A simple supper

A flask of wine, a loaf of bread, and thou

and to cease quoting Khayaam/Fitzgerald (a dreadful translation, apparently, but a lovely transliteration into poetry!) some cheese and sausage too: we'll have all that for supper and it will just have to do.
Actually, we are rather looking forward to it. We went to the Whole Foods yesterday afternoon after our bed-buying expedition: they are a more organic-friendly store than most grocery chains (and have a consequent nickname "whole paycheck") and I had not made it there since they opened a year or two ago. Somehow, driving 45 minutes to a grocery store seems like rather more than a weekly chore.
Especially with two small sprogs in tow. We ended up cutting the trip shorter than we might otherwise have done: the children were being good, but there is only so much good in a three or a four year old child, and we wanted to miss the eruption.
But we did take time to take in the cheese selection: quite a variety of cheeses not to be found in the regular stores around here: hence our plans for supper this evening.
Unfortunately the very reasonably priced, very nice looking block of Parmigiano Reggiano Stravecchio got left out for about 10 minutes after we got home. This wouldn't be a problem, were it not for the fact that a cat managed to jump up to the counter, rip the plastic wrapping it, and gouge most of it away: a huge crater in the block, the size of a small saucer. That darned cat!

But LOML and I have decided, together with our friends, B's parents, that one day soon we are going to get a babysitter, and go. Just us grownups. For a nice day out to the grocery store.

Yours, simply put,
N.

Scotch eggs, the picture

Here, for the uninitiated, is what Scotch Eggs look like. I made no attempt to pretty up the picture, get rid of the breadcrumbs on the chopping board, whatever: I just snapped the shot.

Yours, hungry again,
N.

White whole wheat flour, the third baking

I gave white whole wheat a second try last week --- with a sour dough recipe.
It was a bust. Not as good as the first batch.
So today, I ran a test: two ordinary batches of wholewheat bread: one with regular wholewheat flour, one with white wholewheat; a biga or poolish to start, molasses and oatmeal as additives, but other than that, yeast, flour, salt and water.
The breads were both good: they were both comparable. The flavours were good: the lift was slightly better in the white whole wheat, but it was a minor difference.
The colours of the loaves were slightly different, but it was far from being close to white bread: it was just a little lighter in colour than the full wholewheat loaf.

As a consequence, I'm probably not going to bother with while whole wheat flour: the children will eat brown bread, so even if it came in a lighter colour, it wouldn't matter: the flavour is not quite as complex and full: and the fibre content is lower by a little.

Please let me know if you find a recipe where this flour shines, and I'll try it again:
otherwise, I'll stick to my tried and true flours.

Yours, in conclusion,
N.

Scotch eggs part 2

Okay: for the uninitiated, scotch eggs are a British (mainly English, I believe) delicacy. Hard boiled eggs, wrapped in sausage, coated in breadcrumbs and deep fried.
Before you make comments about "what's not to like, except for the clogged arteries" the oil is hot, so there is little absorbed into the food: the sausage is a thin coating, so the amount of meat in one scotch egg is about as much as in a single sausage: and lastly, fergoshdernsakes, everything in moderation!

I was inspired by Becks and Posh to consider making these: she had posted a picture, and then a recipe by Delia Smith.

Those of you who don't already understand, let me put it this way: this was the food I grew up on. Not every day, in fact, probably fewer than one scotch egg every three months on average. But often enough to know that this is fine food.
And these were... oh, let's leave it to the next post....

Yours, with mouth full,N.

Scotch eggs

More to be said soon.

Mmmmm....

Yours, liplickingly,
N.

White whole wheat, a cheesy conclusion

We decided that the answer to making sure that sprogs ate this evening was grilled cheese sandwiches. With the chili, of course, but we'd be willing to let them not eat the adult food if they at least ate the sandwiches.

LOML and I had grilled cheese sandwiches too --- we long ago discovered that they are wonderful in combination with chili, and the chili turned out to be spectacularly good too: LOML's raving about how good it was led to both children chowing down and pronouncing it yummy, delicious, scrumptious and scrumdiddliumptious too.

Of course, after seven or eight mouthfuls, Boo decided it was too spicy (it wasn't) and hurt her mouth (it didn't). And once she had said that, it was an effort to get Skibo not to think the same thing. Still he ate a couple of more spoonfuls....

In conclusion, the bread is not right yet, but it was a valiant first failure. I'll try again in a couple of days and update again.

Yours, in failure, grasping at success,
N.

White whole wheat, fit the third

I'll admit to being a little bit disappointed: but not too badly so. Here is an overview:
First, as I said, there were problems with the dough before I put it in the oven, and of course for those I take full credit. I mean blame.
Second, the texture was strange: the insides seemed like it might have needed another ten minutes of cooking time (and given how thirsty the dough seemed when making it, that isn't such a surprise). The crumb is not particularly open (not that I have ever achieved that with a wholegrain loaf!) but it is fairly elastic, in a way not usually associated with wholewheat.
Third: the flavour: sort of halfway between wholewheat and white with a half cup of wholewheat flour added: neither one nor the other: a little nuttiness to it: next time I'll try adding molasses to it, to give it a richness, a darkness, a sweetness, a hint of the forbidden, to see if that improves things.

