Tweaks and tortes

 

It's a hot day here in Kansas City and it's going to get hotter as the day progresses.  I am staying inside and doing odds and ends around the house and also working on recording recipe tweaks that I've notated over the past while for rolls and breads (such as the pain au lait dough balls in the photo above).  

I love the process of tweaking recipes.  Every time I cook something, I'm liable to have some tiny insight that comes to mind or I identify some small detail in the process that I want to adjust.  I make a note on my recipe sheet, and let them pile up for a while, usually, and finally record them all at once.  I suppose it's a way of constantly making progress, of thinking that nothing is ever quite perfect yet.  Of course, does everything need to be perfect?  I think not.

I'm also reviewing cake and torte recipes.  Tomorrow morning, I will make a chocolate hazelnut torte for a special food event.  It's something new I'm making so I hope it works out well.

This entire coming month of July, I'm hoping to take a lot of free time and put it into updating old foods and also working on new foods to be added to the menu.

Eat some good food and enjoy the day, everyone!

Gougeres and visiting cakes

Hello, all!

This coming weekend I'm taking time off to enjoy some things with family.  But next weekend we have Swedish visiting cakes and gougeres on the menu.

I'm getting ready to start a month-long break from teaching in July.  And that means I hopefully will be doing a lot of cooking.  I've got a list of several things I want to work on, some will be new, some will be decidedly experimental, and some will be tweaks of older things.

I'm hoping the summer heat won't be too bad.  We all know how much hot stovetops and ovens contribute to in-house heat during summer months.

It will be a good time to work on breads since the temps will be very conducive to great yeast action.

And I will definitely be making some ice creams.  We can't have summer heat without ice creams.

That's all for now.  Have a great day everyone and stay cool.

Cheeses

 

Good afternoon.  This coming weekend we have a cheddar horseradish dip and oatmeal candy cookies ready for ordering.  For the first weekend of July, I will be taking a few days off so there is nothing on the menu.  But more items will be available on the weekend after that.

I was recently given an assortment of cheeses (for Father's Day).  In the photo above, you can see English Cotswold cheese with chives, a strong Parmigiano-Reggiano, a very flavorful Swiss gruyere with a floral hint, a California habanero dry Monterey jack, and one of my favorites, a 10-year aged white cheddar.

It is a wonderful thing to try so many excellent cheeses all at once.  Comparing, contrasting, analyzing .... OK, what I really mean is it's great to eat them all.  LOL

Cheeses are amazing.  And there are so many different kinds.  The subtleties of each when compared to another are fascinating.  

Of the five above, my favorite for just plain eating is the 10-year aged cheddar, but the English Cotwold with chives is excellent as well.  The others I like best shredded and grated and put on top of something or into something.

The Parmigiano-Reggiano is a type of Parmesan that comes from a specific region and only that region and has to be aged at least 1 year and up to 3 years.  Often other parmesans are aged as little as 10 months.

There are all sorts of interesting facts one can uncover about each of these.  Cheeses are so unique, a lot of like wines in that way, I think.  But I won't go into all those now.  Suffice it to say that some people are experts at this and know a lot more than I do.

What I do know, though, is that I love eating them.  So I'm off to get another slice of the 10-year aged cheddar and maybe make a salad with sprinkling of a blend of the others.  

Bon appetit, everyone!

Peeling eggs and egg salad

I love egg salad.  On the menu for Bruce Bakery and Bistro, we have two different kinds, one savory, and one creamy and sweeter.  Typically when I make egg salad, I make a lot of it.  And that means peeling a lot of eggs.

Recently I boiled 3 dozen eggs to make a big batch.  And peeling all those eggs takes a lot of time.  But the real issue with peeling eggs is not time.  It's getting all the peel off without damaging any of the egg.

It seems that so many people all have their tips and tricks for doing this.  But I have yet to see one of these "tried and true" methods work every time unless one keeps in mind a very important thing, and that is that fresh eggs are harder to peel than those which have aged a bit.  And this is all because of the membrane between the egg and the shell.

You can read all about the "why" here:  https://www.scienceofcooking.com/eggs/boiled_eggs.htm

The idea of not using fresh eggs if I want boiled eggs is something I learned over time through trial and error and careful observation.  (It was only later that I examined the science behind it.)   And this means that I find it good to plan ahead.  If I'm thinking of making egg salad sometime in the near future, I should get the eggs very early and let them sit in the fridge for a period of days.  And then when they are boiled, they are much easier to peel.

