alisahuntsman

wrong, just wrong…

Published on November 23, 2009November 18, 2014 by alisahuntsmanLeave a comment

somethings should just be left alone. not all of the ideas we have are meant to be realized, some should be laughed at and others immediately forgotten. take that photo for example. honestly, what were they thinking??? as if fruitcakes don’t have it hard enough, now they’ve been twinkified. real fruitcakes all over are crying out for help, “somebody save us, please stop them. haven’t we suffered enough?” help us stop the madness, bake a real fruitcake today!

for your entertainment

Published on November 3, 2009November 18, 2014 by alisahuntsmanLeave a comment

it’s been a hectic couple of weeks. we had one home sick with mono of all things. work has been busy-it’s that time of year again and my assistant quit too. darry has be completely stressed with his job-the evil forces are at it again and then there is the lousy weather that just makes things dreary. i managed to miss a pie challenge because i simply forgot what day it was but considering the cholesterol angle, maybe that is not so bad for me right now. there hasn’t been enough laughter in the house, well there was that one day when the cat got her head caught in an empty tissue box. darry put some catnip in the box to see what she would do and she stuck her head in it and then proceeded to run, bumpercar style, all over the hallway in reverse no less. what a sight it was, big black cat with a pink tissue box stuck on her head backing up into walls and what not and careening off of them. poor kitty…we laughed so hard i think i did pee on myself.

honest, we only did that one time. she wasn’t dumb enough to fall for it a second time. anyway, when i walked into the living room last night, the light was hitting the chair at the right angle and i saw an interesting pattern in the ultrasuede. look at it and see if you can identify it-it made me giggle.

yep, you guessed it-a big butt!!! not mine, darry’s and the amount of detail was amazing. right down to the stitching on the pockets of his levi’s. unfortunately, that didn’t come out in the photo.

devon’s response-man, dad has a big butt! the detail is hilarious. you can see the belt loops, seams, stitching on the pockets and the outline of the leather tag on the back that lists the size.

it’s the little things that make life amusing.

my cholesterol free life…

Published on October 27, 2009November 18, 2014 by alisahuntsmanLeave a comment

honest, i’ve been trying real hard to get this new diet under control. actually, it has been easier than i thought-once i’ve read the cholesterol content of most things, i am afraid to eat them! i have drastically reduced my intake of things like butter, cheese, milk and meat, let’s not forget egg yolks. i have even begun to measure out servings especially in the morning when i drink coffee. as much as i hate to say it, i am a true coffee junkie and i just cannot give up the half and half either. so now when i pour my one cup, i measure the half and half before i add it. the worst part for me so far, sweets. i miss having some sort of sweet treat after a meal. my first thought was how will i participate in all of the baking challenges? bread baking has been easy so far; for world bread day, i made a loaf of sourdough bread-no fat in there! then i saw the challenge for the daring bakers and i was sad, how could i participate and not eat any of the results? unless…

the 2009 october daring bakers’ challenge was brought to us by ami s. she chose macarons from claudia fleming’s the last course: the desserts of gramercy tavern as the challenge recipe.

so there i was grinding my hazelnuts and contemplating a filling when it hit me, if i leave out the filling i can actually eat them!!! sorry folks but the dietary necessity of my life won over the challenge and i did not make the mandatory filling.

my cookies weren’t perfect little mounds like the almond flour macarons but i will attribute that to the dull blade in my robot coupe. the cookies were sweet and light but a poor choice for a rainy day which is all we seem to have here anymore! i would definitely try this again but with something different like toasted coconut or cocoa powder.

my apologies to our hostess, ami for not filling them but i had a legitimate reason and i can at least eat them now!

