Food Art

art plate, originally uploaded by Seligman's Dog.

The 12 days of xmas to us is the gap between xmas and new year's in which daycare is closed. It is a fun, yet challenging period of the year. Mom's taking the brunt of the childcare while I work. This afternoon's activity (among many) was paper plate painting.

Not especially environmentally friendly, but fun. And, I was desperate.

Today, a twist. I use a ton of grains, herbs and spices while cooking and this activity took place in the kitchen (near lots of running water and cleaning supplies). Combining the painting with the many ingredients at our disposal, we created this multi-textured piece of art.

First we applied glitter glue and then coated each section with a different material.
Hair: dried parsley. Eyebrows: steel cut oats. Eyes: blackeyed peas. Nose: arborio rice. Mouth: orange lentils. Pretty cool result.

This is a sheet of dough!

this is a sheet of dough!, originally uploaded by Seligman's Dog.

This is a sheet of thinly rolled out dough for ravioli. It started out last night looking like this. With this dough and about 20 sheets like it, Trish, Frankie and I made some of the BEST ravioli of our lives together. They were filled with spinach, ricotta and parmesan (and some nutmeg). I've never quite rolled the dough out so thin. It was quite tough too. I feared the dough might be too tough. Apparently, if it's thin enough, it just can't taste tough. Pretty good pasta experience.

For the ravioli, we used this device. Nice shape and they stay together during boiling.

xmas biscuits

xmas biscuits, originally uploaded by Seligman's Dog.

Finished product of Sunday morning biscuits. Compliments of Frankie.

Biscuits are an intriguing part of my repertoire. Everyone who bakes, makes biscuits. But, they are deceptively simple. Flour, baking powder, salt, some fat and milk, more or less.

These particular biscuits started out like most others I do. I usually make a slack batter and from that drop biscuits. Today, because we wanted to do something a bit more fun, I wanted to make a slightly drier dough, knead it a tad and cut out the biscuits.

So, I took 2 cups of self rise flour (flour, leavening and salt together), cut in about 4T butter and poured in about 3/4 C milk while a cast iron skillet warmed up in a 450-deg-F oven. I fold in the milk until a shaggy mass formed. I flopped the mass onto the counter top and began folding it in half, not quite kneading.

Then, Frankie pushed it out into a squat 6-8" disc. From that, she cut out her shapes. Christmas trees and a gingerbread boy. I separated the dough shapes and placed them in the blazing hot skillet (NOT greased) and baked it for about 15 minutes.

Mrs. DavesBeer told me cutting them with a sharp cutter, like a cookie cutter makes for a good oven spring. She was right. These were high and the texture was flaky and layered. They were amazing. I think these will be our preferred biscuit instead of the drop version.

'twas the night before the night before the night before xmas

Tomorrow's the day before the night before xmas and we're gearing up for xmas eve dinner: ravioli, smelts, veggies and salad. So tomorrow, Trisha, Frankie and I hit the kitchen for ravioli making. Tonight, I was in the zone making dough.

Traditionally, pasta dough is a cup of flour, an egg, a pinch of salt and a ca. t of olive oil. Eggs, however, have changed in size in the past decade or so. I had to use about 9 eggs to 6 cups of flour.

I piled all the flour (6 C unbleached white and 3t salt, mixed) on the counter and made a well in the middle. I then added a few eggs, some olive oil and began incorporating as much flour as the moisture of the eggs would accept. Then I folded the resulting dough a few times and put it to the side. I kept reiterated this procedure until all the flour was used up. The dough was then cut into 6 or so chunks, kneaded and wrapped in plastic until tomorrow.

Tomorrow, Trish will make a spinach and ricotta mixture, we'll all roll some dough out, make the ravs and put them in the freezer until xmas eve. Yum!

I'm enjoying making fresh pasta these days more than ever. I made several pounds of pasta dough tonight in about 30 minutes. I'm going to continue making pasta and eventually get into some nice grainy versions.

Final dough rolled out here.

My dough tip? I use a (dedicated equipment) 8" putty knife to help me fold and knead dough. Beats a pastry blade. Bigger, easier to handle and lots cheaper.

Kneadless baguette with a trace of olive oil

Kneadless process, olive oil, 2% w/w (20 g/kg dough).

Couple big changes to the baguette thing lately making the bread approximately the same crustiness, equivalent flavor and much less difficult. My time-tested baguette process is being rapidly replaced.

