I have always loved Bread; I was one of those kids who would happily walk around the house eating it by the slice, but it would be many years before I had a desire or the confidence to try and make any on my own.  In fact, I never attempted making bread until culinary school, and even under the guidance of my great instructors I had very little success. I had the tendency to over work the dough which would result in something that would scare even the hungriest bird away. 

A few years ago I started hearing about the no-knead method of baking bread, but it wasn’t until cookbooks started popping up featuring various forms of the technique that I gave it a try.  I tried a few different versions and was pleased, anything was better than my previous forays into bread making, but now we have a cookbook from “the” man who started it all, Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bakery in New York City.

After spending time in Italy studying art, Jim fell in love with European Artisan bread. After returning back to the United States he wanted to share his new found love of baking and Sullivan Street Bakery was born.  Before long Jim’s bread was appearing in some of the finest restaurants in New York City. Next, all it took was one article from a very well-known food writer and New York Times Columnist (Mark Bittman) to make Jim and his no-knead method a household name. 

My Bread is the book that fans of the no-knead method have been waiting for.  In the book he shares with us in detail how he went from Italy to Soho. He also talks about the science behind the no-knead method; the miracle of bread making he calls it. The basic no-knead bread recipe is laid before you followed with a host of recipes utilizing this now time tested method.  There is a whole section on the art of the sandwich as well as one on uses for stale bread (which is brilliant and very Frugal Foodie). 

As soon as I could carve out two days where I wouldn’t be far from home I jumped in and starting making bread. You know what? This process is the best one yet; great for the inexperienced and experienced cooks alike.  I’m nowhere near done going through all the recipes in this book, but the ones I’ve tried so far I can’t wait to make again.  Pane all’ Olive (Olive Bread, see recipe below) is perfect on its own or part of any meal.  The Stecca (see recipe below), which is made using a faster raising dough compared to the classic no-knead recipe, bakes quickly, and is the ideal sandwich bread.  Soft, flavorful, and chewy everything you should be looking for in a great sandwich bread. 

Once you see for yourself just how easy this method is, you will be baking bread week after week. And with such an easy fool-proof technique how could anyone ever go back to more traditional bread making methods?

Oh, before I forget, just a few things to note, the majority of the bread recipes require the use of a 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 quart dutch oven (Lodge or Le Creuset) for the bread to bake in.  In addition, there are other recipes that call for Romertopf Clay Bakers, pizza stone/peel, and the use of a juice extractor.  With the exception of the juice extractor most of these items are easy to find at any kitchenware store and relatively inexpensive.  The clay bakers are only needed for two of the recipes. Pizza stones are very inexpensive (I think I paid about 10 bucks for mine) and Jim offers substitution techniques if you do not have a juice extractor. My advice is to start out with the classic no-knead bread in the Dutch oven and once you've mastered that, consider adding additional items when your ready to try something new and don't let the use of new kitchen items deter you, this is a great method for making real artisan bread.     

Stecca - stick or small baguette

From My Bread by Jim Layey. W.W. Norton, 2009.

The name of this bread - stecca, or "stick" in Italian - is one I simply made up to describe it, since it has a narrow shape. It's based on the faster-rising pizza bianca dough you'll find in the pizza section (see page 137) and is stretched into such a narrow rope that it bakes rapidly. It is also baked on a baking sheet rather than in a pot. In this case, even though I get a good, brittle crust, it's thinner than most of the other breads in this section. Because I wanted to use it for sandwiches (see Chapter Five), I was aiming for a lighter-colored, less-assertive loaf of bread to encase the filling ingredients without overpowering them. But the olive oil glaze and coarse salt make it very flavorful on its own.

Yield: 4 thin stick-shaped 18-inch loaves; 1/3 pound each
Equipment: A 13-by-18-inch rimmed baking sheet

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, table salt, sugar, and yeast. Add the water and, using a wooden spoon or your hand, mix until you have a wet, sticky dough, about 30 seconds. Cover the bowl and let sit at room temperature until the surface is dotted with bubbles and the dough is more than doubled in size, 12 to 18 hours.

