Happy (Subway) Graduation!

My awesome friend Holly threw a graduation party for her boyfriend Cam, who not only was an amazing son and helped his mom buy a Subway franchise, but also attended Subway university with her.  Since I was pretty sure that 2 1/2 weeks of Subway college was more work than 4 years of liberal arts college, I decided to make a cake for him.  I tried to follow the spirit of my super cool and talented friend (from back in middle school) Treacy Silverstein, who writes the most decadent blog on the internet - http://treacycakes.wordpress.com/.  But, I also ended up following the method of Meggie - don't do anything too difficult or frustrating, because I don't want to show up at someone else's party in a huff.

I wanted to create a cake that looked like a Subway logo.  I started with two eight inch lemon cakes - made from a box mix on Wednesday night after work, no time this week to make vegan cake or bake from scratch.  On Friday night after work, I mixed up a big bowl of buttercream frosting.  I dyed most of it dark green and reserved two small bowls for decorating.  By the time I got the frosting green enough (it took almost an entire bottle of food coloring), it was nearly seven, and the party started at 7:30.  I made the executive decision that even with all the time in the world I would have a hard time drawing the subway logo in any medium, especially frosting.  So, I sort of hinted at the logo, and it was enough.  People liked the cake, Cam felt celebrated, and everyone ended up with green tongues.  Success!

So . . . this is embarrassing . . .

I've been reading Barbara Kingsolver's awesome Animal, Vegetable, Miracle over the past couple of days, otherwise I doubt this would have come up.  Or, at least, it wouldn't have been quite so shaming. 

I love pumpkin.  I would eat pumpkin all year round if it were available.  In fact, during pumpkin season I like to spend a weekend cooking and pureeing and freezing pumpkin and other winter squash, just so I can keep eating them all winter long.  There are probably better ways of storing them, but I like the convenience of having a freezer full of pureed squash that will quickly and easily add bulk and flavor to any meal.  Of course, none of this started until I realized that a pumpkin was an actual delicious vegetable, and not either a canned puree for pie-making or a jack-o-lantern.  I only figured that out about two years ago, and the first year I tried to eat my jack-o-lantern.  However, once I figured out cooking pumpkins - sorry, only ate frozen green beans growing up, it's a learning curve - I fell completely in love and used them in everything.  Pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin cupcakes and muffins, pumpkin ravioli, pumpkin pasta sauce, pumpkin lasagna, pumpkin soup.  If it's edible, I'll try to make a pumpkin version of it. 

Which brings us to my busy week.  The last time I was at a farmers market was ten days ago, and I didn't see any pumpkins there.  My neighbors don't have any pumpkins yet.  My freezer has been pumpkin-free for months.  But I was ready to cook with pumpkin.  So I fished around in my cupboard and pulled out a can of pumpkin puree that I had probably been there since before I "discovered" actual pumpkins.  I used it in the muffins on Sunday and thought it looked bizarre and too orange, but didn't really notice the difference in taste (especially with all the other fruit mixed in). 

Fast forward to tonight, after having read in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle about how bizarre Kingsolver finds it that we would ever eat out of season or overly processed fruit and vegetables, since they don't taste nearly as good.  In general, I agree with her, but we all have busy schedules and sometimes quick meals are more important than "from scratch".  I needed something fast to make for dinner, so I pulled the leftover canned pumpkin out of the freezer and whipped it up with some shallots, peas, milk, and parmesan into a (usually tasty) pasta sauce.  Not only does it taste nothing like this dish usually tastes, it's also orange!  The pumpkin is weirdly mono-flavored.  My favorite thing about pumpkin is that it tastes earthy and rich without being overpowering.  This was simultaneously stronger and flatter in flavor than a real pumpkin.  I can't tell if I'm more sensitive to it because this book is reminding me of the value of fresh food, but if so I'm grateful for the reminder.  I knew when I grabbed the can off the shelf that I was letting convenience win out over common sense.  But I figured that I'd bought the can years ago, so the damage was already done.  It turns out the worst damage was yet to come . . . canned pumpkin ruined my dinner!