However, as careful as I am at planning and organizing, sometimes I fail to do that.  And that was the case recently when I boiled 3 dozen eggs.  Consequently, it was a real chore trying to peel them.  Getting the shells off eggs that are too fresh is close to impossible without damaging some of the egg.  If I'm making egg salad, it's not as big a deal as it is when I'm making deviled eggs.  It takes a lot of time and I lose some of the egg material in trying to take the peels completely off, but at least they don't have to look pretty since they are going to be chopped up.

But when I'm making deviled eggs and I've failed to plan ahead well enough, it's no fun.  Deviled eggs should be beautiful and smooth on the outside.  And by failing to plan ahead and have aged eggs ready for boiling, one is left with the certainty that at least some of the eggs are not going to be beautiful and smooth.

I'm in the mood for making deviled eggs soon,  Perhaps you'll see them on the weekly menu in the coming weeks.  So I'd better plan ahead and pick up a few dozen now.

Berry fools

 

Good morning to all.  I didn't get my customary Sunday post in yesterday, but it's here today.

This coming weekend we have whipped balsamic vinaigrette dip and raspberry meringue kisses ready for ordering.  And the next weekend we have a delicious cheese spread with a little kick to it and also a very sweet cookie on the menu.  

This past weekend, I made a lot of berry fools.  I got tons of strawberries and raspberries as well as lots of cream.   I decided instead of making several small batches to instead make one large batch.  So I was making big bowls of berry puree and cutting lots of strawberries to sugar in a bowl with raspberries.  

It's sometimes a bit of an experiment when you make a large quantity of something by doubling, tripling or quadrupling a recipe.  This is especially true of baked goods, I think, where precise measuring by weight is so important.  I'm not trying to say that baked goods can't be made in large quantities.  They certainly can. But I have found that when making extra large batches of some products then it's not always as simple as multiplying the ingredient measurements.  It can take a bit of tinkering to adjust the amounts and the mixing process for those larger quantities.  

At any rate, this past weekend as I made lots of berry fools, I was cooking my berry puree and preparing to add my thickening agent to it.  It was a a large quantity, and once the agent was added, it sat for a while before going into the fridge to chill.  A couple hours later I went to check on it and it wasn't as thick as expected.   Typically within two hours when making a smaller batch it thickens up just right.  But with this larger batch, it took longer for the puree to cool down, and longer for the agent to do it's work.  After another couple hours, it was was exactly as it should be.  

It was the first time I had made a batch as large as this, so you can be sure that I made notes on this to detail out the expected thickening time for me or anyone else who was using my recipe.

I enjoy this process of varying the preparation process and documenting the results.  It certainly increases one's awareness of the vagaries of food preparation that are sometimes in play.

The berry fools were great.  Everyone enjoyed them.  I saved a couple for me and my wife and we certainly enjoyed them.  And now I have documented the important information needed to know in order to prepare a much larger batch than my original recipe called for. 

Next up is to try a few other new berries to make some new fools, perhaps blackberry?  Cherry?  Blueberry?   

Delayed orders and National Egg Day

 

Well, I'm sorry to say, but all orders this weekend and next weekend have been pushed back one week.  Nothing terrible happened.  I just wound up having to reschedule some things in my normal weekly routine and that resulted in the push-back.  But next week things will be back to normal.

Today is National Egg Day.  Eggs are amazing.  Try reading the book Egg:  A Culinary Exploration of the World's Most Versatile Ingredient by Michael Ruhlman.  This writer has done several books exploring topics in the food world, and I highly recommend them.  Eggs are indeed incredibly versatile, and I use lots of them throughout a normal cooking week.  And I love them by themselves.  They are a great comfort food in all their forms.  And comfort foods are the best, especially when it comes to breakfast.

Recently, my wife and I took a short trip, and we stayed at a bed and breakfast.  It was a nice inn, very comfortable and very charming, but I was surprised by the breakfast part of "bed and breakfast".  It was nice, but it was very small, and there were no choices.  Food is a great element in life that brings people together and creates connections.  And one would think it would be an important part of a "bed and breakfast".  I continually go through ideas in my mind of a food establishment, a cafe, bistro, bed and breakfast, lots of different forms these ideas take.  And in every one of them, there is lots of food and lots of choices.  That's the way it should be, I think.  People remember the food.  People think about the food.  And it can draw us back to a place again and again.  It becomes a force in our memories.

