wannaGROW: Chives (and Cheddar and Chive Focaccia)

It's a bit amusing to have a wannaGROW on the topic of chives, as most people have such voracious chive plants that they don't want them to grow! I've lucked out with, yet another, discovery in our garden... a lovely and small and reasonable little chive bush.

I read on one garden website that "chives do not thrive on neglect," which I laughed at because I really haven't given my chives much TLC. Partially because I don't want them to spread like crazy but partially because I am still figuring out what I need to do with all of these plants in my garden. 

CHIVES TIPS

I've learned that you should harvest the chives by cutting them about two inches above the soil, using scissors, to encourage regrowth. So, unlike the rhubarb where you should absolutely NOT cut, here it is okay to cut. Harvest from the outside edges to the inside. Remove the flowers, as they appear, to keep the plant vegetative and producing.

Eat Alberta 2012: Sourdough 101

This was another HUGE Eat Alberta win for me.

I have been making bread at home for a few years now but have never managed to be entirely consistent in this front. A few loaves and doughs became second nature, including the extra large batch of dough that we would make and portion into balls for pizza or bread. They would live happily in our freezer, until being thawed overnight and baked the next day. Still... I wanted more in my carb-filled world.

Sourdough was one bread that I always wanted to make but was never able to. I tried to make my own sourdough starter by following the directions in Peter Reinhardt's book, Artisan Breads Every Day, but somehow couldn't get it quite right. (If you care to give it a try, the NY Times printed it here. There are also companies that sell sourdough starters, such as Sourdoughs International.) I thought about trying to make a starter again, until I registered for the Sourdough 101 class at Eat Alberta this year.

Time for some real learning...

Brunch with Friends: Menu One

September and October have always been hectic months for me. Ever since I was a little girl, Momma R would tell me that I was busy as a bee during these months and would end up sick at some point during or towards the end of it. Well, true to form, I am sitting in a hotel room in Whitehorse and, instead of breaking bread with friends tonight, I am drinking neo citran and watching pixelated food network. At least, it gives me the opportunity to take a break, process some photos and give wannafoodie some overdue attention.

Our new plan for breaking bread and sharing time with friends is to host them for brunch. Brunch has always been one of my most favourite meals... it has the best of everything - sweet, savoury, boozy and a civilized hour! hahah. I enjoy dinner parties but Doug and I have a newfound appreciation for brunch parties - prepping in advance, hosting our friends, then still having our whole day to fuss and muss and reset for the week.

In the midst of our chaotic fall and just prior to leaving on our Mexican adventure and wedding celebration of our friends, Cary and Des, we took a welcome reprieve and invited the soon-to-be newlyweds to kick off our Brunch with Friends series.

No Knead Bread

Despite the warm temperatures and general reluctance to turn on the oven at any point, I had issued a challenge to myself... I was going to bake all of the bread for my household. Or, at the very least, I would bake the majority of the bread required (or desired) for myself, boyfriend and bread-loving cat, Wally.

I have sung the praises of my Momma and her intuitive bread making abilities. I too wanted to create wonderful, yeasty presents and be revered by all who taste it. hahah. Well, maybe that is a bit lofty. That said, I truly do want to hone this skill and become one of those people who can manipulate four simple ingredients (and sometimes a few more) into a wonderfully satisfying, tastes like home, loaf of happy.

As a starting point, I have looked to build my confidence with Jim Lahey's (Sullivan Street Bakery) No Knead Bread. I kneaded (hahaha) some wins before I embarked on some more challenging (or even seemingly challenging) loaves. This was a great starting place.

Eat Alberta 2011: Slow Rise Pizza Dough

I was very excited to secure a spot in Yann Chartrand's slow rise pizza dough making class at Eat Alberta this year. Yann is a master breadmaker and owner of Treestone Bakery in Edmonton, so he would be an ideal person to teach us to master our own breads or, in this case, pizza doughs. And really... who doesn't love pizza?!

We were breaking the rules and making this dough in our one hour session but were able to take our little dough balls home and give them a bit more time and kneading to bring them through a roughly three day fermentation process. (If we could wait that long...)

Working in the world of bread, often means that the cups and teaspoons need to be set aside... ratios and weights govern your task here. Your flour can be heavier and densier, requiring less to meet a 300g portion in your recipe. Or conversely, your salt could be lighter... If you've ever embarked on bread or pizza dough making with cups and measures and been disappointed with your result, this could be one of the reasons. Now, I don't have a fancy electric scale, but I do use a kitchen scale... and I haven't been disappointed with my results yet. I urge you to grab a kitchen scale (could be a mere $15) when you're next out and about. It will be worth it.

Raspberry Maple Croissant Pudding

It's quite funny... when I tweeted about making this delicious little treat, Aviv at Sidewalk Citizen Bakery (and my Momma... though not via Twitter) replied with something that I agreed wholeheartedly with... that is a sin to let croissants go stale!

It certainly wasn't the ideal situation. I love croissants. Plain and cold. Slightly warmed and crisp. With bright, tangy raspberry jam. With marmalade and fresh fruit. I ate croissant after croissant but couldn't quite get through the 12 or so that I bought before they started to go slightly stale. At that point, I decided to embrace the stale and welcome it into my kitchen with open arms... and bathe it in custard.

