Olive Bread to the Head

The Olives in the bread make it outrageously good.
I work at the Union Square Whole Foods, there's a gaint Pizza oven.
I brought the dough to work and threw it in that 550 degree beast.
The real secret to why this bread turned out good was Water.
I would sprinkle water on the loaf every few minutes.
The water makes it crisp up really nice.
I did mess up a little when I slashed the top of the bread.
I cut a little too deep on one side.
It was a very nice smaller loaf.
Everyone I work with really seemed to like it.

Secret Garden

This is in Gainesville, not Brooklyn.

And it's not so secret anymore since I've told pretty much everyone about it.

A lot of flowers bloom in Gainesville in the winter time and it makes the town so lovely.  In every yard there are bright pink, purple, red and white flowers.  There is a place by my house where the only thing there are these beautiful flower bushes.

Some are as big as  my hand and some are multi-colored.  Some are so perfect they don't even look real.

At the Secret Garden the ground is covered in whole flowers and tons of petals.

If you are in Gainesville take advantage of the flowers now before they are gone until next year.

And go to the Secret Garden!!

The Bread Bible Ciabatta

Inspiration has led me in a whim of trying to bake my own bread.
Jessi made Focaccia and I just had to make my own bread.
I wanted to make a nice, light and airy Ciabatta Bread.

I think I over kneaded the bread, creating more gluten strands and less air.
Living is Learning I guess.
This was just the first test.

You make a pre-ferment and let it sit for atleast 6 hours.
My Pre-ferment is called a Biga
This is my Pre-ferment at about 8 hours.

Mix all the ingredients and the Biga together.

Sticky Sticky dough.

Then kneading it comes into play.
I think I kneaded it for 12-14 minutes.
Less kneading next time.

Let it triple in volume.

Shape it out and let it rest for another 2 hours.

Throw it in a 475 degree oven with a pan underneath.
I threw some ice cubes on the tray below to create steam.
30 or so minutes later, you have bread.

How Much Tempeh Could a Woodchuck Chuck?

Sometimes it must seem like all I eat is Tempeh.
It's a good way to get a ton of protein and I really like the Texture.
Red Quinoa with Peppers and Corn.
sautéed Carrots and Kale.
Fried Tempeh with Chimichurri.
Everyone really should make Chimichurri.
After making it one time I was hooked, the vinegar and fresh herbs and the subtle red pepper kick is simply amazing.
Chimichurri Recipe.
1 bunch Italian flat leaf Parsley.
1/2 bunch Cilantro.
1 cup Olive Oil.
1/3 cup Red Wine Vinegar
1 Lemon's juice.
4-5 Garlic cloves.
1-1 1/2 Tbsp Crushed Red Pepper.
(I like it a little spicier so I go more like 1 1/2 Tbsp.)
Salt and Pepper to taste.
You can use this on virtually anything. We ate it with Yucca Fries, Tofu, Potatoes.

My Guacamole is better than yours.

The title may be true other than possibly my brothers guac.
I always am trying to do some sort of variation on it.

In a pan Dry sautee 1 cup of corn untill browned.
Add 1/2 cup of White Onion Diced.
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
2 Chilies chopped (I used serano and jalapeño)
1 tbsp Ground Cumin
Salt and Pepper to taste.

1 Tomato diced.
3 Avocados.
1 Myer Lemon
1 Lime.
1 bunch Cilantro.
Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl.
Add the Corn mixture.
Add more Salt and Pepper if needed.
Enjoy.

Taïm

Jessi and I decided to check out this really good falafel place called Taïm. We may or may not have heard about it when the owner beat Bobby Flay on Throwdown... Either way, I'm really glad we went.

You can get this huge falafel platter for under $10.
Trust me, it is worth every single penny.
I also found out something new,

Jessi is really good at making sauces look even more fancy.
I don't know what she was going for on the middle one, a tree maybe?

The Year of the Ox.

Jessi was here and we saw that there would be a Chinese New Year parade coming up. We figured it would be an experience since Chinatown alone is interesting.
Who has to clean all of this "celebrating" up?

No one is concerned with his job. Everyone is concerned with celebrating with this..

It was a fun experience but Jessi and I couldn't understand how these teenage boys had to walk for blocks with someone standing on their shoulders...
I wouldn't want to switch off with the bigger boy...

Winter isn't like summer...

The lack of skating the winter has inflicted on me has stirred nostalgia for the summer again.
Miss you skateboard....