I made a tang hole filer for my next knife project to come. Just drilling and working with a needle file is not very satisfactory. I used a jigsaw blade that I trimmed down a little, some scrap wood and a dab of epoxy glue. Done.
Baking Bread: New Flour Type
I got hands on a (to me) completely new type of bread flour. It‘s the German type „812“ and funny enough, in the US it‘s called just „bread flour“ 🙂 . It‘s surprisingly difficult to find in supermarkets here, although it seems to be pretty common for professional bakers.
What I found out is that you actually need a little less water than when working with the standard type 55 (all-purpose flour) and that it likes to ferment a little longer. But I may be wrong since I‘m just puzzling together the results of my first try.
Anyway, I got very good bread from it just using my spelt flour bread recipe and reducing the amount of water little bit.
Sloppy Joe Dip
I stumbled upon this recipe and decided to give it a (personally adjusted, simplified and halved) try. I used my homemade Codsworth Cheese and left out the bell peppers
As the recipe states, the long cooking time is vital and it really comes out delicious. It’s a versatile dipping dish for a convivial evening or an occasional warm outside summer evening meal. So, here’s my version of the dish:
Pan Roasted Asparagus
We’ve had a lot of asparagus here these days due to it being in season. I, personally, like the green variety way more than the hyped white one because it’s more flavourful and tastes more like a distinct vegetable. Here’s how to make a simple and delicious side dish from it.
Ingredients:
1 bunch of green asparagus (~500g)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tbsp. butter + 1/2 tbsp. olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Homemade Tabletop Grill in Action
So we caught the weekly allowance of two hours of sunshine the german weather gave us today and used it to finally try out the tabletop grill. It works well and the insulation at the bottom is very effective – no particularly strong downward heat development, so it seems to be safe to use right at the table. Fotos:
Homemade Codsworth Cheese
Yay, my first cheese is ready! The Codsworth I made about a month ago is done ripening and ready to serve!
I don’t know if everything I did went the correct way, and I certainly don’t know if it tastes even rudimentarily like a proper “Cotswold” since I never had one before. But it definitely is flavourful and – yes – even a little hearty. It does have a hint of a sourly note, not unpleasant but noticeable. It goes well with bread and salad and a drop of olive oil and some pepper also fit it well. I’ll also try it melted in some oven baking recipe.
Until now, nobody got a bad stomach from it and everybody found it at least pleasant enough 🙂
Sauce Vierge
The sauce vierge is a traditional french, meditarranean-style, infused sauce invented by some super important french cooking guy several decades ago. Goes very deliciously with fish, and that’s what I had yesterday.
Rillettes de Poulet
Well, I’m really into cooking, but these days I stumbled upon something completely new to me again: Rillettes. A french type of shredded strands of pork/chicken/duck or even fish as a soft and savoury spread for toasted bread and the like.
Meat or poultry or whatever is cooked over a long period of time until very tender and aromatic, then frayed and mixed with it’s own juices and rendered fat. Stored in a glass jar and topped with a layer of fat for preservation this is a hearty, savoury and addictive addition to a rustic and “good and solid” dinner. Obviously, this is not for the calorie-conscious…
