Ever wondered what powdered sugar is? Apparently I have, which is why I knew when I ran out of it on Saturday that it was made of sugar and corn starch. I also knew that flour can be substituted for corn starch if you just double the amount, because the last time I needed corn starch, I found that the cupboard fairy (otherwise known as me) had “organized” our corn starch into the garbage.  So I had to look up a substitute for that.*

The fairy also seems to have either thrown out or used up all our powdered sugar, which about threw me into conniptions on Saturday when I was making the Bakewell Tart…er, Pudding, but thanks to my Internet, I found a “recipe” for substitute powdered sugar, made by whirring some regular sugar around for a while in a good blender and adding corn starch. Which could also be flour, if you’re out of corn starch as well.  Like we are.

Personally I hate having a bag of powdered sugar sitting around taking up precious kitchen real estate, so I’ll be making it myself from now on. It worked great and was easy to make. So there you go – ending “post a day” month on a helpful note. Now I’m going to go drink a beer and take a nap.

Cheers.

Homemade Powdered Sugar

Ingredients

1 cup sugar**
1 tablespoon cornstarch***

Directions

Combine the two and process in blender until powder forms. May take a few minutes to really get it looking like powdered sugar.

*I make a lot of substitutions in recipes. Someday I’m going to substitute so much out of a recipe it’s going to be an entirely different thing than I intended to make.
**Use one cup or however much powdered sugar you need, of course!
***This can be substituted with two tablespoons of flour

We had quite a few tomato flowers with no tomatoes on the venerable old tomato plant that survived the harsh Los Angeles winter. I decided to poke around my Internet and see if there was any info on why flowers make or do not make tomatoes. I learned that tomatoes are self-pollinating, which means the flowers are both male and female. That’s pretty cool. The catch in the system, though, is that the pollen needs to move from the male to the female part. Or maybe it’s from the female to the male part. Either way, the pollen needs to move, and the plant needs some help with that. Sometimes the wind will move the pollen. Or some bumble bees might come along, in their pollen-gathering travels, and vibrate the flowers enough to move the pollen where it needs to go to make fruit. If you don’t happen to have a lot of wind or bees, you can help nature along one of two ways:

You can shake your plants

Gardening 101: How To Hand-Pollinate Tomatoes And Peppers from One Green Generation on Vimeo.

Or you can go all high-tech and “buzz” them with an electric toothbrush:

After watching these, I went outside and tapped all my flowers and the next morning, I had two new baby tomatoes. Not sure if one led to the other, but I do have more fruit and it never hurts to spend a few extra minutes a day with your tomato plants!

Cheers.

~This is the sixth post in a series running through the month of June 2009 in which I attempt to post once a day for the month.~

The title of the post is an affectionate poke at the seminal worm wrangling book by Mary Applehof, Worms Eat My Garbage. While I am being goofy, it is true that I am an avid worm composter, and one of the things you put into your worm bin is paper “bedding,” which can be made out of a number of different materials, including wet paper. If ever you were worried about your credit card statements being stolen from the recycling and used for ill, consider setting up one of these babies – nothing like having to dig through worm poop to make potential identity thieves think twice!

But let me back up a second. What exactly is a worm bin and why the heck would you want to keep one? And what’s with the poop? Worms, it turns out, are fantastic at breaking down non-meat food scraps. If you’re already a composting type person, or have ever wanted to become one, worm composting might be the thing for you, especially if you live in a small space. The worm bin pictured above is about one by one and a half by one feet and I think holds 10 gallons. It’s just a Rubbermaid tub. You can keep it inside or outside, as long as it’s not exposed to extremes of hot or cold (it needs to be in the shade all the time if it’s outside and worms definitely do not have snow suits!). The worms need a wet environment, so if you’re in So Cal like us, you’ll need to make sure they don’t dry out. The best type of worm for this kind of composting is commonly known as a red wiggler, and looks like so

A little blurry, but you can get the idea. You can also kind of see all the stuff that’s mixed in there with the little guys. Paper, “food” (rotting vegetables mostly) and worm poop! What’s the deal with that? Well, that’s the compost. And according to “Those Who Know,” worm poop (or “vermicompost”) is some of the best fertilizer that you can get your hands on. It’s supposed to be very mild yet effective. Most gardeners who use it will tell you to just throw some on your plants to fertilize and no need to worry about burning the plants.

“Feeding” the worms is quite easy. Just save food scraps in a little bucket on the counter and when your bucket gets full, bury the scraps in the bin and then cover with bedding like so

"Food" added to bin

Cover it up!

Worms are pretty low maintenance and are fairly hardy. I had a run at killing a lot of our starter worms, but once I figured out they weren’t getting enough water or air, they rebounded and then started breeding like crazy. Flies and other bugs can be a bit of a problem, but almost all of our challenges have had to do with not enough water and not enough air and have been pretty easy to fix.

