Thanks to Serious Eats & Shamiq, I now know that TJs sells these lovely things.
$3.99 for 4 frozen kougin amann, way cheaper than any bakery. And way less work than making them myself.
Results? Pretty good. Especially given that I could eat them warm out of the oven. Flakey, sugary, slightly crunchy. My weekend plans involve taking some of these apart and trying to add in marmalade, fruit or chocolate.
Based on this recipe with some changes due to my inability to plan ahead. Who knew souffles were so forgiving!
7 oz chocolate (semi sweet)
4 tbsp butter + more for the molds
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 egg yolks
7 egg whites
3 tbsp warm water
1/4 c (white) + 2 tbsp (brown) sugar + more for the molds
Butter and sugar the ramekins (6), keep them in the fridge (or freezer) until its baking time.
Melt the chocolate and butter together in the microwave. Whisk together the egg yolks and 2tbsp brown sugar and water. Then combine with the chocolate mixture. Add vanilla extract.
Whisk the egg whites and 1/4c white sugar until stiff peaks form. Fold in the chocolate mixture.
Bake for 18 (to 20) minutes at 400F on the bottom rack of the oven.
I find DIY bloggers, on average, pretty hilarious since so much content is recycled. BUT, today, here is a unique one of a kind super creative DIY idea: waffle cooling rack made of a paper plate, chopsticks and stirrers.
One of my wonderful coworkers made these this amazing and stylish waffle cooling rack to allow our Blueberry Mochi waffles to cool to a nice crisp. So fancy. (Also, now I have a picture of these very strange looking waffles… I promise they’re delicious!)
I guess it’s a trendy thing these days. I gave Moogle some juice+pulp, he was a fan.
Juice of cucumber, pear, kale, carrot & dandelion.
Why do pizzas have to be cut into equal slices?
Conclusion: Kumquats and cheese don’t go well with an herb crust. Also don’t go particularly well with mild flavored cheese. Maybe with a blue?
I’m a huge fan of dense brick-like ryes. So, I tried to make some.
Katherine’s First Rye Brick
3 cups rye flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup rye fed sourdough starter
1 tbsp yeast
1 tbsp salt
~2 cups of water (unsure, I had to add some after the first night because it looked too dry)
Combine everything. Add water until it holds together as a slightly tacky dough. Let rise. I did 4 days in the fridge.
Bake at 450F in a preheated oven for ~20 minutes. Check for an internal temp of 190F. I baked in a greased loaf pan, with another pan of boiling water alongside it for steam.
The results weren’t as texturally varied as some store bought ryes, which makes sense since I didn’t have any coarse ground or unground grains. It made great thinly sliced toasts with a strong rye flavor. The crust wasn’t very crisp, as tends to be the case in breads like this.
I’ve got another batch of dough in my fridge, but this time with a teaspoon each of coffee powder and molasses for flavor.
1 cup sour dough starter
3.5 cups flour (this was all all-purpose)
1.25 cups lukewarm water
1 tbsp yeast
1 tbsp salt
Mix all, let sit in the fridge for a few days. Then take half of it, make into a ball. Let rest for an hour.
Dump into oven & dutch oven preheated to 450F, spray the bottom and lid with water. Bake with the lid on for 15 minutes. Uncover, bake for another 15.
Wait to cool, eat bread!
Notes:
– Too much water, then it won’t raise as well
– Probably worth trying with half whole-wheat
– Try with some rye flour in the starter, see if it makes it more sour?
Maybe I did a little too much post processing here. Candied kumquats filled with foie. AMAZING. I could eat buckets of these. Okay, I’d get sick. Maybe not. Three is a great number.
Artichokes, black trumpets and guinea fowl.
Thinly shaved celery root over crab bodies and claws. I liked the crab and the celery root separately, but not together. (Or well, the celery drowned out the crab when eaten together)
Thinly sliced Monterey abalone with mushrooms in gruyere. I think its hard to dislike things baked in cheese. But I do love abalone.
Veal, loin and belly. Served with endive, almonds and deliciousness. Including radish flowers and broccoli flowers. (Wonder what volunteers do? We pick the flowers!)
Rainbow of citrus, served with ginger milk curd (this was especially delicious, but unphotogenic) and dehydrated angel food cake. Little wood sorrel leaves & ginger threads. (Picking wood sorrel leaves is a volunteer activity…)
Treats! Jellies, puffs, biscuits (with honey and wood sorrel flowers).
As always, Lazy Bear was delicious. And volunteering was fun. AND we took home parisian gnocchi and beef tartare.
After volunteering at Lazy Bear last week, one of the folks there sent us home with containers of Parisian gnocchi. (Thanks Jared!)
I’d never heard of Parisian gnocchi before, but essentially its choux piped into boiling water, then pan fried in butter to serve. I fried them up for dinner and nom nom nom — delicious. Crisp outsides and soft chewy insides.
One day I’ll attempt to make these, including the dough. If only I could regularly pick these up from Lazy Bear. hah.
My usual buttermilk poundcake recipe calls for shortening, which I didn’t have — so I tried this recipe instead. It was delicious — moist on the inside, and slightly crispy on the outside.
I’m going to have to make both side-by-side one of these days to compare. A war of the buttermilk-pound-cakes!
Slightly Modified Poundcake: (because I’m sloppy and was trying to find a middle ground with the other recipe)
3c flour, sifted
1/4tsp baking soda
1/2tsp salt
1c butter
2.5c white sugar *different from original recipe
6 eggs
1tsp vanilla extract
1c buttermilk
1. Preheat oven to 325F. Grease your pan well. The recipe lists a 9-10c tube pan, which I think is traditional. I did a loaf pan + 1 6c bundt
2. Mix the dry ingredients together
3. Cream butter and sugar. Add the eggs one by one. Stir in vanila
4. Alternately mix in flour and buttermilk into the butter mixture
5. Bake in preheated oven. Mine took about 70 minutes for both to be done. Likely longer if using a single larger pan.
6. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack