Tweaks, Cooking From a Book, Small Projects

No culinary creations or anything really out of the ordinary; my project at work launched so I'm finding more time for cooking. But slowly, ever slowly, ramping back up. On non-culinary news, I decided to spend the weekend immediately after launch participating in a game jam and ended up finishing a game, solo. I didn't manage much else the entire weekend, except a bit of recipe iteration for lunch before the jam began - the rye soda bread. I toned down the almond milk from 1/4 cup to 3 tbsp and oiled the ramekins lightly. They came out better, especially after a light grilling after letting them cool and eating them as tiny PBJ sandwiches.

 I also did a quick recipe from Momofuku, trying to convince myself that not everything in it requires massive time/ingredient investments. So I took a recipe with five ingredients and cut it down to four, completely removing part of the dish. Go me. I cooked "Asparagus with Miso Butter and Poached Egg" minus the egg. The recipe name is the recipe itself - you cook the asparagus in butter so it browns, and you mix butter with miso, heat it with a pinch of sherry, and decorate the plate with it. That seems simple and, frankly, it is. Yet miso adds a ridiculous amount of depth to the dish, pairs with the asparagus, and elevates the dish to something refined. I ate it with sushi rice topped with furikake and pan seared yuba, which worked well.

 I'm also back into bread, given a somewhat more relaxed schedule. For my first loaf in two weeks, I did 30% whole wheat, 70% hydration, with a pinch of fennel seeds. I tried a half-rise the night of mixing, and a finish/proofing stage the morning of cooking - it still had too much pop in the oven - the scores were very wide instead of very deep. I'm at a loss to fixing this, though I will keep experimenting - options are using steam for once, less proofing, more proofing, and better shaping techniques - there may not be enough tension in the dough.

Soft Boiled Eggs, Rye Soda Bread, Miso Mayo

I've been remiss in posting because I've, mostly, been remiss in cooking. A quick trip to Austin for SXSW had me subsisting on yogurt, sandwiches, energy bars, pastries, and booze. I came back exhausted and in no mood to cook; I even went so far as to shop for groceries and just buy a pre-made falafel wrap instead of making a thing at home. There has been some spotty cooking recently - a "fritata" in my cast iron with greens and toast, a veggie-quinoa soup with a heavy beer backing, and the usual assortment of bread.

These dishes, you'll note, consist of putting many ingredients in a pot and cooking them until you eat them. Planning is not involved, aside from deciding the veggies to buy at the grocer, and everything was haphazard. This past weekend I managed to cook something with a bit more planning (though not quite enough as to get groceries before). Talk of cookbooks over a dinner reminded me that I needed to sample the Momofuku book a bit more; a breakfast of soda bread was more delicious than anticipated; an article on miso reminded that miso is good. So I made this.

We have here a first experiment in the direction of a sublime dish; this meal was simply delicious but flawed. We have "rye" "soda bread" toasts; the first set of quotes as they used no rye flour nor caraway, opting for fennel on hand instead. The second set of quotes as this was most definitely not soda bread, lacking butter and butter milk - again, going for the almond milk and greek yogurt on hand. It isn't that I don't have butter handy, but more that I wanted to do without. The ratios were based more on my vegan pancakes and not so much on soda bread recipes; it was more batter than dough, falling towards an english muffin.

They are topped with miso mayo, a heavenly topping. 4 parts mayo to 1 part red miso, "whipped", with a splash of lime juice. Nestled on the plate you'll also find two soft-boiled eggs using the method from Momofuku - straight from fridge to boiling water (hoping they don't break), cook for 5:10, direct to ice bath, peel (again hoping you don't break one). In the photo, the top egg broke when peeled and the bottom broke when initially entering the water, but only slightly. Not perfect, still tasty. The only thing lacking is a veggie - like spinach to make them Florentine-by-way-of-Korea.

Notes on the prep: I tried flouring the ramekins, would not recommend this. The breads stuck. I'll try a spray oil next time. Also, I used volume instead of weight measures, so it may be off.

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Soft Boiled Eggs, Rye Soda Bread, Miso Mayo

Makes 2 tiny soda breads (one plate)

Rye soda bread

2 tbsp rolled oats

2 tbsp white flour

2 tbsp whole wheat flour

1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 tbsp plain greek yogurt

1/4 tsp fennel seeds

1/4 tsp blackstrap molasses

<1/8 tsp baking soda

<1/8 tsp salt

Miso mayo

4 parts mayo (1 tsp for this recipe)

1 part red miso paste (1/4 tsp for this recipe)

splash lime juice

Soft-boiled eggs

2 eggs, refrigerated

Preheat oven to 425. Mix all dry bread ingredients in a small bowl and combine. Add liquids and mix with spoon for 1-2 minutes. Prepare two ramekins by misting with oil, then splitting the batter evenly between them. Cook for 20-25 minutes, until browned, crispy, and a toothpick comes out cleanly. 

Alternatively, you could cook them as english muffins, in a frying pan with ring molds. I have not tried this, but it should work.

