Farmers' Market Perfection

This past Saturday Adam and I went to the Oakland Farmers' Market on Grand and Lakeshore Avenues. I've been inspired by the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle to eat more locally produced foods. Going to the Farmers' Market was the first step. At the market, we found a bunch of beautiful leeks and a sack of potatoes. Instantly, we decided to make Potato Leek Soup--and tonight was the night. To accompany our soup, I strayed from our usual bread recipe to cookbook No Need to Knead's Kalamata Olive Filoncino. Each component of the meal was spectacular, as was the pairing. The meal takes a bit of time to prepare, but it's absolutely worth it.


Kalamata Olive Filoncino (No Need to Knead)

There is no need to have a bread maker to prepare this wonderfully delicious bread. And, best of all, it's pretty easy. I used a combination of all-purpose and whole wheat flour, but you could certainly use your preference of whole wheat and white flours.

1 1/4 cups lukewarm water (85 to 95 F)
2 tsp. active dry yeast
4 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour
1 tsp. salt
3/4 cup chopped Kalamata olives (or leave some whole, if you like)
2 Tbs. olive paste (olives pureed in a blender until mostly smooth)
3/4 cup Kalamata olive brine (if there is not enough brine in the bottle add water to the full 3/4 cup measure and add 1/4 tsp. salt)
2 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. kosher or sea salt

1. Measure the water into a large bowl. Sprinkle with yeast over the water and stir to dissolve. Stir in 2 1/4 cups of the flour, salt, olives, and paste, and stire until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the remaining 2 1/4 cups flour and the brine and stir. The dough will be fairly wet, the consistency of a very thick batter. If the dough seems too wet, add an additional 1/4 to 1/2 cup of flour.
2. Same day method (what I used): Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, 30 to 45 minutes. With a scraper or spatula, fold the dough by gently lifting it up from underneath and turning or folding it over on itself three or four times. Let the dough rise a second time in a warm place until doubled in volume, 30 to 45 minutes. Proceed with shaping instructions.
or
Overnight Method: Cover the dough and refrigerate overnight. The dough will rise in the refrigerator and acquire flavor from the slower yeast action. Remove the dough from the refrigerator 2 hours before shaping and let stand, covered, in a warm place. The dough will rise for the second time. Proceed with the shaping instructions.
3. To shape into loaves: Preheat the oven to 500. Spray a three-loaf baguette pan with nonstick spray or rub with olive oil. [I just heated the pizza stone in the oven and baked the bread on that.] With your left hand (or right hand if you are left-handed), hold the bowl and tip it over the opening of a groove and pour the dough along and into the groove by loosening the dough with a spatula. Carefully move along the groove as the dough pours, keeping it as inflated as possible. With the spatula, cut the dough off at the rim of the bowl as it falls into the groove. The dough should form a nice, rounded cylinder that fills the groove and stands about 1/2 inch above the rim of the pan. Fill the other two grooves. Brush the tops of loaves with the olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt.
4. To bake loaves: Place the pan in the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 400. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the top is browned and the loaves sound hollow when tapped. Remove baguettes from the pan and cool on wire racks.


Golden Potato-Leek Soup with Cheddar Toasts (Cooking Light, October 2006)

This recipe calls for topping the soup with broiled cheddar toasts. We left this part of the recipe out to accommodate for the olive bread. I'm sure it would be delicious with the toasts, but the soup is flavorful enough to be eaten on its own. It's so easy and takes so few ingredients yet tastes absolutely amazing. Literally, Adam is commenting on how wonderful it was as I am typing this.

Cheddar Toasts
8 (1/4-inch-thick) slices diagonally cut sourdough French bread baguette
cooking spray
1/2 cup (2-oz.) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1/4 tsp. ground red pepper

Soup:
1 Tbs. butter
3 cups thinly sliced leek (about 3 medium)
6 cups cubed peeled Yukon gold potato (about 2 1/4 lbs.)
2 cups water
1/2 tsp. salt
2 (14-oz.) cans organic vegetable broth (such as Swanson Certified Organic)
2 thyme sprigs

Remaining Ingredients:
1/3 cup whipping cream
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
thyme sprigs (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. To prepare Cheddar toasts, place baguette slices in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 375 for 7 minutes or until toasted. Turn slices over; coat with cooking spray, and sprinkle 1 Tbs. cheese over each slice. Bake 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Sprinkle evenly with red pepper.
3. To prepare soup, melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add leek; cook 10 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally (do not brown).
4. Add potatoes and next 4 ingredients. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes or until potatoes are very tender.
5. Remove pan from heat; discard thyme sprigs. Partially mash potatoes with a potato masher (or beaters, if you don't have one, like us); stir in cream. Sprinkle with black pepper. Serve with Cheddar toasts. Garnish with thyme sprigs, if desired.