Hooray for Bread!

 Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone; 

it has to be made, like bread, remade all the time, made new.  

 --Ursula K. Le Guin

Mmmm. Fresh-baked bread.

While I love to bring home paper-wrapped artisanal loaves from our local bakery, there's just something about making bread with your own hands.

I have a lovely weekend routine of bread baking here at Chez Gourmess. My go-to recipe for the past several years has been Jim Lahey's "No-Knead Bread" -- it's so easy to make and comes out the oven golden brown and perfect. Every time. You can add chopped nuts, olives, raisins, herbs, flax seed, etc., to the dough -- there doesn't seem to be a way to mess it up. I usually make the dough before I go to bed and let it rise overnight. A couple more hours of rising the next morning, and it's ready to go. The bread is usually in the oven by the time Chris is done reading the Sunday paper. Voilà! 

 

And now, I've found another bread recipe to add to my culinary repertoire, thanks to Food52.com. It's one of my new favorite food communities, and one of the prettiest food sites around. There are tons of great recipes, and I recently discovered a post there with Dan Leader's 4-Hour Baguette recipe. Ooh la la, baguettes! When we were in Paris this past fall, I loved seeing everyone walking around with their morning bread -- how great would it be to have fresh baguettes every day? Now it looks like I can do just that. (At least on the weekends.)

The recipe is relatively easy, with minimal effort, and the bread is simply délicieux. (I actually made it one-handed due to an injured wrist, and the three loaves turned out beautifully despite my clumsy, GourMESS efforts.) Of course, like any baguette, these taste best when they are still warm from the oven, but if you do have one or two left, don't worry. At the two-day mark, they still seem to be just fine for sandwiches and toast.

 

Yum. I will definitely be making these baguettes again this weekend. Why don't you get the recipe here and join me?

After all, le pain est l'amour.
xoxo

Welcome Fall

I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate. --Julia Child

Fall is officially here and I am ecstatic!  I love fall.  The colorful leaves, warm sweaters, apple-picking, the chill in the air that hints of cozy evenings by the fire.  The produce is lovely this time of year--going to the farmer's market is a must.  I love love fall. And, I love the food.

Fall is when I get out my beloved No-Knead Bread recipe from the New York Times and make a loaf every weekend. If you have flour, yeast, salt, water and a dutch oven, it is the easiest thing in the world--and there's nothing like the smell of fresh-baked bread to help you ease into Monday.

Rivaling fresh-baked bread is fresh-baked fruit crisp, and I've made two in the past week.  I got my lovely box of food from my organic co-op and there were so many plums, peaches, pears and apples this time, that I had to do something or risk them all turning to mush.  So, I peeled them and cut them into bite-sized chunks and put them in the bottom of a casserole dish until it was almost full.  Then, I mixed together 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 cup almond flour (you can use ground almonds), a dash of almond extract, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup white sugar (you may need more or less, depending on how ripe your fruit is, so be sure to add more/less to taste), a pinch of ginger, and several dashes of nutmeg and cinnamon. Then, I slowly poured in some melted butter (about 10 TBS), stirring it into the dry ingredients with a fork until crumbly. I let the crumb mixture sit for about 15 minutes before I covered the fruit with it and baked in a 375 degree oven for about 35 minutes, until brown and bubbly.  (Those apple-cinnamon scented candles we buy don't hold a candle--pun intended--to the aroma of a fall fruit crisp baking in the oven.)  Scoop the still warm crisp into bowls and top with homemade vanilla or ginger ice cream-- or even whipped cream does the trick.   What a treat!

Happy Fall!
xoxoxo