We never waste greens

Common problem: you plant a bunch of greens and suddenly you can't keep up with the green leafies. The just take over.

Our mix this year had a high mustard green content and the resulting salads tended to be hot. Like, horseradish hot. Wicked hot. So, the other day, having a simple meal of ham 'n beans we needed something green. I mowed these babies down, washed them and simply sauteed them using a bit of olive oil and tossed in the leaves still moist from washing. I usually have a couple garlic slivers in the oil but forgot this time and just seasoned them with a bit of salt. I sauteed the vibrant greens for about 10 minutes and were they good. And, a huge batch of fresh greens condense in the pan to a small lump when cooked. Very tasty way to take care of the overgrown garden.

Shrooms 'n Tofu

Mushrooms and tofu?

Saturday night the family and I made the mistake of being lured into a meal full of fried "seafood". One of those things you do when you're starving but regret immediately after the feeding frenzy is over. The memory of this meal needed to go away. We probably needed to fast a couple days but instead, decided to eat something reasonably healthy. Once I made it through the night, my apetite eventually came back and I got an urge for grilled mushrooms and tofu of all things (while chasing Frankie around the Zoo).

This meal turned out better than I expected and was trivial to prepare. I used extra firm tofu (1 lb.) sliced in 1/4" thick rectangles and cut the Portobello caps in half (6 of them). All the pieces were placed in a big bowl and to this added about 3T sesame oil, 2T soy sauce and about 2T rice wine vinegar and let it all marinate about 3 hours at room temp. The bowl was swirled several times to get the marinade mixed and redistributed several times during the 3 hours. Everything was grilled on my faithful Weber Q for 20 minutes onlow heat and everything was flipped once. The tofu held up well during the grilling. I served this with some basmati cooked in chicken broth. I think the only thing I would've changed is using a bit more soy and adding scallions to the marinade.

Don't cover that dough!

Couple interesting observations lately that busy parents may find interesting. The other night, I was making pizza. Toppings that night were seasoned pork, caramelized onions, mozzarella and some San Marzano tomatoes (canned). Very nice. Today, I'm making a couple baguettes. When I'm proofing the dough for these two household staples (the final rise prior to entering the oven), I'm usually cautious to dust the dough with flour (to prevent sticking) and cover them with an inverted bowl or a piece of plastic weighed down with a dishtowel to prevent the dough from drying out. In both of these cases, the dough was made the day before and placed in the fridge for the first rise. Don't know if this is a critical factor or not.*

During the final proof of the pizza, I was too busy getting the dog to pee and preventing Frankie from doing something that I didn't cover the thin slab of dough for up to 45 minutes! It was lightly dusted with flour and it didn't dry out - at all. I topped it, baked it and voila! Pizza as usual with no fuss covering it during the final proof. Same with the baguettes. Shapped the loaves, placed them in the baguette pan and let them proof for 20 minutes (since the dough had just come out of the fridge and only briefly warmed up, this proof could've been a bit longer) and then popped them in the oven. Great oven spring and great loaves. Pretty handy to know. It's not that it saves a ton of time, but covering these lumps 'o dough, involves a bit of extra care and cleaning that I no longer will do.

*One possible hypothesis is the slightly cool dough has a net flux of moisture outward (from dough to environment) as it warms to room temperature, thus preventing the dough from drying out, or maybe this temperature difference causes condensation also preventing drying out the surface.?

Tilapia, simple and good

Are those cobwebs on my grill?

Where have I been? Do you know how active a 3-year old can be? Just one too. So all you parents of more than one won't be sympathetic, but with two of us working full time, the daycare scramble, chasing down the kid (who does NOT like to wear clothes), and trying to help her appreciate food as much as we do leaves much less time for blogging about food than I'd like. In the past few months I have managed to smoke one darn good picnic roast on the 'ol Weber kettle; that's it for low 'n slow cooking.

But, for the day-to-day, I've gone to the dark side I'm afraid. No, I'm not a vegan but I've bought into propane and propane accesories. I now frequently use my Weber Q. I'm afraid it's the new love of my life. It's been a mighty player in the protein, starch, veggie dinner we so demand. And ... it's darn fast. Ten minute warm-up, cast iron grid and hot as the sun to sear the delicate flesh of most living creatures.

Last night, we chose Tilapia for the protein source of the meal. Started with frozen fillets (hey, we're stuck in the ample lap of the heartland here), thawed for a day in a simple marinade of olive oil, salt, pepper and a few finely chopped herbs. Ten minutes before dinner while the rosemary roasted potatoes were still in the oven and broccoli and cauliflower steamed on the stove, those fillets hit the blazing hot grill with a huge whoosh of flames. Frankie watched and told me to watch out!

The key to good fish on the grill, I've learned, is to rely on a preset time (most fillets take only 3 minutes or less per side). Spending time taking their temperature to see if they're done will ultimately result in fish jerky (which my family has suffered through in the past, bless their hearts). Last night's tilapia was sublime. Tender, flaky and Frankie ate a ton!