My aspiration is to make a quick video of it. But, for now, words.
The recipe for two one pounders:

1. Add to mixing bowl in this order:
water (room temp), 1 2/3 C (400 mL)
rapid rise packet of yeast
olive oil, 1T (ca. 15 grams)
salt, 2 t (10 grams)
swirl bowl
unbleached white flour, 4 1/4 C, not packed, loose, level

2. Mix with wooden spoon until it balls up.
3. Cover bowl containing shaggy mess with towel (don't let it touch sticky dough) and let rise for about 1-1.5 hours. If you use warm water, the mass will puff up rapidly.
4. Preheat the oven to 450-deg-F.
5. Flour the puffy mass generously with flour.
6. Punch down and gather the dough ball, divide in two pieces and "round it" as previously described.
7. Let rest in a ball for 10 minutes (no need to cover for this short a period).
8. Form into a baguette shape, again, as described in the original procedure.
9. Allow the baguettes to proof on the counter top dusted with flour and covered with a dish towel. No problem if the towel touches the surface, let proof for about 12-15 minutes.
10. Take the risen loaf and gently put it on the baguette pan. I use an 8" spackle knife in the kitchen and use this to gently lift the loaf with another spatula so I don't deflate it en route.
11. Dust top of loaves with flour again and slash vents in the top. Use a razor sharp knife (serrated or smooth) and cut FAST so you don't tear the loaf (this takes practice and is critical).
12. Place the pan in the lower third of the oven and close the door.
13. Open the door and toss a ca. 1/2 C of water on the floor of the oven to create a lasting plume of steam.
14. Cook until loaves are amber colored. Color is a perfect endpoint. Approximately 20 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes or so and cut in.
Enjoy.

biscotti

Miles of cantuccini. Not sure if a couple hundred are enough.

Baguette

Every few months I take my starter out of the fridge, scrape off the mold, refresh it a few times and start a sourdough loaf. I usually never make a soudough baguette because of the logistical problem of how to do the final proof.

The final proof of a sourdough loaf needs a lot of time (usually retarded in a fridge overnight). If I use the baguette pan for the final proof, the dough embeds itself into the perforations and won't release when it cooks.

This time I let the final proof go in the fridge on top of a piece of parchment on a sheet pan, loosely covered with plastic for 24 hours. Then, without warming to ambient temp., I floured the loaf and flipped it into my baguette pan and cooked it @ 425-deg-F (convection) with a steam shot. Awesome.

The recipe I used was starter (thick, 150 grams), water (150 grams), flour (unbleached and some fresh milled from wheat berries (using a coffee mill, ca 75 grams wheat berries, 150 grams regular unbleached white). I let it rise for 2 days in the fridge. Punched down/20 minute rest. Final proof as mentioned above.

Can't wait to cut in!

Merguez, Chickpeas and Swiss Chard

A while back, I found my best food find in Columbus. Mediterranean Food Imports carries merguez, a spicy (but, not too hot) Tunisian sausage. It's deep red and when sauteed, it renders some deep red colored fat. It tastes wonderful.

I started with about 1/3 to 1/2 pound of merguez sliced thin and sauteed in a high sided 6 qt pan. Once the sausage was cooked (about 7 minutes on medium), cleaned swiss chard leaves (a bunch, sliced in ribbons), a drained 15 oz can of chickpeas, a pinch of salt and ca. 1/4 C of water was added. The pan was covered and allowed to simmer on low for 10 minutes. In the meantime the couscous was prepared. After 10 minutes on low, the chard was cooked perfectly, wilted but not soggy. The mixture was served on top of a pile of couscous. It was absolute heaven!

Why no picture? None left. A welcome part of our dinner repertoire from now on.

Farewell 'til next season

Few things in life are better than fresh basil. The leaves themselves are slightly bitter and oozing with juicy volatile goodness.

Every season, we plant a few seedlings, clip them as if they were a bonsai and end the season with spindly plants that flower and achieve low yields of the leaves we tried so hard to foster. This season was quite different. Instead of this "depression era mentality" of saving it all for the end, I started harvesting leaves as soon as they were available. From anywhere and not caring about the plant's future. I wanted the basil and I wasn't going to let them go to seed.

Interestingly, the more I tore off, the more they grew. In the beginning of the season (end of May, I started harvesting), I used scissors to get my fix. Then, as days got busier and dinner prep time grew shorter for one reason or another, I attacked the plant and just ripped off the leaves. And, they just kept growing - robustly. We now have 3 basil shrubs outside with more tasty leaves than we've ever had before. My friend Gary who's an extraordinary gardener, was amazed. He kept asking how carefully I harvested the leaves and I told him I just kind of attacked it. He was stunned. I am a total basil fanatic now and have grown a new appreciation of this robust herb. It'll kill me to see them wither on the first frost. But, next season, they're going in early and I'm tearing in quickly. Can't wait.

Weber mod cold smoking action shots

Frankie and the mighty Mustangs will engage in their first soccer game ever (hopefully). In preparation, I'm fooling with the video camera and trying to figure out how to get a clip published on YouTube for the family and friends to view (clips can be private and email invites can be used for viewing). I only have Windows Movie Maker for editing. Not good but adequate to grab a clip from a stream.

One of my practice vids is some action shots of my smoker apparatus. It only took about two years of weekends to finish. And, it's not done yet. Today I'm smoking salmon. Really smoking - not cooking. Take a look.

And, here's my attempt at cedar, cold-smoked Salmon. Yum.

I also have plans to do my superfast, super good baguette. Stay tuned.

