Madhu Knits and Cooks

Ken Forkish The Elements of Pizza - Great New Pizza Techniques

With my recent attempts to mix up my standard homemade pizza game, I checked out Ken Forkish's The Elements of Pizza cookbook from the library.  The first recipe I selected, the 48 to 72-Hour New York Pizza Dough, called for using a food processor to mix/knead the dough, which I was excited to try for a second time.

I reduced the recipe proportions by a third to end up with one dough ball v. three, and found the recipe + techniques really easy to follow.  I really appreciated Forkish's directions on how to shape the dough ball in particular, because it resulted in a beautifully shaped dough.

I baked the dough two days after preparing it, and ended up using Forkish's dough-stretching method which I found much easier to use as well as other dough shaping techniques I've used in the past.  It did as promised - preserved the rim while ensuring a pretty even dough.

I do think my general pre-baking-dough-before-adding-toppings-method is something I should continue to do because the crust seemed slightly less browned than I otherwise would like?  I can probably change this up if we get a baking steel to better conduct heat, but I think for my 15-year old Target-bought stone, a pre-bake will probably help me get the crust I want.

Two other notes - the flavor of this dough was great.  I do think though that I'll try adding the KAF pizza dough flavor powder in the future to taste the result.  Also, I used the KAF pizza dough blend instead of high-protein bread flour because it's what I had on hand at home.

Modern Striped Baby Blanket - Beautiful Colors (Thanks, Stylish Mom!)

Over the summer, I had the pleasure of completing a baby blanket for a friend's newborn son.  A big part of the pleasure was from working with the beautiful colors that the expecting mother selected, which ranged from cream and light grey to deeper blue hues.  Unfortunately, Purl Soho, which published the pattern, was out of the yarn kit my friend selected, but my husband and I were able to recreate the colorway through scouring the Cascade 220 Superwash color cards.

With the yarns ordered, to knitting I went!  The result was a super squishy and bouncy blanket, with even color block stripes.  I look forward to recreating this blanket in different variations - including for an at-home throw for our living room.  That's how lovely this blanket knit up - I want one as well!

Modern Striped Baby Blanket

Pattern:  Super Easy Baby Blanket by Purl Soho.  

Needles: One US7 circular

Yarn:  ~5/6 of 7 different skeins of Cascade 220 Superwash, in colors 817 ecru, 348 white pepper heather, 204 smoke blue, 847 caribbean, 892 space needle, 910A winter white, 1973 seafoam heather.  

Measurements:  Pre-blocking measurements of 33 3/4 inches wide by 34 3/4 inches tall.  Post-blocking (machine wash / dry) measurements of 30 inches wide by 29 1/2 inches tall.

Completed 8/4/22

Marinated Cauliflower / Red Bell Pepper Kati Roll Filling - Not a Recipe Repeat

With some cauliflower, bell pepper, and red onions at home, I decided to try the Milk Street Cauliflower Kati Roll recipe.  However, instead of putting the marinated vegetable mixture into a carb wrapping, I instead decided to serve the vegetables alongside some other Indian favorites. 

I don't know if that was the fatal mistake, or the recipe itself, but my sense is the latter. 

The garam masala flavor was overwhelming on the vegetables, and the yogurt marinade didn't do much for their textures.  The cauliflower and red peppers were slightly burnt in some places, and tough in other bites. 

Maybe this would have been better with a chutney in a carb wrapping, but can't imagine it would be more than "ok."

Weeknight Pinto Beans - Lessons Learned As We Enter Bean Season

Is there anything more comforting than warm, creamy beans on a cold night outside?  Well, perhaps said beans in a lovely soup. 

I am more than ready for the fall and winter days ahead with an embarrassing amount of Rancho Gordo beans in our pantry.  I started my seasonal bean preparation with an impromptu weeknight pinto bean dish a few weeks ago.

