Almost No-Work Whole Grain Bread: Take One

"Almost No-Work." I like the sound of that. So I decided to give this recipe from Mark Bittman a go.

1) Combine 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast, 2 teaspoons salt and 3 cups whole wheat flour in a large bowl. I got fancy and used 2 cups whole wheat flour plus one cup dark rye flour.

2) Add 1 and 1/2 cups water and stir until blended; the dough should be quite wet and sticky but not liquid. At this point, I fretted over whether my dough was in fact wet and sticky enough. K advised me to "just go with it," so I did.

3) Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rest in a warm place for at least 12 and up to 24 hours. Well, my non-air-conditioned apartment should be warm enough. It's been in the mid-90's in Chicago the last few days. The dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Rising time will be shorter at warmer temperatures, or a bit longer if your kitchen is chilly. It was 9:30pm on Tuesday when I started the rise. As I left for work 11 hours later, the dough looked ready, but I wasn't. I had to hurry to the office, so the rise continued for 9 more hours, like it or not.

4) Measure about 2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil. Use some of the oil to grease the loaf pan. If you like, add 1 cup chopped nuts, seeds, dried fruit or proofed whole grains. Transfer the dough to the loaf pan, and use a rubber spatula gently to settle it in evenly. Brush the top with the remaining oil and sprinkle with cornmeal if you like. The surface of my dough was no longer dotted with bubbles when I got home from work on Wednesday. I quickly prepped it for the second rise, without adding any extras.

5) Cover with a towel and let rise until doubled, an hour or two depending on the warmth of your kitchen. When it's almost ready, heat the oven to 350F.

6) Bake the bread until deep golden and hollow-sounding when tapped, about 45 minutes. I tapped it and it actually sounded hollow! Almost cavernous - hooray! Immediately turn out of the pan onto a rack and let it cool before slicing.

Here's a picture of my finished product.

A sight for sore eyes. K and I let it cool and then dug in. It tasted not bad at all. Dense and full-flavored, thanks at least in part to the dark rye. The recipe had warned that it would not make a very high loaf, but personally I prefer half-sandwiches, so that suits me just fine.

Here's a picture of K and I after enjoying the first few slices of my very first home-baked loaf of bread. We're pleased, as you can see. Delighted. Downright chummed.

How 'Bout That Blood Sugar

Back in April, I finally made a doctor's appointment, the easiest task I've ever managed to neglect for nearly a decade. Come mid-May, it was time to go in for my physical, and I actually found myself looking forward to it. I was eager to get my official nod and a clean bill of health. After the visit, I felt marvelous - like I had done myself a real solid. And this in spite of nearly fainting during a blood draw attempt.

A few weeks after my appointment, I received via snail mail a print-out with all my blood test results. I was unpleasantly surprised to see that the line for glucose was circled with a note reading "slightly + blood sugar." In her cover letter, my new doctor oh-so-helpfully recommended that I "work on eating healthy and exercising regularly to prevent the development of diabetes in the future." Well, here's the thing, doc: I already work out an average of four times a week (and that's not counting my beach volleyball league on Wednesdays), which is about as much as my schedule will allow. I already try to make healthy choices when it comes to food, and my personal chef - er, I mean, K - prepares quite nutritious meals. Moreover, perhaps you shouldn't send vague cover letters casually dropping the names of potentially serious diseases, completely devoid of meaningful context, to individuals who expected you to tell them that they are in perfect health. Perhaps some of those individuals may be prone to freaking out... Really though, ya couldn't have called?

It was time to bring out my big guns. So I called my mom (duh). She said that given the family history, I probably have a genetic tendency towards elevated blood sugar, which made me feel simultaneously a little better (It's not my fault!) and a little worse (There's nothing I can do!) To keep it in check, I should try to make a few easy adjustments to my diet, and it's "so much better to make some small changes now than to have to make some big changes later on." So substitute any white rice with brown rice, and any pasta should be whole wheat. (Done!) Cut down on bagels and eat only whole grain bread. (Life sans bagels could be tough, but I'll survive.) Fewer sweets whenever possible, (I don't think I consume many as is, but ok.) and... try to drink less beer. (Sob!)

Let's ignore the beer thing for now and focus on something slightly less painful and wholly more manageable. Bread! According to Mark Bittman, New York Times foodie and author of Food Matters, "whole wheat" and "whole grain" breads that are typically available at the grocery store are phonies, usually containing only 20 percent whole wheat flour and 80 percent white flour. Even whole wheat bread bought from a less shamelessly commercial outlet, like one's local bakery, is likely to contain mostly white flour unless otherwise marked. Outrageous! To solve this problem, I've purchased my very own whole wheat and dark rye flours, and this week I am going to bake some bread. Experienced baker I am not, but if I can make this work for me, it holds grand potential for both my blood sugar and my pocketbook. Ain't that a kick in the butt?

