October 2010

 Butternut squash pizza with grilled artichokes on top

Pumpkin multigrain sourdough loaf

 Vegetable soup with a slice of buttered pumpkin sourdough bread

White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

Fat Toad Farm

Oh, how I miss the food in Vermont! While I love living in DC, and I greatly appreciate having both a Whole Foods and a Trader Joe's nearby, I do miss some of the local products Vermont had to offer. Maple syrup that simply cannot be beat, and the cheese... 

Fat Toad Farms flavored chevre spreads were a staple in my diet. I have also heard rave reviews for their caramel sauces, which you can actually order online. Might be worth picking some up, since I love supporting small family-owned businesses like FTF.

Pizza Rolls!

Pizza rolls after the second rise, but before going in the oven.

 I was really hungry, so I had to eat a few before I managed to take a picture...

I Love my Killington Brewfest Glass

It looks good even just filled with juice, doesn't it?

Blog Crossover

I was reading through some fellow quilter's blogs, and found this Oatmeal Pan Bread Recipe. It looked yummy, not so much for the recipe, though it looks good, but for the presentation. Baking it in the rectangular pan with the diamond-shaped hashes. I should try this!

Perfecting Pizza

I have been on a pizza-making kick this last week. I made a whole-wheat sourdough crust, which I made into a deep-dish style veggie and faux sausage pizza. 

 Topped with muenster cheese, it turned out absolutely delicious!

 Then I made a pizza crust with oregano and flax seeds. I included spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms, and more of the Field Roast faux sausage. Mmmm mmmm!

CSA

Missed the boat this season since I moved to the area half-way through the growing season, but next year, I plan to join a local CSA. It's a great way to support local agriculture, eat a broad array of fruits and veggies, and explore foods and recipes you might not necessarily have chosen at a grocery store.

Sunday Starting Some Sourdough Starter

This Sunday I finally got some sourdough starter brewing, hopefully by next weekend I'll be able to start making delicious sourdough loaves again. I had some great starter going in Vermont, but as my move got closer, I began neglecting it, and it was past the point of resurrection by the time I left for DC.

My fresh batch should taste different since Maryland undoubtedly has different wild yeast than Vermont, although a bit of domestic yeast thrown in the mix should insure that it won't be too different from the old starter.

I am looking forward to fresh sourdough loaves, sourdough bagels, and sourdough waffles from my waffle iron. I have been cooking and baking less since I began working 9-5, but I'm hoping to get back to it on weekends.

I ordered some goodies from the KAF website to help get myself back on track - some whole grain mix to throw into breads to make multi-grain sourdough, some potato flour to add moisture to bread dough, and some pumpernickel flour to make delicious fall loaves. I'm excited to work with these new ingredients to add some variety to my baking.

Update!

Hey, I plan to post on my baking and cooking again in the very near future. I've been adjusting to my new life and job in DC and it's taken me nearly a month and a half to get internet in my new apartment - long story, won't go there. I should *fingers crossed* be online by Friday, which should hopefully allow me to post pics and updates soon!

I have had some really delicious beers as I've been doing the happy hour scene with new friends and co-workers, so I can maybe post a bit about those adventures as well :)

~L

D.C. Cooking Classes

I have been taking classes for the last year at King Arthur Flour's Baking Education Center in Norwich, Vermont. While I am so sad that my time here is over, I am thrilled that there are options for furthering my culinary pursuits in Washington D.C.

Culinaerie is a "recreational cooking school" in NW D.C. and sounds like the ideal place to start. After looking through their schedule, I already see classes I'd love to take, but I will probably hold off for the month of August as I begin work and get my bearings in the new city.

Vermont Cheese and Butter & The Shed Brewery

Vermont Cheese and Butter is a creamery in Barre, Vermont. A few friends and I did a short tour of the creamery, followed by a tasting. We sampled creme fraiche, marscapone, bonne bouche (the favorite) and a delicious fresh goat cheese log rolled in crushed red pepper flakes. I loved it all, but everyone seemed to go crazy for the bonne bouche in particular - it was the perfect amount of creamy and pungent.

From there we went to lunch at the Shed Brewery in Stowe, Vermont, where we all ordered "brewskis" the sampler of beers on tap. Since Stowe is a tourist skiing destination, this gimmick fits right in. I enjoyed the darker beers, the porter and the Mountain Ale, their award-winning brew. The seasonal beer on the far end was a raspberry beer that I was not fond of.

