Saturday, May 29, 2010

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.

Friday, May 28, 2010

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!

Friday, May 14, 2010

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

Monday, May 10, 2010

Veggie Sushi Dinner

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

Friday, May 7, 2010

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!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

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.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

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

KAF Class: Lemon Desserts

Most recently I took a lemon desserts class. We made a tart crust, which we filled with the lemon curd we made next. Last we made lemon madeleines, which we sprinkled with powdered sugar. It all turned out delicious, I had the lemon tart for breakfast the next day, and shared most of my madeleines with my neighbor. Unfortunately I wasn't on top of my game that night, and only took one picture!
My tart crust

KAF Class: Cake Decorating

I took a cake decorating class to learn to use the cake decorating icing bags and tips to decorate a cake with buttercream frosting. We had cake layers pre-made for us so we could focus on the frosting and decorating. We made a vanilla buttercream frosting to use, then we started by cutting our cake in half, leveling each piece, then "gluing" them together with a layer of icing in between.
Next we put a very thin layer of frosting around the whole cake to seal in the crumbs and let it chill to set up.
After that, we put a thick layer of frosting all over, trying to make a smooth, uniform surface.
While the frosting chilled and hardened in the fridge, we practiced with the pastry bags, piping out shapes onto parchment paper
Finally, we decorated our cakes
I brought mine to a friend's house to share because I didn't need a whole vanilla cake in my fridge, too tempting

KAF Class: Pies and Rolls

For Thanksgiving, King Arthur Flour offered a Pies & Rolls class - which was exactly what it sounded, come in and make a pie and dinner rolls from scratch to take home for Thanksgiving dinner the next day. I was going to the Dean of Students house for my meal since it would be too expensive to fly home for the short break. I was thrilled to be able to bring a dessert and dinner rolls to share.
My pie crust
The crescent roll dough
Ready to hit the oven
My cranberry pear pie with almond strussel topping
My tender sour cream and chive crescent rolls

King Arthur Flour Class: Wood Fired Pizza

I took a wood-fired pizza class at KAF, we made dough for a pizza, a calzone, and a bread called fougasse. It was delicious, and so much fun to try my hand at using a wood fired oven, definitely something to add to my someday wish list.
Checking for doneness
My pizza was the one on the right
My fougasse with our recipes

Vermont Cooking

I've been living in a rural part of Vermont while I work towards my Masters degree. Since there's not a whole lot to do here, when I get downtime, I cook and bake.
Here's a bunch of photos of things I've made while living here...
Fiddleheads and baked sweet potato
Portobello mushroom quiche
Cheese Crackers with Vermont Powdered Cheese
French Bread 
Homemade vanilla biscotti with homemade Mexican hot chocolate
Tortellini with homemade fresh tomato mushroom sauce
Tostada pizza on homemade crust with a homemade cayenne lime yogurt dressing
Vegetable Sushi Roll Assortment
Homemade chipotle tortilla soup 
Vegetable Quesadilla
Tilapia breaded and pan fried with mashed potatoes and spinach