Pickling

See that? Right there, above these very words? Yeah. You're looking at my first foray into pickling, which appears to be gaining followers throughout this whole food bloggy internets thing. Green beans, fresh, doused in a simple brine. They're in my fridge now, since I didn't bother to hot water process them. It's gonna be torture until I can open them up and taste them, but I'll stay strong, I promise.

I love the process of canning, preserving, pickling, etc. I grew up doing it, thanks to my mom and her neverending energy and will not to waste a single tomato coming out of our garden. We would make dill and sweet pickles, pear preserves, tomato sauce, horseradish, zucchini relish. Oh, that zucchini relish - best thing ever in tuna salad. Some day, I'll have a really large zucchini I need to get rid of and I'll share the recipe with you. It's special.

Even now, now that my mom is too busy at work for extensive canning and preserving efforts, we can still enjoy the fruits of her labor. You see, a family of four didn't really need all of the produce she preserved, so we're still working through pickles dated before the turn of the century. Some things don't last, like the loaves of zucchini bread she would make and freeze (I'd make off with them every time I came home from college, bringing 2-3 loaves back to share with friends). Apple pies (unbaked, just assembled) would disappear on long winter nights as a wonderful end to a warm wintry meal. And pickles, which got stronger and stronger as years went by - word to the wise, don't try the spicy ones, they'll grow hair on your chest. And the last thing I think I need is hair on my chest.

But these green beans? I think this is a start to a wonderful friendship, me and pickling, preserving, canning. I don't have room for the scale of preserving my mom did, but when I do, just watch out. Pickles, pies, breads, and jams galore!

Basic Brining Liquid (adapted from Food in Jars)

1 1/3 cups water
1 1/3 cups apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 Tbsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp each coriander seed, whole peppercorns, whole cloves, whole allspice berries
3 bay leaves, crushed
1 tsp red pepper flakes

Bring all ingredients to a boil (open windows, the vinegar will knock you out). Pour over your chosen pickle-able produce which has been packed in a freshly washed canning jar. Leave 1/2" headspace, and run a knife around the edge to get rid of bubbles trapped along the sides of the jar. Seal the jar and let cool until it is only barely warm. The jar may seal, but you still need to store in the fridge, as it hasn't been hot water processed. Let sit 2-3 days before digging in!

TWD: Tribute to Katharine Hepburn Brownies

Look at these. No, seriously, look at them. Don't they look gorgeous? Slim and elegant, shiny, a beautiful brown... But you know what they aren't? Well, um - solid. Evidently, Katharine Hepburn liked gooey brownies. With a nice coffee kick and a hint of cinnamon. And a lot of butter.

Also, allow this to be the time that I comment upon alternate spellings of names. You see, I began this post with her first name spelled with an "e" a la "Katherine," rather than "Katharine." And this just brought to mind one of my least favorite things about baby names. Well, everybody's names, but you get them when you're a baby and have no say in the matter, so I'm going with baby names here. Hope you're okay with that (although if not, what can you really do?).


Now, I'm okay with that little switcharoo. I'm pretty alright with Steven and Stephen too. But then people go off the deep end, calling their adorable newborn such names as "Madysonne" or "Meghanne" or "Adecyn," whathaveyou. This has become such a trend, my name has been dragged through the mud along with all the others. You see, people have begun believing that everyone's name has extra vowels, repeated consonants, etc. So I've seen my name spelled "Katelynne" and even as mangled as "Kaytelynne." Um, really? It's really not difficult. The only thing to choose from is whether I'm "Caitlin" with a "C" or "Kaitlin" with a "K." (And we all know, Caitlin with a "C" is infinitely better)

So why don't we have a movement here, people. Let's head back towards "vintage" baby names. Eva. Nell. Mae. Charlotte. Emma. Simple names, with very few ways to spell them. There's no need to fancy names up or give your kids names you'd give a dog (Um, Snow? Bandit? Zeus?!?). Let's get back to the time when the biggest question was whether you should spell it Katherine or Katharine (or Catherine, for you sticklers out there).


