I am not dead

::  I have been suffering from a cold turned into mild sinus infection since New Year’s Day.

::  I was already suffering from a cold that just wouldn’t quit a month and a half before that.

::  As a result, most of my cooking has been limited to variations of chicken broth.  ha.

::  I’ve been taking continuing education courses for fun at a nearby college.  It was more involved that I imagined it would be.  And I’m crazy enough to do it again for the spring semester which starts next week.  My hobbies are getting in the way of my other hobbies.

::  I’ve been taking a few food photos but I just can’t seem to make myself sit down and write them up.  This laziness has extended to a musical review that I’ve been promising my friends on my non-food journal.

::  Plumduff has gotten married and moved out of our house.  Stealth Eater is hardly home (during the cold weather, she is known to hide at her boyfriend’s place which is warmer than our household).  Asano-mama has seen major changes in her life in 2009, so she’s busy with other things.

::  I bought a groupon voucher for Sel de la Terre.  I cannot wait. 

~ Mikan

 

things I need to post

1.  apple pie

2.  cranberry orange mochi cake

3.  and maybe something about mooncakes

Random observation:  chayote squash roasted with dried basil?  It’s a very bad idea.  Somehow it comes out tasting medicinal?  I was surprised since chayote and herbs de Provence was fine.  Since pairing with basil yielded untasty results, I tried the other spectrum… Chayote and Adobo seasoning.  And you know what?  It was addictive.  Hmmm, maybe I should post the Adobo seasoning I use.

 

experiments

I must learn to come to terms with the fact that experimenting, especially without a recipe, means that I’m going to have failures.

I woke up early for no reason, so I decided to give a go at round 1 of a gluten-free cranberry orange quickbread.

There will have to be a round 2.

*sigh*

~Mikan

 

potato, zucchini, chickpea soup with mint

I rather liked the way this came out. It’s been hot here in Boston this week, so on Sunday I made myself cook something that would last me a few days.

First of all, this recipe won’t be for everyone. I like fresh mint and not everyone does. In fact, some people hate mint like I hate cilantro. I understand that.

But don’t let the mint stop you. I think that it’s probably easily replaceable with basil or parsley.

potato, zucchini, chickpea soup with mint
adapted from Cuisine At Home

a bunch of leeks, cleaned and sliced
two medium sized potatoes, diced (I left the skins on)
two medium sized zucchini, diced (I left the skins on these too)
oil
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
salt and pepper to taste
lemon juice, to taste
about 1 1/2 tsp fresh mint
Tabasco, to taste (I skipped and used a pinch of cayenne pepper instead)

Saute the leeks and potatoes in some oil using a soup pot over medium heat. Cook until the leeks are softened, about five minutes, stirring frequently so that the potatoes and leeks don’t stick to the pot.

Then add the chicken broth, zucchini, chickpeas, and (in my case) cayenne pepper to the pot. Bring to a boil, cover, turn down the heat to a simmer, and let it cook at least 20 minutes. You want the veggies to be soft, so don’t worry if it ends up being 30-40 minutes.

When the veggies are done, remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper as you like. Add the mint. Add the lemon juice to taste (I only used a couple of teaspoons).

Puree the soup. I have a stick blender just for moments like these… so much easier than trying to puree in a blender or a food processor.  I originally left the skin on my veggies because there didn’t seem to be a reason to peel.  I knew I was going to puree it all.  I’m glad I did – it left nice flecks of color in the soup and kept it from looking boring.

And that’s it. Done. For my purposes, it made three large bowls and one small bowl. I’ve been having soup and sandwiches for dinner for the last four nights. I haven’t had to cook a thing since.

Too bad I’m all out. It’s still hot tomorrow. I guess I’ll need to cook something small.

~Mikan

 

a “duh” moment

I realized last night, that amid all of my experiments with bread, I completely forgot about the autolyse technique, which I learned about several years ago.

I’d like to try it with spelt (I’ve been working on spelt bread recently) but I’ve run out of spelt flour.  Regardless, this is something I must work with. 

