Back to Basics

Intro
I'm trying Dan Leader's country french again. It's a lean bread recipe that's reliable and get's me back on my feet when I'm in a "lean bread slump" as I tend to get into once in a while. I often don't have the patience and discipline required for lean/sourdough breads. This poolish method is a pretty good compromise. However, I often change the method over time so once in a while I need to reset myself and go back to the book and do it by the book.

Poolish
Poolish was prepared from 150 grams all purpose flour and 50 grams of a wheat/rye mixture of flour, a 1/4 t of Red Star yeast and 200 grams of water. It was stirred about 50 times with a wooden spoon and allowed to sit on the kitchen counter overnight at room temperature (rt).

Dough Prep
Poolish, 200 grams
water, 400 grams
yeast, 1/4 t
all purpose flour (Pillsbury), 500 g
wheat/rye flour, 100 g
salt, 2.5 t

1. Poolish was diluted with water and stirred until smooth.
2. Yeast charged and mixture placed in pan of bread machine.
3. Remaining flour and salt charged and kneaded by machine for 10 minutes.
4. Dough was not too slack, came together well.
5. First ferment, 2.5 h.
6. Punch and rest, 40 min.
7. Loaf shaped, round.
8. Final rise on parchment, 1.5 h.
9. Baked @ 425F with steam shot for 45 minutes.
10. Cut the first piece about 1.5 hours after the oven.

Results
Pretty happy with this one. Slightly larger than 2.5 lbs. after baking, about 10" diameter, 4" high. Excellent crumb texture; a combination of open holes and good texture. Heavy crust, almost a bark. Didn't get crust crackling on cooling.? Tastes great, but I'll be evaluating this over the days to come. A great bread should taste great, even when it begins to become stale.

I sampled several pieces but as I cut into the loaf, I stumbled on it's big flaw. It's a 2.5 lb ROUND loaf and consequently a lot of the mass is interior. I undercooked it. Afraid of burning the exterior (in retrospect, I had plenty of room to keep cooking), I underbaked it. This is also consistent with the absence of fractures that usually appear on the surface of the dough on cooling.

In conclusion, I think this "failure" was darn close to being stellar. Next time, I'd do half the size loaf. That big a loaf is tricky to bake to completion; those problems never occur with a baguette. I'd probably do two 1-lb loaves or chubby baguettes. However, the big round is a grand looking loaf and is convenient for sandwiches.

Sesame Semolina (aka Pane Siciliano by Reinhart)

Intro
Been playing around with old dough methods of sourdough baking. This one is called a Pate Fermentee (I don't have the correct French characters) and is basically a straight dough (flour, water, yeast and salt) mixed and aged 1-3 days in the fridge. This is warmed to room temp (rt) and incorporated into a dough approximately twice it's weight. In Reinhart's book, it's the method he chooses to prepare a sesame semolina and a pain de compagne; the latter of which, I have lusted for, unsuccessfully, for sometime. Here's my first attempt at the former.

Ingredients
Pate Fermentee, 500g (aged 2 days in fridge)
semolina flour, 200 g
all purpose flour, 200 g
water, 300 g
salt, 1t
honey, 1T
olive oil, 1T
active dry yeast, 1t

Specifics
1. Dechilled pate fermentee, 2 h @ rt
2. Mixed remaining ingredients first by "dissolving" pate fermentee in water (machine mix), then adding remaining ingredients (used bread machine for mixing), not a slack dough.
3. First rise 2 hours at rt (ca. doubled).
4. Rest 15 minutes and shape (an "S" and a batard, ca. 600 g each).
5. Final proof, 1 hour.
6. Moistened loaves and sprinkled with natural sesame seeds.
7. Scored top of batard.
8. Baked on tiles @ 450F with steam shot (baking time 35 minutes).

Comments/Results
Both loaves sucked!
I don't know what happened but the final loaf, while good in appearance was a tad dense, tight hole structure inside and it didn't taste that great. Another one in the heap for bread crumbs. I'm generally a little cautious when it comes to the final rise. I'm always afraid of overproofing. This time, I think I cooked too soon. This was my second miserable failure with a pate fermentee. I think I'll be returning to a poolish when it comes to the lean breads.

I fear I may just be destined for straight-enriched doughs. The lean breads are challenging. I posted this for my own documentation rather than to show off my talents (or lack thereof in this case). It's great to celebrate the good breads but crucial to study the failures.

Imagine if the scientific literature had such integrity.

A Chance to Give Back

A year ago, if you asked what was the scariest day of my life, I'd probably pause for quite some time. I don't think I had many truly frightening days. If you asked me the same question today, it would be the day the hospital let us take our child home. No exams, no interrogation, no nurses; they simply let her leave the hospital in our care.

