When life is unsteady and a sudden thrust of unsettling news unexpectedly hits I am faced with the uncomfortable reality that life is fragile. A smile from my sweet baby becomes more precious, the happy shrieks from the boys makes me joyful rather than annoyed, and the popcorn kernels littering my floor continue to reside there as I’d rather enjoy a prolonged snuggle than interrupt that time with the roar of the vacuum.

The poignancy of those moments fade more quickly than I care to admit. The monotony of everyday life returns as does the ability to take it for granted. The screams become as offensive as chewing on egg shells and the baby’s smile fades as she becomes bored playing alone while her mother tries to retain some sort of order and sanity in the house.

An image pops up on the computer – victims of the tragic devastation in Japan. Their is a terror in their eyes that I have never known. With water raging behind them they cling to a slumped body of a child who is tired and afraid. Their faces are stained with mud and confusion seemingly asking what’s next? where do we go? what the hell just happened?

The gift of such catastrophic events is an appreciation of simplicity and a awakening to the reality that life is fleeting. But the harsh truth is in this moment thousands of lives are wrecked. My mind can not comprehend the fear, pain, and destruction that abounds in Japan at this very moment. My heart breaks for everyone involved and I continue to pray for all those affected. If you feel so inclined and are financially able to give the CHC organization is a great way to take action and there are so many other ways to help.

I’m a once again devastated with grief and overcome with joy for the gifts that I have today. I don’t know what tomorrow will bring but today I will savor the smiles, the rowdiness of young boys and the comfort of homemade bread.

I can not think of a more comforting combination than fresh baked bread and tomato sauce. In one bite you are faced with sweet, salty, acid, and chew. The familiar feel of warm dough worked between your finger tips and knowing that the very thing your are coaxing into a supple round is alive and well.

The dough rises and falls gaining elasticity and flavor. With simple ingredients and a safe environment the bread thrives rewarding you with a dinner that reminds you to slow down and appreciate today. In the heat of the oven the brightness of the tomato sauce subtly invades the baking bread creating a taste reminiscent of my mom’s homemade pizza that I lovingly remember from my childhood. The pillow-like crust pleasantly took center stage then as it does now. Sometimes all you need is red sauce and bread.

Foccacia with Red Sauce
inspired by Tessa Kiros, Apples for Jam: A Colorful Cookbook – a delightful book, I highly recommend.

This dish is made even simpler with the addition of store bought marinara. I know, I know. It’s so simple to make your own but there are days when even making marinara seems an impossible task. For those days I recommend using Newman’s Own. I like it best.

1¾ cups warm water
2 1/2 teaspoons yeast
1 tsp honey
1 tbl olive oil
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 garlic clove, finely minced
2 tsp salt
1 (24 oz) jar Newman’s Own Marinara (or homemade red sauce)

Pre-heat oven to 375º. Put the water, yeast, honey,
oil and 1½ cups of flour in a bowl and mix. Whisk together. On top of that add the rest of the flour, salt and garlic but do not stir. Cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap and leave for 20 minutes. Mix the dough together and knead the dough for 4-5 minutes.
The dough will feel soft and slightly sticky. Cover and leave for 1½ hours or until the dough has doubled in size. Lightly oil a
9″x13″ pan. Punch down the dough and spread evenly over the base of the pan. Cover and leave to rise for 45 minutes or until puffy. Carefully dimple the dough with your fingers and gently spread Newman’s Own Marinara. A few torn up leaves of fresh Basil makes a great addition.
Bake in a 375º oven until edges are golden, about 20-25 minutes. Let cool slightly then serve.

*This post was part of an ad campaign in association with Newman’s Own. But the words are mine. I wouldn’t write about it if I didn’t love it. I think you’ll agree.

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With Delancey (incredible pizza restaurant with famed owners Brandon and Molly – of Orangette) right around the corner from us it seems so silly to even bother making pizza at home. Call me silly. Whenever a challenge presents itself, such as creating crispy, chewy crusted pizza at home, I take it head on and am determined to remove confusion and insert deliciousness.