You might be asking yourself what I am talking about  right now.

Autolyse is when you mix flour and water first, and allow that to rest 20-30 minutes.  This affects the gluten strands.  The reported result is a dough that mixes in less time and is stronger.  It’s supposedly also more flavorful and less acidic.  Autolyse is not considered a sponge or a pre-ferment because the yeast has not been included yet.  Also, do not add salt during autolyse because it’ll affect moisture and gluten formation.

If nothing else this holiday weekend, I’m making a loaf of bread.

(ok, ok, I’m probably making cookies this weekend too but that’s totally unrelated.)

 

I haven’t forgotten this blog… so here’s a bread post

I have things I want to try… a restaurant review that I should be posting for Addis Red Sea… and I just haven’t had time lately for everything.  Or least it feels that way.  Maybe I’m just being lazy?

So, in the meantime, here’s the bread recipe post that I’ve been promising since the winter.  *eep!*

I haven’t completely given up on preferments just yet, but I’m beginning to think that I’m not that impressed (Asano-mama got the CookWise book recently, so I’d like to try a Shirley O’Corriher recipe before giving up on preferments completely).  I apologize in advance if some of the measurements seem weird.  I was converting them from an existing recipe from the UK.

I did try the recipe below a second time without the barley flour.  I still wasn’t wowed as I had hoped I’d be, but your mileage may vary.

Slow fermentation, adapted from Andrew Whitley

I came across an interesting radio piece after some googling – it was about slow fermentation and bread as presented by the BBC.  It was kind of fascinating.  Half of the show was talking to a die-hard-slow-fermentation-all-natural-all-local bread maker and the other half was talking to we-are-the-bread-federation-of-Britain man.   Ok, they aren’t called the “bread federation of Britain”, but they were definitely the federation of something.  (haha!)

Basically, the whole radio show can be summed up as thus: “no one can prove that slow fermentation is healthier, but it probably does taste better although less squishy.”

Some searching gave me an Andrew Whitley recipe for a basic bread.  Since I live in good ol’ New England, I had to revamp the recipe for use with my measuring cups and such.

First, here’s the Andrew Whitley version (cut and paste):
source – http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/apr/16/recipes.foodanddrink/print
This is the way most bread was made until the dawn of the era of high-speed mixing and “no time” dough. Although it involves a long rise, it doesn’t take any more of the baker’s time than fast-made bread. It uses less yeast, too, and the long fermentation gives great flavour and additive-free keeping quality. This makes a dozen rolls or two small loaves.

1. Overnight sponge
5g fresh yeast (or 3g dried yeast)
130g water (at about 20°C)
150g stoneground wholemeal flour
[285g total]

Dissolve the yeast in some of the water and add it to the flour with the rest of the water. Mix until the dough has “cleared”, that is, all the ingredients are thoroughly combined. There is no need to knead the sponge, since time will develop the gluten sufficiently. Put the sponge in a bowl large enough to allow it to expand to at least three times its original size. Cover with a lid or polythene bag and leave it at room temperature for 12-18 hours.

2. The final dough
285g overnight sponge (from above)
450g flour (wholemeal or a mix of white and wholemeal)
5g salt
270g water (warm to the hand, i.e. 30-35°C)
15g butter or olive oil (optional, but makes rolls a bit softer)
[1,025g total]

Mix all the ingredients into a soft dough. Knead without adding extra flour until it is silky and slightly stretchy. Cover and leave to rise for 1 hour. Divide into 12 pieces (or two for small loaves), shape into rolls, dip into wholemeal flour to get a good covering, and place on a baking tray with about 2cm separating them. Cover with a large polythene bag but don’t let it touch the rolls. Let them rise until they are just touching each other, then bake in a hot oven (220°C) for 10-15 minutes. They should have a thin floury crust and feel soft after they have cooled.
© Andrew Whitley 2008.