Or, you know, you can go exoticize a perfectly good name. *shudder*

P.S. Don't think I'm immune to this one. My mom desperately wanted to name me Aubra. Thank you, Dad, for stopping that. I could just hear the playground chants of "Aubra Cadabra" and "A Bra..."

P.P.S. And these brownies? While I love fudgey brownies and coffee, here are the few things I mentioned in this week's P&Q on the TWD site that I'd do next time: halve coffee, leave out cinnamon, reduce butter by one Tbsp, increase flour to 1/3 cup, bake 35-40 min, and refrigerate before cutting.

Last Week: Rewound Pecan Honey Sticky Buns
Next Week: Brioche Plum Tart

TWD Rewind: Pecan Honey Sticky Buns

Gotcha! I'm sure you thought you'd be looking at another Perfect Party Cake, didn't you? Yeah, well, I'm all cake-ed out. After making a three layer cake for the boyfriend's birthday, looking to next weekend when he'll make a cake for my birthday, and then a week later when my sister and I will make another cake (this one!!!) to celebrate my birthday and her half birthday? The last thing I want to look at is another cake!


So what'd I go and do? Well, make sticky buns, of course! These were chosen way way back by Madame Chow, and I passed on them because I didn't want to make brioche so soon after making it for the brioche raisin snails (by the way, stop reading this. make these. now.). But when I realized that the Perfect Party Cake was going to be a no-go and that its appearance coincided with the brioche for the Bread Baker's Apprentice challenge, it seemed like a coincidence too good to skip over. This way, I could get another recipe done that I hadn't managed to do the first time around, bringing me closer to actually baking through this entire book. Eventually. Booyah, right?

That's not to say I didn't make the cake, I did - the Daring Bakers chose it a bit over a year ago, and I made it then. But that's not the point today for me. The point is these pecan honey sticky buns, and why, oh why, it took me this long to make them. They were damned good. Sticky, nutty, and buttery, just like a sticky bun should be. Fan-tabulous, eh?


Last Week: Raspberry Almond Dacquoise
Next Week: Tribute to Katherine Hepburn Brownies (dear lord, bake these >30 min and freeze before cutting if you know what's best for you!)

June DB Challenge: Bakewell Tart

I'll have all of you Daring Bakers know, I nearly typed "May DB Challenge" for the title of this post. That's sign #1 that this month has just flown by. Signs 2 and 3 were marking all posts in the forum on the challenge as "read" last Monday, which coincided with the day that I went "Oh crap, the Daring Baker challenge!!!" Okay, so that wasn't exactly what I said, but occasionally I filter for virgin ears. I'm considerate like that.



So I had grand plans from the beginning of the month, after Jasmine and Annemarie announced that this month's challenge was a Bakewell Tart. I was going to make my own jam, grind pecans for the frangipane, and make a full-size tart (!!!)? Yeah, they went by the wayside. Instead, I swooped into my local grokery store (yes, I do pronounce "grocery" with a hard "c" occasionally; I also pronounce "scissors" "skees-ors" for fun as well) and picked up almond meal and ready-made jam. Luckily for me, two twists of fate occurred. One was that the store contained more brands of jam than just Smuckers and Real Fruit (which tastes terrible, by the way - sugar is in jam for a reason). Amazingly enough, I found an off-beat brand of jam from, of all places, Denmark. Even cooler, the flavor was Raspberry Rhubarb with cherries and orange. Awesome, no? Second, when I stuck my almond meal in the freezer, I noticed a little baggie of ground pistachios from a previous baking venture. Pistachio-almond frangipane it would be!


