No-Knead Bread – With Sourdough Option.

This one is really easy, and the bread is as close to artisan as you can get.  A sourdough adaptation follows the recipe.

There are 3 books we recommend, Lahey’s“My Bread”,  Zoe Francois’ “Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day” , and Nancy Baggett’s “Kneadlessly SImple”. without going to all the trouble.

Time: About 1½ hours plus 14 to 20 hours’ rising

No-Knead Bread
Yields one 1 1/2 pound loaf

Clay Coyote No-Knead Bread Bowl

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt (may take a hair more)
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky.  This can be done in the Clay Coyote No-Knead Bread baking bowl to save washing up an extra bowl.
Cover bowl with plastic wrap or put the lid on. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees. If your thermostat cuts back at night, place on stovetop, set oven to minimal temp (probably 150-170) and place a dish towel over the covered bowl on the stove top (not in the oven).

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles.
Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball..
Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal.
Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger. Clean up bowl, if used for rising, while bread rises under cloths

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put your Clay Coyote No-Knead Bread bowl with lid in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, use pot holders to carefully remove pot from oven and set on a cloth surface. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes.

5. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

SOURDOUGH OPTION (added by Tom Wirt)
If you’ve got a true sourdough starter, instead of yeast, put a 1/2 cup of starter in initial batter. Then follow the rest of the directions. Be sure to give it the full 18 hours or more. You’ll get a tangy sourdough loaf.  (Do not use one of the friendship bread starters for this – they are not a true sourdough starter).

Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery

Originally published Nov. 8^th, 2006 New York Times

This fabulous dish was posted by Ann Lewandowski.  It works beautifully in the Clay Coyote Flameware Skillet or Cazuela.

Salmon with Garlic and Tumeric

1½ teaspoons coarse kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
6 medium-size garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 pound boneless, skinless salmon fillet
2 tablespoons canola oil
½ cup unsweetened coconut milk
½ teaspoon black peppercorns, coarsely crushed
2 fresh green Thai, cayenne, or serrano chiles, stems removed,
cut in half lengthwise(do not remove the seeds)

1. Mix the salt, turmeric, and garlic together in a bowl. Sprinkle this rub over the top of the salmon fillet, and rub it in. Refrigerate the fish, covered, for 30 minutes or overnight, allow the flavors to permeate the fish.

2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the salmon, spice-covered side down, and sear it for about 2 minutes. turn the fillet over and sear the underside until browned, about 2 minutes.

3. Measure out the coconut milk in a measuring cup, and add the peppercorns and the chiles. Stir, and pour this over the fish. Lift the fillet with a spatula and tilt the skillet slightly to allow the spiced coconut milk to run under it and release the browned bits of garlic, spice, and fish. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the skillet, and braise the salmon, spooning the sauce over it occasionally, until the flesh is barely beginning to flake, 3 to 5 minutes.

4. Transfer the fish to a platter, pour the curry over it, and serve.

This was posted by Ann Lewandowski who works in the gallery and loves wine!  Valerie Spicer had made them for our “company” Christmas party.

Asparagus Flowers-

You will need:
• Fresh asparagus, steamed until tender but still semi-crisp enough to hold shape (about 3 minutes steamed, depending on size).
• Prosciutto, ham, roast beef, chicken, turkey or other deli meat, shaved paper thin.
• Herbed cream cheese or neufchatel cheese. You can mix up your own or buy it pre-made.

1. Cut a rectangle of paper-thin prosciutto or other deli meat about 3 inches by 2 inches. The measurement will change depending on the size/thickness of the asparagus, but it doesn’t have to be exact.

2. Dab a bit of the herbed cream cheese on each of the upper left and right corners of the prosciutto or deli meat rectangle to serve as glue.

3. Fold down each upper left and right corner about two-thirds of the way, using the cream cheese as glue. Flip the meat over horizontally, so the folded corners are now face-down.

4. Place about one-half teaspoon of herbed cream cheese in the upper center of the meat. Dab a small amount of cream cheese on each of the lower corners of the meat as glue.

