THE Chocolate Sheet Cake

So easy, so delicious. THE chocolate sheet cake I'll be making from now on.

Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread--SUCCESS!!

I have always loved sourdough bread, having grown up near San Francisco and eaten it happily for years. I remember my mom buying extra sour sourdough bread from the grocery store in a crackly waxed paper bag. But now I have learned about white flour and phytic acid and wish someone made 100% whole grain sourdough SOMEWHERE. I have never found a whole wheat sourdough loaf at any store, but I did finally find some recipes like this one at The Nourishing Gourmet.

First I ordered a whole wheat sourdough starter culture from Cultures for Health. Following the directions I got my starter bubbly and active. Then I was finally ready to try the recipe from TNG last week...and it was so-so. I noticed the dough did not rise as much as it should have, during both the first and second rises. It was also too dry, and when I baked it the bottom burned. I think TNG's recipe works in her area, but for the dry air of AZ the recipe needs adjustments.

Finally, I got out some more starter and gave it another try. I used less flour so the dough would be more moist. I covered my overnight rising dough much more thoroughly. I baked the dough at a lower temperature. I got a squirt bottle of filtered water to occasionally spray the loaves throughout the baking time. Voila!

I tripled this recipe, and when preparing my starter I fed it twice a day for two days to get it nice and sour.

Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread
1 cup of sourdough starter
1/2 cup of filtered water
1 1/2 teaspoons of sea salt
2 Tablespoons-1/4 cup of honey, depending on how sweet you want it (I used 2 T.)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
3-4 1/2 cups whole grain flour (I used 3 cups of freshly ground hard red winter wheat)

1. In a large plastic bowl (NOT metal) combine starter, water, honey and olive oil. Mix well with a whisk.
2. Start stirring in the flour, mixing with a wooden spoon until the dough becomes too stiff. Turn out onto a floured board with floured hands and knead in any remaining flour if you have any left. To knead, fold the top half of the dough onto the bottom half and then push the mound of dough together and up towards the top of your surface with the heels of one or both of your hands. Then turn the whole piece of dough 1/4 of a turn and repeat.
   
3. Knead for about 10 minutes. The feel of the dough should change as time goes on. Your dough should feel less sticky and more firm by the time you are done. When you pinch the dough it should spring back a little bit.
4. You are ready for The First Rise. Lightly oil a bowl, place dough inside and cover very well. Find a warm place to let rise. Depending on how warm and moist your house is this can take anywhere from 3-24 hours. Generally it takes 12 hours. The dough should double in size by the time it is ready. I covered my oiled bowl with a towel and a dinner plate pressing it down, then placed it in my dehydrator on 85 degrees overnight. This seems to be the best timing.
5. Once your dough has doubled you are ready to shape it into a loaf. Press into a rectangle, then fold the long sides over to the middle to make a long skinny rectangle. Starting at the top, roll the dough down, sealing the edge as you go until your dough is formed into an oblong loaf. Pictures here are very helpful (look at "Step Three: The Shaping and Second Rising"). Place into well greased bread pans, or onto parchment for a free-formed loaf.
   
6. You are now ready for The Second Rise. I put my loaves onto parchment, covered well with towels and into the dehydrator on 85 degrees. I put a ceramic bowl with boiling water in next to it to keep the air moist. You can recreate the moist air in your oven as well, by covering your loaves, setting a bowl with boiling water in with them and shutting the oven door. Either method should allow your loaves to rise more quickly, around 2-3 hours.
7. I baked my loaves on parchment-lined cookie sheets at 350 for 35-50 minutes. (The original recipe calls for 375 degrees for 45-55 minutes, but that burned the bottom of my loaves the first time I made this bread. It could be because they were not in bread pans, that the air is dryer in AZ, that my dough was too dry, or some combination of those factors.) You will know your bread is done when you tap on the bottom and it sounds hollow.
   
8. Cool on cooling racks and enjoy with grass-fed butter. And maybe some raw honey. Or some jam. Or maybe as a vehicle for your fried or scrambled eggs in the morning. Mmmmm.
   

Root Beer Cookies

Asher and Luke are loving these, and I love that they are not tempting to me at all...not because they aren't good. But, I've got a 12 pack of diet root beer that tastes the same without any of the calories.

http://realmomkitchen.com/319/root-beer-cookies/

Lentil Vegetable Soup

I should note first that I'm not a huge fan of vegetable soups or most lentil dishes, but when Ina writes up a recipe that uses these ingredients, well, I trust her, so I tried it. Then, there's Asher who is not as loyal to the Contessa as I am. I packed this soup in his lunch not even hoping he'd eat it because we were out of anything else to send him off with. He came home and said, "MOM, I ate all of my carrot and bean soup. Can I have some more now?"

