Beard on Bread, Tim on Chili

By far, one of the best bread-baking books out there is Beard on Bread.

The beauty of anything written by James Beard is that he writes in a straight-forward way, gives common-sense instructions, and gives a list of variations.  His basic premise is "you can't screw it up."  I've been following that advice for years.

So after making a big pot of chili today, I thought making some bread bowls would be a fun way to serve them.  It's cold outside.  I can pretty much justify the calories.  Besides, fresh bread is one of life's great pleasures.

My 'go-to' recipe for a quick and easy bread is Beard's French-style (also called Cuban) Bread.  It's a one-rise and into a cold oven bread that has a great crust.  I thought it would be perfect for bread bowls.  They almost were.

I followed the directions and formed into balls instead of loaves and into the oven they went.  They actually rose up more than they rose out, so, while they could have worked, I decided to put the chili in bowls and serve the bread on the side.  It worked.

Here's the complete 2-page recipe and schpiel from his 1973 cook book.

French-Style Bread

French bread, as we all know, has been praised and prized above all other breads in the world for its distinctive crumb, crisp crust, and superb flavor. However, the carefully controlled preparation of it in commercial bakeries is difficult to duplicate in one’s own kitchen. If you are ready for the challenge, you should search out a recipe that is as complete as the one developed by Julia Child and Simone Beck for Volume 2 of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Their method seems tremendously complex but it is great fun to follow through to the final goal (and once mastered, not difficult to do again); the loaves are startlingly good and genuinely French.

The bread I am giving here is not truly French, and for that reason it is called “French-style.” Actually it could be called “Continental,” because it is very much like the bread one finds in Italy, Spain, and Portugal. It has also been known for many years as "Cuban Bread." It is a casual, easy-to-make bread that can be played with in several ways. If made according to the basic recipe below it produces a good loaf ready for eating almost the minute it comes from the oven. It will not hold for more than half a day but, of course, can be frozen.

Yield: 2 long loaves

Ingredients

• 1½ packages active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 2 cups warm water (l00° to 115°, approximately)
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 5 to 6 cups all-purpose or hard-wheat flour
• 3 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
• 1 tablespoon egg white, mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water

Directions

Combine the yeast with sugar and warm water in a large bowl and allow to proof. Mix the salt with the flour and add to the yeast mixture, a cup at a time, until you have a stiff dough. Remove to a lightly floured board and knead until no longer sticky, about 10 minutes, adding flour as necessary. Place in a buttered bowl and turn to coat the surface with butter. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1½ to 2 hours.

Punch down the dough. Turn out on a floured board and shape into two long, French bread-style loaves. Place on a baking sheet that has been sprinkled with the cornmeal but not buttered. Slash the tops of the loaves diagonally in two or three places, and brush with the egg wash. Place in a cold oven, set the temperature at 400°, and bake 35 minutes, or until well browned and hollow sounding when the tops are rapped.

VARIATIONS

For a wheaten loaf, use half white flour and half whole-wheat flour.

Substitute equal parts of whole-wheat flour and cracked wheat for half of the white flour.

For a more involved, more tightly textured loaf: Use either the original recipe or the whole-wheat variation. After the first rising, remove from the bowl, punch down, and knead again for 5 to 10 minutes. Return to the buttered bowl for a second rising. When it has doubled in bulk, form into two loaves and place on a baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes. Slash with a sharp razor or knife, brush with slightly beaten egg white or water, and place in a cold oven set for 375° or 400°. Bake until nicely browned and hollow sounding when tapped with the knuckles.

Line the oven rack with tiles (see page 12), preheat the oven to 400°, and slide your bread loaves from the baking sheet directly onto the tiles, which have been sprinkled with cornmeal.

Add to the liquid in the first step 4 to 5 tablespoons olive oil and then proceed with either the original recipe or the whole-wheat variation. You may need to use a small additional amount of flour.

Use 1/3 white flour, 1/3 whole-wheat, and 1/3 cracked-wheat. This will give a very nice coarse, nutlike texture to the bread. With this mixture I would advise adding olive oil in the beginning to give tenderness.

© 1973 James A. Beard

Chili is one of those things I just kinda make.  I don't really have a favorite recipe and I more or less make it differently every time I do make it.  I make it with ground beef, cubed beef, stew beef, fresh beans, canned beans, dried beans, whole tomatoes, canned tomatoes, fresh chilis or dried or ground.

It's chili.  Ya can't really screw it up.

This chili was pretty much a canned affair.  Beans and tomatoes were canned and the beef broth came out of a carton.  The beef was real.

Canned beans are a great convenience and I always pick up a can or three when when they're on sale.   While I was actually planning to use dried beans, Victor gently reminded me last night that we had probably a dozen cans of various beans on the shelf taking up more room than a single bag of beans.  I just love a logical man!  Canned beans, it was!  I used Roman beans, cannellini, pintos, pink beans, and red beans.

5-Bean Chipotle Chili

• 2 pounds beef, cubed
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 14oz can diced tomatoes
• 2 8oz cans tomato sauce
• 1 qt beef broth
• 6 cans assorted beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 tsp chipotle powder
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• salt and pepper
• cheese and sour cream for toppings

Brown beef (I browned it in bacon grease because I had some from breakfast).  Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is wilted.

Add spices and cook to rid them of their 'raw' taste.

Add tomatoes and then broth.  Bring to a boil and then simmer about an hour.

Add beans and simmer another hour or so.

Check for seasoning and serve with cheese and sour cream.

Bread was served on the side.  It was crusty, crunchy, and perfect for dipping and sopping.

And there are leftovers.

Yum.

by Tim Dineen