Sick of Food

The ultimate collection of sourdough recipes from around the World Wide Web

noreply@blogger.com (Matilda) — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 20:36:00 +0000

After 2 years of obsessive baking, here's the collection of my favorite sourdough recipes, techniques websites that I collected around the web. It does not want to be exhaustive, in fact, it wants to be a selected collection of recipes that I personally found to be the most robust and reliable, after testing each one personally.

Feel free to comment and share more recipes and I will happily update the list with your suggestion.

Enjoy!

BREADS
Beer Bread
Chia Sourdough Bread
Ciabatta
Ciabatta 2
Ciabatta (Whole Wheat)
Multigrain Sourdough
Norwich Sourdough
San Francisco Sourdough
Sourdough Baguette
Sourdough Semolina
Sourdough Semolina Saffron
Vermont Sourdough
Whole Wheat 100% Sourdough

NO-KNEAD BREADS
No-Knead Sourdough
No-Knead Sourdough 2
No-Knead Sourdough 3 (with video)
No-knead Discussion

BURGER BUNS
Fast Sourdough Burger Buns
Slow Rising Sourdough Burger Buns
Sourdough Burger Buns

PIZZA
Sourdough Italian Style Pizza
Sourdough Pizza
Sourdough Pizza 2
Sourdough Pizza 3

TORTILLAS
Sourdough Tortillas
Whole Wheat Sourdough Tortillas

BAGELS
My Sourdough Bagels (the recipe I elaborated after numerous attempts)
Sourdough Bagels
Sourdough Bagels 2
Sourdough Bagels 3
Sourdough Bagels 4
Sourdough Bagels 5

BRIOCHE
Sourdough Brioche (Brioche au Levain)

BISCUIT AND COOKIES
Biscuit/Scones
Soft Cookies and biscuit
Sourdough Cookies

PANCAKES
Potato Sourdough Pancakes
Quick Sourdough Pancakes
Sourdough Pancakes (to start the night before)

ENGLISH MUFFINS
Any Flour Sourdough Muffins
Sourdough Crumpets
Sourdough English Muffins
Sourdough English Muffins 2
Yogurt Sourdough English Muffins

CONRBREAD
Mexican Sourdough Cornbread

START A STARTER
100% Hydration
Starter
Starter 2
Starter 3
60% Hydration
Starter
Starter 2

TECHNIQUES
About Local Starters
About Rising
Basics
Converting into Potato Starter
Converting from Dry Yeast
Eye opening Techniques Hydration
Hydration 2
Windowpane Test

TROUBLESHOOTING
Reviving a Starter
Vinegar Smell

GURU SOURDOUGH WEBSITES
Northwest Sourdough
Sourdo
Sourdough Home
The Fresh Loaf
Wild Yeast

10 aphrodisiac foods to keep in your kitchen

noreply@blogger.com (Matilda) — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 16:45:00 +0000

Check out this blog posts on aphrodisiac foods that have been scientifically proved to be effective in enhancing sexual activity.

10 foods to eat on a date: the ultimate list of aphrodisiac foods

Science of sourdough

noreply@blogger.com (Matilda) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 17:36:00 +0000

One of my friends just brought this video to my attention. It is a very short moving story about sourdough passion. It includes an accessible explenation of the science behind natural fermentation. Enjoy!

Are You Orthorexic?

noreply@blogger.com (Matilda) — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 20:07:00 +0000

I came across this mental health issue I did not know before: it's called orthorexia nervosa, which refers to an excessive worry about eating and living healthy. You can find all the info here and the original paper here.

The definition of orthorexia made me and many other people (see Hatemail) kind of angry at first, but after reading his answers to the posts I agree that orthorexia could be a problem. However, the first test used to diagnose orthorexia nervosa suggested a potential problem if you answer yes to at least 2 of the following questions. This means that reading food labels and feeling good about eating healthy, defines you as an orthorexic.

Here's the original test:

Do you spend more than three hours a day thinking about healthy food? (For four hours, give yourself two points.)
Do you plan tomorrow's food today?
Do you care more about the virtue of what you eat than the pleasure you receive from eating it?
Have you found that as the quality of your diet has increased, the quality of your life has correspondingly diminished?
Do you keep getting stricter with yourself?
Do you sacrifice experiences you once enjoyed to eat the food you believe is right?
Do you feel an increased sense of self-esteem when you are eating healthy food and look down on others who don't?
Do you feel guilt or self-loathing when you stray from your diet?
Does your diet socially isolate you?
When you are eating the way you believe you are supposed to, do you feel a peaceful sense of control?

