Tag Archives: Yeast

Sunday, Sunday

11 Sunday Nov 2018

Posted by in Christmas, Holidays, New Jersey, Travel, Yeast

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Here I sit, watching a Christmas movie — this one with Dogs and Kids, always a winning combination. I’ve yet to bake for Thanksgiving (in a nod to Ms. Scarlet, ‘I’ll worry about that tomorrow’).  Unfortunately, while I  cross referenced my baking list with the ingredients in the pantry, I forgot one key item — wax paper.  While I don’t mind being adventurous, making a pumpkin roll without wax paper isn’t high on that list. My husband and I did make bread dough, however.

NYC From Lambert CastleYes, we make our own bread.  Tony adheres to a Paleo diet which prohibits processed food, essentially eliminating flour and sugar from his diet.  While I’m not completely on the bandwagon, by default I’m also following a Paleo lifestyle. Tired of being breadless, a sad and unacceptable state, my husband started researching for, quite literally, ‘low carb bread that doesn’t suck.’  That, coupled with a few recommendations from his nutritionist, lead us to ‘Gluten-Free Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day.’ And, what do you know?  Following the book, its gluten free flour mixtures and master dough recipes churn out some darn good bread, that is actually pretty easy to make.  This is our second go-around making the dough and as I become more familiar with the wonders of yeast (I still haven’t figured that one out), we’ll dive deeper into the book as it has a fair amount of recipes — everything from white sandwich bread, to brioche and even flat bread and pizza doughs. #yummy.

Lambert CastleEarlier in the day we went to Lambert Castle in Patterson, NJ.  Yes there is a castle in Patterson of all places.  Home to the Passaic County Historical Society, their annual fundraiser is a holiday craft fair held throughout the month of November.  Driving up the side of Garret Mountain, we came upon what truly is a castle, built back in the late 1800s by a local silk baron (Patterson used to be known as the silk capital of the world). Walking into the castle itself, we were quickly submerged into all things Christmas as the building was stuffed to the rafters with all kinds of goodies — from provisions to ornaments and festive holiday decorations, to clothes for the kids and on and on and on — three floors of ‘on’ to be precise.

It was a fun day.  Not as productive as it could have been, but fun none-the-less.

At some point this week, I”ll bake.  Until then, happy trails and bon appetite!

A Big Hot King Cake Mess…

06 Thursday Mar 2014

Posted by in Festivals, Holidays, Uncategorized, Yeast

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A Big Hot King Cake Mess

A Big Hot King Cake Mess

Well I did it; this weekend I made a King Cake in honor of Mardi Gras (why else would one make a King Cake?).  I didn’t have a recipe readily available so did the Google thing and found one on allrecipes.com.  The reviews were solid and the recipe seemed straight forward, albeit I was hesitant to bake with yeast, something I’ve never done before.  While I followed the recipe to a tee, that sucker came out hard as a rock and those I served it to were a bit thrown by the lack of a cake-like texture.  I was appalled, but hey those eating it were kids and let’s be realistic, they’ll eat anything.

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Tony demonstrating proper kneading technique.

I’ve only had King Cake once before, many years ago, and don’t remember it being that hard.  My husband, who is pretty agile when it comes to baking with yeast, was of no help.  After tapping the hard exterior he began drilling me about my technique.  Apparently, following the recipe should have yielded a softer cake.  I’m confident I did everything right, but was a tad bit devastated, pondering what went wrong and where I went amiss.

The dough was slow to rise, which I believe was my down fall (and was the reason I dubbed it the Jewish King Cake).  We believe that the kitchen wasn’t warm enough and the air too dry.  In speaking with a colleague, an engineer who loves to bake (something about the exactness of the measurements and the reactions between the ingredients that thrills those types), he offered some advice:

  1. Make sure the yeast isn’t old or expired.
  2. Preheat the oven to ~ 100 degrees, once the dough is ready for the rising process, turn off the oven and pop the dough, in a lightly oiled bowl, into the oven.
  3. Run a kitchen towel (clean, obviously) under the faucet and wring out cover the bowl with the towel.

We’ll have to wait another year before I attempt this festive delight again (who can eat that much sugar more than once a year?), however will be fine tuning my skill set when it comes to yeast between now and then; ultimately, hoping to create, next year, a cake that doesn’t require a saw to cut it…

Pizza, Pizza …

01 Thursday Dec 2011

Posted by in Italian, New Jersey, Pizza, Yeast

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I’ve known my husband, Tony for about 10 years now. During this time, he’s always talked about his skills as a pizza maker, working in various pizzerias in Bergen County and Doylestown, Pennsylvania where he lived for a short spell.  With all this pizza talk, one would think that I have experienced this culinary wonder of his; however, until recently, such was not the case.   So much so, that I pretty much tuned him out when the prattling of pizza began to spew forth from his mouth.

Pizza at Restaurant Biola.

Italian Delights from Restaurant Biola

As I was baking a few weeks ago, the big man, which I affectionately refer to Tony as, started rifling through the cabinets, taking such oddities as yeast out (there’s something I’ve never used, but would like to experiment with).  Next thing I knew, he was calling Manny C and, magically, mozzarella and pepperoni appeared.  Before I could digest what was happening, we had a nice little pizzeria going on in the house and the most magical thin and deep crust pizza and Stromboli were plattered up (OK, they were tossed onto various cutting boards) for our enjoyment. 

I’m a fan of the deep crust pizza and have fond memories of going out, in Boston, to Pizzeria Uno.  This was when the chain was in its infancy and it was a novelty to dine there.   Truth be known, up until a few weeks ago, Pizzeria Uno’s deep dish pizza was my favorite.  That’s a huge statement, considering that I live in the Land of Italians and there’s a pizzeria on almost every corner.  But Tony’s pizza, with the dough lovingly stretched out across a cast iron pan and layers of sauce, cheese and pepperoni strategically spread out across it, has taken the splendor of pizza to a whole new level.

Mushroom Pizza

Mushroom Pizza from Restaurant Biola

Perhaps, the best part of pizza is the easy, relaxed atmosphere it creates.  The first night we dined on Tony’s creations, Manny and his girlfriend joined us and we all noshed appreciatively on the pies while enjoying good conversation and many laughs together.  More recently, while my dad was visiting, we talked about politics, the family, and the oddity of the human species all while munching, with great enthusiasm, on a medley of pizzas, Stromboli and, new to the offerings, a calzone.

Benny making dough

Benny, making dough

Both Tony and his dad, a former baker, have no issues with yeast.  I, on the other had have avoided it like the plague.  However, whenever I have something home-made with yeast, whether it be bread or pizza, it’s a delight in and of itself.  Thus, another epicurean resolution I’m making for 2012 is to bake with yeast.  I’m sure there will be a lot of micro-managing between Mr. Rivera and Tony, but I’m confident it will be worth it.  As I line up my culinary to-dos, I’m sure, over the holiday season, we’ll be able to get Tony to make a few more pies, perhaps for the video camera so that we can turn all of you into pizza makers.