What do your meals look like (show me pictures)....

Our restaurant meal on Friday night, because the hubby is convinced that eating out on Friday makes the weekend feel longer. We ordered the bread selecetion that included focaccia topped with thinly sliced tomato, courgette and onion. The hubby thought my focaccia is better. Besides the sweet toppings, the restaurant put sugar in their dough.

@mjbnj0001
The pasta dish was with courgette flowers. There were also mini immature courgettes maybe a half inch in diameter.

Dim sum with misshapen homemade turnip cake. Next time I need to fill the container higher, cook until firmer, and dice the mushrooms and sausage more finely to get neat slices similar to poundcake. The dumplings and Chinese pancake (which I burnt) were ready made freezer fare from the asian supermarket.

Dim sum proper out in Chinatown with the girls.

Favorite meal from vacation: seafood pasta

Vietnamese dinner out with the girls.

As I mentioned earlier today in the posting on the pickled red onions, I had some brine left over from the process that I intended to make into a chicken marinade. Here's the result.

We were pleased with the result, although I think more marinading (I did about 90 minutes) would have even better results. Once the chicken was in the oven, I reduced the marinade down to about half volume on the stovetop to form a basting sauce, which I applied about 2/3 of the way through the cooking period.

Since the brine for the onions was vinegar, water, salt and sugar, for me to make it into a marinade I added some more vinegar, olive oil, mustard, herbs and spices, honey (rather than more sugar) and finally, a spritz of Worcestershire sauce for umami.

It's a bit windy today in NJ (fortunately less so than in other parts of the Northeast), so I baked the chicken rather than grilling outside.

The sharp-eyed among you might say, "Hey! That's a lot like the meal you posted the other night!" - and you'd be right. It's "clear-the-fridge night" this evening for new produce incoming tomorrow. Note however, I did use one of my (now thawed) home-baked hybrid sourdough burger buns for the sandwich, so that's different.

Adventurista wrote: »

Yum! They look wonderful!

My focaccia attempt pending acquisition yeast... still on the hunt.

So, care to share ingredient measurements on the rolls @mjbnj0001 since i'll have yeast soon? Think hubby would enjoy.

Thanks for the compliment. They're in the freezer now, saved for Monday. These baked-at-home breads don't keep for more than several days, by the way, since I don't add anything to retard mold. Just flour, salt, yeast, water - and flavorings if I want.

When I first starting baking around 6-7 years ago, I tried a variety of methods. And got a variety of results. Then I stumbled onto the "artisanbreadwithstev" YouTube channel, with a concept he calls "Turbo No Knead" bread. A simple process - a lot like making mudpies LOL - and a short production time - 90 minute 1st rise. This carried us through the pandemic. After that, I began experimenting with process mods, ingredient mods, etc., and different end products, leading me to different recipes and approaches. And now I'm experimenting more with a "hybrid sourdough" approach. But I go back to this process/recipe for standard rolls/buns (a little recipe scrap I keep in my kitchen drawer LOL):

https://youtu.be/_gj-TrdKUuc

The mod I made for this batch was to add several rounded tablespoons of dried onion flakes into the dry mix, and upped the water a bit (2oz, for their hydration). I also rescaled the indgredients to yield 10 rolls rather than 6 (which exhausted my bread flour supply until I get to the store later today).


Yeast is all around us - that's the basis of traditional sourdough, lol. But I understand what you mean. I usually don't buy the little packets of yeast from a typical grocery store - they could've been on that shelf since the dinosaurs walked the earth ("proving" the yeast is a good step with these). If you do pick up yeast at the market, get the bottled stuff, and it's a good sign if they keep it stocked in the cooler section. Always check expiration dates anyway. I shop online, usually Hodgson Mill, but other purveyors too, including Amazon (esp. during the pandemic - supplies of any sort were hard to get). Pleasant Hill has some good products too. I've gotten good results with both Red Star and SAF. Online is often much fresher. I've added a link to an intro to yeast (and other leavening agents) article. Be sure you get the correct yeast for your process. For instance, the "artisanbreadwithstev" process for "turbo" bread (90-min 1st rise) uses "instant" yeast.

https://www.curiouscuisiniere.com/yeast-and-other-leavening-agents/

https://www.hodgsonmill.com/collections/baking-aids-ingredients

https://pleasanthillgrain.com/food/baking-ingredients?product_list_limit=all

I go directly to the millers for my flour when I can. It's fresher. I typically stick with King Arthur.

https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/

My next evolution will be to start milling my own flour after September. I have the mill, and I have the wheat, but my docket is pretty full until then to include something new.

Friday nights we eat out as hubby feels it makes the weekend feel longer. We went a bit upscale this time.

SafariGalNYC wrote: »

Misty morning on the beach.

Breakfast - 🍸8 greens shake 🥬 , spirulina, pomegranate, açaí, blueberries, strawberries, collagen.

looks like a perfect morning