Archives for September 2006
An undead espresso
I stopped by Just Coffee today to purchase coffee beans. They recently moved and are now sharing a building with RP’s Pasta and the Fork & Spoon Cafe.
This is Dave Miller at Just Coffee. He helped me out and was very kind and patient considering I was overwhelmed by all the choices. He hooked me up with 5 pounds of Revolution Roast which he says has the most Guatemalan beans in it. We’ll use that for our morning pot of french press coffee. I also needed coffee for my espresso machine and because there are so many choices I couldn’t decide until I saw the label for The Reanimator (I’m into Zombies). The Reanimator is a fair trade, shade grown, organic blend of dark roasted coffee. Dave ground it for me and I hurried home to try it out. It is absolutely the most perfect, killer, cup of espresso I’ve ever had or ever made. As you can see it has thick, rich crema and trust me, it has great flavor and aroma. Just Coffee, another local Madison business making a difference in this hard, cruel world. Workers of the world unite.
Best waffles ever
Waffles are either really good or just bad…this is a black and white thing…no gray area on this issue. Eggos are awful, and most pancake/waffle house waffles are awful. In fact I hadn’t eaten a good waffle until I created this recipe. It is a spin on the BH&G Cookbook recipe. I can whip up a batch of these in 10 minutes and the guys have a good breakfast before school. The eggs, butter, 1/2 n 1/2, and syrup all are Wisconsin products.
Here’s how it goes:
Plug in and turn on the waffle iron to a high setting. I have a Cuisinart waffle iron and I put it on 6 which is the highest setting.Melt one stick of butter in the microwave (usually two minutes)Add 1 3/4 cup of 1/2 n 1/2
Separate 2 eggs. Add the 2 egg yolks to the butter and 1/2 n 1/2 mixture
Put the whites in your mixer bowl, attach the whisk, and let it rip on high until they are stiff.
In another bowl put 1 3/4 cup of unbleached white flour
Add 1 tablespoon baking powder
Add 1/4 tsp salt. Stir this with a fork until mixed.
Fold in the liquid ingredients using a rubber spatula. Mix well but don’t try to get rid of the lumps.
Fold in the egg whites. Mix until lightly combined but streaky with the egg whites. Don’t over mix.
Put it in the waffle maker and bake it up.
Serve these with the best maple syrup.
Homemade Pretzels
These pretzels are good but they are more like a salty bagel with a crispy crust. Don’t be put off by the number of steps and the boiling process. It really isn’t a big deal and the clean up is easy.
1 teaspoon yeast
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk warmed in the microwave on high for 1 minute
2 - 3 cups good unbleached white flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
Preheat your oven to 425. Throw the first four ingredients into the bowl of your stand mixer (or food processor). Mix it around to dissolve the yeast. Add 1 cup of the flour and run the mixer on a high speed until the lumps disappear. Gradually add more flour and continue to mix until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl. I switch to the bread hook now and let it run on a medium high speed for about 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes take the dough out and let it rest. Then roll it into a log and cut it into 6 even pieces. Roll each piece into a dough rope about the diameter of your finger and as long as it needs to be to get to that thickness. It’s just like rolling a Play-Doh snake. This is a great time to enlist the kids and have them “roll their own”.
Shape it into a pretzel shape and pinch the ends. To form the pretzel shape lay the dough rope in front of you in the horizontal position. Grab each end of the rope and bring them together over the top to the middle. Twist them together and secure them to the bottom piece of dough by pinching.
Put a pan of water on to boil. I use a 4 quart chef’s pan filled about 2/3 full and salted. Once it is boiling dunk each pretzel into the water for 5 seconds. Take it out using a slotted spoon or spatula. Put them on a rack and sprinkle them with salt (I use Kosher salt).
Place them on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy.
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