Yogurt Commons Bread

Over the years I've made modifications to the Commons Bread. Recently I've wanted more fiber in my diet but I still prefer the taste of the white flour over whole wheat. Psyllium husks seem to do the trick quite nicely. I've also started to make labneh, or yogurt cheese, and used the whey in the bread. I found that it changed the texture of the bread really nicely, and I even feel like it even keeps the crumb of the bread moist for longer. Since I don't always make labneh or have whey on hand, just plain yogurt does the same thing.

SLOW

Experience cook 4 hours

Novice cook 4 hours

3 cups flour (450gr)

¼ tsp instant yeast (yes, really, that's all!)

1¼ tsps. salt (12gr)

1½ cups water

½ cup yogurt or liquid whey

1 tsp psyllium husk powder

Mix the flour, yeast, and salt in a bowl. Stir in the water and yogurt to thoroughly blend into a very wet dough that'll look more like a sticky batter. Cover the bowl and let it rest in a warm place for at least 12 and preferably up to 24 hours. It’s ready for the next step when the surface is dotted with bubbles. It is crucial that the dough be kept warm, otherwise the little bit of yeast won't be able to propagate in your dough - if you don't have a warm place, put in the cold oven and turn on the light; this should keep it plenty warm to rise. If you don't have a warm place at all, the key is to watch for the little bubbles on the surface, which will take longer to appear in a cold place.

Flour a work surface and dump the dough out onto it, cover and let it rest for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, layer a bowl with some parchment paper - when the dough has finished rising you will pick up the whole thing to deposit into your hot dutch oven.

Using only enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to your fingers, shape it into a ball and deposit it into your parchment-lined bowl. Cover and in the same warm place, let rise for about 2 hours. When ready, the dough will be more than double in size.

Put a large cast iron pot or Dutch oven (cocotte) inside to heat (I use a 1 3/4 quart CorningWare dish) and turn on the oven to heat to 450°F\230°C. 

When the dough is ready, remove the pot from the oven, lift the parchment-lined dough out of its bowl and into the pan. Shake the pan to settle the bread evenly. Cover with the lid, and bake 30 minutes. Remove the lid, and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until the loaf is nicely browned. Cool on a rack.

Rustic Lyonnais Onion & Lardons Layered Soup

This charming baked soup evokes a rustic French kitchen with its slow caramelized onions, and the kind of earthy, unapologetic rich aromas perfuming the hearthside. It feels “authentic,” a culinary story, a lineage.

Number of portions, 7 servings

Serving size ~350 g

Calories per serving ~445 kcal

Speed: Slow

Experienced cook (active time) 50–55 min

Novice cook (active time) 60–75 min

Total elapsed time 2–2.5 hours

LHSS Score 7.8 / 10

LHSS Score 8.9 / 10 when served with the Coleslaw with Vinaigrette if you eat it first

4 oz fatty bacon cut into lardons

6 small onions (2lbs), thin sliced

1 to 2 sprigs thyme, minced

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

⅓ cup white wine

3½ cups rich beef broth

8oz very thin slices of day-old/stale bread

7 to 8oz Parmesan cheese, sliced thin

¼ + cup cream 

CROUTONS

2 slices of crusty bread (about 1 cup)

2 Tbsps butter

1. Render the fat from the lardons in a saucepan over medium heat until they are evenly golden. 
2. Remove the rendered lardons and set aside.
3. Drain all but 2 Tbsps. of the fat. 
4. Slowly cook the onion in the fat, until it turns a deep brown and is falling apart - all the sweetness of the onion will come out at this point. If using a cast iron or stainless steel pan (recommended), a 'fond' will start to develop as the sugars in the onion begin to caramelize and stick to the pan. Don't avoid this stage, but enter it joyfully - this is where your flavour will come from.
5. Add the thyme, mixing it in.
6. Season with the salt and pepper
7. Stir in the wine and cook down for a few minutes.
8. Add the broth. Scrape up all that wonderful fond and continue simmering for about 30 minutes.
9. Pre-heat the oven to 350°F.
10. In an oven-ready pot or earthenware casserole dish, make consecutive layers of: 
• thinly sliced bread
• thinly sliced Parmesan
• 1 Tbsp of cream
• some of the bacon
• and repeat, continuing with another bread layer, until the casserole is half full.
11. Last but not least, pour the onions and their stock over all this. 
12. Bake in the oven, covered, for 1 hour.