world bread day, 2009

Published on October 16, 2009November 18, 2014 by alisahuntsman2 Comments

today is world bread day and to celebrate the day, i baked a loaf of my demo garden sour dough bread. this is the first year that i am participating in the event and to be honest, i can’t think of a better reason to bake bread. lets get this party started…

this week, i received the results of my annual exam, specifically my blood test. have you noticed that no matter what, numbers rule? at least for me they do and the numbers in question are not good. never in my life have i been truly over weight for very long and i’m not the least bit overweight at this moment. i do go to the gym regularly and i try to behave, food wise that is. but it seems that i have a cholesterol count that is unacceptable and needs to come down. last year i was told that my triglycerides were way out there, over 300 and my cholesterol was 217. a list of suggestions was given to me and away i went. this year, the triglycerides were down to a normal reading of 145-an impressive feat. unfortunately, the cholesterol was up to 224…that’s when the family history questions started and i could see a prescription in my future. nothing like a little controversy to get you going in the right direction. you see, i am not willing to let a pill do the job for me. i told the nice nurse that i was sure this was the result of some poor choices and i would make some changes.

one of the changes i have made, less meat/fat and more whole grains. in my demo garden sour dough bread i used some white whole wheat flour so i could hide it from the finicky family members. the only thing in this bread is the starter, water and flour-bread flour and white whole wheat. in my haste to make the bread before dinner, i forgot the salt! honestly though, aside from rising faster, it really didn’t matter. sure, the taste was a little bland, but if you slather the bread with something or dip into something, it really doesn’t matter.

don’t worry, the slathering was with hummus. a nice cholesterol free and fiber rich choice that left me sated and guilt free! after a few days of this new diet, i am really beginning to adjust. it presents a new challenge-adapting recipes to eliminate the bad fats and add fiber and good fats. but what kind of baker would i be if i was afraid of a challenge?

celebrate world bread day and bake some bread. while your at it, celebrate life and be good to yourself with some healthy choices. see you at the gym! thanks to zorra for hosting this year’s world bread day and check out her website in a few days to see the roundup of participants.

she’s how old???

Published on October 5, 2009November 18, 2014 by alisahuntsman2 Comments

it surprises people to learn that i have a daughter in college. why, i am not sure, i am not exactly fresh out of school myself and on close examination, it is getting tougher and tougher to pass for less than 40…today is alix’s 20th birthday, it is also my father’s birthday. that was one year that i didn’t have to worry about sending him a gift, it doesn’t get much better than a first grandchild as a birthday gift. we celebrated this years day a day early since alix is busy with school and she asked darry to make her stuffed peppers and for me to make a cake. since i wanted to take part in the bread baking buddies challenge of steamed buns, i made those too.

the recipe for the xiang cong hya juan bao or chinese flower steamed buns called for chinese flour. how vague…first up, we headed to our favorite and closest asian market, K&S World Market.

when ever a recipe calls for asian ingredients, we start here. as for asian flour, we had many to choose from and if only we could read in japanese, chinese, korean or any number of asian languages.

after looking at many bags of flours, we settled on this one. it is indeed chinese and as you can see, it is even recommended for buns. what makes it so special is a mystery since most of the information is in chinese. i can say this though, it is very white which suggests bleaching and that will help with tenderness and it is very fine and silky another indication that this is a low gluten flour.

i did my best to follow the recipe, no extra water was used and i gave my rolling pin a good beating with this dough. the chives came from the garden and so did the peppers. we had a bunch of mild banana peppers that had turned a deep red color.

since i was skeptical that the buns would be any good, i also made a batch of steamed buns using a recipe from the old classic cookbook, the key to chinese cooking by irene kuo. i have always wanted to make steamed buns and thought this might be a good time to try them. i made a filling with chicken, andouille sausage, greens from the garden, peppers and traditional asian seasonings found in most steamed buns. the dough is a little different than the flower buns, it has more leaveners and is kneaded rather than rolled to develop the gluten.

we had picked up a bamboo steamer just to make the buns. this was the first attempt at steaming the buns. sorry to say they didn’t turn out very good. they needed to proof longer and steam longer too. the second batch was better but honestly, a little bland. my husband, mr. condiment, suggested a dipping sauce and that helped with the lack of flavor.

here are my chicken & sausage buns in the steamer

honestly, these were better than the flower buns. with everything in the filling and the sauce, we ate more of these. it was a fun challenge and i look forward to making this type of dish again. since i have about 4 pounds of flour left, i will definitely do something with them. the key to success, longer proofing and longer steaming at a lower boil.

my thanks to karen for a truly challenging recipe and for helping me to provide birthday party entertainment!

not so daring now is it?

