Food Notes

I have been making Jim Lahey's no-knead bread for about two years now with various degrees of enthusiasm and success. I have tried a variety of flours and rising times but I have finally come to the conclusion that King Arthur's bread flour is really the only way to go and if you can time it right, 17-18 hours is really the best amount of time for the rise. This bread is good and so satisfying to make. I would really give it a try. I nerdily bought a cheaper cast iron pot with a metal lid top just for my bread because I didn't want my Le Creuset handles to melt (the bread cooks at 475F). Yes, I did.

I think I could live on fermented food alone: just give me bread, cheese and wine.

 I am also a little obsessed with this book. Isn't that a lovely subtitle? It's more of an essay collection than a book of recipes but last night, I roasted vegetables the way Adler describes. I cut a head of broccoli and cauliflower up in small pieces and doused liberally with olive oil and salt. I threw in a few whole cloves of garlic as well. The vegetables roasted in the oven at 400 for about 40 minutes. I squeezed half a lemon over the entire pan and stirred once they came out of the oven. Amazing. Cate of course screamed bloody murder when I suggested that maybe she could try a bit of broccoli while Jane happily scooped cauliflower bits into her mouth. Adler suggests eating the vegetables at room temperature and they store happily in the refrigerator for up to five days or so. There's hardly anything left of what I made last night though. So good. I am now inspired to roast a bunch of vegetables at once and keep them on hand.