Now, the US friendly version as adapted by me:

1. Overnight sponge
1/2 tsp instant yeast
1/2 cups plus 1 Tbsp water
1 cup plus 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour

Mix until well combined.  Cover with a lid or plastic wrap (but not too tightly).  Let this fart around overnight.

2. The final dough
all of the overnight sponge from above
3 1/2 cups of flour (all-purpose, bread flour, whole wheat or any mixture of the three… I used all-purpose with one cup of barley flour out of curiosity)
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp mild olive oil

Mix all together.  Try not to add extra flour, but I found that I had to.  I added only a tablespoon at a time.  The dough should be “silky and slightly stretchy.”  Cover and let this rise for an hour.  Divide in in half, and shape into a ball.  I didn’t bother covering this with flour.  I put both dough halves on either side of my biggest sheet pan.  I loosely covered with plastic wrap that had been sprayed with oil (oil side touching the dough, duh), and let the doughs rise until about double in bulk and almost touching each other.  Cut a slash on top.

Bake in the oven at 425F for 20-25 minutes.

Let cool on a wire rack.

Overall, I liked the results.  They were like giant dinner rolls, reminiscent of bread rolls from Bertucci’s.  *grin*  I have mixed feelings about the barley flour I used.  Over time, the barley flour just make the bread taste “healthy” (less noticeable when still warm from baking).  Not necessarily in a bad way, mind you, but I’ve never used barley flour before I’ve seen it described as a mild, sweet flour.  So, I guess I was a little let down.  I wouldn’t mind using the barley flour again, but I’ll have to use less than a cup.

As for the overall method, I thought the sponge (aka preferment/biga/poolish) was kind of fun.  It’s kind of cool to see the sponge be all bubbly.  It worked fine, and I’ll probably work with more preferments in the future.

~Mikan

 

Victorian milk bread, with quinoa flour

The weather here in Boston has been slowly getting warmer.  Better temperatures for rising dough, but less ideal for turning on my oven.  On top of that, my weak/bad wrist is tempermental whenever I’m kneading.

I think this might be my last loaf for the season.  I might try some no-knead recipes, but the bulk of my bread experimentation will have to wait for the weather to get cold again.

I realize, too, that I’ve been promising one or two posts on breads with a pre-ferment, but I haven’t posted them at all due to… well, a lack of interest.  More pathetic is the fact that I had one completely written up and saved on my computer.  I am lame, lame, lame.  And it isn’t the fault of the bread recipe.  I’ve just realized that I don’t think I like the flavor of my breads with a pre-ferment.  The best of the pre-ferment experiments is the one that I had written up, so perhaps I’ll still post it.  But not today.

And I apologize for the lack of pictures.  I’m trying to get back into the swing of things.

* * *

So, I’ve had a box of quinoa flour sitting in my pantry for at least a couple of months.  I’ve never cooked/baked with it before – I was just curious.  (but I have cooked with quinoa itself, and I love it)

Searching for bread recipes that 1) weren’t gluten-free and 2) used the flour and not cooked quinoa proved to be a little tricky.

Eventually, I started searching for milk bread recipes since I had some whole milk to use up and came across a recipe for “Victorian Milk Bread” which I used and fiddled around with for my purposes.

Here’s what I used:
1 1/4 cups lukewarm milk
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cups quinoa flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoons SAF instant yeast
2 teaspoons of vital wheat gluten

General instructions:
Mix everything into a bowl.  Personally, I found I had to add 1-2 tablespoons of water to make the dough wet enough.  Then, knead for 10 minutes.  Put the dough in a bowl to rise, and cover with a bit of plastic wrap or a damp towel so that it doesn’t dry out.  Let rise for about 4 hours or until doubled in bulk.

Remove the dough from the bowl and shape into a loaf.  Place the loaf in a standard bread pan and let it rise (again, loosely place some plastic wrap over it) until it’s above the rim of the pan, probably about an inch above.  Hmmm, I think it took about an hour or so for me to get there.

Pre-heat your oven to 350F and lower the oven rack to bottom third.

Bake 30-35 minutes.

