As you knead the dough (stickier than usual but otherwise pretty unremarkable) work in about another 1/2 cup of flour so that the dough has a nice, resilient consistency. When the dough is good and springy, put in a buttered bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set in a warm spot (the temperature has plunged into the low thirties again here, so that means the bread is rising in the oven this time around) until it has doubled in bulk during the
First Rising (45 minutes)
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So, this was a good week, and one in which I managed to get not one but two servers to laugh at me. Let's take them in reverse chronological order...
A few days ago some of my friends and I went out to this place called "The Apple Dumpling," a real country sort of greasy diner (complete with waitresses wearing matching bib overalls). The kind of place where $7 buys you half of a chicken, deep fried, with a side of canned peas and a plate of potatoes. Well, I made the mistake of asking if I could have the chicken without any potatoes. First, there was just a look of shock ("What, like no potatoes at all?"). Later, when the food was ready, the waitress couldn't remember who had ordered what, so she just started putting the plates down. And then she looked at me, started laughing ("hahaha...oh yeah! You're the guy that didn't want potatoes!"), and gave me my chicken. As it turns out, the answer to the question "Can I please get that without potatoes?" is "No. No you cannot." Well, they could serve them, but at least they couldn't make me eat them.
Rewind to a day earlier, when a friend and I were just leaving the skating rink. It was about 9:30 or so, but I hadn't had dinner so we were walking towards the Indian restaurant to try to get a quick meal, only to discover that they were closing early for the night. Well, I was a bit distraught...so weak with hunger that I couldn't think of where else to go to get food. Now, I know that you won't believe me, but I just want to say for the record that it was my friend, with no hints or prompting at all from me, that suggested maybe we should just get ice cream instead (there's a Cold Stone Creamery just down from the Bombay Grill, as it turns out).
Anyway, we're waiting in line, and I'm getting pretty excited about dinner/dessert. I was, as I mentioned, already pretty hungry...and to top it off it had been probably a few months since the last time I had ice cream (um...that's probably just not true... but at least, I hadn't had very much ice cream over the last few months). Plus, all of the "Signature creations" at Cold Stone just sound hilarious and oh-so-delicious. So, admittedly, I was probably beaming like an idiot by the time I got to the counter, but again, when I ordered (an "All Lovin', No Oven" sundae with an extra brownie, in case you were wondering :-) ) my server started laughing at me. A quick query revealed that, apparently, in her time working there she had never seen anybody "as excited and animated" about ordering ice cream. Which is a shame, really, because ice cream is a pretty exciting sort of thing to get to order! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Punch the dough down, cut it in half, place in a 9x5 and an 8x4 inch bread pan, cover, and return to a warm spot for the
Second Rising (1 hour)
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Also occurring this week was my rediscovery of coffee shops. Usually I just eat breakfast at my apartment before going to the office for the day, but last Thursday I was running a bit late, and in my rush to make my class on time I had to skip breakfast. So, one I finished teaching I ran over to one of the (many many) local coffee shops...this one called "Cafe Paradiso" or something like that. Anyway, sitting there with a bagel and an oversized mug of some sort of tea (I had a cold at the time and couldn't have tasted what kind of tea it was to save my life) was just excellent. Maybe it was just finally being able to sit after a few stressful weeks of work, but the whole atmosphere was peaceful, relaxing, and whatnot. Anyway, I think if the physics department ever decides to pay me an extra chunk of change I might have to make coffeeshops and bagels (maybe with a newspaper thrown in for good measure) a more regular event.
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Bake for 10 minutes as 425 degrees, then turn the oven down to 350 and bake for another 25 minutes.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tasting verdict: A very unusual loaf. To be honest, I kind of think the taste is as lopsided as the loaf itself. On the one hand, the graham flour lends it a very...I don't know how else to put this...wholesome flavor. Really, you take a bite of this and you just know that you are eating something healthy for you. But! At the same time this bread has a fair amount of fat and sugar in it (both from the butter and the evaporated milk), so it also has a fairly rich texture. Almost as if someone was trying to make an unhealthy health-food version of the country fair bread from a while ago. But, on the whole it's not so bad...I think it will work fairly well as a base for deli sandwiches.
Currently reading: Just about to start "The Winter's Tale."
Next week: ?
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