No-knead whole wheat ciabatta... and more

You may have noticed I am not partial to food fads.

I do not bake macarons (there is an element of fear, I admit it, but there is also only so much foot talk I can stand - unless you are Dr. Seuss ).

I have never dreamed of making cake pops (yawn again).

I only really bake cupcakes for the kids and not very often at that.

I don't make Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter treats ahead of time to post about because honestly I am just too distracted with life to get my act together on time. But hey, you never know, maybe next year.

I don't cook things involving Gs (green, Guinness) for St. Patrick's day or hearts, pink and red for Valentine's Day.

I will admit I am intrigued by little-house-in-the-prairie-like endeavours such as curing meat, making my own cheese, yogurt or  sourdough bread. But these are just more things that require planning, focus and time. And that is why I finally gave in to another food fad, the mother of all food fads actually: no knead bread.

Ever since my bread machine broke quite a while back, I have been thinking of making my own bread. Then came the never ending blog posts about no-knead bread and then came my beloved Le Creuset. I knew I would make it at some point, but I just couldn't get myself to become the twentieth food blogger that week to write about the same thing. I knew I would bore you and myself to tears. I had to let it sit a while before getting excited about it again.

Well, apparently the time had come because when I was roasting the eggplant for my last recipe on the week end, I knew I wanted to make some fabulously crusty bread to eat it with. I had the time, a whole night ahead of me. Perfect.

I used whole wheat but you can use a mix or white flour of course.

And thus, this lovely loaf was born, with really no effort at all. The next time I will have my kids make it, honestly. It is that easy. You just need time and patience.

 

Whole wheat, oat and banana muffins (and an award)

They say you really notice the passing of time through your children. This morning, reading the paper, I felt the same way about Paul McCartney. So, it seems he got married again yesterday. Again? But wait, didn't he just get divorced? And then I read he has been in a relationship with his now bride for four years. Where was I when you were all keeping up on Sir Paul's love life? Probably reading the food column instead of the gossip column.

Looking up the perfect breakfast muffin recipe. For you.

After all those chocolate cakes I have been baking, it was time to show my new Kitchen Aid we do some healthy baking in our house too.

WHAT? I didn't tell you I am the proud owner of a brand new, shiny Kitchen Aid? How could I forget?

Forgive me, I will immediately introduce you. Kitchen Aid, please meet my many friends who read about the lovely things you help me make every week.

Aww, don't blush.

OK, back to the muffins. Having a hard time focusing this morning.

This is the perfect breakfast muffin because it is not too cloying. The first bite might leave you thinking you could've used a little more sugar or honey but then the natural sweetness from the bananas grows on you and ends up being just right to accompany a nice warm cup of coffee, especially if there is already a spoonful of sugar in it.

They, however, were not sweet enough for the boys, but the husband enjoyed them with a trickle of honey and my son was more than happy to eat them with a thin spread of Nutella. All pretty delicious options, so nobody was complaining. Me? I enjoyed them just as they were and did not feel guilty when I helped myself to a second.

Recipe from Honesty Rain.

Ingredients (for 12 muffins)

dry ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup rolled oats

2 tbsp brown sugar

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

wet ingredients:

2 eggs

1/4 cup oil (or you could use apple sauce)

1/4 cup milk

2 large ripe bananas

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Combine the wet ingredients in another bowl. Add wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix until combined. Grease muffin tin and fill up to about 3/4. Bake for about 20 minutes at 400° F/200°C in a preheated oven.

The other day I received an award from An Italian Cooking in the Midwest. Thank you Pola, it is a real honor, as a non Italian (although I did grow up in Italy, married an Italian and have half Italian kids), to receive this award for cooking and spreading authentic Italian cuisine throughout the world! Grazie mille!

Whole wheat spaghetti with red mullet ragout

I admit it, I am a sucker for pretty things and the other day the beautiful red, pink pearliness of these red mullet filets caught my eye. I just threw them into my cart without a second thought, until I saw them again on Friday and wondered what to do with them.