Now, the only test you can find in dr. Steven Bratman's website is the ORTO-15 (Donini et al., 2005), which is much less conservative and provides a much better tool to assess orthorexia nervosa. The test give a score between 1 and 4 for each question, and defines a threshold above which the person is defined orthorexic. You can find the original reference here.

Vegan/vegetarians are probably more likely than others to "cross the line" between healthy and pathological eating habits; or maybe, people become vegan/vegetarians because of a natural tendency to food related issues. I remember myself at some point developing an obsession for organic foods, which made me worry kind of compulsively of getting sick, if I did not have healthy foods. I've never linked that little obsession neither to my being vegetarian, nor to my habit of reading labels.

That said, paying some attention to what we eat should never be considered unhealthy. Especially considering that much food that we eat today is made out of cheap and very unhealthy ingredients, such as high fructose corn syrup. I do read labels to discard foods that contain animal products, and to
avoid foods with high fructose corn syrup and other crappy ingredients! And yes, if I am paying 20 dollars for a dish at the restaurant, I get slightly upset if they serve something full of fat (easy to make something tasty adding oil and cheese) or sugar. The old questionnaire for orthorexia defined anybody with an acceptable level of attention toward food as "sick". I am just trying to have a slightly higher food standard, because the one that the food industry has to offer is remarkably low.

Mandarin personal soufflé with Chocolate and Grand Marnier Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Matilda) — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 10:32:00 +0000

I found so many soufflés in last week's blog hops that I felt the urge to make my own, especially after discovering that the amount of butter in most of the recipes is not excessive. Some of the recipes I found online do not even call for butter but use canola oil instead. But I cannot use vegetable oil in a recipe that has a french name!

What's nice about this recipe is the possibility to store them in the freezer until ready to bake, so that they can be made in advance. I would say a couple of days, maybe even a week but I would not push it much more than that. I baked two one day and two more the day after, so I could tell the difference (not much). Also I made a mistake: for the first batch I poured cold water in the pan but they rose anyway so, no big deal!

I chose mandarin because guess what!? I had leftover mandarins that were a little old to eat straight but perfect for baking. I believe that you can substitute any citrus, including lemon.

Makes 4 personal soufflés.

Ingredients for the soufflés:

2 Tbsp of butter
2 Tbsp of sugar
2 Tbsp of AP flour
1/2 cup of milk
2 eggs (divide yolks and whites)
1/3 cup mandarin juice (about 4 small mandarins)
The grated zest of 4 small mandarins (only if using organic ones)
1/4 tsp of pure vanilla extract (optional)

Preparation:

In a saucepan melt butter, stir in flour and add milk, one teaspoon at a time until smooth then bring to boil until thick. Be very careful when it starts thickening because it forms lumps very easily. Stir in mandarin juice, zest and vanilla if using, and set apart.
In a medium bowl, beat eggs and sugar until pale yellow and fluffy; in another small bowl beat the egg whites until stiff. The egg whites and the beaters need to be very clean. Incorporate mandarin mix and egg yolks; then slowly fold the whites in. Divide the soufflé mix evenly and pour it in 4 soufflé dishes, which you previously brushed with butter and covered with a thin layer of flour.
At this point you can either freeze the cups, until ready to bake.
When you are ready to bake the soufflé, preheat the oven at 350F. Place the soufflé dishes into a baking pan and pour hot water into the pan to a depth of 1/2 inch. Bake for 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted to the center comes out clean.

As for the sauce, I just melted some dark chocolate (about 3 ounces) with 2 Tbsp of heavy cream and some milk because it was still very thick and added 2 Tbsp of Grand Marnier. You can find recipes for chocolate sauces around the web, for example here.

I am on the road and I am traveling, traveling, traveling...

noreply@blogger.com (Matilda) — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 11:48:00 +0000

Just a quick note to let my readers know that I am not cooking at the moment. The reason is that I moved back to Italy and I am still in the midst of my trip.

On the other hand, I re-opened my knitting Etsy store. Yay!!!

Please, take a moment to check it out and leave a comment.

VeGiCu
http://vegicu.blogspot.com/

Egless Cranberries Carrot Kefir Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Matilda) — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 21:57:00 +0000

I have been working hard last week so my time was limited to cooking, not enough to take and edit pictures. But, it's Saturday again, so I can afford to spend some time taking pictures. The difference between this weekend and last weekend, is the amount of food in my fridge: lots versus zero. Well, except for some shredded carrots from yesterday's salad, a cup of kefir, a cup of milk (which I would not necessarily trust drinking straight out of the fridge), some cranberries (which I am always temped to buy but I never know how to use) and no eggs. So here's what I came with:

Yields: 12 large muffins
Total time: 30-40 minutes
Active time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of AP flour
1/2 cup of whole wheat flour
2/3 cups of sugar
1 1/2 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/4 tsp of salt

3 Tbsp of butter (melted)
1 1/4 cups of kefir
1/4 cup of milk
1 cup of coarsely chopped cranberries
1 cup of shredded carrots
Turbinado sugar to sprinkle on top

Preparation:

Preheat the oven at 350F.
Mix all the wet ingredients, whisk until well incorporated. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
Add the dry flour mixture to the wet ingredients, it will start bubbling. Add cranberries and carrots. Evenly distribute the batter in a muffin pan and sprinkle each muffin with Turbinado sugar.
Bake immediately for 20-25 minutes (or until it passes the toothpick test).

