No Knead Bread and chicken Soup

This bread recipe goes against every bread making rule that I have ever learned. It's so easy to make a that even a monkey could do it.

No-Knead Bread

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast (not a typo, strange I know)
1 1/4 teaspoons salt (that's a lot of salt, I reduced this amount a lot and the bread tasted fine)
1 and 1/2 cups of water
A big heavy lidded pot (cast iron or dutch oven).
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed (I used cornmeal).

1. Mix all of the ingredients (except for the cornmeal) together. That's it! It makes a really gloppy, sticky mess and you will think there's no way you've done this step right. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit there for 12-20 hours. (Note: do this step before going to bed if you want bread for supper.)

2. With floured hands shape the dough into a ball shape and let it rest for 2 hours on a floured dish cloth (not a terry cloth, the dough will stick). My dough wasn't overly sticky so I used a bit of cornmeal instead and it didn't stick to the dish cloth.





3. Preheat your oven to 450 F. Put the dutch oven in the hot oven to preheat.

4. When the dutch oven is hot, dust the bottom with some cornmeal or wheat bran and plop the dough on top of it. I also scored my bread because I can't help myself, but you don't have to do this. Put the lid back on and bake for 30 minutes on 450F. Then remove the lid and continue to bake for another 15- 20 mins (it was less than 15 mins for me.)



5. The end result. The bread is crusty on the outside and soft on the inside.


Chicken Soup



1 whole chicken
celery
carrots
bay leaves
garlic
onions
tumeric
pot herbs
salt and pepper
rice
frozen or fresh peas

Put a whole chicken in a pot with some celery stocks, carrots, garlic, onions and salt and pepper. Cover with water and boil the chicken until it is cooked and remove it from the pot. Place the stock in the fridge over night and in the morning remove the layer or partially remove the layer of fat that has risen to the top. Fat does add flavor but if you are watching your fat intake, you may want remove this layer. Put the pot of the stove to boil and add some chopped carrots, celery and rice. Add in some salt and pepper to taste. My little secret is that I add in some tumeric to give the soup color. I don't like using bullion but I don't want my soup to look like ditch water either. The tumeric adds the color you like to see but without the artificial coloring and flavoring found in the bullion. Tumeric has numerous health benefits as well. Simmer with bay leaves and pot herbs of your choice. Add in some cooked chicken and frozen peas at the end. Dip the yummy bread in the homemade soup and try not to make love making sounds like my husband does while eating it.

Beef Stew and Focaccia Corn Bread

Beef Stew
beef stewing meat, trimmed of fat
potatoes, cubed skins on
carrots, cubed
turnip, cubed
parsnips, cubed
onions, chopped
frozen peas
bay leaf
pot herbs
1 cup of water
2 tbs. flour
2 tsp. or more of beef bullion
oil for frying if the meat is lean.

I like to make my stew in a cast iron frying pan. I brown the beef and add the onions, then add the veggies. I take a large glass and add around 2 tbs. of flour, along with the beef bullion, and then I fill the glass with water. Pour the mixture into the pan with the beef then add the veggies. Add the bay leaf and allow the stew to simmer until the gravy has thickened. Then add the pot herbs and frozen peas lastly.


Focaccia Corn Bread

Add focaccia bread spices to your favorite corn bread recipe, you won't be disappointed. Here's my recipe that I got from a Better Homes and Gardens bread cookbook. I picked the cook book up at a yard sale several years ago, when we first moved into our house.

1 cup of flour
1 cup of yellow corn meal
1/4 cup of sugar
4 tsp. of baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt (reduce if you like, the focaccia spices with add flavor, you won't miss the salt)
2 eggs
1 cup of milk
1/4 cup of oil or shortening (I use olive oil or canola oil)
focaccia bread spices (around 1 to 1 1/2 tbs. is my best guess.)

Stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, bp, and salt. Add eggs, milk, focaccia bread spices, and oil. Beat just until smooth. Turn into a greased 9x9 pan. Bake at 425 F for 20 to 25 minutes. Tip: if you have time, I would suggest adding the bread spices to the oil for a while prior to mixing all of the ingredients together. It softens the spices and your bread will be more moist.

Corn Chowder and Crusty Onion Bread

This meal reminds me of my grandmother because she can make even the most simple meal taste delicious. If you tasted my grandmother's corn chowder, I'm sure you would say it's the best you've ever eaten. Make the meal count and make it taste good, I think that's what my grandmother has instilled in me.

Corn Chowder
5 large potatoes
1 large onion
1 large can of cream of corn
1 can of 2% can milk
2 bay leafs
pot herbs
a chunk of cheddar (optional) I didn't add this as my husband is following a low fat diet)

Peel the potatoes (I leave the skins on some) and dice. Boil the potatoes until tender but not mushy then drain. Saute onions in a small amount of oil until they're soft and transparent. Add the onions, creamed corn, can milk, pot herbs, bay leaves into the pot with the potatoes and warm on stove. If your using cheddar, add to the pot a few minutes before serving to allow for it to melt. Stir often because canned milk burns easily.

Crusty Onion Bread
2 1/4 cups of water
1/2 package of onion soup mix
2 tablespoons of shortening or oil ( I used only 1 tbs of olive oil)
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt (I omitted this as there is already lots of salt in the soup mix)
5 1/2 cups - 6 cups of flour (will vary depending how humid the day is, it was more like 4 1/2 cups the day I made it.)
1 package active dry yeast
cornmeal
1 slightly beaten egg white
1 tablespoon of water.

In saucepan combine the water and soup mix, cover and simmer for 10 mins. Stir in oil, sugar, and salt. Allow it to cool ( I waited until it was lukewarm because if your water is too hot it will kill the yeast).

In a large bowl combine 2 1/2 cups of the flour, the yeast, and onion mixture. Beat it hard until it smooth- you may use an electric mixer. Stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can using a spoon. Then turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead in more of the remaining flour and knead the dough until it is elastic (about 6-8 mins). Shape the dough into a ball, it should look like the second photo at this point).
Place it in a lightly greased bowl and cover the bowl with a damp tea towel. Allow it to rise until it's doubled in size (about an hour). Punch down, and cut dough in half and allow it to rest for 10 mins. Shape the dough into 2 round loaves and place on a baking sheet that has been sprinkled with cornmeal. Let it rise again until it is almost double in size (keep it covered with the tea towel. With a sharp knife, make diagonal cuts across the bread. Bake it in a 375 degree oven for 20 mins. Then brush it with the egg/water mixture and continue to bake for 10 more minutes. The egg mixture gives the bread the shinny coating.