Bread Baked in a Pot--Listen to It Crack

Every year my neighbors organize a soup party. They serve an interesting menu of soups (guests are invited to bring they own specialties) and a self-made bread. It is very fresh, often still warm and it is so good that it disappears fast. It tastes great as a starter with a glass of wine and I usually eat so much of it that by the time soups are served I am already so full that I am hardly able to taste anything else.

I had to ask for the recipe and try to make this fabulous bread. Unfortunately, it did not come out too good first time I made it. This bread comes from a French tradition and is baked in a pot. Perhaps it did not come out exactly as my neighbors' masterpiece because I did not have the right vessel.

Last Christmas Eve, my neighbor came over and offered to teach me how to make it. He made it. I watched. It took his three visits, before the bread was ready to be baked. When I took it out of the oven and finally tasted, it was perfect. Again, my whole family, including my sister who was visiting us from Poland at that time, did not even let it cool down. It was gone to the last crumb, still hot. Now that I finally learned its secret, I make it from time to time over the weekend and we have it warm and aromatic with our Sunday brunch.

Talking about secrets, there are two that you need to learn about its preparation. First, the dough has to rise for a long time, so the best way is to make it a day before in the evening and let it stand overnight. Second, it must be baked in a pot with a cover that can tolerate very high temperature--450F. I was able to find such pot at Home Goods for just eight dollars and it works perfectly. Beside that, you do not even need any mixer or bread machine to make it. And when the house smells like a bakery, and the bread is already cooling down, just listen to it crack.

Bread Baked in a Pot

Ingredients:
3 and 1/2 cup bread flour, preferably King Arthur flour,
1/4 tsp dry yeasts,
1 and 3/4 cup water,
1 tsp salt.

Preparation:
1. Put water, flour, and yeast in a large and a relatively deep bowl (because the dough will grow overnight) and using a wooden spoon combine all the ingredients thoroughly. Leave it overnight covered with a dishtowel.
2. Dust a wooden surface with flour and dump the dough on it. Cover the dough with a dishtowel and let it stand for 15 minutes.
3. Spread a dishtowel over a round bread basket, dust it with a tablespoon of cornflour, put the dough on it, fold the ends of the dishtowel on top of it and leave it for 30 minutes.

4. Preheat oven (preferable a convection oven) to 500F and put an empty baking pot in it for about 15 minutes.
5. Lower the temperature to 425F, take out the pot and gently dump the dough in it. You can draw a cross on top of it or make a couple of diagonal cuts. Cover the pot with the lid and put it back in the oven.
6. After 30 minutes take the lid off and bake the bread in an open pot for another 15 minutes.
7. Take the pot out of the oven. Let the bread cool down and listen to it crack.

Cut a slice, spread butter on it, and enjoy.

Spicy Papaya Pie--A Carotene Bomb

These days papayas are everywhere in Washington DC. They come mostly from China. They are yellow outside and intensely orange inside because they are very rich in carotene (vitamin A). For this reason papayas were introduced in Africa and in South East Asia, to prevent blindness among children. Since it is such a healthy and nutritious fruit, I have already written about it on my blog and I keep trying to incorporate papaya in my family's diet. But, besides that one recipe and fruit salads where I often include papaya, I am still in search of a perfect papaya recipe.

As I mentioned in my other post, I ate a savory papaya dish at one of my friends' house. I enjoyed it very much, especially that I do not eat scallops which it was served with. I was not able to contact my friend, who lives right now somewhere in Africa, to get exactly the details of that recipe, but this dish was so unique and tasty that really tried to reproduce it and started to experiment myself.

Through a trial and error process, I created something that reminded me of that savory dish he served. This dish stays slightly on the sweet side like anything made of carrot, pumpkin, or sweet potatoes, but I think it came out quite interesting. I made one vegetarian version of it and one with prosciutto. On the picture you see bacon, although at the last moment I decided to go for something more delicate and I used prosciutto instead. I think it was a good decision as bacon could have overshadowed the taste of the papaya. I prefer papaya with prosciutto, if is served as a stand-alone dish with baguette or as a seafood accompaniment (like my friend did it), but a purely vegetarian version is also worth trying.

