brunosdream

 This is a great bread to bring to a Thanksgiving feast to share w/ your friends. It’s quickly becoming my favorite bread recipe!

Ingredients:

1 cup wheat flour

2 1/2 – 3 cups bread flour

1/2 cup bulgar

1/2 cup toasted rolled oats

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/4 cups  tepid water & 1/4 cup

1 rounded tablespoon yeast

2 teaspoons salt

Procedure:

1) Put yeast in a large bowl and pour 1/4 cup of tepid water over it; let sit until it becomes foamy

2) Add olive oil and remaining 1 1/4 cups tepid water to yeast

3) Mix salt, bulgar and oats into 3 1/2 cups flour (use remaining half cup of bread flour if dough is too moist, slowly adding to dough during kneading)

4) Slowly add flour mixture  to yeast mixture until fully combined, remove from bowl then kneed for 10 minutes on lightly floured surface

5) Place dough ball back into bowl,  dust w/ flour, cover bowl w/ plastic wrap  and let rise for 1 hour and 15 minutes (I use a disposable shower cap because it’s reusable and fits tightly over the bowl) 

6) Remove dough from bowl and shape into 2 boules, place on pizza peel dusted w/ corn meal, dust tops w/ flour, cover loosely w/ a plastic bag, then let rise for 45 minutes

7) Preheat oven and baking stone (on middle rack) to 425 degrees F, place empty oven proof baking dish on the rack below the stone

8) After second rise is complete, snip pattern into tops of  boules w/ scissors, then slide directly onto the baking stone in the oven, place 1 1/2 cups of ice cubes into dish on the rack below (the steam from the ice helps promote the “oven spring” and crust gloss)

9) Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce temperature to 350 F, rotate loaves and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes (until loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom)

10) Remove from oven, place on a cooling rack and let cool completely befor slicing

Long live bread!

Bruno

My little cat w/ the biggest heart in the world! Thanks for being my friend and companion for almost 18 years.

You’re now reunited w/ your buddy, Barnaby.

Bye Clover, I love you and miss you immensely…

Bruno

Well, it’s time to say goodbye to my garden for another year. 2009 was a fantastic year in my garden. I figured out how to keep the squirrels and rabbits out w/ a strong fence and marigolds so this year’s bounty was incredible!! An opossum managed to lethargically climb into the garden on 2 random nights and snatch a couple of ripe pineapple tomatoes, but he or she never returned after that (I heard some rustling in my yard, thought it was a prowler, but it turned out to be a big old ‘possum!).

I’ve picked the last of the ripe veggies and got quite a haul as you will see in the photos. Last weekend I decided to pick the green tomatoes and immature red bell peppers before the first frost. I ended up w/ 25 tomatoes and 8 little green bell peppers. I placed the tomatoes in my kitchen window in hopes for them to eventually ripen.

Here’s a photographic chronology of the last couple of months in the garden:

August 23rd

Bounty from August 23rd

Bounty from September 3rd

Bounty from September 9th

Bounty from September 18th

October 5th

Bounty from October 16th

That’s all folks…

Bruno

I had the opportunity to help friends harvest their grapes this year at their vineyard near St. Genevieve, Missouri. They have 3 acres of chambourcin vines planted. The grapes are taken to a winery next door for crushing, aging and bottling. Chambourcin thrives in the hot humid Missouri climate and is resistant to the hard freezes of our winters. This year produced an abundant harvest for their small vineyard even after thinning the grape clusters throughout the summer. The vines produced approximately 7 tons of grapes (almost twice the yield of 2008!). This was my first time harvesting grapes and I had a great time!!

Here are a few pictures from the day:

 The entry sign

 Beautiful clusters

 Harvesting

 Harvest lunch

 Random beauty

 To the crush room

 Crush room

 The winery

 Tasting patio

 The B & B

 The B & B

 Winery cat

A votre sante’!

Bruno

1 liter jug, screw cap closure (once again socially acceptable). This was a great wine for the price! Typical red zinfandel flavors and aromas. I loved the small jug packaging – it gave me flashbacks to the days when we would chug down cheap red wine that came in a gallon jug. Unfortunately I bought this as a closeout and it is no longer produced according to the website for Three Thieves Winery. If you happen to run across some, I recommend snatching it up!

