What's cookin', good lookin'?

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[seela]

They all look good to me. The big one is beautiful! I want to taste them ALL. At you table are people allowed to share food so they can taste All your things? ( if not you should make fewer delicious looking things, Temptress)

The big one is one where everybody can take as much or as little as they want. The original recipe was much larger, and at first I thought about making individual sized pulla like that, but I figured it would be easier to start off making a little bigger one at first.

The little ones are on a plate with a diameter of 19cm, so they're not huge.

There are very little rules at my table. Although during the weekend somebody did accuse me of trying to forcefeed them...

 

[MeekMe]

Those look delicious! （＾_＾）

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

Seela, magically delicious as always!

Elle - I know what you mean, but there are some dishes I like too much not to have them a few times in off season. And what with every vegetable available all year long now... why not?

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

Meats have seasons too! ( though ignored for same reasons, we can get them all the time.) Things gearing up here among some friends for so called 'glorious 12th'. I always think the autumn pig tastes the best. And shell fish in season etc etc. Just tastes right to me....I like the anticipation of the wait and missing beloved favourites. i'm not religious about it. But could be, easily.

I understand pigs, lambs etc being seasonal. But shell fish? What is their season?

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

Well, in uk, native oysters and mussels are months with R in them. Other shell fish are more year round.

Edit, here, a uk fish season chart!

http://www.wingofstmawes.co.uk/wholesale/seasonal_fish

I had no idea - thanks!

 

[desertslave]

Well, in uk, native oysters and mussels are months with R in them. Other shell fish are more year round.

Edit, here, a uk fish season chart!

http://www.wingofstmawes.co.uk/wholesale/seasonal_fish

It's similar here. I think the principle is that in the non-R months (a/k/a/ summer) the shellfish are more prone to rapid spoiling. That's also spawning season for many shellfish and oysters, at least, have an unpleasant taste or texture. (I wouldn't know, I can't stand oysters. LOL)

 

[MeekMe]

Lavender shortbread cookies. I may or may not have made myself a little sick from eating too many.

 

[desertslave]

Lavender shortbread cookies. I may or may not have made myself a little sick from eating too many.

That sounds tasty! Do you use dried flowers?

We have been doing partner cooking. Last night Master helped me make chicken marsala with polenta cakes, and this morning I helped him with his fabulous sausage gravy over biscuits. It's funny, neither dish is especially complicated, but it's always nice when someone can prep while the other does the actual cooking. We joke about it being like a surgeon and scrub nurse. ("Spatula, doctor!")

 

[MeekMe]

That sounds tasty! Do you use dried flowers?

Yes, the recipe called for two TBS of dried lavender. I worried that might be too much, but it made for a delicate flavor.

I wanted to make flower shapes, but could only find a butterfly cutter.

We have been doing partner cooking. Last night Master helped me make chicken marsala with polenta cakes, and this morning I helped him with his fabulous sausage gravy over biscuits. It's funny, neither dish is especially complicated, but it's always nice when someone can prep while the other does the actual cooking. We joke about it being like a surgeon and scrub nurse. ("Spatula, doctor!")

Cooking like this is the best. Also, biscuits and gravy is so~ good. Mister likes to prep and let me cook. （＾_＾）

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[desertslave]

Sounds okie you got it just perfect Meekme! Too much and it tastes soapy. . Its also great in cupcakes and ratatouille. . Oh, and lavender and honey bread is one of the best loaves I ever had, very subtle flavours, subtle enough to carry good cheeses. But there, I think it would be good with spelt flour.

I've read about spelt flour in some of my food history books, but I've never tried it. How does it behave in baking (relative to wheat flour) and how does it taste?

I just started watching the BBC series "Tudor Monastery" so I'm getting the bug back for historic foods.

 

[Curious_in_Cali]

Man. This thread is so delicious!

After catching up here a bit, I feel rather humble sharing eats at Casa de Curious this eve, but I'll share anyways.

