Dang. I was hoping to report on my second proof copy of FC:I, but it hasn’t arrived yet. So, to keep up with my “write every weekday” goal, we’ll go somewhere else entirely.
Yoghurt.
Didn’t see that coming, didya?
Archive for the ‘Food’ Category
DIY Greek
Posted in Food, Recipes, tagged greek yoghurt, homemade greek yoghurt, recipes, yoghurt on 02 Oct 2012| Leave a Comment »
We Have a Winner
Posted in Food, Low Tech, tagged cost-cutting, dinnerware, earthenware vs porcelain, Food, Gibson Everyday, porcelain, stoneware on 21 Sep 2012| 5 Comments »
Note: This post originally discussed stoneware versus porcelain. I’ve since learned that the “stoneware” I have been purchasing for decades is really “earthenware,” despite what it said on the box. Earthenware and stoneware have some qualities in common–like weight–but stoneware (real stoneware) is stronger and more durable. I’ve updated this post to accurately reflect what it was I owned. Be warned, though: a lot of the “stoneware” dinnerware sets you’ll find out there are probably just earthenware. With that in mind, here’s the updated post:
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While I am stuck in the spin-cycle that is “The Typesetting of FC:I“, let me share the results of a test I have been conducting.
A year and a half ago I asked the question: Which is better/more durable, porcelain or earthenware?
I got many responses, I read many posts/articles, but nothing… nothing …gave me a definitive answer. I mean, you’d think I was asking about the relative air speed of swallows or something.
But then I had a stroke of luck. I had my 20th year anniversary at the place where I work (yes, Virginia, some people still work at the same company for decades), which entitled me to a “thank you” gift. Now in the past, these have been cheesy tie-pins or cheap wireless weather stations, but this time, they actually had something I could use: porcelain dinnerware.
I leapt at the chance, and so, a year ago, we began our experiment. (more…)
On Plums
Posted in Food, Writing, tagged Food, Plums, Poetry, william carlos williams, work of a master on 11 Sep 2012| Leave a Comment »
I came across this yesterday. The work of a master.
This is Just to Say
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
Conserve-ation
Posted in Food, Gardening, Recipes, tagged cold plate test., conserve, cooking, fresh fruit, Italian plums, jam recipe, prune plums, Recipe on 11 Sep 2012| 1 Comment »
What do you do with forty pounds of plums? You experiment.
In an attempt to capitalize on this year’s bumper crop of Italian prune plums, I have been trying several new recipes, like the clafouti I tried a week or so ago. Last night, I tried a couple of conserve recipes, but I’m only going to share one of them.
Italian plums are tricky when it comes to judging ripeness. Even the ones that fall from the tree still have green-colored flesh under the dark, dusty purple skins, but occasionally one goes yellow on the inside, but those are not especially sweet. However, if you cook these little guys, they make up for their tart edge with an especially “plummy” taste, so I’ll forgive them. Besides, a little bite never hurt.
Clafouti: I Just Love Saying It
Posted in Food, Recipes, tagged clafouti, cooking, custard, dessert, easy prep, easy recipe, Food, fresh fruit, Italian plums, recipes on 03 Sep 2012| 1 Comment »
Say it with me: Clafouti!
This time of year, the fruits of summer are coming thick and fast. If you have a tree in your yard, you’re probably trying to figure out what to do with umpteen pounds of <insert fruit type here>.
For us, it’s Italian plums, aka “Italian prune plums.” This year, it’s a bumper crop. All our friends who also have Italian plum trees in their yards are complaining that the branches are bending near-to-breaking under the weight of all the fruit.
What do you do with a hundred pounds of Italian plums? Well, here’s one thing I found this weekend: Clafouti. (more…)
Two Gadgets
Posted in Food, tagged cooking, elevated utensils, ethylene absorber, food storage, joseph joseph, kitchen, kitchen gadgets, kitchen utensils food preparation on 03 Sep 2012| Leave a Comment »
While First Reader is, well, reading, I’m veering off to the side a bit. What I have for you today are two cool gadgets for the kitchen.
I like multi-use, long-lasting kitchen tools. They have to work well, and they have to last a long time. These two are no exceptions.
First up are the Joseph Joseph utensils. I found these up at the outlet mall, and picked up the angled spatula and the long spoon. (I got them in understated grey, but I like them so much that I’m thinking of getting the set, despite the eyesore color scheme). (more…)
No-Knead Bread, with IPA
Posted in Food, Recipes, tagged artisanal bread, beer, bread, cooking, Food, IPA, Ninkasi, no knead bread recipe, no-knead bread, pilsners, recipes on 12 Aug 2012| 2 Comments »
As a follow-up-follow-up to my No-Knead Bread recipe, this addition.
I carried through on my threat to replace all the moisture in this recipe with a more robust beer. And, in my tradition of not doing anything by halves, I used some Ninkasi Total Domination IPA. This is one of the hoppier beers you’ll find in non-specialty groceries, and I thought it would be a good test to see if there was an acceptable outer limit to the hops flavoring that this recipe can take.
As usual, I went with 500g flour to 308-310g liquid. The long rise went well, and it baked up (in a covered pot) as well as any other variation I’ve tried. What we came up with was a very beery bread, with good texture and nice big artisanal bubbles inside. The crust was chewy without being tough or crackly. In short, another good bread.
Except for the hops. This experiment proved that there is, indeed, an acceptable outer limit to the hops flavor a bread can accept, and as much as I like this IPA as a beer, it is outside that limit for bread making.
The intense hops flavor imparted a delayed but lingering, top-of-the-palate bitterness that just didn’t work. I even wondered if, properly paired, it might be a good addition to a meal and decided, no, it isn’t. It was just too much.
So, lesson learned. Nice malty beers or clean, lightly-hopped pilsners/lagers all work fine, but the strong, knock-your-teeth-out IPAs are to be avoided.
k
Kurt R.A. Giambastiani 