These beans were flavorful, but both not as complex or time consuming as my favorite pinto bean approach to date - the Cook's Illustrated Drunken Beans.  I also learned the appropriate (soaked) pinto beans Instant Post cooking time - 31 - 33 minutes - something I learned after starting the cooking settings for 25 minutes, then adding another 7 minutes after the beans were not fully cooked.  As I look for comforting, simple bean dishes this year, this recipe will become a staple!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup pinto beans, soaked in water for 6 hours
• 1/4 onion, diced
• 1/4 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 small tomato, diced
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/4 tsp chile powder
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• Shake of dried oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• salt, to taste
• cilantro, chopped (optional - for garnish)

Directions

• Drain soaked beans and add ~1 cup fresh water, oregano, and bay leaf to the Instant Pot inner pot.
• Set the cooking settings to 31 minutes on high pressure.  Ensure the safety valve is closed.
• After the cook time is over, let the pressure cooker go through its natural pressure release process (~20 minutes)
• Then check the beans to ensure they are your desired consistency.  Switch the Instant Pot setting to saute, and add remaining ingredients, including 1 tsp. of salt to taste.
• Cook for an additional 7 - 10 minutes until the beans absorb the flavor of the seasonings.  Garnish with cilantro if desired and serve immediately.

King Arthur Flour's Classic Sandwich Bread - Overproofed, and Too Crumbly of a Result

We've developed a fascination with traditional sandwiches of late.  Why?  Our physical removal from business districts, and their plentiful sandwich options, coupled with some plain boredom.  On a more positive note, we've also had one or two excellent sandwiches over the past few months, including a particularly top-tier herbed egg salad at the Bread Gallery in Nova Scotia.  

What does one do when they become focused on sandwiches?  They make sandwich bread, naturally.

Unfortunately my first home-baked sandwich bread did not match my lofty expectations.  First, I overproofed the dough during the first rise.  My kitchen was a bit warm, and so 30 minutes was probably been enough for the rise instead of the 1-2 hours called for in the recipe.  I cut the second rise to 40 minutes, which seemed like it was enough.  

The resulting bread flavor was excellent, but the texture wasn't ideal.  It was too dense and crumbly for our tastes.  We used the leftover bread for grilled cheeses, which also had the same feature of great flavor but not great texture - too thick and crumbly again, even when toasted.  

So will I make this recipe again?  Maybe.  The result was probably human error, but I'd like to look around for other recipes before giving this one a go again.  

Quick Fudgy Brownies - Not a Recipe Repeat

Hampered by a dwindling supply of both white sugar and eggs, and hours away from a summer lunch in which I was asked (by a child) to bring brownies, I found myself furiously consulting my favorite internet baking sites to find a suitable recipe for a crowd.

I found success - I thought - on King Arthur Flour's website, with their Quick and Easy Fudge Brownies recipe.  I had just enough sugar - almost to the gram - and eggs to mix up the batter.  

I turned the pan halfway through baking, and pulled the brownies out right around the 25 minute mark as I was worried about over-baking them.  As they cooled, I fear I made have been right, at least at the edges which were a bit drier than I would have liked.  The chocolate flavor also seemed to be a bit dulled by the dry, too-chewy edges, which disappointed me.  I also agree with many of the recipe comments that these brownies were also too sweet, which is funny given that I was specifically looking for a recipe to accommodate the limited sugar I had at home.

However, and perhaps most importantly, the brownies were a hit with others at this event, particularly the children.  So be this a sign that we all do in fact have different tastes when it comes to even the simplest of desserts!

Rancho Gordo White Beans, Cauliflower, and Capers - Outstanding Main Course or Fancy Side

My (embarrassingly large) supply of Rancho Gordo beans continues to pay dividends...when I actually cook them, which is more rare than I'd like to admit.  I recently opened up their cookbook for inspiration, and settled on their Cauliflower with Cassoulet Beans and Capers recipe because I wanted to eat some of their great alubia white beans.  