2. When the first rise is complete, generously dust a work surface with flour. Use a bowl scraper or rubber spatula to scrape the dough out of the bowl in one piece. Fold the dough over itself two or three times and gently shape it into a somewhat flattened ball. Brush the surface of the dough with some of the olive oil and sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon of the coarse salt (which will gradually dissolve on the surface).

3. Place a tea towel on your work surface and generously dust it with wheat bran, cornmeal, or flour. Gently place the dough on the towel, seam side down. If the dough is tacky, dust the top lightly with wheat bran, cornmeal, or flour. Fold the ends of the tea towel loosely over the dough to cover it and place in a warm, draft-free spot to rise for 1 to 2 hours. The dough is ready when it is almost doubled. If you gently poke it with your finger, it should hold the impression. If it springs back, let it rise for another 15 minutes.

4. Half an hour before the end of the second rise, preheat the oven to 500 degrees F, with a rack in the center. Oil a 13-by-18-by-1-inch baking sheet.

5. Cut the dough into quarters. Gently stretch each piece evenly into a stick shape approximately the length of the pan. Place on the pan, leaving at least 1 inch between the loaves. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt.

6. Bake for 15 to 25 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then use a spatula to transfer the stecca to a rack to cool thoroughly.

Note: The stecca may become a bit soggy in just a few hours because of the salt on the surface. If that happens, reheat the loaves in a hot oven until crisp.

Variation: Stecca Pomodori, all'Olive, o al'Aglio (Stecca with Tomatoes, Olives, or Garlic)

Push 10 cherry tomato halves, cut side up, 10 large pitted olives, or 10 lightly crushed garlic cloves into each formed stecca, taking care to space the additions evenly down the length of the dough. Brush each stecca with enough olive oil to create a thin coat of oil on the surface. For the tomato stecca, top each tomato half with a very thin slice of garlic and a couple of fresh thyme leaves, and sprinkle with salt. Sprinkle the garlic stecca with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Do not salt the olive stecca-it's already salty from the olives.

Pane all'Olive - olive bread

From My Bread by Jim Layey. W.W. Norton, 2009.

When I first opened Sullivan Street, with Roman baking in mind, this slightly pungent olive loaf immediately became my signature bread. As a result of the brine the olives release during baking, this recipe calls for no salt.

Yield: One 10-inch round loaf; 1½ pounds
Equipment: A 4½- to 5½-quart heavy pot

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, olives, and yeast. Add the water and, using a wooden spoon or your hand, mix until you have a wet, sticky dough, about 30 seconds. Cover the bowl and let sit at room temperature until the surface is dotted with bubbles and the dough is more than doubled in size, 12 to 18 hours.

2. When the first rise is complete, generously dust a work surface with flour. Use a bowl scraper or rubber spatula to scrape the dough out of the bowl in one piece. Using lightly floured hands or a bowl scraper or spatula, lift the edges of the dough in toward the center. Nudge and tuck in the edges of the dough to make it round.

3. Place a tea towel on your work surface and generously dust it with wheat bran, cornmeal, or flour. Gently place the dough on the towel, seam side down. If the dough is tacky, dust the top lightly with wheat bran, cornmeal, or flour. Fold the ends of the tea towel loosely over the dough to cover it and place it in a warm, draft-free spot to rise for 1 to 2 hours. The dough is ready when it is almost doubled. If you gently poke it with your finger, it should hold the impression. If it springs back, let it rise for another 15 minutes.

4. Half an hour before the end of the second rise, preheat the oven to 475 degrees F, with a rack in the lower third, and place a covered 41/2 - to 51/2 -quart heavy pot in the center of the rack.

5. Using pot holders, carefully remove the preheated pot from the oven and uncover it. Unfold the tea towel and quickly but gently invert the dough into the pot, seam side up. (Use caution-the pot will be very hot; see photos, page 55.) Cover the pot and bake for 30 minutes.

