eG Foodblog: abooja (2010) - Rockin' the Suburbs

[nakji]

Oh, wow, it's like a "Where's Butter?" game. The best game of all.

I don't want to make food that tastes okay, considering it's gluten free, but food I enjoy eating so much that I don't even think twice about its gluten content. This was one such dish. Success!

I think your chicken pot pie looks great, especially the filling. And since your gluten-free crust looks about twice as good as my regular crust ever comes out, I'd be justifiably proud if I were you.

[abooja]

The best laid plans...

I asked Howard to tend the smoker for me while I showered. By the time I got out of the bathroom, he was on edge because the alarm for the remote thermometer kept going off and, each time, he would have to add water or charcoal, close or open vents, etc. I was more concerned that the meat was overcooked, since the other thermometer, in the pastrami itself, had a very high reading after just two hours. I took its temperature, and it was fine. I came back inside and finished making dinner.

A short while ago, I decided to test it again. This time, I noticed its ashen veneer. I wondered if it was, in fact, well overcooked, and if the spice rub had seized on the pastrami's surface. It's been dark out for the last several hours, so it was hard to tell.

Then, it struck me. Howard had mentioned how a puff of smoke flew up into his face when adding the water to lower the temperature. He said it happened a couple of times, but I was too busy prepping dinner to pay it any mind. As he would soon confirm, he had been pouring the water directly over the hot coals! He didn't even remember that the smoker included a water basin. He was dumbstruck. I was livid.

It turns out, I was able to rinse most of the ash away. I made some more spice mixture, pressed it back on, and set the brisket back to smoking. Here's what it looked like before I did all that:

Edited December 8, 2010 by abooja (log)

[kayb]

Then, it struck me. Howard had mentioned how a puff of smoke flew up into his face when adding the water to lower the temperature. He said it happened a couple of times, but I was too busy prepping dinner to pay it any mind. As he would soon confirm, he had been pouring the water directly over the hot coals! He didn't even remember that the smoker included a water basin. He was dumbstruck. I was livid.

I have to laugh at that one! Sounds like something I'd do!

Enjoying the blog; particularly interested in the GF stuff, as one of my daughters is gluten-intolerant.

[abooja]

I think your chicken pot pie looks great, especially the filling. And since your gluten-free crust looks about twice as good as my regular crust ever comes out, I'd be justifiably proud if I were you.

Thank you! I hated not being able to have a pretty crust, but the original recipe never crimped too well, either. At this point, I'm just happy to make meals that are edible.

[Pierogi]

Thanks! I think you're going to be disappointed when I tell you what they really are.

LOL, no, no way dissapointed !! *MY* contemporary pieces came from Pier One and Cost Plus !!! Gotta snap up the cobalt glass where you can find it !

[Pierogi]

I think your chicken pot pie looks great, especially the filling. .....

Yes, I agree the filling looks fabulous. Just like what I'd want in a pot pie.....I can feel the creamy warmth from it.

[abooja]

I think your chicken pot pie looks great, especially the filling. .....

Yes, I agree the filling looks fabulous. Just like what I'd want in a pot pie.....I can feel the creamy warmth from it.

Thanks!

It grew on me after today's lunch -- in more ways than one.

[abooja]

Having completely misjudged how long it would take to smoke a nine-pound brisket in what is now subfreezing weather, I am still up at 2:00 3:30 a.m., nursing the smoker. May as well blog about it.

I knew that this pastrami was cursed from day one. I buy my meat at Wegmans and Sam’s Club, with an occasional foray into Giant for chicken. But I didn’t want ordinary, cryovaced brisket for this pastrami. I wanted plate. Or navel. Um, navel plate? Whatever it’s called, I never got it. I sourced out what was supposed to be a very nice butcher within fifteen miles of here. The guy who helped me first claimed to have no idea what plate was, then proceeded to say, “but, isn’t that stuff really fatty?” He said he couldn’t even custom order it for me. I was speechless. He kept pressing me for an order and, not wanting to waste a trip, I asked for two briskets. I never even looked at the price. It was more than $100. Furthermore, it was almost completely stripped of fat. Devastating.

