i creamed my pantries: December 2010

Stoked! I haven't made bread in ages and this weekend I sat by myself in and empty house with a steady supply of Mai Tai's and Dexter, season 2. What better way to spend a day baking bread than that? This bread is pretty fantastic and I believe that if I were a lover of Jalapeno's they would make a harmonic connection in this recipe. I, however, am a pussy when it comes to spice and subbed them out.
adapted from Toxo's Bread; Ultimate Man Bread.

This recipe requires a wild yeast or synthetic yeast starter. Making one is easy but requires at least a day ahead of prep work.

Heavy Pinch active dry yeast
2/3 cup water, room temperature
1 cup + 3 tbsp unbleached bread flour

Start by adding the water and yeast to a medium sized bowl and stir gently until dissolved. Let the yeast "ferment" for a moment or two too become frothy. Then, slowly, add the flour and mix on the lowest stir setting possible until the mixture is fully incorporated and seems bubbly. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit over night in a warm, dry place for at least 24 hours, or double in size. This starter works really well the longer you let it sit. In order to keep it growing you can feed it every couple days with equal parts water and flour. This will keep the yeast "alive" by "feeding" it and will basically never go bad. ( if you take care of it...)

1 medium potatoe, coarsely chopped
potato water, lukewarm 3/4 cup
2 and 1/2 tbsp liquid sourdough starter
4 cups unbleached bread flour
2 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 cups 1/4th inch cubs of medium cheddar
6 slices thick-sliced bacon, coarsely chopped

Par-broil the potatoes until fork tender, drain, reserving the water. While potatoes are cooling, fry the bacon, half the green onions and the garlic until rendered and crispy. When cooked, move the bacon and the fat to a bowl, scraping the pan for any residue.

In a mixing bowl add the potatoes and mash lightly with the back of a fork. Do not completely mash, be sure to leave some chunks for the bread. This will add a great texture and creaminess to it. Add the starter and half the flour and mix until smooth. Let rest for 35 minutes.

After the dough has rested you should notice it start to rise again and the surface become more smooth. Add the remaining flour, salt and potato water. Knead for 6-8 minutes being gentle not to smash the glutes in the bread too much. The dough will seem very sticky so be sure to flour your work surface and hand well. Around the end of your kneading, fold in the green onions, bacon, fat and cheese. Let rest now for 30 minutes, then re-knead / fold the ingredients and repeat 2 more times for a total resting period of 90 minutes.

Divide the dough into two loafs and place on a parchment paper covered cookie tray. Let rest for a final fermentation of 60 minutes. While the dough is in its final resting, start by boiling 2 cups of water. Place the boiling hot water into a shallow tray on the bottom of the oven. When the dough is ready, place in a NON preheated oven at 500 degrees. When the oven has done preheating, turn down to 450 and cook for 35-45 minutes or until golden brown. You should rotate the bread halfway through cooking to ensure even shape and consistency. Let cool off in the oven with the door open for 45 minutes before slicing.

I haven't had a real working kitchen in many months, what with the shallow sink, small oven and about 5 square feet of walking space and counter space (hence my lack of posting. Sorry dudes!) Recently I had the opportunity to cook in a real functional working kitchen! It's been on and off rain or snow lately and I just really wanted some comforting hearty soup. I went to full sails brewery and had the most amazing porter cheddar soup and have been searching since October all over the internet for a replica. Unfortunately all that was available to me was Sierra Nevada's IPA, which isn't as dark or sweet as a porter. However, with proper care and cooking techniques the soup came out amazing and I didn't experience a strong bitter taste that usually accompany cooking with a beer so hoppy as an IPA.

1 larger white onion
2 tablespoons fresh chopped garlic
1 1/2 sticks butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 quarts milk
3 bay leaves
Sprig fresh thyme
3 cups shredded extra sharp cheddar
3 cups aged melting swiss
salt and pepper to taste
pinch of nutmeg
pinch brown sugar
1 1/2 cups dark ale (porter, stout, lager, etc)

Stat by heating a heavy bottomed skillet capable of going the oven with a tablespoon of butter on medium low. Slice the onion as thin as possible, for this I used a cooking mandolin. Try to cut them evenly so they may cook evenly as well. Once the butter is melted start by sauteing the onion's until caramelized, about 40 minutes. This may seem like a pain but its so worth it. Make sure to keep stirring the onions so that they don't burn or brown too quickly and unevenly. If you need a little help you can sprinkle a bit of brown sugar over the onions to bring out the sweetness. Once the onions are completely translucent and golden all over, add the garlic and saute for about 3 more minutes or until the garlic becomes fragrant.

Now, add the flour; Cook, stirring frequently, over medium heat, about 15 minutes. This is the process of creating a Roux. Roux is a cooked mixture of flour and fat, traditionally clarified butter. It is the thickening agent of three of the mother sauces of classical French cooking. Butter, vegetable oils, or lard are commonly used fats. It is used as a thickener for gravy, other sauces, soups and stews. It is typically made from equal parts of flour and fat by weight. When used in Italian food, roux is traditionally equal parts of butter and flour. By contrast, Hungarian cuisine uses lard (in its rendered form) or - more recently - vegetable oil instead of butter for the preparation of roux (which is called rántás in Hungarian). You want to be careful to not burn this Roux, as its extremely delicate under high heat temperature. You want to keep stirring until it has lost its chalky consistency and taste, to keep your soup/sauce from getting gritty or tasting too much like flour.

Slowly whisk in the milk, little by little at a time. Add bay leaves and sprig of thyme; Cook stirring constantly now, over low heat until the mixture completely coheres and thickens, about 15 - 20 minutes. Remove the bay leaf's and thyme sprigs from the pot. If any leaf's are still clinging to the thyme sprigs, scrap them off into the soup.

Stir in the cheese gradually; Cook just until the cheese melts. Stir in small handfuls at a time, one cheese at a time. Remove from heat and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste. Lastly, just before serving, Stir in the beer. Only do this last step directly before serving the soup or the beer will become flat and bitter.

There are many ways to serve this soup, either it be with spiced popcorn, smoked sausages, peppered bacon, tempura fried broccoli or roasted garlic crostini's. I choose Roasted garlic french bread with crumbled peppered bacon! Hah!