busy little baking bee

have had some excellent adventures in the kitchen as of late.

invigorated by the success of my bread, intrigued by homemade veggie burgers, and financially coming up short—i struck out on my own to make greek-style quinoa burgers ala martha stewart. although they were slightly less greek as we ditched the yogurt/cucumbers for the tomatoes, avacado and cheese that we had.

it was my first veggie burger effort but i thought it was pretty damn delicious—the homemade pita that i whipped up was the perfect compliment of function, texture and taste.

turns out pita bread isn't all that difficult to make from scratch. i was happy when i stumbled upon a post at Farmgirl Fare (my original blog obsession) that spelled it all out for me, thinking of the blog as a good friend, i knew that i could give it a go. if she can, i can! and it turns out i was right. the pita was delicious, i might be more likely to make pita in the future than bread—oh my.

i'm on a baking roll.

tonight i'll continue the trend with quiche and home made crust. in the past i've usually cheated with a store-bought crust, but this morning i just couldn't justify three dollars for something i could make at home for free. i think all this dough handling is making me more adventurous.

case in point: contemplating cinnamon rolls for this weekend. hm....
(later this week: seedling updates and cute animal photos—!)

the bread adventures: onward and upward

"success is so close i can almost taste it," she wrote as she buttered her first slice of homemade bread and delicately topped it with some marionberry jam.

that could be me—that is me. as of this morning, sitting here blogging and enjoying what i consider my first bread baking achievement. it has a crunchy/chewy crust, a nice dense crumb and is especially tasty with jam.

tuesday night, after a flurry of planting and cleaning i thought to myself 'why not?' and threw some flour, salt, yeast and water together and stuck it downstairs to rise under my newly improvised proofing space.

psst. its under the towel there.

i was making no-knead bread and it worked out in such a way that over lunch on wednesday was the perfect time to take it out, shape it and set it up for another couple hours of rising before baking after work.

isn't she beautiful?

things really went along without a hitch this time. i came home from work, transferred the dough into the oven that i had thoughtfully timed to warm up for me (who is this girl?!) and ran out to take care of a couple errands. when i returned the whole house smelled like freshly baking bread. yummmm.

a nice mid-week surprise.

winter goal progress

in january i set out two small goals for myself: learn to bake bread and sew myself cloth napkins.

to my credit i made traction on both, but admittedly both are slow moving projects. i've churned out three unsuccessful loaves of bread and three-and-a-half napkins. the napkins have turned out more beautiful than the bread but require a considerable amount of concentration.

march is going to be a big month for me.
i've been slowing picking away at my basement and i am in the final stages of turning it into a useful space for me. this comes right in time for me to begin seeds early march. i'll also be setting up a light system to help me in my bread exploits as well, so that project will get some forward motion also.

so march, in march i resolve to:

• complete my napkins
• bake one loaf of bread successfully
• start my garden seeds

sounds like a short list but i am a little overwhelmed. still, it will be an excellent feeling going into spring with these behind me. exciting new things are coming!

bread update

this weekend i baked a yes-knead loaf from Rose Levy Bernabaum's Bread Bible.

again, it came out very flat. tasty but very very flat.

what is causing this? is it simply the frigid nature of my house?
or am i doing something wrong?

throughout the process all seemed well, except after each rise when i kneaded, everything got smaller again. i have yet to make a loaf in a bread pan that fills the pan as well as the cookbook predicts.

any advice would be greatly appreciated.

the bread adventures

has anyone else noticed how bread is the topic du jour? or am i just particularly attentive? there have been at least two posts this week alone on thekitchn.com blog regarding bread items, and february's Martha Stewart also features a spread on bread making.

all the discussion has definitely got me in the spirit. i've successfully completed three loaves of no-knead bread—but not without a fair amount of bumps along the way.

most notable?