CROUTONS

1. Cube the bread to make croutons.
2. Over medium heat melt the 2 Tbsps. of butter in a small pan (level of butter should be 1/4 inch) and allow it to heat up completely so that when a cube of bread is put in, it will quietly sizzle.
3. Add the bread cubes and fry, stirring constantly so they brown evenly, about 30 seconds to 1 minutes. 
4. Burns easily!
5. With a slotted spoon remove the croutons. You can use any leftover fat as the base of your next cooking project.
6. When the casserole is baked, remove the dish from the oven, sprinkle the croutons on top and return to the oven to broil until the top is gently bubbling and the croutons nestled in.

Pork Carnitas - Slow cooked pulled pork

Equal parts savory crunchy bits and lovely tender bits, it is an ode to pork.

3 to 5 lb pork shoulder, bone in (also pork chops in a pinch, so probably pork loin roast)

The Rub

3 tsps salt

1 tsp pepper

1 Tbsp dried oregano

2 tsps ground cumin

½ tsp cayenne pepper

2 Tbsps chilli powder

¼ tsp cinnamon

Scant pinch of ground cloves

Aromatics

1 large onion, cut into wedges

5 cloves garlic, smashed

2 limes, juiced

2 Tbsps brown sugar

2 bay leaves

Serve with any of the following:

Sliced avocado

Sliced radishes

Thinly sliced cabbage

Warm tortillas, corn or flour

Fresh squeezed lime juice

Salsa

Refried beans

Red Rice

1. Rinse and dry the pork shoulder, rub in the salt and pepper.
2. Combine the rub ingredients then rub all over the pork as much as possible; use ALL of it. 
3. Place the pork in a slow cooker with the fat cap up. Surround it with the onion, crushed garlic and lime juice, tucking the bay leaves at either end.
4. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or on high for 6 hours.
5. The meat should be tender and falling off the bone. Remove from the slow cooker and set aside only long enough to finish the next step.
6. Pour juices in the slow cooker into a glass measuring cup and skim off and discard the fat. If more than 1½ to 2 cups of juice is left, reduce it in a wide pan until you have less than 2 cups. The liquid will be SALTY, and should only be used as indicated in the following steps.
7. Shred the pork using a couple of forks.

To Serve

1. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large non stick pan over high heat, then reduce to medium high. Place shredded pork into the pan, drizzle over some juices. Wait until the juices evaporate and the bottom side is golden brown and crusty. Turn and just briefly sear the other side - you don't want to make it brown all over because then it's too crispy, and the tender juicy bits get lost.
2. Repeat in batches (takes me a couple of batches) - don't crowd the pan.
3. If you are reheating the carnitas, then flip and cook the other side briefly just to warm through. I really recommend only making one side crusty and leaving the other side juicy and moist.

Same-Day Commons Bread

I love this bread. It's a variation on another bread recipe I quite like, what I like to call the Commons Bread, but this version is much quicker and makes loaf-type bread.

1 slice = 80g

~174 calories per slice

SLOW

Experience cook 4 hours

Novice cook 4 hours

3 cups flour (450gr)

¼ tsp instant yeast (yes, really, that's all!)

1¼ tsps salt (12gr)

1½ cups water at 125 to 130°F

1. Mix the flour, yeast, and salt in a bowl. Stir in the hot (this is key) water to blend - dough should be a bit wet, add water if it looks too dry. What you’re looking for is wet, shaggy, sticky dough, but not so wet as to be batter. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and let it rest in a warm place for 3 hours. It’s ready for the next step when the surface is dotted with bubbles. It is crucial that the dough be kept warm, otherwise the little bit of yeast won't be able to propagate in your dough - if you don't have a warm place, put in the cold oven and turn on the light; this should keep it plenty warm to rise. Conversely, wait until you see the tell-tale dotted and bubbled surface before moving to the next step.
2. On a clean board, turn out the dough. With a dough scraper slathered with oil, lift and turn the dough 12 times. Then, using the scraper, flatten the dough into a ½" thick rectangle on your board. Lift and folder over first ⅓ of the dough towards the middle, then the opposite ⅓ on top of the first. With the scraper, lift the ends and fold them onto each other to form a ball. You'll likely need to oil the scraper again, and then lift the ball onto waxed or oiled parchment paper and set into a cold bread pan.
3. Once the dough in its pan, cover with a damp tea towel and set on top of the stove. Let rise for 30 minutes. The heat from the warming oven will help with this final rise. Heat the oven to 450°F. Heat with an empty bread pan in the oven. 
4. After the 30 minute rise, turn the dough into the hot bread pan and bake for 30 minutes.

