Spelt Flour Bread

Happy Wednesday guys!  It's the middle of the week and I'm just counting down the weekend! 

I've got a bookclub meeting tonight with the girls to discuss this month's book - Pride & Prejudice & Zombies.  And honestly... I wasn't a fan.  I know Pride & Prejudice is a classic, but I just couldn't bring myself to be interested.  The other books we've read (The Help, Running with Scissors, Water for Elephants) all had me wanting to read more and more and not put the book down.  But this just had me yawning and not very interested.  Oh well... to each their own.  Have any of you ever read Pride & Prejudice?  Or this Zombie-infused version?  What did you think?

I'll tell you what is interesting to me though.  Spelt.  And spelt flour.  Perusing the Whole Foods bulk bins a couple weekends ago, I came across this little gem of a flour.  I'd honestly never heard of it before, and well, for $2.49/lb., I thought it was reasonable enough to experiment with.  So I took to the good old Internet and of course found a no-knead bread recipe to try!  The results were more than satisfying! And in case you wanted to know (as if I'm not going to tell you regardless), spelt is similar to wheat in it's appearance, but is a little bit nuttier and sweeter in flavor.  It's also higher in protein than wheat, so if you're trying to increase proteins, spelt is the way to go!  So if you're looking for something different, but not too different (really only some subtle, but delicious differences)... give it a go!


Ingredients:

Adapted from Prairie Table's Recipe

 

With only 4 ingredients, how can you go wrong?

3 cups white spelt flour
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
1 & 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups water
 

In a large bowl, combine flour, yeast, salt and water.  Stir until combined.  The dough will be quite sticky, but that's okay.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for at least 10-12 hours (This is ideal for doing the night before, or in the morning before work).  

On a floured work surface, dust dough with flour and gently flatten into a rough square/rectangle.  Fold dough into thirds.  Gently flatten one more time, and fold into thirds one more time before shaping dough into a ball.  Place dough, seam side down, in a clean, lightly floured bowl.  Dust dough ball with flour and cover bowl with plastic wrap.  Leave in a warm, dry place to rise for about 1-2 hours, or until doubled in size.

At least 30 minutes before the end of this rise, preheat oven to 500 F.

Place a baking sheet on the center rack and another baking sheet on the bottom rack (this will help absorb some of the heat).  When dough is finished rising, carefully turn it out onto the hot baking sheet, seam side up.  It won't look too pretty, but seriously, it gives it some rustic beauty when it's all done.  Who wants an absolutely perfect shaped loaf anyway?  Not me.

Pour about a cup of water into the pan on the bottom rack and quickly close the oven door.  Turn the oven down to 450 F and bake loaf for about 45 minutes, or until crust is a deep golden brown.

Serve warm with some butter or jam, or you can make sandwiches, like we did!

 Seriously, this is probably my favorite loaf of bread I've made so far this year.  It's so good, that I made it 3 times!  In 1 week!  That good.  And I'm sure if you can't find spelt flour, regular all-purpose will do, but I highly suggest that if you get a chance to come across some spelt, you won't be sorry!  Enjoy your Wednesday guys!

Random Good Luck

So here are just some random thoughts for Tuesday's post...

Anybody superstitious?  They say that Black Eyed Peas are supposed to bring good luck when eaten on New Year's Day.  Did I eat them on New Year's Day?  Sadly, no.  But am I superstitious?  Again, that's a big negative.  So in my own fashion, I've decided to make black eyed peas tonight for dinner, because it's always better late than never, right?  And plus... I find myself pretty lucky as it is, so I don't need any age old tradition to boost that!

Guess what I got in the mail today? 

Yeah, I'm officially a Zombie Nerd.  Okay, I wouldn't go that far, but this is this month's book club book.  And hell, with the addition of zombies, I'm sure Pride & Prejudice will be a much better read... not that I have read the original to compare this one to, so honestly, I really don't know.  But I'm actually really looking forward to this one.

