New things to do and new friends too. Who would have imagined that a 70 year old would decide she had to learn how to make bread, specifically sourdough bread, from scratch. Many, many years ago I think I had a bread machine and tried making bread for a little while. I also think I tried making it when you had to knead the bread, punch it down, let it rise and so on and so on. When I say years I really mean years. Well, I decided I needed to learn how to make sourdough. I ordered the starter and the banneton, the basket that the bread rises in, the jar that the starter starts in and was all set to go or so I thought. Nervously I started to read the directions. Let me say right out of the block I am not good with directions but I figured that I should be with something as technical as making starter. I still missed the most important thing on the front of the starter pack (white flour). So I watched a couple of YouTube videos – every single one different – and then decided to follow the quick start instructions. I ended up with a little ball of flour and water. Why? Because I used whole wheat flour which is extremely heavy. Frantic text messages to my daughter-in-law, the baker, and I managed to get something that looked like the pictures. I placed the jar in a warm spot in the kitchen and left it while I sulked.
To make me feel better, DIL said to try making some bread using a NY Times No Knead recipe that she liked and use regular yeast so I thought that would fill in the time. I couldn’t believe it when it said it needed 12 to preferably 18 hours to rise. No instant gratification with bread making. So, I mixed up the dough and left it in the bowl on top of the fridge for overnight. Next day it was a blubbery, rubbery mess but I followed the directions and put it in the pretty little banneton basket covered with a pretty linen tea towel and left it to rise. We had to go to Concord because John had washed his phone in the washing machine and therefore needed a new one. You cannot resurrect a phone that has been through the wash cycle. He is now the proud owner of a new iPhone 8 (because it looked and acted the most like his old one). When I came back the bread was double in size and ready for the oven. I followed the directions to put a cast iron pot in the oven and to warm both up to 450 degrees. Never mind that the pot smoked like crazy! When ready I put the bread in the pot, dropped it because I didn’t think to pull out the shelf and then put the pot on the shelf and push it back in, and left it to bake with the top on. After 30 minutes I opened the oven and the fire alarm went off. However, I soldiered on and took the top off and let the loaf brown. In the meantime I was busy making soup to go with the bread. The end of the story is the bread came out perfectly, the kitchen was a disaster but John and I enjoyed a yummy dinner of homemade Italian soup (recipe down below) and homemade bread. I was so exhausted I went to bed at 9:00pm and slept til 8:15 the next morning. Oh, excuse me, I have to go and feed my sourdough starter – this is like having a baby in the house!!!!
Dog Walking Friends
Myrtle, Wyke, Daisy, Bean, Henry and Maisie
Our group of dog walking friends and their canine companions took a break over the holidays but now they are back. This week we had four friend walks and one walk on our own. In addition we added someone new to the group. Daisy and her Mum. Daisy fit in perfectly. She is a well behaved girl, quite young and very sweet. She already knew Henry and I guess she figured if Henry liked the other dogs she should too. The big walk on Thursday had at its peak, 6 humans and 7 dogs. Wyke, Bean, Myrtle, Maisie, Daisy, Henry and Dunkin. This was on the day Dunkin came to wake us up. On rare occasions he decides to leave his yard, without his invisible fence collar on, and take a little trip down our way to see if Wyke and Bean are up and outside so they can play. It was a great walk with lots of playing and lots of talking with the various humans. The weather was very cold, only about 9 degrees when we got up, about 15 when we got out there but the sun was shining and there wasn’t any wind so it turned out to be quite pleasant for all of us. Neither dog moved for the rest of the day.
Up Date on Jenny Lane
Another big week this week. The trim was finished in the two bedrooms upstairs so they are now ready for painting. In addition we got a new outside door with a fancy key pad on it that goes out to the wood pile at the end of the garage that is in the house. Something so silly I guess but what was there was a mess of plywood and styrofoam and was very difficult to open and close. No one sees it except us when we go to the wood pile but it is very nice to have a decent door. Might keep out some of the cold too. It also provides an emergency entrance if someone forgets or loses a front door key. We were hoping for the electrician to visit but he got sick and the plumber is just on his own schedule but we are getting there. The person who is going to do the taping and mudding in the two downstairs rooms stopped by and is now scheduled to come at the end of the month. No trim can be done in those rooms until the walls are prepared so now we wait. Flooring will be ordered but it can’t go in for another month or so but we have to get it in the pipeline.
The Best Soup Recipe Ever
This comes from my new favorite recipe site. Cookie and Kate. I made it while I was waiting for the bread to do what it needed to do. In addition, I made the vegetable broth from scratch using all my leftover vegetable shavings and pieces from carrots, celery, onions, sweet potatoes and whatever else I had during the last month. You won’t ever get a better broth but certainly boxed broth is just fine it just has more salt.
Pasta e Fagioli (Italian Pasta and Beans)
INGREDIENTS
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 medium-to-large yellow onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, scrubbed clean, finely chopped
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, divided
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
1 can (15 ounces) crushed tomatoes*
4 cups vegetable broth
3 cups water
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, omit if sensitive to spice
2 cans (15 ounces each) cannellini beans, Great Northern beans, or chickpeas, rinsed and drained (or 3 cups cooked beans) (I used Great Northern)
1 cup (about 4 ounces) cavatelli, ditalini, elbow or small shell pasta of choice (I used elbow)
2 cups chopped Tuscan kale (tough ribs removed first), or chard or collard greens (I chopped it in the mini-chop so it was very fine)
1/4 cup finely chopped Italian parsley
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (about 1/2 medium lemon)
Optional garnishes: Additional chopped parsley, black pepper, grated Parmesan cheese or light drizzle of olive oil
INSTRUCTIONS
In a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat, warm 3 tablespoons of the olive oil until shimmering. Add the chopped onion, carrot, celery, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and about 10 twists of black pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables have softened and the onions are turning translucent, about 6 to 10 minutes.
Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, stir, and cook until the tomatoes are bubbling all over. Add the broth, water, bay leaves, oregano, and red pepper flakes.
Raise the heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, and reducing the heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer.
Use a heat-safe measuring cup to transfer about 1 1/2 cups of the soup (avoiding the bay leaves) to a blender. Add about 3/4 cup of the drained beans. Securely fasten the lid and blend until completely smooth, being careful to avoid hot steam escaping from the lid. Pour the blended mixture back into the soup.
Add the remaining beans, pasta, kale and parsley to the simmering soup. Continue cooking, stirring often to prevent the pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pot, for about 20 minutes, or until the pasta and greens are pleasantly tender.
Remove the pot from the heat, then remove and discard the bay leaves. Stir in the lemon juice, the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Taste and season with more salt (I usually add another 1/4 teaspoon) and pepper until the flavors really sing. Garnish bowls of soup as desired, and serve.
Leftovers taste even better the next day. Allow leftover soup to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for up to 5 days. Or, freeze leftover soup in individual portions and defrost as necessary.