Makes about 850gr.

Jacques (apple spooncakes)

According to Elizabeth David, these are from the Perigord region of France. It's amazing how the texture improves if the batter is left to hydrolyze overnight. They are small, custardy delicious little pancakes.

1 cup flour (4¼oz/120g)

½ cup of milk

½ cup water

1 Tbsp oil

a pinch salt

1 tsp sugar + more for sprinkling

2 eggs

2 or 3 small apples (5oz/approx 300g) preferably old and wrinkled, grated. If skin is tough, remove it.

Optional: rum or brandy

the juice from ½ lemon

Butter

NOTE: This recipe should be started several hours before making, preferably left overnight. 

1. Mix together the flour, milk, water, oil, salt, sugar, and eggs; stir the batter very well, then let it rest for several hours to overnight.
2. Grate the apples and mix in the lemon juice (and/or booze). TIP: if it's a fresh apple, take fists-full of the grated flesh and squeeze out as much juice as possible. Lightly desiccated this way the apple will more easily soak up the lemon or booze, and won't make the pancakes soggy.
3. Coat a thick bottomed pan with a pat of butter and heat up until the butter just starts to froth. Turn the heat down to medium low for a slow fry.
4. Using a wooden mixing spoon, drop a spoonful of batter onto the hot pan, making room for more; you should be able to cook at least four little spooncakes at-a-time in the pan. They are done when both sides are nicely browned.
5. Put more butter in the pan for every new batch of spooncakes.
6. Serve immediately. Tasty with maple syrup and/or apple butter and yogurt.

Slow Cooked Pork Steaks with Herbes de Provence

This can be a 8 - 24 hour recipe. Made for the slow cooker, it's also marinated in a brine. While brining can be overlooked, it's recommended to get a really flavorful meat. 

Serves 2 to 4 (2 with leftovers, 4 with a hearty side dish)

TIME: 30 minutes to prep, 6 to 7hrs to cook.

4 cups salt water (4 cups water, 3 Tbsps table salt)

¼ cup salt 

2-3lbs fresh pork steak 

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 tsps Herbes de Provence

½ tsp pepper or to taste

Cooking fat (olive oil, or lard, etc)

1 popcorn kernel

2 cups meat broth

1 tsp salt

1 small onion, chopped

3 large potatoes, quartered

2 large carrots, in chunks

OPTIONAL : 1 handful of fresh green beans

1. To make a brine, dilute the salt in the water. Marinade the ham steak in the brine - the size of the dish should allow the water to cover the meat. 
2. Sprinkle the chopped garlic on top. Let that sit from 1 hour to overnight.
3. Strain the meat and set the chopped garlic aside for later. 
4. Pat the meat dry and rub the herbs and pepper all over.  
5. Heat the fat in a stainless or cast iron pan and fry the garlic in the pan until it turns golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
6. Add the popcorn kernel to the hot oil and when the kernel pops, remove it - this means the oil is hot enough to sear the meat.
7. Sear the meat on all sides until browned. Remove from the pan.
8. Add the meat broth and the salt and scrape up any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.
9. Put the meat in the crock pot along with the onion, potatoes, carrots, salt and, if using, green beans. (If using the green beans add last and on top of everything, away from the liquid, so they don't overcook.)
10. Pour over this the garlicky broth. 
11. Cook on High temp for 4 to 5 hours, taste and adjust the seasoning, then cook on Low temp for 2 hours or until the onion is cooked.  
12. There will be more sauce than you need, but you can save it to make gravy for something else, or use it as a base for soups (such as split pea soup).

Split Pea and Greens Bharta

It's challenging finding recipes using split peas - I mostly get hits for different variations of pea soup (which is delicious, no doubt!). Putting on my researcher cap, I looked to the far East for inspiration and found this little gem. Meant to be eaten scooped with flatbread or raw veggie sticks. The challenging detail to get this recipe right is the amount of liquid required to create the right consistency - too liquid and it'll be soupy and difficult to pick up with bread or veggie sticks, too thick and it won't process properly. The end product is well worth figuring out these details. Note that it requires soaking time for the peas, which makes it a perfect candidate to eat with Staffordshire Oatcakes, which require at least an hour proofing time.