It’s very satisfying to know that we’re throwing away as little food as possible and that we’re making our own compost. It’s also a lot of fun making a little ecosystem that can support the worms. I know it’s not really like having a pet, but they are fun to care for and I’m looking forward to throwing some of the “vermicopost” on the new tomatoes that are coming up later in the season!

If you’re interested in starting one of these things, here’s a list of links.  More than one of these point to directions on how to start a simple worm bin.  Happy composting!

Cheers.

Worm Bin Links

Web sites
http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/Easywormbin.htm
http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/Redwormsedit.htm
http://www.allthingsorganic.com/How_To/03.asp
http://www.ecosuperior.org/wanttoknow_vermicomposting.shtml
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Your-Own-Worm-Compost-System
http://www.vermicompost.net/worm-composting/bin-food/what-do-worms-eat.aspx
http://www.vermicompost.net/worm-composting/vermicomposting-mistakes.aspx
http://www.vermicompost.net/worm-composting/wormery-composter/rubbermaid-worm-bin-plans.aspx

Videos
Freshtopia.net

Worm lady from Youtube

~This is the second post in a series running through the month of June 2009 in which I attempt to post once a day for the month.~

Hoo boy – are we having fun yet? Day three of “post-a-day” month and I’m still alive!

Here’s a recipe I just tried for the ubiquitous Indian spice medley known as garam masala (which I keep wanting to spell “Garaham Marsala” – thank cheeses for my Internets to guide me to proper spelling).  If you’re cooking Indian food a lot (and I highly recommend that you do, both for economy and for sheer yumness), you should have all these spices on hand in your pantry.  They will cost a little money up front, but they will streeeeeeeeeetch nicely and will make the difference between “ugh, why do I have to eat these crappy dirt-clod-type things called “lentils” and “oh boy!  We get to have dal with dinner tonight!”  Masala is in everything and a jar of it from the Spice Islands rack in the grocery store will run you about five or six bucks last I checked.  This recipe makes enough for one of those jars and then some, for what I would guess will cost you about a dollar, maybe less.  And your kitchen will smell super duper!

Cheers.

Garam Masala

Adapted from Indian Regional Classics, by Julie Sahni.

2 tablespoons cumin seeds
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
2 tablespoons cardamom seeds
2 tablespoons black peppercorns
1 (3-inch) stick cinnamon, broken up
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon saffron (optional)

Put the cumin, coriander, cardamom, peppercorns, cinnamon, and cloves in a dry heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Toast the spices, stirring occasionally, until they turn several shades darker and give off a sweet smoky aroma, about 10 minutes. Do not raise the heat to quicken the process, or the spices will brown prematurely, leaving the insides undercooked. Cool completely.

Working in batches if necessary, transfer the mixture to a spice mill or coffee grinder* and grind to a powder. Stir in the nutmeg and saffron. Use immediately or store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.

Garam Masala keeps for 3 months.

Makes about 1/2 cup

* We have a very old coffee grinder with a will not quit attitude that we love. It’s perfect for grinding up all kinds of things in seconds and is relatively easy to clean. If you don’t have one and want to do a lot of cooking of foods from foreign lands, stop by your local Goodwill every week until you find one of these things and take it home. It’s an indispensable tool and once you toast some cumin and grind it up right before you put it in a recipe, you’ll understand exactly why.

Mmmm...masala-y

]]> http://bakelikeaninja.com/garam-masala/feed/ 0 http://bakelikeaninja.com/make-me-wanna-challahkosher-braided-egg-bread-which-is-not-appropriate-for-passover-which-starts-today-kind-of/ http://bakelikeaninja.com/make-me-wanna-challahkosher-braided-egg-bread-which-is-not-appropriate-for-passover-which-starts-today-kind-of/#comments Wed, 08 Apr 2009 14:24:47 +0000 Kathlyn http://bakelikeaninja.com/?p=366 Our neighbor moved recently, making us the grateful recipients of a number of food odds and ends that he didn’t want to pack them up and take with him.  One of these things was a miraculous loaf of something called “egg bread,” which the husband has fallen in love with.  The loaf was a little like bread made from brioche dough, making dangerously delicious grilled sandwiches.  Eggy, but also buttery, the bread verged on making our grilled cheese into a pastry sandwich, right on that lovely edge of overkill which is exquisitely tasty.

I immediately set out to find a recipe and recreate this wonder bread.  I haven’t found the right recipe yet, but I did manage to make a version of it – a challah braid – that is really quite beautiful:

This is a small braid that I made with just under half the recipe.  I made the rest in a loaf pan, because we wanted sandwiches.  The dough increases considerably during the last rise and in the oven, so dough looks are deceiving here.  You can count on the shaped dough to about double in size between the final rise and the baking.