Challah

I was trying to incorporate Frankie into an activity during one of our "stay home days" (the weekend). I thought a Challah would be a nice way to incorporate the fun of rolling out play-doh, braiding and painting. She seemed to have fun and actually helped quite a bit.

I love this loaf, and it's good when it gets stale (if it lasts that long) for French toast (one of Frankie's favorites).

Frankie's Challah
Milk, 300 g
honey, 30 g
butter, 36 g
2 egg yolks
unbleached white flour, 500 g
salt, 10 g
yeast, 1 pkg rapid rise
+ egg yolk and milk (ca. 1:1 v/v)
a preheated oven (425F)

1. Warm/melt the first three ingredients on the stove and allow to cool to ca. 100F.
2. Dump everything but the glaze into a bread machine and put on dough cycle.
3. After the first rise, separate the blob into 3 portions, round each portion and let rest covered with a towel for 10 minutes or so.
4. Roll out each portion so it looks like a snake with an undigested mouse in it; fat in the middle and thin on the ends - this will give the bullbous shape in the middle of the final braided loaf. The ropes should be about 14 inches each. This was an especially fun part for Frankie.
5. Braid the ropes together and place the braided loaf on top of a piece of parchment on a cookie sheet. Cover the loaf with a towel for about 10-20 minutes - don't overproof.
6. Paint the loaf with the glaze mixture.
7. Bake at 425 for about 30 minutes. It'll be pretty dark because of the honey but shouldn't burn.
8. Allow to completely cool before cutting in.
(click the image for a larger view)

Brined Zucchini = A Pickle?

In a prior post, I was wondering if a bitter zucchini could be brined prior to cooking to remove bitterness. Here are some (inconclusive) results.

I didn't know if the fruit I chose was bitter or not; it's tough to tell when they're raw but decided to try the brining expt. on half of two small zucchinis that I recently purchased. I made a standard brine of 2T kosher salt in 500 mL water. I cut two zucchini lengthwise and brined half of each one for about 2 hours and cut them into thin semi-circles. The fruit, after brining, looked no different than their appearance pre-brining. However, tasting it raw, it tasted surprisingly like a cucumber pickle! I think I turned a zucchini into a pickle. Anyway, onward.

I then sauteed them in two batches in olive oil, with a little salt pepper and some rosemary and served them in separate bowls aside our baked cod and rice.

Results of my single blind study
I served both batches to my best critic, my wife. She could immediately tell the brined batch. The sauteed fruit was pretty salty. I found this interesting since brined food rarely tastes salty; it's more a means of hydration than seasoning (e.g., pork and poultry). But, as I tasted above, I shouldn't have been surprised. Turns out the control batch wasn't bitter, so it wasn't a good test case.

I may, however, revisit the zucchini to make pickles.

The Culprit of Bitter Zucchini

One of our favorite meals is sauteed zucchini, toasted pine nuts, fresh basil, coarsely chopped Uglyripes and pasta (and salt, pepper and olive oil of course). It's lightning-fast to prepare, is eaten slightly warm to room temperature and the leftovers make a killer frittata. However, recently our local market has been selling us zucchini that's pretty darn bitter.

I poked around the web looking for the cause. Apparently, a class of steroids called Cucurbitacins (depicted is Cucurbitacin E) are responsible for making eggplant, cucumbers and various varieties of squash bitter. Produce Pete (who, incidentally, should put up a blog) suggests selecting zucchini that are small and shiny. The larger the fruit the more likely they are to possess these bittering agents.

We here at Dave's Beer are contemplating soaking a split zucchini in brine (akin to the treatment some give Eggplant) to remedy the situation. Anyone ever try this? Leave your experience in the comments. Thanks.

Merry Christmas!

Nothing says Christmas to us like raviolis on Christmas Eve. Trish and I belted out about a hundred of these babies the day before Christmas Eve with a wild toddler bobbing about the kitchen and everything. Total mayhem, but it was worth it. We had these with some baked cod that set off the smoke detectors, oh well. Wouldn't be the holidays if it weren't a little crazy.

Today, a standing rib roast (not done on the infamous Weber, sniff) and all the sides. Have a good food holiday all!

Cantuccini

There's no shortage of biscotti recipes out there. My Mom makes an amazing one but my preference for this timely cookie has veered to the traditional. I made mine this year from a recipe in the 2001 Jan/Feb issue of La Cucina Italiana. This recipe is so simple, it's like a biscuit. Just a few ingredients, but its success depends on the process in which it's made. Took a few practice runs to get into a groove but finally made some good runs.

They're hard cookies begging for a dip in some hot drink but at the same time tender. I believe this tenderness is derived from gently working the dough once mixed; again, like a biscuit. Our good friend Amy makes the best I've ever had. I only hope mine are a fraction as good.

Slightly modified* recipe reprinted here for my convenience:
Cantuccini, makes about 30.
Self-rise flour, 200 g (1.5 Cups)
Sugar, 1 cup
Almonds, slivered and toasted, 3/4 cup
Vanilla extract, 1 t
Eggs, large, 2

Mix the wet with dry, divide and spread the sticky play-doh-like mass into 2 globs. Further shape the globs into ca. 12-15" logs on a parchment-lined sheet and bake in a 375F oven for 25 minutes. Cool briefly and cut diagonally and stand the cut cookies on another sheet and bake at 375F for an additional 15 minutes. Click the image for a larger image hosted at Flickr.

