The Faudie Returns...and Doesn't Talk About Food

I know, I know, I know, Gentle Reader, it's been a long while. If it hadn't been for the husband's handful of posts since my last in February, you'd probably have given up this blog for dead. But in an extremely early morning (3 a.m.) burst of monkey brain syndrome, I find myself wanting to post.

And not about food. That's one of the reasons I had to set the blog aside: I just didn't have a really healthy relationship with food. I'm slowly getting back to that point where I can enjoy cooking and not be swamped by a motherload of guilt and anxiety, which is really nice. That's not to say I haven't tried a few recipes that were winners and some that were forgettable, but I won't be doing any catch-up posts. Onward and upward, non?

So why the post? Really, that's a good question. I suppose I want to yammer a little bit about the end of summer vacation. That's right, the boy returns to school on Monday. Luckily he's still at that age when he can be excited about school, so his upbeat attitude helps me not get so stressed about his return and my own return to a less free-wheelin' schedule.

We've marked the end of Summer Vacation 2010 with a trip to the Blue Bell ice cream factory in Brenham (unless you like being swarmed by a lot of pasty white people who seem to breed uncontrollably paired with what amounts to a $5 scoop of ice cream, mark this outing off your list of things to do before you croak), along with a final trip to the pool where the boy took his first two weeks of swimming lessons and, later in the summer, passed his swimming test so he could start going off the diving board. Naturally, not enough lifeguards showed up for work on our final day, so the diving well was closed. But, hey, at least the asshole manager wasn't present to scream at patrons and lifeguards alike and generally make everyone's time there a living hell. The boy and I both appreciated his absence tremendously.

The husband and I even sneaked off to attend a movie on Dobie Theatre's penultimate day operating as a Landmark Theater exhibitor. Of course, this weekend also happens to be UT's Mooove-In Day for all on-campus dwellers, so we had to wade through crowds of overprivileged kids milling about while their helicopter parents unloaded all their useless electronic toys (really, you need that X-Box 360 for college?) and some more useful items (a change of underwear) with the help of returning students who were pumping Lady Gaga on a stereo (yes, a stereo, not on an iPod speaker setup). I felt terribly old as I glanced at the faces of the students, and I also felt terribly happy that my college experience was far behind me and paid off.

I'd worried that the theater might be swamped with nostalgia last-timers, but I needn't have expended that mental energy. The theater, like the entire Dobie Mall (a misnomer if ever one existed, for it's a glorified low-end food court with the requisite military recruiting office near one entrance), was largely deserted, offering proof why Landmark pulled the plug. Seeing as Saturday was its penultimate day, the theater was having a fire sale on its concessions: candy for 50 cents, sodas for a buck and 2 bucks for any size bag of popcorn. The husband was thrilled, although I think he was a tad disappointed no nachos with Rico's cheese were available. And I'm proud that he passed on the bagel dogs (although those might have already been sold out).

Since we haven't been to see a movie together since The Dark Knight hit theaters, we didn't haul down to the UT campus on Mooove-In Day for nothing. Since the Dobie was sort of Austin's first art house theaters, it was the only place showing Cairo Time, a character-driven film whose main attraction for us was its lead male star. (And allow me to say here that my attraction was on a different level than the husband's. It was perhaps apropos that I'd had to work my way through a college crowd because, boy oh boy, watching and, yes, drooling mentally over Sid again just took me back to my younger days.) It opened on Friday and closes on Sunday. Woohoo.

I'm not going to review the film because, well, I don't find reviews terribly useful--unless it's a review for a movie that deserves to be skewered, and the FSM knows plenty of those movies are made these days. But if you want to see a movie with no special effects, no big event moments (big chases, big explosions, big revelations, big plot twists) and not a big amount of chick-flick schmaltz, then it might be worth your while to check out Cairo Time. If you're not into the premise of the film, then at the very least you might enjoy some lovely images of Cairo.

Since turkey meatloaf hardly seemed appropriate following said breathtaking images of Cairo, the boys and I headed to Alborz for Persian. Damn oh damn did that ever hit the spot! One sour note, though, and that was the hummus. It was a bit on the bitter side, and I'm not sure why. I suspected a decreased quantity of garlic, but perhaps the garlic used had gone bad. Or maybe I've grown too accustomed to the red bell pepper hummus we've been getting from Sprouts. That's some tasty stuff there! But the bummer hummus didn't spoil our enjoyment of the fabulous food, and as always we topped the evening off at Dairy Queen with a buffet of Blizzards.

Really, Gentle Reader, it's no wonder I'm fat again, eating that way.

Inspired by the late summer bounty of fresh veggies filling the shelves at Sprouts, I'm off to start work on something called Marrakesh vegetable curry (yes, at 4 a.m.). I'd originally thought about making ratatouille, but I found my taste buds leading me to more familiar Persian/Indian/North African territory. Watch out, eggplant, here I come!

