Olive Fougasse

FOoouuuuugasssseee..... Okay, fully just had to get that out. Now I promise I will act mature for another 100 words or so. This is another recipe out of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I said I would run out and buy it and I did. In addition to this recipe I made two loafs of the rye yesterday that turned out really well. I am completely converted. This is truly the book for the working girl. (hmm... Bad choice of words?)


I had some friends staying with us at the cabin this past weekend and we had a craving for some focaccia so I made a half recipe of the Olive Oil Dough and made one normal rosemary focaccia and one olive fougasse. I have made focaccias and flatbreads numerous times but I am really digging this new shape. You get more crusty bits which is what it is all about.

This is my entry for this week's Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Cate from Sweetnicks. Dod you know that Olives have to be brined for months in order to be edible? I love the little things but I just can't believe that anyone ever went to the effort to discover how fabulous they are.

Olive Oil Dough (makes 4 breads)

2 ¾ cups lukewarm water
1 ½ tablespoons granulated yeast
1 ½ tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ cup olive oil
6 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Mix the yeast, salt, sugar and olive oil with the water in large bowl or container.
Mix in the flour using a spoon. You can also use a food processor or a stand mixer with a dough hook.
Cover (not airtight) and allow to rest at room temperature until dough rises and collapses or becomes flat on top. Should take about 2 hours.
Now refrigerate covered (up to 12 days) or use immediately.

Olive Fougasse
(makes 1)

1 grapefruit-sized ball olive oil dough
flour
½ cup fresh olives, chopped
olive oil
rock salt
fresh rosemary, chopped (optional)

Flour the counter and your hands and start moulding the dough into a ball. Don't worry about adding too much flour. Flatten it into a circle about 1cm thick. Sprinkle the olives over the dough and roll it up like a jelly roll. Shape it back into a ball and flatten gently with your hands until about 1cm thick again. It may be easier if you let it sit for a few minutes to relax part way through.

Cut angled slits into the dough with a sharp knife and gently pull the dough apart so the slits become holes. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with rock salt and chopped rosemary. Place on a floured cookie sheet. Preheat oven to 400F and put a cast iron pan in the bottom of the oven. Let the fougasse rise 20 minutes.

Either boil some water or grab some ice cubes and toss them in the hot pan. Put fougasse in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes or until nice and browned.

Tags: Bread, Baking

Marcella's Bolognese Sauce

Four bolognese recipes and five years since my trip to Italy and I finally have THE bolognese recipe. It was the thing I have tried to replicate over and over since I got back and it was sometimes good, sometimes very good but never right. I can't believe I didn't try Marcella's recipe first, for shame. Now I know. This is my slightly modified version (as in, I didn't measure anything).




Bolognese Sauce (serves 4)

1T vegetable oil
4T butter
1 small onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
500 g ground beef chuck
salt
pepper
1C 2% milk
nutmeg
1C white wine
1 1/2C canned tomatoes, broken into pieces, with juice
pasta, cooked and drained
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, freshly grated
fresh parsley, minced

1. Put oil, 3T butter and onion in a heavy pot and turn heat to medium. Cook, stirring until it has become translucent, then add the celery and carrot. Cook and stir for about 2 minutes.

2. Add ground beef, a large pinch of salt and a few grindings of pepper. Crumble meat with a fork and continue stirring until beef has lost its raw color.

3. Add milk and let simmer gently, stirring to avoid letting it stick. Add a tiny grating, about 1/8 teaspoon, fresh nutmeg and stir.

4. When milk has all been absorbed. Add wine and let it simmer until it has absorbed. Then add tomatoes and stir thoroughly. When sauce starts to bubble, turn down the heat to low so that only a very occasional bubble breaks the surface.

5. Cook, uncovered, for 3 hours or more, stirring from time to time. At the end the liquid should be completely evaporated but if you find it starts to dry out early add some water or some extra tomato juice and stir it in. Taste and correct for salt.

6. Toss a bit of the sauce with pasta and serve the remaining on top of each bowl oor on a large platter, sprinkle with parsley and freshly grated Parmesan on the side.



Tags: Beef, Italian Food, Slow Food

Chicken Piccata

I only know this is called Piccata because when I searched for a lemon caper sauce on Cooks Illustrated I found this recipe. I always thought chicken piccata had tomatoes in it? I guess not. This is then my modified version. I really liked how lemony it was and pounding the chicken makes it cook nice and fast. Serve with potatoes or bread to really enjoy the extra sauce.

Chicken Piccata
(serves 2)

1T olive oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2T flour
salt and pepper
1 shallot minced
1C chicken stock
2T capers
1 lemon, juiced
1T butter
1T fresh parsley, minced


Pound the breasts flat between a few sheets of saran wrap. (Adding a teaspoon of water between the sheets can help flatten the chicken evenly.) On a plate combine flour and a good helping of salt and pepper. Gently pat the mixture into both sides of the chicken.

