Weekend Evaluation: In Theory and Practice

I'm not sure if I cook a lot on the weekend; it seems like it, but it's all about having a basic plan of when you're going to do things, and then sticking to it.

I just like to spend my time away from work doing what I enjoy, being productive, and swearing at inanimate objects.  Not that I'm above doing that at work too; I'm pretty sure I've told a computer, phone and copier all to f-off on company time.  Is that stealing time?

Here's a couple observations from this weekend's cooking. 

- Buckwheat Pancakes -

Positive - Switched back to Gold Medal all purpose flour from King Arthur.  Much better tenderness on these pancakes than I've had recently.  I tried King Arthur because it was on sale, but it seems higher in protein to me, causing more gluten. I use KA bread flour for bread, so found I prefer a softer AP flour to give me a little differentiation. I'm sure Cook's Illustrated can tell you for sure what the differences are but KA AP flour always seems to cause a tougher result in non-yeast leavened baked goods.

Negative - Not sweet enough - I used buckwheat honey in these, and sometimes the flavor overpowers everything, so I backed off a little and added a small amount of sugar.  Could have used more sugar

- Sauerkraut -

Incomplete - Last year we got tons of cabbage in our winter CSA share.  This year - nothing.  So I've been out of sauerkraut for weeks.  I think when I filled out the survey at the end of the year I suggested less cabbage - so it's partially my fault.  So on Saturday I went to a different farmer's market in hopes to find some better vegetable vendors, I was glad to see cabbage.  Besides it not being the season for cabbage, it looked like all of the outer leaves had been picked over - a dead giveaway that it's old.  Hopefully it doesn't get all soggy.

- Ginger Honey Ice Cream - 

Positive - Definitely had a ginger and wildflower honey flavor.  Steeped dried sliced ginger in milk (w/ a cinnamon stick too) and was thinking it didn't taste enough like ginger when I tasted the base; but worked out fine.

Negative - May have churned it a bit long - started to have a whipped cream feel to the texture.

- Kolsch-Yeast Crust Pizza with Spinach, Spring Onions, and Pork Cheek Rillette -

Positive - Used up a bunch of ingredients that were opened.  Finished off the very end of the rillette and some Oaxacan string cheese (basically fresh mozzarella) from cinco de mayo, and the sauce used up some of those PBA-filled canned tomatoes from Costco.

Also got to try out the kolsch-yeast starter.  My friend, Joe, homebrews and he gave me some yeast that he used previously. I took that and added it to some flour and water, and now have beer yeast starters (kolsch and pale ale).  The yeast is crazy active compared to my wild yeast starter.  The crust was pretty good, but had more of a pretzel taste.  I used malt powder in it, so I think that's what did that; not sure.  I'm planning on making some plain white bread with the two beer yeasts at some point.

Negative -  Had all sorts of problems with forming the crust.  Went with an 80% hydration on the crust to get some big bubbles around the outside; but since the dough was so slack it kind of got misshapen when I put it on the stove.  So it was kind of an oval with puffy ends - looked kind of like a canoe pizza (not Conopizza).  Usually the dough sticks to my peel when it's this wet a dough - so I was glad I didn't have toppings all over the stone/oven floor.

- Rhubarb Thyme Jam -

Positive - Rhubarb's back in season; and it tastes good.

Negative -  Not reduced enough, kind of more like a compote than a jam.

- Maple Bacon Corn Muffins -

Positive - Part of the overall freezer/ingredient clearing project in preparation for the roasts that are on the way.  Used some of the corn meal that's been in there, a piece of the more 'breakfast' style bacon that was smoked a couple weeks back, crema from cinco de mayo, and some of the maple syrup that I over purchased.

I increased the amount of liquid ingredients based on the dryness I experienced with making corn bread with the Cayuga Organics corn meal - worked out this time.

Bottom line is that these tasted pretty good.

Negative -  Slightly 'eggy', could have used more 'maple flavor'. I used up one of the jars of grade B, and filled out the rest with some grade A.  Grade B is always the way to go - I used to say I like grade A for topping oatmeal, pancakes, and saved the grade B for baking/cooking.  I'm going to revise my stance - forget that light amber bullshit.  People like to say 'everything tastes better with bacon' they're wrong, everything tastes better with grade B maple syrup. 

I think Gretchen got all of the bacon in her two muffins.  The bacon smelled awesome before I cooked it.  It's slightly over cured (read: salty), but it's not too bad and you can absolutely taste the smoke, maple and thyme; and it's not too salty if you use it in something.

- Hot Dog Rolls/Hamburger Rolls - 

Positive - I used my normal recipe for white fluffy rolls; it's what I like on a burger; you can save the brioche rolls, potato buns and everything else.  I want to taste the beef and maybe have something to soak up juices.  It had been a while since I worked with a dough with a hydration of under 70% and the crumb was fine.  Didn't have any eggs - milk wash was slightly dull, but whatever - the sesame stuck.

Negative - It was a while since I worked with a dough under 70% hydration - and I did a terrible job forming the Hot Dog rolls; these are for Chorizo this week- have to finish those cinco de mayo ingredients

- Hamburgers with Cheddar, Sauteed Spinach, Spring Onions & Bacon - 
- Blue Potato Oven Fries -

- Grilled Asparagus -

After getting back from the basketball game, and a one beer stop at the cask ale fest at DBA, I wanted dinner to be simple.  Burgers are almost always stressful - meat cookery stresses me out like nothing else.  Ruining a piece of meat is a huge waste.

I stopped eating meat from most places about a year or so ago.  Unless I was at a restaurant that I thought would cook it well, or sourced it properly, I won't order it.  At home this means I only buy meat from though our CSA's farm partnership with Louis Waite Farm.

Positive - I usually pace the meat so loosely to avoid a tough burger that it can tend to fall apart.  I recently switched to a high percentage of brisket in my ground beef mixture; replacing the short rib helped since there's less fat to render out and cause it to fall apart.

The asparagus was good, it's in season - it's hard to screw that up.  It was taking longer to cook than some of the other asparagus we've had this year, so I threw the sheet pan with the oven fries on the grill pan.  Was done in time.

Negative -

I forgot my bacon - ate it after, but it's a little salty to eat on it's own.  Would have made up for some of the under-seasoning on the burger.

I had to buy salt at a different supermarket that doesn't carry Morton's kosher, and had to buy Diamond Crystal.  The finer crystals make me think I'm over-seasoning, and I end up under seasoning.

I bought short rib from a different farm last time - and it's not as beefy flavored.  I like any meat I eat to taste like what it is - what's the point of raising and killing an animal if you don't want to actually taste it; so while these short ribs were good; it wasn't overwhelmingly beef-flavored like I want.  The lower fat content could contribute to the lack of beefiness; but when we had the short ribs braised it was the same.

Potatoes are another thing I don't buy at the supermarket - they absorb all sorts of pesticides used on industrial farms.   I bought these blue ones (Bake King variety) at the farmer's market - they're ridiculously starchy, so they get really fluffy when you bake them.  They didn't get particularly crisp, even after soaking for about a half hour and preheating the pan with oil in a high oven; I should have just made them into fries.

- Bean Puree-

I make this weekly, most of the time this is Gretchen's lunch, in a wrap with lettuce, onion, and cotija cheese. This week it was a mixed bean puree with fresh thyme, garlic, and lemon.

Even after I stopped eating mystery meat she continued to eat lunch meat in her wrap - then after  a run-in with some hospital meat - she gave it up too.  I usually have the bean puree or roasted vegetables in my wrap.