chicken thigh sandwich

A quick sandwich with max flavor, nice to have fresh bread and hand picked tomato on the same plate !

pound out one chicken thigh and season with course kosher salt and fresh ground pepper with a touch of ground turmeric. We are using and boneless chicken thigh. (please fresh ground pepper blend course ground, take the time to source fresh peppercorns a secret of maximum flavor to any dish. totally worth it.

heat to high a saute or fry pan

while the pan is heating prep some iceberg lettuce shredded and leafed to fit bread , thin sliced onion and slice fresh garden tomato

cut the fresh from the oven bread , 2 large slices. mid way from a round loaf

in the hot saute pan, with a combo of olive oil and butter, sear off the chicken thigh one side under high heat, flip, and lower heat for several minutes,

With a bacon press on the chicken to retain heat, remove from heat and let finish cooking, several minutes.

mound up the lettuce on one slice of bread

carefully slice the thigh horizontal into 2 very thin slices as best as possible, place on the lettuce.\ to cover the slice of bread.

top the thigh with thinly sliced onion, then sliced fresh picked tomatoes

butter the top slice of bread with mayo

top it off

enjoy with a strong ale

no knead bread

a bread recipe that involves minimal labor with great results!

adapted form Garden Fork YouTube posting

I need bread I just didn’t knead this loaf !

measure by weight

430 grams flour

9 grams salt

1/2 teaspoon yeast ~1 gram

mix the above ingredients

add  245  345 grams water

with a spatula mix until all is incorporated  , dough will be shaggy, DO NOT KNEAD

cover as is and let rise about an hour or two or more depending on room temperature or in oven with light on to prove.

line a bowl with baking paper (parchment)

carefully turn out the dough to a floured surface, fold top , bottom , and sides and gently tuck into a ball.

carefully transfer dough to the parchment lined bowl smooth side (top) up.

let rise again about an hour or as necessary.

preheat oven to 425 or better with a covered crock or casserole in oven.

When at 425 remove crock, carefully lift by the parchment paper, the dough and place in heated cock, cover with the heated lid, return to oven.

bake for about 20 minutes

remove lid and bake for about 20 minutes more at a lower temp, about 350 degrees.

remove from oven , lift by parchment and let cool, remove baking paper.

UPDATE: I make this recipe often as it’s easy and less labor than other recipes. Now I usually let rise in a crock, covered bowl etc. Then, turn out dough to a non stick bread pan, let rise again and bake. Super Simple ! You could actually let it rise in the baking pan itself !

430 grams of flour

9 grams of salt

about 1/2 teaspoon yeast

345 grams water

pour in the water

just mix till combined

after about an hour (or so)

prepare a bowl with parchment baking paper

gentle fold the dough and from into a ball

into the bowl…

cover and let rise

a heated covered crock

risen blistered dough

place into heated crock or casserole

into a well heated oven about 425 degrees Fahrenheit

reduce heat , uncover and bake an additional 20 minutes or so

done

bottom of loaf

soft airy crumb

toast test

buttered up

baugette trek

Seems like we are on a at least 5 year mission, to go beyond where bread making has been , in search of the elusive baguette. You (tube) will be assimilated, resistance is futile. You will try , try and try again to conquer the making of the baguette.

This effort started with a you tube recipe from baguettes with Patrick Ryan.

This is essentially a double fermentation of dough, one added to the other done under refrigeration, you will be baking on day 3 as you let each fermentation go one day in length and bake on day three.

The theory is that the long fermentation builds flavor.

 I,m no stranger to this as I usually start any bread I make with a pre-fermention not just as long as this recipe states.

just some picture of my first 2 attempts

Batch One

Just 2 long baguettes

Batch ONE done

Didn’t really follow the exact measurements, not bad, top crust didn’t really open where scored, and generally a even brown crust on the top , not all crispy at the sides.

Baked at about 425 degrees F

The crumb soft with  moderate holes from the fermentation. Still for me a delicious meal in itself.

__________________________________ Batch Two_____________________________________

1/2 the recommended amounts again as I didn’t want to bakes as many as recipes dictates.

Even with the 1/2 of amounts the dough ended up dry, added more water at the final mix. The recipe states “strong bread flour” not sure if the would include all purpose flour. I would like to try this with double OO flour. I couched them in a floured towel.

