259 replies to this topic

[christine007]

Roberta, your King cake looks wonderful!
And you mentioned Polish cooking are you maybe doing stuffed cabbage? I love that more than almost anything. we had it not long ago and a craft fair at a Polish church, with buttered rye bread, I almost died and went to heaven.

My German Shep is Malachai Brock Nathaniel, we usually call him kaiser as a nick name.
your dogs are just fluffly balls of love!

[Pierogi]

....
I forget. What happens if I get the piece with the bean in it?
....

*YOU* get to bring the next King Cake !

Oh, and Shelby, it's about 9:30 at night, and all the windows are open.....

You're killing me.

Hey, we gotta have *some* perqs for living with earthquakes and the 3-hour daily commute.

[Pierogi]

Roberta, your King cake looks wonderful!
And you mentioned Polish cooking are you maybe doing stuffed cabbage? I love that more than almost anything. we had it not long ago and a craft fair at a Polish church, with buttered rye bread, I almost died and went to heaven.

My German Shep is Malachai Brock Nathaniel, we usually call him kaiser as a nick name.
your dogs are just fluffly balls of love!

Thanks Christine. It tastes really good as well. I'm very pleased with it.

I had toyed with the idea of making cabbage rolls, but I posted a step-by-step of my techinque over here in the eG Cabbage Roll Cookoff thread. So not this time, although I do sorely need to make some again soon. No, just stay tuned to see what good old rib-sticking dish I have up my sleeve.

And yes, good cabbage rolls are sublime. Bad cabbage rolls are very, very bad.

[Pierogi]

All right ! I'm back from the field trip and I have photographic evidence ! Let me get today's project started, and I'll be back to share some field trip pics, and the promised kitchen tour (such as it is...).

See all y'all in a bit !

[6ppc]

Excellent foodblog so far Roberta thanks! Which CSA are you using?

[Pierogi]

Well, one of today's projects is......



The technique I use most, and probably have the most success with, is in this article from "Cuisine at Home" magazine a few years back. I'm still enough of a novice at baking that I have a hard time working with the very wet doughs that are needed for the nice, crusty rustic loaves. I have Reinhart's "Bread Baker's Apprentice", but haven't used it too much. I keep forgetting to start the process early enough, and his doughs are VERY wet so I have troubles shaping them. This "Cuisine at Home" method seems to be a happy medium for me. It's still a very wet, soft dough, but I can work with it, especially if I make a boule. I still haven't mastered shaping baguettes.

So, remember this from yesterday, that I said we'd come back to?


Here it is after an overnight rest in the fridge.


Look at that lovely gluten.


Starting to look like dough...


It's on its first rise now, so we'll take a little look around Long Beach for a while.

[Pierogi]

Long Beach has, I think, more Farmers' Markets per capita than any other city in the area. We have four every week. For a population our size, that's quite a lot. There's one downtown on Friday, which I believe is the largest, one in the north end of the city on Thursday afternoons, and two on Sundays; one in one of the marinas, and the newest, which is about 2 miles from my house (wow, run-on sentence, much?) This one's only been open for about 3 months, and is really nice, because it's not too crowded. The one in the marina can be quite a zoo....

So, let's head over to the Eastside Farmer's Market, held in the parking lot of an office complex on the edge of Long Beach Airport.



Lots of produce stalls:


Looks like strawberries are starting to come in:


Check out the colors on this cauliflower:


This vendor had a nicely arranged display:




To keep the kiddies occupied, there's a pony ride...


...and a petting zoo


Lots of prepared food, pick a cuisine, any cuisine










Some plants, perhaps?


Or you *KNOW* you're craving some Thin Mints


And doesn't EVERY Farmers' Market need an Elvis Impersonator?

One final vendor


I was particularly impressed with this stall's selection. Everything from fresh fava beans (also, no "Keee-auntie") to nopales, both whole, or already cut and bagged for you.

