mktye

Possibly more than you'd ever want to know about yeast...

Speaking of ways to get steam into your oven... I just ran across this.

That looks great mdt! And I knew we'd talked yeast before... the discussion starts approximately here (which includes a link to my favorite mail-order source for yeast).

Not a silly question at all! As I understand it, instant yeast is in smaller granules than regular yeast and it is meant to be mixed with the flour and other dry ingredients first and then the liquid added later. In other words, you skip the traditional "proofing" of the yeast. Instant yeast is also "designed" to be more tolerant of higher temperature liquids. Since the yeast is mixed with the flour which will absorb a good deal of heat, use hot-from-the-tap water. If you add too cool of water (the traditional lukewarm), it will not active it as well. Another issue to be aware of with instant yeast is that, if traditionally proofed (such as in a cup of water with a teaspoon or so of sugar or flour), it can eat up its food source very quickly (under 10 minutes) and starve to death. Instant yeast is sometimes called "fast-rising" because it gets activated more quickly than traditional granulated yeast. The actual metobolic cycle of the yeast is not really any faster (as far as I know), but it just gets to work eating and producing gas more quickly. Ooops, forgot to add: If you want to use regular granulated yeast instead of instant, you can do so. For best results, you will need to dissolve it in a some of the liquid (with a bit of the flour added) first, let it sit for 10 minutes or so and then add the rest of the dry ingredients and liquids.

To continue with the bread porn... The combination of a semi-malfunctioning oven, the drop in ambient humidity and good baking karma have lead to some really pretty loaves lately. Here are some pics of the sourdough I made on Thursday. I was really happy with the ears. I would have liked the crumb to be a bit more open, but I got distracted that afternoon and did not shape the loaves until later than planned, so I had to bake them a bit sooner than I would have liked (I was tired and wanted to go to bed! ). Close up of the "ears":

Or let your dough rise on a piece of parchment paper and move the loaf (still on the parchment) to the stone with a peel or an inverted baking sheet (which takes a bit more dexterity). About halfway through baking you should be able to remove the parchment if you'd like, but I've not found that it makes much difference in the finished bread.

But with a lot of breads, especially straight-method (non-sponge, biga, starter, whatever) doughs, if you let them go too long and they deflate on the way to the oven, you can often (but not always!) re-knead for a bit, reshape the loaves, let them rise again and then bake.Overproofing and gluten degradation become much more of an issue with sourdough breads. Because the doughs tend to get more acidic during proofing (due to the bacterial, not yeast, activity), the pH level can get to the point where it greatly affects the gluten structure. An over-proofed sourdough loaf is not a pretty thing and there is no way to save it.

With that small amount of yeast in that volume of flour, the yeast should not be able to eat itself out of house and home in that length of time at that temperature. I think you get a different flavor profile using a cold rise versus a warm rise, even when using commercial yeast (as opposed to wild yeast/sourdough). But this subject is also open to a lot of debate. However, in my opinion, the Pain a l'Ancienne in Reinhart's "Bread Baker's Apprentice" seems to definitively prove what a difference fiddling with the proofing temperatures can have on a finished bread. (That crafty mdt! Distracting me with emails while I am replying... )

For more on various steam methods, there is also a lot of dicussion on the rec.food.sourdough newsgroup. Many of those bakers use covered pots and such. But the really avid ones retrofit their home ovens with steam (usually using metal tubing and a modified pressure cooker). Not sure if this link will work, but here is a discussion, also from rec.food.sourdough, that covers just about all the methods of producing steam for the home baker (the 17th post down by "williamwaller" talks about using a covered pot). Personally, I've gotten a bit spoiled about this issue since we've moved to the new house. Although tiny, the oven is a convection oven. However, there is something amiss with the ventilation in the non-convection mode and all of the moisture seems to be trapped in the oven (I still forget and end up with a face full of steam on occasion). So, for breads, I've been running it non-convection for the first 20 minutes, and then convection for the rest of the time. Now I'm not suggesting folks go plug up the venting of their ovens, but I am happy to take advantage of my current situation.

Suzanne Dunaway is a big proponent of a similar method in her book: "No Need to Knead". It is her recipe that I use for our everyday focaccia and pizza crust.

