mktye

Nope. I told the hubbie to quit offering sangria to people and push the beer! The other part of the sangria story is that one of the guests of honor loved the sangria and asked me for the recipe. No biggie (recipe below), but she then wanted to know what brand of orange juice I had used. "I squeezed it fresh" I told her. "From oranges from the commissary?" she asked. No. Oranges from my mother-in-law's farm (the in-law's had just visited and those were the oranges I had on hand). Then she was positive that is what had made the sangria taste good and that she could never make it because you had to use "special" oranges. SANGRIA BLUSH Makes 1 large pitcher There was a period of time when it seemed like every dinner guest would bring us a bottle of white zinfandel as a hostess gift and we had a surplus of the stuff around the house. I found this sangria recipe takes care of that problem. 1 cup orange juice ¼ cup lime juice (fresh squeezed, not bottled) ½ cup sugar 1 large (1.5 L) bottle or two regular (750 mL) bottles white zinfandel or other rosé wine thin slices of orange and lime, frozen in a single layer on a plastic wrap-lined half-sheet pan Mix together the orange juice, lime juice and sugar and heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar dissolves (I usually do this in the microwave). Let the juice mixture cool. In a large pitcher, mix together the juice mixture with the wine and refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving. Add the frozen fruit slices just before serving, stir and serve.

I second this one. We had a casual party where beer would normally be the drink of choice. But I knew that a few of the guests where not really beer drinkers, so I made up some sagria also. Lots of beer, a couple pitchers of sangria and... yes, you know where this is going... everyone wanted the sangria.

