It’s Just a Garden in the Rain …

I’m sitting here today watching it rain on a terribly miserable day! Typical Oregon November. Trying to think of what my next blog post might be about – and I’m looking out on a wonderful summer garden being “drowned” by weeks of constant drench – isn’t it ironic that all summer long, the biggest problem faced by almost every garden plant is not enough water, and then in the space of a few weeks, what was a blessing becomes a curse?

And this beautiful old song came to mind-

Oh wow – the thoughts are flowing fast and rich – the rain as metaphor – something to be avoided, and yet beautiful and life giving – all depends on the emotional environment of the moment.

And more, … remember that this little ditty was written in 1929 – yeah, 1929, when there was absolutely no one who didn’t need a reminder, now and then, that yes, things would get better – yes, the sun will come out again, and we’d be all that much better for the experience.

Now – do me a favor – keeping in mind the mental state of America at the time this was written and released, go back and take a look at the pictures that the YouTube poster included with the song – they are simply beautiful, and meant, I’m sure, to reflect the metaphorical reality of the song – I especially love the final shot – I’m willing to bet that the poster lived through – painfully – this tragic era.  What a beautiful job by the poster, Grzegorz, who interestingly is a Polish doctor, not even an American.

” …, was just a garden in the rain, but then the sun came out again, and sent us happily on our way.”

Damn, I love that music of the twenties and thirties – I’d almost be willing to trade places with my parents just for the experience – Almost!  Or I could just spend the day – and I did – on YouTube reliving the era – Fun.

Oh yeah, the garden.

So, what were the stars of the garden? Well, before I tell you that, let me tell you which were the biggest disappointments. As you may remember, this past spring I moved my garden to a new part of the back yard, and I didn’t realize just how much stored up nitrogen there was in that new garden soil. Now, nitrogen is good, and if you don’t have enough, your plants don’t grow well – but if you have too much, all the plant’s energy goes into getting bigger and stronger – and it forgets about making “fruit”. So, my tomatoes grew into huge tree-like plants which spread into their neighbor’s rows, and robbed them of sun. And they didn’t start making tomatoes until well into late August, which in our area, does not allow enough time for the fruit to ripen. Result – very few ripe tomatoes!

Same fate befell the green beans – huge plants (almost tore down it’s support structure), but the beans came so late that we ate them very few times. Cucumbers did the same, although we got our fair share.

But the real star of the summer garden (Yes, there is a “winter” garden too) was the winter squash – a word of explanation, winter squash gets its name not from the fact that it grows in the winter – as my pic below will reveal – but because it stores well into the winter. Actually, it’s quite closely related to many of the summer squashes, and may even cross with some of them given the opportunity.

These too took too kindly to the high nitrogen environment of the new garden, and grew massive vines which took off in all directions – for much of the summer, I couldn’t get anywhere near them, and so had no idea whether they were producing fruit or not! Only in October, when the vines began to die back, did I see that they had in fact produced fruit, but far fewer than the norm. However, this was not a bad thing, because one of the problems of winter squash is that they set so many fruit that all are stunted to a smaller that desired size – in my case, nature took care of this and nicely limited the number of fruits each plant produced, giving me quite large squashes.

Before the Rains

After the Rains

We have already eaten several of these, although most are so large that one squash will provide enough for 4-5 meals easily – in fact, the best way to deal with the excess is to freeze most of it once cooked, and eat it over several weeks. Yes, it’s a good thing that they’ll store in a cool place most of the winter.

Hubbard (light green), Kobucha (dark green), Delicata (striped)

How do we cook them? Frankly, I think the best way to prepare high quality winter squashes is very simply – we often cut one up, remove the seeds (for roasting with olive oil and salt – Luscious!), and simply bake – and by bake I mean to place in a roasting pan -or pan with high sides- add an inch of water or broth to provide moisture, sprinkle the squash with your choice of seasoning/herbs (my fav is Old Bay powder), and drop a chunk of butter into that nice little well that nature provides – I also baste the surface of the squash sev times during baking (325 F is good), and using a large roasting fork, I try to make holes in the surface of the squash for the seasoned butter to seep into. If you want to cover all with aluminum foil for 45 minutes, and then remove for the last 30, that works well – but you can roast without foil too – just may take a little longer. Test for done-ness with your roasting fork – you want nice and soft!

