It happened again

Nothing like a good prediction coming true. This pizza assembly line looks like it may become a weekly staple.

As far as I am concerned, you can put anything on a pizza and it will probably be tasty (just look at the picture and you will know I practice what I preach). The crust is what needs to be stable and consistent.

I know Jim Lahey's pizza dough is supposed to be miraculous, but I haven't tried it yet. This is especially tragic given the fact that I own his book. It's just that the dough recipe I have been using for about two years now has been treating me right, and it gives me great dough in just an hour's rising time. An hour! That means I can decide I want pizza on the drive home from work. This is a priceless luxury when it comes to homemade dough (and long work days).

That being said, I know I will try Jim Lahey's recipe soon, if only for comparison purposes. This recipes is a slow (12 to 18 hour, if memory serves) rise, so it involves advance planning--something I love in life but not in food. But the slow-rise pizza dough must be great because the slow-rise bread dough gives us this

and that is just a beautiful thing.

One-Hour Rise Pizza Dough

2 1/2 cups bread flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 Tablespoon sugar

3/4 teaspoon active dry yeast

1 cup warm water 

First, mix your yeast into your warm water. I do this right in the measuring cup because I don't like to wash extra dishes if I can help it. To this you can add the sugar, since it will feed the yeast, but you can also add the sugar to the flour once it is measured. Either method is fine; it really won't change this forgiving dough. Measure your flour and salt (and sugar, if it's not already in the measuring cup) into a medium-sized bowl. When the yeast is ready you will notice that the top of the water in the measuring cup is a little foamy. Pour this mixture into the dry mixture and mix with your hands. Get messy! It's dough, man! It may take a little while to come together completely, but you can achieve this while kneading the dough. Dump the contents of the bowl out onto a clean surface and knead for about 8 minutes. This dough isn't very sensitive...meaning you can skimp on the time, if necessary, and you won't cause any harm. Place the ball of dough in a clean bowl slicked with olive oil, cover with plastic wrap, and leave in a safe place for an hour. This recipe makes enough dough for one sheet pan's worth of pizza.

A verbose explanation for something that is really very easy. (Easy enough that I am willing to make enough for 8 to 10 people every week!)

Supreme

Now that New Year's Day has come and gone and I'm crawling through the tail end of the painful first full work week of 2014, I am longing more than ever for those few delicious days off that I had during the 2013 holidays. Days that were completely devoid of work, both full-time and freelance varieties, yet were somehow filled to the brim (notably with all things I wanted to do).

I read books, mostly, and visited friends, and cooked food for a full house of people with no consideration other than what was in the fridge. I wore sweaters and yoga pants as a uniform and took more than one nap with a 65-pound dog as a personal heater. Supreme.

And what I want to do this afternoon, instead of sitting in a freezing cold office (and honestly, the draught at the windows is causing the blinds to sway in the breeze), is to be home, crowded around the kitchen island, the ovens hot and ready, making pizzas and devouring black eyed pea dip (a new must on New Year's Day).

This was our New Year's Day 2014 dinner, for want of something hands on and fun to do, avoiding tablecloths and fine china because we've had enough of it at Christmas! Get your hands dirty and your belly full on New Year's Day!!

Just wondering what this pizza kick off to 2014 will bring us (besides more pizza, which, quite honestly, I am okay with). 

To pizza! To wandering minds longing already for the weekend on a Friday afternoon!

And now, reluctantly, back to my desk.

Skipping seasons and "frickles"

Guys. Can we talk about how this happened?

Spring. Yes. Since the cold snap I was whining about, I've moved, worked my butt off (on the treadmill and at the office), picked up a bunch of freelance work, and spring happened. Now it's summer! How does time do this to me?

I'm back and I'm bringing pickles. Fresh, crunchy, refrigerator pickles--let's call them frickles because why not? Please don't be intimidated. They're so easy to make. A week or two ago I had to whip something BBQ-appropriate up to contribute to a company BBQ on a day that I would be spending the morning doing this:

(weekend job). Pickles were surprisingly the perfect solution. Think about it. Who doesn't love pickles? And they're so much more fun and unusual than hot dog buns. (Don't worry, we had plenty.)

