Beurre Blanc ...inspired by Julie & Julia {food 'n flix}

So I'm pretty sure that there's not many people... "food people"... out there who haven't seen Julie & Julia.  I watched it pretty much immediately when it came out.  I bought it when it was released on DVD.  And every once in a while, I sit down to watch it.  Or at least parts of it.  My favorite parts happen to be the Julia parts.

Crazy how a tiny little woman like Meryl Streep can nail a tall, boisterous woman like Julia Child so perfectly.  The little glimpse into Julia's life is endearing in every way.  I love how much she loves life.  Paris.  Butter.  Cooking.  Brie.  Eating.  She loves it all!  It's infectious.  If I didn't already feel the same way, I'd be a food-lovin' convert.

The Julie part.  Meh.  I mean, I like Amy Adams...but I just don't see her as Julie Powell.  She so sweet and mousy.  Julie is known for being foul-mouthed and... well... less nice?  Less meek?  Something.  I mean, Julie is who she is.  But Adams is not who she is.  Feel me?  Anyhoo.

I have to identify with the food blogger aspect.  The urgency to not leave people...readers (if there is actually anybody out there) hanging.  The need to complete what she started with her Julia project.  The glory that is a perfectly golden roast chicken.  And maybe my favorite Julie-scene, bringing the best-ever chocolate cake to the table and diving in with an appreciative husband.  With reckless abandon.

So.  Picking a recipe inspired by this flick was pretty simple.  I mean...hard...but simple.  Let me set the scene.  Julia's sister Dorothy had just come to visit Julia and Paul in Paris.  After picking her up from the station, they go to a restaurant.  They're eating Brie (while ooohing and aaahhing about how it's the BEST cheese ever) and drinking red wine.  Julia and Dort are chatting excitedly like sisters who were close and hadn't seen each other in a while...

Julia (excitedly): I got the chef at Chez la Mère Michel to give me the recipe for beurre blanc.

Dorothy (in a cute, whimsical Dort sort of way): Beurre blanc. What's beurre blanc?

Julia: Butter in a white wine vinegar reduction.

Dorothy (chewing and nodding): Mmmm...

Julia: You whisk them together... and the acid in the vinegar works on the milk solids in the butter so that the butter, instead of melting, becomes this creamy, light, frothy... with, with a kind of, a fantastic... subtle kind of...

Paul (suave): Tangy.  It has a tanginess.

Julia (knowing wonder): Tanginess...

Paul: Yes.

Julia (in splendor): Well, that's... that's who I married.  Anyway, you serve it on fish and it is splendid.  I'm going to make it for you.

And well, if you know me at all, you know my affection for French sauces.  Especially French butter sauces. Ummm... Hollandaise.  Béarnaise.  And much like those sauces, I don't make Beurre Blanc often.  I actually think I've only made it two or three times in the last 5 years.  It's another one of those that I made alot while working in restaurants.  But not much at home.  I'm gonna go ahead and say that's a good thing.  It's so much better to bathe in the creamy, rich, tangy glory sporadically.

Keeps it special, ya know?

Beurre Blanc

by Heather Schmitt-González

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 5-10 minutes

Keywords: sauce butter wine vinegar French

Ingredients (~1 cup)

reduction

• 2½ Tbs. white wine vinegar
• 2½ Tbs. dry white wine (or vermouth or lemon juice)
• 1 Tbs. minced shallots
• ½ tsp. salt
• ⅛ tsp. pepper (black or white)
• 1 oz. (2 Tbs.) butter

to finish

• 8 oz. (16 Tbs.) unsalted butter, chilled, cut into 16 pieces
• salt
• pepper
• lemon juice

Instructions

Place all of the ingredients for the reduction into a 6-cup medium-weight saucepan and bring to a boil until reduced to a syrupy consistency (~1½ tablespoons should remain). This won't take long once it starts boiling.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and immediately beat in 2 pieces of the chilled butter. As it softens and creams in the liquid, beat in another piece. Set the saucepan over very low heat and, beating constantly, continue to add the butter, one piece at a time, once the previous piece is almost entirely absorbed.

