72-Hour Sourdough Bread

Super Simple Sourdough. There's nothing really difficult about sourdough. Making a sourdough starter is straightforward enough, but unless you're making a loaf or two every week, keeping a sourdough starter going is more trouble than keeping a cat!  

So I developed this easy method that works beautifully for those of us who just want to make the occasional loaf of sourdough. (I'd enjoy making bread everyday, but I'm a breadaholic, so it could get ugly.) Don't let the "72-Hour" bit scare you off. That's just the amount of time it takes to go from "I'm in the mood for sourdough" to your dinner table. You don't have to do much of anything during that time.

You don't need a heavy-duty stand mixer or strong arms for kneading. The only special equipment you need is either a pizza stone or the cast iron pan I use as a pizza stone. Now I'm going to sound like a shill for Lodge Manufacturing Company, but they haven't paid me a dime or given me a thing! Their Lodge Pro-Logic 14-Inch Cast Iron Pizza Pan is a wonder.

If you don't already own a pizza stone (or you need to replace your pizza stone because it cracked, as they will do), get this pan instead. Read Make "Real" Pizza at Home, Part One (my very first post on this blog!) to learn more about it. Lodge simply uses it like a pizza pan, but I use it like a pizza stone.

72-Hour Sourdough Bread - Super Simple Sourdough

(Makes one 2-pound round boule) 

Starter, Day One:

1/2 packed cup (2.5 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon instant yeast
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons water, room temperature 

Starter, Day Two:

1/2 packed cup (2.5 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup water plus 2 tablespoons, room temperature 

Final dough, Day Three:

3 1/2 packed cups (17.5 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 cup water, room temperature 

1 Prepare starter 72 hours before you plan to serve the bread. In 1-quart bowl, stir together flour (I use Bob's Red Mill organic unbleached), yeast and water. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 24 hours. 

2 After 24 hours, stir in the additional flour and water. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 24 hours. 

3 Start final dough 24 hours before you plan to serve the bread. In medium bowl (I use a straight-sided 4-quart glass bowl so I can easily tell when the dough has doubled), whisk together flour, salt and yeast. Add starter and water to flour and stir with dough whisk or large spoon until dough just comes together into a shaggy dough (fairly stiff, but still sticky). Cover with plastic wrap and let sit 19 hours on countertop.

4 Place a square of parchment paper on a rimless baking sheet (which will act as a "peel" later). Sprinkle 1/8 cup flour over the parchment. Scrape the dough out onto the floured parchment. Put a little of the flour on top of the dough and with floured hands, press dough lightly into a 10-inch square. Fold it in thirds like a letter; then fold that rectangle into thirds, forming a square. Pick up the ball of dough and tuck the edges under, forming the dough into a smooth ball. Place the ball back on the parchment. Turn a large glass bowl over it, or cover it loosely with an oiled or cooking-sprayed piece of plastic wrap.

5 Let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. It will spread as well as rise and not appear to rise very high. Not to worry! It will rise in the oven (called oven spring) and be a lovely, well-risen loaf.

6 When you’ve got about 30 to 45 minutes left, place oven rack in lower-middle position and place pizza stone or Lodge Pro-Logic 14-Inch Cast Iron Pizza Pan on rack. Preheat oven to 475 degrees for at least 30 minutes. 

7 Brush the excess flour off the parchment, cut a "+" about 1/4-inch deep on the top* and slide the boule on its parchment square onto the hot stone. Reduce temperature to 425. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until crust is beautifully golden and middle of loaf is 210 degrees. If it's getting too brown, cover loosely with foil.

  
8 Remove from oven, using the rimless baking sheet or pizza peel to lift the boule off the pizza stone. Let cool on wire rack for 1 1/2 hours. If not eating right away, you can re-crisp crust at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. It's best the day it is baked but can be kept, wrapped in foil, at room temperature for up to 2 days (makes great toast). Makes one loaf. 

