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!
Lunch
This is dinner: an “Italian BLT with added Mozzarella”. It’s a labor of love thing …. I baked the Sourdough Basil Pesto Focaccia, after making the pesto. I grew the basil to make the pesto. I also grew the tomatoes and the lettuce in the BLT. I didn’t make the mozzarella and I didn’t cure the prosciutto, but nevertheless, 2/3 of the ingredients were grown or made by me so that’s worth the labor. And it was a delicious sandwich.
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.
Originally, I was going to call this “Sprinkles and Twist” Focaccia, as I had found some mini mini cherry tomatoes that are marketed as “Sprinkles” and when I had decorated the top of the focaccia with them, it was sort of a twisty pattern. Once baked, however, the “twist” part wasn’t as evident, so I am just going with Sprinkles Tomato + Garlic Focaccia. Lots of garlic, lots of both sun dried and cherry tomatoes. Basil from the garden. Perfect snack and accompaniment to Italian Food. Yummy.
Another sourdough experiment gone right. I know, I know, I’ve been going a little overboard with the bread-baking these past few weeks, but soon it will be summer and I won’t want to bake bread nearly as often. Anyway, this is a traditional German Bauernbrot — German-style Farmer’s Bread. It’s a combination of rye, whole wheat and high-gluten bread flour, and a wee combination of some typical bread spices: caraway and fennel seeds, a bit of ground anise and coriander. None of those spices on their own are my favorites, but put together, they do taste like traditional bread. And the loaf turned out fairly pretty so I am happy. Yay!