Braised Red Potato - America's Test Kitchen recipe

America's Test Kitchen made a braised red potato recipe.  We have beautiful red potatoes this year, so this seemed like a good one to try.  The name of the potato is Sangre.  They are larger than we expected.

You can find the original recipe at:  http://www.kcet.org/living/food/the-public-kitchen/weekend-recipe-braised-red-potatoes.html

Braised Red Potatoes with Lemon and Chives
Serves 4 to 6

1 1/2 pounds small red potatoes, unpeeled, halved
2 cups water
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 garlic cloves, peeled
3 sprigs fresh thyme
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives

Of course, I made substitutions - green onion for chives - parsley for thyme.

The halved red potatoes were placed face down in a pan with water, butter, cloves of garlic, parsley, salt, and boiled until the water boiled away and the potatoes began to brown.  

After they are browned, add the mashed garlic, lemon juice, green onion, pepper.

ATK recommends a non-stick pan, but since I don't believe in them, I had to use my stainless steel pot.  They began sticking in the end and I did not let them brown as much as one might hope.

They were very creamy -  not what we expected.  And delicious!

No Knead Bread from King Arthur Flour

We went to the Oxford Farmers' Market on Saturday.  Now that we have our first Cherokee Purple tomatoes, it was time for Tomato, Cheddar, and Mayo sandwiches on good bread.  There was an artisan bread baker who had lovely ciabatta bread for sale at $5/loaf.  It was nice to learn that my bread is better!!!  So it was time to get baking.  This time I used the recipe from King Arthur Flour.

After a two-hour initial rise, I left the dough in the refrigerator in a covered plastic tub overnight.

The next morning I shaped half of the dough.

Baked in a 550 oven, turned down to 425 half-way.

The internal temperature was 200, so it was done, but I think it could have stayed a bit longer or at a bit higher temperature.

The crumb was not the big holey type I was expecting.

 Perhaps it needed less or more rising time???

It was delicious, and there is still dough in the refrigerator to make more!

Spent Wheat Bread

A friend is a beer maker, so when I found a recipe that uses the grain leftover from making beer, I sent the idea along - lo, and behold, I received the offer of wheat that they had just finished using in making beer.  I expected a cup or two - but a gallon arrived!!!!

This recipe rambles, because I was making it up as a went along, but it made a lovely loaf.

I mixed one cup of water, one cup of AP flour, and 1/4 teaspoon of yeast, covered it, and let it sit overnight.

The next day, I mixed 1 cup of hard cider, 1/4 cup honey, 1/3 cup spent wheat, 1 teaspoon salt, and 280 grams (that was what was left in the bag. . . ) of whole wheat flour.  (That's probably about two cups.)  And I added the flour mixture from the day before.  After mixing well, it was obvious that more flour was needed.  I added 1 cup bread flour, and because that still was not enough, I added 1/3 cup AP flour.

You may notice I'm getting rid of the odds and ends of flour in the house!

After beating with the Cuisinart mixer until it pulled from the sides of the bowl (about 10 minutes), I set it aside to rise.

After it had doubled in size, I folded it a few times and shaped it.

 I slashed the top, as is recommended for French bread or country boules.

I intended to bake in a preheated lidded pot - but when I put it in, it was too big to put the lid on, so I just baked it at 425 for 30-40 minutes.

 It has a nice texture, with the wheat chunks.  The wheat I received was quite dark, and the bread flavor approaches pumpernickel.  It will make great grilled cheese if I use a strongish cheese like gouda or muenster.

We'll have to try that tomorrow.  Today D had it with soup, and I had it plain.

Excellent!

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup water
1 cup hard cider
1 1/3 cup All Purpose flour
2 1/4 cup whole wheat pie and pastry flour (King Arthur)
1 cup bread flour (Sir Lancelot)
1/3 cup spent wheat left over from beer making (double it in the future)
2 1/4 teaspoon yeast (Red Star)
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon salt