Friday, October 26, 2012

Irish Music in West Virginia

Now there is a face that isn't too hard to look at for the better part of four days, right? A dual citizen of Ireland, where he was born, and U.S.A., where he has lived and worked since the late 1960s, Mick Moloney was the one who took a roomful of about 50 men and women on a visual and aural journey to learn about Irish culture and history through music.

I was a Road Scholar neophyte and so was my Mom, but my older sister, who took the great photo of Mick, has been to a few before, so she was our guide in all things Road Scholar. The population of these classes tends to be gray haired but also well read, educated, and often well-traveled.

One of the delights of our time there at the beautiful Cedar Lakes Resort (the large lake is in the photo above) was watching my Mom enjoy meeting and getting to know new people who were invariably kind and interesting folks. No one sent me a personality profile before registering so I don't know how it is that each person we met was someone I wished I'd met sooner. The other great pleasure (well, besides not having to menu plan, cook, clean up, etc for most of 6 days) was getting to spend quality time with my sister and my Mom. Nothing earth-shattering, but some deeper conversations than can usually be had during my flying visits east. A true pleasure in fact.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the classes, but was pleased to find that we were given a sort of sampler about various aspects of Irish culture, beginning with a bit about the Celts, about the Irish in Ireland and in America, about the similarities in the experiences of the Irish, Jews and African-Americans of being at the edge of the dominant cultures (which Mick maintains is where artists should be to create great art) and of being looked down on, too, and often abused. He is a skilled and enthralling folklorist so the days just flew. We ended with a little about the current peace between the opposing sides of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Each sampler was illustrated with film and music, some recorded and some live.

Joining Mick was his assistant Joey Abarta, an accomplished young Uilleann pipes player and 'a mighty man', especially with the electronics.

Mick Moloney is a master of banjo, guitar, and (I think) lute or mandolin, plus a delightful singer.
He is also a professor at NYU, an impresario and has recorded many, many CDs. If you want to know more his website is found HERE. He is leading a few tours in Ireland in 2013. Classmates who have toured with him before say that it is a not-to-be-missed experience. Wish I had the funds to join them.

I've often thought that the best thing I learned in college was to always ask more questions and try to find out more. At the end of this set of classes there were many new things learned which led me to want to find out lots more. Now that my cold is starting to retreat I'll have more energy to do just that. Finding the time may be more difficult, but there is no actual rush. Thanks Mick!

So there was plenty of food, cafeteria style food, but with a great salad bar, good conversation, beautiful fall color, a covered bridge (photo below), and lots of great music and information about Ireland and the Irish in America. No cooking, so no recipe this time. But just think, you got a tiny bit of 'culture' this time.

P.S. Thanks sister #1 for many of these photos!

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Another Year

Looks like this blog's birthday passed by while I was traveling. Heading into the seventh year...what an exhilerating time it's been!

The early years included more community with other bloggers, especially when I was part of the Daring Bakers enormous group. At that time I went through a heavy sweets phase, learned lots of new techniques and tried new recipes, for fancy desserts especially.

Once I discovered sourdough the bread phase began and it is still going, but not as strongly. The Bread Bakers Dog is gone and so is the dog it was named for. Our new dog, Pi, isn't given 'people food' so there is no begging when we sit down to eat...a nice change.

These days I spend less time visiting other blogs or even surfing the Internet. Since starting my page layout and design for books business I seem to have less time for other forms of computer fun. My cookbook, Classic Comfort Food, continues to sell on Blurb's site. It would be a great Christmas gift for friends who love to cook! If you want to order a copy or two, just click on the photo of the cover at the top right of this blog...you will go right to the sales page and in no time could have your own copy!

The Bread Baking Babes posts are still a monthly source of fun and learning, but I'm also experimenting more with savory dishes, especially ones that have healthy ingredients. It's a whole new world with things I haven't tried like Isreal couscous, dinosaur kale, quinoa and more.

Hope you'll keep stopping by to see what's new on the journey. Here's to another six or seven years! Cheers!

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Pesto Rose at Last



Have just returned from a wonderful trip to the East coast. It was so enjoyable seeing family and then seeing fall color on the trip to West Virginia. Loved the class on Irish culture at Cedar Lakes in Ripley and met so many delightful people and heard lots of great Irish music. The drive home via a different route was magical, full of more autumn shades of red, gold, burgundy and rust as the hardwoods welcomed the cold nights. Photo above is of Seneca Rocks, taken along the way by my talented sister. (I'll be posting more about the trip in future posts.) The only fly in the ointment is that I also came home with a cold, so will be spending time in bed that I'd wanted to spend at the computer.

