Cookout

My friends and I had been itching to grill for quite a while.  Finally, we had the perfect day.  I marinated portabella mushroom caps and we brought brats and veggie burgers. John and some others also made chili which smelled excellent.  We grilled parsnips which were delicious and I also slit a zucchini, stuffed it with goat cheese and poured the rest of my marinade over it and wrapped it in foil to grill.  It was a bit overcooked, but quite tasty.

Our friend Ben invited us to share his community garden plot with him and this was the location of the first of hopefully many barbecues.

We just planted about 2 weeks ago, so obviously not much has shown yet.  Soon we will have:

peas, black seeded lettuce, emerald oak lettuce, radishes, spinach, chard, parsley, dill, bok choy, carrots, scallions, purplette onions, oregano, thai basil, cinnamon basil, and beets

A highlight of this cookout was John and Harold's most recent homebrew, a delicious red ale.  John recently invested in this keg system which I think we all appreciated yesterday. 

Butter

Mindy was visiting her family in Minnesota a few weekends ago and she brought me back this fresh butter (and some lard which we will have to put to use soon.)

It is from Bongard's Creamery and is delicious. I love fresh butter, plain old store-bought (especially in the city) just doesn't compare.

Thanks Mindy!

Sage, Pine Nut, and Pecorino Scones

I really wanted to bake something this morning, but it is so nice out that I couldn't bring myself to devote a lot of time to it. I hadn't made scones in a long time and they seemed to be the perfect midmorning baking event for me.

I ended up throwing together some delicous scones. I am impressed. Here is the recipe:

Sage, Pine Nut, and Pecorino Scones

Preheat oven to 400F

In a large bowl combine 1 3/4 C unbleached all-purpose flour, 3 teaspoons baking powder, and 2 tablespoons sugar.

Work in 5 tablespoons unsalted butter with your hands until you have a coarse meal.

Then incorporate 2 tablespoons pine nuts, 3 tablespoons grated pecorino, and 1 and a half tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh sage.

In another bowl mix 1/2 cup milk and 1 tablespoon prepared pesto.

Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the milk/pesto.

Combine all into a sticky dough, do not over mix. When just coming together knead a few times with lightly floured hands.

Press the mixture into the bottom of the large bowl you are working in to form a smooth circle under an inch thick and cut into 8 equal triangles (as you would cut a pie).

Carefully transfer these pieces to a baking sheet lined with a silpat mat or parchment paper, brush the tops lightly with water, and let rest for 5-10 minutes.

Bake for about fifteen minutes or until the tops are turn golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

These turned out so well I can hardly believe it. Of course, you can be creative and add whatever extras you please. I love savory fillings with a sweet dough. Serve warm with butter.

Linguine with Pesto and Pecorino

For dinner last night I grabbed a bag of the homemade linguine from the freezer which we had made the night before.  After boiling and draining, I combined with a spoonful of Ben's homemade pesto and sprinkled some grated pecorino cheese on top.  It was delicious and I was very pleased to know we had created it all from scratch.  (Well, not the cheese, but you know.)

Pasta!

Last night Molly, Aviva, John and I invited over our friends Ben, James, and Ken (Ken just started culinary school at CHIC, I'm jealous) to make ravioli. This was my first time ever making homemade pasta and it was great. We borrowed a pasta machine from John's mother and we based much of the recipes and techniques on the excellent stuffed pastas tutorial at eGullet.

I went directly home after work to start making the dough. I followed the above recipe exactly and I made four batches (I know, I know, we'll get to that). This dough was much more dense than bread dough and my body was becoming quite annoyed with me when James kindly offered to knead the last batch. It really doesn't seem like it is going to smooth out and become less chalky for most of the kneading process. But, if you persevere I promise it actually does come together, don't add water!

We then started on the fillings. I believe we ended up making a spinach, ricotta, and garlic filling. An apple, lemon juice, walnut, and gorgonzola filling. And a chevre, asparagus, and tomato filling.