TIMING: 2hrs soak + 1hr25mins

For the Split Peas
1½ cup yellow split peas
3½ cup water (or more, if needed)

1. Soak the peas for at least 2 hours before boiling.
2. Bring them to a boil then simmer for 30 to 50 minutes, until the peas are fully cooked and tender (don't rush this step, the longer and softer the better).
3. Save 1 cup of the cooking water and drain away any excess, if there is any.
4. Season with salt and allow to cool while preparing the veg.

For the Veg Mixture
1 onion, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeño, finely diced (or a pinch of red pepper flakes)
1 tsp salt, to taste
8 to 12oz fresh greens (spinach, chard, kale, turnip greens, nettles, etc) finely chopped.

1. Dry-sauté the onion until translucent and golden, about 10 minutes. No oil is required, but you do need to stir frequently to avoid sticking. The onion will soften and a fond will develop, which will largely come up from the liquid expressed from the greens when you add them. If it's all sticking too much, add a splash of water.
2. Add the garlic and cook another 30 seconds, then the hot pepper, greens and salt. Stir to combine and cook until the greens wilt. 

Final Steps
2 tsps dried mint
Water
½ tsp salt or to taste
zest of 1 lime or lemon
2 tsps black pepper

1. Once the greens are perfectly cooked, purée the split peas until smooth or, if you'd rather do it by hand, press through a fine sieve with a wooden spoon. It will be quite thick so, if you're running it through the blender, add water to help it move in the machine. Ideally it should be able to just make a vortex in the blender - it will look too wet but will stiffen in no time.
2. To the just-blended peas briefly add and purée the greens, just to get a rough chop, or chop very fine by hand and thoroughly stir in. If using a machine, do it just so that the veg has passed through once - a little chunky is fine. use some of the pea cooking water to get things moving - the veg mix is quite dry.
3. Combine the lime or lemon zest, pepper and mint and mix into the paste.
4. Adjust the seasoning to your taste. Both peas and any added water absorb the effect of salt on flavor, so it's important to taste and adjust the salt until the flavors pop to your liking.
5. Reheat and serve.

Commons Bread

When my mother introduced brown bread to the family diet, she started something. I've eaten all sorts of different kinds of breads, some baked in outdoor rustic wood-fired ovens, some baked by my grandmother in her conventional electric oven (when she baked her 'pain de ménage'), from different kinds of grains, some herbed, some sweetened, baguette, olive oil, you name it. Never, ever would I have imagined that amazing bread could be made at home with a minimum of effort. This is a strange recipe. If you decide to try it, and I recommend that you do, follow the instructions to the letter, no matter how odd or wrong they appear to be. You'll end up with a beautiful, rustic round of bread with a crisp crust and a pleasantly chewy sponge. The only down side, and in my opinion it is a minor one, is that it takes 12-24 hours to make, because the dough needs so much time to rise. The wait is well worth it!
You can also leave the dough for an additional 24 hours and it will develop a sourdough flavour.
I originally called this my Wonder Bread, but I've changed the name to Commons Bread, in honour of reclaiming the commons for the people, to live a happy, really real, sustainable life. Bread, as a basic food, is a great place to start simplifying and making available to everyone the ability to make good, sustaining, satifying and nutritious food. Vive la Révolution! :)

ADDENDUM: turns out bread is far more interesting, versatile and sensitive than I ever thought. I'm starting some experiments that may change/clarify this recipe or create brand new ones. I'll save my notes here.

ADDADDENDUM: I have been making this bread in a much simpler format. Turns out that water temperature is a major factor, and it's possible to have same-day results within 4 hours instead of 24. This quicker version is available here.

ADDADDADDENDUM: I suspect size and shape of bowl is important. For some reason my bread hadn't been as lofty as it sometimes has been and I couldn't figure out why. I'm still not sure, but I've switched bowls. I had been doubling the recipe in a larger bowl but recently it's only been the two of us, so I went back to making just one loaf at a time. I made one in the large bowl I was using to mix the dough for two loaves and the bread came out more flat and dense than I would like. I randomly thought it was silly to dirty a large bowl so I went down a size. My next three loaves, all done singly and several days apart, have been gorgeously lofty with lots of bubbles inside and with that lovely soft, custardy texture I like so much about this bread. I'll have to see if I can figure out the dimensions of this bowl.

