Sunday, July 18, 2010

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.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

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. 

Monday, July 5, 2010

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.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

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)