We then started to roll out the dough with the machine (there's Aviva and John with dough above). Here we also followed the tutorial instructions, beginning on the widest setting and decreasing. As we began to cook the first few batches we noticed the pastas were limp and way too soft. This may have been in part due to overcooking them, but we also realized that the smallest setting was way too small. At this point we rolled the remainder of the raviolis to the second to last setting and they worked much better. They were easier to handle, cooked better, and the texture and taste was superior to the initial product. So, I would suggest trying a first run on your smallest setting and then doing the very next run on the second smallest to see what your machine is giving you and what you prefer.

The other change we made was to use an egg wash (beaten eggs and a pinch of salt) to seal the raviolis together. We found it easiest to brush the entire insides of the sheets before adding the fillings.

Ben and Molly made a delicious salad and we all had our fill of ravioli and wine. For those of you well-versed in making pastas, you must have balked at the quantity of prepared dough I mentioned above. Quadrupling the recipe was far too much. I think we only made it through about 1.75 of the four pieces of wrapped dough. Therefore, before calling it a night Ben and I ran some of the excess through the linguine setting of the machine (see the picture above) and froze this in single serving bags. There is still one more dough portion at home that I hope to do the same with this evening.

Overall, lots of fun and pretty easy to do. This was a good culinary activity for a group of people. The pasta machine can use 3 people manning it once the dough starts to get long and the others can be making fillings and cooking the prepared pasta. After last night we all felt pretty confident that next time we give this a try the whole process will go much more smoothly and quickly. I hope we start to make our own pasta more often. I also hope we get to hang on to that pasta machine for a while.

May I Introduce. .

. . .my favorite kitchen accessory. One day a few years ago my mother brought home this flat whisk. Up until that point I thought all whisks were of the balloon variety. After sitting in a drawer for a few years I finally picked it up to use while making bread. I was amazed. This is one sturdy little guy. I would never think to bake without it now. It can handle doughs like a pro and batters delicately. It is super easy to clean as well. I unfortunately do not know what brand this whisk is, the lettering wore off years ago, but it has a bit of heft and a thick handle. When you pick it up you can tell it can take a beating.

Gemma: Argo Georgian Bakery

Last Sunday the temperature in Chicago reached above 70F.  It was glorious.  Harold and I drove up to Devon with the windows down and then walked our way to Argo Georgian Bakery (2812 W. Devon Ave. Chicago, IL 60659.  773/764-6322). Upon entering the quaint storefront, the most unique and obvious feature of Argo is the brick, domed oven in the center of the store.  According to a website called Savoring Chicago, the kind of oven is called a 'tune' oven (*Update* the oven is in fact called a 'tone').   Further, the site claims that is the only Georgian bakery in the country.  Another Googling seems to support this (though there is one in Canada).  As you will read, I believe we Chicagoans are quite blessed in this case.

The staff and owner are very sweet and friendly and they even opened up the lid to the domed oven to show us the interior when we walked to the railing to gaze at it.

Harold and I purchased three items to eat in house, plus two loaves of bread, and a seltzer water.  We sat at one of the few, small tables and began with a spinach pie.  This was a savory pastry with a soft, not particularly flaky crust and filled with chopped and cooked spinach.  The spinach tasted as if it could well be fresh and my only complaint was that the overall effect was bland.  With some seasonings, even as simple as some salt and pepper added to the spinach (or perhaps more decadently, some type of cheese such as feta), the taste might have been improved.  All the same however, this was a very worthwhile purchase.

Next we tried a tapluna, which is a honey and walnut pie.  It consists of a long triangle of flaky pastry dough, rolled from the base of the triangle to the tip, dusted with powdered sugar, and filled with the honey and nut paste.  This was also quite delicious, though perhaps a bit too sweet for my tastes.

Lastly, we dug into a hachapuri (see picture below), which to our delight we realized was still quite warm.  And might I say, this alone is worth the trip to Argo regardless of where you, lovely reader, might live.  The hachapuri was a square shaped puff of flaky, golden pastry filled with the most divine mixture of mozzarella, feta, and farm cheese which, thanks to the still warm pastry, was warm, creamy, and oozing out of the pastry as we ate. 

