The Staff of Life

Its finished and I’m happy with it.  Here are some more pics.

Still notsure about the banneton.

I used a banneton for this boulé.  A banneton is a proofing (rising) basket.  As the bread rises, it takes on the shape of the banneton.  This one just made the bread look lumpy and made the surface of the dough too dry.  I need a good basket and a little practice, then maybe I’ll use it more often.

The Setup.

This is my oven setup.  The oven was preheated to 500 degrees for 45 minutes.  There’s a baking stone under the bread that you can’t see, it has been in the oven throughout the preheating along with the empty loaf pan in the upper right corner.  The bread is on parchment that has been floured lightly with bread flour and polenta (rough cut corn meal).

I placed the bread with parchment directly on the baking stone, poured a cup of water in the loaf pan, sprayed the top of the bread with a little water, then emptied the squirt bottle onto the sides and bottom of the oven to create steam.  I set the timer on the oven for 2 minutes.  After 2 minutes I sprayed more water on the bread, the sides of the oven, and the bottom of the oven.  I set the timer for 5 minutes.  After 5 minutes I repeated the spraying process.  I then turned the oven down to 450 degrees and set the timer for 15 minutes.   After 15 minutes I took the bread out and placed it on a cooling rack.  No eating for at least 30 minutes, the bread needs to rest.

I put the water in the loaf pan and spray the sides of the oven to create steam.  This steam collects on the surface of the dough and allows it to expand more in the oven.  It also creates a perfectly crunchy, golden crust.

Rustic.

I didn’t get the crumb (texture) I wanted out of it.  I’d like a more open crumb with bigger holes, but I used whole wheat flour for 1/3 of the flour.  This is always going to make a more dense bread.  Thats where the rustic part comes in, apparently when you use whole wheat flour it’s rustic.

As I said before, I began this bread on April 11 and finally finished it this morning.  It is 100% wild yeast harvested from the air, the flour, and some raisins.  It is among the best bread I have ever made.  Maybe I’ll start selling it soon.

Why are all of our pics in Sepia?

March 7th, 2009 will mark 7 years to the day that I have been married to my lovely wife.  What better way to celebrate than to have (yet another) dinner party.  I’m really looking forward to it, its really the only time I get to be a chef.   So, here’s the menu (subject to change):

Cheese, fruit, and drink course.  With Rustic ciabatta bread.

Roasted Red Pepper Soup.

Grilled Tofu steaks with a chipotle honey glaze.

Creamy Garlic Mashers.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts.

Oh yeah, I’m excited.

I’ll share these recipes with you as I go, they’re all pretty simple dishes (except for the bread).

I’ll roast the peppers tonight (Wednesday) and begin the tofu marination.   I’l begin the fermentation of the bread tomorrow night.  The mashers, brussels sprouts, and everything else will be finished up on Saturday.

In celebration of our anniversary week, I’m gonna share some of my favorite love songs.  Here’s a few for today.

The Records-Starry Eyes

Patsy Cline-You Belong To Me

Archer Prewitt-Tell Me Now

Belle & Sebastian-If She Wants Me

Enjoy.

Jingle Bell Rock-The Ventures

Sleigh Ride-The Ronettes

Here Comes Santa Claus-Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans

1. Just because a turkey has a brand name that you recognize doesn’t mean that it will be the best turkey. It just means that it is well known.  Many turkey producers (turkey producers? that just sounds wrong) place many labels on their turkeys, meaning that the cheapo store brand turkey is likely the same as the butterball.  There is no discernible difference in most brand names, so just go with the cheapest, unless you are very comfortable with a brand name.
2. Just buy a plain old turkey.  No Self Basting, No Kosher.  If you buy a Kosher turkey and you brine it, you will have a very salty turkey.  Just a plain old turkey.
3. Buy a turkey in the 15 to 18 pound range.  Of course you get more meat on a 22 pound turkey, but the outer half of that meat is dry and flavorless while the very inside is raw.
4. Select the plumpest bird in this  weight class. For instance, you want a 15-pounder. Look over all the 15-pounders and select the plumpest. Some 15-pounders will be slim and some will be fat. Some turkeys are flat chested and some are kind of bony. Choose the most rounded and plump turkey. It’s that easy. If a bird is skinny, it could mean it wasn’t a very healthy bird and might be tough and dry. Also, the bone and fat will cost you just as much as the meat, so more meat/less waste is better.

