Healthy Breakfast Fruit Bread

My latest breakfast phase is a riff off the Blue Sky Bakery muffin. I got hooked on their muffins when I lived in Williamsburg and could get them at Variety on my way to the subway. I now live closer to the source, since the bakery is on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope. (Sidenote: I wish there was a list of all bakeries in NYC that serve their muffins. It's hard to find a good muffin, rather than the pervasive airy nothingness at most cafes.) Anyway, their bakery not on my way to work, and since I'm not a morning person and am always running late, there isn't time to go out of my way for breakfast. Amazingly, Smitten Kitchen found and shared the recipe.

They are great as muffins, but then I got the idea to bake it as bread. It is a lot easier to dump batter into one loaf pan than it is to spoon it into many muffin tins. Furthermore, I store the bread sliced and frozen, so I can bring one slice to work daily to toast for breakfast. This is a game changer when it comes to baked goods. No more overeating to finish a loaf while it sits out all week either drying out or getting overly moist. And the toasting ensures that it always satisfies that Blue Sky Bakery craving alongside my morning coffee - a hearty bread with a crisp exterior and steamy fruit. So far I've made it with blueberries, diced plums, and cranberries, and I've also sometimes added diced walnuts.

Some other changes: I don't usually have bran, but I do always have oats, so I grind oats into a rough flour in my food processor. I love the toothsome texture and flavor added by the oat flour. To increase the nutritional value: Honey in place of refined sugar; coconut oil instead of a more commonplace oil; and the addition of flax seeds. However, coconut oil and honey cannot be blended by hand, since both tend to clump when combined with cold milk, so I do have to get out my hand mixer, even though I generally prefer to mix batter with a fork or spoon to avoid extra cleaning.

The key is to bake it at a high temperature like 425. I don't know the science of it for sure, but I think this caramelizes the sugars in the bread and coaxes more flavor out of its low sugar content. When I baked it at 350, it tasted meh to me.

Breakfast Fruit Bread
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup honey
1 1/3 cup milk
1 egg
1 1/2 cups ground oats
1 1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 tbsp ground flax seeds
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup diced fruit or berries

Preheat oven to 425 F. Grease and flour a loaf pan. Grind oats into a rough cornmeal-consistency flour in a food processor. Using a hand mixer, combine coconut oil, honey, milk and egg. Dump in oats, flower, baking powder, baking soda, flx and salt. Use the mixer to blend into a smooth batter. Stir in fruit with a spoon. Spread into loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes, until edges are browned. To freeze: Let cool, slice into 10-12 pieces and store in a ziploc bag in freezer.

Thanksgiving 2014

Let's see if I can write about Thanksgiving before Christmas arrives. We had a white Thanksgiving this year, especially at my parents' house atop a mountain, which was laden with a foot of snow. As usual, I spent all of Wednesday cooking. I like to get things done early so I can sleep in and just reheat dishes on Thanksgiving. My mom made the turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing and cake. I made the rest of the sides, and other relatives brought more desserts.

Green bean, chickpea and carrot salad

Every year it's a challenge to find a way to prepare the green beans stored in the freezer from my mother's garden. They always tend to defrost mushier than expected. This salad worked, but next year I think I'll try a more traditional green bean casserole, which I've never done before.

Thinly slice half a red onion and sauté it on low heat until caramelized. Chop a few large carrots into small cubes and roast until lightly browned and tender. Drain and rinse a can of chickpeas. Chop a few handfuls of green beans into small 1-2 inch pieces. In batches, blanch the green beans by briefly steaming, placing in cold water and then draining. Whisk a dressing of red wine vinegar, olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper.  Gently combine all ingredients and stir in the dressing to lightly coat.

Roasted brussels sprouts

Such a family favorite that my grandfather mentioned them in his speech at my wedding!

Kale salad with lemon, almond and parmesan

Same salad salad as last year. This continues to be my favorite kale salad to make.

Roasted sweet potatoes with honey and sage

I tried to double the honey from last year's method for sage leaf sweet potatoes. What a mistake - the sugars quickly burned the pan and the bottoms of the sweet potatoes, while the potatoes were nowhere near cooked through. I was able to salvage them by slicing off the burned edges and coating in olive oil and a sprinkling of dried sage and then continuing to bake for a while. I want to find a new sweet potato recipe for next year. I like Rachel's idea of baking them whole first and then chopping and fancying them up with additional ingredients.