At this point, to our horror, Harold and I realized that in our overzealous consumption of these delicious things I had completely forgotten to take pictures before digging in, which must be a mark of how good everything looked.  (See how well-disciplined Harold and I are for you most of the time?  Sometimes it is pure torture to take a decent picture before ripping into some fabulous looking loaf or pastry).  At about the same time, with no real consultation, Harold and I decided we MUST have another hachapuri.  This batch had come right out of the oven, and as I already admitted on my post at Chicago Foodies, I burnt my face on the hot steam escaping from the puff's interior as I bit into it perhaps a bit too hungrily.  The warmer the better folks, but do be careful.  I was lucky to escape without a red mark on my nose and cheek from the burning steam.

The second hachapuri was gone in seconds and as we came back to our surroundings we noticed how quickly the hachapuri was disappearing as it emerged from the oven every 10 minutes or so.  People were being asked to either wait our come back.  This said, let me clear that you simply must try a hachapuri if you visit Argo and it would be quite wise to leave an extra 20-30 minutes just in case you need to wait.

Harold and I then returned to my apartment to try the two breads.  The first was a long bread called a shoti (pictured above).  You probably aren't going to believe this, but the first taste this bread gives off is exactly like honey-dew melon.  This is not a bad thing, but just an odd one.  This taste disappears into more traditional bread flavors almost immediately, and you might not even notice it.   This is a soft, creamy, and chewy bread.  It has a dry crust, a slightly salty taste (though a bit less so than the second bread below) and a dense, glossy crumb.

The second bread was shaped in a large circle and is called a puri. This was a very chewy, quite dense bread, with many tiny holes.  It had a dry crust and a glossy crumb which was creamy in texture to the mouth.  It had a pleasant slightly salty taste and I believe it would be fantastic with a dill Havarti.

Both of these breads were superb and very unique.  I have never had anything quite like them and I highly recommend giving them a try.  Argo Georgian Bakery was quite impressive and I will definitely be back.  Harold commented and I agree that this was the best bakery we have visited since Red Hen.  One of the best.

Harold: Argo Georgian Bakery

ok, here's the deal:  the victuals to be had at argo georgian bakery (located at 2812 w. devon ave.) are so damn good that i won't even bother wasting your time telling you about the place itself.  ok, i'm lying.  the neighborhood is one in which it is always a joy to walk around, but on the particular day we went the streets were packed with people just enjoying the weather.  the place itself is probably the third most unassuming place of business in which i have ever been.  sure they have a coffee urn; sure they will sell you strange (but tasty! but tasty!) georgian mineral waters; yes they stock caviar; but they basically exist to sell you bread.  ahh, the bread....

we began with a spinach pie which was fairly good, but a touch low on salt.  still, the way it was seasoned gave it an odd (almost iranian tasting?) flavor that helped to balance out the lack of salt.  overall it was unusual and worth trying, especially if you like spinach.

we quickly (as in withing seconds) moved on to something called a tapluna, which was a honey and walnut pastry.  this was quite nice and the sweetness was surprisingly moderate for something that featured honey so prominently.  that said, i don't really go for sweet stuff.

microseconds later, we were inhaling a hachapuri that was still warm.  this was a puffy, flaky, crumbly, steamy pastry filled with a judicious blend and quantity of cheeses (namely mozzarella, farmer's cheese, and feta), a fair description of which defies words--polite ones anyway.  better still, near as i can tell they make these constantly, so one is quite likely to enjoy a hachapuri that is still warm.  gemma and i went back up to the counter for another.  we were rewarded moments later when another tray came out of the oven and i held in my hands a paper plate containing a hachapuri that had been baking not ninety seconds before.  gemma and i both burned our mouthes on our respective first bites of this second hotter hachapuri, but undeterred continued to burn our mouthes until all that remained was a pile of crumbs and two smiles.  seriously people, these are good.

