Friday, February 6, 2009

Soup and Grilled Bread

Yesterday was a freezing day. It didn't break out of the teens. So it was time for soup. I love soup and I froze some in the late summer and fall. Sadly they are almost gone. Soon I'll have to make more.

Most of my soups don't have a recipe. They are just a mix of everything at hand at the time, be it fresh vegetables or leftovers. The seasonings are all based on whatever gets thrown in. Yesterday's soup was a nice mix of summer and fall. It had tomatoes, carrots, onions, chard, cabbage, zucchini green beans and jalapenos. I couldn't actually see the jalapenos anymore, but I could taste the spice. I'm surprised that no dried beans got into the mix as that is my norm. I love my beans.

As an accompaniment I had grilled bread. I've been experimenting with the now popular techniques of making bread quickly. The first technique is no-knead bread dough. I've always been lazy with bread. I've used my handy dandy mixer in the past. This time I just mixed up my dough and let it sit to rise for 8 hours before using it.

The second technique is to make lots of dough at once and keep it in the fridge for up to two weeks (any leftovers from that get mixed into the next batch of dough). I really like to be able to pull off a hunk of dough and having bread without thinking too far ahead. The time commitment for bread was never my issue, it was the thinking ahead that always stymied me.

I still have to think a little bit ahead. It takes a while in this freezing weather to get my refrigerated dough started rising again. The fastest bread and yummiest has been grilled bread. I found that 20 minutes in a very warm oven is enough to get the dough warm. Then I pull it out and brush butter on both sides and throw it on the grill. It is usually done within 5 minutes. Boy is it yummy. Much better than the rolls made from the same dough.

The dough is simple. 2c ww flour, 2c flour, 1t salt, 2c warm water, 1 package yeast. The recipes always call for instant yeast. I don't have instant yeast, so just did the regular bread making thing of dissolving the yeast in water before mixing it into the dry ingredients.

I find this post amusing since it was going to be a post about soup. The bread just took over somehow. I suppose it is only fair since that is how I felt when eating it too.

9 comments:

  1. Mmmh, Warm bread straight off the grill! Have you tried pizza that way?

    ReplyDelete
  2. This might not be your thing, but check out Peter Reinhart's bread books. His recipe for french bread convinced me that planning ahead is worth it - it's so good!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'll have to try grilled bread! It looks and sounds delicious. I make most of my own breads the lazy way, one loaf/batch at a time in my food processor. I have two pans of cinnamon rolls rising right now, and in just minutes, the kitchen will smell delightful.

    I'm a soup lover, too. I could live on home made soup and bread.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Michelle, no I haven't. It sounds good though.

    Cassandra, I love french bread. I tend to buy it. I used to make things like that but time constraints keep me from it.

    Annie's Granny, I love cinnamon rolls. I'm going to try to make them using my refrigerator dough. It won't be quite as good since real cinnamon rolls have a richer dough.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I got hungry reading your blog. Excuse me but I need to see what I can find in the kitchen (nothing as delicious as your soup I'm sure)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Looks like a pot full of summer. I have not made soup in ages. My favorite would have to be Beef soup made with shanks.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I always envy people who can make soup out of anything. Whenever I do that I get so many complaints.

    Flatbread is wonderful! We're just starting to get into that ourselves.

    Maybe next time I clear off the grill we'll do something like that. It looks delicious.

    ReplyDelete
  8. We've been having soup too and I'm with you, I never use a recipe. It's just a spontaneous mix of what's available. Thanks for the bread tip. Soup is always better with a bit of bread.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks for the bread recipe! After you mentioned grilling bread recently, I scanned through your "cooking" archives until I found your recipe. :)

    ReplyDelete