6. Remove the lid and continue baking until the bread is a deep chestnut color but not burnt, 15 to 30 minutes more. Use a heatproof spatula or pot holders to gently lift the bread out of the pot and place it on a rack to cool thoroughly.

Note: For this loaf, any pitted olive will yield something worth eating. (You don't want to go to the trouble of pitting them yourself, because it is tedious and the results will not be as neat.) But what I turn to most often are pitted kalamata olives soaked in a pure salt brine-nothing else, just salt. A commonly available kalamata that I'm very fond of is made by Divina and can be found at many supermarkets and gourmet stores. You might think that because they're black they will change the color of the bread, but they won't, unless you carelessly dump some of the brine into the dough. Green Sicilian colossals, sometimes called "giant" olives, packed in pure salt brine, are another good option; they're often available at Italian food stores.

About My Bread

The secret to Jim Lahey's bread is slow-rise fermentation. As Jim shows in My Bread, with step-by-step instructions followed by step-by-step pictures, the amount of labor you put in amounts to 5 minutes: mix water, flour, yeast, and salt, and then let time work its magic-no kneading necessary. Wait 12 to 18 hours for the bread to rise, developing structure and flavor; then, after another short rise, briefly bake the bread in a covered cast-iron pot. The process couldn't be more simple, or the results more inspiring. My Bread devotes chapters to Jim's variations on the basic loaf, including an olive loaf, pecorino cheese bread, pancetta rolls, the classic Italian baguette (stirato), and the stunning bread stick studded with tomatoes, olives, or garlic (stecca). He gets even more creative with loaves like Peanut Butter and Jelly Bread, others that use juice instead of water, and his Irish Brown Bread, which calls for Guinness stout. For any leftover loaves, Jim includes what to do with old bread (try bread soup or a chocolate torte) and how to make truly special sandwiches.

Available at Amazon.com

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When I first looked through Friday Night Bites I had to laugh.  The concept behind the book is that instead of ordering take-out and collapsing in front of the TV on a Friday evening, as some families do, get your kids in the kitchen, prepare a great meal, and make a cool craft project.  Why did I laugh you wonder? Well, because even though I do cook most Friday evenings I barely have the energy to do that let alone add in some arts and crafts! But, I decided to mark a day on the calendar and give it a try. 

My girls are still pretty young, so I decided to find a menu and project that they would most relate to and it ended up being "Teddy Bear Picnic", because after all who doesn't like a Teddy Bear.  The menu consists of "Bear "themed foods: Honey-Kissed Pork Tenderloin (see recipe below) and Baby Bear Claw Pastries.  The craft project was Teddy Bear Bonnets (my girls love hats) which uses many items that can be found lying around the house, at least at my house, such as buttons, feathers, and ribbons.

Karen Berman does a great job of breaking down the tasks for you in a list format to follow so that the idea of dinner and a project don't seem overwhelming. And she provides Friday Night Time Savers or shortcuts, useful tips that keep things moving along steadily so you can still get the kids off to bed at a decent hour.  Although I don't think you could tackle a "Friday Night Bite" every week, these ideas are a great way to get families back to the dinner table enjoying each others company and having fun.

Teddy Bear Bonnets and Boaters

From Friday Night Bites by Karen Berman, Running Press 2009.

Every well-dressed teddy bear needs a bonnet or a snazzy boater hat. Make one or more for the bears in your house!

• Safety scissors
• 1 paper plate for each hat (Use large or small plates depending on the size of the bear)
• 1 (2-foot) length of ribbon for each hat
• More ribbon for decoration, including striped grosgrain if you are making boaters for boy bears
• Small decorative flowers, fruits, birds, butterflies, colorful feathers, and buttons or other small decorations for bonnets
• 1 (2- to 3-inch wide) strip of oak tag (thin, flexible poster board) that is about 2 inches shorter in length than the circumference of your paper plate, for boater hats
• Small buttons, feathers, birds, bugs, team logos, or other decorations, for boater hats
• 1(5- to 6-inch wide) roll of tulle
• Craft glue
• Transparent or masking tape
  

If your paper plate has a design imprinted on it and you want it to be part of the hat, turn the plate "inside out" so that the design shows when you put the plate on the bear's head.