Sometimes we par-roast for the freezer – then later, we thaw, wrap in foil, and finish baking at 325 F, until nice and soft. Additionally, once you have par-roasted squash in the freezer, you can use it for any number of wonderful creations. Make a soup with chunks of the almost cooked squash – add some chunks to a quiche or frittata – make mashed or pureed squash, with curry and/or coconut milk – or just saute them in butter and season. Damn, there are thousands of ways to go and things to make. Ask me again in the spring!

What about the winter garden – well, that’s another post.

Pierre Nury’s French Rye Ciabatta

A few weeks ago, I did a Daniel Leader bread, Raisin Pumpernickel, to be specific. And recently, I was popping around on The Fresh Loaf and I found another Leader bread, this one Pierre Nury’s Rustic Auvergne Light Rye, which is one of the breads out of Leader’s newest book, Local Breads. Nury is one of France’s premier bakers, having been granted its Meilleurs Ouvriers de France, an award presented only to the nation’s finest craftsmen.  The loaf looked interesting, in that it’s a French bread, but more in the tradition of an Italian ciabatta, and containing a bit of rye (just enough that you know you’re eating something not 100% white flour.). Since my other recent ciabatta attempts were quite successful and fun, I thought, why not!

I baked this one up with no surprises, and it was splendid – and as with almost all of my home creations which turn out well, I’d thought I’d share it with you – but why repeat a transcription of the recipe when zolablue has so graciously done so already on The Fresh Loaf. So, I think I’ll simply give you my baking notes, which bakers all know are as important as are the instructions themselves.

Immediately, you need to know that zolablue starts you off by making a firm levain, by using another firm levain – you’re simply building the levain.  But what if you don’t have any firm levain?  If you were using Leader’s book, he would direct you to a week long process of development – Sure!  So, if you don’t happen to have any firm levain, do what I did, and probably what zolablue also did, and just make up one the day before.

If you’ve never worked with a really wet dough before, it may take a little getting used to. This is not a hand-knead, which is good since it takes a hell-of-a-lot longer to knead than do most breads – this requires a stand mixer, and 14+ minutes on the machine, maybe even longer. And this dough is really sticky (another reason why the machine is good!) – it’ll never come away from the bowl. And once the machine kneading is done, let me suggest that you use a covered tub as your proofing environment – with a really wet dough, you can liberally oil the inside of the tub and slide the dough into it – the tub also makes it easier to do the needed stretches, folds, and turns. Once you try it, you’ll see.

This dough will take forever to get going. Leader remarks throughout the recipe regarding this fact – probably because he is fearing that you’ll think midway that his recipe is a failure. But when the dough exits its overnight fermentation, you may notice a nice dough growth (I did!), even though Leader once again tells you that the dough “will not rise”. Regardless, do not be concerned, for this is one of those doughs that has amazing oven spring. However, if you get a nice rise during the fermentation phase, the oven spring will be less (No you can’t have both!).

Another joy of working with these uber wet doughs is that you do not need any artistry when it comes time to form the loaf – all you do is drench your dough with flour, cut it into two parts, and stretch it out a bit – it’ll even look better if you mess up during this process – Really! No scoring necessary – Really!

Yes, I think once you’ve done one or two of these breads, you will no longer have a fear of wet dough, and you will know just how easy it is to get those huge holes! And this stuff is just about the best sandwich bread going – tons of flavor, nice crisp and chewy crust, and a soft, moist crumb – it’s got it all.

Ya’ wann’a try it? The recipe is at the top of this post, or just use this link.

Have fun – I know you will.

Let’s Celebrate Autumn

If you live in the U.S., anywhere in the U.S., there is a season when all normal activity takes a timeout to make room for that special local something that’s about to come into season – some lucky areas have dozens of special “seasons”, some only a few – but no matter where you reside, I know there are times of the year when your local foods become all important for a short period of time – and then they are gone for another year. It’s our life cycle playing out – not only do we take part in it, we are part of it!

So, what is it where you live right now? Well, the easy answer is, whatever you’re thinking about right now! And what is it where I live? Answer: mushrooms. Here in the northwest, autumn means mushroom season – the return of the rains also means the annual return of many kinds of mushrooms. Some people couldn’t care less, and never give it another thought – but some, me included, eagerly await mushroom season, and look forward to not only gathering lots of them, but also the opportunity of making all sorts of good things to eat using mushrooms.

