This is a sourdough loaf which I baked in haste this morning. I’ve had some fun with a sourdough starter over the last few months, but lately it was somewhat neglected. I tried reviving it and was left with a small amount of starter. I then went on to make some bread, but given the small amount of starter and doubt in its liveliness, I did not put too much effort in making the dough. Ingredients were freestyle’d so I don’t have a real recipe.

When I was done kneading the dough, I decided to use an English cake tin for proofing and baking, instead of proofing in a bowl and baking free-form. The cake tin was oiled with olive oil, which gave the bread a golden crust with excellent taste. The next unconventional decision was to bake it in the toaster oven, instead of the usual oven with pizza stone (my oven is outdoors and it was raining).

I was very surprised with the result, it was one of the best tasting breads I ever made.

So thanks to some improvisation, I got great bread which was very easy and hassle-free to make. I will definitely try to make it again and write down exact amounts for a complete recipe.

Next bread conquest – Rye!

Some time ago I made croissants using a recipe from Epicurious. It was my first time ever, after wanting to try croissants for several years. I just suddenly felt ready. This post is really a teaser – a more complete followup will be written the next time I make those.

I was expecting a total failure, as a first try, but it turned out unexpectedly well! My roommate said those were the best croissants he ever had (well, I obviously ate much better).

For the technique, I watched several videos on Youtube. I think this one is very good:

When the dough was ready, I froze half of it as is, and the other half was rolled into croissants. Half of them were then baked, and the other half went to the freezer too. The croissants in the first picture were frozen ones, which I thawed overnight in the fridge, then left for final proofing on the kitchen counter for one hour, and then baked in time for breakfast. I must say they weren’t as good as the ones that were not frozen, but I don’t think freezing made the difference. I will conduct further tests and will post the results along with a detailed recipe when I’m ready. The goal is to have fresh baked croissants in the morning with as little work as possible.

RECIPE

I got a bunch of lemons from my grandparents. They have two lemon trees of different kinds. One species is of smaller lemons with thin peel, which I tried to pickle, and the other is your average lemon, but organic. I was out to bake something lemony.

I do not like meringue, so instead of the standard lemon meringue pie, I decided to try making a lemon tart. Foodgawkering, I found several recipes, including one from Pierre Hermé, but most of them involved the preparation of lemon filling on a bain-marie, and I felt lazy that day. I ended up using a recipe from Technicolor Kitchen, where all of the filling ingredients are just combined and poured into a partially baked tart shell.

The resulting tart was great. I think the balance of tartness and sweetness was perfect. I somewhat overworked the dough, which resulted in a tough, chewy crust instead of a flaky one, but I’ve mad good pie crusts before, and I’ll get it right next time. I also think the tart was a bit under-baked, the filling was not as firm as it could be – but was still tasty nonetheless. Also, next time I will be more gentle in stirring and pouring the filling to avoid air bubbles – look how prettier the tart on Technicolor is…

RECIPE

This is a very simple meal for a light lunch at work, and can be eaten either hot or cold (I chose to eat it cold). It is Japanese-inspired, the tastes are very straight forward, and there’s lots of room to improvise with the ingredients.

I used cooked short-grain rice, salami and a hard-boiled egg along the braised cabbage.

For the braised cabbage:

• 300g roughly chopped cabbage
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp water
• Shichimi Togarashi or any combination of peppers you like

Melt the butter in a pan on medium heat, add cabbage and salt and sauteé for 1-2 minutes. Add salt and water and turn down the heat. Cook until cabbage is as soft as you like. Season with Shichimi, taste and add salt if necessary.

What I liked about it: the combination of cabbage and salami, short preparation time.

What I would change: I would add some fresh vegetables, perhaps carrot strips, and try some Mirin on the rice, or white wine for the cabbage.

Welcome to my new food blog. I’m here to document my journey in the culinary world, be it by eating, cooking or baking. This journey has already began several years ago – but so far I did not think about documenting it.

I’m a hobbyist cook, and I learn a lot every time I pick up a kitchen knife. This learning comes from experimentation, inspiration, instruction, but mostly from errors and failures. I will try to share the things I learned the hard way, and I will shamelessly post failed meals along with the aftermath.

I’m not a photographer by any means, and my kitchen is small and smelly, so pictures here will be mediocre. Sometimes food will not look as good as it is in real life – too bad for you.