Field trip number 1 in the books. Maybe some fridge shots next...?

[Pierogi]

One more shot from the Farmers' Market....



'Cause you just GOTTA love "The Peanut Dudes" !

[Pierogi]

Excellent foodblog so far Roberta thanks! Which CSA are you using?

Thanks Jons !

Surely you don't want me to give away all my cliffhangers yet, do you ?

[Dejah]

Is this the same area where the Queen Mary is docked as a hotel? I remember back early 1970s when hubby and I were treking around California in our Westphalia camper, we actually camped in the parking lot close to a restaurant where we had supper.
Sure doesn't look the same now! We did tour the ship the next morning.
Now, THAT'S what I'd call a farmer's market. Did you buy anything?
Thos strawberries look delicious. I wonder if our "California" strawberries come from the same farm?

[Pierogi]

KITCHEN TOUR !

Don't get toooo excited, its a SMALL kitchen. However, one other thing eG has done for me is made me stop kvetching about how small it is. When I see some of the other member's kitchens, especially those in Asia and Europe, I realize I gots nothin' to gripe about.

View from the back door


To the left of the dishwasher is the door into the living room/dinette area. To the left of THAT door is a pass through breakfast bar that runs the length of that wall, about 6 feet or so.

Reverse view from above


The main work area


The black hole of a corner


And the unfortunately placed spice cabinet


Unfortunately placed because every time I need a spice or dried herb, I have to MOOVE the dishwasher and MOOOVE the storage cart and MOOOOOVE the garbage and recyling bins. So I try to gather all the spices for the meal in one shot ! Saves angst. BTW, the spice cabinet used to be one of those old, tilt-down ironing boards. Just about everyone in this neighborhood did exactly the same thing with theirs !

[6ppc]

Excellent foodblog so far Roberta thanks! Which CSA are you using?

Thanks Jons !

Surely you don't want me to give away all my cliffhangers yet, do you ?

I can wait! I've been pretty happy using farmfreshtoyou.com as it offers more flexibility than traditional CSAs which is important since my wife is often away for a month or so at a time and I can scale back the deliveries to every other week or whatever other frequency suits.

The Farmers markets here in Long Beach are certainly a nice benefit to have. I work downtown so the Friday market is one I go to most often.

Are you going to explore some of the Cambodian markets on Anaheim this week?

Intresting factoid- Long Beach has a huge Cambodian community, sorta like Little Saigon is to the Vietnamese enclave which is just South of here.

[IowaDee]

Wish I could "read" your refrigerator. Bet there are some good stories stuck on it.

Other than an attack of homesickness, I'm so enjoying your blog. I grew up in the Mar Vista-
Venice area. My folks both worked at McDonald Douglas in Long Beach.
Hubby and I were back there on a trip and stayed on the Queen Mary. What fun. And your aquarium is world class!

[Pierogi]

COOKBOOK TOUR !

Storage rack between fridge & broom closet








Top of cabinets above fridge







Aaaannnddd, cupboards

[Pierogi]

PANTRY AND FRIDGE TOUR !

Fridge door


Inside fridge


Freezer inside


Freezer door


Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know the bungee cord holding stuff on the top shelf in the door is tres ghetto....they no longer make the part that broke.

No, it had *nothing* to do with overstuffing it, why do you ask?

[nikkib]

ahhh umm my fridge.....






Reasons like this and my 14 hour average working day make me love these foodblogs even more!!! Cant wait to see what you get up to this week

[Pierogi]

FRIDGE & PANTRY TOUR - PART DEUX

As I was saying before I was so rudely drawn away from the computer....

Canned goods pantry


Miscellaneous bakery supplies pantry


3-shelf dry goods pantry






And the last dark, scary corner....


The kitchen actually has a good deal of cabinet space. However, it is woefully inadequate in drawer space. I only have 5, of which 2 are about 18-inches deep. One works for towels, but one is a hopless tangle of bulky and infrequently used utensils (biscuit cutters, small plastic mandoline, funnels, etc., etc., etc.) That and the spice cabinet are the thorns in my cooking side.