The sauce should be thick and ivory-colored, about the consistency of a light hollandaise.

Immediately remove from heat as soon as all the butter has been added. Taste and adjust seasonings with salt, pepper, and/or lemon juice.

note:

I love Beurre Blanc best served over fish (like the White Bass seared in Brown Butter with Haricot Verts pictured), but it's also wonderful over veggies, veal, or chicken.

ever-so-slightly adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking

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Food 'n Flix is being hosted by Leslie from La Cocina de Leslie this month with her pick, Julie & Julia. Today is the deadline...I'm sliding in just under the wire this month.

 Next month we'll be watching (the original) Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (hosted at WellDined). Plus, we're getting an early start on January's flick, The Hunger Games which I will be hosting in conjunction with Cook the Books (that's why it's an exciting 2-month special edition!). So, if you're a fan...or want to be...pick up the book and start reading and then watch the film and do a post inspired by both. I hope you join us!

p.s...there are still a few food 'n flix hosting slots open in the second half of 2013.  If you're interested, shoot me an email with your movie choice and the month you prefer (click HERE to see open spots and previously viewed flicks), and I will add you to the schedule.

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related posts...

50 Women Game-Changers in Food #1: Julia Child- Hollandaise

Sauce Bearnaise + my FAVORITE meal

50 Women Game-Changers in Food #50: Julie Powell - "Home at Last" Chicken

Salmon en Papillote #CookforJulia

Julia Childs French Bread: Batards

Cake Batter Martini . . . inspired by Because I Said So {food n flix}

Noodle Soup . . . inspired by The Ramen Girl {food n flix}

Julia Child's French Bread: Bâtards

Eleven days ago I set a goal for myself - to cook/make/bake one thing from each of the seven Julia Child cookbooks that I own in honor of #CookforJulia, the event put on by PBS to celebrate what would have been Julia's 100th birthday.  And I did it.  With these loaves of French bread, I have officially met my goal.  It feels good, too.  It's the little things, ya know?

I also think it's pretty fitting that my #CookwithJulia time both kicked-off with (#SundaySupper) and finished with (Bread Baking Babes & Buddies) a "planned" event that fell neatly into the whole scheme of things.  Fitting in that while based on French technique, Julia's recipes really are universal and embraced by all.  Over the past eleven days, I've run across people who grew up watching Julia...people who were introduced to her via a blog turned book turned popular film...and even people who were only just being introduced to her.  But every person, no matter where they were on their journey with Julia, seemed to feel the impact that she made on the culinary world.

For me, this time spent with Julia produced (one of my favorite fish dishes) Salmon en Papillote, (a dish cooked for her by a master chef and my personal mentor, Rick Bayless) Chile & Honey Glazed Pork Ribs, Ratatouille (the ever-popular favorite peasant dish made with only veggies but packing mad-flavor that even drove the kids to swoon), a Simple Cucumber Salad (fun, quick...and the perfect thing to do with that summer cuke bounty), (a hearty loaf perfect for cutting in fat slices, toasting, and topping with a fried egg with a runny yolk cascading over the edge) Country Bread, Sauce Béarnaise  (adorning filet mignon to make my "last supper" request meal), and now three loaves of crusty-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside French Bread in the form of Bâtards.

I'm baking this bread along with the Bread Baking Babes and Buddies.  We're all making Julia's French Bread, but of course everybody's will turn out differently since we're in different kitchens with various weather conditions spread out across the globe.  Julia gives one basic recipe for the French Bread, but it is pages long since she takes the time to diagram and explain each step...which should make baking this bread doable for bread bakers at any level.  As you can see in the photo below (a little snip from the book), you can make this one recipe into many forms.  That in and of itself (the deciding) is the hardest part of the recipe!  Initially I was going to make baguettes since I just bought myself a baguette pan.  I bought it because my oven is small and my baking stone is round - and those two things combined make it hard for me to bake baguettes.  The pan allows me to bake three at once in my oven by sliding the pan (that the bread rose in, I might add) right onto the stone.  I love it.  But upon reading through the recipe, I realized that true baguettes are actually 24-inches long and not many home ovens can capacitate them.  I've actually been making bâtards thinking they were baguettes.  So, I will continue to make bâtards in my "baguette" pan...and I'll like it.