Grab Bag - A Slow Week for Baking

Apparently, being employed full time is quite a bit different from being employed part time and being a student part time.  The difference being that you can bake while you're studying.  When I was in school, it always seemed like I was keeping the craziest hours - the commute was long, plus, if I worked and went to class on the same day there was dead time that wouldn't exist if I just went to work for 8 hours.  Wow.  I was really mythologizing my old work schedule!  I'm still commuting nearly an hour each way to work.  I'm working a bit of overtime.  And, ALERT, when you have to wake up at 6am EVERY DAY (not just a few days a week or when you want to get a little extra studying in), you have to go to bed at a reasonable hour EVERY NIGHT.  I'm not claiming that I didn't work hard, or that I got very much sleep in law school, but I did have a bit more freedom to tinker with my schedule.  Since I've been temping, and also making an attempt to visit the gym, I've barely had time to cook a healthy dinner by the time I get home, let alone launch into a four hour baking extravaganza.  This weekend, I took a little much-deserved baking time:

I turned to a couple of old stand-by's.  One out of convenience, and the other out of my total love of fall.  On Sunday afternoon I whipped up a batch of Parker House Rolls.  Not the most thrilling, or even the healthiest, the Parker House Rolls have the advantage of being fast and providing me with sandwich bread for a week.  When I'm busy and hate to buy lunch out, the convenience of the basic sandwich can't be overlooked.  Still, it was probably the least thrilling baking I've done all month!

Luckily, I also had time to mix up a batch of my delicious (to the point of being weirdly addictive) fall muffins.  These muffins are most addictive (I think) because they don't taste nearly as healthy as they are.  I use a recipe of my own creation (although loosely based on a recipe for vegan zucchini bread that I found on the internet a year or so ago).  It's a little free form, so it's hard to write down, but here goes:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

• One mashed banana (I prefer them just ripe, but not overripe)
• Some quantity of pureed cooked pumpkin or squash - the amount depends on how much you have on hand and how pumpkin-y you're feeling.  I'm always feeling really pumpkin-y. 
• 1 cup (or less) of sugar (mixture of white and brown is tasty)
• about 2/3 cup applesauce and 1/3 cup vegetable oil - sometimes I use soy yogurt and skip the oil altogether, but watch out for the sweetness of the yogurt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Mix the first five ingredients, then add:

• about 3 cups of flour - this will change depending on how much pumpkin you used.  I also like to use a mixture of white and wheat flour, plus some oats and some ground flax seed.  All of this will affect how much flour you need.
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 to 3 teaspoons cinnamon - I like to just open the top of the cinnamon and shake until it feels right.  Sometimes I mix in a little nutmeg or allspice too, for fun.

Once you've got that all mixed together and feeling like a thick batter, or just wetter than a moist dough, mix in:

• about half of a large pear or apple, diced and roasted - I usually roast the fruit in the toaster oven while I'm mixing the rest of the ingredients and preheating the oven.  I wrap the diced fruit in tinfoil and set the toaster oven to 350 or 400 degrees.
• a handful of finely chopped nuts (walnuts taste best, I think)
• a handful of chopped sultanas

Scoop the batter into a muffin tin that you have greased or lined with muffin cups and bake for about 45 minutes, or until they're done.  Because they'll already be brown, it's hard to tell when they start to brown on top, but they typically get somewhat firmer as they finish cooking.  These muffins turn into hard tack when overcooked, so I always opt for taking them out earlier when in doubt.  If you've really undercooked them, they'll fall apart when you try to take the wrapper off, so I sometimes test one and then pop the rest back in if the first one disintegrates.  For reference, the muffins absolutely rise better when you use soy yogurt, but I personally like the taste better without it. 

The number one thing about these muffins (well, other than the facts that they're high in fiber and have a full serving of fruits and vegetables) is the way they make my whole house smell like fall.  Roasting pumpkin and cinnamon are two of my favorite aromas.  Adding a baking pear to that is just about the best thing ever.  Plus, making these muffins lets me get all the enjoyment from these scents and flavors without the guilt of eating pumpkin pie for breakfast for a week.  Although I would love that.