Basil hydroponics?

I clipped a small bunch of basil on my way in the house one weeknight and forgot what I was going to use it for so I stuffed it into some water to see if it would survive until I could use it. That was about 2 weeks ago! Now, I noticed it's thriving quite nicely. Click on the image for a bigger view. It's pretty awesome. I'm conisidering getting a perforated clear plastic piece to place over a pool of water to set up a mini hydroponic garden to see if I can use my basil for a chunk of the winter. It's my favorite herb and I LOVE to cook with it all the time. Keep you posted.

Pulled Pork Tonight/Tomorrow

I've only tried barbecue overnight once and my heat died during the night. Tonight, after a great deal of reading my new favorite place to hang out, the forums on Virtual Weber Bullet, I found some modifications to a Weber grill to get me throuh the night easily. I made a bank of bricks to contain the coals and mesquite tidily against the side for a long burn indirect cooking of a sexy little 3.5 lb. picnic roast I picked up at Giant-Eagle today.

Tough to monitor in the early stages however. We've only been in this home less than a year and I just noticed the backyard is totally black at night. Kind of cool. I was only able to get this shot by pointing my camera in the dark and used the flash to see what was going on. This shot is about 2 hours into the cooking. Cracked about a 1/8 on the bottom vents and full open on the top.

I think I'll lose a bit of sleep tonight thinking about tomorrow night's meal. In the morning, I'll wrap it, put it in the fridge and take the kid on a wild day of activity. Tomorrow night, we feast.

"Hot meat, hot meat" Frankie will chant. Going to kill me if she becomes a vegetarian at 13.

Damn, fire went out during the night because I didn't read the "Bullet Post" thoroughly enough. I was supposed to use the minion method to do the burn. Next time I guess. For now, I just fired it back up for a few more hours. When I found the grill out, the meat was still hot. Let it rip another few hours, wrapped it a couple hours and it pulled beautifully. It was a tad dry but really good. Frankie said "It's great Papa!". I don't get that too often, high praise indeed.

Cold Smoking: Weber mod, v 2.0

In my previous version of the Weber mod, I was essentially cooking, not smoking since my dome temperature was 150-deg-F. Since then I made the several changes. I'll point out all the features of the new version and indicate which are alterations to the old one.

1. Dome, no change here. Just a thermometer inserted to monitor the temperature near the food.

2. The Thunderbelly insert (caution: most horribly designed site in the world with loud music), used, as before, to position food further from the heat/smoke source.

3. The drilled out bottom to permit the smoke into the Weber kettle, no change.

4. The 6" to 4" ductpipe reducer. Perfect to fit an inverted 28 oz. can of tomatoes (empty, 6 in 1 brand). This is a big change. I drilled about 6 3/8" holes in the bottom of the can. This permits less smoke to go through the can as my previous much larger aperature. I believe this slows down the combustion of the wood resulting in:
a. reduction of billowing clouds of mesquite smoke all over the neighborhood,
b. my neighbors' comfort because they don't have to smell the billowing clouds of smoke all day,
c. our clothes and home won't smell of mesquite all day from the billowing clouds of smoke and,
d. the smoldering wood will last much longer (a ca. 2.5" cube smoldered about 6 hours).

5. Using my chimney/smoke conduit on top of a cast iron pan greatly reduced the dome temperature. The cast iron pan got really hot, but since the heat is essentially outside the system, it dissipates into the environment much better than the previous version. On a 80-deg-F day with no wind, I was able to keep the dome temperature at a steady 105-deg-F to 110-deg-F. Still on the high end of cold smoking, but on a cooler day, with a light breeze, this may be perfect for a 24 hour period of smoking, perfect for salmon or trout.

6. 650 W hotplate set on M, no change.

This was just a dry run with no food in the chamber. I have a couple more ideas to implement before a food run. Keep you posted.

Best Feta in Columbus

Mediterranean Food Imports is my favorite ethnic market in the city. On the southwest corner of Dodridge and N. High the market has a wide variety of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food not easily found anywhere else in the city. Over the past 5 years it's been through several owners and now it seems to be the best it's ever been.

Their best product is probably their feta. They carry Egyptian, Bulgarian, French and Greek styles. The Egyptian is probably their best seller; it's the mildest and creamiest of all the varieties.

My second favorite staple of theirs is their variety of grains and legumes. Lentils of all varieties and any mesh size of cracked wheat you can imagine. They even have Israeli couscous (sometimes called Maftoul, a larger mesh size couscous, awesome for this dish). And, now, bonus, a muslim butcher is on board. They have halal meats including Merguez sausage, a Tunesian sausage that's spicy and wonderful. I first experienced this delicacy at a Moroccan restaurant in Paris several years ago. It was heavenly. I've never seen it anywhere in Columbus.

They also have a huge variety of olives, olive oil, labne, dolmados, etc. If you haven't been there, you're missing out on one of Columubus' finest food gems.

ps An interesting recipe using merguez sausage.