Still it's a bit weird to think Grandma's wonderful baking might have had less to do with her feel for dough than with her yeast infection.
So you are saying Grandma masturbated and then cooked/baked without washing her hands?
Scott,
I take it you are using a commercial yeast. Try making some dough without adding yeast and see if you can get any natural yeast rise. It takes much longer. Before baking use some dough to start your own culture.
I just got in some lamb shanks (rear legs), sliced rear leg steaks, kidneys, livers, flanks and cal fat. My lamb source likes me as they start with everything and the best seller is rack of lamb and then I think chops.
Tomorrow will render the fat, first wet method and then the dry way on what is left. When rendered fat will be used to make liver and kidney pates. Also will start the flanks curing to become bacon like.
Also coming in next week twelve liters of first pressing olive oil. The 2.5 kg of olives are already in.
Really bad part is trying not to gain weight this time of year.
I take it you are using a commercial yeast. Try making some dough without adding yeast and see if you can get any natural yeast rise. It takes much longer. Before baking use some dough to start your own culture.
I just got in some lamb shanks (rear legs), sliced rear leg steaks, kidneys, livers, flanks and cal fat. My lamb source likes me as they start with everything and the best seller is rack of lamb and then I think chops.
Tomorrow will render the fat, first wet method and then the dry way on what is left. When rendered fat will be used to make liver and kidney pates. Also will start the flanks curing to become bacon like.
Also coming in next week twelve liters of first pressing olive oil. The 2.5 kg of olives are already in.
Really bad part is trying not to gain weight this time of year.
The local bakery that does excellent breads in the back room throws flour on the work surfaces to keep things from sticking. Some of the flour lands on the floor. This is swept up and then placed back in the flour bag.
Another dining club prepares the dough for the dinner rolls and then raises them in a cellar room just off of the prep kitchen. Is is bare sedimentary rock walls, dirt floor, damp and reasonably constant temperature.
So both places are getting naturally found yeast to raise their dough.
Saccharomyces florentinus shows up as used in ginger beer!
Now Scott, next time you are traveling and find great bread, bring back a crumb and start your own culture.
Another dining club prepares the dough for the dinner rolls and then raises them in a cellar room just off of the prep kitchen. Is is bare sedimentary rock walls, dirt floor, damp and reasonably constant temperature.
So both places are getting naturally found yeast to raise their dough.
Saccharomyces florentinus shows up as used in ginger beer!
Now Scott, next time you are traveling and find great bread, bring back a crumb and start your own culture.
The best time of year to do that is late summer / early fall when fruit is ripening and lots of wild yeasts are in the air.
I love lamb flank, but my favourite way to prepare it is to grill it(over charcoal) with lots of lemon and garlic. The excess fat renders out (don't worry it will still be greasy when done) and the smoke adds a lot of flavor.
Speaking of wild yeasts, a friend of mine is a home brewer and has been for a very long time (he started in high school because you can buy malt syrup and yeast without ID), and he makes very good beer (and wine). He is scrupulously hygienic, and is a trained scientist (marine biology) so uses lab-like practices when brewing. Some years ago he went through a phase where he had a series of beers that foamed uncontrollably when opened. It seemed to be cause by an infection of wild yeast and/or bacteria, but he couldn't find the source. He cleaned and sanitized every vessel and piece of equipment that contacted the unfermented or fermenting beer, but the problem persisted.
I was wondering what might have changed, and I noticed that he had been buying corn sugar, which he used mostly to "prime" the bottled beer (causing a final bit of fermentation in the bottle to carbonate the beer), in large 10Kg bags because he could get a much better price at that volume. He kept it stored in a clean, dry place, and it looked and smelled fine, but I figured moisture could still adsorb on the sugar crystals and create a perfect medium. I suggested that instead of dissolving the sugar directly in the 23 liter vessel of beer prior to filling the bottles, that he dissolve it in a bit of water and briefly boil it to kill any organisms. Problem solved!
I was wondering what might have changed, and I noticed that he had been buying corn sugar, which he used mostly to "prime" the bottled beer (causing a final bit of fermentation in the bottle to carbonate the beer), in large 10Kg bags because he could get a much better price at that volume. He kept it stored in a clean, dry place, and it looked and smelled fine, but I figured moisture could still adsorb on the sugar crystals and create a perfect medium. I suggested that instead of dissolving the sugar directly in the 23 liter vessel of beer prior to filling the bottles, that he dissolve it in a bit of water and briefly boil it to kill any organisms. Problem solved!