Taking my Ciabatta Out for a Spin

Today I made my first ever panini sandwich (or panino, if you prefer) using my own home made ciabatta.  I don't have a panini press or grill pan to make those cute little grill marks on the sides, so I just cooked the sandwich in a dry frying pan over medium heat, pressing down with my fingers and a spatula.  It worked pretty well (even the somewhat precarious flip) although I wouldn't have minded if it had gotten a little thinner and crispier in some places.  For the filling, I layered fresh mozzarella, shredded basil from my garden, and a sliced heirloom tomato from the farmer's market.  Then I drizzled a little balsamic vinegar and olive oil over the filling and dusted a little sea salt and black pepper on top and added the other slice of ciabatta.  Yum.

Ciabatta, mi amore

Bread this good makes me want to simultaneously toss out my law degree to open a bakery and never bake again.  On the one hand, I think that I have finally arrived as a baker par excellence and that I should share my gift with the world(!!!!!).  On the other hand, I despair of ever making a loaf of bread this wonderful again.  This bread is perfect.

 
For once, I have no words.  In fact, I'm having trouble even typing this because I'm so busy shoving slices of this delicious bread in my mouth.  With a glass of wine and a few slices of cheese, it's as close to paradise as anyone has a right to be on a Monday night. 

So first, let's give credit where credit is due:  The River Cottage Bread Handbook.  This recipe put me off at first because it looked time consuming and different from the other recipes I have tackled recently.  I was sure that the author couldn't mean it when he said to fold the dough in three "like a blanket" multiple times during the rising period.  Not only did he mean it, he was completely right about what it did for the dough.  The air pockets in both the dough and the finished loaves are divine.  My concerns about the time-intensive process proved unfounded, too.  To be sure, you need to set aside about five hours to follow this recipe, but I was doubly rewarded by the sheer amount of bread it made and by the gift of time broken up into 30 minutes increments - perfect for cleaning my house.  Moreover, the ratio of water to flour is perfect and kneading the dough didn't give me sore arms.  The olive oil and semolina give the bread a rich, farmhouse taste.  In conclusion, this is the airiest, softest, most subtly flavorful bread I have ever made.  I am in love.

Garlic French Bread II: Too Moist, Too Flat

Yesterday I made the same garlic french bread recipe that was the bane of my existence last weekend.  I really wasn't in the mood to spend half my life kneading unresponsive dough, so I added enough water to make the dough sticky and easy to manipulate.  I also dissolved the yeast in the water before I added it to the flour/salt mixture.  I don't know if this was my best idea ever.  I also let the dough rise for a really long time.  Like three hours.  Because I fell asleep.  Honestly, I helped my awesome friend Holly celebrate her 30th birthday on Friday night, and I really shouldn't have gotten up and tried to make bread the next morning.  The bread is surprisingly tasty (probably thanks to the eight cloves of lightly roasted garlic I added to it) but came out a little flat.  I like that it is moister than the last loaf, but maybe I should add slightly less extra water next time. 

The number one problem with this batch of garlic french bread was that it consistently expanded by oozing and spreading rather than by rising upward.  I think that this must be due to extra moisture in the dough.  So, I guess the moral of today's post is, don't add THAT much extra water.  And probably also: don't bake hungover.  Luckily, I get a redo.  Today I'm taking my first ever stab at ciabatta!

Parker House Rolls

When I'm short on time, but still want something delicious and home-made, this fantastic recipe from the Joy of Cooking will be my new standby.  It is essentially the same recipe that I used for the hot crossed buns earlier this week, but leaving out the sweet ingredients.  These dinner rolls would be perfect for Thanksgiving dinner, but would be equally excellent for making a tiny lobster roll.  They are as delicious for breakfast and lunch as they are for dinner.  The only danger is that, since they make such small sandwiches, you might end up eating five sandwiches for lunch, like I did today!

I learned my lesson from earlier this week and was careful about the length of time I kneaded these rolls.  In fact, when I looked back over the recipe, it merely directs to knead the remaining flour into the dough, not to do any additional kneading.  I kneaded until the dough had absorbed all the flour in the bowl and the dough was spongy and still a bit sticky on the inside, then tried to handle it as little as possible when forming the rolls.  Although the recipe called for the rolls to be cooked for about 15 minutes in a 425 degree oven, I cooked them for about 12 minutes in a 400 degree oven, and they came out golden brown and wonderfully soft.  I will definitely make these again!