potato leek soup with no knead whole wheat bread

Today's recipe is really a twofer. Soup and bread. Now who can eat soup without a slab of crusty bread alongside it?? Not me.

For the past two years, I have started making Jim Lahey's no knead bread. I consider it one of those "work smarter, not harder" things. I first saw it in Mark Bittman's column and have been experimenting with variations ever since. Especially now that I am limiting myself to Michigan grown produce and grains, it really fits right in. About the time I first saw this recipe, I also purchased a grain mill for my Kitchen Aid mixer. Now, I must confess, I am not as religious about grinding my own since I found a local couple who not only grow, but grind as well.

And yes, this recipe is found everywhere these days, but I will include it for those of you who haven't stumbled across it yet. I often, do not preheat the oven, just plop the dough in the cast iron casserole and put it in the oven cold, turn on the heat and after the 30 minutes, remove the cover for the remaining 20 minutes my loaves seem to require. Easy peasy.

no knead bread.....

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting (if making whole wheat , use half whole wheat and half white)

¼ teaspoon instant yeast

¼teaspoon instant yeast

1¼ teaspoons salt

Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Makes one 1½-pound loaf. At $3.50 for a five pound bag of organic four, it still only costs $.70 a loaf. I like to make a batch and keep it in the fridge for the entire week, using it for bread, english muffins, and pizza dough as needed.

julia child's potato leek soup...

3-4 cups of diced peeled potatoes (1 lb.) I usually use two to three large baking potatoes.

3 cups thinly sliced leeks, including the tender greens. This usually takes two leeks of substantial size.
water to cover

1 Tablespoon salt

1-2 cloves of garlic (optional)

6 tablespoons heavy cream or 1/4 cup sour cream

3 tablespoons minced chives or parsley

Simmer vegetables, salt, garlic, and water together, partially covered for 40-50 minutes in a 3-4 quart saucepan. Mash the vegetables into the soup in a blender or food processor or pass through a food mill. Julia did not like the texture of soup pureed in a blender, your call. Adjust salt and pepper. You can stop at this point. When ready to serve, bring soup back to simmering. Then off the heat, stir in the cream or sour cream and top with chopped chives or parsley. It does not get much better than this! Good to freeze the rest for another day!

This soup costs about $3.00 for the entire pot. At the farmers market, leeks are two for a dollar and the potatoes are a dollar a pound or 15 pounds for five dollars.... heck, they keep forever, buy the big basket! Kosher salt is two dollars a box and sour cream and heavy cream each are just over two dollars per container. You will need less than a quarter of the container.

cuban black beans with rice

This dish is quite hearty and as I used jasmine rice, quite a nice mixture of flavors. I paired it with a glass of fresh apple cider from the farmers market and a soft tortilla.

I keep hearing weather reports, and I swear, there is one more opinion than number of reports. Some say, winter will be harsh this year. One says it is an el nino year and it will be warm. And I bet the truth will be quite a distance from all the guesses and bygollys. What I do know is, it is very cold out this month and it doesn't appear to be warming at all. So hearty food is called for and hearty food it will be.... for now.

ingredients....

1 cup of dry black beans

2 cups water.. plus additional for soaking beans

1 cup tomatoes chopped, seeded, peeled or 1/2 can of diced tomatoes undrained

1/2 cup celery, diced

1 1/2 cup onion, diced

3-4 large cloves garlic, minced

1 cup red bell pepper, chopped

2 bay leaves

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon cumin (optional)

Rice, white, cooked

garnish possibilities....all are optional according to your taste

cilantro, chopped

sour cream

tomatoes, chopped

thai chilies, jalapenos, any other hot peppers, sliced thin, per your liking for spice and heat

lime wedges

Cover the beans with cold water and soak overnight. Drain and discard water.

Combine beans, 2 c water, tomatoes, celery, 1/2 c onion, 1 clove garlic and bay leaves in crock pot or heavy pot on stovetop.