We received an enormous amount of generosity from friends and family during those first few scary days. Among the gifts we received, was the casserole. I never realized how little time there would be to eat during those early days of adjustment and we would have starved without those generous gifts. Recently, another delivery was made by a friend. We made this lasagna (and one for ourselves) for them so they can eat between changing diapers and attempting to sleep.

Chicken n Noodles

I tend to be most interested in the simplest of recipes. The recipes with the fewest ingredients, often exhibit the greatest variability. Bread is the best of example of this and that's what I spend a great deal of time on. I enjoy the pursuit as much as the final product.

Something different today, though. Inspired by a meal we had a week or so ago, I tried chicken and noodles. A most gracious neighbor served us one of the best examples of this dish I've ever had. The chicken broth was rich and the noodles tender without being mushy. It was decadent. I'm afraid I may have been overzealous in probing our generous host for details of the preparation, but I couldn't help myself.

In my attempt, the chicken broth was made from a whole chicken and vegetables. The chicken was pulled from the pot and the meat rescued from the bone only an hour into the simmering. The meat was put aside for the final dish and the bone returned to the simmering soup of veggies (carrots, onions, parsley, pepper, etc., standard stock stuff) and left for a few hours.

The noodles were prepared from 2.5 cups of all-purpose flour and 3 eggs, a 1/2 t salt and a dash of olive oil. The dough was kneaded and divided into 3 portions. Each portion was rolled into a ca. 12" diameter circle, rolled up, cut into thin strips and the resulting noodles released after unrolling the cut up shreds of dough. They were kind of thick and only a few inches long (I cut most of them in half). The noodles then were allowed to dry for a few hours.

Next the stock was filtered to remove all the bones and veggies, the reserved chicken returned, the resulting mixture heated to a brief boil and the noodles tossed in with just enough water to make a thick mass of everything. Not too soupy. It cooked on a low heat for about 12 minutes and was seved over biscuits.

It was good but not nearly as good as our neighbor had prepared. My stock was good but the noodles were much tougher. This is the variability I was referring to. Noodles are a simple prep, but the details are in the process of making them. How much additional flour is incorporated while kneading, how long the dough is kneaded and just how the dough is handled prior to cutting the noodles are all critical parameters that are difficult to describe. So trial and error kicks in. I think I'll try to kneed the dough less next time trying to achieve a more tender noodle. I still haven't had the leftovers re-warmed, maybe they'll be better.

Postscript: 22-Nov-03
The leftovers were reheated for about 5 minutes on the stove for a quick lunch. Much better. I think the noodles are actually fine but need to be cooked much longer to become more tender.

Macaroons

I've recently become interested in food blogs. A popular one all the cool kids visit is Food Blog. What I like most about these sites is the recipes are accompanied with the experience of the cook who executes the recipe. And, in the best cases, a picture of the final product and comments about the food are described. It's a great advance compared to simply finding a recipe on the web. It's this testing (and validation) of a recipe that gives it value.

With that in mind, I repeated a simple macaroon prep from Chocolate & Zucchini (it's French you know) and repeated Clotilde's macaroon recipe. With only four ingedients and an equally uncomplicated procedure, these treats became an instant part of our repertoire. A great snack to take for a party (or today - a play group for Frankie to see Aaron, Benjamin and Sarina). I think everyone liked them very much. I'm a little sad there's none left. They were slightly crunchy on the outside and tender inside without being too sweet. I used unsweetened coconut that was kind of old, so next time I'll use coconut that's a bit more fresh but they still kicked. Thanks Clotilde!

mmm ... Pork Rinds

There is no food more likely to make people go "eeewww" when you tell them about it than Pork Rinds. But when it comes to my consumption of the wispy, delicate, savory crisps made from some section of a pig, I am in the closet. In fact, the only one I could openly share these treats with was our dearly departed cat, Eliot. He loved 'em as much as I. Well, Atkins and the oh so righteous NPR have now put the spotlight on these treats (the Real feed here). I love NPR, I just think they're pompous and not quite as unbiased as they would lead one to believe. While this mention on NPR may not bring Pork Rinds the popularity of being slashdotted, I bet you see a few empty bags lying around your local independent coffee house (Starbucks) or wherever NPR addicts hangout. In fact, I'm on my way to get a bag. And maybe I'll eat them in public.

Farewell our last tomato

Tonight we had a salad. Not just any salad but mixed greens topped with a hard boiled egg, lightly seasoned, roasted beets and our very last tomato of the season. Trish just pulled it from our withering pile of tomato plants. An Early Girl I think. Plump and juicy and very ripe; it had been sitting on the counter for a couple days. The salad was topped with a dressing of wine vinegar, mustard, a bit of sugar and whisked in xv olive oil.