The morning before we left for the party, I seasoned the larger of the two briskets with a combination of kosher salt, black peppercorns, coriander seeds, sugar, cloves, bay leaves, and saltpeter, per Chef Fowkes' recipe in The Great Pastrami & Smoked Meat Experiment . I ground the spices in my former coffee grinder, which was a breeze. (I will be upgrading to a burr grinder soon, if I play my cards right.) Not quite as easy was the task of trying to shove this brisket into a long, but narrow, Foodsaver bag without losing all of the seasoning. Here's a shot of it, post-shove, at the bottom of my spare fridge, getting pressed to death.

Three days later, I cut open its vacuum-sealed bag.

Removing the dry cure was a snap with the help of a pastry scraper.

Two male cardinals observed the pastrami making process. One remarked, "All this work! Can't you just drive to Famous Fourth Street Deli and order a freaking sandwich?"

You have to soak the cured meat for three hours, changing the water every half hour. This was a nuisance, more so because I initially neglected to support the steam pan from below, and placed it six feet from the sink. The first time I carried it across the room to drain it, I spilled about a quart of water on my counters and floor. This is before that happened.

While it soaked, I prepared the final coating: two parts black peppercorns and one part coriander seeds, also ground in the coffee mill.

The brisket now resembled a large, breaded cutlet. It was then weighted down overnight.

The next disaster was, and continues to be, the smoking of the meat. As I've mentioned, the charcoal has been rained on, and ashes deposited across the entire surface of the brisket. I started this way too late to begin with, then had to tack on several more hours worth of smoke time. It's difficult maintaining a 225 - 250 degree fire in this cold weather. I tend to think my smoker, a Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker, is misaligned and, therefore, not maintaining its temperature as well as it's purported to do.

Getting the fire going was a no-brainer with the assistance of a chimney starter.

I then dumped the hot coals on a pile of cold coals at the base of the smoker.

I replaced the midsection of the smoker, and added the brisket. A remote thermometer, plugged into a section of wooden spoon, was placed in the grating to monitor smoker temperature. Another probe thermometer was placed in the brisket itself, and soon removed when it started giving wacky readings.

Finally, I topped the smoker and crossed my fingers. I would use the Thermapen to check the temperature of the pastrami from time to time.

Did I mention it was cold? Colder still, now.

Incidentally, I just pulled it from the smoker. I was supposed to weight it down again, cool it for another 24 hours, then steam it for three, weight and cool it again, etc, but that's just not going to happen. Definitely the steaming, but only once. I want to serve this thing tomorrow.

To be continued...

Edited December 8, 2010 by abooja (log)

[nakji]

At this point, I'm just happy to make meals that are edible.

Aim low; then overshoot. Culinary application of the Scotty Principle in action.

[michael_g]

Having completely misjudged how long it would take to smoke a nine-pound brisket in what is now subfreezing weather, I am still up at 2:00 3:30 a.m., nursing the smoker. May as well blog about it.

I knew that this pastrami was cursed from day one. I buy my meat at Wegmans and Sam’s Club, with an occasional foray into Giant for chicken. But I didn’t want ordinary, cryovaced brisket for this pastrami. I wanted plate. Or navel. Um, navel plate? Whatever it’s called, I never got it. I sourced out what was supposed to be a very nice butcher within fifteen miles of here. The guy who helped me first claimed to have no idea what plate was, then proceeded to say, “but, isn’t that stuff really fatty?” He said he couldn’t even custom order it for me. I was speechless. He kept pressing me for an order and, not wanting to waste a trip, I asked for two briskets. I never even looked at the price. It was more than $100. Furthermore, it was almost completely stripped of fat. Devastating.

Oh dear...I've been there. 6pm on Thanksgiving day, saying, "Honestly, really soon, the turkey will be done smoking. It's at like, 130F!" You have impressive staying power---I'd be tempted to finish in the oven, smoke be damned.

As for good, fatty brisket, I've had good luck at Esposito's in Philly's Italian Market---9th & Carpenter. It's cryovaced beef, but it's plate and super fatty. Made some fantastic corned beef and pastrami. I realize that's a haul for you, but the butchers there are competent, at least. (What's more, the full thing came to about $40...so even with gas, that sounds like a cheaper option. )

[Chris Amirault]

Welcome to the club! The ill-advised, poorly timed wintery meat smoke is a tradition around here.