We got a menu of the samplers in front of us, which I always appreciate far more than the server's lightning-quick run-through of the beers in a sampler.

From the Shed we went to Rock Art Brewery, a mere 20 minutes down the road. For the purchase of a $3 tasting glass, you try all the beers on tap for free. We sampled their current pale ale, Sunny and 75, their Belgian-style summer seasonal, American Red, which was my favorite, and Ridge Runner, a barley wine. 

Flour Tortilla Recipe I Want to Try

Homemade Flour Tortilla Recipe - re-posted from the great site under the link!

2 cups of white flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vegetable oil
3/4 cup warm water
Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. In another bowl combine the warm water and oil.

Add the water/oil mixture to the flour mixture, one tablespoon at a time and mix the dough with a fork. Once the water is mixed in, add another tablespoon of water and repeat the process until all the water is mixed into the dough. The dough will be sticky.

Kneading The Dough

Lightly flour a wooden cutting board and knead the dough. Kneading is done by pushing the dough with the heals and palms of both hands down onto the board. Fold the dough back onto itself, give a quarter turn and push again with the palms and heels of your hands. Just repeat the process of pressing, folding and turning for about 4 or 5 minutes. Add a dusting of flour when the dough gets sticky.

If the dough sticks to the cutting board while kneading, scrape up the dough and dust the board with a little flour and continue kneading. Eventually the stickiness will go away and you will have a nice smooth dough.

Place the dough back into the bowl and cover it with a damp towel or damp paper towel. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes.

Divide the dough into golf-ball-size balls by pinching off the dough with your thumb and fore finger. Form each ball into a nice ball shape. Place the balls on a flat dish making sure they don't touch each other and cover with the damp cloth.

Let the dough rest again for 10 minutes.

Rolling The Tortillas

Preheat a skillet or cast iron pan on medium high heat. You really can't beat cast iron pans for even heat distribution and their ability to withstand high heat without warping.

Lightly dust your wooden cutting board with flour. Take one of the balls of dough and flatten it out on the cutting board to a 4 inch circle. Rub flour on your rolling pin and begin to roll out the dough starting from the center out. Roll the tortilla until it is 6 or 7 inches in diameter and about 1/8 inch thick.

It's difficult to roll out a perfectly round tortilla so if that is important to you, you can always trim the tortilla with a knife. I like their irregular homemade looking shape. No one can mistake these for store bought, especially when you taste them.

Cooking The Tortillas

Once you have rolled out the tortilla, place it on a preheated skillet. You don't need to add any oil or butter. Cook the tortilla for about 30 seconds. You will notice brown spots all over your tortilla. Flip it over and cook an additional 30 seconds. Don't over cook it as you want the tortilla to be nice and soft. Keep your tortillas warm by covering them in a towel on a plate or in a tortilla warmer.


Storing Tortillas

Tortillas are best eaten hot right off the griddle, but you can refrigerate and freeze them too. If you freeze the tortillas, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and put them in a ziplock bag. When you are ready to use them, first thaw at room temperature and then wrap them in foil and place them in a 250 degree oven for a 10 to 15 minutes. I don't recommend microwaving them as this tends to toughen them.

Breweries in the Mid-Atlantic

I just got a job in Washington D.C., so I'll be moving in a little less than a month! Time to find the good restaurants, fish and farmers markets, and of course, the local breweries!

1. Old Dominion Brewing Co.
2. Heavy Seas Brewery
3. Flying Dog Brewery
4. Hook and Ladder Brewing Co.
5. Port City Brewing Co.
6. Ruddy Duck Brewery
7. The Black Squirrel (this one's not a brewery itself, because D.C. has no breweries within city-limits, but they has beers brewed especially for them off-site)

Been on a Veggie Burger Kick

My first attempt at potato salad - not bad, although it's really difficult to find recipes for 1-2 servings, if I made 1/2 a pound of potato salad, who on earth will I feed it to?? My cat doesn't like potato salad and I certainly don't need a half pound of it!!

All Things Mini

I was in the mini-crust-making mood last week, and made 4 mini crusts, two of which became mini pot pies, one became a mini cherry pie, and I'm not certain yet what I'll do with the last frozen one I have.

