holy bread!

My husband has been searching for a homemade recipe to get that crunchy, artisanal bread for over 10 years. He's tried bricks in the oven, water in the oven,  you name it and he's tried it. One fortuitous day, we came across a copy of Edible Santa Barbara. In that copy, there was an article about cooking bread inside a sealed vessel. This prompted hours of internet searching for the technique. And the discovery of Mark Bittman's interview with Lahey, a prominent New York baker who revealed his secret of using a dutch oven to make home made artisanal style bread. Try it, you won't be disappointed!

 

Link to recipe

Here is our first one! 

anyone can cook...even if your kitchen is as small as a matchbox

I watched Ratatouille for the umpteenth time on Friday night. I love Gusteau's mantra: "Anyone can cook." I also love Mark Bittman's simple approach to food and cooking.  Bittman notes that we don't need an industrial sized range to create delicious dishes. All we need are fresh ingredients, pots/pans, and a basic stove or oven. He posted a picture of his kitchen, the one he comes up with all of his glorious recipes in, here's the link. It is small and simple, just like mine. I was delighted to see someone else, especially a cooking guru like Mark Bittman, would have a simple kitchen free of the glitz and glamor that inhabit so many kitchens these days. So not only can you cook in a simple kitchen, but YOU can cook. We all can. It just takes a little effort and creativity.

Here's an easy recipe that you might wonder how each ingredient can be eaten together, but give it a try. It will surprise you.


Blood Orange Salad
2-3 servings

Ingredients
4 Blood Oranges, peeled* and diced
0.5 yellow onion, thinly sliced
0.25 cup pitted Kalamata olives, chopped
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. peel and dice blood oranges, add to a bowl.
2. Slice onions and olives, add to oranges.
3. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste.

blood oranges

when scored with a knife, oranges are easy to peel

Kalamata Olives

sliced onions

¡Buen provecho! 

*Try scoring the oranges into quarters, then peel each quarter using your fingers. They usually peel pretty easily this way.