Sweetie Pie

Yogurt Panna Cotta

Panna Cotta is a creamy dessert from Italy.  Although it translates as 'cooked cream' it contains no eggs and the cream really only needs to be warmed in preparation.  This is traditionally a very rich dessert of lightly sweetened cream mixed with gelatin so that it can be unmolded into a thing of cool and wobbly beauty.  Panna cotta is often topped with fresh berries and nuts or honey.
The recipe that finally pulled me in to the wonders of this custardesque treat is from Smitten Kitchen.  Here I found that it can be rather healthy when made with yogurt, and it's okay to use low fat milk.  Although the result is not ultra rich, I prefer the light and refreshing dessert from this recipe.

I topped our panna cotta with strawberry vanilla syrup and sliced almonds.  (I happened to have about 6 jars of this from a jam making project gone  syrupy.  We managed to finish off about 2 jars with the panna cotta recipe testing.)

For the complete recipe and instructions, visit Smitten Kitchen.

Before posting, I decided to try the recipe with coconut milk and I'm so glad I did!  I followed the same instructions, but used 1 can of light coconut milk in place of most of the milk.  One can will leave you just a little short of the two cups of milk needed, so just top it off with whatever kind of milk you normally drink.  I also used some vanilla in place of the lemon juice.  This coconut and yogurt panna cotta was extra delish with a creamy texture and mild flavor.  We loved it!

 

 

BFF Salad

This salad is for my friend who is obsessed with each ingredient in it.  It's so simple to make, so versatile, and so satisfying. 
You will need to mix up the salad, then make the dressing.  If you are not interested in making your own vinaigrette, you could use something from the grocery store.  Look at the ingredients on the bottle you choose and make sure olive oil is one of the first (not high fructose corn syrup). 

BFF Salad

1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 can artichoke hearts, drained, rinsed and chopped

1 pint cherry tomatoes, washed and cut in half

1/2 to 1 block feta cheese, crumbled

1/2 cup chopped calamatta olives

chopped parsley

For the Dressing:

1/4 cup chopped parsley (fresh oregano would be good also)

1 -2 cloves garlic, smashed, pressed or grated fine

1/2 teaspoon salt

freshly ground pepper

zest and juice from one or two lemons

1/3 to 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Place the chickpeas, artichokes, tomatoes, olives and some chopped parsley in a bowl. 

Make the dressing by smashing the garlic and placing it in a bowl or jar that you can mix in.  Add the salt and pepper and zest a lemon into the mix.  Slice open the lemon and squeeze in the juice.  If you have a very juicy lemon, one may be enough.  I usually make extra dressing for other salads, so I always use two lemons.  Pour the olive oil while stirring briskly with a fork or whisk so that the dressing takes on a creamy look.  Add the fresh parsley and/or oregano and mix well.  Taste and adjust seasonings.  It doesn't need much salt because of the salty olives and feta in the salad, but you may like more oil, or more lemon juice or more garlic. 

Assemble the salad by pouring the dressing over the other ingredients and mixing well.  I usually start with about half the dressing and see how it looks and tastes before adding more.  If you are making this salad ahead of time, leave the feta out until you are ready to serve.  Just stir it in last so the cheese doesn't dissolve too much. 

It is worth noting that this salad is very versatile.  You can use more or less of a favorite ingredient, it doubles easily, and you can serve it different ways.  It's delicious alone as a side dish, or you can put it in a pita pocket, or mix it with pasta for a more filling cold salad.  We had this over some nice romain for a spring supper. 

Carrot Cake

We made a carrot cake for Easter.  This has no real significance aside from the fact that we hoped the Easter Bunny would visit our house, and bunnies like carrots.
My number one helper was in charge of greasing and flouring the cake pans.  He did a bangup job and the cakes came out neatly.  This recipe uses a lot of carrots along with applesauce so it's very moist and tasty. 

Carrot Cake

This recipe is from my mom's kitchen.

2 cups sugar

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons soda

1 teaspoon salt

4 eggs

3/4 cup oil (I used extra virgin olive oil, but something with less flavor would work too.)

3/4 cup applesauce

3 cups grated carrots

1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare 2 round cake pans with parchment in the bottom, oil and flour. 