Banana Pecan and Kefir White Chocolate Chips Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Matilda) — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 17:59:00 +0000

It's Sunday. I have two overripe bananas and plenty of time before he wakes up.
Here's what happens when these two events co-occur.

Yields: 12 large muffins
Total time: 30-40 minutes
Active time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

2 overripe bananas
2 tsp of pure vanilla extract
2 Tbsp of butter (melted)
1 egg
1 1/4 cups of kefir
2 cups of AP flour
2/3 cups of sugar
1/2 cup of whole wheat flour
2 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp of baking powder
a pinch of salt
2/3 cup of chopped pecan
1/3 cup of white chocolate chips

Preparation:

Preheat the oven at 350F.
Mash the bananas and add all the wet ingredients. Whisk until well incorporated. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
Add the dry flour mixture to the wet ingredients, it will start bubbling. Add pecans and white chocolate chips.
Bake immediately for 20 minutes (or until it passes the toothpick test).

Linked up to:

Tuesday Twister

Let's do Brunch!

Sourdough Rye Beer Bread ~ How to get rid of infected home brewed beer # 1

noreply@blogger.com (Matilda) — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 12:57:00 +0000

The beer my boyfriend and I made at home got infected. Very sad, I know. After weeks of waiting, we discovered the unpleasant surprise. It developed an off-flavor, which reminds us of green olives and most likely depends on dimethyl sulfide (DMS), it turned out. It could be either a bacteria or sunlight exposure, but we'll never know! However, that does not mean to me that I cannot use the beer at all. It would be even safe to drink but it does not taste very good. It reminds me of a martini somebody once prepared for me, with olive and garlic salt :-(. The carbonation is just right, the smell is even fine but it has this olive back taste, which definitely makes it undrinkable. I though that the olive back flavor may actually be good for cooking, adding that extra kick to beer cooking recipes.

First thing I tried of course was beer bread. The first recipe was a sort of a no-knead bread with baking soda, which given my dedication to sourdough for me was blasphemy! I should have remember of my no-knead curse, but I did not and here's the result. A terrible loaf, full of butter, crumbly and heavy like a stone. Surprising (or not?!) my boyfriend loved it... I have to say it was kind of tasty but with the same off-flavor that the beer has, and definitely wrong from a baker perspective.

Recipe follows for the second loaf I tried. The result was a fantastic, well risen, well developed loaf made with sourdough and of course, thoroughly kneaded. What was surprising for me is that the beer's olive off-flavor disappeared. I like to think that the good lactobacilli of my glorious starter fought the evil microorganism in the beer and destroyed the olive taste... well, maybe.

Ingredients:

120 grams of beer at room temperature
4 g of salt
18 g of brown sugar
20 g of unsalted butter - melted and cooled
520 grams of sourdough starter (100% hydration)
130 g of rye flour
190 g of AP flour
100 g of bread flour
1 1/2 Tbsp of sesame seeds (for topping, optional)

Procedure:

Mix all the ingredients and let the dough rest for 30 minutes. Knead for 4-5 minutes until dough reaches medium development. Place in a slightly oiled bowl and let rise for 1 1/2 hour (should double in size). Delicately fold the dough and place it in a loaf pan and place it in the fridge overnight (up to 12 hours) to retard rising. It is possible to see some rising while in the fridge. Take the loaf out and proof for 45-60 minutes. Bake 375°F for about 40-45 minutes (internal temp 190°F).

Linked up to:
YeastSpotting
Simple Lives Thursday

Couliflower Sicilian Style ~ aka Cavolfiori Affogati

noreply@blogger.com (Matilda) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 12:48:00 +0000

During my college years I used to share my apartment with other college students, and I have changed lots of them. I did my college studies in Rome and they mainly came from south of Italy, where the cooking style is notoriously good.

The greatest moments were when their parents came to visit, bringing with them all kind of goods from home. One of my favorite was a Sicilian stuffed bread, called schiacciata. A popular filling for this delicious focaccia style bread is cavolfiori affogati (literally, drawn cauliflower). Giorgia—that's the name of my Sicilian roommate at the time—used to make fun of me because I would call them cavolfiori annegati instead, which basically means the same thing but I don't know why she though than in the latter they were dead, more so than the former.