On the plus side, while it was baking, I threw together a pot of chili for this evening, and by the time that the bread was cool enough to try, the chili was ready too: so I had a thin slice of bread schmeared with a little chili: and that was a good combination. And while the chili is not exceptionally healthy (it has meat in) it does have a good number of beans in, so both the chili and the bread are high in fibre!

Here's the chili recipe:
2 medium onions
1 red bell pepper
5 cloves garlic
4 stalks celery
10-12 ounces mushrooms
2 lbs beef (I know it shouldn't be ground beef. I use ground beef. Don't eat it if it upsets you!)
Tomatoes, diced (fresh if you have them, 28 oz canned if you don't):
8 oz or so of beer (I used Sam Adams Cream Stout, 4 oz or so for the chef)
2 cans garbonzo beans
1 can red beans
1 can black beans
1 can dark kidney beans
Ancho chili powder
Chipotle chili powder
Storebrand chili powder
Ground cumin
Ground coriander
Salt, pepper
1/4 ounce or so of dark chocolate (do *not* over do this!)


I browned the onion in a little fat from frying some bratwurst up: this adds a ton of flavour, and since much of the chili is going to be frozen, and it will provide us with perhaps four or five meals, a little fat is permissible. Note that there is nothing there to add serious heat: we have a three year old and a four year old
and we hope that they will eat it too.

Yours, whole-ly
N.

White whole wheat, part the second

Well, the bread rose this morning, and it seems that I made the dough a little too wet, and too large for the (italian bread style) pan in which I left it to rise. So the loaves are a little misshapen. Haven't decided yet whether to share a photo of them: they are definitely "ugly bread".

In a little while, I'm going to cut into them, and will report back on the crumb, and on the flavour and texture.

Yours, in anticipation,
N.

White whole wheat flour

Has anyone tried making bread with "white whole wheat" flour? I bought a bag of King Arthur's brand, and threw it into a batch of old-dough-starter: it will rise on the counter Monday morning, and I will bake it at lunch time. I'll post here how it turns out: I am intrigued, as I do like the flavour of good white bread as well as whole wheat --- but the health benefits of whole wheat are enough to make it hard to justify making anything else. Or rather, the lack of benefits of non-whole wheat...

3-4 ounces of fully risen dough
20 oz water, warm
White whole wheat flour
1 tbsp kosher salt

Break the dough into small pieces, and place in the water to soften. Add a cup or so of the flour, mix in until a batter. Cover and leave for several hours. Now make a dough with the batter, remaining flour and the salt as usual. It will rise very slowly: leave overnight in a covered bowl: punch down and shape in the morning: bake in the afternoon.

That at least is the theory. I'll let you know how the practice goes!

P.S. Yes. No yeast. The old dough has enough in it.

Yours, in theory,
N.

Sunday dinner

Uninspired by dinner thoughts, LOML and I decided we'd just go with salad for this evening: with a grilled pork chop to go with it. And inspiration hit: all quantities are guesses at what I put in: I just added until it was right!

Marinated mushrooms and artichoke hearts
8oz mushrooms (I used half button, half baby bella: had them on hand)
8oz quartered artichoke hearts
4oz roasted red bell peppers
4oz toasted chopped walnuts
4oz pitted, chopped kalamata olives

Toss together at least 1 hour before eating in a balsamic vinaigrette: I used a mix of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, touch of mustard, salt and pepper. If I were not hoping the children would eat some too, I'd add some crushed red pepper flakes or little srirachi thai hot sauce. There should be enough vinaigrette to soak into the mushrooms: but not so much as to overwhelm the salad.
Serve on a mix of spring greens.

I've also used sunflower seeds in this instead of walnut, and would consider throwing both in: they bring different flavours and textures to the salad.

Yours, nutty,
N.

Cooking tonight

Tonight I get to cook again: we had roast pork on Sunday, and so we have pork leftovers: I'm going to chop them up and use as the basis for a filling for bread-dough balls, which I'll steam, to make Chinese-ish stuffed pork buns: with a hot and sour soup, a lovely satisfying meal.

Recipe later, perhaps.

Yours in salivation,
N.

Salmon in a bourbon marinade

Bought some nice looking salmon fillets at the megamart this afternoon: a friend of mine is in town and we are having him over for dinner tonight: I had thought of buying the pre-marinated fillets, but after glancing at the cost (more than three times as much, and it's the same salmon, farm raised: it's not as if it is wild!) I decided that I can do as well at home.

