Please forgive my prolonged absence - it's not that I haven't had a million things to mention, but rather because I have. After school, Ian and I visited his grandmother in Victoria, which is a city so beautiful that I wish I could go back and never again set foot in Vancouver. Everything feels exceedingly British, and the whole city is surrounded by a coastline of beaches and black slate rock. We were there at the height of camas lily season, and so the meadows were carpeted in a vibrant blue-purple, which contrasted sharply, but perfectly, with the green of the leaves, the black of the rocks, and the orange-yellow-green of the lichen. Each day found us at a garden, a beach, a relative's, and by the end of it I was pumped so full of tea and Jeeves and Wooster that upon returning to Vancouver, I went through a mild withdrawal, sprinkled with 1930's era slang.
Shortly thereafter, I went to Boston to see my mother graduate, and spent some quality time with a city I knew for only two months, but will love my whole life. I also managed to pick up a brand-new copy of Julia Child's cookbook the same way Julie Powell did it - by commandeering it from my mother, who never used it. On the way home, I devoured the latest Penderwicks novel (by the illustrious Jeanne Birdsall) and still had flight time left to read, and so I started in on Mastering the Art of French Cooking. By the end of my connecting flight, I was about halfway through the quiches.
Between then and now, I haven't done much. I'm looking for work. I'm trying to keep busy. But I'm not very good at self-motivating when I'm feeling low, and I've spent a lot of time feeling low. Things have begun looking up, however: I'm hunting for work quite avidly, I'm about ready to start volunteering in the Linguistics lab at UBC, and next week I'm heading back to Fort Collins to visit all the dear people I have been missing these long months. There's nothing quite like coming back to the place you grew up, and there's also nothing quite like realizing you miss that place with the same kind of deep, entrenched longing that you once applied to wishing to be free of it. I spent ages feeling like I didn't quite fit there, wishing for a place I did fit into, wishing I could run way from myself, but I know now that you can't run away from who you are. The best you can do is run towards a way of discovering who you can be. I ran to Boulder, I ran to Boston, I ran to Vancouver, and still I feel like I have yet to find the place my heart is seeking, while at the same time all my heart really wants is to go back to Fort Collins and bask in the warmth of old friends and a never-changing town.
*sits in sad silence for a second*
Anyway. On a brighter note, I have two recipes for you: homemade from scratch quiche and pizza. Please note: all measurements are quite approximate. I don't measure things, and I know that I should just so I can write it down for you, but I'm lazy. Included are descriptions of what everything should look like.
Mushroom Quiche with Herbes du Provence
Crust:
3/4 c. pastry flour
1/2 t salt
5 T butter, more if you need it
Several T's ice-cold water
1. Stir together flour and salt
2. Cream 5 T cold butter into this mixture (or maybe a bit more) until it forms small (1/4 inch or less) balls of buttery, floury goodness.
3. Add by T's ice-cold water until the dough just holds together. Mush into a ball.
4. Place the ball on a floured linen towel (you don't want to use terrycloth, as the dough will stick to it and give you a hell of a time) and flatten with the palm of your hand until it forms a round disk about a half of an inch thick. Then using a rolling pin, flatten it further until it will amply cover the bottom and sides of a pie pan. It should look like the dough might flop off the sides. Then, place your rolling pin at the edge of the dough, and using the towel to help, roll the dough onto the rolling pin. When it's draped over the pin, place your thumb on it to prevent it from rolling away, and then remove the towel. Transfer the dough to a pie pan and gently work it so that it is molded to the shape of the pan. Turn up the edges and crimp. Put in freezer.
5. Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
6. When the oven is preheated, bake the crust for about 10 minutes, or until it is fully cooked but not burnt.
7. Lower the temperature to 375 degrees F.
Filling: (to be started and made while the crust is in the freezer and then in the oven)
1/2 an onion, or some shallots, finely minced
8 white mushrooms, or so, cut into quarters or eighths
1-2 T Cooking oil
1-2 T butter
1 t Herbes du Provence
Salt and pepper to taste
4 large eggs
50 g (4 T? Ish?) feta cheese
1. Saute onion on medium heat in cooking oil with spices until clear.
2. Add mushrooms and butter, making sure the butter melts completely and stirring so that the mushrooms get evenly coated in oil.
