MEAT: It's what's for dinner.

After a mostly vegan/vegetarian week, I broke my streak last night when I met Peef and Lo for dinner at Roots. I was so happy they suggested we go there, since I had never been. It dawned on me as I was eating delicious pork nachos, outdoors mind you, that I effortlessly ate no meat for a week until that mouthful. Pork, sustainably raised and melt in your mouth tender is confirmation enough for me that no matter my food obsession, sometimes puerco is just the best think in the whole wide world.

Burp! also posted yesterday about the freezer meals that they like to have, which is exactly how I cook over here as well. I'm never happier than when I can spend the whole day in the kitchen concocting, but then I'm very happy to have a fully stocked freezer at the ready. I am actually getting better at not cooking for a small army. My Husband is not a leftover eater, unless the leftovers appear months into the future, and that's actually a good arrangement for a cooker like myself. I'm as happy doing daily cooking as I am eating a leftover that prevents me from cooking every day until it expires, but when pressed, I would rather cook something new.

So I felt compelled to dig into my frozen wares for supper tonight, partially because I couldn't be bothered to run out to shop and partially because I do like to use up what is on hand. What fun to shop in my own freezer: a portion of frozen Pork and Chile from my Mom - one of our Christmas Eve traditions, some frozen pintos that were from last month, and a half armful of leftovers fruits and vegetables with some cilantro from the fridge side of things made a nice salsa to boot.

My Mom makes the most wonderful flour tortillas. When I first came to live on my own, I tried to mimic them to no avail. I tried and failed so many times that I just settled on corn tortillas made with Maseca. I can make them in my sleep, which makes me feel strangely like a top chef in my small kitchen, cooking for a whopping 2 patrons. I can multitask with the best of them, especially, when all I have to do is make the tortillas when everything else just simmers up to temperature, a few seasonings required. Someday I do want to make nixtamal corn in my kitchen like Alton Brown, my hero, and make them from scratch, but until then, Maseca is my very dear friend.

Pork and Chile is among the easiest Mexican staples I grew up with, the chile ratio gradually increasing with my and both my brothers' years of age. We all enjoy fairly hot food, for which I am supremely grateful. Like I said to Peef last night over conversation, when my eyelids are sweating, that is a good thing. To make it, sear pork (shoulder or leaner meat if you like, cubed and dredged in salted and peppered flour), in hot oil - just a bit. When it is browned sufficiently, remove it, and then brown an equal amount of russet potato, also cubed. Add back the pork, a couple cloves of garlic, halved, and add a quart or two of homemade canned tomatoes and a few or more home canned jalapenos. My Mom cans them in oil and they are usually HOT. They turn a miraculous shade of soft when canned, and since they are whole, they retain the heat magnificently. This combination of tomato and jalapeno, most certainly at Casa Rcakewalk, from my Parents' garden and labors, does transport me, every bite, back to some of my earliest food memories. Those flour tortillas and pork and chile, mountains of pintos that always tasted better at my Gram's since she used pork fat in hers. It was some of my favorite food then as it is now.

Leftovers salsa: mango, red onion, cherry tomato, avocado, cilantro, salt and aleppo pepper and a bit of chili powder.

I love that I can on occasion, and thanks to my freezer, I can cook fast and furiously, without hardly thinking, all the while alone in my kitchen listening in this evening's instance to James Brown, The Gipsy Kings, Los Lobos and the Frida Soundtrack, with a bit of Johnny Cash, Hank Sr., the Cars and the Smiths for good measure. Sometimes that random songs on the iPod does a pretty awesome job. Meanwhile the boys were playing ball in the living room, something that would have never happened with such gusto indoors in my own childhood home... But I continued on, beaming all the while that my boys were having such fun within my earshot.

Boy-O didn't eat one bite for supper, tortilla, bean or even cereal staple. My Husband and I gobbled a couple of tacos each, sides of hot jalapeno for good measure. Easy dinner doesn't get better than this. When I finally commit to perfection of that elusive flour tortilla, I will be truly in culinary ecstasy.

That Vegan Cashew-Cheese Frosting Experiment. And On Diet.

I did take that leftover cup of cashew "ricotta cheese" from yesterday's adventure and tried to turn it into delicious vegan frosting. I felt that I succeeded, but then I really did want it to taste just a bit like butter. I didn't add any mind you, but here is what I did:

I was obviously in an Aleppo pepper kind of mood...