Here's how you make them: quarter some smaller cucumbers. Shove them into any container you have (I shamelessly used a Chinese food soup container) with some fresh dill, some garlic cloves, and some spices (I used dill seed, mustard seed, coriander seed, hot pepper flakes, celery seed, and peppercorns, about 1/2 teaspoon each). Then mix up 1 1/4 cup water, 1/2 cup white vinegar, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1/2 tablespoon sugar. Pour it into the container and you're done!

Now, if you want things to be a little more interesting, you can chop up a jalapeno and throw it into the mix.

These pickles got spicier and spicier as they sat in the fridge! We might be trying habaneros next time.

What I'm trying to say is: be careful if you have a pickle craving anywhere near my fridge. Some of them may bite back.

On comfort food and reading two books at once

Right now in my little corner of the Hudson Valley, we have gratefully emerged from a cold snap, into the (incredibly foggy) warmer weather that isn't actually very warm, and then back into some cold and snow. That brief spell of warmer weather gave me the overwhelming urges to take my car to the car wash and go for a long run outside. Winter is a bit of a mind game. It gets dark so early that anything after 4:00 (the beginning of the prevening, if you are as big of a fan of The Big Bang Theory as I am) seems to tilt you into a frenzied rush toward bedtime. It's that feeling of "it's dark so I need to get to sleep!" You feel as though there isn't enough time in the evenings after work to get anything of any value accomplished. So instead we heat up something comforting and snuggle under blankets on the couch, watching TV or reading until the clock deems it an appropriate time to call it a night. I can't say I mind it terribly (I've never been opposed to snuggling on the couch), but it certainly doesn't make me feel very productive.

I've just finished reading Gone Girl (have you read it??) and while I can't deny how engrossing the plot is, there is something about the tone that makes me feel totally hopeless. The emotions swing from such highs to such lows so quickly, it's very depressing. Not the best choice for a snowy/rainy end of January in the Northeast.

So now that I've finished this one, I'm agonizing over my next book choice. Don't we readers have such troubles? I recently bought a stack of great finds at the thrift store and I'm eager to dive in. I've also pulled Under the Dome off of Jim's bookshelf after hearing the rumors of a CBS special! Given the size of the book (1,074 pages), I'm not sure that it's an especially good candidate for lugging back and forth to work, so I'm considering...reading two books at once. Can it be done!? It's not something I've ever been able to manage. Stephen King read at home, and a nice, light paperback for work. It's a challenge.

In this weather, everyone wants something comforting. That means soups and stews, but it also (for me) means risotto. I stumbled onto this recipe while perusing Tastespotting years ago, and I've loved it ever since. While I certainly support its use as a side dish, in the chill of winter, I love to eat this on its own, with a glass of wine, as its own comfort food meal. Enjoy.

Tomato Goat Cheese Risotto
(Loosely adapted from Taste of Beirut)

2 cups arborio rice
1 large log goat cheese
1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered
12-14 ounce can tomato sauce
1/2 stick butter
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a medium-sized pot or very large skillet. Add the onions and fry until golden brown. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the cup of wine and cook, stirring, until most of the wine has been absorbed. Add the chicken or vegetable stock one cup at a time, stirring while the liquid is absorbed. Add the can of tomato sauce and stir as the liquid is absorbed and the risotto thickens. Add in the goat cheese, breaking it up with your fingers to allow it to melt more quickly. Add in the quartered cherry tomatoes and grated Parmesan cheese. Serve with more Parmesan cheese for sprinkling on the top.

2013 Resolutions

Resolutions end up feeling a lot like a to do list, but I make them anyway. I like the intentions behind them, and even if you only accomplish one, it's a step in a good direction. I waited this long to jump on the "post your resolution" bandwagon because I had a long list on the first of the year and I wanted to keep only the ones that really felt important after trying them out for a month:

1. Simplify. An ubiquitous resolution this year. I always have a full plate and I find that I can keep my stress and anxiety in check if I keep things clean and simple. Doesn't life feel so much less chaotic when the bed is made and there is homemade soup in the fridge? Keeping things simple and stress-free is the only way I manage to stop and enjoy the little things.

