More Experiments in Whole Wheat

If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time you know by now that I like to bake bread…often. You also probably know that I have slowly shifted to baking all 100% whole wheat breads…they taste so healthy. The techniques I’ve been playing with, and the one’s that have greatly improved the quality of my bread, are soaking the flour to hydrate the gluten, and delayed fermentation. Both of these techniques are thoroughly explained in this book. Anyhow, here’s the pictoral process of making my latest two-pound Pullman loaf. For more detailed instructions and a recipe (with additional and more detailed photos, click here. I encourage everyone to bake bread (whole wheat or other); you’ll be glad you did…it is so satisfying.

>More Experiments in Whole Wheat

>If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time you know by now that I like to bake bread…often. You also probably know that I have slowly shifted to baking all 100% whole wheat breads…they taste so healthy. The techniques I’ve been playing with, and the one’s that have greatly improved the quality of my bread, are soaking the flour to hydrate the gluten, and delayed fermentation. Both of these techniques are thoroughly explained in this book. Anyhow, here’s the pictoral process of making my latest two-pound Pullman loaf. For more detailed instructions and a recipe (with additional and more detailed photos, click here. I encourage everyone to bake bread (whole wheat or other); you’ll be glad you did…it is so satisfying.

Lebanese Lentil Soup with Lamb

This recipe is really a variation of the classic Lebanese lentil soup (which is often vegetarian). With the addition of lamb and potato it really becomes a full meal (the classic recipe also usually includes spinach or Swiss chard). The soup is seasoned with cumin, allspice, and just a hint of cinnamon. It’s also heavy on the garlic and lemon. But like any soup recipe this is really just a guide…the options are seemingly limitless (for a recipe that includes lamb and mint, click here; for a vegetarian recipe, click here). To read an article about Lebanese Cuisine on Sally’s Place (written by yours truly many years ago), click here.

Anyhow, this is how I made mine. Besides the lentils, these were some of the ingredients: lamb (from 8 O’clock Ranch), onions, green pepper, and carrots.

One of the keys to the recipe (I think) is poaching whole garlic cloves in olive. This is done slowly and the flavor permeates the oil. The garlic is removed, crushed, and added back to the recipe later. And the oil (which is permeated with garlic flavor) is used to saute the other ingredients and eventually becomes part of the recipe.


After the garlic is cooked and removed, the lamb and vegetables are seared in the oil.

Then I added the garlic (which I crushed) back to the pot along with a diced potato, a can of diced tomatoes, lentils, cumin, allspice, cinnamon, sea salt, a pinch of smoked hot pepper, and chicken broth.

I brought the soup to a boil, skimmed it, and simmered it for about an hour…stirring, tasting, and replenishing liquid as necessary. It was delicious…I’m sure it will be even better for dinner tomorrow. The aromas this dish emits as it cooks (the combination of lamb, cumin, allspice, cinnamon, and garlic…probably) really brings me back to when I was a little kid at my sitte’s house.

>Lebanese Lentil Soup with Lamb

>This recipe is really a variation of the classic Lebanese lentil soup (which is often vegetarian). With the addition of lamb and potato it really becomes a full meal (the classic recipe also usually includes spinach or Swiss chard). The soup is seasoned with cumin, allspice, and just a hint of cinnamon. It’s also heavy on the garlic and lemon. But like any soup recipe this is really just a guide…the options are seemingly limitless (for a recipe that includes lamb and mint, click here; for a vegetarian recipe, click here). To read an article about Lebanese Cuisine on Sally’s Place (written by yours truly many years ago), click here.

Anyhow, this is how I made mine. Besides the lentils, these were some of the ingredients: lamb (from 8 O’clock Ranch), onions, green pepper, and carrots.

One of the keys to the recipe (I think) is poaching whole garlic cloves in olive. This is done slowly and the flavor permeates the oil. The garlic is removed, crushed, and added back to the recipe later. And the oil (which is permeated with garlic flavor) is used to saute the other ingredients and eventually becomes part of the recipe.


After the garlic is cooked and removed, the lamb and vegetables are seared in the oil.

Then I added the garlic (which I crushed) back to the pot along with a diced potato, a can of diced tomatoes, lentils, cumin, allspice, cinnamon, sea salt, a pinch of smoked hot pepper, and chicken broth.

I brought the soup to a boil, skimmed it, and simmered it for about an hour…stirring, tasting, and replenishing liquid as necessary. It was delicious…I’m sure it will be even better for dinner tomorrow. The aromas this dish emits as it cooks (the combination of lamb, cumin, allspice, cinnamon, and garlic…probably) really brings me back to when I was a little kid at my sitte’s house.

Things That Can Be Carried On A bike (#92)


Even I’ll admit that this is an odd combination of items carried on a bike:

Two plastic soda crates.
A metal garbage can.
The book, Strength in the Storm, by Eknath Easwaren
A case of wine.
A new toilet seat.
An extra jacket.
A small can of wood hardener.
Extra bungee cords.
A u-lock.
An extra-long cable lock.
A bottle of water.

>Things That Can Be Carried On A bike (#92)

>
Even I’ll admit that this is an odd combination of items carried on a bike:

Two plastic soda crates.
A metal garbage can.
The book, Strength in the Storm, by Eknath Easwaren
A case of wine.
A new toilet seat.
An extra jacket.
A small can of wood hardener.
Extra bungee cords.
A u-lock.
An extra-long cable lock.
A bottle of water.