Ausytes (Lithuanian Bacon Buns) Makes ~ two dozen small buns ~4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour 1 package (2¼ teaspoons) instant yeast 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup milk, warm 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted 2 large eggs 16 ounces bacon (I used Niman Ranch bacon) 1½ large onions, chopped salt (as needed, it will depend on the saltiness of the bacon) 1 egg yolk 1 tablespoon cream or milk In a medium-sized mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, combine 3 cups of the flour, the yeast and the salt. Add the milk, melted butter and eggs and mix together. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes (by hand or in a mixer with a dough hook), adding flour as necessary to make a soft, but elastic dough. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl (or leave in the mixer bowl), cover with plastic wrap, and let the dough rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in volume. While the dough is rising, cut the bacon crosswise into ¼-inch pieces and combine with the onions in a large sauté pan. Cook, stirring frequently until the bacon is crisp and the onions are well browned. Be careful not to burn the bacon!!! Drain off the fat and then finely chop (with a knife or in a food processor) the mixture. Taste and add salt if needed. Set the filling aside to cool. Turn the risen dough out onto a very lightly greased or floured work surface and pat it into a ½-inch thick circle. Cut out circles of dough with a 2¼-inch biscuit cutter. Gather up leftover dough and repeat the flattening and cutting, getting as many small circles as possible. With your fingertips, flatten a small circle of dough to ~4-inches in diameter and place a teaspoon of filling into the center of the dough. Pull the dough up around the filling, pleating and pinching the top to seal well. Place the filled buns seam-side-down onto a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining circles of dough. Cover and let the buns rise until very puffy looking, about 1 hour (if your kitchen is warm; longer if they're in a cool spot). In a small bowl, beat the egg yolk with the tablespoon of cream/milk. Brush this mixture over the tops of the buns and bake them in a preheated 375F oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until they're golden brown. Remove the rolls from the oven and allow them to cool briefly on a rack. The buns are best served warm. Based on recipe from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads (one of my favorite bread cookbooks!) -------------------------------------------------- Hazelnut and Fig Bread with Fennel Seeds and Rosemary Makes 2 large loaves ~7 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon salt 1½ teaspoons instant yeast 2 tablespoons fennel seeds 2 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped 2¼ cups water, hot from the tap 1 cup hazelnuts, toasted 1 cups dried figs, roughly chopped Mix 6 cups of the flour with the yeast, salt, fennel and rosemary in a mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer). Add the hot water and mix thoroughly. Knead by hand or in the mixer with a dough hook for 8 to 10 minutes, adding flour as needed to form a soft but elastic dough. Add the hazelnuts and figs and mix just until they are incorporated Place the dough in an oiled bowl (or leave in the mixer bowl), cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for ~ 2 hours or until doubled in size. Transfer the risen dough to a lightly floured work surface, divide it half and form into rounds (or batards). Transfer the shaped dough to a parchment-lined or lightly-oiled half-sheet pan, cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap, and allow to rise until doubled, ~1 hour, depending on the warmth of your kitchen (it may rise more slowly in a cool kitchen, but don't worry, a long rise will give the loaf more flavor). Bake in a preheated 400F oven until the loaves are golden brown, 35 to 45 minutes. Cool bread on a rack completely before slicing. Recipe adapted from Jeffery Hamelman’s Bread, A Baker’s Book of Technique and Recipes (another one of my favorite bread cookbooks, but I don't recommend it for beginning bakers.) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Casatiello (Italian Salami and Cheese Bread) Makes 1 large loaf or 2 small loaves Sponge: ½ cup (2.25 ounces) unbleached, all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon (.33 ounce) instant yeast 1 cup (8 ounces) whole milk or buttermilk, lukewarm (I used buttermilk for the bread I brought to the picnic) Dough: 4 ounces dry salami (or other similar meat – bacon, pancetta, spam, pepperoni, chorizo, sausage, etc.) 3½ cups (16 ounces) unbleached, all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon (.25 ounce) salt 1 tablespoon (.5 ounce) sugar 2 large eggs, slightly beaten ¾ cup (6 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature ¾ cup (6 ounces) provolone (or other similar meltable cheese, I used half mozzarella and half Parmesan because that was all I had on hand), coarsely shredded or grated For the sponge, stir together the flour and yeast in a bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer), add the milk (buttermilk) and mix thoroughly. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour. While the sponge is fermenting, dice the salami into small cubes and sauté it lightly in a frying pan to crisp it slightly. Add the eggs, flour, salt, and sugar to the sponge and mix until the ingredients form a coarse ball. If there is any loose flour, dribble in a small amount of water or milk to gather it into the dough. Mix for about 1 minute, then let it rest for 10 minutes. Divide the butter in 4 pieces and work into dough, one piece at a time while mixing. After kneading for 6 to 8 minutes, the dough will change from sticky to tacky and eventually come off the sides of the bowl. If not, add more flour to make it do so. When the dough is smooth, add the meat pieces and mix until they are evenly distributed. Then gently mix in the cheese until it too is evenly distributed. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl (or leave it in the mixer bowl) and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise at room temperature for about 90 minutes, or until the dough increases in size by at least 1½ times. (Alternately, you can immediately shape the dough, put it in the pan(s), cover and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, allow the pan(s) of dough to sit at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours before baking as directed below.) Remove the risen dough from the bowl and leave as 1 piece for 1 large loaf or divide into 2 pieces for smaller loaves. Shape dough and place in 1 large (9x5”) or 2 small (8.5x4.5”) pans that have been oiled with spray oil. Mist the top of the dough with spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let the shaped dough rise for 60-90 minutes, or until the dough just reaches the top of the pans. Place pans in a preheated 350F oven and bake for 40-50 minutes until the center of the loaves registers 185-190F (be sure to cook this loaf thoroughly, or it will fall in the middle after it is taken out of the oven). The dough will be golden brown on top and on the sides. When the bread is done, remove the it from the oven and from the pans and cool for at least 1 hour before slicing or serving. Recipe from Peter Rienhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice (and, yes, this is also one of my favorite bread cookbooks. It really was just a coincidence that I used all three for bread for the picnic. ) -------------------------------------------------------------------- If you want the recipes for any of the other breads, please PM me and I will get them to you. Also, I’d be more than happy to share some of my sourdough starter with anyone who is prepared to leap into the wild, wild world of wild yeast baking.

