No Recipe Required with Lesley Taylor

Trying to demystify and simplify making sourdough bread at home. The recipe and method I follow is adapted from King Arthur Baking and once I switched to this method, I've never gone back to more complicated methods. I'll post photos over on my Instagram page. If you have questions you can DM me there, or by e-mail at "cook @ noreciperequired dot ca."

Timing: the morning before you want to bake, measure out 100g of starter, add 100g of flour and 100g of water into a large jar. Cover and let it sit at room temperature all day. Then, around 6 or 7PM mix the dough, which will then be baked around 2-3PM the next day (or even the day after.)

Ingredients:

Mix all ingredients, cover and let rest for 1 hour. Pull the far edge of the dough ball over the top towards you, turn the bowl 1/4 turn, pull the next side up and over. Do this 4 times in total so that all 4 sides have been pulled over. Cover and let rest another hour. Repeat this process 2 more times (for a total of 3 times.)

Put the dough into an air-tight container in the fridge overnight, or up to 2 days.

The morning of the day you want to bake, take the dough out of the fridge and leave it covered at room temperature for 2-3 hours. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and stretch it out into a square (for a round loaf) or rectangle (for an oval loaf.) Don't flour the top of the dough, you want the side facing up to be sticky. Pull the edges one at a time towards the middle and stick them together. This is to build surface tension on the top of the loaf (which is currently on the bottom/underside.) Flip the dough over and continue to pull it under itself so that it is nice and tight and in the shape you want. Cover it with a bowl and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Line a bowl, colander or banneton with a clean, smooth kitchen towel (I prefer linen.) Flour it well, all up the sides. Turn the loaf, seam side up (smooth/top side down) into the floured proofing container. Cover loosely with plastic (or in a plastic bag) and leave to proof for 2-3 hours at room temp. If you're not going to bake this right away, you can put it in the fridge up to 24 hours. You'll have to take it out about 2 hours before baking to let it come to room temperature.

Preheat your oven to 500F with a large pot/lid inside (I use my Le Creuset French Oven, but any sturdy pot will do) for 40-60 minutes. Turn your loaf out of its proofing container onto a piece of parchment paper and brush off the excess flour. Score the loaf lengthwise, about 2-3 inches from centre (for an oval loaf) or in a cross pattern for a round loaf. Lift the loaf by the parchment paper and carefully lower it into the pre-heated pot and put the lid on. Put the pot in the oven and reduce the temperature to 450F.

Set your timer for 45 minutes. After that time, remove the lid from the pot and continue baking for another 15 minutes. The loaf will develop more colour during this time, but the shape/size of the loaf is already set by then.

Turn off the oven, crack the oven door a few inches and let the loaf rest inside for 30 minutes. Remove and let cool on a rack for another 30-60 minutes (or up to 2-3 hours) uncovered, before slicing/serving. Once completely cool, can be frozen whole or sliced.

Enjoy!

What's the secret to making good risotto? Do you need a recipe to make it? What ingredients do you need? Do you really have to stir it the whole time? Those questions and more will be answered in this episode, so let's get cooking!

Welcome back for Season 3! Just a short solo episode this time to share what I'm thinking about for Season 3. If you enjoyed this episode, please reach out to me on Instagram @noreciperequired.ca or by e-mail at [email protected].

Keep on cooking!

This is the final episode of Season 2. Thank you so much to all my listeners for sticking with me for the last 21 weeks! I'm taking a little break before planning and recording some new episodes for Season 3.

In this episode I'm talking about the 47-day experiment I just concluded with being vegetarian. I gave up all meat, chicken and fish for Lent. I still ate dairy and eggs, but I'm not really a big egg eater to begin with. I'm sharing the good, the bad, the interesting and my overall impressions with vegetarian eating.

Thanks again for listening, and Keep On Cooking!

