Volume 1 Issue 12 (December 2006)

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December 2006, Volume 1 Issue 12
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In This Issue:
Welcome to the December eFoodletter
Alan's Recipes of the Month: Green Beans with Bacon and Mushrooms; Flourless Walnut Cake; Easy Bread
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Welcome to the December Foodletter
Is it just me, or is anyone else double-checking the calendar, not really believing Christmas is less than a week away? While I'm loving the whole lack of snow scenario (it makes trips to Windsor to visit my mother so much easier), it does make it difficult to get into the spirit of the season. We put some Christmas decorations into the shop this weekend. They just seem incongruous...

Still, people are smiling and party invitations are arriving. Time to suspend disbelief and just enjoy.


I hope all of you get to spend the holiday season exactly the way you want!
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Alan's Recipes of the Month

Green Beans with Bacon and Mushrooms
Yes, everything tastes better with bacon, green vegetables especially!!

Ingredients
1 lb Green Beans, stem-end trimmed and beans cut to 2" lengths
2 strips Bacon, roughly chopped
2 med Shallots (or half an onion), finely chopped
1 cup Mushrooms (Button or Cremini), trimmed and quartered

Method
Fill a mixing bowl with cold water and some ice cubes.
Bring a medium sized pot of water with 1 tablespoon of salt to a boil over high heat. When the water comes to a boil, add the beans and cook until almost tender. Drain the water away and immerse the beans in the ice water bowl. When they have cooled, drain them and set them aside.
Heat a large pan over medium heat and cook the bacon until crisp. Carefully remove the bacon to a paper towel lined dish. Return the pan to the heat and add the shallots. Cook until almost tender. Add the mushrooms and cook until they have given up their juices and those juices have almost evaporated. Add the beans to the pan and stir to heat through. Add the bacon and stir again.
Season to taste with salt and fresh ground pepper.

Flourless Walnut Cake
Elegant enough for your Christmas Feast, but easy to make. This is from my Autumn eCookbook.

Ingredients
4 lg Egg Yolks

4 lg Egg Whites

1 c Sugar – Plus One Tablespoon

2 t Grated Lemon Zest

12 oz Walnuts, finely ground in a food processor with 2 tablespoons of the sugar

Butter and Flour, to grease the pan

Method
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Use about a tablespoon of butter and grease an 8-inch cake pan. Sprinkle in 2 tablespoons of flour and swirl it around so that all of the butter gets dusted. Turn the pan over and tap out the excess.

Use an electric mixer or a whisk to beat the egg yolks and remaining sugar until light and fluffy. This may take 3-4 minutes. Stir in the lemon zest.

In a separate, clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until lifting the whisk leaves stiff peaks. Add one third of this to the yolk mixture and gently fold in (using a spatula or the whisk).

Add the walnuts and gently mix in.

Add the rest of the whites and gently fold in using a spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the oven until firm and a golden brown colour. This may take 55-60 minutes.

Cool the cake on a wire rack before removing it from the pan.

Cut the cake into wedges and lightly dust with icing sugar and a little cocoa. Serve with fresh fruit (berries and/or orange segments).

Serves 4-6



Last, but not least, you have to try this. If you have never baked a loaf of bread before and are intimidated at the prospect, Jim Lahey from the Sullivan Street Bakery in Manhattan has developed an easy method that makes the best bread you've ever made.

No-Knead Bread

Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery
Time: About 1½ hours plus 14 to 20 hours rising

3 cups All-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon Instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons Salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.
Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.


Cheers!

Barb & Alan