No-Knead Focaccia, or The Best Bread Ever!

Ok, it's been a while...maybe a super long time. I apologize but I figure that having a newborn is a pretty good excuse for not posting...right?!

Anyway, we've been cooking up a storm these last few months. I'll try to post everything that's been happening.

THIS post however is about bread. No-knead bread to be exact. No-knead delicious bread to be even more exact. This may be my favorite sandwich bread now because it's yummy and SO easy.

The recipe can be found here. Enjoy:)

Slow Cooked Pasta Sauce

I love Italian food.

Actually, I love southern Italian food.

Ok, so I love Mediterranean food in general. But since I got married a Mexican I haven't had much of a chance to eat it because it is not in his palette. And since becoming pregnant and diagnosed with gestational diabetes pasta is out of the question right now. That is why when I saw this recipe I instantly craved it. However, it brought up an interesting question for me. Whenever I make pasta sauce it usually consists of me opening up a can or jar of pre-made sauce and adding herbs or meat or other seasonings. It usually takes about 20 min and it's done. I have never tried making the traditional slow-cooked sauce that simmers for hours. I'm usually content with opening the jar and dumping it over my pasta. But for all you out there with Italian roots or super cooking skills, what is the difference? Should I be making crock pot sauce? Could that be the difference in whether or not my Mexican husband will enjoy pasta and marinara sauce?

Thoughts?

5 Min Cheese!

(forgive the photo quality. It was dark)

While eating dinner Limon suddenly stated with a burst of passion, "Want to see me make cheese in 5 min?"

I didn't believe it could be done. After all, I've lived through almost 10 batches of cheese so far and each one took at least over night.

Limon frantically began heating milk, adding rennet, etc. In a few minutes he had strained a nicely sized chunk of cheese. However, this was special cheese. He began to elongate it until it resembled a long rope of taffy. He worked it for a bit then pulled off a piece. It shredded just like string cheese! He then asked me to heat up a tortilla. I was in for a special treat.

The cheese melted! I have been craving melting cheese the whole time we have been in this cheese-making phase. Don't get me wrong, I like the fresh stuff, but come on...cheese has to melt...

It was done. 5 min queso Oaxaca. I was definitely impressed.

Mexican Lentil Stew

We have so many lentils around so I decided to make some healthy soup for dinner. (Did you know that about half the carbs from lentils are fiber? Amazing!)

This recipe was taken from this one here. It was pretty good, although we did add bacon and would omit the sour cream next time. Limon said it reminded him of soup that his mother would make.

More Cheeses

My husband...the cheesemaker.

Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies

My cousin's 5 year old daughter has decided to host a bake sale in order to buy a cow for a family through Heifer International (so cute, right?). Not only am I excited to help her and a family in need, I'm also excited to bake up some goodies!

Last week I made waffle iron cookies, one of my favorites from childhood. This week I decided to try a recipe for bakery-style cookies, the recipe for which can be found at Newlywed Food Adventures (she had me hooked at the picture!)

Cheese!

For years now (I kind of love that I can say that!) I have heard Limon talk about cheese. He studied food sciences in dairy while attending college in Mexico and learned to make many different types of cheeses in large quantities. For years he has also been saying that if only he had the right ingredients he would be able to make the tastiest fresh cheese I would ever experience and that it was a very simple process.

His dreams finally came true this week. Enjoy this basic overview of the cheese-making process!

Step 1: Pasteurize the milk by heating it.

Step 2: Add rennet. This is the enzyme that allows the milk to separate into curds and whey. Dissolve in water and then add the water to the pasteurized milk.

Step 3: The milk will thicken and resemble custard or gelatin.

Step 4: You know when the rennet is done when you stick a knife in and it comes out clean (this is obviously not done!)

Step 5: Once it sets, you cut the mass into squares. This helps start the process of draining the excess water from the cheese curds. This is usually when you add salt to taste.


Step 6: Once it has separated you place the curds in a mold and leave to drain. We left ours overnight and...


Ta-da! Cheese. This is fresh "queso panela." It is not a melting cheese but tastes wonderful on your breakfast tortillas. We will be experimenting more with cheese later this week.