In the immortal words of Socrates, "...I drank what?"

seekaletheia wrote
on July 23rd, 2009 at 03:42 pm

Cooking Pictures!

I made two recipes last night from Cookthink. One was for a Green Onion Beer Bread, and the other for a Pumpkin, Ham, and Swiss Chard soup .

The bread turned out more or less ok. The recipe called for five packets (1.25 oz) of Active Dry Yeast, but then gave no time for the bread to rise. It also required no kneading. I have never made bread before, but that seemed a bit odd to me. Indeed, when we tasted the bread, it was incredibly yeast-y. I think I want to make it again, but this time I want to knead it a little (I think if I knead it less, it will be denser, which I like) and see if it rises. For the beer, I used 12 oz of Smith's Nut Brown Ale. I also added some pecorino romano. Next time, I will try a different beer, not because I didn't like this one, but because I'm curious as to how different it will taste.

The Bread before baking

The Bread after baking

The soup, however, was fantastic. And it should be, with two tablespoons of butter, a cup and a half of half and half, pumpkin, spices, and a handful of other delicious components. I added some chili flakes and oregano, and substituted apple cider vinegar for white wine vinegar and beet chard for swiss chard. For the white wine, I used some 2 buck chuck sauvignon blanc. G. and R. both responded very positively. We had some Beringer Cabernet Sauvignon with the bread and soup on a hot July night and watched Kill Bill volume 2, everything lending itself to an experience which was wholly incongruous, but still fun and delicious. G. and I ended the night with a little bit of The Glenlivet.