 The first batch I baked in a curved bread pan  These are going directly on a tray.

Scored and already opening up. This batch we are going for full power to the oven.

“Scotty ! divert all power to the oven !” , “Aye Aye Captain, but I don’t know what this ol stove will take, she could blow at any moment! “

At this warp speed the bread only took about 9 minutes, in retrospect I should have let to go another 2 minutes the internal temp was 205 degrees of the bread at the finish.

Also we are fighting the fact we don’t have a steam injector oven available, but I did the ol baking pan in the oven trick and add water just before adding the bread. Maybe I could modify my espresso coffee maker to pump steam into the oven !!!

Better crust on these but the sides and bottom didn’t get to crust as the top did.

 Nicely brown fissures in the top

The bottoms and sides not as well done, soft.  It probably would be advantageous to have a bread stone in the oven or to lay out the loaves on pre heated sheet .  Maybe next time.

Crumb nice and soft but no large caverns that you expect with a french baguette type of bread. Top crust is what I want all over the loaf.

Again a rather close crumb structure than expected. Next batch will be definitely a wetter, softer dough.

Taste is good ,salty enough even without butter. Doesn’t take long for the bread to loose the crustyness and the right out of the oven texture.

As the mission continues,  will be baguette method be found or will I just be roaming the bread galaxy for the holy grail of the bread universe ? There are probably as many stories and recipes of how to accomplish this. Perhaps the only solution would be to set a course for France  Number One .  Captains log , Out.

 

Apple chocolate chip muffins

I believe this is from Bake or Break website , recipe modified

added some fresh ground spices not listed of course !

ground spices added

my new grated i was gifted for Christmas

 

not exactly a light muffin, the apples have a lot of moisture , but I needed some chocolate and fruit for dessert.

 

 

 

OK …..i made dough also, bread and rolls BC you can live on muffins alone !

 

 

Random

Smoke roasted tomatoes

Peak harvest of tomatoes now, what to do ?

Nice weather so instead of using the oven indoors, fire up the smoker to roast tomatoes.

Prep the grille, a charcoal starter with fresh hardwood and a mix of leftovers from the last fire.

Mesquite pellets, a cup or two , fill the cup with water, the pellets will swell absorbing the water for maximum smoke output.

Not more than a few days from harvest, some within hours. I’ll reserve the cherry tomatoes for another use. Quartered the larger tomatoes.

Adding some garlic to the mix

Salt, fresh ground pepper blend and a few red pepper flakes.

Toss with a bit of olive oil.

Prep the perferated pan with oil to prevent sticking.

When the hardwood is ready, pour out to the charcoal pan, here at the lowest level. Add the soaked pellets, cover and let it come up to temperature. Sit the perferated pan atop and cover.

Smoking up, the hose is used to soak the ground below the grille. Avoiding flare-ups from unwanted embers from igniting anything. The bottom of the charcoal pan is screened for maximum air flow. A metal pan pan at ground level holds a small amount of water, a repurposed base from a water heater.

Oh ! I happen to have some dough around. Ready the flat bread ! A plastic mat with semolina give the dough ball bearing moveability with out sticking , like a pizza peel.

Tomatoes are done in about an half hour. The handle on the pan folds so it can fit in the grille when covered.

I did turn the tomatoes gently about 15 minutes to expose more of them to the smoke. Some took on a nice char. Set the tomatoes over a pan or plate after grilling to let the juices drain. I hand peeled the skins, just pull them off, if you like. Combine peeled tomatoes with juices. (After you sip a sample).

Added a few pieces of hardwood. Slap on the dough.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, I’m going to pulse up the tomatoes, I did eat several pieces before processing ! Looking good ! Added a pinch or two of sugar to balance , that’s all folks!

Pulsed up on the chunky side.

Since I have the grille up to temp a final addition of hardwood, might as well use it to bake a loaf of bread from the batch of dough.

Whattah think next ? ……..

……….. Of course !

The flat bread, smeared with the smokeyness of the tomato, fresh picked Russian red kale

Microplane some parm, a decorative side of sweet cherry tomatoes and kale leaf. Olive oil drizzle of course !