eventually we made it back to gemma's place, where we investigated some more normal (read: less stuffed) breads.  first came the puri, or georgian round bread.  this was quite good, quite round, and fairly flat.  it looked a bit like mutant over-grown indian naan, actually.  looks can be deceiving, however: the taste reminded me more of a crusty italian bread, but with more salt.  this bread is great alone or with butter, but would probably also tolerate a fairly mild cheese.  while it would not lessen your enjoyment of a stronger cheese, a stronger cheese would probably lessen your enjoyment of this bread (a bit), as it is rather mild in flavor.

we moved on to something called a shoti--or long bread--which was shaped much like baguette.  this was creamier and denser in texture, as well as slightly moister inside.  this was about what was going through my head when gemma asked, "do you think this tastes like honeydew?"  i looked at her like she had three ears and antennae.  "seriously," she said, "i think this tastes a little like honeydew..."  i looked at her as though she was snacking on kleenex.  "just try it."  i did.  nothing.  "well?"  i took another bite.  and then something truly strange happened: i tasted honeydew.  now we both know that it is impossible for bread to taste like honeydew, so what did i learn from this?  don't trust gemma: she'll mess with your mind and make you taste things that aren't there.  her powers of mind control are terrifying.

despite all my rambling on, there is a one-word verdict about this bakery: GO.

(n.b.: for those who have speculated that i cannot be pleased, above is evidence to the contrary.  see also my review of the red hen bakery.)

Chicago Foodies

Josh of Chicago Foodies has invited me to contribute Chicago bakery reviews and the occasional Hyde Park restaurant review to his fantastic site.  You can currently read about my recent trip to Argo Georgian Bakery as well as a wide variety of posts by other authors about the Chicago food scene.  I'm flattered to become part of such a great Chicago resource.

Real Popovers!

Note: I've updated this popover post - find it here!

They actually popped this time!  I broke down and bought a real popover pan.  (about $17, Chicago Metallic, purchased at Freehling Pot & Pan in Hyde Park).  I also used a new recipe this time so that could have made the difference as well.  I highly suggest investing in a popover pan if you plan to make popovers.

This recipe called for warm milk and room temperature eggs, as well as 1 hour of allowing the batter to rest after it is mixed.  So keep these things in mind if you plan to use this recipe.

I will have to try my other recipe with my new popover pan sometime soon to compare.

Dinner Party: Sicilian Scroll and Sourdough Baguettes

Last night John, Molly, Colie, Kati and I were invited to Ben's for a dinner party. He has a beautiful apartment and it was wonderfully arranged for the occasion. We arrived around 5 and opened some wine and set out olives, cheeses, and bread to nibble on while watching the NCAA games.

One fun thing about Ben's place is that he is able to project his television. We were able to watch the game on a HUGE screen. Here I am in front of the projector drinking wine between the games.

The bread we snacked on before dinner was a Sicilian Scroll that I had made. This is a semolina flour based bread. Semolina flour comes from durum wheat which is what pastas are often made of. I used the recipe from Bread by Christine Ingram & Jennie Shapter. The bread turned out pretty well with a good crust and a soft, dense, slightly crumbly crumb.

This picture shows more of the detail of the crumb.

I also made sourdough baguettes. This was my first time using my recently made sourdough starter for bread. The timing of the evening was thrown a bit off and subsequently my baguettes dried out too much. Therefore, they didn't expand while baking and the crust baked much faster than the interior. They still look kind of pretty, however they weren't that tasty. It was a disappointment but I will try them again soon. I used the recipe and lovely tutorial from eGullet on Sourdough Bread. A fantastic resource.

John made his excellent broccoli and apple soup for the first course (there's John above). For the main course Ben made 3 quiches. The most interesting one was his 'experimental' quiche. It included asparagus, apple, and chevre. It was actually quite good. With some alterations in the spices it could be incredible. Kati brought an apple pie and a fruit tart from the Medici. The apple pie was really amazing. I will have to go to the Medici and try that again.

We had a great time, ate excellent food, and drank QUITE a bit of wine (there was a big wine sale at the Co-Op). We drunkenly promised to do this more often and I really hope that happens.

