Sunday, 6:23 a.m., I've got loafed dough rising (cornmeal-whole wheat levain, splash of maple syrup to help the starter); trout brining (two small Kinnickinnic browns, will smoke at Bide-A-Wee); pork shoulder to break down (cutlets for the grill, a chunk to dry rub and smoke, the rest to grind).
On the counters: tomatoes, chilies, dried black trumpets, patty pans, wild hazelnuts in the husk, cantaloupe, buttercup and butternut squash, fingerling poatoes, onions, garlic, sweet corn, shallots, apples--did I mention tomatoes?
Just a typical day in the September kitchen. It's all here, an astoundingly abundant time of year. What will it look like in a month?
Text and photo copyright 2010 by Brett Laidlaw
8 comments:
I don't want to think about what it will look like in a month! Right now is the time for produce and I'm loving every minute of it. :)
Ah: move a bit and your season will last a month longer!
SO you spent some ching on those bannetons I see. Hopefully you picked them up on a trip and didn't have to go through donating your leg or something to afford them on this side of the pond. ME, I have one! One! sad lonely basket.
Bread recipe, please!
Gorgeous photo. Autumn always inspires me to pull warm things out of the oven. Yogurts, fermented pickles and tassajara bread have been coming out of my kitchen lately!
Hi Jen: Yeah, I hear you. I guess I do have that tragic cast of mind, and in some ways I'll be glad when the fallow days come, the garden's put to bed. It gets a bit frantic this time of year! But you're absolutely right, we should take it all in while we can.
El, see above. I'm not sure I could take another month. Re the bannetons, those weren't very pricey ones,the reed ones, esp. as they were purchased at the MORA store in Paris pre-Euro-inflation. And, you know, until recently I was something of a professional baker, so the equipment paid for itself many times over. But you want to talk pricey, check out the linen-lined bannetons like they sell at E. Dehillerin-- http://www.e-dehillerin.fr/index.php --now those will set you back a bit. I have four (!).
Your Loven deserves more than one lousy banneton. Can't you fashion some yourself from native materials, you know, in your "spare time"...?
Low, since I stopped baking for the market I don't really work from recipes, but it was basically this:
about two cups well refreshed liquid starter
about three cups filtered water
3/4 cup cornmeal
heaping cup whole wheat bread flour
1/4 cup (?) maple syrup
1 1/2 Tbsp sea salt
unbleached organic white (Gold n White for me), add enough to make a wettish but workable dough. Leave it in the bowl for a half hour or so, then dump it out and knead for a 4 or 5 minutes. The dough should weigh 4 1/4 to 4 1/2 pounds.
Proof overnight in plastic-wrap-covered bowl. Loaf and let proof an hour to hour an a half. Bake on stones at 455 for 15 minutes, 430 for 12 to 15.
Or see this post, subbing ingreds as nec.: http://troutcaviar.blogspot.com/search/label/baking
Yes, it's a great time of year to be in the kitchen. Enjoy~ Brett
You are one busy guy. I love that photo. Certainly worth more than a thousand words.
Hey Fred: Well, I'm busy in bunches, but I make time for naps, happy hour, and general gazing out over the Bide-A-Wee meadows.
Cheers~ Brett
Hah! You know, I erased a line in my comment saying "well hell I oughta just make my own," so ...goodness knows I have considered it. Which means I am completely certifiable.
And I do the "have paid for themselves many times over" with many things too but somehow it's not always the best analgesic for that sting in the pocketbook. Sigh!
El, I don't think there's anything I could add to that, bless your heart...(!)
Cheers~ Brett
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