There is flour everywhere!

Napkin Folds by Bridget Jones & Madeline Brehaut -- clickMy favorite "fancy" fold is this one.

You probably don't need rice that is labeled "sticky rice", medium grain rice should work just fine. I always buy Hinode Calrose, but only because I know some of the farmers who grow rice for that brand. I also agree with Zora on the 1.5:1 ratio of water to rice.

On our way back from NC on Sunday, we stopped by Buz & Ned's for lunch. Delicious. The best pulled pork I've eaten. Ever. The next time you are headed somewhere on 95, seriously consider timing your trip for when they are open. They're just a few minutes off the freeway and are easy to locate (exit 78, follow the signs to go south on N. Boulevard, past the minor league BB stadium, then look for the big Buz & Ned's sign on the left a few blocks down). Have lunch/dinner there and then order extra BBQ to take with you. You won't regret it.

Pain de Mie (or a lean brioche), sharp cheddar and onion confit. Grilled low and slow.

Beautiful cake Xochitl10! We had some friends over for dinner last night and I made Pistachio Popover Cremes Brulees loosely based on this recipe. On a whim, I decided to make the creme part also pistachio flavored instead of plain vanilla (as was called for in the recipe) by heating the cream and 1 cup ground pistachios to a boil, letting it steep for an hour, straining it, then proceeding with the recipe as written. That turned out to be a good thing because the pistachio-flavored popovers refused to "pop" and I ended up cooking up a plain batch of popovers from a favorite (and trusted) popover recipe. (I suspect, with the added ground nuts in the recipe as written, there was just not enough gluten to hold in the steam.) So the dessert ended up flipped from the original recipe -- pistachio creme brulee in popovers instead of creme brulee in pistachio popovers. Another change I made was to omit the Grand Marnier from the orange syrup because it always tastes somewhat artificial to me. And I served them with some pomegranate syrup in addition to the orange syrup because it is a new favorite of mine and it looks pretty on the plate. (I also forgot to sprinkle on the garnish of chopped pistachios even though I strategically put them in a place in my kitchen where I was sure not to overlook them. Yeah, right. ) While the presentation was novel, it really was not worth the effort and I probably will not make this recipe (or my version of it) again. The pistachio creme brulee had a good pistachio flavor, but it was a bit too thick (I should have omitted one of the egg yolks) and avocado in color (which rwtye finds quite disturbing ). Also, they were not the easiest thing to eat daintily and I'm not big on desserts that require a spoon, fork and a knife! I think a better way to go would be to make a slightly looser pistachio cream, pipe it into bite-sized choux puffs and dip the tops of the puffs in caramel. That would take care of the texture, appearance and the eating logistics.

Acorn Update 2: After 5 days of cold leaching, we tested the acorn meal to check out the bitterness and thickening ability by cooking a small amount of wet meal mixed with an equal volume of water. The untoasted acorns: Thickened up nicely, but still a bit bitter. The addition of some salt masked the bitterness and brought out more flavor, but adding maple syrup only highlighted the bitterness. It still needs further leaching. The toasted acorns: I had my doubts, but it also thickened without issue. However, it was very bitter even though it had been leached the same amount of time as the untoasted meal and in a greater volume of water (there was less of the toasted acorn meal to start). We'll continue the cold leaching (with daily water changes) of both of these batches, but try hot leaching with the next batch shelled. Unfortunately, as much as pre-toasting of the nuts eases the shelling, I don't think we'll attempt that again because it seems to hinder the leaching of the tannins.

