look for a recipe and then decided to just through a couple things on the pears and be done with it. I knew that cinnamon was a given, and I needed something sweet, without being too sweet or high in sugar grams, so I used the agave syrup I had on hand. (I'm telling you the more I use that stuff the more I like it.) I had a big bowl of lemons on the table and thought that zest always wakes up a dish or makes it more interesting so I would try some lemon zest. Then I opened the drawer where I keep all my spices and found some anise seed, which I never use, but thought oh what the heck! Lets try something different. The pears came out so good, I was shocked. Sometimes I surprise myself! I will put this recipe in my collection and make it again.

2 whole pears

1 cup apple juice

1 tablespoon organic agave syrup

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Zest of 1/2 lemon

1/4 tsp anise seed

Cut each pear in half, remove seeds and stem ends. You may peel the pears if you like or leave the peel on. I leave it on because I want the vitamins and fiber. Place in a gratin pan, or other ceramic dish. Combine the rest of the ingredients and pour over the pears. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Every 15 minutes baste the pears with the sauce.

After the pears have finished baking pour the sauce into a small saucepan and reduce on high heat for about 7 minutes. It will get thick and syrupy. While reducing use a spoon to skim off any foam and the anise seed.

Plate the pears and pour the reduced sauce over.

I took this picture of the pear half plated for the blog post. What you don't see is that once I had the photo I put 2 pear halves in a bowl and topped it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. So you can serve this two ways, the pretty small portion when you have company, or the big portion with ice cream when you are alone in front of the TV.

Yogurt parfait

Yogurt Parfait? Seriously? This is what I have been reduced to writing about?

My friends are always asking how to eat healthy. I hear them talk about the big fat bagel with all the cream cheese on it. Or those breakfast burritos you get at work in the cafeteria. You can't eat that stuff everyday. Incorporating a breakfast like this a couple of times a week is a great start. When I say I have yogurt for breakfast I get this reaction like eeeew! Hey wait a minute. Continue reading.

It's quick, it's good for you, and it can be thrown together in a minute. You will get the protein in the yogurt, as well as some low fat calcium that is especially important for the women. The fruit is a great source of vitamin C, it has natural sugar for the body, and if you eat the blueberries you also get the antioxidants, in addition to fiber the fruit provides. The granola is whole grain with some nuts, usually walnuts, another food high in antioxidants. Seriously, this is some healthy food. I make this a little extra special by using a nice looking cup or bowl so it looks beautiful, and it adds to the brief moment of joy. And I do mean brief! Giving it a special name like parfait also helps.

I buy the Fage Greek yogurt. It is the only yogurt I can find that only has 8 grams of sugar. I have read every label on every brand of yogurt out there and they all contain excessive amounts of sugar. It makes me crazy, but that seems to be what the people want. I mean lets face it, sugar makes things taste good. That's what I want too, but I can't have it. If you have no issues with sugar then have it and be happy. Damn you! But I can't consume that much sugar anymore, my body cannot handle it.

So back to the point. I use one container of yogurt and I add some vanilla or cinnamon to it, give it good stir right in the container. Sometimes I might even add a little Splenda or some organic agave syrup, which is my fav. Then it is simply a process of making layers of yogurt, fruit and granola. I use a glass because I can see through it, and it looks so pretty when it is prepared. Start with 1/3 of the yogurt, then some fruit, then more yogurt, then some fruit, the last of the yogurt, some more fruit and then hit the top with the granola. 

I like to use berries, any kind, I love them all, but usually blueberries and strawberries, and raspberries. You can use fresh pineapple or papaya or banana, or any combination you wish. (Speaking of banana's, have you ever tried mashing a banana into your oatmeal?)

 

And don't even get me started on granola. That's another thing that contains tons of needless sugar. I make my own when I can and that adds even more enjoyment out of eating this.

If you want to boost it up a notch, add some flax seed or chia seeds and some walnuts.

This breakfast satisfies me. I feel good about eating it, it tastes delish, and I am satisfied so I don't snack.

It you can't sit in the morning and enjoy this in a beautiful container put it in a paper coffee cup and take it to go. Once you get to the office you can dig in. It's so much better than going to the cafeteria for that breakfast burrito!