Whole wheat buttermilk biscuits

I usually make rolls but have always wanted to try my hand at biscuits. Through my research, I learned that biscuit dough should be made immediately before baking for maximum rise. And said biscuits should then be served immediately while warm and fresh, since they will turn somewhat stale by the next day. To avoid making a floury mess in the last hour before Thanksgiving dinner, when the kitchen is a flurry of people arriving, turkey carving and foods reheating, I chose to make them ahead and freeze them.

Working with the Kitchn's recipe, I grated a stick of frozen butter, soured milk with vinegar in place of buttermilk, and included 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour. Even though they were only frozen a day, it felt worth it to be able to easily pop the frozen biscuits on a pan to bake right before dinner. This method is not supposed to affect rise. However, my biscuits weren't as fluffy as ideal - but I don't know if that was because I used whole wheat flour, because I rolled them too thin, or from the freezing method.

My new joint Thanksgiving tradition with my husband tends to be a three day affair of food and fun, involving Thanksgiving with my parents, then a hunt and game bird feast on Friday (it was our first time back at the farm since our wedding in June), followed by birthday celebrations on Saturday. My mother-in-law and I happen to share our birthday at the end of Novemebr. 2014 is a milestone birthday for both of us, so this year we also had a big party for her over Thanksgiving weekend.

Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving week was a whirlwind this year, since we went to three different locations in one week, Evan met my extended family for the first time, there were lots of wedding planning conversations, and we celebrated multiple birthdays.

I help with the Thanksgiving cooking most years. This year, I spent about five straight hours cooking on Wednesday, which meant I got to sleep in and relax on Thursday. You may notice a lot of browning on the vegetables below. Every year, I have problems with my mom's oven, which browns foods extremely quickly and is quick to set off their sensitive smoke alarm. It's strange that I've used many different ovens in many different apartments in New York City and have never had the same kinds of issues. Her oven really doesn't like roasting vegetables.

My mom made her Shoprite turkey, cranberry sauce, garlicky mashed potatoes and a pumpkin pie. She deviated from the pepperidge farm stuffing to a cornbread stuffing that I liked.  

Here's what I made:

Kale salad with lemon, almond and parmesan
I shredded two bunches of kale and massaged it in olive oil and the juice of one lemon. Then I tossed it together with: half of a red onion, thinly sliced; a few cloves of garlic, thinly sliced and sauteed in olive oil until crispy; half a cup of almonds, finely chopped and toasted in a dry pan until lightly browned; a sprinkling of salt and pepper and crushed red pepper; and a cup of grated parmesan.

Most of my family had never had kale salad before, and they loved it. The lemon and parmesan give it flavor, while the finely chopped nuts added a light crunch to the texture, similar to the way that breadcrumbs would. The great thing about kale salad is that it can be prepared a day or two in advance without wilting like regular salads. In fact, it's better to give it more time for the vinaigrette to tenderize the kale. The amount above was enough as a side for twelve people, with leftovers.

Roasted brussels sprouts
My grandfather requested the brussels sprouts after enjoying them in 2011. It seems most adults over the age of 35 have only ever had brussels sprouts steamed and are pleasantly surprised by roasted sprouts. Since I was making a lot of sprouts, I decided to separate all the loose leaves and bake them on their own tray. That way I was able to take out the leaves as soon as they were done. I love snacking on the crispy leaves - we put them out in a bowl with the appetizers. Most of the time, through, I just roast the leaves alongside the sprouts.

To roast brussels sprouts: 
Preheat the oven to 400. Rinse the sprouts. Chop off the tough ends and then slice each sprout in half (if they are small, don't bother cutting in half). Grease a pan with olive oil, and throw in the sprouts. Shake salt and pepper liberally over top. Stir the sprouts around on the pan until they are evenly coated in the oil, salt, and pepper. Arrange the sprouts on the pan evenly spaced. Cook for 20 minutes until the side facing down is browned. Remove and flip them over. Cook another 10-15 minutes.

Whole wheat dinner rolls
I've made no-knead rolls in past years, but I wanted to go for a softer texture this year by incorporating milk and sweetness. I went with a recipe from The Kitchn for "soft and tender dinner rolls", substituting whole wheat flour for a third of the flour. I multiplied the amounts by 1.5 (including the yeast) to get 18 rolls instead of 12. I like to bake my rolls in muffin tins. I brushed the tops with butter just before baking, but I don't think that touch was noticeable enough to be worth the effort. I thought they were fine, but not amazing - a little softer, but not that flavorful. I made them on Wednesday and quickly reheated them on Thursday just before dinner.

