Lentils and Egg Stew and Homemade Bread

You know the routine by now. It snows and I bake bread. Today was Blizzard Stella. It was more stress than snow. They forecast high winds and wide spread power outages. I hate loosing power. We do not have a generator and we have well water. Thank God we did not loose power. If we did how would I have baked my bread?

This recipe is an oldie! I cut it out of Cooking Light Magazine in 1994. French Wheat Baguettes.

Ingredients-

2 1/4 tsp dry yeast

1 c Whole-wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp Salt
3 1/4 c Bread flour
1 tsp Sugar
1 1/2 c warm, water, (105˚ to115˚), divided

Vegetable cooking spray
1 tbsp Cornmeal  

Method-

Dissolve yeast and sugar in 1/2 cup warm water in a small bowl; let stand 5 minutes. 

Place bread flour, whole-wheat flour, and salt in food processor, and pulse 4 times or until blended. With processor on, slowly add yeast mixture and remaining 1 cup warm water through food chute; process until dough leaves sides of bowl and forms a ball. Process 15 additional seconds. 

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead 3 or 4 times. Place the dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85 degrees), free from drafts, 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk. 

Punch the dough down, and turn out onto a lightly floured surface; knead 3 or 4 times. Cover and let rest 5 minutes. Divide the dough in half, and roll each portion into a 17 x 9-inch rectangle. Roll up each rectangle, starting with a long edge, pressing firmly to eliminate air pockets; pinch ends to seal. Place each roll, seam side down, in an 18-inch-long baguette pan coated with cooking spray and sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover and let rise 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk. 

Uncover the dough; using a sharp knife, make 6 diagonal cuts 1/4 inch deep across top of loaves. Spray loaves with water. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until loaves sound hollow when tapped. Remove from pans; cool on wire racks. Yield: 2 loaves, 12 servings per loaf. 

Dinner was Lentil and Egg Stew from Bon Appetit. Comfort food at the end of a stormy day.

 Lucy rode out the storm next to the heat vent.

Happy Anniversary Heart Shaped Pizza

Have you seen this month's Bon Appetit? The photo on the cover is a of a pizza baked in the type of pan that I use. A rectangle baking pan. That is how my mom did it and that is what I do. Now in the article they describe a step that I remember my mom doing, but I have not up until tonight. Put the dough in the pan and let it rise again. Okay, this was the missing link in why my pizza did not match what my mom put on the table. I was not doing that last step. There was a snap to crust. It was crisper than before. Chris agreed this was the way to proceed in making pizza. A note to my nephew Nicholas- you have to try this! And I added some Parmesan cheese to the crust before the sauce. I followed the Bon Appetit recipe for the sauce, minus the anchovies. This was the best pizza I have had since I was little and eating my mom's pizza on a Sunday night. I still used the Jim Lahey recipe for the crust. I was not about to stray from that recipe.

And the heart shape was because today is our Wedding Anniversary!

And while we are on the subject of Jim Lahey I made his Pane Integrale, Whole Wheat Bread recipe.

We had our egg and cheese sandwiches on it for breakfast this morning.