And for a bread baker, that necessarily means making a mushroom bread of course – but what kind? Well, being a person who goes through phases (don’t we all?) I can’t help combining my latest mushroom preservation – see it here – and a very basic sourdough formula. I like this basic dough because it’s a loaf that goes together quickly -for a sourdough- and without a lot of fuss or bother. But, it’s a bread that will support and even bring attention to a supplementary ingredient – not all breads will do that.

You may choose to use any type of mushroom in this baking – or any other type of complementary ingredient for that matter, such as olives, cheese, sausage, whatever. I’m finding it to be a friendly and forgiving preparation, but perhaps that says more about the current state of my starter than it does about the formula. BTW, depending on the health/strength of your current starter, the times below may need a little adjusting.

Whole Wheat Sourdough Roasted Mushroom Bread

Ingredients:

• 454 g all purpose white flour
• 227 g whole wheat flour
• 198 g sourdough starter
• 16 g salt
• 507 g water
• about 170 – 227 g roasted mushrooms (feel free to use less – or more!)

Process:

• Mix flours, starter, salt and water (by hand or on stand mixer) for 2-3 minutes slowly
• Allow to rest for 10 minutes
• Mix on stand mixer at medium for 2 -3 minutes, or hand knead for 5 -6 minutes
• In a separate bowl, add 1 Tbs of flour to the roasted mushrooms and mix well
• Add mushrooms to dough, and mix on medium speed for two minutes until well incorporated, or hand knead them into the dough until well incorporated
• Remove dough to a bench/board and cover with a towel
• Allow to rest for 15 minutes and fold/stretch – cover with towel
• Rest again for 15 minutes and fold/stretch – cover with towel
• Allow to rest for 45minutes and fold/stretch – cover with towel
• Repeat another 45 minute rest and a final fold/stretch
• Cover dough and allow it to rise for 1 ½ – 2 hours
• Divide into two loaves, or shape into only one larger loaf – form using your preferred process
• Give final proofing of 2 -3 hours, or place in fridge overnight
• Preheat oven to 430 F
• Use a pan with boiling water in the bottom of your oven when baking begins, and/or misting
• Bake 10 min. at 430 F
• Lower oven temp to 400 F and continue baking for another 40-45 minutes
• Bread is done when internal temp registers 205 F or better

###

This is a great bread for entertaining or a dinner party – it really shines on its own – but I love it as a sandwich bread as well. And perhaps surprisingly, I find it holds its own in the morning with a sweet jam and your first cup of coffee, even enhancing the experience. However, I must share what I feel is it’s premier use – to make the best French toast ever! Until you’ve tried this version of French toast, you haven’t had the ultimate French toast experience.

I hope you’ll give this bread a try.

Because I believe this is a noble and worthy loaf, I’ll be submitting it to Susan at Wild Yeast for the upcoming session of YeastSpotting.  Check it out.

Mushroom Mania

I have a problem. Not a big problem, in fact, it’s not even a bad problem – just one of those nagging life issues which force a man to call on his or her creative juices – just the kind of thing that has, for millions of years, separated us from our mammalian friends and relatives.

My problem is simply this – over a period of two weeks, I have collected and processed the bulk of 8+ gallons of wild mushrooms -primarily chanterelles- for the freezer – that’s a lot of mushrooms. It’s enough mushrooms that one risks using only one or two ways of preserving them, and then tiring of the “sameness” of them when later put to their eventual use.

My basic way of preparing them for the freezer is something called “dry saute”, which is just a red hot, bare pan, into which you toss about a pound of mushrooms, and move them around until they have given up their liquid and cooked down in size by some 2/3rds – dry saute is a bit of a misnomer, since it’s a pretty “wet” process. Yes, I do process some by introducing some butter into this process – but since I could just as easily introduce the butter later when using my thawed dry sauteed mushrooms, I consider either of these preps one and the same. Whatever.

The only other process I use for freezer prep is to use Lydia Bastianich’s wonderful and simple sauce – this is a very different way to process the chanterelles, and although it is a great way, and a creates a super dish, it is a bit limiting in the ways the mushrooms can be used in a resulting way. Still, I consider it a basic process, and at least ¼ of my mushrooms get processed this way each year.

So, I’ve been on the lookout for an additional but simple way I could process some of the pickins, and I think I’ve found a good one – roasting!

I’ve always rejected roasting chanterelles because, as anyone who has tried drying them knows, when chanterelles dry, they turn to something quiet similar to leather – this is not appetizing, nor is it eatable. But, I kept seeing recipes on the net for roasted chanterelles, so thought I’d give it a try.

I was delighted with the outcome!

