They Just Sploded!

Supper, Thursday October 24, 2019: pea soup (bacon, onion, carrot, celery, split peas, stock, salt, pepper, pinch of cayenne); mashed potato balls (leftover mash, cheddar, egg wash, breadcrumbs).

There is a little bit to look at here. First let me comment on the soup. Whether it is ham, bacon, smoked turkey. . . I like to brown the meat first, add oil if necessary. Then I set it aside to saute the mirepoix. When it is beginning to get tender I add some stock. I will use chicken stock I have canned or vegetable base and water depending on my mood. Simmer until the veggies are soft. 

At this point I have added a lot of flavor with the vegetables but split pea soup should be smooth sans bits of the seasoning meat. So I use a hand blender to puree the veggies. That is why I set the meat aside. Now add the peas and spices and simmer til the peas fall apart. 

What I want to say about the balls is that I made them too well. I am very good at breading things. These were so well breaded that the coating formed a hermetic seal around the potato and cheese filling. The coating cooked hard then the inside began to melt and finally boil. Those suckers started ejecting their contents like Kilauea. Seriously, they were spewing. I had to get them out as quickly as possible. I haven't attempted that again so I don't know what to do. Poke holes in them?

They were tasty though. 

It's an Asheville Thing

Breakfast: Saturday October 19, 2019: meatloaf wrap (tortilla. coarse spicy mustard, smoked meatloaf, cheddar, romaine).

I'm sure there was some fruit or something also, but it didn't make it to the picture. I smoked the meatloaf a few days back. I didn't talk about that. Don't know why, just didn't want to. I just mixed up some meatloaf, placed it onto a metal baguette form, and smoked it. 

The real star here though is the lowly condiment. It is a locally produced mustard. It is REALLY good. It is pricey as far as mustard goes but worth it. I could just eat it out of the jar. 

She Likes Mushrooms That Much

 

Breakfast, Sunday October 13, 2019: Sausagey fungus eggs (breakfast sausage, flour, milk, shiitake, pepper, scramble, cheddar); grilled pineapple;

thick cut bacon; bananana.

I have always thought that the word "banana" sounded kinda silly. It is a sound that a toddler might make. I tried to look up the etymology, but I could not get a consistent answer. I must admit that I didn't work too hard at it. . . One source said is was from Spanish or Portuguese "mande." I'm not too sure about that. Another professed that it was from the Arabic word for finger "banan." Now that is believable 'ceptin I tried Google translate and It could not make heads nor tails of banan. 

It will just remain a mystery

Some trivia though: over 70 million people in Africa get more than 25% of their calories from bananas (the cooking type mostly). It is a major staple food in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean. 

Why does the sausage gravy have shiitake in it you ask? I had soaked some shiitakes for something I did not end up making. I saw them and thought "hmm. . . more umami maybe?" (Say it with me now: "Alliteration.") Turned out it was a good idea. Then while we are eating she says, "I'd never really thought about it but we eat a lot of mushrooms. I guess I really like mushrooms."

I kinda knew that.

Do German Leaders Have Lumpy Heads?

 

Supper, Tuesday October 08, 2019: cheeseburgers (homemade bun, LTOMWK, cheddar, 80/20 beef).

I use the same recipe to make pizza dough (mostly) as I do to make a couple of loaves of bread. The drawback, or benefit, is that it is too much dough for the size pizza I usually make. Lately I have been making buns out of some of the dough. Two rolls reduces the dough by just enough. I have even found an easy way to make Kaiser rolls. This was one of my first attempts. Not so good. I've gotten better. 

The method is amazingly simple. I was surprised it worked. You start by rolling the dough into a rope. Then you tie a loose granny knot in the middle. You finish by continuing wrapping the ends around the loop and tucking them in/under. Google it. It's not hard to find. The key is don't futz with it too much trying to get it perfect. That is what I did to those above and it did not go so well.

I was trying to make a joke about Kaisers and oddly shaped bread. Dumb.

Caulifarter. . .ah. . .flour

 Supper, Wednesday October 06, 2019: fried cauliflower and some other stuff.

Or is it fartiflower? Either way. . .

Scatological humor aside, I do love this stuff. So does Alexis. I really like cauliflower in about any form: steamed then covered with shredded cheddar; sauteed as part of a stir fry; raw with dip or in a salad; in a spicy aloo-gobi. Most of all I love these little golden nuggets. Something special happens inside the breading while the florets are steaming in their own liquids. 

Just beware, when refrigerated as leftovers they take on a peculiar odor.

Fartiflower.   

What Did Alexi. . . Wait, What?

 

Breakfast, Sunday September 29, 2019, brunch with friend: veggie omelette (onion, mushroom, poblano, jalapeno, salsa, cheddar); potatoes; bacon; 
fruit and yogurt.

I have a friend, call him J_,  who I frequently meet for breakfast. Honestly it is more like, J_ picks me up and takes me to the place where we get breakfast, but let's not quibble. He likes breakfast but is in one of those no breakfast households. Nobody else cares and he is not motivated enough to make his own. (That's a whole other thing there.) The result is he likes to get breakfast out. Before I moved here he used to go to a diner not far from my house pretty regularly. So I started going with him. It's typical diner fare. Biscuits need some work, but the waffles are just great. They put just a hint of vanilla in the batter. Nice touch. 