Heat a large skillet to medium. Add oil and swirl pan. Add chicken to pan shaking off any excess flour before adding. Fry for approximately 2 minutes or until it begins to brown. Flip and brown on the other side, about one more minute. Check chicken to make sure it is cooked. Transfer chicken onto a plate and keep warm in the oven.

Reduce heat to medium low and add shallot. Saute for one minute then add chicken stock and capers. Return heat to medium and bring to a simmer, scrape the pan with a wooden spoon to get all the flavour off of it. Simmer until reduced by half. Add lemon juice and simmer for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add butter and parsley. Taste and season as appropriate. Return chicken to the pan and coat in sauce. Server chicken with sauce spooned on top.


Tags: Chicken, French Food, Cheap

Bannana Oatmeal Carrot Muffins

I have been a little quiet this week since we are at the cabin on vacation. Well.... technically it is a vacation but in practice it is more like landscaping, painting and cleaning chores. We are on Day 5 and today is the first non chore based day. Earlier in the week I made a batch of muffins (based on this recipe) with what we had and we ate them on the deck before going to work. Since we have no outdoor space in the city this is actually a really nice thing. Alright off for a little kayak.

Banana Oatmeal Carrot Muffins
(makes 12)

1 cup flour
1 ¼ cups oats
3 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
⅓ cup oil
½ cup sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 bananas mashed
2 carrot, grated

Preheat oven to 400F. Combine flour, oats, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
In another bowl mix the oil, both sugars, the eggs, carrots, and bananas.
Combine the dry and the wet and pour into greased muffin tins.
Bake for 20 minutes.

Like Salad, Hate Lettuce?

Maybe you don't actually hate lettuce but let's just imagine that when you open up the fridge and take out your lettuce it is covered in aphids. Like COVERED in aphids. You try and wash the lettuce since it is at least half a head but you just can't get past all the bugs. So it goes in the compost. But you figure you will make a salad anyway because it will still be good right?



I love pleasant accidents and this turned into one of them. It was a salad inspired by one served to me by S over the weekend. I really liked the combination of goat cheese, oranges and balsamic vinegar and after a little substitution and an accident it turned into this. Yum!

Orange, Goat Cheese and Avocado Salad
(serves 2)

1C roughly chopped cucumber (about 1/3 English cuke)
1 orange, peeled, de-seeded and roughly chopped
1 avocado, roughly chopped
1 carrot, grated
1/4C goat cheese, crumbled
1/2t Dijon mustard
1T balsamic vinegar
2T olive oil
salt and pepper

In a salad bowl toss together all the vegetables and goat cheese, add the oranges but juice a few of the pieces of orange right over the vegetables and discard. In a bowl whisk together remaining ingredients and dress the salad right before serving.

Tags: Vegetables, Salad, Vegetarian

Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

The infamous no knead bread is cool but I always found it kinda messy. You end up having to clean up dishes in multiple phases of the process not to mention your hands and the towels. Obviously too complicated for me. But I just tried the recipe from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I got the recipe from this NY Times post.


This was way easier. You mix it all up (that makes for one bowl, one wooden spoon and some measuring spoons and cups all dirtied) then let it sit for a few hours at room temp and then bake it or store the dough in the fridge.

I did stray from the recipe a little bit. After letting it sit for 5 hours at room temperature I stored the dough and baked up one loaf the next day. When forming the loaf I went with a more batard shape because I find it easier to slice. After I let it rise on a piece of parchment. (I figured by putting on the parchment I was able to get the pizza stone really hot in the oven.)

The crust came out nice and crunchy and it has a nice flavor with a good crumb. I will most definitely make this again and I think I am going to run out and buy this book soon. The concept is really excellent. Plus, yeay I still have 3 loaves worth in the fridge!

Check out some other bloggers who have been exploring this book in it's many forms. The Bad Girl's Kitchen looks at adding whole wheat flour. Deborah over at Taste and Tell decides, like me, the book is worth the hype. The Steamy Kitchen makes Pecan Caramel Cinammon rolls.

Tags: Bread, Baking

Chicken Thighs with Mushrooms and Parsley

Didn't you just see this recipe like a week ago? Yeah pretty much... Currently I am very into chicken with simple pan sauces. Especially the thighs they are so affordable and hard to dry out.

Chicken Thighs with Mushrooms and Parsley
(serves 2)

2T butter
1T olive oil
4 skinless boneless chicken thighs
1 shallot, minced
1C mushrooms, sliced (about 4)
1C white wine
3T chicken stock
3T fresh parsley, minced
salt and pepper

1. Put a large skillet onto medium. Add olive oil and then half the butter and give it a swirl. Add chicken thighs to the pan and fry for about 3 minutes or until browned. Flip and fry another 1-2 minutes or until browned. Remove to a plate and set aside.
2. Add remaining butter and shallots. Stir for a minute then add mushrooms and saute for 5 minutes. Add wine and simmer until halfway reduced. Add stock and 1/2 the parsley then return the chicken to the pan. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes or until cooked.
3. Put chicken on a plate, spoon mushroom and sauce over top and garnish with parsley.

Tags: Chicken, French Food, Cheap