Vegetable Sculptures and Recipe for Texas Caviar

Odds are that right now someone somewhere is making a vegetable sculpture. What a glorious world we live in!

I happened upon this picture of a veggie lion yesterday (on urban75.org - visit them to see the rest of the pictures) and was sufficiently moved to keep browsing the internet's wide array of vegetable sculptures. Some very impressive and un-boring veggie creatures can be seen here on i-am-bored.com. Apparently, the Lambeth Country Show, an annual event in South London, features an Alternative Vegetable Sculpture Competition. Fabulous photos of some of the 2008 entries are posted here on Flickr. The big winner in 2008 was a veggie bust of Amy Winehouse.

But if you don't feel like turning your vegetables into a sculpture, you can put them to another good use by making Texas Caviar. Here's the recipe I made for my book club, courtesy of my colleague J:

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 can pinto beans - drained and rinsed
1 can black eyed peas - drained and rinsed
2 cans shoepeg corn - drained
8 ounces diced pimento - drained
1 medium red onion - diced
1 cup celery - diced
1 cup green pepper - diced
1 or 2 jalapeño peppers (depending on your taste) - diced

Directions

1. Boil the sugar, vinegar, vegetable oil, water, salt and pepper; then allow to cool.
2. Combine all of the remaining ingredients.
3. Once the liquid has cooled, pour it over the mixture and refrigerate for a few hours (or overnight, which is even better).
4. Drain most of the liquid and serve with Fritos scoops or tortilla chips.

Yum!

When in Doubt, Quiche

This week I endeavored to host the Shoeless Book Club at my apartment (click here to read my slightly anxiety-riddled 'before' post). It was a first for me in the sense that I had several guests over for dinner without K there to do all the work.

I was a little bit stressed-out about the menu. I never cook, so I knew I had to pick easy dishes that would be near-impossible to mess up. For snacks, I settled on texas caviar and slices of french bread with goat cheese and honey. The texas caviar was a huge hit! The recipe was provided courtesy of my colleague, J, and I'm happy to pass it along upon request. Consider making it next time you host a gathering or find yourself scrambling for something to bring to a potluck - you won't be sorry! It's only downfall is that it makes your kitchen reek of vinegar, but I made it the night before, opened some windows, and was good to go by the time book club commenced.

For the main course, my friend M suggested quiche, which was perfect - I made one with mushrooms, onion and ham, and a meatless version with mushrooms, onion, asparagus, spinach, and broccoli. I served the quiches with a big chopped salad because, as I always say, everybody loves a chopped salad. We topped the meal off with red wine and cake from Trader Joe's.

Luckily, I had tidied up the apartment so there was room for all my guests. I even moved some furniture around in the dining room to make it easier for people to move around the space. As host, I had to select a few book options for all Shoeless members to vote on. The big winner was Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga - a novel I have been wanting to re-read for the last several years.

In the end, I think everyone went home with full tummies and the book club meeting was a success. One would think that the experience would have improved my hosting abilities (and confidence therein), but more than that, it just made me even more appreciative of all that K does whenever we have guests over. Just one of many reasons I'm so lucky to have him in my corner.

Shoeless and Without a Plan

Back in December, I had the good fortune of being invited to join a fabulous book club. Our next meeting is tomorrow, and it is my first turn to host. Hosting a meeting of the Shoeless Book Club is quite an endeavor, entailing preparation of a full dinner for 7 to 10 people (depending on attendance), with drinks and dessert.

Now, K and I have been known to throw a dinner party from time to time. But he always takes the lead on everything from planning the menu and cooking the meal to setting the table and mixing the drinks. My duties are generally restricted to opening beer bottles, making conversation and sometimes doing the dishes. But tomorrow K is unavailable (and anyway, he's not in the book club), which means that I will have to take on a few things that I've long been fully dependent on him for.

Right now I'm feeling a little overwhelmed because I don't have a plan. A good first step might be to make a list of what needs to be done today. So here we go:

1. Plan a menu. (Since I never cook, I should probably stick with simple dishes. And I should plan to make most of the food tonight because after I get home from work tomorrow I'll have less than an hour before my guests start to arrive.)

2. Go grocery shopping.

3. Clean my apartment. (The clutter will have to go if I'm going to have ample room for up to 10 people in my tiny place.)

4. Finish reading this month's book. (Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro - not loving it, but I'm curious about how it will end.)

5. Choose two or three options for the next book. (The host presents a few possibilities to the group and then the rest of the members vote.)

6. Cook the meal!

Wow, that's daunting... I better go get started.

The Mixteco Initiative

On Wednesday, I vowed to eat at the most popular restaurant in my neighborhood, Mixteco Grill, by the end of this week. Long lines be damned. Here's a summary of my efforts:

Wednesday: I called Mixteco at 4:30 - no answer. Their answering machine explains that weekday hours are 5:00 to 10:00pm (except Mondays, when they are closed). I try calling again around 5:30 - still no answer. I don't think this is going to be easy.