[lancastermike]

I have been smoking with a WSM for years. I never really felt cold ambient temperture was an issue with the WSM. The real issue is wind. Unless you have a wind shield of one sort or the other high winds are an issue. Not all WSM are as tight as others, mine certainly is not, but I know it like the back of my hand. Wet charcoal is NOT a good thing. If you has temperture issues I would think that more of the issue.

[abooja]

As for good, fatty brisket, I've had good luck at Esposito's in Philly's Italian Market---9th & Carpenter. It's cryovaced beef, but it's plate and super fatty. Made some fantastic corned beef and pastrami. I realize that's a haul for you, but the butchers there are competent, at least. (What's more, the full thing came to about $40...so even with gas, that sounds like a cheaper option. )

Thanks! I would gladly drive to Philly for fatty plate. (Try saying that five times, fast.) I didn't think I should have to. I never thought it possible that *I* could know about a cut of meat that a butcher did not. The place I went to received several good reviews. Who runs a butcher shop and cannot even conceive of the possibility that a cook might want extra fat on her brisket? Never again.

[abooja]

I have been smoking with a WSM for years. I never really felt cold ambient temperture was an issue with the WSM. The real issue is wind. Unless you have a wind shield of one sort or the other high winds are an issue. Not all WSM are as tight as others, mine certainly is not, but I know it like the back of my hand. Wet charcoal is NOT a good thing. If you has temperture issues I would think that more of the issue.

Our back deck is partly shielded by a hill that runs parallel to it. Wind will breeze through the valley between the hill and three pairs of semi-detached townhouses, including ours. Assuming I continue this winter smoking lunacy, I may consider placing a sheet of plexiglass to the right of the smoker, when in use. We already own such a sheet, which we purchased for candle burning on our 10th floor Hackensack balcony. I wish I had thought of that earlier.

[abooja]

Dinner last night was uneventful. All-night pastrami making will do that to you. I wasn't even going to mention it, but thought that, in the interest of full disclosure, sharing this frequent weeknight staple might be vaguely interesting. I will, however, spare you photos of the gluten free granola bars and the many handfuls of salted nuts I typically eat for breakfast and lunch, as well as this bowl of canned black bean soup that sits in front of me as I write.

Given that Tuesday night's dinner was sandwiched between chicken pot pie on Monday night and pastrami sandwiches tonight, I wanted light and relatively healthy fare. And simple. That meant making my standard salmon dinner of grilled soy and maple glazed salmon, maple and brown butter roasted carrots (both recipes courtesy, once again, of Cooks Illustrated), roasted brussels sprouts, and some type of starch, usually rice.

To spare what was left of my sanity, last night's starch was supposed to be steamed jasmine rice. Except, I screwed up and reached for the bin of basmati rice instead. (Actual basmati. I just store it in the Texmati container.) Unless I'm making a pilaf, I typically boil basmati like pasta. I've only ever steamed jasmine. Until last night. No wonder it tasted so odd. Gluten free tamari took the place of regular soy sauce.

For me, the real stars of this show are the brussels sprouts. For Howard, not so much. I did not grow up eating them, and the versions he was served were boiled and bitter. It took a lot of convincing to get him to try even one the first time. He's much better about it now, but will bristle if I place more than this exact amount on his plate.

Speaking of which, I know I'm terrible at plating. We recently purchased a few sets of smaller, round dishes because Howard thought that the size of these flat plates was compelling me to serve huge portions. I still reach for them when plating this particular meal, however, as I hate it when the sweet maple-soy glaze sticks to the brussels sprouts. Yes, I'm one of those people. Not with all foods, but with this meal. On a giant, blue dinner plate, each element can exist in its own time zone, preserving the integrity of the brussels sprouts.

I'm off to bake a gluten free seven layer cake. I hope.

Edited for yet another typo, etc.

