36-hour Ciabatta

This is my second bread recipe for weeknight baking, adapted from the original in the King Arthur Baker's Companion. It does require a fair bit of advance planning, and it doesn't hold super well in the fridge for extra days -- all the bubbles rise to the top and create a giant pocket.

The bread is probably not much like "real" ciabatta, but it makes a large flat loaf with a soft and almost sponge-like crumb -- large but even holes. It's wonderful for sandwiches because it soaks up any juices / dressings / sauces -- try grilled beef and chimichurri. With the crust peeled off and the bread battered, it also makes a killer fried sandwich (can't find the recipe right now).

When you wake up, the day prior to baking:
Mix together in a medium-small bowl to form a dry, firm, shaggy dough

1. 1/4 t instant (bread machine) yeast
2. 4 oz (1/2 c) water
3. 6.25 oz (1 1/2 c) King Arthur all-purpose flour

Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for about 12 hours, give or take a few.

As soon as you get home from work, the day prior to baking:
Pull the starter into walnut-sized pieces and place in mixer bowl. Add

1. 1 t instant yeast
2. 2 t nonfat dry milk powder
3. 1 1/2 t salt
4. 7.75 oz (1 c minus 1 T) water
5. 1 T olive oil
6. 8.5 oz (2 c) flour

Mix for ~3 min with paddle, then up to 10 more minutes with dough hook. Dough will be too wet, sticky, and slack to work by hand. Transfer to oiled bowl and cover. Every 40 minutes for 2 hours (3 times total), fold the dough over on itself a couple times. This is the key to developing enough gluten for the bread to hold its shape later. Turn it out onto a half sheet pan covered with a Silpat, forming a large flat oval blob. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and allow to rise 1.5 - 2 hours at room temperature. Transfer to refrigerator until the next night (about 20 hours).

Total time for this step is approximately 4 - 4.5 hours, or from 6pm until 10 - 10:30pm. It's tight for a workday, but doable. If you've changed the schedule so you'll bake without refrigerating, total rising time should be 2 - 3 hours at room temperature. (With refrigeration, the room temperature rising time is shorter because the dough will continue to rise somewhat in the refrigerator, especially before it gets chilled all the way through.)

As you start making dinner, the day of baking:
Preheat oven and stone to 425 F. Move second rack to top of oven. Heat 8oz of water to a rolling boil in a covered cast-iron skillet over high heat. Three minutes before baking bread, uncover skillet and transfer to top rack of oven. Place sheet pan with bread directly on baking stone and bake about 25 minutes total. Remove skillet with water after the first 10 - 15 minutes.

I use cast iron because it holds heat so well, so the water continues to boil in the oven and create steam. Also, you don't have to worry about the pan warping from the heat if it runs dry. To me, this is the best and easiest way to get steam in the oven of all the ones I've tried.

Chocolate pecan pie

A very tasty dessert from my friend Louis Metzger, who was a fellow graduate student with me in the Duke biochemistry department. He reports that it's an adaptation of a recipe in Taste and Tour of Texas.

Combine over low heat, stirring constantly until melted:

1. 2/3 c sweetened condensed milk
2. 2 T butter
3. 1 c semisweet chocolate chips

In a large mixing bowl, combine

1. 2 eggs, lightly beaten
2. 3/4 c granulated sugar
3. 2 T flour
4. 1/4 t salt
5. 1 t vanilla extract
6. 1.5 c whole pecans

Stir chocolate mixture into contents of mixing bowl. Pour into

1. 9” pie crust, unbaked (homemade or purchased)

Bake at 375F for 35-40 minutes.

Magnolia Grill food processor pie crust

This is my favorite pie crust recipe, taken from Karen Barker's Sweet Stuff cookbook (she of Magnolia Grill fame). The idea of using half harder and half softer flour came from the King Arthur Baker's Companion; this gives just enough gluten to hold together but not enough to make the dough tough. This recipe makes enough for two 9" pie crusts, with plenty to spare.