Or for inviting your sister-in-law, the former waitress. I like to go with a main that will hold and requires very little last-minute attention. We usually start in the living room with appetizers and, once everyone arrives and things get going, I'll slip off to the kitchen to finish and plate the first course. Then, rwtye will help transfer the plates to the table while people are sitting down. At the end of the courses, I'll clear on my own and leave rwtye to tend to the conversation and beverages. Unless the VIPs are very, very "I", the main course is served family-style. To clear the table for dessert and to serve it, is when I finally let one of the guests who really, really, really wants to help out to do so. But we never* allow the guests to help with the clean up or washing dishes. All of that is left for rwtye after everyone has gone home. *With the exception of one dinner when a Marine Corps General insisted on putting the dirty plates into the dishwasher while I prepped the dessert. I certainly could not argue with him, but the junior officers were totally thrown by the situation -- the General had roped a Navy Captain into helping him and the most outgoing of the Ensigns came up to me to ask what the proper etiquette was in that situation and if he should be helping the Captain. Right, I could just picture it... the General rinsing off the plates, handing them to the Captain, who would then hand them to the Ensign to put in the dishwasher, all while I was whirling around trying to plate fussy chocolate desserts. Me too! Plus, a serving cart would have been really handy in our last house since the dining room was not immediately next to the kitchen.

Rarely. It drives my husband crazy. But sometimes a "disaster" is just what it takes to break the ice.We entertain quite a bit for my husband's work. Most of those dinner parties range from 8 to 12 people for sit-down, plated dinners and 12 to 24-ish for buffets (I only have matching plates/glasses/flatware for 24). Plus the occasional cocktail, dessert, or cookie party that can range upwards to 100 or more guests. However, my favorite dinners are the smaller get-togethers for family and friends. And the pickier their tastes the better -- it just adds another layer to the logistical challenge. I do have a couple of rules regarding the food for the bigger dinner parties -- no unpasteurized raw eggs and no veal. The first is because it is difficult to know who is or is not pregnant and/or of any possible health issues. And the second because I've been surprised far too many times by who objects to veal on "ethical" grounds.

We had a houseguest last week who has OCD. For him, discrete foods (such as cookies, ravioli, appetizers) must be eaten in quantities of either three, five, or seven (I didn't ask about nine or up). However, he did manage to devour all four of his scallops when we had dinner at Corduroy. I'm with you on the melons (although I can tolerate watermelon if it is salted).

Acorn update: First off, the tree has been supplying plenty of acorns to collect. The very first batch was quite damp, so the acorns were toasted in the oven at 200 degrees for an hour as suggested by this site. They were then stored, unshelled for 10 days in a large metal bowl. The subsequent collections were stored, unshelled, untoasted, in a large paper grocery (TJ’s) bag for a period ranging from one week to one day. rwtye spent a couple of hours shelling untoasted acorns (yielding ~1 quart) one week ago and those were stored uncovered, in a bowl, at room temperature. We started in on more shelling yesterday evening. What we discovered: 1. The optimal way to shell acorns is with a brick, a hammer and a table knife. Place acorn on brick, hit with hammer until it splits and then pry out the meat with table knife. 2. Toasted acorns come out of the shell much easier than untoasted acorns. 3. The bottom layer of toasted acorns stored in a large metal bowl for 10 days will mold. 4. The bottom layer of untoasted acorns stored in a paper bag for a week or so, will not mold, but ~10% will sprout. 5. Shelled acorns left out sitting for a week will also mold. The acorns shelled last night were ground with water in blender (per instructions here for cold leaching) and then stored in the refrigerator overnight to allow the solids to settle. Here is what they look like this morning (the top container are the untoasted acorns, the bottom container the toasted): It will be interesting to see if the toasted acorns will still have thickening abilities or if all starch was irreparably altered during the unshelled toasting. We will also be trying out the hot leaching with a future batch. Lots more shelling to go!

Ditto.And another big "Thank You" to Hillvalley for arranging last night's dinner for us!!!

Whole Foods carries a trans-fat free shortening if you get in a bind recipe-wise and cannot (or don't want to) substitute butter. I don't recall the name of it, but I found it in the refrigerated section with the butters at the Alexandria WF. I've only used it in a cracker recipe, so I don' know how it will be in a cake -- you might want to do a practice run if using it in that application.

