Peppered Vinegar:
Ingredients: A handful of colorful chile peppers, red and green, slim and the right size to fit into a narrow opening of a bottle, and white vinegar.
Process: Bring the vinegar to a boil, while waiting stuff the container with chiles, using a funnel or measuring cup so the hot vinegar does not spill everywhere (don’t ask), fill the container. Leave it open as the peppers will absorb the vinegar, so you will have to add more. Once full and cooled, put your cork or top on the bottle and place in the refrigerator.
Stay tuned – I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Cumin Flat Bread: — from a Gourmet Magazine read in Guatemala circa 1999
- 1 1/3 cup of warm (105 to 115 degrees) water
- 1 envelope of yeast
- 3 tablespoons EVOO
- 1 tablespoon minced lemon peel (yellow part only)
- 2 1/4 teaspoons course salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 3 cups bread flour
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Place warm water in the Kitchenaid Mixer bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over and stir to combine. Let stand 10 minutes. Add oil, lemon peel, salt & ground cumin. Using dough hook attachment, gradually beat in flour. Continue beating 5 minutes. Turn out dough onto lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth dough forms (about 2 minutes). Dough will be very soft. Lightly oil large bowl. Add dough; turn to coat. Cover with plastic and let rise in warm draft free area until doubled in volume — about an hour. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line 12×18-inch baking sheet with heavy duty aluminium foil. Brush foil with oil. Place dough in pan. Using finger tips, press out dough, covering pan completely. (Dough will be very thin) Sprinkle with cumin and sesame seeds. Bake until golden – about 30 minutes. Loosen bread from foil — Serve warm or at room temperature.
Well – the water was the right temperature – but the kitchen is apparently not WARM – had to put the bowl on the floor in front of the heater vent. So maybe a little flat – but WOW – the lemon is great in this. Served this to myself with EMPTY THE BIN VEGETABLE SOUP. Very, very good.
Empty the Bin Vegetable Soup – is just that. Tonight I started with chicken stock, collard greens and cooking water (pot liquor), the last of the spinach, a red and yellow bell pepper in a chunky dice, chunky pieces of carrots and sweet potato, a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes, a couple of sage leaves sissored into the pot, some herbes de provence, and a few stalks of celery. All into the pressure cooker – and cooked for 20 minutes beyond reaching pressure. Perfect with the flat bread.