Will Work for Tiramisu

Perhaps it is a contraction from "noisily".  

The cretinous buffoons in the neighboring cabin noily operated a jack hammer all night.

The uncaring louts in the neighboring cabin noily explored guitar feedback with their Marshall Destroyer amp stack turned up to 11.  

The detestable oafs in the neighboring cabin noily played handball against the party wall in the wee hours  

Lincslady,

I agree - mere mortals hardly dare set foot in these hallowed halls, where erudition is the order of the day, and a compendious - nay, encyclopedic - knowledge of all things oenological is SOP.  That said, I agree that Vinho Verde is a wonderful thing, as summery as fireflies, and generally available at a nice price.  As an uncultured, ill-mannered schlump, I pride myself on being able to assemble a decent case of quaffable swill for under $150 USD.  My DW undertook to "grow our own", and is getting pretty serious about it.  (Basement is now a winery, essentially.)  Hope to try her first decanting soon.

Meanwhile in viticulture land, here on the upper left corner of N America, the grapes are taking off.  Today I'm tasked with reinforcing the arbor.  When I built it in 2020 when grapes were planted (about 100 feet long), I thought it was light and airy and all artsy-fartsy looking, but up to the task.  Last year's load of grapes partly tore it apart, so reinforcements are being made.  A grape vine waits for no man.  Work here is being supervised by Tiramisu, our OES.  

Excuse me, I should have said "Connoisseur's Corner", no?  And yes, they have some lovely moonshine for tippling whilst one is chomping on yer stogie, all in a very manly, leather-and-walnut sort of clubby space. You could do worse things with your OBC.  

And, I believe, cigars in the smoking lounge. 

Uncle Jeff - I had no idea you could keep cigars 20 years!  I used to smoke them back in the day, but my gut told me they weren't good for me. Your clay beehive oven, what is that for?  Kind of like an upside down tandoori oven (which I would love to have one of which).  Also, the bread in my photo was cooked on a baking stone, after warming for an hour at 450F.  I think the bottom heat, together with the top slashes, makes for cooking of the interior, and allows expansion.  

I have longstanding desire and intention to take my DW and spend a month driving all around the UK.  Would be fun to stop by - have some fries!  

1 hour ago, UKCruiseJeff said:

Good Morning Coolers!

 

It seemed so quiet here I thought I’d post a piccy of absolutely nothing just to ruin the peace!  As usual you might say ….

 

The picture is titled “A nice clean kitchen with an authentic Greek meal of kebabs and fries”

 

Jeff

Didn't the Greek poets go on at length about fries?? One can hardly blame them.  Nice little set up you have there - gas, of course.  But is that a deep fryer I see to the right?   Wow, serious stuff.  We have a 4 burner gas Wolf range, Gaggenau convection oven and separate convection steam oven (love that thing!), Gaggenau warming drawer (nice for warming your drawers on a cold Oregon morning), a micro, Gaggenau coffee/espresso machine, and a micro.  Outside there is a Lynx 36" gas grille, with 2 burners heating ceramic briquettes, and one ceramic burner that just creates insane heat (wonderful for searing something), and next to it, a Lynx 55,000 btu gas burner, with a setup to accommodate a wok.  Nearby is the Ooni wood fired pizza oven. The huge garden is a few steps from there (past the chicken coop, but short of the apiary).  Lastly, you asked about hydration in bread - the loaf I took photo of was one of three from 6 cups of flour and 2 cups of water, plus salt & yeast.  So, 33%?  

I fantasize about what I would do if could build new house/kitchen.  I want a walk in pantry with lots of shelves where can see and access all the less used ingredients and specialized pots, bowls, springform cake pans, blah blah blah.  We have 2 sinks in kitchen (one normal 2 bowl, one huge single bowl (nice for cleaning big pots, small children, sick chickens, whole fish), which have saved our marriage.  But, I would add a pot filler over the cooktop - would save so much schlepping of pots of water, and nice for making stock and such.  

The note 5G protein is for a "Serving Size" of 1/4 cup or 36 grams, btw.  

1 hour ago, UKCruiseJeff said:

Lovely!  

 

That’s gluten free? The 3% protein flour?  

 

I’d love to see a piccy of the crumb when you’ve cut it if possible please! 