Cook slowly until beans are tender (anywhere from 4-6 hours) Remove bay leaves.

Add rest of ingredients and cook an additional hour.

Serve with rice and garnishes.

This dish keeps well and the leftover beans can be used to make black bean soup...which is an upcoming recipe.... imagine that!

food notions

In my personal quest to eat in a conscious way, that is healthy for me and the planet, I have slowly redesigned my relationship to food. Oh anyway, I'm trying. I try to eat less quantity, healthier, less refined foods, be more in control of what I eat and where it comes from. I try to eat seasonal food, local in origin, organic when possible, with a mind to the carbon footprint I leave in my wake. Yes, I still like to go out for chinese food, or a steak. I still use cinnamon and spices not grown around here. And yes, I don't go out to eat as often, and when I do, I really look at how my food is prepared and served. It is as much about a frame of reference than any one specific action. Small actions, big changes... I hope.

Maybe our current collective fiscal woes are a good thing. It may force us to move in a wiser and healthier direction. We need to get off of a diet based on oil and resolarize our agricultural system. Our poor ravaged planet can no longer sustain our greed, overuse and abuse of her fragile eco-system. By limiting our impact in small ways, we can keep our planet viable for our children and their children.

I am not by nature, or nurture, a vegetarian. But... I now limit my consumption of meats, thereby reducing my carbon footprint. I am making more dishes with legumes and grains. This isn't always easy, as I was raised on meat and vegetables at every meal.... and I really like that diet. Liking something doesn't make it the best course of action, so number of years ago, I set out to redesign my meals.

Today my meals have more carbohydrates than before, but whole grains and beans. I try and follow the seasons with my recipes, so that salads are summer fare and soups are on the table more often in winter. I even try to include more fruits (I like fruit, just can't seem to eat them much as I still react to them as sugar). I once heard that if we ate meat only four days a week it would save an immense amount of carbon from our atmosphere. So I try to aim for that, or eat less meat in my meals to spread that amount over more days.

I try and purchase only foods that are grown or produced within a 150 mile radius of my home here in west michigan... or simply grow them myself (or shop at the farmers market). That is relatively easy here in west michigan. We are lucky to live in an area of diverse crops and have an ever increasing number of artisan growers and producers in the area. Organics is on the rise and folks really support local farmers at the market and through CSA involvement programs. When I grew up here, this never would have happened. The change is fabulous!

I grow my foods intensively in small raised beds (each is 3'x3') and use no chemical insecticides or fertilizers on them. I started with four in ground and three rolling beds, when I moved back here, two years ago. This year the garden grew by the addition of 6 more beds on wheels in an upper cement patio area. The wheels lets me move them around as I need to and makes cleaning much easier. I just put them all to bed for the winter with a fresh layer of grass clippings and a heavy rubber cover on each to keep weeds and critters from taking up residence.

I don't have a very big yard, so I only grow those items that make fiscal and freshness sense to me...tomatoes, basil, onions, garlic, herbs, salad greens, chard, spinach, carrots, parsnip, fennel bulbs, various squash vines and a small amount of beans and peas. Still, I have an overabundance of food and try to share the larger percentage with friends and neighbors.

I do compost my food scraps and grass clippings and add that to the beds. It isn't really enough, so I will have to look into organic additions next year.

I often make my own bread, using a no knead method popularized by Jim Lahey from Sullivan Street Bakery in New York. It brings the cost of a fresh loaf of bread down to fifteen cents or so. Yes, I know, it all takes time. That's the genius of his recipe....it is unattended time.... just a little planning is required. And the flavor is amazing! OK, I will include the recipe as I currently use it and also link to the New York Times who first brought it to my attention. For my loaves, I use store bought flour, but sometimes, I grind my own from wheat berries. It all depends on how busy my days are. Like I said, make small changes. You don't have to be a fanatic.