Some of the wine we consumed.

Spring

Spring has finally graced Chicago with it's presence. I'm sure of it this time. I can't wait for the fresh produce, the farmer's markets downtown, sitting in the sun at the point, and being able to enjoy some daylight after work. This was a long winter. Spending the last 3 years in Portland, Oregon spoiled me.

Cranberry Vanilla Almond Biscotti

I wanted to bake a semolina loaf tonight, but realized late in the evening that I was out of yeast. . .
Instead, I decided to make Cranberry, Vanilla, Almond Biscotti. I made biscotti for the first time about 6 months ago and I am still amazed how easy it is.

Craberry Vanilla Almond Biscotti

I based this recipe on Martha Stewart's Pecan Cranberry Biscotti Recipe.
Here is the recipe with my modifications:

Preheat oven to 350F

In one large bowl combine 2 and 1/2 C unbleached all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, a pinch of salt, and 1 and 1/4 C sugar.

In a second bowl whisk 4 eggs and 1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla.

Combine all and mix until a dough begins to form.

Add 1 C dried cranberries and a 1/2 C slivered almonds. Stir to combine.

Once the dough begins to smooth out, use floured hands to further incorporate the dry ingredients.

Form into a log (about 12 inches long, 4 inches wide, and 1 - 1 and 1/2 inches thick).

Dust with sugar.

Bake on a prepared baking sheet for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from oven and allow to cool (this allows it to firm up before cutting).

Reduce heat to 285F

With a serrated knife cut short-ways into 1 inch pieces.

Return the pieces on their fat side to the baking sheet and bake for 20 min or until golden brown.

Remove from oven and flip each biscotti piece over and return to the oven for another 20 min.

Remove from oven and allow the pieces to cool on a wire rack.

Place in an airtight container.

Biscotti keeps for quite a long time. It will become harder, but all the better for dipping in coffee. Keeping the same basic recipe, other ingredients can be substituted for the cranberries and almonds. I've tried chocolate pieces and walnuts or lemon zest and almond before with success. Also, once baked the biscotti is easy to dip in melted chocolate.

Food Photography

Since beginning this blog I have learned quite a bit about baking, cooking, and photography.  I still have a long way to go in all three categories, but especially the latter.  A few months ago I combed Google for some food photo advice and I thought I would share some of the sites I culled.

Please feel free to send me links to sites that you have found particularly helpful on the same subject and I will add them to the list to share with others.

An Insider's Look at Food Photography:  Includes information on food styling and tricks such as creating artificial steam.

eGullet-Digital Cameras: A forum on digital cameras where, if you dig, you can find some very helpful advice.

eGullet-Shutterbug: A forum where one can read peer critiques on food photos.

Food Photography Blog: A useful site with some 'tricks of the trade' advice.  However, the author's suggestion that perhaps the reason most photographers are men is due to the fact that the gear is so heavy (!) is less than enlightening.

How to Photography Food: A lengthy article with great pictures and some unique advice.

Kiplog: A quick tutorial on correcting color casts in Photoshop.

Photo Tips: A list of pointers.

Silverlace: Short article.

Tasteful Food Photography: Lovely pictures, a clear and concise article.

Lastly, here are the blogs of my two favorite food photographers.  Hopefully their pictures will provide you with the same inspiration to start cooking, baking, and shooting as they have for me.

101 Cookbooks:  Heidi's photos are gorgeous and plentiful.  This is a great resource for anyone who might need examples of superb and uncluttered food presentation as well as how to frame a shot well.

Nordljus:  These photos are absolutely breathtaking. Keiko is clearly both a master chef and photographer.  Certainly the best food photos I have yet to see.

My first taste of publicity!

So, compared to folks like Clotide this is pretty negligible, but I received my first piece of publicity today.  Gapers Block is currently hosting a blurb in the Eating/Drinking section by Jesica Davis of Fuck Corporate Groceries.  I am blushing!

