Posts Tagged ‘bread’

Sourdough is sexy

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

Thanks to everyone who has followed me to my new place, and for all the lovely compliments on the design. Yes, The Brit is quite skilled in web design - but you’d all better be careful or you’re going to give him a big head!

A couple of weeks ago, the amazing bazu heard my desperate pleas for help and graciously sent me some of her sourdough starter. It arrived in dry form, and I somehow managed to bring it back to life without killing it (or anything else) in the process. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to bazu (and also my soul, but that’s another story).

Having never worked with sourdough before, I’m having a good time learning about it and trying different recipes. The first bread I made turned out a bit dense and pale, mostly because I forgot about it and let it over-proof (oops!).

Caption

I know the slash pattern on the left one looks kinda like a pot leaf, but it was totally unintentional.

It was still amazingly delicious though, and most of it was consumed by dipping it in olive oil and black pepper, straight up. I’m planning a second batch soon, which I hope will be even more glorious than the first.

One a penny, two a penny

Tuesday, April 14th, 2009
First off, *thank you* to everyone who got excited with me over The Brit’s conversion! I’m still so stoked about it! We’re working on finding a non-dairy milk he likes right now. Soy was a no-go, rice was a definite no-go, as was almond… oat seems to be okay so far. Anyone have any other suggestions?

I hope everyone had a good Zombie Jesus Day! On Good Friday I made Hot Cross Buns. Except… I left off the crosses due to laziness. I tried to make pseudo-crosses by cutting an “X” in the top of each bun, but when they baked they ended up looking more like little horns. I guess I should have called them Blasphemous Buns instead.



I made another tester for Bianca’s cookbook! This time it was Buttermilk Biscuits - a southern staple. She hit the nail on the head again with this awesome recipe! They were light, fluffy, AND 100% whole wheat. I cut them into hearts because it’s cute.

And what would southern-style biscuits be without gravy? Bianca’s creamy Sausage-Sage Gravy made this an awesome breakfast.


This baked lemon-herb tofu didn’t turn out as fabulous as I’d hoped, but it was still tasty enough to eat! Mashed gold potatoes can make up for anything less than stellar, anyway.



There was nothing less than stellar about this pizza, though! I made apple-sage sausages to grill at my parents’ house on Saturday, and this was the perfect way to use the leftovers. 


This was the first pizza I’ve ever made 100% from scratch. The ‘ricotta’ and pesto were inspired by the Isa Pizza in VwaV, but I didn’t have the right ingredients so I fudged it. Homemade: pizza dough, roasted red pepper sauce (no tomatoes - The Brit isn’t a tomato fan), tofu ‘ricotta’, spinach pesto (I didn’t have any fresh basil), apple-sage sausages and caramelized onions. This pizza was AMAZING.

And the best part? I still have half the pizza dough leftover, wrapped up in my freezer. I foresee much more homemade pizza in my future!

The upper crust

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009
Every week, usually twice a week, I bake my own sandwich bread. I love it (and so does The Brit), but sometimes I want more. Something… heartier. Crustier. Chewier.

I decided to try my hand at no-knead bread, guessing it would pair perfectly with the soup I planned on making. I was right.

Check out that sexy crust.


Don’t let that tough exterior fool you.


Inside it’s all soft and chewy.


It’s not a great photo, but the leftover bread made amazing French Toast.


I definitely see more specialty bread in my future.

Rolled foods

Saturday, March 28th, 2009
If you missed my last post, go check it out, and enter for a chance to win an adorable wee plush monster of your very own.

Okay, now that I’m done whoring myself out, on to the food! I baked some Asian marinated tofu (leftover from grilling), and put it in sushi along with avocado, green onions, carrots and black sesame seeds. Possibly the best sushi I’ve ever made:


And of course, gotta have something sweet… like cinnamon rolls! These were pretty much amazing. I let The Brit talk me into using all white flour (which NEVER happens in my house) and I made them extra-large (that’s a 12″ pan they’re in, so they’re 4″ each!). I put raisins in the filling, which I’ve never tried before, and it was so good.

Check out the giant deliciousness:


That’s it for now!

“A loaf of bread,” the Walrus said, “is what we chiefly need.”

Monday, March 2nd, 2009
On Saturday I baked four loaves of whole wheat bread. I was hoping that they would last us through the whole week, but I’m not sure they will. The Brit goes through a lot of bread, and I find it kind of hard to resist when it’s homemade and fresh. It’s cheaper than buying bread, but I may have to supplement with store-bought. Either that, or bake twice a week. Also, our bread intake will probably go down a bit once homemade bread stops being such a novelty and becomes the norm.


Meanwhile, I’m really enjoying it. I’d forgotten how much better fresh home baked bread was than store bought. Here it is starring in a tempeh BLT:


And here accompanying some tart lingonberry jam:



Delish.

For lunch today I made baked marinated tempeh with pan-fried polenta and peas. 



I used a store-bought marinade (Annie’s Naturals Island Marinade), and while I thought it was ‘okay’, The Brit did not like it at all. He ate about two bites of the tempeh (at least he tried!), but it was a definite ‘no’. I managed to confirm that it wasn’t the tempeh he didn’t like - he said the texture was just fine - but that the marinade tasted too ‘vinegary’. 

I’m afraid I have to agree. I didn’t find it unpalatable, but I wouldn’t buy it again. That’s what I get for taking shortcuts! It did remind me a little of a Jamaican Jerk type flavor, so I plan to use the leftover tempeh in a Jamaican Jerk style sandwich, ala Spiral Diner. I’ll let you know how that goes.

On the bright side, he ate all of the polenta.