Manitoulin test kitchen

[Anna N]

nice

 

lots of 'fine measurements and weights needed ' in your area ?

 

 

 

soooo How were those "buns?"

Yeah, yeah. Can happen. Buns will be tested shortly and reported upon.

[Kerry Beal]

 

Ramazzotti Jim Jam - yum!

[Kerry Beal]

 

Banh mine! - picanha slices, danish cucumbers, spicy carrot pickle, a bit of pickled ginger, mayo, hoisin and siracha.  

[Anna N]

I seem to be a bit behind on posting. First, here are the Danish pickled beets from yesterday.

Very simple 3 ingredient brine of sugar, white vinegar and cloves. They are sliced quite thinly as they will be mostly used as sandwich toppers.

Lunch yesterday:

Braunschweiger topped with not-quite-pickled beets and a side of sauerkraut.

Then dinner

Roast beef and Danish cucumbers on a banh mi roll. (Note to rotuts: having little experience of the "real" thing I am hard-pressed to pass judgement. Kerry remarked that they lacked the airiness she recalled and the crust was not as shatteringly crisp as it should be. That could and should have been remedied by re-heating them but life got in the way.). They were certainly not difficult to make but I have no idea how to improve the airiness.

[huiray]

Was it this one?  (I don't see ascorbic acid nor "vital wheat gluten" used in it, though)

http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2007/05/vietnamese_bagu.html

 

ETA: OH, you used the "new" recipe.  What about that older one?

Edited July 16, 2014 by huiray (log)

[nakji]

The banh my I recall eating in Hanoi were almost all crust, with very little crumb inside. I figured they were just cheap to make that way. I found them painful to eat, as the crust would shatter and do a number on your palate. The key was to make sure you had them well- dipped in curry, or had enough sauce and pickles on the sandwich to soften it up somewhat.

[Anna N]

Was it this one?  (I don't see ascorbic acid nor "vital wheat gluten" used in it, though)

http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2007/05/vietnamese_bagu.html

The recipe I used was from Andrea Nguyen's latest book and it varies considerably from the one on her website.

[Anna N]

The banh my I recall eating in Hanoi were almost all crust, with very little crumb inside. I figured they were just cheap to make that way. I found them painful to eat, as the crust would shatter and do a number on your palate. The key was to make sure you had them well- dipped in curry, or had enough sauce and pickles on the sandwich to soften it up somewhat.

I think that's very close to other descriptions I have read.

[Kerry Beal]

 

Brownies to take for the ER today.  Working on a couple of loaves of Forkish like walnut and current bread.  Hope my time in the ER doesn't interfere with it.  

[Anna N]

Good morning. Moving very slowly today. Breakfast was an inside out mushroom omelette:

So far I find myself without a single plan for the day! A sorry state of affairs. I will look over my ambitious list of things to do in Manitoulin and see if I can remedy the situation.

[Porthos]

Anna, have you gotten any inspiration yet?

[Kerry Beal]

Apparently not - she's enjoying a nap right now.  My bread is in the oven.

[Kerry Beal]

 

Walnut and current bread out of oven - now off to ER.

[Anna N]

Anna, have you gotten any inspiration yet?

Shamefully, except for lunch, no!

And lunch was nothing more than fancied up instant noodles.

Romaine, carrots, leftover beef, and an egg. I drizzled on some poison and some sesame oil.

[weinoo]

I like the organic poison.

[Shelby]

Anna, those noodles sound realllllly good right now.  I'm hungry for those....well minus the poison    

[David Ross]

Tomorrow is similar to today - I need something to take for the clinic in the morning and the nursing home in the afternoon - so made a batch of my mother's rhubarb and date muffins/cake - put half in muffin tins, half in a 9 by 9 cake tin and Bob's your uncle.

 

Of course after I'd decided to make this I realized that I had no dates - so ran out to get some.  It was only 8 pm but apparently I hadn't heard the sidewalk rolling happen!  So these are actually rhubarb and fig.  

 

IMG_1362.jpg

 

IMG_1363.jpg

I think rhubarb-fig is a fantastic combination!

[Anna N]

Anna, those noodles sound realllllly good right now.  I'm hungry for those....well minus the poison    

Yes I had an uninspiring day but I was never suicidal! That is what happens when you dictate your posts and do not check the result.

I did manage to rouse myself long enough to make dinner. I am certain one of us has posted about this before. We had the chicken with caramelized shallots as adapted by David Leibovitz.

Very few ingredients for a lot of flavour:

Shallots, vinegar, soy sauce, salt, pepper and chicken.

Served with some tiny potatoes that I boiled, peeled and crisped in duck fat.

[Anna N]

Woke to find myself the sole occupant of the townhouse so must assume that Kerry spent much of the night at the hospital. Made myself breakfast of appenzeller cheese on Kerry's walnut and currant bread.

Will have to play this day by ear. Kerry may need to sleep for part of it.

[MelissaH]

Appenzeller?? Where did you find it? Was it good and funky? (We've imported it from Ottawa, on occasion, but don't see it around here.)

[Anna N]

Appenzeller?? Where did you find it? Was it good and funky? (We've imported it from Ottawa, on occasion, but don't see it around here.)

The Appenzeller came up here with us. It was purchased from our favourite cheese shop, Mickey McGuire's in Dundas, Ont., very much worth a visit if you are in our area.

[Anna N]

Not much cooking today but we enjoyed a couple of mini adventures. First we headed into Little Current to collect what we thought was Rooster Brand sriracha sauce that the proprietor of The Island Jug health food store had brought back for us from Sudbury. Note to connoisseurs of sriracha--just because the lid is green doesn't make it Rooster Brand! We then wandered through a coyple of el cheapo stores in Little Current before deiding on lunch. i asked for poutine thinking we might find some in Mindemoya. However, Kerry quickly turned the van around and said we could get a quick lunch right in Little Current. Forty-five long minutes later she returned to the van with:

It was very good poutine but 45 minutes? Sheesh

[Anna N]

Eventually we headed off to Mindemoya for a wander through the hardware store/outfitters and the only "real" grocery store on the Island. I know Kerry will post photos later.

As we were heading home Kerry spotted the walnut trees outside the Med. Student house and collected enough walnuts to make a batch of vin de noix which she had promised to her dentist.

It will be almost ready when she is due to return to the Island in October.

[Kerry Beal]

 

Seen at Buddy's Liquidation in Little Current.

 

 

Live Greens, lamb shanks that are good for another day and bananas that are almost ready to eat (IMHO).

 

 

Shishito peppers - rarely seen even in southern Ontario!

 

 

Some candied ginger and salmon - Anna has a hankering for croquettes.

 

 

A few odds and ends from our favourite hardware store - Anna wants me to use the trowel as a flour scoop.

 

 

A few of the walnuts and the not Rooster brand siracha - convinced her to use the rest in her restaurant.

[Kerry Beal]

 

VPB daiquiri for tonights libation.