Mix the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  I like to sift the flour, but this is not absolutely necessary.  Mix the oil, eggs, and applesauce in a separate container and add to the dry ingredients.  Mix well with an electric mixer on low to medium speed.  Do not overmix when you are making cakes.  Add the carrots and walnuts and fold or stir in gently.  Divide the batter evenly between two pans and bake for about 45 minutes.  A toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean when the cakes are done.  They will be dark brown and fragrant.  Cool in pans for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto racks to cool completely.  Once the cakes are cool, pop them in the freezer for a while before icing and it will be easier.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Mix one softened 8 ounce package cream cheese with a few tablespoons of butter, one tablespoon of milk, a teaspoon of vanilla and 1 box or more of powdered sugar.  Add more butter or more sugar until you like the texture and taste. 

The Easter Bunny did visit our house, and he ate the carrot we left for him.  The cake was safely hidden in the refrigerator.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! 

We got sweet baby chicks and are watching them grow.  They'll give us beautiful fresh eggs this summer. 

As you can see, I'm making some changes to SweetiePie.  Stay tuned as I work out some details.  For now, don't forget to make Easter Bread this year.  Carrot Cake is up next, it's in the oven.

Little Bites

It's a sad day when all the Girl Scout cookies are gone for the year.  My husband loves coconut and always finds a box (or two) of Samoas to bring home along with a few other varieties.  There have been a lot of blog posts online in the last few weeks for made at home versions of these cookies, especially Samoas.  These recipes involve multiple steps and although I'm sure they're yummy, I wasn't interested.  However, that doesn't mean I'm not suffering from cookie with-drawls just like everybody else. These little bites are here to help.  They are very very simple to make and don't even need to be baked!  Vegan and gluten free, this sweet relies on the natural sugars in dates.  It would be a stretch to call the recipe that follows a substitute for a true crunchy, chewy perfect Samoa but if you want something guilt free with that coconutty chocolate flavor then these are for you.

The recipe comes from Chocolate Covered Katie, a blog which showcases vegan and healthy versions of just about any dessert you can think of.  I changed the recipe in two small ways.  First, I doubled it because I wanted more cookies!  Secondly, I toasted the coconut which brings out the flavor and helps everything to blend.

Little Bites Samoas Babies

Recipe from Chocolate Covered Katie

Click through for the recipe.  Here are my notes:

If you double it and use tablespoon sized cookies, you will have about 14 cookies.  I toasted the coconut in the oven (watch it closely or it will burn!) and added it to the food processor while still warm.  I used 1 Tablespoon dark chocolate chips in the mix and melted 3 Tablespoons chocolate chips in the microwave to drizzle on top.  Make sure to mix these really well in the food processor, stop and scrape the sides and keep mixing.  The warm and toasty coconut will cause the chocolate to melt and bring out the oils in the coconut.  It's a bonus that your hands will be moisturized and coconutty when you're done.  I store these in the refrigerator. 

I was truly surprised by how much I liked these.  The coconut flavor really comes through and of course I like the chocolate on top.  My only problem was that even though I doubled the recipe I needed more cookies. 

Tomato Soup

Lately I've been wondering if my chocolate addiction has gotten out of hand.  I enjoyed some pre -Valentine baking and eating in addition to my regular dark chocolate consumption.  Then came V-day and I slipped over the edge.  My husband and son bought my favorite chocolates for the sweet holiday, and I began shoving them in fast and furiously.  Sometimes it's better to just eat it all really quickly, feel ill, and then move on with your life.  Right?  Anyway,  I think I've finally had enough and I'm craving something healthy.  Tomato soup has been a favorite of mine for a long long time.  Today I made a modified version of my mom's recipe.  I read in Julia's Kitchen Wisdom that you can make a creamy soup by adding white rice to the base and pureeing the final product.  Sometimes I just don't want to consume all the milk that goes into the original cream of tomato soup I grew up with.  Particularly when I'm trying to eat something cleansing and get back on the healthy train. 

Please note that this is just a basic soup recipe, it's not rocket science.  Feel free to adjust the seasonings and proportions to your liking.  These amounts will yield a very tomato tasting soup with just enough thickness and a tiny bit of smoothness.  You can use tomato juice instead of whole tomatoes for a thinner soup, or you can add more rice if you want it starchier, or you could increase the amount of herbs if that's what you're into.  You could also use less tomatoes and add some stock.  However, I don't think brown rice would have the same creamy effect.