Published on September 28, 2009 by alisahuntsmanLeave a comment

when i joined the daring bakers i had visions of exotic baked goods that would help me hone specific skills or just be so different from the usual baked goods that they would be fun to make. i hoped for challenges that would teach me as well as entertain me. so far, that hasn’t been the case. the only one that was even close was the lasagna challenge with home made pasta and i still say that isn’t baking but let’s not go there now. when i saw this month’s challenge, i wasn’t thrilled. another item that i really didn’t think was something that i would enjoy making because it was too much like jobs i’ve held in the past.

the september 2009 daring bakers’ challenge was hosted by steph of a whisk and a spoon. she chose the french treat vols-auvent based on the puff pastry recipe by michel richard from the cookbook baking with julia by dorie greenspan.

so there i was in the kitchen rolling and folding and rolling and folding and all the while thinking of anything but vols au vent. i recalled making puff paste for the first time in new york city when i worked in building #3 of the world trade center. yes #3, it was a hotel that sat between the towers and that is where i had my first real job after graduation from the CIA. we made such a large batch of dough that we would fold in 10# of butter at a time, all by hand with rolling pins and while standing on milk crates because both myself and the woman who was teaching me were too short to have the proper leverage with the pin if we stood at the table.

but if i am honest, all i really wanted to make with the dough was turnovers, full of apples or other fruits. or maybe some pinwheels, elephant ears or cheese pastries. anything but little cups that i would have to fill so that my family could only eat some of them and then i would be left looking at the rest…needless to say, i made the dough and ended up putting it in the freezer for another day and that is why there aren’t any nifty pictures to admire.

thanks to steph at a whisk and a spoon, she also gets all of my apologies. it’s been a little hectic and after two solid weeks of rain there just wasn’t an opportunity to finish the job!

multitasker extraordinaire….

Published on September 8, 2009November 18, 2014 by alisahuntsman7 Comments

tart shells, tart filling, garnish, sourdough, soaker, bread dough…the list goes on and on. i must have fallen asleep and woke up at work. aaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!! the very thought sends me running from the room screaming. not really, but it’s funnier if you imagine it anyway. hey at least i didn’t dream about showing up for work naked. so by now you must be wondering what is going on, what is she rambling on about? well you see, this month both you want pies with that and the bread baking buddies have their posting dates on the same day and that meant more time in the kitchen for me than i usually spend there on my day off.

saturday night, we were invited to dinner at darry’s coworkers house. there is a group of people that he works with that meet once a month at some ones house or a restaurant. everyone brings a dish or beverage and we were bringing a salad and dessert. perfect timing for me since i knew i needed to make a pie, a “vacation” pie (based on a vacation you took or would like to take) and i immediately knew what vacation i wanted to base it on. next year we will celebrate anniversary #25 and i was hoping to take the trip of a lifetime to mark the occasion. for me that trip is to go on a culinary tour of china. i know, it sounds like overkill, two chefs on a culinary tour to china. even so, if i had my pick of anywhere in the world, that is where i would go.

when you eat out in chinese restaurants, desserts are not as huge as they are in other ethnic restaurants. to really see chinese desserts, you need to visit chinese bakeries and that is one thing that nashville sorely lacks-a real chinatown area with an authentic chinese bakery. for these moments, i really long for san francisco and new york city-two places i have lived and visited chinatown frequently enough to know what i am missing here! so for this, i turned to books and the internet and i came up with egg custard tarts. as interesting as they seemed, they also seemed a little boring. in my last post, i made plum-strawberry jam and decided that it was just what the little tarts needed! by replacing the water in the recipe with jam, i ended up with lovely little spiced plum custard tarts. they were devoured at the party so i didn’t have to wonder if they were any good!

the bread baking babes baked black bread-okay, say that 3 times fast!!! and this was a first for me. it was also a test of my organic grape starter made from grapes in the demo garden where i volunteer on sundays. the starter definitely is alive and it added a hint of sour flavor to the bread. it was tough to wait for it to cool down, warm bread is impossible to not cut into!!!

