Monthly Archives: December 2008

It’s been a while since I have made a loaf of bread

loaf of bread

Wow, its been a while since I have made a loaf of bread. I wanted to make a no-knead bread recipe. So I looked around for it in my Cook’s Illustrated magazine. I found the version 2.0 of the recipe in the January/February 2008 issue. But that version uses white vinegar and lager. Which I did not want to use. I wanted it to be a pure sourdough and not a simulated version.

It did start off by mentioning that the 1.0 version used a hydration level of 85%. Which means that, for every 10 units of flour, there are 8.5 units of water. I decided to stop right there with the instructions and see where a pure 85% hydration level would take me. My starter mixture uses 96 grams of flour and 132 grams of water (a whopping 137.5%). I pour the usually discarded starter into a bowl and measure it. It comes out to 207 grams. I then added 300 grams of flour. Next, I needed to figure out how much water to add to bring the resultant hydration down to 85%.

if starter=207g,
then w=207*132/(132+96), f=207*(1-132/(132+96))
then w=120g, f=87g

adding 300g flour, then f=(300+87)=387
water is 85% hydration, then w=387*0.85=329

solving for x,
then w=(x+120)=329
x=209

the final weights would turn out to be: w=(209+120)=329, f=(300+87)=387

I put the mixture into a bowl and then covered it with saran wrap. I left the bowl in the oven with the light left on for six hours. After that amount of time, it certainly looked like the yeast is active and working. I floured a kitchen table, scraped the dough out on the table, and rolled it out into a ball. However, the dough was incredibly sticky! So I went off script again and kneaded some more flour into the dough. I should have at least recorded how much was used. Next time, for sure. I can only note that the mixture was still sticky — just not incredibly sticky.

I completely lined my Le Creuset Dutch oven with parchment paper. A cylinder for the sides and a sheet on the bottom. I placed the ball of dough into the Dutch oven and let it rise a second time in the oven. After a couple of hours, I turned the oven on to 450. And after twenty minutes of cooking time, I dumped the loaf out and removed the paper. I put it back into the oven for another 40 minutes (after turning the temperature down to 350 after the bread was nice and brown).

Sponge past it’s prime?

Used sponge

So, what do you think? Is this sponge past its prime? Or does it have more washing in store for it? Sure, it has been almost cut in half. It has lost chunks of its nylon scrubbing surface. And its spongy interior is degrading. But it is not ready to be put out to the pasture yet!

Caramel apples redux

Dipping the apple

I made another batch of apples again. More for the excuse of trying a different style of food photography than anything else. This time I set up a tripod for the camera and used the 100mm macro lens. Behind the camera, I set up a light stand and placed a 580EXII on it. I set its light beam to be focused at 105mm. And, to help contain the light, I wrapped a snoot around it as well. It was set into manual mode at 1/16 -0.3 strength. And it was driven by a Pocket Wizard.

The strength of the output of light was determined by trial and error. My target was f/4.0, 1/250sec, ISO100. At this setting, there is no other light in the picture but the flash. Which is a good thing in my kitchen. It has a smorgasbord of choices: the light above the stove is a yellowish incandescent light, the big light in the kitchen is a varying color fluorescent light, and in the eating area, there is a fan with compact fluorescent lights and dark brown reflective blades.

In my other hand was a TC-80N3 remote controller. Fortunately, my hand was centered enough in the frame. But the auto-focus did seem to concentrate on my fingers instead of the apple.

Looking back

I even took a picture looking back with the G-10. The G-10’s picture is passable. It decided on a shaky f/5.6, 1/2sec, ISO 200. At least it has image stabilization in the body. Using the 580 flash on that camera only lights up the pan. Everything else in the scene is pitch black. Flash lighting has thin depth of field it seems.

Extra Caramel

I made extra caramel as usual. I intend to use it to sweeten some more roasted sweet potatoes…

Game Day 12/04/2008

Game #1

Neuroshima Hex

Wow, this is my first time playing this game. Which I bought back in June of last year. How sad. It was interesting, if a bit one-sided. I was attacked by everyone. Yet, no one was attacking anyone else. Which is strange since your final hit points is your score. Not that I mind. I like it when people play sub-optimally. Hopefully, they will continue playing the same way when I am in the lead the next time.

Tichu

Instead of finishing up the night with Tichu, we played Tichu next. I guess that the priority was get in a full game of Tichu. And, if we still have time, then play another game.


12/04/2008 The scorecard for a game of Tichu

GT or T bet made or lost

This team scored more points than the other or one twoed
GT/T Team #1 GT/T GT/T Team #2 GT/T
MarkH & Jon Nick & MikeCh
  50   T+ 150  
  50     350  
  85    
415
 
 
140
  T+ 560  
  285 T+  
615
 
 
350
  T+ 750  
 
440
  T+ 860  
  460   T+
1040
 
  485    
1115
 
Game #2a
Game #2b

Dominion

Next up was Nick’s copy on poker chips. He had printed out a bunch of stickers that someone had made for a version on wooden disks. He was even generous to send the game’s author some money via paypal. This version is intended for people who have difficulty shuffling cards. Because that is what you spend most of the game doing.

Since Nick didn’t have any bags yet for the game, I gave him some lunch bags. This inspired Chapel to put a bag over his head. The unknown gamer strikes again. If only I could have gonged Chapel out of there…

Maki

Maki Austin

I tried out another Sushi restaurant in Austin. This one is currently lunch only. And roll only. Which sounded like an interesting draw. But they failed in execution. You only get to chose one roll. You start out with the wrapping (I chose the seaweed). Next is the main meat (for me, the smoked salmon). And then you chose three items to go with the main selection. There are many different things on the menu. Some of them seem weird for sushi (like strawberries and mandarin oranges). I went with avocado, cream cheese, and jalapeno peppers. You can even add toppings (I went with sesame seeds and salmon row).

The did have some interesting machines in use. There was one that spits out a evenly rice covered roll. And they cut the roll with another machine.

I would rate this restaurant thumbs down. I suspect that the turn-over on the fish will be low as it is lunch only. Also, I had wanted multiple small rolls rather than one big one.