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Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Thursday, February 5th, 2009

One thing you should know about me, Jonathan, is that I love bread.  I love everything about it.  I love it so much that when I was growing up, my family made a rule that the bread plate had to be passed around the table before it got to me so that I wouldn’t eat it all up. 

So you can imagine my delight when Kelly told me she wanted to try this thing she had heard about called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. ”Oh, that’s a good idea,” I said, trying not to appear too eager and, I think, failing. 

Kelly mixed up some dough last night and made the bread this evening.  The smell of fresh-baked bread filled the kitchen.  And when it came out, this is what it looked like.

Bread, wonderful bread

That photograph was taken just a few hours ago–the stuff looks like it is straight from a magazine when it is fresh out of the oven.  Here’s a beauty shot of the loaf with the technique book:

 

Bread and book

 OK, enough pictures.  We had to cut it open and see how it tasted.

cut-up

The book uses words like “custard” to describe the inside of a good loaf of artisan bread.  And they fit.  The texture is soft, dense, and practically melts in your mouth; it’s markedly different than the drier, chewier, lighter fare you’d get in the bread bin at the grocer’s.

It was one of the best loaves of bread I have ever eaten.

Posted in cooking, photo | 5 Responses »

New recipe and a bit of an experiment

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

The February 2009 issue of Every Day with Rachael Rayincluded a recipe that you cook in a colander! Oh my! I had to try it. That, and it included baby bok choy and couscous, which we enjoy.

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients
1/2 cup soy sauce
6 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons sesame oil
One 1 1/2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
1 bunch scallions, 1/2 of them thinly sliced, the other half cut into two inch pieces
3 star anise
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed and halved
Salt
One 10oz box of couscous
1 1/4 lbs baby bok choy, halved lengthwise and rinsed

Directions
1. In a shallow baking dish, whisk together the soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil and ginger; stir in the 2-inch scallion pieces and the star anise, if using. Season the chicken with salt and add to the marinade, turning to coat. Let marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes.
2. Line a footed metal colander with 2 layers of damp cheesecloth, allowing 2 inches of overhang. Place in a pot and add enough water to just reach the colander bottom. Bring to a simmer; have a small pot of boiling water on the side.
3. Pour the couscous into the colander. Place the chicken thighs on top in a single layer, pressing up the sides of the colander, if necessary; reserve the marinade. Cover and steam, adding more hot water as needed, until the chicken is cooked through, 25 to 30 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, simmer the reserved marinade until thickened, about 4 minutes; strain.
5. When the chicken is almost done, scatter the bok choy on top, season with salt and steam for 3 minutes. Transfer the bok choy and chicken to a platter, drizzle with the marinade and top with half of the sliced scallions. Stir the remaining scallions into the couscous, season with salt and serve with the chicken.

The result: First, I didn’t use all the sugar or all the soy sauce because it would have been too sweet for us. Also, I’m sometimes sensitive to too much salt/sodium in things and we didn’t have the reduced sodium soy sauce. I was concerned about the flavor, but Jonathan didn’t notice, so that’s a good sign. I used more ginger than was called for in the recipe. I made the marinade early and the chicken sat in the frige soaking up the deliciousness all day.

Second, this is a two person recipe. I don’t think I could have lifted the colander and filled the bottom pot without spilling anything if I was on my own. Metal colanders get hot and therefore require the use of hot pads or ovenmits!

Third, I was very concerned about whether or not the chicken would cook. It DID! And it was great, but the couscous didn’t have enough liquid so I had to add some and pop it in the microwave for a few minutes after everything else was finished.

Here’s what it looked like in our kitchen:

Marinating the chicken:
010 by you.

Lining the colander with cheesecloth:

009 by you.

Watching it cook:

011 by you.

Adding the bok choy:

012 by you.

Ready to eat!
016 by you.

 

All in all, I enjoyed this recipe, but I don’t think I’ll cook in the colander again. I’m all for using the kitchen tools for as many things as possible, but this is kind of ridiculous and takes more effort than I’m willing to put forth every week.

