Manitoulin test kitchen

[Kerry Beal]

 

Ciabbata bread is actually great.

 

Our pre prandial cocktail - the Art of Choke.

 

 

[Kerry Beal]

 

Tonight's dinner - sirloin, asparagus, mushrooms, quite wonderful ciabbata that doesn't suck and salad.

 

 

[Kerry Beal]

Working in two places tomorrow - so had to make more than one item.

 

 

Dark milk chocolate bark with the cinnamon coated mixed nuts I picked up at the Flee Market.  

 

 

Cherry pound cake.  

[Porthos]

Kerry, I am drooling over the cherry pound cake.

[Kerry Beal]

I do find the most old fashioned things I make seem to go over the best!

[Porthos]

My DW is curious if you are using fresh cherries, dried cherries or something else? I was wondering if it is a recipe you share? For me, when it comes to sweets there's cherry, then everything else.

[Kerry Beal]

Good old disgusting glace cherries actually - I find they are expected in cherry pound cake.  Anything else is just to posh for it.

 

 

Cherry Pound Cake

 

 

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp lemon or almond extract ( I used 6 drops of lemon oil and 1/2 tsp almond extract)
• 4 eggs
• ½ pound glace cherries

 

 

Use some of the flour to dust the cherries. Beat butter with sugar until light. Add eggs and extract. Stir in flour with salt and baking powder. Stir in cherries. Bake in loaf pan for 70 minutes at 325 degrees.

 

[Anna N]

While I was mixing up the dough for another attempt at ciabbata (tried and true recipe this time), I made breakfast of toasted ciabbata with braunschweiger and strawberry tomatoes.

[SylviaLovegren]

He liked it on cottage cheese  too

 

 

Actually, when I jog the noggin, I think Nixon liked ketchup on cottage cheese and it was President Ford who put ketchup on his mashed potatoes. 

 

This is not to say that Nixon DIDN'T put ketchup on his mashed potatoes, as well, but that wasn't the newsmaker at the time. 

[Kerry Beal]

 

Not terribly photogenic - but quite delicious - eggs with mushrooms, green onions and cheese.  Liberally slathered with hoisin sauce after the picture taken and eaten with a lovely piece of toasted ciabbata.

 

 

[MelissaH]

Anna, is the smaller-than-1/4-sheet size of the Combi Oven starting to get on your nerves at all, especially compared to the Breville?

[Anna N]

Anna, is the smaller-than-1/4-sheet size of the Combi Oven starting to get on your nerves at all, especially compared to the Breville?

So far nothing I have made called for a 1/4 sheet pan and I do not believe there is pne here! I miss most a baking stone (round ones don't work as the size is already limiting) and then the pre-heat of a stone. None of the functions of this oven include a pre -heat but it is programmed into my DNA to do so.

[Anna N]

Not sure what I will even attempt today beyond the ciabatta. Got so chilled last night as the temperature dropped that all I want to do today is wrap myself in a warm blanket and drink hot rum toddies! Will glance through Jerusalem and my Asian Pickle book to see if anything can persuade me to move.

[huiray]

Chicken soup.

[Porthos]

Thank you for posting the recipe. We keep glace cherries in the freezer.

 

One question. In the picture it looks like you use a 7 x11 pan. Is this correct?

[Anna N]

This is Jason's quick ciabbata bread version 2 (with semolina) and I used the Thermomix to do the mixing and kneading.

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/2984/jasons-quick-coccodrillo-ciabatta-bread

After less than two hours it is exceedingly lively and has pretty much tripled in volume. This is where I curse myself for forgetting to bring my bench knife and bowl scraper. Kerry lent me a dry wall tool from her chocolate tool box.

The finished product! Much more to my liking than yesterday's disaster.

[Anna N]

And the crumb did not disappoint!

[ElsieD]

Anna, they are gorgeous loaves!

[Kerry Beal]

Thank you for posting the recipe. We keep glace cherries in the freezer.

 

One question. In the picture it looks like you use a 7 x11 pan. Is this correct?

Anna just measured - 9 by 5 loaf pan.

[Anna N]

Chicken soup.

Would probably do the trick but I am starting to warm up now after baking bread in a 500F oven!

[Anna N]

Anna, they are gorgeous loaves!

Thank you. One of the easiest breads I have ever made. Not chewy enough to please a real ciabbata fan but delicious nonetheless.

[Anna N]

Well I did manage to make another Asian pickle. This time it is Asian Pear with Lemon. No Asian pears to be had here of course but the recipe suggested any small, hard pears would work. Here's the mise en place:

Pears, lemon, pickled ginger, mirin, white wine vinegar, salt and sugar.

The pears are peeled, cored and quartered, given a brief dip in the brine before it is boiled and then cooked in water until crisp tender. The brine is then brought to a simmer before being poured over the drained pears.

This jar will sit on the counter with its lid on for 24 hours then moved to the fridge. The pickle will be ready to eat in 3 days.

Lunch today was fresh bread topped with Jarlsberg cheese that Kerry had smoked on the Big Green Egg down south, more braunschweiger topped with beets and some spicy carrot salad from the book Jerusalem.

[Kerry Beal]

 

Rough day at the office - needed a quick and dirty dinner.  Doesn't get any easier than a big bowl of popcorn.

 

 

[heidih]

With you on the popcorn Kerry - what is your method of choice and favorite topping(s) if any?

[Anna N]

Can't do popcorn. Even the smell gets to me so I drowned it out with the smell of bacon! Max Burt's bacon on cheddar cheese.