See if you can find details of the wheat used for the flour, hard durum winter wheat is quite different from summer wheat grown in southern climes.
That can be a method to solve the bread quality issue.
Another thing is that some flour processors pass the wheat once through the mill, and sieve it to get different grades, we have a flour mill at home, and it allows the finer flour through, makes our roti much better in softness and storage compared to flour from a large mill, where the coarser and finer particles are separated, and sold as coarse ground wheat, and as finer (it is called maida here, good for cakes etc.) flour ...
That can be a method to solve the bread quality issue.
Another thing is that some flour processors pass the wheat once through the mill, and sieve it to get different grades, we have a flour mill at home, and it allows the finer flour through, makes our roti much better in softness and storage compared to flour from a large mill, where the coarser and finer particles are separated, and sold as coarse ground wheat, and as finer (it is called maida here, good for cakes etc.) flour ...
I'm still here.
Wife has been doing most of the cooking lately. Amazing, now that she's retired her cooking is actually quite good.
No more of the old "rush rush"... where I had to step in and make us palatable food.
Drinking a lot of Spanish wines though. Ribera del Duero Tempranillo.... Catalan Garnacha.... Valencian Monastrell.
We had a couple of Tempranillos last week that were outstanding.... from Madrid and Avila ( Castille ).
Wife has been doing most of the cooking lately. Amazing, now that she's retired her cooking is actually quite good.
No more of the old "rush rush"... where I had to step in and make us palatable food.
Drinking a lot of Spanish wines though. Ribera del Duero Tempranillo.... Catalan Garnacha.... Valencian Monastrell.
We had a couple of Tempranillos last week that were outstanding.... from Madrid and Avila ( Castille ).
Howdy folks, haven't posted here in a while, so here's a little update what's happening in my kitchen.
Recently I did try a Thai inspired recipe, after having a consulted with a Thai lady from yesteryears using coconut milk and Thai chili paste as the base, which I haven't dared to touch for years due to some broad food intolerance, luckily it's gotten a lot better by the years and were happy to enjoy it again.
The preparation went along something like as follow
Did the same thing with the next batch using beef meat, initially didn't intended to make a Thai inspired dish, but had another can of coconut milk and thought why not, only difference is that instead of the chili paste, I had already added generously of curry powder to the stew, while cheffing in the kitchen it occurred to me I had some chanterelle mushrooms and so quickly chopped it up and added it to the stew, darn that came out very well, my gourmet tongue shouted ¡Ay Caramba!
ps. I'm thinking here the coconut milk could probably be substituted with dairy cream, until next time...
Recently I did try a Thai inspired recipe, after having a consulted with a Thai lady from yesteryears using coconut milk and Thai chili paste as the base, which I haven't dared to touch for years due to some broad food intolerance, luckily it's gotten a lot better by the years and were happy to enjoy it again.
The preparation went along something like as follow
- add Thai chili paste into a large pan, fry it lightly, although not necessary
- add a can of coconut milk, the fatty variant usually around 18%, and bring it up to boil
- slice up chicken meat and throw it into the pan... hey, gently! (tackle the quickly decreasing temperature caused by the sheer mass of cool meat initially by turning up the heat, when it starts boiling gently dial down the heat)
- add salt
- chop up a bunch of garlic, and add half of it, save the other half for later on
- now let it simmer for 2-3 hours or more under the lid until the meat is really tender
- at the end of cooking, add rest of the garlic and turn off the heat, let it draw for a long time say at least 20-30 mins before serving
- optionally, add couple of lemon leaves, Obs! be careful adding too many, these leaves are veeery rich in flavor
Did the same thing with the next batch using beef meat, initially didn't intended to make a Thai inspired dish, but had another can of coconut milk and thought why not, only difference is that instead of the chili paste, I had already added generously of curry powder to the stew, while cheffing in the kitchen it occurred to me I had some chanterelle mushrooms and so quickly chopped it up and added it to the stew, darn that came out very well, my gourmet tongue shouted ¡Ay Caramba!
ps. I'm thinking here the coconut milk could probably be substituted with dairy cream, until next time...
tonyEE,
you should try some of the Spanish whites. Over the mountains west of Madrid is the Segovia wine region - the Sauvignon Blanc is completely different from the French version, all tropical fruit but not at all sweet. South of Sevilla there are beautiful delicate whites, unexpected in such heat. Red Riojas IMO are completely over rated, especially if they have a few years on them, Can't understand why they are so popular. However the whites are excellent. Around Tarragona there some really good dry reds.
