Breakfast baking

Some of the best breakfast baking starts the night before...

Here's the recipe: http://cjzp.blogspot.com/2008/12/just-in-time-for-holiday-breakfast.html


FWIW I did not make the healthy version this time. :-)

What I made for the 24th of July

It's a variation on the Sullivan Street Bakery Pizza Bianca. I haven't been to this particular bakery, but the recipe is included in the excellent book, My Bread which is the book version of the no-knead bread I have raved about for a while now.

My variation includes chopped rosemary in the dough. Upon removal from the oven I drizzled it with honey, and sprinkled with more rosemary and coarse salt.

For those not in the know, the 24th of July is the biggest holiday of the summer in Utah. It commemorates the entry of the Mormon pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley in 1847.

Eating the sub-continent: part 1

Historically, I have not been fond of Indian food. A bad bout of salmonellosis turned me off of an entire sub-continent.

But, thanks to the great cooking of two of the MPH students at the U of U I have expanded my culinary options.

Last night I made a feast at home: vegetarian madras curry, raita, basmati rice with peas, and chapati(s? - I am not sure what the correct plural is). All homemade.

Here is the recipe for the flat breads - way easier than you think.
Taken from 1000 Vegetarian Recipes From Around the World, p.747.

Chapati
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
0.5 t salt
0.75 c water

1. Mix flour and salt in a big bowl.
2. Make a well in the center and dump in the water and mix the dough.
3. Knead the dough for about 7-10 minutes (I let Z do this).
4. Let the dough rest, ideally for 15-20 minutes, but if time is tight then roll out straightaway. (The resting time allows the flour to become hydrated. Longer rest will not hurt anything.)
5. Divide the dough into 10-12 equal portions.
6. Heat a heavy skillet over high heat. When it starts to steam, turn it down to medium.
7. Roll each dough portion into a round. They will be thin.
8. Cook in the skillet. When it starts to bubble, turn it over and press down to flatten. Turn it over again.

Best eaten straight from the skillet, but in a real world, you can keep them warm for serving. I put a jelly roll pan onto a trivet and placed a heating pad into the pan and covered it with a dish towel. Hot chapati went onto the dishtowel to be covered with another towel and then a glass lid for a skillet. They stayed warm, pliable and yummy.

Bagels

This has been in draft for a while, waiting for some text.

We made sourdough bagels, at home. Much easier than you think, and exceptionally tasty with smoked fish.

Followed instructions from Erin @ bearing blog.