Although traditionally served with grilled cheese sandwiches cut into triangles, this time we had a yummy feta and scallion tart with the tomato soup.  It was a perfect accompaniment, and easy to make.  If you want to make this without dairy I think you could omit the cheese and use kalamata olives instead.  The crust recipe uses vodka which I didn't have so I just left it out, and it was great.  After reading the comments on the recipe I reduced the oven heat to 475 degrees and the tart cooked beautifully. 

Tomato Soup

2 Tablespoons butter (you can use olive oil if you want the soup to be completely dairy free)

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 Tablespoons chopped onion

2 Tablespoons all purpose flour

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon each: dry basil, oregano and thyme

4 to 6 cups tomatoes, in juice - I used two large cans of whole plum tomatoes in juice for a total of 6 cups.  Low sodium tomatoes would be even better.

1/4 cup white rice (uncooked)

Heat the butter and olive oil in a large soup or saucepan and add the onions.  Cook until the onions are becoming translucent, then add the spices, sugar, and flour.  Stir and cook for at least one minute so that the flour will begin to brown just slightly.  Pour in the tomato juice a little at a time and stir, scraping the bottom of the pan as you go.  Once you've got most of the juice stirred in and boiling, add the tomatoes and rice and bring to a boil.  Turn the heat down so that the soup is simmering, cover loosely and cook for at least 25 minutes. 

Before serving, remove the soup from heat and blend thoroughly.  I used an immersion blender but you could also puree the soup in batches in a blender or food processor.  I found that it was important to blend really well so that the rice became smooth.  Garnish with parsley, chives, scallions, or whatever fresh herbs you like. 

My five year old actually liked this meal!  Score!  I cut his tart into triangles, and he enjoyed spreading his soup on it and calling it pizza.  This was fine by me.  I'm also happy to report that I've successfully steered my caboose back towards health and moderation.

Cream Puffs!

For Valentine's Day this year, I wanted to try making something a little extra special.  I love chocolate, but my husband's true dessert love might be custard.  Since he is my true love, this seemed like a good time to try making cream puffs.   First I made the vanilla bean pastry cream.  Crème patissière a basic vanilla cream which can be used for filling in cakes, tarts, and cream puffs or mixed with whipped cream, or flavored and taken in numerous directions.  This is the easiest custard type dessert I have made because the addition of the flour allows the cream to boil without curdling.  It was a pleasant surprise to find that it was not tricky, and soon it was all done and tucked into the refrigerator. 

The next day I made the puffs.  Good news:  these aren't difficult either!  Pâte à choux is one of the mother doughs of French pastry.  It is used for countless desserts, but I am most familiar with cream puffs and eclairs.  There are many steps involved in making this dessert but it was well worth the effort, and at no point did I feel that I almost messed it all up. 

I used the recipes found in Jacques Pepin's Complete Techniques.  This encyclopedic text has more than 1,000 cooking methods and recipes along with step by step photographs.  Jacques Pepin was only 13 years old when he began his apprenticeship in a French kitchen.  He wrote a wonderful memoir about his life in France and his move to the Unite States called The Apprentice.  If anyone should know the basic formulas for a classic pastry like this, it's him.  I followed his directions and was not disappointed. 

Pastry Cream

2 cups milk (coconut milk may be substituted for a dairy free version)

6 egg yolks

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup flour

Place the milk in a saucepan and bring just barely to a boil.  Turn off the heat, split and scrape the vanilla bean and place it in the milk to steep.  Let it sit while you crack and separate the eggs and get everything measured and ready.  Place the yolks in a mixing bowl and whisk, add the sugar (and vanilla extract if using) and keep whisking until it becomes pale yellow and creamy.  It should form a slowly dissolving ribbon when it drips back ito the bowl. This will take 3 or 4 minutes.  Add the flour and mix well.  It will now look like cake batter.  Turn the heat back on and bring the milk to a boil again.  Remove the vanilla bean and squeeze out any more seeds and liquid from it into the milk. 