First, I made some vegan chocolate cupcakes. Then, with my immersion blender, I took 1 cup of leftover cultured cashew cheese from Tal Ronnen's recipe and blended it to near perfect smoothness. It took me a few minutes. He does include recipes in his book for actual Cashew Cream and Whipped Cashew Cream, but I figured that I didn't want to waste (or end up eating entirely myself) a rather large amount of cashew cheese and besides we all know that I'm always up for tinkering around in my kitchen. Had I started with one of these, I would have had a smoother product from the beginning, and certain success.

After smoothness was obtained, I began to think about sweetener. I do have some agave syrup that I needed to use up (and do not and will not purchase it again after reading so much on it's huge amount of over processing. A quick search gave me this article - as it pertains particularly to vegan eating - that sums up quite a bit of what I've been reading elsewhere...), so I added maybe a tablespoon or two and tasted. It was a bland and awful taste, quickly corrected by about a 1/4 cup of dark brown sugar. Now I was getting somewhere! A heavy pinch of salt, a pinch more brown sugar - and still immersion blending... It was beautiful, thick, and creamy, but frosting-like it just was not.

I added 1/2 cup of Spectrum Organic Shortening and switched to a hand mixer, and then, I decided that the flavor was just too strange, so I added the last of my cocoa powder, maybe a 1/4 cup. Now I was REALLY getting somewhere. It finally had a bit of character, and the cocoa masked any strangeness that I was getting before. Cocoa powder works hand in hand with espresso powder in my kitchen, so I sprinkled some of that in as well. My final decision was that I am indeed a sugar addict, and yes I know it is something I need to work on (and I am!), and I added more sugar, this time I used confectioner's sugar. I figured the cornstarch in it would act as a bit of a thickener. I called it finished, and filled a piping bag to give it the proper test:

It still looks a bit granular, but really, it was very creamy and mousse-like. If you are looking for a way to use up leftover cashew cheese, I'd recommend tinkering with it. I let the Boy-O eat one for dessert, and he had no qualms, proof that perhaps I was over thinking (and over tasting) the entire project.

Vegan Cupcakes with Chocolate Cashew "Ricotta Cheese" Frosting? Pretty edible and tasty for a vegan cupcake... but I'm not suggesting that you rush out and make them instead of the real deal. Unless, of course, you are vegan - then I would say do it now!

I'm trying to identify what it is about vegan and non-vegan foods that appeals to the practitioners of each style. Vegan foods seem so noble and clean, minimal and beautiful. Conventional "American" diets seems by comparison seem fat-laden and heavy with both wheat and sugar, which I know they really are. While vegan cookery is very appealing to me, strange vegan dessert preparations that feel like they are just lacking something in my mouth do not. I know there is someone that can prove me wrong, and I'm sure I'll try many more things and let you know if I manage to prove it to myself.

This obsession of vegan foodstuffs is really causing me to stop and think if nothing else, about all of the flaws in my own diet. My copy of Sproutman's Kitchen Garden came this afternoon, and it would be worth noting this paragraph which is sticking out in my brain (I was actually one paragraph, I just split it up for emphasis):

The "Standard American Diet" suits its acronym, S.A.D. It is synonymous with unhealthy eating habits and lifestyle. It is founded on what looks, smells, and tastes good... ...We are most concerned with its presentation and convenient availability. We freeze it, can it, preserve it, artificially flavor it, color it and otherwise separate it into parts and reassemble it in different ways to pique our interest and pry open our pocket books. Advances in technology serve mostly to improve production and distribution. We have largely ignored the multitude of ways that food influences our health. America's most popular foods are steak, hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, poultry, cold cuts and canned tuna. We are also dairy and refined wheat addicts. We consume excessive amounts of hard cheeses...

...We drink milk well beyond our ability to digest it and consume mountains of ice cream. In regard to wheat, we have taken an important grain and over indulged it. Our bodies respond to this excess with all kinds of alarms and signals: chest coughing, nose blowing, sinus dripping, palate itching, skin breaking out and pimpling. What does it take to get our attention?...

... Breads, cookies, crackers, cakes, pretzels, pastries, bagels and pizza are not poison. But their ubiquitous presence and the daily intake of such low quality wheat products takes its toll. Bread companies proclaim the virtues of their brand by the number of synthetic nutrients they add. What irony that we remove natural vitamins and then seek praise for replacing them with synthetic substitutes. Breakfast cereals also make the same claim. America literally wakes up and launches the day with a cup of coffee and a bowlful of sugar and refined flour in designer shapes. Then, at dinnertime we pat ourselves on the back for eating a meatless meal in which we again consume refined flour, this time in curls, squiggles and pillows with excess salt instead of sugar. It never dawns on us that pasta, pizza, pretzels, crackers, cookies, breads and cereals are different forms of the same food.