The recipe is quite easy and, as all the traditional recipes, it does not come with right doses, so I am just going to make them up.

Ingredients:

1 medium cauliflower (thinly sliced)
1/2 cup of thinly sliced onion (red or yellow)
1/2 cup (or more) of grated roman Pecorino cheese
3/4 cup of red wine*
1/4 cups of chopped black olives (optional)
2 Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
salt to taste

Procedure:

In a medium pot, layer in this order cauliflower, onion, salt, olives and cheese until you run out of ingredients (I typically do 3). Pour olive oil and wine and let simmer for about 45 minutes. Cool a little before serving. It can be stored in the fridge for a couple of days and it freezes well.

*At the beginning I misunderstood the recipe and made it with white wine. I kept doing so for about a year and even after discovering the "real" recipe, sometimes I still enjoy using white wine instead.

Linked Up to:
Tuesday Twister
My Meatless Mondays
Hearth and Soul Hop

peanut butter cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Matilda) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 20:05:00 +0000

Lately I have been focusing on taking better pics of the food I make. After 8 rejections in a row from Foodgawker, I have been studying a little composition and solved my photo lightening issues, which actually just required some reading of the camera user's guide. Kind of embarrassing I did not read the guide earlier...

Thus, I did not invent new recipes but just cooked new ones or let my boyfriend cook for me, who by the way is not happy about the photo sessions waiting time before dinner. I made some peanut butter cookies to get rid of some old peanut butter I had in the fridge. you can find recipes here and here: I made the latter but they look very similar indeed. Since my freshly made peanut butter was kind of hard after weeks in the fridge, I thought I had to dilute with soy milk for the filling, but that was probably not necessary after all, it just made my filling thin and liquid. I also used vegan butter instead of butter, just because I have been assuming cholesterol in large quantities lately.

Here's an example of my results after only two days practicing composition. Note how nicely the point of main interest falls in the intersection between the last vertical and horizontal lines, and the cookies in the background foll on the opposite intersection. This is called the rule of thirds. This picture seems well balanced to me , but I am not completely happy with the light. Nonetheless, I am pretty contented with the chocolate color, which in my opinion is one of the most difficult colors to capture. I mean, everybody can have a nice tomato picture but chocolate is another story. Now, these may not be the most original pictures in the food-world, but I need to master the technique before I can brake the rules!

Linked up to:
Seasonal Saturday
Friday Favorites
Vegetarian Foodie Fridays
Simple Lives Thursday
Friday Potluck
Straight Out Of the Camera Sunday

Sourdough Rye Scandinavian Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Matilda) — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 02:06:00 +0000

If you follow my blog, you know that I am in a 'muffin phase'. As an Italian, I fell in love with these mini cakes I discovered when I first came to the U.S. Sure enough, the ones you get at your favorite coffee shop are delicious because of the amount of butter they contain. However, you don't need a ton of animal fat to obtain soft, delicious muffins, so I am in a constant search for healthy muffins recipe.

One day, I ran into these rye savory muffins on Epicurious. I made them once, using yeast just to see how they came out and they were delicious! Soft, savory and spicy. However, if you use sourdough you also know that it is difficult to go back to yeast. For me, it is mostly about the fermentation process, not the flavor. I love the natural process behind wild yeast, the long rising time makes me feel like the world is going to a sustainable pace again. It's a very mindful process you can peacefully observe.

For the World Bread Day I decided that I wanted to give my contribution to the sourdough community, and convert this wonderful recipe from dry yeast to natural yeast. I used the method suggested by Clotilde @ Chocolate and Zucchini to convert the proportions and translated the measurements in grams, because with sourdough you know you'd better be precise.

Ingredients:

100 g rye flour
220 g white flour
30 g of light brown sugar
3/4 tsp anise seeds (or fennel seeds)
3/4 teaspoon caraway seeds (or fennel seeds)
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated fresh orange zest (optional)
25 g butter
50 g molasses
150 g warm water (75°F)
100g sourdough starter (100% hydration)
4 g salt
1 egg (lightly beaten for egg wash)
1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt (to garnish)
Vegetable oil for greasing

Preparation:

