INGREDIENTS

Artisan bread,

made simple

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY LAUREN FERRAGUT CARLSON Bread making can be intimidating to a lot of us. A tedious encounter with yeast, “proving” dough, punching it down and shaping the loaf all seems labor intensive and time consuming, discouraging a lot of would-be bread bakers. That said, I have always enjoyed making and baking bread. I actually love the process, the time and patience it requires. And then I had a baby. That sort of changed … well, everything. Once I settled into life as a new mom (but do you really ever?), I found myself in the kitchen baking again — with baby in tow. I quickly learned that if I wanted to bake, it had to be easy, not too involved, yet flavorful and pleasant to the eye. Was it even possible? Yes! One of my favorite quick-bake recipes I discovered is a “no-knead” bread. I’m calling it an artisanal loaf because it is beautiful to look at, crusty and delicious.

No doubt about it, it is easier than making brownies from a box and easier than frying an egg (which I think is harder than it should be). Definitely, it is easier than driving to your local bakery and overpaying for a fancy loaf of bread you could make at home. This bread requires only four ingredients, one bowl and a small bit of time. That is it. I could make this bread between diaper changes with my eyes closed. And, actually, I have done just that.

There is a lovely simplicity to this bread, which is betrayed by its artisanal look and its delicious taste. Reminiscent of bread you might find wrapped in brown paper in a European bakery, Dutch oven bread is impressive in its good looks. The Dutch oven baking yields a beautiful brown crusty top and soft brown bottom.

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When you cut into the loaf, it crunches and cracks with such audible force it will wake a sleeping baby. I am speaking from experience. Letting the loaf rise or “prove” for up to 24 hours allows it to develop a rich and deep flavor, full of enticing air pockets. This bread does all the work for you and with zero intimidation. I hope you try it for yourself !

To our readers: Make this bread at home and send me a picture of your finished loaf. Email it to lauren.ferragut@gmail.com. We’ll post it on Facebook.

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Who would have thought it could be this easy? Having all four of your ingredients out, organized and ready to go makes this bread-making process even faster.

Transfer the dough to a clean, ungreased bowl. I prefer to use my clear glass mixing bowl. It makes it a lot easier to tell when it has doubled or needs more time rising.

There are only four ingredients and you basically dump them all in one bowl. I love that you don’t have to “prove” this dough. Simply mix all the ingredients together, that’s it!

Gently mix all four ingredients together in your bowl. One important tip for you — the dough will be very soft and really sticky. It will be totally manageable though.

I like to wait a full 24 hours for my dough to rise. The dough should be bubbly and more than doubled. The longer wait will result in a richer, more flavorful bread.

Flour your hands when you "shape" the sticky dough. Punch down the dough and shape into a ball as best you can, then transfer to a floured piece of parchment paper.

Use your mitts to remove the preheated empty Dutch oven from the oven. Place the dusted parchment paper and dough ball in the hot pot and you are ready to bake.

The difficult part is to let the bread fully cool before slicing. If you cut while it’s still hot, you will lose all the delicious moisture. Enjoy this beautiful artisan-looking bread!

METHOD: In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt and yeast. Gradually add warm water to the dry mixture and mix gently until all flour is incorporated and it forms a rough ball. (It will be sticky.) DUTCH OVEN NO-KNEAD, ONE-BOWL BREAD

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. kosher salt or 1 3 ⁄4 tsp. table salt

1 tsp. active dry yeast 1½ cups warm water Transfer dough to a large, ungreased bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for 18 to 24 hours, until the dough doubles and the surface is covered with tiny bubbles.

When you're ready to bake, preheat oven to 450 F degrees. Place a 5-quart (or smaller) cast iron pot with lid inside the oven to heat up thoroughly to 450 F degrees, about 30 minutes. Remove Dutch oven and set aside — use oven mitts!

Remove dough from bowl and place on a well-floured surface. Sprinkle the dough with a generous tablespoon of flour. Dust your hands, too! Punch down the dough and

Wine Wisdom

Liquid Light Sauvignon Blanc This cool-climate Washington State Sauvignon Blanc claims a  ashy acidity with tropical citrus notes blended with great hints of golden apples as well. The super-low sugar levels make this perfect for anyone whose is health conscious. This delightful wine pairs well with a variety of cheeses and it is great all on its own!

Chelsey Malstrom, Seven Sisters Spirits, Detroit Lakes, Minnesota

Cheer! Chelsey Malstrom Dogajolo Rosato Made 100 percent from the Sangiovese grapes of Tuscany, Italy, comes this refreshing and  avorful rosé. Sour cherry takes the grand lead in this fruit-forward powerhouse with  avorful red apples and currants rounding out this wine experience. This wine pairs perfectly with charcuterie or grilled  sh. roughly shape it into a ball as best you can. Dough will be sticky. Place the formed ball of dough on parchment paper, big enough to cover the bottom of pot. Lift corners of parchment paper and lower the dough into the hot pot.