With the scissors, cut a slit in the plate about 3/4 inch to 1 inch long; position it where the curved rim of the plate ends and the flat center begins, about an inch or so from the edge of the plate. Make another slit directly across from it, so that you can insert the 2-foot ribbon into the slits and tie the plate onto the bear's head.

To make a boater, take the strip of oak tag and make a ring to fit the circumference of the flat inside part of the plate. Trim excess cardboard and tape the strip together securely to make a ring. Tape the ring to the plate from the inside. Glue the grosgrain ribbon to the bottom of the ring, where it joins the plate. Finish the hat by gluing on feathers, buttons or other decorations. Let it dry.

To make a bonnet, cut a length of tulle and tie it into a bow, leaving 6 to 8 inches of tulle for each of the bow's "tails". Glue to the back of the bonnet. If you wish, cut a length of tulle to make a veil that will hang over the front of the bonnet and glue it on. Decorate the hat by gluing the flowers, fruit, birds, butterflies, feathers, and other decorations to it. Let it dry. Or use your imagination and decorate your bear's hat any way you wish.

Honey-Kissed Pork Tenderloin

From Friday Night Bites by Karen Berman, Running Press 2009.

What's a bear's favorite flavor? Honey, of course. In this dish, honey is mixed with soy sauce and honey mustard to add a luscious sweet-savory dimension to the oh-so-tender tenderloin. The mixture begins as the marinade and ends up in the sauce. Just never use a marinade in which raw meat has been soaked as a sauce on cooked food; be sure to heat it to boiling once you remove the meat from it, or you run the risk of introducing food-borne bacteria to your cooked food. When you're shopping, look for a pork tenderloin that is not pre-marinated. You're making your own from scratch!

Makes 4 to 5 servings

• 2 to 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup honey
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons honey mustard
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 (1 to 1 1/2-pounds) pork tenderloin
• 3/4 cup beef stock
• 1/2 teaspoon arrowroot
• Salt to taste (optional)
• Feshly ground black pepper to taste (optional)
  

Preheat the oven to 475F.

Place the garlic into a shallow nonreactive glass, ceramic or plastic container big enough to hold the tenderloin. Add the honey, soy sauce, honey mustard, and oil and mix until thoroughly combined.

Trim the pork tenderloin: With a sharp knife, peel off any silvery skin (it's called silverskin) and trim any fat. Place the trimmed tenderloin into the marinade and turn a few times to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight or a few hours‹or if time is short, while you prep the rest of the dinner.

When you are ready to cook, transfer the tenderloin to a roasting pan and roast for 10 minutes. Reserve the marinade, keeping it away from any raw food or utensils.

After 10 minutes, turn the tenderloin and carefully pour the marinade over it. Roast for 10 more minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into it reads 150 to 155šF and the tenderloin is nicely browned on the outside and just slightly pink in the center.

Remove the tenderloin from the pan and place on a serving platter to rest. Deglaze the roasting pan by adding the beef stock and stirring to loosen any browned bits from the bottom. Pour the contents of the pan into a small saucepan, add the arrowroot, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, or until the sauce thickens and reduces in volume enough to coat a spoon lightly. Taste and season with salt and pepper if you like.

Cut the tenderloin into round medallions and pour some of the sauce over them. Pour the remaining sauce into a serving bowl or gravy boat and pass at the table.

About Friday Night Bites

It’s time for some family fun with creative crafts and out-of-this-world meals, and you might even learn something, too! Take the whole gang on a trip through the imagination with food and activities for all ages, any old Friday night.