Crispy flat bread uuuummmm!

About 25 minutes later……..

Done! One container of tomato sauce in the freezer, the other in the fridge. Tomatoes plants still flowering.

summer sourdough bread

It’s TOO HOT TO RUN THE OVEN!

NO KIDDING , but who can go too long without a loaf of fresh bread, during the summer unless you have a very well air conditioned kitchen, adding more heat to the house isn’t a good idea and the temperature may not dip that much during the evening hours.

What have I got to lose by trying baking bread in a …………. crock pot ?

So it goes like this , I’ll skip over the dough part, just prep your favorite sourdough recipe, form up the loaf in a well greased crock of your crock pot. the amount will be proportional to the size of your pot. mine was the average size old 2 temperature crock pot. Now in a warm non air conditioned room the dough set overnight covered till it became a nice bubbly mass.

The  crock pot can be located in an non air conditioned room or even outside when baking to minimize the heat.

Now set the cover ajar, as I’ve learned from experience that fully covered, steam will form and drip back into the loaf making for a much too wet product, set it on high heat. Those with the fancy digital types will have to go by their best guess as to temperature.

Check back in about 50 minutes or so. The bottom should form a nice golden crust as to the sides as well.

Having the crock well greased, using a rack or plate over the crock, flip it.

Now carefully place the loaf back in the crock crispy side up, for another baking session about 45 minutes or so, your time will vary depending on the temperatures of the pot settings. Again the cover is ajar to retain some of the heat and vent the moisture.

Sourdough being a rather moist dough might still be not cooked through as I noticed in past attempts. so after the second baking continued I down shifted to the low heat setting and let her bake another 45 minutes or so.

The result is now golden brown on both the top and bottom, don’t expect the same results that  would have resulted  in a regular oven. It’s kind of a flat, puck style look..

…. but the taste is the same and sourdough texture is there.

By the way you can try this with traditional dough recipes also.

 

 

 

 

tIME FOR PIE (and bread)

A can of peaches sits on the shelve, some pie crust dough is in the fridge, 2/3 left over from a holiday recipe. Can’t think of the last time I used a canned filling but a family member brought it home with other food from a community food bank. Once I put the peaches in the pie shell, it needed more  filling of some type. Several apples were sliced and added with a light grating of ginger and turmeric root. The sweetness of the canned peaches was enough without adding more sweetness. A simple lattice top completes the bake.

here are the sliced apples atop the canned pie filling.

the rolling and cutting of the lattice structure

the lattice has been applied to the pie

OVEN TIME !

will go about 35 minutes, probably less

not often I use a genetic modified or fructose product…

Not often I use a product with genetic engineering and fructose but I guess genetic engineers need something to do if they went to school for it.

SHIELDS UP ! I had to deploy the pie shield as the outer shell casing became too dark.

the bubbling pie emerges

the oozing bubbling filling

cool down cycle

Not a bad tasting pie , the apples off set the canned peach taste accented with the ground ginger and turmeric. Goes well with coffee.

BUT WAIT !

Of course I had some dough fermenting, a bit interesting with this mix, some leftover cooked potatoes  were chopped and squished incorporated into the dough with the wire whisk on the mixer. The topping was a concoction of thyme zatar on one loaf and seed blend on the other. Mixed with a bit of water, butter and flour each of the coatings was brushed on each loaf before baking.

The bread was very moist, all of the potato was incorporated into the dough. Some of the filling from the pie previously baked had dripped onto the oven floor …. I SHOULD HAVE USED TIN FOIL UNDER THE PIE. Any ways the bread was very good, my good weakness !

Sausages and sauce

Some hot sausages and tomato sauce served on toasted bread.

Tomato sauce with some veggies,  onion, garlic, and seasonings. 

Broiled the sausage  combined with the sauce and cook for a while.

hearty tomato sauce

 

 

broiled sausages

simmering

bake some bread

slice the bread and place on a tray

add some sausage and sauce

top with American Cheese

broil till melted

top with sliced bread

a side of broccoli

Cinnamon Toast

Cinnamon Toast

A few ingredients that had been on the shelve plus bread and butter.

You need not have to use the same ingredients, usually  caster/brown sugar and ground cinnamon will suffice.