pizza sauce and garlic dipping sauce

Oh yeah, here is a copy of the PJ's Pizza sauce recipe:

Papa John's Pizza Sauce
1 10 3/4-ounce can of tomato puree
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1. Combine ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.
Makes 1 cup.

Special Garlic Sauce
1/2 cup margarine spread
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1. Combine ingredients in a small bowl.
2. Microwave on 1/2 power for 20 seconds. Stir.

sourdough pizza #3

Was reading the Pizzamaking.com web site when I came across this recipe for Papa John's Pizza Sauce . More than the sauce, I was intrigued by another author's recipe for pizza dough:

3 C KA bread flour
1 1/3 C water
1/2 t ADY
1/2 t salt
1/2 t sugar

Then he did this:

"Proofed the ADY in 1/3 C of water and all the sugar. Then added the yeast mixture to 1 cup flour and mixed for 3-4 minutes (Kitchen Aid dough hook setting #1). Rest for 20 minutes. Added salt, and remainder of flour. Mixed for 13-15 minutes. Rest for 20 minutes. Placed into tupperware with a few drops of oil. Then into the refrigerator for 2 days...bench rise for 3-4 hours. Made 2 12" skins, topped, then into preheated stone at 500. Cooked in 7-8 minutes. Light and airy, and yet crisp. "

Made me rethink my hydrations, and using active dry yeast altogether. So here's another variation; bumping up water, wheat germ & sugar, and increasing ferment time.

Makes 1 large size pizza, perhaps 14-16".

3 c bread flour
1 c water
1/2 c active sourdough starter (I use my LBB starter)
2 tbsp wheat germ
2 tbsp canola oil
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp table salt

1. Add all ingredients except salt to mixing bowl.
2. Mix using dough hook for 2 min. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 min.
3. NOW ADD SALT. Mix with dough hook on speed 2 for 8 minutes. Dough will be soft and sticky.
   
4. Place dough in oiled bowl covered with plastic wrap. Let rest for 2 hour at room temp.
   
5. Refrigerate dough in bowl for 24-48 hours.
6. Remove dough 3 hours before baking.
   
7. 30 minutes before baking, preheat oven to 550 degrees; make sure your pizza stone is in there.
   
8. Dip dough in flour & shake off excess. On a very well floured board, stretch dough into shape.
9. Transfer dough to parchment paper on rimless baking sheet (or parchment on pizza peel)
10. Slide pizza into oven, on stone, located 2nd shelf from top.
    
11. Add 1 cup hot water to broiler pan at bottom of oven.
    
12. Add toppings and bake for 10 minutes, or until crust is browned as desired.

Results:

• Crust thickness (1=thin CPK, 3=normal PJ Dominos, 5=thick Chicago style): 3
  
• Crust rise (1=no bubbles/some bubbling/5=big bubbles everywhere): 3
  
• Crust crunch (1=eiscafe soft, 5=cracker hard): 2
  
• Crust blistering (1=no blistering, 5=clear, perfect blistering): 2
  
• Crust chew (1=not chewy,5=very chewy): 3
  
• Crust doneness (1=dough still raw, 5=browned and cooked through): 2
  
• Crust texture hole size (1=small, 3=med, 5=large): 3
  
• Crust texture hole regularity (1=even, 3=a little irregular, 5=very irregular): 3.5
  
• Crust browning: (1=pale/white, 3=browning, 5=chocolate brown): 1
  
• Crust sourness (1=not sour, 5=very sour):1
  

Notes:

• Dough by comparison to #1 was pretty dry; didn't stick to mixer bottom.
• After 10 minutes, bottom was still pale, as though it didn't cook through, but it appeared cooked through.
  
• When stretching the dough, it stretched nice and thin, and bubbles were visible throughout, just didn't bake out correctly.
  
• Barely hints of sourness.
  
• Wheat germ added nice nuttiness, but subtle
• Crust was nice and tender
  
• Would need to re-do this recipe, as was too pale

For Next Time

• Rotate pizza 180 degrees after 1st 5 minutes.
• Perhaps add more water?
  
• Perhaps add less sugar, oil and salt?
  

Sourdough pizza #2

Trying out some sourdough pizza dough again. This time doubling the recipe, should make one thick pizza. Based on CPK recipe but adding LBB starter.

I was watching Guy Fieri at a pizza place in Glendale, AZ. The guy made a wood fired pizza, oven temp was 800 deg F, and cooked pizza for 4 minutes. Cheese was bubbling like molten lava on top! My oven doesn't go that high :( But I'll make do. Decided to kick up oven temp to 550F this time, and it seemed to help. I also used bread flour this time instead of AP flour.

Makes 1 large size pizza, perhaps 14-16".

3 c bread flour
1/2 c + 1 tbsp water
1/2 c active sourdough starter (I use my LBB starter)
1 tbsp wheat germ
1.5 tsp active yeast
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp honey
2 tsp table salt

1. Add all ingredients except salt to mixing bowl.
2. Mix using dough hook for 2 min. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 min.
3. NOW ADD SALT. Mix with dough hook for 8 minutes. Dough will be very soft and sticky.
   
4. Place dough in oiled bowl covered with plastic wrap. Let rest for 2 hours at room temp. Dough will still be very soft and sticky.
   
5. Refrigerate dough in bowl for 12 hours. (Went into fridge about 10:00pm or so).
6. Remove dough 2 hours before baking. (came out at 10am from fridge, sat until 12 noon).
   
7. 30 minutes before baking, preheat oven to 550 degrees; make sure your pizza stone is in there.
   
8. Dip dough in flour & shake off excess. On a very well floured board, stretch dough into shape.
9. Transfer dough to parchment paper on rimless baking sheet (or parchment on pizza peel)
10. Slide pizza into oven, on stone, located 2nd shelf from top.
    
11. Add 1 cup hot water to broiler pan at bottom of oven.
    
12. Add toppings and bake for 10 minutes, or until crust is browned as desired.

Results:

• Crust thickness (1=thin CPK, 3=normal PJ Dominos, 5=thick Chicago style): 3.5
  
• Crust rise (1=no bubbles/some bubbling/5=big bubbles everywhere): 2.5
  
• Crust crunch (1=eiscafe soft, 5=cracker hard): 3
  
• Crust blistering (1=no blistering, 5=clear, perfect blistering): 3.5
  
• Crust chew (1=not chewy,5=very chewy): 4
• Crust doneness (1=dough still raw, 5=browned and cooked through): 5
  
• Crust texture hole size (1=small, 3=med, 5=large): 2.5
  
• Crust texture hole regularity (1=even, 3=a little irregular, 5=very irregular): 2.5
  
• Crust browning: (1=pale/white, 3=browning, 5=chocolate brown): 4.3
• Crust sourness (1=not sour, 5=very sour): 1
  

Notes:

• Dough by comparison to #1 was pretty dry; didn't stick to mixer bottom.
• Went a little hotter on the oven. Cooking time was exactly 10 minutes, which was perfect for this size pie and dough wetness.
• Crust bottom was 85% perfect: wood-fired brown, more on one side than the other. Brown part was thin and cracker-like, while rest of interior was soft.

For Next Time

• Try white sugar instead of honey, and possibly increase a little (2-3 tbsp)
• Rotate pizza 180 degrees after 1st 5 minutes.
• Try slightly more hydration (+3 tbsp water instead of +1)
  
• Try 2 tbsp wheat germ instead of 1; couldn't really taste 1, didn't add significant nuttiness.
  

Mushroom Bacon soup

2 weeks ago, the local supermarket had a special: button mushrooms for $0.50 per package! Unheard of! The reason was the "sell by" date was the following day. So I brought them home that day and cooked them up. I like them as a spread on grandma's bread, in omelettes, etc. They had been sitting in the fridge for a few days, so I thought I would try something new. Well, it turned out pretty well. I made it without the cream, but it would be nice for some added richness.

Mushroom Bacon Soup

Serves 2

1 medium onion, diced
2-3 strips bacon
1 container button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 shot (1.5 oz) brandy
2 tbsp butter
2 sprigs fresh thyme, stems removed
1 + 1 cup (2 c. total) homemade chicken stock (or good-quality boxed chicken stock)
1/4 cup heavy cream (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat chicken stock in a small pot to a boil; reduce heat to low.
2. In a skillet, cook bacon, draining on towels. Pour off all bacon fat from pan. Over high heat, add 2 tbsp butter. Add onions, and cook til translucent, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms, garlic and thyme. Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add a shot (1.5 oz) of brandy. Flame off (if desired) or cook til evaporates, about 2 minutes. Reemove from heat.
4. Reserve about 2 tbsp mushroom/bacon mixture for garnish.
5. Add remaining mixture to blender. Add about 1 cup stock, puree mushrooms. Adjust mixture with remaining (or more) stock if needed, so it's more like soup (a bit runny) and NOT like baby food (or applesauce).
6. Return to pot over medium heat to keep warm. Add cream if desired, and adjust salt and pepper to taste.
7. Serve in bowls, garnished with reserved mushroom/bacon mixture and a sprinkle of thyme.

Southwestern Chicken Crepes with Summer Corn and Red Peppers

Serves 2-4

Filling

Garlic Cream Sauce (recipe follows)
Basil Oil (recipe follows)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium yellow or white onion, small dice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 red pepper, cored, seeded and cut into small dice
1 fresh cob of corn, kernels trimmed off with knife
dash of chili powder (1/8 tsp)
dash of smoked sweet paprika (1/8 tsp)
2 sprigs fresh thyme, stems removed
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1 chicken breast, cooked, and cut into 1/2" cubes
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. First make the Garlic Cream sauce, and set it to reduce.
   
   
2. Next make the Basil oil, and set aside.
   
   
3. In a skillet over medium high heat, heat olive oil and add onion. Cook for 5 minutes until soft and translucent, stirring occasionally (you don't want it to brown though). Add garlic, red pepper, corn, chili powder, paprika and thyme. Cook over high heat for 2 minutes.
   
   
4. In a small bowl, combine butter and flour with fork into uniform paste. Whisk paste into cream sauce. Increase heat on cream sauce, whisk butter mixture into cream sauce, and bring to a boil; it should thicken.
   
   
5. Return skillet to high heat. Add cream sauce and diced chicken to skillet all at once, stirring to heat through, about 1-2 minutes. Sauce should be pretty thick; adjust with more milk if too thick.
   