 

Jeff

 

Who said anything about GF?  This is 13.9% protein, wheat from high plains of eastern Oregon, stone ground in the Willamette Valley. 

Well, just another day on the farm.  Baked up some loaves using Red Mill bread flour, a long rise, roll out, another long rise.  Crazy simple recipe, just dump stuff in Cuisinart, mix for 45 sec.  No knead.  Gonna slather a piece with the Normandy butter & honey from my wife's bees, and be glad to be walking around planet earth another day.  It could be a lot worse! 

One of the miracles ascribed to Jesus is that, at a wedding where presumably the cheapskate father of the bride had underestimated the amount of wine that would be slurped up by the guests, he turned water into wine.  As the story goes, the guests complained "Why did you keep the good stuff 'til the end?" So, SS oenophiles, what sort of wine do you suppose he conjured up?  And do they have it onboard SS ships?  😇

My DW and I are staying at Marriot Downtown Anchorage, doing P2P, and we paid SS for train transfer to pier.  (We are doing round trip from Seward, 2 weeks, on Muse.)   I asked for clarification from our SS agent, she just sent the following.  Note that the first paragraph identifies the three hotels that are SS hotels (whether part of your cruise or not).  Hope you can read it, but lays things out well.  

Mr Waveform, 

A topic close to my heart, or - should I say - my liver?  We are boarding Silver Muse in a month, for a 14 day cruise up and down the west coast of Alaska, and I want to plumb the depths of how much good grape squeezings I can pry out of the SS Corporate Safe.  I shall dutifully submit a full report, upon my return.  Assuming I don't fall overboard....

10 hours ago, UKCruiseJeff said:

Good Afternoon Coolers, particularly those in the “Sleepy Do” sub-committee! 🙂

 

It is a sad example of how low my life has sunk that I have been looking forward to this small box of 10 day “sleepy dough” in the fridge that I made into today’s light lunch ficelle .  To explain ficelle is simply a much thinner baguette  and is our favourite bread.  it’s less crumb and  more crunchy crust.  It is a glorious bread and seems to be overlooked by many who would love it.  So today was a bottle of house white with previously mentioned ficelle and live TV of two KC’s on the Post Office enquiry live feed taking bits out of each other.  

 

I’ve enclosed a picture of the dough to hopefully show how it’s time rather than kneading that gives sublime open texture. 

 

It ended up as a Milanese salami ficelle with tomato and mayo.  The confusing thing to me and has always been how simple  peasant eatings often offer so much more pleasure than so called “sophisticated” eatings.

 

Jeff

 

 

Jeff, 

The black sesame seeds are a nice touch.  And that is some bodacious crumb, boy howdy!!  I'd like to slather some fresh garlic aioli on there, some crispy thick cut smoked bacon, slices of warm-from-the-garden ripe red tomatoes, and a few leaves of butter lettuce and dive in.  With, of course, the obligatory German beer stein full of the house wine... 

Silkismom, I take them out of the oven, let cool on a rack for a bit, then cover with a towel (I think maybe this keeps some moisture in them).  Once room temp, I put them in plastic bags, sealed in some way (depends on size of loaf and bag), and put in freezer.  They seem to be good for up to 2 weeks.  Sometimes, if in a hurry, I'll run water over them, and put in 350f oven for 10 minutes or so, to refresh.  

Stickman, Thanks for your thread, I'd love to cruise Japan soon.  We are boarding the Muse in Seward in June for two weeks.  A question for you, are there binoculars provided in your Deluxe Veranda Suite?  Don't want to miss wildlife, but nice to not pack binocs if don't need to.  Thanks. 

UKJeff,

Well, since you asked, here is todays output.  Equal amounts unbleached bread flour & whole wheat, milk, honey, oil, salt & yeast.  5 minutes with the dough hook in the mixer, total rise time about 5 hours, make the loaves and into the oven with a pan of water.  I freeze the smaller loafs, and take them out as needed.  