Add a little of the hot milk to the yolk mixture and mix well.  Add a little more and mix, then pour everything back into the saucepan and keep mixing.  Bring to a boil on medium heat, stirring constantly to prevent scorching.  The sauce will thicken as soon as it reaches the boiling point.  Reduce heat and cook for 2 or 3 more minutes.  Pour the pastry cream into a clean bowl and cover with plastic wrap, pressing it down so that it clings to the cream and will prevent a film forming.  I actually placed a seive over the clean bowl and strained the warm pastry cream because I was worried I had some lumps.  This step is optional. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Cream Puff Dough

1 cup water

1/2 stick (4 Tablespoons) unsalted butter cut into pieces

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup all purpose flour

4 large eggs

Place the water, butter and salt in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil.  Measure out the flour by scooping the cup until it's heaping and level it by scraping the excess with a knife.  When the butter is completely melted, remove from the heat and add the flour all at once.  Mix rapidly with a wooden spatula.  Place the pan back on low heat and continue stirring with the spatula.  This will allow the flour to cook and the dough to dry out.  It will look kind of like play dough.  You will know it is done when it pulls away from the sides of the pan and a film has formed on the bottom.

Transfer this dough to a clean bowl and let it cool for at least 5 minutes.  Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously to incorporate each one before adding the next.  It will appear curdled at first, but keep mixing and it will become smooth.  Once the eggs are all in, the dough will be smooth, shiny, and as thick as heavy mayonnaise.

Place the dough in a pastry bag fitted with a large tip.  The easiest way to fill a pastry bag is to set it into a cup or tall bowl and fold the bag down around the sides.  Now you have both hands free to scoop the dough into the bag.  For more tips on filling and piping with pastry, check out this great post on Brave Tart.  Prepare a baking sheet by covering it with parchment paper or coating it with butter and flour.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Squeeze out puffs about the size of small golf balls.   If you do not have a pastry bag, you can just scoop the dough by teaspoonfulls - no biggie.  Brush the tops with 1 beaten egg, pushing down the lumps and tails and making them smooth as you go.  Bake for 35 minutes, or until well puffed and golden.  Turn off the heat, open the oven door halfway and let the puffs cool slowly and dry for 30 minutes. 


Now all you have to do is wait for the beautiful puffs to cool so that you can fill them.  I was very pleased with the traditional pastry cream filling, but you could also use sweetened whipped cream or a mini scoop of icecream or whatever you like.  Make a slit in the side or the bottom of each puff and fill with pastry cream in a piping bag.  Again, you could just make a larger slice and use a teaspoon to fill the puffs if you wish.  Dust with powdered sugar for the final touch.   Only fill as many as you can eat in one day or they will get soggy.  Unfilled puffs store well in the freezer.  Just put them in a warm oven to defrost and dry out.

I'm not usually crazy about cream filled desserts.  I'm always suspicious of what's in the cream, and often find them kind of gluey and fake tasting.  I've gotta tell you though, these are so good.  I was surprised at how much I liked them ( and how many I was able to eat in a day...)  When my son bit into the center of his, his face lit up and he said, 'Thank you Mom' around a mouth full.   

Coconut and Lime Fish

We had such a delicious dinner last night that I just had to share.  I tried a new recipe and was worried about how it would turn out. 

It was an absolute success!  The sauce for the fish is a variation of beurre blanc made with lime juice and coconut milk.  It's tangy and creamy and coconutty and zippy and lucious and you've just got to try making it at home.  The recipe can be found at good food matters.  It was easy to follow and only took about 15 minutes to make.

For this recipe you will need:

2 or 3 servings of white fish such as flounder or sea bass

1 can coconut milk (light is okay!)

4 Tablespoons butter

zest and juice of 1 lime

salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, scallions or chives, and optional dry UNsweetened coconut

I love that this recipe doesn't call for any hard to find ingredients like exotic chiles.  The only thing I had to remember to buy was a lime.  I used frozen flounder fillets from the grocery store, which I defrosted in the refrigerator overnight.  The only changes I made to the recipe were that I omitted the granulated garlic and used scallions instead of chives.  I also added about 2 Tablespoons unsweetened dry coconut to the spice mixture.

I would recomend that you open a can of coconut milk and measure out 1/2 cup for the sauce, then use the rest of the can to cook some rice.  Use a combination of the coconut milk and water to prepare rice as usual and serve the fish over it. Yum.  We had this with a plain salad and orange slices.   

Lemon Ginger Heartwheels

You had me at lemon and ginger.  The cute design sealed my intention to try this recipe.  I made them heartwheels instead of pinwheels because Valentine's day is just around the corner.

