Just Chips

Last night, I couldn't resist.

One strategy we've tried to calm the Frankster into sitting quietly at dinner (b'fast and lunch are no problem, dinner is nuts) is to give her a small quatity of something she really likes, an appetizer of sorts, to get her in the mood to eat (blackberries, Goldfish Crackers,, etc.). Last night, just before dinner, I attacked a russet with our mandoline slicer, plugged in the fry baby and tossed 'em in. They were tasty. Didn't quite work though. All she wanted was the chips. She ended the meal standing on her Learning Tower, eating a bowl of Chex. Hmmm, why does this seem familiar.

Anyway, it's amazing how wonderful a chip can taste when it's made with good oil, fried at the perfect temperature and actually tastes like a potato.

Deep Dish Help

The other night on FoodTV, I saw this episode of Unwrapped on Deep Dish Pizza. I was so salivating. I saw one prep by a pizza guy (business) in Chicago who built this pizza in the following order:

-dough in a cake-like pan slightly up the sides
-slices of mozzarella
-sausage raw!
-tomato sauce
-Reggiano with some oregano
-baked for 20 minutes (didn't say the temp - I'm guessing around 400F)

Two things have me baffled. The type of pan. It looked silver on the portion the pizza touched and blackened from use everywhere else => where do I get one of these? And, raw sausage?

Anyone have any good - tested - preps for Chicago-style deep dish pizza?

I got an itch and I'll be taking the plunge this weekend. Leave any assistance in the comments. Thanks. I'll save you a piece.

Next Project

Why the obsession with the baguette? It's quick and it cools quickly. Although it's tempting to eat bread when it's warm, it's a no-no. The loaf is supposed to cool completely before cutting in and eating. That's probably the biggest reason I like the baguette shape. Good crust to crumb ratio and with all that surface area, it cools quickly - all the way to the center.

So, speaking of daily bread, can I optimize what I have to have a loaf in the oven in the time it takes to preheat it (say 20 minutes) or can the loaf be ready and proofed as I walk in the door; preheat, slash the top and go? A neighbor of mine asked me the other day about freezing dough. I had never done it but it put a thought in my head that won't go away. I figure it's just a matter of experimentation to get the thaw/final proof time and temps. It's got to be better than those torpedoes of overly-conditioned crap from Pillsbury. Here's my initial plan. Although this plan only has two rises, they're each pretty slow. I think it'll work. But, unlike most real scientific literature, I'll actually disclose the results whether it works or not. Failures are always more instructive than the successes.

1. Mix baguette recipe and machine knead for 15 minutes or so and plunk in fridge for first rise (12-24 h).
2. Scale dough to dinner size loaves, ca. 400 g (320 g post-baking weight); good for a small family.
3. Form into loaf shape and place on baguette pan or other cylindrical holding device (lined with freezer paper) and cover loosely with plastic.
4. Now, the tricky part. Remove from freezer in morning before work and leave on counter probably in the pan it'll be cooked in and covered with something that doesn't touch the surface of the dough (so it won't stick). It might have to be sitting on parchment in the bread pan too to prevent it from adhering to the pan too tightly because the pan's perforated.
5. Come back 8-10 hours later, slash top and bake away.

I'll be thinking about this for a while. Chime in with any suggestions in the comments.

Baguette, it's the speed

Last Sunday night we had our favorite meal: bread, cheese and salad. My baguette was on its game that night. I used olive oil (ca. 5 grams/500 g dough) which is not what I usually use as the source of "catalytic shortening" and made it with no overnight delays; just a straight dough, machine kneaded and a heavy yeast charge of Fleischmann's instant active dry (ca. 2 t). It was absolutely killer. It was voluminos with a razor crust and tender interior (but not Wonder brad type tenderness) and excellent flavor.

I realize anyone reading is bored with my daily bread obsession but I depicted a few of the key observations of a great end product. In the first image there's a good indication of the result of powerful oven spring. The final slash opened wide during the initial moments of baking. In the second image is the crackled, mosaic-like crust that occurs in the first minutes of cooling out of the oven. Finally, the third image is the cross section of the sliced loaf. Not big holes but not too fine either (again, not Wonder bread). Yeah, it's the result of yeast and it's not as virtuous as starters and all that but I guarantee even a Frenchman (or woman) would enjoy it.

It was great the next day too. The "next day test" for me is important. A good loaf should be good the next day even if a bit drier and slightly stale. The flavor should still be good. I was disheartened the last time Trish and I went to France. We were staying with a friend and actually had a couple loaves in Dijon which looked great but tasted only mediocre and the next day they just weren't that good. But the loaf was from the Supermarche. Sorry for the digression. I just wanted to point out a few endpoint observations that aren't included in original prep.

My new read, it's Saucy

My most recent find in new food blogs was by Molly at Orangette. She writes a fun story culminated by a classic but modified recipe. She's now writing for a new site called Saucy. Her first contribution's, worth a read.