Thank you for encouraging me to be fearless in the kitchen.  Thank you for reminding me never to apologize about a meal that I put my time, my heart, and my soul into cooking.  Thank you for following your heart...and your stomach.  Thank you for your humor.  Thank you for being you and inspiring me...and HAPPY 100, Julia Child!

Julia Child's French Bread: Bâtards

by Heather Schmitt-González

Prep Time: 7 hours +

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Keywords: bake bread French

Ingredients (3 Bâtards)

• 2¼ tsp. active dry yeast (or 1 cake fresh yeast .6 oz.)
• ⅓ c. + 1¼ c. warm water, divided
• 3½ c. (~16 oz.) bread flour + more as needed
• 2¼ tsp. fine salt

Instructions

Combine yeast and ⅓ cup of water in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, stirring once to combine. Let sit until yeast has bloomed (will look creamy & frothy), ~5 minutes. Add flour, salt, and remaining water to bowl and turn on mixer on low speed. Mix until all of the flour is absorbed. Turn off mixer and let rest for 2-3 minutes.

Turn mixer up to medium speed and knead for 2-3 minutes. The dough should start to clean itself from the side of the bowl. If at this point, it seems incredibly sticky, sprinkle in a bit more flour, one tablespoon at a time until it does start to clean the bowl. Continue to knead on medium speed for another 5-10 minutes or until you can push the dough with a finger and it bounces back into place. Dough should be slightly sticky - enough that if you pinch it for a couple of seconds, it will stick to your fingers, but not so much that you can't give it a quick poke without taking your finger away covered in dough. Let dough rest for 3-4 minutes.

Give dough another quick knead, ~1 minute. Form dough into a ball and place into a clean bowl (picture 1) with room enough to grow 3-times its size (a little over 10½ cups capacity)*. Cover bowl with plastic and allow to rise at room temperature until it has tripled in size, this should take 3-5 hours.

Once dough has fully risen, you will probably see some big bubbles on the surface and it should have a slight hump and be light and spongy when pressed (picture 2 & 3). Lift the dough out of the bowl using your fingers or a rubber spatula to loosen the dough from the edges and onto a lightly floured surface. With lightly floured palms, flatten dough gently, but firmly into a round, pinching any gas bubbles to deflate. Lift the bottom right hand edge of the circle up and flop it over to the far side. Repeat three times, folding all of the edges in the same fashion. Gently flip dough over and tuck edges of dough under while turning the dough in a circle until you have a large cushion.

Lift back into bowl and cover with plastic. Allow to rise again, although it won't quite triple this time (but it will come close), until dome shaped and light and puffy when poked (picture 4).

Once again, loosen the sides of the dough from the bowl and turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface. Gently flatten it out a bit (picture 5) and then cut into 3 equal pieces (picture 6)*. Once each piece is cut, flip one side over onto the opposite side (on each piece) and let them rest 5 minutes before forming (picture 7).

While your dough is resting, prepare your rising surface. This can be a canvas or linen towel that has been well-floured, a board with cornmeal spread on the surface, or a baguette pan, if you wish.

Bring one piece of the rested dough to your lightly floured work surface and set the other two aside, covered with plastic.

Turn dough upside down and pat firmly, but gently into an 8- to 10-inch oval with your lightly floured palms (picture 8). Fold the dough in half lengthwise by bringing the far,long edge towards you to meet the other edge (picture 9). Extend your hands and seal the edges of the dough together with your thumbs (picture 10). Roll the dough a quarter turn so that the seam is on top (picture 11). Flatten dough once more into an oval using your palms. Using the side of one hand, press a "trench" down the length of the oval. Once again, pull the far edge over and to the near edge (picture 12). This time seal the edges together with the heel of one hand (picture 13) and then roll the dough a quarter of a turn so that the seam is on the bottom (picture 14). Next, roll the dough back and forth using the palms of your hands to lengthen the dough (picture 15). You should start in the middle, with one (or both, one on top of the other) palms and work your way out. Gradually work your hands towards the two ends while rolling forward and back fairly quickly. For bâtards, you should have a 16- to 18-inch rope (24-inches for a baguette) (picture 16). Deflate any gas bubbles by pinching them and try to keep circumference of dough as even as possible.