This final episode of this series is a wrap-up on the 4 wines we tasted, plus a review of how well the wines held up after two days (you'll hear a little musical interlude to delineate the segments.) Yes, we both had LEFTOVER WINE!! When does that ever happen? Well, I can't always drink an entire bottle of wine myself in one evening, so I have to have a way of keeping it for 2-3 days. In the moment, neither Hilary nor I could come up with the name of the little pump thingy to suck the air out of the bottle, but I've now remembered that it's called "Vacu-Vin." It's inexpensive, and a great way to help make your wine last a little bit longer. We also talk about a few other options, from cheap to expensive, to save your wine for later.

We also ramble on about BC vs. Ontario wines, a favourite blend of ours called "Meritage" (rhymes with "heritage") and how we are both going to try drinking some wines in the $9-12 range to see if we can find some new "cheap and cheerful" bottles.

Cheers, everyone!

This is the continuation of my chat with Hilary talking about Merlot - this time from France, and I continue talking about Cabernet Sauvignon - this time from Chile. We hope you enjoy this episode and (spoiler alert!) there will also be a Part 3 where we ramble on some more about wine in general.

If you want to taste along with us, here are the wines we selected:

Chombart & Speck Cave Mystère Merlot 2018, Bordeaux, France [LCBO $19.95]

Arboleda Cabernet Sauvignon 2018, Aconcagua Valley, Chile [LCBO $19.95]

Stay tuned for Part 3 coming next week where we talk about how these wines tasted 3 days later!

In this first part of a two (or maybe three!) part series about our favourite subject - red wine - my dear friend and former podcast guest, Hilary, joins me for a taste and chat about two different grapes from four different regions.

The wines we talk about in Part 1 are:

Noble Vines Collection, 181 Merlot, Lodi, California $19.95 in Ontario at the LCBO (your prices may vary)

Chateau Tanunda, Grand Barossa Cabernet Sauvignon, 2019, $22.95 in Ontario at the LCBO (your prices may vary)

Be sure to tune in next week for our second wines: Hilary's Merlot and my Cabernet Sauvignon.

I was recently interviewed by my friend and fellow podcaster, Susie Miles (Cooking and Convos) for her podcast, and she graciously agreed to cross-post our conversation here, on my podcast.

In this Bonus Episode, you'll learn a little (lot?) about me, my journey in cooking, my favourite things to cook, my favourite wines, and where I see my future in the food/wine and podcasting worlds.

You can follow me on Instagram @noreciperequired.ca, or join my Facebook group, or if you'd like to contact me directly, you can e-mail me at [email protected].

Thanks for listening!

Julie Gauthier is a Toronto-based entrepreneur who has a line of flavour-infused olive oils and balsamic vinegars. In this episode, we chat about our mutual philosophy of cooking without a recipe, how she rescues vegetables from the "good intentions drawer" of her fridge, and how to use her oils to create a simple and tasty pasta dish.

This episode was an opportunity for me to highlight a woman-owned small business in the food industry and no money exchanged hands either way. We both just wanted to talk about our love of food, specifically her wonderful products.

You can follow Julie on Instagram (@rustichella_) or check out her web page (rustichella.ca) You can also visit her booth at the Spring One Of A Kind Show at the Enercare Centre at Exhibition Place in Toronto. The show runs from March 30 to April 3. You can also find Julie's products at The Side Kitchen (Leslieville, east-end Toronto) and Artemesia Cheese and Fine Food in Flesherton, ON (S/W of Collingwood.)

Patrick Louis-Seize is a recent graduate of the sommelier program at Algonquin College in Ottawa. In this episode, we chat about the process of becoming a sommelier, how sommeliers (or product consultants) can help you find a wine that suits your taste and budget, as well as talking about some of our favourite varietals and regions.

You can reach Pat at [email protected]

At the end of the episode I mention three wines to try:

Ken Forrester Old Vine Reserve Chenin Blanc 2020, $17.95 at LCBO

Luis Cañas Crianza 2017, $19.95 at LCBO, Tempranillo Blend

Domaine Fond Croze Confidence Côtes du Rhône 2019, $14.95 (on sale) at LCBO, which is a Grenache/Syrah blend