Tragic accidents and unfortunate substitutions

[Julie]
Alas! What horrors have begotten this pizza stone?
It had been a night of unsettling appliance noises...dripping refrigerator, huffing gas stove, when we heard a strange cracking noise. "What was that?" I didn't see anything broken or out of place until I opened the oven to check on the pizza. What the hell?! The pizza stone, without any known cracks or chips, snapped in half while baking at 400 degrees. We've used this stone bunches of times before. Has anyone heard of this happening? I'm trying to track down a local Pampered Chef rep here in the cities, but if anyone knows one in either WI or MN, please let me know. Aren't these things supposed to have a lifetime warranty??

[Jeremy]
So it turn out PChef goods, whether inherited from ex-roommates or bought outright, have only a three year warranty. Which means we'll have to stick with the more efficient baking stone that we got as a wedding present and find some other way to bake extra fourth of the pizza. As with the rest of this home-made business, it's hard to go back to the disappointing finish you get from a regular baking sheet after you experience the happy crisp of a baking stone. Sigh

Tonight's pizza was disappointing on three counts even before you got to the cracking of the stone: first, the TJ pasta sauce we used (being out of Muir Glen pizza sauce) was decidedly bland; second, the faux-meatballs Julie requested in the interests of apparent protein were squishy and not nice in this context; third, the roasted garlic-jack cheese that we bought on impulse while camping and thought we might use up here tasted almost exactly like roasted garlic flavored plastic. Sigh, again. As usual the crust was tasty though.

Wheat Pizza Crust

I arrived at this recipe by combining and adapting the pizza dough recipes from Field of Greens and Alton Brown to produce a soft, light and chewy part-whole wheat crust. We also use our stand mixer for this one, so if you don't have one just substitute the phrase "stand there and stir/knead it yourself" for "let the mixer run for a while."

1.5 tsp active dry yeast
.75 C (filtered) water and or (soy) milk
1.5 T olive oil
.5 tsp salt (we use sea salt)
1 tsp sugar
.5 C whole wheat flour
1.5 C (unbleached) all-purpose flour

Heat the water/milk for 45 seconds in the microwave or until warm on the stove top and add the yeast. Once the yeast has proofed (shown you that it has life in it, ie gotten bubbly, usually 2-3 minutes; you can skip this step if you trust your yeast) add the whole thing to your work bowl along with the oil, salt and sugar. Add the whole wheat flour and mix until well Incorporated. Add the first half cup of AP flour and allow to mix for five minutes or so (this helps the flour to develop gluten and get good and stretchy), then add the second half cup of AP flour and work this in (in each case you'll want to start the mixer on low so as not to send the flour flying and switch to medium). At this point you might want to switch to your dough hook or knead on the table top. How much of the last half cup of flour you'll need to use will depend on your flour and what the weather's like that day (seriously), so add it a bit at a time while you're working the dough as needed. What you want is to be able to take a piece of the dough and stretch it out with your fingers so that you can see sun light through it without it pulling apart, so keep kneading until you get that.
Roll the dough into a ball and place it in a bowl with a little oil. Roll the dough in the oil to coat, cover with a towel and allow to rise on the counter about three hours.
Turn the out onto a work surface (you don't need to punch it down, it will deflate on its own) and divide it as you see fit. We usually divide into four pieces, which will each produce a nine inch pizza. Stretch the dough into friendly rounds (thumbs are better than a rolling pin here) and place on your baking stone/sheet to be covered by sauce, toppings and cheese. Bake in a 425 oven until bubbly and as brown as you like (12-15 mins).
Takes some time but is very worth it.

Orange Marmelade

Our friends Tae and Dan are leaving for Korea right about now (Dan's on a post-doc and Tae found a pretty sweet job there), so, having missed their wedding reception (being out of town), we met them and our friend Piper for drinks at the Muddy Pig, a fabulous place for Belgian ales and conversation. Anyway, since they were in the same, we're-leaving-the-country-so-we-have-to-get-rid-of-everything-we're-not-bringing-with scramble (that we ourselves still remember quite vividly from almost five years ago now) they brought along a trunk's full of produce, beer and wine to give us. Now, normal people (and I mean that in an admiring kind of way), would, in response to being given a bag of oranges as part of this bounty, say to themselves, "Wow, oranges. Let's eat some of those." or possibly "Wow, oranges. I guess we could juice these." or even "Wow, oranges. Let's use the zest in some recipes and then eat the fruit, or whatever." But we had been talking about making marmalade in the general "We should maybe try that sometime" kind of way for some time now, and if we were actually going to do it, well this was as good a time as any.

We used the zest including version of this recipe, more or less, and, yes, it is as messy and labor intensive as it looks. Oranges don't zest as easily as lemons or limes do, but we knew that it is in fact the pith (the spongey white part) not the zest (the colorful peel part) that causes bitternes, so we knew that we wanted to include the zest. Luckily our friend peeler monkey was there to help and made the job go by much faster. Two or three hours later we had produced this fine jam, that we have since pronounced tasty on pancakes, scones and toast.

