And now for something completely different… it started out because I found some ramps (wild garlic, ransom, bear’s garlic … whatever you want to call it, in German, it is bärlauch) and wanted to be able to preserve them, given that the foraging season is so short. So I made the Wild Garlic Salt. Then I thought, what the heck, I’ll try to make lemon salt. And then I bought the habaneros. All turned out really well and the flavors are nice and bright. Great for sprinkling on just before serving / eating. All very fresh. And they look neat!
Sides
Flavored Salt Trio:
One of my guilty pleasures is Guacamole. OK, it could be worse — avocado is good for you right? — but I could eat it by the bucket. On Toaste. On potatoes. As salad dressing. On a burger. Whole Foods makes some yummy stuff (which I buy and freeze — that works surprisingly well — but when I go make it myself, here is the recipe.
So, if you’re noticing a tread in the last couple of weeks, yes, I am indeed really getting into this “bread baking in a dutch oven” thing. In fact, so much so that I bought a second — smaller — enameled cast iron pot. I really wanted the Le Creuset one, but the 3 1/2 quart one there was $290 so I bought a “knock off” which was only $50. My standard 6-quart dutch oven makes amazing loaves, but I am a single person and I would die of carb overload if I ate that much bread. So I am making smaller loaves, for now, by cutting the recipes in half. You can do the math to get it back to “normal sized”.
The story of this loaf of bread (condensed version): I’ve been meaning to make this style of bread for a while, but always forget the overnight rise, so remembered last night at about midnight that I was going to start it. I really must have messed up the water to flour ratio (I think I put in 2 cups or more of water, when it should have been only 1 and a half cups). But I figured I’d run with it, put it in the fridge and this morning — well, while it had risen, it was a gloppy mess. I almost didn’t even bake it up, but thought at the last minute that it would be a waste of good flour if I didn’t even go through the entire experiment.
Into the pre-heated Dutch oven, in the oven, it went at 450F. I had no faith.
But then, after 40 minutes, I opened the lid to a lightly tan, but certain the right shape and with a semi-crusty crust loaf of bread. Fifteen minutes later, uncovered, it was beautiful, risen, crusty and frankly, quite lovely looking. I mean, if you think bread is pretty. 🙂 While the crumb / consistency was a little too dense and chewy, not all was lost and I am completely sold on the “baking bread in a dutch oven” method. Gets out your Le Creuset, kids — I’m going to do some more bread baking (without messing up the water/flour ratio next time)!