Set the shaped piece of dough onto your prepared surface for rising. If you're using floured canvas or linen, set it seam side up...if you're using a board with cornmeal or a pan, set it seam side down (picture 17). If using cloth, pinch a ridge ~3-inches high between each bâtard. Cover dough with plastic and allow to rise until almost tripled in volume, 1½-2½ hours (picture 18).

Preheat oven to 450° F during final 30 minutes of rising time.

If you've used cloth, you'll need to carefully roll the loaves over and onto a surface dusted with cornmeal. Slash the top of each piece of dough several times and moisten the surface of the dough by gently misting it with water from a spray bottle. Immediately slide into preheated oven and close the door. After 3 minutes, quickly open the oven door and spritz the dough with water again. Repeat this after another 3 minutes. And another 3 minutes. Then leave the door closed and continue baking for a total time of ~25 minutes. The crust should be golden and crisp and the bottom should make a hollow sound when thumped.

Cool the bread on a wire rack or set upright in a basket to allow air to circulate freely around each loaf. Allow to cool completely.

French bread is best eaten the same day that it was baked, but will last for a day or two longer if it wrapped airtight and refrigerated. You can also wrap very well and freeze (once completely cool). To thaw, unwrap a loaf and place on a baking sheet set in a cold oven; heat to 400° F and in 20 minutes, the outside will be hot and crisp and the inside will be thawed.

*notes:

A handy tip from Julia: measure 10½ cups water into your bowl (for rising) and mark (literally or mentally) where that "line" is. Dry out bowl and remember that spot so you can easily tell when your bread has risen to 3x its volume.

If at any point you want to delay the rising action of your dough, you can put it in the refrigerator to rise. I did my second rise in the refrigerator overnight (12 hours) because I started my dough fairly late. Cooling it down slows down the rising process. If it hasn't risen fully in the fridge, let it finish at room temperature when you're ready. If it has risen, go ahead and start right at that point. Check out Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volume 2 for more information.

I decided to turn this French bread into Bâtards since I just purchased a pan that would allow me to let 3 loaves rise and bake all at the same time. I love the pan and I know I'll use it often. It's called a baguette pan, but since a true baguette is actually 24-inches long and my pan is not, I suppose I'll be making a lot of bâtards (16- to 18-inches long) instead. I'm okay with that.

adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volume 2

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p.s... this bread lasted exactly 30 minutes in our house.  As soon as I said "go", bread was broken and bellies were filled.  And requests to make 3 more loaves immediately were issued.

Sauce Béarnaise w/ Filet & Asaparagus - MY FAVORITE MEAL {#CookforJulia}

 If you know me, you might be surprised to know that if I had to make the choice of "my last meal", it wouldn't be Mexican food or something gloriously garlicky.  It wouldn't be a bowl of Tortilla Soup or a loaf of freshly baked bread with a wedge of cheese.  Although those would all fall into my "second choices" category.  I would actually choose a Filet Mignon (cooked anywhere from rare to medium) smothered in Béarnaise Sauce.  Preferably with a side of hand-cut fries also smothered in Béarnaise.  Okay, the pictures have asparagus in them...and not fries.  What can I say?  I was feeling virtuous.  But truly, that would be my last meal request.  With a bottle of wine to wash it down.

Perhaps it's due to the fact that I don't eat that meal very often.  Okay, hardly ever.  The other things that I'm known for loving are things that I eat on a regular basis.  So the "special" factor probably plays in.  Yes, that has to be it.

But..."WHY?  What's the reasoning behind your choice?" ...you ask?

Mainly because it's so freakin' delicious.