I recently taught a Spring baking class in which we used pizza as a foundation to highlight some of this season’s finest and brightest offerings. For the sake of the class we researched and tested and scrutinized several crusts. I won’t lie – it wasn’t rough.

We walked away from that evening of testing with full bellies and two pizza crusts that may put Dominos out of business.

My favorite was a crust that was both crispy and chewy yet had a softness that was reminiscent of the fluffy, pillow-like crust my mom used to make. It was salty with a subtle tang that came from taking a few days rest in the fridge.

On top we drizzled olive oil, added mozzarella and fontina and scattered par-roasted asparagus spears. After three minutes of baking in a very hot oven we cracked three eggs on top then waited patiently. The hot pizza was then topped with prosciutto and grated Grana Padana or Parmesan. A light sprinkling of salt dusted the perfect pie which was then quickly devoured.

Beautiful pizza at home – it can be done.

THE Pizza Crust

adapted from 101cookbooks.com

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon yeast
1/4 cup olive oil
1 3/4 cups water
Semolina flour OR cornmeal for dusting

Combine all the ingredients. Mix by hand or with a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Knead for 5-7 minutes – until soft, quite sticky but not wet.
Cover a baking sheet with parchment and a fine coating of pan spray or oil. Divide the dough into four equal portions then place on the baking sheet. Using a bit of flour if the dough or your hands are very sticky, shape the portions into round balls. Mist the dough with oil or pan spray then cover with plastic wrap.
Place in the fridge for at least one day or up to three days.
Remove the dough 2 hours before you plan on baking. Place the sheet tray in a warm spot in your kitchen.
Pre-heat your oven (if you have a pizza stone pre-heat your oven with the stone inside) to 450* for 45 minutes prior to baking.
With your hands or a rolling pin, shape one of the portioned dough pieces to the desired size and thickness. Place on a cornmeal dusted pizza peel or use the back of a baking sheet. Top with desired toppings and bake until crust is lightly golden and cheese is melted and bubbly.

Note: If you want to save some of the dough for future baking, you can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag. Dip each dough ball into a bowl that has a few tablespoons of oil in it, rolling the dough in the oil, and then put each ball into a separate bag. You can place the bags into the freezer for up to 3 months. Transfer them to the refrigerator the day before you plan to make pizza.

This one had mozzarella, fontina, fresh ricotta, green garlic and merguez (lamb sausage)

Pizza Tips

1) Always preheat your oven and pizza stone for 45 minutes prior to baking.  Use the hottest setting you can.  500 – 550 degrees in most ovens.  Use convection if you have it.

2) Semolina flour makes an ideal dusting flour for your pizza peel so your pizza doesn’t stick and you can easily transfer it from peel to stone.  If you don’t have a peel, a cookie sheet can work, but honestly, not as well.  Corn meal also works well for dusting.

3) Overnight crust recipes will result in a more flavorful and glutinous pizza, which improves chewiness and crispiness to the crust.

Roasted Asparagus, Egg & Prosciutto Pizza

Olive oil
Roasted asparagus (drizzle with olive oil, salt & pepper and roast for 10 minutes at 400)
2-3 oz fresh mozzarella, torn into nickel size pieces
3 eggs, cracked and waiting in a bowl.
2 oz San Danielle or other high quality prosciutto
high quality sea salt or fleur de sel & fresh cracked pepper
freshly grated Parmigiano

Preheat your oven for 45 minutes with pizza stone inside, to 500 – 550 degrees.

With your dough create 12” round.  Place on flour dusted pizza peel.  Brush with olive oil and dust with sea salt.  Break up fresh mozzarella on top of pizza, add roasted asparagus.  Slide onto pizza stone and bake for 3 minutes.  Open oven and as quickly as possible pour the eggs onto three different places around the pizza.  Bake for another 7 minutes or until golden and eggs are cooked to your liking. We shoot for a semi-soft yolk.  Remove from oven and grate Parmigiano over top.  Drape 4-5 slices of prosciutto on top of this.