That doesn't excuse the fact that I had to make a mini tart though. I apologize greatly, not only to all of you, but also to my poor neglected 9" tart pan with its shiny removable bottom and adorably fluted edges. I am so sorry that I have made so few things in you, because fluted tart crusts have to be some of the most beautiful and elegant things ever. Maybe not as cute and adorable as a crimped pie crust or the risen crusty edge of a brownie, but still wonderful.


The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.

BBB: Asparagus Bread

Have you ever seen those commercials or dramatizations where someone is "cleaning" their house by stuffing everything into the closet? And then they close the door, turn away, and the closet just explodes, scattering its contents everywhere. Well, I think that mental image you currently have is pretty close to what happened when I made this month's Bread Baking Babes selection. After making up the basic dough, kneading it and letting it rest, you're supposed to work in asparagus, rocket (I used spinach), walnuts, and parmesan. Um, yeah, about that....

Part of the problem might have been me - I was pretty lax about measuring the add-ins. But the moisture of them didn't help! My lovely soft and supple dough turned into this tacky slimy mass, with asparagus popping out at the most inopportune times! Then you had jagged walnut pieces tearing through, and wilted spinach just making it a party by adding all of its lovely moisture to the dough. Yeesh! I felt like I was wrestling with it!


Now that I've made it though, I think I probably could have done a couple things differently. Measuring the add-ins would have ensured I didn't try to stuff too much in. The spinach and asparagus should have been squeezed and dried as much as possible to keep from messing with the hydration too much. Oh, and I liked Nancy's idea of just rolling them in like you would a loaf of cinnamon swirl bread. That would have required waiting until the shaping step, but might have reduced the cursing involved in putting the initial dough together. After tasting, I'd also probably only gently steam the asparagus prior to mixing the dough, if I even cooked them at all. They were slightly mushy after 45 min in the oven, and I'd have liked a bit more of a bite to them.

Even with the difficulties, this ended up being a wonderful bread. I loved the swirl of purple from the walnuts, and the flavor from the overnight fermentation was absolutely wonderful. The bread itself is amazingly soft and supple - the perfect sandwich bread, if you take out all the vegetables! I'll give the approximate amounts and method for my version, as it deviated slightly from Lien's original recipe, taking into account the changes I would make. Thank you to Lien and the rest of the Bread Baking Babes for letting me bake with you this month!


Asparagus Bread (adapted from Lien)
makes one small loaf

3 stalks asparagus
1/2 cup baby spinach
1/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
2 Tbsp Parmesan
200 g AP flour
3/4 tsp instant yeast
125 g water
10 g olive oil
5 g kosher salt

Measure the flour and yeast into a medium bowl. Mix in 100g of the water, kneading for a few minutes. Add the olive oil and knead another 5-7 minutes. Add the salt and knead for another 5-7 minutes. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes.

While the dough is resting, chop the asparagus into 1/4" pieces. Coarsely chop the spinach and grate the parmesan. When the dough is done resting, press it out into a rectangle and spread the asparagus, spinach, and walnuts over it. Roll the dough like you would for cinnamon swirl bread. Let it sit for a few minutes, then flatten it and fold it over in a letter fold. Let it sit a few minutes and flatten and fold again. If you think it needs it, flatten and fold another time or two.

Let the bread rise for about one hour, then put in the refrigerator for 8-24 hours. Take it out after that time and shape it however you'd like (I went with a boule, but the original calls for a batard or torpedo shape). Place the loaf on a parchment lined cookie sheet and allow it to proof for 1-1.5 hours.

Preheat oven to 450*F.

Place bread (still on the baking sheet) in the oven and allow it to bake for 5-10 minutes at 450* before turning the temperature down to 400*F. Continue to bake for a total of 40-45 minutes. Remove and let cool on a wire rack.

