Smithy

Following up on my previous post, here are the crumb shots. I ended up taking all 3 loaves to our friends' house so we could all compare and taste them. One friend adored the pumpernickel, the other thought it was "okay..." the first pumpernickel she'd ever liked, but still not a favorite flavor. She preferred the whole grain sourdough. None of the breads was a flop. Here, in the same order as the photos above, are the crumb shots. I'd have liked them to be a bit more open, but the flavor was good and the texture wasn't bad...it just wasn't as stellar as what we often see here. My learning process continues.

I split a batch of sourdough whole-grain bread into two batches. I baked one in the oven using a cast iron pot (started at 450F, turned heat down to 375F, finished out of the pot at 250F) on convection. I baked the other in the CSO using the "Bread" function at 450F until it was golden on the outside, about 45 minutes, then finished at something like 250F until the interior was done. I am thrilled at the oven spring on both - and I think I'm finally getting the hang of shaping boules to help get that oven spring. But look at the difference in the crusts! On the left: the loaf that had about 1/2 hour in the cast iron pot; on the right: the loaf that baked in the Steam Oven. The shine is quite different. I'll have to provide crumb shots later. One of these is going to a dinner party tonight, along with my very first pumpernickel boule. A crumb shot for that will come later as well. The whole-grain breads began as insurance in case the pumpernickel is a flop, but based on its aromas and feel I don't think it will be, despite the small eruption at the slash.

It's nice to see King Arthur's products getting back into play. I found some of their AP unbleached flour yesterday; between that, the above-noted bread flour, and some dark rye flour (Bob's Red Mill) I found I've been having fun baking bread again. I'll post more about that in the bread topic.

Thank to a recommendation from @rotuts in, of all topics, Behold My Butt! I am now the proud owner of used copy of Lettuce in Your Kitchen: Flavorful And Unexpected Main-Dish Salads And Dressings, by Chris Schlesinger and John Willloughby. It's a fun book, and worthy of being noted (again) in this topic. So far I've made one of their fennel salads (Cary's Leaf Lettuce Salad with Orange, Fennel and Red Onion) although I took small liberties with it. The salad is great. The dressing is great. I have a bunch of other salads bookmarked to try. One of the things I especially like about this book is that it categorizes and describes greens into classes: The Lettuces; The Mild spicy Greens; The Slightly Spicier Greens, and so on. Each recipe notes potential substitutions in case a specific green isn't available. Very, very useful. I know from the discussion around rotuts' comment that I'm not the only one to have purchased a copy recently. Has anyone else used it yet?

My husband keeps a kegerator worth of his everyday beer when we're at home. Early this week he called for a refill. Of his usual, Busch Light*. The bottle shop just called: they can't get it. Because the supply is completely out. Why? Because the distributor is in Wisconsin, and that state's bars reopened last weekend. I guess there's a whole lot of celebratin' going on. Oh, still available: Bud Light and Michelob Ultra/Light/I forget. So there are some beers even lower on the totem pole than Busch Light! He went for Blue Moon Hefeweizen instead. *(His kegerator is safe from me.)

Damn all you enablers, now you've got me thinking I need a dehydrator. Or at least, that I could justify having one. Please say more about the lovage. Mine is going great guns, and I mave to admit that I usually just admire it without remembering to use it. If you dehydrate it, how much does the flavor change? Do you rehydrate before later use, or just throw it dehydrated into (say) stews, soups, pasta dishes?

Score in the store today! First time I've seen any KA flour around here in weeks, much less their beloved bread flour. I resisted the"hoard" impulse, and bought only one bag.

OK, I'm going to have to try bread in the CSO as opposed to the cast iron Dutch Oven in my main oven. That's a wonderful rise!

The picture of the finished cracker is attractive. I had never heard of coix seed before. Can you describe the taste? Did you like the crackers?

That's how I wiped out my Royal food processor. Don't remember where I'd gotten it -- Sears? -- but it had lasted me for many years and had been within (a very tight) budget...and then I tried to use it on Parmesan cheese. Cracked the spindle. No replacements possible. It was years afterward before I could afford a decent food processor, since Royal had disappeared. I'm still leery of shredding hard cheeses in my Cuisinart. I suspect that frozen cookie dough would be difficult for the various reasons given above, but I've stayed out of the discussion because I've never tried it.

