today's the day the bunnies have their picnic

happy easter! how much do i love easter? so much so that i spent this saturday night, by myself, blowing and dying eggs for no other reason than to be festive and eastery and decorate my house. sure, if mike was around i would probably have been out, not being such a homemaker, but i'm sure i would have still managed to work in some easter cheer by way of an easter-themed cocktail or something like that. actually, easter this year was a little subdued in my household. my own easter bunny, also known as my cat, mac, was having some bladder stone issues and was in hospital all weekend. it was sad cause mac is really a bunny who is just disguised as a cat and so, he should have been home for the bunniest of all days.

without mac, my house was almost unbearable and i needed something to distract myself. so i made some cookies for my sister who requested something plain and buttery, but i was still antsy. so i made some rice crispy squares for myself, cause i wanted something sweet and comforting, but i was still on edge. so i decorated some easter eggs and decorated the kitchen, and i couldn't believe how unsettled i was. so i decided to christen the new KitchenAid mixer that i broke down and bought on a whim last weekend when it was on sale on the shopping channel, and i made some easter bread.

now, anyone that knows me as a chef, knows that i hate the idea of stand mixers, KitchenAid in particular. the cumbersome bowl, the monstrous size, the lack of range of motion all add up to an inefficient mixer. additionally, there is so much pleasure to be derived from mixing things with a wooden spoon, or even a hand-held mixer. you can control the way the ingredients are mixed, you can make sure that all of the ingredients are incorporated properly, you can physically feel whatever it is you're making...i just don't get why you would ever use a stand mixer. why would you want to have to turn off the mixer in order to scrape down the sides of the bowl which you inevitably have to do because the whisk and beater don't reach either the bottom or the sides of the bowl? why would you want to awkwardly pour ingredients into the narrow bowl while trying to avoid getting any flour or eggs onto the top of the whisk or beater? i don't understand. and i don't understand why martha stewart loves her KitchenAid so much. sure i see why you would want a heavy-duty mixer when making a really large batch of say, gingerbread, which is formed from a heavy, stiff batter, but why would you want to make anything else in this thing? you have no control over anything!! i honestly believe that there was one person who thought that a KitchenAid mixer was a cool thing and so they told another person and then that person didn't want to look silly so they just agreed that it was good even though they knew it wasn't. and it just grew. and now no one wants to admit that KitchenAids are bad because they don't want to be the odd man out so now everyone just pretends that they love KitchenAid stand mixers. it's all a big conspiracy, and i am speaking out. shari k is saying 'no!'

but the shopping channel had a good deal on and i felt like maybe i should give the KitchenAid stand mixer a chance - i mean, don't knock it till you try it, right? i had already spent the money and set the thing up and so i decided to take the mixer on its maiden voyage, knowing that i could still return it if i hated it. and i hated it. hated it, hated it, hated it. it was one the most uncomfortable experiences i've ever had in the kitchen and i wanted to run away screaming. ingredients were strewn about, there was butter on the walls and flour on the floor. it's a wonder that i survived such an awful ordeal. in fact, the only good that came from the experience was the Portugese Sweet Bread that i made; i jazzed it up by forming it into a braid, making it look (and taste) a lot like challah. the dough was very sticky and wet and i added a lot of extra flour while i was kneading it, but the bread itself turned out to be really soft and sweet, perfect with some butter and a cup of tea. it made my house smell wonderful and it lifted my spirits on a nerve-wracking, mac-less weekend during which i couldn't sit still for the life of me, although it didn't make a KitchenAid stand mixer believer out of me.

Portuguese Sweet Bread (adapted from Good Housekeeping: Great Baking)

3 tablespoons warm water
1 package active dry yeast
1 teaspoon + 6 tablespoons sugar
¼ cup warm milk
6 tablespoons butter, softened
½ teaspoon salt
3 eggs
about 2 ½ cups flour

combine water, yeast and sugar; stir to dissolve. let stand 5 minutes until foamy.

with mixer at low speed, stir in remaining sugar, milk, butter and salt, just until blended. stir in eggs and ¾ cup flour to make a thick batter. beat 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl often. stir in 1 ¼ cups flour to make a very soft dough.

turn dough out onto a well floured surface. knead dough for abour 10 minutes, adding ¼ - ½ cup more flour as you knead to form a smooth, soft dough. place dough in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a tea towel. let rise in a warm place for about an hour, until doubled in size.

punch down dough and separate into 3 equal balls. let rest 15 minutes. form balls into long strands and place on a greased or lined baking sheet. form dough into a braid. cover and let dough rise for another hour.

preheat oven to 350 degrees. brush dough with an eggwash or with milk or cream. bake for 35 minutes until golden brown and loaf sounds hollow. enjoy.