9 My favorite way of slicing* a boule is to cut the loaf in half, turn the cut side down and slice, but you can make long slices if you like.

* Note: Use a very sharp knife to cut the "+"--I use my Wusthof Classic 3-1/2-Inch Paring Knife. For slicing, I use my Wusthof Classic 10-Inch Bread Knife.

Springtime Pasta - Farfalle with Chicken and Spring Vegetables

This is Spring on a Plate! I love spring, also known as Asparagus Season. Or Pea and Peapod Season. These are such a treat for me every spring because I refuse to buy the out-of-season imports the rest of the year. That's the thing I love most about seasonal cooking -- it restores the pleasure of anticipation! And no herb says "spring" quite like fresh dill. Those things were what I had in mind when I developed this recipe about ten years ago for a magazine column I was writing. 

If you like pasta, you probably like any pasta shape at any time of the year. But, for some reason, when spring rolls around I think of farfalle (Italian for butterfly), also called bow-tie pasta. With spring vegetables and a little chicken in a subtle sauce, this one-dish spring meal takes just 45 minutes from start to finish.

This batch was a little too heavy on the pasta. The farfalle came in a 16-ounce, instead of 12-ounce, package and I wrongly decided to use it all. Next time that happens, I'll take out a fourth of the pasta and store it. I wish all the brands would get together and decide on package sizes they would all use! Which reminds me of something that really bugs me -- making packages smaller rather than raising prices. Does that bother you? Or do you have other pet peeves?  

Springtime Pasta
Farfalle with Chicken and Spring Vegetables

(Serves 4)

1 12-ounce package farfalle (bow-tie pasta), cooked according to package directions
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
Salt and coarsely-ground black pepper
2 tablespoons finely minced shallot
3/4 pound thin asparagus, cut into 1½-inch pieces
1/2 pound young sugar snap or Chinese pea pods
1 large red bell pepper, julienned
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup heavy cream (I use Organic Valley)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill (more if you really like it)
1/2 cup freshly grated (not shredded) Parmesan

1 Forty-five minutes before serving time, start heating 4 quarts water with a tablespoon of salt for cooking pasta. Prepare ingredients. 

2 Five minutes before adding pasta to the boiling water, start sauce. In 12-inch skillet which has a lid, heat olive oil. Pat dry the chicken pieces and season with 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Add to hot oil and cook, stirring, over medium-high heat until browned, about 5 minutes.

3 Add minced shallot and continue cooking for a minute or two. Add wine and deglaze pan. Add asparagus (except tips), pea pods, red bell pepper and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Cover and cook over medium heat until vegetables are nearly crisp-tender, about 2 or 3 minutes. 

4 Uncover and stir in asparagus tips, cream and dill. Simmer gently for 2 minutes. Stir in Parmesan. Taste and adjust seasoning. Pour over hot, drained pasta. Mix well, divide onto four warm plates, and garnish with more dill and Parmesan.  

Lasagne and Sangiovese - A Classic Food and Wine Pairing

Comfort food, Italian style. Everyone I know loves lasagne, and I used to make it quite often. So when I perused my Recipes index page to decide what to post next, I was shocked to discover that lasagne wasn't on the list. Then I learned I'd not even put my recipe where I've been putting them for the last five years, so that means I haven't made lasagne in at least five years. That's just crazy!

So why now? Well, I had this lovely bottle of sangiovese that was just crying out for lasagne! Not that it's a wine only for red sauce. It also pairs well with fish in a rich sauce, grilled meats and vegetables, all sorts of things. But I was craving lasagne, so nothing else would do. Know what I mean? Anyway ...