Now since I am no stranger to breakfast, Alexis works every other Sunday, and the diner is closed on Sundays. . . wait for it. . .  J_ frequently comes over for Sunday brunch. His favorite breakfast entree is eggs benedict. Now I am quite capable of whipping up hollandaise, (Chef Child's method is practically foolproof BTW) but that is just going above and beyond as far as I'm concerned. 

His second favorite is an omelette, western or westernish, with salsa. 

Patience. . .

Supper, Saturday August 19 2019: pizza (dough (bread flour; water; salt; yeast); sauce (crushed tomato; tomato paste; oregano; thyme; granulated garlic; granulated onion; pepper; red pepper); italian sausage; smoked oysters; onion; jalapeno; mushroom; black olive; parmesan; mozzarella.

Almost no one does this at home. It's a pain in the ass. It requires some skill (but it isn't brain surgery). It also requires some specialized equipment, or in lieu of that some special techniques. Although I have not mentioned this before we actually have this fairly often. I will talk about this more in the future. For now let's look at the dough. Just the make up, not the shaping. 

The ingredients are pretty simple. There's just four. I used to weigh. It really is more accurate, but for crust we can be a little less rigorous than if we were trying to make a good baguette. (Some might argue that point. Don't care.)

Measure 4 cups of bread flour into your favorite bowl, assuming your favorite bowl is at least 4 quarts. Add a scant 2 cups of hot water. Again, I used to measure the temp, but now I just use the hot tap water. At the same time get a small bowl, an ingredient bowl, whatever you want to call it, and place a little hot water in it. Basically the "scant" you left out of the big bowl. Also add a dollop of honey or half of a teaspoon of sugar. (OK, that means it really is five ingredients. I just put it in there to boost the yeast. It is not needed.) 

Mix the flour and water until the flour is mostly wetted. Sprinkle the salt on top, 2 tsp. Do not mix it in. Set the dough aside. This BTW is the "autolysing" step. This allows time for the enzymes in the flour to convert some of the starch into food for the yeast. 

Now go back to the water and honey. Add a packet of yeast, or if you have a bulk jar then add a teaspoon. Mix and leave it. Now this step is not really necessary, but it doesn't hurt, it can speed things along if you are in a hurry, and it allows you a natural timer for the autolysing step. You could just put all the water in the flour, mix, then sprinkle the salt and the yeast on top. Wait 20 minutes then start mixing.

When the yeast is really working, it is time to get mixing. Add the foamy mess, and fold the nascent dough in on itself a few times to incorporate the yeast water. The real mixing now starts. 

Starting on one side start pinching the dough with your forefinger and thumb. Use your middle finger if for whatever reason you have trouble with the forefinger. Keep pinching along the dough until it looks like a fat caterpillar. 

The dough will be sticky. You want the end result to be just a little sticky so add flour as you mix. Don't be afraid to add a small handful at the beginning if the dough is super sticky. 

Fold the head and the tail of the caterpillar over the middle. Mush it down. Rotate a quarter turn. Make another caterpillar. Lather. rinse, repeat.

How long? You will start to feel the dough getting more homogenous. You might encounter lumps that are much harder or dryer than the rest of the dough. I pinch at these with my fingertips to break them up. I should mention here that there is a temptation when hand working sticky dough to get the dough stuck on your hands by rubbing them together. Don't do this over the dough. It makes lumps. Those rolled up balls of dough end up hard balls of dough. After two to five minutes (more like five for the beginner), finish with the mush step. You should have an ever so slightly sticky homogeneous lump. Cover the dough with a towel and let it rest 15 minutes or so. Again, I'm not a stickler. (I gotta remember that "sticky homogeneous lump." That is a great phrase.) 

Now for the kneading. Without this step the dough will not stretch. You will not be able to make a crust. The goal is to gently pull the dough in a way that allows the gluten to align and thus give the dough strength and elasticity. 

Imagine a pile of loose wool. Not very strong. You can tear it apart easily. Align the fibers and twist to keep them aligned. The resultant yarn can be very strong. This is what we want to achieve.

We are going to do something like that. First we need to prepare hands and dough. If the dough still seems a little sticky, flour your hands and the dough LIGHTLY before starting and keep your hands floured to prevent too much sticking. If the dough is just right or maybe dry, then wet your hands LIGHTLY and keep them wet. Wetting is preferred for this part but do what you gotta. 

To do the knead grab a big pinch along the edge of the dough blob. Stretch it a little less than the width of the blob then twist it 1/2 turn then fold it over to the middle and press it in. Rotate a bit to a new spot that was not affected by the stretch and start again. Repeat this 4 to 6 times to make it around the blob. When you are all the way around you should have something that looks like a weird twisty ball or a giant Kaiser roll. 

The first time will look a little rough.

Now we are not finished but we are finished for now. We want to let the dough rest then repeat the pulley-twisty thing. Cover the dough with a towel and do something else for a few minutes. 5 minutes or so later the dough should have sagged some back towards a blob rather than a ball. Now repeat the knead and let rest. Do this 4 - 6 times. You are done when the ball mostly stays a ball and it is smooth and a little velvety on the surface. The dough will resist pulling quite a bit at this point.

It will start looking better as you repeat.

Dust with a little flour, underneath too.

Cover with the towel again and leave it to rise.

This seems like a good place to stop.

We'll get to this stage next time.

Yes, black olives. There's smoked oysters on there too. Yum.