brunosdream

I had to wake up and feed my starter the other day, so I decided to try my hand at a new sourdough bread recipe…

Sourdough Boule (recipe adapted from sourdoughhome.com)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup sourdough starter

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

3 cups white bread flour

1 1/4 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

Procedure:

1) Whisk the starter before measuring it (so you’re measuring starter, not bubbles), then add it to the mixing bowl

2) Whisk in the water, whole wheat flour and the salt

3) Using a wooden spoon, stir the white bread flour into the mix one cup at a time

4) When the dough becomes too stiff  to stir, pour it onto your work surface (well floured) and knead the dough for 15 minutes, or until it becomes resilient and springy

5) After kneading, let the dough rest (covered) for 30 minutes before forming it into a tight round ball

6) Flour the top of the ball of dough and cover w/ plastic; let rise at room temperature for 12 to 15 hours (until dough doubles in size)

7) Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit – place a pizza stone on the middle rack w/ a bowl of water on the rack underneath

8) When the oven is the right temperature, slash the dough w/ a large serrated knife then transfer to the pizza stone and bake for 40 to 45 minutes

9) Let bread cool on a wire rack before slicing

10) Eat the bread (my favorite part of the baking process!!)

Baking notes:

Great oven spring w/ this dough, but my bread split at the center slash

The crumb was more compact than I expected… I was hoping for something more airy, but it was very flavorful 

Crunchy and chewy crust; good overall sourdough taste

Any seasoned bakers out there have advice on how to prevent the crust from cracking too much when rising in the oven, and how to get a more airy crumb?

Bruno

The resolution of the photos is not that good because they were taken w/ my friend’s i-phone. Sorry, no photo of the individual plating… we were too busy pigging out!

Thai Coconut Curry w/ Pork

Ingredients: 

5 carrots – peeled, quartered and cut into ¾ inch pieces

1 red onion – julienned

6 asparagus spears – cut into 1 inch pieces

1 tomato – ½ inch dice

1 medium broccoli crown ­- cut into small florets (stem cut into 1 inch pieces)

¾ pound crimini mushrooms – halved and sliced

1 bunch chard – stems and leaves cut into 1 inch pieces

1/3 pound green beans – cut into 1 inch pieces

1 green bell pepper – cut into ½ inch squares

6 cloves garlic – minced

2 ears yellow corn – kernels only

zest (minced) and juice of 2 limes

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh ginger – minced

1 1/4 teaspoons Thai red curry paste

1 can (14 ounces) unsweetened coconut milk

½ medium butternut squash – peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes

1 cup veggie stock

2 ¼ pound pork loin – trim off excess fat and cut into ¾ inch cubes

1 + 1 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

 Procedure:

1) In a wok, over medium heat, sauté onion in 1 tablespoon olive oil until translucent; add mushrooms and sauté until soft; add garlic and sauté for 1 minute

2) Add all other ingredients, stir and let simmer until all veggies are soft, stirring occasionally (approx. 1 ½ hours); salt to taste

3) In a separate pan, sauté pork w/ 1 tablespoon olive oil until browned and cooked through; salt and pepper to taste

4) Serve w/ steamed brown rice (and the pork on the side so your vegetarian friends can partake and enjoy this delicious meal too!)

for 17 hours!

St. Michael – where we stayed; sunset from my room

Bird searching for food; beach at sunrise

Until next time…

Bruno

In a previous post I mentioned how I had difficulty w/ candying jalapenos but couldn’t figure out what was the problem. Well, I did some additional research… In Harold McGee’s book, “On Food and Cooking”, he mentions how humidity causes caramelized sugar to soften. I’m assuming that due to the moisture content in jalapenos, the caramelized sugar in direct contact will remain syrupy, whereas the rest of the sugar will harden. Just a theory…

Well, it appears my theory is correct. I tried once again to candy some jalapenos without success. As you can see in the photos, the caramelized sugar hardened everywhere but where it was in contact w/ the jalapenos. The results didn’t go to waste however. Instead, I improvised and made some chili jam by returning the unsuccessful product to the pot, adding 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar then reducing it over low heat until I had the consistency I desired. Use it as a glaze on savory dishes, or spread it on toast w/ peanut butter for a morning treat w/ some heat!

Bruno

Here’s the menu:

Jumbo shrimp w/ spicy cocktail sauce

Rib eye roast stuffed w/ spinach, crimini mushrooms and goat cheese

Oven roasted potatoes w/ rosemary and garlic

Shredded brussel sprouts w/ fresh chestnuts and applewood smoked bacon

Snow peas and carrots

Beer bread

Cardamom and clove gelato

Cookies and chocolates

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!!