Sage leaf sweet potatoes
This was inspired by Smitten Kitchen's parsley leaf potatoes - same idea but with a different type of potato and herb. I cut ten sweet potatoes in half. I melted three tablespoons of butter in a small pot and stirred in a tablespoon of honey. I coated the bottom of two pans with the melted butter/honey. I lay each potato half cut side down over a sprig of sage. I roasted them at 400 F for 20 minutes and then flipped them over for another 10. Unfortunately, they got burned on their second trip in the oven the next day to reheat them before dinner - so if you're going to need to reheat, don't cook them too long originally. The sweetness was not noticeable enough, so I'd recommend doubling the honey. I think this was a much less labor intensive way of getting flavor into a simple roasted sweet potato dish than hasselback sweet potatoes.

Medley of roasted butternut squash, parsnips, carrots and beets
I roasted the vegetables separately according to like cooking times and combined them afterward. I roasted the parsnips and carrots together, and the squash in a different pan. I originally roasted the beets peeled and chopped in their own pan, but their dark color prevented me from noticing they were burning until it was too late. I had to redo the beets, and opted to go my usual route of roasting them whole in a foil pouch, peeling and chopping them afterward. I do think that method better locks in the moisture and flavor.

Cranberry Torte
For dessert, I made this cranberry torte from Lottie + Doof. Instead of almond extract, which I didn't have, I added the zest and juice of one lemon. Lemon plays off the cranberries well. I recommend adding extra cranberries and mixing half of them into the batter, to get more fruit in each bite. This dessert comes together very quickly and is easy to make - which is helpful when you don't have a lot of time or are busy making too many foods.

Naturally Risen Sourdough

Here's an update on my sourdough experiments : my first batch without any added commercial yeast rose all on its own! Previously, I'd relied on 1/4 tsp of commercial yeast as a sort of training wheels, but now I'm excited to be able to bake bread without it. It feels empowering to know that if I maintain this starter, I can make bread even if I don't have access to yeast.

Two days before baking, I removed the sourdough starter from the fridge and fed it with 3/4 cup flour and 1/2 cup water. I covered it with a wet cloth and let it sit on the counter overnight. By the next day, it was dotted with tiny bubbles and smelled quite yeasty. By feeding it and letting the starter sit out of the fridge for a night before baking, it really activates the yeast - unlike the cold in the fridge, which suppresses it.

I prepared the dough by combining half the starter with 2 cups of all purpose flour, 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour, 1/4 cup sunflower seeds, 1/4 cup flax seeds, 1 tsp salt and a little less than 1 1/2 cup water. I went easy on the whole grains this time so as to not hinder the rising process. Since it worked out, next time I'll try adding a greater proportion of whole wheat and other grains. I let the dough sit out on the counter for another night, before baking it the next day according to these directions.

I returned the sourdough starter to the fridge to wait until the next baking. I added just a little flour and water, so that the yeast won't run out of "food" over the week or so. When I'm ready to bake again, I'll follow the same process as above.

Making Whole Grain Sourdough Bread

I always wanted to try sourdough bread...someday...but was put off by the all the complex instructions out there for getting started. This summer, I got lucky when a friend gifted me a starter from his own sourdough baking, with the instructions to follow the recipe for sourdough in Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. 

the starter

Bittman's recipe is a good place to start because it's almost like sourdough-lite. You still add commercial yeast to make sure the bread will rise, and the starter is really there just for flavor. The day before baking, I spoon out half the starter into a bowl to combine it with yeast, flour, water, salt and my own mix of whole grains to up the nutritional value. Since his recipe involves making dough the day before, it means I can take a no-knead approach and just do a quick knead until it forms a supple ball. After letting the dough sit overnight, I bake it sometime the next day. 

using half the starter to bake a loaf

Each time I bake, I feed the starter by adding more flour and water. I then let it wait in the fridge for a week until I'm ready to bake again. Sometimes more than a week goes by, and the starter accumulates a grayish liquid on top - which is apparently alcohol called hooch that forms when the yeast runs out of sugar and starch to feed on. I pour off the hooch and scrape off the top grayish layer of starter to discard. Then I feed the starter and then wait another day or up to a week until I bake again. 

feeding the starter with new flour and water

Sometimes my sourdough bread rises well, and sometimes it doesn't. I am not really sure why - I think it has to do with how the starter has been fared since the last time I fed it. It's also possible that the rye flour I like to include is suppressing yeast bacteria. There are all sorts of forums for diagnosing soudough issues that you can get lost in, but I choose to ignore them and stick with my same approach. I don't let perfection worry me too much, and just hope it turns out better next time. My friend said he's since moved on to a new method that doesn't use commercial yeast, which I'll have to try next...

