French Peasant Bread

This recipe is super easy that even I can make it. Anything with yeast really intimidates me. I come from a family of non-bakers; we used to joke that we would use my mom's Thanksgiving rolls as a hockey puck or door stop. But last night I was craving homemade bread and decided to make this. And besides it being so easy, I love that there's no oil or butter in it, so you feel a little less guilty.

I feel like Tom Hanks in "Castaway" whenever I make bread..."I...have made... BREAD!" (just like when he made fire.) I feel I have accomplished something, that I have conquered the elements and have connected with my ancestors....Anyway, enough of my feelings on baking bread, here's the recipe:

1 pkg. dry yeast (I use the rapid-rise)
2 cups warm water (make sure it's not hot, or it might kill or alter the yeast)
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. salt
Flour (now I don't really know how much. Start with 4 cups and go from there. You just have to keep adding it about 1/2 cup at a time until it pulls away from the bowl and is still sticky, but easy to work with.)
oil
cornmeal
About 2 Tbsp. melted butter

Place yeast, water, sugar and salt in warm bowl and stir until dissolved. Add flour and stir until blended. (I use my KitchenAid mixer with the regular white beater but I'm sure a food processor with a dough blade would work just as well.) Do not knead. Cover and let rise one hour until doubled in size. Flour hands, remove from bowl and make two rounds on a well-oiled cookie sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Let rise an additional hour. Brush the top with melted butter and bake at 425 degrees for about 10 minutes. Reduce oven temp to 375 and cook an additional 15 minutes. Remove from oven and brush again with butter. Serve warm.

Tips: You can spray your pan with Pam, it's quicker and healthier. Sometimes I like to substitute about 1/2-3/4 cup whole wheat flour, it gives it a nice flavor and texture. It also works great to half this recipe depending upon how much you want to make.

Texas Flour Tortillas

(adapted from The Border Cookbook by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison)

Ingredients:Two cups of all-purpose flour (can make them whole wheat by substituting one cup of whole-wheat flour for white flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
3/4 cups of warm milk

Method:Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and oil.Slowly add the warm milk.Stir until a loose, sticky ball is formed.Knead for two minutes on a floured surface. Dough should be firm and soft.Place dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for 20 minutes.

After the dough has rested, break off eight sections, roll them into balls in your hands, place on a plate (make sure they aren’t touching) and then cover balls with damp cloth or plastic wrap for 10 minutes. (It’s very important to let the dough rest, otherwise it will be like elastic and won’t roll out to a proper thickness and shape.)

After dough has rested, one at a time place a dough ball on a floured surface, pat it out into a four-inch circle, and then roll with a rolling pin from the center until it’s thin and about eight inches in diameter. (If you roll out pie crusts you’ll have no problem with this.) Don’t over work the dough, or it’ll be stiff. Keep rolled-out tortillas covered until ready to cook.In a dry iron skillet or comal heated on high, cook the tortilla about thirty seconds on each side. It should start to puff a bit when it’s done.

Keep cooked tortillas covered wrapped in a napkin until ready to eat.Can be reheated in a dry iron skillet, over your gas-burner flame or in the oven wrapped in foil.While you probably won’t have any leftovers, you can store in the fridge tightly wrapped in foil or plastic for a day or so.

Makes eight tortillas.

a slightly less fat option for tortillas. have i mentioned that i havent bought them for almost 2 years now!! wahooo!

Orecchiette with Roasted Broccoli and Walnuts

I tried this recipe last night from last month's Real Simple magazine. I really liked it, it had great flavor, and is vegetarian! I whipped it up with a simple fruit salad for a healthy dinner.

12 ounces orecchiette or some other short pasta (3 cups)
1 bunch broccoli (1 1/2 pounds) cut into small florets
1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
Kosher salt and black pepper
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/4 cup grated Parmesan (1 ounce)
1. Heat oven to 400 F. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Reserve 3/4 cup of the cooking water, drain the pasta, then return it to the pot.
2. Meanwhile, on a rimmed baking sheet, toss the broccoli, walnuts, oil, garlic, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Roast, turning once, until the broccoli is tender, about 18 to 20 minutes.
3. Toss the pasta with the broccoli mixture, butter, and 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water. (Add more water if the pasta seems dry.) Sprinkle with the Parmesan before serving.