Ann_T

Made Moe blueberry pancakes this morning.

Inspired by @liamsaunt and @Margaret Pilgrim, I pulled Spot Prawns out of the freezer this morning before leaving for work. Made Pappardelle with a simple tomato garlic basil sauce and grilled the prawns. (cast iron grill pan). I wasn't really in the mood for prawns so I just had pasta.

@ElsieD, I'm not a raisin fan, in fact, I really, really don't like them. BUT Moe does. I really should make one for him. And your loaf really looks amazing. Makes me wish I did like raisins. Started two bigas (2 gs yeast) yesterday morning before leaving for work. Last night made two batches of dough. One with the addition of 2 grams of yeast and one without additional yeast. The one with the yeast went immediately into the fridge after the last stretch and fold and the one without additional yeast was left out overnight and baked this morning. Eight baguettes out of the oven by 7:15 AM The one in the fridge is destined for pizza on Saturday night.

Thanks @Shelby, that is how I feel about your fries. Before I left for work this morning I gave Moe some options for dinner. Halibut, Steak or roast beef dinner. Roasted a small Sterling Sliver Top Sirloin roast. Roasted at 500°F for 20 minutes. Rested while the potatoes finished cooking. Served with mashed potatoes, gravy and buttered peas.

@Dejah, No I use dried green peppercorns. I have the same problem with brined peppercorns as I do capers. I just don't like the brine because it imparts a flavour. I don't really care much for anything pickled or brined. Mostly I'm not a fan of vinegar. I've only been able to find fresh peppercorns a few times and it was when we lived in Vancouver. Have not seen them here on the Island. Even dried are hard to come by so I order them from Silk Road Spice Merchants out of Calgary.

@Margaret Pilgrimbeautiful big shrimp. @liamsaunt I had to look up "Cusk". Not a fish I'd heard of before. Is it similar to Lingcod? I love how you prepared it. I have more halibut coming today and I still have some Sablefish in the freezer that will be good served your way. @JoNorvelleWalker this is the best photo of beans. Last night's dinner. Chicken Lemon Piccata with green peppercorns (I hate capers) with roasted potatoes and steamed green beans.

Last night's dinner. Moe's favourites. I've been making this recipe for Chile Rellenos for almost 50 years. Roasted the poblano peppers, and stuffed them with cheese, and made the sauce before leaving for work. Matthew cooked the black beans for me so all I had to do when I got in from work was to make the egg batter and fry the rellenos and I made a fresh salsa to serve with the beans. Fried flour tortillas to make little baskets for the beans.

Made Moe a Spot Prawn salad for dinner.

@Shelby, love your serving dish. @Kim Shook, I just realized that I've never actually posted the dressing recipe on the blog. It is just a traditional bread dressing with onions and celery sauted in butter, then simmered in chicken broth, seasoned with salt, pepper and rubbed sage. Tossed with bread cubes (I cut the bread up the day before and leave to dry overnight. Add some chopped parsley and add a little more chicken broth if needed to make the dressing moist. I bake in a casserole rather than in the turkey.

@Shelby, I always enjoy your catchup posts. Everything looks wonderful, but it is the eggplant that is calling my name.

We had our Thanksgiving dinner tonight. Just one day late. Traditional turkey dinner. Found a fresh small turkey. Just under 8lbs. I presalted it a couple of days ago. Roasted on high heat. Dessert - Apple Crisp.

Steak and Frites with mushrooms and a wine sauce. Presalted a thick NY strip on Saturday. It was suppose to be last night's dinner. Grilled tonight instead and the Thanksgiving turkey dinner I had intended for tonight will be tomorrow's dinner.

@JoNorvelleWalker, nice looking Boule. @Margaret Pilgrim Love the rustic look of your boule. One of the reasons I make smaller baguettes is so that when Moe does what your husband does, I don't mind cutting one of them while still warm. Monday Morning Bake!! Just out of the oven. Started a biga yesterday morning before leaving for work. Made the dough last night (autolyze, stretch and fold method) and left it on the counter from 8:30 pm until 4:00 am this morning. Last baguette was out of the oven before 8:00 am.

I don't dislike crunchy foods either, but for me Panko is like biting into shards of glass.

Everyone seems to like Panko except me. I don't like the texture or the flavour. Or maybe it is the lack of flavour. I always use fresh bread crumbs for Chicken Katsu.