Whole Grain Sourdough Bread 

(adapted from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything)

To make the starter:

At least two days ahead of baking, combine 1 1/2 cup flour, 1/8 tsp yeast and 1 cup warm water. Cover with a damp towel and leave out on your counter. Stir every 8 to 12 hours. Within 1-3 days, the starter should be bubbly and develop a sour smell. After that you can store it in the fridge until you're ready to bake.

To maintain the starter:

Each time you use half the starter for baking, feed it by adding 3/4 cup all purpose flour and 1/2 cup water. Whisk to combine. Cover with a damp cloth and leave out overnight. The next day, cover the container and store in the fridge for up to a week before baking and/or feeding again.

To make the dough:

1/2 of the starter

1/4 tsp yeast

1 1/2 - 2 cups of water

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup rye flour

1/4 cup cornmeal

1/4 cup oats

1/4 cup flax seeds

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1 tsp salt

The day before baking: 

In a large bowl, stir the yeast and 1/2 cup warm water until the yeast is mostly dissolved in the water. Let it sit for about five minutes until you can smell the yeasty aroma that indicates the yeast is working. Dump the flour, grains and salt on top, along with 1/2 cup of water. Stir to combine and add more water as needed in 1/4 cup increments. With experience, you will learn the consistency you are looking for - wet and pliable but still able to knead and handle without it being too sticky. I knead right in the bowl, rather than on a cutting board to save on cleanup efforts, for about five minutes. I dust my hands and the dough with flour a few times during kneading as needed. Form the dough into a ball, place seam side down in the bowl, and cover the bowl with a damp towel. Let it rest overnight.

12-24 hours later:

Preheat the oven to 450 about 30 minutes prior to baking. Lightly grease a loaf pan. Gently press down the risen dough and shape into a loaf. Bake at 450 for 30 minutes and then turn down the heat to 350 and bake another 15-30 minutes, until loaf is golden brown and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped.

If you're not ready to try making sourdough yet
See here for my versatile adaptations of no-knead dough
and see here for my regular whole grain bread recipe

Thanksgiving 2011

It's been three years since I was last lead cook for Thanksgiving. This year, I made all the side dishes and my own turkey legs. My mom made the big turkey and gravy and pies and my relatives brought the rest of the desserts. I came home Wednesday to give me plenty of time for cooking ahead and wrote out a schedule of food prep to follow on Thanksgiving day, which helped it all go smoothly. Except that I can never get the hang out how my mom's oven is consistently hotter than every other oven I've ever used and doesn't brown when roasting but goes straight to burn.

Roasted turkey legs
Roasted for about 90 minutes at 350, turned over halfway through.

My mom continues to insist on a free Shoprite turkey, so this year I did what I should have done in other years and brought my own portion of turkey from the farmers market to eat.

Rosemary no-knead rolls
Prepare the no-knead bread recipe, double it and add a bunch of diced fresh rosemary. The next day, two hours before baking, grease two muffin tins. Lightly press down the dough, pinch off pieces and roughly form them into balls and place in muffin tins. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Makes 24.

These rolls were a little tough on the outside. I think the crunchy crust that this no-knead method can create translates to toughness in rolls. Probably I need to try rolls made all in on day with milk for a fluffier texture.

Green beans with lemon, shallots and almonds
Sautee shallots and almonds. Meanwhile, steam green beans in a few inches of water for 5-10 minutes to desired tenderness. Combine in one dish with the juice of one lemon.

I don't like green beans that much but I liked this just fine.

Roasted Brussels sprouts
These sprouts were small enough that I didn't need to cut them in half first, just roasted at 400 for about 20 minutes on one side and ten minutes on the other.

A classic that pleased my grandfather who thinks boiled brussels sprouts taste terrible, despite being slightly overbrowned.

Mashed potatoes and celery root
I think celery root lends an elegant flavor to mashed potatoes. But I only used one large celery root to about 8 potatoes, so the ratio was off and it should have been more like two celery roots.