Sproutman (a.k.a. Steve Meyerowitz) wrote this book in 1983! Yes, I know that he has a broad and generalizing view and not everyone in America eats this way, but I know I am guilty of eating more sugar than I know is good for me. Part of it is because I love baking, but part is because it is an addiction. Sproutman goes on to say that the typical American diet consists of 42% fat, 12% protein, and 46% is made up of carbohydrates - of which more than half comes from sugar! Wow. Serious thinking needs to be done.

I know this seems like a huge soapbox for me to be up on, but really it is a funny topic to me. It would be easy for me to seem piously against all of these things, but sometimes, I do just want to walk into a joint like Primanti Bros. in Pittsburgh and chow down and not worry and wonder about the detriment of my diet and how it is affecting both myself and others. I want to be connected to the American food culture that varies from state to state. I want a hamburger, and I want it without having to think about factory farming. I am reminded of this scene in Barcelona (which I haven't seen in like 10 years, and due to the miracle that is the Internet, I can find the scene and insert it here!):

Take hamburgers.
Here, hamburguesas are really bad.
               
It's known that Americans like hamburgers,
so again, we're idiots.
               
But they have no idea
how delicious hamburgers can be.
               
It's this ideal burger of memory we crave...
               
...not the disgusting burgers
you get abroad.
               
We can't even call ourselves Americans.

I guess where I'd have to go with this, since a wrap-up should be in sight, is that I really do need to go sit in a corner and chant my Mantra. To "do the best I can and trust God with the rest", as my Gram always said. She also once told a doctor who asked what was the secret to her good health: "I don't drink or smoke, and eat all the ice cream I can hold". That was the quote I liked most when I was younger, and I guess I still do. In fact, I whipped up another ice cream base this evening, just before all of this vegan talk... To add to my moderation, I suppose it is best that I am eating ice cream I make myself. Zero preservatives, and with organic milk, fairly low in chemical pesticides, and truth be told, I cut the sugar in half. I'll let you know how THAT worked out for me. I sure didn't cut back in this frosting.

Excitement: Somehow it always includes Beets.

So in my recent obsessions with all things vegan, I got the book The Conscious Cook by Tal Ronnen from the library last week. It, of course, is now in my Amazon cart. In addition to lovely recipes, it has great photography and great layout, and is full of inspiring fresh recipes. In reading it cover to cover, I discovered that I was so curious about his "cheese" made from cashews, that I could think of nothing else. In his book, Tal makes Cashew Creams (you can find the recipe on his website) and also cheeses made from nuts that are kind of related to the Cashew Creams. His recipe for Beet Ravioli with Balsamic Pickled Figs and Green Garlic Oil was the one to really pique my interest, and a couple of days ago I decided to embark into the world of vegan "cheese".

His approach is to soak cashews overnight, then blend them together with probiotic powder and let them culture at warm room temperature for 12-14 hours. Now, dear readers, you know that I have a serious addiction to obsessions, when I was so curious about this, that I had to drop $26 at Outpost for the New Chapter Probiotic All-Flora capsules that this culturing project required. I wavered in how much I wanted to try this just a little bit, before giving in and just buying it. After all, I feel like I haven't been buying so many groceries lately, and giving $26 extra of my grocery fund to Outpost is not really a bad cause. I wasn't disappointed in my decision.

I am absolutely glad I parted with my USD's, since the result of this cashew "ricotta" as I'm calling it, was wonderful. I used my immersion blender to puree the cashews and water, and was not able to achieve absolute smoothness, but the flavor of plain, soaked and blended cashews was nice enough that the bit of grainy texture didn't bother me at all. In fact, I thought it tasted exactly like the texture of ricotta, and could see the finished product taking on all of the "cheese-ness" of cheese, sans cheese of course.

The state of the plain blended cashews prior to culturing wasn't all that different either, so if you feel that you can't part with $26, I'd say to go ahead and make it (skipping the long culturing time) anyway! Meanwhile, I used my savvy kitchen math to realize that my 6 capsules that went to inoculation purposes cost me $2.60, and that is affordable for the sake of experimentation! If nothing else, I can pop 80 cents worth of probiotics down my gullet every day for the next month and be proud of my healthfulness - but I'm sure I'll use more of my capsules to try some others of Tal's cheeses. I also didn't measure any of the added spices, I added to taste. No wonder why I love vegan cooking so much!

