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.

Dahl Makhani (curried bean and lentil dal)

A very flavorful dal, served with savory rice. Excellent on the second day with an egg on top.

2 Tbsps mild oil

1 medium onion (6oz/170g) chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tbsp fresh ginger, finely grated 

1 jalapeño pepper, seeds and membranes removed, minced (or a pinch of red pepper flakes)

1 ½ tsp garam masala

1 tsp fennel seeds

½ tsp ground cumin 

½ tsp ground coriander 

1 tsp salt 

Ground black pepper

1 can (14oz/398mL) diced tomatoes, with their juices

1 cup uncooked French lentils

19oz/540mL cooked pinto beans, rinsed and drained 

5 cups water or light vegetable stock

1 bay leaf

2 lightly bruised cardamom pods

1 Tbsp lime juice, plus additional lime wedges for serving

Serve with:

Plain yogurt

Chopped fresh cilantro

Lime wedges

1. In a large pot heat the oil and gently cook the onion for about 5 minutes, until just softening.
2. Add the ginger and jalapeño and cook for another minute.
3. Finally include the garlic and cook for about a minute or until fragrant.
4. Stir in the garam masala, fennel seeds, cumin, coriander and salt. Season generously with black pepper. Cook, while stirring, for 1 minute.
5. Add the tomatoes and cook for about 5 more minutes, stirring, or until they soften and start to fall apart. 
6. Add the lentils, water or broth, bay leaf and cardamom pods. 
7. Bring to a simmer and continue cooking, uncovered,  until the lentils are tender. Stir occasionally. About 35 minutes or until the beans and lentils are very thoroughly cooked.
8. Add the beans and cook another 10 minutes.
9. Remove the bay leaf. 
10. Either mash roughly with a potato masher or ricer, just enough to thicken the broth OR; transfer 2 cups of the mixture to a blender and process until smooth, being careful to avoid the hot steam escaping from the blender lid. Transfer the blended mixture back to the pot and stir to combine. 
11. Add the lime juice and adjust the seasoning. 
12. Serve in bowls.
13. Pass around the yogurt, chopped cilantro and lime wedges. 

NOTE: Good make-ahead dish, the flavors mellow very nicely. Very good as a lunch with a soft fried egg or a soft poached egg on top.

Potato Leek Soup

This is my favorite potato and leek soup! The flavours are rounded and soothing, a real comfort food for blustery cold days. It's easy to increase for larger groups - I've added the quantities below.

Servings: 12

1/2 cup butter (4oz/114gr)

4 large leeks (24oz/680g), white and light green parts only, roughly chopped (about 5 cups)

3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

2 lbs. potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped into ½-inch pieces

7 cups water or chicken or vegetable broth

2 bay leaves

3 sprigs fresh thyme

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp ground black pepper

3/4 cup buttermilk (OR yogurt) and 1/4 cup heavy cream (OR just 1 cup heavy cream)

Chives, finely chopped, for serving

1. Melt the butter over medium heat in a large soup pot. 
2. Over low heat add the leeks and garlic and cook, stirring regularly, until soft and wilted. This will take a while but it's important that the alliums don't brown but just poach in the butter.
3. Add the potatoes, water/broth, bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Cover and turn the heat down to low. Simmer for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are very soft.
4. Fish out the thyme sprig and bay leaves, then purée the soup until smooth. 
5. Add the heavy cream and bring to a simmer. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. If soup is too thin, simmer until thickened. If it's too thick, add water or stock to thin it out. 
6. Garnish with fresh herbs if desired.

