French Bread

French bread by ET Charles

2 cups warm water

2 Tablespoons yeast or 2 individual packages dry yeast

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons salt

3 Tablespoons olive oil

5 - 6 cups unsifted white flour

Small amount of butter

Directions: Pour warm water in bowl. Add yeast and sugar. Do not stir. Let sit until yeast is bubbly – proofed. Sprinkle in salt and add olive oil. Stir. Add one cup of flour and stir well with a wooden spoon. Add 2 more cups of flour and stir well. Add 2 more cups of flour for a total of 5 cups of flour. Stir well. If dough is very sticky add additional flour by the quarter cup and stir. Let rise in a warm, draft free, place until double in bulk.

Punch down dough. Knead briefly – 8 kneads. Divide dough into 2 or 4 equal pieces. Using a rolling pin, roll each piece into a rectangle, approximately 12x14 inches for two long baguettes and 6x8 inches for four short baguettes. Then roll each rectangle up into a long log. Place dough logs on baking pan greased with butter. Let rise again in a warm, draft free place until double in size.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 minutes. Let cool. Loaves may be removed to a cutting board to continue cooling and while cooling use a butter wrapper to grease the top of the loaves.

Once you have made the bread a few times, it goes fairly quickly and easily.

Yields: Two long loaves or four shorter loaves or four pizza crusts which fit a 9.5-inch diameter pie pan 

Notes: This is an adaptation of my mother’s recipe for French bread. She did not add olive oil. She did not knead the dough. She rolled out two long loaves, slashed the loaves, sprinkled the loaves with water, placed them on a corn meal covered baking pan and baked at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes. She then sprinkled the loaves with more water and baked at a lower temperature for 30 or 35 minutes. She never greased the tops of the loaves with butter after removing from the oven. The bread was delicious and consumed in two days.

Apple, Pear, Raspberry Cobbler gluten free

 

Apple, Pear and Raspberries by ET Charles

3 Granny Smith apples, small

1 Bartlett pear

2 cups frozen raspberries

1 teaspoon sugar, optional

Topping

½ cup sweet butter (1 stick, unsalted butter)

½ cup oats

¼ cup cornmeal

¼ cup unblanched/raw almond meal          

1/16 teaspoon or less nutmeg

1/16 teaspoon or less lavender salt

Directions for topping: In a mixing bowl add dry ingredients: oats, cornmeal, almond meal, nutmeg and lavender salt. Stir thoroughly. Slice butter into approximately tablespoon size and add to dry ingredients. Cream thoroughly. Scraping the sides of the bowl to mix all ingredients. Set topping aside.

Wash and dry apples and pear. Slice fruit into quarters. Peel fruit. Slice peeled quarters into half inch sized pieces. Using the butter wrapper, grease a 10.5-inch diameter baking dish. Spread the apple chunks across the pie dish. Then evenly distribute the pear chunks amongst the apples. Next place the raspberries individually on top of the tree fruit, concentric semicircles are nice. If the raspberries are tart, sprinkle one teaspoon of sugar on top of the berries and adjacent apple and pear pieces. Spoon topping on the fruit.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 minutes. Red berries will punctuate the lightly browned topping and cream-colored tree fruits, making this a visually appealing dish.

Let cool at least ten minutes. Serve with whipped cream.

Serves 10 people. 

Parsley Tomato Pasta Salad

Italian Flat Leaf Parsley by ET Charles

2 cups loosely packed fresh parsley leaves

20 small cherry or grape tomatoes

1 cup dry farfalle pasta – also called bowtie pasta

2 ounces blue cheese

1 small red onion or 2 small red scallions

1 teaspoon olive oil

Black pepper

Directions: Cook pasta in 3 cups of boiling water. Do not add salt as the cheese contains plenty of salt. Cook 9-12 minutes or according to directions on box.

Wash tomatoes in cold water and pat dry. Cut tomatoes in half. Wash parsley leaves in cold water and pat dry. Coarsely chop parsley being careful to remove all stems as parsley stems can be tough. Place tomatoes and parsley in a bowl.

Sauté onion in one teaspoon olive oil until lightly caramelized.

Using a slotted spoon lift pasta out of water and into tomatoes and parsley bowl. Add blue cheese to the pasta, tomatoes and parsley. Toss well. Top with caramelized onions and olive oil. Toss again. Serve warm with black pepper.