1 slice = 80g

~174 calories per slice

SLOW

Experience cook 4 hours

Novice cook 4 hours

3 cups flour (450gr)
¼ tsp instant yeast (yes, really, that's all!)
1¼ tsps salt (12gr)

2 cups water (can substitute 1 cup water with 1 cup liquid whey from strained yogurt)
Your Options: Cornmeal, wheat bran, or extra flour, as needed

1. Mix the flour, yeast, and salt in a bowl. Stir in the water to blend (see NOTE). What you’ll have is wet, shaggy, sticky dough, but not so wet as to be batter. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and let it rest in a warm place for at least 12, and up to 24, hours. It’s ready for the next step when the surface is dotted with bubbles. It is crucial that the dough be kept warm, otherwise the little bit of yeast won't be able to proliferate in your dough - if you don't have a warm place, put in the cold oven and turn on the light; this should keep it plenty warm to rise.
2. Flour a work surface and dump the bread out onto it. Sprinkle over a little more flour and fold it once or twice. Upturn the bowl it was rising in over it and let rest 15 minutes.
3. Using only enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to your fingers, shape the dough into a ball. Sprinkle some flour onto a piece of parchment paper, and lay the dough on it, seam side down, and dust with more flour. Cover again with the upturned bowl and let rise, again being mindful of the temperature it's in, for about 2 hours. When ready, the dough will be more than double in size.
4. Heat the oven to 450°F\230°C. Put an 8-quart/2-litre cast iron pot or Dutch oven (cocotte) inside to heat. When the dough is ready, remove the pot from the oven, turn the dough into it, seam-side up (The parchment paper makes this pretty easy). Shake the pan to settle the bread evenly. Cover with the lid, and bake 30 minutes. Remove the lid, and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until the loaf is nicely browned. Cool on a rack.

NOTE: When I mix my dough, I add 1 cup of water and blend that in, then start to add water averaging about a half cup. We live at sea-level next to the ocean in a temperate rain forest, and when the humidity is high, I needs up to a quarter of a cup less water - my marker that I have enough water is simply when all the flour has been taken up into the dough.

Originally published Monday, April 5, 2010

Milk-Braised Pork

THIS NEEDS WORK - I'VE RETURNED IT TO THE TESTING PHASE. Thank you, thank you, thank you Unemployed Cook! This recipe is terribly, dangerously delicious. It's very simple but it takes a long time and is very sticky and messy. But oh, so deliciously delicious. With my own limited finances, pork is the one meat I will only buy organic - conventional pork factory farming is just bad, bad, bad. Luckily the Vancouver Farmer's Market includes sustainable pork farmers. And when the pork loin cooks in the milk, you end up with tender succulence, and, not a sauce, but a kind of ham/cheese hybrid, brown, rich, gooey goodness. The Unemployed Cook recommends the use of a super-non-stick pan which I've never heard of, but I post it here in case you're interested: Calphalon non-stick skillet. I used a non-stick skillet and it still stuck. A small price to pay for this dish.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/200620/milk-braised-pork-loin/
http://goboldwithbutter.com/slow-cooked-pork-braised-in-milk/

NOTE: THIS TAKES A SUPER LONG TIME!

1 Tbsp (1⁄2 oz/14gr) butter

Mild vegetable oil

sea salt

freshly ground pepper

1 medium pork tenderloin

.5 gallon of milk*

*I don't know how much milk I use. It depends on the size of the pan I'm cooking in - I just look to make sure the tenderloin is almost covered with milk when I have to put some in.

1. Sprinkle the tenderloin generously with salt and pepper. Heat the butter and a drizzle of oil in a heavy saute pan with a lid.
2. Brown the pork very well on all sides in the hot oil. Once finished browning, add the milk to the pan until nearly covering the meat, reduce heat to a low simmer. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Remove the lid, raise the heat to medium. When the milk starts to boil around the meat, be vigilant! Boil the milk down, turning the tenderloin over (every half hour), until the milk resembles soft, light golden curds. Beware, those of faint heart, this can take over half and hour TAKES LONGER, RECORD TO CORRECT (try 2.5 hours as your metric, to start. This seems more realistic) of care and attention because you do not want to scorch the milk!
4. Once the milk has boiled down, add more milk to almost cover the pork, and cook down again. At this point it should be smelling incredibly good and the pork should be quite tender. Once the milk has boiled down to a thick, golden brown sauce, HOW LONG DOES THIS TAKE? remove meat (the internal temperature should be 160°F). Slice thinly and generously spoon the sauce over the top. This is a rich dish, best paired with lightly steamed vegetables to cut some of the heaviness.

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SALADS, SANDWICHES, SAUCES, SIDE DISHES, SLOW FOOD, SOUPS, STARTERS, STEWS, TABLE D'HÔTE, TARTS, TIPS, VEGETARIAN,