Frankie and I make focaccia

Saturday, I wanted to do a quick focaccia to accompany dinner. I intended to do something different but I got distracted, tossed something together and liked what I came out with. Instead of herbs and a bit of Reggiano on top, I just mixed some tarragon, basil and rosemary (all dried) into the dough and topped it with just a skim of EVOO. Prior to tossing it in the oven, we had to dock it (put lots of indents in the dough so it doesn't come out like a big pita). That's where Frankie's skill was especially useful. She pounded the surface of the dough quite handily just before I tossed it in the oven. This image is us looking at in the oven. If you look carefully, you can see our reflection.

Herbed Focaccia, free form
water, rt, 200 g
olive oil, ca. 20 g
unbleached white, 300 g
tarragon, rosemary, basil, ca. 1 t each dried
honey, ca. 10 g
salt, ca. 5-6 g
Fleischmann's instant active yeast, 1.5 t

0. Preheat oven to 450F.
1. Dough cycle for kneading and first rise.
2. Squashed and rested 20 minutes.
3. Pushed dough out to ca. 10" diameter circle and let rest 20 minutes.
4. Docked by pounding little fists over the surface.
5. Painted surface with olive oil.
6. Baked (on parchment) about 15 minutes till golden brown. Mmmmm, here's a final pic.

The real Dave's Beer

I think most food blogs had their start in hard copy. This is an image of the original and still-used-today notebook where I keep my beer brewing activity. It's the only component of my fermenting empire that hasn't made it to the web.

And, it never will.

For some reason, I enjoy scratching down my beer recipes as I go and keeping notes in a bound notebook where no mistake will ever escape for good. It's a lab notebook in the truest sense of the concept. A place where pages are dated and numbered, mistakes are crossed out such that they can still be read and updated as close to the time the actions occur as possible. There's nothing pretty about a lab notebook, it's about data integrity.

Why not share? I make extract brews and there's a whole class of purists who believe it's a useless pursuit if you don't grow the grain and malt it yourself and I don't have the energy to try to convince them they're wrong nor can I tolerate the undue criticism. So I keep my brewing to myself. I will, however, share the brew. Stop by sometime and have a sip.

Contact with Kingsford

I've wondered about the safety of using smoking chips, e.g., the ones from Kingsford and went to their site to contact them about it. Here's our exchange:

Me: I have a concern with your chips for smoking. I thought wood needed to be preburned (like lump charcoal) to be used for smoking. Otherwise, if you burn fresh wood, like those chips, you add a ton of volatiles to the food as the wood begins to smolder. Can you explain a bit more about the way your wood chips are treated and address the safety of smoking food with them?

Kingsford Guy: Thank you for your recent e-mail about KINGSFORD wood chips. The information you requested will require further research. Unfortunately, it may be several days before we will be able to provide an answer to your question. Once we have the necessary information, however, we will provide it to you by e-mail as promptly as possible.

Having thought about this exchange for the weekend, I'm actually kind of shocked at the Kingsford guys response. I'm more than a little surprised he didn't have this information immediately available. Should be interesting to see what he comes up with researching their own product! Good thing Dr. B's here for an authoritative opinion.

It's not about the bling

Do what you love and the . . . I forget the rest.

The other day a small crew from Picture Show Films and a marketing person from Weber came by for the shoot. Sixty something degrees in Columbus - in February! What a day to take a break from the grind and cook some ribs low and slow. While the rest of the family frolicked in the sun, took care of the kid (thanks my love!) and made sides for the end of the day rib fest, a couple guys stood in my yard and we talked barbecue ALL DAY LONG. I think I might have to crawl back to the church and tell them I made a mistake.

Anyway, many asked me "how much did you get?". Well, they did force me to use a shiny new kettle (but I did get to use the lump charcoal of my choosing). The new kettle and I bonded pretty quickly (don't know if my old kettle will forgive me) and then they just left it behind and said I could have it and I might also get a Weber Smokey Mountain™ out of it as well. It's a smoker I've wanted for a long time. My yard's small and can't easily accomodate one of those huge rigs; the Smoky Mountain™ is a pretty nice rig and has a small footprint. So, I got some nice stuff but I would've paid twice the comps for the fun we had.

As they filmed, their editor kept collecting feeds in the dining room and was already beginning the editing. They're going to make a short commercial for tv and going to run longer streaming video spots on the Weber site beginning in April. I'll keep you posted and give links.

Grilling Details: Royal Oak lump charcoal, maintained a temp of approximately 225-deg-F for 5 hours beginning at about 7:20 am (with a few spikes because I kept playing with my new toy). Monitored only the dome temperature only throughout the session. Used a pretty typical dry rub and did two moppings with cider vinegar during the cooking. The meat was also warmed to RT prior to tossing it on. Let 'em rest about 20 minutes wrapped in foil and boy were they tasty. The ribs themselves were pretty variable with respect to the amount of meat. Some were really meaty, others not as much. They were all pretty lean.

How were they? The image shows what remained. It's a pretty crappy image but it was a busy day and didn't get to take too many pics. Well, this is the last post for a long time about this. On to meatier episodes.

