Cookbook Recipes

Posts Tagged ‘room temperature’

1/2 pound fish or shellfish, any kind
1/2 teaspoons salt
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, chopped
8 tomatoes, peeled & chopped
1 green pepper, seeded & chopped
4 large cloves garlic, crushed
1 pinch nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
3 teaspoons piripiri sauce (recipe follows)
1 small glass dry white wine
1/2 ounce cilantro, chopped
4 slices of bread with the crusts cut off

Clean the fish and cut into fairly small pieces,
removing as many bones as possible. Sprinkle the salt
over the fish and leave while you make the following
sauce. Heat 23 Tbsp of the oil in a saucepan and stir
in the onions, tomatoes and pepper. Cook gently until
they start to soften, then put in the garlic, nutmeg,
allspice and piripiri sauce. Add the wine and a
little water. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring
frequently, then remove from the heat. Lightly oil the
bottom of a shallow, ovenproof dish (preferably
earthenware). Put in a layer of fish followed by a
layer of sauce and sprinkle with coriander. Continue
with these layers until the ingredients are used up.
Cover the top of with the bread and sprinkle well with
the remaining oil or dot with a little butter. Cook in
a preheated oven at 350F for about 30 minutes or until
the fish is tender. Serve with boiled or sliced and fried
potatoes, bread and a slad to make a substantial main meal.
If you cannot obtain coriander leaves, you can use fresh
parsley instead, but this will alter the flavor of the dish.

PiriPiri Sauce:
1 1/4 cups olive oil
8 chilli peppers with tops removed
1 small piece lemon rind
1 bay leaf
Pour the oil into a small, screwtop jar and add the chilli
peppers, bay leaf and lemon rind. Screw on the top and shake.
Leave to stand in a warm place for at least 24 hours before use.
It will keep at room temperature indefinitely.

Biga:
1/2 Teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
1 Cup Lukewarm water
2 Cups Unbleached, Allpurpose Flour

Mix the yeast and water together, and then slowly start adding
the flour, mixing well. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at
room temperature for up to 6 hours. Refrigerate overnight.

Bread:
2 Cups Warm Water (about 90 degrees F.)
1 Pkg. Active Dry Yeast
56 Cups Allpurpose, Unbleached Flour
2 Ts. Salt
Place the water in a large bowl, sprinkle the yeast overtop and
mix well. Let sit 10 minutes until bubbly. Add the biga, flour,
and salt and stir with a wooden spoon (or mix with your hands)
until everything is mixed. The dough will be fairly wet and
sticky at this point. Cover and let stand in a warm spot for
about 1 to 1 1/2 hours until doubled in volume.
Punch down the dough, folding it over on itself two or three
times, cover and let rise once more until doubled, about 1 hour.
If you choose, you could refrigerate your dough at this time and
leave it overnight to prepare the next day.
Turn out your dough onto a floured baking sheet, and without
overworking it too much, shape into one large or two smaller
round or oval shaped loaves, using as much extra flour as needed
to keep it from sticking. Slash across the tops of the loaves
with a serrated knife or razor just prior to baking.
Preheat the oven to 350F and place a casserole dish with boiling
water on the lower oven rack. Bake your bread 30 minutes, turn
the baking sheet around, and reduce the heat to 300F and bake
for another 3045 minutes. At this point your bread should be
golden brown and should sound hollow when you tap the bottom.
Allow the bread to cool to room temperature and serve.

4 cups allpurpose flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon doubleacting baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
4 to 6 teaspoons ghee or melted butter

Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir until
the ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Make a well in the center of
the mixture and add the eggs, stirring them into the mixture. Add
the milk in a thin stream (or a little at a time if you only have
two hands), and stir until all the ingredients are well combined.
Gather the dough into a ball and knead for about 10 minutes, adding
a little flour as needed to prevent sticking, until the dough is
smooth and can be gathered into a soft, somewhat sticky ball. Moisten
your hands with a teaspoon of ghee, rub it over the ball of dough,
and place it in a bowl. Drape a kitchen towel over the bowl and allow
to sit at room temperature for about 3 hours.
Place two ungreased baking sheets in the oven and preheat the oven
and the sheets to 450F. Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces and
flatten each into a teardrop, or leaf shape about 6 inches long
and 31/2 inches across at its widest point. Use your fingers to do
this, and moisten them with ghee as needed to prevent the dough
from sticking. The ghee also assures the proper texture of the bread,
so moisten your fingers with it even if the dough is not sticky.
Arrange the bread “leaves” side by side on the preheated baking
sheets and bake them for about 6 minutes, or until they are firm to
the touch. Slide them under the broiler for a minute or so to brown
the tops lightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.