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse to combine

1. 12.5 oz flour (half all-purpose and half pastry flour)
2. 3/4 t Kosher salt
3. 3/4 T sugar

Pulse to cut in fats until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal (very small chunks of fat)

1. 4 oz (1 stick) butter, cut in small pieces and chilled 20 min. in freezer
2. 4 oz (1/2 c + 2 T) shortening, cut in pieces and chilled

Sprinkle most of water over dough, adding last 1 oz if needed, and pulse just until dough starts to come together

1. up to 1/2 c ice water

Dump dough out and separate into halves, flatten into relatively thin disks (so they're as close as possible to the final desired shape!), wrap in plastic, and refrigerate at least a few hours and as long as overnight. I like to roll the dough out between lightly floured sheets of plastic wrap, as this makes it much easier for me to roll quickly without having the dough stick or tear.

Baked Gruyere Scallops

Taken from the Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook, this dish has become a family tradition whenever we go to the beach. And you need a hard day playing in the surf to work this off...

The cheese for this dish will be relatively expensive, in the $10+/lb range, but don't skimp: you need good-quality ingredients to make this dish shine. Scallops aren't cheap either, come to think of it. I guess that's why I make it at the beach when my parents are paying!

In a large skillet, saute 2-3 minutes, then drain and set aside:

1. 2 T butter
2. 1 lb bay scallops

In same skillet, saute until tender:

1. 2 T butter
2. 1 medium onion, finely chopped
3. 8 oz sliced fresh mushrooms

Stir in scallops and

1. 6 oz shredded Gruyere or other Swiss cheese (e.g. Emmentaler)
2. 1/2 c mayonnaise
3. 1/4 c dry white wine
4. 1 T lemon juice

Spoon into greased oven-safe dish (one large or four individual) and broil 6" from heat until browned, about 2-3 minutes.

Tony Chachere's

"Tony's" is a hot and smoky seasoned salt product from Louisiana. Katy's cousins swear by the stuff, carrying a can with them everywhere in their purses. They gave us some for Christmas, but I just tried it the other day. I have to say: it's the best seasoned salt I've ever had. It rocks on french fries. I don't know what else it's good on ("great on everything," the label says), but I'll keep some around just for that!

Two pizza recipes

I recently created two successful pizza recipes and thought I would record them here. They're both built on my Refrigerator Flatbread dough, stretched out thin and baked on a pizza stone at 450 F for 10 minutes. (I tried using 1/3 part higher-protein flour and some dough relaxer, but the standard recipe is fine.) I put the dough on parchment to make it easier to slide into the oven. The high heat and stone are important for getting a nice crisp crust and nicely browned cheese.

I find that freshly shredded part-skim mozzarella works best; the whole-milk stuff gets awfully greasy. I use Polly-O because that's what the store carries. The secret is to go light with both cheese and sauce: too much of either makes the pizza heavy. Use less than you think you need, and it will come out just right.

Pork BBQ Pizza

Top the dough with a thin film of sweet tomato-based barbeque sauce, such as KC Masterpiece. Add diced red onions, fresh herbs if you have them (parsley, cilantro, or chives would all be nice), and some shredded pork barbeque. Top lightly with grated mozzarella and bake as above.

White Pizza

Brush dough with extra virgin olive oil. Use the really good stuff; this can make or break the whole thing. Sprinkle with salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Sprinkle with mozzarella and grated Parmesan and bake as above.

Carolina-style pulled pork barbeque

This is a really easy recipe for pork barbeque that produces a reasonable imitation of the real thing. I got it from my friend Bryan Arendall, a true grill master. Since Carolina BBQ is going to be hard to find in Seattle, I'm really glad to have this recipe.

It's important not to get too large a piece of meat: 5 lbs would be about the limit of what my crockpot can handle. Removing the bone from a picnic ham was hard work and not something I would like to try again.

The key to NC barbeque is the sauce, made primarily of vinegar and cayenne pepper. I don't have a recipe for homemade sauce yet, but Scott's Sauce (www.scottsbarbecuesauce.com) is awfully good. Using some generic, tomato-based sauce in this recipe would really change the results (not for the better, in my opinion).