Polenta Bolognese con Uova (made in under twenty minutes)

I am not the type of cook who buys ingredients to make specific dishes (ok, sometimes I do, but not often). My method of cooking dinner usually entails rummaging through the fridge and pantry to see what I have (or don’t have). And when you shop as infrequently as I do this is sometimes a challenge. But one of the advantages of working as a professional cook for many years is that it is almost second natural to make something really good out of what is at hand. Tonight, though, there was another factor to consider. When I asked my teenage son (who just had his braces tightened and was in pain) what he wanted for dinner he said he didn’t care as long as it was soft. Here’s some of the ingredients I came up with, and after I considered how I could cook them into something both delicious and soft, I decided on Polenta Bolognese con Uova, or Soft Polenta (cornmeal mush) with Meat Sauce and a Fried Egg (in a restaurant a meal is worth an extra five dollars if you list it in a foreign language…joking, of course, but it does make it sound more romantic.
I started with the Bolognese sauce (for a recipe, click here). This is not so much an authentic bolognese version as much as an improvised on; for a base I had a pint of frozen heirloom tomato sauce and a frozen hamburger. I cooked the hamburger “carnita style,” meaning I simmered it in water with other ingredients until the water evaporated and the ingredients began to saute in the burger’s fat (and a little olive oil). While the burger simmered I broke it up with a wooden spoon.
While the burger was simmering I started the polenta by sauteing some diced pepper, onion, and garlic in olive oil.

While this was sauteing and the burger was simmering I steamed a few florets of broccoli and orange cauliflower (I purposely over cooked them so they would be soft…no al dente here).

Then I returned to the sauce (the water had evaporated and the ingredients were sauteing). I added the tomato sauce and brought it to a simmer.

Now I returned to the polenta (for a recipe and how-to video, click here). I added chicken broth, quickly brought it to a boil, seasoned it with sea salt and added a good sized pat of butter.

Next I added the cornmeal, and stirred it first with a wire whisk to remove any lumps, then with a wooden spoon for about five minutes to allow the cornmeal to cook and thicken.

The combinations of ingredients that can be added to polenta are seemingly endless (herbs, cheeses, dried meats, vegetables, etc); I stirred in a handful of grated cheddar and Parmesan cheeses.

To assemble the dish(s) I first put a mound of polenta in a bowl and made an indentation in the center. I distributed the vegetables around the edge of the dish and filled the indentation in the polenta with a good helping of sauce. While the food was still steaming I quickly fried a couple eggs and laid it on each portion. It was good…really good, said my son…and it was soft enough to eat with his newly tightened braces.

>Polenta Bolognese con Uova (made in under twenty minutes)

>I am not the type of cook who buys ingredients to make specific dishes (ok, sometimes I do, but not often). My method of cooking dinner usually entails rummaging through the fridge and pantry to see what I have (or don’t have). And when you shop as infrequently as I do this is sometimes a challenge. But one of the advantages of working as a professional cook for many years is that it is almost second natural to make something really good out of what is at hand. Tonight, though, there was another factor to consider. When I asked my teenage son (who just had his braces tightened and was in pain) what he wanted for dinner he said he didn’t care as long as it was soft. Here’s some of the ingredients I came up with, and after I considered how I could cook them into something both delicious and soft, I decided on Polenta Bolognese con Uova, or Soft Polenta (cornmeal mush) with Meat Sauce and a Fried Egg (in a restaurant a meal is worth an extra five dollars if you list it in a foreign language…joking, of course, but it does make it sound more romantic.
I started with the Bolognese sauce (for a recipe, click here). This is not so much an authentic bolognese version as much as an improvised on; for a base I had a pint of frozen heirloom tomato sauce and a frozen hamburger. I cooked the hamburger “carnita style,” meaning I simmered it in water with other ingredients until the water evaporated and the ingredients began to saute in the burger’s fat (and a little olive oil). While the burger simmered I broke it up with a wooden spoon.
While the burger was simmering I started the polenta by sauteing some diced pepper, onion, and garlic in olive oil.

While this was sauteing and the burger was simmering I steamed a few florets of broccoli and orange cauliflower (I purposely over cooked them so they would be soft…no al dente here).

Then I returned to the sauce (the water had evaporated and the ingredients were sauteing). I added the tomato sauce and brought it to a simmer.

Now I returned to the polenta (for a recipe and how-to video, click here). I added chicken broth, quickly brought it to a boil, seasoned it with sea salt and added a good sized pat of butter.

Next I added the cornmeal, and stirred it first with a wire whisk to remove any lumps, then with a wooden spoon for about five minutes to allow the cornmeal to cook and thicken.

The combinations of ingredients that can be added to polenta are seemingly endless (herbs, cheeses, dried meats, vegetables, etc); I stirred in a handful of grated cheddar and Parmesan cheeses.

To assemble the dish(s) I first put a mound of polenta in a bowl and made an indentation in the center. I distributed the vegetables around the edge of the dish and filled the indentation in the polenta with a good helping of sauce. While the food was still steaming I quickly fried a couple eggs and laid it on each portion. It was good…really good, said my son…and it was soft enough to eat with his newly tightened braces.