I was very pleased with the way these cookies look, and the dough was easy to work with.  However I must have baked them too long because they are rock hard.  My son said, 'Wow, these are some crunchy cookies!'  He enjoyed eating them with his back teeth.  Next time I'll slice them thinner before baking so we won't break a tooth, and I'll be careful to take them out of the oven on time.  If this recipe had more butter and sugar, the cookies would turn out tender no matter what.  These cookies are relatively low in fat and calories while still being tasty, crunchy and fun to eat so I'm okay with this trade off.  I was also disappointed with the low lemon flavor.  Maybe there is plenty of lemon zest, but it is almost completely overpowered by the spicy ginger cookie.  If I make these cookies again, I will cut back on the amount of spices in the ginger dough. 

These cookies were fun to bake, and I'll definitely try more swirled cookies, but I'll keep looking for the perfect pinwheel recipe.

Ginger Lemon Heartwheels

recipe from Cooking Light Best Baking Recipes 2011

For the lemon dough:

5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup white sugar

1 large egg white

zest of one large or two small organic lemons

6 ounces (or 1 1/3 level cups) all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

For the ginger dough:

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1 large egg yolk

6 ounces (or 1 1/3 level cups) all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon allspice

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Make the lemon dough:

Cream the butter and sugar in a medium bowl with a mixer for about three minutes.  Add the lemon zest and then the egg white and continue mixing.  Add the flour and salt at low speed and mix until just combined.  Use your hands to finish bringing the dough together if it seems too dry.  Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

Make the ginger dough:

Using the same mixing bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar for about 3 minutes until well blended.  Add the molasses and egg yolk and continue mixing.  Add the flour and spices at low speed and mix until just combined.  Wrap dough in plastic wrap and regrigerate at least 30 minutes.

Unwrap the lemon dough and lay it on a peice of plastic wrap.  Cover the dough with another large peice of plastic wrap and roll the it out between the two sheets.  Try to make a rectangle 13 X 9 inches.  Place on a cookie sheet or tray.  Unwrap the ginger dough and roll it out between two sheets of plastic wrap in the same way.  Aim for 13 X 81/2 inches for the ginger dough, then stack it (still in plastic) on the lemon dough and chill 10 minutes.

Take the chilled dough out and lay the lemon out on the counter.  Peel the plastic off the top (the bottom will still be on plastic).  Unwrap the ginger dough and place it on top of the lemon, leaving a 1/2 inch border along one long edge.  Starting with the long side without a border, roll up into a log using the bottom piece of plastic to pull it tight.  Pinch and seal the long edge, but not the ends.  If you are making heartwheels, roll one long side of the dough with the roller to make a point like the edge of a triangle.  Now, using a butter knife, press an indentation in the opposite side to make the top of the heart shape.  If you want round cookies, just skip this step. Once you are satisfied with the shape of the log, cover well with plastic wrap and freeze 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Unwrap dough and slice cookies about 1/4 inch thick.  Arrange on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake for about 10 minutes or until set and lightly browned.  If you do not wish to bake all the cookies right away, place the remaining dough in the freezer until you're ready to use it.

Country French Bread

I've been working on making and baking bread lately.  I want to be able to confidently and consistently bake a nice loaf of bread with a crunchy crust and chewy center.  It should have a nice flavor and uneven holes inside.
I took a class at a wonderful bakery a few years ago and learned all about the art and craft of French bread.  We talked about different kinds of flour, and the temperature of the dough, and steam injection ovens.  The effects of chlorine on fermentation and percentages of protein in different types of flour were discussed.  The most interesting and pertinent tidbit I took away from the class was the use of bromate in flours.  Potassium bromate is added to some flours to improve the texture of bread and make it easier and quicker to work with.  However, it has been linked to cancer and has been banned in Europe and other countries.  For more information on bromate in flours, click here.  I was shocked and horrified to learn that a known carcinogen is still used in baking in the United States.  I use King Arthur Flour, and sometimes Gold Medal products which are also unbromated.  In the class, we learned how to knead and slash and baked tons of bread all in one evening and went home with a recipe.  I hadn't tried to use the recipe at home until recently because I didn't have a sturdy mixer and wasn't anxious to do all that kneading by hand.  (I previously used a no knead recipe when I wanted to make bread.)  My first attempts at this bread were disappointing.  The bread was perfectly edible, but a little too dense and totally lacking in flavor.  I consulted Julia Child in From Julia Child's Kitchen before trying yet again.  Her recipe is not a simple one page affair, but an entire chapter full of information.  She also gives directions for a bread with 3 long slow rises, as compared to two rises in the other recipe.  The results in my final baked bread proved that the slow way is better.

