Pumpernickel Bread

This is the bread that I made on Christmas. It came out really well - I think I let it rise for longer than it says to on both rising periods, but following this recipe should result in great bread.

2 pkgs of yeast
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups warm coffee
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 T caraway seeds
2 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/4 cup molasses
5-6 cups white flour
2 cups rye flour
1 egg white
extra caraway seeds and salt for sprinkling on bread

Dissolve yeast in water. Add coffee, cocoa, caraway, salt, molasses and 3 cups of the white flour. Stir. Add rye flour and enough white flour to make a smooth dough. Kneed. Cover and let rise until double (about 1 hour). Sprinkle greased cookies sheet with corn meal or flour. Punch dough, divide in half, shape into 2 balls. Place on greased cookie sheet. Let rise again until double. Brush tops with eff white, slash with a knife, sprinkle with sea salt and more caraway seeds. Bake in pre-heated 375 degree oven for 35-40 minutes.

Balsamic Eggplant

1 medium eggplant, or 2-3 japanese eggplant
balsamic vinegar
brown sugar to taste
soy sauce
about 20 thai basil leaves
oil for saute
pinch of cayenne
sesame seeds for garnish
water
salt to taste

-Cut eggplant into cubes or small slices. Salt and let sweat for 20 minutes.
-Heat oil in a wok. When hot, add eggplant. Let cook for about 15 -20 min until tender.
-Add a healthy amount of balsamic (several teblespoons), about 1tbsp of soy sauce, up to 1/4 c brown sugar (do it to taste), and cayenne. Let flavors mingle and soak in.
-Taste the eggplant. If the flavors are too strong, add some water to the pan and let steam.
- Add thai basil leaves and sesame seeds and let cook for another 2 minutes or so.

Off topic... but so funny

This is neither recipe nor anything to do with Leavenworth. What it is instead is a welcome diversion and funny slice of life in SF. I made a spoon feint the other night with my hot moves right after listening to these stories about the Beatles' first appearance in America on Ed Sullivan, two crazy Bostonians who brought their carefree world with them to Iraq, and one of my latest favorite writers, Shalom Auslander.

For fans of this american life old and new, I hope you enjoy:

http://thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=281

Kyle

Kabocha Squash Soup

1 medium kabocha squash
1 medium delicata squash
(you can use any kind of winter squash here...one large butternut would suffice, or 2 acorns)

Preheat oven to 375. Coat a baking sheet with a bit of olive oil. Halve the squash, clean out seeds, and place cut side down onto baking sheet. Bake until very tender, about 50 minutes.

3-4 tbsp olive oil
1/2 stick butter
3 leeks, trimmed, cleaned, and thinly sliced
6 large cloves garlic, minced
2-4 sage leaves
leaves from a few sprigs of thyme
1 bay leaf
5 cups vegetable or chicken stock

OPTIONAL:
1/3-1/2 cup apple cider
knob of ginger about the size of a big toe (ew), grated
heavy cream!

In a stock pot, add olive oil and butter. When butter is melted, add leeks and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, sage, thyme, bay leaf, and stock. Bring to a boil.
When squash is fully cooked, carefully scoop out as much flesh as you can, being careful not to get any skin. Add squash to the stock, and try to break up as best you can. Season with salt to taste. When squash has been in the pot for about 10-15 minutes, transfer soup to a blender and puree. Put it back in the pot.

At this point I added a little more thyme and about 1/2 cup of apple cider. This is optional, but adds a nice flavor. I also added some grated ginger.

Add a little heavy cream just before serving!

Leavenworth Update

As of tomorrow, December 1, all of the original residents of 1301 Leavenworth Street, apartments 22, 42, 44, and 48, will be gone. It's the end of an era! For real real! You can now find these core Team Dinner members at the following locations:

#22 - Timmy - Durham, NC
#42 - Alex and Laucha - Inner Sunset, SF
#44 - Jacob - Bowling Green, OH
#44 - Karen - Shrewsbury, MA
#44 - Melissa - Hayes Valley, SF
#48 - Thomas - Inner Richmond, SF

Shed a tiny tear for the end of 1301 Leavenworth, people. But wipe it away slowly with the hankie of relief that is this here blog.