Have a great day, and try to stay cool as the summer begins to heat up.

Kisses and berries

 

This coming weekend you can order creamy egg salad and berry fools.

And for the following weekend we have whipped balsamic vinaigrette dip and raspberry meringue kisses.

I love berries.  Anything with berries is good, don't you think?  The berry fools make a perfect delicate dessert that is lightly sweet and are just right for warm summer days.  And the raspberry meringue kisses are a wonderful little snack.  

I am preparing to experiment with a few other meringue kisses as well, strawberry and blueberry.  If I can get the flavor balance right, you'll see those on the menu in the future.

As I prepare my supply run for these upcoming weekends, I will be getting lots of extra berries beyond what I need for orders.  I love having lots of berries around in the fridge, sometimes just by themselves in a bowl, sometimes in a lightly sweet compote, sometimes pureed and mixed into other things.  

The same can be said for melons.  And berries and melons chopped up into a mixture that is already portioned to the right size for an afternoon snack or a light breakfast are absolutely great.  We eat a lot of processed foods in this world, so it's good to take advantage of what nature gives us that needs nothing added, and berries and melons and other fruit are at the top of that list.

Eat some great food today and be sure to get out and enjoy that last bit of spring before the summer heat arrives.

Lots and lots of food

There is something amazing about a feast.  Is it the sheer volume of the food?  Is it the variety of the food?  Is it the community that gathers around the food?

I don't know.  

But I know that when I see a table laden with food, a room filled with trays of food, and the expectant chatter of people as they prepare to gobble everything up, it is a nice feeling.

This morning when I went out to put birdseed in all the feeding stations (and grape jelly and oranges for the orioles), I smelled the aroma of fresh food on an outdoor griddle.  My neighbor was making a special breakfast.  Those aromas wafting in on the slight morning breeze were heavenly.   It made me want to start a fire in the firepit and cook anything that came to mind.

The excitement of a big feast, or an outdoor cooking event, or a special planned dinner, this excitement is a great feeling.  Too much of the time, it seems to me, people just consume food without enjoying the planning, the preparation, the presentation, and certainly even the taste.  We consume at the expense of truly enjoying our food.  

It's nice to bask in the excitement and expectation and the eating, if we can.  And by doing so, we slow down the pace of the world, even if only for a hour.

Summer foods

Good morning to all!

This coming weekend we have savory egg salad and cole slaw ready for ordering.  And for the first weekend in June, you can order creamy egg salad and berry fools.

All of these are great summer foods, cool indulgences as the temperatures slowly start to build as the weeks pass.

I remember as a kid, sometimes we would have hot summer days, and on a whim we'd go to the store and get the makings for cool tuna salad sandwiches, chips, and ice cream.  And if we were lucky enough, we'd have a late afternoon thunderstorm build that would cool things down even more.

I loved those impromptu meals that were fun and unplanned, and the food was always cool and easy to fix.

I still like to do similar things now as an adult.  So enjoy these cool summer foods that are on offer. 

July is coming up.  I take a complete break from teaching for the entire month.  And I have plans to spend the month making lots of new foods.  It will be a fun month, and hopefully I will make some good progress on my cooking to-do list.

Enjoy this nice summer Sunday.  

Pancakes and breakfast meals

 

This coming weekend the weekly menu has our first offering ever of pancakes.  Plus a cookie.  Normally I'd say the cookie is the important part.  Everyone knows I love cookies.  But pancakes are right up there as well.  

I think breakfast foods are often the best foods.  I can eat them in the morning or at lunch or at dinner.  In fact, I think a meal of breakfast foods to end the day is an amazing comfort-food meal and puts a nice touch to the end of the day.  Pancakes, biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, fresh fruit, hash browns, they are all great for any meal.

When I have pancakes, I think having 100% real maple syrup is worth the expense.  Some people love to have whipped cream and berries on top, but I just want butter and syrup.  That's it.  No fancy variations.

I use pancake rings to cook these pancakes and make them all a uniform size and shape (well, at least mostly uniform).  I spent some time trying to find just the right pancake rings, and then more time tweaking the skillet cooking with them afterwards.  Is it possible to have perfectly uniform pancakes in a home kitchen?  I think not.  But those little differences are just fine.

OK.  It's 500 AM here, and so my writing is a little bit "rambling", but that's fine.  I'm up early today and my mind is already working on many things.  I have a busy day ahead, but I will be thinking of the fun I will have making pancakes this week.