Available at Amazon.com

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Japanese food has always seemed a bit out of reach to me; out of reach in my kitchen that is.  I enjoy eating it out, but making my own just seemed to complex with lots of unusual ingredients.  I'm happy to say that is changing thanks to Harumi Kurihara's latest cookbook - Everyday Harumi.

As the title suggests, the book is aimed at recipes for everyday Japanese food - not the fancy dishes that even people in Japan only eat when they go out or on special occasions, but the food of the everyday person: Simple but flavorful food. 

Harumi has captured not only that goal but she has also captured me with her choices of everyday favorites.  Ground pork is a meat I've found myself liking more and more in the past year so I started with her "Green Beans and Minced Pork" dish.  I also chose this as my first Japanese dish at home because, as you can see in the recipe below, it doesn't call for any unusual ingredients.  The dish was easy to make, but full flavored with the ginger and chili peppers. I also liked that it focused more on the fresh green beans than the meat while still having enough meat to provide the underlying flavor boost.

While Harumi does have recipes that don't require special ingredients, a bunch require Dashi stock which is made from seaweed and fish flakes.  You can buy premade Dashi stock or you can make your own with Harumi's recipe.  Other than the Dashi stock the vast majority of the ingredients are common and most I already have in my pantry or routinely buy for other recipes.

After one recipe I was not quite ready to plunge so deeply into Japanese cooking by making my own Dashi stock.  Instead, I went with the "Fried Rice with Crabmeat" for my second Japanese dish.  This dish intrigued me with it's combination of crabmeat and ground beef which I don't think I'd ever had together before.  That's too bad because the result is wonderful. In fact, the dish is a bit addictive.  Harumi says this dish serves 2-4.  My husband and I could have easily ate it all in one sitting, but we didn't.  Perhaps that's another aspect of these dishes that appeal to me - they are not highly fat ridden as many American dishes are.  Yet, they taste great and now I can't wait to try my hand at making the Dashi Stock and hopefully cooking many more Japanese dishes at home…

Green Beans with Minced Pork

From Everyday Harumi by Harumi Kurihara, Conran 2009

This dish is something of a tradition in my household. It is easy to prepare, only needing soy sauce for seasoning, and makes use of wonderful ingredients like ginger, garlic and Japanese leeks. It is a great dish that can be rustled up quickly if guests drop in unexpectedly. I usually serve it with white rice and if there are any leftovers, they don't last long in our house.

Serves 4

• 3 cups green beans
• small leek (about 2oz)
• 1/2 oz fresh ginger, peeled
• 2 fat cloves garlic
• sunflower or vegetable oil-for frying
• 7 oz ground pork
• 2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
• Sliced fresh or dried red chilies-to taste
• Sesame oil-to taste
  

1. Prepare the green beans, lightly cook in boiling water, then rinse under cold running water.

2. Drain the beans, pat them dry, and cut diagonally into bite-sized pieces.

3. Finely chop the leek, ginger, and garlic.

4. Put a little oil in a skillet over high heat. Add the chopped leek, ginger, and garlic, allowing the flavors to infuse in the oil, then add the ground pork and stir-fry.

5. Add the green beans, then add soy sauce and red chili to taste.

6. Continue to cook until the beans have heated through. Add a little sesame oil to taste and serve with hot white rice.

Fried Rice with Crabmeat

From Everyday Harumi by Harumi Kurihara, Conran 2009

Fried rice can be enjoyed all year round, I even cook it outdoors when we have a barbecue with friends and family. I like to add soy sauce flavored with garlic and ginger because I think it works well with the crabmeat and as I usually have some of the sauce ready-made in the fridge. If you have the time to make the sauce 2 weeks in advance it makes this recipe quicker and easier and also improves its flavor. The real trick of making good fried rice is to remember to keep tossing the ingredients in the wok to make sure that everything is well mixed and that the end result is light and free from lumps.

