Starting some starter of my own

Posted on 4 June 2008 by christao408

First off, I’d like to thank everyone who engaged in the exchange of ideas and friendly debate in my last entry. My blog normally doesn’t head into political topics but on occasion I like to express my idea. I find that when people take a deep breath and exchange their ideas on a civil level, there’s an opportunity to learn much more from each other and to be more open to different ideas.

Let’s all keep that spirit of open-minded dialogue as we head into November. Heck, let’s try to keep that all the time.

Let’s turn away from topical things and get back to the subject that is no less partisan and divisive, food!

I’ve been experimenting with sourdough bread as of late, not so much to recreate the sourdough I know and love from San Francisco (funny story, the first time Tawn visited me in SF and he tried the bread, he looked at me with this odd face and told me he thought the bread had gone bad), but just as a way to leaven and make more flavorful whole wheat bread.

The whole wheat bread I buy here in Thailand is just awful. Even some of the hotel bakeries, which cater to Europeans, still make pretty cardboard-ish whole grain bread.

A great website I found – www.sourdoughhome.com – is literally the home of everything sourdough. Some much information and helpful descriptions and explanations from a former bakery owner and baking instructor!

I created my own sourdough starter, basically a jar of water and flour that is allowed to catch its own yeast spores from the air. Over time it begins to ferment a bit and a sour air become more noticeable, picture on the left.

Every twelve hours I remove half the starter and replace is with a 2:3 mixture of water and flower. Then I let it sit for twelve hours or so, during which time it should double in height (picture on the right). Now that it has matured a bit I’ll send it to the refrigerator to hibernate for a few days at a time but I am sure to bring it out and start feeding it again a day or two before I want to make another loaf.

Below, close up of the starter.

My first few loaves had some problems. One just never rose at all. I think I used the started too far along in the 12-hour cycle after the activity had died down. Another loaf looked pretty good but when I pulled the plastic wrap off the top of the loaf before placing it in the oven, I realized I hadn’t oiled the plastic. The dough caught on it, ripped open, and the loaf deflated into a dense brick.

My most recent loaf turned out quite nicely. It still isn’t as tall as I’d like, but since it had a very nice, light crumb inside I think the issue is that the recipe isn’t large enough for the pan. I’ll try again next week and increase the recipe by about a third.

Below, a nice loaf but still a bit short.

There is nothing like the smell of fresh-baked bread in a house, even when the loaf turns out to be a doorstop. My maternal grandmother used to bake quite often and I recall the smell and taste of fresh-baked bread at her house.

Sunday Chardonnay

Posted on 18 February 2008 by christao408

We hosted brunch on Sunday for a small group: just four guests plus ourselves. Our table seats six (or eight with great intimacy) so the invitation list was judiciously selected and I had to take care not to mention the brunch to those not invited, for fear of upsetting them.

We could invite larger groups but I find if we have more than the six or tight eight, the party has to become a buffet where people are sitting on the couch and elsewhere to eat. That is an unwieldy thing to do, limiting the menu options and increasing the work for the hosts. I like brunch to be an easy, fun affair.

We invited Ken and Chai, Roka and Doug, the same group who joined for Christmas Eve dinner at Bacco Italian restaurant. The conversation had been lively, ranging across myriad topics and especially literature and travel, so I wanted to resurrect the spirit of that evening but in an afternoon setting.

The menu was mostly make-ahead:

24-hour omelet from Cook’s Illustrated “The Best Make-Ahead Recipe” cookbook
Mixed greens salad with sesame dressing
Steamed artichokes with balsamic mayonnaise sauce
Mixed breads
Chunky lemon meringue pie from Sunset Magazine

Omelet

The 24-hour omelet is similar to a strata, but with less bread, and is combined in a dish and refrigerated overnight so all the work is done in advance. I managed to not follow the recipe carefully and had to do a little improvisation halfway through, resulting in a little drier, breadier dish than it is supposed to be.

Top: Ingredients are assembled including buttered sandwich bread, eggs, cheese, roasted green chilies, minced onion, and milk. I managed to forget the milk so after assembly had to mix two more eggs and some milk together and pour it on top of the dish, poking holes with a fork so it would soak into the bread. Ultimately, too many eggs and not enough milk. I’ll follow the recipe correctly next time.

Above left and right: The dish right after assembly and then the dish after a night soaking in the refrigerator.

Below: The finished product, crispy and cheesy and puffed up and golden brown. And some cookies behind it for the guests to take home.

Chunky Lemon Meringue Pie

Sunset magazine is a staple of my childhood and young adulthood living in the Western United States (“Living in the West” is their tagline) and I continue to subscribe to it because it captures a lifestyle and way of living that is appealing to me. This lifestyle is exemplified by the patio, and outdoor space that in most Western US states you can spend much of your time throughout the year, entertaining, barbecueing, having drinks, etc.

