Fresh Baguette & Turkey

On Monday morning, I stopped at Barnes & Nobles (pretending I wasn't going to buy anything) and came out with the coolest cookbook ever. How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman.

When I got home and started reading the book (I actually read the whole intro and everything) I started to get more and more excited. Today, I went to Borders and bought two more books. Bon Appetit Fast Easy Fresh, and a cookie book that I will introduce later. 

Anyways, tonight I made turkey and bread. There's nothing as rewarding as warm freshly baked bread waiting to be dipped into olive oil and eaten. Yum.

The turkey was good too... (I'm kidding, it was great!)

French Baguette (from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman)

• 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast

*The recipe asks for a food processor, but since I don't have one, I just used my hands.

1. Put the flour, salt, and yeast in a big bowl. Add 1 cup of water and knead until dough is formed. If needed, keep adding water by the tablespoon. You want the dough to be moist but not too wet. If you add too much water, add more flour to balance.
2. Leave dough in bowl to rise, covered with plastic, at least an hour (up to three hours at room temperature).
3. Once dough has risen, transfer to a lightly floured surface and form bread. (I made three baguettes so that I could freeze two and eat one tonight). Let dough rise covered with a towel for another hour or two.
4. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Slash the bread with a sharp knife to make diagonal cuts. Transfer baguette to a lightly oiled baking sheet (or pizza stone if you have one). Lower heat to 375 F and bake bread until golden brown.

Roast Boneless Turkey Breast with Fennel (adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman)

• 2 fennel bulbs, both trimmed, one sliced and the other finely chopped.
• 2 tablespoons olive oil + 1 to grease pan
• 1 tablespoon ginger paste
• S & P
• 1 turkey breast*
• 1 cup orange juice

*(I really don't know how much the one that I used weighed since it had been in my freezer since Thanksgiving. Oops!)

1. Heat the oven to 450F. Put 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, add the sliced fennel and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, or until soft. Add ginger paste and S & P and cook until fennel is slightly browned. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.
2. While fennel is cooking, grease a baking dish with remaining olive oil. Add chopped fennel and sprinkle some salt. Place turkey on baking dish and sprinkle some more salt. Add orange juice. 
3. Cook turkey in the oven for about 30-35 minutes or until its almost done (155-165F if you have a thermometer). Add sliced fennel and return dish to the oven for 5 more minutes, or until turkey is done.