Serves 2-4

• 5 oz cooked white crabmeat, without shell
• 1/4 onion, peeled
• 2 scallions
• 3 medium eggs
• salt and pepper-to season
• 4 tablespoons sunflower or vegetable oil-for frying
• 3 1/2 oz ground beef
• 2 2/3 cups cooked Japanese sushi rice

For the garlic and ginger soy sauce:

• 6-9 fat cloves garlic
• 1 1/2 oz fresh ginger
• 1 2/3 cups soy sauce

1. To make the garlic and ginger soy sauce: Slice the garlic and the ginger, add them to the soy sauce, put in a clean jar with a tight-fitting lid, and refrigerate.

2. Loosen the crabmeat flakes, making sure there are no large chunks.

3. Finely chop the onion and scallions.

4. Lightly beat the eggs in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.

5. Put a wok over high heat and add 2 tablespoons of oil. Pour in the egg mixture and fry quickly, stirring gently as it is cooking. When lightly cooked, put into a bowl and set aside.

6. Put a little more oil in the wok, add the beef, and cook, adding the onion (though not the scallion), once the beef has browned.

7. Add the rice and toss the ingredients together in the wok, adding a little more oil if necessary, until all the oil is used. Pour 3 tablespoons of the garlic and ginger soy sauce around the rim of the pan and toss all the ingredients together, ensuring that the sauce is evenly mixed in and that the rice doesn't stick.

8. Continue to toss for around 7-8 minutes, then add the crabmeat and cooked eggs, season to taste with salt and pepper, and toss the ingredients again for a further couple of minutes to heat the crabmeat through. Turn the heat off and add the scallion. Mix in thoroughly and serve piping hot.

About Everyday Harumi

In Everyday Harumi, Harumi Kurihara, Japan's most popular cookbook writer, selects her favorite foods and presents more than 60 new home-style recipes for you to make for family and friends.  Harumi wants everyone to be able to make her recipes and she demonstrates how easy it is to cook Japanese food for every day occasions without needing to shop at specialist food stores. 

Available at Amazon.com 

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Artwork reproduced with permission from What Should I Make?. Copyright © 2009 by Nandini Nayar illus. by Proiti Roy. Tricycle Press.

If you are fortunate enough to have a kid who loves to eat, loves hanging out with you in kitchen, and loves Harry Potter than I have a  book for you. Think Harry Potter meets Top Chef and you have Ariane Smith’s book "Enchanted Thyme" which is book number one of the Delicious Adventure Series. 

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Cinnamon-Scented Sweet Potato Chapati (Cooking Light, November, 2003) My Rating: 1 2 3 4 5 View: finding recipe... More Actions: add comment cancel add comment | view comment (0) hide comment | edit notes cancel edit notes | show tags hide tags | share hide share My Notes: - Private info just for you! Edit Tags Rename Tag to Add Comment: Comments:

And here is one of Peter and Belinda's attempts to win the Queen in Echanted Thyme...

The Forbidden Forest's Black Raven Bog with Vanilla Fog

Recipe by Chef Michael Wilson from Enchanted Thyme - Book One in the Delicious Adventure Series by Ariane Smith,  Big Word Press 2008.

serves 6

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/8 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup milk
• 1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 loaf pre-sliced, white bread cut in 1/2 inch cubes
• 2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate or carob chips
• 3 ripe bananas, peeled, cut into small pieces
• 1 1/2 cups vanilla or maple flavored yogurt

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, whisk together sugar, vanilla, eggs, cream, milk, and cocoa powder.

Add bread cubes and toss.

Add chocolate or carob and bananas to bread mixture and toss.

Spray a 8 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 inch loaf pan with cooking spray to coat.

Fill with bread mixture.

Bake uncovered 1 hour and 15 minutes until top is slightly crisp.

Allow the "bog" to cool slightly and firm up in the pan.

Remove from pan and cut into slices.

Serve warm with vanilla or maple flavored yogurt drizzled on top. 

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