Before I fall asleep again, here is the late-in-posting, but delicious Pesto Rose bread. Last week many Bread Baking Babes posted their version of this Caucasian Rose bread.

Hope you had time to check them out, but, if not, the links are to the right. Our kitchen of the month was the delightful Tanna of My Kitchen in Half Cups. She is enjoying trying new ways to shape bread. This one sounds difficult, but is actually easy.

You are going to want to bake this bread! I know it looks complicated, but it really isn't. If you can roll out a pie crust, you are 1/3 of the way there. If you can roll up dough to make pinwheel cookies or cinnamon rolls, you are the second 1/3 along, if you can braid hair you will have no trouble with the final part of the recipe. See, you can do it.



Find a place to roll out the dough where you can roll it waaaay out. Smear all except the outside inch of dough with pesto. Roll it up like a jelly roll/pinwheel cookies/cinnamon rolls into a nice long log. Pinch the edges and ends (the parts without the pesto on them) to keep that luscious pesto inside.

Now for the fun part! Take a sharp knife and slice down the log, like you would to tuck cheese into a slit in a hot dog...only slice the log in half. The two sides will sort of fall to the sides with the pesto insides showing. Pick up one side and cross it over the other to make a big 'X'.

Then, it is just like braiding with two strands: lift and cross, lift and cross, lift and cross until you get to one end. Tuck the ends under. Go to the other end, life and cross, lift and cross until you get to the other end. Tuck the ends under.

Make a snail of the braided log. Plop the snail into a springform pan. Now it is just the usual rising and baking. The nest to best part? Your kitchen smells heavenly of pesto and you'll get to eat a luscious bread. The best part? Everyone will be SOOO impressed...and will want a piece.

Now you want to make this bread, right? You can also use another filling...cinnamon and sugar, Nutella, apricot jam and ground almonds...you get the idea. Here is what I did:


Pesto Rose
Adapted from http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/19320/caucasian-bread
Yield: 1 loaf - shown above unbaked, right before it went into the springform ring.

Ingredients:
Filling - 1 cup fresh pesto using basil from my garden.

Dough:
200 grams bread flour
200 grams whole wheat flour
200 grams all-purpose flour, unbleached
2.25 teaspoons dry yeast (Fresh Yeast 28g (1oz)
10 grams Sugar 10g (0.35oz)
10 grams Salt 10g (0.35oz)
50 grams Olive Oil 50cc (1.7 fl oz)
300 grams Water 300cc (10 fl oz) this is approximate

Note: I added almost an additional 1/2 cup water, a tablespoon at a time

Directions:

1. Set oven to 210c (410F) Prep: Baking Pan - 26cm (10") springform (no bottom), take a piece of parchment paper and crimp tightly around the bottom of the springform, oil the sides. Place on top of a baking sheet. Set aside. Note: I placed the springform pan directly onto a Silpat lined, rimmed sheet pan.

2. Add all ingredients to a mixing bowl, add the water carefully as you start mixing. Use the dough hook 2-3 mins. on low speed and 2-3 mins. on medium speed. Dough should be supple and not sticky to the touch. Add water or flour if dough is too stiff or too loose (respectively). When dough is ready, spray a bowl with oil and gently put the dough in the bowl. Spray a little more oil on top and cover. Let rise (80%) about 40 minutes to an hour.

3. Lightly flour your work area. Flatten the dough gently with your hands.
Roll the dough as thin as you can using a floured rolling pin.
When rolling out the dough, try not to lift and move it too much. You can try and gently pull the dough to stretch it thin like with Strudel.

Note: I used the largest bread board I have and rolled the dough out to the edges.

Apply a thin layer of your filling on top of the dough (leave the edge clear 1/4").
Slowly, tightly and very gently roll the dough into a roulade (pinwheel ). You will now have a very long roulade.

4. Take a sharp chef's knife (not a serrated knife) and cut (not saw) the roulade lengthwise trying to keep the knife in the middle so you end up with two equal parts (you can cut down from the seam but it is not make or break).

5. Place the two halves crossing each other (open roulade layers facing up) to create an X shape. Gently pick up the two ends of the bottom half, cross them over the top half, and place them back down. Continue this process, taking the two bottom ends and crossing them over the top until all the roulade has been used. This taking up and crossing is just like a three strand braid, except there are only two strands to cross.

6. You now have a two strand rope shape. If for some reason some of the open roulade layers are pointing down or sideways, carefully turn them so they are facing up. Gently pinch the ends to seal. Look at the braid. If one end looks a little thinner make that your starting point. If not, just start from either end. Slowly and very gently, roll the braid sideways (horizontally) without lifting your hands from the table. You should keep those open roulade layers facing up. Pinch the end delicately. The end result should look like a giant snail shell or a very large cinnamon bun.

