My Saturday Six

Weekend Six

This is the time of year when Florida farmers markets are usually brimming with tomatoes, green beans and strawberries. It's slim pickings this year. I did get some tasty tomatoes yesterday but they're about the size of tomatillas. Green beans have been non-existent, our cold winter has really hurt the farmers. Thankfully, there's plenty of lettuces, spinach, arugula, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, turnips, beets, and new potatoes.

I went to Sam's and got a brisket to start brining in anticipation of corned beef sometime around the 17th. I pointed out to dh that the fresh brisket was more expensive than the already corned beef. But I enjoy the process and it tastes really good.

I'm also marinating short ribs in a marinade of sauteed leeks, onion and garlic and a bottle of red wine to make Charlie Trotter's shortrib recipe from WSJ about a year ago. That will be dinner tomorrow night with a side of roasted garlic mashed potatoes.

Made Fajitas last night from a recipe in The Southwest the Beautiful. It came out nicely, except the skirt steak was extremely ummm...chewy. I don't know what went wrong, it was Angus beef, marinated as directed, grilled rare and allowed to rest. I'm afraid I'm going to have to give up on it. I've read there are two different kinds, inside and outside and one is more tender. I must have bought the other one.

Whole Foods has chickens on sale for .98 a lb. I hope they're not humongous. I think I'll buy a couple to cut up and freeze and one to roast.

Tonight is there's kale and sausage soup for dinner . We've been watching the DVD of the BBC's Season 1 of Lark Rise to Candleford. I've really enjoyed it.

 
(((Curious))) One of my favorite things about visiting my ILs in Florida is the winter tomatoes

I'm sorry to hear the crop was hurt by the cold weather. I love having them with my mother-in-law's blue cheese dressing, or just sliced and topped with some salt.

Your short ribs recipe reminds me of one that I've tried a couple of times - I think it was from Fine Cooking magazine. I love short ribs!

 
What a great old store!! Such a shame they demolish places that like... is that "progresss"?!

 
Ok, just make all the ladies here jealous why dontcha?! Lots of 'occasions' for gifts....

March 14 - daylight savings time begins
March 17 - St. Patrick's Day
March 28 - Palm Sunday, then Passover
April 4 - Easter
May 9 (if you can wait that long) is Mother's Day

 
Happy anniversary anyway, kids (our 34th is this year)! What do ya think happened to the croissants?

 
Sally - what was wrong with them?

Also, you said you put in the fridge after all 6 turns. Did you refrigerate really well in between each turn? We had to 'shortcut' that in class and they didn't turn out right.

I love them but just getting the timing down right keeps me from making them often. I cheat and get the all butter frozen mini croissants at Trader Joes - they are KILLER!

 
Those croissants....

..... they did not rise, ended up very very tiny, and heavy as lead.

honestly, the worst croissants ever! smileys/smile.gif

I think part of the problem is that I am directionally impaired - you know how you are supposed to fold, and do a 1/4 turn to the right? I "think" I messed up the direction of some of the folds. Not sure this would explain the fiasco, but.... I gotta recover from the trauma and try it again.

(thanks for the wedding anniversary wishes, I am sure a very lucky person to having found my perfect match, after having kissed my share of frogs... smileys/smile.gif

 
I'm glad your bread turned out well. Did you try the CI method? Also, which sour dough starter

did you try?

Congrats on the Coach score!! smileys/smile.gif

 
My Weekend (Almost) Six

* Made Navel Orange/Meyer Lemon Marmalade which I personally liked much better than straight Meyer.
* Made English Muffins with (old) Instant yeast and they took an Age to rise! But they were good!
* Lost 2 pounds this week, Yay!
* Finished knitting my First Pair of Socks (Thanks, Heather for turning me on to Ravelry!)
* ?
* ?

 
Definitely true....

I can see us in ten years talking about "remember when you made those pathetic croissants to celebrate our anniversary?"

smileys/smile.gif

 
What's the "CI" method? I went with the "No Knead" version. (Ok, I DID knead it a tad) Turned out>

REALLY well. With this batch I used the starter begat from "breadtopia" with 60% High-Gluten Bread Flour and 40% White Whole Wheat. While it's not as sour as the "carlsfriends" loaf, it rises significantly better.

There was nearly 50% oven spring, thin but crisp crust and the crumb was moist, clean, mildly sour and filled with irregular sized holes. I may never knead a loaf of bread again.

Now the down side of the no-knead process is you have to bake in a covered cast iron pan which limits shape options. I'd like to make batards but am not quite sure how to go about it. Because the dough is very wet (100% hydration, according to the pros)it needs a form to keep it from spreading before baking.

I have a batard form and may try loading dough in each of the 2 sides, put it in a baking pan, then cover with a deep roaster. That MIGHT achieve the cloche-like method necessary for proper baking.

But I do go on . . .

 
Sorry, it was Cook's Ilustrated. Maybe you can shape

your batards, leave on parchment covered baking sheet and try the steam method.
(pizza stone heated 30 mins on high heat
then throw water on the bottom of the oven to create steam?

 
That would work but to do it the "No Knead" way, I'd need an oblong cloche. Hate having one >

more large object that takes up alot of room and only does one thing. Speaking of my younger brother. . . (buh-dum-bum!)

 
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