   
6. Remove from heat and set aside.
   
   
7. Make crepes.
   
   
8. Reheat filling if necessary. Wrap filling in crepe. Serve crepe with a little extra filling on top, and drizzled with some Basil Oil.

Garlic Cream Sauce
Makes about 1 cup

1 cup half-and-half
1 cup milk
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 sprig fresh thyme, stem removed
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine 1st 4 ingredients in small saucepot over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and let cook until reduced to about 1/2. Salt and pepper to taste.

VARIATION: consider adding 1 tbsp pureed chipotle en adobo to garlic cream sauce.

Crepes (makes 6 crepes)
My recipe is from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook

2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp melted butter

Blend all in blender until smooth. Let stand for at least 30 minutes.

To cook crepes, brush a nonstick skillet with a little melted butter over medium high heat. Pour in a batter in center of pan about 1/2 the size of pan, and tilt/swirl immediately to coat whole pan. Keep swirling over heat until batter freezes. Cook over medium high heat for about 2 minutes. Carefully flip onto 2nd side, cook for about 1-2 minutes. Remove onto plate, and repeat with remaining. Use 1st cooked side as presentation side.

Leftover crepes can be wrapped in plastic wrap and will keep 3 days in fridge.

Basil Oil
Makes about 1/4 cup

20 leaves of fresh basil, washed
Olive oil

Heat a small pot with water to a boil. Add leaves, swish for 2-3 seconds and immediately remove into a bowl with ice water to cool. Once cool, remove leaves and squeeze out all water, pat dry with towel. Add to blender with olive oil to barely cover. Blend until smooth. Pass through strainer or chinois, scraping bits from outside of strainer.

Bottle in squeeze bottle and refrigerate; keeps for about 1 week.

Sourdough pizza dough #1

Trying out some sourdough pizza dough. Based on CPK recipe but adding LBB starter

Makes 1 small CPK size pizza, perhaps 12-14".

1.5 c AP flour
1/4 c + 3 tbsp water
1/4 c active sourdough starter (I use my LBB starter)
1 tsp active yeast
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp salt

1. Add all ingredients except salt to mixing bowl.
2. Mix using dough hook for 2 min. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 min.
3. NOW ADD SALT. Mix with dough hook for 8 minutes. Dough will be very soft and sticky.
   
4. Place dough in oiled bowl covered with plastic wrap. Let rest for 2 hours at room temp. Dough will still be very soft and sticky.
   
5. Refrigerate dough in bowl for 7 to 24 hours. (Went into fridge about 8:00pm or so).
6. Remove dough 2 hours before baking.
   
7. 30 minutes before baking, preheat oven to 500 degrees; make sure your pizza stone is in there.
   
8. On a very well floured board, stretch dough into shape.
9. Transfer dough to parchment paper on rimless baking sheet (or parchment on pizza peel)
   
10. Add toppings and bake for 9-10 minutes, or until crust is browned as desired.

Results:

• Crust thickness (1=thin CPK, 3=normal PJ Dominos, 5=thick Chicago style): 1
  
• Crust rise (1=no bubbles/some bubbling/5=big bubbles everywhere) : 1
  
• Crust crunch (1=eiscafe soft, 5=cracker hard):2
• Crust chew (1=not chewy,5=very chewy): 3
  
• Crust texture hole size (1=small, 3=med, 5=large): 1
  
• Crust texture hole regularity (1=even, 3=a little irregular, 5=very irregular):1
  
• Crust browning: (1=pale/white, 3=browning, 5=chocolate brown): 2.5

Notes:

• Dough was very wet in the mixer, very sticky
  
• I let it rise for 48 hours in the fridge; perhaps too long; it was pretty wet/sticky.
  
• When I stretched it, used too much flour; on the parchment, the flour on bottom didn't cook and so there was raw flour on the underside of the pizza

Grandma's Bread #12

It's become a hot July. I was cleaning out the fridge, and started looking at my starter, which was looking a little brown, and so I started thinking about grandma's bread again. Haven't made any since April, and I bought some buttermilk over the weekend with the idea of making some more.

Grandma's Bread #12 - July 23, 2009

Makes 2 loaves

1-1/4 cups water
2 cups buttermilk
1-1/3 cup rye flour

6-1/4 cup AP wheat flour
2 tsp yeast
1/2 cup honey
3-1/2 + 1/8 tsp table salt

1. Over medium-low heat, warm buttermilk and water, stirring occasionally, just until it curdles and remove from heat. Stir in all rye flour, cover tightly and leave at room temperature overnight (at least 12 hours).

2. In mixing bowl, combine wheat flour + yeast. Transfer rye mixture to mixing bowl. Add honey. Using beater attachment, mix on speed "2" for 2 minutes, until the dough is uniform. It will look like a thick, uniform batter at this point. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes.

3. NOW ADD THE SALT ALL AT ONCE. Mix using beater for 4 minutes, dough hook for 4 minutes, both set to "2" (low speed). You may need to clean the dough hook once in a while. Dough will be very thick and sticky; it will never clear the sides of the bowl, more like a thick wet batter...it will not stop sticking! This is why the stand mixer is so handy. Total kneading time is 8 minutes. You will see some gluten strands forming in the dough towards the end.

6. Grease two bread pans with butter, and dust them with white flour. Using a wooden spoon or stiff bowl scraper, turn out the sticky dough onto a very well floured board. Form into a single round; dough will be very soft but with a well-floured board, won't be very sticky and will form a smooth surface. Cut dough into 2 equal pieces, shape dough into loaves (they will feel pretty soft, not quite baby's bottom but close) and place in bread pans. Press down on dough to get loaf to expand across the bottom of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and towel, and leave in warm place to rise for 2.5 hours.

7. Cover tightly with oiled plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 7.5 hours.

8. Cover loaves with a towel, and let rise again at room temp (~74F) for 2 hours.

9. Preheat oven to 450, adjust racks to put bread on 2nd to lowest rack, and put an empty broiler pan at the bottom. Slash loaves down the center with a serrated knife or a sharp razor blade, and place bread pans on rack in the oven. Add 1 cup hot water to pan to steam and close door. Bake at 450 for exactly 40 minutes; they will look dark chocolate brown (almost black!) on top.

10. Take bread from oven, remove from pans. Let cool on rack, uncovered, for at least 30 min; will still be warm 2 hours later.

11. Store in large Ziploc freezer bags when cool; this will help promote a soft crust.

Results

• Forgot to oil the plastic wrap, so it got stuck to crust when I pulled it off. Made it extra rustic :( Best bet would be an inflated bag in the fridge; or a large rectangular ClickClack or other see-thru small airtight plastic cannister. So when I recovered with a towel, I dusted with some extra flour. Had a nice looking "snow dust on mountains" effect.
  
• Nice dark brown top crust. Bottom crust is solid tan with a few chocolate-y spots in the corners.
  
• Interior is perfect, just like #11 that proofed in the fridge. Same flavor, same texture. Would've risen more if I had oiled the plastic wrap.
  
• Didn't brush tops with butter this time. Didn't seem to matter (today, at least).
  

Notes/Next time:

• We'll see
  

tomato pie

Haven't made this one yet, but borrowed it from someone else's web site. The recipe comes from the Martha Stewart Living cookbook. Looks really good! Evan Kleinman's "Good Food" blog on KCRW was been talking about "Pie-a-Day" and she referred to her liking of this recipe.

MAKES ONE 10-INCH PIE; SERVES 8

Gruyère cheese and cherry tomatoes provide a savory version of that summer classic, the double-crusted fruit pie. Resist the temptation to eat this pie straight from the oven. Wait until it has reached room temperature; the juice from the tomatoes will have had time to collect. Serve it as a light lunch or as a side dish.

Ingredients

• 2¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2½ teaspoons kosher salt
• 2½ teaspoons sugar
• 1¼ cups grated Gruyère cheese
• 1 cup (2 sticks) plus 1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 pounds assorted cherry tomatoes
• ½ cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large egg

Method

1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine 2½ cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sugar, and 1 cup grated cheese. Add 1 cup butter pieces; process until mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds. With machine running, gradually pour ¼ cup of ice water through the feed tube. Pulse until dough holds together without becoming wet or sticky; do not process more than 30 seconds. To test, squeeze a small amount of the mixture together: If it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
2. Divide dough into two equal balls. Flatten each into a disk; wrap in plastic wrap. Chill 1 hour.
3. Melt remaining tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent and softened, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl to cool slightly.
4. Place tomatoes in a large bowl. Toss with remaining ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons flour, 1½ teaspoons salt, and 1½ teaspoons sugar, and the basil and pepper; when the onion mixture is cooled, add to tomato mixture; toss to combine. Transfer the mixture to a deep 9- or 10-inch pie plate. Set aside.
5. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Roll out half the dough into a circle 1 inch larger than the pie plate. (The remaining dough may be frozen up to 2 months for later use.) Transfer rolled dough to top of plate; tuck in edges to seal. Make 3 to 4 small slits in the top crust; form a decorative edge.
6. In a small bowl, mix the egg with 1 teaspoon water for an egg wash. Brush the egg wash over the crust; sprinkle the crust with the remaining ¼ cup of grated cheese. Place the pie plate on a baking sheet to catch drips; bake until the crust is golden and the insides are bubbling, about 50 minutes. Bring to room temperature, and serve.

Dinner party

Chris and Larisa are coming over for a visit; they just got back from Spain. We're looking forward to their stories and photos!

On tonight's menu:

Pastry bites (TraJo appetizer)
Spinach salad
Peppered New York Steak with Port-Cherry Reduction
Swiss "Rosti" Potato and Leek Cake
Roasted mixed vegetables (crookneck squash/zucchini/red peppers/onion)

Dessert: who knows?? Zouk is bringing it. I also made a zingy lemon sorbet for dessert (or perhaps a palate cleanser)

Should be a fun evening! I'm doing prep right now:

• Sliced the veg, EVOO + seasonings, waiting on sheet pan
• Set the port-cherry sauce on to reduce
  
• Made the steak rub and seasoned the steaks
• Sliced the leeks, washed them, peeled the potatoes

Rosti turned out well; I micro'd 1/2 of the potatoes before shredding; frankly, I probably didn't have to micro any of them. Worked well in 9" cast iron pan, had to do 3 flips, but it came out nice n crispy on 2nd side.

blue cheese dip II

Here's a revised version of the blue cheese for wings. This one adds a little dill (which I've seen in copycat ranch dressing recipes) and onion powder. Also going smaller qty on sour cream, and using mayo instead of yogurt (didn't have plain yogurt)

Blue Cheese Dip II

4oz of mild blue cheese, such as Danish Rosenborg, crumbled
1/4 cup mayo
8oz (1/2 tub) sour cream
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tbsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp. thyme, dried
1/2 tsp. oregano, dried
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. dried dill
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. white (or white wine) vinegar

Results: immediately, well balanced flavor, slight garlic in the finish, but can taste nearly all the seasonings. May need a touch more salt. We'll see tomorrow, after it is refrigerated overnight.