Mix the rye and white flour in a small bowl. Mix warm water and sourdough in a medium bowl, add all the other ingredients except for salt and egg (you'll need that only when you are ready to bake) and start incorporating the flour, 1/4 cup at a time and make sure not to leave dry spots. Let rest the dough for about 30 minutes, then incorporate the salt and mix well with your hands. If the dough is not too sticky, try to knead it a couple of times on a lightly floured surface. Make a ball and let it rise in a bowl for 2 1/2 hours. During the rising process, stretch and fold the dough two or three times (this will make the dough more elastic). If you don't know how to stretch and fold, follow this link.
Transfer the dough on a lightly floured surface and evenly divide the dough in 12 pieces. Place the each small balls in a muffin pan lightly greased. Cover with plastic or wrap in a tightly closed plastic bag and let proof the balls until doubled in size, which should take between 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 hours, depending on many factors, including the temperature of your kitchen and the activity of your sourdough. To retard the second rise, place the pan in the fridge after 1 hour, for up to 24 hours. Can be baked straight out of the fridge.
When you are ready to bake, brush a small amount of egg on each muffin, top with some more seeds and salt flakes and bake in a preheated oven at 350°F, in the middle rack for 20-35 minutes, until they reach an internal temperature of 190-200°F or a toothpick come out clean from the muffin. Serve the muffins when still warm.

My Favorite Sourdough ~ Seeded Norwich Sourdough

noreply@blogger.com (Matilda) — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 01:49:00 +0000

So, it turns out that Susan's favorite sourdough is also MY favorite sourdough. I love that recipe, it just works every time. This loaf was made with less started, indeed, so I am going to report the steps I have made differently and refer to Susan @ Wild Yeast for the detailed procedure, which you can find here.

I used half of all the ingredients listed in the original recipe, except that I did not realize that I did not have enough starter until I mixed all the other ingredients. But, despite my last failure I felt brave and tried to mix it anyway and allowed more time to rise.
Specifically, with my kitchen being not more than 65F, a total of 3.5 hours for the second rise.

Furthermore in one of the loafs I added a mix of seeds (puppy, pumpkin, sunflower, sesame and fennel, which I would omit the next time) between the first and the second rise.

Linked up to:
Around My Family Table
Pennywise Platter Thursday
Vegetarian Foodie Fridays
YeastSpotting

No knead sourdough bread disaster and meat(less) bread balls

noreply@blogger.com (Matilda) — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 13:56:00 +0000

I think this is the last version I tried, from Sourdoughs international. I am not going to post the ingredients since you can find them there. The procedure, of course, just require mixing, this is the whole point, right!? But let's be honest, this was probably the 5th attempt and it never worked. The dough ferments at first for sure. However, the gluten does not develop. It was still very sticky too. With no hope, I finished the steps in the recipe and bake this flour stone and of course, it was a disaster!

Th"bread" was hard as hell and it burned in the pathetic attempt to reach the right internal temperature. Well, this is going to be my first entry for the monthly food disaster.

Of course, any suggestion is appreciated.

I posted this on my new Monthly Food Disaster. Don't miss the chance to show off one of your disasters!

When something like that happens, I try to use the bread anyway. One way to do so, is to turn the bread in meat(less) bread balls.

Ingredients:

3-4 cups of stale cubed bread
milk and/or water (enough to cover the bread)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Roman Pecorino or Pecorino (or a mix)
1/2 eggs
2 Tbsp of parsley finely chopped
1-2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 cup of tomato sauce
1/2 cup of chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped carrpt
salt and pepper to taste
breadcrumbs (if needed)

Preparation:

Soak the bread in water or milk for 30 minuter. Squeeze the bread to remove excess of liquid (must be pretty dry, but soft). In a medium bowl mix bread, egg, half of the cheese, salt, pepper and parsley and mix with your hands until well incorporated. Form balls (2-3 inches) and place them on a plate. If the mix is too liquid you can add breadcrumbs, which can also be used to cover the balls and give them a nice crust.
In a pan pour the oil and over medium heat saute onion, celery and carrot (if using). Delicately place the balls in the pan and cook them until golden brown (about 3 minutes for each side). Pour the tomato sauce and dilute with water to cover the bread balls (about 1-2 inches above). Cook over medium-low heat for 30-60 minutes. Serve with the rest of the cheese. Some people claim that they are better the day after.

Simple Lives Thursday #14

Monthly Food Disasters

noreply@blogger.com (Matilda) — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 13:56:00 +0000

We all are great cooks, I know we are. There are many blog carnivals around the web, where we weekly show off one of our best recipes. Pretty pictures, delicious flavors, amazed comments... But come on, we also know that our kitchen is not always happy, bright and shiny. So why not to show off our food disasters as well?

Share your most recent or past disaster. Burned cookies, flat bread, imploded cakes and souffles... It will be a great way to exchange comments and receive feedback and maybe find out what went wrong, if you do not know that yet. If you know what you did wrong, your mistakes will be useful for others. At least, to talk about your failures will make you feel a little better. And it will also increase you blog traffic a little, so your disaster will be worth it.