Castello di Amorosa Sangiovese 2009 Napa Valley* is a medium-bodied red wine with a nice balance of fruit and oak. Its dryness and excellent acidity make it very food-friendly and a perfect match for the tomatoey meat sauce. Poured a glass, swirled, smelled, tasted, liked it. Reminded me of tart cherries. Waited 10 or 15 minutes to let it "breathe" a bit, tasted again, liked it even more. Juicy. Then I tried it with the lasagne. Too often with such dishes, I've just gone with a lighter-bodied red I happened to have on hand. Never again!  

But back to the lasagne. I think it's always better when assembled the day before it's baked and served. Since it's not going into the oven right away, I like to completely cool the meat sauce before assembling the dish. If you want to really make it ahead, cover the unbaked lasagne with plastic wrap and then with aluminum foil to freeze for up to a month. Then thaw it completely before baking uncovered.

Lasagne with Meat Sauce

(Serves 6)

The Meat Sauce

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound extra lean ground beef
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
1/2 cup drinkable dry red wine or water
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
1 1/2 teaspoons oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons basil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf

The Cheese Filling

1 15-ounce container ricotta
3 ounces shredded Parmesan
1 large egg
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup milk

The Rest

Enough lasagne for 4 layers, cooked according to package directions
12 ounces mozzarella, shredded

1 In large skillet, heat oil and cook chopped onion for about 5 minutes, or until very soft. Stir in minced garlic and cook for about half a minute. Add ground beef and cook, breaking up the meat, until it is well browned. With extra lean ground beef, there will be no excess fat to drain off. Stir in the tomato paste, cooking for a few minutes to "toast" it. Stir in remaining sauce ingredients. Bring to a simmer. Simmer, loosely covered, for about 30 minutes. Remove the bay leaf. Taste and adjust seasoning. Let cool at room temperature for 30 minutes, then cover and refrigerate for at least one, or up to several, hours.

2 In large pot, bring 4 quarts of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse in cold water. I leave the noodles in a bowl of cold water as I'm assembling the dish. 

3 In 1-quart bowl, combine ricotta, Parmesan, egg, parsley, nutmeg and milk. The milk is just to give the filling a spreadable consistency so you have even layers of filling instead of big blobs.

4 Lightly oil a 13-by-9-by-2-inch baking dish. Spread 1/4 cup or so of sauce over the bottom of the dish. Lay on a layer of lasagne, the number of noodles will vary with different brands. With my favorite brand, Bionaturae organic whole wheat lasagne, 4 noodles laid widthwise cover the pan. Spread with 1/3 of the cheese filling, 1/4 of the shredded mozzarella, then with 1/4 of the sauce. Repeat twice for three layers. Add a fourth layer of lasagne. Cover the top layer with the remaining 1/4 of sauce and mozzarella. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until an hour before serving time.

(It goes: just a little sauce, lasagne, filling, mozzarella, sauce, lasagne, filling, mozzarella, sauce, lasagne, filling, mozzarella, sauce, lasagne, sauce, mozzarella.)

5 Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes, or until crusty and bubbly. Let stand for 20 minutes before slicing and serving.

* Disclaimer: The wine was sent to me free of charge for sample purposes. All opinions are my own.

Note: You'll want a nice crusty, chewy artisan bread to with the lasagna!

Lime Cupcakes with Lime Buttercream Frosting (and, no, they're not supposed to be green)

 

Cupcakes are constantly being either revered or reviled in the media. As with anything deemed "trendy," the fall from those lofty heights to "so over" can be dizzyingly swift. So far, every time cupcakes have been declared dead, they've been revived.

Now the Wall Street Journal has chimed in with the dramatic headline "The Cupcake Bubble is Bursting." If I were planning to open a cupcake shop, I might pay attention to such reports. Since I'm not, I'm here to declare the cupcake alive and well, cool or not!

And it's springtime! So I'm celebrating the season with refreshing lime cupcakes with lime buttercream frosting. Of course, they might look more photogenic and "limey" with a little green food coloring, but as you probably already know, artificial food coloring is just one of the many things I'm "anti."  

