3 posts tagged “baking”

I've begun to suspect I'm insane.
Reasoning: I've got plenty to do this evening, between making up some homemade pizza (and I've decided to use a long pan instead of the usual hole-bottomed pizza pan, as I haven't been happy with its results lately) and getting the house ready for an imminent termite inspection, so what do I do?

Pick up my size 2 double-point needles and start two socks at once.
Barking mad, probably.
But, the idea wouldn't leave me alone, so I had to cast on: I'm currently working in complimentary shades of TLC Essentials -- which I don't particularly like the feel of, but it's part of my early stash and needs using -- in a burnt orange and their Falling Leaves ombre.
Never knit a sock in my life (though crocheting is a different story -- and I've several pairs, thank you!), and then I get the wild hair to do two at once.
I'm also planning on trading off the colors at cuff, heel, and toe, as if I weren't already confusing myself as it is.
Should be some pretty sweet socks if I can do it right, though, and I won't be afraid to wreck them through wear.

Note to self: I want this in Wild Wild West. Just one skein, but I've got a sock pattern in mind that I'd love to try.
... Well, maybe Blue Bayou, too.

Anyhow. Tonight, pizza.
The fiance and I picked up another of Trader Joe's pre-made pizza doughs in the garlic and herbed crust variety, and I'm currently contemplating whether I want to use a tomato sauce as the base or just go with garlic and olive oil as a pseudo-white sauce... I mean, olive oil and garlic. Good stuff, especially when you consider I've got mozzarella and roughly shredded parmesan to put on top, and then cover with prosciutto, salami, and capocollo. I'm also debating whether or not to add sun-dried tomatoes to the list or not: Alas, though I can see the tomatoes getting bigger by the day, there are still none ready for eating on my tomato plants.

... Don't think that I'm not looking up how to make sun-dried tomatoes for when that crop finally comes.

It does sound like a good, if meat-heavy pizza... And since it's going to be a pan pizza, that means it's going to be a bit more square than usual. (Alas, I can't guarantee thicker... Though I have rolled the dough out and I'm leaving it to rise some more, so. If I'm lucky.)
I suppose I do have some bell pepper strips in the freezer, and can also go that route. The fiance's kinda meh on the topic of olives, though, and tempting as it is to go viciously harvest the sneaky mushrooms in my yard... Probably not advisably edible, and since I haven't any criminis in the fridge, that means no mushrooms for the pizza.
That's life: Ought to get to making that pizza, or at least gathering the ingredients.

I have things cooking in my head again: I'm in a making mood, probably partly at fault from my recent (compulsive knitting / dye experiments / interest in spinning / gardening).

Every once in a while, I forget that I honestly love to cook.
Starting a vegetable garden has reminded me, though. I don't have anything save ten (count 'em, ten!!) tomato blossoms at the moment (one of which has clearly pollinated and is in process of changing from flower to fruit), but I'm already gleefully bouncing on my toes and waiting for the moments the first round, green fruits begin to show: My Cherokee Purple heirloom plant is new and still getting used to its pot, so its main purpose at the moment is to just get up and grow.

I honestly cannot wait for that heirloom to blossom and produce tomatoes. Cannot wait. I want to try them and come up with even more weird-color food, since if I'm honest, I enjoy cooking more when the colors don't match the expected. I am utterly in love with blue potatoes, and since I've found that my local Whole Foods does indeed carry them at cheaper per pound than the variety mix at Trader Joe's, I'm revving up to hit the produce bins for scalloped purple-blue potatoes. (And yes, it's going to look weird, royal blue potatoes peeking up from inside orange cheddary sauce, but I love doing that sort of thing. Weird colored food rules!) So. Rose-purple tomatoes to go with my purple-tinged blue potatoes? I cackle with glee.
And contemplate all sorts of summery tomato-based meals. I stopped at 101Cookbooks.com to check out the 1000 Layer Lasagne that went up Thursday morning, and while looking at her homemade ricotta recipe, I hovered the mouse over the image at top and found the next recipe was an heirloom tomato tart. And then I went hunting for anything involving specifically heirloom tomatoes, and found her cheesy heirloom paninis.

Wow. If I wasn't hungry before...
I anticipate a lot of homemade foccacia, caprese, and tomato-based recipes this summer. I think I may even delve into things like making tomato sauce and stewing tomatoes from scratch if the plants produce enough... After all, we know the hazards of gardens: You end up with more than you know what to do with, and your friends and family will only take so many. ;)
Seriously. Found the best foccacia I've had in ages at the Whole Foods of Doom, and it was not only crisp and garlic-parmesan-y, but had quarter inch tomato rounds pressed into its top and sprinkled with basil and oregano...
Which means I can do that, easy.
Also, the idea of making my bagels, slicing them in half, and making it into a cheese and tomato sandwich and then sticking it in the toaster oven for a little bit.... Sounds like heaven to me!