Hasselback sweet potatoes with maple syrup and sage
Slice sweet potatoes almost all the way to the bottom. Finely dice one bunch of sage and mix it in with two tbsp olive oil and two tbsp maple syrup with sage. This is messy, butuse your fingers to spread the sage, olive oil and mayple syrup mixture in between the potato slices. Bake at 400 for about 40 minutes. Can be made ahead and rewarmed.

My mom usually makes just straight up baked sweet potatoes, so this is classier and prettier and creates a nice hint of sweetness and sage. However, it was time consuming to carefully slice the potatoes and spread the sage mixture.

Roasted butternut squash with chickpeas and parmesan
Cut one large butternut squash into small one-to-two inch pieces. Roast in olive oil at 400 until browned. Afterward, add one to two cups of pre-cooked chickpeas and grate in a half cup of parmesan. Can be made ahead and reheated the next day in the oven.

A favorite combination of mine.

Stuffing with celery, apple and onion
Dice two red onions, one bunch of celery and three apples. Sautee in one stick of butter (!) until softened. Tear up two day-old baguettes into small pieces. Combine vegetables and baguette in a container of vegetable stock and add sage and poultry seasoning. Let sit in the fridge over night. Use some stuffing to stuff the turkey. The remainder will fill a casserole; bake at 400 until warmed through and browned on top.

This is the stuffing recipe I have been eating my whole life, made with baguette instead of pepperidge farm bread crumbs.

My Standard Whole Grain Bread

This is the bread recipe that has become my standard. I was into the no-knead method last year, but now I'm back to taking a whole weekend afternoon to make bread and other things. Mostly just because I'm having a hard time planning to be able to start no-knead dough a day in advance.

While this may not rise very much and is on the dense and crumbly side fresh out of the oven, it makes for excellent crunchy toast, which is how I usually eat bread anyway. Since I can't finish a loaf on my own before it goes stale, I slice and bag it for the freezer, most often having a piece of toast with a cup of tea or coffee for breakfast on morning workdays. The variety of grains gives it a complex and nutty taste that goes well with a little butter or peanut butter on top.

I only wish I hadn't accidentally broken my other beautiful loaf pan. I need to get a second one ASAP because now that it's summer, it makes sense to bake two loaves at a time and use the oven less often.

Wholegrain Bread
1 tsp yeast
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/4 cup whole wheat bread flour
1/4 cup ground flax seeds
1/4 cup oats
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup rye
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp honey
About 1 1/2 - 2 cups water total

In a large bowl, stir the yeast and 1/2 cup warm water until the yeast is mostly dissolved in the water. Let sit for about five minutes until you can smell the yeasty aroma that indicates it's working. Dump the grains, salt, olive oil, and honey on top, along with another 1/2 cup of water. Stir to combine and add more water as needed in 1/4 cup increments. With experience, you will learn the consistency you are looking for - wet and pliable but still able to knead and handle without it being too sticky.

I knead right in the bowl, rather than on a cutting board to save on cleanup efforts, for about five minutes. I dust my hands and the dough with flour a few times during kneading as needed.

Form the dough into a ball, place seam side down in the bowl, and cover the bowl with a wet dishtowel. Let rise for about 90 minutes, until the dough has approximately doubled in size.

Gently press down to press out the air. Use a spoon or spatula to carefully gather the dough away from the sides of the bowl and reform it into a ball. Let rise another 60 minutes with the wet towel on top.

Grease a loaf pan. Once the dough has about doubled in size again, press air out gently and remove from bowl. In my hands, I form the dough into a ball again and then gently elongate it into more of a rectangle that is the size of the loaf pan. Place in the pan, seams down. After 15 minutes, preheat the oven to 375.

After another half hour, once the dough has risen above the top of the pan, place the pan in the oven. Bake for one hour. Let cool for another hour before slicing.

Rosemary Leek Buttermilk Biscuits

What did I end up making with the butter and buttermilk? Again I copied Kelly of Eat Make Read and made biscuits! With dried rosemary and a chopped up baby leek from the farmers market.

This was the first time I've tried making biscuits and they didn't rise very much. I'm not sure if the consistency of the batter was too wet. Or it could have been that I used white whole wheat flour. Or that I cut the dough into rounds too small. Despite not being fluffy, they still had a great buttery flaky taste.

