Attempt # 3:
375 g – starter
187 g – flour
50g – water
7 g – salt
total flour – 375 g
water – 237 g ( 63%)
Dough held together better. I have decided I am not waiting long enough after pulling the dough out of the fridge before you using it. It is not rising enough. I’ll try a more rigid set of experiments regarding rise time this weekend.
Attempt # 2:
375 g – starter
187 g – flour
55g – water
6 g – salt
total flour – 375 g
water – 242 g ( 65%)
The crust and button side got a bit too hard. I baked it at 440 for 50mins (brushed w/ fat after 25). I will go back to 420ish tonight for 50mins and brush with fat after 30mins since there was better crust the first night. The crumbs was a bit more airy and irregular. I think my fridge might be a bit too cold. My starter is not increasing in size much post feeding. I left it on my counter this morning to see what has happened when I get home.
Sorry for the lack of updates… I have many pictures to post of newly attempted dishes. I am however more excited about adventuring into the land of sourdough bread. I started a sourdough starter at home about a week ago, a poolish starter. Last night before bed, I made using the starter as follows:
375 g – starter
187 g – bread flour
69 g – water
10 g – salt
Total flour – 375 g
Water – 256 g (68%)
Tonight, I made it into a round loaf and let it proof again for an hour at room temp. covered in plastic wrap. I then backed at 425 for 30mins, brushed with clarified butter, and continued baking for 20mins. The bread was fantastic for a first attempt. I got a great crust, decent crumb. I lowered the water content in the dough I made tonight to bake tomorrow. We’ll see how that plays out.
My first attempt at roasting a bird: 
It turned out pretty good. A few parts could have used a bit more cooking… I ended up using those for soup for they got cooked the rest of the way. Next time, I will probably protect the breasts more by cutting off loose skin and stuffing it under the skin at the breasts. I am not sure that is enough to keep everything moist (there will still be butter involved).
For dessert, I made crepes w/ caramel sauce and caramelized bananas. I had never made caramel before. I burnt the first batch, but the second was a hit with Audrey. My crepes are still pretty meh technique wise, but with time, they shall improve.
I made stock from the carcass which I used for soup the next day which was also was nice.
We were hungry and I wanted a quick meal using various left overs. I had old tomato paste, old celery, oven roasted garlic,and left over pork tenderloin. I thought I’d make a tomato base sauce and just serve it over the pork. So I started sauteeing up some mirepoix with shallots in place of onions in olive oil. Once they sweated a fair bit, I added them to a small sauce pan that had 1 part tomato paste to 3 parts chicken broth (thanks to http://freeculinaryschool.com/category/free-culinary-school-podcast/ for the ratio for an easy pasta sauce base). I added a small amount of thyme and basil (both dried) and let it simmer. In the end, I decided to take the whole thing to the blender instead of straining out the veges and have a thick puree soup to which I added the reheated pork. I added some fresh chopped parsley, and we both ate it up.
I adopted the recipe from The French Laundry Cookbook. I didn’t do the beef marrow it called for or make veal stock. Recipe started last night by making the marinade for the meat. It included a bottle of cab, parsley, carrots, leeks, garlic, thyme, and bay leaf (alcohol cooked off first). It lit the marinade to burn the alcohol. It was the first time I had ever done that, and I found it quite satisfying to watch.I let it cool and put it in a bag w/ the meat in the fridge.
Today, I separated the meat from the marinade and the veggies. I brought the marinade to a gentle boil and skimmed off the coagulated protein that had leached from the meat. This was an interesting step. It was a new thing for me to watch that layer form as I am new to sauce making. I then seared the meat, caramelized the veggies then added them and marinade to a casserole pan along with 2 cups each of beef and chicken stock. I brought it to a simmer on the stove then put it in the oven at 275 for 5.5 hours.
Served the dish w/ turnips, carrots, parsnips.
End product review: The ribs were a bit on the dry side. I can see why Thomas Keller recommends caul fat be wrapped around the ribs and seared if they are boneless. The meat was however quite tender and flavors in the sauce were nice. Both Audrey and I enjoyed the root vegetables.
Roasted a pork tenderloin that I cut so I could fill w/ parm cheese, garlic, a bit of butter, and breadcrumbs. I tied it up w/ twine then rolled the outside in olive oil and dusted w/ pepper and salt. Cooked it in the oven. It was quite good. Nothing fancy, but it was one of the first times I’ve use my cooking twine. I’ve tried to stuff things in the past, but the innards always fell out.
The original plan had been to stuff the meat with something green apple based, but I chickened out. I used the green apple instead to make a side. I cubed the apple into 1/4inch cubes. I throw them in a small sauce pan with curry powder, cinnamon, a dash of nutmeg, 1/3 Tb butter, a bit of brown sugar, a dash of water. I let it simmer covered for 10-15mins on very low heat giving it an occasion shaking. When the pork was ready to be cut, I uncovered the pot and cranked the heat way up to drive off the little liquid left. The apples were a great side. I’d make them again in a instant and stuff a tenderloin with the mixture.
I’ve been told as a result of the movie Julie and Julia this has been a popular dish for people to make lately. I made it because it seemed an easy and tasty dish out of Julia’s book. Audrey and I both enjoyed it immensely. It came out with a sweeter taste than either of us expected. I used a Chianti for the wine, top round I cubed for the meat, and I blanched bacon for use as the pork fat (and bacon in dish). Notes for the next time:
- Thicker cut on the carrots
- Reduced sauce further after straining
- Don’t crumble bay leaf just use an extra one
- Skim more fat off the surface (even the picture shows a bit too much left on sauce :/)
- Quarter mushrooms
I served braised brussel sprouts as a side. It was the first time I’ve had brussel sprouts that I can remember. I enjoyed them thoroughly and will happily buy them again. I sauteed them a bit of extra blanched bacon added shallots after they were browned then added some chicken stock and covered till tender. Quite tasty and easy. I’ll make a larger helping next time.
Audrey bought a turkey breast (w/ bones and such) from the grocery store. I had to find something do with it for dinner. So I mixed some flour, butter, carrots, onions, a bit of garlic and let go lite br
own. I added 1 cup chicken stock and 1 cup beef stock and some thyme and simmered for an hour. The meat was quite dry so I added it to the reduced and thickened sauce 10mins before we ate. Served it with some red potatoes that were sauteed in butter and olive oil with thyme and salt then allowed to cook w/ the lid on and heat on low after each side was browned. It was quite good overall. Neither of us were thrilled about the potatoes. Tasty but no rush to repeated them.