I soaked 1/2 cup of alubia white beans overnight, and then cooked them in the Instant Pot for 8 minutes high pressure with a natural release.  Because the beans weren't uniformly cooked through, I used a tip from the Rancho Gordo cookbook to finish the beans.  I salted the beans in the Instant Pot, turned on the high saute setting, and cooked for maybe 5 - 10 minutes longer until the beans were uniformly creamy.  I will use this technique a lot moving forward because I do think it was the perfect way to ensure great finished beans.  The 1/2 cup of dried beans resulted in slightly less than 1.5 cups of cooked beans.

For the Jerez sherry vinegar, which I didn't have on hand and I couldn't find in our local store, I substituted slightly more than half rice vinegar and champagne vinegar.  This resulted in a wonderful tanginess, complimented with the briny capers, which was quite sharp when the dish was warm and softened as the dish cooled.  

This was a creamy, tangy, slightly sweet dish with lots of different textures from the cooked cauliflower, squishy white beans, and tighter capers.  It was a great main course for 2 hungry people, and easily could be a side dish for 4 - 8, depending on the number of other sides served.  It also is a great dish to make early on in dinner prep because you can serve it at room temperature.  I will be making it again.

Weeknight Tofu Makes Its Return - NYT Black Pepper Tofu and Asparagus

I've gotten bored with most at-home, sautéed versions of tofu, so rarely make this weeknight-appropriate preparation.  Instead, I'll hold panko-crusted tofu or other more complicated tofu preparations for the weekends.

Some aging tofu and asparagus though brought me to the NY Times Cooking Black Pepper and Asparagus Tofu dish, a truly delicious sautéed tofu preparation.

I made a few modifications to the recipe, including halving the sauce and using only the top thirds of thicker asparagus. 

The result was still excellent though - spicy from the black pepper, tangy from the Worcestershire sauce, and a nice lightness from the fresh cilantro.  

I was really surprised at how much great texture and flavor contrast the asparagus provided, and this easy and flavorful sauce will put tofu back into my regular food rotation.  Thank you NYT Cooking!

Eggs, Cheese, and Leftover Asparagus or Broccoli - Frittatas Made in Heaven!

The title says it all - I made another great two frittatas using another Cook's Illustrated recipe.  My modifications included using oat milk instead of whole milk, no mint, no lemon zest, and slightly less lemon juice.  I also used a larger pan, resulting in a thinner frittata.  I also substituted broccoli for asparagus in the last frittata (pictured below). 

The result was still excellent - creamy and tangy from the goat cheese, fresh and crisp textures from the vegetable pieces, and a smoothness from the buoyant egg base.  Yum!

Pizza Dough with a Food Processor? If Chris Kimball Says So...I Will Try!

I have one tried-and-true pizza dough recipe that has yet to be displaced, despite many attempts at new dough preparations.  Could I be narrowing in on an alteration that could take this recipe standard to the next level?  Cautiously, yes. 

The recipe innovation?  Kneading the dough in the food processor instead of by hand, a tip we picked up listening to Christopher Kimball's Milk Street podcast.  Kimball made a passing reference to using a food processor for pizza dough, sparking our minds that this could be the accelerant to extra delicious dough.

Fueled by this tip, I found a Williams Sonoma food processor dough recipe online.  I added 3 teaspoons of the King Arthur Flour pizza dough flavor to this fairly standard recipe.  With a regular metal food processor attachment - not a special dough attachment - I developed very smooth and glossy dough in just under a minute of processing.  I then halved the dough into two balls, covered them in olive oil, and put them in the fridge for a 24 hour cold rise.  The dough balls rose significantly in the fridge, perhaps even more than doubling?

When I prepared the pizzas themselves, I found the dough less easy to roll than my standard dough, even at room temperature.  I used my fists to drape the dough over as I found gravity more helpful than anything else I was trying.  

I then did my standard pre-baking of the dough on a heated pizza stone before adding the toppings to place ~4 inches away from the broiler.  The result was a chewier dough than we are used to, but not one that was unpleasant.  The crust held up to the toppings, and had a nice yeasted flavor.  

I think my next step is to try my standard pizza dough recipe (with King Arthur pizza flour) using the food processor and going from there.  Excited to see what this innovation, that is so much easier on my arms, results in!