Right you are, and here it is, ready for more participants and inspiration! eG Cook-Off #72: Ramen

Nice job, Chris. I admire your video-making skills as well as apparent ease in front of the camera. (I was once told that I turned into a drill sergeant when the camera was rolling. ) Your explanations are clear, and there are amusing touches. The recipe looks good, too. Have you gotten much local reaction from your customer base?

My copy arrived today.

*Bump* I ran across an article from Serious Eats today, discussing whether the type of flour used to make sourdough starter makes a difference. (TL;DR version: not in the long run although perfectionists may wish to make adjustments to recipes depending on the flour involved.) This topic could use a boost, because of an especially good discussion some years back. I'm now boosting it. Serious Eats article: The Best Flour for Sourdough Starters: An Investigation.

Does this mean you have 2-way communication with your shopper?

This particular ramp butter is so hard in the refrigerator that I doubt it will soften or go off any time soon. It's about half "European Style" (very high butterfat) and maybe that matters for pulling water out of the ramps. That said, maybe I'll set some aside for the freezer to see if it makes a difference in longevity. TicTac's cautionary notes are appreciated.

I believe @Shelby has done the double-temperature fries more than once. Maybe she'll weigh in on the method.

Right up to the point that you want to type it for a shout-out!

Congratulations on your results! As to your question: I'd say yes to putting the skin into whatever the fat and bone go into. It could be stock. It could be beans, or bean soup. Or a mess of greens, like collard greens. Heck, potatoes might even benefit from that flavoring.

If you're really determined to get uniformly pressed burgers to the thickness you specify, you could do worse than to buy this adjustable Bellemain Burger Press. I thought it a rather silly idea, but my other half has a thing about burgers being tightly packed and uniform. The lightweight plastic presses never released the burgers and seemed much more trouble than they were worth, so we bought this burger press last fall. I have to admit, now that we know the thickness we prefer, I like it too. It might be too much trouble for one or two burgers, but if you make them in advance and freeze them - as we do - it makes the job pretty darned easy.

Speaking of playing in the kitchen and making messes: I also made sourdough crumpets. More here. Maybe I'll try some of that ramp butter on one. Hmm, maybe not.

Today I tried out another crumpet recipe, this one from a Washington Post article about what to do with extra sourdough starter. Their recipe is here: Sourdough Crumpets. I don't like this recipe as well as the one I tried earlier; I find the flavor a bit too sour and I'm sure it depends on the quality of the starter. You're supposed to start with nonrefreshed starter, but I think my nonrefreshed starter was a bit too old and would have benefited from refreshment. That said, I did use up the extra starter! Aside from that, I'm happy with this batch. I have a better feel for the needed consistency of the batter (I thinned mine slightly) and the heat needed, so these have great texture. As for the flavor: well, some crabapple jelly (see the lower right image) helped. I may end up using honey yet!

Thanks, @weinoo. Interesting about the blanching step. I considered it, but didn't do it. As it happens, I had spare time for projects before I saw your response, so my methodology was a little different. I'm still looking forward to the results! From left to right: Ramp / chive oil, buzzed up with a bit of salt; ramp butter (wish I'd thought of lemon!); pickled ramps using methodology from last week's episode of The Splendid Table; and then what was left of my usual lemon vinaigrette, with the ramp/chive oil that wouldn't fit into the jar at the left. I just had a salad using the dressing. Yum. Until May 1 I was away from home and using a small kitchen in our trailer. It is a lovely, delightful luxury to be able to spread projects out and really play in the kitchen! And then...throw most of the dishes into a dishwasher!

I really don't see a problem with skipping aisles at the end-caps. Passing in the aisles may be more problematic, in narrow aisles, but the local procedure (the local culture is very polite) is to say "excuse me, sorry!" or something similar, and then other person says "no problem, sorry!" or some such, and everyone holds their breath and the passing happens. Or it doesn't, because aisle-blocker moves on. So far it's working here although I still see some folks not bothering with masks. Boggles the mind....

@rotuts, my perspective may be different due to living in a less crowded area, but it's common here to skip aisles. Our markets are also marked with directional signs (although not everyone is paying attention yet) but the broadest and most open sections (produce area) are two-way and provide easy opportunities to pass at a safe distance. So, for instance, I might go up the outer area, through produce and dairy, then go down aisle 8 for the bread, and up 9 for the coffee. I also think that a brief noncontact passing within 6 feet, if nobody is sneezing and both are masked, is very non-risky.