Thursday, September 30, 2010

Mark Bittman's No Knead Bread

I have been making bread from the best recipe. Foodie and cooking expert Mark Bittman has adapted a recipe for bread that requires no kneading and only has five ingredients: flour, yeast, salt, water, and olive oil.

What's more, anyone can make this bread in their kitchen with no special equipment. There is nothing quite like fresh homemade bread. The smell permeates goodness in the kitchen, and the taste is simply awesome.

The secret to this bread is the 18 or so hours of rise time. Make the bread dough one day, let it sit overnight and into the next day, and before you know it, you've got awesome fresh bread crisping over perfectly in your oven!

This recipe makes a big enough loaf to freeze some of the bread too. The best thing to do is enjoy fresh bread from your oven. The second best thing is to let the bread cool for at least an hour or two, slice it, and freeze the slices. Because the bread has no preservatives in it, you want to freeze it at the peak of freshness.

When you want to enjoy fresh bread, simply toast the frozen slices in your toaster, and voilĂ ! If your toaster has a defrost function, use it for this.

This bread is tasty on its own; it also goes very well with a high quality butter, such as Kate's Homemade Butter.

Here's the recipe: Recipe: No-Knead Bread

Here's the backstory: The Secret of Great Bread: Let Time Do the Work

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

The Silver Palate

The Silver Palate is one of my all-time favorite cookbooks. I discovered it years ago at a friend’s house and the cookbook soon became one of my favorites. When my brother graduated from NYU in 2008, Sheila Lukins spoke at the graduation. She spoke about following your dreams, starting small, and how she started out in the culinary world by catering a neighbor’s dinner party in her apartment building at the last minute. It was a great speech. If you don’t already have a well worn copy of The Silver Palate Cookbook, you simply must have this in your cookbook library. The recipes are wonderful.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Island Cow Ice Cream

I discovered Island Cow Ice Cream at the Blueberry Festival in Machias, Maine. The ice cream was the highlight of the festival. This is artisanal ice cream made in small batches in Stonington, Maine. It is amazing. The cows are all loved and cared for, grass-fed, and fall asleep to Bach in the evening. Seriously. Visit Island Cow on Main Street in Stonington, Maine. The ginger ice cream is a favorite!