Our Daily Bread: No-knead Sourdough

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No-knead sourdough bread, with crisp crust and its ballooning airy pockets in the crumb, is our favorite bread.   And, recently, I’ve taken the time to return to the kitchen and my roots within traditional foods by embracing the pleasure breads, grains and pulses bring to the kitchen table in addition to all those lovely fats, [...]

How to Make a Sourdough Starter

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Love sourdough breads?  Wondering how to make your own sourdough starter?  It’s easy.  While the internet is full of sourdough starter recipes that call for odd ingredients like pineapple juice, orange juice, potato flakes or sugar water, to make a truly good sourdough starter you need just three things: flour, water and time.  It’s easy, [...]

My Favorite Things: Dolphin Watching, Fennel Pollen & the Mindful Carnivore

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It’s hard to believe it’s the end of January already.  January feels like it’s flown by, and I’m still searching for my footing.  Putting the month behind me – having read some very good books, cooked some good dishes, found new blogs – I wanted to share with you some of the highlights of my [...]

Sourdough Black Forest Cake

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In our home, one of our favorite cakes for special occasions is Black Forest Cake, a scrumptious torte made from layers of dark chocolate cake, sour cherries, and cherry-flavored whipped cream. As we’ve sought to eat more nourishing and traditional foods, I’ve wondered how best to prepare the rare sweet treat like this one, but [...]

A Recipe: Sourdough Challah with Poppy Seeds

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Whole wheat sourdough challah, fragrant with olive oil and honey, is a nourishing bread – rich, flavorful and worth the extra effort it takes to lovingly prepare the dough, roll out the strands and intricately braid the loaves.  While typically prepared from refined white flour, vegetable oil or margarine and refined white sugar, challah is, [...]

A Recipe: Sourdough Focaccia with Grapes and Rosemary

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Sourdough focaccia with grapes, fresh rosemary and coarse sea salt found its way to our kitchen last week. Loosely adapted from the classic Italian grape bread or schiacciata con l’uva, this sourdough focaccia with grapes and rosemary takes an even more rustic approach – omitting enrichment by egg and sugar in favor of only the [...]

how to celebrate the first snow (a recipe for buckwheat sourdoughnuts)

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The first snow of the seasongreeted us this morning, blanketing our mountain town under a thin, cold and icy film.   Grey clouds hung low against the hills, revealing the peaks only by the fleeting whims of a chilly autumn breeze. Each year when the snows first arrive, we celebrate – last year they arrived on [...]

a recipe: staititai [ancient greek sesame & honey pizza]

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Staititai, sweet, tart and perfumed by sweet bay and fragrant olive oil, is, perhaps, the ancient grandfather of modern day pizzas.  Soured spelt dough is first fried in olive oil, brushed with even more oil and topped with crumbled ewe’s milk cheese, sesame seeds and honey.  The combination of whole grain spelt flour coupled with ewe’s [...]

A Nourishing Menu for Mother’s Day

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Real food and nourishment is a gift, and on Mother’s Day one of the greatest gifts a mom can receive is a home-cooked meal prepared for her by her husband and children. I’ve picked three of my favorite and easiest breakfast recipes for this simple and elegant Mother’s Day brunch menu. So print this post [...]

Sourdough French Toast with Maple and Cinnamon

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This version of french toast makes use of sourdough bread with its wonderful and rich tartness, pairing it against a sweetness provided by maple syrup. I find that grade B maple syrup offers a more complex flavor for a better price than grade A maple syrup, and recommend it in this and in other recipes (mmm … sprouted spelt shortbread.) Of course, one could omit maple syrup entirely from this recipe and serve it unsweetened, perhaps paired only with fruit and fresh cream for an equally charming breakfast.