'Starting' from scratch.

"If you truly want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe." - Carl Sagan
And if want to create a starter from scratch, all you need is some warm water, flour and wild yeast. We get ours off of cabbage leaves. (Thank You, Jim Lahey!)

Take a large leaf and wash it off in 1 cups of warm water (really get in there with clean hands and rub the white film off the leaf) mix in 8 oz (a scant 2 cups) of flour, beat well and let sit covered on your counter, 12 hours.

 Feed again equal weights of flour and water and let sit again 12 hours. You should have a bubbly happy little mess on your hands. if not try feeding it and letting it sit one more night. There are a couple of key points to remember: All utensils, anything that touches your starter must be clean! Starter loves routine, so once your used to using it the same way on a regular basis is when it will be happiest. To keep if you use everyday, it can sit on the counter in a container. Feed and use the starter and clean out container when the sides get yucky. To use weekly from the refrigerator, pull from fridge and let come to room temp. Feed and let activate (8-10 hours) and use, keep a little out (about a cup) and give it a small amount of water and flour, return it to the fridge to chill for the week.

Now THAT is a happy starter!

Time to make bread:

To make a flavorful, slightly dense baguette:
Mix equal weights of water and starter and double that for the weight of flour. salt should be used sparingly but is necessary for a fully flavored loaf... try using 1% of the total dough weight. (i.e. 1#water + 1# starter + 2# flour = 4#  4x16= 64 ounces divided by .01= .64 or a little more than a half an ounce...about 2 teaspoons)
In a large mixing bowl, pour water and starter and stir to blend. add flour a little at a time until a ball of dough begins to form. Saving out about a cup of the flour. Cover the bowl and let this dough sit for 20 minutes. This is called an autolyse. The resting of the dough without the salt added to it allows for maximum absorption of the water into the flour and will make the gluten easier to form. When ready, sprinkle on the salt and about 1/2 of the remaining flour. Pull the dough into the center from the edges all the way around to incorporate the salt.  Dump out onto a well floured surface and knead together into ball. Set a timer and knead for 10 minutes. I know it can seem like a long time, but it is very meditative. put on some good music or that podcast of 'This American Life ' you've been wanting to listen to, time will be up before you know it AND you will have performed your arm workout for the day...bonus!  The dough will become quite silky and smooth, like a baby's bottom. Cover it and let it rest to rise. 1-2 hours, depending on your room temp, starter vigor, etc. If your doing this ahead, this would be the time to put into the  fridge, tightly covered. It can sit in there 12 hours or so. When ready to work, just pull it out, ring to room temp. and portion into loaves. knead into a football shape and let sit, covered for 20 minutes. Starting at the center of each loaf, roll with both hands (a little like when you used to make snakes out of clay) outward until your loaf is the length of your pan. Lay on parchment lined sheet pan to rise. Cover with a cloth if it is cool or drafty. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. if you have a baking stone line them up on the middle rack. Place a shallow pan half filled with water on the bottom of the oven (if your oven is electric, put the pan on top.) This is meant to create steam. Once the loaves have doubled in size (a finger poked in the side should leave a mark that does not bounce back) slash the tops with a razor or very sharp serrated knife place in the oven...on the pan if you don't have a stone. If you do have a stone, slide the loaves off the pan, parchment and all and right on to the stone. You may want to cut the paper so that each loaf is on it's own sheet for this to make for easier transport. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until quite golden. Interior temperature should be 200 degrees.

Get your Sticky Buns on...

Okay, so big aplogies to the gal looking for the sticky bun recipe the other day on the phone...truly, we are crazy busy, and had it been me you talked to, I might have been able to make it happen fast, but not for sure! I was able to make them at home today under normal kitchen circumstances and I think I've got it for you...
First mix a single batch of White Trash Dough and let it rise until double in bulk. In the meantime, oil a 9x13 pan and line with parchment paper. Now is a good time to make the Sticky Goo, as we so affectionately call it.
in a 3 quart saucepan melt 1/2 cup butter. pour off about 2 tablespoons into a glass bowl and set aside. To the butter in the pan add:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup Honey
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
Whisk together over medium heat until smooth. Pour into prepared baking pan

Sprinkle with 1 1/2 cups pecan halves...nows the time for a taste test!