Chicken stir fry with Brown Sauce

Don't know how better to describe this one. I made chicken stir fry over the weekend, and was enjoying some leftovers this evening, and after tasting the leftover brown sauce I thought "boy that's good!" Too bad it was relatively improvised, so I'm not sure on the quantities; but I am sure on the ingredients.


Chicken Stir Fry with Green Beans

2 chicken breasts
1 cup Brown Sauce (recipe follows)
1 cup frozen green beans
1 small onion, halved and sliced thin
1 large or two small red bell peppers, cored, seeded, and sliced thin
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced into rounds
2 tbsp vegetable oil
4 tbsp hot bean paste
Salt + pepper

1 tbsp corn starch
1 tbsp beef stock

Start the sauce first, and keep it simmering on a burner.

Over high heat, heat 1 tbsp oil in skillet until almost smoking. Add onion, season with salt, stir 3x and cook undisturbed for 2 minutes. Add bell peppers, stir 3x and cook undisturbed for 1 minute. Stir occassionally and cook for 1 more minute. Add 2 tbsp hot bean paste + garlic, cook for 30 seconds, then transfer pepper-onion mixture to a bowl/plate.

Blanch the green beans in Brown Sauce for about 2 minutes, and remove using wire skimmer. Add to pepper onion mixture. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and beef stock to form a slurry. Whisk into brown sauce, and reduce heat.

Season chicken liberally with salt + pepper. Heat remaining 1 tbsp oil in skillet over high heat until almost smoking. Add chicken all at once, and spread out quickly into single layer. Let cook undisturbed for 2 minutes. Stir and cook for 2 more minutes. Add hot bean paste, and stir. Add onion/pepper/bean mixture to chicken. Add in about 1/2 cup sauce, and cook for 1 minute, until sauce bubbles and thickens. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Serve immediately with white or brown rice.

Variations:

• Try marinating chicken in cornstarch/brandy/salt/pepper
• Add orange zest/orange peel to veggies at the beginning
  

Brown Sauce

2 cups beef stock
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp quality balsamic vinegar (or lower quality balsamic vinegar, cooked to reduce by 50%)
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tbsp brandy
Salt + pepper to taste
1 tbsp fresh ginger (minced) or ginger juice (optional)

Combine all ingredients, bring to a boil, turn down and let simmer uncovered for 30 minutes until reduced. Adjust seasonings to taste. Ready to use, or refrigerate overnight for better flavor.

Pineapple sauce

Made a tasty sauce with some fresh leftover pineapple a few weeks ago. The acid here will help it keep well, like a ketchup.

2 cups fresh pineapple, cubed
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp. minced ginger, or 1 tbsp ginger juice.
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tbsp. white wine or cider vinegar (unseasoned rice vinegar is optional)
1 tbsp lemon juice
Pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
Salt to taste

In small saucepot, heat pineapple, sugar and water, and ginger juice. Cook for 15-20 minutes until pineapple is soft. Remove from heat, add pineapple to blender and blend until smooth. Add back to saucepot, and whisk in, ketchup, vinegar, lemon juice, and optional chili flakes. Heat for 5 minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste. Strain and serve.

Customize it: consider adding some lime juice, or some fruit zest.

Scallops with Limoncello Thyme Sauce

Made scallops from the ATK recipe on Wed. night. They were prev. frozen, but still pretty good. I think the key for searing is high heat, big pan (so as not to crowd them), just a LITTLE oil (maybe a 1-2 tbsp), and at least 3 minutes on the initial side undisturbed.

ATK suggested a lemon/thyme/wine sauce, I decided to switch it up and do it limoncello. It was a good call!

Limoncello Thyme Sauce

1 shallot, minced (or about 3 tbsp onion, minced)
4 cloves garlic, roasted in cast iron, then minced/mashed
1/2 cup limoncello
Zest of one lemon
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp fresh thyme
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
Salt + pepper to taste

Drain fat from scallop pan. Return to medium-high heat. Add 1 tbsp butter, and saute shallot for 3 minutes, until soft. Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add limoncello, and cook for 30 seconds. Remove from heat, add zest, lemon juice, thyme, and whisk in remaining 2 tbsp butter. Adjust with salt & pepper. Add scallops, and heat for 1 minute or so.

Jose Andres' Aioli

This recipe is a neat exercise in technique.

From Mark Bittman: "When I joined Jose (Andres) for an early dinner with his friends on a hilltop in the Pyrenees, I expected a relaxing day. Yet as everyone set about the simple task of grilling big coils of butifarra (Catalonian sausages), pig's feet, lamb chops, peppers, and onions, he put me to work on this three-ingredient sauce that took 30 arduous minutes. I was ordered to make it without using a food processor, and, I must say, it was worth it to observe the old-fashioned alchemy of a sauce gradually emulsifying before my eyes. Fortunately, this pungent emulsion (essentially aioli made without egg) can be made in a food processor. Use it sparingly, as it packs a wallop of garlicky flavor."

Ali-i-oli (aioli)

Salt to taste 2 tablespoons minced garlic (roughly chopped if you're using a food processor) 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

To make my hand, add a pinch of salt and the garlic to a mortar and steadily pound the garlic with a pestle. Add a few drops of the oil, continue pounding, and repeat until the mixture begins to emulsify. When an emulsion starts to form, you can add the oil a little faster. Continue until the sauce is completely emulsified and at the thickness you like, about 30 minutes.

To make by machine, put the garlic in a blender or a food processor and turn the machine on. While it's running, add the oil in a slow, steady stream. When an emulsion starts to form, you can add it a little faster. It's done when it's full emulsified and at the thickness you like. Salt to taste and serve.

customized pulled pork

Bought a 5lb pork shoulder today, on sale, for $5, from Vons. Decided to cook it up, but it took nearly 8 hours (cooked to 175 deg internal, because I'm gonna slice/chop it).

Took 3 stages of prep:

1. Slather
2. Rub
3. Mop

Here are the related recipes:

Slather:
1/4 cup Tecate or other light-flavored beer
3 tbsp prepared yellow mustard
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp louisiana hot sauce (like Red Rooster)
1 tsp worceshire sauce
Fresh ground pepper
Salt to taste

Whisk to combine. Taste to adjust mustard, etc.

Rub:
this one is Wolfie Puck's. I like its sweeter flavor.
4 tbsp brown sugar
4 tbsp onion powder
4 tbsp garlic powder
4 tbsp thyme
4 tbsp oregano
2 tbsp mild paprika
2 tbsp hot paprika
4 tsp cayenne pepper
4 tsp ground coriander
4 tsp ground black pepper (or 2+2 black + white pepper; that's the original recipe)
2 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp dry mustard (I don't see the mustard in his original recipe, but looks like I add this)
OPTIONAL: a few shakes of hickory smoke powder

Mop: made this one up myself, but inspired by some recipes in Paul Kirk's book; the jack + brown sugar, along with the "holiday spices" give it a (strangely) fruity, pleasant quality.

1/2 cup Jack Daniels
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp cider vinegar
1 tsp worceshire sauce
1 tsp louisiana hot sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
pinch allspice
pinch cloves
pinch cinammon

Bring to a boil and simmer for about 5 minutes.

The whole process:

1. Pat shoulder dry
2. Slather with slather sauce.
3. Sprinkle with rub, and let sit for 15 minutes.
4. Bake at 250 degrees, unwrapped, for about 4 hours.
5. At 4 hours, FLIP the roast, and rotate it.
   
6. Then start the mop; mop about every 30 minutes; cook for about 4 more hours.
7. For slicing, 165-175 degrees is optimal; for pulling, it's 195-205 degrees. Use a thermometer to check.

Enjoy some delicious pork!

Secret Spice Rub

Well, not so secret. From Bruce Aidells, famous for poultry sausage, this one is on the back of the Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt box. Like I said, not so secret.

1/3 cup Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt
2 tbsp fresh ground Black Pepper
2 tbsp light brown sugar
3 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp ground sage
1 tsp dry thyme
1/2 tsp ground allspice
2 tsp ground fennel

2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp dry basil
2 tbsp granulated garlic or garlic powder

Combine ingredients in jar. Seal and shake well. Store for up to 3 months.

Good for meats or poultry.

Grandma's Bread #11

#10 was the best so far (perfect texture, great flavor), so hopefully #11 will be at least as good. I'm doubling the recipe this time, because uncle Gus wants some for easter.

Grandma's Bread #11 - April 10, 2009

Makes 2 loaves

1-1/4 cups water
2 cups buttermilk
1-1/3 cup rye flour

6-1/4 cup AP wheat flour
2 tsp yeast
1/2 cup honey
3-1/2 + 1/8 tsp table salt

1. Over medium-low heat, warm buttermilk and water, stirring occasionally, just until it curdles and remove from heat. Stir in all rye flour, cover tightly and leave at room temperature overnight (at least 12 hours).

2. Into dough mixture, add white flour, yeast, honey. Mix on speed "2" for 2 minutes, until the dough is uniform. It will look like a thick, uniform batter at this point. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes.

3. NOW ADD THE SALT ALL AT ONCE. Mix using dough hook (or beater attachment) set to "2" (low speed). You may need to clean the dough hook once in a while. Dough will be very thick and sticky; it will never clear the sides of the bowl, more like a thick wet batter...it will not stop sticking! This is why the stand mixer is so handy. Total kneading time is 7 minutes. You will see some gluten strands forming in the dough towards the end.