While the bread bakes, prepare a pot of boiling water and a kitchen timer. Gently put the eggs into the rapidly boiling water using a slotted spoon, starting your timer the second the first egg hits the water. Prepare an ice bath. After 5:10 on the timer, remove the eggs to the ice bath. Let them cool a bit, then remove from ice bath to gently crack them against a flat surface, returning them to the ice bath to peel them (underwater). Gently place peeled eggs on a dish.

The breads should be done now, and for better timing it should finish as the eggs go into the water. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes, then remove from ramekins and carefully cut them in half. Lightly butter them the open face and cook in frying pan to slightly brown them.

Prepare miso mayo by combining and mixing ingredients. Spread evenly on the breads. Get some hot water running from a faucet and very gingerly bathe the eggs in it to ensure they are warm. Eat.

Starter-less Soft Rye Sandwich Bread

I have quite a bit of rye flour lying around, and no real intention of using. This is a problem. Or, at least, was a problem. Based on how good the first batch was, I think this recipe will fix the problem for the foreseeable future. Even though it burst its seam and didn't look anywhere near as pretty as the photos in the book led me to believe. False advertisement, I tell you.

The design on the inside is supposed to be a bulls-eye but... yeah. It isn't. Sorry about that coworkers. Now, there is something a teeny bit wrong about calling this rye bread. Yes, it uses rye flour. No, it doesn't taste a thing like the rye bread you get your pastrami on. It is much lighter (using only light rye flour), less tangy (having no starter), and way fluffier (because it has heavy whipping cream in it). When it came out of the oven, it was nearing the airiness and general unreality of Wonderbread, except with healthier ingredients. Kind of. You did see the mention of heavy whipping cream, yes?

 Above is the burst seam. And below, after the jump, you'll find the recipe, etc.

Crispy Rye and Seed Crackers (modified)

Running out of time, my plans to bring some bread of lavash crackers to a party were dashed. Flipping through my bread books, I found a recipe that seemed to fit my requirements - no yeast, quick prep/quick time, and snack food. Rye and seed crackers; they looked beautiful in the book and sounded great paired with a strong cheese. I took the ingredient list to the grocery store.

 And, umm, the grocery store failed. Rye flour? Nope, you can have light rye flour but not the good stuff. Pumpkin seeds? Seriously, no, you have to buy a pumpkin if you want those. But I improvised and they turned out pretty damn good. As I haven't cooked the original, I don't know how the flavor compares. To take care of using light rye, which has less flavor, I added a dash of buckwheat flour. Careful with this, though; buckwheat is very strong stuff in flavor. It was about 10% buckwheat and 90% rye, but you could only taste the buckwheat.

To substitute for the lack of pumpkin seeds, I just used more sunflower seeds to balance it out. Again, the overall flavor was very hearty, with a strong buckwheat kick to finish. Paired with a goat cheese, it was sublime. The only limiting factor in this recipe is number of cookie sheets - I had to half it, which was enough for two full sheets of crackers; sufficient as a snack or as one of many dishes around a room.
 Crispy [Light] Rye and [Not Pumpkin] Seed Crackers (makes 2 cookie sheets, modified from a recipe in Artisan Breads Everyday)

• 1/4 cup (42 g) sunflower seeds
• 1.5 tbsp (14 g) flaxseeds
• 3 tbsp (56 g) sesame seeds
• 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp (115 g) light rye flour
• ??? tbsp (10 g) buckwheat flour
• 1 tbsp (14 g) vegetable oil
• 1/2 tbsp (10 g) honey
• 6 tbsp (85 g) water, room temperature
• Additionally, 1/2 tbsp honey, 1 1/2 tbsp warm water, sesame seeds, sea salt, ground black pepper, ground walntus, or whatever other garnish you want

Grind the sunflower seeds into a flour; I used my burr grinder (for coffee). Also grind the flaxseeds, or just use pre-ground flaxseed powder. Combine the ground seeds, the solid seeds, and the flours. Mix together, then add in the water, oil, and honey. Stir for a 2 minutes until all ingredients are incorporated. If the dough is sticky (it was for me), add more rye flour. To test for stickiness, push your finger against the dough and pull it back - if the dough grabs your finger and then lets go, its fine. But if any dough is left on your finger, add more flour.

Flour a work surface and knead for 30 seconds. Separate the dough into two equal piles. Prepare two cookie sheets with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Flour a large work surface and a rolling pin; roll the dough as thinly as you feel comfortable, checking and flouring as necessary. Slice the slice dough into cracker shapes using a pizza cutter (or, if you don't have one, a sharp knife held at a high angle). Transfer the sliced crackers to a baking sheet.

Combine the honey and water, whisking them together. Brush over the sliced crackers and sprinkle garnish on top (sea salt, ground pepper, more seeds, ground nuts, or really anything you want). Place in oven for 10 minutes; rotate; cook for 10 minutes more; rotate again; cook for 25 more minutes, increasing the temperature to 325 degrees.

Final note: I consider honey vegan. If you don't consider it vegan and want to be a vegan, use agave syrup.