Once ready, turn dough out onto a floured board...do not knead! just spread it out in all it's flattened glory. divide in half...knead together one half and put it into a loaf pan for sandwich bread or something...you won't need it for this. Take the other half and roll out on your floured board to a rectangle about 12"x 20". Brush with the reserved melted butter

Sprinkle on 1 cup of brown sugar and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon and roll it longways into a tidy log


Cut the log into 12 equal pieces and place cut side up in pan over the pecan mixture of love.

Let rise, covered in a warm place about one hour then bake in a preheated oven set at 350 degrees. it will take about 45 minutes. To be sure they are done, use an intstant read thermometer, they want to be 200 degrees inside!

Once you pull them from the oven...and this is important! Let them sit in the baking pan for 5 minutes or so to cool before dumping them out upside down onto a tray. This will allow the carmel to thicken slightly and it won't all just run off. You will be greatly rewarded for your patience!

Rhubarb Custard Bars- summer in a square

Thanks Meg and Marty for requesting this recipe! It's so good it's certain to become a regular summer treat around here!
And Roy...may you Rest in Peace!

Rhubarb Custard Bars

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees
lightly oil a 9x13 pan
For crust:
in stand mixer, or by hand:
2 cups flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup cold butter cut into pieces
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt

mix together until the texture of frozen peas. press firmly into pan and set aside

for filling:
6 eggs
1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup orange juice
1/4 cup flour
whisk all above ingredients together well... then stir in 3 cups of fresh rhubarb- chopped
pour over crust. bake 45 minutes to 1 hour until center is firm. Cool completely before cutting.
and when your delighting in how summery and wonderful these are, Thank Meg and Marty...
Happy Solstice Gals! I Love You!

It's that time of year again!

Spring is finally giving forth some of her gifts and one of our favorites is the Stinging Nettle. That's right Nettles, those pesky plants that invade any feshly tilled spot before you can get anything else to come up there, are one of our favorite spring treats! I've been making this for a few summers now and we are hooked! Last night, son Charles and I harvested a big basket of shoots and got enough to freeze. Last year I wrote up the recipe: here it isl
Trust me, you'll smile too when the stinging nettles take over!

Rockfish Chowder

The first comercial Halibut long line trip is underway for husband John (summer must be here!) and one of the benefits for us, you would think, would be fresh Halibut on our menu...but alas, that fish is all spoken for by people with way more money than we have. So we console ourselves with something I think is even better...Rockfish! The Shortraker Rockfish that swims in areas along with the Halibut is also an allowable by-catch. Because the Rockfish run with the Halibut, it is inevitable they are brought up on the longline hooks. Since the fish have come up so quckly from the bottom, throwing them back usually means a bunch of dead Rockfish. So as not to waste all those wonderful fish, John has worked out a deal with a local processor to breakdown and package them in trade for half the haul. It gives us a nice supply of legal fish at a cost that doesn't hurt our bottom line! One of our favorite ways to use it is to make Soup...

Easy Rockfish Chowder:

In a 6 quart heavy bottom soup pot saute:
1 medium onion-diced
3 lg carrots - diced
3 ribs celery - diced
3 Tablespoons olive oil

When onion is translucent, deglaze pan with 1/2 cup white wine. Stir until liquid is mostly absorbed and sprinkle on 1/2 cup of flour and stir to coat all vegetables. Pour in 2 quarts Fish stock (or water!) and stir over medium heat until the flour is incorporated and add 4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced and and a hearty pinch or two of salt. cook over medium low heat until the potatoes are soft and the broth is thickened. It is important to stir frequently during this process as the flour will want to cling to the bottom of the pan!
Add 1 pound of Rockfish, raw and cut into 1 " chunks, stir until fish is cooked, this will only take a moment or two.
Finish with a cup of heavy cream, a squeeze from half a lemon and a tablespoon of dill (dried or fresh, use what you have!)