6. Grease two bread pans with butter, and dust them with white flour. Using a wooden spoon or stiff bowl scraper, turn out the sticky dough onto a very well floured board. Form into a single round; dough will be very soft but with a well-floured board, won't be very sticky and will form a smooth surface. Cut dough into 2 equal pieces, shape dough into loaves (they will feel pretty soft, not quite baby's bottom but close) and place in bread pans. Press down on dough to get loaf to expand across the bottom of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and towel, and leave in warm place to rise for 2.5 hours.

7. Cover tightly with oiled plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight, or 7-8 hours (maximum of 24 hours).

8. Cover loaves with a towel, and let rise again at room temp (~74F) for 2 hours.

9. Preheat oven to 450, adjust racks to put bread on 2nd to lowest rack, and put an empty broiler pan at the bottom. Slash loaves down the center with a serrated knife or a sharp razor blade, and place bread pans on rack in the oven. Add 1 cup hot water to pan to steam and close door. Bake at 450 for 40 minutes or until loaves sound hollow when tapped; they will look dark chocolate brown (almost black!) on top. Alternately, should be done somewhere around 190-210 degrees.

10. Take bread from oven, remove from pans, and brush tops with butter. Let cool on rack, uncovered, for at least 30 min; will still be warm 2 hours later.

11. Store in large Ziploc freezer bags when cool; this will help promote a soft crust.

Results

I baked 4 loaves using this recipe; however, 2 loaves skipped steps 7-8; the remaining two followed the recipe exactly.

The ones that skipped 7-8 (i.e., no refrigerated proofing) ended up with a result exactly like #10, but the bottom crust didn't brown as much. The rise, crumb, etc. were, for all intents and purposes, the same. Good oven spring, good flavor, good crumb, no sogginess.

The ones that I followed steps 7-8 were a whole different animal. I refrigerated for 24 hours, let rise again for 2 hours after coming out of the fridge. They didn't rise that much, but the texture and flavor was totally different: more mellow flavor; larger holes and better chew (more like my sourdough); not as much oven spring (seem to have barely risen); darker crust all around (top+bottom); crust was more thin and "crackery" like my best sourdough. I think I may like this one even better than the full #11, but it's not traditional.

Here's a photo, overnight #11 is LEFT, short rise is RIGHT:



Notes/Next time:

• Doubling the recipe doesn't work with a standard mixer; you have to do 2 separate batches. Split the buttermilk mixture into 2 separate containers; knead separately.

more qucik white bread

Mixed up a full batch of quick white bread last night, with some mods:

• Used unbleached bread flour instead of AP flour
  
• Made sure water was warm (microwave in Pyrex measuring cup for about 1 minute)
• Added about 1 tbsp of honey to the water
• Dissolved yeast in honey water for a minute or two
• Added about 2 tbsp vegetable oil to dough
• Added 6 tbsp gluten
• Added about 3 tbsp active sourdough starter
• Let rise for 15 minutes before going into fridge, where it has remained (almost 12 hours so far)

Packing it up and taking it to June Lake with me!

EDIT 2009-04-10: turned out pretty well. With steam, it had a decent crust. Flavor still isn't nearly as fully developed as sourdoughs or grandmas bread. Rise time post-fridge should probably be 2 hours.

no-knead whole wheat

I like the King Arthur Flour blog, lots of great recipes shared. This no-knead whole wheat caught my eye. Quick, no knead breads are appealing, and this one looks good. I like whole wheat too, so this appeals even more!

* 1 cup lukewarm water
* 1/4 cup orange juice
* 1/4 cup melted butter or vegetable oil
* 3 tablespoons molasses, maple syrup, dark corn syrup, or brown sugar corn syrup
* 2 teaspoons instant yeast
* 1/4 cup Baker's Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk
* 1 1/4 teaspoons table salt
* 3 cups King Arthur whole wheat flour, white whole wheat preferred


1) Heavily grease an 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan. This loaf tends to stick, so be sure to grease the pan thoroughly with non-stick vegetable oil spray.

2) Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Beat the mixture vigorously for about 3 minutes; an electric mixer set on high speed works well here. You should have a very sticky dough. It won't be pourable, but neither will it be kneadable. (use wet hands if necessary to smooth out). Scoop it into the prepared pan.

3) Cover the pan with lightly greased plastic wrap, and let it rise for 60 to 90 minutes; it should just about rise to the rim of the pan, perhaps just barely cresting over the rim. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 350°F.

4) Uncover the bread, and bake it for about 40 to 45 minutes, tenting it with aluminum foil after 20 minutes. The bread is done when it's golden brown on top, and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers between 190°F and 195°F. Remove it from the oven, and after 5 minutes turn it out onto a rack. Brush with melted butter, if desired; this will keep the crust soft. Cool the bread completely before cutting it.

Notes:

I'm trying my first go-round with a few mods:

1. Using veg oil instead of butter
2. Using molasses
3. Using 2 cups whole wheat + 1 cup white AP flour instead of 3 cups KAF white whole wheat
4. Used same steam baking method I do with all breads
5. I did brush top crust with melted butter once baked.

RESULTS:

• Tender crumb, with very few holes
• Very thin, soft, almost non-existant crust; I would like slightly more crust.
  
• Very soft, not very chewy
• Decent rise; longer rise time (perhaps retard) in fridge could've improved texture & flavor
  
• Definitely taste molasses in there; honey might have been better for sweetness, more gentle
• Could use a little more sweetness (sugar/honey/molasses)
• Beckey liked it a lot, would make it again as-is.
  

quick white bread

Here's a quick white bread recipe I thought I had posted a while back (ED NOTE: looks like I did, back in 5/2008). Can be halved easily for quick stuff.

This recipe makes 4 large loaves.

6.5 cups AP flour
3 cups warm water
1.5 tbsp active dry yeast
1.5 tbsp kosher salt

1. Stir until well combined in a big container (no need to knead!)
2. Rise for 1-2 hours, covered
3. Refrigerate overnight (or at least 3 hours)
4. Preheat oven to 450
5. Pinch off a piece (grapefruit size is good)
6. Shape and let rise for 40 minutes
7. Slash loaf
   
8. Bake with steam for 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown

Use remaining dough within 2 weeks. Follow steps #4-8 when ready to bake.

Pizza pie

I have a migraine this morning, fortunately took ibu quick and it's not that bad. But I feel like making pizza. My buddy Mike from Cleveland gave me his pizza recipe a few years back, and it was pretty good. When we had it at Rashied's house, Mike made some and it was very good: crust was chewy and crisp, nice mild flavor.

Decided to do some research and came across a pizza recipe of a guy trying to emulate Papa John's pizza. Looked interesting so I thought I'd give it a shot. Here goes:

3 cups flour (I used 2.5 cups unbleached AP and .5 cup Bob's red mill semolina; original calls for King Arthur bread flour, or another high(er) gluten flour)
1 cup + 2 tbsp water
1/8 teaspoon instant dry yeast
3 tsp kosher salt
3tbsp + 1 tsp vegetable oil
2tbsp + 1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 cup pizza sauce
2 cups mozzarella, frozen a tiny bit and diced in food processor into small dice/pellets
About 40 pepperonis

1. Combine all ingredients in bowl and mix with wooden spoon, then hands to combine, so there are no crumbs floating around at the bottom of the bowl.
2. Let rest for 20 minutes in a covered plastic tub on the counter.
3. Knead for 5 minutes on lowest setting with dough hook on stand mixer
4. Form into round, cover and refrigerate in plastic tub. It should stay there at least 3 days, (5 days is better) and can stay up to 8 days.
5. Remove from fridge, and let rest on the counter for 1 hour. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 500 degrees
   
6. Using a HEAVILY floured board (preferably a combo of semolina and unbleached AP), push down & stretch for form a 10" disc.
7. Dock whe whole thing using a dough docker (preferred), fork, or other homemade implement
   
8. Stretch to shape over a 14" pizza screen.
9. Sauce the pizza: start in the middle, and use a ladle to spiral outward.
   
10. Sprinkle the cheese: start around the outside edge, going in a circle. Continue to sprinkle in concentric rings, going inward.
    
11. Bake on the pizza disk in 500degree oven for about 8-9 minutes, watching carefully starting at 6 minutes.
    

Compare to Wolfgang Puck's pizza dough recipe from the Food NEtwork site:

• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 cup warm water, 105 to 115 degrees F
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus additional for brushing

Less sugar (honey instead), less oil, different oil (olive vs. vegetable), and much more yeast. That makes sense, though, because his is meant to rise in 2 hours!

Compare that to Jamie Oliver's "Jamie At Home" pizza recipe (halved):

• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1.5 teaspoon raw sugar
• 1.25 cup warm water, 105 to 115 degrees F
• 3.5 cups flour (2.5c high-gluten or 00 flour, 1.5c semolina)
  
• 1.5 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Jamie uses more oil, more sugar, more salt, and a tiny bit more flour. Same amount of yeast, similar rise times to the Wolfgang Puck recipe. Probably similar level of hydration. The PJ recipe has more hydration, which should lead to bigger holes. Lower yeast and longer ferment; I have found that it usually results in better flavor!

Incidentally, here's the breakdown of the PJ recipe by weight:

Flour (100%)
Water (56.5%)
Yeast, instant dry (0.14%)
Salt (1.75%)
Vegetable (Soybean) Oil (7.3%)
Sugar (4.8%)

We'll see how all this end up soon! :)

ED NOTE: After a rise time of about 5 days, it was barely risen, but it was soft. Did not brown very well; flavor was OK. Was not very chewy (need to add gluten and/or use high-gluten flour) and not much hole/porous structure. What I did learn is that adding a lot of sugar and oil to the dough really helps with the flavor of pizza crust.

Using a quick recipe (3 cups AP flour, 3 tbsp gluten, 1 cup + 1 tbsp water, 2 tsp instant yeast, 2 tsp kosher salt, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp honey) yielded much better results with a less than 2 hour rise time. I think the biggest trick is using a rimless cookie sheet, parchment paper, and sliding the parchment + pizza direct onto pizza stone on lowest rack.

Grandma's Bread #10

OK, I've decided to use a numbering scheme for Grandma's bread instead of the year. Although the best one so far has been the 1st of 2009, this may be better, and will make it easier to track.