With that in mind: Run, don't walk to make this soup! (And, if you have a bowl with these muffins for lunch, you'll be a happy camper.)

Lentil Vegetable Soup
Barefoot Contessa Cookbook
Serves 8 to 10 I halved this recipe and felt like it made plenty!

1 pound French green lentils I used regular brown ones
4 c chopped yellow onions (3 large onions)
4 c chopped leeks, white parts only (2 leeks)
1 T minced garlic (3 cloves)
1/4 c good olive oil
1 T kosher salt
1 1/2 t freshly ground black pepper
1 T minced fresh thyme leaves or 1 t dried
1 t cumin
3 c medium-diced celery (8 stalks)
3 c medium-diced carrots (4 to 6)
3 quarts chicken stock
1/4 c tomato paste
2 T red wine or red wine vinegar I thought this was delicious already and left this out
freshly grated Parmesan cheese I never leave out cheese when a soup calls for it, but again, I just didn't feel like it was necessary

In a large bowl, cover lentils with boiling water and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Drain.

In a large stockpot on medium heat, saute the onions, leeks, and garlic with the olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme, and cumin for 20 minutes, until the vegetables are translucent and very tender.

Add the celery and carrots and saute for 10 more minutes.

Add the chicken stock, tomato paste, and lentils. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for one hour, until the lentils are cooked through. Check the seasonings.

Add the red wine and serve hot, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with grated Parmesan cheese. I skipped this last part.

Super Bean Burritos

These are super because they're delicious and you can freeze them. I snuck some cheese in Asher's, and he ate his (the kid hasn't gotten the memo that he can eat small amounts of dairy). But, I think these would be excellent substituting the cheese for a diary-free guacamole.

http://mykitchencafe.blogspot.com/2010/01/super-bean-burritos.html

(You may remember this blog from before--Melanie has already blessed my life with THE cornbread recipe)

Tangerine Tofu

For the past few weeks, I've been doing a real push to eat more like the books I read this past year (Omnivore's Dilemma and The End of Overeating). Less meat, more grass-feed dairy, local eggs, and less processed food overall. Fortunately, I've had k feeding me excellent recipes as I embark on this dietary change.

It's been an interesting learning experience. Some weeks, I totally rock it and have lots of good recipes to share (like this past week: Tangerine Tofu, Super Bean Burritos, Skillet Carbonara, and Vegetable Lentil Soup). Other weeks are painful, like the week before when we had bean dishes every. single. night. So, Friday, we went to McDonald's because I was going to throw up if I had to eat one more bean dish. I wish I could complain more about it, but um, I'm the person who does all the menu planning and the cooking.

After the disastrous Bean Week, I'm trying to do a pasta dish, an egg dish (with leftover pasta for Asher), a bean dish, and a meat dish each week. Nate has been a good sport about my experiments thus far. Wish I could say the same about the smaller boys.

Anyway...I made this dish last week, and the sauce tastes quite a bit like Panda Express' Orange Chicken. Unfortunately, Nate was working late most of the week, and he can't confirm that this is true. You'd want his opinion though because he is a connoisseur when it comes to Panda Express' Orange Chicken (note: the best is apparently at Fashion Square mall).

This is another Guy Fieri recipe. He makes it with flank steak, I used tofu. Drain the tofu first, but then, it's an easy substitute for the meat. Also, I've taken a picture of the chili sauce I used; it's sweet and not too spicy. I find there is a WIDE variation in chili sauces. This one added a bit of warmth to the dish but no heat.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/spicy-tangerine-beef-recipe/index.html

Incidentally, I serve my kids tofu every so often. The extra oil (3 T in the recipe) fried this tofu up beautifully, and my kids loved it. In fact, Luke picked the tofu out and left the rice.

My Favorite Italian Salad Dressing

It used to be the Newman's Own light Italian dressing, but as I got more wary of canola oil I started going through the trouble of making my own. I made the version that came printed on my Pampered Chef salad dressing shaker, and it was okay, but not great. Not a satisfying alternative. But then, as most of my food adventures go, I discovered The Nourishing Gourmet and her recipe was delicious!

Our Everyday Salad Dressing
by The Nourishing Gourmet

1 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of Apple cider vinegar (I used Bragg's Organic Raw Apple Cider Vinegar--which I buy by the gallon from Azure Standard and it's CHEAP!)
1 teaspoon of onion powder
2 tablespoon of whole grain mustard or djion type mustard (I used whole grain)
2-3 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon of dried basil
1 teaspoon salt

Mix together.