photo post: today's kitchen adventures
I splurged on Dan Leader's book Bread Alone on Friday. And so I baked bread today:
(what first caught my eye was the "engagement ring a la dough" effect- gold shining through flour, it's kind of neat)
And then fried green tomatoes:
We had this big honkin tomato outside, the size of two fists, and we decided we weren't waiting for it to ripen... so we fried it! The learning curve was pretty steep, but I managed in the end. We had some tiny yellow squash from the farmers market, so I sliced and fried some of those too. Delicious!
Next time I will have a better idea how much of the cornmeal mix to set out, and how to season it. Properly seasoned, these things would be DIVINE. And lacking a steady supply of green tomatoes, tender squash makes a fine substitute.
We also cooked mac and cheese, and threw some pesto in at the end. (I made it with my mom's Cuisinart yesterday, because I got a lot of basil from the market). Likewise delicious- and a good way to stretch out a quantity of my precious pesto :)
The bread came out of the oven not long ago. It's not my best, but it's fresh and honest and it'll do. :)
I let the starter sponge go for too long, and I had trouble maneuvering the loaves onto the baking sheets... to make matters worse, I proceeded to drop one! Oh well. I also don't have a thermometer to gauge the optimum temperature for each stage- a bit fussy perhaps, but my new book says it's good to keep track of these things to maintain conditions for the yeast.
I can't wait for my next batch. :)
ALSO! My beets are just beginning to sprout! I make a game of trying to spot seedlings the minute they make it above ground- for instance, this spring I managed to find the tiniest little trout lilies, when they were 1/4" above ground and as thin as a toothpick. Today, I have a very few tiny beet seedlings! I can tell because the stems are red. The spinach might be sprouting too, but I don't know how to recognize it.
(what first caught my eye was the "engagement ring a la dough" effect- gold shining through flour, it's kind of neat)
And then fried green tomatoes:
We had this big honkin tomato outside, the size of two fists, and we decided we weren't waiting for it to ripen... so we fried it! The learning curve was pretty steep, but I managed in the end. We had some tiny yellow squash from the farmers market, so I sliced and fried some of those too. Delicious!
Next time I will have a better idea how much of the cornmeal mix to set out, and how to season it. Properly seasoned, these things would be DIVINE. And lacking a steady supply of green tomatoes, tender squash makes a fine substitute.
We also cooked mac and cheese, and threw some pesto in at the end. (I made it with my mom's Cuisinart yesterday, because I got a lot of basil from the market). Likewise delicious- and a good way to stretch out a quantity of my precious pesto :)
The bread came out of the oven not long ago. It's not my best, but it's fresh and honest and it'll do. :)
I let the starter sponge go for too long, and I had trouble maneuvering the loaves onto the baking sheets... to make matters worse, I proceeded to drop one! Oh well. I also don't have a thermometer to gauge the optimum temperature for each stage- a bit fussy perhaps, but my new book says it's good to keep track of these things to maintain conditions for the yeast.
I can't wait for my next batch. :)
ALSO! My beets are just beginning to sprout! I make a game of trying to spot seedlings the minute they make it above ground- for instance, this spring I managed to find the tiniest little trout lilies, when they were 1/4" above ground and as thin as a toothpick. Today, I have a very few tiny beet seedlings! I can tell because the stems are red. The spinach might be sprouting too, but I don't know how to recognize it.