7. Carefully pick up the braid and place in the prepared springform. Keep it flat on the parchment. The bottom of the braid should set nicely. Cover. Let rise until the braid hits three quarters the way up the springform. Depending upon the temp in your kitchen this may take from 20 to 40 minutes.

8. Bake at 210c (410F) for 5-10 mins., lower oven to 180c (355F) and bake for another 20-30 mins.

There should be a decent amount of oven spring. The bread should rise above the springform edge.
When the bread is out of the oven lightly brush olive oil or butter on top and sides.

Note: I omitted any extra oil...the pesto had enough.

Let cool on a rack.

9. Elle's changes: I used 200 grams each all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour and bread flour, weighed with the digital kitchen scale. I used a full packet of dry yeast, adding it to 1/4 cup of the water to 'bloom' before adding the rest of the water to it then adding dry ingredients to the wet (which is how I prefer to work), using the stand mixer to mix and knead. I did need to add a little less than 1/2 cup more water to make a nice dough. Used olive oil instead of canola oil. Did not wrap springform in parchment; put the springform ring onto a small rimmed cookie sheet that had a silicon mat on the bottom. That worked well. The oil did seep out during baking, but then was soaked up again into the loaf. Did not use anything other than fresh pesto for the filling; no butter, extra Parmesan, etc. Really didn't need anything else. Did not brush baked loaf with anything...it was plenty oily. Also didn't sprinkle anything over the snail-rolled roll. It was excellent and made a nice base for chopped up tomatoes, too.

Now we know you are going to bake this bread, so why not be a Bread Baking Buddy, too? Send Tanna an e-mail with a photo, link and your baking experience so she can send you a Buddy Badge for your post. Thanks, Tanna for a great recipe! Also, don't forget to visit the other Bread Baking Babes (links on the sidebar) to see their beautiful roses. Au revoir mes amis.

Here is what Tanna gave us to work from:
Recipe Caucasian Rose By: Adapted from http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/19320/caucasian-bread

Yield: 1 loaf - shown above unbaked, right before it went into the springform ring.

Ingredients:
Filling - the options are only limited by your imagination and what's in your kitchen!

butter , softened
garlic, pressed
parmesan, finely grated
salt , to taste
rosemary or basil

Dough

300 grams bread flour
200 grams white whole wheat flour
100 grams sprouted wheat flour
considering different flour to replace some of above
2-3 tablespoons ground flax seeds or wheat germ or a combo
2.25 teaspoons dry yeast (Fresh Yeast 28g (1oz)
10 grams Sugar 10g (0.35oz)
10 grams Salt 10g (0.35oz)
50 grams Canola Oil 50cc (1.7 fl oz)
considering replacing canola with olive oil & part butter
1 tablespoon White Vinegar 1 tbls, where is this used???
300 grams Water 300cc (10 fl oz) this is approximate
will use some potato water as part of above water

Original recipe called for

AP Flour 600g (21oz) total

seasoning was pesto, dusted with sumac

Directions:

1. Set oven to 210c (410F) Prep: Baking Pan - 26cm (10") springform (no bottom), take a piece of parchment paper and crimp tightly around the bottom of the springform, oil the sides. Place on top of a baking sheet. Set aside.


2. Add all ingredients to a mixing bowl, add the water carefully as you start mixing. Use the dough hook 2-3 mins. on low speed and 2-3 mins. on medium speed. Dough should be supple and not sticky to the touch. Add water or flour if dough is too stiff or too loose (respectively). When dough is ready, spray a bowl with oil and gently put the dough in the bowl. Spray a little more oil on top and cover. Let rise (80%) about 40 minutes to an hour.

3. Lightly flour your work area. Flatten the dough gently with your hands.
Roll the dough as thin as you can using a floured rolling pin.
When rolling out the dough, try not to lift and move it too much. You can try and gently pull the dough to stretch it thin like with Strudel.

Apply a thin layer of your filling on top of the dough (leave the edge clear 1/4").

Slowly, tightly and very gently roll the dough into a roulade (pinwheel ). You will now have a very long roulade.

4. Take a sharp chef's knife (not a serrated knife) and cut (not saw) the roulade lengthwise trying to keep the knife in the middle so you end up with two equal parts (you can cut down from the seam but it is not make or break).

5. Place the two halves crossing each other (open roulade layers facing up) to create an X shape. Gently pick up the two ends of the bottom half, cross them over the top half, and place them back down. Continue this process, taking the two bottom ends and crossing them over the top until all the roulade has been used. This taking up and crossing is just like a three strand braid, except there are only two strands to cross.

