Marlene

It's a Vermont Castings smoker

Seam side up. Of course! That makes perfect sense! And I agree, Peter's writings have inspired many to begin baking bread including me. Thanks again!

That you for that very concise description of how to score a baquette. It helped immensely, although I um, use an exacto knife to score. I have a question. In BBA, Peter talks about the fact that almost every bread is shaped from a boule form. Does that make sense when you're making a baguette? Would it be better and easier to form a batard first and let it rest before shaping the baguette? I've always had problems with the way Peter says to shape a boule, and I find rounding works better. When I stretch the dough over and under, there is a seam, that is hard to get rid of when then next forming the baguette. Thank you so much for you time, Chef!

Chris, Can you expand a little on this comment, please. Thanks! ← I'll be interested to hear Chef's response as well. We were taught at the ICE breadbaking course that rounding does a couple of things. It makes the "skin" of the bread smooth, and increases surface tension for better expansion. Rounding also apparently ensures that the dough ferments and or proofs (if you are rounding for the second stage) evenly, ensuring an even rise to the dough. I've been experimenting lately with rounding as it was not something I did before I took the course and the results are dramatically improved, in crust and crumb!

We went to Costco today here in Burlington. They had 5kg bags of basmati rice and there was no rationing that I could see, nor was there a frenzy to buy any. Other than that, there was the usual Uncle Ben's converted stuff that we don't touch and Minute Rice. There was also lots of flour. We did pick up a bag of basmati rice. I figure 5 kg will last us at least a year!

Thats the Costco I used to shop at. We don't eat that much rice, but I think I'll go get a big bag just in case. ← We don't eat much rice either, but we were saying tonight that we should go get some. I haven't noticed any shortages here yet, but I'm going to Costco tomorrow, so I'll check. One thing I have noticed and it's not related to grains, is the crap quality of veggies lately. Also, potatoes. Is there a potato blight going on that I don't know about yet? It seems to me that every other potato I cut into, even though it looks gorgeous outside, is rotten inside. And gas is expected to hit $2.25 a litre here this summer.

Thanks Kerry. We love this bread.

Thanks! We'll probably take it for another rib spin this weekend.

After attending a week long bread baking course in New York recently, I tried the Vienna bread again, using some of the techniques I learned. Apparently I failed at shaping. Bar none, this is the best result I've obtained. Great oven spring and bloom and a crumb to die for.

And it hasn't come back to me either so it went somewhere!

Tonkatsu! One of my favourites. Must make soon. I'm glad you liked the onion rings Kim. Even better, they can be made ahead and reheated and don't get soggy, which is always nice when you're looking for make ahead stuff!

pierogi, susan and kim~ this is the eye doc speaking. Multifocal CONTACTS are the way to go ! No dropping your glasses in the soup and on the floor. No steaming up. Kim, I am loving your blog. I have a Jessica prolly about the same age (23). I think it was a good year for Jessicas. LOL. I hope you are feeling OK and not up all night. I look forward to reading more in the AM ! (Otis is counting on you ) Kathy ← Except for those of us who can't wear multifocal contacts. Kim, I'm loving your blog. I hope you're feeling better this morning!

I fired up our new smoker over the weekend. We only did one rack of ribs (hey there were only two of us). There's the water pan and below that the cast iron holder for the wood chips. It was incredibly easy to maintain the temp on this. We started it out at 200 to see how it would hold. No problems. We bumped it to 240 for the remainder of the time. I can easily see doing cold smoking in this. Bacon, here I come.

Spelt flour has half the carbs of regular flour. It also makes great pizza dough.

Glad it worked well for you Chris. I've always been pleased with the recovery time on mine.

True, and even here in my little town, lamb is always available. Rack of lamb tonight for dinner. Maggie, I feel your pain - even as I drizzle a little mint sauce on my leftovers. Hubby might as well live in the heartland however - not a lamb eater. ← Mine either Kerry, so the lad and I always have our lambfest when hubby won't be home for dinner.

I don't know where Mr. B. got to. I mailed him to you before Christmas and it cost something like $25.00 in stamps because I had put a book in with him. I'm sorry you never got him!

I think improvisation and technique are intertwined to a very large extent. Ethnic cusine/flavours/textures may be more a specialized type of course for those interested in a particular cusine. just my opinion.

Tis nice to know you are cooking again, Dark Lady. Crispy pork chops. Crispy smashed and roasted potatoes. Both simple, but rocked our world. I made a challah bread in class this week and an Umbrian parmesan bread that I will make over and over again. Plus a swiss butter dough that is fabulous for dinner rolls.

In 2008 so far, I've been mostly playing with bread, so the Vienna Bread from BBA.

Not really knowing exactly what you've taught, I'm not seeing knife skills there, although there probably has been some of that. I know that in taking the technical courses at ICE, each section has built on what we learned in the past. I'd agree with both maggie and sony in terms of "making the leap". They've got the foundations, teach them some tricks. Teach tasting. When is not enough salt? When too much? Teach how to become more creative with a recipe rather than just follow it.

Brilliant, Anna, thanks! Those bags are fabulous.

That's partly why I like the Sobey's bags. most of the bags I've seen have been canvas or fabric of some sort. the Sobey's bags are some sort of plastic or poly or something I don't know, I don't have them in front of me to check as I'm currently in New York), but they can be washed out if something's been spilled in them. I don't have a huge problem with pests at home but the cottage is a different story, so thanks for reminding me to make sure I wash them out after using them.

I have recently switched to using Sobey's bags. I admit it was not for any altrustic save the planet virtue, but because I love those bags! They hold three times what a plastic bag does, and I can now usually get out of the store carrying one or two of those bags instead of the 16 bags I'd otherwise have. Which means I can carry them myself and don't need a grocery cart to haul them out, thereby saving another step of having to return the grocery cart. (hey when it's -15C outside, every step counts!) They also have a couple of neat inside pockets for smaller items. It also means I make less trips to the car to bring stuff in. They are as strong as an ox and Sobey's guarantees them so if they ever break, I just have to bring it in and they'll give me a new one. A lot of the environmentally friendly bags I've seen at stores like the Great Canadian Superstore (or Loblaws by any other name), are pretty small, so I'd need almost as many of them as I would plastic. I love these bags. They sit on the shelf by my back door so I can remember to take them every time I go shopping. I even bought some to take and keep at the cottage this year.

I've been to most of the steakhouses in Vegas on the strip. Delmonico's is my favourite steakhouse in Vegas. have the truffle parmesan chips. You won't be able to stop eating them.