Another Homemade Winner

James claims he doesn't like olives. I just can't accept that. He likes olive oil. He likes the flavor. There is just something he doesn't like about biting into an olive.
Black, red, brown, green, brine cured, salt cured  . . . I love them all.
With a bag of black oil-cured super piquant olives in the fridge and my still favorite bread cookbook, My Bread by Jim Lahey, on the shelf. I decided to try a new recipe from the bread guru -- Olive bread. Basically it's Lahey's famous no-knead bread recipe (3 cups flour, 3/4 tsp yeast, 1 1/2 cups water -- no salt in this case as the olives can be quite salty -- all mixed together and allowed to rise for 18 - 20 hours)  with a good quantity of chopped olives.
After the first rise Lahey's ingenius home bread making plan instructs the baker to form the dough into a rustic loaf (well a rough ball, seam down) onto a kitchen towel dusted in cornmeal and allow the bread to rise again for 2 hours. The dough is then rolled into a pre-heated dutch oven (1/2 hour) to bake at 450º for 30 minutes covered and 30 minutes uncovered to mimic the delightful results and chewy crust of artisanal loaves fresh from a wood fired oven.
James didn't try this loaf right away. When I set out an appetizer plate with salami, prosciutto, and Andante dairy's outrageously delicious seasonal mixed milk tomme, Impromtu James realized he may not like olives . .. but he loves Olive bread.

Don't Worry About Stale Bread

It doesn't happen often but every now and then part of a loaf of bread goes stale -- too stale for toast or crostini. Usually I put it into the blender or food processor and store away breadcrumbs for my next batch of meatballs or a crispy milanese. Today I just didn't feel like more crumbs. I wanted to try something new. I've had a recipe for panade, a French casserole of vegetables and milk and stale bread, for quite some time waiting for just the right moment. No time like the present -- especially when I have half a large loaf of very stale italian bread waiting to be rescued.
First I crunched the bread up into 1/2 - 1 inch pieces, crust and all. Then I peeled a butternut squash and cut it into 1/4 - 1/2 inch slices, chopped a good bunch of stemmed black kale, and sliced part of a head of cauliflower. Meanwhile I sautéed two finely chopped shallots in 2 TB of butter, added in a quart of milk, two cloves of garlic, 6 more TB butter, S&P, and a pinch of nutmeg and brought the mixture almost to a boil. I grated two big handfuls of mimoette and Gruyere cheese (cheddar would work just as well -- I used what we had) and started to layer my panade.
Into a large dutch oven I put down a thick base of my roughly torn bread crumbs. I topped that layer with the sliced squash and about half the cheese. After a splash of half the milk mixture in went another layer of bread topped with the kale, the cauliflower and another layer of cheese. The rest of the milk covers the layers, just to come to the rim of the pot. Add some more milk or cream or even a splash of water or broth if needed to reach the rim of the pot.
I could have had dinner ready faster, but to get a custardy texture I baked my panade (covered with a rimmed pan underneath -- it will bubble over) at 275º for almost 3 hours. The last 10 minutes uncovered at 375º made sure James had a crispy cheese crust to cover the creamy interior.
A peasant dish for a cozy winter's night.

Delicious Donation

An oddity of Northern California. I'm sure this may happen in other areas where dungeness crab is king but here in Norcal during our highly anticipated crab season up crop a bevy of crab feeds -- all you can eat events that raise money for community causes, businesses, schools or other assuredly worth causes.
Last night we headed to nearby Rohnert Park for the Chamber of Commerce's annual event where we were served steamed shrimp by the little berg's mayor,  filled plates with pasta, garlic bread and salad and tried to save room for the main event. Dozens and dozens of delicious crabs hot from the pot.
So often dungeness crab is served cold but piping hot and fresh cooked is nothing short of a taste revelation. We love the winter months.

Bread Resolution 2013

James and I both love the bread from Petaluma's highly praised Della Fattoria. For quite some time after tasting their chewy crusty wood oven baked loaves I just gave up. How could I ever compete with that rosemary meyer lemon deliciousness. Yet, at about $7 a loaf (not to mention the few places that carry it do run out quickly) it's dangerous to make too much of  habit.
So I went back to my bread basics, My Bread by baking guru Jim Lahey. Lahey's near effortless no-knead method produces crusty chewy loaves from an ordinary home oven.
I flipped through the book for something I hadn't made (when was that I made that resolution to bake everything in his book -- hmm still not accomplished) and settled on a walnut raisin bread that seemed perfect for morning toast.
Chewy, airy, crusty -- it's not a $7 loaf but pretty darn good for home. 2013 might be the year I make more homemade bread.

New Year's Day Belated

I'm not sure when it started but I always eat black eyed peas on New Year's Day. Sure, it's an age old Southern tradition but honestly I don't remember my family growing up eating black-eyed peas on New Year's or any other day. I'm not sure where the tradition came from or when I started but I do know -- though I am hardly what anyone would call superstitious -- I never start a year without cowpeas, usually mixed up with rice and salt pork for hoppin' John. I do love hoppin' John . . . maybe that's why I started, a simple convenient excuse to eat something delicious.
In any case though I was traveling New Year's day I wanted to start 2013 with my beloved black-eyed peas. James and I postponed our holiday dinner until today. Instead of my usual rice and cowpeas dish I opted for a most un-Southern Greek style vegetarian stew flavored with tomato paste, onions, garlic, chili peppers, celery and carrots.
The chopped vegetables sauté in an ample amount of olive oil until soft -- about 5 minutes. Next I added in half a jar of homemade tomato sauce (I happened to have some in the fridge), tomato paste dissolved in water, chopped garlic, fresh black-eyed peas, and water to cover. I brought the mixture to a boil and allowed the stew to simmer, covered for 30 minutes. After tasting for seasoning and adding S&P the stew simmered covered for another 20 minutes. To finish our New Year's dish I tossed in two small handfuls of fregola, the toasted Sardinian pasta (but any small shape -- orzo maybe -- would have been fine), The stew cooked for another 10 minutes or so on medium high heat until the beans and the pasta were tender and ready to serve.
Feta would have been ideal to top this vegetarian stew -- but the next best thing -- at least in our fridge, was Ricotta Salata, a delicious aged salty version the cheese most of us know as a creamy filling for lasagna.
I suppose that Southern New Year's Day is never too far away -- alongside James' healthful tomatoey stew -- pan fried slices of crispy, fatty, salty, ham. A great way to start.
Happy New Year one and all.

Brought Home In A Box

I guess it's not quite carry out if dinner flew across the country. On my way to the airport I couldn't not bring James a taste of Maryland so my closest crab shack/ seafood carry out was good enough to wrap up tasty crab cakes (out of season winter cakes though they were) with a cooler and gel packs for the long ride home to dungeness country. Quickly pan fried with crispy potatoes and super spicy homemade cocktail sauce (ketchup, horseradish, siracha, lemon juice, S&P) we had a tasty East coast dinner in our California kitchen.

Why Haven't I Seen These Before?

I like to think this amazing idea was the pet project of some slightly mad gluttonous crab lover (like me) working away in his secluded kitchen. But in fact I've now seen these crab topped pretzels in more than one Maryland location. The soft East coast style pretzels are topped with a loose crab topping -- more like a crab imperial than a crab dip. The whole deliciousness is baked in the oven so the pretzel is warm  (and a bit crisp if you are lucky) and the topping bubbling.
Two East coast favorites in one dish. Why didn't I think of this?