The night before last, I had a dream that Shogun updated his blog.

I had been wondering what had happened with the chocolate/pistachio cake, smokey. Sorry to hear you've been under the weather. With my husband's channeling of his inner squirrel, I was thinking of trying out a maple/acorn cake with acorn buttercream for thanksgiving. I figure if chestnut buttercream works, hazelnut buttercream works and pistachio buttercream works, then acorn buttercream should also work. I plan to leach the heck out of the acorn meal to remove the tannins, but a bit of bitterness might be nice to offset the richness of the dessert. We'll see...

To serve to my houseguests last Sunday, I made the Olive Oil Couscous Cake w/Creme Fraiche and Date Syrup from the October '06 Bon Appetit. Overall the cake was very good, with the exception of the texture. The couscous remained pretty darn crunchy and I found that to be a bit distracting. I made a number of changes to the recipe... for the cake, it called for 1/4 cup sweet Muscat wine and I used Marsala (I don't think it really mattered in the end since the olive oil was a much more predominant flavor). I also subbed a glug of vanilla for the 1 tablespoon orange zest. Why? I don't really care for the flavor of orange. Also, I didn't have the time to track down the date syrup so I made pomegranate syrup* instead and figured it had enough high notes of flavor/tartness so the orange was not necessary. My guests initally balked at the unsweetened creme fraiche/whipped cream mixture, but eaten with the cake and the sweet pomegranate syrup, it really worked well. I liked the combination of flavors and will definitely make this dessert again, but next time use a recipe for an olive oil cake made with semolina instead of couscous. *Pomegranate Syrup -- one bottle POM pomegranate juice + 1.5 cups sugar, boiled until the volume was reduced by half. Served warm.

I am very much looking forward to attending a DR.com picnic as a lady of leisure. Unfortunately, it will probably be just me since rwtye is leaving early the following morning for a boondoggle to Europe and may not be able to find the time in his busy schedule to be anti-social at the picnic. As of the moment, I am planning on making another attempt at bacons buns (sans splinters) and plus some other grain-based, leavened, baked product.

Pirate drinking songs (For those who prefer to watch: click)

And I seem to recall a time, way back when, in sunny southern California, when TJs did not have a produce section at all.

Thanks for that link. We'll probably split the harvest so we can try both the hot leaching and the cold leaching.Ol' Bushytail was out collecting acorns yesterday evening after he returned home from his day job. But, after applying various tools from his substantial collection, he deemed the acorns too soft to easily shell, so into a low oven they went to dry. There are now four half-sheet pans of acorns sitting on the kitchen counter. This would be perfect for my family's Thanksgiving tradition of starting the meal with the ceremonial tossing of the pâté into the woods. However, since it will be rwtye's family in attendance this year, I am leaning toward making an acorn mush using turkey stock and copious amounts of garlic, then stirring in a pound or so of crisply fried, crumbled bacon just prior to serving. And, of course, I'll make some sort of acorn bread with the hot-leached acorn meal or possibly an acorn cake, topped with acorn buttercream and served in a pool of maple syrup.

Sure, and most likely in excruciating detail. I'll even take pictures! Here are the processing instructions we were looking at last night: click. Our tree is a chestnut oak (I think, or it could be a basket oak, or a hybrid between the two) and is supposed to produce acorns with a lower tannin content than some of the other oaks. Watch it, buddy. Texas A&M -- Class of '90.

rwtye announced yesterday evening that we should collect all the acorns that have been raining down on our house and use them in a side dish this year at Thanksgiving. I’m not sure if this idea is merely a side-effect of his not getting enough REM sleep because of the constant "thud, roll, roll, roll, plunk... thud, roll, roll, roll, plunk... thud..." of the acorns hitting the roof above our bedroom for the last three nights. Or, if it is some sort of karmic payback for the tree dropping a limb on our car during the last storm. But, whatever the origin, I see acorn processing in my immediate future. Anyone here attempted such an endeavor? Helpful hints? Recipes?