The recipe for chunky lemon meringue pie caught my eye because I like lemon meringue but often feel the lemon filling is a bit monotone when it comes to texture. The idea of macerating very thinly sliced lemons for twenty-four hours until they became edible was an interesting twist.

Sadly, lemons in Thailand (imported from somewhere despite our abundance of home grown limes) don’t seem to be the same as lemons in the US and despite my best efforts to slice them as thin as possible, the pie ended up a little too chunky and a little too tart, even with two cups of sugar added!

Also, the recipe didn’t specify the doneness the lemon filling should be at before removing it from the oven, only a time and temperature. When I pulled it out, it was still a little soft in the center, but I rationalized that since there was another 25 minutes to cook once the meringue was added, maybe it would set up during that time. In fact, I should have cooked it until it was more set, maybe with only the slightest of jiggles in the center.

Below left: Before baking. Below right: After baking.

The result of this not-set center was that when the pie was served, it all just kind of collapsed. Right is a shot of the best looking slice and it is nothing to write home about.

You can see how the center of the pie has oozed out and not held its shape, so the meringue, when being cut, didn’t have any support underneath and crushed into nothingness.

The meringue was also interesting because the recipe called for adding both brown and white sugars, resulting in a tan colored meringue that was visually less appealing than the usual contrast between the bright white interior and the browned exterior.

Despite the challenges, the look was impressive after it was all finished, below.

So the cooking of the brunch proved to be much less interesting than the brunch itself. We still had leftover flowers from the photo shoot, so decoration was very easy. The conversation ran smoothly and we had an enjoyable time all the way until the guests left about three hours later. The two bottles of Chardonnay were tasty, one from Napa and the other from the Santa Cruz Mountains and they were so different, despite being grown just 100 miles apart, and gave the afternoon sort of a hazy quality that Anita and Colleen (two of my roommates in San Francisco) liked to as Chardonnay Sunday.

The entertainment for the day came from Chai , for whom coming to eat at my house must be torture. He had never seen a whole artichoke nor had any idea what to do with it. When I was growing up, since I grew up just 30 miles from the artichoke capital of the world, we would steam artichokes and eat them with melted butter for dinner.

Chai just looked at the thistle as if I were a crazy man for even suggesting that he try it.

Below we have a picture of Ken pointing to one of the leaves of the choke, trying to convince Chai that it is in fact edible. I think he tried one leaf and that was enough.

Also, once the chunky lemon pie arrived he was busily scraping out the chunky pieces and saying to Tawn, in Thai, that he had never eaten something like that before – so bitter and so many pieces you couldn’t chew. I promised him that next time I’ll stick with more standard food!

Now, before anyone pulls out the Miss Manners book and talks about being a good guest, let me just say in Chai’s defense that I like having friends who will be appreciative of the work I’ve put into the meal but will also share with me their honest thoughts. That helps me improve my cooking and choose foods that are appropriate for my diverse group of guests.

Finally, while we were setting up for the party, Tawn asked me to take a picture of him with his favorite guru, Ina Garten. For any of you who don’t know, Garten is a contemporary of Martha Stewart with a series of cookbooks and a TV show on the Food Network.

The difference that I perceive between Garten and Stewart is that Stewart is more about meticulous perfection, whereas Garten is willing to take shortcuts (frozen pastry dough, for example) so long as the quality remains high. As she points out, if you can’t have fun at your own parties because you’re busy running around, then there’s no point in having parties.

Garten started out with a store called Barefoot Contessa in East Hampton, NY. I became familiar with the store (which was shown in early scenes in the 2003 Nancy Meyers’ film starring Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson, Something’s Gotta Give) the two years I worked as an operations manager at the Hampton International Film Festival. Sadly, the store closed in 2004 although the brand lives on through cookbooks.

Anyhow, I’d debate that Tawn is probably more Martha Stewart and I am more Ina Garten, but at least we agree on the ideals of simplicity and enjoyment when entertaining. And one of these days we’ll actually achieve those ideals!

The Elle Ultimatum

Posted on 17 February 2008 by christao408

Following up on the Elle Decoration (which Vic, being a gay man of few stereotypically gay characteristics, misunderstood as a Spanish language publication called El Decoration) photo shoot Friday, first let me thank all of you for your comments and feedback. The “banishment” to the balcony – as I humorously referred to is – worked out okay as it ultimately allowed both Tawn and I to both maintain our respective values and priorities. There was also an opportunity the following morning for a good follow-up conversation and, as these types of situations provide, we were able to better understand each other afterwards, right.