Pasta too is easy, and inexpensive, to make, in all its varying forms. I hope to include many dishes in the future. Food that is handmade shouldn't be considered inconvenient. It is just as easy to make good food as reach for a package. Remember to ask yourself, is it about "better" or just about "profit", when looking at a product. We are smart people and as we regain our instincts, we will do much better as a species and as ones who share the gift of this amazing planet.

This new style of eating doesn't make meals boring or less visually interesting. Quite the contrary. Throwing ourselves out of our old food ruts takes time and consciousness-raising. A new diet based on content not quantity can be freeing and extends the limits of our cuisine to the boundaries of imagination.

I know.....I'm rambling....I plan to share my thoughts from time to time and include books I am reading.... and authors I respect, like Barbara Kingsolver, Sara Miles, Michael Pollen... so thanks for listening. Let me know what you think. I'd be interested to know.

chocolate-coconut-oat-nut- cookies

OK, even solo people need cookies too. In fact, it's a really great way to build community, by sharing the extra with neighbors and others. Every so often I get the craving and bake a batch of chocolaty sugary goodness. I like to make the cookies on the large side and use a scoop to dish the dough onto the cookie sheet in approximately equal amounts.

Yes, I admit that some of the dough never makes it to the oven. I just consider them pre-baked cookies. Yum!

ingredients...

1 cup butter, two sticks, softened

1 1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 tablespoons half and half (milk will do)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 c oatmeal, uncooked

2 cups of dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips (I like the big Ghiradelli ones)

1 cup walnut or pecan pieces

1/2 cup coconut (regular sweetened shreds in a bag)

Preheat oven to 375F

Beat the butter and sugars together until creamy

Add eggs, half and half, vanilla, mix well.

In a separate bowl mix flour, coconut, soda, salt, then add to butter mixture.

Lastly, stir in nuts and chocolate chips.

Bake spoon or scoopfuls on baking sheet for 10-15 minutes. I find they usually take about 13 minutes, but then I like them chewy in the center.

Remove from sheet to a rack to cool.

If you can keep yourself from eating them like a mad person, they keep quite well in a plastic bag. My best solution is to enjoy baking them, eat a few and bag up a half dozen per neighbor and spread the calories around. It takes temptation out of the house, and spreads goodwill. Win/win as they say.

If anyone else has their favorite cookie recipes or experiences to share.....please do. I hope to have a reader recipe column soon. Until then..the comment boxes work well.

maple glazed roasted sweet potatoes with butterflied pork steak and polenta

I saw the sweet potatoes at the farmers market on Saturday. They were a dollar a pound and that means two or three per dollar. I cook one per person...so that's what 30 cents? I thought they would make a nice fall dinner with all this rain and dampness in the air. The pork was on sale (about $1 per chop) and I always keep the corn grits in my years food storage locker. As always, I try to keep the entire meal under $3.00 per person.

for the sweet potatoes...

ingredients...

1/4 c real maple syrup

1/4 c olive oil

Combine maple syrup and oil and brush on sweet potatoes which have been quartered lengthwise and placed on a parchment lined baking pan..

Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 40 minutes until golden brown.

Baste them with a bit more of the syrup glaze once or twice while cooking.

Nice if served with sour cream and brown sugar topping.

for the pork steaks...

I butterflied a thicker chop. Oil and season both sides.

Heat a grill pan over high heat. Brush the pan with some olive oil to prevent sticking and put a few sage leaves in the oil if you like. It adds a nice savory complement to the maple syrup.

Place pork in pan and sear on each side for 2 minutes.

Brush on some of the maple glaze from the sweet potatoes and sear an additional 2 minutes on each side. You may want to change direction in the pan so that the grill marks are at 90 degrees to the first set.

for the polenta...

1 1/2 c water ( I tried this with broth but it was too too salty)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup coarse corn grits (polenta)

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese for topping

Bring the water and salt to a boil in a sauce pan. Gradually stir in the corn grits. Reduce heat to a simmer and continue to cook for about 30 minutes. Stir occasionally. It will thicken as it cooks. If it gets too thick add a bit of water.

