Crusty Boule

Get ready. The recipe in this week's (ok... month's) blog entry will change your life. It has changed mine.

Matt and I love bread. When I say love I mean we truly LOVE it- we buy fresh, artisan bread multiple times a week and eat entire baguettes for dinner... 

Ok. The truth is out.

The problem is that making bread is such a huge undertaking and bread machine bread usually isn't the same (I'm not saying I don't like it! No! I love bread machine in it's own way!). But, in last month's issue of the Cooking Club magazine there was a recipe for extremely simple bread and I have been making it for weeks now. I think it is time to share the recipe. You're going to be amazed.

Crusty Boule (makes 4 boules)

3 1/2 C. lukewarm water
4 tsp. active dry yeast
4 tsp. coarse salt
7 1/4 C. all purpose flour

1. Combine water, yeast and salt in large bowl. Stir in flour with spoon or mixer with paddle attachment.
2. Loosely cover and let rise at room temperature for 2 hours.
3. Refrigerate over night (and up to 14 days). Dough will have more of a "sourdough" taste the longer it refrigerates. 
4. Seperate dough into 4 grapefruit sized sections.
5. Dust top of dough with flour. Quickly shape into ball by stretching dough from top of ball around to bottom, turning the ball a quarter turn as you go.
6. Sprinkle counter with cornmeal. Place dough onto cornmeal. Cover ball with lightly floured plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour.
7. Thirty minutes into rising place baking stone on center rack in oven and broiler pan on bottom rack. Preheat over to 450 degrees.
8. Dust loaf with flour and make 2-3 1/4 inch slashes into top of loaf. Slide loaf onto baking stone and pour 1 C. hot water into broiler pan. Quickly shut oven door to trap steam.
9. Cook for 25-30 minutes. Until loaf is a deep golden brown. Cool completely on wire rack.

The magazine I found this recipe in also includes some other bread recipes you can use the dough to make, which I am excited to try out- so look forward to the Nutella ring in a later post!

Peppercorn Chicken with Lemon Spinach

Peppercorn Chicken with Lemon Spinach

This week's entry is quite amazing. Both in deliciousness and also the fact that the meal occurred at all. We are currently trying to eat healthier, eat at home more, and use up food we have in our freezer and cupboards (since we are moving). So on Tuesday night, a night that we almost always get take-out since I have a night graduate class and Matt has soccer, I finagled this amazing dinner!

Basically, I got home from class and had about a half hour to make dinner. All I knew I was preparing was chicken (since I had taken some out of the freezer to defrost earlier). I started looking on www.foodnetwork.com and found this recipe: Peppercorn Chicken with Lemon Spinach. Even without grocery shopping this week (as I said, trying to use things up) we had all of the ingredients (or close enough)!

The Recipe:

• 3 tablespoons dijon mustard (I used an amazing local mustard "Fire in the Mountains")
• 3 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 1 3/4 pounds)
• 2 to 3 teaspoons coarsely ground mixed peppercorns
• 3/4 teaspoon finely minced fresh rosemary
• Kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 shallots, thinly sliced (I used onions)
• 1/3 cup brandy or red wine (I used sherry)
• 1/3 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 pound spinach
• 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (I also used some lemon juice)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brush 1 tablespoon mustard all over the chicken. Sprinkle with the peppercorns, rosemary and salt to taste, patting gently so the seasonings stick.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat; add 2 tablespoons oil. Add the chicken and cook until golden brown, about 6 minutes, turning once. Transfer to a baking dish (set aside the skillet for the sauce); bake the chicken until cooked through, about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, add the shallots to the skillet; cook over medium-high heat until just soft. Remove the pan from the heat, add the brandy, then return the pan to the heat and scrape up any browned bits. Add the broth, bring to a boil and cook until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons mustard and the parsley.
Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a deep skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the garlic; cook about 30 seconds. Add the spinach, season with salt and cook until wilted; add the lemon zest. Slice the chicken and drizzle with the shallot sauce. Serve with the spinach.

The result:
When Matt walked in for dinner he said, "wow, it smells like French Onion Soup!" That is the best way I can describe this meal. It was like french onion soup chicken. It may not look super pretty but it was delicious!