Best wishes for 2009!

Bruno

…Kauai, Hawaii where we had an 18 hour layover. Enough time to see some sights, eat dinner and sleep!

Hotel scenes and beach

Me; Opaeka’a Falls; camouflaged chickens and doves

Another beach; somewhere on Kuhio Highway; one lane bridge to Hanalei

Hanalei Bay and Hanalei Valley

Happy Trails…

Bruno

This was my contribution to the Thanksgiving feast…

Dark Chocolate Gelato w/ Candied Chestnuts and Blueberries

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh chestnuts – cooked, peeled, candied and broken into 1/3 inch pieces

6 ounces dark chocolate  – chopped

1/2 cup dried blueberries – soaked in cranberry vodka for 2 hours

6 egg yolks

1 quart half & half

 1 cup sugar

Procedure:

These photos were sent to me by my brother, Fred, who lives in Agen (which is located between Toulouse and Bordeaux). He didn’t know what type of grapes are in the photos, but they sure are beautiful! Thanks for sharing these w/ me Fred!!

Bruno

Well, It looks like it will be the end of the growing season this week in St. Louis. We are supposed to get temperatures in the lower 30’s tonight. Oh, well, farewell to summer and the long warm evenings :-(

As a send off to the growing season, I wanted to do a gelato w/ some of the final fresh local corn that I could find at the market. I love spicy stuff, especially peppers, combined w/ sweet goodness, so I tried candying some jalapenos to add to the mix. For some reason, I had limited success w/ candying these little devils! (see cooking notes following the recipe)

Corn Gelato w/ Candied Jalapenos

Ingredients:

4 ears yellow corn

4 jalapenos

1 quart half & half

1 cup sugar (plus 1 cup for candying jalapenos)

6 egg yolks

Procedure:

1) Grill corn and jalapenos (halved w/ seeds and ribs removed) until slightly charred; let cool, then cut corn kernels off cobs and cut jalapenos into 1/4 inch squares

2) Reserve corn kernels in a bowl; spread jalapeno squares evenly on a parchment lined sheet pan

3) Heat mixture of 1 cup sugar and 1/8 cup water in a heavy pot  until sugar becomes amber in color, then pour over jalapeno squares; when cool, break jalapeno squares from caramelized sugar and reserve for churning process

4) In a metal bowl, whisk egg yolks and remaining cup of sugar until mixture becomes smooth and pale yellow

5) Place half & half and corn kernels in a heavy pot and heat until scalded 

6) Strain corn from half and half  then puree in a food processor until smooth (adding a small amount of the half & half to assist in pureeing process); push corn puree through a coarse sieve to get the juice; discard remaining solids

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

8) 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

9) Stir corn juice into cooling mixture

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

Yield: Approx. 1 1/2 quarts 

Cooking notes:

I’m not sure why, but the caramelized sugar didn’t harden around the jalapeno squares. The surrounding sugar hardened, however, the area directly touching the jalapenos remained syrupy! Maybe there’s a compound in the jalapenos that interacts w/ the sugar which prevents the sugar from hardening. I consulted my Harold McGee food science book, “On Food and Cooking,” to see if he had an explanation for this phenomenon. Surprisingly, I found nothing in his book! I will continue w/ my quest to find the answer when I get back home later this week. Honestly, I thought you could candy (or maybe the correct term is caramelize) pretty much anything. Really… I mean I’ve candied many things, even my fingers (by mistake of course, but it was such a sweet pain!!). I will try doing the jalapenos again after doing more research, and post the results (good or bad).

I took this gelato to some friends’ house to have for dessert after a spicy meal. The taste testers consensus was… everyone gave it a big thumbs up despite it being a weird flavor for gelato. It turned out to be the perfect ending to our meal of lamb stew w/ harissa and Israeli couscous!

Happy Halloween everyone…

Bruno

I beat the squirrels and rabbits this time!! It’s taken me awhile, but I’ve learned that I have to pick my tomatoes while they’re still a little green, otherwise the yard critters snatch them off the vines before I do!!

Notes for next year: marigolds, bone meal and a better fence:

Someone reminded me that the scent of marigolds is a natural repellent for rabbits and squirrels. So is bone meal. (So is urine, but I’m not going there!) Next year the fence will be higher, stronger and extended below the surface. The squirrels have learned to jump over the current fence to get what they want, and the rabbits have either dug under the fence or crashed right through it!! These are the lessons learned in my first year of gardening, so squirrels and rabbits take note, I’m on to you… but I will share my bounty if you cooperate :-)

I’m having a caprese salad for lunch today…

Bruno