Greek Easter Bread

Saturday night I took the train out to my parent's house. My brother is on spring break from college and our family decided to host Easter. It was a small crowd, mainly just my mother's side of the family. (Her two brothers and their families, my grandmother, and also John and his mother joined us.)

I woke horribly early on Sunday morning to begin the onion tart and the Greek Easter bread that I was contributing. In addition we served a fruit salad, a garden salad, ham, a broccoli and cheese casserole, mashed potatoes, and olives. And for dessert Lynn brought a key lime pie, Dave baked a delicious lime cheesecake, and Carol made one of her fabulous apple pies.

I used the onion tart recipe from Molly at Orangette which I had tried before and was very pleased with. For the Greek Easter bread I used a recipe from Alberto of Il Forno. It turned out great. (Well, the loaf on the right at least. I made the dough for the loaf on the left first and panicked when it did not appear to be rising. I made the second loaf just in case and it ended up being quite superior. It was much more airy and light.)

I decided to opt for the red eggs as the pictures I saw of this traditional color were stunning. However, the color didn't hold well and I ended up with pink eggs nestled in a ring of red-dyed bread.

The bread had a glorious crust, a wonderful aroma, and a buttery, sweet, and delicate crumb. I will definitely make this bread again. I bet the recipe would be divine if I made small rolls stuffed with a bit of gruyere or a pat of dark chocolate.

Harold: Breadsmith Bakery

breadsmith is located squarely in the lincoln park yuppie-zone, at 1710 n. wells.  while i am normally loathe to countenance any bakery selling gourmet dog biscuits i meticulously prepared myself to make an exception in this case.  sadly my charity was misplaced.

the premises were clean and appeared to be well maintained, but standing there i found myself strangely unable to muster any interest whatsoever in the coffee.  i have no idea what came over me, actually.  while the bakery seemed to be "service oriented," i could not help but notice that the short-term memory of the gentleman helping us was sub-human.  also of general interest: breadsmith is hardly a back-to-basics type bakery.  a brief look at their website confirms this.

we began with a roll that was mild--almost tasty?--in flavor and had a fairly nice crust.  it would have done well with more salt but was otherwise ok.  unfortunately it reminded me of spongecake.  queer, no?

we continued with something called a simit.  it had a slightly sweet and insubstantial crust.  it is slightly tragic that i will never get back the three minutes of my life that i spent tasting this bread.

subsequently we tried the salt stick.  the salt stick had an impressively chewy crust with caraway seeds and the overall flavor was (wait for it....wait for it....) salty.  while the caraway was certainly a nice touch, it was rather overdone.  be that as it may, this bread was without doubt "best in show."

the ill-conceived focaccia roll seemed like something straight out of alice in wonderland, if only inasmuch as i could think nothing but "curiouser and curiouser..." as i ate it.  chief among the myriad sins committed in the design and execution of this "bread" were that it was structurally unsound and far too salty.

the final item we tried was the cheddar-jalapeño bread.  in its present form, it is too cheesy and a tad short on the jalapeños and really ought to be reinvented as a roll that is never served any other way but pipping-hot.  other possible improvements include the use of better (white?) cheddar and fresh jalapeños in lieu of the pickled ones that are presently employed.

unfortunately the best thing i can say about it is that it is not just like every other yuppie-zone bakery.  usually the preceding remark would be a compliment, but in this case i fear it is not: any amount of conformity to the gourmet bread status quo be of great service to this bakery.

See Gemma's Review below.

Gemma: Breadsmith Bakery

breadsmith
Originally uploaded by dumin.

Two weekends ago Harold and I, accompanied by our friend Paul, visited the Breadsmith Bakery at 1710 N. Wells in Chicago. As you can see from the link, Breadsmith is a chain located throughout the Midwest. The bakery we went to is located in the upscale neighborhood of Old Town and the clientele seemed representative. I lived a few blocks from this bakery with my uncles for a few summers and had been interested in returning for some time.