Overall reaction?  Quinoa flour does not remind me of quinoa at all.  It’s less sweet.  I think the gluten was a good call, considering that I did not use bread flour at all.  It makes for a decent everyday bread.  I now know that I am not very enamored with quinoa flour but I don’t know how else to use it up.  Having said that, the results here were very acceptable.  I’ll see about using it for a no-knead dough.

Comments on the general recipe?  Easy, forgiving and easy to mess around with.  I think I’ll need to remake it but using my buckwheat flour next time around.

~ Mikan

quick notes: 1) bread flour has more protein than wheat flour or AP flour and quinoa is gluten-free, hence my addition of wheat gluten; 2) I did not want to make a gluten-free bread because you generally need a mixture of gluten-free flours which I do not have; 3) for my wheat and AP flours, I only use King Arthur.  Different brands make a huge difference.

 

my posts and comments

Just to let readers know, I will always respond to your comments.

However, many times, WordPress does not tell me that I have comments to approve/read.  I don’t know why.

So, my apologies in advance if it takes me days to reply to something you asked.

~Mikan

 

Picture post, mochi

It’s kind of funny – mochi is one of those food items that I love more because it’s like comfort food to me even though I did not grow up eating any.

I was in NYC recently with friends.  We stopped by the Japanese market near Saints Alp, my favorite bubble tea place.  While in the market, my best friend pointed out a box of Sakura-ya miyako mochi.

And it was yummy and lovely.  I want more.  I’d wouldn’t mind making it myself, but I’m not sure where to pick up sweet red bean flour.

~ Mikan

 

A Tale of Two Cookies

Sometimes, a person comes across something so intriguing that action must be taken up at once.

I had that moment recently, and it was called Peanut Butter Rosemary White Chocolate Chunks cookies. Peanut butter and rosemary? When a blogger mentions being a trained pastry chef in a meme, you don’t take such odd recipe posts lightly.

Asano-mama didn’t sound very optimistic about this recipe, which only fueled my determination. I set about making these cookies, starting even with the rosemary powder.

I think the rosemary powder is an excellent idea in general. However, I admit that it was my stumbling point. After one whole hour, I only had 3 tsp of rosemary powder. Why? I was using a tea strainer as my “fine mesh” accessory, and this tea strainer had really, really small mesh holes. Plus, the strainer was a little deep for the size of my hands, which just made an arduous task more difficult. o_O

The most evil part of the whole night? Realizing when I went to bed that I had a strainer/skimmer that would have been the perfect size for the task. *facepalm*

Oh well, 3 tsp was pretty close to the original 3 1/2 tsp requested in the recipe. The cookies came out just fine.

So, back to the idea of peanut butter and rosemary – wow, they paired really well! Once I smelled the cookies baking, I knew that there was no question regarding the yumminess factor of these cookies. Straight out of the oven, the peanut butter pretty much was the dominant flavor. If I hadn’t known that rosemary was in my cookie, I might not have noticed it. The rosemary was delightfully subtle. Overnight, the rosemary flavor has gotten stronger, but nothing to worry over. Without question, I’m keeping this cookie recipe in my favorites.

cookie recipe here – http://clumbsycookie.blogspot.com/2009/03/pbrwcc-cookies.html

rosemary powder instructions here – http://clumbsycookie.blogspot.com/2009/03/rosemary-powder.html

And then this morning, I tried a batch of Trader Joe’s Cranberry and Oatmeal cookies. They’re “break and bake” cookies, except without the breaking part. These cookies are frozen in their individual, pre-measured amounts. And you know what? They’re wonderful. Great for when you need to impress people (or in my case, share with my cello classmates) but with very little effort. Such a stark contrast to my one-hour-making-rosemary-powder! Plus, it’s a nice change from chocolate chip break and bake cookies.

Thumbs up for Trader Joe’s. ^_^

(I admit, there are a number of Trader Joe’s products that I’m in love with. I’m considering posting reviews and pictures of them. I haven’t totally decided yet.)

~Mikan