Bread

I've made about 4 batches of Jim Lahey's no kneed bread, and experimented with something different each time. The most recent attempt came out, by far, the best.

The reason? Maple Syrup!

Two small loaves of fresh, wonderful bread.

Ingrediants:

3 C flour (I used King Arthur's unbleached white)
1 Tbs salt (yes, one full tablespoon)
3/8 tsp yeast (I used dry active yeast, so a little more than the original recipe)
3/4 C maple syrup (dark, or Grade B, is best for baking)
1 C+ water

Mix 1/4 C warm water with the yeast, stirring to dissolve it. In a large bowl, mix the flour and salt together, then add the yeast/water mixture to it. Add an additional 3/4 C of water, and 3/4 C of maple syrup, mixing together until it all comes together (less than a minute, don't overmix). (Feel free to add a touch more water if the dough seems exceedingly dry at this stage.)

Cover the bowl with seran wrap, and throw a towel over it. Let the whole thing sit for 18 hours, in a warmish spot. (I let mine go for 22, and up to 24 is fine. You can also wait as short as 12 hours, but the longer you wait, the better the bread.) This may sound like a really, really long time to wait. But, consider this: make the dough before bed on Monday, say 9 or 10 PM. Tuesday, you can bake the bread after work and have it with supper!

After risen, heavily flour a cotton towel or workspace, and peel the VERY wet and bubbling dough out of the bowl. Cover with flour; it's insanely sticky. Fold over once or twice, and let it rest for 15 minutes or so. If you'd like two small loaves, cut the dough in half at this point (this is what I always do). Form the dough into a ball (or two), and wrap it in a well-floured cotton towel. Place in a warm spot, and let rise for an hour or two.

Half an hour before baking, preheat the oven to 420*F, with the bakeware inside. The pot should be pyrex or ceramic, with a lid. (I have two small green ceramic things I got at Homegoods for just $8 each.) After the dishes have been thoroughly heated up, plop the dough into the pots, seam side UP and put the lid back on. If the seams have disappeared, feel free to take a knife and make a couple small cuts in the top of the dough, after you've plopped it in the dishes. (Careful here too, since these dishes are insanely hot now!)

For 2 small loaves, bake at 420* for 24 minutes, lid on, then for 10 more minutes with the lid removed. For one large loaf, bake with the lid on for 30 minutes, then for about 15 minutes with the lid removed (or until the loaf looks nice and golden brown, not burnt).

Let cool for at least an hour and a half, and enjoy!

There's a lot you can do to experiment with this; such as using 1.5 C apple cider in place of the water/maple syrup. I've seen people try out whole wheat versions, or partially whole wheat versions as well. Personally, though, I've always had a weak spot for maple syrup. Yum!

Garden 2011

Snow bound, there's one thing that can ease the desire for spring to come: garden planning!

My garden will be the same size as last year (roughly 6'x8'), but I'm going to be planting a wider variety of things. Or, at least a wider variety of tomatoes and peppers (by far my favorite vegetables!).

Seeds above were purchased from the Hudson Valley Seed Library, which is an awesome little farm in, well, New York's Hudson Valley. Since I bought a membership (just $20!) I got to select 10 packs of seeds, including:

Aunt Molly's Ground Cherry
Bloomsdale Spinach
Bridge to Paris Peppers
Doe Hill Peppers
Double Yield Cucumber
Genovese Basil
Goldie Tomatoes
Isis Candy Store Cherry Tomatoes
Polish Linguisa Roma Tomatoes
Sugar Snap Peas

And because I got a membership, I also got a bonus pack of seeds: Radical Radish Mix. It's the one in the center in the image above, with the cool art. (A lot of their seeds can come as "Art Packs," featuring the art of various local artists -- so many cool ideas at this place, I love it!)

Also, notice anything interesting in all the seed choices above? (Besides the fact there's probably way too many there...) They're all heirlooms! That means seed can be saved from them, but even more importantly, they're going to taste amazing! I also love the idea that the seeds have survived in the hands of gardeners and farmers season to season, year to year, before they came to my bit of land. It's more personal than, say, getting a plant from Walmart, or a pack of seeds from a giant company like Burpee's. I also may pick up a plant or two from the farmer's market come springtime, if I have any room left to grow things by then (which I may not, by the looks of it right now!).

The Groundhog Said I Could...

There's over a foot of snow on the ground here, but according to our friend Mr. Groundhog, spring is right around the corner. And who am I to disagree?

Radishes and lettuce. T-minus 45 days until salad!

This past Thursday night I planted a small selection of lettuce and radish seeds, and Saturday morning they'd already sprouted. With temperatures in the sixties, and sporadic amounts of sunlight, how did I do it? Wii power!

The Wii system on standby mode gives off more heat than my refrigerator, and what's more, because it's so small, you can plunk it where you'd like it. The pot above was the perfect size: I just picked up my Wii and set sideways, across the top of the pot (which was wrapped in cellophane at the time to lock in moisture and heat). Last year, I taped a little baggie of bean seeds (in a paper towel) to the side of the machine, which also worked wonders. (Setting the pot directly on top of the Wii, however, probably isn't a good idea--your Wii could get wet from drainage, or if the pot is heavy enough, break the system outright.)

I'm obviously ready for spring.