all i can say, wow!!! thanks to jenn of piccante dolce for the vacation pie challenge and to gorel of grain doe for the black bread challenge. now, if it’s all right with everyone, i am going to go to work now so i can get some rest…

amusing myself again

Published on September 6, 2009November 18, 2014 by alisahuntsman1 Comment

the last few weeks have been very stressful for me at work. the place is in serious need of an attitude adjustment-come on people, grow up already!!! i am truly living for the moment that i walk out of the door to that place each day and nothing is sweeter than knowing that i do not have to get out of bed to go there on my days off! so how does someone like me work off the stress? a trip to the gym can usually make a big difference for me physically but mentally, that’s another story. i found myself just wanting to spend the day at home, alone and surprisingly enough, in the kitchen. sometimes, small successes can do so much to restore your well being than you could ever think was possible.

with my bruised psyche leading the way, i ventured into the kitchen with some frozen strawberries that had thawed days ago and a bag of over ripened plums and i set out to make some jam. nothing like the smell of strawberries cooking to brighten your mood.

the fruit cooking with some ginger root, vanilla beans and cinnamon sticks.

my mom and i love to scour second hand shops, antique shops, flea markets and garage/estate sales. she found this food mill and sent it to me. darry always questions these things-why do you need that junk?? this is one of my favorite kitchen tools and so is the collectible boonton ware bowl under it!

by rotating the wooden pestle in the conical strainer, you can extract the pulp and leave behind skins and seeds/pits.

i didn’t get a huge amount of jam but what i got was wonderful. this morning, i took it to the demo garden for our sunday volunteer work session and we slathered it on multi grain scones.

mmmm…..check out the garden some time, it beautiful this year! (a collection of small successes) and for some that are closer to home, my home that is, check out my home garden for even more sweet successes to help keep me going.

baking the day away…

Published on August 31, 2009November 18, 2014 by alisahuntsman2 Comments

before i can even blink, it’s time to post another challenge of some sort and today, it is time for bread baking day and challenge #23 which is hosted by nick of imafoodblog. this one was easy, just bake something (must be a bread) you’ve never done before. my first instinct was to lift my copy of baking with julia and look through it. it is a beautiful book that has recipes guaranteed to work if you follow the exact instructions. reading the instructions is like listening to julia-they sound exactly like she would have said them. this is especially true if you have ever watched her on tv.

whole wheat pita bread, baking with julia by dorrie greenspan

first step, make a sponge and let it rest up to 8 hours. next add the rest of the ingredients, knead it well and let it rise until it has doubled. when it is ready, divide it into 16 pieces, roll them out in a circle and then it is time to bake them. you have a choice of baking them in the oven on stones or pans or of doing it stove top in a skillet or on a griddle. since i do not have stones and i didn’t want to use the oven, i opted for the stovetop with a cast iron skillet.

with a light coat of oil, the dough is briefly placed in the pan and then quickly turned over.

the pita cooks on this side until bubbles form and then it is turned again.

it is amazing to watch because all of a sudden, it puffs up like a balloon!

to fully inflate the bread, press down on the bubble and the flat areas will puff up too. it only takes about 3 minutes per round.

the best part, a sandwich for lunch with warm pita bread!

thanks to nick for a wonderful challenge. even my husband enjoyed the bread. i turned my head and he scarfed down 3 rounds! see you next month!

cake therapy for those who dare

Published on August 27, 2009November 18, 2014 by alisahuntsmanLeave a comment

when i tell people what i do, often they get excited and say “oh that sounds like so much fun!” honestly, working in a busy restaurant is not that exciting. we call it work for a reason, and there isn’t much about it that is truly fun. while many of us enjoy what we do, for many, it is all they are qualified to do and that is a whole story on it’s own. yesterday was a bad day; egos clashed, tempers flared and the stress meter was on high. so what’s an angry, frustrated and trying hard not to scream and cry pastry chef to do? especially if the trip to the gym didn’t fix it? if she is me, and she was, it is time to settle down in the kitchen at home and bake something. go figure, the one thing that pissed me off earlier in the day was now going to be my salvation. somebody help me, i’m baking again and i can’t get up…

luckily for me, the posting deadline for this months dare was looming large and less than 24 hours away. i hadn’t decided if i would even make this month’s challenge but…stress levels demanded that i do something productive and i didn’t want to relieve the stress by doing something negative or by eating it away. so of course baking a cake seemed like a smart thing to do…