We learn from our mistakes more than from our successes, so please share your disaster with us!

Here's how it works:

Link a blog post describing a recent recipe failure. If you are so lucky that you do not have one, just post a recipe that disappointed you a little.
Link back here on your blog using my button.
Please, comment here describing briefly what went wrong with your recipe.
Try to comment on other people disasters, so they can learn. Try to be compassionate, your sympathy will at least make them feel better.
If you did not document your disaster, take some nice pics the next time, because you have time until the end of the month to show off you failure!

Link it NOW! You will have the opportunity to link your disaster for the rest of the month.
Cheers,

Matilda

Announcing: Monthly Food Disasters carnival @ Sick Of Food

noreply@blogger.com (Matilda) — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0000

We all are great cooks, I know we are. There are many blog carnivals around the web, where we weekly show off one of our best recipes. Pretty pictures, delicious flavors, amazed comments... But come on, we also know that our kitchen is not always happy, bright and shiny. So why not to show off our food disasters as well?

Share your most recent or past disaster. It will be a great way to exchange comments and receive feedback and maybe find out what went wrong, if you do not know that yet. If you know what you did wrong, your mistakes will be useful for others. At least, to talk about your failures will make you feel a little better. And it will also increase you blog traffic a little, so your disaster will be worth it.

We learn from our mistakes more than from our successes, so please share your disaster with us!

Here's how it works:

Link a blog post describing a recent recipe failure. If you are so lucky that you do not have one, just post a recipe that disappointed you a little.
Link back here on your blog using my button.
Please, comment here describing briefly what went wrong with your recipe.
Try to comment on other people disasters, so they can learn. Try to be compassionate, your sympathy will at least make them feel better.
If you did not document your disaster, take some nice pics the next time, because you have time until the end of the month to show off you failure!

You will have the opportunity to link your disaster starting sometime this weekend and for the rest of the month.
Cheers,

Matilda

Linked to:
Inspiration Friday

Green lentils and leftovers soup

noreply@blogger.com (Matilda) — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 13:31:00 +0000

Have you ever thought about making a soup with whatever you have left in the fridge? Well, I do it pretty often (see also barley soup). This was made again after 3 days of complaining about lack of food in my fridge. I know, this is becoming a little obsession but I'll tell you what: it feels good to finish whatever you have in the fridge before you buy more stuff. I feel like a better person. Maybe I am... ;-)

I am going to try to take better pics... I just move in and I did not find a spot yet to take good photos with a good light, and when I m hungry, that is not my priority!

The spirit of these recipes is to use instead of spoil. The idea is that you should use whatever you have in the fridge, so each ingredient in this recipe is optional. However, be mindful. If you have 3 types of cabbage, do not use all three of them otherwise you'll have a cabbage, cabbage, cabbage soup, which is not necessarily going to be a hit.

It helps to store a variety of grains, because they stay fresh for long time and they can be matched with vegetables, which contrarily have a short life in the fridge. So for example, if you have only carrots in the fridge, you can make a lentil soup. If you have cabbage leftover, you will use barley. If you have pumpkin, you will use millet, and so on. Spice can really make the difference. Learn how to match each grain with the right spice and you will have simple, delicious and healthy dishes.

Ingredients:

2 big carrots
1/2 onion
3 cups of chopped vegetables (such as green beans, celery, bell peppers, zucchini)
1 1/2 cup of green lentils
1/4 tsp of cumin
1/4 tsp of coriander
1 bay leaf
1-2 Tbsp of extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup white wine (optional)
3-4 cups of vegetable broth or water

Preparation:

Coarsely chop all the vegetables. On medium heat cook the onion in 1-2 tbsp of oil until golden brown. Add carrots and cook for 3-4 minutes then add the lentils and let it toast for about 3 minutes. Pour the wine, if using (the pot should be very hot at this point). Add the vegetables. Add broth or water, spices and bay leaf. Bring to boil then reduce heat to medium-low and continue simmering for about 20-30 minutes, or until the lentils are the desired tenderness. Serve with a generous splash of olive oil.

Real Food Wednesday

Simple Lives Thursday

My version of Kristen Chocolate Kefir muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Matilda) — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 14:38:00 +0000

The first time I tried this Kristen recipe for chocolate muffins @ Passion 4 Eating I made a mess... I did not have almonds meal so I crushed a bunch of almonds with a hammer, but that turned out not to be a big deal. Furthermore, I used milk kefir instead of coconut milk kefir. I thought it would not matter but after seeing the results, I realized that my kefir was also very acidic (like 48h sort of fermentation). Moreover, I do not use much baking powder so I have a brand that sucks! I had issues before using it. Lastly, I over-baked the muffins (though she recommends not to!) because I forgot that the batter had banana so I expected the toothpick not only to be clean, but also dry. They were a disaster, so chewy that even my boyfriend avoided them.