Spicy Papaya Pie

Ingredients:
1 small very ripe papaya,
1 egg,
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan,
1 small onion, chopped,
4 cloves garlic,
1 tbsp all purpose flour,
2 tbsp sour cream (heavy whipping would also make),
1/2 cup chopped parsley,
1/2 cup prosciutto ( optional) cut into strips,
3 tbsp oil,
1 tsp salt,
1/4 tsp pepper,
1 tsp red smoked pepper,
a pinch of Cayenne pepper (or more depending on how spicy you like it),
2 tbsp breadcrumbs.

Preparation:
1. Peel off papaya and and cut into small cubes, squeezing gently some of the extra juice. Put in a large bowl.
2. Heat 2 tbsp oil and fry onion for about 3 minutes. Add prosciutto and fry for additional 1-2 minutes.
3. Add onion with prosciutto to papaya and follow with garlic, egg, flower, cream, parsley, Parmesan, and all the spices.
4. Using a blender grind the whole mixture until it resembles cottage cheese. If you do not have a blender you can just grate papaya on a big hole grinder and add all the other ingredients.
5. Spread another tbsp of oil all over the baking dish and sprinkle it with half of breadcrumbs. Cut garlic into slices and arrange over the bottom of the dish (it will be absorbed into the papaya during baking).
6. Put the papaya mixture into the dish, and cover with remaining breadcrumbs on top.
7. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until breadcrumbs are gold and the papaya almost brown.

Serve warm.

Brazil Nuts Cake--Right for the Carnival

Yesterday I learned that today was the first day of the 2011 carnival in Rio. Wouldn't it be nice to celebrate that with a piece of a rich Brazil nuts cake? This idea came to me when I was wondering what to do with the pound of Brazil nuts that I had bought recently.

Brazil nuts are an important source of protein, vitamins, and omega three fatty acids. Brazil nuts are also the richest source of selenium, which has anticancer properties. This is why you can buy the Brazil nut oil in many healthy food stores and it is also used to make vitamin supplements.

One easy way to get all these nutrients in your daily food is to use the Brazil nut oil in salads instead of olive oil. You can also use Brazil nuts instead of pine nuts to make pesto sauce, although I am not sure if pesto with Brazil nuts tastes better than the original version. Besides, on this particular occasion, I was looking for something more festive.

During my vacations in Poland last summer I got a recipe for a cake with Brazil nuts and bananas. It is not only very tasty, but also very rich and nutritious, like a muffin or a banana bread with nuts, bananas, and oats.

This is not a cake that I would serve as an after dinner dessert. It feels almost like a good cereal, or Swiss muesli breakfast. The nuts make it crunchy, while raisins and bananas make it sweet and soft, and oats make it very filling. So today, to celebrate the opening of the carnival in Rio, I have started my day with a cup of coffee and a slice of the Brazil nuts cake.

Brazil Nuts Cake
(For a 10" loaf pan)

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour,
1 cup oats,
1 cup sugar,
2 stick butter, room temperature,
1 cup raisins,
1 cup Brazil nuts chopped,
3 bananas, cut into small pieces,
3 eggs,
1 tsp cinnamon,
1 tbsp cocoa,
1 tsp baking powder,
1 tsp baking soda.

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. In a stand-up mixer mix together butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy.
3. Add eggs, one by one, running the mixer in between.
4. Add the bananas and mix well.
5. Put flour, oats, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Mix them and then incorporate everything into the batter.
6. Butter the loaf pan and sprinkle it with breadcrumbs.
7. Add raisins and nuts to the batter, mix well and put the whole batter into the loaf pan.
8. Bake for 50-60 minutes.

Cool and serve with a chocolate sauce or powdered sugar on top.