spacekadet blog

If you’ve ever wanted to bake bread but were always too chicken to try, then please visit Jim Lahey’s article and give No Knead Bread a whirl. I’ve been baking bread this way for months and I swear it’s the best thing ever. Why? Because fresh homemade bread is like sliceable heaven. There is a certain beauty in its simplicity: water, salt, yeast and flour. That’s all it takes! This is whole, natural food, folks. No preservatives needed. All that hippy stuff aside, what really gets me baking are the flavor and the time. Jim Lahey’s recipe turns out a seriously delicious loaf of bread, and because there’s no kneading involved, it’s super quick to throw together (aside from the 18-hour rise time!).

I’ve made dozens of no knead bread loaves, and with each new attempt I usually try something new such as added seeds or different flour (I highly recommend Dove’s Organic Strong Wholemeal Flour). Last week I was feeling ambitious and went for a variation of the Seeded Sour loaf posted on Breadtopia.com. The loaf contains quinoa, millet, amaranth and poppy seeds, plus a bonus seed coating on the outside. I didn’t have sourdough starter so I used yeast. The resulting loaf had a nice texture and I discovered how much I love poppy seeds. The only think I’d skip next time is the amaranth in the seed topping - it was a little crunchy for my tastes. Otherwise, the seed topping is awesome and I think I’ll use it for all of my loaves because it makes it easy to get the dough out of the bowl.

To make sense of what I’m talking about, visit Breadtopia and check out their recipe and video. I highly recommend watching the video; I learned so much just by watching the baker handle the dough and manage the seeds. It also gave me extreme baker envy as he had all these useful tools like a dough scraper and a “proofing” bowl. The same page also contains three other no knead variations that might suit your fancy.

Tempting Textures: Quinoa, Amaranth, Poppy and Millet

Four-Seed No Knead Bread

30 grams rye flour
70 grams strong whole wheat bread flour
370 grams strong bread flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 1/2 tsp. quinoa
3 1/2 tsp. millet
2 Tbs. amaranth
1/2 Tbs. poppy seeds
1/4 tsp. yeast
350ml water
2 Tbs. yogurt

Seed Topping Ingredients:

1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 1/2 Tbs poppy seeds

Combine all dry ingredients (except the topping ingredients) and mix with the combined wet ingredients. Stir until the dough has the consistency of a shaggy ball, adding more water if necessary. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest in a warm place for at least 12 hours (and up to 24 hours. The dough is ready when it’s about double in size and spotted with big bubbles.

Give the counter top and your hands a generous sprinkle of flour. Turn the dough onto the counter. Pull the dough at either end to form a strip. Fold this strip into thirds (like a business letter). Give the dough a quarter turn and fold in thirds again. I’ll refer to these folds as “seams”, i.e., “right now your dough is on the counter, seam side up.” Cover with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

Oil a large bowl with olive oil. Add the seed topping ingredients in the bowl and swish the bowl around until the inside is covered in seeds. Put the dough ball into the bowl seam side down. Cover with the plastic wrap and let sit for 2-3 hours. The dough is ready when it has more than doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When the dough is ready, remove the HOT pot and pour in a bit of olive oil. Swirl it around so that oil covers the entire inside of the pot. Now, take the bowl containing the dough and quickly turn it upside down over the pot so that the dough falls in seam side up. Cover the pot with a lid and bake for 40 minutes. Then remove the lid and bake another 5 or so minutes, until the loaf is browned and the seeds are toasted. Cool on a rack at least 45 minutes before slicing.

No Knead Recipe Variations
No knead Bread - Jim Lahey’s original recipe

Crossposted to SmarterFitter.com

My momma gave me permission to post her recipes on the interwebs, and since I’m still quite sickly and without the brain capacity to write anything original, I thought today would be a good day to share her latest success. It’s a Sweet Potato Quiche, inspired by our meal at London’s Food For Thought, a tiny vegetarian eatery in Covent Garden. The food is simple: quiche, stews, soups, rice salads, green salads, wholemeal bread. It’s the kind of food you could probably make at home, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth the money.

Food For Thought’s best sell is that it’s the only place in central London’s main shopping district that serves really fresh, tasty veggie food that won’t make you feel like butt after eating it. My mom liked it so much she bought their cookbook, which had a number of quiches but not the one she had that day. So she winged it from memory and churned out a pretty damn tasty quiche. She also has a good tip for anyone who’s crust-averse:

I also made a “crust-less” quiche which was fabulous! I put the sweet potato on the bottom to form a mock crust. I used spray on the ramekin, but you can use whatever you wish to keep it from sticking.

So there you have it.

Sweet Potato Quiche

4 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt or to taste
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 sweet potato, boiled, peeled and sliced thin
1/2 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup frozen corn, yellow
1/4 cup green pepper, chopped
1/4 cup red pepper, chopped
olive oil, dash
1 tomato, chopped
1 pie crust
Mrs. Dash Original - a few dashes

Prepare pie crust and set aside.

Saute onion, garlic and peppers in a little dash of olive oil. When onion is translucent, turn off the heat and add the chopped tomato.

Whisk eggs, and add milk slowly. Add spices to egg mixture.

Spoon 3/4 of the onion/pepper mixture onto the bottom of the prepared crust.
Layer slices of sweet potato over that.
Sprinkle with cheese, evenly over the top.
Add another layer of potato slices.
Top with the rest of the onion/pepper mixture.
Pour the egg mixture over all letting it seep into all the nooks and crannies.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes, uncovered. Knife inserted will come out clean, when the quiche is done.

Crossposted to SmarterFitter.com

Isn’t it nice when you cook food for someone and they enjoy it so much that they lick every pan, plate and utensil that touched it? That was a certain someone’s (I won’t say who for sake of their dignity) response to my enchiladas last night, made possible in part by my mom who brought a big bag of corn tortillas with her when she came to visit me in London. Thanks, mom!

The enchiladas themselves were nice - a simple filling of sauteed onion, mushroom and spinach - but the sauce really made the meal. I adapted this recipe on RecipeZaar, which used cocoa powder in the seasoning. I also added sauteed onion and sliced carrot, inspired by Julio’s in Austin, Texas.

The enchilada sauce was good enough to eat by itself with a spoon, and I could see using it to spice up all sorts of things: scrambled tofu, black beans, refried beans, steamed vegetables… it would also make a good base for a veggie chili.

Cocoa-Spiked Ranchero Sauce

Carrots are optional but do add a nice texture, especially after they’ve been baked in the oven. Feel free to experiment with other herbs and spices such as jalapeno, cilantro, or parsley. But don’t ever forget the cocoa!

2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp cocoa powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp chili powder
1 liter water
1 400g can chopped tomatoes
1 carrot, sliced (optional)
salt to taste

In a medium saucepan on a low heat, add the olive oil and garlic and cook until soft.

Stirring constantly, gradually sprinkle the flour into the oil to form a thick paste (ever wonder what a roux is? This is it!).

Continue to stir and add the cocoa powder, cumin, oregano and chili powder.

With a wire wisk, continue to stir while slowly adding the water.

Add the tomatoes, salt and sliced carrots and bring everything up to a boil.

Turn down the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the sauce reaches the desired thickness. Taste the sauce and add more chili powder or salt if desired.

Makes enough for about 8 enchiladas, plus little leftover for spooning onto the enchiladas after they come out of the oven.

To use this on enchiladas:

Warm the sauce in a saucepan wide enough to fit a corn tortilla.

In a baking pan, ladle enough sauce to cover the bottom.

Place a corn tortilla into the saucepan and cover with the warm sauce. When the tortilla is warmed through and soft enough to roll into an enchilada, remove and fill with your desired filling. Roll the tortilla into an enchilada place in the baking pan.

Repeat until the pan is full.

Pour more sauce on top of the enchiladas.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Remove the foil, top with grated cheese if desired, and bake until cheese is melted. Tip: turn on the grill for a minute or two to get the cheese nice and brown and crispy!

Thanks, mom!

Crossposted to SmarterFitter.com