I was very disappointed because they look so good in her blog. Also, I really wanted to make kefir chocolate muffins and her recipe, in my understanding seemed perfect.

Given that the only real difference in the two recipes was realistically the acidity of kefir, that must have been the key for the failure. In my knowledge of kitchen chemistry, with such an acidic base I really did not need baking powder, which is just baking soda with acidic ingredients to make it react. So I decided to give these muffins another try, after substituting baking powder with baking soda. I also did not have enough almonds this time so I increased the amount of flour to compensate and I substitute olive oil with the vegetable oil I had in the kitchen. The batter was also not enough for my muffins pan so I doubled the dose. Final touch, I added white chocolate chips, just to spoil myself after the last failure...

The result was wonderful. The texture was soft and moist and no acidic flavor was detectable. I loved Kristen idea to use espresso powder in the batter, it really enhances the cocoa flavor. The presentation could have been a little better but given that it was almost midnight when I finished!

Here's my version of the recipe. Thanks Kristen for sharing your wonderful recipe!

Ingredients:

2 overripe bananas
2/3 cups of sugar
2 tsp of pure vanilla extract
2 Tbsp of peanut oil
2 tsp of finely ground (espresso) coffee
2 cups of AP flour
2/3 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup of crushed almonds (I used a hammer)
2 tsp of baking soda
1 1/2 cups of kefir
white chocolate chips for topping (optional)

Preparation:

Preheat the oven at 350F.
Mash the bananas and add sugar and coffee. Whisk until well incorporated. Add all the wet ingredients except kefir.
Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add some of the dry flour mixture to the wet ingredients then add some kefir, it will start bubbling. Finish adding flur and kefir until well incorporated. Bake immediately for 20 minutes (or until it passes the toothpick test).

Pearl barley and verza cabbage soup

noreply@blogger.com (Matilda) — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 14:17:00 +0000

Another groceries-less dish. I made this last week-after stating (even in one of my blog posts) the complete absence of food in my fridge, for the third day in a row. It is amazing how you can find stuff you did not see before, just by looking a little more carefully in the fridge. Well, in the huge emptiness of my fridge, I found leftover cabbage from my cabbage strudel and a bunch of carrots and here it was: my frugal dinner to eat before going to the movies.

The movie was a very good independent documentary about the American Indians Associations, A Good Day To Die. It is a little hard to find but definitely worth it.

I am so happy that fall is here and the soup season has officially started! Here's the recipe enough to feed 4 people or your self 4 times (such as in my case).

Ingredients:

1/4 cabbage (verza)
3 big carrots
1/2 onion
2 cups of barley
1/2 tsp cumin (optional)
1 bay leaf
1 fresh rosemary stem
1 small potato (optional)
2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 cups or more of vegetable broth (optional)
paprika to taste (and garnish)

Preparation:

Chop all the ingredients. On medium heat cook the onion in 1-2 tbsp of oil until golden brown. Add carrots and cook for 3-4 minutes then add barley and let it toast for about 3 minutes. At this point add the cabbage and the broth. I did not have broth so I used water, which you can always use if you are a fan of smooth flavors. The liquid should cover all the solid ingredients 2-3 inches above. Add the bay leaf and rosemary and cumin if you are using it or other spices if you like.
Bring to boil and cook on medium-low for 40 minutes. Set some worm broth or water aside and keep it ready in case you fell that the liquid is absorbing too fast. I do not typically soak the barley before cook it but if you do it for 30-60 minutes, it may reduce the cooking time by 10-20 minutes (depending on the soaking time). The barley should be as tender as you like it: for me soft but still a little crunchy is right.
Remove from heat and serve with some paprika, if you like and a tbsp of the best olive oil you can find.

Mini-donuts with ricotta cheese and cocoa

noreply@blogger.com (Matilda) — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 03:34:00 +0000

My version of "ciambelline ricotta e cacao" from Le cuochine (if you can read Italian :-). The amount of butter seemed to be a little to much for so I reduced it. I did not have A/P flour so I used bread flour... They were tasty but a little chewy, so I corrected the recipe with 1/2 tsp extra of baking powder. The reason was also the poor quality of the ricotta cheese I used. I was not completed satisfied but given the circumstances, not bad at all. They are definitely worth another try.

Ingredients:

240 g ricotta cheese
60 g butter
150 g sugar
50 g cocoa powder
200 g A/P flour (plus more for dusting)
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup of powdered sugar for dusting

Preparation:

Whisk sugar and ricotta until soft and fluffy. Add the egg and mix until well incorporated. Then add the cocoa, butter and the mixture of flour, salt and baking powder. The final dough should be sort of taught and compact.