Thursday: Today I called at 5:00 and again at 5:15, but got the same message each time. Seriously? You guys are open; your answering machine even says so; I know you're in there, and if I didn't have plans to go to spinning at 6:00, I'd walk down there right now and demand a reservation.

At 5:30 I tried one more time. And lo! - a person answered my call! I told him I'd like to make a reservation for two people at 8 o'clock, please. 'Sorry,' he said, 'we're all booked up tonight and tomorrow. But you should try to come in as a walk-in tonight. We have a few tables of two booked for 6:00/6:30, so they should be about to leave by 8:00.'

Haha, you're not going to fool me with that one! I mentioned in my last post that K tried once before to get a reservation at Mixteco. They told him the same thing: just come by later, the wait probably won't be long. So we did, but when we got there, they said it would be at least an hour. If it comes down to it and that's just the way it has to be, I'm willing to wait an hour in order to fulfill my mission. But today is only Thursday, and I'm not yet ready to resign myself to it.

Friday: In search of advice, I read some reviews of Mixteco on yelp.com today, and I think I've gleaned some useful insight. According to yelp ("Real People. Real Reviews."), Saturday and Sunday brunch are my best bets for getting a table without a wait, particularly if I arrive shortly after they open at 10am. Okay, Real People, I'll trust you on this one.

Saturday: woke K at 9:45am and we arrived at Mixteco by 10:15. There were loads of available tables and we were seated right away - thanks yelp! We started with orange juice, which was freshly squeezed and delicious (no pulp, just like K likes it), and were treated to chips and salsa verde. Our guacamole arrived with big pieces of cucumber and radish in it for dipping - yum!

We ordered the steak tacos and chicken enchiladas brunch entrees. Both were delectable and very nicely plated. The meats were not at all tough, and the various flavors involved blended together beautifully. I saved room for dessert so I could order the famous pastel de tres leches ('almond cake soaked in three milks'). It was amazingly moist and perfectly complimented by the topping of strawberry and pineapple chunks - possibly the highlight of the meal, especially because it went so well with the distinct taste of the house coffee (is that cinnamon and citrus in there?).

I brought my camera along to take pictures of the food, but once we started eating I became way too distracted to play photographer. Only after the meal was over and I was laying on the table in a food coma did I remember the camera.

As I am the furthest thing from an expert on Mexican cuisine, it would be a little presumptuous for me to go into much more detail about Mixteco's food, but suffice it to say this: it lived up to its reputation, and that alone is quite a feat. On top of that, the service was great: fast and friendly. So if you ever happen to be in the neighborhood at 10:00am on the weekend, I highly recommend you pop in for brunch. For dinner, make your reservation a week in advance, and don't forget to BYOB.

Mixteco Mission and Reverse Parallel Lives

Upon moving into our current apartment two months ago, K and I soon noticed that there are a couple of restaurants within a one-block radius of us that are constantly jam-packed with people. One of them is Glenn's Diner, a fun and quirky place (they have a cereal wall!) specializing in seafood. K, our friend J and I stopped in for a delicious late lunch on moving day - they just happened to have three empty stools at the bar - but we have not had a chance to try their dinner menu because every time we've tried to go there has been a line out the door. K and I are generally not reservation-making people, but we will have to make an exception for Glenn's, the only "diner" I've ever been to that necessitates reservations for a party of two!

The other staggeringly popular restaurant on our block is Mixteco Grill. Time Out Chicago says, "Mixteco doubled its dining room capacity recently, but that's done nothing to quell the crowds it gets, even on otherwise sleepy Wednesday nights. Summertime is only bound to make the crowds (and thus the waits) worse..." Oh no! K and I have popped in two or three times to see if they could seat us for dinner, but the wait was always upwards of an hour, so we never saw it through. Once K even called several hours in advance but was unable to get a reservation. I think Time Out is right: as the weather warms up, Chicagoans will be more willing to traverse the city for good food, and it will become increasingly difficult to get into Mixteco. So I hereby resolve to secure a table by the end of this week. The plan: do whatever it takes. I really hope the guac and mole live up to their reputation.

In other, unrelated news, I watched "The Big Bang Theory" again this week - I'm very impressed with this show and it is growing on me. In the new episode, Leonard and Kuthrapali attempt to take Howard's mind off of his broken heart by convincing him to go with them on a weekend trip to Las Vegas, where they remain for the majority of the half-hour show. So in the few weeks since I started this blog, "The Big Bang Theory" has addressed the topics of comic books and Vegas - and so have I, albeit in reverse order. It makes me think that my favorite sitcom characters and I may be leading parallel lives. Well, reverse parallel lives, anyway. Is this some sort of cosmic connection? I guess I'll just have to keep watching.