*makes one loaf

i wanted to bake something eastery and as i read through my many cookbooks, this bread seemed like it would work well. a quick google search this morning showed that i was on the right track and that this bread is an easter standard for many people. it was really yummy and one of the best loaves i've made, if i do say so myself! and my mom is convinced that my bad experience with the mixer was just a one-time thing. she is sure that with time, i will come to love the mixer. 'you need to give it a chance,' she said. well, maybe. i do want to try some meringues next weekend, and mac is coming home on tuesday and he should come home to the smell of something freshly baked. i could give the KitchenAid another spin, but the thought of my pink, melamine bowls and my big wooden spoon is so much more appealing...

real bread

we all know about my ups and downs with bread, but this is actually going to be a bread success story. i first saw this recipe on Chef at Home with Chef Michael Smith. i didn't catch the first part of the show, but i saw him baking a loaf of bread in a covered pot that he had pre-heated in the oven. i was intrigued. weeks later when i was searching for bread recipes online, i remembered the unusual baking method that Michael Smith had used and decided to look up his recipe. i found it on his website, and as i read through it, i was transported to a world that i never knew existed - the world of kneadless bread baking.

the no-knead method of bread baking has been building momentum slowly and steadily over the past few years. the recipe is founded on the principles of time and gentle patience, not the typical rules of precision and good old fashioned elbow grease that plague most bread recipes. using 4 simple ingredients, barely any physical effort and absolutely no babysitting, anyone, even a child, can create a rich, complex, airy and flavourful loaf of bread - all you really need is time.

to be honest, i like the process of kneading bread. that's actually one of the best parts about making bread in my opinion. whether you use it to get rid of the days frustrations or to give your arms a work-out, there is something very enjoyable, purposeful even, about kneading dough. this recipe is touted because it requires no kneading. i mean, look it up on the internet and you will find dozens upon dozens of comments from people ecstatic because they no longer have to spend time kneading. others rejoice bcause they no longer have to worry about buying an expensive KitchenAid mixer or bread machine which would knead the dough for them. after trying this recipe twice, i have to admit that i am a huge fan, but not because of the lack of kneading. this recipe is fool proof. not only is it simple, its results are pure perfection. letting this dough rise twice, first for 12-18 hours, then for another 2-3, really allows the yeast to develop and grow which results in a very distinct and deep flavour. baking the bread in a pre-heated, covered pot creates a thick, crunchy yet chewy crust that is a joy to eat, especially right out of the oven. i encourage you to read Michael Smith's own musings on this bread recipe so that you can really learn the theory behind it. Mark Bittman of the New York Times also provides a good summary of no-kneading in this article.

in the end, this recipe is a very basic one but it is one worth trying, even for those of you who take pleasure in the traditional method of bread-baking, like me. i guarantee that your loaf of bread will look and taste beautiful; also, this recipe is very forgiving, so you can easily make additions/alterations as you please (i added sunflower seeds and flax seeds). seriously. try this recipe. you will impress yourself, and your friends and family will heap praises upon you.

Real Bread (recipe adapted from Chef Michael Smith)

2 cups of all-purpose or bread flour

1 cup of whole wheat flour
1/2 cup of any creative addition of your choice (i added 1 tablespoon of sunflower seeds, 2 tablespoons of flax seeds and 5 tablespoons of rye flakes)
1/4 teaspoon of dry yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons of salt
1 1/2 cups of warm water

whisk the dry ingredients together thoroughly. add the water and stir until a wet dough forms. continue stirring until the dough incorporates all the loose flour in the bowl, about 60 seconds in total. cover the bowl with a towel and rest in a warm place for 12 to 18 hours. it will double in size, bubble and long gluten strands will form. lightly flour your hands and the work surface then remove the dough from the bowl. quickly form it into a ball. thoroughly (VERY thoroughly) flour a cotton towel and rest the dough on it. cover it with another floured cotton towel. you may also rest the dough on a non-stick ‘Silpat’ mat and cover it with just one towel. rest the dough a second time. in 2 to 3 hours it will rise again and double in size once more.