These cupcakes are really fluffy and wonderful, if I do say so myself. And the only cupcakes I like more than citrus cupcakes are Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting. Do you like cupcakes?

Lime Cupcakes with Lime Buttercream Frosting

(Makes 12)

The Cupcakes

1 large egg
1 large egg white
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 packed cup (5 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons (2.5 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lime zest

The Frosting

5 tablespoons (2.5 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
8 ounces (about 2 cups) powdered sugar, unsifted
Pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon very finely grated lime zest

1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put 2½-inch paper bake cups in a standard muffin tin. In small bowl, lightly combine the eggs, a quarter of the milk, and the vanilla.

2 In large mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for a minute to "sift." Add the softened butter and remaining milk. Mix on low speed until combined. With mixer on medium-high speed, beat for a minute and a half. Scrape the bowl.

3 Beat in the egg mixture in three batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition. Scrape the bowl and, with spatula, stir in lime juice and zest. (I do it by hand because zest tends to get tangled up in the beaters unless it's very finely grated.)

4 Using a 1/4-cup measure, fill the bake cups with a scant 1/4 cup of batter. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 to 24 minutes or until they are golden and test done with a toothpick.

5 Immediately remove from pans and cool on wire rack for an hour. They must be thoroughly cool before frosting.

6 In bowl of stand mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter until smooth. With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat in the powdered sugar. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the salt, vanilla extract and lime juice and beat on high speed until frosting is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Toward the end, beat in the finely grated lime zest. With a pastry bag fitted with a 2D or 1M tip, pipe frosting on cupcakes in a classic swirl.

Note: You might want to try my Velvety Vanilla Cupcakes - That Just Happen to Be Gluten-Free.
 

Product Review - Tregothnan Tea - The Tea Grown in England

When I first heard of Tregothnan a few years ago, I wanted to go there immediately. Haven't made it there yet, but at last I've tried their tea--the only tea grown in England. Yes, England! Their story is a fascinating one, which you can read about at their website.

Tregothnan recently sent me three of their black tea blends for review: Afternoon, Earl Grey and Classic. If you've been reading Delightful Repast for any length of time, you know that whether I've purchased a product or it was given to me, I always tell my readers what I really think. 

The first Tregothnan tea I brewed was the Classic tea in their new loose leaf pyramids. Unlike standard teabags, the fabric pyramids allow plenty of room for the tea leaves to unfurl. I brewed the tea in a pot with 8 ounces of freshly boiled water per 3-gram pyramid. After 3 minutes I poured a cup to be tried plain. After another minute I poured another cup--a bit stronger to stand up to a splash of milk. 

The Classic tea is the English-grown tea blended with imported Assam to make a more tannic breakfast blend. The brewed tea has a good, rich color and a hearty flavour, making it a great morning cuppa. I added 2 teaspoons of milk (I always use 2%) to a teacup of the 4-minute brew and liked it even more. Then, just for fun, I stirred in 1/4 teaspoon sugar. Wonderful, but by no means necessary.

Photo courtesy of Tregothnan.com

Next up, the Earl Grey loose leaf tea. How much leaf tea to use is a matter of personal taste. I decided to go with 3 grams per 8-ounce cup of water. What that amounts to by measure rather than by weight is, in this case, about 2 (level measuring) teaspoons. 

Earl Grey, one of my favourite teas, can be very good or, more often, very bad. The characteristic bergamot is often overdone (one major brand tastes more like pine cleaner than tea!). Not the case here. The Tregothnan tea blended with imported Assam has just the right amount of bergamot. The 4-minute brew of this subtle blend was perfect. 

The Afternoon tea blends the Tregothnan tea with imported Darjeeling. Since I never add milk to Darjeeling, I didn't add any to my 4-minute brew of this lovely tea that has been referred to as a "delicately refreshing blend."

Maybe I'm having one of those rare days when I'm indecisive, but I can't choose a favourite among these three teas. I like them all!