Okay, I'm still trying to figure out what to do with this Live Journal thing. The mirroring thing seemed like it would accomplish little more than dividing up the comments to my posts, so I thought I'd try weekly summaries of what's been happening over on
Beeswax. Namely:
And that was just the warm-up! Doodle Fight! Again!
Deep Red! What do you do when the line goes dead?
Rossum's Rooms. Preproduction art for something or other.
And so you don't feel like you're getting the bum's rush, here, enjoy a Special Bonus for LJers: My recipe for super-easy bread!
This bread is so easy to make, I haven't bought a loaf since I first tried it. The proportions are very forgiving, so feel free to experiment. These are the easy-to remeber proportions I settled on based on the original recipe, which appeared in the New York Times.
4 cups flour (at least two cups should be unbleached all-purpose, but the rest can be anything else)
1/2 teaspoon yeast (or less, really. This recipe has a long, slow rise, so you don't want too much)
2 teaspoons salt (or more, if you'd like)
2 cups water
Dump all the above together, and mix until it's mostly doughy. Don't worry about getting it totally consistent. Cover with plastic, and let sit for 18-24 hours. I mix the ingredients in a decent-sized tupperware container, and then just snap the lid on for the night.
The next day, the dough should be wet, full of bubbles, and kind of stringy when it fulls away from the sides of the container. Dump it out on a heavily floured surface (or a silicon mat, if you have one), and, with heavily floured hand, pat the extremely wet dough lightly to flatten it out a bit. Stick a spatula or dough cutter under one edge of the dough and fold it over on itself. Cover in plastic and let rise (I just inverse the tupperware container). Let rise for an hour or two.
Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees. Place a heavy-bottomed oven-safe pot with a fitting lid in the oven to pre-heat, as well. I use a 3.5 quart Le Creuset soup pot. Cast iron would be ideal. When the oven and the pot are both heated, sprinkle some corn meal in the bottom of the pot (to minimize sticking), and use two spatulas to scoop up the dough and drop it in the pot. Bake, covered, for 30 minutes. Continue baking, uncovered for another 20-30 minutes.
I think it's an excellent loaf, and making it becomes rote after you do it once or twice. No kneading, not much mess, and it's both better and cheaper than anything I'm finding around Memphis. It's a kinda Italian-style loaf, so it's very good with soups and sauces, and makes lovely sandwiches. If you have any trouble with it, let me know.
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