Posted in cooking, marriage, photo, recipes | 2 Responses »

Not always a winner

Thursday, January 15th, 2009

Jonathan would have you to believe that I am a great cook. True, we do not go hungry, but sometimes I have really bad ideas. Since I had a particularly bad idea this week, I thought I’d share it with you. Let me preface by saying I work for an accounting firm that is amazing in many ways, not the least of which is the snack cabinet. On Tuesday afternoon I felt the need for a little pick me up and I thought, “Mmm, you know what sounds good? A mint mocha!” Having no compulsion to pay for such a thing when all the ingredients were at hand, I set to work. Here’s the recipe:

1/2 Tablespoon sketchy non-dairy could last forever creamer
1 packet Swiss Miss cocoa power
8 ounces brewed coffee
3 Junior mints

Mix them together! What do you get? Sludge and ruined coffee and wasted Junior Mints.

I happened to have my camera, so in case you needed a visual:
029

Please, save your Junior Mints and just eat them separately.

We have had success with a few new recipes lately and when we’re done eating, we’ll post the photo and info on those too!

Posted in cooking, photo, recipes | 3 Responses »

Root Vegetable Tagine

Wednesday, October 29th, 2008

Okay, this is the last recipe for the day, but I’m not going to lie, it was a good one! I’ve been having a hard time looking for slow cooker recipes that do not take less than nine hours to finish or require meat on the bone (one of us doesn’t like meat on the bone)…..I finally found one!

I prepped the veggies last night and put them in the crock pot before we left for work and it looked like this:

073

Upon our return home, we found this:

083

 

I added some funky Trader Joe’s mix of couscous and some other stuff to it and here’s the final product:

085

 

The verdict: We have ourselves a winner! It is like a delightful autumn stewy thing. It’s both sweet and spiced and it was a really nice way to end the day.

Okay, here’s the recipe:

1 pound parsnips, peeled and diced
1 pound turnips, peeled and diced
2 medium onions, chopped
1 pound carrots, peeled and diced
6 dried apricots, chopped
4 pitted prunes, chopped
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon dried cilantro
1 (14 ounce) can vegetable broth

In a slow cooker, toss together the parsnips, turnips, onions, carrots, apricots, and prunes. Season with turmeric, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, parsley, and cilantro. Pour in the vegetable broth.

Cover, and cook 9 hours on Low.

McPhersonisms on this: I have no idea how much of each vegetable I put in here. I just bought a turnip, a couple of parsnips and had some carrots so in they went. I used three onions because I happened to have three and I didn’t use the same amount of spice…we use frozen cilantro from Trader Joe’s so we put eight cubes in rather than the measured amount of dried. I also use heaps or scoops of spices so it was maybe a little more zesty. Upon reading the comments on allrecipes, I also added an additional 1/2 can of broth. I set the crock pot to cook on low for only eight hours, knowing it would have an additional two hours to be on “warm” before we returned home. It worked out very well. If you’re so inclined, one could easily add some chicken.

And now a confession. I had no idea whether I was holding a turnip or a rutabaga at the store, so I bought both. Anybody know what to do with a rutabaga around 1.5 to 2lbs in size?

Posted in cooking, home, marriage, recipes | 2 Responses »

Birthday Dinner

Wednesday, October 29th, 2008

om nom nom nom by J. McPherson.

For Jonathan’s birthday, he asked me to cook up a new recipe for dinner (we had already gone out to eat the previous two evenings and we like to keep things balanced). I offered up a selection from the various cookbooks and magazines we’ve got around the house and this is what he selected. (From Real Simple, November 2008) I did not really change much on this, but I did use salmon with the skin because I wasn’t paying attention. Not such a big deal. It was delicious!

