Not Inadequate

This house does not have a stove or oven. This is posing a significant problem for me, what with the people around here who want food cooked for them every day.

Yes, I knew going in that there was no oven or stovetop, but the owner told me that she had an electric skillet and a crock pot and a toaster oven, and I believed I could make it work. However, I foolishly thought No Oven only meant No Oven. But it also seems to mean No Cooking Utensils of Any Kind. There is no steak knife, nor spatula, nor mixing bowl. There is one tiny paring knife, ridiculously stored in a sheath, but which is so dull that I have to look at it to make sure I am using the right side of the blade.

Apparently, the house had been converted into a lawyer’s office or something before these owners turned it into a vacation rental, so it only has an office-type kitchen area. Thankfully, there is a dishwasher and decent-sized refrigerator. But I have no idea what to put in the refrigerator.

Unfortunately, I’m far enough down the Real Food path that the thought of feeding my family convenience foods for five weeks makes me ill. On the other hand, I can’t make anything elaborate because Hai, there’s NO STOVE. Gah. And also no counter space. To give you some idea, there is a Keurig coffee maker and it takes up over 50% of the counter.

So. Yeah.

I’ve made every iteration of tacos I can think of, and the electric skillet is pretty big, so I’ve been able to make skillet ziti and fried rice, but I’m running out of ideas.

Do y’all have any recipes that are Real Food but that don’t take a lot of prep or ingredients or, you know, cooking?

Before we left Washington, we sorted through ALL our stuff and planned to dump about a third of it off in storage. I had no idea what we would end up needing on this adventure, so I brought everything I could possibly think of (and that would fit). The Kitchenaid, my wheat grinder, and the crockpot were deemed unnecessary. We also dropped off sleeping bags, a bunch of toys and games, and assorted random bits we didn’t ever use.

It’s amazing how little we really need. Frankly, I wish we had gotten rid of even more. On the other hand, it’s amazing how much stuff we still had to keep. I haul around a lot of kitchen tools. We are on our 5th place and only 2 of them have had skillets I would be willing to cook in. No one has had decent knives, there’s nary a measuring cup to be found, and it’s hit or miss on little things like cheese graters and pizza cutters. Most of the homes have a ridiculously large wine glass collections, but if you want a cookie sheet, you’d better head to WalMart. We also have our own plastic cups and coffee mugs and my big soup pot and an edited-but-still-big spice collection.

I was thrilled to get rid of all that stuff, because it was just a reminder that I wasn’t grinding my own wheat or doing supplementary logic exercises with the kids or whatever. I hate it when my stuff throws me guilt trips. Jim was happy to get rid of it, because he is the chief schlepper and packing the trailer was turning into stressful 3D puzzle.

I can’t even really remember what we left behind, which just goes to show how important it all was.

There is ONE thing. One small thing I wish I still had…

Now that we are in Arizona, it’s *newsflash* hot. Hot means I don’t want to cook much or turn on the oven. But I still have to make dinner. We’ve eaten a zillion salads, but the kids are getting so much exercise swimming they’re hungry ALL THE TIME.

ALL THE TIME.

I had to go buy a crock pot. Dang it.

So after making approximately 823 loaves of No-Knead Bread, during which time the kids refused to eat the crust because they are COMPETELY IN THE WRONG and don’t know from good food, Jim said to me, “Hey, do you think that you could make this in a loaf pan and cook it the regular way?”

To which I said coldly, “if you people hate my bread, JUST SAY IT STRAIGHT OUT.”

And then I burst into tears and ran away.

Hormones!

Anyway…

I tried it, and it worked!

Which was, in fact, both exciting AND annoying.

Because I am so mature that way.

No-Knead Sandwich Bread
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2  – 2 cups cool water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon honey

Whisk dry ingredients together in a medium sized bowl. In a separate small bowl (or a 2-cup glass measuring cup), stir together 1 1/2 cups of cool water, the honey, and the olive oil. Pour over dry ingredients and begin to mix. Depending on how your dough looks, you may need to add a little more water.

yummy!