Double

228 Grams butter

1.36 Kilograms leeks

6 garlic

1.816 Kilograms potato

3.312 Liters broth

4 bay leaves

6 thyme sprigs

12 Grams salt

4.6 Grams pepper

339 Grams yogurt

119 Grams Cream

Triple

342 Grams butter

2 Kilograms leeks

9 garlic

2724 Grams potato

4.968 Liters broth

6 bay leaves

9 thyme sprigs

18 Grams salt

7 Grams pepper

509 Grams yogurt

179 Grams Cream

Creamy Curried Chickpeas

Serves 4 as a main course

(OPTIONAL: Saute ½ onion chopped and 2 cloves chopped garlic for 4 to 5 mins then add ingredients)

1lb/453.6ml canned tomato puree or unseasoned tomato sauce

3 cups (1lb12oz/780g) milk

4 cups (1lb10oz/780g) cooked chickpeas (or 400 to 500g paneer) (OR BOTH, by halving the amount of each)

4 tsps. garam masala

1 tsp paprika or cayenne or Indian red chili powder or both

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1½ tsp garlic powder or 4 tsps. minced ginger and garlic or ginger-garlic paste

4 bay leaves, optional

4 Tbsps. (75g) yogurt 

+ 4 tsp yogurt for garnish drizzle

cilantro, sliced green chilies and lime for garnish

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, add all the ingredients and mix really well. Bring to a boil. Taste and adjust salt and flavor. You can add more garam masala if you like or some ground cumin and ground coriander for additional flavor.
2. There will be a lot of liquid. Cook down at least 20 minutes, maybe longer. 
3. The sauce will thicken more as it cools so you don’t want it too thick while it’s hot.
4. Serve the butter chickpeas garnished with cilantro, lemon juice, and sliced green chillies or with rice or flatbread, or naan. You can also add a garnish of cream.

Yogurt Icing

This icing is a bit like a light cream cheese icing (which is kind of weird to say since it's mostly butter). The yogurt is mostly there to add a tang to the sweetness.

4 cups (650g) icing sugar

160g butter, room temperature

115g plain full fat yogurt

1½ tsp. vanilla extract

1. In a stand mixer or by hand whisk the butter until creamy, then add the icing sugar in ½ cup increments until it's all in. 
2. While continuing to beat, add the yogurt and vanilla.
3. Continue to beat at medium speed until the sugar is completely dissolved into the yogurt and the icing looks glossy, about 10 to 20 minutes.

Soda Bread with Caraway Seeds

3 1⁄2 cups flour (535g)

1⁄2 cup sugar (100g)

1⁄2 tsp baking soda

2 tsps. baking powder

2 tsps. salt

2 Tbsps. caraway seeds

2 cups sour cream or yogurt 3.5%

2 eggs

Optional : 

1cup (2.5oz) sharp cheddar

3⁄4 cup raisins

1. Preheated the oven to 350ºF.
2. Combine dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
3. In a small bowl beat eggs and stir in sour cream.
4. Add the egg mixture optional ingredients, if using, to the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon.
5. Batter will be very thick and sticky.
6. Place batter in a greased 9 inch spring form pan.
7. If you find the dough too sticky, you can dust the top with enough flour so that you can pat the batter like a bread dough evenly in the pan without it sticking to your hands.
8. With a knife make a shallow crisscross on the top.
9. Bake for 50 minutes.

Skillet Cheese Biscuits

There's something wonderfully rustic about baking in a cast-iron pan on the stove-top. I suppose you have to enjoy crust, and with these babies, the crust contains crunchy bits of toasted cheese. It's a finicky pastry, because the temperature has to be well matched to the amount of time it takes to bake, or the pastry over-browns or, at worst, burns. Since the timing is so short it depends on the individual stove being used, so err on the side of caution and for your first try, set your stove to a lower temperature than you normally would.