Edited December 8, 2010 by abooja (log)

[heidih]

I like the earthiness on the plate. If that is Howard's br sprout portion he is doing pretty well considering his past - I adore them but do recognize that the vegetable horrors inflicted on some in their childhood are deeply rooted traumas.

I must admit that from my perspective as a food voyeur, I am actually interested in your salted nuts, granola, and what kind of canned black bean soup you favor

PS: Impressive stamina on the pastrami effort!

[baroness]

We recently purchased a few sets of smaller, round dishes because Howard thought that the size of these flat plates was compelling me to serve huge portions. I still reach for them when plating this particular meal, however, as I hate it when the sweet maple-soy glaze sticks to the brussels sprouts. Yes, I'm one of those people. Not with all foods, but with this meal. On a giant, blue dinner plate, each element can exist in its own time zone, preserving the integrity of the brussels sprouts.

I have these plates in green and dark blue as well, bought online. All the set pieces are oversize - the bowls and the dinner plates could be used as serving pieces. Most of the time, I use the smaller (salad???) plates as dinner ones!

[abooja]

I like the earthiness on the plate. If that is Howard's br sprout portion he is doing pretty well considering his past - I adore them but do recognize that the vegetable horrors inflicted on some in their childhood are deeply rooted traumas.

I must admit that from my perspective as a food voyeur, I am actually interested in your salted nuts, granola, and what kind of canned black bean soup you favor

PS: Impressive stamina on the pastrami effort!

Why, thank you! You're being too kind. And Howard will undoubtedly gloat about his amazing brussels sprout intake upon reading your comment.

I used to like Goya black bean soup. Not as soup, but as a topping for rice. I read that it wasn't considered GF, so I stopped eating it. Of course, I have no idea if the stuff I had this afternoon is GF, because I'm being a bit less strict these days. It was Progresso's Frijoles Negros y Jalapeno.

As for the nuts, I lately favor Planter's South Beach Diet mix of almonds, cashews, and macadamias. Shortly before that, we polished off an industrial sized tin of Planter's Virginia peanuts. I didn't care as much for its sister tin of cashews. The cashew quality is far superior in the mixed nut collection.

I currently have nothing good to say about GF granola bars. The few bars I've tried, including both granola and breakfast bars, have been moderately tolerable, at best, and downright awful, at worst. I don't mind the peanut butter chocolate granola bar from Bakery On Main. They're not very filling, and I can't always find them. But I don't daydream about eating them. They're sustenance, and little more. I find this to be a shame. Most of the elements of good granola can be eaten by those with gluten sensitivity, including nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and oats, if you use the GF kind. I hate how most mainstream, GF packaged foods seem to be the domain of the healthy foods industry. Why can't my granola bar have real sugar in it?

[kayb]

And Howard will undoubtedly gloat about his amazing brussels sprout intake upon reading your comment.

Weighing in on Howard's side here....he'll eat more Brussels sprouts (it's no accident their acronym is BS) than I will. Only way I've ever had 'em that I could deal with 'em was raw, shredded, in a cole-slaw type preparation.

Add my admiration to the smoked brisket adventure. I tried it once. The deli does a better job than I can. Won't go there again.

[abooja]

Weighing in on Howard's side here....he'll eat more Brussels sprouts (it's no accident their acronym is BS) than I will. Only way I've ever had 'em that I could deal with 'em was raw, shredded, in a cole-slaw type preparation.

Add my admiration to the smoked brisket adventure. I tried it once. The deli does a better job than I can. Won't go there again.

If it was just brussels sprouts that he put up a fight about, I wouldn't so much mind. Historically, he has hated all vegetables, except iceberg lettuce, green beans, peas, carrots, potatoes, and corn. He has gotten a lot better about it, but it's still an uphill battle. Like Woody Allen in Sleeper, he's holding out for the day when vegetables are declared junk food, and large slices of chocolate cake are considered healthy.

Thanks for the kind words, but I may soon have to declare this pastrami a failure. I haven't cut into it yet, but it feels like a very large, expensive piece of jerky. Might be serving store-bought roast beef on that rye bread, after all.