Salmon and Fennel with Roasted-Lemon Vinaigrette


2 bulbs fennel, thinly sliced
2 lemons, cut in half crosswise
4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
3 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper
4 6-ounce pieces skinless salmon fillet
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
12 ounces mixed greens (about 8 cups)

Heat oven to 400° F. In a large roasting pan, toss the fennel, lemons, garlic, 1 tablespoon of the oil, and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Roast until the fennel begins to soften, about 8 minutes.Yield: Makes 4 servings NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 372; FAT 17g (sat 2g); CHOLESTEROL 97mg; CARBOHYDRATE 17g; CALORIES FROM FAT 40%; SODIUM 696mg; PROTEIN 40g; FIBER 6g; SUGAR 4g

Season the salmon with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and nestle in the fennel. Roast until the salmon is opaque throughout, 12 to 15 minutes.

Squeeze the garlic out of the skins into a small bowl and mash to a paste. Squeeze the lemon pulp and juice into the bowl. Stir in the honey, rosemary, the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Place the salmon and fennel on the greens. Drizzle with the dressing.

 

Posted in birthday, cooking, family, home, marriage, recipes | 3 Responses »

South Africa…updated

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

I wrote a few months ago about a trip to South Africa that we are going on with a group from our church. We have more details and many of you have received our “McPherson South Africa” email lately, but I thought I’d blog about it as well…. Basically, we will be in the town of Durban, South Africa for two weeks. There is a group of seven of us going and we’ll be helping out with two camps and with two transition homes (orphanages) during our time there. This means we’ll be doing anything from leading songs to playing soccer to giving messages and sharing in small group discussion with middle schoolers to spending time caring for babies and generally helping out where we can be of use. Why am I blogging about this right now, oh because we leave soon! The first week of December we’ll be on a plane and on our way! We are thankful for our friends and family who have supported us financially and with your prayers and kind words of encouragement. We’re hoping to blog a couple of times while we’re away, but we’ll for sure blog about our trip upon our return!

Also, I made a delicious dinner for Jonathan’s birthday on Sunday. I’ll post more about that soon. And I’m working on a root vegetable tagine for the crock pot tomorrow. This could open a whole new door of slow cooking possibilities for us or leave us with a pile of left overs and a sincere desire for more ketchup or cheese. I’ll keep you posted.

Posted in OCC, cooking, family, fun, home, marriage, travel | 1 Response »

The brownie recipe

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008

I thought about making these brownies again and taking a photo because they really didn’t last long at our house, but I think you all just need to try them in your own home.

Here you go, from Martha Stewart:

Chocolate Ginger Brownies

Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter, plus more for the baking dish
3 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup sugar (I used less-maybe 3/4 cup-I’d like to keep all my teeth)
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s because we had it and HOLY SMOKES Dutch cocoa powder is expensive!)
2 eggs
1 tsp grated peeled fresh ginger
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. coarse salt
1/8 tsp. ground cloves

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Butter an 8-inch square baking dish. Line bottom with parchment paper, allowing 2 inches to hang over 2 sides. Butter parchment; set aside.
Melt butter and chocolate together in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring until smooth.
Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients.
Pour batter into prepared dish and smooth top with a rubber spatula.
Bake until a cake tester inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs, 30 to 35 minutes.
Let cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes. Lift out, and let cool completely on rack. Cut into sixteen 2-inch squares. Brownies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 4 days.

These were moist and chewy, just like a brownie should taste and the spices gave them a nice flavor-not too chocolaty. I did use the parchment paper this go round, but I think next time I’ll just skip it. I stored the brownies in the pyrex because it has it’s own cover and why waste good parchment paper? Oh, this does not make 16 brownies. Well, it does, but some people then have to eat two!

Posted in cooking, family, fun, honeymoon, marriage, recipes | 5 Responses »

Happy October 15th!