This is a very easy meal to prepare. Once you get the sweet potatoes in the oven, you can start the polenta and then the pork. When the timer goes ding...it's dinner!

roma and basil bruschetta

As the days get shorter and the cold rains are upon us, the last of the tomatoes are just off the vine. I spent the morning cleaning out the raised beds and cutting pond liner material for some more permanent covers. The back yard looks like December...sheesh.

I have been going over a list of local and west Michigan foods and which are available during which months fresh and which are storable/available throughout the year. We lack for very little here along Lake MIchigan. We have ample fruits, vegetables. We have wineries, grow grains, make cheeses, field grass-fed beef, poultry and pigs. The lake is full of fish. I don't feel at all like I might need to limit my recipe selection. But some things are season sensitive and fresh vine ripened romas are all but gone. So this is the last bruschetta for this summer. Awwww.

I lived on a many acre farm in the Ann Arbor area for several decades, before returning here to my childhood home. We grew loads of tomatoes and some evenings would make this bruschetta for dinner alone. It is so delicious and filling, that besides desert, it can be a whole meal. When the weather is cooperative, the bread is best done on the grill. When it is not warm and sunny, the broiler works just fine. The original recipe comes from our buddy Bob, but slight alterations have been made over the years. It is easily doubled when more folks arrive or when you need a dish to pass.

ingredients...

3 roma tomatoes, diced into small pieces (about a cup)

one or two slices of a small red onion, diced finely (about a half cup)

1 large clove garlic, finely minced

6-7 large basil leaves, rolled and finely sliced in a chiffonade

2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and a bit more for the bread

coarse kosher salt to taste

1 small loaf of crusty french bread, sliced on the diagonal about 1/2 inch thick

parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup, save 1/3 of it for the topping

Mix tomatoes, onions, parmesan cheese, and basil leaves with the garlic. Season to taste. Set aside for 15-20 minutes.

Slice bread, and drizzle one side with a thin stream of olive oil. You can use a garlic oil if desired.

Either grill outdoors on the grill or place on a cookie sheet and toast both sides under the broiler.

Spoon mixture onto slices of bread. Top with additional strands of cheese and serve immediately.

Makes about 4-5 pieces. A perfect meal for one!

pumpkin ravioli with sage butter & apple cider sauce

I made this dish for dinner last night. After some prep work, my friend A. came over, helped assemble it, brought the wine and we had a nice dinner.

I kept a serving uncooked in the fridge on parchment paper. Big mistake. Pasta glues itself to parchment when damp. Next time, I'll cook and serve it fresh or find a better way to store the ravioli until I'm ready to cook and photograph them. Fresh pasta looks and tastes best when actually fresh. That's this girls opinion anyway.

I knew a cold front was on its way, but didn't expect the hard hard frost that was coating the raised beds and all of their inhabitants this morning. I had covered the basil, peppers and egplant, but the cabbage and tomatoes got hit. Usually, Lake Michigan acts as a buffer zone to such events. Not today. It was cold out!

So here it is, my version of pumpkin ravioli, with two sauces... no wait, another story first. Last night I made a simple sage butter with grated nutmeg for the sauce. It was rich and savory. Not leaving well enough alone, I decided to also try a cider reduction sauce. I even made a combo version and this morning, with my sad face at her front door, my dear neighbor came over, in her jammies, babies in tow, to taste test the three sauces and render an opinion. Now that is neighborly love! ...... In the end, the main sauce is the sage butter and the apple cider reduction is added as a ring around the ravioli. You try them and let me know what you think.

Ingredients ... per serving

for the pasta...

1 1/2 cups flour

2 eggs

pinch of kosher salt

one more beaten egg for sealing the pasta together.

for the sage butter...