Cheers…

Bruno

For LiveSTRONG Day – A tribute to all those living w/ cancer. Barbara of Winos and Foodies is once again hosting A Taste of Yellow to support LiveSTRONG Day and to raise awareness of cancer issues worldwide. She’s asking food bloggers to cook up something yellow as a way of showing support for this cause and for sharing their cancer related stories if they have one.

My contribution to A Taste of  Yellow 2009 is this carrot gelato which is orangish yellow but it’s the thought and effort that counts – For LiveSTRONG Day – A tribute to all those living w/ cancer.

Carrot Gelato w/ Roasted Hazelnuts & Rum Soaked Raisins

Ingredients:

1 cup grated carrots (packed tightly)

3/4 cup roasted hazelnuts (skins removed)

1/2 cup raisins (soaked in dark rum)

1 cup sugar

1 quart half & half

6 large egg yolks

Procedure:

1) Puree carrots in food processor w/ a small amount of half & half

2) Place rum soaked raisins in a small pot and heat to burn off alcohol

3) In a metal bowl, whisk egg yolks and  sugar until mixture becomes smooth and pale yellow

4) Place half & half in a heavy pot and heat until scalded 

5) Very slowly add warm half & half to egg/sugar mixture so as not to curdle the mixture

6) Place bowl w/ mixture over a pot of simmering water, stirring continuously until mixture coats the back of a metal spoon (do not let mixture exceed 170 degrees F to prevent curdling), then quickly place bowl in an ice bath to stop the cooking process and promote rapid cooling

7) Stir carrot puree into cooling mixture

8) Once cool, refrigerate mixture for at least 4 hours or overnight

 Stay STRONG!

 Bruno

from this…

to this…

to this!

Candied Jalapenos

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons water

1 cup sugar

8 large jalapenos

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

 Procedure:

1) Remove seeds and ribs, then cut jalapenos into ¼ inch squares

2) Sauté jalapenos on a griddle (wiped w/ olive oil) until lightly browned and blistered

3) Put sugar and water in a heavy bottomed pot and boil until light amber in color (333 -335 degrees F on a candy thermometer), brushing inside of pot w/ water occasionally to prevent crystals from forming

4) Stir in vinegar, then stir in jalapenos

5) Let cool in pot, then pour into a jar

Ideas for use:

· Apple topping or topping for your other favorite fruit (use as a spicy alternative for caramel apples)

· Finishing glaze for BBQ’ed fish, meats, or vegetable

· Spread for toast (I use it like a fruit jam)

· Ice cream topping (as you would a caramel sauce)

Cooking notes: The sugar crystalized as it cooled down so the end product was not right.  I decided to do this post anyway because it gave me the opportunity to show you what it’s not supposed to look like (i.e., the sugar is supposed to be a transparent amber color, not an opaque caramel). I was in a hurry when making this batch because I was leaving town the next day. Lesson learned… always leave time for a redo so your finished product will be the way you want it to be.

However, if this ever happens to you, don’t throw it away, just microwave the open container for 30 – 45 seconds (depending on how powerful your microwave is) to melt the sugar crystals, just like you can do w/ honey when it begins to crystalize.

Until next time…

Bruno

The garden has been producing fantastically this year, and thanks to my better fence, the squirrels and rabbits have been stymied from eating all the ripe goodies to their hearts content! Of course I share some of the garden bounty w/ the furry yard critters, but I get first pick, not them this year :-)

Photos from August 5th:

Garden from different angles

Butternut squash; pineapple tomato; yellow bell peppers

Pear tomatoes; jalapenos; herbs

Bounty from July 25th and August 5th:

Fresh pickin’s: pear, black krim and cherokee purple tomatoes; cipollini, red and yellow onions; more pear tomatoes, onions, the first ripe yellow bell pepper and pineapple tomato

I hope your garden is growing well too this year!

Ciao…

Bruno

I’ve been wanting to try this bread recipe for quite awhile to test it out and see if it’s a quicker and better recipe than other baguette recipes I’ve tried. Well, Farmgirl Susan was spot on. This is a great recipe w/ great results! It took me about 4 hours from start to finish and produced 3 beautiful, crispy and delicious loaves!!

Click on the following link for the recipe: Parisian Daily Bread

Happy Baking…

Bruno

  

A couple of weeks ago I moved things around in the herb garden because my basil and rosemary were being shaded by taller plants. Everything seems to like their new location in the garden now.

 June 27th: