Reduce/Reuse/Recycle

Hey I just had a great idea for a Christmas gift exchange! It's of the reduce/reuse/recycle variety. Here it is:

We all have more than we need. But most of us also have other things that we need or want. Now, I personally don't mind used things (you know, depending on what it IS). Used books, used shelves, etc. Wouldn't it be great if instead of boxing up all our old stuff and hauling it over to Goodwill (which is a great idea, in and of itself) that we did a 'gift' exchange with local family and friends? Here's how it works... (reminiscent of Freecycle but with people you know and around the holidays):

1) Make a 'want' list of those things you need that you don't mind receiving used.
2) Make a 'have' list for things you're thinking of getting rid of.
2b) Swap the lists within a group of family/friends.
3) If someone wants something you have, wrap it up and give it to them for Christmas!
4) Hope they do the same for you.
5) If you have anything left that you still want to get rid of, swing over to Goodwill or offer it on Freecycle.

Just an idea I'm throwing out there!

Yep, I grew those!

Here's my first harvest. Thanks Jesse for letting me know I could start enjoying my garden!

Daily Bread: The Easiest Bread I Know

It's so tasty, too.

3 3/4 to 5 cups whole wheat flour
4 teaspoons active yeast
1 scant tablespoon kosher salt
2 cups warm (100 degrees) water
2 tablespoons molasses

Combine 3 3/4 cups flour with yeast and salt in a large mixing bowl. Dissolve the molasses in the water. Stir water and molasses mixture into the flour. Stir until well combined and there are no dry streaks of flour. If the dough is too runny to mound into a ball in the bottom of the bowl sprinkle on more flour 1/4 cup at a time. Stir after each addition until there is no dry flour left.

Cover the bowl with oiled plastic wrap and let rise in a warm (75-80 degrees), draft free place for 2 hours or until a little over double in size. Grease and flour a 5X9 inch loaf pan.

Using a greased rubber spatula, deflate the dough by pushing it down into the center of the bowl. Turn it out into the greased and floured loaf pan and smooth the top of the dough with the spatula. You may want to keep a little bowl of oil handy to re-oil the spatula. The dough will be very sticky. Cover the pan with oiled plastic wrap.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

While the oven is heating, let the dough rise in a warm area until it just begins to peak over the top of the pan.

Gently place it into the hot oven. Because the bread is not kneaded the gluten structure is fairly weak, so it's easy to cause it to fall if you slam it down. Bake for 20 minutes at 450 degrees. Check coloring. If it is browning well, reduce temperature to 400 degrees and bake 20 more minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 200 degrees. If it is not browning, leave the temp at 450 for the remaining 20 minutes.

ps If you had ginger carrot soup and bread with me recently, this is the same stuff.

Best Yogurt Ever

Okay, there are a lot of ways to successfully make yogurt. In fact, its one of the most forgiving and, therefore easy, things to begin making at home. That said, 'best yogurt ever' depends a lot on what you want in a yogurt so I admit, its a pretty subjective thing. I like my yogurt thick and creamy so if that sounds good to you, then this might be the way to go.

Preheat oven to 200
On the stove, heat half a gallon of organic whole milk to 185.
Reduce heat to 110-115.
Stir in 1/4 c. plain organic, not fat free, yogurt. (Make sure your yogurt have live active cultures in it. Any of your organic brands should be good: Nancy's, Brown Cow, Wallaby, Stoneyfield Farm, etc.)
Stir in some probiotics (optional; I use Udo's Infant probiotics to help prevent ear infections in baby).
Turn off pre-heated oven. Cover stove-top mixture and put in oven.
Leave mixture covered undisturbed in oven 7-8 hours.
(I heated the oven to 200 a couple times during those 7-8 hours and turned it off as soon as the pre-heating was done.)
Remove from oven, stir, transfer into storage containers, and refrigerate.
Enjoy thick, creamy yogurt.

We've added local honey for immune boosters or berries for antioxidant sweetness. Here's an old family favorite that's good to have on hand for a quick breakfast that'll 'stick to yer ribs til lunch.'

Swiss Breakfast:
1c. yogurt
1c. rolled oats
1c. milk
Stir and let sit in fridge. Add more milk or yogurt if it gets too thick for you.
Add fruit or honey to your bowl in the morning.

Daily Bread: Multi-Grain Waffles

It's the weekend! Daddy's home all day, and we're all a little cheerier than usual. After the early service at St. John's tomorrow, we'll feast on these yummy waffles. Maybe I'll even try to rope another family into breakfast at our house if I get courageous.

Multi-Grain Waffles

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup multi-grain (7, 9, 12, whatever you've got) cereal
boiling water
1 T sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup milk (whole milk or evaporated milk are best, but skim works)
3/4 cups water (if you used skim above, just use 1 3/4 cups milk and no water)
2 eggs, separated
1/3 cup melted butter or margarine

Equipment
waffle iron

Method
Pour boiling water over cereal just to cover. Let stand 20 minutes.

