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Out of Flour

I knew it. When I was at the store the other day, I said to myself that I'd get flour when I make my "real " grocery trip... certainly not now. I was only picking up a few things. So finally I got around to making my next loaf, and sure enough, I only had just over a cup of flour. So much for efficiency. My internal dialog of justifications is such a pain in the butt sometimes. As Oliver Hardy would say to Stan Laurel, "Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into." I need bread. I'm tired of eating potatoes and rice for my starch component. I can't make a ham sandwich on crackers or potato slabs (I mean, I could). I have been experimenting with my bread recipe, tweaking it for lean times such as these. Do I really need 4 cups of flour? Can I make up for a reduction in diastatic power with something else or get by without it? Well, I had gotten some mixed sorghum-rice-millet flour a while back to cut into my...

Baking Bread!

I had heard them all. All the discouraging but well-meant things about making bread at home, having to wait and let dough rise, flour everywhere, needing a dough hook and a stand mixer, and getting better than a good workout. "Baking is difficult." "Baking is tricky." "Ooh, baking bread, you really gotta know what you're doing!" This kept me away, which is unusual. The more esoteric a process and its arcane methods, the better by me. At some point in the last couple years, I REALLY got tired of paying too much for a loaf of decent bread. Stores sell a lot of good-looking breads, and especially so, in their store bakeries. How many times have you been all amped-up for a gorgeous sandwich you made at home on one of these breads? You're thinking, "I don't need to go to a restaurant. I could be a chef! Just look at this thing!" The lettuce is bright green and offset by gleaming orange cheese and a blistering red tomato sl...

Lactic Fermentation

I love fresh vegetables. It's one of the adult things I look forward to in the summertime. Sadly school days are long past, and Summer no longer holds its magical status as an untouchable time where I could drink in as much vacation as I wanted. Now I have alcohol... which is not what this post is about! The drinking kind anyway. OK, sticklers, I am patently aware of the use of lactic fermentation in brewing. Brewing discussions will come. B ut this is about food preservation. Ooh, pretty As usual, I have more things to do than I imagine. Will I take vegetables when offered? Of course I will! Of course I can use them! And believe me, I have every good intention to do so, but the reality is that I cannot realistically eat 8 pounds of fresh tomatoes and peppers and more in the time that it will take them to naturally ripen, over-ripen, and begin to ferment. No problem, I can use them for stuff!...

The Occasional Chef

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