As is often the case for anything that I make, the inspiration often comes from what I have on hand... raspberries, stale croissants, maple syrup and cream. And a delicious sweet-treat started to take shape.

Breaducation... Who doesn't *heart* bread?!

There has been so much breaducation in my life of late...

I've taken my own stabs at breadmaking... dreaming of the days where I will nuture and grow my own sourdough starter like a precious child... but loving every leavening moment and yeasty-bready perfume in the interim.

Then there was the Breaducation night (here's the story, courtesy of Edmonton food blogger and photographer Maki of In My Element) at the lovely Sarah's coffee boutique, Luzzara, on Whyte Avenue (Edmonton, AB) featuring the bread-making stylings of Owen of Prairie Mill Bakery (found in both Edmonton and Calgary) and Chris of eatingisthehardestpart.com. Partially, it was a great opportunity to learn more about making a great loaf... but also an amazing excuse to eat the amazing loaves produced by each of these gents (some amazing artisan sourdoughs from Chris and my favourite Corn Millet (among others) from Owen). (Lots of links there... but lots of great people for you to "meet"!)

Next up, Momma became a bread making fiend as she prepared for her artisan bread making class that she was teaching in St Albert. As her prep seemed to necessitate baking a loaf a day, I found myself happily immersed in the land of bread.

Bread! Bread! Bread!

Twitter has been amazing for connecting me with everyone that I mentioned above... and that is exactly how I ended up finding my new fave for bread and other bakery goodies, Sidewalk Citizen Bakery. I have been envious of those ordering loaves of bread for delivery to their offices on Tuesday and tantalized by the weekly creations available in their storefront.

Caramelized Banana French Toast

I loved making french toast when I was younger. It was wonderfully satisfying and delightfully simple to make. Something so decadent about it. That lovely custard sopped up by a previously forsaken slice of stale bread... vanilla and cinnamon... sometimes some nutmeg... some sort of fruit, if I was so inclined... otherwise a healthy smear of butter and dosing of maple syrup. Perfection.

The sheer simplicity of this breakfast favourite almost made (and makes) me giddy with excitement. It's almost laughable how stale bread, some eggs, cream and some seasonings can transform into a ~$15 brunch item at a restaurant. This past weekend's brunch at home reminded me how easily I could compete, not pay $2 a cup for my much-needed gallon of coffee and eat in my pajamas!

Toothy-Grainy Brown Bread

When I said that I made a toothy bread and forecasted this post, I was asked -repeatedly- "what's a toothy bread?" It never even occurred to me that toothy would not immediately give images of a wonderful chewy, sink your teeth into it, dense, grainy bread. I mean, come on... why wouldn't you immediately follow that thought process?? 

I can't quite recall where I first heard the word "toothy" in relation to a bread of this sort but it was so apt, in my opinion, that I can't quite replace it.

Anyway, this whole bread-making escapade began when I was trying to figure out breakfast this past weekend. I've made bread and buns (cinnamon, mostly), so it wasn't a whole new path... but I wanted to make a nice, yes, toothy bread to have Eggies and Toast. I had no bread... I was sick and miserable... and winter had descended upon our fair city, so leaving my house seemed like an epic feat. I scanned the cupboard and saw that I had two packets of quick rise yeast. 

This is where you tell me that I'm crazy... when making bread seems to me to require less effort than taking the five minute journey to the market for a ready-to-eat, fresh made loaf. To which, I respond with, it doesn't require nearly the effort that you would think and that the smell of fresh baking (hell, even rising), bread perfuming your house makes it infinitely justifiable. Further, I abhor the cold and anything that I can do without leaving my house in a parka-scarf-mitts-hat-boots-combo (for something as simple as bread) will always be the easier option than the trek.

Dulce de Leche Buns

I have never experimented with bread recipes… I figured someone else configured those recipes because that is what works. And while that is true, it doesn’t mean that other combinations won’t work (or, hell, that these combinations haven’t been tried too). I wanted a slightly richer bread and I figured that using milk versus water would help… a bit of butter… and a bit of hope that it would all come together.

This dough rose perfectly. I was absolutely giddy when I peeked under the towel and saw a lovely puffy blob rising in the bowl. Forget waiting until after work to make these buns, I was going to be triumphantly carrying these into the office that same morning. Yep, I was beaming.

Radicchio Crostini... and Smoky Mac

I am home now... for a brief snippet of time before heading back out on the road. My latest trip was a good time but left me sounding a bit more like Debbie Harry than as myself... too much rock and roll. As such, I have been exhausted yet happy to be home and have the option of cooking, even if I find myself too lazy to oblige. So, I needed to take it a bit easy and had two friends over for a 'let's cook together' gathering. Today's lesson was to be the Smoky Mac and Cheese.

While Erin was learning and navigating the land of Mac and Cheese, we snacked on Radicchio Crostini. My caveat here... I find radicchio to be something that I have to be in the mood for. It is really sharp in its flavour and if I'm not in the right state of mind, I will have nothing to do with this bit of veg. However, when I do get in the mood, it is a nice little snack. The sharpness takes the edge off any hunger pangs, so you can make it through the cooking process rather than reaching for the phone and calling for delivery.