bread and more

ooops! whole week since i last posted. i have been cooking plenty though so here's an update on some of what we've been feasting on. first off the bread. now for some reason i've somewhat stubbornly avoided using the now famous no-knead bread recipe. that changed this week. i finally gave it a shot, and now i really wish i'd been using this recipe all along.
 

For those of you that haven't tried it (i feel like the last one on this bandwagon), you basically let the bread rise for 12-18 hours, but you don't knead it at all. not once! so i did a bit of research to understand why this works. basically when you knead dough, it strengthens the gluten network and aerates the dough, both of which are important baking. However with a very slow rise, you are getting similar results. The yeast feeds on the sugars, it creates carbon dioxide (and alcohol), and this lifts the dough. As it does this, the gluten strands naturally align themselves in an orderly fashion ideal for baking. The result is a bread with fewer and larger air cells that are unevenly distributed within the dough as compared to kneaded bread. frankly i find this very appealing. The slow rise also allows the flavors to develop more fully, which yields a much tastier bread.

after the first rise, you rest the bread 15 minutes, shape it into a ball and let it proof (partial-rise) another 2 hours. It's a long process - but so worth it!!!  to cook the bread you need an enamel dutch oven or something similar. you need to preheat your oven AND the empty cookware to 500. then flip the dough into the extremely hot pot, put the lid on it and cook for 30 minutes. remove the lid and finish cooking for 15-20 minutes. BAM!!! Again by far the best bread i've made at home. more precise recipe can be found here with a video here.

in other news, i recently read a blog entry on leeks vinaigrette. this brought back memories of many meals eaten as a child at home.  why not give it a whirl. for those unfamiliar with it, it's basically just leeks boiled to death, cooled and then served with a very acidic vinaigrette. doesn't get much more french than that, but trust me the sweetness of the leeks and the acidity of the vinaigrette are a perfect match. and if you want to "americanize" it, just add eggs and bacon like the blog entry suggests. for me, no eggs or bacon. 

last up for today - chicken skewers. i followed this recipe loosely. the chicken thighs were marinated in yogurt, paprika, chilis, garlic, vinegar and tomatoes. then i just skewered them and grilled em up along with some tasty veggies. definitely recommended!