The recipe I used – actually a compilation of ideas, here, and here – was to simply clean and split large chanterelles (the larger the better, since a good deal of the mushroom “disappears” in the process of roasting, and you risk having all char and no body of the mushroom left), marinate them in balsamic vinegar(my idea), olive oil, and salt, and roasting them at a very high temp until their edges blacken and crisp. This gives the chanterelles a delightful texture, with a crispy edge and a chewy interior – and the mushroom’s delicate flavor is not overshadowed by the vinegar, but is in fact, enhanced by the roasting (I think this is so because most of the minimal amount of vinegar used is washed off when the mushroom exudes it’s water content).

If you don’t have chanterelles, you may use any kind of mushroom.  Here’s the formal recipe:

Balsamic Marinated Roasted Mushrooms

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. mushrooms (any mushrooms can be used – if larger than a half dollar, split them)
• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 2 Tbs. balsamic or red wine vinegar
• 1 Tbs. Kosher salt

Process:

• Preheat oven to 475 F – If you have convection, use it, but set temp at 450 F or so.
• Clean mushrooms, and try to use mushrooms of similar size, so that they will roast consistently.
• If your mushrooms are large, you may wish to split them – I had huge chanterelles, and for visual effect they needed to be split.
• Place mushrooms in a large bowl, and sprinkle the vinegar, oil, and salt over them.
• Toss the mushrooms in the marinade to try to distribute it among the mushroom pieces.
• Allow to marinate for 15 minutes, tossing the mushrooms every five minutes.
• Place the mushrooms on a rack in a sheet pan in a single layer – the pan must have sides to contain the liquid that will cook out of the mushrooms (I can get about 2 lbs of mushrooms in a 1/2 size baker’s sheet pan).
• Slip the pan(s) into the oven for 10 – 15 minutes (the time will depend on the size of your mushrooms – if yours are smaller, reduce the time and check on them often).
• Carefully pull the pan from the oven and flip the mushrooms over – the pan will have a lot of liquid at this point – you may wish to remove that liquid now, because if you let it cook away, you may have a tough cleaning job ahead, and the liquid could be used in sauces or soup if you save it.
• Return the pan to the oven for an additional 8 – 12 minutes, again, depending on the size of the mushrooms – you want them to have crisp edges with lots of brown.
• At the end of the time, or anytime they look like they may be done, try one – Delicious? They’re done!

Now, there’s nothing sacred about this recipe – it’s the process which is more rigid. Feel free to change the recipe as you wish – and you may discover some even nicer results – You can bet I’ll play with it. I think both of my links above suggest doing so. No reason why the addition of garlic wouldn’t be interesting – or trying it without vinegar – or with some fresh or dried herbs – the options are endless!

For those of you who -like me- suspected that roasting may turn the chanterelle to leather, I did not experience that!  I believe that enough of the mushroom’s internal moisture is retained to avoid this potential, and perhaps the intense heat does its magic so quickly that the chanterelle does not have a chance to react. And I have now had a chance to use some frozen roasted chants and can report that they cook up nicely – much as they did right from the roaster – it works!

But I think the major reason why I like roasting mushrooms is because roasting retains much of the mushroom’s visual appeal – frankly, sauteing always cooks down the mushroom to the point that a chanterelle has lost it’s identity – Roasting not only allows diners to see the beauty of the chanterelle, but imparts a diverse mouth-feel that is lacking in a sauteed mushroom. These would be simply spectacular as an addition to a creamed vegetable dish, or adorning a sauced chicken or seafood creation. Or, how about a white sauced pizza with garlic, bacon, and these beauties peeking out?  Nice.

Yup. Roasted mushrooms will join my short list of ways to prep my shrooms for freezing – it’s a definite winner.

America’s Food Secrets #7, Binghamton, New York

This current round of America’s Food Secrets has immersed me in mediocrity for all too long. It is amazing how poorly written and edited are many of these community fund raiser cookbooks which are the subject texts of our project – as they say, “you’ve got to kiss a lot of frogs, if you want to find a prince!” Ah, but why bore you with my problems? I have found a worthy candidate – one that in fact provides us with a wealth of interesting historical background in the process – and it’s not even in the South!

Our current winner is from an unlikely area of our nation – Binghamton, New York, a mid-sized city of no special note, stuck midway between NYC and Buffalo. No special note, that is, until you look close enough to recognize that from the mid 1800s, the Binghamton area of the northeast has always been an area of economic stability – in fact, it attained the nickname, “the valley of opportunity”, because there always seemed to be jobs available, especially to the new immigrants flowing into Ellis Island. And chief among those immigrants seeking opportunity were the Italians, and from the late 1800s through the next half century, many thousands made their way to this valley to seek their fortune.