That's interesting, nezbleu! My dad is a retired chemical engineer and equally neurotic about his beer making processes. Must have been taking root in the bag itself because that high of sugar concentration acts to dry out the little buggers. Or he had a lot of spore contamination in the sugar/bag that he innoculated before it reactivated in the beer. At work, we don't make growth medium out of anything nearly that high of sugar content, or we'd have to call it death medium.
Beer on the other hand is a great growth medium, whether you want it or not.
Beer on the other hand is a great growth medium, whether you want it or not.
If they were in the midwest, they most likely had pectin on the shelf. We used to pick the cherries and currants for jellies right in gram's back yard and pectin used as a gelling/thickening agent! The jelly jars were sterilized and sealed with paraffin.
(Same Gram had a red food dye that was brought over from the old country, a tiny drop at the end of a tooth-pick would color several cups of cake frosting.)
When I was a kid my mother had a store that sold hand-crafted items from all over Canada, with one room exclusively made in NS. In there we had some home-made jams made by some little old lady somewhere in Nova Scotia, jars also sealed with paraffin. She made wild strawberry jam. I don't know if you have ever picked wild strawberries, but a big one is about the size of my pinky fingernail. I can't imagine picking enough to make a jar of jam, never mind a gross of jars!
Managing expectations... or not.
Last year, I made Christmas cookies as gifts for the family. Two weeks ago I received some metal boxes from my sister : "they'd be perfect for your cookies." "Uh I wasn't planning on..... sure."
So, this year's cookies. A mix of various recipes, a boatload of sugar, almonds, hazelnuts and cinnamon in there. My favorite this year is a bredele with little bits of walnuts candied in honey.
And a merry Christmas to all of you.
Last year, I made Christmas cookies as gifts for the family. Two weeks ago I received some metal boxes from my sister : "they'd be perfect for your cookies." "Uh I wasn't planning on..... sure."
So, this year's cookies. A mix of various recipes, a boatload of sugar, almonds, hazelnuts and cinnamon in there. My favorite this year is a bredele with little bits of walnuts candied in honey.
And a merry Christmas to all of you.
Attachments
Merry Christmas to all! We have our gastronomic traditions: a bouillabaisse-esqued bowl on Christmas Eve and tonight is a beef roast. I do the salad, which is fennel, sweet onion and blood oranges. It takes forever to make because I make sure to microtome everything and plate it obsessively.
I would post a picture of the "Buche de Noel" which I made for Christmas dinner, but it's all devoured.
One of those simple recipes with 5 separated eggs, a bit of cocoa powder, vanilla extract and pinch of salt.
I tried to make "buche de noel" on a prior christmas but it cracked badly. searching recipe sites and youtube I found the secret. the batter is poured down on a greased parchment paper. when you take it out of the oven, dust with confectioners sugar, let it rest for a couple minutes, cover with a tea-towel and invert onto a baking sheet with tea towel intact. Roll the cake while warm and make the whipped cream filling.
When you "re-roll" the cake, it adheres back to its cylindrical form.
The grand-daughters and their mothers hovered this thing up. A delight to see!
The only left-overs from this Christmas dinner are two bones from the standing rib roast. The grands and their small fry took everything!
One of those simple recipes with 5 separated eggs, a bit of cocoa powder, vanilla extract and pinch of salt.
I tried to make "buche de noel" on a prior christmas but it cracked badly. searching recipe sites and youtube I found the secret. the batter is poured down on a greased parchment paper. when you take it out of the oven, dust with confectioners sugar, let it rest for a couple minutes, cover with a tea-towel and invert onto a baking sheet with tea towel intact. Roll the cake while warm and make the whipped cream filling.
When you "re-roll" the cake, it adheres back to its cylindrical form.
The grand-daughters and their mothers hovered this thing up. A delight to see!
The only left-overs from this Christmas dinner are two bones from the standing rib roast. The grands and their small fry took everything!
We made a gratin au pommes de terre yesterday but here in US it will never be anything close to the one we make in Sweden. Guess the potatoes are to ”watery” and the half-and-half used must be something like 50% low fat milk and 50% water. But the kids liked it and thats what counts.
We tried to grill Canadian bacon, though we call it kassler (from the German town Kassel).
We tried to grill Canadian bacon, though we call it kassler (from the German town Kassel).
