UK: Plump

Here’s the rundown: Oysters in London, in my limited experience, taste salty and wet, like everything good about the ocean. The brine and silkiness match perfectly and seasonings of black pepper, vinegar sauce, lemon, and hot sauce complement a truly spectacular salt-water tinged experience.

The oysters I had in New York had to be, I hope, out of season. Yes they looked and felt like oysters, but the salt and metallic flavors that so defined my oyster experience abroad were nonexistent. Only the horseradish and (overpowering) hot sauce were consolations for an ultimately bland experience.

US: Bland

I’m of course no expert in oysterology and I’ve only tasted a few types of oysters in my time, so for now London is the horse I’m pulling for but further experimentation is obviously necessary.

Making pasta from scratch is the freaking best, and really easy when you have a pasta roller. Let me stress this point, when you don’t have one the rolling process is a pain in the ass (though not impossible). To make any pasta you need a basic ratio of about 1.5 cups of flour (I used half semolina and half bread flour) to 2 large eggs, add a tablespoon of water and a little olive oil if they’re not large.

Start by blanching the peas, about half a cup shelled, in salted boiling water for about 15 seconds and then dropping them into an ice bath. They’ll have a much greener color than when you started, this is what you’re looking for. Blend these with whatever wet ingredients you’re working with and set aside.

Mix together the flour and about a teaspoon of salt then gradually incorporate the wet ingredients by making a well in the flour mixture and pouring already beaten eggs and peas into it. Work this into a ball and knead for about 10 minutes, the texture of the dough will change noticeably. Wrap the dough ball in plastic and let it sit for about 20-30 minutes for the flour to saturate, then run the dough through the pasta roller however you see fit. You could also roll it out to make a sheet for lasagne or some type of filled pasta, like ravioli. I’m thinking about making a chicken liver ravioli with some split pea or other green vegetable pasta shell.

Boil your fresh pasta immediately or freeze/dry it. It will cook a lot faster than store-bought dried pasta since it’s already properly hydrated. Really, the difference is astounding. I prepared this dish with a little lemon butter, some red-veined sorrel (great bitter lemon flavor) and chopped dill and parsley. Really fresh, spring-ey, green, and delicious.

The NY Times has an article today about genetically modified salmon that grow twice as fast as naturally occurring salmon because of  a modification that forces growth hormone production during the winter, when salmon usually stop growing for the season. The FDA is currently deciding if the salmon should be sold for food, and if so, how they should be labelled.

Thoughts?

I know, I know, I haven’t posted in a ridiculously long time and the summer’s winding down and what will the Summer Foodie be without the summer? I’m sure it will continue into the fall and onward, as my co-writer Tyler and I will be living and cooking together at school.

This past weekend I did my first catering job. It was for a friend’s father’s birthday and the event was pretty low-key, but being my first such gig I was anxious and hopeful that my creations would be well-received. My portion of the menu was:

Appetizer Pizzas (9 total, assorted toppings), Squash+Mint salad with corn, Grilled Vegetable Pasta Salad, Duck and Chicken Wraps Peking-Style, Bread Basket

All in all the event went incredibly well, a fortunate outcome given the time and sweat I had invested in baking 10 loaves of bread, wrestling poultry, and chopping mountains of vegetables (my technique has improved vastly and could be an interesting future post). Cooking food for people I had never met before was certainly a first and meeting a few of the guests afterwards was strangely professional and rewarding, assuming their compliments were sincere and not merely due to my lack of age or chef’s garb.

Finally, a quick rundown of the recipes:

Pizza: this could (and does) have books written about it. Hot oven, simple dough with a little olive oil, fresh toppings. Lots of course flour and a pizza peel and stone are musts.

Caprese, Baby!

Squash Salad: baby white squash, chopped mint, lemon juice, corn, slivered almonds, olive oil.

Pasta Salad: pasta (homemade if you’re feeling ambitious), grilled zucchini and tomatoes, cubed mozzarella, basil, tarragon, olive oil, pea shoots.

Duck/Chicken Wraps: rotisserie duck/chicken, flour pancakes, grilled sour plum jam, scallions.