1⅔ cup flour
2 Tbsps baking powder
½ tsp salt
¼ cup (2oz/58gr) cold butter cut into cubes
1 egg
¾ cup milk or buttermilk or yogurt
1 cup (3oz) grated Parmesan

1. Mix together dry ingredients
2. Add the butter pieces and pinch with your fingers to create a crumb texture. The secret is to have small globules of butter throughout the dough; really cold butter helps with this.
3. Make a well in the middle and crack in the egg - lightly whisk the egg in the well, add the milk and finally mix everything with a wooden spoon just until combined; try not to overwork the dough. It will be quite sticky.
4. Liberally butter an 8 to 10" cast-iron pan. Spread the dough over the bottom. Make cuts in the raw dough to form 8 wedges (tricky 'cause the dough is sticky). Turn on the heat to medium (or lower) and cover. After 5 minutes shake the pan to check if the dough is cooked enough to be unstuck and shifts along the bottom. If it does, gently lift to see if it has browned enough underneath and, if not, leave until it turns nicely golden. Flip and cook another 5 minutes. This part can be tricky - to flip, if your pan has rounded sides, you might be able to slide the biscuits onto a plate to flip it over into the pan or; try using two broad spatulas to lift onto a plate and do the same as above.
5. Again, test the biscuits by shaking the pan to see if it moves, and then gently lift to check the browning. If it's to your liking, turn the biscuits out onto a wire rack and allow to cool, at least long enough to handle, then break apart along the cut lines.

Chicken Curry

My cooking snobbery prevented me from posting this recipe earlier, and all that means is that I haven't made it as often as it deserves to be made. I am ashamed. And yet glad to have finally gotten over my snobbery and recorded this fine recipe.

2 Tbsps. flour
1 tsp salt
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 chicken, cut up into 8 pieces
2 Tbsps mild flavoured vegetable oil
1 Tbsp generic curry powder
1 onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup chicken broth
⅓ cup raisins OR candied ginger
1½ Tbsps tomato paste
garnish - chopped fresh cilantro
garnish - plain yogurt

1. Cut up your chicken into 8 pieces and remove the skin.
2. In a paper or plastic bag, mix together the flour, salt and cayenne pepper. Add the chicken and shake well to coat.
3. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.
4. Dump the chicken and any remaining flour into the pan and cook until browned. Remove from the pan and set aside.
5. Add the onion and garlic to the pan, adding a little more oil if necessary, and cook for 2 minutes.  Add the curry powder and toss to coat then add the broth, raisins, and tomato paste (it doesn't matter if the onion is completely cooked). 
6. Return the chicken to the pan and simmer for 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the meat thermometre registers 165°F or juices run clear.
7. If necessary, remove the chicken and cook down the sauce to the desired thickness.
8. Garnish with cilantro and a dollop of plain yogurt.
9. Serve over the rice.

Albanian Lamb Stew

Searching for lamb stew recipes, I happened on this Albanian stew recipe. It sounded strange, and, well, that's all I need to get curious and want to try something! It is in fact a strange recipe, from execution to the final product, but actually quite good, although it still needs work. I highly recommend pairing it with a crisp green salad - the textures of the rich mean, tart yoghurt custard and crunchy, fresh salad is surprisingly good.
The result of my alterations is excellent. The cooking time is greatly increased to tenderize the meat and create a lovely sauce.

1 pound lean lamb, cut into 3/4 inch cubes (boneless shoulder or leg of lamb can be used)

2 Tbsps. vegetable oil

2 cups chicken or other meat stock

2 eggs

1 cup plain yoghurt

1/4 tsp. salt

1. Brown lamb in hot oil in a large skillet. Cook in batches to properly brown the meat, and be sure to brown it on all sides. 
2. Add the stock and bring to a slow simmer. Stew the meat this way, covered, for 40 minutes. 
3. Preheat the oven to 375F (originally 350).
4. Remove the cover and turn up the heat to Medium-Low and let most of the liquid evaporate, so that you end up with, essentially, a reduction of the juices. It should be thick and unctuous, and about only a couple of tablespoons worth. 
5. Place meat in shallow, 1-quart casserole dish or individual ramekins.
6. Beat together eggs, yoghurt, and salt; and pour over the meat.
7. Bake in the preheated oven for about 40 minutes or until golden brown.