After all the ingredients are combined, cover with plastic wrap and set aside. I also cover the bowl with a kitchen towel.

After 12 to 18 hours, the dough has risen, and is thick and bubbly and still does not resemble bread dough.

this batch sat for right at 18 hours before baking

Turn dough out onto a heavily floured surface (I use a piece of parchment paper), where it will lie there, all flaccid and slug-like. Do not be scared.

lying there, being weird.

Knead it very gently for a minute or so, until it looks more like real bread dough. Form it into a loaf-shape, place into a greased loaf pan, and cover with plastic wrap.

there. that’s better.

Let the dough rise for 30-ish minutes.

after rising in the pan.

Place dough into pre-heated oven and bake for 35 – 40 minutes at 350 degrees, or until the internal temperature is between 190 and 200 degrees.

Be impressed with your bad self.

You just made homemade sandwich bread.

Let cool thoroughly (4+ hours) on a cooling rack for best slicing results.

Or just slather it with butter and eat it.

Click here for a printable version of No-Knead Sandwich Bread.

The Original No-Knead Bread Recipe is from Mark Bittman and published in The New York Times, who got it from Jim Lahey at The Sullivan Street Bakery. It has spread like wildfire among food bloggers over the past few years and now has as many variations as it has bakers. I found a starting place at Simply So Good and have been chasing this idea all over the internets since then. Hopefully I am not stepping on any toes by sharing my own iterations here. Which I will be doing. Because I am a bread-baking FIEND.

Basic Bread Recipe - a Not Inadequate Adaptation
1 1/2 cups AP White Flour
1 1/2 cups Freshly Ground Whole Wheat or Wheat Montana Bronze Chief Flour
1 teaspoon yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups cool water with 1 Tablespoon honey stirred in

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl (I use a 3 quart bowl and it’s perfect), and add the honey/water. Stir together until you have a very sticky and fairly unattractive dough that doesn’t resemble bread dough in any way. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 12-18 hours. I also like to cover the bowl with a kitchen towel, to keep it nice and warm.

See? Not that attractive.

When you are ready to bake, put your heavy, lidded, enameled cast-iron pot in the oven and preheat to 450 degrees. While your pot is heating, turn your dough out onto a heavily floured counter or cotton dough towel or piece of parchment. Fold the dough a few times and shape it into a ball. Re-cover with the plastic wrap and let it sit until your pot is hot.

After your pot is nice and hot (they say 30 minutes, but Impatient Deb never waits that long), plop your dough into the hot pot (be careful. a 450 degree pot is no joke), put the lid back on, and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the lid and continue cooking for another 15 minutes. Remove the gorgeous loaf from your pot with a spatula and cool on a cooling rack (or a scrunched up piece of tin foil if you’re fancy like we are here at Chez Not Inadequate). There is no need to grease your pot or anything, just plop it right in. It won’t stick. Promise.

Notes: Other recipes call for all white flour, but y’all know that’s not how I roll. They also call for 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon of yeast. I use 1 teaspoon because I think it benefits the wheat flour. Plus I like the flavor of yeast. Is that weird? I also use 1/4 cup more water than is usually called for, but I don’t know if I need it because of the altitude here or because of the wheat flour. Actually, it’s probably because the climate here is so very dry. Whichever, start at 1 1/2 cups, then you can eyeball your dough and decide if you need to add extra water. I’ve never seen a recipe that calls for honey, but I like my bread to have a slight sweet taste, so that’s what that’s about. Increase or decrease the salt as you see fit.

The first batch I made sat for 24 hours before I was able to bake it. The next two batches sat for 18 hours. The fourth batch sat for 12 hours. All batches were delicious. This bread is very forgiving. I’ve read that it is possible for your dough to sit too long and “over-proof” but I have yet to experience it.

You will get a lovely, thick-crusted, chewy artisanal loaf that would sell for $5 in a bakery. Perfect for dipping into soup.

I love soup.