Be very scared.

When rwtye was out of town for business last December, I had a very nice dinner with a few other DR.com folks at a DC fine dining establishment. I had made the reservation in my name and for some reason (because we arrived together?) they called mdt "Mr. Tye" all evening. I don't know about mdt, but I thought it added a whole other of layer of amusement to the dinner (and rwtye thought it hilarious once he heard about it) and never felt it was worth clarifying. As someone with what apparently is a difficult-to-pronounce/remember name, I gave up long ago letting such things bother me. I usually only correct people on my name if it is someone I know I'll be seeing again. So if you plan to return to the restaurant with regularity, it might worth a bit of discomfort to correct the person so your hubbie is not forever known there as Mr. my-last-name. However, if I were you, I would've been very tempted to simply tell the waiter "Oh, he's not Mr. my-last-name..." with a smirk, the raising of one eyebrow and a naughty twinkle in my eye.

I nearly always make the base for the gravy ahead of time and then deglaze and add the pan drippings at the last minute. In addition to saving time, it keeps the mother-in-law from worrying about the gravy being lumpy. For the rolls... On the day before, I would make the dough, give it one rise, form the rolls, cover with plastic wrap (leaving room for rising) and immediately put them in the refrigerator. Thanksgiving day, take them out an hour or two before baking so they can warm up and/or finish rising (if need be, that will depend some on your roll recipe), and then bake them as your recipe directs. The long, cool rise of the dough in the refrigerator will only improve the taste and texture in the finished rolls.

1. Lightly-toasted sourdough slathered with butter and sprinkled with sea salt2. Kettle Corn 3. Polenta 4. Chestnut Buttercream, licked from a spoon 5. Tater Tots n' ketchup.

We did the same at 8:15 when the flow of cute little kids turned into occasional roving bands of teenagers who greedily grabbed handfuls of candy. (Plus, the candy supply was running quite low and rwte needs a few little candy bars to take in his lunch.)The best costume of the night: An ~8-year-old boy dressed in a business suit & tie, hair slicked back, wearing glasses and carrying one of those soft Land's End briefcases exactly like the one my husband takes to work. He came trudging up the walk, sighed "Trick or Treat" and held open the briefcase in the most resigned of manner. His resemblence to rwtye's nightly homecoming was uncanny. Oddest costume: An ~10-year-old girl with her shirt stuffed so she looked like she was about 8-months pregnant and carrying a newborn baby doll. rwtye likes to let the kids pick which pieces candy they want... it appears that most kids go for either the color red or the largest in size. Being small and blue, the Almond Joys were the loser of the evening at our house also.

Ooops! No matter how hard I try to forget about those, they just won't go away. If it all works out, the acorn-based dishes will be above and beyond the "regular" menu. I'm trying not to count my chickens before they're leached.

I grew up trick or treating in a rural area, so it always involved an adult driving us around from house to house. My best friend Carrie's dad nearly always drove us and every year he'd hide in the bushes of one of the houses and jump out and grab us as we walked back to the car. It definitely added another level of excitement to the night because we never knew when he'd surprise us. Unfortunately, one year, he jumped out and grabbed the wrong group of kids. They were right in front of us and we witnessed it all. Dropped bags of candy, screaming, crying, running... My friend's dad was mortified and had to explain to the other parents (and the owners of the house) that it was an innocent mistake. The worst house on our regular route -- our piano teacher. She always gave out three pennies in a folded square of wax paper. But if we didn't go by her house, she'd always very pointedly ask our parents why they didn't bring us.