*The original recipe called for unbleached white flour and baking powder. Whenever I see this combination, I substitute self-rise flour. Usually the flour in such mixtures has a lower protein content (appropriate for most baked sweets) and it already has the chemical leavener in it (and a trace of salt). It's more convenient too.

Someday I'll return

This is a reflection of Frankie and I looking in the oven door at a baguette baking. I don't know when I'll post more kitchen adventures; I guess I'm on semi-permanent hiatus. I'll leave up the archives. Raising a kid sure takes a bunch of work.

Click on the image for a larger version.

Miserable Failure

I thought preparing Clare Crespo's Jell-O Aquarium recipe for after-nap treat time would make me the coolest Papa in the Penguin room (and, it seemed irresistably neat). I bought a 1-gallon polycarbonate cylinder for it and gummy eels because an aquarium of eels just seemed more apropriate for a gang of toddlers. I was totally psyched when I got the time to put it together.

Save your precious time and file this away as a miserable failure.

1. Berry Blue Jello is pretty cloudy and dark, both big problems for visualizing floating items.
2. Berry Blue Jello is pretty expensive and no generics exist because of the apparent challenge finding blue-hued food.
3. Fruit cocktail, drained, DOES NOT SINK!

Clare, you're creative but you gotta test your recipes instead of having an expensive photographer shoot what the creation should look like. That's why food blogs are so valuable, they're essentially tested recipes. I should've known this looked a bit too good to be true.

At least we have jello for a few nights for dessert.

Palm (soap)

Alright, I'm just not cooking anything interesting but I have a quick 10 minutes to whip together a soap recipe here and there, so I did:

palm oil, 340 g
coconut oil, 136 g
olive oil, 68 g
water, 288 g
NaOH, 75 g
lemongrass oil, 8 mL

Aqueous base prepared and allowed to cool. Then, the fats were melted and everything mixed around 120F. Mixed with an immersion blender and when the mixture thickened, I poured into two disc-shaped molds lined with plastic wrap and covered the surface with additional plastic wrap. I intend to slice these into 4 semi-circle bars.

The critical factor to this soap is according to the recipe, I should have only added 68 g NaOH, but according to the MMS calculator, it should be 75 grams for a superfatted soap. We'll see how it turns out. It traced kind of quick. This recipe size was perfect to fill 2 x 400 mL molds (enough for 4 good sized bars).

Soap was popped out of their molds after about 12 hours, very firm and cut to shape and allowed to cure in air. No visible carbonate on the surface. I think the MMS Calculator is pretty good in getting the right amount of NaOH in the mixture.

Update 13-Sep-2005
One day after unmolding, and cutting into bars there's no trace of carbonate formation. Years ago, when I made soap, I had problems with carbonate formation on the exterior surface of the bars. These are really clean and already very firm. I suspect they'll be ready to use within a couple weeks. So, get ready readers, some of you just might be reading about the development of your xmas gift. Sorry to ruin the surprise.

Honey (soap)

First in an occasional series.

In the years p.f. (pre Frankie), I used to mix up soaps; mostly they were cold process. Last night, I resumed my soap-making activity with a small batch of Honey Soap that I got from Diana's Sugar Plum site. I'll post a pic when it finally cures. So far, Frankie and I mixed the following:

vegetable shortening, 340 g
coconut oil (mp 76F), 114 g
beeswax, 28 g
water, 240 g
lye, 56 g
honey, 2 tablespoons measured by two squirts.

All the fats were combined, melted and brought to ca. 120F. The lye solution was mixed and cooled to 110F and combined. Frankie stirred a while and then I charged the honey and sped things up a bit using my (dedicated) immersion blender. We poured it into a plastic wrap-lined mold and placed an additional piece of plastic wrap on top while it did it's initial reaction to prevent carbonate formation on the surface. We'll unmold it in another day and let it cure for a couple weeks before trimming it for gifts and use.

Update (7-Sep-05)
I unmolded the block of soap in two days. It was kind of soft and let it rest on each of the bar's sides. According to the recipe, it should be cured in about 2-3 weeks. Everyday it gets a bit more firm and there's no carbonate on the bars at all. It's got quite a bit of excess fat (superfatted) so that's not too surprising. Keep you posted as it cures.
soap honey soap

I hope you can't overdose on lycopene

It's that time of year. Trish and Frankie go out to the garden every afternoon and bring back a bowl of "red gold". Tomatoes. The most perfect fruit in the world. Today Trish skinned a bunch for me to turn into pizza sauce.

Every night we have a bowl of coarsely chopped tomatoes dressed with a touch of oil and balsamic vinegar salt and pepper and sometimes we just slice and eat 'em with a spec of salt. It's a great time of year.

I think we'll be pressure-canning a bunch in the next couple weeks if the harvest continues and we become all tomatoed out.

food tomatoes