Mini veggie pot pie with potato topping

Mini cherry pie

Article on Health Effects of Beer

Here's a great article on why beer may be the healthiest alcoholic beverage, right up there with a glass of red wine.

Mmmm!

This recipe for cheesecake sounds amazing! Maybe I'll make it for my "birthday cake" next month!
I think I'm going to make some pie crust today for mini tarts. I've been craving some tomato mozzarella quiche lately and now that I have mini tart pans, I can make individual sizes. Since I'm usually only cooking/baking for myself, the more I can cut down on leftovers, the better.

50%

Well yesterday I went on a baking frenzy, by the end of which my kitchen appeared to have been hit by a bomb made of flour and shredded carrots. I made lowfat carrot cake, my recipe is usually delicious, but with the few changes I made, it just wasn't the same. Then I made whole wheat bagels, and set them in the fridge to proof overnight.

This morning the bagels were boiled and baked, and they tasted good, but were absolutely huge. I could have made twice the amount of slightly smaller bagels. I bought myself some Wild Alaskan Salmon, but the brand I bought was fairly cheap, and when the red color transferred onto my fingers and cream cheese, I knew it'd be dyed. Yuck.

At least my cheesemaking kit came in the mail yesterday, which means I can try my hand at making mozzarella when I feel up to attempting to enter my kitchen again. At the moment, before I can do anything, I need to tackle the humongous pile of dishes I accumulated while under the influence of the baking gods yesterday... UGH.

Rosemary Sourdough Bagels

Well my bagels look great, but I learned that my sourdough starter is not vigorous to carry a recipe on it's own. They are extremely dense. I should have tossed in a small amount of instant yeast for oomph. Now I know!
I ordered myself some goodies since I had an Amazon giftcard to burn. I got a mozzarella and ricotta cheese-making kit, and a cake decorating kit with nozzles, icing bags, and coloring for the icing. I am excited to get both and give them a whirl!

Homemade Granola

A friend from class brought homemade granola and shared with us how easy it was to make. Naturally, I immediately wanted to try my hand at it. I didn't have enough to make the recipe on KAF's website, it seemed like too much for a trial batch anyhow. I found a recipe on Allrecipes.com, my other standby. I loosely followed it, adding walnuts, flaxseeds, a dash of nutmeg, and using sesame oil because I didn't have any canola, olive didn't sound good in it, and sesame seemed like it'd add an interesting dimension.

The verdict? Besides the fact that I let it go a little to long - giving it a very very golden brown color (just this side of burned really), it smells heavenly. While I've only tried a few bites while it cools, I think it's going to be a yummy recipe to expand upon as I make it again. Now, do I add in cranberries, or chocolate chips... or dare I say it, both?!
In other news, I also have a batch of rosemary sourdough bagels rising. They'll be boiled/baked tomorrow. Mmmm! Pictures to come!

Homemade Hamburger Buns

The picture sure doesn't do this delicious veggie burger justice. Homemade buns are the best thing ever!

Pickled fiddleheads are a nice accompaniment.

Dinner and Dessert

For dinner I made salmon (wild-caught Alaskan of course), baked in ponzu sauce, garlic salt, and some applewood smoked pepper. Mashed potatoes on the side, with green onion tops.

I made strawberries, with sour cream and brown sugar for dessert :) Mmmm

Waffles!

I found my old waffle maker while home in California, so I made myself sourdough multigrain waffles for breakfast this morning. The recipe, from KAF of course, requires an overnight sponge of sourdough starter, flour, sugar, and buttermilk. I didn't have buttermilk (or regular milk) so I used almond milk. I was planning to make the recipe from scratch entirely, but I didn't have any white flour, only whole wheat, which I felt would be too dense, so I used some multigrain pancake mix I had from Trader Joes.

The waffle maker hadn't been used in probably 3-4 years, so I was surprised it worked as well as it did. The waffles looked great on the bottom, but the tops didn't rise high enough to get that gorgeous golden brown. I don't know if that was the waffle maker or the batter that was at fault for that. I'll try making waffles again with a different batter and see if it works out a little better. Despite the minor problems, the waffles didn't suffer at all in the flavor department, and they were even more delicious with some nutmeg thrown in. YUM! I kept the leftovers out to cool completely, then wrapped them individually to freeze for toaster waffles later this week.