Tal Ronnen's Cashew Ricotta Cheese

• 2 cups raw cashews
• 1 t. probiotic powder (from 6 capsules of All-Flora, or another comparable quality powder) dissolved in 1 cup of warm water.
  
• 2 T. nutritional yeast flakes
• 1 1/2 t. onion powder (I used granulated onion)
• 1 1/2 T. minced chives
• 2 T. minced parsley
• 1 t. sea salt
• black pepper

Put cashews in a bowl, add cold water to cover them, and refrigerate 12-14 hours. Drain and rinse them under warm water.

Place nuts in a blender with the probiotic powder and water mixture (I used an immersion blender), and blend until very smooth. Transfer to a clean, glass bowl, and let sit at warm room temperature (I leave the oven light on in the closed oven) for 14-16 hours to culture.

Transfer to a medium bowl, and stir in remaining ingredients. Cheese will keep for a week under refrigeration.

This morning, after a night of chilling, I took to doctoring up that cultured cashew cheese into a proper "ricotta" filling. Onion granules, nutritional yeast flakes, some fresh chives and parsley from my yard, and a bit of salt and pepper, and I was completely fooled at how delicious the taste of this was, and that it did indeed taste like ricotta cheese. (Before mixing up the savory version, I saved out a cup portion to play around later with some sweet applications... I have it in my mind that I can make a cupcake frosting out of it!)

I departed from Tal's original recipe here, since I did not make the green garlic oil, and forgot to buy figs during the Probiotic Powder shopping trip. But I was glad, since my result was so good, I was nearly jumping up and down. So many times if you spend a lot of time and effort (and those USD's) on something, the result is not up to your expectation. What a happy surprise to know that I will make this again and again!

I still had my borrowed mandoline (that I have to return), so I sliced a peeled beet very thinly. I ate a slice of raw beet, and then got out my steamer. This is no Raw Vegan recipe, now... but I'm so glad I steamed them, since they got tender enough to resemble pasta, and were easy enough to cut with a fork and gobble down. Boy-O and I spent the morning at the library, and because he was so consumed with a book on Stingrays, I got to peruse my cookbook aisle. I fortuitously plucked Eat, Drink & Be Vegan by Dreena Burton from the shelves, and found a dressing that I decided would be good for the top of my creation, a vinaigrette made from balsamic and maple syrup. Dreena's book has many great recipes, and I'm looking forward to looking over it more completely later today. I also noted that she is a blogger at eat, drink & be vegan, so I'll be adding her to my feedly, no doubt!

I have no idea why I never thought of combining balsamic vinegar and maple syrup, but I'm more than excited that I did. I used equal proportions of each, and it was almost candy-like. I made a very small amount, but it is so easy to double or triple that you'll hardly need to use any of your kitchen math!

Balsamic Maple Syrup Vinaigrette (adapted from Drena Burton)

• 2 T. balsamic vinegar
• 2 T. maple syrup, preferably dark
• splash of extra virgin olive oil
• salt
• pepper

That's it. Blend it up.

Assemble the little stacks or "raviolis" however you wish, obsessively try to get a good photo, and then eat them up! Next time, I will make this more of a meal and have a pretty green salad underneath, but for my lunch for one, a whole steamed beet, and maybe a healthy 1/4 cup of this ricotta cheese was really satisfying.

I know I shouldn't be surprised at how contented I am eating simple whole foods that have little or no cooking. I guess, it doesn't surprise me at all that I'm so excited about my new vegan obsessions, since I do know that often it only takes a little push in any given food direction to send me off and reading about something different to me.

innBrooklyn is hosting another installment of Veg of the Month Club, due on June 10th, and the veg for this go around is beets. I have more beets in the fridge, and I didn't consider using this recipe for the Club submission, but I just may, since I loved it so much! Nothing says "excitement" to me, like beets, so I'm looking forward to seeing some good inspirations there.

Raw Vegan Monday: Avocado Cucumber Soup

This is week number two in my four week series of Raw Vegan Mondays. I did a lot of reading this past week about this diet, and I must say that I am even more fascinated than before. I really think if you are studious, it is possible to have a well balanced and healthy diet while following strict parameters. I found myself "dissecting" my current eating habits and including much more fruit and veg in my every day cookery (or lack thereof), and remembered how nice it is not to worry about cooking meat. (Though I should mention that we did have some steak in there one day: but not only did one T-Bone provide one nice meal, one whole leftover chop went into a huge pot of veg-heavy soup so we have meals into the future.)

