Kitchen Work (and No-Knead Bread)

You can tell a lot about people by the way they work in a kitchen. Even before Michael Chiarello outed his jerky-ness on Top Chef Masters, I could tell he was a major you-know-what from watching his show. Like a flock of birds, vegetables soar into the air in perfect formation as he flips them in his saute pan."Pasta should always be served hot, or room temperature", he declares while rolling his gnocchi. A clear shot at the all-American (cold) pasta salad. He smirks at the camera as he dices the tiniest of shallots. Dinner with friends is served outside. Everyone sips wine, marvels at the view of the Napa Valley hills, and talks about how awesome their friend Michael is. Is Chiarello trying to teach us something, or is he just a big show-off? It's as though you asked Michael Phelps to show you how to swim and during lesson one, he throws on his Speedo LRZ racer and swims eight laps of butterfly. Impressive? Yes. Helpful? No.

Then there is Sandra Lee, who looks awkward and dangerous in the kitchen. I'm surprised she has all her fingers with the way she wields a knife. She should have home cooks guest star on her show to guide her through a recipe. The last 10 minutes of the show isn't even in the kitchen. Sandra unveils her tablescape, and reviews how to use the Bedazzler on table linens.

Befitting my personality, I'm a home cook whose number one rule is "clean as you go." I'm also a fanatic about "prep work." It's not unusual for me to start dinner "prep" at 6AM. It's extreme, but I work full time and I have a 1-year-old son. I have no time to clean big messes after dinner (though I'm happy to let my husband do it), and I have no time when I get home from work to wash and chop vegetables. I love cooking, but I'm practical. It's probably why I like Rachael Ray. If you put aside her personality, she can show us home cooks a lot. She never wastes food or time in the kitchen, and she is always letting you know if the ingredient she's using is available at your grocery store. I'm a fan, personality and all. I even have one of her shirts. It's says "Yummo." I wear it under my clothes like the way Clark Kent wears his Superman shirt. Well, that's actually not true, but I wear it when I run.

This week I made a "No Knead" bread. Fits my cooking habits perfectly. Who has time to knead? This is a famous recipe by Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bakery. Amanda McClements, Metrocurean Blogger, made it during Washington DC's Snowmageddon. I read her post, and I wanted to make it right then. But I had no yeast on hand, and I didn't think my husband wanted to wait in line for 3 hours at the grocery store to pick up a package of yeast. I don't know what made me think of trying it again 5 months later, but I'm glad I did.

The following recipe is from Cook's Illustrated, which adapted it from the famous Jim Lahey recipe. It's "almost" no-knead bread.

3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons room temperature water
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons mild-flavored lager (I used Stella Artois)
1 tablespoon white vinegar

Mix the dry ingredients first, then add wet. Stir in bowl until ball forms. The dough ball will look tattered.

Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 18 hours. Crazy, I know.

After 18 hours, knead 10-12 times.

Place on a piece of parchment paper (12" x 18") sprayed with non stick cooking spray. Place in pan or skillet that's 10" or 12" to help form the round shape you'll need. Cover loosely with plastic wrap for another 2 hours.

Pre-heat the oven to 500 degrees with your 6-8 quart dutch oven inside, lid on. Let it heat for 30 minutes.

After the two hours, dust the top of the dough with a bit of flour and make a 6 inch slit across the top with sharp knife. Lift dough out of skillet using parchment paper to lift it out, and then lower into dutch oven. Cover and let excess parchment paper stick out the sides. Lower oven temperature to 425 and cook for 30 minutes. Remove lid, and then cook for another 20 minutes.

Voila!