Bread: baguettes, sourdough, herb focaccia.

The perfect sandwich bread.

Do you like sandwiches?  I know that I do.  Do you know why?  Because I am a fucking human being, that’s why.  People and sandwiches have been getting along for a long time, and in a deep way.  If you don’t enjoy sandwiches, you might consider the likely possibility that you are not a human being.  They’re fast, convenient, ubiquitous, and come in countless forms.  So what’s not to like?  This post will be the first of two on the topic of sandwiches.  I mean this as a tribute to the ultimate everyman food, and a humble attempt to master it.  Here’s to sandwiches!

The first step on the path to a great sandwich is, naturally, the bread.  However, even as the first step of many, the question of bread is more complicated than you may think, and as with the sandwich in its entirety, there are numberless directions that one may take.  What follows is a bread recipe that I have concluded is my favorite for nearly any type of sandwich.  I do not claim that it is the best sandwich bread recipe in the world; it is simply my preference.  After all, part of the charm of the sandwich is its adaptability to the fancy of individuals.  The recipe combines elements from Mark Bittman’s Easiest and Best French Bread and James Beard’s Basic White Bread, with a few important changes of my own, as we shall see.

First, combine in a large mixing bowl 1 teaspoon sugar, 2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon active dry yeast (half of a normal packet), and 1 pound all-purpose white flour (about 3 1/2 cups- unbleached is preferable if you have it, but not necessary).  The late and honorable James Beard would have you proof the yeast first in some warm water to verify it’s livelihood, but I find that if you are confident in the freshness of your yeast, this is not necessary.  Briefly combine these dry ingredients, and then gradually add in a GENEROUS 1 1/2 cups slightly warm water (perhaps even 1 3/4 cups if necessary to get the right consistency) while thoroughly mixing.  If you don’t have an electric bread mixer (who does?) I recommend a sturdy fork for the mixing, as it will give you more leverage than a whisk in a dough that will take some strength to really stir around.  Adding a generous amount of water here is absolutely essential to the recipe, and my main point of divergence from the techniques of both Mr. Bittman and Mr. Beard.  The point is to slightly overload the dough with water so that later on when it rises, the inner structure of the bread will be too weak to support itself and the loaf will collapse into the lovely wide, flattened sandwich bread that we’re looking for.  At the end of the mixing, the dough should be formed into a single mass but still quite sticky, to the point that you would not be able to knead it by hand.  When this consistency is achieved, turn the mass of dough into a lightly buttered bowl and rotate it completely to cover the outside of the dough in a thin coating of fat (this prevents the outer layer of dough from drying and forming an unwanted first crust while rising).

The quite sticky mass of dough.

Loosely cover the bowl with a towel and let the dough rise until it has doubled in volume, usually in 2 to 3 hours depending on the temperature and humidity of your kitchen.  You would be surprised by how much rising it takes for dough to double its size, so don’t be afraid to let it sit a bit longer if you’re not sure that it’s ready.

The dough, doubled in volume.

When your dough has sufficiently risen, turn it out onto a floured surface, deflate it as much as you can, and start to knead the dough into a workable ball.  You’ll need to use quite a bit of flour here to keep it from sticking to everything too much, but don’t worry about ruining the weakened-structure plan, as the inner workings of the dough are already set.  When you’ve worked the ball into a smooth, recognizably bread dough-like consistency (you’ll know it when you see it), divide the mass into two equal portions and shape each into approximately round balls of dough.

The separated dough.

Loosely cover the dough again with a towel and let rise for about 20 minutes.  Then on the same floured surface, deflate each ball as before and knead each into a flattened, roughly rectangular shape.  Fold each of these rectangles onto themselves hot dog style (as opposed to hamburger style- that is, along the longer vs. the shorter axis), and flatten these shapes into new, longer and narrower rectangles.  Repeat this flattening and folding with each mass of dough, and this time press the folded seams together to create somewhat rounded, baguette-like forms.  Lay these on a greased baking sheet and loosely cover again.  Let these rise for 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours, or until they have approximately doubled in WIDTH, rather than height or overall volume.  This is where the effect of over-watering the dough will become most noticeable.  It helps the dough to collapse nicely at this point if you have a slightly warm surface to set the baking sheet on, such as the top of a gas stove (the pilot light is warm enough, and if you don’t have access to this, it doesn’t matter- it only helps to speed up the process).