There seem to be many different vegan mindsets. Some include dehydration and some do not, some include "faux meat" substitutes and some do not. If I would adopt this diet for good, I'd probably opt for the Non-Faux meats version, since while I'm sure some of it is just perfectly fine, it really doesn't appeal to me. It seems that the whole point of Raw Vegan food is it's unadulterated preparation and pure whole food flavor, and an added bonus for me is the ease in which it is prepared. The food is made, the food is eaten. That's it. Most recipes are written for the eater right now, so prep time is minimal and fast and there are none of those pesky leftovers to worry about.

I'm looking forward to some more good experimentation, since it is easier to focus on food flavor when you have a set list of rules to adhere to. Each specific flavor has no chance of getting lost in a simple preparation, and that is why most practicing Raw Vegans will insist upon seasonal and organic produce, and why I did for this Avocado Cucumber Soup. (Well, most of my seasonal produce did come from abroad... no avocado and citrus trees here in the Great Midwest!) The flavors were so bright and pronounced, and I truthfully did not miss any cooked component - save perhaps a nice slice of crusty bread alongside... I also think it is key to taste as you go. You can add or subtract to your liking.

Avocado Cucumber Soup (adapted from Gone Raw submission by Blissful Mother)

Makes one large serving or two smaller (easily doubled):

• 1 avocado, cubed
• 1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded and cubed
• 1/4 c. raw pumpkin seeds
  
• juice of 1 lime
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• juice of 1/2 orange
• 1/4 c. water
• handful of cilantro, most of the stems cut off
• 1 t. chili powder
• 1/2 t. cumin
• splash of sesame oil
  
• salt and pepper
• aleppo pepper for garnish
• cherry tomatoes for garnish

In a food pro, combine avocado, cucumber and pumpkin seeds and process until somewhat smooth. Scrape down sides. With motor running, add juices. Add spices and salt and pepper to taste, and pulse/process to combine. You may wish to add more spice or salt or pepper, but if you like it how it is, add the cilantro and process until smooth - adding water if desired to reach the soup consistency that best appeals to you. Lastly, add the sesame oil and pulse to combine.

Pour into a bowl, and garnish with cracked black pepper, aleppo pepper and cherry tomatoes.

Had I a nice fresh ear of sweet corn, it too would have been added raw, but May is not the time for corn in Wisconsin... I also nearly added a canned chipotle pepper, but stopped when I realized that it probably would not have been raw, since it was heat processed. If you are looking for a tasty, non-raw, variation, you could certainly add it, I'm going to next time.

I was surprised at the rich and full flavor of this soup, and indeed, it does seem decadent to eat a whole avocado in one sitting. I am continuing to learn and grow more excited about vegan cookery in general. While it is not raw, I'm going to borrow a food dehydrator from my Mom at the end of the month and experiment with sprouted grain breads. Another small smiley box from Amazon will be on my doorstep any day with this book that I am eagerly anticipating. Maybe I'll see if I can't knock back some of that gluten obsession for awhile - not that I will forget about my new Lahey Project tab. Meanwhile, I have another Raw Vegan Monday to challenge myself to and more websites to discover. Ahhh, the life of a Food Blogger!

Stecca'n It To You or Why I Continue to Love Jim Lahey

This above photograph is exactly why I could never commit to a raw vegan diet. Near perfect in both simplicity and taste, a fresh from the oven piece of bread with no more than a couple of slices of cheese could be my staple from now until the end of time. It's not boring, I promise you that - especially with Jim Lahey's recipe for amazingly quick and easy Stecca.

"Stecca" is Italian for "stick", and refers the shape of this baguette-style bread. It is just plain perfection how Lahey manages with each recipe in My Bread to give a distinct and unique characteristic to such banal ingredients as flour, water, yeast. A mere 1/2 teaspoon of yeast interacting with the home kitchen environment for 12-18 hours results in more flavor than any bakery purchased baguette I've ever tasted. This bread in particular confirms all the more my need to pilgrimage to NYC and wait on line at Sullivan Street Bakery just to see how in the world a bread could possibly taste any better.

Since I have been reading up lately on vegan and raw vegan diets, I almost feel pangs of guilt posting this baked good, in all of it's non-raw glory. I was even briefly considering (before slicing into this bread, that is) committing to a vegan/raw vegan diet exclusively for a set period of time, but I just don't know now. My head is swimming with information, and all I can think is that my Mantra (Everything in Moderation) needs a good chanting over and over and over again.