Homemade Rosemary Oregano Pizza Crust

Topped with local smoked mozzarella cheese, organic tomato sauce, and a sprinkling of a cheese blend.

Delicious! KAF-guaranteed pizza recipe made with whole wheat flour, it's a winner!

Uses for Sourdough Starter: Braided Loaf

Decided to make some bread today so I could make bruschetta tomorrow. I wanted to use my starter so I made a whole wheat sourdough bread, but I felt like trying a different shape since I've never done a braided loaf before. I think it came out fairly good looking :)

Lunch Today: Spicy Tuna Rolls and Fresh Ahi Rolls with Miso Mayo

Veggie Sushi Dinner

I think I need a bit more practice with making the inside out rolls, but they tasted good.

Sourdough Bagels

Using a great recipe I found online, I made sourdough bagels. The process started yesterday when I put together the dough, using my dough hook on my Kitchenaid. It was incredibly stiff and I'm impressed I didn't burn out my motor. I then shaped them into balls, poked a hole in the center, and placed them on the baking sheet in the refrigerator to retard overnight. It helps develop the sour flavor. This morning I boiled them briefly, then baked. They came out gorgeous, and I'm toasting one up now for breakfast!

The boiling process

The finished product!

Ratatouille Ravioli

Made ratatouille tonight from a Whole Foods recipe. I tossed it with some whole wheat ravioli I needed to cook up, and it was delicious. I used the skinny streaky-skinned Listada de Gandia eggplant variety. It was delicious even though I let it sit a few days because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it.

Finished product - doesn't do the flavors justice really

Quick Quiche

This morning I made a quiche to share with a friend while we studied for our Environmental Law final. I used a KAF tomato tart recipe for the crust and loosely for the egg filling. I didn't put the sliced tomatoes on top of the tart, but otherwise followed the recipe, using mozzarella cheese, chives, and salt and pepper in the egg. The crust was delicious, but I rolled it a bit thin, I probably could have used the entire recipe instead of halving it. I loved the cream cheese in the crust, it gave it a delicious tang, definitely worth a repeat.

I also didn't have a tart pan (time to invest) and I made a very Macgyver-esque pan by cutting two aluminum pie tins, one with a smaller central hole, the other I took the entire bottom from, placed it inside the one where I cut a small hole, and voila, a makeshift tart pan. I didn't get a picture because we dug into it pretty quickly, but it was yum!
I'm trying a recipe for sourdough bagels, the dough was extremely stiff, which is a good sign. I also tried using weight measurements instead of cup measures, and broke in my scale :) We'll see how they turn out tomorrow when they come out of the oven.

Bruschetta

I made bruschetta for dinner tonight, it's basically a french bread toasted with a topping made of tomatoes, garlic, fresh basil, and balsamic vinegar. I used the recipe I found here. It was delicious even though I burned my first round of toast in the broiler. Once they were topped with the tomato mixture, you could barely tell.

Fresh bruschetta made with homemade bread and organic ingredients is what I imagine heaven tastes like

Vermont Beer Collection

A while back I posted photos of my beer bottle collection I amassed while at UCI. Here's the newest additions I've gathered in Vermont. Mostly tried to drink local beers from breweries like Harpoon, Long Trail, Magic Hat, Trout River, and Rock Art.

KAF Class: Pasta Making

Pasta Class at KAF: making tube shaped pasta

Making gnocchi shaped saffron pasta

Favorite Food Photos

Here's a few of my favorite pics I've taken of food I've made. I try to get attractive shots, but it doesn't always work out. Here's the ones that did.

Chocolate peanut butter squares - delish! 

Homemade bagels

Sushi I made at Christmas

Sourdough Bread

Making sourdough loaves today so I can make myself bruschetta for dinner. I've been pretty hit and miss with my bread baking lately, but *fingers crossed* so far this loaf looks great.

My risen dough ball

I'm using the KAF Rustic Sourdough Bread recipe, and today for the first time, paid attention to how much water the dough needed instead of just pouring in the amount called for by the recipe. I needed a full 1/2 cup less because of the amount of moisture in the air. My new dough hook worked like a dream, and the bread is well on it's way to being part of a beautiful dinner. 

Here are my shaped loaves of sourdough bread. They'll rise for one more hour, then I'll slash and bake them.

The final product