Producing your own sea salt is easy and is something I’m going to start doing when I get near salt water.

First, I boil the water for a minimum of six minutes to kill bacteria. Then I set it in a nonreactive shallow pan in the sun to slowly dehydrate.

So simple it’s stupid.

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3 cups white flour OR bread flour
3/4 teaspoon yeast
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups slightly warm water
Large bowl
Plastic wrap
Spray oil OR olive oil
Oven-safe pot with lid OR Dutch oven (should be at least 4 quarts in size)

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1. Gather your ingredients!

2. A note on the yeast: The original No-Knead Bread recipe specifies instant yeast. You can use pretty much any yeast you have on hand; I have used both Quick-Rise yeast and instant active yeast.

3. Add your flour to the bowl.

4. Add the yeast and salt and stir thoroughly.

5. Measure out 1 1/2 cups of barely warm (tepid) water.

6. Pour into the bowl and stir thoroughly.

7. The dough will look rough and shaggy.

8. Spray the top of the dough with cooking spray, or, if you do not have cooking spray, lightly oil the top of the dough with olive oil. Spread a thin layer over top with a paper towel, then turn the dough in the bowl so the whole ball of dough is coated with the oil.

9. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

10. Throw a towel over top of the bowl and set it in a warm corner. Leave it alone for 6 to 8 hours.

11. After at least 6 hours have passed the dough will have risen and will look rather bubbly and stretched out.

12. Lightly oil the countertop and turn the dough out onto it, folding it over on itself at least once.

13. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it sit for another hour.

14. About 20 minutes before the hour is up, turn on the oven to 450°F. Place an oven-safe Dutch oven or pot in the oven.

15. The dough will have risen and nearly doubled in size.

16. Quickly shape the dough into a round ball  and drop it into the pot. Even if you can’t get it into a good ball, that’s OK. Just try to roughly shape it.

17. Optional: Slash or cut the top of the dough with kitchen shears or a sharp knife.

18. Place the lid on the pot and put it in the oven.

19. Bake for 30 minutes.

20. Remove the lid from the pot.

21. Bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes.

22. You can be extra-sure that the bread is done when an instant-read thermometer inserted in the top or side reads 210°F.

23. Remove the bread from the oven. If you wish to keep it warm for serving, you can wrap it in a clean kitchen towel.

24. Slice and serve!

couple eggnogs on the fly

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 a half cup of 1/2 and 1/2

two yolks

two tablespoons sugar thoroughly mixed

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Whip the reserved whites till frothy and throw some sugar in there as well. Two or three ounces of Maker’s Mark over ice in each tumbler, divide the yolk mixture between the two, finish with some egg white and fresh nutmeg. 

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Source: Michael Ruhlman

Here’s how to make your own sriracha. Love it; I have to give this a try.

Side note: I’ve been meaning to drip some in a bloody mary. It *has* to be good, right?

Definitely need to try this

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750ml bottle of inexpensive dry red wine (inexpensive is ok, but it should be drinkable.)
2/3 cup of honey or natural sweetener of your choice
Juice and peel of one orange
2 cardamon pods
4 cloves
2 bay leaves
2 cinnamon sticks

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In a heavy bottom pot, add all the ingredients and simmer on low heat for about an hour, stirring occasionally. Discard the peel, cardamon pods, cloves, bay leaves and cinnamon sticks with a sieve. Carefully ladle the gluehwein through a funnel into a pair of thermoses.

Here we have what is possibly the world’s most perfect martini. I’ve copied the recipe below, but I encourage you to read the whole post. I’ve called this a “blue eyes martini” and quite like the name.

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A pair (2) of large, crystal martini glasses with a capacity of at least 7 ounce each. Only the classic sillhouette will do. No swirly or rose-colored stems or any other ornamentation is acceptable.

A sturdy, stainless-steel Martini shaker of the familiar shape and a generous size.

Four (4) large fresh Cerignola, California or other brine-cured green olives.

A small piece of aged Danish Blue Cheese of the dry, crumbly variety.

A large quantity of clear, hard ice, frozen from distilled water.

A hammer.

A kitchen knife.

A small spoon.

Two (2) extra-long toothpicks or simple swizzle sticks.

