Well, it is no surprise, with the types of rich foods I've been eating lately, that I am having a flare up of THE GOUT. THE GOUT, if you are fortunate never to have had it, is like having the devil in your foot, but more particularly the area from your big toe through the ball of the foot. It can be avoided by abstaining from eating foods that contain high levels of purines, such as red meat, beer, mushrooms, cream, etc. The list goes on and on.
Purines accumulate in the joints of my big toe. Last time, it was my right foot. This time, it is my left foot. Purines that have not had the opportunity to be flushed out of the body will form into sharp crystals, so if you can imagine the devil with a thousand tiny daggers stabbing you inside your toe to the ball of the foot, that is THE GOUT. But it is my own fault. For the next few days, my diet must change to accommodate lower levels of purines.
Today I made chimichurri sauce for the first time. An Argentinean condiment, it is initially built like the unimpressive cilantro oil I made awhile back, but chimichurri is much improved. As I was researching, I discovered that chimichurri (say it out loud—it's fun) is usually made of parsley, but it is another dish that is wide open to interpretation. I used cilantro since I had a beautiful, fresh head of it in the fridge from which I removed most of the large stems, and then I threw it into the processor with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, several tiny cloves of garlic, Salt and Pepper, a bit of cumin, the juice of one lemon, and Penzey's Pasta Sprinkle. Wow, it is good. I tried a dollop of it on crostini (cooking vocabularly is a hoot) with a little slice of Parm, and I was happy about it. The wife was excited to know what it was going to be served with, and she was happy when I said pasta—linguine, in fact—with halved cherry tomatoes, capers, Black Pepper, and Parmigiano Reggiano.
Also on the menu is baked chicken breast. Simply seasoned with Salt and Pepper, the chicken will also be marinated in a little bit of chimichurri sauce, which kind of brings the dinner all together nicely. But I also made a loaf of bread. For Christmas, Janet gifted me with a Dutch Oven. A wonderful kitchen implement it is, and the very first thing I made in it was Dutch Oven Bread. It takes time, this recipe, but it is so simple you really don't have to do anything but mix the ingredients and push the dough down onced or twiced, as some people might say.
Into the bowl went flour and Penzey's Sandwich Sprinkle (garlic, coarse salt, basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, black pepper.) These seasonings complement the flour well and provide some nice flavors. Also, one packet of yeast that I activated with very warm water and honey. Once the yeast foamed and bloomed aromatically, I poured it into the flour and added more water to make my dough ball. Place in a bowl to rise and develop bubbles; after a couple hours push down the dough and let it rise again. Push down the dough once more, and it is ready to go into the preheated Dutch Oven. No kneading is required for this recipe, but rather you must allow the dough time to develop bubbles which will create holes in the interior of the bread as it bakes. The actual recipe states to allow the dough to sit for at least eight hours or overnight to develop the most bubbles, but I have been known to cut down the time and it still works well. This bread is rustic and delicious, with a chewy crust, and to eat a warm slice of it with a little butter as it comes from the Dutch Oven is a treat.
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