[abooja]

I have been slacking off on my planned blogging duties this week. It has already been an exhausting, but fun, few days. Howard also experienced hypoglycemic episodes two evenings in a row, undoubtedly from waiting so long for me to serve dinner. I asked him to bring home Chinese takeout last night, rather than wait until God knows when for all the elements of the meal to come together. Pastrami and rye (or roast beef and rye ) will, therefore, be eaten tonight. Today, I will assemble the seven layer cake, bake the rye bread, and bake the gluten free boule that, in a rush of guilt, I threw in at the last minute. Fortunately, we have enough leftover Chinese takeout to tide us over when my long awaited pastrami dinner is officially declared a failure, sometime around 6 p.m. tonight.

For what it's worth, this was the first time we have eaten Chinese takeout since my diet began, and I didn't get sick! We had chicken with cashew nuts, Shanghai shrimp, and boneless pork ribs. I'm pretty sure the ribs contained some gluten, possibly in the form of wheat flour in the hoisin sauce. But I avoided my usual favorites, like wonton soup, steamed pork dumplings, and moo shu pork with Mandarin pancakes, which would have delivered a more powerful wallop of gluten-induced distress in just one or two forkfuls. I miss that stuff terribly, but I value my health more.

Wait, did I just say that?? Health schmealth! Schmearing French buttercream on some layer cakes should fix me right up...

Edited December 9, 2010 by abooja (log)

[abooja]

As if baking tasty wheat bread wasn't difficult enough, along comes the imposter, gluten free bread. Like a Bruce Lee body double without the skills, it almost passes for the real thing, but only from a distance. Up close, most gluten free breads lack the exquisite form and good taste of the wheat breads they mimic. And that's the good news.

Granted, I have only baked gluten free for a couple of months now. My efforts may improve with time. What I baked today, for instance, can't possibly be as good as it gets, at least in terms of looks. I have yet to slice into it. Soon.

I decided to make Zoe Francois' recipe for gluten free baguettes, but shaped the dough as a boule, since I wanted to serve it with pastrami.

It calls for a cup and a half each of King Arthur Flour's gluten free multi purpose flour and Ancient Grains blend. I had the multi purpose stuff, but not the other. I found on the KAF website that Ancient Grains is a "blend of 30% each amaranth, millet, and sorghum flours, plus 10% quinoa flour. I had everything, but the amaranth, so I used teff flour instead. I've since read that teff is often used in gluten free "rye" breads, which works for my my purposes.

As with most artisan-in-five-minutes type breads, the mixing can be done right in the rising bucket. I'm paranoid about not mixing the ingredients well enough, so I first whisked the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

The recipe includes a ground flax mixture as an egg substitute. The preground flax straight out of the bag was too course to gelatinize, so I ground it much more finely in my coffee grinder. This worked, and was stirred into the flour mixture, along with oil, honey, and water, then plopped into the bucket.

One of the saddest things about gluten free bread, besides eating it, is that it deprives the baker of the opportunity to knead, shape or, otherwise, really manhandle the dough. It wants to be treated gently. It's more batter than dough. This particular dough felt like thick, doughy foam, more so after it rose.

Shaping it was like a third grade art project, scooping the gelatinous foam from the bucket with wet hands, then gently molding it into a boule-like shape without losing too many air bubbles. This is Sculpture 101, not Gymnastics.

Apparently, adding enough flour to make a gf dough pliable will render hockey pucks.

Speaking of which, here are some photos of the finished loaf. Cross-sections are not yet available. It doesn't look altogether awful, but I haven't cut into it yet.

Verdict? To be determined.

By the way, I've stopped using my Droid for photographs, even though it's got five whole megapixels compared to my old Olympus, which has four. I started using it when I forgot my usual camera for Saturday's party, then kept using it in order to be consistent. I'm sorry that I ever did. Even at four megapixels, the Olympus takes much clearer photographs. That's because I can lock it into my tripod, whereas I just lean the Droid on whatever is handy. Big mistake. I invariably lose whatever focus I may have achieved when I press the button to take a photo. These photos were taken with both cameras.

Edited December 9, 2010 by abooja (log)

[abooja]

Stay tuned for my wrapup of pastrami dinner night...

[abooja]

Let's start with the good news: the gluten free bread wasn't so bad.