While the cereal is hanging out, combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. All at once add milk, water (or more milk) and egg yolks. Stir to combine and then beat in butter and multi-grain cereal.

Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks. If you've never done this by hand, no electricity, not even one of those mechanical egg-beater things, you should give it a try. You'll work up enough of an appetite to have 2 waffles with real butter and syrup afterward.

Fold the egg whites into the batter. Be gentle and don't deflate the egg whites.

Bake in the waffle iron. They're usually ready when they stop steaming, sometimes just a little before that.

My Livestock

Have I told you about my herd of livestock? Man, are these guys little troopers. They eat much of my kitchen waste (peels, cores, any other veggies) and never complain. And they are multiplying at a prodigious rate! It's cold here, but they don't seem to mind that either. All they seem to care about is food to eat and a place to sleep.

What are they, you ask? Chickens? I wish! Ducks? Nope! Little urban city swine? No again!

They're redworms! And they are making me some mighty fine fertilizer.

Now, you ask, why in the world would I post about worms on this blog about nice warm cuddly things like Butternut Squash Soup and sharing veggies with neighbors and Granola?

I don't know, actually!

There just seems to be something great about having a way to 'recycle' my kitchen waste into something useful rather than filling up a landfill. And I got to share worms with a friend yesterday so she could start her own herd!

Daily Bread: No Knead Bread

Cooking is the one household chore I always enjoy. And now that my husband recognizes the dignity of doing dishes every evening while I get the baby into bed, I have no reason not to cook. So at the suggestion of a fellow QD writer, I'll endeavor to share a taste of our daily bread.

First up, No Knead Bread. So simple and good. If you begin the recipe in the evening, you'll have bread hot out of the oven in time for dinner the following day. It's the perfect thing with a comforting bowl of soup as the fall weather sets in.

No Knead Bread

Photo Album

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups Harvest King bread flour
1 cup white wheat flour
1/2 cup stone ground whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp. instant yeast
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 1/2 cups warm water (plus 2 tablespoons for high altitude)
about 1/3 to 1/2 cup wheat or oat bran (for dusting)
small amount of cornmeal for sprinkling on the bottom of the pan

Equipment
A covered 5-6 quart Dutch oven or other covered pot or casserole that can go into a 500 degree oven. I use a 5 quart cast iron Dutch oven. (note to le creuset users: the plastic nob on the lid is usually only rated up to 400 or 450, so check your model before using.)
A banneton or large mesh sieve and cotton towel (not terry cloth).

Method

1. Mix dough: combine all ingredients except bran and cornmeal in a big bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together. It will be shaggy and very sticky. Use a wet spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl so that all of the dough is mounded together in the bottom of the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit 12-20 hours on the countertop. If you let your house get really cold at night like I do, put the dough in the oven or microwave over night to keep it from getting too cold. It should stay between 70 and 75 degrees for the first rise.

2. Shape: The dough should have doubled in size and have little bubbles all over the top. Using a wet or oiled spatula scrape the dough out onto a floured board. Make sure the board is not tilting toward the edge of the countertop. The first time I did this, the dough slipped right off the counter and onto the flour when I dumped it out! Using the spatula or wet hands, fold the edges of the dough into the middle 3 or 4 times. Nudge the dough into a ball and put it into your banneton, or put the strainer into a bowl, line it with a cotton towel and sprinkle bran all over it. Then drop the dough onto the towel and into the strainer. Dust the top of the dough with more bran and fold the towel over it or cover it with a second towel. Let the dough rest for about 2 hours in a warm (about 78 degrees) draft-free place.

3. Preheat: Turn your oven to 450 degrees, 475 for high altitude, after the dough has been rising for a little over an hour. When the dough has about 30 minutes left to rise, set your dutch oven into the hot oven.

4. Bake: The dough should have doubled in size. Remove the pot from the oven and take off the lid. Sprinkle cornmeal all over the bottom--the cornmeal may smoke a little. Remove the towel covering the dough and flip it upside down into the hot dutch oven. If it all falls to one side, shake the pot gently to even out the dough. Spritz the top with water and put on the lid. Bake covered for 30 minutes. Uncover, check coloring, and bake 10 to 20 minutes more until the internal temperature of the loaf is 205 F, or 200 at high altitude. If the bread is browning too quickly, reduce temp to 400.

5. Cool on a wire rack before slicing. If making ahead, you can rewarm and crisp the crust in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes before serving.


Sources:
My first encounter with this bread was in the NY Times. When Mark Bittman posted a recipe from Sullivan Street Bakery bakers everywhere started playing around with the recipe. Notably Rose Levy Beranbaum, author of The Bread Bible, made about 12 loaves and blogged about it here. I've tried out a few different recipes and the one above is my favorite for the amount of whole grain flour and taste, texture, etc.