The ratio of tomatoes to parsley to dry pasta is almost one to two to one (1:2:1).

This makes just enough salad. There will not be leftovers.

Serves 4 people as a small side dish.

Note: Italian flat leaf parsley was drawn for a class at Denver Botanic Gardens. Fabric was produced via Spoonflower.

Peach and Tomato Pasta Salad

Peach and Tomatoes by ET Charles

 

1 peach

1 cup lightly packed fresh Italian parsley leaves

15-20 small cherry or grape tomatoes

1 cup dry pasta – penne or bowtie

4 ounces mozzarella, diced into small cubes

1 teaspoon olive oil

Black pepper

Directions: The ratio of dry pasta to whole peach to 15 cherry tomatoes to 1 cup loose parsley leaves is roughly one to one to one to one.

Cook pasta in 4 cups of boiling water. Do not add salt as the cheese contains plenty of salt. For penne or bowtie pasta, cook for 9-12 minutes or according to directions on box.

Slice cheese into small cubes.

Wash peach in cold water and pat dry. Slice the peach into small pieces. Wash tomatoes in cold water and pat dry. Cut tomatoes in half. Wash parsley leaves in cold water and pat dry. Coarsely chop parsley, being careful to eliminate all stems as these are very difficult to chew. (Reserve parsley stems for soup or stew, tied in cheesecloth a bouquet garni.)

Using a slotted spoon, lift pasta out of water and into a clean bowl. Add mozzarella cheese to the pasta. Let sit for five to ten minutes so pasta can cool. Then add peach, tomatoes and parsley. Toss well. Top with olive oil and black pepper. Serve warm.

This makes just enough salad. There will not be leftovers.

Serves 4 people as a small side dish. 

Blueberry Oat Scone

 

Blueberry Oat Scone photo by ET Charles

Rustic Blueberry Oat Scone

1 cup flour

1 cup whole oats

1 Tablespoon baking powder

3 Tablespoons sugar

1/16 teaspoon lavender salt or less

1/4 cup unsalted butter (half a stick)

2 ounces cream cheese

1/3 cup heavy cream

2 eggs

1 cup frozen blueberries

          With a one-to-one-to-one ratio of flour, oats and blueberries this makes a hearty, irregularly shaped scone.

Directions: Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Stir and mix well. This makes a thick batter that is best mixed by hand. Cut in butter with a fork or pastry mixer. Cut in cream cheese also with a fork. Add the cream and mix well. Wash and dry each egg. Crack each egg separately into a small bowl and examine for flaws. Make a well in the batter; add the eggs. Mix the eggs in the well and then mix the eggs with the rest of the batter with a fork.

          Grease and flour a 10.5-inch pie pan. Place dough in pan. Dough will be thick and lumpy and will not reach all edges of the pie pan. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 – 40 minutes. Oven temperatures vary so adjust baking time as necessary. A knife inserted into the baked scone should emerge clean. Let scone cool.

Icing

2 Tablespoon unsalted butter

2 - 3 Tablespoons fresh squeezed Meyer lemon juice or whatever you have

1/3 – 1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar

          In a small sauce pan melt butter. Add lemon juice. Stir. Remove from heat and sift in powdered sugar. This will make a translucent glaze. Pour glaze on scone and serve warm but not hot.

Serves 6 people.

Thanks to Wanda Dietz for the first gift of lavender salt.

 

Shamrock Collage and Guacamole

 

Shamrock Collage by ET Charles

 

Guacamole with Anaheim and Two Mandarins

1 large avocado

1 Anaheim chile

2 Mandarins

Directions: Wash and dry all produce.

Roast chile on stove top. When skin of chile is blackened, remove chile to a cutting board to cool. Cover chile with a bowl. This helps the skin to loosen.

Meanwhile, peel and dice the two Mandarins, a small, sweet citrus fruit, and place in bowl.

Rinse the chile under cool water and remove the skin. Place on cutting board and remove seeds and veins to taste. Dice and add to Mandarins.

On a cutting board, slice the avocado in half. Wash the knife. Remove the pit. Score the fruit in each half vertically and horizontally. Using a spoon, scoop the fruit out of each half shell and add to the bowl with the tomato and the citrus. Smash avocado with a fork and mix the three ingredients together.

This version of guacamole has a bright citrus taste.

Serves 4 people.

Notes: Guacamole variation 7