Valentine's Day, A Good Day to Rub Ribs

Tonight the gang will pile over to our house to briefly stay and watch the rubbing of the ribs in preparation for tomorrow's barbecue fest. I'll use a rib rub similar to that reported previously. Then they get out of my kitchen and we proceed with the bath, watching of Nemo, bedtime and get ready for tomorrow's shoot. Looking like good weather. Potentially rainy but warm. And, I'm not sure if the butcher pulled off that little membrane on the ribs. Got 7 half racks ready to go. We'll be serving them around 1-2 pm with (ham-hock flavored) black-eyed peas, greens and corn bread. If you happen to be driving by, stop in to say hey.

'Que specifics: I'll be using a Weber Kettle, burning Royal Oak (Naked Whiz gives it a 4.8/5) and relying on the native smokiness of the lump itself rather than tossing in too much extra smoke. Probably shoot for 5 hours at 225F.

Prep: To Do List

Next Tuesday, Picture Show Films will be here for the day. We'll be preparing Ribs. We'll be giving them a rub the night before, wrapping them up, warming them up the next morning and tossing 'em on the faithful Weber at about 7 am Tuesday. They'll be done by 1 pm. After an hour rest, we'll feast with the crew with Ribs, greens, black-eyed peas and Cornbread. The Prep:
a. prepare ingredients for rub
b. buy ribs (about 7 half slabs, baby backs).
c. buy a new foil drip-pan
d. check fuel supply of lump charcoal; be using Royal Oak for this round.
e. calibrate thermocouples
f. clean out Weber
g. buys lots of extra fruit/coffee/juice for the crew to munch while waiting
h. buy cornmeal stuff for corn bread and greans
i. polish the rig (no smart ass the rig refers to the infamous Weber)
j. remove dog poo from yard since there's no snow to cover it
etc.

If you're in the vicinity, feel free to drop by, just be prepared to disapper temporarily at 1 pm because that's Frankie's naptime.

Meatballs: Recent Findings

Photogenic? Hardly. But, there are few foods that give me a more comforting feeling than meatballs in tomato sauce. When we have them with pasta, you can hear Frankie chanting "more meat, more meat". Music to my ears. She also eats ten times the weight of these little delicacies in fruits and veggies, so I think her diet's balanced.

I've spent some time recently talking about meatballs. In the past I've made them from ground turkey and cracked wheat (I was quite proud of that innovation), ground sirloin (my Mom's preference) and now I'm using the holy trinity of meat: beef, pork and veal. In less fancy circles, it's called "meatloaf mix". I heard about it many times but not many supermarkets have it. The other day, I found it in a local market. If you find this delectable mixture, use it.

My Meatballs, makes about 10 small ones
ground beef, pork, veal (equal weights), ca. 1/2 lb.
bread crumbs, 1/2 cup
parsley, finely chopped, bunch
salt
pepper
garlic, trace or garlic powder
onion, small, finely diced
egg, 1
milk, enough. add milk and bread crumbs to get a mixture that's not too wet or dry.

To cook, plop 'em in sauce raw and simmer tomato sauce (tomatoes, salt, pepper, basil, bay leaf) for a couple hours.

I could eat these for breakfast they're so good.

Pancakes Coming

It's almost February 2! According to Wikipedia, it's technically the festival of the Purification of the Virgin. According to word IQ,

the eve of Candlemas was the day on which Christmas decorations of greenery were removed from people's homes; for traces of berries, holly and so forth will bring death among the congregation before another year is out

But to us, it's the Festival of Pancakes with Huckleberry Jam and Powdered Sugar.

I think Frankie will approve of the Holiday.

Pizza, Lean 'n Thin

I usually don't write about what I ate last night. But, this was kind of interesting. I usually have a lump of dough in the fridge from the baguette recipe. Recall, that's a lean dough, about 3 grams fat (veg shortening) per 500 grams of dough; much less than my pizza dough which has about 25 grams fat (olive oil) per 500 grams (and a little honey). I keep the baguette dough in the fridge (up to a couple days) so we have something on hand to add something special to an otherwise skimpy meal.

Last night Mom was out wining and dining a job candidate and it was me and the kid home for dinner. Table for two and I had no plan. After a brief panic, I took my lean dough, warmed it a bit, and decided to make a couple personal pizzas out of it with some fresh tomato (ugly ripes™, the best!), mozzarella and a bit of Reggiano. Seemed like a promising fix. But would that lean a dough work for a crust? I like my pizza crust with the oil and trace of honey to give it a tender interior, crispy exterior and amber color.

To my (and Frankie's) pleasant surprise, it worked quite well. A bit more chewy than usual but since we let the topped pies rest a good 10-20 minutes (diaper change between pizzas) before shoving them in the 550-deg-F furnace, they bubbled up nicely and were adequately tender. Frankie ate mostly my crusts, a couple pieces of orange and a crayon (purple, I think). She likes sauce more than fresh tomato but the different dough was a nice change.

The image is one just out of the oven and one about to go in on my two peels.