3. Cook until all is tender and juicy. Set aside.
4. In a bowl, beat eggs until they cry for their mothers. Add cheese and mix.
5. When the crust is ready, pour in the egg stuff, and then add the mushroom business on top.
6. Bake for half an hour or so, until the eggs are completely set and the crust is brown. Serve.
Okay. Pizza time!
Crust:
1 c. high-gluten flour
1/2 t salt
1/2 t instant yeast
2-3 T olive oil
1/4 c. water
1. Combine everything in that order, and stir together well.
2. Prehead oven to 100 degrees F.
3. On a well-floured countertop, knead for 5-10 minutes (do not skimp on this! Trust me!) until the dough is springy and your hands feel soft from all the olive oil and you are in love with the idea of silk.
4. Replace ball of dough in bowl, and then cover and put into oven, whether or not oven has achieved temperature.
5. Allow dough to rise 15-20 minutes.
Meanwhile....
Topping:
1 1/2 tomatoes ripe, lovely tomatoes, diced
1/4 onion, minced
Cooking oil as needed
Oregano, basil, and rosemary
1/4 c. Feta cheese brine, if you have it, or a pinch of salt, if you don't.
1. Saute onions over medium heat.
2. When the onions are clear and maybe a little browned, add tomatoes. Reduce heat to low, add spices and brine, and cover. Allow to simmer for a really long time (until I tell you to stop).
While that's cooking...
Return of the Crust!
6. Remove from oven and knead a little (maybe 30 seconds or less), just to wake it up again and get it going.
7. Allow to rest for 5 minutes. While you're doing this, check the topping on the stove. If the tomato skins are crinkly and the tomatoes are yielding and juicy, leave it uncovered. If not, give it a little more time, but keep checking it, and once it gets to that point, leave it uncovered.
8. When it's rested, it should be more malleable and pliant. Now you get to start stretching it! Let gravity do most of the work; hold an edge in a loose grasp with one hand, the other underneath for comfort, and rotate, allowing its weight to pull it into a larger circle. When it's about 6 inches wide, toss it spinning straight up into the air, and then catch it on two fists, held right next to each other. Launch and repeat. Do this until you're happy with the diameter and thickness of your crust. Set on an ungreased baking sheet and let it rest while you preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and deal with...
Son of Topping!
3. Check it out: is it more or less water? Boil it longer. Is it a pulp with a consistency a little closer to refried beans? You're pretty much good.
4. Apply liberally to your crust, but not on the edges. At this time, you can add cheese and anything else you want; if you used feta brine, feta works, and if you didn't, mozzarella sounds enviable. You can also add cheese after it's baked; that's what I did, and it was good. So no panic.
5. Bake for, I dunno, 10, 15 minutes, somewhere in there, until your crust is golden brown and you can't think of anything besides eating it. The crust is really, really lovely, so I hope you have enough of it and enjoy it.
Alright! Oh, and one last thing: a French bread recipe I've been using with great results. It's pretty simple, though it does require a night to rise and about 3 or 4 hours of attention the next day.
The night before you bake:
1 c. flour (I use high gluten, but all purpose would probably be just fine)
1/2 t salt
1/2 t instant yeast
2/3 c. lukewarm water (yes, that's a lot of water - the reason my bread has this much water in it is because I have a tiny mouth, and the flatter loaf is better for sandwiches. I think you can use a bit less water, but this is what I do).
1. Combine dry ingredients thoroughly in an airtight container (I use an old 750 mL yogurt tub)
2. Add water all at once, and stir vigorously to incorporate. You should be left with a worrisomely wet dough. Put on the lid, leave it in a warm corner, and go to bed.
In the morning, when you remember (it's nice for the dough to have at least 8 hours for the first rise, but more won't hurt it):
3. Dump dough onto liberally floured surface. It's a pain, but knead it a bit, folding it over and over again so that it takes up a bit of flour and you can work with it.
4. When it achieves that perfect silky consistency, form it into a baguette shape by performing the first step of kneading (pressing the dough down and forward), but instead of continuing, fold it in half lengthwise by and pinch that seam shut. Do this again twice and then roll it into a log to make the crack disappear. I usually cut this length in two, just so it keeps a bit longer.
5. Grease a baking sheet with canola oil and roll the dough in this. Allow it to rise for an hour or more.
6. When you remember, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Bake loaves for 20 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before you eat. These make excellent sandwiches.
Okay, my computer's battery is about to die. Good health to you and toodleoo!
Kate
