More Adventures With Bread Friend

Last night we attended a dinner gathering hosted by our friends Erica and Doug. Erica made an absolutely DIVINE Pork Posole, which, though of course I can take zero credit for, I did promptly hunt down her recipe so I can soon replicate it. It was completely awesome, fall/winter comfort food at its best. Erica served it with a yummy salad of dark greens and some corn bread, which was perfect. Our contributions to the table were a 12-pack of Pacifico, (classy I know, but hey, beer really is the best pairing with Mexican), and a seven grain bread I threw together thanks to Bread Friend. The bread smelled divine and was very good, a nice addition on the appetizer spread with butter or cheese, but it was also very dense. Yes, I know, with seven whole grains, it's gonna be dense, but I began wondering if there was some detail of working with Bread Friend I was missing, so I've done some research. Turns out, not surprisingly of course, that BF is calibrated to bake at sea level, and that the decreased air pressure up here at 5400 feet above sea level Boulder doesn't allow for enough rising during the first proofing segment of the process. To get technical, (thanks to University of Wyoming's Department of Home Economics) "when air pressure decreases (which it does, for those of us above 3000 ft), there is less resistance on water molecules, which makes water boil at a lower temperature than the typical 212 degrees F. The evaporation of water before the baked product structure is developed and set causes collapsed baked products. " This and other articles go on to suggest various solutions, including increasing the amount of salt (logic is that salt restrains the yeast somewhat and this prevents quick rising during the first proofing, which should help create properly aerated dough since the structure will be more solid and hold up through the second proofing rather than collapse) or decreasing yeast, which basically has the same effect increasing the salt. You can also decrease the sugar, which is food for the yeast, to get a similar effect, but most of the breads I'll be attempting are so low sugar anyway there's hardly anything to reduce (Mr. Seven Grain bread says "don't rob me my measly 1 T of honey!")

So, I'm going to make my seven grain again today and try the above suggestions. And given my impatience and lack of interest in true scientific process and methodical testing, I'll probably try both a little less yeast and a little more salt, just for good measure. I want results!!

And while we're on the topic of yeast, I've quickly realized that I will be graduating from buying the little individual packets of yeast to buying the jar. Silly as it may sound, this is a very exciting prospect for me, and I feel official and accomplished.

Anyway, off to my yeasty adventures, and I'll be sure to share a full report of the results!

UPDATE - Second loaf of Seven Grain and...absolutely no improvement. Sigh...if at first you don't succeed...bake more bread!

Monday Night Salmon

As I'm sure is plainly evident by my lack of posts the past two weeks, I've not been doing much running or cooking, or really much of anything other than work, including sleeping, eating or most other normal daily activities. I've been a slave to my desk, laptop and blackberry. Takeout and Rob's simply yet thoughtfully prepared meals have sustained us. But, there have been a couple nights where I get home late enough where I don't want to cook anything at all involved, but early enough that I'm not desperate and bringing home something unhealthy and of the "fast" variety. On nights like this, I turn to recipes such as what I'll call my "Monday Night Salmon." It's insanely easy, and in 15 minutes you have a healthy, highly edible fish dish.

As for my preference in salmon, I must admit that Rob and I are kind of babies when it comes to salmon selection. Yes, I know that the wild caught variety, smallest possible fish, are the healthiest, like Coho and Sockeye (lower on the food chain equals less mercury blah blah blah) and the like...but...it really tastes much fishier than the lovely, smooth Norwegian farmed variety. And Wholefoods promises me that even though it's farmed, they don't use antibiotics or any of the other nasties that typically give farmed salmon a bad rap. So, I buy the Norwegian farmed salmon and to add insult to fishy injury, get it skinned at the fish counter. I almost came to blows (not really) with the fish monger at Wholefoods once over this request because he said I was removing a lot of the healthy fat and oils that make salmon good for you in the first place. I spared him the long story of how I just really don't like the way it makes the house smell when I cook it with the skin on and stood my ground. He grudgingly did as I'd asked, but I was still annoyed. Cut me some slack here guy, we're still eating salmon, not a T-bone! I now take my skinned farmed Norwegian salmon business to King Soopers, who sells the same fish, from the same supplier for half the price as Wholefoods, and never makes me feel less virtuous for having my salmon skinned.

Anyway, I digress...

Christie's Monday Night Salmon

Salmon filets - whatever the hell kind you like, skin, no skin, wild, farmed, whatever!!!

Drizzle with soy sauce

Drizzle with fresh lime juice

Sprinkle with sea salt, fresh ground pepper and ginger to taste. Freshly grated ginger is lovely, but again, this is MONDAY night salmon, so more often than not I'm using the dried powder variety and it's just fine.

I bake this in our handy dandy "counter top oven" aka toaster oven, because, once again time (and efficiency) are paramount here, and it requires no time to get up to temperature, unlike the big oven. I even line the pan with foil so I (err, Rob, let's be honest here Christie) don't have dishes to do. So, I throw it in there for about 15 mins at 300 degrees, but you can do higher temp for less time...whatever you want to get the fish to your preferred temperature. Unless I'm at a restaurant, I don't mess with "seared" so we go for cooked all the way through, flaky when forked on this.