Bake for 30 minutes with lid on. Remove Dutch oven from oven, remove lid and bake another 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and place bread on cooling rack. Cool completely before slicing.

Invite your friends for fresh bread and jam with a freshly brewed cup of coffee. They’ll be impressed!

REFLECTIONS

April is in my mistress' face, And July in her eyes hath place; Within her bosom is September, But in her heart a cold December.

There is a Season

In high school, I sang in an ensemble called the Renaissance Singers. I woke up recently singing the alto line of this beautiful English madrigal by Thomas Morley, completely out of the blue. It’s incredible how powerful our memory for music is. I haven’t actively sung this song in 30 years, but I recalled almost the entirety of my part all these years later. But then I started thinking about the lines of this Italian poem. We on the Plains are the embodiment of this poem. April lives, expectantly, on our faces. It’s the way we turn them up to embrace the first rays of the springtime sun, providing a noticeable measure of warmth as well as light after our long, frigid winters. Everything feels, smells and seems new, and we look upon the world as if for the first time all over again, April after April.

As soon as we feel the sun, trusting that BY DAYNA DEL VAL

it will melt the massive mounds of winter away, our eyes begin to look to summer and all that that entails. We eagerly yearn to dig in our gardens, searching for the first signs of sprouts and shoots. We seek out the return of the birds, delighting in our first glimpse of a Robin. We plan ahead to long, lazy days, eating outside, family trips away, evenings spent on porches and back yards.

But even as we plan for and live in the glorious days and nights of summer, we are, all of us Plains people, indoctrinated with our forefathers’ and foremothers’ understanding that the harvest season will shortly be upon us. And we must prepare. We ready our yards for the end of this beautiful season of fresh and seemingly endless gifts known as summer. We cover or bring in our plants at night. We pull out the last of our vegetables from our gardens and can or freeze the bounty. Our patio furniture gets cleaned up and stored away. We swap out our lawn mowers for snow blowers in readiness for what will surely come next.

And in our hearts, we know that the massive mounds of winter will be here again before we know it. Even as we are looking up, embracing the spring sun’s warmth, or digging in the glorious dirt of summer or enjoying a fall fire outside in the last lingering days of autumn, we know, deep down, that winter will always come again.

But so will April, July and September. The Italian poet wasn’t thinking about northern America when he wrote these lines, but they remain true for us anyway. Each season has its place in our lives and in our bodies. Embrace and enjoy them all.

The Cork’n’Cleaver made it’s debut in spring of 1970…a new, casual, dining experience with a southwestern flair. Our original menu featured only four, hand-cut, aged steaks plus our garden fresh salad bar and your choice of a Red River Valley baked potato, sautéed button mushrooms or a Castroville Artichoke.

Over the years, the menu has diversified to include Alaskan King Crab, Walleye Pike, Jumbo Black Tiger Shrimp and Teriyaki Chicken. When appetizers were added, we started with Beer Batter Mushrooms and our famous ‘Lavosh.’ We came across it in a small Armenian bakery in Fresno and brought the recipe home. Since then, we’ve added Smoked Salmon, Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail, Artichoke Spinach Dip, Crab Cakes, Pike Fingers and more!

The Cork offers an escape into a casual and friendly atmosphere. Enjoy dinner, appetizers or a cocktail, beer or glass of wine in front of our cozy adobe fireplaces and when weather permits, remember our patio for summer fun!

When we opened in 1970, our South University Drive location was out of the way and our concept was ‘out of the ordinary.’ After 50 years, The Cork is no longer ‘out of the way’ but our concept is still out of the ordinary.

Join us and celebrate 50 years at The Cork!

3301 South University Drive - Fargo 701-237-6790 - www.fargocork.com

The Fargo Cork ‘N Cleaver and The Fargo Cork 'N Cleaver 50 Years

THE BEST PLACE FOR BIRTHDAY PARTIES AND FAMILY FUN! LOGOS CONTINUED Since1970,AgedtoPerfection

TOKENS for Grades At the end of each grading period, bring in your CURRENT, ORIGINAL report card. Your hard work will be rewarded for with 15 FREE TOKENS!

40 FREE Tokens! with the purchase of any large or extra large pizza. Bring in the whole magazine and we’ll stamp your coupon. Cannot be used with other coupons, discounts or oers. One oer per person. No photocopies. Inspired #4702 Expires: Fri.Apr.10.2020

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