2. Photo-ify. I really want my SOOC (straight out of the camera) photos to improve, as I'm hopeless at Photoshop (maybe that can be a resolution for next year?). For this year, I'd like to be less afraid to lug my DSLR around and more inclined to use the remote so that I can be in my own photos. I have high hopes of fun little trips in my future and I'd love to have the tangible memories of photos for all of them!

3. Health-ify. Specifically, though, I would like to eat more vegetables than I already do and make weekly or monthly fitness goals, instead of being an overachiever and failing to meet a standard set too high. Feed my body, not my diet.

Now to get to it! Any advice?

Kim makes kimchi, and it is a great success

Spoiler alert, right?

This past Christmas, Jim's parents generously bought me a cookbook on preserving, called Canning for a New Generation: Bold, Fresh Flavors for the Modern Pantry by Liana Krissoff and Rinne Allen (for more info, click here) that I had been eying for a few months. The thought process was as follows:

--> "I have all these bulk spices that I bought for a steal*, where am I to store them??"
--> "Oh hey, look at these mason jars, these look like they would be good to store spices in. And I can label them myself!"
--> "I didn't realize how many spices I use. Need more jars."
--> "What am I going to do with all these mason jars!? Maybe I can learn to make jam..."

*For the record, if you intend to buy spices of any kind, look into local specialty markets, etc. I buy a lot of my spices at an Indian grocery store and save a ton of money.

Aren't you grateful for that fascinating look into my lizard brain? (Award yourself 5 points if you get that reference.)

Well, needless to say, as a 20-something with two jobs, I haven't quite gotten around to the jam. I've bookmarked, I've gotten excited, I've had the greatest of intentions. And this book makes it look so easy. But I'm not there yet. Where I am is here: kimchi. The recipe is simple, the reward enticing. And it just seemed so cool. So one evening, after work, I got out my camera and some veggies, and I played in the kitchen.

I used Napa cabbage, as the recipe specified, and had some fun capturing the texture. It look so crinkly and soft, unlike the thicker leaves of other cabbages.

I chopped it up

and put it in a big bowl (lucky find at my local Marshall's).

Added some radishes

and some scallions,

(such pretty colors!)

and then I added the recommended mixture of water and salt, put a plate on top of the veggies, and weighted it down with my cast iron skillet. Then, against my better judgement, I left it on the counter overnight.

Easy so far, no?

The next day, I drained the veggies, saving the water/salt liquid mixture, and started with the spicy component.

I bought Korean chili powder online because I could not find a specialty store local enough to me. Amazon is great for little things like this.

I created a paste with the chili powder, some grated garlic and ginger, and some anchovies (I know, I know, but it works!)

and mixed it in with the now-slightly-softened veggies.

(Delicious mess.)

Then I carefully transferred the flavored veggies to a large jar. I repurposed a giant pickle jar and it worked beautifully.

I would be lying if I told you that this was a neat process. It's all about how much time you take...if I hadn't been so excited, using tongs to transfer the veggies would have been much cleaner (leftover evidence in lower righthand corner).

Lastly, I added back in the water/salt combo just until it covered the veggies, then filled a gallon-sized Ziploc bag with the rest of the liquid to weight the mixture down (and sort of act as a seal, since I wouldn't be putting the lid to the jar on).

And, again against my better judgment, here he sat, unrefrigerated and uncovered...for a week!

Now, I was sincerely worried about two things: that I was putting something on my shelf for a week that would start decomposing (it didn't) and that all of that pickling action would stink up my apartment (it didn't). I would give the area next to my kitchen shelf a little sniff every morning to make sure nothing off was happening--most likely making me look like I had a nervous tick--and everything turned out better than I expected.