Upon entering the store I noticed the dog biscuits for sale and almost turned around to leave. But, I was humbled when I made it up to the register and noticed that every penny of their sale goes to an animal shelter. I took a picture of their lovely ovens, but was confronted by the manager who probed me for information on what the photo was for. I was caught off guard and rambled about 'really loving ovens. . ' or something like that. He asked if I was from a trade magazine and if so said they had stock photos. I regret not asking for one, because I would love a big glossy picture. This leads me to the question, would he consider this a trade magazine? Hrm. . . In any event, I am now afraid to post the lovely picture I took of their large and shiny ovens, so you will all just have to visit to see for yourself.

Here is what we selected (clockwise from the top ring):
Simit
Cheddar Jalapeno Sourdough
Salt Sticks (2)
Small Focaccia
Sourdough Roll

The simit had a delicious aroma of nutty toasted sesame. It was moist and very sweet. The flavor was a bit odd. The crust too soft, actually the whole bread was so soft that it almost disintegrated in your mouth. Oddly, it almost tasted and smelled like a commercially produced soft whole wheat sandwich loaf. Simit is a traditional Turkish bread which is indeed supposed to be quite sweet and nutty. However, this crust was much too soft and should instead be quite firm and chewy.  Here is a shot of the interior:

(l-r) Cheddar Jalapeno Sourdough, Focaccia, Simit, Sourdough Roll.

The cheddar jalapeno sourdough contained a massive amount of cheese with jalapeno slices and caraway seeds in the center. The bread was delicious and enjoyable, but this was mainly due to the cheese and not to the bread itself. The extra ingredients were spread onto the rolled out dough, it was rolled up into a loaf and baked. Without these extra ingredients the bread would be bland and unremarkable. It had a very soft crumb and chewy crust. Tasty, but solely do to the extras. 

The salt sticks were covered in caraway seeds which went fantastically with the saltiness of the bread. This was a chewy bread with a nice, glossy, chewy crust and a soft, fine crumb. It would be lovely with a soup or pasta. Perhaps ideal with a warm carrot and caraway soup (ooh, I'll have to make that!) or a caraway and tomato based pasta sauce.

The small focaccia was similar to the cheddar jalapeno sourdough in that it would be an uneventful product were in not for the ingredients the bread was stuffed with. (In fact, it tasted like the bread would be a mediocre over-sized pretzel without the extra ingredients). It was also a rolled dough, stuffed with chopped tomato, white cheddar/Parmesan, salt, and spinach. It was very tasty and soft. It unfortunately fell apart when cut. Golden, thin, soft, and glossy crust. It was not oily, which is a plus. A second shot of the interiors:

(l-r) Salt Stick, Cheddar Jalapeno Sourdough, Focaccia, Simit.

Lastly, the sourdough roll had a very hard crust and a moist light crumb. It had small, but plentiful holes and crustiness that would be ideal for soups but a bit too hard for eating alone. The aroma was indiscernible and while the taste was sour, I suspect (though am highly disappointed to say) that they must use an artificial sourdough additive rather than using a real starter.

Overall, this is a nice neighborhood bakery with solid products, but nothing to right home about. The salt sticks were the winner.

French Sheep's Brie

I went to Fox & Obel today after work to look around and to ideally purchase some black truffle oil. I unfortunately found the the store to be super over-priced and not very unique. The black truffle oil was very expensive. I will have to order it online instead.

I didn't leave empty handed of course. I purchased a baguette (not great) and some cheese.

Le Berger de Rocastin-- Fromage au lait de brebis. Fromager d'Affinois (The shepard of Rocastin--Cheese with ewe's milk. The cheesemaker of Affinois.)

This French sheep's brie was suberb. Silky, creamy, and pungent. Delicious

banana muffins (IMBB13)

John and I went to Trader Joe's this morning and bought $lots$ of delicious stuff. Upon our return home some major kitchen reorganization was in order. While cleaning out our freezer we noticed a bulk of frozen over-ripe bananas. I used Clotide's Banana Pecan Muffin recipe---with 2 little changes. I omitted the pecans because I didn't have any on hand and I used 4 egg whites instead of regular eggs because I had some left over that needed to be used up.

This yielded a light and airy interior that I was quite pleased with.