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Home > 69
KitchenKatalog: Blog 69
Tuesday, March 23, 2021, 09:40 AM
I made brioche from Bread Illustrated. Unlike last time, I measured out how much more flour I added and tried to be conservative about it. I ended up with adding 1.5 oz of additional bread flour.
This entire loaf was the story of letting it go too long. I started it on Saturday, 2021-03-20. I meant to cook it on Monday at the latest and kept forgetting until Tuesday (today). And then I formed it and forgot it for too long. Though, to be honest, it did not seem to have risen too much more than I would have wanted.
It did rise a ton in the oven. I do not know what happened?! When I took it out at 35 min, it was around 190°F, as I wanted for this kind of bread at altitude. It also kind of split which I think was from the roll tearing a bit (maybe from rising too much?).
The final loaf was around 1.375 lbs. It still tasted good even if it had more crumb than I would have liked.
We also had some Wenner Bread Products (which I think also made it for Trader Joes). See the photo below with the commercial on the right and mine on the left. I knew mine was over-proofed but even look at the last two (2021-02-13 and 2021-02-26), mine is clearly less dense. Also, the commercial one has a much smoother top
Taste and texture wise, the commercial is much fluffier, smaller/denser crumb, and also much sweeter. Mine is more savory and is reminiscent of croissant while the commercial is more like a cake. Mine is also more addicting! You just want to keep eating it.
I am glad I got to try them together. I think I actually like mine more but I would like the denser crumb of the commercial.
Sunday, March 21, 2021, 07:08 PM
Meredith made Red Bean, Walnut, and Pomegranate Pâté [Cool Beans]. I do not think she made any notable or major changes. We liked it a lot. It reminded us of fesenjan
Sunday, March 21, 2021, 03:18 PM
I made the Whole Wheat variation of American Sandwich Bread [Bread Illustrated by America's Test Kitchen]. The biggest note is that I let the rise way too much in the pan. As you can see from the photos, it is way more than an inch above the pan. Also, I had some trouble shaping it because I didn't try to do it right out of rising like I was supposed to.
I think it came out ok. Maybe a bit dry. I did let it go to 199°F which is very high for this altitude. I should have taken it out a tiny bit sooner. But otherwise, I was pretty happy with it and I liked that it was "healthier" than the white-bread one.
Saturday, March 20, 2021, 07:25 PM
I made Peruvian Chicken for our friends. I mostly following The Food Lab / Serious Eats (LOCAL) but I also read some others including America's Test Kitchen. Also, the Food Lab Website version is slightly different with the spices bumped up.
I finally settled on the following for one chicken. I decided to use two (4.74 lbs and 4.34 lbs) so I doubled the following:
The Food Lab one has you dry-brine the bird and then add the spices right before cooking. The America's Test Kitchen has you make a saltier paste and apply that for at least 6 hours. So I kind of did both. I used salt (under and on top of the skin) to dry-brine for about 24+ hours. Then the next day, I made the spice mixture (again both under and on the skin) for another 5-6 hours.
I debated grilling or baking the chicken but eventually decided on the oven. I cooked it at 475°F with the thermometer set to 153°F (a bit of a compromise of a few different sources). Of course, at that point, my instant read showed everywhere was much hotter. Not sure what is going on with that...
Note: It put out a ton of smoke while cooking! I wonder if turning off convection would help with that filling the kitchen so much?
For the sauce, I followed the recipe with no major changes. For the three jalapenos, I de-ribbed and de-seeded two of them. Also for the "salt to taste", I did about 1/2 tsp. Next time a little bit less salt. I also may have gone a tad high on the garlic. I used the little bits leftover from the microplane for the spices. I did not have ají Amarillo paste.
We also served it with roasted asparagus and our friends made sweet-potatoes
Saturday, March 20, 2021, 05:43 PM
Meredith covered it for the last 10 minutes of baking since it needed more time but was getting too browned
Saturday, March 20, 2021, 01:23 PM
Friday, March 19, 2021, 07:00 PM
Meredith made Frijoles a la Charra [Homesick Texan] with Jalapeño Pinto Beans [Homesick Texan]. She actually made a lot of the Frijoles stuff a while ago but she had overcooked the beans so froze it and used it this time. She followed the bean recipe just going by taste to know when they were done.
They were super delicious as always!
Friday, March 19, 2021, 05:35 PM
I prepped Sous Vide Pulled Pork with our normal changes, though I forgot the coriander in the crust.
I put liquid smoke in one bag but not the other (forgot). I did the oven for 2 hours to finish it since I didn't feel like baby sitting the grill.
One thing I did differently (and added to the recipe) was to let it cool before distributing into bags. Way easier since I didn't have fat getting into the sealer and making the seal less good. Tip: Put the whole bowl on the scale, zero it, and measure out with negative weights into bags.
It started as 14.54 lbs and I made 7.77 lbs (though I also had some nibbles along the way before it was weighed)