TWD: Raspberry Almond Dacquoise

-ish thing. Because really, I couldn't quite handle this one in its original form. Sorry Andrea, but coconut is stringy and icky, I never keep pineapple around, and Nancy scared me with her experience of making the buttercream. Not to mention that my apartment is currently 85*F and the high in beautiful Wisconsin will be 94 tomorrow. Yeah, the oven is so not getting turned on to broil fruit. Plus, it's in season! Why would I harm perfectly ripe fruit with heat?!? So, being the faithful TWD baker, I didn't bail - I just (heavily) adapted. Thus the final result: fresh raspberries over vanilla yogurt, and crushed almond dacquoise sprinkled over the top.


It's pretty awesome. And easy. And doesn't require the 6 hr chill in the frigidaire in order to be tasty. Not a bad dessert to come back home to after a week's vacation, although I might have brought some back as well... Actually, "not bad" is not the right term for this. It's really incredibly awesome. Light, creamy, and slightly sweet from the yogurt, tart and tangy from the raspberries, and sweet and crunchy from the dacquoise. Lucky for me, I still have yogurt, raspberries are still on sale, and my tiny batch of dacquoise has barely been nibbled into!


Oh, and don't leave quite yet - I'm conducting a (not so scientific) poll. While looking into areas to resettle to, thanks to the incompatibilities of my profession, the boyfriend's profession, and Wisconsin, we came up with a general list of places we'd like. Yes, there is a preponderance of west coast locations. One might say I basically told the boyfriend "Think of places west of here you'd like to go." And I did. Not that I'm biased or anything. So here's the running list:

San Francisco / Mountain View area
Boulder, CO
Denver, CO
Seattle, WA
Portland, OR

And here's what I'd like you to do (pretty please?): tell me your top two choices for places to live (not to visit, to live!), and why. They don't even have to be on the list! Because really, I'm incapable of making a decision more complicated than whether I'm going to have dessert that day. The answer to that question is always yes.


Last Week: Honey Peach Ice Cream
Next Week: Perfect Party Cake (already made for the Daring Bakers!)

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

I have quite a few faults. While this is not the area in which to air them, I think one is pertinent here. Let's just say, I'm prone to hyperbole. The number of times I over-exaggerate things? Probably a million times a day.

See? I wasn't kidding!

But there are some things that transcend that tendency. They overwhelm me with their awesomeness. Generally, anything with rhubarb goes into that category. I mean, how can something that sour and stringy end up so meltingly tender, so wonderfully complex and sweet? How?!? Pair it with strawberries, and there's just no contest.


So when I was looking for a dessert to make for a game night with friends (Settlers of Catan, anyone?) and saw rhubarb at the farmer's market, I had to get some and use it. How can you not? Obviously, strawberries weren't ready by then - okay, maybe not so obviously, as I have shamefully kept this from you guys for over a month. Strawberries didn't show up at the farmer's market until last week, where they disappeared quickly thanks to the early birds - don't feel too sorry, I'm one of them!

My first inclination was strawberry rhubarb pie. I love pie. I grew up making pie crusts, churning out apple pie after apple pie during the fall, freezing them to bake during the cold winter months. Also, it's something you can ostensibly eat for breakfast, which is always a good thing in my book. But the fates conspired against me. I began looking for recipes, and instead stumbled across this one by Deb. Oh lordy, there are no words for how excited I was to make this. It was quick (I tossed the strawberries and rhubarb together with everything but the crumble topping right in the pan) and man did it smell amazing baking!


We managed to make it halfway through a game of Settlers before breaking into it too. Do I get a gold star for self control? Anybody? Please? Let's just say, the game stopped for about 5 minutes. No one wanted to do anything else, and it only took 5 minutes to polish off the servings I had dished out. We all looked at our plates and considered a second serving, but since no one said anything, the game kept going. I skipped out on the next game, and began washing dishes. It wasn't until I looked over and saw slightly crestfallen looks that I realized people had been contemplating more crumble. Oops!

And this crumble topping? It is now my absolute favorite. I love the raw sugar in it, as well as the obscene amount of butter - it's rich, slightly crunchy, and oh so good. And that, folks, is not hyperbole.

Seriously, go check out the recipe - here.