I brought the biscuits, as well as extra butter for topping, to a friend's potluck and meant to take pictures but was having so much fun that I forgot! I will also add that the homemade butter has lasted a few weeks now and has not gone bad as I had read it might.

Experimenting

I haven't have a whole lot of time or inclination for cooking or blogging lately, as music making has been edging out other activities as a priority. So it makes me happy when I manage to find an occasion to cook something new rather than the tried and true like yesterday's post.


I had some delicious soft and slightly sweet bread at Spring Street Natural a few weeks ago that we deduced to be sweet potato bread. I experimented with making my own recently, adapting the potato bread recipe from my trusty copy of Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book. And my new apartment came with a dutch oven(!), which makes it easy to achieve this beautiful crust without needing to adapt my slow cooker crock with aluminum foil. I used one medium sweet potato in my version, and the flavor came out nice but a little too subtle, so I'd like to experiment again with a greater proportion of mashed yams.


I also tried my hand at homemade veggie burgers for the first time recently. I don't know why I'd never done this before...I guess I thought it was more complicated, but it really is as easy as throwing beans and a few other ingredients in a food processor, forming patties, and frying them. I forgot to snap pictures, but I made vegan black bean burgers with onion, garlic, cumin and other spices, and oats instead of bread crumbs. Well, they were vegan until I added cheese on top. It was a winning combination together with toasted slices of sweet potato bread and mustard.


I would have liked my burgers to be less mushy on the inside, which seems like a common problem with veggie burgers - does anyone have any tips on that? My sister recommended incorporating wheat gluten for consistency. I will be experimenting with homemade veggie burgers more now that I have become an almost vegetarian (more on that another day), so I'll report back once I settle on a recipe or two I like.

The Bread of Life

I finally tried no-knead bread. Yes, I am late to this game, but like everyone says, it is truly revolutionary how easy it is to make a great artisan loaf with this recipe. No need (pun intended) to take the time to knead by hand or to knead by food processor and then wash its bazillion parts. No need to spend all afternoon or evening monitoring a rising blob of dough.

I started making my own bread two and a half years ago, as part of my campaign to cut out processed foods. Even healthy sounding breads available at the supermarket are hiding high fructose corn syrup and preservatives. Baking at home is cheaper than shelling out $4 for a fresh bakery loaf and allows you to control the ingredients. I have the added option of making totally local bread, since here in NYC, we are lucky to have access to locally grown and milled flours from the Blew Farm, Wild Hive Farm, and Cayuga Organics, sold at the Union Square and Grand Army Plaza Greenmarkets.

I've kept it up fairly faithfully, making a loaf every week or two, except for those steamy summer days when you wouldn't dare turn on the oven, and except for the six months when my sister lived with us and brought home fresh bread daily from the bakery where she worked. My go-to recipe used to be the basic whole wheat recipe in The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book: A Guide to Whole-Grain Breadmaking, but it takes over four hours from start to finish and involves a lot of hands-on time, which was annoying on work nights.

In contrast, the no-knead method feels like a breeze. I take five minutes to mix dough one night after work. The next night when I come home, I simply reshape the dough into a ball, wait two hours, and then bake it for an hour. If you've wanted to try breadmaking, but you've been too intimidated, I encourage you to start with this method.

* You do not need a dutch oven. I don't have one, which is why I always avoided this method, but I finally took the time to look it up, and my CrockPot stoneware is oven safe and it does the charm (not including the glass lid - cover the top with foil instead to catch the steam).


* A regular loaf pan, preheated, will also work with a foil cover. The Kitchn suggests some more dutch alternatives here

* The recipe is forgiving. For a while, I was lacking in teaspoons and my yeast measurements were more of a guessing game than an exact measurement, but 24 hours allows plenty of time to rise and develop gluten even if you're a little short on yeast. Likewise, if you're worried you didn't get the right ratio of flour to water, it will still turn out okay.

* This recipe can be used for making a decent pizza crust. Divide the dough in half to make two nice-size pizzas on a preheated baking sheet or preheated cast iron pan.

* You can go ahead and add whole wheat flour. It won't rise as much or get as holey, but it will still have a crackly top and become a moist, hearty whole wheat loaf.

* I have experimented with making a multigrain loaf, but I went a little too crazy (cornmeal + rye + whole wheat + ground flax seeds + molasses + yogurt + sunflower seeds) and I don't think there was enough gluten to give it structure. This version was adequate, but not stellar. I'm going to work on this and will be sure to report back with a multigrain recipe once I've made some progress.