• on the first round: i failed to follow the directions for my new cast iron dutch oven and stuck it into the oven without a good pre-wash. result? filling my house with acrid smoke that somehow reached to every corner in moment.
• on the second round: i did the final rise in the bread pan near the heater. somehow this led to a less than rustic looking crust. i expect...too much heat+oiled plastic wrap.
• the third round: i successfully baked in the dutch oven as is included in the original directions, and then forgot about it. result? a very chewy crust. meh.

all in all, my first loaf, which was baked in a loaf pan after the dutch oven debacle, turned out the best. it was pretty fucking amazing if i do say so myself, and it has definitely jump started my interest in bread making.

my chief concern is how chilly my house gets and how drafty my kitchen is. there just simply isn't a spot that stays somewhat warm consistently anywhere in my house. i would love to set up a warming drawer but i've yet to have any brilliant brainstorms on where that can exist. every cupboard is filled with dishes, dry goods or other items that wouldn't do well with an additional twenty degrees or so.

a trick i learned from a friend when working at the bakery is to pre-heat your oven to its lowest setting, turn it off, and rise your bread in the warm oven. so for now, my bread making will be a weekend adventure. which, truth be told, is far more rewarding and enjoyable.

tomorrow i will undoubtedly begin the process all over.
perhaps my goal for february will be to tackle a classic yes-knead yeast bread.

bread baking goals: ammended.

so...what about all that bread i was going to make?
...yeah, hasn't happened.

but today i got a whole new jolt of vigor and purpose when i stumbled across a post on No Knead Bread. it wasn't their first post on Jim Lahey's book-slash-method but i had been dutifully ignoring all the mentions out of sheer guilt of not yet starting my baking project.

today was different somehow and after some light reading i was off like a cheap prom dress.

i'm now the proud owner of my bread: the revolutionary no-work, no-knead method.
sadly, i am not yet an owner of a 5 quart cast iron pot. sadly, the sale at Macy's had passed. (how dare they!)

this weekend will be the weekend. starting, friday after work—giving me plenty of time to devote my attention to the bread come saturday. very excited for the weekend now.

bread baking goals

having flipped through The Bread Bible i was intimidated.
but when i had a few quite moments to really read though it, i was less so.

i think the pages on mixing and creating the sponge are by far the most intimidating. everything else sounds pretty straight-forward and familiar from my years in bakeries. once i thought about it, the chilliness of my house is less a consideration because its only chilly when i am not there and will only be baking on weekends. so all in all, i think i should start gearing up for my first trial.

the five types of bread i want to master are:
1. challah
2. pugliese
3. sourdough
4. semolina
5. artistan wheat

this weekend i think i will try my hand at challah, i'll report back.

dark days plans

next week begins the Dark Days Challenge that i've thrown myself into.
what is it? well...straight from not-so-Urban Hennery's blog:

What’s the Challenge?
Cook one meal each week focused on SOLE (sustainable, organic, local, ethical) ingredients and write about it on your blog. It’s really that simple, but at the same time, it can really be that hard.
To keep things interesting we’ll have theme weeks throughout the winter, with polls to choose as we go.
What does local mean?
Traditionally, local food challenges call for a 100 mile radius. Winter time is more difficult in many climates, especially if you’re new to eating locally, so my default definition is 150 miles. You can choose to make your radius smaller or slightly larger as you need. Typical exceptions are oils, coffee, chocolate and spices. If you’re making fewer or more exceptions, please note that on your first post.
What if I can’t find every ingredient locally?
That’s why this is called a challenge! If you can’t find every ingredient, or heck even most ingredients, please still post your meal each week. This is just as much about what we learn, the obstacles we find and the decisions we make as it is about cooking with SOLE ingredients.

since i signed up i periodically mull over what i might make. of course, initially i thought—easy cheesy! but then wait, cheesy? cheese? oh yes, cheese will be a consideration. oh, and butter. and...and...and..!

so at least i'll admit up front that this might be a little more of a challenge than i initially thought. but it does pair well with my desire to find a local source of milk and more importantly—cream! (i really would l like to make my own butter.)

i have a couple of good ideas for my first foray, so i'm feeling good at the moment.

additionally, for the winter my goals is to bake bread.
or, to learn to bake bread, and then do it. and be good at it.

seems like a good winter task to have in the future. so i am beginning to read Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Bread Bible, this is the same book my former bakery of employment (Baker & Spice Bakery) used to develop many of their amazing recipes will report back as my progress moves forward. of course, i am already intimidated but i promise to report back as my progress moves along.