I really am fascinated with the various diets that come and go, and certainly there are many merits to vegan and raw vegan diets in particular, but I'm also reminded of one example the complete opposite of raw vegan: The Atkin's Diet. That one ended rather poorly for Dr. Atkins, but I guess the jury is still out on the exact state of his health. While I'd never subject myself willingly to a mostly meat and no carb diet, I may find myself meeting somewhere in the middle with my current eating habits. With so much conflicting information on human diet, I may very soon need to find myself sitting cross-legged in a corner and repeating what I do know to be the truth about most things in life, that really most everything is good for you in moderation.

In general, I do admit I may be a little on the "carb heavy" side of things, but with breads like this, I really just can't help it. It would be quite helpful if I had a neighborhood full of carbohydrate hungry Velociraptors to inhale all this demonic wheat with which I feel such compulsion to bake. But, something as simple as a loaf of bread so instantly elevates any dish it is served with (or sandwich that it turns into), that it almost seems puritanical. In my new raw vegan mind, I am thinking about all of the delicious soaked seed spreads I've been seeing, and thinking that I could make at least a tasty vegan sandwich if not a full raw vegan sandwich with this, and I am sure that very soon, I will be doing just that.

Ordinarily, I am downright pious in my abilities to wait until a bread is fully cool to slice into, but I only let this one cool down a little bit. I figured, I had 3 more to fall back on if the first one got mysteriously "ruined"! I think this bread would be optimum dinner party fodder, since it requires so little in the way of maintenance beforehand. I'd recommend planning 18 hours for the initial rise (less than 5 minutes of prep time), then three hours before eating, commence with the second rise (another less than 5 minute job). By the time you are ready for supper, you will be rewarded with semi-warm and amazingly fresh bread. I have always used the weight measurements in this book, and found them pretty consistent with the volume measurements.

Stecca (by the genius, Jim Lahey)

• 400 grams (3 cups) bread flour
• 8 grams (1 1/4 t.) salt
• 1 gram (1/4 t.) active or instant yeast
• 300 grams (1 1/2 cups) cool (55-65 degree) water
• olive oil for pan and drizzling
  
• flour for dusting

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, salt and yeast. Then, add water and mix about 30 seconds until you have a wet sticky dough. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 12-18 hours until the dough has at least doubled in size and has little bubbles on it.

After this first rise is complete, generously (GENEROUSLY) dust work surface with flour. Scrape the dough out of the bowl in one piece, and fold it onto itself gently two or three times into a somewhat flattened ball. Brush the surface with olive oil, and sprinkle with 1/4 t. coarse salt.

Generously dust a tea towel (non-lint towel) with flour, and place the dough on it, seam side down. If it is still a bit sticky, dust it with a little flour, cornmeal or wheat bran. (I have a linen kitchen towel that I only use for bread that I never wash - it has a nice build up of flour already in it, which prevents the dough from sticking. If you do this, make sure to hang the towel up to dry thoroughly between uses so it doesn't mold.) Let the dough rise for 1-2 hours (I found it was closer to the 2 hour mark in my cool room-temp) in a draft-free place. About a half an hour before the end of this second rise, preheat the oven to 500 degrees, and oil a half sheet (13x18 inch) sheet pan with olive oil.

Cut the dough into 4 equal quarters, and gently stretch each piece evenly into a stick shape the length of the pan. Place on pan, leaving 1 inch between sticks. Brush with olive oil, and sprinkle each stick with a pinch of coarse salt.

Bake for 15-25 minutes (mine took only 15!) until crust is golden brown. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then move them to a rack to cool completely.

If you choose, you can line the length of a Stecca with halves of cherry tomatoes, cloves or garlic or whole olives, (Lahey said not to use the additional sprinkle of salt on the olive bread due to the salt in the olives), but I would recommend really pushing them down into the dough well since mine hovered closer to the top. Lahey also notes that if the breads get a bit soggy from sitting, you can reheat them in a hot oven to revive them - another great tip if you are planning them for a dinner!

If you eat bread, if you think you may ever decide that you want to try making bread, you should add Lahey's book to your "must have in the kitchen library" list. It seems like I'm all about having projects lately, and I know that I could not be disappointed with any recipe in this book. I have decided that I will be keeping track of my progress of working through the book under the Lahey Project tab at the top of the page. I can't promise any time frames, but I can tell you that given enough time and dinner companions, I will make everything Mr. Lahey has to offer me. I know that it will be a fine time for all eaters involved as well.