Smithy

I dunno, looks to me like you're on to something here!

I have been trying in vain to find KA Bread Flour in Duluth. I couldn't even find a slot for it in one of the grocery stores we frequent. Finally, after I struck out at our most upscale grocery store - the one that has reliably carried it for years - I called that store's representative. "Are you planning to stock King Arthur flour again?" I asked. He replied, "Yes ma'am, as soon as THEY have a supply again."

Beautiful, and absolutely the kick I need to do the same thing before my ramps all go off. How did you go about them, please? Was it just finely chopped or blitzed ramps in that butter, or did you add other seasonings? What pickling mixture did you use? Will that jar live in the refrigerator, or is it shelf-stable?

...and so we did. Here's an excerpt from dinner. The rest of the dinner wasn't photographed / snapped. Corn on the cob (too early in the season, I think) and oven-baked breaded pork steak: tasty but tough, probably a sign of the times.

Actually, shabakeh3 has asked the question elsewhere. We will simply hope that one of the experts can help. But thanks for the recommendation, @Kim Shook.

Dried cherries, yes. Dried cranberries, yes. Dried barberries, yes yes yes. But perhaps due to overexposure in childhood, I flinch at raisins now. The broccoli salad I made today has barberries in place of raisins, and we'll love it. ...but.... wouldn't you know it...now that I've taken to baking bread again, my DH is reminiscing about his mother's cinnamon rolls and hinting strongly that I should make them. With raisins.

Sad face because I just spent $3 more than I needed to! (I had already succumbed to temptation.)

Mind you, I love potatoes in just about any form...but the baby potatoes may be my favorites!

@Shelby, my husband rhapsodizes every year about new potatoes and peas in white sauce. If I show him your photo, he'll go berserk and demand that we go shopping right NOW! My father, rest his soul, also would have found that image evocative of his happy childhood and his mother's spring cookery.

I hope you'll show the results! That must be a pretty big smoker, to take all that at once. I'm in the market, maybe, for a new smoker, so I'd be interested to know more about the smoker itself as well as the results.

Doggone it, rotuts -- just when I think I've succeeded in my resolve to not collect more cookbooks, you come up with this temptation! Even the salad and dressing on the Amazon page looks good. There goes my resolve.

Salmon, ramps and asparagus alfredo, more or less. The way this came about was that DH was jonesing for my pasta alfredo with smoked salmon, and I had to do something with fresh salmon. And some gorgeous ramps. And asparagus. I had other plans to use those elements, but what the heck. It was pretty good, and there are leftovers. They too will make good meals.

I'm not sure how I could remove the bran and work it back in later, except in the sense that I mixed the two flours. Perhaps that's what you mean? The recipe calls for 500F, with the Dutch Oven preheated, and that's what I've been using. After about 30 minutes you remove the lid to let the dough brown, but there's no call to reduce the heat. In this case the bread was already dark brown when I took the lid off, but a thermometer said the bread wasn't done. I think a lower temperature is in order. Now that you mention it, my Peter Reinhart recipe for this sort of bread (although it isn't in a Dutch Oven) calls for starting at around 450F to get oven spring, and then lowering the temperature to 375F. Maybe that's a better way to go. Next time I'll start at 475F, and maybe lower the temperature per Reinhart. Does that sound reasonable?

Thank you for this advice, dtremit. I tried following it today, using the same recipe as before except that I mixed all-purpose flour in with the artisanal bread flour. I autolysed the artisan flour separately while I let the A/P flour mix with the starter; then mixed them all and added the salt. Whether it was the separate autolysis or substitution of A/P flour (for about 1/3 of the flour) I don't know, but the dough came together and developed in a much more civilized fashion. It folded. It developed a tight skin. It rose. It did all those things without relentless kneading and excessive resting! And then it stuck to the basket on the way into the preheated Dutch Oven. And when it hit that hot pot, all out of shape, it deflated and stuck to the sides of the pot. Grr. See that crispy-looking edge? That's where it stuck, and charred. The side view shows how deflated it is, and is reminiscent of Jughead's porkpie hat, for those of a certain age. Or maybe a cross-section of a pagoda. Still. The crumb is tender (more so than the last batch) and the flavor is pretty good. Next time I'll try a slightly lower temperature in the oven, in hopes of its not being quite so dark, and I'll work more diligently to keep the loaf from sticking to the banneton. A heavily-floured liner cloth, perhaps? The basket was heavily floured already, but I didn't line it. As before, advice will be welcome. @dtremit's suggestion was very helpful.

