dinner with Julie

A Barbecue, and Bread

Made dinner for 20 in Glenmore Park today, on a barbecue about the size of a double bed that fluctuated between 700 degrees and 100 degrees, having been blown out by the wind. Beef tenderloin, and lamb kabobs, and a lot of extras. It was fun, but I’m tired. I wanted to tell you though that a) that my sister shaved her head (bald) this morning for Kids Cancer Care (and she had beautiful, long, wavy, thick hair), raising over $745 to send kids to camp, and b) what I decided to do with that $6 burning a hole in my pocket.

I do appreciate the resounding call to donate to the food bank. Yes $6 turns into $24 worth’ of food. I am doing something else for the food bank though, a project that will (I hope) earn much more than $24, and provide a more long-term income stream. Or trickle, anyway. If all goes well.

Also, it occurred to me that by adding the $6 to the CIFB pot the “pay it forward” aspect would be lost. The whole point is to do something nice – out of the blue – for someone, thus inspiring them to do the same and pass it on. And so on. I think a donation to the food bank, albeit a fantastic cause, would stop that chain.

So, although you guys came up with an amazing number of suggestions, I kind of got stuck on Carolyn’s bread idea. And yes, I could sell them for $6 apiece and raise more money for whatever cause (which is exactly what Aviv is doing – and charging $6, even!), but to be honest I think my time is better spent in other ways. I’ve been directly involved with 12 different fundraising efforts since January and though I love doing it, I can’t create another long-term project! We all know how well I do with new commitments.

What really made me consider the magnitude of passing out homemade bread was a (legless) man I passed on the street downtown last Sunday. Suffice to say he really looked like he could have used that $6, and I actually rifled around my bag for it, but came up with only about 32 cents. But as I walked away it occurred to me that $6 would buy a single loaf of that quality, and more likely go toward a $4 loaf of crappy Wonder Bread at 7-11 or a few cheeseburgers at McDonalds – quantity tends to reign over quality in these situations. And none of those foods would come homemade by someone who cared about the recipient. Being baked for is a wonderful thing, and some people rarely experience that. Something I have learned over the course of my lifetime (you could say one thing I know for sure) is that nothing compares to the feeling that you are worth the effort.

So I bought a 10 kg. bag of flour for (around) $6 (OK it was $8, but it was a much better deal than the smaller bag). (I’ll have to cheat and donate the yeast and salt myself – a minor detail.) Estimating a cup of flour at 4 oz., the bag should produce around 29 loaves of bread, with enough left over to flour the tea towels. Not bad, hey? And I can’t imagine anyone not feeling better for being on the receiving end of a freshly baked loaf. Not only those living on the street – a couple days ago I dropped off my first, to a friend with a new baby (her third) who has just gone back to work. I’ve also printed off some recipes, so that those who get them can make them themselves (with a nod to Jamie’s Pass it On movement) if they like – a good skill for anyone to have, but particularly those with little money. I’ve labeled the bag and will bake from it and deliver the loaves until the flour is gone. I’m a little curious how long it will take to bake 29 loaves. I’m not in a huge rush to power through it.

It near killed me to not have any of the bread I had spent so long smelling as it baked and then cooled, crackling, on the countertop. (W likes to reenact the scene from Ratatouille wherein the French girl describes how to identify a good loaf of bread – “not the look, not the taste, but the sound – only great bread sound this way.” – You must say this in your thickest French accent.)

I hope these photos will inspire any of you who have not yet tried the no-knead to give it a whirl, even though it’s getting to be too hot to have the oven on. There’s rain in the forecast all weekend – as good as excuse as any to bake bread, I think. Honestly – look at it! Is that not a gorgeous loaf of bread?

No-Knead Bread

Adapted from Jim Lahey at the Sullivan Street Bakery in Manhattan

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, plus more for dusting (I sometimes use half whole wheat and half all-purpose with a shake of ground flax seed)
¼ tsp. instant or regular dry yeast
1 tsp. salt

In a large bowl stir together the flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 ½ cups water and stir until blended; the dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a plate and let it rest on the countertop for 18-24 hours (yes, at room temperature).

When you’re almost ready to bake (the dough is ready when it has doubled in size and the surface is dotted with bubbles) generously flour a tea towel – the smoothest you can find – the dough will stick to a terrycloth towel – and scrape the dough out of the bowl onto it. Sprinkle the top of the dough with some flour and fold it over on itself once or twice, roughly shaping it into a ball. Generously flour it on top an fold the tea towel over to cover it. Let it sit for another hour.

While the bread is resting, preheat the oven to 450°F with a 6-8 quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) inside as it heats. When it’s hot, carefully remove the pot from the oven, slide your hand under the towel and flip the dough over into the pot; it will probably look like a mess, but that’s OK. Cover and bake for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and bake another 10-15 minutes, until it’s nice and golden. Eat up!

One Year Ago: Black Bean Quesadillas

June 04 2009 | bread | 26 Comments »