That bloody Parker opened his mouth about the southern Galician wines and up went the prices. The same wines can be bought cheaply just over the border in Portugal. If your ever in western Spain visit Orense - it has a barrio on the hill east of the centre known for two things - discreet prostitution and wine and tapas bars - the latter I can vouch for. Way better tapas than on the Med coast and wonderful Galician wines.
you should try some of the Spanish whites. Over the mountains west of Madrid is the Segovia wine region - the Sauvignon Blanc is completely different from the French version, all tropical fruit but not at all sweet. South of Sevilla there are beautiful delicate whites, unexpected in such heat. Red Riojas IMO are completely over rated, especially if they have a few years on them, Can't understand why they are so popular. However the whites are excellent. Around Tarragona there some really good dry reds.
That bloody Parker opened his mouth about the southern Galician wines and up went the prices. The same wines can be bought cheaply just over the border in Portugal. If your ever in western Spain visit Orense - it has a barrio on the hill east of the centre known for two things - discreet prostitution and wine and tapas bars - the latter I can vouch for. Way better tapas than on the Med coast and wonderful Galician wines.
as durum wheat is not a bread wheat I am really not sure why you even mentioned it.
You want tapas? TXAPELA EUSKAL TABERNA in Barcelona. From seafood, cheese to chorizo de cantimpalo. We made it our main daily meal a few times while we were there and the location is at the Plaza De Catalunya, so it's great. Afterwards, you can go to the Lego Store, El Corte Ingles or just walk around the place.
The good thing is that the damned tourists walk by and don't go there... it's mostly locals... and us, of course. The only tourist in place that pronounced Cathtilian correctly and understood Catalan.
We don't drink much in white wines anymore, but thanks for the info. At our local wine stores haven't seen many white wines from Iberia except for Cantrabria and Lusitania.
The red wines from Tarragona... we had some outstanding Granacha and Monastrell from Reus. They called that one a Granacha Noir.
Yes, we've been drinking the whites from the West and North for years. The Cantabrian zone has excellent white wines. Lower in alcohol, similar to the Portuguese Green Wines. Some are almost effervescent when you pour them.
Then you got the Basque Sidra.
I agree on the Rioja. Way overpriced. Good, very good, but way over priced.
Bill: The crusty baguette loaves are made with durum wheat.
A few links below, courtesy my favored search engine, as usual I have no links to these sites, just being helpful.
"https://food52.com/blog/25995-what-is-durum-wheat-how-the-heck-do-you-bake-with-it"
"But you can use durum for bread-making when it's milled into fine flour, too. While durum wheat is high in protein, the quality isn't as high for bread-making. Using a high percentage of durum in a recipe will lead to bread with a tighter crumb and less volume."
"https://langloisnola.com/recipes/crusty-bread-durum-wheat/"
A few links below, courtesy my favored search engine, as usual I have no links to these sites, just being helpful.
"https://food52.com/blog/25995-what-is-durum-wheat-how-the-heck-do-you-bake-with-it"
"But you can use durum for bread-making when it's milled into fine flour, too. While durum wheat is high in protein, the quality isn't as high for bread-making. Using a high percentage of durum in a recipe will lead to bread with a tighter crumb and less volume."
"https://langloisnola.com/recipes/crusty-bread-durum-wheat/"
Strangely enough I weigh exactly the same. (Of course everything about me is strange!)
I am 18.25 hands tall.
Carrot and Coriander soup - just made my first batch for autumn/winter. Been a strange year, very little watercress or coriander available. Watercress the most nutritious vegetable, my wife and I are w/cress junkies, eat it by the handful.
When we lived in Guadix/Andaluz when out walking along the virtually dry riverbed, which in the time of Al-Andaluz was a year round river. The Aryan conquistadores cut down all the forests and changed the climate - wadi ashi in Arabic (water of life) which became Guadix in Spanish. At the end of January the snow melt created a riverlet and nearing Alcudia the nearby village my wife spotted watercress growing in the icy water - what a find and uncontaminated by any agricultural run-off, the Spanish use lots of chemicals, many illegal. By the beginning of March with the snow melt finished it was gone for another year. Really spicy, great with a good steak. The French make soup with it.
Collected lots of seed but it just didn't take in the Aveyron, should have planted it in winter, not Spring. Samurai used to eat lots as it's good for fast reflex action, crucial in their line of work.