Spaced Out

Star Wars: In Concert was in town last weekend, and the husband has the photos to prove it.

--The Faudie

So did the boy and I have fun at the concert? Oh, yes, we did:

A Tale of Two Starters

The problem with having two sourdough starters is that they take up a lot of space in the refrigerator...and, of course, you can't use a sourdough starter for much beyond making sourdough. Here's the husband with an update on how he's trying to put those starters to good use.

--The Faudie

I find it interesting how our two sourdough starters turned out. As I noted in my last sourdough post, the one made with molasses formed a dark brown hooch fairly quickly; in comparison, the one made with sugar has never developed anything more than a pale, almost clear liquid that may or may not be hooch. This observation led me to believe, based on my (admittedly limited) knowledge of such matters, that the molasses-based starter developed better than the sugar-based starter, but it's hard to tell. Both had a distinctively boozy aroma, which I gather is a good sign. And while the sugar-based starter didn't have the appearance I was expecting, it did have the appropriate texture when stirred, similar to the consistency of pancake batter. The molasses-based starter, in comparison, was more silt-like underneath the hooch, and the two portions didn't seem to mix well.

Fascinating, isn't it? I've decided that, when the time comes for the boy to begin participating in science fairs at school, I want him to research different ways to make sourdough starters. Which, no doubt, would result in the same problem my experimentation has gotten us into: too many starters taking up too much room in the fridge. Thus, I've moved on to stage two of my experiment, which involves finding new ways to use these starters.

Donna Rathmell German's always-reliable Bread Machine Cookbook offers plenty of sourdough recipes, including the following:

Sourdough French Bread

1 C starter
1 1/2 t sugar
3/4 t salt
3 C bread flour
1 1/2 t yeast
1/2 to 2/3 C milk

1. Place ingredients into bread machine in the order suggested by the machine's manufacturer.
2. Select the Basic option on the machine, then start the cycle.

Yield: One 1 1/2-pound loaf

Nutritional Info
Not provided, because Donna Rathmell German's books are also always-reliable for not including such information.

The Husband's Futzings
I didn't see any need to change this recipe. I included only half a cup of milk, as the starter seemed to be providing plenty of liquid on its own.

I won't lie to you--I chose this recipe because it was simple, an easy way to get rid of part of the sugar-based starter. Fortunately, I was pleased with the results. The sourdough French bread was a nice, crusty loaf, admittedly fairly nondescript in taste, but enjoyable enough with raspberry jam. And it served its primary purpose of giving me an excuse to use a good portion of my starter.

Note that I prepared a one-and-a-half-pound loaf, whereas normally I'll only make a one-pound loaf. That was a decision made solely because it allowed me to use up more of the starter.

Did I mention these starters take up a lot of room in the fridge?

As you can probably imagine, I was more excited about the recipe on the following page of the book:

Sourdough Pizza Crust

1 C starter
3 T olive oil
1 t salt
4 C all-purpose flour
2 t yeast

1. Place ingredients into bread machine in the order suggested by the machine's manufacturer.
2. Select the Dough option on the machine, then start the cycle.
3. Add water as needed.
4. When cycle is complete, roll out dough, then cover and let rise about 30 minutes.
5. Place in a preheated 500-degree oven and bake until crust is brown, about 5 to 10 minutes.

Yield: One large pizza crust

Nutritional Info
Not provided, and you should know why by now.

The Husband's Futzings
I added some of King Arthur Flour's Pizza Dough Flavor--a must-have for pizza-making, IMHO.

I've actually made this crust twice, once using the molasses-based starter, and once using the sugar-based starter. To tell the truth, I couldn't tell the difference between the two in the results. Both resulted in a dough that was almost clay-like, much easier to roll into shape than any of the other pizza dough recipes I've tried.

The unusual consistency of the dough, predictably, resulted in crusts with an unusal consistency, at least in comparison to my previous attempts at pizza-making. The sourdough crusts seemed denser, chewier. Their consistency was almost like that of a Bisquick biscuit, of all things. They boy didn't seem to enjoy them much, but Angela and I liked them well enough. Flavor-wise, they were pretty tasty (I'm glad I added the Pizza Dough Flavor), and they certainly weren't the worst I've ever made. And they were quick to prepare, which is the whole point of using a bread machine to make pizza dough.

A delicious chicken and meatball pizza...

...and a delicious sausage and pepperoni pizza!

Having used up a good portion of our starters to make the sourdough French bread and the two sourdough pizza crusts, but still not knowing which of the two was the better starter, I decided to combine them into one. (If nothing else, that allowed me to go from having two containers to only one taking up room in the refrigerator.) I haven't used the combined starter yet in any recipes, but I'll be sure to let you know when I do.