Roast beef, provalone, carmelized onion, cucumber, and heirloom tomato panini with spiced baked sweet potato fries.

 

[desertslave]

Man. This thread is so delicious!

After catching up here a bit, I feel rather humble sharing eats at Casa de Curious this eve, but I'll share anyways.

Roast beef, provalone, carmelized onion, cucumber, and heirloom tomato panini with spiced baked sweet potato fries.

You got me at 'carmelized onion.' Yum!

Tonight, at casa too-damn-hot it's going to be steak and potatoes and salad.

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[seela]

I've read about spelt flour in some of my food history books, but I've never tried it. How does it behave in baking (relative to wheat flour) and how does it taste?

I just started watching the BBC series "Tudor Monastery" so I'm getting the bug back for historic foods.

I use spelt a lot for all my baking. It isn't that different from regular wheat flour, but the results tend to be denser than with regular flour. I use it in sweet baking as well, but always with some regular wheat flour too, because I'm afraid cakes and such wouldn't become too good with only spelt flour. I mean the sponge cakes and so on, things like banana bread work well with spelt.

In general I like to use a wide range of grains when I make bread (which doesn't happen so often anymore, though), so I always have on hand barley, oats, rye, different bran things and so on.

My new little food love is buckwheat porridge, but not the kind that you boil. I simply let the (whole) buckwheat kernels sit in water overnight, rinse, add a little yoghurt, banana, berries etc to them, blitz them into a porridge and eat with gusto. I read about sprouting the buckwheat kernels first a little to make some kind of superfood porridge, but I've never tried that.

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[seela]

Seela, maybe as a varied grain person you can help me?

ATM I find that I am finding lots of the grains G is using are tasting a little dry aftertaste and over fermented to me. They are not over proved though. G is trying them with different proportions of wheat to temper the impact, but it am always finding it.

Do you think it could be just because we are eating more bread than I am used to? Spelt and wheat taste normal to me, and so does rye. Barley tastes horrid, in aftertaste even in just ten percent. Do you think its baking method? I usually enjoy grain taste?

I think maybe its just a case of 'please, no more bread.....' Or maybe it is something G is doing to the loaves right now.......

I'll think about this and get back to you later.

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[seela]

J's parents are on their way home, phew, so now I have time to answer your question, Elle.

Have you always thought barley tastes odd or is it a recent change? I've noticed that if the flour sits in the cupboard for too long, it starts to taste a little, well, woody. This happens with barley a lot faster than with wheat flour, in my experience. I combat this by buying barley "flakes", or is it rolled barley, (comparable to rolled oats) and grind my own barley flour. It's easy, you can do that in a food processor or even by using a mortar and pestle. It isn't as fine as the stuff you can get from a supermarket, but because I don't use barley flour so frequently, I've noticed this works better. In this "flake" state the taste stays better longer. I do the same to get oat flour, too. The plus side is that the flours are more expensive anyways, so by doing this I get better tasting flour and pay less.

I think I know what you mean with the overly fermented taste even without overproving. I always describe it as "you know that slight grapefruity tang of Nogne #100?". I'm not sure why it happens, but I think it has to do with how much yeast I use. I almost never measure anything, so sometimes I think I might be too liberal with yeast. I haven't noticed it's grain dependent in any way, but maybe. I'll pay attention to it from now on. Although now that I think of it, Nogne #100 is barley wine, so maybe barley has something to do with developing the taste?

 

[desertslave]

I hesitate to post this, because the way I learned of it was from a rather juvenile Buzz Feed video my daughter sent me (knowing I'm intrigued by unusual foods). Apparently there is some sort of Swedish food called "surströmming" that is pretty remarkably unpleasant in smell, appearance and taste. Now, I'm well aware that fermented fish of one type of another is a fairly universal thing from nearly the dawn of culinary time. I'm even willing to argue that fish sauce as a condiment has its place in some forms of cookery. But this stuff sounds pretty awful.

Seela and anyone else who might have run across it, what say you?