The fiasco that was Thanksgiving '04 has faded into the mists of time and the in-laws have become bold enough to descend once again... Over many years of hosting rwtye's family for Thanksgiving, the menu has become pretty set and any deviation is met with copious amounts of whining. The only place I can go wild is with the appetizers -- I made a creamy mushroom soup last year that was a bit hit (and easy!), so I am very tempted to repeat that, and maybe some mascarpone-stuffed dates (a la Komi) and/or marinated olives to snack on earlier in the afternoon (breakfast traditionally includes big, gooey, sticky buns, so lunch is usually skipped). The "But it is just not Thanksgiving without the ___________" Menu: Grilled Turkey Sourdough Dressing Mashed Potatoes Gravy!!! Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Turnips Brioche Rolls Peas with Bacon & Garlic Carrots glazed with Brown Sugar/Mustard/Chives Hericorts Verts with a Roasted Onion/Basalmic Topping Scalloped Onions, Sahallots & Leeks Apple Chutney & my Mother-in-law's Cranberry Relish Plus at least three pies: 1 Pecan, 1 French Apple, 1 Pumpkin (my mother-in-law is bringing fresh pumpkin in her suitcase!) and probably one other dessert TBD (or another pie -- it is also family tradition to have pie for breakfast the day after and it gets really ugly if there is not enough leftover). We are nothing if not predictable!

From the DG's latest email: "There are frozen custard pumpkin pies available as well as the pumpkin sandwiches on the ginger cookies. This used to be more of a fleeting Thanksgiving treat but folks have been clamoring already so we have been providing. It's hard to get tired of pumpkin when it is available such a short time each year." I had some of the pumpkin frozen custard yesterday -- absolutely delicious. Not too spicy and very pumpkin-y. Like the most perfect pumpkin pie you can dream up, yet smoother and creamier.

FWIW, I've always had the Auto-correct DST box checked in the control panel and the time was already adjusted when I logged in this morning. (I use a windows version of Firefox for a browser.)

Leachin’, leachin’, leachin’Though the nuts are bleaching Keep them tannins leaching Acorns! Gathered, shelled and ground up Lengthly soakin’ holdup Wishing for a tasty buffet Good victuals, all non bitter Possibly even some sort of fritter For cooking up on Thanksgiving Day Fill it up (pour it off) Pour it off (fill it up) Fill it up (pour it off) Acorns!

Pumpkin is also scheduled for November 21, 22 & 23 (but only they're only open from 9-1 Thanksgiving day). The last time we were there (Pecan Pie ) we witnessed the definition of a truly devoted dog owner: a guy coming in at 8:45 p.m. on a cold and windy night solely to purchase a puppy pop.

My non-baby-animal-eating, animal-loving friend, Mrs. S., has the opposite view (and it's her view so don't yell at me )... She thinks it is more cruel to give an animal a nice life and then kill it. In other words, if an animal is miserable in a cage or crowded conditions, killing it is putting it out of its misery. But, in her defense, if she was not married to her meat-loving, adventuresome-foodie husband, she would be a vegetarian.

Yikes! I am probably not quite as organized as you all suspect... I've given up on the recipe box with the 3x5 cards. One day when I was printing the recipes onto cards in an itty-bitty font with my printer, I realized that was simply ridiculous. I try to go electronic as much as possible and I am dreaming of the day when I have a touch-activated computer screen in the door of my refrigerator. If I can find a recipe online (and a suprising number can be), I'll just copy it to my computer. Occasionally, I scan something in (but I still battle with the text-recognition software that came with my new scanner). And if the recipe has really become a favorite, I'll even type it in if need be. I don't use any special recipe software, just a word processing program. Like JG and others, I also use the three-ring binder and page protector method. I have five super-duper big binders stuffed with clipped and/or printed recipes, sorted by type of dish -- apps., mains, veggies, breads, cakes, pies, cookies, and so on. And I keep a special smaller binder that contains my current favorite recipes that have been printed out and put in page protectors. Of course, that said, I have loose (unprotected!) recipes all over the place... sitting in the tray of my printer, sitting in a 12"-high pile in my bookcase, lying downstairs on the kitchen counters... And, no, my cookbooks are not alphabetized , but they are sorted by category (and tagged with a zillion little yellow post-its).

When I get in the cooking doldrums, I like to look at "old" favorite recipes. Those that are way in the back of my recipe box or in cookbooks I have not cracked open in a while. Those recipes that I used to cook all the time, but for various reason have fallen out of favor. Since I already know what they'll taste like, there is usually at least one that will start a craving. Or, I will be able to come up with a variation or improvement to a recipe that had not occured to me before and then I can hardly wait to try it out. Or I just give up and go shopping for new shoes.