I made kimchi! When I finally removed the plastic Ziploc after a week, I smelled a distinct vinegar-y pickle smell, and I hadn't used a drop of vinegar! Chemistry is fun! It felt so satisfying to have this work out. I've made myself kimchi friend rice in the past few weeks, and have plans to make the recommended kimchi and pork dumplings from the book soon. As you can see, the recipe makes a ton of kimchi, so if you have any like-minded friends, dole it out! Who doesn't love free kimchi?

the cure for what ails ya

We've been feeling a little...lousy in this household for the past few days. Blame it on the change of seasons, other sick people, kids starting school and creating little colds that fly around in the cooling air of early- to mid-September. We've got it, whatever it is, and it's no fun. The image of curling up on a couch with your love, mugs of tea or coffee in-hand, ready to put your feet up, watch some TV, and recover isn't nearly as enjoyable when you're actually sick.

So this weekend, to fix ourselves up a bit, I set about making a cure-in-soup-form. Having never actually made homemade chicken soup before (gasp!), I didn't have a go-to recipe for sick days. I did, however, remember reading a recipe from the Bon Appetit website calling itself Chinese Noodle Soup. I used this as my inspiration, and used what I had around the house to make the soup (because no one wants to go to the grocery store when they're sick).

I have to admit, it was very easy to make, and so much more nourishing that anything I could have heated up in a can. If you're feeling lousy, but still feel up to, well, being upright, give this soup a try. Placebo effect or not, Jim and I both felt better for it.

*(Note: These photos are the first on what, I am sure, will be a long and exciting project of learning to use my DSLR. I've not edited them in any way, so things can only get better from here!)

First, you'll want to marinate your chicken. I used soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine, and sesame oil.

If you have an Asian grocery store within reasonable driving distance, it's worth your time to pop over and poke around. Sesame oil, for one, is an expensive ingredient, but if you go to the source, it's amazing the deal you'll get. That bottle cost me $8, and is four times the size of the $8 bottle I would get in my local supermarket.

Slice the chicken up into thin strips, and pour the flavorings overtop. I used about a tablespoon of each.

At this point, put the chicken in the fridge and migrate over to the couch. Recover a little, have some tea.

When you're feeling better, head back to the kitchen to start the soup. Mince some garlic (I used two cloves) and ginger (about 2 tablespoons), and mix it with some tahini (2 tablespoons), rice vinegar (1 tablespoon), and chili garlic sauce (about 2 teaspoons). We need some ginger to cure us, and some spice to clear us out.

Ahem. Sorry for that.

I used my microplane on the garlic and the ginger because it makes fast work of mincing. When you're sick, you need fast work.

Garlic. Love it.

Mix this paste up and keep it ready. This is going to flavor the broth a lot, and give you the kick that you'll need. Spice is part of the cure.

Now, I used bok choy as the greens of this soup, but I think you could really use anything sturdy enough to stand up to a soup.

Rinse out the grit and chop it up into ribbons.

Saute the bok choy in a little sesame oil, then add some chicken broth or stock, really whatever you have. I had some stock and then added water to get enough liquid, I would say at least 6 cups.

Cooking when you're sick is alllll about estimating.

Bring this to a boil and then add in the chicken, with the marinade, and that wonderful, flavorful paste. Now the broth just looks like it can cure you.

I boiled some soba noodles and added them to the soup. Simmer everything together for a few minutes and you're ready.

See, that wasn't so hard, was it?

Scoop yourself out some nourishing goodness.

If you're me, you'll stir in some more chili garlic sauce to pack a bigger punch. Get that blanket, get on the couch, and get better.

I know we can all use a soup like this during the changing of the seasons, when our immune systems are a bit on the flimsy side. You can find the recipe I used here and mold it to what you have in the kitchen. I really enjoyed how flavorful the broth was, it cut through any lack of my sense of taste caused by my sickness, which is invaluable. No one wants to eat food that can't be tasted!

Another something invaluable? Leftovers. I'll be okay for the rest of the weekend, staying in and recovering (and yes, completely jealous of the gorgeous weather and longing to be at an orchard or a farm). Until next weekend...