First Sourdough of the year: Asiago + Rosemary Artisan Italian Loaf. Really nice crust on this one, great flavor, though I could see that one has to be careful with salt — the cheese is pretty salty. Great dipping bread with olive oil and garlic and would go great with some antipasti. Definitely one to repeat.
As is often this time of year, I am thinking of “stocking stuffer” style gifts and inevitably I make some roasted nuts. This year: Maple Syrup and Bourbon…. a sort of New England meets Kentucky thing. They are delicious, not too hard and quite addictive. I should stop eating them, otherwise I won’t have any more to give away!
I made this absolutely fantastic soup the other day: I roasted a Kuri squash (sort of like a small pumpkin) and made a bisque with some other aromatics (onions, carrots and peppers) and lot and lots of curry. Its delicious and I’m seriously contemplating making another batch with my leftover squash (I bought a whole bunch and I still have two left). The one thing though, is that single color soups don’t photograph well, so the pictures aren’t all that great. Just pretend you have a whiff of the curry and that makes up for the photo. I need a scratch-and-sniff website.
I have a thing for pickles. I have told the story many times that my first word was actually “Gurke!” which is the German work for pickle. And I will eat them by the jar. OK, hopefully not by the jar because that is a little too much vinegar even for my iron stomach. So, I decided to make my own this year. I do this every few years, but when I saw the baby cornichons (these are literally just an inch or two in size), I just had to make them. They are a little salty (next time add a little more sugar to the brine), but otherwise, these are pretty fantastic. They should stay good in the fridge for a while, but I’ll likely eat them all by next week!
I made another focaccia. It seems that whenever I don’t know what the make when I need to feed Alice in Wonderdoughland, I fall back to a focaccia. They are easy, forgiving and delicious. This is going to serve as my lunch for the nxt few days, but would also make a great side to a soup, a charcuterie platter, with a nice salad and a glass of wine. The Gorgonzola got all melty and is tart compared to the rest of the bread. Another winner to add to the rotation.