For the marinade, I threw together approximate quantities of bourbon, soy, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, vegetable oil, fresh ground black pepper: I removed the skin from the fillets with a sharp filleting knife, placed the fillets in the marinade in ziplock bags, in a bowl in the fridge for a couple of hours.

With it we're having corn on the cob (soaked for half an hour in cold water, thrown on the grill), asparagus (perhaps brushed with olive oil and grilled), and boiled new potatoes, skins on, in melted butter and mint. I'll let you know how it turns out!


N.

Food pictures

Here are pictures of a couple of recent creations: the first is the cake referred to below: layers of chocolate, strawberries, cream, topped with ganache:


The second is of sausage rolls, straight from the oven: still too hot to eat for a few minutes, but oooohhhh so good!



N.

Date night

How wonderful:-) A date for LOML, sushi for dinner, and when we return, we discover that our new babysitter has put the children to bed (in spite of having been told that she didn't have to do so if it were at all difficult!) So we get the rest of the evening to ourselves. How nice!

And the sushi was great, as always.

N.

Sushi tonight

Well, tonight LOML and I have a babysitter, and we get to go to dinner! And where we live, that means one thing --- the superb japanese restaurant ten miles away. And that means sushi! And gari! And wasabi! And steamed gyoza! Mmmmm..... I can hardly wait:-) Is it dinner time yet? What, only lunchtime?????

N.

Braised ribs

Better than bruised ribs any day (and believe me, I've experienced both!)

Braised ribs

Marinade:
2 cups cider vinegar
1 cup grapefruit juice
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons mustard powder
couple of tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
several cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
several inches of ginger root, coarsely chopped

In a large saucepan, reduce the marinade by half. Strain, and allow to cool. Pour over country style ribs (or chicken pieces, or...) Cover and refrigerate overnight.
The marinade will be enough for several pounds of meat.

Cook for half an hour at 350 F, then reduce heat to 275 and cook for 3 hours
or so. Meat will be falling apart. Remove meat from the sauce, and reduce the sauce further until it is a syrupy consistency. Pour over the meat and serve.

N.

Food for the weekend

What to cook for the weekend? We've been invited for dinner Saturday, and will take the remnants of the gilded-lily roulade (which inspired comments such as "did you see how much ganache there is on top of that thing?") Our neighbours are coming over on Sunday (a chance to say goodbye before they leave for Germany for a couple of months): cheesecakes may be in their dessert-futures: as for savouries,
perhaps a braised spare rib or two: slow braised in a good vinegar, mustard, etc marinade.

On the topic of cheesecakes, if you are ever in Woodstock, New Brunswick (Canada) stop by the restaurant Fusion. It is a far better restaurant than a town of a few thousand people has any right to expect. Wonderful food, wonderful service, and reasonable prices. Great decor, long hours, friendly staff. What's not to like! And the cheesecakes are amazing!

N.

Tried and true to something new

Time to experiment today: I frequently make the Chocolate Roulade from Julia and Jacques' Cooking at Home (Julia Child and Jacques Pepin): it is simple and sinful: but it is simple. A couple of weeks ago I gilded the lily by placing sliced fresh (and luscious) strawberries on the cake before I rolled it up.

Today, I'm going to try a step or two further: instead of rolling up the cake, I'm going to cut it into pieces, and stack them as a layered cake. For layers, one will be whipped cream as per the original cake: at least one layer is going to be a ganache of dark chocolate, and it will be either topped with strawberries or I will put sliced strawberries in one of the layers.

Oh, the lengths that LOML and I go to when our friends have birthdays:-)

N.

Sausage rolls

Sausage rolls are a marvellous food. And Boo (4) and Skibo (2) both love them. And anything that gets those two to eat consistently is a good thing.

Sausage rolls the easy way: fly to England, go to a bakery and buy.
Sausage rolls the nearly as easy way: I use Pepperidge Farms frozen puff pastry and Snow Creek bulk sausage (buy local!). The pastry comes in two sheets folded into thirds, giving 6 pieces of pastry per package.

2 packages Pepperidge Farms frozen puff pastry
3 lbs bulk sausage

Take pastry out of the freezer half an hour ahead of time. Preheat oven to 425 F.
Cut each lb of sausage lengthwise into four pieces: roll each piece into a 16 inch cylinder. Put aside on parchment paper while you roll out the pastry. Cut the two packages of pastry into the obvious 12 rectangles. Roll each rectangle out on a floured board (cool marble works well) to a rectangle about 16 inches by 8-10 inches. Place a cylinder of sausage on a rectangle of pastry, and roll up, sealing the last inch or so by brushing with water.
Cut each pastry wrapped sausage cylinder into short pieces (I usually cut into either 12 or 16 pieces). Place these sausage rolls on an oven proof baking rack
(preferably non-stick) on a baking pan, and place in the oven. Bake until golden brown. Allow to cool before eating.

The rolls can be made longer, they can be brushed with eggs before baking, etc. Play with the recipe -- make it your own!.

N.