@weinoo, sorry to disappoint.😀 Don't like capers, mainly because I don't like the flavour the brine/vinegar adds to a dish. Which is why I use green peppercorns in the Piccata sauce. And even the green peppercorns are dried not brined. Can't stand the brined ones. I have eaten more fish in the last 8 months than I would eat in a couple of years. I've never been big on fish. Moe loves fish so when Walcan Seafood started offering right to the door delivery, I decided to give them a try. Their story on how they saved their business during Covid is interesting. https://www.nationalobserver.com/2020/10/16/news/how-island-seafood-company-hooked-fresh-opportunities-during-covid-19 My first order was a combination of Sockeye Salmon, Spring Salmon, Halibut, Lingcod, Sablefish, Spot Prawns , Petrale sole and sushi quality Albacore Tuna. (so good). I already knew that I wasn't really a big fan of salmon so after a few meals, I gave most of it away. Have always loved halibut , and decided that I also love sablefish and even enjoy the Petrale sole. Since the first delivery I've order more halibut, sablefish and Petrale sole. As well as Spot Prawns. Through out the last few months, I've ordered more portions of frozen halibut and sablefish as well as 5lbs of fresh halibut and fresh Petrale sole. I'm well stocked at the moment. During the short Spot Prawn season, they even delivered live prawns. Also ordered Hokkaido sea scallops for Moe. He loves scallops and I don't. Apparently these are sushi quality. On work nights it makes for a quick dinner to pull fish, prawns or scallops out of the freezer. They are now offering a monthly subscription box for $149.00. You can choose five options and you save about $50.00. Doesn't work for me because going forward I'm sticking to just ordering halibut, sablefish and when available prawns and more scallops for Moe. The deliver service is amazing. And they have been so successful that they expanded their delivery service from down Island over to the mainland.

Have I mentioned how much we love halibut and Walcan Seafood? Pulled two pieces of halibut out of the freezer before leaving for work. Pan fried Halibut Piccata over spaghetti. I don't like capers so when I make anything Piccata I used green peppercorns.

@ElsieD no it doesn't take 14 minutes. But it might take you 6 to 8 depending on the bread. And since that is what i was use to with my previous toaster oven, I'm okay with that. Cheap grocery store bread toasts quickly but my homemade bread usually takes 6 or 7 minutes to reach the colour I like. As for how shiny my removeable tray is, I must confess that itsn't. And I have never noticed a difference in how long it takes for my bread to toast.

I think maybe it depends how you like your toast toasted. I like my toast well toasted. Prior to buying the CSO I used another Cuisinart convection toaster oven for about 15 years. And it was used strictly as a toaster. It made great toast. Toaster ovens always take longer to toast than a regular toaster. I always set the CSO toast setting at 7 and when it finishes, I flip the slices and reset to 7. The second time is shorter. Different breads toast differently too, requiring less or more time. Moe prefers the baguettes sliced and toasted. and I like toasted baguette but I like it sliced lengthwise and toasted. The CSO gets used a lot, but if it didn't do anything else I would keep it just for the toast. And if it ever dies, I have a back up ready to go. Now I'm thinking I might need a #3 for additional backup.

Tonight's dinner. Veal Scallopini with mushrooms, roasted potatoes and sauted broccolini with garlic and hot red pepper flakes.

@JoNorvelleWalker, mostly because I don't often serve bread as a side with meals unless it is for dipping in garlic butter with prawns, etc. But I love this bread toasted. Tomatoes on toast, Toast with back bacon and tomatoes, toast with eggs, etc..... I've always used a toaster oven for toast, and one of the best ever for toast is the CSO. If it wasn't as great as it is for baking bread, and roasting chicken, etc. I wouldn't care. I would let it take up counter space just for toast.

Made Moe fried ham and eggs for breakfast. Sunnyside up, buttered basted.

Another early morning bake. Batons and Batards. Started the dough last night and left it on the counter for a slow overnight rise. Just 1g of yeast. 1000g flour, 30g salt and 680g of water. Got up at 4:00 and preshaped. Finished shaping at 4:30 and left to proof until 5:40. Since about 90% of the bread we eat is toasted, I decided to make larger baguettes, hence batons and batards. I start each loaf in the steam oven and after 10 minutes of steaming I transfer to the big oven and slide another one or two in the steam oven. Cuts the time in half and the last loaf was out of the oven at 6:45.

Put a 6.5 pound bone-in ham in the oven yesterday morning. Carved into sections and sliced some for breakfast. Moe and I both had ham sandwiches on baguette late morning. The remaining ham is destined for fried ham and eggs, fried ham and toasted tomato sandwiches, possible crepes with ham and mushrooms in a cream sauce and the bone will be going into a pot of navy bean soup.

Great looking pizza. And crust. This would be my favourite. I made a coconut milk green chicken curry on Saturday. Started a batch of dough Friday night and baked bread in the morning. Last baguette was out of the oven before 8:00 and I made Moe dinner for breakfast. A deconstructed Steak sandwich with garlic toast, mushrooms and fries. Sunday's dinner. Grilled halibut.