The reason I would choose that meal isn't because of one particularly fond memory.  Though, I do remember it fondly.  It's just because it's so darn good.  The first time I made Béarnaise (and Hollandaise and it's other derivatives) was during my apprenticeship.  I was stationed on grill for a period of nine months (give or take).  And I had to make a couple batches a night to go with one of the steaks.  The first batch was always fun.  I looked forward to watching those yolks "take in" all of that softened butter.  It's amazing how much butter yolks can hold.  I'm sure I broke it a few times in the beginning, but once I got the hang of it, it was old hat.  The time it got hard was when that particular steak sold really well during service and I had to make another batch while still putting up orders.  But can I just tell you what a great work-out a whisk can be!

At the end of the nights when I was working with a buddy on sauté who was just as much a lover of the sauce as I, I'd put a little portion of Béarnaise in a 1/16th pan and set it between us while we started to break down.  Or earlier if it was particularly slow.  There was almost always little end bits of Prime Rib hanging around.  We made sure of it.  So into the Béarnaise they'd go.  And fries?  Oh yeah, those were always around, no doubt.  So those would get swiped through the sauce, as well.  Little did I realize just how fortunate I was back then.  Béarnaise wouldn't always be around for dipping at my leisure (okay, it would if I made it...but...).  And mostly, I wouldn't always be as active (and young) as I was then.  I mean, if I shoveled it in now like I did then, I'd be bedridden.

But basically, when I switched stations from grill to whatever came next, Béarnaise became a thing of the past.  Sure, I'd make it now and again, but never as frequently as I did during those 9 months.  But when I want a real treat, I will make a Filet and whip up a batch.  And each and every bite is like heaven.

In this, my next to last #CookforJulia post, I decided it was high-time to indulge.  I still make Hollandaise a little more often than I do Béarnaise (for Eggs Benedict), and when I discovered Julia's method for making it the blender, I was hooked.  Sure, now's the time I could probably use that whisk-work-out most, but the ease of making it in the blender completely and totally eliminates the need to break a sweat.  I decided to make the Béarnaise this way as well...and I'm scared to admit that sheer willpower will now be the only thing keeping me from making it more often.  I want it to stay "special", ya know?  Julia doesn't call for straining the reduction, but I like to do so to remove the shallots and peppercorns.  Plus, I like to finish mine with a smattering of fresh tarragon and chervil folded into the sauce (yes, that's the way I learned).  But Julia's blender-method will most likely be my method of choice 'til the end of time.

Watch for my final #CookforJulia post on Wednesday the 15th...this will mark what would have been Julia's 100th birthday.  I'm so happy that I took the time to cook from all of my Julia books over these last nine or ten days.  She truly was a remarkable woman...a remarkable force.

Sauce Béarnaise

by Heather Schmitt-González

Prep Time: 10-15 minutes

Keywords: condiment entree side butter herbs eggs French

Ingredients (~1 cup)

for the reduction:

• ¼ c. Tarragon vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
• ¼ c. dry white wine (or vermouth)
• 1 heaping Tbs. minced shallots
• ½ tsp. dried tarragon
• pinch salt
• 6 black peppercorns, crushed with side of your knife

to finish the sauce:

• 3 egg yolks
• 4-6 oz. (1-1½ sticks) unsalted butter
• salt
• palmful chopped fresh tarragon and chervil

Instructions

make the reduction:

Combine all of the ingredients for the reduction in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil until liquid is reduced to about 2 tablespoons. Watch it carefully once it starts to boil - the liquid can evaporate quickly.

Strain into the jar of a blender.

make the Béarnaise:

Put the butter in a small pan and heat until melted and bubbling.

Add the egg yolks to the blender with the reduction, then cover and blend at high speed for 30 seconds.

Remove the lid of the blender (or the center piece in the lid) and start pouring in the hot butter in "droptlets" while the blender is still on high speed. Continue pouring slowly, giving the yolks time to absorb the butter. Once the sauce starts to thicken, you can start to pour a little quicker. You should now have a thick, rich sauce.

Throw in the freshly chopped tarragon and chervil. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt, if necessary.