We finished the meal with a cheese pie from Cooking Light (sorry, it's a pay site). It was kind of a cheese cake, only lighter. The cheese mixture was made from cottage cheese, cream cheese and yogurt and boy was it scrumptious.

Tomorrow, Frankie permitting, Clotilde's macaroons. I can't wait, this recipe looks simple and good.

I'm not dead yet (pickling revisited)

About 3 months ago, I gave a lazy person's pickling method. Basically, I made a brine, didn't boil it, immersed some small cucumbers and let 'em rip for several days at room temperature. I let them go at room temperature about 2 days, tasted the pickle goodness, let them sit another 2 days at room temp. and then put them in the fridge.

Today, while reading Amanda Hesser's, Cooking for Mr. Latte (a great collection of recipes and stories), I got the urge to make my own mayonaise. She makes it several times throughout the book with different oils, etc. So, got my homemade mayo and what did I do with it? You got it, tuna salad on my bread and a pickle on the side. It was simple and tasty and wanted to update that the pickles from the simple brining procedure were better than I remembered. Perfectly crisp and crunchy, yum.

It can't be good, we haven't sacrificed an animal

The other night, Trish and I met Dan, Sharon and the slightly younger man in Frankie's life, Benjamin (6.5 months), for dinner at a favorite noodle place of ours, Haiku. I got tofu pad thai which was so good, I haven't been able to get it out of my mind.

I searched for a recipe and found one that looked great on the Cooking Light website. It's a pay site, so I don't think it's right to post their recipe. I love their recipes. They make smart substitutions and I've rarely seen margarine used in their publication. I've rarely had a flop from them.

My attempts at pad thai have been miserable in the past but this one was quite tasty. I could taste the individual components like the soft-scrambled egg (which usually gets lost in the mixture), the sauteed tofu, the bean sprouts and the noodles were cooked perfectly, a slight bite. The best thing was the sauce composed of chilli sauce, brown sugar and fish sauce had a great salty/sweet balance and it pulled everything together nicely.

The only challenge stemmed from having a child. Used to be, I'd visit two asian markets, the local food co-op and the Big Bear to find all the ingredients for a recipe. Those days are sooooo gone. One solitary stop is the maximum allowed for a 7 month old's "schedule". Frankie is a bundle of smiling joy 95% of her waking moments, but, you don't want to push it. The ingredients, while not exotic, are varied and cannot be substituted, e.g., fish sauce, eggs, cilantro, sprouts, tofu, green onions, rice noodles, limes, chilli sauce, etc. I chose the Big Bear (our local grocery) and got it all (I had the fish sauce on hand, it lasts forever). Local big groceries, while hated by many are starting to accomodate diverse food trends. For that, we are appreciative.

I won't post the recipe, but email me and I'll send it to you (I've never been totally consistent in my ideology). The picture isn't the best, sorry.

Two Butts and a Picnic

A personal best has been achieved. Last night the Weber was extended and fired up. At 9 pm, having achieved a steady state temperature of 240 +/- 30 deg-F (despite light wind, rain and a low of 45-deg-F), two boston butts* (6-7 lbs each) and a picnic roast (6-7 lbs) were placed on the grill and it was capped with one vent opened on top and bottom. Started with lump but replenished using briquettes at 11 pm, 3 am, 7 am and 11 am. One problem encountered was a low dome temp of 105-deg-F was accidentally hit at 3 am because the lump burned out too fast. I suspect however a mean kinetic temperature of approximately 240 was achieved for almost all the grill time. Twelve hours into the cooking, the internal temp of the meat (measured at several spots near the bone, was 195-200 deg-F. Despite this reading, the roasts were left on until Noon, a total of 15 hours. For fatty pork roasts, I've always cooked them long and have never turned one dry. I believe the window of optimal cooking is huge. The pork roasts were removed, wrapped in foil and placed in a warm oven until 3 pm. Still quite warm but easy to handle, they fell apart nicely. Fork-pullable indeed. The meat was lightly dressed with a mixture of ketchup and cider vinegar (3:2 v/v) and served up with rolls and coleslaw for a proper pulled pork sandwich for 20 or so (with several pounds leftover). It was heavenly. I wrote this to remind myself of all the things that can go wrong (coals going out, overcooking, letting it sit for hours until dinner time). It seems all you need to do is cook it till 195 internal and then keep cooking. I don't know if it's possible to overcook a butt/picnic. Also, the picnic was significantly leaner. I think the taste of the two was about the same.


*Note: Butts and picnic roast were rubbed with a mixture of brown sugar (4 T), salt (2 T), pepper (2 T), paprika (2 T), coriander (2 T), oregano (2 T, dried), parsley (2 T, dried), wrapped in foil and placed in a cooler (ca. 45-deg-F) until ready for cooking.

