CAJUN COOKING

Ciabatta (Italian "slipper" bread)
Makes 2 loaves.

This recipe is very easy to do, but you can't do it on a whim the same day. You need to make a basic sponge the previous day, at least 12 hours in advance, and up to 24. What I like is all the kneading is done in the mixer and on the second rise there isn't any kneading at all. Cooks up quick into wonderfully chewy, flatish loaves. Each loaf makes three substantial sandwiches when cut as seen in photo.

For sponge
1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons warm water (105°-115° F.)
1/3-1/2 cup room-temperature water
1 cup bread flour

For bread
1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons warm milk (105°-115° F.)
2/3 - 1 cup room-temperature water
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups bread flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Preparation

Make sponge:
In a medium sized (4-6 cup) bowl stir together yeast and warm water and let stand 5 minutes, or until creamy. Add 1/3 c water and flour and stir 4 minutes. If mix is too thick and dry, keep adding just enough water so that you're able to stir it, but it isn't something you can easily spoon or looks runny. Don't go over 1/2 cup. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let sponge stand at cool room temperature at least 12 hours and up to 1 day. It will look wet and very bubbly (photo top left).

Make bread:
In standing mixer bowl stir together yeast and milk and let stand 5 minutes, or until creamy. Fit mixer with dough hook and add: sponge, 2/3 water, oil, and flour to the yeast and warm water. Mix at low speed until just blended and beat dough at medium speed 3 minutes. If batter is rather dry or stiff, add tablespoon more of water at a time until batter is sticky and soft but not at all runny. Shouldn't add more than a cup of water total, though trust your instincts if you've made bread before. It's pretty forgiving. Pause to scrape down sides, add salt and beat 4 minutes more. Scrape dough into an oiled bowl and cover with tea towel or plastic wrap. Let dough rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours. (Dough will be sticky and full of air bubbles.)

Have ready a rimless baking sheet and 2 12" by 6" sheets parchment paper. Turn dough out onto a well-floured work surface, dust top with a bit more flour and cut in half. Do not knead dough. You're using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to your hands. Transfer each half to a parchment sheet and form into an irregular oval about 9 inches long. Dimple loaves with floured fingers, then cover loaves with a dampened tea towel. Let loaves rise at room temperature until almost doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

At least 45 minutes before baking ciabatta, put a baking stone in lowest position in oven and preheat oven to 425° F. When bread is ready to go in, remove towel, spritz loaves with water. Line up far edge of baking sheet with far edge of stone, and tilt baking sheet to slide loaves with parchment onto stone. If Spritz water into oven a bit more to get steamy and close oven quickly. Bake ciabatta loaves 20 minutes, or until pale golden. Remove to a rack to cool. They should look somewhat like the top right picture when done. Cools quickly, and also dries out quickly so don't cut it unless you're going to eat it, or freeze it. Freezes up and toasts nicely.


Notes: I make a double batch (4 loaves, as seen in photo) to get good use out of all that time it takes to heat baking stones. Great recipe for cold days. It warms up the kitchen nicely. I've used all purpose flour in a pinch and it was fine. I've also used all purpose with a bit of wheat gluten flour added. (In the US, Bob's Red Mill makes a very good "Vital Wheat Gluten Flour") The amount of rising and the amount of water needed for the recipe will depend on the weather. First batch I made it needed a lot of water to get a sticky dough. Today, it needed less water but didn't rise as much because of the cold weather.

Lasagna. With so many variations on this great pasta dish, who's to say which one is better than the other? This recipe is a combination of the one found on the box of a pack of Barilla Lasagne sheets, and self improvisation for the tomato sauce. i.e. I used a jar of pre-made sauce instead of making it from scratch. This recipe works well as the base of a meat lasagna. Fiddle with it yourself to make your lasagna that suits your own taste.

Ingredients
10 Sheets of Lasagne
450g minced meat
200g cherry tomatoes
100g mushrooms
75g peppers (any colour, doesn't matter too much)
50g butter
50g onions, diced finely
50g grated parmesan cheese
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
15g bay leaves, finely chopped
Glass of white wine, coffee (both optional)

Bechamel sauce
1 litre of milk
45g butter
45g flour
15g nutmeg


Recipe

1) In a large skillet, brown the onions in oil [2] along with your garlic. Add your meat to the mixture [3] and cook for another 5 minutes. Once meat is almost fully cooked, season this mixture to taste with some added goods. I added about 3 tablespoons of freshly brewed coffee [4] to the above but didn't make too much of a noticable impression. Next time I'll add more. 1 glass of white wine was also added [5]. Cook until wine has fully evaporated.

2) Add mushrooms and enough tomato sauce to make the sauce fairly liquid [6]. Mix thoroughly [7]. Add your peppers [12] and extra tomatoes [13] to the tomato sauce and mix again. Add bay leaves to mixture. Set aside on low heat.

3) Make the Bechamel sauce in another pot [8].

4) Grease the edges of an oven dish. Line the bottom with a layer of bechamel sauce [14]. Piece two sheets of lasagne on top. Then add a layer of the meat sauce. Add another layer of bechamel sauce, and sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top. Repeat for enough layers to fill the oven dish [15].

5) Bake in oven for 20 minutes at 200C [16].

Bechamel Sauce

1) In a pot, bring milk to a boil [8]. In another pot, melt the butter [9]. Add flour and pour in the hot milk. Be sure to whisk immediately so as not to form any clumps of flour. When mixture boils, remove from heat and add nutmeg and salt to taste [11].

Sidenote: This recipe called for using the no-cooking lasagne sheets, which rely on the moisture from the bechamel and tomato sauces. If your sauces are not liquid enough, the layers of lasagne sheets may still be hard after baking. Use sheets of lasagne that you boil beforehand if you want to ensure a good lasagna.