Enjoy over steak, french fries, veggies, broiled fish or chicken, or egg dishes. Try not to drink it from a spoon (much easier said than done).

notes:

If your reduction gets away from you and goes dry, simply add some more of the vinegar and wine (in equal parts) and let it reduce again (assuming it hasn't burnt - if so, start over).

This is my absolute favorite sauce in the world - especially when served over Filet Mignon. Or used to dip french fries in. Although I'd been making it for years by hand, once I discovered Julia Child's method for making it (and Hollandaise) in the blender, I never looked back. It's super simple and works every time.

inspired by and adapted from The French Chef Cookbook

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Country Bread {#CookforJulia #BakeYourOwnBread}

Let me begin with a weather update: currently 58° F with occasional light rain. I believe it hit a high of 64° today.

And let me follow that up by saying: I'm lovin' every minute of it!  As in Loverboy circa 1985, baby. Minus the sexual innuendo.

I can finally breathe again!  The heat and humidity are so oppressive to me, so the past three and a half months or so has been rough.  I thrive when there's a chill in the air.  Plus I'm a water baby (Scorpio), so I also love a rainy night.  As in Eddie Rabbit circa 1980.  Eeeehhhh...sorry.  I can't help it.  My seventies/eighties-child is showing again.  I tell ya, the cool breeze blowing through my windows that have been thrown wide open all day is making me giddy!

So this would have been THE perfect day to bake a loaf of bread.  The smell of yeast and grains snaking from the oven and through the kitchen and eventually out of those open windows.  But I made a loaf yesterday (which was also fairly cool), so instead of baking another one right away, I just toasted it up and enjoyed that today.  Alongside this beautiful day.

So this makes five of seven of my Julia Child books that I've cooked from.  It looks like I'm going to reach the goal that I set for myself (cooking one recipe from each of them during the #CookforJulia event).  Double giddy!

Country Bread

by Heather Schmitt-González

Prep Time: 2½ hrs. + overnight (largely unattended)

Cook Time: 60-70 minutes

Keywords: bake bread

Ingredients (1 large round loaf)

the sponge:

• 1½ c. warm water (105°-115° F)
• 2½ tsp. active dry yeast
• 1 c. bread flour
• ½ c. rye flour
• ½ c. whole wheat flour

the dough:

• 1 tsp. active dry yeast
• 1 c. warm water
• all of the sponge
• 3-3½ c. bread flour
• 1 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 Tbs. salt

Instructions

make the sponge (the evening before you want to bake the bread):

Put ¼ cup of the warm water into a bowl and sprinkle with the yeast; stir to mix. Allow to rest for ~5 minutes, in which time it will turn creamy. Add remaining water. Stir the flours together and add them to the yeast mixture a little at a time, stirring with a wooden spoon until sponge has the consistency of pancake batter (loose, yet thick).

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight. Plan on pulling this out of the fridge 1 hour before you're ready to continue with your recipe.

making the bread (day of baking):

Be sure to pull the sponge from the refrigerator and allow it to sit at room temperature for an hour before continuing on with the dough.

Dissolve the yeast in ½ cup of the warm water. Scrape the sponge into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment and add the other ½ cup of warm water to that bowl. Cobine 3 cups of the bread flour with the whole wheat flour.

Gradually add 2 cups of the flour mixture into the mixer bowl, while it runs on medium-low speed. Once it has mixed for ~3 minutes, add the yeast mixture until incorporated. Sprinkle the salt over the dough and allow it to mix in. Work the remaining flour mixture in until the dough starts to "clean" the sides of the bowl (if you need to, add a tad more bread flour until this happens). Increase the mixer speed to medium and allow to knead for ~10 minutes or until the dough begins to look smooth and satiny; it should feel slightly tacky (almost enough to be sticky, but not quite).

Form dough into a loose ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic and allow dough to proof at room temperature until doubled in volume, 1½-2 hours.

Prepare a banneton (measuring 8" across base) or a large basket or colander lined with a linen towel by rubbing with flour. Set aside until needed.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and pat it into a flat round with your fingers and palms. Fold the four "edges" in and press down with the heel of your hand, then flip the dough over and work it against the counter with your cupped hands to form a tight ball. Repeat this process (flattening, folding, tightening) four more times. Turn the loaf over and lay it into the prepared banneton, smooth side down.

