Jim Lahey's No Knead Bread (from the Star Tribune)

I've only tried this bread once and it came out pretty good, except that it stuck to the bottom of my corning ware dish. Jane has had greater success, although she keeps burning her fingers. The recipe calls for a dutch oven or other coverable, oven safe pot. Apparently you don't need to grease the pot, but I will be doing that anyway from now on.

Materials:

- 3 cups flour (up to 1/3 can be whole wheat and it works fine)
- 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast (you can also use active dry yeast without proofing it first, but I use closer to 1/2 a teaspoon)
- 1 teaspoon salt (the original called for 1 tablespoon, but Jane found that too salty)
- 1 5/8 cup water

Procedure:

- Stir ingredients until combined, then cover with plastic wrap and let sit 18 to 24 hours.
- Dump the dough out on floured surface and sprinkle it with a little flour.
- Fold the dough over on itself twice, then let it sit covered for 15 minutes.
- Shape the dough into a ball, place it on cornmeal-covered surface, cover it with plastic wrap, and let it rise another 2 to 3 hours.
- 30 minutes before you are ready to bake the bread, turn the oven to 450. Put your baking pot in to warm it up.
- After 30 minutes, dump the dough into the pot seam side up. Shake the pot to distribute the dough evenly. It may look like crap . . . that is ok.
- Bake according to the following schedule, which helps make a crispier crust:
...20 minutes covered
...10 minutes with the lid off
...10 minutes on a baking sheet
...5 minutes with the oven on and the door ajar
...5 minutes with the oven off and the door ajar

Good luck. I still say time is the painful part of breadmaking, not kneading, and this recipe sure takes a lot of time. However, it is tasty. I'll look forward to hearing our group's results.

Thanks for the recipe, Jane.

Sam

Mozzarella and Roasted Red Pepper Salad

As Marja and I enjoyed our snow day today, I was reflecting on last weekend's snow storm. My mom was in town (Pete and Jane got wasted with her, in fact) and since we were snowed in, we basically ate and drank the whole weekend. Our final meal together before she took her (delayed) flight home included this delicious salad. It is oh so good.

Materials:

1 cup dry white wine
2 T white raisins (these could be left out, if you ask me)
3 lbs red peppers (or roasted red peppers in a jar)
1.5 - 2 lbs drained fresh mozzarella
Fresh basil
2 cloves garlic
3 T extra virgin olive oil
3 T balsalmic vinegar
Pinch red pepper flakes
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Procedure:

Simmer raisins and garlic in wine until tender. Let sit 15 minutes.
Char peppers if using fresh peppers.*
Cut peppers and mozzarella into 1 inch squares.
Roughly chop basil.
Combine peppers, mozzarella, and basil.
Whisk together wine solution, olive oil, and vinegar.
Toss all ingredients together, then add salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste.

*To char peppers, I put them in the oven under broil and rotate them until the skin is blackened and blistered. You can also hold them over the gas flame of your stove until the same happens. Either way, once the skin blackens, put the peppers in a paper bag and close it to let the steam loosen the skins. Once they are cool enough to touch, peel the skin off.

This keeps fairly well, although the mozzarella may discolor. It is a perfect side dish to any Italian meal.

Thanks to Karin Maier for this recipe. Zach, she has our birthday, too, although it is a few years earlier.