So, the only way to keep small tools and utensils handy, and somewhat organized to have them in crocks and tall mugs in an otherwise also extremely useless space behind the sink. It looks a mess and very cluttered, but it works. And since I use most of them at least once a week, guess in the long run, it's probably more convenient than opening and closing drawers all the time.

Time to bake the bread and get dinner rolling. And we'll see what adult beverage fills the bill tonight as well.

Back after clean-up.

[6ppc]

May I suggest a martini?

[llc45]

Love the bungee cord idea - the holder in my basement fridge keeps popping out sending all of our mixers onto the floor. Amazed out how organized your fridge shelves are.

[kayb]

Loving the blog! (Just got caught up on the first two days, after spending a week out of town with the brand new grandchild!)

Inquiring minds want to know -- was that a sugar bowl in the hummus ingredients pic? Don't know that I ever heard of sugar in hummus; share a recipe?

As a Kitchenaid noob, I'm looking forward particularly to the breadbaking part of your week. I missed my breadbaking the past two weeks, and will be anxious to get back into it this next weekend.

New Orleans cuisine rules. Will be ordering Cooking Up A Storm.

And the furbabies are adorable! Lucy Lu says to tell them Hi from her.

[Pierogi]

Is this the same area where the Queen Mary is docked as a hotel? I remember back early 1970s when hubby and I were treking around California in our Westphalia camper, we actually camped in the parking lot close to a restaurant where we had supper.
Sure doesn't look the same now! We did tour the ship the next morning.
Now, THAT'S what I'd call a farmer's market. Did you buy anything?
Thos strawberries look delicious. I wonder if our "California" strawberries come from the same farm?

Long Beach is, indeed, where the QM is docked...our little, and I do mean little...claim to fame. Well, OK, one of them. We do have a world-class Gran Prix, and one of the largest harbors in the world.

But, this market isn't on the coast. It's way inland, as am I. About 10 miles from the coast. The other Sunday market is down the coast about 5 miles south of where the QM is docked, in an area called Alamitos Bay. Although you're right, there's a marina right by the Queen.

Yes, I bought some tabouleh and some Kalamata olive spread from the extremely charming and flirtatious Greek food vendor. Actually, the products are very good (albiet a bit pricey....). The charm certainly didn't hurt the sale, though !

There's still acres of strawberry farms all over SoCal, so maybe. We've lost so much agricultural land in the last 50 years (the parking lots at Disneyland used to be pretty much all a privately owned citrus and strawberry farm) due to sprawl, there's some really creative uses to keep the agriculture going. A lot of urban farmers grow food and ornamental crops under high voltage electrical transmission towers and wires. Or on railway right-of-ways. It's really trippy...you go cruising along down the freeway, and there's a plot of cultivated land.

Of course you notice that because you're *cruising down the freeway* at about 10 miles an hour...

[Pierogi]

I can wait! I've been pretty happy using farmfreshtoyou.com as it offers more flexibility than traditional CSAs which is important since my wife is often away for a month or so at a time and I can scale back the deliveries to every other week or whatever other frequency suits.

The Farmers markets here in Long Beach are certainly a nice benefit to have. I work downtown so the Friday market is one I go to most often.

Are you going to explore some of the Cambodian markets on Anaheim this week?

Intresting factoid- Long Beach has a huge Cambodian community, sorta like Little Saigon is to the Vietnamese enclave which is just South of here.

Farm Fresh was one of the ones I looked at, but they were a little out of my budget. If I remember, since I was still working, their pick-up or delivery times were also a bit inconvenient at the time. I think you'll like my hidden gem.

I am planning on going to one of the local ethnic markets one day. Haven't decided which yet, again, we're so lucky we have such an option. And yes, I did know that about Cambodian community. If I'm not mistaken, most of Anaheim Street is known as "Little Phenom Penh".