Still, I’m thankful that I was out and about instead of at home for the photo shoot, as it was every bit as much of a stressful mess as I had imagined. I’ve never done photo shoots but I have experience with film and video shoots, and I know that especially for interior shots there is one area of perfection surrounded by a whirlwind of chaos just outside the camera’s field of view.

So it was with our condo. Tawn had spent the better part of Thursday arranging the entire place so that it was neat, tidy, and decorated to the nines.

First though, doing another flashback, on Wednesday our contractor delivered the replacement bookshelves. You may recall that in December I wrote about the china cabinets that arrived according to a design change that I had unwittingly agreed to. Upon their arrival, we discovered that these cabinets were not only not the design that I wanted – my mistake because I had agreed to their change – but they were also not built to the dimensions that Tawn and the designer, Ble, had agreed to. Each dimension – height, width, and depth – was incorrect. I had a vision in my mind of a cross eyed carpenter with coke bottle bottom glasses trying to read the tape measure as he reinterpreted the designer’s dimensions.

Ble was not happy and the contractor, with whom he works on most his projects, had to rebuild the cabinets for us at his own cost.

The new cabinets arrived this Wednesday. This time the cabinets were of the correct dimension and, as you’ll see from the picture below they seem to fit the space much more nicely. The new one is on the right.

The new cabinets also contain an interior light, which was part of the design but had been omitted in the original shelves. These still aren’t bookshelves, although we’ve agreed to mostly place books in them, but they look a lot nicer than the previous ones.

Thus ready for the photo shoot, Tawn had prepared everything with the expectation that the designer would arrive with a few additional props, maybe move a few things around, and then the photographer would take the pictures and go.

Ah, but nothing is that easy. For starters, Ble arrived with his assistant Eddy, and several large pieces of furniture including two porcelain Chinese stools, a large steamer trunk, and two large bedside lamps.

Below right, Ble looks on as Eddy and another assistant move pieces around according to his direction.

Tawn’s tidy setting was quickly untidied and descended into chaos as pieces were arranged. Our bedside lamps, out. New bedside lamps, in, below left.

The photographer was tasked by the editor with shooting twelve different scenes. In a small place like ours – only 68 square meters – that’s quite a challenge. Instead of shooting whole rooms, many of these shots were tightly composed – of a bedside table with decorations, for example.

Ble was a perfectionist for details, below. The bed was not made neatly enough and the original tea arrangement Tawn set out was not what he had in mind so he switched the tray.

Tawn had asked his mother to come over (she has never seen the place before) and to bring two of his dogs, in case the photographer wanted some dogs to dress a scene. Which is kind of funny, considering that his dogs are so skittish that they would come out blurred in an exposure at even the fasted shutter speed.

Left, Khun Nui surveys the scene as shots are taken in the bedroom. Right, now that Khun Chris has left the balcony, the dogs are banished there instead.

Above: Ble takes a break as Eddy makes calls. The photographer’s case is on the kitchen floor and a section of the counter that won’t be in any pictures is packed with things.

Below left: The photographer’s assistant takes a meter reading for the bathroom shot. Right: What the photographer sees, a mirror image of the shot.

After several hours of shooting, seven shots were complete with five to go. Eventually, the team moved to the living room where the table had been set for a tea party. The theme of the April issue will be “throwing a party” and my understanding is that each house that is being shot is decorated with a party theme. The picture below gives you an idea of how chaotic things are just for one perfect picture.

The final shots were taken in the kitchen area. Tawn had pitched the story of this house as “A Baker’s House… Inspired by San Francisco” or something to that affect. I had baked a double batch of cookie dough, rolled it into logs and stored them in the refrigerator as Tawn could actually bake cookies for the shoot. The final shot below is of one showing him in his apron – ever the baker – pulling some cookies out of the oven for his guests.

Pumpkin Pie Part Deux

Posted on 22 January 2008 by christao408

The rest of the weekend baking project – kind of my own personal Iron Chef challenge – was around pumpkin. Pumpkin is an interesting ingredient for me because as a child, I disliked both pumpkin and squash, to the extent that the flavor would literally make me gag. I’m not sure why. Maybe the flavor is kind of strong? The one squash dish I did like was the squash rolls – a dinner roll made with some squash puree – so maybe that validates my theory, since the rolls didn’t have a very strong squash flavor.

I also didn’t like sweet potatoes, yams, and tofu as a child – all things that I just love now. Another theory why I didn’t like them then was that I didn’t like them until I had them particularly well prepared.