5. Place the head of the asparagus spear in the center of the meat on top of the herbed cream cheese.

6. Fold the left side of the meat to the right, wrapping it around the asparagus stalk.

7. Wrap the right side of the meat to the left, pressing against and around the asparagus stalk. Adjust the asparagus head up or down to make it visually appealing. You can further embellish them by adding thin slivers of carrots, Cheddar cheese, red bell peppers, olives, chives, or whatever suits your fancy.

The Clay Coyote Homemade Vinegar Crock

We’ve been making Vinegar Crocks for several years now, and with true summer but a couple of months off, NOW is the time to start your homemade vinegar.

Homemade vinegar has a flavor you won’t believe.  You use wine (red or white) or hard cider, a mother or starter which can be gotten from most beer or wine brewing shops or Mark Larrow at http://bit.ly/vinegar-mother.  It takes a different mother for each, but once you get one going it’s easy to keep it going even when you’re not brewing vinegar.

We send instructions with the crock and we’ve got them posted on the blog under Clay Pot Cooking. We also send the bit of cheesecloth you’ll need to cover the top.

It takes about 10 weeks for your first batch so now is the time to get started for summer cooking!

So what do you use it in? First, of course, are salad dressings, as you might expect.  But then there are marinades, deviled eggs, BBQ sauces, a bit in baked beans, any stew, soup and basting sauces for grilling.  A bit of vinegar, olive oil and some herbs on grilled veggies.  Grilling steaks marinate them in a 50-50 mix of teriyaki and worcestershire with some garlic, brown sugar and 2 TBSP of vinegar.

The vinegar isn’t necessarily a flavor in itself, but kicks up other flavors immensely.  Commercial stuff just won’t cut it anymore.  And you can steep herbs in the finished vinegar and make your own herb vinegars for use and gifts!

We’d sure love to have you post recipes in which you use vinegar on the “Submit Recipes” tab above.

Clay Coyote Vinegar Crock in Yellow Salt

The Virtue of Homemade Vinegar

“All you need is red wine, water, patience and a good mother.”

This article originally appeared in October, 2006 Food and Wine Magazine.  www.foodandwine.com

By Paula Wolfert – Used by permission

As I write this, I have six earthenware crocks of red wine vinegar in various stages of evolution tucked away in the dark corners of my kitchen. “Why go to all that trouble?” my friends ask. “Aren’t there plenty of good red wine vinegars on the market?” The answer is no. If there are any as good as the kind you can make yourself, I’ve yet to find them.

I’m not talking about real balsamic vinegar, or top-shelf sherry or Banyuls vinegars; great bottles of these are readily available. But when it comes to simple red wine vinegar, commercial manufacturers make it much too quickly and on the cheap.

So why is homemade vinegar so special? Its taste. It’s crisper, more subtle and better balanced than the acidic one-note versions you can buy, with a sparkling quality that enhances food. Used in a sauce or simply for deglazing a sauté pan, it coaxes out layers of flavor. Furthermore, homemade red wine vinegar creates superior salad dressings: I often marinate finely chopped shallots in it for 15 minutes, then add extra-virgin olive oil and salt and pepper for a superb vinaigrette.

Making vinegar is surprisingly easy. The most important component is patience, because good vinegar takes about two and a half months to develop. To begin, you’ll need an earthenware crock with a high-quality plastic or wood spigot, red wine, water and a live starter, often referred to as a mother. The chemical reaction that takes place between the mother and the wine produces vinegar.

A vinegar mother is a fascinating thing to behold. It can be a smooth, gelatinous disk or a leathery veil that ends up sitting atop the liquid inside the crock undisturbed while it does its work. Eventually, the mother layer becomes quite heavy and sinks to the bottom, and another layer takes its place on top. After many batches, the bottom layers stack up, creating an expired blob of useless mothers that needs to be removed.