Summer makes me think of pie, Berry Pie!

An afternoon at home with such summery weather had me torn between staying in and writing recipes (like I promised I would!) or getting out in this beautiful sunshine! I managed a bit of both and while I was contemplating which next formula to tackle, I remembered the great post on Michael Ruhlman's blog about pie dough from his new book Ratio. It made me go back and revisit our formula, just to see if it could use a little tweaking. In the end, I reduced the butter by a smidge, but other than that I think we have a winner. Pie crust purists may scoff at the addition of an egg yolk and sugar, but it adds a tenderness to the crust that we really enjoy! Since the rhubarb is still looking like an alien we have to turn to the freezer to use up the rest of the berries.
For the crust:
2 1/2 cup unbleached flour
7 ounces cold butter, cut into little pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup ice cold water
1 egg yolk
splash lemon juice
Cut cold butter into flour, working the mixture with your hands and rubbing between your fingers in a sheeting motion. When it is well combined add sugar and salt and mix together wet ingredients... Add to flour mix and work to form a ball of dough, using more flour or water as needed to keep it from being too dry or too sticky. Wrap tightly and refridgerate for an hour or up to a week. Will freeze for one month.

Berry filling;
5 cups IQF frozen Berries- thawed just slightly
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup corn starch

toss all ingredients together in a bowl and set aside



To Assemble:
On a well floured surface roll out 1/2 the ball of dough to about a 12" circle, Place this into a 9 inch deep dish pie plate.
Fill the center with the berries. Roll out the other half of dough into a rectangle this time, about 14" x 10". cut 1 1/2" strips the short way...about 10 strips total. Lay 5 strips across berry-filled pie, folding back the two alternate ones from the middle. Lay one strip down perpendicular to these across the middle of the pie. lay the two strips back into place and pulling back the three alternating ones, lay another strip down and repeat process on other side until all 5 remaining are used. Tuck the ends up under the edge of the pie plate and crimp around the edges. At this point, I like to guild the lily even more by brushing with egg wash and sprinkling with a little sugar. place on parchment lined sheet pan in a 375 degree oven. Bake one hour or until bubbly in the center.

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

This soup is familiar to many out there as a favorite from the Moosewood Cookbook. For a long time I made their recipe at the different establishments I cooked for, and it was always great. Then when we started making large batches at the bakery, we had a problem burning the bechmel that was used to thicken it. Because it had a milk base, it would also curdle if you added too much lemon or let the mixture come to a boil. It was then that I decided to rethink our approach to produce a more reliable and shelf stable and, I think, TASTIER, soup!

Ingredients:

1 medium onion- diced
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 pounds fresh button mushrooms, sliced 1/8th inch
3 Tablespoons Paprika
2 teaspoons Salt
1 1/2 teaspoon Dill
1/2 cup Flour
8 cups Vegetable Stock or water (I usually use water!)
1 tablespoon Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
1 cup Heavy Cream



Method:

In a heavy bottom soup pot on medium heat:
Saute onion in olive oil until just translucent...2 minutes
Add mushrooms and turn up the heat slightly...saute 2-3 minutes more
Stir in: Paprika, Salt and Dill
Saute 5 minutes more, stirring frequently.
Add the flour and mix well to hydrate all the flour
Pour in Liquid (Water or Stock) and whisk well with a large whisk
being sure to scrape all bits of bottom of pan.
Switch to a wooden spoon and cook over medium-low heat
Stirring quite frequently and being careful the flour doesn't stick
to the bottom of the pan.
Once the soup comes to a low boil, simmer 5 more minutes to
thoroughly cook the flour.
Add Heavy Cream, Lemon Juice and Soy sauce.
Enjoy!

Bench Notes:
This soup has infinite possibilties for variations:
Use wild mushrooms, leave out cream and use sour cream or no cream
Deglaze the pan with Red Wine, add mustard powder...go crazy people!