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The other night we sat down to a dinner that was so simple it went from in my head to on the table in under 15 minutes. So I couldn’t help but laugh when my husband commented, “this is my favorite dinner in a long time.” – or something to that effect. He fumbled his words and tried to choose them as cautiously as he could knowing that his pregnant wife is in a constant fragile emotional state. I knew what he was trying to say and that it went beyond the fact that the number of warm, home-cooked meals I’ve produced in the last few months has dramatically decreased so he was just happy to see something other than grilled cheese.

It was the homemade baguette which accompanied the simple meal that really made his heart melt like the butter on his warm bread.

The next morning he happily sat down with his coffee and half a baguette, sliced and slathered with butter and jam. A breakfast that I too enjoyed nearly every morning living in a convent while studying art in Italy.

Bread is about as simple as it gets; flour, salt, water and yeast, yet I find there is nothing more satisfying and pleasurable than a slice of warm homemade bread.

I enjoy every aspect of it. Transforming sleeping ingredients into something that is alive and growing. The smell of the awakened yeast having a feast of flour wafting through the kitchen and flooding my head with memories of all the times I’ve smelled it before.

The anticipation of pulling the warm loaf from the oven and having to let it cool just enough so that you can cut through it without causing burns. And then finally the oohhh and ahhh inducing first bite that makes the hours and even days of wait all worth it and immediately sets your mind on making the next loaf.

Making baguettes at home can seem to be an intimidating task but I have been so happy with the results from this recipe. I think 12 loaves in about a week should be enough to prove how happy I’ve we’ve been with the final product.

Forming the loaves takes a bit of practice but I’m sure you will quickly get the hang of it after the second or third loaf. And even if they aren’t picture perfect you will not be disappointed with the taste.

Thus I give my recipe for Homemade Baguettes or How to Turn a Simple Meal into a Memorable One.

Homemade French Baguettes

yields four baguettes
adapted from Artisan Breads Every Day, Peter Reinhart

Ingredients

5 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour (I’ve used all-purpose with great results)

1 tbsp coarse kosher salt

2 1/4 tsp instant yeast

2 cups warm water

Method

Prep Day: Combine all ingredients in bowl of mixer, set with paddle attachment, and mix on lowest speed for 1 minute until well blended and smooth.  Dough should form a coarse, shaggy ball.  Let rest, uncovered for 5 minutes.  Switch to dough hook and mix on medium-low speed for 2 minutes.  Dough should be smooth, supple, and tacky but not sticky.  Knead dough by hand on lightly floured work surface for 1 minute, then transfer to a large clean, lightly oiled bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and immediately refrigerate overnight or up to 4 days.

Dough can also be made without the use of a stand mixer. Combine all the ingredients – start with a wooden spoon then switch to your hands when the flour is incorporated. Lightly knead until all the ingredients are well blended. Let rest for 5 minutes then knead for about 5 more minutes until dough is smooth and slightly tacky.

Baking Day: Remove dough from refrigerator 2 hours prior to baking.  Gently transfer to lightly floured work surface, taking care to release as little gas as possible.  Divide dough into four equal portions. You can also do as I have by removing just enough dough to make one baguette and have a fresh baguette everyday for the next four days from one single batch of dough.

Form Baguettes: Pat each piece of divided dough into a thick rectangle.

Fold the bottom half to the center and seal the seam. Fold the top half to the center and once again seal the seam.

Roll the top half of the dough over the seam to create a new seam on the bottom of the loaf.