Dinner with Monique

You know how there are people you've been friends with forever, and you don't see each other enough, and that's dumb and unfortunate, but it's somehow OK, because when you do see eachother it's all happy and good (or not always happy, because life isn't always happy, but, you know, good anyway)? Yes, well, Monique is just such a friend. And because Julie knows that both Monique and I like cheese, she will purchase a variety of kinds for us to try, and even melt some on toast so that she can try some herself, even though her non-melted cheese block remains firmly in place. The two mold-ripened soft cheeses were the stand outs, though there names have now been lost to time and memory.

First wine

Second wine





The chenin blanc was wnoderful: fruity and crisp and tart-sweet and went great with the cheeses and the salad you see in the background. The tempranillo rose (it wasn't labeled as such, but it was lighter bodied than any of the tempranillos I've had in the past) was light and tart, though this was moderated by the dinner course:




This was essentially a kind of crustless artichoke quiche, but it was not so nice. Julie and I talked some about how we could have fixed this dish, and sort of circled back to the shoulder-shrugging "a different recipe" answer. However, the magic power of even bland artichokes will sweeten up any wine, which in this case worked out quite nicely.

This one's for you, Erin

Our friends Erin and Terry are moving back to Ghana next month, and I've been thinking about them a lot lately.
Things really changed for me during my time in Africa. Before then, I was a fast and dirty cook--choosing the easiest, quickest option 90% of the time. I also still ate fish and poultry, and relied on them to make rapid but tasteless suppers for myself.
In Ghana, I couldn't find a job. (There were slim pickings, and I was on a tourist VISA rather than a working one.) Instead I spent hours and hours, wandering around Accra, going to the markets, and cooking elaborate meals. I just never had the time to dedicate to cooking before. I mean, honestly, who has five hours to shop for and prepare supper?
We felt fortunate because Accra, the capital, had several grocery stores that catered to the tourists and ex-pats. Therefore we could get such staples as cookies, crackers, candy, baking supplies (sometimes) and a few other goodies. We lucked out and found a local Chinese restaurant that sometimes made homemade soy milk and tofu. The Lebanese population ensured good olives, some cheeses and pita. And thanks to the bounty of Ghana, we filled up on tomatoes, chiles, avocadoes, pineapple, oranges and mangoes.
However, there were huge sections of our usual pantry and frig that did not exist during our stay in Ghana.
Due to the lack of some ingredients, I learned to make chocolate chip cookies using vegetable oil, chapati flour and either Cadbury or the local chocolate. We used up our fuel tanks baking brownies from scratch. I overworked my arms shelling individual chickpeas and then mashing them forever in a large morter and pestle for super garlicky hummus. I made my first version of veggie burgers with rice, mashed beans and spices. I even made homemade onion rings once. (Too time consuming and messy.)
In honor of Erin and Terry, and because they may feel inspired to use these recipes in a month or two, here are my two favorite recipes from our time in Ghana: key lime pie and tortillas.
Key Lime Pie
1 1/4 c tea cracker crumbs, or sugared graham crackers, or the closest you can find in Koala
4-5 T butter
1/4 c sugar
3-4 egg yolks
lime zest off 5-9 limes, depending if you can find the key limes or the giant green/yellow ones (make sure to wash them in soap or a bit of bleach first before you zest them)
1 397 can Bonnet Blue concentrated milk with sugar (about 9000 cedis at Koala), or you may have to use 2-3 of the tiny little cans
2/3 c lime juice (about 5 big limes or 10-15 key limes)
Mix the first three ingredients as crust. Bake 5-10 minutes at 3-3 1/2 (that's about 350 degrees), depending on your stove capabilities and amount of gas in the tank. (Basically you just want the beginning of brownness.)
Meanwhile, beat egg and zest (you will need a whisk of some kind) for 5-7 minutes or until it feels like your arm is going to fall off. You can stop when it's fluffy. Add sweetened condensed milk and beat 3-5 more minutes. Add lime juice just until mixed.
Pour into crust and bake 10-25 minutes at 3 1/2-4, depending on your stove and how hard you like your pie. I like a firmer pie, so I will bake it until the top starts to get slightly brown.
Koala sometimes has whipped cream in the refrigerated section, although you don't necessarily need a topping on the pie. (Vanilla FanIce will also work too.)

Tortillas
3 c flour (chapati, all-purpose or a mixture of the two)
1/2 t salt
1/4-1/3 c oil (you can use shortening--4-6 T, but good luck finding it)
about 1 c warmish water

Mix flour, salt and oil. Slowly add the water, a little at a time, until the dough is soft but not sticky (sort of like making a homemade pie crust). Knead the dough for a few minutes on a floured surface. Break the dough into 12 small balls. You can put these in the frig if you want to, or just let them set for about 10 minutes. Roll out each ball as thin as you can, and cook on a heated skillet or frying pan. Cook a few minutes on either side, or until slightly brown. Continue with all 12 tortillas, and keep in a bag in the frig. They will harden slightly by the next day, so you will need to reheat them for a few seconds before eating.
(Great with that kick ass mango salsa, fresh guacamole or pico de gallo.)