Vegetable Tagine

I made this last night and it came out really really good. It's vegan! I based it on a recipe from Chow.com, but I made several changes as can be seen from my recipe.

Here's the original recipe: http://www.chow.com/recipes/10840

Here's what I used:

6 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2-3 teaspoons cinnamon
1-2 teaspoons turmeric
1-2 teaspoons ground coriander
dash of cayenne pepper
2 thumbs worth of chopped fresh ginger
6 cloves garlic, chopped
5 medium carrots, peeled, sliced diagonally
1 cup canned diced tomatoes in juice
2-3 cups vegetable broth (depends on how much liquid you want)
Pinch saffron - this ingredient is pretty key - pre-soak in a small amount of hot water
2 zucchinis, in half moon slices.
1/2 cup green olives, halved
2 cups cooked chickpeas or canned chickpeas, drained (I used one can)
1 cup dried currants (can also use raisins, apricots, prunes, whatever)
1 preserved lemon, seeds removed, finely chopped (I used fresh lemon juice instead)
salt and pepper

Directions: Slice the onions and sautee with olive oil until onions are mostly wilted. Add all spices except saffron. Add salt and pepper. Add a bit of broth if the spices start to stick to the pot. Add carrots, garlic, ginger, cook for 4 mins. Then add tomatoes, broth, saffron, lemon. Let stew come to a boil and simmer for 10 mins. Add chickpeas, simmer for 5 mins more. Then add olives, zucchini, currants (or other dried fruit) and cook for 10 mins on medium simmer until zucchini and carrots are the preferred consistency. Adjust salt, pepper and other spices to taste - there should be a good balance of cinnamon and saffron.

I really liked what I made, but next time I would adjust a few things. Mainly, I'd add more olives (I felt unsure about this, but they ended up tasting really good) and more dried fruit - the currants were the best part. I already adjusted the recipe to call for 1 cup instead of 1/2 cup. I actually used some raisins too since I ran out of currants.

I served this over quinoa, which worked really well! Would also be great with couscous or rice....other possible veggies include cauliflower, eggplant, squash - these would all be great.

Enjoy
David

Merguez Sausage, White Bean and Swiss Chard Soup

I made this soup tonight and based it roughly on an Italian sausage soup recipe. However, I changed several ingredients mainly to adjust to what I had in the house. The principal important ingredients are merguez sausage (lamb or beef usually), beans (white or not white) and greens (I used swiss chard, but kale would also be excellent).

Ingredients:

2 T olive oil
8 sausages - about 1.25 lbs of meat
1 leek, finely chopped
2 shallots, finely chopped
8 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1 can white beans, with liquid
1-1.5 cups chopped tomato (fresh or canned)
1 large bunch of swiss chard (red chard looks nice)
3-4 cups chicken broth
1-2 tsp thyme
1/2 - 1 tsp white pepper
1/2 - 1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 - 1 tsp turmeric
salt and black pepper to taste

Directions: In a large pot, heat olive oil and add whole sausages. Fry until browned on all sides. When browned, add garlic, shallots, leek and sautee for 2 minutes. Add beans, broth, tomatoes, and all spices and bring to a simmer. While the liquid gets hot, take sausages out of the pot one at a time w/ a slotted spoon, cut them into bite sized pieces, and put the pieces back in the soup. Let the soup simmer for a few minutes to make sure sausage is fully cooked, then add swiss chard. Continue simmer until swiss chard is tender. Serve immediately, or save to serve later or the next day. The soup is very nice with a squeeze of lime or lemon.

I ended up inventing this recipe because one of the vendors at the Ferry Building gave me all of this sausage for free. Merguez sausage is very good and has nice spices that really add to the flavor of this soup, but a similar soup can easily be made w/ other types of sausage.