Grandma's Bread #10 - February 1-2 2009

1-1/4 cups water
2 cups buttermilk
1-1/3 cup rye flour

6-1/4 cup AP wheat flour
2 tsp yeast
1/2 cup honey
3-1/2 + 1/8 tsp table salt

1. Over medium-low heat, warm buttermilk and water, stirring occasionally, just until it curdles and remove from heat. Stir in all rye flour, cover tightly and leave at room temperature overnight (at least 12 hours).

2. Into dough mixture, add white flour, yeast, honey. Mix on speed "2" for 2 minutes, until the dough is uniform. It will look like a thick, uniform batter at this point. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes.

3. NOW ADD THE SALT ALL AT ONCE. Mix using dough hook set to "1" or "2" (low speed). You may need to clean the dough hook once ina while. Dough will be very thick and sticky; it will never clear the sides of the bowl; while mixing, maybe 50% will clear the sides while the other 50% adheres to the bottom. It will not stop sticking! This is why the stand mixer is so handy. Total kneading time is 6-7 minutes. You will see some gluten strands when you're done.

6. Grease two bread pans with butter, and dust them with white flour. Using a wooden spoon or stiff bowl scraper, turn out the sticky dough onto a very well floured board. Form into a single round; dough will be very soft but with a well-floured board, won't be very sticky and will form a smooth surface. Cut dough into 2 equal pieces, shape dough into loaves (they will feel pretty soft, not quite baby's bottom but close) and place in bread pans. Press down on dough to get loaf to expand across the bottom of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and towel, and leave in warm place to rise for 1 hour. Refrigerate covered for 7-8 hours; you can leave it up to (but not more than) 24 hours.

7. Remove loaves from fridge, and REMOVE PLASTIC WRAP carefully; it may be sticky (if it sticks, try pulling gently from the opposite direction). The loaves will have just about doubled in size.

8. Cover loaves with a towel, and let rise again at room temp (~74F) for 1 hour (645-745). Preheat oven to 450, adjust racks to put bread on 2nd to lowest rack, and put an empty broiler pan at the bottom. Slash loaves down the center, and place bread pans on rack in the oven. Add 1 cup hot water to pan to steam and close door. Bake at 450 for 40 minutes or until loaves sound hollow when tapped; they will look dark chocolate brown (almost black, but not!) on top. Alternately, should be done somewhere around 190-210 degrees.

8. Take bread from oven, remove from pans, and brush tops with butter. Let cool on rack, uncovered, for at least 30 min; will still be warm 2 hours later.

9. Store in large Ziploc freezer bags when cool; this will help promote a soft crust.

Results

Pros:

• Crust color, evenness and flavor:
  
• Salt/honey amount:
  
• Texture/crumb:
  
• Rye flavor: good, but mild
  

Cons

• 
  

Notes/Next time:

• Dough is very sticky while mixing; maybe use beater instead of dough hook in mixer? Still use low settings 1-2. It doesn't clear the bowl, EVER. Using a spoon or a scraper to make sure flour at bottom is incorporated as well is important.
  
• Turning out onto WELL-FLOURED board is the key; then it comes together and shapes very easily and smoothly before forming into loaves.
  
• I ran out of honey, so I used a little less than 1/2 cup of honey and added about 1-2 tbsp brown sugar
• I ran out of table salt, so I did 1tsp table salt + 3 tsp kosher salt. I don't know if this will work out the same way, we'll see.
  

potato leek soup

Had some leeks in the fridge from the farmer's market, so decided to make some potato/leek soup last night. I roughly followed the ATK recipe.

1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
3 leeks, white sections only, cut into 1/2" half-moons and well rinsed.
4 gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" pieces
1/2 tsp fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1 box of low sodium chicken stock + 1 cup + more as necessay
Salt & pepper to taste

In a large pot or dutch oven, heat butter and olive oil. Sweat leeks over medium-low heat for 20 minutes until very soft, but not brown. Add potatoes, thyme, bayleaf and stock. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until potatoes are soft.

Remove bay leaf. Now, you can leave the soup chunky (totally delicious) or transfer it in 2 sections into a blender and puree until smooth. You can also do 1/2-and-1/2; puree some, and recombine it with the chunky, which is really good too. Add more hot chicken stock to the puree if you need to make a thinner soup.

Now season with salt & pepper to taste, and enjoy with some homemade bread. Very hearty, pretty damn healthy and totally delicious.

Bread notes

Baked off "grandma's 2009 bread", as well as 1st loaf of "5-minute artisan" bread.

5-Minute artisan:

• Crumb: very tender, not wet at all, nice holes, fluffy!
  
• Flavor: very clean, like fresh French bread
• Crust: closer to French bread: golden, a bit chewy, thin
• To change: add more salt! Seemed to not be salty enough

Grandma's 2009 bread

• 95%! Hit the jackpot with this one. Perfect crumb, perfect crust, cooked through/not gummy at all; but could use a bit more rye/sour flavor.
  

Grandma's Bread 2009 (#9?)

Trying a totally revised recipe. I spent a bunch of time building a spreadsheet based on what I learned from "The Baking Bible" by Rose Levy Berenbaum.

This new recipe is based on 18% rye flour ratio (i.e., 18% of flour weight). I read that 20% of more of rye makes bread gummy/sticky. This of course is contrary to the amount of rye flour my grandma suggested (closer to 23%)

1-1/4 cups water
2 cups buttermilk
1-1/3 cup rye flour

6-1/4 cup AP wheat flour
2 tsp yeast
1/2 cup honey
3-1/2 + 1/8 tsp table salt

1. Over medium-low heat, warm buttermilk and water, stirring occasionally, just until it curdles and remove from heat. Stir in all rye flour, cover tightly and leave at room temperature overnight (at least 12 hours).

2. Into dough mixture, add white flour, yeast, honey. Mix on speed "2" for 2 minutes, until the dough is somewhat uniform. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes.

3. NOW ADD THE SALT ALL AT ONCE. Mix using dough hook set to "1" or "2" (low speed). You will need to clean the dough hook often (every 10 seconds or so), because the dough will bunch up a lot, over the top of the dough hook. After a couple of minutes, it MAY stop sticking. Total kneading time should be about 5-7 minutes.

6. Grease two bread pans with butter, and dust them with white flour. Cut dough into 2 equal pieces, shape dough into loaves (they will feel like ...) and place in bread pans. Cover with plastic wrap and towel, and leave in warm place to rise for 1 hour. Refrigerate covered for 7-8 hours; you can leave it up to (but not more than) 24 hours.

7. Remove loaves from fridge, remove plastic wrap. They were still pretty wet & sticky but with good bubbles, and soft. Re-shaped loaves: remove, dust with flour, and use the letterfold (tri-fold) technique to reshape as a loaf. Cover with towel, and let rise again in warm place for 3.5 hours. Preheat oven to 450, adjust racks to put bread on 2nd to lowest rack, and put an empty broiler pan at the bottom. Slash loaves down the center; brush tops with butter, and place bread pans on rack in the oven. Add 1 cup hot water to pan to steam and close door. Bake at 450 for 40 minutes or until loaves sound hollow when tapped. Alternately, should be done somewhere around 190-210 degrees.

8. Take bread from oven, remove from pans, and brush tops with remaining butter. Let cool on rack, uncovered, for at least 30 min; will still be warm 2 hours later.

9. Store in large Ziploc freezer bags when cool; this will help promote a soft crust.

Results

Pros:

JACKPOT! I think I hit it 95% on the money

• Crust color, evenness and flavor: perfectly dark brown and toasty!!
  
• Salt/honey amount: perfect
  
• Texture/crumb: perfectly tender, perfectly chewy, with perfect size crumb, cooked perfectly through, not gummy in the middle!
  
• Rye flavor: good, but mild
  

Cons

• Dough was formed by Beckey; it was pretty wet and unshapely after I removed it from the fridge. So I punched it down and reformed it, then let it rise for 1 hour. So it didn't rise as much as it might have, but is still awesome!!
• Could use a bit more rye flavor, but it's a toss up; it doesn't overwhelm with rye, but it's there. A bit more rye/sour would be better to balance the slight sweetness of this recpe.
• There were 2-3 small uneven "parts" in the texture at the bottom of the 2nd loaf, perhaps where a flour "blob" had not been kneaded/incorporated enough, where the texture was tight and did not have bubbles. This was very, very minor however.
  

Next time:

• Maybe no punch down/reform? That was accidental, because Beckey shaped 'em ugly. Might need a tiny bit more flour when shaping the loaf; should lead to larger holes.
  
• Maybe try slightly higher rye percentage (20%)?
  

sourdough starter - daily feeding

Feed your starter 3 times daily as follows:

1. Reserve 1/2 cup of your starter; pour the rest in the garbage
2. To the reserved starter, add 1 cup flour and 1 cup water. Mix to just combined (lumps are OK)
3. Cover tightly and store at room temperature.

Repeat steps 1-3 above 3 times a day: 8am, noon, and about 5pm.

3x per day is optimal, but if you can't manage that, then do 2x: once in the morning, and once in the evening.

After 3 days of feedings, starter will be ready to use in bread recipes. Best time to use starter (i.e., start your bread recipe) is in the morning, assuming you have been feeding it for at least 3 days, and fed it the night before. Starting in the evening will work fine too, just adjust your schedule as necessary.

If you can't feed it for a few days, put it in the fridge. You can keep it there, without feeding, for up to 2 weeks. When ready to bake again, take it out of the fridge, feed it for 3 days, and you're ready to bake again.

sourdough starter - how to begin

Here's a very quick and easy way to make your own sourdough starter. The idea of a starter is that it is an acidic environment in which natural yeasts from the air can thrive and multiply. It's a fun "science experiment" to watch it bubble and grow.

The process will take 4 days or so.

To begin:

1. In a large, non-metallic bowl or container, stir together:
   1.5 cups of white flour
   1/2 cup rye flour
   2 cups water
   
2. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let it sit at room temp (70-72deg F) for 3 days. Take a quick look at it once a day, then re-cover tightly. It will start to smell funky, get bubbly, and might even separate liquid from solid. Don't worry, as long as you don't see any black/green/fuzzy mold on the surface, you're in good shape. If you see mold/fuzz, scoop it off immediately; as long as it doesn't keep coming back, you should be fine. If it does, throw your starter out and start again.
   