[Pierogi]

Wish I could "read" your refrigerator. Bet there are some good stories stuck on it.

Other than an attack of homesickness, I'm so enjoying your blog. I grew up in the Mar Vista-
Venice area. My folks both worked at McDonald Douglas in Long Beach.
Hubby and I were back there on a trip and stayed on the Queen Mary. What fun. And your aquarium is world class!

There are indeed good memories and stories in those fridge magnets. Many of them (of course) involve food and food stuffs !

I used to work up close to Mar Vista. Nice area. You do know that literally all of the old McDonald Douglas buildings are gone now? It's sooooooooo sad.

Yes, the aquarium is a gem ! I'm very proud of that (unlike the old, sad tug boat of an ocean liner parked next to it.....)

[Pierogi]

ahhh umm my fridge.....






Reasons like this and my 14 hour average working day make me love these foodblogs even more!!! Cant wait to see what you get up to this week

Well, one could say that you have the absolute essentials ! Good taste in gin.....

[Pierogi]

May I suggest a martini?

Close. Although that did cross my mind, it's so often in my rotation that I veered away from it. We did stay with gin though....

A Last Word (1 part gin, 1 part green Chartreuse, 1 part maraschino liqueur and 1 part lime juice)...


I thought it was appropriate because I so very rarely get "the last word".....

[Pierogi]

Love the bungee cord idea - the holder in my basement fridge keeps popping out sending all of our mixers onto the floor. Amazed out how organized your fridge shelves are.

Hey, like I said, it looks ghetto, but it's a) cheap and b) it works !

Organized.....oy. It feels like I'm constantly removing half the shelf to find what I'm looking for. My whole problem is I'm a condiment slut, I can't resist 'em. Or I'll find a really, REALLY cool recipe I just HAVE TO MAKE and it will need the one sauce/paste/rub/mix I *don't* already have in the fridge.

[Pierogi]

ahhh umm my fridge.....

And I do have to admit, I stocked up for the blog. I did a HUGE shopping trip on Wednesday last week to prepare....

It's not usually THAT packed. Close, but not quite.

The freezer is, however, admittedly out of control. And I even have an inventory list....

[Pierogi]

Loving the blog! (Just got caught up on the first two days, after spending a week out of town with the brand new grandchild!)

Inquiring minds want to know -- was that a sugar bowl in the hummus ingredients pic? Don't know that I ever heard of sugar in hummus; share a recipe?

As a Kitchenaid noob, I'm looking forward particularly to the breadbaking part of your week. I missed my breadbaking the past two weeks, and will be anxious to get back into it this next weekend.

New Orleans cuisine rules. Will be ordering Cooking Up A Storm.

And the furbabies are adorable! Lucy Lu says to tell them Hi from her.

Thanks Kay and congrats on the new babe !!! Good on ya !

No, in the hummus shot, the Polish stoneware bowl is my salt cellar. No sugar involved. Recipe is dead-bang simple. A can of garbanzos, drain, but reserve the juice, about 1/4C tahini, garlic, lemon juice and salt to taste. Start with about a tablespoon of the garbanzo juice. Blitz that around in the processor for a bit, then drizzle in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Blitz again, taste and adjust. A bit of smoked paprika (I use the pimenton, which is hot), blitz briefly and that's a done deal. It's really all to taste. I usually use a couple of garlic cloves, and the juice of an entire, small lemon and about a teaspoon of salt.

I'll try to detail the use of the sexy KA when I post the remainder of today's bread thread in a bit. I also used it yesterday for the kneading on the King Cake. With my hands as bad as they are somedays, the sexy KA is the only way I can make yeasted doughs for sure. Plus, its really almost fool-proof once you've done it a few times. That technique I used from "Cuisine at Home" (I looked, its the February 2009 issue) is really a good one, especially for noobs. If you can't find it on-line, or in a library, PM me and I'll shoot it over to you.