Thawing the Turkey:

1. I’m not a particularly organized person, but I have drawn up a turkey timeline, here’s mine.
   1. 11/27 Thanksgiving Day, we eat at 1:00 P.M
   2. 5-5 1/2 hours to cook (with basting) and 20 minute for resting means the turkey goes in at 7:00 to 7:15 in the morning.  Don’t Forget to preheat to 425.  I didn’t say this would be easy.
   3. I want the turkey to brine 1 hour for every pound of turkey so that’s 15 to 18 hours.  Lets just say I bought a 17 pound turkey, so 17 hours brining means the brining begins at 2:00pm 11/26, the day before thanksgiving.
   4. The turkey should be thawed completely before brining.  Turkeys in our weight class should be thawed in the fridge 3 1/2 to 4 days.  This means that I begin the thaw no later than 2:00 P.M on 11/22.  You can begin earlier in the fridge if you want.   Do not thaw at room temperature, you’re just asking for sickness.  You can thaw in cold running water, but I wouldn’t recommend it.  Who wants to thaw a turkey in the sink for 5 hours and waste all that water.
2. Ok, there is no 2, I covered it all in the timeline.

This should get you caught up.  I will keep you updated throughout the coming week.  We’ll do a step by step on the brining of course, and I’ll try to include pictures.  I’ll also do post on the bird prep.  Stuffing Rosemary butter under the skin of the breast, and filling the cavity with mirepoix (onions, carrots and celery).  And a separate post on basting.  Stay tuned.

]]> http://functionlovesform.com/2008/11/21/turkey-part-2/feed/ 0 http://functionlovesform.com/2008/11/19/turkey-part-1/ http://functionlovesform.com/2008/11/19/turkey-part-1/#comments Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:48:52 +0000 Jared http://functionlovesform.com/?p=618 I have been charged with making The Turkey for my family’s Thanksgiving feast this year.   Thats right, they’re putting the guy who hasn’t cooked meat for a year in charge of the Centerpiece of the most important meal of the year.   The thing is, last year I made the best turkey I have ever tasted in my life, the skin was crisp, the flesh was juicy and flavorful, it was near perfect.  Can I carry it over to this year, only time will tell, but I will keep you updated here.

If you’re up for it, you can even follow along here, and we can roast a turkey together.  Here’s an outline of how I’m gonna do it.

The Turkey-Frozen, 15 to 18 pounds, begin the thaw on Saturday the 22nd.

The Brine-I will be soaking the turkey in brine 1 hour for every pound of turkey.  My brining will begin at 2:30 in the afternoon Wed the 26th in a cooler.  The Brine will consist of 1 cup of salt and 1/2 cup of sugar for every gallon of water I use (4 or 5 gallons probably) and rosemary stems.

The Butter-I’ll chop up some rosemary (lots of rosemary) and mix it with a pound or more of butter.  I’ll stuff this butter under the skin of the turkey around the breast.  Completely encasing the breast in butter.  (This recipe is NOT healthy)

The stuffing-In the cavity of the bird I will not place actual stuffing, that is not safe.  I wil place chopped carrots, clerey and onions in there though.  Flavor.

The Basting-I will baste it with melted butter fully covering it with butter before putting it in the oven.  I will put it into a 425 degree oven, breast down and immediately turn it down to 350 degrees.  I will let it cook for 2 and 1/2 hours.  Then I will take it out and baste it with more butter.  I will put it back in the oven, only to take it out again every 45 minutes to baste until it is done.  I will turn the turkey with the breast facing up for the last hour of cooking. All of this will lengthen the cooking time, but will make it nice, brown and crispy.

The Resting-I will let it rest at least 20 minutes before a knife touches it.

Ok, that sounds strict, but it works I promise.  Why not try it?

*World of Chefs theme park coming soon.