There, I said it. Hard to believe, but despite overproofing and underbaking the damn thing, the artisan gf loaf was not only edible, but provided a more than adequate platform for a meaty sandwich. Of course, to achieve edibility, I had to toast it first. I waited several hours to slice it, but was still greeted by a familiar, faintly gummy crumb. -- Yes, I said this was the good news.

It didn't get a lot of volume because it overproofed. Too much instant yeast due to poor recipe conversion on my part? Too long a proof? Was it the teff? Who's to say, but it probably didn't help that I followed the baking instructions of a few different recipes. I baked it in a preheated cast iron dutch oven, on a baking stone. The dough retarded for two days in the fridge prior to that. Next time, I'll use less yeast.

By the way, here's a side-by-side of the gluten free bread with the rye bread. I overproofed both loaves, but the rye still towers over its gf counterpart.

Speaking of the rye, more good news. Well, overall. I averted total disaster, so that was good. Here's what led up to it. I followed George Greenstein's recipe from Secrets of a Jewish Baker.

A few days ago, I mixed up a batch of rye starter. A little flour, a little water, some minced onion, ground caraway seeds, a pinch of yeast, and you leave it on the counter for few days, refreshing along the way.

I went easy on the caraway seeds at Howard's insistence, since he's always hated them. I thought they would impart an important flavor to the sour mash, even if I didn't include whole seeds in the finished loaf, so I used just a small amount.

I also misread the recipe, forgetting that wheat flour would later be added. I mixed in a bit of bread flour at the early stages of the sour, thinking a loaf of 100% whole grain rye flour was an anchor in the making.

So convinced was I about the inevitable failure of this loaf, that I sought to bake an alternative loaf, perhaps Reinhart's marbled rye. I lacked the specified starter, but had my own sourdough starter in the fridge. Froderick had not eaten in many months, and was looking peaked.

Several meals and less than 24 hours later, he was back to his old self.

I abandoned the idea of a second rye loaf, but decided to add a heaping tablespoon of Froderick to the final dough ingredients. Just because.

Then mixed it all up.

Instead of a shaping two boules and allowing them to rise, I opted for a multi-stage bulk fermentation, folding the dough three times along the way.

I knew this was way too much dough for the brotform, but I stuffed it in there anyway.

The mixture of yeast and sourdough made this a very active dough. While refrigerated, it exploded out of the sides of the brotform. I stuffed it back in, a deflating experience.

My hopes were dashed, but it wouldn't be a total loss. I baked it in a 7-quart oval dutch oven, to accommodate it's footballish shape. It rose well enough.

And had feet reminiscent of a giant macaron.

The best gluten free bread in the world will never have a crust like this.

The crumb wasn't perfect, but it wasn't terrible either.

The taste was a bit bland, and not nearly sour enough. I could easily have doubled the amount of caraway and Howard still wouldn't have noticed.

Now, for the bad news...

I was hoping for an upset. Like the Bad News Bears, this pastrami dinner of mine was an underdog, going in. I've never prepared either the pastrami or rye recipes. My brisket was lean, and not plate, the coals spit soot on four days of work, and the rye bread could kill me. Still, I hoped that the meat's brittle texture would disappear upon steaming. It had lost 40% of its weight. When held from one side, it stayed parallel to the floor. No way this thing could be edible.

As you can see, not only is the meat insanely lean, the cure didn't penetrate to its center. Thankfully, it was just moist enough to eat.

The taste was actually good, but too salty. I don't quite understand why the dry cure could make it so salty, despite a three-hour soak, but still not penetrate the meat. Not enough saltpeter? Perhaps beef plate is thin enough to fully cure in three days, whereas brisket is not? It would have been fatty enough to moisten the pastrami throughout a long smoke. What that butcher sold me was a crime. I should wrap the pastrami in newspaper and leave it on his doorstep, along with a list of career alternatives.

At least the latkes turned out well. Ah, potato. My most loyal friend...

Coming up: a gluten free cake to wash away the (extra salty) tears.

Edited December 10, 2010 by abooja (log)

[llc45]

Food with a little I Love Lucy mixed in - you have a great sense of humor!! Thanks for the blog and the giggles.