No-Knead Bread - Finally

I know I am a little late on the No-Knead bread craze, but I finally gave it a shot.  I followed the recipe from SteamyKitchen.com (No Knead Bread: so easy a 4-yr old can make it!) with just a few changes.

The dough seemed firm enough after folding it with a spatula so I actually did pick it up and worked the dough in my hands for a bit, stretching the top and tucking it under to get a nice smooth surface.  I then placed it on parchment paper and set it back into the bowl for the last 2 hours.

While I have a sufficiently large dutch oven, I have my doubts about the handle on the lid standing up to the temperature in the oven.  Instead, I placed the dough on a pre-heated pizza stone (hence the parchment paper above) and poured a cup of water into a pan in the bottom of the oven to create steam.

The result?  The best bread I've had in a long time.  I could have left it in for a bit longer, and will next time, but the crust was looking so good I didn't want to mess it up!

George

Preparing meals ahead

With all the chicken I picked up at Martins I wanted to take a crack at preparing meals ahead.  I'm a big fan of the slow-cooker and have had success with quite a few recipes, but I'm always eager to try new ones.  So, combining the two, I decided to pre-make several slow-cooker recipes.

I know, I know, slow-cooker meals are already prepared hours ahead.  That's not important now, I still wanted to try it this way!

First of all, I chopped about 6 cups of onions.  They're good for you and when cooked in the slow cooker they take on the tastes of the rest of the ingredients and stop being so onion (for this kids, of course).  I only teared up a little bit.

Next, I grabbed a handful of recipes from TheBump.com for "Dump Chicken".  Thanks, AnnapolisLari!  I decided to try the Honey Glazed, Creole and Sticky Chicky variants.  I placed each recipe in it's own little freezer bag along with the chicken breasts per the instructions.  Mostly per the instructions, that is, I'm not good at strictly following recipes.

Finally, I sealed them and squished them satisfyingly to mix everything up. They are now patiently waiting in my freezer for their shot at glory.  I'm most interested in the Sticky Chicky.  I'll let you know how it comes out.

George