With seam side underneath, gently rock loaf back and forth, with hands moving out toward and increasing pressure at the ends, to slightly taper the loaf until baguette is the length of baguette pan (or baking sheet). Place the formed baguettes on a baguette pan or a baking sheet that has been oiled or covered with parchment.  Mist top of dough with oil, loosely cover with plastic wrap, and proof at room temperature for about 1 1/2 hours, or until increased to 1 1/2 times its original size.

Baking: About 45 minutes before baking, preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Place a sheet pan, which will serve as steam pan, with a 1-inch rim on shelf under which baguettes will be baked.  Remove plastic wrap from the dough 15 minutes prior to baking.  Just prior to baking, score the dough 1/2 inch deep with a serrated knife or razor.  Transfer dough to the oven, pour 1 cup hot water into the steam pan.

Bake for 15 minutes, then rotate pan and bake for another 15-20 minutes, until the crust is rich golden brown, the loaves sound hollow when thumped, and the internal temperature is about 200 degrees in the center.  Cool on wire rack before slicing or serving.  Best eaten the same day, or heated briefly in the oven the next day if crust loses its crispness.

My little helpers

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Grandma always goes overboard at Christmas. With 14 grandchildren and by now I’ve completely lost tract of the number of great-grandchildren – just this year there will be three new babies (ours included), yet she blesses us abundantly. But no Christmas bag is complete without a fresh baked loaf of Grandma’s banana bread.

This year I nearly shed tears as I tore through my bag and found no banana bread. Everyone else proudly held their loaves and some began to devour them, while I was left loaf-less. Quickly grandma realized the tragic mistake and performed  a Christmas miracle by uncovering the missing loaf and giving it to its rightful owner – me.

Grandma graciously shared her recipe with me. Our family has made a few adjustments – like the addition of dark chocolate chunks – however delightful the additions are they aren’t necessary. Grandma’s recipe has been providing Christmas cheer for many years and hopefully many more to come.

Many of the changes I make in recipe are out of laziness. This recipe makes two loaves but rather then searching through my messy baking pan cupboard I blindly reached in and grabbed one loaf pan and a cupcake pan. Laziness pays off sometimes as the banana bread cupcakes were a perfect snack size for my little munchers.

And for frosting? A large smear of butter is just what it wants.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

6 ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 cup canola oil (or coconut oil)

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs beaten

1 tsp salt

2 tsp baking soda

4 cups flour

1 bag dark chocolate chips (Ghiradelli 60% chips work nicely)

Mix in order. Fill two greased loaf pans 3/4 full. You can also bake these as cupcakes. Fill the pan 3/4 full and bake about 20 minutes in a pre-heated 350* oven.  The loaves generally take about an hour. For both the cupcakes and the loafs you want a knife or a toothpick to come out clean.

Cool completely. Serve with plenty of butter.

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Sometimes the most delicious dishes don’t have the most appetizing names, like brown butter for example. If you had never had brown butter but just knew about it from its deceptively “blah” name you would have no idea that brown butter is quite simply one of the most amazing smells/tastes known to man. Rather than being a rancid blob of butter that has transformed its shade due to age or intriguing forms of mold, brown butter has the aroma of toasted nuts and the ability to transform whatever it touches into a completely new taste. As soon as the milk solids are cooked and begin to caramelize you are nearly punched in the face with an aroma that is both comforting in its familiarity and exciting as it is unlike anything you’ve tasted.

I didn’t really mean to come here to talk about brown butter rather, Stuffed Bread. Now you may be intrigued but chances are you aren’t salivating yet. When I give you a few more details about the recipe you will learn an important lesson about judging a dish by it’s name. That, or you will email me with a much better way of describing what I am calling, “Stuffed Bread”.

What’s better than homemade bread? Not much right?! What happens if you take that bread and stuff it with ham, hard-boiled eggs, fresh basil, loads of cheese, and sun-dried tomatoes? I’ll tell you what happens you get an incredible dinner and a happy husband, who will – while in the midst of consuming several hefty slices – grab his iPhone and twitter about the vast amount of luck bestowed upon him for marrying such a fine woman. Maybe those weren’t his exact words but I’ve learned to read between the lines.