And yes, I'll end today's absolutely random post by showing you how I wake up and go to bed every night.  Yep... with this girl.  in my face.  with a toy.  thank goodness this one no longer squeaks.

Have a great Tuesday guys and I'll be back tomorrow with something edible!!

Book Club Success and Ask Peggy

I'm pretty excited to say that the first meeting of Book Club was quite a success.  We discussed more of the book than I thought we would, which shouldn't really surprise me because, after all... it is a book club.  Next month's read is "Running With Scissors," which I'm pretty sure is a movie too???  But before I look that up, I'm definitely going to start with the book.  More often than not, the book is almost ALWAYS better than the movie, anyway.  Just my opinion.  I can't wait until I get a chance to pick the book, I've got a few in mind, and of course, most of them have to deal with food or food-related topics!  What about you guys?  Do you read often?  If so, what are you reading now?  Any suggestions for Book Club books?

And so to the "Ask Peggy" portion of this post title.  Inspired by a couple of questions posted by Sommer from A Mama With Flavor (check out her blog, she's really awesome!) in a little "tagging" going around right now, I figured... maybe you guys do need/want to know a little more about little old me.

So Sommer's questions were as follows:

What's your favorite pizza topping?

- I'd have to say, that when dealing with pizza... the simpler the better.  I love a good white pizza, and probably my favorite part of it is the fact that ricotta cheese is sporatically on the pie!

Mayonnaise? Yay or ick?

- I'm definitely on the "ick" side on it.  Yes, I  use mayonnaise in things (I don't completely avoid it), but if asked if I want it as a condiment on things... I definitely pass.

 

Which cuisine inspires you the most?

- I'd have to say I lean towards Pan-Asian dishes, but really... all dishes inspire me in some aspect.

 

What's your staple dessert?

 - I don't think I have a "staple," but something Andy does wish I made more of is probably cheesecake.  But that's only when he's been good. =)

What is your best kitchen triumph?

- Actually sticking with it!  I'm one of those people that has tried every single hobby in the book, and at some point, just give up because I'm unamused or uninterested.  But cooking, is my exception.  I'm not bored, and I don't ever think I will be, so just sticking with it, and continuing to learn in the kitchen is a great triumph to me!

What are your favorite staple ingredients?

- Can't live without kosher salt, soy sauce, olive oil, hoisin sauce, and lemons.  With all or some of those things, you can always make something spectacular no matter what else you have!

Did you always cook or did it come to you later in life?

- I definitely thought of cooking later in life.  If you were to ask me in high school what kind of person I would be today, I would laugh at you if you told me I'd be a domesticated fiancee living with 2 dogs.  We even talked about this at Book Club last night, that out of all of my friends, I'm the most domesticated and they never would have guessed it.  I was always the girl doing weird things, making up stupid routines during softball practice (the Ostrich walk and the Spiderman), getting down in the middle of math class and licking the floor just because someone told me too (yeah, not my finest moment)... so yeah, cooking has definitely come to me later in life... but I am SO glad to have it.  It's brought me closer to people I love and really given me a creative outlet to share with others!

Who's your favorite chef? TV or restaurant.

- Hands down... John Varanese.  He's a local chef, here in Louisville, and by far is the most consistent.  I have never had a bad experience at his restaurant and I love the fact that every time I have gone there, he comes out and makes his rounds to make sure every table is enjoying their meal and to just chat a little with his patrons.  I like it because he doesn't just talk to the tables that look like they're full of big spenders or "important" people.  Young or old... he makes sure you're enjoying yourself, and I love that.

Varanese also has a local cable show about different local food ingredients that's pretty awesome, too!

 

So thanks to Sommer for "tagging" me!  Hope you guys enjoyed my answers, and I know the proper thing to do is "tag" other bloggers, but instead, I'm just going to let you guys share something about yourself in my comments (if you want to, that is!)

 

Enjoy the day guys... I'll be crossing my fingers that my softball team advances to the next round of the City Tournament tonight!  Be back tomorrow with a recipe!