**I still love run-on sentences.

At home, meals would be very difficult without convenience foods.  Make your own pasta and sauce, bake your own bread,  or soak your beans overnight.  Anyway, I take you on this conveneience food tangent to introduce a new weekly feature.  Every week I will review a convenience food that I have used recently.  Sounds fun.

This week its Fresh & Easy’s Gourmet  Mac & Cheese (Frozen).

Easy & Fresh

Fresh and Easy only has stores in CA, NV, & AZ for now, so to those of you outside these areas, I apologize.  I’m sure they’ll be near you soon.

This Mac & Cheese is fricken tasty, I love it.  It has a great cheesy flavor and a nice texture.  I served it with a side of peas and it fed our family of five (2 adults and 2 small children and 1 baby).  It takes 9 minutes to make in the microwave, or 50 minutes to make in the oven.  I chose the microwave and it worked just fine.  I would highly recommend this product, you can find it in the freezer section at Fresh & Easy.

I miss mixtapes because of what they meant.  My mixtapes meant that I had spent hours sitting by the stereo with my headphones on, poring through cassettes, cd’s and records, searching for the perfect songs, and then spending hours placing them in the perfect order.  Then upon finding that I had a minute and a half of dead air, I would search diligently for a song that fit the theme and the time constraints.

Why don’t I just go back to doing tapes, then?   First of all, I don’t have a tape player to play them or to record them on, but even if I did, how could I pass up the convenience that technology has presented us with? My cheapo mp3 player holds the equivalent of 45 1/2  Ninety minute cassettes.  Now imagine me going on a run with a cassette walkman and 45 cassette tapes.  Simple convenience, I may be a nostalgic idiot, but I’m not stupid.

So, in honor of our digital age, I present you with 3 of my all time favorite mix tape songs:

Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson-Te Morituri This song has started off more mixtapes than I can count.  It is the perfect song to silence a crowd.

Belle & Sebastian-My Wandering Days Are Over I always thought this song applied to me.

The Velvet Underground- Rock & Roll This song celebrates the essence of music and of making a mixtape.   It was alright.

GREEN

Green is my favorite color. One of the professors of Art at ASU gives the assigment each semester of painting some 100 or so shades of green. I can see why, there are so many beautiful shades. From olive to sea to a deep forest green, I love them all. Used in decorating, green gives a sense of renewal and freshness. That is why food packaging companies always use green to sell “healthy” food.

Blue

Blue is known to be a very relaxing color. Maybe because it is reminicsent of water, or the sky. I’ve always thought the lighter the blue, the more relaxing and even ethereal it becomes. Darker shades of blue seem more formal, more colonial.

Red

Seems to have the opposite effect, it is anything BUT relaxing. But it is cheery, and has a vintage, nostalgic feel to it. I love red for accents. I think it pairs especially well with light blue or light green. I’ve always loved the idea of having a bright red armchair. I am still kicking myself for not buying the perfect one at Goodwill when I saw it. (I tried to wait for half off day, but someone snatched it up. .  I should have known)

Purple/Indigo

I’ve never been a huge fan of purple. But I’m told it is the color of the season this year, so I better at least give it a chance. The color is known for it’s royalness, and I think it tends to appeal to those with high intuitions/ imaginations. Can’t you just picture it on the walls of an artist? (except my walls)

Yellow

The happiest, most carefree of colors. Vincent van Gogh himself termed yellow  ”a color capable of charming God.” I have had it in my bedroom, my kitchen, and in Rory’s nursery. Apparently it is supposed to stimulate the appetite. I think it probably depends on the shade. The color adorning my Jr. High school’s walls were not what I would call appetizing.

Pink

Yes, it is ultra-trendy right now, but it could be cute. . . in the right room. Just please don’t make EVERYTHING pink. Here and there it is nice, but all over is reminicent of pepto bismol or cotton candy. I think it will appeal most to the romantic at heart. I like the color combination they used in the photo above. It makes me want to buy a gallon of pink paint for the first time in my life, ever.

White

I like white. I LOVE color, but there is something so refreshing and clean about white. White on white can be nice. And since we are regulated to renting currently, I’ve had to find ways to get used to white. BUt look at all these beautiful images I found where white is the primary color.

Thanks to Martha and Domino for the images. I need to stop looking at those sites. They make me drool.