Chocolate Challah

This one is a week late, (I have been out at a physics conference in Colorado), but better late than never.

One of my good friends had the first step of his medical boards last week, and so I baked him a loaf of chocolate challah (seen at left). A nice cake-like bread, braided like the traditional egg-bread, with chocolate chips and cocoa powder added. Typically dense and very moist. I baked it two days before the test- Hopefully everything went well for him-

I should catch up on the CSA stuff over the next few days, if moving doesn't consume all of my non-work hours-

Kris

Week Five- A Bit Delayed

We are in the process of moving from our separate to a single apartment. Thankfully, we can string this process over more than the single weekend that most people in Iowa City have over the last weekend of July. The first (and in my opinion, one of the most important) rooms to tackle was the kitchen. After a weekend of work and some compromise, we have almost combined our two nearly complete kitchens into one working and well stocked kitchen. The CSA goods have been scattered since the pickup on Saturday, but here is a list of what we got:

Green Beans, Cabbage, Basil, Garlic Scapes, Onion, Parsley, Lettuce, Broccoli, and Zucchini.

I will leave you with an image of where the kitchen briefly met the plants-

-Kris

Fourth of July Bread

Whats more patriotic than a big pile of bread, homemade for an outdoor grill out?

Around 4 pounds of fresh, slow fermented, Pan a l'Ancienne loafs- One of Amy (and my) favorite breads from The Bread Baker's Apprentice, and the first loafs to baked in her (now our) oven as we migrate away from cooking at my apartment. Hardy, chewy with a good balance between crust and crumb- simply quite delicious.

-Kris

Lamb Kebabs

One of the last meals to be cooked in my bachelor kitchen- Kebabs of Lamb Shoulder. I marinated them overnight in garlic and olive oil, skewered them with green peppers and shallots, and 'grilled' them over a hot skillet for a few minutes. On the side was rice and a lettuce slaw. While the slaw needs a good deal of work, as does my butchering abilities, the meal was overall a success. Thanks to American Lamb Council for the suggestion.

-Kris

Birthday Dinner!

For my 25th birthday, I decided to try making coconut milk pancakes. I followed a recipe from Flatbreads and Flavors, ending up with a dozen or so fluffy cakes.

These were not the best pancakes I have ever had, but the hint of coconut went well with a dash of cold maple syrup and some strawberries (not pictured)- especially on a warm summer evening. The directions called for a particular method of pouring the batter as a means of creating a light, lacy texture, which I ignored; perhaps when I try these again I will follow the instructions to the t.

-Kris

CSA- Week 4

Lots of Greens this week-

In no particular order:

Lettuce, Garlic Scapes, Zucchini, Broccoli, Kale, Peas, Parsley, Basil

I have some fun ideas for the vegetables - Just finished off the turnips from a few weeks back mashed up with potatoes and served with garlic and parsley crusted chicken for dinner tonight.

For tomorrow, I am planning on some cumin beef with broccoli and tomatoes. The recipe comes from a book I just got for my birthday.

On the baking front, after some experimental breads, one which I dubbed a zucchini fudge foam (It looked somewhat bizarre, but tasted quite good, almost like a bread pudding),

I made a Portuguese Sweet Loaf. Should serve as good sandwich bread for lunches for the upcoming week.

Chicken Stir Fry

A nice and simple dish today- Chicken stir fry. With the chicken, I added the CSA's garlic scapes and snap peas, as well as a savory sauce with chili paste, Chinese cooking wine, and soy sauce. Roasted corn and peppers and rice rounded the dish out. The meal was good- the greens where a little undercooked (I find that scapes always need more cooking time than I expect.)