2 tbls butter

1 tbls olive oil

four sage leaves sliced, torn or whole(if you want to remove them before serving)

freshly grated nutmeg

optional...walnut halves and/or finely diced shallots

for the cider sauce...

1 cup of apple cider

1 tbls butter

ravioli filling...

1/2 c pumpkin (a small pie pumpkin works best)

1/2 c ricotta cheese

1/4 c parmesan cheese plus a tbls more for the top

1/2 tsp grated orange zest

1/8 tsp nutmeg

salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 . Cut the pumpkin into quarters, remove seeds and stringy stuff. Bake on a sheet pan face down covered by foil for 1 hour.

When cool, scoop out the pumpkin for the filling. There will be more than you can use, so freeze the rest for next time.

On a cutting board, make a well in the flour and crack the eggs into the well. With a fork or your fingers mix the eggs, adding the surrounding flour until the pasta comes together. Better too wet than too dry. Knead the dough to finish it. You may want to dust the board with a bit of flour at this point. Wrap it in plastic and let it rest for 20-30 minutes before rolling it out.

When it comes to making the ravioli, I use a pasta machine. (If you don't have one, you can roll the dough out with a rolling pin. It will take a bit more time and effort, but old Italian grandmas have been doing it that way for hundreds of years.) I divided the pasta into four pieces, then rolled each piece through the machine, folded the dough and re-rolled it until I reached the number 5 thickness (my machine goes from 0 to 6).

In a bowl, mix the pumpkin, ricotta, parmesan, orange zest, nutmeg until they are thoroughly combined, and season with salt and pepper.

Lay one strip of dough on a cutting board and brush the top with the beaten egg wash. Drop one tablespoon about 3 inches apart on one half of the strip of pasta. Fold the open half over the filling half and press around each mound of filling to seal and remove any trapped air.

Cook the ravioli in a pot of boiling salted water for 6-8 minutes. They will float to the top when they are done. Take them out using a strainer or slotted spoon. Each plate of ravioli can be topped with the sage butter, the cider sauce or some of each.

To make the sage butter.... Put the butter and oil in a saute pan on a medium heat until melted. Add the sage leaves and grated nutmeg and cook until the butter is golden brown. Remove from heat and spoon over the cooked ravioli.

To make the cider sauce... Pour the cider in a small sauce pan and cook over a medium heat until it reduces to 1/4 cup. Stir in a tablespoon of butter and continue to stir it until it begins to thicken and shine. Remove from heat and use.

Top it all off with the remaining parmesan cheese And enjoy!!

This dish was a bit more time consuming on the prep side, but easy to finish and serve.

As to cost...the pumpkin was $1.00 and I froze the rest after making the filling. The ricotta was $1.79. I also froze the rest of the container for another time.I zested part of an orange and put it back in the fridge. The cider came from the farmer's market and cost $2.00 a quart. I like to grate my own nutmeg. The aroma and flavor are amazing when fresh. I bought a little grater with several whole nutmegs in it for $3.99 at the store and have used it forever. So now I replenish my nutmeg supply as I need to. Again eggs are $1.00 a dozen and we used 3. A five pound bag of unbleached unbrominated flour runs about $3.00. I have no idea how many cups that is, but it's only pennies per cup. I use a coarse kosher salt and it costs $1.00 a pond. Now butter is running $3.50 a pound, which makes each tablespoon about ten cents. The parmesan cheese is a bit pricier at $9.99 per pound for a domestic cheese and twice that for the real deal.

This dinner was a bit more complicated but still nutritious and economical for one or more. Normally, this dish would have been wonderful with a red wine, but we had a Reisling that tasted just fine.

Today the sun managed to shine through the morning and into the mid-afternoon. It looked warm, but long pants and sweaters were the uniform of the day. I managed to bake a yellow layer cake, filled it with lemon curd, covered with a vanilla and lemon frosting for my dad for tonight.. He just loves lemon. Me...not so much. Gotta run!