(I’ll tread carefully with the next part of this entry because I know my mother reads this blog…)

My mother went through a big tofu phase sometime in the late 70s. We lived in Northern California, meat was expensive, and tofu was all the rage as a healthy, inexpensive meat substitute. My mother got hold of two cookbooks by Gary Landgrebe – Tofu Goes West and Tofu at Center Stage. On the cover of the first cookbook was an illustration of a covered wagon being driven by a block of tofu. On the second was a picture of a stage with a block of tofu tap dancing in the center of it. No kidding. I was able to find the books online still, but no cover pictures.

Anyhow, Landgrebe’s take on tofu was basically to substitute it anywhere a recipe might call for ground beef.

It wasn’t until junior high school, when I started hanging around with several first generation Chinese-American friends, that I finally learned to appreciate tofu. The same probably goes for squash and pumpkin. More exposure to the vegetables prepared in a greater variety of ways, has led me to really enjoy them even more.

Roasted root vegetables, with squash and sweet potatoes, for example. Mixed with some olive oil and rosemary… mmm, yummy!

So it was with pumpkin pie. Roka challenged me to make a pumpkin pie from scratch. My first attempt was a few weeks ago. It turned out okay so I bought a whole mess of pumpkins and decided to make several pies and, while at it, a recipe of pumpkin biscotti. Tawn’s mother really likes biscotti and I haven’t made her any in a while.

The pie worked out quite well. It isn’t that much extra work and the flavor is really lovely. The pie crust is still an issue, though. What the heck is going on with it? I’m going to Cooks Illustrated to find out why I’m having so much trouble with it. It tasted fine but the texture was all wrong. After rolling it out, I couldn’t lift it up. It just disintegrated!

Roka came over Monday night to try the pie. Since I had two (and we didn’t want to scarf them down by ourselves although we certainly would have considered doing just that) I invited other people over. Markus, his visiting mother and niece and nephew came over for what was, for them, a pre-dinner dessert. I also served them some biscotti and baguette washed down with tea.

Roka really liked the pie. Markus and family did, too, but it is Roka’s opinion I’m most interested in because she was the one who first challenged me to make a pumpkin pie from scratch. She was sad, though, because she thought that since I had made a successful pumpkin pie that I would move on to other things and she wouldn’t get another one. She drew this conclusion since she tried chocolate souffle for her first time two months ago, liked it, and I haven’t made it for her since!

The whipped cream looks a little funny on that pie, doesn’t it? Markus picked up some whipping cream on his way over to try the pie and when I whipped it with my electric mixer, it never did really come together. Not sure why. Any theories or suggestions for me?

As for the biscotti, they turned out tasty but uninspiring. I think they need some pecans or cranberries or white chocolate chips – or maybe a little bit of all three? – to give them some additional umph.

What’s next for the Iron Chef Thailand? Nah, just kidding… I’m a noncompetitive cook. My sister once suggested that we should have my cousin Patrick and I do an Iron Chef at a family reunion. I’d rather we just plan a big meal together and prepare it. This world is competitive enough without bringing it into the family kitchen.

Of Baguettes

Posted on 20 January 2008 by christao408

Perhaps my Saturday entry on aging parents was a bit of a downer. Not many comments were received…

This weekend, between the errands and other odds and ends, was one of progressive baking. I started Saturday morning and will conclude Monday afternoon. There were three menu items:

The first was a French baguette. I’ve dabbled a little in bread making but haven’t really taken the time to become good (read, “consistent”) at it. The San Francisco Chronicle did a series of articles on wood ovens last time I was there and I had a recipe for rustic bread from one of those articles that I wanted to try. Also, the latest issue of Living magazine had several bread recipes in it. This prompted me to finally get our the Kitchen Aid mixer and bake.

What I’m really looking for is to be able to consistently create a loaf with a good, crunchy crust and a tangy, spongy interior. One of the key steps, short of making my own sourdough starter to hand down from generation to generation, is to create a small batch of starter that sits on the counter overnight. Starter is just flour, water, and a pinch of yeast. By giving it twelve or move hours to ferment, the dough is imparted with more flavor.

Top left: The starter about fourteen hours after starting. Top right: Kitchen Aid mixer is out, plugged into a converter (you should see it go when I forget the converter!), and is ready to do the kneading. Lower left: After eight minutes of kneading, the gluten is starting to form and the dough has a smoother and more elastic appearance. Lower right: After two hours of rising. Below: The finished product after being punched down, allowed to rise again in the refrigerator overnight, then shaped into logs and given one final rise before baking.

The second and third items on the menu are pumpkin-related. One is finished and the other still has some work to do, so I’ll write more about those tomorrow. Meanwhile, let me leave you with this beautiful sunset from Friday evening, taken from the Thong Lor BTS station looking southwest through the construction site of the Noble Remix condo project on Sukhumvit 36.

christao408

The adventures of an expat American who moved to Bangkok for his husband.

Tag Archives: baking