3. On day 4, pour off all but 1/2 cup of the "starter" into the garbage, or give it to a friend.
   

Now you are ready to start feeding your starter on a regular schedule (next blog post)

I've seen other recipes for using pineapple juice instead of water; also, the LBB sourdough starter recipe uses organic grapes. This should work just fine; the rye flour creates a nice sour environment for yeasts to live in at the beginning.

Next post: care & feeding of your starter.

sourdough waffles

Maybe we'll try this at Paul & Lyla's. I've made it at home with great results. Recipe from KAF Baker's Companion.

Sponge
1 c unbleached AP flouw
1 c whole wheat flour
2 tsbp sugar
2 c buttermilk
1 c sourdough starter

Batter
2 eggs
1/4 c (1/2 stick) melted butter
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

First mix dry sponge ingredients together. Then mix in wet sponge ingredients til barely blended. Let rest overnight, or a few hours.

In a separate bowl, mix all batter ingredients together. Then blend with sponge until well incorporated.

Heat waffle iron, brush with canola or veg oil. Pour in 1 ladle full. Cook according to waffle iron directions, or until steam stops (about 6.5 minutes per waffle). Serve immediately, or keep warm in 200 deg. Leftovers freeze very nicely!

spicy louisiana sausage

Bruce Aidells wrote a nice little book called Flying Sausages, which has a number of great recipes, and which helped me have a sausage-making revelation: sausage is nothing but spiced meat... casings are optional! I've made this one before with 100% lean ground turkey from the store (Jennie-O), was very good. You may need to add more spice to taste; I think I added more paprika and garlic to the original recipe (listed below).

Makes 7 to 8 half-pound packages

2 c. sliced onions (probably 1 large onion)
3 lbs. ground turkey OR 1.5/1.5 ground chicken/turkey (ground thighs are best), very cold or slightly frozen
1/2 lb bacon, cut into pieces, very cold or slightly frozen
1.5 tbsp garlic, chopped
1/4 cup paprika (smoked or regular)
2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp yellow mustard seed
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp English-style dry mustard
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp ground allspice
4 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp fresh ground black pepper

Simmer onions in water to cover until translucent, 5-7 min. Cool under cold running water & drain (this can be done ahead of time). Cool completely. Coarsely grind onions, meat, and bacon in a food processor in batches (using knife blade).

Add remaining ingredients to a big bowl, and mix thoroughly with your hands. Test fry a small piece in some oil, and taste for salt, pepper and other seasonings.

Divide into 7-8 portions, wrap tightly twice in plastic wrap or aluminum, and refrigerate or freeze.

Grandma's Bread 2008 Again

OK, here's the usual end-of-year bread, taking it back east to PA.

Using different flour this type (Bob's Red Mill Dark Rye, instead of usual Hodgson's Rye or Arrowhead Mills Rye).

Makes 2 loaves

2 c. buttermilk
1.25 c. water
1lb 8oz rye flour, unsifted

2-1/4 tsp. active dry yeast (or 1 packet)
1 tbsp. unbleached white flour
1/2 c. warm water (120 degrees)

1 lb 14oz unbleached white flour, unsifted
4 tbsp. gluten
1/2 c. honey
3 tsp salt

4 tbsp. melted butter

1. Over medium-low heat, warm buttermilk and water, stirring occasionally, just until it curdles and remove from heat. Stir in 1.5 lb. rye flour, cover tightly and leave in warm place. Or, refrigerate and bring back to room temperature before continuing

2. The next day, combine yeast, 1 tbsp. flour, and warm water, and stir to dissolve. Let sit for 5 minutes until yeast mixture gets bubbly.

3. Into dough mixture, add yeast mixture, honey, and gluten. Stir in 1.5 lb. of white flour and mix for about 2-3 minutes, until the dough is somewhat uniform. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes.

4. NOW ADD THE SALT ALL AT ONCE. Mix using dough hook set to "1" or "2" (low speed). You will need to clean the dough hook often (every 10 seconds or so), because the dough will bunch up a lot, over the top of the dough hook. After a couple of minutes, it MAY stop sticking. Total kneading time should be about 5-7 minutes.

6. Grease two bread pans with butter, and dust them with white flour. Cut dough into 2 equal pieces, shape dough into loaves (they will feel like firm little logs) and place in bread pans. Cover with plastic wrap and towel, and leave in warm place to rise for 1 hour. Refrigerate covered for 7-8 hours; you can leave it up to (but not more than) 24 hours.

7. Remove loaves from fridge, remove plastic wrap, cover with towel, and let rise again in warm place for 2 hours. Preheat oven to 450, adjust racks to put bread on 2nd to lowest rack, and put an empty broiler pan at the bottom. Slash loaves down the center; brush tops with butter, and place bread pans on rack in the oven. Add 1 cup hot water to pan to steam and close door. Bake at 450 for 30-40 minutes or until loaves sound hollow when tapped (this time, did 30).

8. Take bread from oven, remove from pans, and brush tops with remaining butter. Let cool on rack, uncovered, for at least 30 min; will still be warm 2 hours later.

9. Store in large Ziploc freezer bags when cool; this will help promote a soft crust.

Notes:

• Ferment mixture: was more like thick dough/paste, not loose like the "sour cream" that grandma described at all
• Mixer kept getting clogged from the dough, had to clear the hook every 10 seconds, barely could turn; dough was pretty hard and sticky
  
• NEXT TIME: try increasing rise time after retarding (increase 3 hours).
  

Results

Pros:

• Nice dark crust on top, great rich toasty dark flavor
• Crust is nice and thin/crispy
  
• Excellent salt-to-dough ratio, perfect amount of salt
  
• When cooled for 2 hours, very soft & tender & somewhat chewy, but not wet AFAIK
  
• Nice rye flavor

Cons

• Crumb is very even, small holes, a bit too small; should be about 1/8" size, and more bagel-like chewy
• Was still a little moist in the middle of the loaf; needs to bake longer.
  

For next time:

• Try coarser rye flour
• Try kneading by hand
• Try less rye, more white flour
• Try less flour overall; more slack should yield bigger bubbles
• Try longer baking time: 40-50 minutes should be good.
  

Here's a photo, just from the oven:


And here's a texture/crumb shot (sorry, quality isn't great, but I don't have a decent digicam right now).

Mom's dressing

Giving away a family recipe here...this is how my grandma used to make it too. I watched my mom, and wrote down as best as I could. She never did stuffing, even though she calls it that; it's actually "dressing", i.e., basically a meatloaf outside of the bird.

Mom's "Stuffing"

2 onions, chopped
4 celery stalks, finely diced
1 loaf white bread, torn into 1" pieces (my mom says "buy the cheap stuff for this")
1 lb 80/20 ground beef (you can use the non-lean ground as well)
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 eggs
olive oil + butter
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
salt + pepper to taste

In a large saute pan, heat about 2 tbsp oil + 2 tbsp butter over medium heat. Saute celery + onion until translucent (we don't want any browning!), about 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

In a large mixing bowl, add bread, beef, eggs, and chicken stock. Knead well until very uniform (note: you could probably pulse this in a food processor to do this as well, for an even more uniform texture)

Put mixture into a 13x9 rectangular baking pan, and pat out into a flat layer. Pour a little olive oil on top.

Bake at 350F for about 30 minutes. Aiming for about 160F temperature for doneness.

Notes:

• You may need to add more stock; this was really eyeballed. More stock should make for moister stuffing.
• Cooking time + temp could be adjusted. This is suitable for end of turkey cooking, when lots of items are sharing the oven.
• Could probably try adding some sausage; this is what Beckey's mom does.
  

turkey day 2008

Was fun!

On the menu:

• 22lb roast turkey (with rosemary & butter under the skin, stuffed with lemon/garlic/onion/rosemary), turned out PERFECT, roasting to reach temp of 161F in thigh, and it didn't have the usual smelly/strong "turkey" flavor, which was fantastic. Mom & I managed this one; 500F for 30 min, 350 for remaining time, loosely tented top with foil.
  
• Homemade cranberry sauce (mom)
• Mom's stuffing
• Baby Spinach salad with persimmons & candied pecans and rice vinegar/sesame oil/orange marmelade vinaigrette (mom, from a Martha Stewart recipe, I believe)
  
• Mashed potatoes with onions (mom)
  
• Roasted acorn squash with rosemary & olive oil (mom); I'm not a big squash fan, but this was pretty damn good!
  
• Apple pie (Monica; her first one, and a pretty damn good one!)
• Chocolate pumpkin pie (Judy)
• Homemade sourdough bread (me, using LBB recipe)
• cornbread (me, using Albers Corn Meal box recipe & cast iron "corncob" baking pan, plus some added chili powder per Cast Iron Cookbook)
• brussels sprouts with pancetta (me, Bobby Flay recipe)

Brussels I did in 2 batches in cast iron pan, then put all on a roasting pan & roasted in oven. About 5 min to crisp pancetta, about 5 minutes saute in pan, about 10-15 minutes in 400F oven, with a little lemon juice on top at the end. Yum!

Not a whole lot of leftovers...some turkey, some mashers, a few brussels (even though I made a ton, they were almost all gone). I'm thinking "t-day remix":

--turkey enchiladas
--mashed potato cakes with mushroom sauce (need some criminis/portobellos/whites)

And I need to make some more cranberry sauce! I ate 1/2 a giant Costco bag this week; I like the traditional sugar syrup + cranberry style. One of my favorite cranberry remixes was Iron Chef style, with a splash of OJ, some bourbon (Gentleman Jack), and a few good glugs of real maple syrup. Added a smoky, sweet, spicy complexity that was outstanding.

bitters

Spent some time this week blending bitters, according to my own tastes/recipes; basically developing and testing recipes.

Before I started, I decided to taste all the bitters I have on hand, to get an idea of flavor profiles.