Bring it on

An event on Sunday presents the opportunity to provide barbecue for the hordes. Or at least 20 or so. The Weber is not quite enough for 3 pork loins and a veritable coop of chicken. Thanks to the Thunderbelly extension for the weber (and a handful of modifications), we're now running a heavily modified rig that should be able to accommodate another layer of slow cooked goodness.

Warning: The Thunderbelly website is perhaps the worst site ever designed. Turn your volume down.

Vino Della Merda

I'm a frustrated synthetic organic chemist who's real passion is food science. When I heard a bit on NPR about how good "bag in a box wine" is, I couldn't resist. The wine was actually called "technically superior" referring to the foil lining and how the integrity of the wine is maintained over time. Some wine, it was mentioned, was actually kept for 6 months. As the wine is dispensed, the foil lining collapses, thus preventing any oxidation of the remaining wine.

I'm frugal and am incapable of discriminating a $7 bottle from a $20 one. I figured I was a perfect candidate to sample a wine that promised to deliver copious quantities of wine at a bargain price. However, I hadn't had box wine since the early days of graduate school and didn't know what to expect.

My palate must have matured. I will say the wine tasted the same over the course of two weeks of dedicated tasting (after all, by this point, it's free) the wine tasted the same. Unfortunately, it was vile. I chose Franzia's Chianti. It was sweet. Really sweet. They must have halted the fermentation with potassium sorbate (or lighter fluid) and then pumped in some really low grade honey. I was essentially stuck with 5 liters of putrid grade wine that I eventually stopped drinking (after about 2 liters) and wouldn't even use for cooking. While the packaging of box wine may be good, beware of what lurks within.

The box is currently stored in my basement, near the paint thinner.

Blue Nuts

Lately, I've been using bleached white flour and small percentages of shortening and sweeteners in my breads. I haven't endured feelings of guilt like this since the crabby nuns (it would be disrespectful to call them bitchy and mean) of Immaculate Conception cast their Spell of Perpetual Guilt some decades ago.

I have no regrets. My breads have never been better. And they're good for at least 3 days. The lean crusty breads derived from small quantities/no yeast, no sweetener and no shortening of any kind, while good and virtuous, are tough on a busy schedule. So, to assuage my guilt, I've gone to confession.

Ha, ha, ha. Just wanted to know if you were paying attention.

No, I've started using, up to 1/3 by weight of the flour makeup, whole grain flour. Whole wheat, rye and rolled oats, alone or in combination have been used with extraordinarily good results. And just to try to be one with Mother Earth and all that, I threw in nuts; sunflower seeds or walnuts. However, I noticed a purpleish tinge to some of the loaves. Hated it. I like my grain-blend breads to be off-white. I always blamed it on the rolled oats but I realized the other night, it's the walnuts! Google to the rescue. I guess if you don't roast them ahead of time, they are unstable and impart a blueish hue to the food they're cooked in.

Pretty interesting, just thought I'd share.

Of Eggplant, Pizzas and Humility

I think I shed a tear when this pizza came out of the oven.

I've been accused of being overly humble when it comes to my pizzas and breads. Kind of like the kid in class who complains of getting an A but wanted an A+. I vehemently deny this. I know what's good and what needs improving.

This is a pizza topped with a scant bit of tomato sauce, roasted eggplant, caramelized red onion and a bit of chevre. It was decadent. It's one of our favorites (and actually pretty low fat). It was inspired by a trip to Wrigleyville in the early 90s. Trish, her Bro Mike, Nadie and I went out one night for good food and blues and we had this heavenly pizza. The way I make it is different than we originally had, but every bit as good. Anything I bake can always be better - but this is pretty darn good and I am pretty darn content with it. For now.

Roasted Eggplant, Caramelized Onion, Goat Cheese Pizza - one 14" pie
General methods were reported here. Specifics are given below.

The Dough:
water, 200 mL (200 oz, ca. 7 oz)
flour, 300 grams (Gold Medal All purpose, 2 1/4 cups)
honey, 20 g (1 T)
olive oil, 25 g (2 T)
salt, 5 grams (1 t)
yeast, 3 grams (1 t), Fleischmann's Active dry for bread machines

Toppings Prep:
Eggplant. In the two schools of eggplant, I am a NON-salter, so there. The eggplant was sliced in ca. 1/4" slices lengthwise and lightly coated with a scant bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted on parchment covered baking sheets in a 425-deg-F oven till golden brown (15 minutes per side).

Onion. Sliced red onion is caramelized by initially sauteeing on high and immediately crank it down to real low heat and barely touch it for 20 minutes.

Tomato Sauce. Anything will do. I used just enough to color the shell red.

Chevre. I used a pretty dry brand and would rather have used a brand called Chavrie. But crumbled on about 3 oz.