changeling: (Default)
So yesterday I began on the Finnish Rye Bread as posted by [livejournal.com profile] wittgensteinian. This is the first bread recipe I've ever tried. I had a bit of trouble, needing to use 450mL instead of 300, though this may be because I stubbornly refused to use white flour and used wholemeal instead. I'm also not sure that I've used the right sort of flour. The only flour I could find in Macro that was listed as "bread flour" was the flour mixes, and seeing as slow food is what gets my juices flowing (salivatory, that is), I decided to grab the rye flour they had there that they claimed could be used for bread among other things, and use the wholemeal plain flour I already had. I also couldn't find muscovado sugar in Coles, and though I found it in a nearby foreign-food deli, it cost $4 and I just didn't have much money on me, so I decided to stick with plain dark-brown sugar for this time.

Bread goes against all my creative impulses. I like to throw myself into something for hours at a time, not surfacing, until finished. Instead I had to put the dough together, then I let it rest overnight. Doing things in sections like this isn't the way I work. It also put down my idea of getting it done in time for Liam and Hedda coming over last night. Still, they, Dave (who came over later) and my sweetheart were all introduced to my not-yet loaf, which made me pleased (I also introduced Dave to my bike. I don't know, I'm odd like this). This morning I squished it down, had most of the loaf stick to my hands and had to cover said hands with spray-on canola oil in order to knead it and then attempt to shape it, before putting it aside for more resting. I thought it would rise more than it did; it just seemed to grow everyway at once, so it's a bit of a discus-shaped thing. I don't mind, though, so long as it's edible.

I also don't know if I kneaded it for long enough yesterday. I have a piece taken out of one of my fingers on the knuckle, so I had to do what I could while avoiding using that finger. I'm pretty sure I didn't knead it for fifteen minutes, as I have since seen a recipe call for. I can only hope.

Anyway, it's baked (only took 45 minutes, which isn't much when you're doing other things) and now it's cooking on a baking rack. It looks very exciting, if not quite as neat as I would like. I can't wait until Steph comes home, and then we shall TRY IT OUT, ideally with some beetroot chutney, which I am not allowing myself to make unless I have got all my chores done, so I had better dash off.

... the beetroot chutney will also be an experiment. I want it to taste something like The Chilli Factory's beetroot chutney, but as I've never made any sort of chutney before, let alone beetroot chutney, and I can't find a recipe I like, I shall have to make it up. There will be no apple, though, but I might put in carrot as TCF does.
changeling: (Default)
I was out all day yesterday. First I went to Bridge Rd to practise Bikram Yoga with Issy, but the trams were slow, and then they stopped at Victoria Pde – there'd been an accident up ahead. I had to walk the rest of the way. I felt a bit like Kate at the beginning of The Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul, that something was conspiring to make sure I didn't get there. Still, Issy and I talked and I said that I'd meet her afterwards, so I headed over to Macro to do some shopping (toothpaste, rye flour [for bread], amaranth flour [for fiesta], kombu [sea vegetable – also for cooking beans], pinto beans [another bean I've never used before – also for fiesta], some loose leaf raspberry leaf and nettle teas [for about a quarter of what I usually pay for half as much], seed packets for genovese basil and cress) and then hung out in the cafe with a juice (berries, orange, ginger and watermelon – I thought it was a nice combination, sheer genius, but I'm sure I could put it together better than they did) and my Blue notebook and did some writing until Issy rocked up.

We chatted for a bit. She was simultaneously yoga-chilled and exhausted, so mostly I nattered at her. We headed over to Brunswick St (corner of Rose St) where there is a pub (Bimbo) that does $4 pizzas at lunchtime. I had the Organico (or something) which was a thick layer of roasted pumpkin and rosemary and pinenuts, topped with some soy cheese. Very, very nice. I am a big sucker for both pumpkin pizzas and rosemary. The waitress drizzled olive oil on all the pizzas before bringing them over, which I found a bit weird. I tipped mine up and drained as much as I could onto my plate. Brilliant pizza, though, especially for $4. The base was clearly made on premises, which made me think (with all my bread obsession of late) that I could make pizza dough, and then Steph's and my pizzas would be even awesomer – especially with the tomato sauce she made that afternoon. Issy said it was easy to do with a sourdough starter instead of yeast, and that all I needed was to put a cup of flour and a cup of water in an icecream container for a week, then move it to the fridge and feed it each day with a tB of flour and then she kept explaining about proving and things, but I was out of my depth and didn't retain the rest. I shall have to get her to either write it down for me, or I'll have to call her with notebook and pencil ready.

She also showed me her sweetheart's wholefood/organic shop in Smith St, and I picked up (at her urging) some cleavers (which she says goes well with nettle) and some SEKRIT TREAT for after the diet.

I travelled home, stopping to pick up some glass salad dressing bottles (brilliant for fridge storage; we will use these lots) and glass apothecary jars for storing the tea in. I hadn't quite got home when I got a call from Steph to come and pick her up. I started unpacking, and she made herself an awesome pizza (I might have stolen a couple of bites) and then we had to head out again for our appointment with My Wonderful Kinesiologist for a Bowen treatment. It was very nice, but I'm supposed to not do strenuous exercise for the next couple of days, which means no trips to the supermarket on my bike. I may have to take my car. Boo.

I should go. I have Much to Do today, and it's nearly ten. I should at the very least see if I can find some chickpeas to soak ...

Our little dog Charlie's come in to say hello, and he's been sitting on my lap as I write this. It's very nice. He decided to rest his head on the crook of my elbow after awhile, which made reaching the keyboard a little difficult. I think he's actually dozed off a few times.

Profile

changeling: (Default)
changeling

January 2017

S M T W T F S
1 2 34567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031    

Syndicate

RSS Atom

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jul. 4th, 2025 10:05 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios