[video] golden raisin & fennel bread

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This is my first video - hooray! It is, in my estimation, "ok" -- but you have to understand that this was a one-man show -- I did every bit of this on my own. Anyway, it was a time-consuming recipe to tackle on the first try. I'm probably going to do something quicker for the next one!

By the way, the bread really is good. If you have the time, I'd suggest giving it a try...

16 oz. bread flour (divided) (about 3 1/3 cups)
1 tsp. active dry yeast (divided)
2 tsp. honey
16 oz. water (divided)
1/2 c. golden raisins
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 TB fennel seeds
olive oil for greasing the proofing bowl

In a bowl, combine 5 oz. (about 1 cup) bread flour, 2 teaspoons of honey, 1/4 teaspoon of yeast, and 10 oz. water. Whisk to combine, cover with plastic, and place in the refrigerator for 8-12 hours.

Combine the raisins and the remaining 6 oz. of water. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 1 minute. Place in the refrigerator along with the pre-ferment.

After 12 hours, remove the pre-ferment from the fridge and combine with the remaining flour and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the dough hook, mix on low speed for 2-3 minutes or until it is just combined. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for about 20 minutes. Add the salt and turn the mixer to medium speed (4 on a KitchenAid stand mixer). Knead for 8-10 minutes. Add the fennel seeds and knead until they are thoroughly mixed in.

Place the dough into a greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a draft-free area for about an hour and a half (dough should double in size). After the dough proofs, pull it out of the bowl and place it on a lightly floured surface. Flatten the dough with your knuckles until it is about a 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Drain the raisins well and scatter them over the flattened dough. Make a tri-fold in the dough (like folding a letter) and then do it again. Cover the dough with a dampened kitchen towel and let it rest for ten minutes.

Shape the rested dough into a ball and gently roll it on the counter between your palms until it gets smooth and taut. Place it on a piece of parchment, cover with a moistened towel, and let it rise again for about an hour. Preheat the oven to 400 F with a pizza stone or an unglazed Mexican quarry tile set on the middle rack. After the dough has finished proofing, spritz or brush is with water and slash a square into the top with a sharp knife.

Place the dough (still on the parchment) onto the preheated stone. Bake it for 50-55 minutes. It will be very brown and crisp. Let it rest on a rack for at least 30 minutes before slicing into it and serving with butter or olive oil.

videos coming soon!

The newest feature of the zen kitchen will be some cooking webisodes.  I'm sure that they'll start off bad and eventually graduate to mediocre -- I'm hoping to get to "ok" by the end of the year :-)

They'll be quick and feature one recipe.  I'm toying with the idea of taping in high def, but we'll see if storage begins to get tight.

Anyway, check back soon for the first one!

wine jelly

Ever get a crappy bottle of wine as a gift? I'm not a wine snob, but even I hesitate to drink the stuff in jugs. So what do you do? Most people wouldn't advise cooking with it, as whatever makes that wine bad to begin with just gets more concentrated on cooking. There is a solution, however -- wine jelly. The vast amounts of sugar required by the jelly-making process turn wretched wine into just-fine jelly. I have tried making this jelly with drinkable wine (Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling or Jacob's Creek Merlot) and it has turned out well, but not that much better than with 2 Buck Chuck. If you've never made jelly before, this isn't where you're going to learn all of the finer details of home preservation. There are plenty of websites for that. What you're getting here is the recipe for what goes into the mason jars. So here it is:

1 750 ml bottle of wine (have fun with this)
Enough lemon juice to make 4 cups of liquid (about 1/2 cup)
1 packet of dry pectin
4 1/2 cups sugar (31.5 oz by weight)

Combine wine, lemon juice, and pectin in a large saucepot. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Return to a rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam off top, if necessary.

Ladle hot jelly into 7 hot, sterilized, half-pint jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Tighten 2 piece lids. Process for 6 minutes in boiling water bath. Allow jars to cool. If any of the lids didn't vacuum-seal, use those jars first (and refrigerate -- they haven't been properly preserved).