Shape the dough in little donuts (I made 16 but the original recipe called for 50...) Place them in a baking pan and bake at 300F for 10-12 minutes.

Perfect cappuccino

noreply@blogger.com (Matilda) — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 21:58:00 +0000

Tempeh with cranberries and lemon-strawberry sauce and wakame seaweed as a side (my crazy lunch)

noreply@blogger.com (Matilda) — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 01:10:00 +0000

I should have gone to the store yesterday. I open the fridge to find something for lunch and what I see is emptiness and sadness. Definitely, I cannot afford to skip lunch again; so I have to be creative. Pre-packaged comes before frozen in my list of priority for desperate meals. Ans here it is! A package of tempeh not even open and bought a couple of wees before. That's it.

Now it's all about finding something to mix the tempeh with, because I tried multiple times to eat it straight and it is not the most pleasant experience. Also, not recommended when you are eating because you know you have to, not necessarily because you really want to. Typically I like it sauté with oil, lemon (lots) and soy sauce. But lemons do not grow spontaneously in my kitchen so I have to buy it and, as I mentioned earlier, it's been a while since the last time I had a trip to the grocery store.

One of the recipes I used to make when I was obsessed with tempeh was called something like "tempeh all'orientale" (oriental style tempeh). It called for pine nuts and raisin and yes, I have pine nuts! But of course no raisin and no lemon. At this point it becomes a challenge, whatever I find in the fridge or the shelfs is going to be good enough. And it was! Here's what I ended up doing:

Ingredients for one:

Tempeh (1 serving)
3 tbsp of strawberry lemonade
1 tbsp of olive oil
1 tbsp of pine nuts
2 tbsp of dried cranberries
1 tbsp of soy sauce
1/2 tsp of rice vinegar (optional)

Preparation:

Ina small saucepan, heat the oil and add the tempeh and cook on medium-low until golden brown. Add pine nuts and cranberries and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Add the strawberry lemonade, soy sauce and cook until the liquid is reduced a little.

I served the craziness with wakame seaweed and a bunch of steamed broccoli. The former turned out to match pretty well while the latter I would not recommend... :-)

Linking to MMMmonday at Acting Balanced

September 21 is the international Day of Peace

noreply@blogger.com (Matilda) — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 13:32:00 +0000

But after all, every day is a good day to be reminded...

"Peace is available in every moment, in every breath in every step."
Thich Nhat Hanh

Kefir and Dishcloth Give Away

noreply@blogger.com (Matilda) — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 02:14:00 +0000

Do not miss the opportunity to have a free batch of kefir grains to start your culture!
And after all this cooking I guess to have a couple of free cloths would not be bad!

Verza cabbage strudel

noreply@blogger.com (Matilda) — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 00:05:00 +0000

Verza cabbage is one of the most delicious winter vegetables. The sweet flavor and the crisp texture makes it a great base for filling and the large leaves can be easily used as a wrap. In ages when you could only buy in season vegetable, there was a small window at the beginning of the winter to buy cabbage, but now you can basically find this vegetable all year around.

The strudel is a great main dish for dinner, but it can be saved in the fridge for a couple of days and the dough will stay fine. There are mixed opinions about the toxicity of cooked potatoes stored in the fridge, especially when fried, and this dish contains some. I prefer not to eat them after 24 hours, especially because they do not taste good!

Ingredients:

Dough*
1 1/2 cups A/P flour
1/2 rye flour
1/4 cup lukewarm water
4 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
Filling
1/2 verza cabbage
1 medium potato
1/4 cup of emmental cheese
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp butter
2 cloves of garlic (one finely chopped)
1 small scallion
pepper to taste (optional)
1/2 tsp coriander (optional)

* You can substitute frozen phyllo or brisee dough and skip the dough preparation, if you are in hurry.

Preparation:

Prepare the dough: mix all the dough ingredients together and knead until smooth and elastic (about 7-10 minutes). Make a ball and refrigerat for about 30 mins.
In the meanwhile, prepare the filling. Cook the potato (boiled or steamed) and mashed it. Cut the cabbage in medium-small pieces and wash it. Crush 1 clove of garlic, finely chop the scallion and cook them in the oil/butter mix until golden brown, then add the cabbage and cook until tender (about 10 mins). Mix cabbage and potato with the other ingredients.

Pre-heat the oven to 350°F.
Cut the dough in a half and roll it very thin. Place half of the filling in the center and wrap it with the dough as many times as the dough's length allows. It was twice for me but it depends on the thickness. Place the rolls in a oiled oven pan and bake for 25-35 minutes, until golden on top and serve hot.