a half an hour or so before the dough is ready preheat your oven to 450 degree with a heavy covered pot in it. you may use cast-iron, steel, enamel or ceramic. when the dough has fully risen slide your hand under the towel and quickly invert the delicate dough into the hot pot. shake the pot a bit to settle it then place the lid on the pot and start baking. bake for 30 minutes with the lid then remove it and bake for 15 minutes more.

when you start to get creative and add heavier ingredients like whole wheat flour and different seeds and nuts, you need to help the dough along a little by giving it a bit more time in the oven. you certainly don't want to dry the dough out, but when i baked this particular loaf, i noticed that it was still a bit dense in the middle and could have benefitted from a few more minutes of baking time. it was still amazing, but don't be afraid to stray from the cooking times that recipes often provide. so many factors, the size of your oven, the humidity, play a role in the exact amount of time it takes for something to cook. you can also make this recipe in a traditional loaf pan. this will yield a thinner, crisper crust but it will still taste great. to get the thick crust without baking it in a covered pot, place a shallow baking dish on the oven rack below the one you are baking the loaf on. throw 3 or 4 ice cubes into the dish. this will create the same steaming effect that occurs in the covered pot.

weekend baking...sundried tomato, onion and olive foccacia

for many chefs, there is one food, one recipe, one ingredient even, that constantly causes them grief - one thing that they repeatedly attempt to make but that never seems to work out just right. for some, creating a perfect, flaky pie crust is that thing - hours are spent cutting cold butter into white flour, adding a touch of salt or a touch of cornstarch in pursuit of a crust that is forgiving yet durable, tender yet sturdy, but to no avail. for others, the perfect tomato sauce is the ultimate nemesis. chefs experiment with fresh tomatoes, canned whole tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, green tomatoes, forever searching for the right combination of acidity and subtle sweetness, of tang and mellowness. for me, it appears as though that holy grail is a good loaf of bread (hence the title of my first post).

in december i decided that the appropriate thing to do on new year's day was to bake bread. in sri lankan tradition, we always make kiribath, or milk-rice on the first day of the year or the first day of a new endeavour (i.e. a new house, a new job etc). kiribath is one of my favourite things to eat, ever. it's basically a really thick rice pudding made with any kind of short grain rice and coconut milk. you can either eat it as a sweet thing (with hakuru - palm treacle that has been solidified into a really heavy rock of dark, intense sweetness), or as a savory thing (with lunu miris: red onion, lime and chili). anyway, we always make kiribath on new year's day but this year i wanted to add to the fesitivies by baking a loaf (or two) of bread. i followed a basic recipe from Good Housekeeping; both loaves turned out wonderfully and were gone in a matter of days. they were so successful, in fact, that i continued my bread baking adventures by making a black olive focaccia bread after being inspired by an episode of Chef at Home in which one of my favourite chefs, Michael Smith, made the crunchy, airy loaf for his family. my black olive foccacia was a huge success and i was so thrilled with the outcome that i was ready to proclaim myself a master bread baker.