Start with

1. a 5 - 10 lb. Boston butt or picnic shoulder

Make sure it will fit in your crockpot! Start on the small side if you're not sure. 5 lbs is all mine will hold. Season liberally with choice of spices, such as

1. garlic salt
2. black pepper
3. cayenne pepper

Place meat in slow cooker and add

1. 32 oz vinegar-based Carolina barbeque sauce (enough to cover)

Cook on high for 1 hour, then reduce heat to low and cook for one hour per pound of meat, up to a maximum of 8 hours. (Adjust for your cooker as experience dictates.)

Remove meat from sauce and shred with two dinner forks, removing fat. Ladle over some of the leftover sauce to moisten. Serve on big fluffy hamburger rolls with coleslaw and extra sauce on top. Feeds a crowd!

Italian Bread with Sesame Seeds

This recipe makes a light, soft, slightly salty loaf that I just love. It comes from the King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion. It's amazingly similar to my Refrigerator Flatbread: both recipes use 19 oz flour and 12 oz water to make 2 lbs of dough, and both use some of the ingredients to make a pre-ferment. However, this one is slightly saltier and contains no oil, and its pre-ferment is not as wet and goes much longer. The result is a fairly different -- but equally delicious -- bread.

Make the starter (biga) the night before at about dinner time. It needs to sit at room temperature for 12 to 16 hours before you start the bread. In a medium bowl, mix

1. 8 oz water (at room temp.)
2. 8.5 oz (2 cups*) hard flour, such as King Arthur AP
3. 1/4 t instant or "bread machine" yeast

Mix just until a dough comes together. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let sit overnight.

The next morning, add to the starter

1. 4 oz water (room temp.)

and mix until fairly smooth. Transfer to a large bowl and mix in

1. 10.5 oz (2 cups*) hard flour (19 oz / 4 c total)
2. 2 t instant yeast
3. 1 1/2 t salt

Mix until smooth but not necessarily elastic, about 3 minutes by machine or 5 by hand. (The gluten will be further developed as the dough rises, so you don't want to over-develop it initially.) Place in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 1/2 hours. Every half hour, gently fold the dough in half and turn it over, to develop the gluten.

Divide the dough into thirds, shape into balls (see below), cover, and let rise 1 - 1 1/2 hours, until puffy. Brush and sprinkle with

1. 1 egg white lightly beaten with 1 T water
2. sesame seeds

Bake 25 - 35 minutes at 425 F, until the internal temperature reaches 190 F. Cool on a rack.

There are several options for shaping. The easiest is balls, which come out a nice size to use as (large) bread bowls for soup. Grab the piece of dough by opposite edges, and tuck them underneath. Turn 90 degrees and repeat. Continue until you get a good tight skin -- near the end you may form a ring near the bottom of the ball with one thumb and forefinger draw it closed as you push the dough up inside. Set the ball on the counter. Gently cup one hand on either side and roll in small circles to tighten the skin further -- a good tight skin is the key to having the dough hold its shape as it rises.

If you're feeling more ambitious, roll the three pieces into ropes and braid them into a single loaf, as described in the original recipe. Again, pay attention to getting a tight skin on the individual ropes, or you end up with a fairly flat loaf. This is harder.

* 2 cups flour actually weighs 9.5 oz, so it evens out in the end if you use cup measures instead of weight.

Spicy Chicken with Green Onions

A yummy little recipe from a tiny book called "Bon Appetit Quick & Delicious". It definitely is hot, though, so you really have to serve it with some creamy coleslaw.

In a small bowl, whisk together

1. 2 T olive oil
2. 1 T hot pepper sauce (Tabasco, Texas Pete, etc)
3. 2 t honey
4. 1 green onion, minced

Save 2 T of this mixture and pour the rest into a zip-top bag with

1. 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes, then remove and grill along with

1. remaining green onions from the bunch, lightly salted

until done. Place on top of or alongside coleslaw and top with reserved marinade.