Sourdough Starter Day 1
After 2 Feedings

Sourdough starter day 0

Sourdough started day 0.
 10 oz of flour 10 oz of water and 2 red cabbage leaves.

Crusty French Roasted Garlic Loaf

Roasted Garlic:

1 Head of Garlic

1 TBSP of Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Slice off the top of the head of garlic drizzle on the oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Wrap it is foil and bake at 400F for 45 minutes.

Bread Recipe:

Bread flour 3 Cups
Salt 1.5 tsp
Butter/Margarine 1TBSP
Water 10.5 fl. oz.
Dry yeast
1/3 cup water

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

I put the flour, water, salt, margarine, and yeast in the bread machine on dough mode and let it do its thing.  When the dough was ready I folded in the roasted garlic, moved it to a greased and floured loaf pan, and brushed it with a slurry made from the smaller amount of water and the corn starch.  Then I baked it in a preheated oven of 400F on a top rack with a pan of water on the bottom rack for 50 minutes.  Remove it for the pan and let it cool on a rack for 1/2 hour.

The cornstarch and the water pan are borrow from Alton Brown: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/very-basic-bread-recipe/index.html


There were 2 issues, that I think had the same cause.  The garlic all ended us in the middle and there was a seam on the side of the loaf.  I think this was due to the way i shaped the loaf.  The good news is the crust was nice and crunchy and the light and moist.

A quick post about a quick dinner

I had some leftover chicken and corned beef chips so I made some quick fried rice for dinner.  I seasoned it with black pepper, garlic powder, soy sauce, ground ginger, szechwan peppercorns, yellow mustard seed, and green cardamon.  My wife thought the szechwan peppercorns were to spicy, and I think the cardamon was to strong of a flavor.

What do you put in your fried rice?  Put it in the comments.

Rye Bread First and Second Try

Rye Bread First Try

Rye Bread The Second Try

I decided to have some more fun with the bread maker.  I figured I would try doing some rye bread.  The first try I used the recipe for rye bread that came with by bread machine.  I was not so happy with it.  It only had about an ounce and a half of rye flour to about 17 1/2 ounce of bread flour.  I found it tasted to much like white bread and the texture was a bit dense.  For the second try I increased the amount of rye flour to about 9 oz to about 10 oz of bread four.  It seems much lighted and has more complexity.  The only small issue I had with the second try is I cracked the cre\ust when pulling it out of the pan, but it is just cosmetic.

Recipe:

10 oz bread flour

9 oz dark rye flour

2 tsp salt

2 Tbsp margarine

3 Tbsp sugar

12.5 oz of water

1.5 tsp dry yeast

Throw it all in the bread machine and let it do its magic.

Burger of the Week

Here we go, top to bottom:
Top of toaster hamburger bun
Dr. Pepper BBQ Sauce
Beef Fry
Sauteed Onions
1/2 lb beef patty
1/2 Sour Pickle
Romaine Lettuce
Chipotle Mayo
Bottom of the bun

Friday Night Postmortem

Friday Night Postmortem

Chicken and Dumpling (basically chicken soup with matzo balls): The soup was a little bland and the dumplings a bit mushy

Proteins:
Skillet Fried Chicken: Moist but soggy
Texas Style Dry Rubbed Brisket: Actually decent after I resurrected it by drowning it in stock after it dried out while cooking.

Vegetables:
Collard Greens: I was not a fan.  I am not sure if they came out right or if I just don't like collard greens
Green Beans: A tad under done

Starches:
Potato Salad: More than a tad under done.
Baked Beans: OK but really just doctored up out of can.
Corn Bread: Under baked

Dessert:
Fruit Cobbler: Decent

Pecan Bars: Pretty good.

There are a few morals here.  Don't try to rush your cooking and squeeze you cooking into to short of a time and not get enough sleep.

Also, don't try to many new dishes that you have never made before in the same meal

Tentative Friday Night "Southern" Menu

Tentative Friday Night "Southern" Menu
Appetizer:

Chicken and Dumpling (basically chicken soup with matzo balls)

Proteins:
Skillet Fried Chicken
Texas Style Dry Rubbed Brisket

Vegetables:
Collard Greens
Green Beans

Starches:
Potato Salad
Baked Beans
Corn Bread

Dessert:
Fruit Cobbler

Hopefully recipes and pictures to follow tonight and tomorrow.

Burger of the Week and Dr. Pepper BBQ Sauce Recipe

Burger of the Week:
Bollio Roll
Dr. Pepper BBQ Sauce
Sauteed Onions
Fried Salami Strips
1/2 lb beef patty seasoned with fresh ground black pepper
1 half  sour pickle cut into rounds
shredded lettuce
Schug Mayo

Recipe for Dr. Pepper BBQ Sauce:
1 Cup Dr. Pepper
1/4 cup of ketchup
1 tsp of garlic powder
1 tsp of onion powder
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp of black pepper

Boil the Dr. Pepper until it coats the back of a spoon.  Turn down the heat to medium, add all the rest of ingredients, and stir until combined.

A Trio of Latkes

The Classic:

Makes about 12

5 Large Potatoes

1 Large Onion

3 Large Eggs

1/4 cup Matzoh Meal

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Vegetable Oil for Frying

Shred the onion and potatoes in a food processor.  In a bowl combine potato and onion mixture with eggs, matzoh meal, salt and pepper.

Heat about a 1/4 inch of oil in a frying pan over medium heat.  Grab about a baseball's worth of the potato mixture and form a patty.

Fry on each side until brown.

Sweet Potato Leek:

Makes about 12

2 Large Potatoes

2 Large Leeks

5 Large Eggs

1/4 cup Matzoh Meal

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Vegetable Oil for Frying

Shred the leeks and sweet potatoes in a food processor. In a bowl combine sweet potato and onion mixture with eggs, matzoh meal, salt and pepper.

Heat about a 1/4 inch of oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Grab about a baseball's worth of the sweet potato mixture and form a patty.

Fry on each side until brown.

Parsnip Zucchini:

Makes about 12

2 Large Parsnips

2 Large Zucchinis

3 Large Eggs

1/4 cup Matzoh Meal

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Vegetable Oil for Frying

Shred the parsnips and zucchinis in a food processor. In a bowl combine potato an onion mixture with eggs, matzoh meal, salt and pepper.

Heat about a 1/4 inch of oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Grab about a baseball's worth of the parsnip an zucchini mixture and form a patty.

Fry on each side until brown.