6. You now have a two strand rope shape. If for some reason some of the open roulade layers are pointing down or sideways, carefully turn them so they are facing up. Gently pinch the ends to seal. Look at the braid. If one end looks a little thinner make that your starting point. If not, just start from either end. Slowly and very gently, roll the braid sideways (horizontally) without lifting your hands from the table. You should keep those open roulade layers facing up. Pinch the end delicately. The end result should look like a giant snail shell or a very large cinnamon bun.

Depending on your filling you may want to sprinkle on something (paprika, sumac, brown sugar & cinnamon). Keep in mind you don't want to cover up the effect of the shaping.

7. Carefully pick up the braid and place in the prepared springform. Keep it flat on the parchment. The bottom of the braid should set nicely. Cover. Let rise until the braid hits three quarters the way up the springform. Depending upon the temp in your kitchen this may take from 20 to 40 minutes.

8. Bake at 210c (410F) for 5-10 mins.,

lower oven to 180c (355F) and bake for another 20-30 mins.
There should be a decent amount of oven spring. The bread should rise above the springform edge.
When the bread is out of the oven lightly brush olive oil or butter on top and sides.
Let cool on a rack.


ORIGINAL RECIPE
Caucasian Bread - Julia's Rose
Recipe By: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/19320/caucasian-bread
Yield: 1 loaf

Summary: This beautiful braided bread is made with a rich straight dough, layers of pesto and a generous sprinkle of Sumac.

I made this bread a couple of months ago. This bread is tender, rich, nutty, salty (evoo, toasted pine nuts and parmesan) and a little sour (Sumac). This bread requires moderate braiding skills, time and attention.

I have been baking for quite some time now. I love bread making.

Ingredients:
Pesto - I use evoo, basil, toasted pine nuts, parmesan (consistency should be not too thin and not too thick). Keep refrigerated until needed.
Sumac - for sprinkling

Dough ingredients:
AP Flour 600g (21oz)
Fresh Yeast 28g (1oz)
Sugar 10g (0.35oz)
Salt 10g (0.35oz)
Canola Oil 50cc (1.7 fl oz)
White Vinegar 1 tbls
Water 300cc (10 fl oz) this is approximate

Directions:

1. Set oven to 210c (410F) Prep: Baking Pan - 26cm (10") springform (no bottom), take a piece of parchment paper and crimp tightly around the bottom of the springform, oil the sides. Place on top of a baking sheet. Set aside.

2. Add all ingredients to a mixing bowl, add the water carefully as you start mixing. Use the dough hook 2-3 mins. on low speed and 2-3 mins. on medium speed. Dough should be supple and not sticky to the touch. Add water or flour if dough is too stiff or too loose (respectively). When dough is ready, spray a bowl with oil and gently put the dough in the bowl. Spray a little more oil on top and cover. Let rise (80%). My kitchen was at about 22c (72F), 35-45% humidity and proofing was about 40 minutes. Lightly flour a work bench or a large table. Put the dough on top and flatten gently with your hands. Use a floured rolling pin to roll out the dough to a very thin circle, as thin as you can. When rolling out the dough, try not to lift and move it too much. You can try and gently pull the dough to stretch it thin (like bakers do with Strudel dough), this requires some skill. Apply a thin layer of pesto on top of the dough (leave the edge clear 1/4"). Sprinkle Sumac generously on top of the layer of pesto. Slowly, tightly and very gently roll the dough into a roulade (pinwheel ). You will now have a very long roulade . Take a sharp chef's knife (not a serrated knife) and cut (not saw) the roulade lengthwise trying to keep the knife in the middle so you end up with two equal parts (you can cut down from the seam but it is not make or break). Place the two halves crossing each other (open roulade layers facing up) to create and X shape. Gently pick up the two ends of the bottom half, cross them over the top half, and place them back down. Continue this process, taking the two bottom ends and crossing them over the top until all the roulade has been used. You now have a two strand rope shape. If for some reason some of the open roulade layers are pointing down or sideways, carefully turn them so they are facing up. Gently pinch the ends to seal. Look at the braid. If one end looks a little thinner make that your starting point. If not, just start from either end. Slowly and very gently, roll the braid sideways (horizontally) without lifting your hands from the table. You should keep those open roulade layers facing up. Pinch the end delicately. The end result should look like a giant snail shell or a very large cinnamon bun. Lightly sprinkle Sumac on top of the braided loaf. Carefully pick up the braid and place in the prepared springform. Keep it flat on the parchment. The bottom of the braid should set nicely. Cover. Let rise until the braid hits three quarters the way up the springform. In my kitchen conditions it proofed for a little over 30 mins.

