Word Around Town

Made a new bread recipe that Hitesh cut out for me from November’s NYT. The bread rises for a long long time, uses almost no yeast, has no oil, and is cooked in a covered cast iron pot. It was delicious. We had some for dinner (with our quiche) and it really tasted like France (for me, it brough me back to the convent at Pradines, the last time I lived in France). With a little over-aged Brie (courtesy of Alex’s Christmas visit) we really felt we were back there. Here’s a summary:

3 cups flour (I used one quarter whole wheat, three quarters white, per my custom, and this worked just fine).
1 5/8 c. water (yes, this is a wet, shaggy dough).
1 1/4 t. salt (the bread’s a bit saltier than usual, but nice)
1/4 t. instant yeast (I used regular dry active yeast, and had no problem).

Mix flour, salt, and yeast together. Add water and stir. Cover with saran and let set aside for 18 hour (or so) until bubbly on top. This is a very wet dough.

Place dough on a floured surface and turn it over on itself once or twice (use just enough flour to keep your hands from sticking). Let sit for 15 minutes.

Shape into a ball and lie dough on a cotton (non terry-cloth) towel covered with flour, cornmeal or wheat bran (I used cornmeal). Cover with flour/cornmeal/wheat bran and lie another towel on top of it. Let it rise another 2 hours (approximately) until double in size.

1/2 hour before baking, pre-heat oven to 450 degrees with a dutch oven inside it (they say to use a 6 quart but I used a 5 quart and this was plenty big). Then dump the dough (seam-side up) into the pan (jiggle if it sticks) and bake covered for 30 minutes, then another 15-30 minutes until top is brown. Let cool on a rack (my cooking time was closer to 35 minutes in total–the bread was pretty brown when I took the top off). Delicious!

Photo: Rainbowl, by Splat Worldwide

I make a lot of this green soup in the late summer, when greens are plentiful. It freezes extremely well, is nutritious and delicious (even for those who don’t claim to be lovers of dark green veggies) and can be enjoyed all year.

1-2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 – 2 teaspoons salt, to taste
1 – 2 onions, coarsely chopped
2 cubes stock (I use Vegetable Bouillon by Organic Gourmet, available at Whole Foods–a good stock is really important)
2 bunches Kale or Collard or Chard or other miscellaneous greens, de-veined
4-6 potatoes (as desired), coarsely chopped
3-4 sticks celery (very important for flavor)
3-4 carrots (optional)
1 yam (optional)
orange zest of about 1 orange and/or orange juice, to taste (optional)
8-12 cups water (as desired)

Sautee onions in olive oil or other preferred cooking oil with some salt added. Add water, 8 – 12 cups or so, depending on the amount of ingredients used and desired thickness. There should be enough water to cover all your ingredients when cooked. Add stock (note that I use much less stock per cup of water than recommended on the package), potatoes, carrots (if used) and celery. Bring soup to a rolling boil.

When potato is starting to get cooked (after 10 minutes of boiling or so) add greens. Cook all until potatoes are soft and greens are thoroughly wilted but not yellow. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and (if desired) basil, parsley, thyme, other spices that you enjoy. These herbs are not necessary, just optional.

Let the soup cool. Puree soup in blender and add orange zest if needed. (I tend to add orange when the soup has a very “dark”, almost swampy smell (due to the greens used). The orange lightens up the soup.

on freezing
For freezing, I use old 16 oz. yogurt containers. One container makes 2 large or 3-4 smaller servings. Make sure soup is cool before putting into plastic containers.Fill about 1 1/2 inches from the top of container because soup will expand when freezing. I use blue painter’s tape and permanent black market to make a label indicating the soup type and the date. (Blue tape is attractive, and it comes off easier than regular masking tape when you’re ready to re-use your container). If you’re very organized, you can make a log with any special notes about a particular soup. (I find it a bit disconcerting to eat soup and have no specific memory of making it, especially when guests ask me what’s in a soup or how I made it, but have yet to make a log).

cooking/flavor note
If desired, roasting the carrots and yam gives the soup a nice carmelized/smoky flavor. To do this, pre-heat oven to 400 degrees, clean, chop, and coat yams and carrot (or other root vegetables, like parsnip, that you might want to use) and roast them until browned in the oven. (I roast them in a glass pie dish or other glass dish because these are easier to clean than anything metal, and the roasting tends to create brown spots on the dishware.