Wednesday, October 15th, 2008

October 15th is a BIG deadline here in the wonderful world of accounting. All June 30th fiscal year end organizations, people who extended their tax filing and employee benefit plans have to file their tax info. For those of you who know enough about my job to know I don’t work with the tax department, you may be wondering, “what does this have to do with you?!?!” well, to fill out those tax forms, they often need their financial statements. That’s where I come in. I’ve been pushing paper like a crazy person, a new paper cut everyday it seems. And now, the deadline is here and my office is sort of cleanish and will be cleaner by the end of the day! Oh boy! More importantly, I found out this morning that Jonathan got me an October 15th present! Yes, I will soon be the happy recipient of a new rack for the oven! (Right now we only have one oven rack.) Hooray for Jonathan! Thank you for thinking of a most delightful treat! I’ll post photos when it arrives, but right now all I can think about is baking two trays of cookies at one time!

Posted in cooking, fun, marriage, work | 4 Responses »

New Recipe!

Sunday, June 22nd, 2008

One of the new recipes I found was for Black Bean Enchilada Bake (thanks Sarah!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was pretty good if I do say so myself, but really, you don’t need much of a recipe for this one. Play around with it!

Here is the recipe:
2 cups chopped onion, fresh or frozen
1 and 1/2 cups chopped red pepper, fresh or frozen
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup salsa
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 15 oz cans black beans, drained (I also rinsed them)
12 6″ corn tortillas
2 cups monterey jack and cheddar cheese blend-shredded (I used pepper jack and cheddar because that’s what we had on hand)
3 tomatoes chopped (optional)
1/2 cup sour cream (optional)
1/2 cup sliced black olives (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combined onion, pepper, garlic, salsa, cumin and black beans in a large skillet and bring to simmer over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently for three minutes (I put the onions and garlic in first and sauteed them up a bit before adding the other ingredients).

Arrange 6 tortillas in the bottom of a 9″x13″ baking dish overlapping them as necessary. Spread half the bean mixture over the tortillas and sprinkle with half the cheese. Repeat the layering process until all remaining ingredients are used.

Cover dish with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Carefully remove foil and serve warm (I removed the foil then broiled it for a couple of minutes to make the top a little crispy). Garnish with tomatoes, sour cream and olives (we did not do this, but that’s up to you).

I think if we do this again I’ll serve it with a bunch of lettuce and tomato on top like a taco salad. It’s a pretty easy go-to meal for midweek. I also added an extra teaspoon of cumin and cilantro, but we really like both of those.

Posted in cooking, recipes | No Responses »

Cheap.

Wednesday, May 14th, 2008

I like to save money. I like to know that there will be money when I decide to stop saving and want to give to someone in need or buy a  cute dress or a indulge in a cup of coffee that costs more than someone in another country has to spend on food for a week or visit a friend in another country. It’s just the way I am. As a money saving gal, one way I’m trying to explore saving is with the food we cook. Here’s where it gets tricky. I don’t like ground beef and that’s the primary source of protein in many of the recipes I find. It gives me the heebeegeebees for the most part-it just feels weird in my mouth and I don’t like knowing that I didn’t see everything that went into that little plastic package. I enjoy a good burger every now and again, but not any meat in the shape of a loaf or preceding the word helper.  Most of the good, less expensive foods we consumed growing up involved ground meat and the delicious vegetables and fruits that grew in the yard. My mom is a good mom. She is a great cook and was very creative with leftovers and allowed us as much cheese or milk as required to consume said leftovers so we weren’t scarred for life. Mostly she now has three grown children who enjoy cheese and milk. Also, I can’t really eat tofu. It tastes just delightful going down, but the rest of the process gets a little confused and it’s not pleasant for me. We’ve tried cooking with seitan-we now pronounce it satan. It was weird and smelled like cat food when I took it out of the can. I couldn’t get over the cat food smell so poor Jonathan had to eat the whole thing for the greater part of the week while I enjoyed delicious peanut butter and jelly.

We’ve had some great meals lately-sweet potato and black bean burritos, grilled veggies with polenta and some other black bean items. Does anybody have any other awesome (vegetarian/legume) recipes that they love?

Posted in cooking, home | 3 Responses »

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