If you are a creative type then you will especially love this recipe because really what it is is an idea. A starting point. Just think about all the possibilities. Bacon, eggs, fried potatoes, cheddar – Breakfast Stuffed Bread. Roasted vegetables, thyme, Gruyere – Meat-less Stuffed Bread.

Let me know what you come up with!

Stuffed Bread

adapted from JamieOliver.com

One recipe basic white bread. You can use Jamie Oliver’s recipe or you can use Ruhlman’s ratio for basic bread which is 5:3, five parts flour to 3 parts water. Add some yeast (I typically add 2-3 tsp.) and salt (maybe a touch of sugar too) and you have bread.

1/2 lb. sliced Ham

5 hard boiled eggs, (instructions on how to perfectly boil eggs)

1 1/2 cup cheese (I used Fontina and Parmesan, but you could use cheddar, Gruyere, mozzarella, etc.)

5-7 large fresh basil leaves, torn

1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes

olive oil

salt and pepper – Use it if you think it needs it but with the salty ham, Parmesan and sun-dried tomatoes – dare I say – I didn’t add additional salt. (I hope this doesn’t mean I have to change the name of my blog again).

Prepare your basic bread recipe as directed. After the dough had risen and doubled in size, punch down, then shape into a rough rectangle on a floured surface. On the dough place your ham, eggs, cheese, basil and tomatoes. Over the top drizzle with a touch of extra virgin olive oil.

Pull the dough over the filling to connect the edges – think of it like you’re making a giant burrito. Pinch the edges to seal in all your incredible ingredients. Now your burrito is going to become a large donut as you carefully join the ends to meet. Pinch and seal the ends so that you now have an endless ring of stuffed-bread goodness.

Carefully place your ring of bread on a oil piece of parchment lining a baking sheet. Paint or drizzle the top of the dough with a couple of tablespoons of melted butter. Let the dough rest and rise while you are pre-heating the oven to 350* Bake for 35 minutes or until golden.

Let cool, although I understand if you can’t wait that long. It really is best served while the contents of the bread are still warm.

Slice and devour.

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My husband and I recently came into a hefty supply of grass-fed, artisan finished beef thanks to my Uncle who just started the Yakima River Beef Co. (they ship ) As I was thinking about what to have for dinner “Sloppy Joes” came to mind. I have no idea why… it’s usually not the first thing one would think to cook when they have such gorgeous meat. But let me assure you these were not any ‘ol Sloppy Joe. I baked fresh hamburger buns with toasted wheat germ, sesame seeds and poppy seeds. The “sloppy” part was seasoned with fresh herbs and the old traditional stand by’s; ketchup, paprika, onions, garlic and dark brown sugar. On the side was a generous serving up Salt ‘n Vinegar KettleChips.

A delicious “dressed-up” classic.

.

Hamburger Buns

adapted from Flo Braker

4 cups all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/3 cup toasted wheat germ

4 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast

2 tsp. salt

2 cups milk

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter

 

Combine flour, germ, yeast and salt in a stand mixer with the dough hook- reserving 2 cups of white flour to be added later.

Combine milk, sugar and butter in a pot and heat to 120*

Slowly pour milk mixture onto the dries while machine is on low. Increase speed to medium and mix for two minutes.

Add one cup of flour at a time. The dough should pull away from the side of the mixer.

Continue to mix on medium for 5 minutes.

Place dough in a clean bowl and allow to rise to at least 2 hours.

Punch down and divide dough into equal balls (I was able to make 10 buns – they were quite large)

Shape and place on sheet tray. Let rise until double. Pre-heat oven to 375* at least 20 minutes prior to baking.

Brush risen buns with egg wash (1 egg, 1 yolk) and sprink with sesame and poppy seeds. Bake until dark golden – about 20 minutes. Let cool.

Enjoy

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