I have found quick cooking brown and wild rices, of which I'm a huge fan. So I'll often get that going while I prepare the salmon. Then I'll cut up a head of broccoli and microwave steam it for five minutes, and there ya go...within 20 mins we have a very passable weeknight meal! Hooray! And no I don't have a beautiful picture to add to this post because, like I said, it's for late on a Monday night and who has time to take pics in a situation like this!?

An Autumnal Feast

The day's ventures were a delicious success, and boy did the house smell good in the process. While Bread Friend finished kneading and moved on to baking my Oatmeal Anadama to a perfect caramel brown, I moved on to preparing a spicy pork, bean and beer chili. While that simmered and the bread baked, I turned my attention to the day's third project, using up the last of my farmshare produce with a winter pear and apple pie with streusel topping.

Though I am not typically (intentionally) an active participant in the slow food movement, tonight, Rob's delayed return from a football game meant my chili got a full two hours of simmering time, and I've no doubt it was a good thing. The chipotle adobo flavor permeated throughout and the pork became melt-in-your-mouth tender. YUM! I garnished it with some fresh lime juice, and served it up with a spinach salad with cranberries, walnuts, pear and herbed goat cheese, and of course, some fresh bread. It was the perfect early November dinner. Time to cap off the night with some pie...and think about tomorrow's long run!

Today's Recipe:

Pork Bean and Beer Chili (courtesy of Eating Well magazine)

1 1/2 T olive oil

1 1/2 lb pork tenderloin trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

salt and pepper to taste

1 large onion, diced

2 bell peppers (I used one red and one orange), coarsely chopped

2 T tomato paste (I forgot this, and it was still fine)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 T cumin

1 T minced chipotles in adobo sauce

1 1/2 t dried oregano

1 12oz bottle beer, preferably Mexican

2 15oz cans pinto beans, rinsed

1 14oz can plum tomatoes, chopped with juice reserved

Juice of half a lime

Heat oil in a large dutch oven over med high heat. Season pork with salt and pepper, and brown on all sides. Remove and set aside. Reduce heat to med and add onion and bell pepper, cooking until they begin to soften, 5-7 mins. Add tomato paste, garlic, cumin, chipotles and oregano. Cook the mixture, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 mins. Stir in beer, deglazing pan. Simmer 2 mins. Stir in beans, tomatoes with juice and pork, bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and simmer, at least 30 mins or until pork is tender. Add lime juice before serving. Garnish with a wedge of lime.

My New Bread Friend

When Rob and I got engaged nearly three and a half years ago and I was starting to piece together our gift registries, my mom casually suggested I include a breadmaker. I'd never given it much thought, but the vision (what's the future verb of to smell?) of fresh homemade bread seemed like a good idea, so I researched a few different machines and added the Breadman Deluxe to our list. Fast forward to...well...three and a half years later, and today I've finally opened the box of our fancy Breadman! To whomever gave us this lovely gift - apologies I was a little (lot) slow to get started. It's been a busy few years!

Anyway, in addition to being slow to open the box, I also realize I'm about fifteen years late on the whole breadmaker trend in general...especially since now all the of-the-moment folks are going gluten-free. But, back to the running - I'm not afraid of carbs!

And so on to my first go with my new Bread Friend, as I think I'll call her, since I can promise you there are no male bread creators in my kitchen, Anadama Oatmeal Bread. I gathered all my ingredients and carefully followed the instructions, liquids first, dries, yeast last, and whatever you do, don't let the yeast mix with the salt! Check. It took me no more than thirty seconds to figure out BF's computerized display panel, which is pretty good considering she has thirteen different bread settings, plus makes pasta dough and jam, and has various options for different loaf sizes and crust preferences. With a deft poke of her green start button she immediately started humming and mixing. I'm already enthralled! How did she so thoroughly combine all the ingredients, not even leaving a trace of unmixed flour on the side of the pan with just a two inch mixer paddle in the bottom!? Amazing! Her timer tells me it'll be over three hours until my Anadama is done, (but fear not, she does have a 56 min ultra fast wheat option, should I ever be in a pinch for homemade bread in a hurry) and I suspect I may be glued to her viewing window for much of that time. Time to let the dough rise...and for me to attend to the rest of my autumnal supper menu!

The Warm Up

I kind of can't believe I am starting a blog...but here I am! Writing the first entry! I've mused about it before...I'd daydreamed about its title while passing the miles of training runs. I knew I wouldn't ever have a blog just about life in general...an online diary of sorts. But I do find that I share a lot of what I'm up to when it comes to my two biggest hobbies/passions - cooking and running. So, this blog is devoted to my unique, dueling, harmonious, symbiotic pastimes of creating calories, consuming them, and burning them. Of mornings spent in spandex and afternoons in aprons. This blog is about running from the kitchen, literally, but not figuratively.

Now that I've taken the step to dive in, in many ways I wish I'd started years ago. I think of all the kitchen triumphs, spectacular restaurant experiences, great training runs and tales of races gone both well and awry that have not been recorded. But, better late than never, right!? I've got thousands of recipes and races ahead! So friends, off we go!