Basically, there are two ways to go about finding a good mother: get one from a friend who makes vinegar or purchase one from an outfit that sells wine- and beer-making supplies. I got my first mother from Abra Bennett, a professional cook and food writer from Bainbridge Island in Washington State whom I met on my favorite food Web site, eGullet. She sent me a mother with a 40-year pedigree. It came in a jar, a dark-red blob suspended in liquid. Abra also gave me lots of good advice. Her most important pointer was to use the same fruity red wine for my vinegar that I like to drink.

I also bought a mother from my vinegar guru, Mark Larrow, the owner of Beer and Winemaking Supplies in Northampton, Massachusetts (beer-winemaking.com). I was surprised by its look—clear vermillion-colored liquid in a jar. No blob in sight. I followed the instructions on the jar and the mother came to life, just like Abra’s.

As you can see from the method detailed below, once you get yourself set up with a crock and a mother, there is nothing complicated about making vinegar. You’ll be amply rewarded for your patience, whether you bottle the vinegar to give as gifts, use it simply in vinaigrettes or use it in more ambitious dishes, like my take on the earthy, luscious French classic poulet au vinaigre that follows.

This article originally appeared in October, 2006 Food and Wine Magazine.  www.foodandwine.com

Making & Using Red Wine Vinegar

By Paula Wolfert (From Food and Wine Magazine October 2006)

1. Buy a 1-gallon earthenware crock with a top-quality wood or plastic spigot. Add water to the crock to check for leaks; drain the crock.

2. Buy an 8-ounce bottle of commercial mother from a wine- and beer-making supply shop (or get it from a friend).

(Coyote Note:  We recommend Mark Larrow at www.beer-winemaking.com or your neighborhood beer and wine making supply house)

3. Add 2 cups of good red wine and 1 cup of filtered water to the crock (or enough to at least cover the spigot), then add the mother. Cover the crock with a double layer of cheesecloth and fasten with a rubber band (or just use the lid with the hole in it).

4. Set the crock in a warm (70° to 90°), dark spot and let stand for 1 1/2 weeks.

5. Add red wine to the crock in three 2 1/2-cup installments over the next 1 1/2 weeks; the crock should then be two-thirds full. Once a thin veil has formed on the surface, add the wine through the tube of the bulb baster tucked under the edge of the veil. Let the crock stand for a total of 10 weeks. Check periodically: If your vinegar ever begins to smell like furniture polish, discard it, wash the crock and start over.

6. Bottle the vinegar when it smells sharp and crisp: Strain it into sterile bottles through a plastic funnel lines with a paper coffee filter. (If you plan to start the process over, leave 2 cups vinegar in the crock and just add wine and water.) The vinegar will mellow in the bottle and improve with age, but if you plan to keep it more than 4 months, pasteurize it: Heat the vinegar to 155° in a stainless steel saucepan and hold it there for 30 minutes. Store the vinegar in sterilized, well-sealed bottles in a cool, dry place. Use homemade vinegar for dressings and sauces and as a seasoning; never use it for pickling

YOUR CLAY COYOTE VINEGAR CROCK

By Tom Wirt, Clay Coyote Pottery

Thank you for buying a vinegar crock from Clay Coyote.  Paula Wolfert first put us on to the idea of home-brewed wine vinegars when she was preparing her article for the October 2006 Food and Wine Magazine issue.    The basic design of the crock shape has changed as we go, so your crock may differ from the web photos.  Mostly the changes are to make the crock work better or to keep the potter from getting bored.

The second lid, with the hole in the center, is to hold down a piece of cheesecloth.  Vinegar needs air for the mother to produce new vinegar.  6 to 8  thicknesses should help keep fruit flies at bay, yet allow air circulation.  It also allows easy removal of the cheesecloth to add wine.  As you add additional wine, pour it in gently on top of the mother that has formed.  You can use a spoon, turkey baster or bit of clear plastic tube to do this, to avoid disturbing the mother.  A new mother will form on top of the added wine.

The regular lid is so that, if for some reason or use (like lemonade) you need a more tightly fitting lid, you’ve got it.

At some point you should look on the web for articles on brewing home vinegar.  Just search for homemade vinegar.  one great one is www.vinegarman.com.