What was so special about the Binghamton area? There’s nothing on the map that would give you any clues. The answer lies in the fact that it was an area that was resource rich – there was abundant coal as industrial fuel, vast forests of available timber, and yet it was a rich, fertile valley of rolling hills, which easily shifted from timber forest to agricultural lands – the valley became, at the turn of the century, the nation’s premier cigar producer, producing more than 100 million cigars a year, in a time when the popularity of the cigar was at its peek – it was an “everyman” smoke.

But it was “national defense” that made Binghamton most secure – and right from the time of the American Civil War! For it was from the factories of Binghamton that the munitions of the Northern troops came – the history of the defense industry is the history of Binghamton. And as night follows day, the end of the wartime industrial effort in the 50s introduced a new era of high tech specialization in the valley of opportunity (IBM was born here). The citizens of Binghamton have always eaten well, and the Italian immigrants provided much of the innovation that was to soon make Italian food one of America’s new loves.

Ah yes, the cookbook itself is, “Favorite Recipes, St. Mary of the Assumption” – and as far as these books go, this is one of the better ones! You do get a sense of the editor’s diplomacy difficulties when you come across 4 or 5 recipes for the same dish – and in at least one case, I found one recipe that was an exact dup of another; only difference was the name of the contributor! Yeah, I’m sure the editor goes through hell getting these things to press.

As I perused the book, I was taken with just how many Italian recipes there were in here, and a little research revealed why – the valley was a magnet for the many Ellis immigrants. And the vegetable section of the cookbook was unusually large for a community cookbook – but then, I’m well aware of how good Italians are at growing things – while growing up, we often lived in neighborhoods with large Italian populations, and I became used to seeing not the usual front yard lawn, but rather, front yard gardens – and I’ve heard more than one Italian tell me, “If you can’t eat it, why grow it?”

The recipe I’ve pulled to share with you here is for “Pasta a la Caprese”. Never heard of this? Pity. It really is one of summer’s supreme treats – It’s my selection not because it evolved into something everyone knows, but because it should be more well known. It is a taste of summer, like no other tomato/pasta dish can be! And it bridges the gap between a salad and a hot pasta dish – you’ll see why in a moment.

Pasta a la Caprese is essentially an uncooked, fresh tomato pasta dish – after 10+ months of eating long simmered pasta sauces, the advent of summer provides the opportunity to shift gears and enjoy the fresh, sweet taste of dead ripe tomatoes in our pasta – and it’s a mind-blowing change.

I’m also including it now because we are just at the end of this summer’s bounty – and if you’re lucky, you have a bunch of ripe tomatoes that are still hanging on your plants, and you have already canned, frozen, and preserved as many as you possibly can. Can you really waste the rest? Well, here’s a simple way to enjoy them, and get that last reminder of summer freshness – take advantage of it.

Pasta a la Caprese

Favorite Recipes – St. Mary of the Assumption

Binghamton, New York

Lucy Johnston (maybe her daddy was an Italian!)

page 65

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. penne, ziti, or rigatoni
• 8 oz. Mozzarella, grated
• 12 plum, or 4 large fresh tomatoes, sliced thin (about 4 cups)
• 3-4 mashed and minced garlic cloves
• 1 long thin, yellow-red Italian sweet pepper, sliced thin
• About 20 leaves of fresh basil, torn into pieces
• 1 tsp salt and pepper, or to taste (Salt and pepper are important to this dish – don’t skimp)
• Parmesan cheese, grated
• ½ cup olive oil (Yes, it’s a lot of oil – and yes, it’s necessary!)

Process:

• At least two hours before serving, combine all ingredients except for pasta and Parmesan cheese
• Let stand in a bowl at room temperature without refrigeration
• When ready to serve, cook and drain pasta
• When drained, add Mozzarella and toss lightly
• Then add sauce
• Mix quickly, but well, and serve at once
• Parmesan cheese may be sprinkled over the macaroni (Note the generic use of the term “macaroni”, always a sure sign that the speaker is definitely an Italian.)

If you have never had a fresh tomato pasta dish, I beg you to try this simple one – I promise it’ll make a convert out of you – if you simply haven’t had it for awhile, what’s the problem?

Enjoy.