Author Archives: j

hot cocoa

having hot cocoa for dessert and i usually follow the recipe on the hershey’s hot cocoa container but i recycled it long ago and haven’t made hot cocoa in about 8 weeks or longer. i found the recipe online. here it is so i never forget again:

1 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dash salt
5 teaspoons 2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa

don’t forget to use other extracts such as hazelnut or peppermint. the orange extract was waaaaay strong and very fruity.

halibut

halibut sandwich

have i mentioned we signed up for a seafood csa? we are trying to introduce more fish – sustainably fished fish – into our lives. we are on week four and to m’s great disappointment, we have had halibut for the last 3 times. i’m being kind referring to her unhappiness as disappointment. she dislikes halibut *so* much that there’s now lots of swearing and ranting each time halibut appears. when we first signed up, there was lots of cod being offered – perhaps halibut is simply in season now. like kale in the winter and strawberries in the summer. even if that is the case, i don’t know how much more halibut we (she) can eat (tolerate). the first 2 times we had tacos. tonight she made halibut fish sandwiches a la giada. it was a bit sweet but smelled and tasted great. she said she’d eat it again. she may get her chance in 2 weeks. ;)

Mediterranean Halibut Sandwiches
makes 4 sandwiches

Ingredients

Fish:
Vegetable oil cooking spray
1 (12-ounce) or 2 (6-ounce) center-cut halibut fillets, skinned
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Bread:
1 loaf ciabatta bread, ends trimmed, halved lengthwise
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, peeled and halved

Filling:
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 tablespoon capers, drained
Zest of 1 large lemon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups arugula

Directions

For the fish: Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Spray a small baking sheet or glass baking dish with vegetable oil cooking spray. Set aside.

Season the halibut on both sides with the salt and pepper. Place on the baking sheet and drizzle with oil. Bake until the fish is cooked through and the flesh flakes easily with a fork, 10 to 15 minutes. Set aside to cool completely, about 20 minutes.

For the bread: Preheat a grill pan or a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Remove some of the dough from the top half of the bread. Brush the cut-sides of the bread with olive oil. Grill the bread until golden, 1 to 2 minutes, and rub the cooked surface with the cut side of the garlic.

For the filling: In a medium bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, parsley, capers, lemon zest, salt, and pepper.

Using a fork, flake the cooked fish and add to the filling. Mix until incorporated. Place the filling on the bottom half of the bread. Top with arugula. Add the top half of the bread and cut into 4 equal-sized sandwiches.

bread bread bread 2

map and ellie accompanied us to superba food + bread for brunch. we sat outside to increase our vitamin d (and because of ellie, well, mostly because of ellie; the vitamin d boost is just a bonus). we split the “starter breads”: [1] avocado with pickled fresno, radish sprouts, sea salt; and [2] prosciutto with cultured butter and (oversalted) arugula. then we split the 2 specials: [1] pretzel croissant sandwich with scrambled eggs (originally over easy eggs but map got queasy) and brisket with a side of salad (again with the oversalting) and [2] french toast soaked overnight in buttermilk and condensed milk and served with strawberry compote and maple syrup and whipped cream. i was still hungry, so we ordered the burrata “starter” with walnut, pomegranate, pickled radish, parsley. except for the oversalting, it was all very good, but, then again, i loved the food at superba snack bar, too, so it’s not a total surprise.

m asked if the breads were made from wild yeast or dry yeast and apparently the pain au levain, the chia seed sourdough, and the spelt sourdough are made with wild yeast and the rest are 50/50.

i was finally able to get a valid email address so i could express just how happy i am that they are revolutionizing my ‘hood. and not just any revolution, a *food* revolution.

bread bread bread

today was characterized by bread. i woke up and started 2 loaves, a small one and a large one. i decided to try the kitchenaid mixer to do the heavy lifting. after a 30 minute autolyse, i put the large dough into the mixing bowl and on speed level 2, spun it around for 5 minutes, stopping twice to pull the dough off the hook. i did the same with the small loaf. the small loaf seemed to behave differently: it was very stringy, like gluten stringy (?), like cobweb stringy almost. after kneading, i covered them as usual and left them out at room temperature. i folded both of them again at 10am. i wasn’t able to get to them again until 120 (we got home late from superba food + bread). i gave each of them a quick set of 30 folds and popped them into the fridge. they were soft, bubbly and relatively smooth; the smaller one was smoother than the larger one. i may have to try using the mixer for 5 turns every 30 minutes or kneading at once longer or hand folding a bit more often – so many methods to try.