Hello, Mehdi / @shabakeh3, and welcome! I do hope someone knowledgeable can answer your question. (Note for other members: Mehdi has asked the same question here, where the topic will not lock after the designated time.) We hope you'll tell us more about the food you eat and cook where you live. We enjoy reading about other cultures. Google Translate is very useful! If you have questions about how to post in the forums, or where to post in the forums, feel free to contact a host (like me) by PM.

@shain, I grew up in an area where many houses had "pet" pomegranate trees. Despite that, I don't think I ever noticed the blossoms, until they were at the end of a fruit. Thank you for that picture.

Sorry Shelby, I've apparently been asleep at the switch. What is "that lime cilantro dressing"? I like that flavor combination but wasn't happy with my attempt at it.

I'm sorry, and slightly embarrassed, to say that when we moved into our current house over 20 years ago I found one of these in some cranny behind a corner kitchen cupboard. I couldn't figure out its value, and I tossed it. I wish I could remember more clearly! Maybe it was just a couple of parts instead of the entire piece? . . . Yep, that's it...it was only a couple of parts, not the whole thing. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

I'm happy to report that the fishing businesses I referred to are still in business and the supply is good. Our local stores' supplies of seafood (and freshwater fish) are as good as ever. I'll be interested in reading about online supplies, but I can keep supporting the local guys.

That's part of my hesitation. The other part is that we have a couple of local fishermen who make their living providing Alaskan fish to stores and businesses here. I haven't had the chance since we got home to see how that stock is holding up, but if they're still in business I'd rather support them. I'll be able to find out this week.

I'm on their mailing list and have been considering buying from them. I like their sales pitch. I haven't bought anything from them yet, though.

What should one do if the bread dough absolutely, positively refuses to develop gluten strands? I was using a sourdough starter - well refreshed - from a local restaurant. The flour was a combination of (admittedly old) King Arthur Bread Flour and artisan Whole Wheat flour from Barrio Bread in Tucson. Does the age of flour affect more than taste? After I allowed the mixed dough to loll about like some overprivileged child, with the occasional prodding and folding, I finally decided that hours had been enough time. I worked vital wheat gluten into the mix. I went about my business. Later, when I saw that dough continuing to be slack, I kneaded it and worked in more flour. Eventually, it went into a very hot Dutch oven that had preheated in the big kitchen oven. The flavor is good. The texture would be better if I'd been more patient. (I DID punch out the big bubbles during the last kneading.) My question still remains: if one's dough refuses to advance past the shaggy stage, despite hours of mixing and resting with good flour and a good scale and a recipe from a class, where should that person look for improvement?

Tonight's dinner came from the second of the meal kits I purchased yesterday: Laab Moo from the New Scenic Cafe, a delightful restaurant near where we live. I had already started chopping the romaine lettuce into our typical bite-sized bits when I remembered that larb/laab/larp/lahp (according to what I've read) is intended to be scooped into lettuce leaves and eaten out of hand. Not going to happen in this household. I kept chopping, but I won't present this dinner as a typical laab. Whatever. We liked it. The flavors were great!

Thank you! We got it at Williams-Sonoma a long time ago, under the pattern name "Bistro" (or maybe "Cafe"). Over time some of the handles began to crack. By then WS only carried it in obvious plastic, colors black, white, maybe blue?.... I found a replacement at Chefs Catalog a few years back. Chefs called it Bistro.

Dinner from a kit last night: my first kit service, ordered from The New Scenic Cafe, a local restaurant. You can read more about the kits I ordered in this post, if you wish. I ordered their soup and salad kit, which doesn't offer soup choices ("you just have to trust us!"). The soups were generous offerings of Indian-Spiced Tomato soup, and Creamy Red Pepper Curry soup. The salad was easily assembled, from some of the best romaine lettuce I've had in a while. At random, I picked the Indian-Spiced Tomato Soup and gave him the Creamy Red Pepper Soup. As it happened each of us preferred our own soup. What a great marriage! The bread was a couple of their sourdough buns. I should have reheated them in dry heat, I fear; the steam from the CSO seems to have toughened the crust. Flavor was good, though. Dead easy, and delicious!