So, yes. I've been poking thoughtfully around the comments in the 101Cookbooks.com recipes and it's led to some interesting sites: The one holding my interest at the moment is a page on making cheese -- and while I'm honestly contemplating dragging my little college fridge out of storage to set up as a cheese making fridge for the blue cheese recipe, the one that really has me grinning like a fool is the recipe for fresh mozzarella from a gallon of milk.

Home grown tomatoes. Fresh mozzarella. My friends are right, I do need to start growing my own basil: I'll have myself a caprese garden at this rate. And there's just something satisfying about knowing where the things came from, as opposed to buying things from the store.
I'm still gleefully hunting up tomato recipes online: I really ought to hunt through my vegetarian and four-ingredient cookbooks for more ideas -- after all, the four-ingredient cookbook is where I picked up a favorite puff pastry tomato 'pizza' recipe, and that's pretty delish.
At that, I have a cookbook called Tomato. I think that just might be a good resource for tomato recipes. Who knew?

Also: It's Saturday, which means to bagel, or not to bagel, that is the question...
So I went to make some bagels. I made my last batch of bagels with King Arthur's white whole wheat flour, and it wasn't bad, but they were a little more dense in flavor than I'd have liked. No problem, but I decided to go half and half with the all purpose and wheat if you're going that route again, see if that resolved the issue.
I think I used too much water or something this time around -- the problem with attempting to do recipes from memory, honestly -- because the dough was sticky like mad. I ended up pulling it out of the bread machine and adding more flour by hand: It still doesn't feel right for bagels, though, and the proportions were probably close enough to pull off a foccacia instead... So I went crazy, kneaded in about half a tablespoon of dried 'italian herbs' (as the bottle proclaimed -- probably a mix of basil, oregano, parsley, possibly more). It's currently rising on a silpat, and I'll be sure to pat it out into my baking pan and start doing the olive oil / garlic topping.
Fresh bread. Nothing really like it, even if it wasn't the first thing I'd intended.

I'm having a really good day, and I'm just rolling in Yuletide spirit at the moment. ;)
I'll need to get a tree stand and some lights on the way home, most likely from Target: I'm also intending on stopping and nabbing some more ornaments from Michael's, since I was planning on another little tree for Christmas.
Long story short is, we have a seven foot noble fir for a Christmas tree, sitting in the front yard. (I took a picture this morning, just because -- and it was too dark last night.)

Honestly, though: I don't know what intuition made me do it, but I'd just gotten home from battling through Michael's for gift boxes and had finished putting things away when I turned to the fiance and said, "Sweetie? Let's go get a tree, yeah?"
Every lot in a 5-10 mile radius was closed down. It was horrifying.
I clearly owe the YMCA a lovely donation of either food, presents, or time this year.
These statements are not entirely non-sequiturs. ;)

I got up really early this morning -- practice for the next five workdays, since I'm working the 5am - 2pm shift through New Year's -- and got cracking with the gingerbread dough. The first of my gingerbread houses is baked, cooled, and currently sitting on the cutting board at home, waiting for me to get home and make the royal icing.
A few notes: I followed the gingerbread recipe I linked to the other day exactly this time, and oh my goodness. The gingerbread rises like mad! It's absolutely perfect for gingerbread men, but when it comes to houses... I think I'll make a note for myself on the 'mistaken' recipe where I substituted baking powder for the baking soda, and call that my construction gingerbread: It's strong, edible, (even tasty,) and does not swell up as much as the actual recipe, so will largely stay in the tolerances set by the house template. Woo!

Bansidhe's Mistake: Edible Construction Gingerbread
(Originally from Heidi Swanson's Gingerbread recipe on 101cookbooks.com)

4 cups white whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cloves
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp finely ground black pepper
11 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup dark natural cane sugar OR dark brown sugar, packed
3 large eggs, room temperature
2/3 cup unsulfured molasses (blackstrap)

In a large bowl by hand (or with an electric mixer) cream the butter until it is light and fluffy. Add the sugar and mix again until light and creamy. Blend in the eggs one at a time and then the molasses. Add the flour mixture in two additions by hand. Divide the dough into two pieces, wrap each in plastic and chill for at least an hour, and up to overnight.

Heat oven to 350 degrees F, racks in the middle, and line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper, wax paper, or Silpats. Set aside.

Roll the dough out roughly 1/8-inch thick between two pieces of wax paper (easy cleanup, with little to no sticking) and cut using your gingerbread house template of choice. Transfer to baking sheets and arrange the pieces at least a half inch apart on the sheet. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes (for 3 to 4-inch pieces, less for smaller cookies, more for larger). Set aside, let
cool until touchable but still warm, and trim to fit the templates (if necessary) with a serrated bread knife. Let cool completely, and then assemble house.