Baked Rye Bread

So, I just took my first swing at plain-ole rye bread. I didn't add Caraway seeds or anything. This is just 100 grams of rye, 100 grams of high-gluten wheat, 300 grams of water, 1 packet of instant rapid rise yeast, 8 grams of salt.

I just swirled it together according to the Sullivan street no-knead method, straight out of Hell's Kitchen, and I let it ferment for about 15 hours.

I cranked my oven as high as it would go (roughly 500F) preheating my Emile Henry dutch oven in the process. I baked it for 33 minutes with the lid on tight. I uncovered it and baked for another 15 minutes. It came out very nice, if you ask me. The flavor is outstanding.

Check out the crumb structure of this bread. I know I have showed you this video before, but have another look.

The plot to grill...

Boy, Meats, Grill... That is the way it should be been spelled. Why didn't Bobby Flay see the obvious extra-double?

I have a confession to make: Never been much into grilling or barbecue in my life. I have no objection to eating plenty of the stuff, I just haven't cooked much of it. Yes, I know that makes me a wanton communist. You can't be much of an football fan if you don't grill. If I have an excuse, it is merely that apartment life has its limitations.

Recently, I have decided to get around those limitations. I can't precisely put my finger on the moment. Maybe it was when I learned that Paella is a grilled dish. Maybe it was when I failed to achieve the perfect Millard reaction when attempting Tyler's ultimate cowboy steak. Maybe it was when I learned that my cheap-ass, apartment provided stove had a maximum BTU rating of 8,000 per burner. In case you didn't know, 8,000 BTU sucks. Maybe it was when I learned that Viking burners can hit 16,000 BTU easy. That is exactly twice the heat of my top burner. Maybe it was when I learned that Lazyman Grills can deliver a walloping 60,000 BTU per burner, for around $400. Yep, that's right, per burner. Be careful with that, sounds terrifying and intriguing. Maybe it is the good spirited full I see Bobby Flay engaging in all the time on Grill it! and Boy Meets Grill.

So I have developed a list of good reasons for purchasing a quality grill.

1. My stove is deficient.
2. I am apartment dweller, and cannot replace my 'management provided' stove
3. I have a balcony which has gone unused for three years. I've never been interested in it. It is much larger than I ever realized. I can put a grill there.
4. A good grill is better than a good stove. No bullshit. They cost less and crank out much more heat.
5. Propane trumps Methane. Methane is the natural gas your gas company pumps into your house. All chemists will tell you that Propane is better fuel and more earth-friendly also. Propane = 2,488 BTUs per cubic foot, methane = 1000 BTU per cubic foot
6. If I move my cooking operation outside, I will not heat-up my apartment. The dog-days of summer are coming. I do not want heat up my apartment or pay $200 per month in electrical bills per month, as I did last year.
7. You are supposed to grill Paella
8. You are supposed to grill cowboy steaks

Being a fan of induction, I was originally planning to take a Fagor portable induction unit outside. That plot died for two reasons. First, the portable Fagor units don't have much push to them. The BTUs are low. Only your best-quality indoor induction cooktops can compete with a good gas-grill in terms of BTUs. Also be warned that it is difficult obtaining BTU ratings from Induction vendors. They want to quote watts, which is basically meaningless. One guy's Induction range is more or less efficient than the other, so watts don't translate hard-and-fast into BTUs.

Second, there are no electrical outlets on my balcony. Yep, I know, that's pretty wretched. I would have to run some sort of an extension cord out of the apartment to the balcony, or get the company to make a mod for me. I do not want to do take either approach. It isn't worth it. A good propane grill will out-perform the Fagor induction system, and they generally requires no AC outlet. Electrical starters are usually done with a few AA batteries. Just a little spark will do it.

I reached a series of intriguing initial conclusions:

(1) I can get a grill which is better than a stove

(2) I can get it for less than a stove

(3) I can put it on the balcony and do something with that space finally.

So now the next question that logically follows is: Which grill do I buy? This is a super question. This is the question posted on a billion blogs and reviews all over the frickin' web. I will take my swing at this question next time. You can expect me to follow a logical path to an optimal solution also.

I'm going to make some Puttanesca sauce in my Cocotte

So, I wanted to take a swing at the no-knead bread yesterday. To-wit, I whipped up a batch of the dough in my KitchenAid food processor. Yes, I know. That's cheating. Remember the words of the late Gene Upshaw, whose #63 I wore: If you're not cheating, you're not trying. Raider rule #1: Cheating is encouraged. Raider rule #2: See rule number 1.

Didn't I just praise Coach Wooden for doing it right? Aren't I a Raider-hater for life? Yes, but this is cooking. There is no cheating here. It's just free-form creative experimentation. Still, I am a cheater and I cheat.

To correctly make the no-knead bread, you must have a Dutch Oven, or a French Oven, or a Cocotte. It is one of those cast-iron pots, with a heavy cast iron lid. The kind you can put in the oven. It is better if it is enameled with porcelain. The problem is that I didn't have one.

Off I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond with a 20% discount coupon. I was pissed. The selection sucked. They had a couple of 6.5 quart Le Creuset French Ovens. All of them had the plastic knobs that tap out at 400 degrees. They had none of the 18-10 Stainless steel replacement knobs. They didn't have my flame color either. I walked out.

Sur Le Table came to the rescue. They had a nice sale of Staub Cocottes. What is a Cocotte? It is the same thing as a Dutch oven, but the French like to call it a female prostitute. No bullshit. The term Cocotte means female prostitute in the French language.

I got the 7 quart black enameled oval for $199.95. They chucked in a pair of 1 cup little cocottes for free. I am not sure what I will use those for. In any case, they 7 quart Cocotte costs some $250, by itself, before shipping, through many outlets. I got a nice deal on these pieces.

So why did I chose Staub over Le Creuset? Number 2 tries harder. This is frequently the case, but this time it showed. Staub gave me more quarts for the money. Staub gave me a brass knob that is safe up to 500 degrees, which is essential for the no-knead bread. Staub gave me self-basting nubs for future use. Very nice stuff.

So I brought it home, cleaned it out, seasoned it with some olive oil, slapped the dough in there, and chucked it in the oven. Well... I heated it on the stove-top first. Less than an hour later, I had my bread.

It was a little flatter than I expected, but it had nice air-pockets (crumb) and a thick crunchy crust. That is success for the first time out. The Bread may have been flatter than I thought just because this is a pretty good-sized Cocotte. It's larger than ones used by the bakers in the video.

The bread was not as tasty as I had hoped. Next time some seasonings. Garlic and parmesan with some balsamic vinegar. The bread needs to season up a bit. The new mission is to increase and enhance the flavor.

So tommorow comes the natural and obvious choice! I have to make Puttanesca sauce in my Cocotte. What could be more fitting? Puttana means whore in Italian. Puttanesca sauce means whore sauce, or sauce the whore would make, in the Italian language. What in the world would be better made in a Cocotte than Puttanesca Sauce? You have to get the Italian Puttana together with the French Cocotte. What a perfect pair.