Borscht, Bread, and Anthony Bourdain (Not Necessarily in that Order)

That's a lot to cover in one post, my inaugural post, but here goes.

I'll start with the bread. I have struggled and failed so many times attempting to make bread over the years. Let's just say I've been an expert brick-baker. But no more. A guy I work with told me about a no-knead bread recipe that was printed in the New York Times last Fall. It is, in a word, AMAZING. Apparently, it's all over the internet, with good reason. This recipe produces a crusty, bubbly, rustic loaf that rivals anything you buy at Ken's or Pearl bakery. Thanks Jeremy!

It's super easy, and turns out perfect every time; all it requires is time and patience. If you bring a hot loaf to a dinner party, everyone will be thoroughly impressed. Every time I've done so, everyone said incredulously "You made this?!"

You can find the recipe at fanaticcook.blogspot.com/2007/01/new-york-times-no-knead-bread.html

Helpful hint: I used a pan called a Doufeu to bake the bread in. It is intended for braising meat, but the condensation and steam that's created inside works perfectly for this purpose.

Next, Anthony Bourdain. I recently read Kitchen Confidential, a book by now-semi-celebrity-chef Anthony Bourdain. It was fascinating, exciting, informative. It described how he got

interested in cooking, as well as all the dirty secrets of the restaurant business. I was hooked. I started his next book recently, A Cook's Tour, and so far, am equally enamored. He makes cooking cool, hip, a little edgy (even though he is probably kind of dorky too). Super cool. I'm going to New York City next week, and hopefully, I will have a meal at his restaurant, Brasserie Les Halles. I'm so looking forward to this. I _almost_ have a crush on him, even though he is an old guy who smokes. But anyway, an excerpt from A Cook's Tour made me very interested in borscht:

"...borscht is barely a soup; it's damn near an entree: a chunky hot stew of meat, onions, carrot, cabbage, beets, and potatoes, a rib-sticking dark red concoction perfect for filling the belly cheaply on an icy winter night. The cold, watery bright pink puree you might have seen in the States is barely related." (Bourdain. A Cook's Tour. Ecco: 2001.)

This sounded good! I searched the internet to find a borscht recipe that resembled his description. Here it is: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Ukrainian-Red-Borscht-Soup/Detail.aspx

I made it this weekend. I will DEFINITELY make it again. It was super good. Here's a photo of my result:

So, thanks for reading. My future posts probably won't be so long, but you know, this was my first one, I had a lot to talk about, so I was excited.