Schweppes Club Soda.

Noilly Pratt Dry Vermouth.

Belvedere Vodka, from Poland, stored in freezer overnight.

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1. Wrap some ice cubes in your towel and bash them with your hammer until they’re all cracked into thirds or quarters.
2. Fill each glass to the rim with the cracked ice.
3. Pour the Club Soda over the cracked ice, filling the glasses. Set aside.
4. Pour a couple ounces of Dry Vermouth into the shaker. Cover and swirl it around a bit. Pour out the Vermouth leaving a coating around the inside of the shaker.
5. Hammer some more cubes lightly. Just a few whacks ought to do it this time.
6. Fill the shaker with the ice, about 3/4 of the way.
7. Pour in the ice-cold Belvedere Vodka, covering the ice. Cap the shaker. Set aside. Other vodkas may be better for other things, but not for this.
8. Take the flat of a kitchen knife and press down on an olive until you feel the pit. Carefully squeeze one end of the olive with your fingers. The pit should pop out. Using a small spoon, fill the cavity with Blue Cheese. Put two olives each on a swizzle stick. Set aside.
9. Vigorously shake the shaker in a violent up and down motion. When you feel you’ve done it enough, do it some more. It’s important that the shaking sliver the ice. In classic Gin Martini preparation it is frequently said that a violent shaking will “bruise” the Gin. That may well be, but Vodka is a hearty liquid that blooms in its return to the near-frozen state from whence it came.
10. Pour the ice and Club Soda out of the glasses. The Soda enables the trace amount of Vermouth in the drink to cling to the side of the glass surounding the pure slurry of Vodka and imparting a hint of taste with each sip. Trust me.
11. Uncap the shaker and pour the drinks. An occasional back and forth rotation of the shaker will facilitate the process. The final product will be thickish, with a slightly slushy quality.
12. Drop in the olives.
13. Enjoy slowly. Chat about the issues of the day. Smoke.
14. Repeat as necessary.

Here’s another salad recipe from my Grandma Smalley. Again, word-for-word from her. I’ve tried making this before and it never tastes quite as good.

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I used to shred the carrots but it took so long. I started dumping chunks of them into the food processor and chopping them – not too fine, but it’s much quicker. If I do it that way, I try to remember to dump the peanuts in first and get them chopped up a little, then add the carrot chunks and process to the size you want it. Then add however many raisins you want.

Dress with mayo, with a little sugar and thinned with milk. (If you don’t use salted peanuts you’ll probably need to add some salt)

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Source: Grandma Smalley, 7-20-2010

The Awl is back again with How to Cook Bolognese Sauce. I really wish they’d start a cook book.

you are REQUIRED BY ME to be using a 28 ounce can (or cans) of whole, peeled San Marzano tomatoes. In this matter there can be no dispute. If you find yourself unable or unwilling to use San Marzano tomatoes I refuse to allow you to make my Bolognese. Seriously. Get out of the kitchen and go take a good, hard look at yourself in the mirror.

I love my Grandma’s (Smalley) waldorf salad. I saw her recently and asked her for the recipe. Here is what she gave me. After I saw this I told her, “where are the tiny marshmallows?” as that is my most favorite part. She said, “just dump a bunch in there…that’s all I do”.

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It’s basically a good eating apple – we always have Red Delicious on hand. A couple good sized apples, diced, and a stalk of celery chopped. Whatever kind of grapes you like (remove the seeds) and some nuts. I like walnuts – is the basic mixture. We like raisins, so I toss some in and if I want to make it a little larger I might drain a can of mandarin oranges and add those.

Dress with mayo with maybe a teaspoon of sugar and a tablespoon of milk stirred together.

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Source: Grandma Smalley, 7-20-2010

I was hesitant to watch this as I thought it was going to be a frozen drink (which I despise); however, I was pleasantly surprised to find that a Hemingway Daiquiri is actually a drink shaken, not frozen. Now that is something I’ll get behind. I took the liberty of jotting the recipe down.

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1.5 oz light rum

.75 oz fresh lime juice

.25 oz fresh grapefruit juice

.25 oz maraschino liqueur

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Add in a shaker. Add ice. Shake. Serve over crushed or no ice, your preference.