The initial loaves, pre-collapse.

The risen loaves, post-collapse.

The loaves should at this point be 3 to 4 inches wide and about 2 inches tall.  Sprinkle the top of each with a bit of flour and make a few slashes with a razor blade (or, if you don’t have one, the sharpest knife you do have), both to help keep the loaves from cracking open in the oven from too much gas build-up, and because it makes for very pleasing (and professional) looking bread.  Insert the pan into a 450 degree oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the bottom of the loaves sound hollow when rapped with the blunt end of a knife.  It helps to develop a nicely colored crust if you splash a shot glass full of water on the bottom of the oven to create steam.  This is easily the most theatrical step in the process, so enjoy it.  I generally do this right when I put the bread in the oven, then once more after 10 minutes of baking (and sometimes a third time if I haven’t much else to do).

When it’s finished baking, this makes for excellent sandwich bread.  The taste is pleasing yet subtle enough to not overpower the flavors of your sandwich fillings, and the flat shape provides a wide and sturdy palette on which to load a preposterously large amount of delicious ingredients.  In spirit, this is submarine sandwich bread, but FAR superior to the Wonder-loaves people are used to at most fast-food sandwich shops.  Also, the thought of having made your own bread for a sandwich is very rewarding (and a simple way to impress people), and I assure you that no bread will taste better than that which results from your own handiwork.  Part 2 to come soon.

Delicious.

The only necessary ingredients.

In olden times, before some genius decided to throw ice cream in with milk to make a thicker, heavier milkshake, bygone milkshakes were composed of naught but a sweetener and some milk, shaken until frothy (thus the name).  Nowadays this practice has become uncommon thanks to the innovative addition of ice cream, but the technique still comes in handy when all you have on hand are milk and some sugar.  My roommate and I stumbled upon the method through a bit of luck one night when the milkshake craving hit us hard, and some subsequent research confirmed its legitimacy.  Here’s what to do.

Take whatever milk you have on hand, preferably about enough to fill your shaking vessel no more than 20-25% full, and remove the lid from the container.  As for variation among milks, 2% seems to work best with 1% at a close second, but skim and whole will also work (to go beyond our own exploration, try out the method with soy or rice milk).  Then pour directly into the milk container about 2-3 tablespoons of some sweetener.  Brown sugar seems to allow for the most frothing in the milk (and taste the best) but honey is also quite good.  Put the cap back on the container and shake the whole thing vigorously until the milk more than doubles in volume, as demonstrated in this progression (usually taking about 30 seconds of serious shaking).

Unshaken milk.

Finished!

The amount of milk shown here (shaken by the trusty Schwab) makes for about 3-4 substantially sized milkshakes.  If you have a few minutes beforehand, it helps to briefly chill the milk in the freezer (not too long though, for obvious reasons).  Also, this method leaves a lot of room for elaboration in the realm of flavor.  We’ve been doing basic sugar and milk, but there’s nothing stopping you from flavoring the shakes with more creative ingredients, even as simply as with some vanilla extract, cinnamon, or liquor.  Beware though, as it seems that the more additions you make to the milk, the less frothy it is capable of becoming.

This is the story of the one minute milkshake.  Tell your friends.

Enjoy!

]]> http://summerfoodie.wordpress.com/2009/07/30/milkshakes/feed/ 3 tylerdennis ingredients schwab1 schwab2 schwab3 schwab4 schwab5 schwab6 DSC04788 http://summerfoodie.wordpress.com/2009/07/14/favas-in-beet-water/ http://summerfoodie.wordpress.com/2009/07/14/favas-in-beet-water/#comments Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:25:54 +0000 Lloyd http://summerfoodie.wordpress.com/?p=165 ]]> There’s no culinary reason to include this (they didn’t even taste good), but I thought the pale beans against the beautiful red water were particularly stunning.