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Sunday, February 21, 2010

MIA




I have had a few tough weeks, injuries, flat tires, pet injuries you name it. It kind of started the night I got out of class on a Thursday a few weeks ago. It was 9pm and there was a dead pigeon right outside of my drivers side door. It definitely wasn't there when I went to class and I had to straddle it to get into the car. How does a pigeon just drop dead between 6 and 9 pm?? I am thinking it was a bad omen. Thus, I have been a little out of the loop and felt the need to post a little about what I have been up to.



Anyway, I did get to do some croissants about a week and a half ago during a snow storm we had. Something about snowstorms makes me wanna bake!!! I used the Julia Child Method (actually Esther McManus )coupled with a recipe from Epicurious. Yes, the times add up to over one full day, but I was able to start them at 10am and finished at about 8pm with baked, flaky, buttery morsels of heaven. Croissants are something I feel are challenging for me because I am not patient when it comes to cooking, and even with this recipe I can't seem to plan enough to do it 100% according to the recipe. I baked about 10 and put the rest of the formed raw ones in the freezer. When you are ready to bake them, just thaw over night and you can pop them in the oven in the morning. My only regret, I didn't make any chocolate ones!


Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Brew Update

Saturday we brewed some more. We did a Rogue Chocolate Stout clone. Excited to see how that turns out since we've mostly been doing IPA's lately. You kind of tend to make what you enjoy. Not that we don't enjoy a stout, but it will be a little difficult to kick 5 gallons of stout.


We have our 90 minute in the kegerator getting some Co2 lovin' since we had a leak somewhere and the Co2 never quite made it to the beer.

Next up is the Avery Maharajah clone. There were like 2 lbs of hops that came with the kit, I am really excited for that one. We do need to get some space in the kegerator first before we attempt to brew that one.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Sourdough Redux

So, I successfully obtained an active starter from a friend over the weekend. I am in the process of letting it rise but it is still pretty flat. I am gonna bake it in about a hour and see how it does.



I did have a great success this weekend. I made coconut foam and it was awesome! Made some simple syrup and melted 3/4 of a packet of gelatin into it. I then added that to 1 can of coconut milk and chilled it in my isi dessert whip. And... Voila!

This weekend, I am looking forward to going to Union League Cafe in New Haven. It's a staple in the CT foodie scene and I am excited to try the food.


Well, on to see how this sourdough is going to work out, fingers crossed!!

**Update** it turned out great!! Very crusty and nice texture inside. And delicious!


Monday, February 1, 2010

Monday, Monday

Saturday's Winefest was a blast! We got a lot of free stuff and I found a few great wines to buy. Of note was a while Spanish wine I can't remember the name of but I will post (it was about $12/bottle) and J. Lohr's Carol's Vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet

The J Lohr was pretty reasonable, about $32/bottle. I am really into big cabs so if you aren't, this may not be for you.



The Francis Ford Coppola Director's Cabernet was really good as well. At $15/bottle, it's a great buy.


By the time we got to the beer we were half in the bag. We did re-visit the wine before heading out. Another highlight of the night was learning I could make foams with my Issi!! Oh, and I won $250 after pushing the slot button twice, not bad!