Some interesting variations: make a mulled wine jelly by adding in a cinnamon stick, whole cloves, and a dash of freshly grated nutmeg to a fruity red -- strain out before pouring into jars. Add chopped candied ginger to a white wine to make ginger-wine jelly. Add fresh herbs of your choice to a white wine for a refreshing combination. Add them during the last minute and strain out before pouring into jars. Despite how weird it sounds, the herbs add a touch of elegance. Try basil or sage with chardonnay and use it as a glaze on pork or chicken.

one-skillet, self-saucing pasta

I tried a neat recipe from Cooks' Illustrated that included some instructions for cooking chicken, pasta, and broccoli all in the same pot. Rather than using different pans to steam broccoli, sautee chicken, and boil pasta, you use one 12-inch skillet to accomplish all three things.

Essentially, you boil the pasta in just enough water to cook it with a little left over to build a sauce. The leftover water is very starchy, so it is a great binder for the sauce. The chicken is sauteed before and the broccoli is added toward the end so that it is steamed for just the right amount of time.

It got me thinking...could this technique be applied to any type of pasta dish? The answer is "it depends." After a bunch of tests, I've found that it works best with larger tube-shaped pastas (ziti, penne, rigatoni, etc.) and not at all with spaghetti or other thin noodles. The other caveat it that it works with up to half a pound of pasta. More than that and the ratios are a little off. Plus, the shape of the pan needed to hold more than that is more "stockpot" than "skillet" and you don't evaporate enough of the water away.

Here's a recipe I came up with using this technique. 8 ounces of pasta is enough for two as a main or 4 as a side. The recipe can be halved (use a 10-inch skillet), but attempts to double have proven difficult.

1 tsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped fine
small pinch of dried italian herbs
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
8 oz. tube-shaped pasta (ziti, penne, rigatoni)
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 oz. grated Italian cheese of your choice (parmesan, romano, or asiago work great)

1. In a 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat the olive oil over a medium flame. Sauté the garlic in the oil for no more than 30 seconds. Toss in the herbs for a few seconds before adding the water and broth. Bring to a boil over high heat.

2. Add the pasta and stir. Boil for 12-15 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep the macaroni from sticking to each other. You're looking for just a bit of water left -- the pasta should be al dente and have used up most of the cooking liquid.

3. Add the cream and grated cheese and stir until combined. Garnish with chopped parsley right before serving.

Variations: For a pink sauce, add 1 TB tomato paste (I like Amore brand in a tube -- you don't have to open a whole can every time you want to use a bit) to the water and broth. Proceed as directed. There are tons of last-second additions that work: halved grape tomatoes, julienned fresh basil, 1/2 inch chunks of mozzarella, frozen peas -- use your imagination!

european-style cultured butter

Having read about the more complex flavor and health benefits of cultured butter, I decided to look into making some for myself. Researching the subject sent me in two directions. Most authentic: purchase live and active cultures (bacteria) and add it to fresh cream. Allow to "culture" and churn into butter.

Easier option in my town: add a small container of yogurt containing "live and active cultures" to cream and allow to culture. I found Erivan brand to be exceedingly tangy and claiming to have excessive live and active acidophilus bacteria. It seemed to do the trick.

I took a quart of pasteurized organic heavy cream and mixed it with an 8 ounce container of yogurt in a large, sterilized (by boiling water) glass bowl. I left it in my microwave (covered in plastic wrap) for almost 12 hours before refrigerating it. It was noticeably thicker.

After it had chilled for the better part of a work day (about 8 hours) I whipped it in my KitchenAid stand mixer with the paddle attachment. It quickly turned into soft whipped cream. I continued to whip it until it reached the stiff cream stage. At this point, I mistakenly thought I had made butter, as it was so thick. However, I turned away from the mixer for a second, only to be surprised to find chunks of yellow fat floating in milk when I looked back. That was butter!

I clumped it all together and kneaded it over clean paper towels until all of the liquid had been squeezed out. I then fit as much of it as I could into a 2 cup mason jar and sealed it. I ate the remainder with some sourdough bread. 4 cups of cream (plus the cup of yogurt) managed to make almost 3 cups of butter.

If you like salted butter, I don't know what to tell you -- I think that commercial butter has something like 1/4 teaspoon per stick, so this batch would require 1 1/2 teaspoons of table salt. Your guess is as good as mine as to when to introduce it, although I think just before churning would be best. Earlier and you might kill the essential bacteria required to culture the cream.

The result was absolutely fantastic. The butter was mildly tangy and had a great texture. I'll probably make it often. I'm going to try making shortbread with some of it to see how it holds up in baking.