I tried to evaluate them like wine: the nose, the color, the mouthfeel, taste, and finish. Here are my results

I tasted the following bitters:

1. Fee Brothers Orange Bitters
2. Fee Brothers Peach Bitters
3. Fee Brothers Old Fashioned Bitters
4. Regan's No 6. Orange Bitters
5. Peychaud's Bitters
6. Angostura Bitters

Fee Brothers Orange:

• Contains some alcohol
• Light in color
  
• Orange in nose
• Orange and sweetness on tongue; some viscosity from glycerin
  
• Slight gentian/orris bitterness on finish

Fee Brother Peach Bitters

• Contains no alcohol
• Light/pale in color
  
• Tiny peach on nose
• Very sweet and almond + light peach on tongue; some viscosity from glycerin
• Almond in finish

Fee Old Fashioned

• No alcohol
• Very dark looking, like cola
• Lots of cinnamon + clove on nose
• Very spicy cinnamon + clove on tongue instantly, followed by gentian bitterness on finish, pretty gentle; citrus + zest overtones; some viscosity from glycerin
• Longer, lingering finish
  

Regan's No 6 Bitters

• 45% alcohol
• Very clear, tan tint
  
• Strong alcohol and some bitter orange on nose
• No sweetness on tongue; very thin and extremely bitter
  
• Gentian and citrus zest on finish, along with floral and spicy rosemary notes
  

Peychaud's Bitters

• 35% alcohol
• Very red in color, like maraschino cherry
• Slight anise on nose
• No sweetness on tongue; light anise + herby flavor
• Minimal bitterness on finish, short finish
  

Angostura Bitters

• 45% alcohol
• Dark red color, with tinge of brown
• Strong molasses on nose, + light cinammon and "jagermeister" spices (clove, anise)
  
• Almost no sweetness
• Immediate gentian on tongue, with a bit of clove

bread updates

Made bread with Carl Griffiths starter a few weeks ago. Despite a nice, agressive feeding schedule (perhaps it needed another week!), it didn't get as much lift, and didn't have as complex of flavor as the LBB sourdough.

I made a loaf of LBB a few weeks ago that rose so high (because I forgot to slash the loaf); totally separated under the crust, but it was this cool, stringy texture.

Also made LBB bagels a few weeks ago, that turned out really well too, nice texture. They don't keep too well.

more bread

My buddy John A. asked about my Carl Griffiths starter. He believed his was dead, but after some aggressive feeding, came back to life. Frankly, it's hard to kill a well-established starter. All it takes is aggressive, 3x a day feeding:

Morning (7-9am)
pour off all but 1/3 cup starter
add 1/3 cup flour
add 1/3 cup water

Afternoon (12-1pm)
pour off all but 1/3 cup starter
add 1/3 cup flour
add 1/3 cup water

Evening (5-6pm)
pour off all but 1/3 cup starter
add 2/3 cup flour
add 2/3 cup water

After 3-5 days of this, your starter will be alive again! You can even start this feeding schedule with one tablespoon worth of starter.

Today, I'm making my LBB country white bread, but with the Carl Griffiths starter. So far so good; the starter is nice, healthy and active. I halved the recipe, but when you make bread by weight (and Silverton's LBB recipes are well-designed by weight), it scales pretty well. I'm interested to see what the differences in flavor will be.

bok choy

Last weekend bought Chinese broccoli, bok choy, and a bunch of other good stuff. Decided to make the bok choy tonight using this recipe. Delicious, delicate flavor

Baby Bok Choy with Cashews Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup chopped green onions, including green ends
• 1/2 cup roasted cashews, whole
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced thin
• 1 pound baby bok choy, rinsed, larger leaves separated from base, base trimmed but still present, holding the smaller leaves together, sliced in 1/2 down the center
• 1/2 teaspoon dark sesame oil
• 1/4 tsp. Salt
  
• 1 tbsp. soy sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste
  

Method

1 Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan on medium high heat. (use a large enough pan so that bok choy are not crowded). Add green onions, garlic and cashews, and cook for 10 seconds. Add bok choy, sliced side down. Sprinkle with sesame oil and salt. Cook down for approximately 3 minutes, stirring occasionally (Like spinach, when cooked, the bok choy will wilt a bit.)

2 Add soy sauce, cook for about 1 minute more. Season with additional soy, salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4.

drinks

Had some good drinks this weekend:

Gin-Gin Mule: Plymouth gin, ginger juice (or fresh ginger), simple syrup, muddled mint, fresh lemon juice, soda water. Damn good!

Brooklyn: Buffalo Trace bourbon, Averna (a Sicilian bitters) & Luxardo Maraschino (I think about equal parts), Noilly Prat dry vermouth, and a single Amarena cherry floating at the bottom.

Yum!

Started making LBB bread again this morning, so far so good.

LBB status

So far so good. At 230pm this morning I out the boules in the fridge, which means they should be ready as early as 1030pm tonight for final rise. Downside is that it will still take 4 hours after the final rise to bake the bread, it will be too late tonight.

On the other hand, if I get up at 4am tomorrow morning, I will have fresh bread by 8am! :)

LBB sourdough recipe

Here's the "Country White" recipe I've been using. If you like it, buy the book!

2lb 2oz unbleached white flour
1/2c wheat germ
12oz LBB starter
1lb 2oz cool water (70 deg)
4.5 tsp sea salt

Add flour + wheat germ to mixing bowl. Then add starter and water. Knead on lowest setting on mixer using dough hook for 5 minutes. It will be a bit sticky, but pliable.

Cover with plastic wrap + towel and let rest for 20 mintues.

NOW ADD THE SALT. Knead on lowest setting on mixer for 5 more minutes. You may need to clear the dough hook every 30 seconds or so, if it gets clogged up over the top; however, dough will clear the sides of the mixing bowl.

Knead using pinch opposite/flip/slap technique described in the book. Form into ball and place in lightly oiled ceramic bowl. Cover with plastic wrap + towel, and let rise 3.5-4 hours. You'll know when it's ready when you place your hand on surface, "should feel cool and slightly flabby on the surface, center core should still feel firm." Press your fingertip into the dough, slight indentation should linger.

Turn dough out, cut it in two (should be about 1lb14oz each). Slap to deflate. Tuck all edges under, rough-shaping into a ball. Let rest for 15 min.

Shape into ball into floured basket. Let rise for 1 hr.

Cover boules with plastic wrap, and put in fridge for about 8-12 hours, no more than 24 hours.

Remove from fridge, cover with floured towel, and let rise for ~3 hours. Dough should be doubled in size and at ~62F.

Heat oven to 500.

Slash the loaf with a backwards C shape, shallow, like a flap.

Put loaf in, add water to broiling pan (or spritz oven), and bake for 5 minutes at 500, then turn down to 450 and bake for 20 minutes. Rotate boule after 20 min (total of 45 min). Should hit 210F when fully baked, and sound a bit hollow.

Let bread cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting in!

La Brea sourdough

It's almost 3.5 hours into the 1st rise of the La Brea sourdough, i.e., the "Country White" with wheat germ. So far so good! Started it this morning. It's an interesting comparison between the two (KAF and LBB, i.e., La Brea Bakery).

LBB:
after 5 minutes of kneading in the mixer, was sticky but less wet then KAF
after autolyse + 5 more min kneading, a lot tighter and smoother than KAF
hand-kneading with pinch/flip/slap LBB teachnique, was a lot smoother/less sticky.

Maybe this means that the KAF is slightly too slack. The big difference is that I followed LBB's instructions to weigh out all the ingredients, and it turned out balanced. KAF uses volume measures, and despite my attempts to convert to weight measurements, seems to work better using volume measure.

I shared a bunch of the leftover La Brea starter with work colleagues on Friday, with the KAF recipe (i.e., sourdough #5, listed earlier in this blog). Hope it turns out good for them!

sourdough update

Late on the evening of Sept 7, I started Nancy Silverton's sourdough.

Within the 1st 2-3 days, it was very bubbly and active. After that, the liquids and solids separated, thick layer of pinkish/brownish liquid, and the whole mass began to acquire a "cheesy" smell, much like Parmiggiano-Reggiano.

The ferment period went fine; at one point last week I had seen what I thought was translucent specks of white mold floating on the liquid (these could've actually been mother, i.e., acetic acid bacteria + cellulose). I scooped it off along with some offending liquid using a ladle, then added 1 cup of flour and 1 cup water as suggested in the book, and stirred. That was the only maintenance I did.

Today is day 14, and is the 1st day of feeding. When I got back from the long weekend birthday celebration, I popped the top. Today the smell was similar but less cheesy and more vinegary. The top layer of alcohol had begun to turn to vinegar, as there was that sheet of clear cellulose (the mother!) floating on top. Poured off most of the vinegar liquid, discarded the cheescloth bag which contained the organic red grapes, stirred the rest together, measured out the portion I needed, then fed it with flour and water.

Even when pouring off the liquid, I could see it sparkling/bubbling. This to me suggests it's pretty healthy.

The refreshed mixture smells a little "cheesy"; I think this is probably OK, and will actually add some nice character to the bread.

So far so good. I wonder if it went too long without feeding (supposed to start feeding on Day 10). Should've fermented pretty well by now though, and the feedings should keep it nice and healthy.

The feeding schedule I plan is: 7am, 12pm, 5pm. Will keep you posted on how it goes!

eggplant + zucchini

Two veggies that I reviled as a child, but now enjoy them. I didn't like my mom's zucchini because it was steamed, limp/soggy and flavorless. Likewise eggplant had a weird texture. I think in my early 20's I tried eggplant again when ate Indian food for the 1st time (I think it was Bombay Palace in L.A.).

Made another tomato/zucchini/eggplant salad last night, and had most of it for lunch today. The poblano, even without seeds, adds quite a bit of heat.

Zucchini and Eggplant Salad

2 zucchini, cut lengthwise
2 Japanese eggplant*
1/2 medium red onion, cut into rings
1 poblano pepper
Handful cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
1 tb. Worcheshire sauce
1 tb. Balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. ground cumin


Cut eggplant lengthwise at the last minute (will brown otherwise). Season zucchini, eggplant, red onion and pepper with olive oil, salt and pepper and throw on grill over high heat. Cook eggplant, zucchini, onion for 3 minutes on cut side. Flip and grill for about 1 minute. Remove eggplant + zucchini. Leave onion on for 2 more minutes, then remove. Flip poblano to get a good char, then remove.

When cool enough to handle, cut zucchini halves lengthwise and into chunks. Cut eggplants lengthwise again and into chunks. Chop onion. Cut poblano in half and remove seeds, and chop finely. Combine all veggies in bowl. Add Worcheshire, vinegar and spices, and mix to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm or at room temperature.

enchilada sauce

Made chicken enchiladas earlier this week with sauce I had previously made and frozen...it was totally delish! Unfortunately, I don't remember where I got the recipe...ATK cookbook? Gourmet cookbook? Elsewhere? Maybe I have it stored on the home office computer. With leftover roast chicken, which was perfumed with garlic, butter, rosemary, thyme and lemon, they were outstanding.