i was invigorated by my string of successful attempts in january. bread, it seemed, was something that was easy for me. i even made brioche, which is one of the most difficult breads to make! surely i wasn't wrong to think that i was approaching pro-bread baker status. i had a gift, a natural gift at bread making. it wouldn't be long until people would hear about my bread baking prowess and comission various loaves from me week after week after week. i decided to prepare for the imminent onslaught of bread demands by expanding my repetoire and trying out some new recipes. i set out to make a really dense, healthy bread one weekend. i had done the simple white loaf; i had made a fancy artisinal foccacia; i had conquered the buttery-sweet and oh-so-French brioche. this was the inevitable next step. i was so excited shopping for ingredients - i bought dark rye flakes, sunflower seeds and hard whole wheat flour, thinking i was going to create a crusty, hearty loaf for my family to enjoy with some home made soup over the weekend. i awoke early on a saturday morning to activate the yeast, dissolving it in lukewarm water and feeding it a teaspoon of sugar. everything was going well. bubbles were forming, the mixture was foamy. i happily added the rye flakes, which i had taken the time to toast slowly in a pan over low heat. i sprinkled in some salt, a few handfuls of sunflower seeds. things were great. and then i dumped in the whole wheat flour. and i knew it was a mistake, i really did. whole wheat flour is fantastic, but it's heavy and hard and it doesn't rise easily. as soon as i added it, the dough became stiff, almost immoveable. i struggled to knead the crumbly, heavy dough in vain, determined not to let the good ingredients go to waste. i placed it in a well-oiled bowl and set it in a warm place to rise, even though i knew it was going to be a disappointment. when i checked on it a few hours later it had gone nowhere fast. it certainly smelled wonderful and it had all of the components of a great loaf, it seemed. i even baked it, but it turned out to be so salty and dense that i decided not to subject my family to it and threw it in the compost.

i was dejected. my confidence as a bread baker deflated, i resigned myself to a lifetime of yeast-free baking, vowing that i just didn't have what it took to make bread. i spent the next few weeks peering longingly into bakeries at the rows and rows of light, airy loaves, happily sitting on the shelves. i read all that i could about bread baking, wondering if i could ever again bring myself to venture back to the world of rising and kneading, of time and patience. i wanted to try again, i really did, but my fear convinced me that i should give up my quest to become a master bread baker, at least temporarily. and then one day, i recalled a recipe from Michael Smith. i remembered an episode of his show in which he baked a loaf of bread in a covered pot in his oven. (side note: i really like Michael Smith because he doesn't just cook; he takes the time to really explain the science behind his recipes and i've learned a great deal from him). i went to his website and found a recipe for a no-knead bread dough. now, soon i will write a separate entry about this recipe, but let me just say that it restored my faith in my bread baking skills. the recipe was effortless and the bread that resulted from my first attempt at making it was honestly one of the best loaves i've ever tasted. this all brings me to the point of this post, really. i am slowly making my way back to the world of bread - i even made a really great homemade pizza crust! and this weekend i had the confidence to make another loaf of foccacia. the bread is still being consumed as we speak and it's been a great treat to devour over the past few cold, rainy days. this recipe is from none other than Michael Smith but i've adapted it a bit (Michael Smith's slogan is "the best recipe is cooking without a recipe" so i've really taken that to heart). enjoy...

Sundried Tomato, Onion and Olive Foccacia (adapted from Chef Michael Smith)

1 cup warm water2 teaspoons yeast
2 cups nutri-blend flour*

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoons olive oil

Coarse sea salt and pepper

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 cup chopped, pitted olives (any kind will do)

1/3 cup chopped, oil-packed sundried tomatoes (drained)

1/2 small yellow onion

finely chop the onion and sautee until tender. add sundried tomatoes and onions and stir to combine. pour the water into a large bowl and sprinkle in the yeast. add 1 cup of the flour and the sugar then stir to combine. let rest for ten minutes or so, until the yeast activates and bubbles appear on surface. add the rest of the flour, salt, olive oil, pepper, thyme and olives and mix well until dough begins to form a ball. continue kneading for a few minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. place in a large, oiled bowl, cover with a towel, and rest in a warm place until the dough doubles, about 1 hour.

lightly oil your hands then knock down the dough, pressing the air out of it. knead a few times and then place dough onto an oiled baking sheet. pull and press dough across pan until if forms a large, flattened circle and vigorously poke dimples into it with your fingertips. drizzle with olive oil, coarse salt and pepper and let rise a second time until it doubles again, about 30 minutes. while you wait preheat your oven to 450 degrees. place in oven and bake until it has formed a golden crust, but is still soft in the centre, about 40 minutes.

as always, the more time you give the dough to rest, the more intense the flavour will be.

*nutri-blend flour by Robin Hood is really great. all it is is all-purpose flour with added wheat bran and you can substitute it cup for cup with virtually any flour. it doesn't alter the taste at all and it really boosts the fibre content. i use it all the time.