I used a combination of her recipe and the one I had been using, and things turned out much better.  The key is to give it time.  It takes all day to let the dough develop its flavor and texture.  For the recipe as I made it, you will need a heavy duty mixer such as a KitchenAid, parchment paper, and a pizza stone. 

Country French Bread

3 cups all purpose white flour - unbleached and unbromated

1 1/2 teaspoon dry active yeast

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups room temperature water

Directions:

Before you begin, measure out 10 cups of water into your mixing bowl and mark the volume on the outside of the bowl.  This will be your guide as you wait for the dough to rise.  Dump the water out and dry the bowl. 

Place the flour, yeast and salt into the bowl of the mixer with the dough hook attachment.  Turn the mixer on low speed.  Using very slightly warm water, add it slowly while the mixer is running.  You may not need more than 1 1/4 cups water, or you may need to add it all.  The dough should be very sticky, but not too sloppy like a cake batter, so add it in a slow stream and allow it to mix well.  Let the mixer run for about 5 minutes at this low speed ( #2 on a KitchenAid).  Then turn the mixer off and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and allow the dough to rest for 2 minutes.  Start the mixer again and increase the speed to medium (#4 on KitchenAid) for 3 minutes.  Stop the mixer and let the dough rest for 2 minutes again, then turn it back on to medium speed for another 2 or 3 minutes.  At this point, the dough should be soft and a little sticky and moist, but not wet.  Take the dough out of the bowl and wash it, then place the dough back in the clean and dry bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  You will now walk away from the dough and allow it to rise slowly until it reaches that 10 cup mark on the side of the bowl.  This should take a minimum of 3 1/2 hours.  My kitchen was cool when I made this bread, and it took 5 hours for the dough to rise.  If your kitchen is warmer than 75 degrees, you'll want to find a cooler place for rising do that it doesn't go too fast.  If your kitchen is very cool, like maybe below 65 degrees, you'll want to find a warmer place or be willing to wait for a very very slow rise. 

So once the dough has completed this first rise, lightly flour a counter top and dump the dough out onto it.  My dough was a sloppy sticky mass at this point, but I pressed on and followed Julia's step by step directions.   Flatten by patting with lightly floured palms of your hands into a 10 to 12 inch circle.  In the words of the book, 'flip near side over onto far side, then left side onto right, and finally flip near side complelety over and just under far side.'  I followed these directions to the best of my ability and carried on.  Clean out the bowl again, and place the dough back into it for another rise.  This time it should take 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours at 70 to 75 degrees.  Again, if you kitchen is hot or cool on baking day keep that in mind and look for the dough to rise almost to the previous level.

Now you are ready to shape the dough.  Dump it out onto a floured surface and pat it down to a 12 inch circle.  'Flip left side two thirds of the way over to the right; flip far side almost down over near side; flatten.  Pick up dough and slap it down, same side up, but giving it a turn so that the side that was nearest you is now the left side.  Flip far side down almost to cover near side; flatten; pick up and slap down, same side  up, this time giving a quarter turn so the side that was nearest you is again to your left.  Flip left side almost over to right side, and turn dough over.'  Shape the dough into a ball and pinch the seams together.  Place on a cookie sheet or pizza peel lined with parchment paper, smooth side up.  Cover with plastic wrap that has been rubbed with flour so it will not stick and let rise 1 1/2 hours.  When ready, the dough will be nearly triple in size and appear puffy and swollen. 

About 30 minutes before you are ready to bake the bread, lower the rack in the oven to the lowest setting and set the pizza stone on it.  Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place a small heat proof pan of water in the hot oven to create steam. Using a sharp knife, make 3 or 4 slashes in the dough or a cross in the center.  Wet your hands and flick the dough with water droplets, then slide off the pan and onto the hot baking stone.  Close the oven door and bake for 2 minutes.  Wet your hands again, open the oven and flick more water onto the bread.  Close and allow to bake for 20 to 25 minutes.  The bread should be a dark golden brown.  Turn the oven off and leave it in for another 5 to 10 minutes to allow it to dry out.  Take out and cool on a wire rack.  Do not slice until the bread has cooled for about 30 minutes or more.