UK Jeff, I wanted to mention that I made your orange loaf - using eggs from our chickens, and grinding up old (2020) slivered almonds.  Nonetheless, it came out very well.  Thanks for your suggestion.  It would be great with some tea, and it does occur to me one could pour some Cointreau on there and have a veritable orange fest.  The following seemed to pop up from a previous post I was going to make, but disappeared.  I'm leaving it just for funzies.:

UK Jeff, Very interesting to hear your words re: not getting hung up on the science or details of bread making.  In the last 6 months (since I stopped "working"), I've been making a lot of bread (and some pizza dough).  I have a stack of bread books 12" high, and have spent lots of time learning the trade.  Currently, I often don't use a recipe, just plop in good flour, water, salt, yeast (I use some old 2012 Costco yeast I'm trying to use up, and some newer stuff).  No oil.  I let rise in a wooden bowl with a plate over the top; sometimes I get lazy and it rises for 30 hours instead of 8.  Oops!  But I look at it and listen to it, and it speaks back to you - a nice dough, as they say, literally feels like a baby's bottom.  I do other things for other types of bread, like WW (which I love to have around 24/7).  But - no need to let the mystique scare you away - making good bread is easy-peasy, particularly when you understand you are dealing with a living thing. I go to the store and see loaves of good bread selling for $7 - $11, and get a warm fuzzy feeling in my wallet!  

Dealing card games with the old man in the club car,

Penny a point, ain't no one keeping' score.

There's the paper bag that holds the bottle -

And the steel wheels underneath the floor.  (From song, City of New Orleans)

For a more efficient transfer, take the bus.  If you are a romantic, take the train. I'm taking it from Anchorage to Seward, and then Seward to Anchorage, two weeks later.  But my DW & I are always up for doing things in the most antique, non-efficient ways.  

These are probably the same low lifes that put books down on deck loungers first thing in the morning.  I don't think walking the plank would be too extreme - or force them to eat a stiff cardboard hamburger....

UK Jeff -

In your picture, the crust looks wonderful - airy & nice structure, is this sourdough?  I note the little bit of char on the crust, which pizza aficionados appreciate.  The combination of heat from the stone, and the hot air does a wonderful thing - the stone cooks the dough for a nice crust, and the toppings cooks via the air.  One of humanity's great achievements!  Thanks to the Italian forefathers and foremothers; probably sponsored by mozzarella makers.  My DW & I like one with EVOO, garlic, lotsa anchovies, partly sun-dried tomatoes in oil, pepper flakes & grana or feta.  At a lower heat (like 700F) the anchovies have time to melt into that wonderful umami goodness. Heavens!  Pour me a glass of that Sangiovese Red! 

I, too, drank a glass or four of wine and ended up ordering an Ooni wood fired pizza oven last year; it was a "birthday present" for my DW.  Like when as a young sprout you buy your mom a skateboard as a present and ask her if you can "borrow" it...  One of the better wine-influenced decisions I've made.  I use fir and hardwood scraps & some charcoal, and can get up to 950F in about 20 minutes, although I'm learning that depending on the dough and toppings, there are some arguments for a little lower temp.  But, indeed, a pizza is done in no more than 90 seconds.  There is a LOT to learn, but every time I make another batch, I understand how to cook a pizza a little better.  With the wood fired, it is hotter at rear, near the fire, so you have to rotate the pie to cook evenly.  There is a cast stone bottom, and I use a laser thermometer to monitor the temperature of it, as well as a built in thermometer that tells you ambient (air) heat.  A fun thing for entertaining, we provide our dough and toppings, and let people compose their personal pizza.  

Mr Wavelength - 

If I recall from reading liner notes on English Invasion LP's from back in the day (ie Rolling Stones), isn't a "stone" about 14 lbs.? based on your above statement, I fear you are wasting away, without benefit of being in Margaritaville!  If cruise lines, including SS, are in fact going to adopt same food service as gas stations, perhaps there IS a new marketing opportunity - "Cruise with us and Starve!"   Lots of folks are looking to drop a few lbs/kilos, so this is bound to be a success!  

Actually, we were pretty deep into a Muse cruise from Barcelona to S Hampton, here stopping in Bordeaux; one of my favorite ports - up the river and tied up in town.  Bordeaux is a pleasure to walk in, and the Wine Museum is over-the-top interesting - like a window into the French soul....  The cruise fare and beverages had not succeeded in raising my waist line, despite my best efforts. Of course, perhaps I was subconsciously trying to channel 1991 BB style. 

Your Waviness -

I think they might be in posterior position, holding up my shorts, which are clearly rather de classe with regard to length.  Alternately, my dear departed daddums lost both his forearms and his sight to a landmine, as a sapper in WW2.  Perhaps I had him in mind... 

Takes one to know one....