3. Bake at 210c (410F) for 5-10 mins., lower oven to 180c (355F) and bake for another 20-30 mins. Their should be a decent amount of oven spring. The bread should rise above the springform edge. When the bread is out of the oven lightly brush evoo on top and sides. Let cool on a rack.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Fall Fling

Not sure why but October and May seem to be the months when wanderlust really hits. Since it has been a while since I've seen the fall color on the east coast, I'm leaving Sweetie and Pi for a few days to visit with my Mom and other family members and get my fall color fix. Won't be doing much blogging while I'm gone but I'm sure to have some stories when I get back. Hope you have some good times in the kitchen until then!

Here is some fall color nearer to home, at the place where we like to walk the dog. Those are wild grape leaves...very colorful!

XO Elle.

Sunday, October 07, 2012

At Gabriel Farm

It all started with an apple, as some very interesting stories do. Of course I was so fascinated with what I was learning that I forgot to take any apple photos, but the story is good enough.

My friend Arcadia heard from a friend that there was a stupendous yellow apple called the Gabriel Apple that was grown in nearby Graton and she was told that she should go to the farm and try it out. Since she knows of my interest in fancy food, she sent me a link to Gabriel Farm and suggested a day trip. When I visited the site I became excited, not because of the apple, but because they were harvesting Asian pears, one of Sweetie's favorite snacks. They also have an Asian pear and apple juice that looked mighty good.

 Turns out that juice is amazingly good, the Asian pears are the best he has ever had, and the farm visit was a hit...


And so, a couple of weeks ago, Arcadia and I had a farm visit day. I had planned to blog about it much sooner but life has been super busy with all manner of good things. I had hoped to blog about a recipe of something made with some of the Asian pears but they were all eaten for snacks, with great gusto.

Gabriel Farm has been around for a long time. The original family was named Gabriel and they developed a yellow apple called the Gabriel apple (more on that later), but the current owner is a former science teacher named Torrey.

He and his wife run the farm and do both wholesale and farmers markets, plus school kids love to visit the farm. There was a group of them finishing up, buying some things from the farm store,

 when we arrived. Torrey is a natural teacher and imparts a lot of information in a gentle, easy to understand way. Thanks to him I now know how many seeds you'll find in almost all apples...ten...and that if you slice an apple horizontally those seed form a sort of flower shape. The Gabriel apple is a descendent of a sport found in the middle of an old apple grove in Missouri that had been planted by Johnny Appleseed. Apple growers came from all over to purchase scions of that apple to graft onto their own trees. The Gabriel apple is the product of one of those grafts and, perhaps, some cross-pollination. A good apple like the Gabriel has layers of flavor when you eat it, sort of like the layers of flavor in a fine wine. They have many more apples besides the Gabriel and all are farmed organically like the Asian pears.

Before you get the idea that you can just wander over and have a farm tour, let me explain that since it is a working farm, that just isn't possible. I exchanged a number of e-mails to arrange for a time and also became a CSA member by purchasing a case of that fabulous Asian pear-apple juice...no hardship there. Members can have a farm tour if a time can be arranged.

We did notice how busy the workers were with sorting, packing, and moving cases of Asian pears around using a forklift, getting them ready to ship.

When you walk through the rows and row and rows of fruit trees and learn that they have over 20 varieties of Asian pears growing there, it is easy to see that there is little time for too many tours.


The Asian pears are really beautiful on the tree and you can see that some are bright gold, ready to pick, and some are still greenish.

Torrey said that one of the reasons Asian pears cost a bit more is that they bruise easily but also that they need to be picked three or four times as they ripen, adding to labor costs.

 I loved how they were planted in blocks and he said that Asian pears self-pollinate and that the pollen is very fine and light so having the trees grouped makes sense.

Knowing my Sweetie, I chose a russet Asian pear to bring home. It was crisp, sweet, very juicy and not as gritty in texture as some you find in the stores. I cut one up as soon as I got home and he munched right through it in no time. So, no recipe, but there is a photo of the gorgeous Asian pear (above) and of the jar (even further above) of juice. Here is the one I cut up for Sweetie to go with his sandwich.

You may want to ask your grocer (if you live in the S.F. Bay area especially) to carry some of these Asian pears, apples and juice. It might not be as fun as a farm visit, but it could be a great way to have some of this locally sourced and amazing fruit and juice yourself. You can also check out the website at: http://gabrielfarm.com/portal/home


By the way, I'm not receiving any benefits from doing this post...I already had the pleasure of that tour which was a treasure in itself.