Cover with plastic wrap that has been lightly oiled on the surface facing the dough. Let it rise at room temperature until it has risen over the edge of the banneton. This could take anywhere from 30 minutes to 1½ hours.

About 30 minutes before you're ready to bake the loaf, position an oven rack in the lower third of your oven and set a baking stone on it. Preheat oven to 425° F. Have a spray bottle filled with water ready.

When the dough has risen fully, sprinkle a baker's peel or rimless baking sheet with cornmeal and carefully invert your risen dough onto it. Spray the oven walls with water and immediately close the door to trap the steam.

Score your bread a few times, cutting ~½" deep. Open the oven and slide the dough onto the baking stone, turn down the heat to 400° F, and quickly spray the oven walls again. Close oven quickly. Bake for 60-70 minutes, or until the crust is a deep golden color. The loaf will sound hollow when tapped on the bottom and should register at least 200° F when an instant-read thermometer is inserted into the center.

Remove loaf and allow to cool on a wire rack before cutting. Will keep at room temperature for ~3 days and wrapped tightly and frozen for a month (thaw, still wrapped, at room temperature).

slightly adapted from Joe Ortiz in Baking with Julia

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Yeastspotting

Simple Cucumber Salad #CookforJulia

It simply does NOT get any simpler or more frugal than a cucumber salad with dill in the heat of the August sun.  The other day when the kids and I stopped by a roadside stand to buy some tomatoes, zucchini, and summer squash for our ratatouille, the farmer also had cucumbers listed at 6 for $1.  And they were decent-sized...not too small and not so big that were tough and woody.  So obviously I couldn't resist.  Six into my satchel.  And it bears mention that for these six cukes (of which I only used two here) plus the other veggies I brought home (of which only the tomatoes are entirely gone), I only paid a grand total of $3.  Oh yeah, and he threw in a handful of fresh dill for free.  There's a reason I look forward to this stand opening every summer!

So as I surveyed my bounty spread out on the kitchen table upon returning home, I knew I had to find something to #CookforJulia that included cucumbers for my next endeavor.  Fortunately, of the three cookbooks I have left to cook from, two contained cucumber recipes.  And the third is Baking with Julia...so I baked a loaf of bread today, as well - that's coming up in the next day or so.

And I suppose I'm really stretching it when I say "cook" with Julia.  It falls more into the category of #AssembleSomethingForJulia, but hey.  Nothing wrong with the quickies!  Most people make some version of this cooling summer salad.  And in my book, the more vinegar the better.  I also choose to cut my cukes in thicker chunks than some, just because I DO add so much vinegar that I like them to hold up.

You could peel your cucumbers, if you like.  I like to leave mine on, especially if I know where they were grown.  To make these fun, I just ran a zester (the kind with the holey things side-by-side) down the cucumber in an uneven fashion.  I'd like to say it's simply because the kids love it that way...but honestly, so do I.

Simple Cucumber Salad

by Heather Schmitt-González

Prep Time: 15-30 minutes, mostly unattend

Cook Time: n/a

Keywords: salad side vegan cucumber summer

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

• 2 large cucumbers
• ½-1 tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. sugar
• 1 Tbs. white wine vinegar (use less or more, to taste)
• fresh dill

Instructions

Peel the cucumber, if you wish. Cut in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds (or leave them in...again, up to you). Cut into thin (or thick) slices and toss with salt, sugar, and vinegar. Let steep for 15-20 minutes (or longer) and then drain (or don't).

Toss with as much chopped fresh dill as you like. Enjoy!

note:

Uh...yeah. It's just that simple. Adjust anything and everything from amounts to times according to your tastes. Eat as a side dish, a garnish, or a salad.

adapted from Julia's Kitchen Wisdom

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To make the patterns in the skin, I used a 5-hole citrus zester at random intervals before slicing.  This is mine ----------------------->

You can find similar ones on Amazon (average price of $5).

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