Made some KAF "Pain au Levain" yesterday; Beckey got to try it hot for the 1st time, to rave reviews last night. Set up some dough for sourdough waffles tomorrow morning; I had to use the old buttermilk, which was about to expire. Decided to start another buttermilk-based "starter", as follows:

2 cups buttermilk
1 cup AP unbleached flour
1 cup rye flour
1/2 cup sourdough starter

I'll use it to make some bread tomorrow, perhaps grandma's recipe, or some close "clone"

Gotta get up early for mountain biking tomorrow with Dale. Bye for now.

(2008-09-04 Ed Note: the sourdough waffles were light, fluffy and delicious! A lot lighter/crisper than the same KAF recipe I made with milk substitution. Although they don't freeze as well as the ones with milk, which were somehow more tender.)

Cocktails and Apple Pie

Had some great drinks this weekend:

• 7&7: a classic, at a classic place in Petaluma (Volpi's)
• Buffalo Trace Old Fashioned: with Amarena cherries and orange bitters, classy take on a classic, at Cyrus in Healdsburg
• White Peach Sangria: there was riesling, vodka, white peaches, and other stuff in there...and it drank like juice! At Willi's Seafood in Healdsburg
• Apple Pie: someone made this for Roland, Trenton's grandpa; he didn't have the recipe (or if he did, he wasn't sharing!) Roland was nice enough to give me a bottle of 190 proof Everclear too (a rarity here, he buys a case in North Dakota every year)
  

So I tracked down a few Apple Pie recipes. It goes down smooth, but watch out, it's so smooth it's really dangerous.

----------------
Apple Pie #1

1 gallon apple cider
1/2 gallon apple juice
2 cups sugar
5 cinnamon sticks
2 cups Everclear alcohol

Makes 2 1/2 Gal.

Directions

1.Heat first three ingredients to dissolve sugar.
2.Once it has cooled, add 2 C. Everclear.
3.Add 1-2 cinnamon sticks per glass bottle.
4.Pour into glass bottles.


---------------

Apple Pie #2

1 gallon apple juice
1 gallon apple cider
3 cups white sugar
8 cinnamon sticks
1 (750 milliliter) bottle 190 proof grain alcohol

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large pot, combine apple juice, apple cider, sugar and cinnamon sticks. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat and let cool completely.
2. When juice mixture is cool, Stir in the grain alcohol.

2nd Litho Rye

The next Litho Rye I made turned out pretty damn good. I added some honey, which helped.

Pros:

• All natural starter (sourdough!)
  
• Great flavor (nice rye, not too sour)
  
• Great texture (good size holes; nice chewy, spongy crumb; not damp)
• Crust wasn't too thick
• Beckey liked it!
  

Cons:

• Crust didn't brown on top too well (I took it out of the baking pan after 20 minutes, and just set it on the stone, so at least the bottom picked up some color)
• Crust wasn't very smooth on top

This one is pretty close; if I can get the crust issues worked out, it will be a good loaf

Litho rye revisited

Well, the 1st Litho rye turned out pretty bad. Very dense, crust didn't brown, rose very little in the final rise, flavor was VERY sour. Not good at all.

Making an updated version. I have been reading more about rye: has very little gluten, so is pretty fragile. When used in a starter, if not fed every 4 hours it becomes very sour. And it always acts extremely wet. I found that when working with wet doughs, damp hands can help out a lot!

The latest one starts out with the rye starter; starter is added to AP flour + water to form a sponge. The bread itself is ~2.5/1 rye-to-AP flour. I added a tbsp of honey to help sweeten the deal. Lastly, I'm starting this one out in a cold oven set to 450 degrees, then baking for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, reducing the heat to 375, and baking for 20 more minutes before checking for doneness. We'll see how this one turns out.

the sour life

Well, yesterday's bread turned out really well. Still holding up well today. Beckey said "it's the best bread you've ever made." Her seal of approval means a lot to me, and is very motivating.

I stayed up til 3am last night reading about Lithuanian black rye bread, including about bakeries in the US that produce it and historical and technical recipe information. So I'm going to try it again, albeit with a slightly different tack. My grandma's bread recipe is decent now, I just want to improve it to get closer to what I remember, and I think I can.

The recipe in the Lithuanian Foods book I have uses an active yeast starter. I'm going to try to do the same with the sourdough starter I have now, but modified. I'm also going to try to use their recipe, at least in generalities (2kg of starter and 6kg of rye flour is simply too much for the kind of baking that I do! That's over 17.6 lbs of flour!); that said, it's interesting that they are using a 3:1 flour-to-starter recipe by weight, whereas my version of KAF sourdough is ~3:1.75 flour-to-starter by weight. And unlike my grandma's bread, the recipe that I have uses no scalded buttermilk.

Here's the beginning:

1/2 cup KAF starter
1 cup rye flour (Hodgson Mill)
1 cup water

Let ferment for 24 hours.

So I had some leftover starter, what to do? Starting one more project: Sourdough waffles! Should be ready to rock and roll tomorrow morning...mmm! This is also from the KAF baking book, we'll see how it turns out. We had some pretty good sourdough pancakes that John A. made up at June Lake, we'll see how these compare. Should be interesting; using regular milk instead of buttermilk called for in the recipe. Hope it's close enough!

sourdough #5

Success! Almost ompletely happy with this loaf.

 

Crust is dark mahogany, full of flavor. When biting in about 15 minutes after cooling, end piece crust "flaked" into big 1" uneven shards, wow, so delicious.

Interior was perfectly moist, soft crumb. No gumminess in sight, at least on the end piece. Good flavor; not a lot of sour tang. Color is nearly like white bread, no grayness as in the previous loaf. Great structure; larger holes, not super uneven (not La Brea Bakery style), but not dense in any way, rather: light, airy, much drier than before but not dry-tasting at all. Much like good hard rolls found in restaurants.

Bottom crust was brown, with some nearly black spots in places, but evenly browned.

Additional baking info:

• Shaped round loaf; slashed with 4 scallop slices.
  
• 3/4 cup of warm water for steam in broiler pan
  
• Baked at 455F for 20 minutes. Removed broiler pan at 20 minutes. Baked at 450 for remaining 11 minutes
• Instant-read thermometer read ~204F when inserted into the bottom, right out of the oven.
• The total process took about 5.5 hours: from the moment when I mixed the flour, starter and water until 15 minutes after resting from finishing baking when I cut into it.
  

For next time:

• Try some retardation tactics to increase possible sour tang. Make 3 loaves one evening. Let all rise for 1 hr. Cover 2 and place in fridge. Let remaining one rise and bake that night. Bake one from the fridge in the morning. Bake one from the fridge in the evening. Compare flavors.
  
• Try adding more rye to the starter; maybe add some the morning before baking that evening?
  

This is a keeper! Really, no need to change, this is really an excellent loaf.

Now next up: grandma's rye bread! Some new things to try:

• Use table salt (not kosher salt)
  
• Check flour-to-starter ratio (3:2 by weight looks like a good start)
• Use same basic process as Pain au Levain, or Levain de Pate (sourdough + instant yeast)
  

Other things I learned:

• Cold dough can go right into the oven...as long as it comes out of the fridge looking like it's supposed to! Just preheat to 500 instead of 455, and once bread goes in the oven, turn the temp down to normal baking temp (450-455).
  

more sourdough

Have made at least 2 more sourdough loaves in the meanwhile.

Loaf #3: made with whole wheat flour, per recipe. Was not as flavorful, although folding helped with the bubble texture and volume. Crust didn't brown much, and dough was very wet to handle.

Loaf #4: switched back to the rye again. This one got retarded a few times in the fridge, and dough was extremely wet to handle. I think it sat too long; didn't rise too well, and baked up pretty flat. Decent texture, but too wet to handle and bake, and again, crust didn't brown.

I've had issues with the crust browning. Probably need to bake it longer.

Loaf #5. This time (started at 5pm, doing last 2 hr rise pre-oven right now), followed the King Arthur Flour (KAF) Pain Au Levain recipe volumes (not weights) to see if it made a difference. Funny thing is, dough was still extremely wet.

Here's the initial volumes I used. I weighed the volumes on my scale, to give a more accurate measurement of what went in:

5 cups all-purpose flour (weighed 1lb 10.75oz / 760g)
2.5 cups starter (weighed 1lb 0.5oz / 468g)
2/3 cup rye flour (weighed 3.25oz / 94g)
1-3/4 cup water (weighed 14.25oz, as expected for water)

So the weights given in KAF for starter, rye and water are right, but the AP flour was way off. Even with that, though, the dough was way too sticky, unkneadable without additional flour. I added 3/4 cup additional flour for it to just pull into a ball. It was still sticky, but able to be handled/kneaded in the mixer. Was almost too much flour for the mixer, though.

Here's tonight's recipe

5.75 cups all-purpose flour
2.5 cups starter
2/3 cup rye flour
1.75 cup warm water (~90 degrees)
2.5 tsp table salt

Mix flours, starter and water in a mixing bowl, stir until just combined. Let rest for 20 minutes. Knead on 1 notch above lowest setting for 10 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and towel, and let rest for 1 hour in warm place, in my case, garage on high shelf.

Dust flour in bowl. Using scraper and spatula, turn out onto dusted board. Dust with a bit more flour, then do letter-fold. Put seam-side down into oiled bowl, cover, and let rise again for 30 minutes. Dust, remove from bowl, letter fold, then return to bowl to rise another 30 minutes.

Dust peel with cornmeal. Remove dough from bowl onto dusted board, and shape into boule. Cover and let rise for 2 hours in warm place. 30 minutes before baking preheat oven and broiler pan to 475F. Shelf is 2nd from bottom with pizza stone, broiler pan on top shelf.

Heat 3/4 cup water in Pyrex (microwave for 1 minute). Slash loaf with serrated knife or razor blade (I think scallop slash looks and works best).

Working quickly, slide dough into oven, pour water into broiler pan (watch out for steam!), reduce heat to 455 and bake for 20 minutes (don't open the oven door!). Turn down temp to 450 and bake another 10-11 minutes. Crust will be beautifully brown. Check for doneness with oven thermometer thru bottom of loaf.

Let cool on rack for 15 minutes. I'll let you know how it turns out!