A BIG warning though...DO NOT leave it unattended whilst its kneading. Mine literally walked off the counter and crashed on the floor the first time I used it for bread. Luckily I was standing right there, so I could rescue it. It wrecked the outlet it was plugged into when it yanked out of the socket, but when I picked the beauty back up, and plugged it back it, it went on like a champ ! It did chip the lock for the tilt-head, but a little Super Glue fixed that right up ! Now I put a square of that squishy-grippy shelf liner under the foot while it works, and I make sure to stand there and hold it.

I am SO glad and gratified that so many people reading this blog have responded to "Cooking Up A Storm". It is such a worthwhile book, for such a fabulous culture, the more people that get the word, and spread it the happier I am. I can't imagine a US without the people of Southern Louisiana.

Thanks LucyLu !

[Pierogi]

Holy cats ! It's late and I'm exhausted (and sore.....) and maybe tomorrow I'll start dinner around noon. I didn't realize how much time it took to photograph what I was doing in the little kitchen.

OK, so there was more than just nasty stuff for breakfast and lunch today. Before I left for the Farmers' Market, I had another slice of King Cake. Here's a picture of what it looks like on the inside:



I LOVED it ! I did think I slightly overbaked it, as I keep saying, I'm not an intuitive enough baker yet (although I'm getting there...) to trust my instincts fully. About 10 minutes before the timer said it was done, my nose told me it was getting close. But since it was the first time I'd made it, I let it go. I probably should've pulled it about 5 minutes before the timer went. But, ya live and learn. The brown sugar/cinnamon filling got nice and melty and caramelized on the outside, and the dough part is nice and eggy and yeasty. It's a good thing.

Lunch was the hummus I made yesterday, with tabouleh and Kalamata olive spread I bought from the very flirtatious Greek vendor at the Farmers' Market. He gave me a sample of his hummus mixed with the tabouleh and it was fantastic. What a good idea. His hummus had jalapeno in it. *Mental note* next time I make hummus, grind a jalapeno in with the garbanzos. I like my hummus, oddly enough, with pretzels. Don't know how authentic that is, but it's how I like it. Sometimes I get those thin pretzel crackers, but this time I had rods...

[Pierogi]

And the bread.

What an absolute FREAKIN' success ! Must've been Blog Karma, because it was seriously the best loaf of bread I have EVER made ! Nice, chewy, crisp crust. GREAT crumb.....GREAT CRUMB, and a fabulous taste.

If you don't have a nifty banneton, a colander lined with a kitchen towel (NOT terry cloth, don't ask how I know), and rubbed with flour will do just fine:



Dough in the colander


After doubling in the colander


Now is the time, as La Julia said, to have the courage of your convictions:


I put the peel on top of the colander, and flipped the whole gamish over in one big, fast, swift move. *MENTAL NOTE* Either lightly flour the peel or sprinkle flour lightly over the top of the dough...I had a b*tch of a time getting the dough off the peel onto the stone....

On the peel & slashed. I still have troubles with my slashing as well....


But this one turned out pretty well with the slashes. The finished loaf:


Will ya LOOK AT THAT CRUMB????


I mean...seriously. Look at that crumb !


I varied from the "Fine Cuisine" method by using a stone, and a trash roasting pan I preheated along with the oven to 475°. When I put the bread in the oven, I poured boiling water into the preheated pan. That's the method I find works best for me, and gives me the most steam. I also don't risk cracking my stone if water hits it (don't ask me how I know) or the oven door glass (mercifully I *don't* know about that one).

The poolish from yesterday got mixed with fresh flour, yeast, salt and water today. I did that by hand, and then did a bit of hand kneading. After it rested for a bit (rest.....I can identify with that), then I dumped it into the KitchenAid and worked it with the dough hook for about 10 minutes. The technique says 8, I find consistently for me, 10 works better and gives me a windowpane I don't get at 8.

A great loaf. It will be great toast tomorrow.