Whole Foods hummus and 2006 Beaujolais Villages

You know, it's hot. And when it's hot, sometimes I don't feel like cooking. Jeremy worked all day, and I spent the afternoon sewing and shopping and putzing. So this is what we had for dinner:

Heirloom tomatoes with herbs and olive oil, mixed olives, pita, two types of feta for Jeremy, homemade vinegar pickles and Whole Foods hummus.
I don't normally shop at Whole Foods (called Whole Paycheck in Atlanta), due to a combination of the prices and the clientele. But it was not far from where I had to pick up Jeremy and I was lazy. WOW! What a pleasant surprise! The roasted garlic hummus ($2.49) is a close but less-lemony version of our own hummus, with nice texture and good garlic flavor. Hooray!
Their olives leave something to be desired, especially for $9.99 a pound. (Why must they de-pit all of them and then post a giant sign that says, "Caution! Some of our lives contain pits." WTF?)

I also bought some Beaujoais, which was on sale for about $8 at South Lyndale Liquors. Jeremy scolded me a bit, because the last time we had this kind of wine was during our stay in Ghana. The Beaujolais was always expensive (more than $10 a bottle at any of the Ghanaian grocery stores) and every time we had a chance to try it (usually at someone else's house, because we're cheapskates!), it was horribly disappointing.
My theory: Constant 100% humidity and temperatures over 92 degrees can fuck up wine.
This bottle was tasty. Slightly fruity aftertaste, pleasant and light, and it went really well with the high-acid supper of tomatoes and olives and sour pickles. Great for summer and good if you can find it for under $10.)

2004 Rosso Piceno Saladini Pilastri

This wine was light, tasty and satisfying. I apologize for not knowing where it came from (I suspect it was one from Atlanta), but should you find it, it's well worth the money. (I'm sure we didnt pay more than $9.99 for it.)

Ginger Peach Upside Down Cake

We made this Ginger Peach Upside Down Cake.

Things to note:

I doubled the crystalized ginger and found it still wasn't enough for me. We also ran out of white flour, so used 1 1/2 c all purpose flour and 3/4 c whole wheat flour. It was okay, but I wouldnt use any more than that because it gives it a slightly grainy texture.

Plus, the peach juice/sauce sogs out the cake pretty fast, so you've either got to serve this at a big party where it will be eaten quickly, or store it in the frig and know that in a day or two, the top will be a bit sloppy.

I've never made anything upside-down-cakey before, and found that it wasn't that complicated. The only hiccup was that our 10 inch skillet was wider than any serving tray we had, so we improvised with the one big plate we owned.

Holy shit, we've got peaches

Well, we HAD peaches anyway. BF Angie gets peaches from a client's sister who lives in Colorado. $32 per box. We got 40 lovely peaches (except one that was totally rotten) and my goodness, they were FABULOUS. They ripened instantly in our sauna apartment, so the processing moved pretty fast. One batch jam, two Ziplocs in the freezer, one batch peach liqueur and about three a day for each of us. Plus a cake. (See next post.)
SUMMER FRUIT MAKES ME HAPPY!!!!!

Beets are beautiful

Jesus, I love beets. Aren't these gorgeous!? Pictured here is a fast, fast dinner. Salad, new potatoes tossed with some simply fresh pesto sauce, and beets boiled until soft.
Jeremy is just starting to like beets. He can't get past the earthy/dirty flavor. I was one of those weird kids who loved beets. (Although I was a dirt eater, too.) Yellow ones are more mild, and you can eliminate some of the dirt flavor by peeling them before you boil them. I've heard you can boil them in wine or stock or tea as well, but I've never tried that. I'd love comments from anyone who has...

Pure di fave con cicoria

That's Chicory with mashed cannellini beans to me and you (although we used navy beans).

From Gusto Italiano
1 c cooked beans
1 clove garlic
2 T olive oil
2 t herbs (we used sage and tarragon)
1 T lemon juice
Mash together or put in food processor until well blended.
You can use chicory, but we couldnt find chicory, so we used dandelion greens and beet tops. (They were too bitter.)
If you are using a harder green, par boil it for a few minutes until softened. Arrange on a plate, with a scoop of bean mix on top. Pour olive oil on top.

It's okay...but a lot of chewing, especially with tougher, bitter greens.

Veggie alfredo and Hogue

Veggies alfredo can be pretty fast. Saute onions and garlic, add mushrooms and zucchini, then set aside. Boil water for the pasta, and before you add it, par boil the broccoli and cauliflower for a few minutes to soften. Mix with the other veggies. In a skillet, add butter (a few tablespoons), 1/3rd of a cup of grated parmesian and 1 c cream. Cook until combined---feel free to throw some more garlic in here, too. Toss over the veggies and eat.
As always, Hogue is great. Tart, crisp, delicious, especially with white sauces and vegetables in the summer.