The dough “ropes” I used for the braid were about an inch in diameter – a little bigger than the rolls I usually make for gnocci.  The braiding was very simple (any girl who has ever had a girlfriend knows how to do a three strand braid) – just smash the strands together at the top, braid loosely and tuck the ends together at the bottom.  My pre-rise braid looked like so:

This was, unfortunately, not the tasty bread we just had courtesy of our former neighbor.  It’s a bit more dense and not at all buttery.  So we have some work to do…and we have some sandwiches to eat.

I decided to put this up here with the recipe even though it’s not perfect for a couple of reasons.  Reason one – baking is a process.  I am often lucky and things just “work out” when I make them the first time.  A lot of effort goes into recipes if they are done well, and that is generally why things do work out the first time around when they do.  But things sometimes don’t work out, in which case, you need to try again if you’re really determined to make something happen.  Since I am determined that the husband will have delicious egg bread for his fried sandwiches I’ll press on and next week we’ll try a recipe with some butter in it and see what happens.  It might do the trick, it might not, but by the time I figure out how to make this bread the way I want it, I will have learned a ton about challah and a lot more about baking.

The other reason I’m putting this up there is because it’s Passover and while you can’t eat this bread during Passover if you’re keeping kosher, it is kosher for the rest of the year. I originally thought that is was ok to eat during Passover and then I thought about it for two seconds and realized that it has yeast in it, which is like the king of Passover no-nos. So then I thought, “well how could this be kosher then?” My good friend J, who helps me understand all this stuff, reminded me that of course you can keep kosher and eat leavened breads (duh! Bagels!) but during Passover, no leavening is allowed in remembrance of when the Jews fled so quickly that no bread had time to rise. That’s a lot for my brain to remember, but nonetheless, we’ll see if we can find something else to make that is appropriate for Passover and in the meantime, enjoy some toasted sandwiches.

Cheers.

Kosher Challah from About.com (with notes by me)

4 1/2 cups sifted flour

1 package dry yeast

2 teaspoons sugar

1/4 cup lukewarm water plus 1 cup

2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

2 tablespoons oil

1 egg yolk

In a small bowl, combine the yeast, sugar, and 1/4 cup of lukewarm water. Let it stand for five minutes so the yeast can activate.

In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. In the middle, create a well for the liquids. Pour in the eggs, oil, 1 cup of water, and the yeast mixture. Use your hands to mix all of the ingredients together. Knead the bread with both hands.

Once you have a ball of dough, cover it with an oiled plastic wrap. Let the dough sit in a warm place to rise for about an hour. Punch down the dough a few times, and then let it rise again for about an hour. The dough should be about double its original size.

Lightly flour a rolling surface. Put down the dough and split it into four sections. Three of these will go towards a six-braided challah, and the fourth piece will be for a three-braided challah.

Six-Braided Challah

To make a six-braided challah, divide the three parts in half so you have six balls of dough. With your hands, roll the dough into long pieces about 12 inches long. Now you have six strands to braid.

Lay them out in a row and attach them to each other at the top. There are two right pieces, two middle pieces and two left pieces.

There are two sections to the braiding. First, pick up the left center strand and pull it to the top so it’s over the other strands. Second, hold the center right strand and the inner left strand together. Then, pull the outer left strand under those other two.

Now we switch the two center pieces, up and down. Next, take the center right strand and the inner right strand in one hand. Then, pull the outer right strand under.

Continue switching the centers and pulling in the outside strand under until you run out of dough. At the end, bring the strands together and tuck them under the challah.

Three-Braided Challah

For a three-strand braid, divide the dough into three pieces. Roll out the pieces into long strands and attach them at the top.

To braid, take the right strand and bring it over the middle one. Then, take the left strand and bring that over the middle. Continue to do this, outside over middle, until you reach the end. Bring the strands together and tuck them under.

Bake the Challah

Once the dough is braided, place them on a greased cookie sheet or loaf pan. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and let the bread rise one last time.*

Finally, beat the egg and completely paint the dough with the egg. This will bring a nice golden color to the finished bread.

Place the sheets into the oven and cook for 50 minutes.** Let the loaves cool on a wire rack, and enjoy!

*This recipe is not super clear on a couple of points. I let the bread rise one hour, punched it down, let it rise for another hour, punched it down, shaped it and then let it rise a final hour before baking. All rising was done covered with plastic wrap, lightly oiled to keep it from sticking.

**Aside from the bread not tasting like butter (quel domage!) it was a little crispy for our liking (as our end goal here is sandwiches). I’ve read recipes that say to bake the bread for 30 minutes and other recipes that say you can bake them for 30 to 50 minutes, but whatever you do don’t under bake or overbake the bread. Trial and error funtimes! When/if I ever figure out the right amount of time for our oven, I’ll post it, but your oven is different from mine, so you’re really going to have to work this one out on your own.

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