Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Hunble Pie
whilst Skaterina eats her words / choke sputter sputter
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
yearning for a crusty baguette
we had radishes for breakfast / fresh picked from the garden / with neo tuscan boule toast smeared with mascarpone (italian creamcheese)
a chunk torn off a freshly baked crusty baguette would have been our first choice
so in search of a crusty baguette in beautiful downtown Moab i went out to lunch at Marianne's Bakery just opened over street and around the corner
i had a grild (sic) cheese and ham sandwich on my choice of bread / home made white / of course
it was good / substantial / i brought home half of it to have with pickles later on
Marianne makes a darn good cream puffs !
overwhelmingly sumptuous with just whipped cream / real cream
makes up for the lack of crusty baguette
a chunk torn off a freshly baked crusty baguette would have been our first choice
so in search of a crusty baguette in beautiful downtown Moab i went out to lunch at Marianne's Bakery just opened over street and around the corner
i had a grild (sic) cheese and ham sandwich on my choice of bread / home made white / of course
it was good / substantial / i brought home half of it to have with pickles later on
Marianne makes a darn good cream puffs !
overwhelmingly sumptuous with just whipped cream / real cream
makes up for the lack of crusty baguette
Saturday, May 07, 2005
Pizza update
i finally got it down on pizza crust
living in high desert dry and arid climate the dough requires more liquid (water) than the conventional recipe calls for / so just adding more water to the yeast/flour for it to bubble up makes a huge difference and so does adding a little more warm water when the yeast goes into the rest of the flour / i was even able to use half spelt and come up with a crisp thin crunchy crust / more olive oil helps too
i also find a double rise increases the quality of the crust / having a stove with a warming drawer for bread proofing is a big plus
how cd i forget to consider this when i have adjusted to different requirements due to altitude?
for example at higher elevations water boils at a lower temperature / hence it takes longer to cook somethings than at a lower altitude
for the perfect soft boiled eggs i favor (runny yolks but fairly solid whites) i need to time them at 7-8 minutes (depending on the size of the eggs)
in California near the coast last year 7-8 minutes produces pretty much a hard boiled egg ! 3 minutes does the job
the first time i tried to cook up a pot of beans on Wilson Mesa (altitude some 7-8000 feet) i learned it just cdnt be done / i had that pot of beans on the wood stove for at least five days until the rancher told me they wd never get done
canned beans is the way to go up on the mountain
the latest pizza success used a quarter of the dough to make four small pizze / one of them had tapenade for its topping / oh yum / i do love olives
living in high desert dry and arid climate the dough requires more liquid (water) than the conventional recipe calls for / so just adding more water to the yeast/flour for it to bubble up makes a huge difference and so does adding a little more warm water when the yeast goes into the rest of the flour / i was even able to use half spelt and come up with a crisp thin crunchy crust / more olive oil helps too
i also find a double rise increases the quality of the crust / having a stove with a warming drawer for bread proofing is a big plus
how cd i forget to consider this when i have adjusted to different requirements due to altitude?
for example at higher elevations water boils at a lower temperature / hence it takes longer to cook somethings than at a lower altitude
for the perfect soft boiled eggs i favor (runny yolks but fairly solid whites) i need to time them at 7-8 minutes (depending on the size of the eggs)
in California near the coast last year 7-8 minutes produces pretty much a hard boiled egg ! 3 minutes does the job
the first time i tried to cook up a pot of beans on Wilson Mesa (altitude some 7-8000 feet) i learned it just cdnt be done / i had that pot of beans on the wood stove for at least five days until the rancher told me they wd never get done
canned beans is the way to go up on the mountain
the latest pizza success used a quarter of the dough to make four small pizze / one of them had tapenade for its topping / oh yum / i do love olives
