Brioche

Picture of brioche

I couldn't forget the wonderful brioche from Victoire I had when I visited Sydney, Australia. I decided to make one batch just to see how difficult it is. I found this link. The recipe seems to be straight-forward enough, judging by the first picture that all the ingredients are in the mixing bowl at the same time.

As straight-forward as it seems, I still made some modification (whether it's intentional or not). Here's what happened:

• I don't have milk powder at home so I have to improvise. I had 1/2 cup of warm milk to replace 1/4 cup milk powder and 1/4 warm water.
• instead of 1 tablespoon yeast, I put 1 package of instant dry yeast (8g).
• This is the second time our mixer reached its limit. Instead of using flat beater for 5 min after all ingredients were fully incorporated, I had to switch to bread hook to knead the dough after couple of minutes.
• The dough didn't go in the fridge for minimum 2 hours (to overnight); instead, it was sitting in the kitchen for about 2 hours (the first stage and last stage of fermentation were same as instructions in the recipe).

Results and lessons learned:

The end result looked similar to the pictures on the recipe page. It has the matte finish as opposed the "glossy finish" (by applying egg wash (egg yolk) on the surface of the dough).

Flavor-wise, it's neither sweet nor salty. I might need to increase the amount of seasoning next time. It goes well with marmalade or banana compote with orange juice reduction though.

In terms of texture, it is a tad dry (for brioche). Somehow I suspect it's due to the fact that I went the shortcut on the fermentation process. The dough wasn't stored in the fridge. Maybe I'll try to make softer dough next time as well.

Reference link for troubleshooting:
http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=007zip


Final verdict
It's unanimous (including Baby Martini's vote) that I should make it again.


Sapphire Martini, "How come the brioche from Victoire tastes so flaky and buttery?"
TripleQ, "I think you just mentioned the keyword."

Backyard garden plan 2010 Victoria Day

More updates on my simple plan:

Here's the original garden plan. In short, I can probably change the title to "Backyard garden plan 2010-2011".

The Victoria Day long weekend and the week before were the kick-start. We managed to accomplish the following:

• Removed as much lawn from the marked area as possible.
• Transplanted lamb's ears and snow-in-summer to the backyard
• Removed a big portion of forget-me-nots at the front so the star flowers and common thrifts can finally see the sun light
• Planted all new plants (annuals, herbs, tomatoes) in the planters & the voids (due to the removal of plants mentioned previously) in the front garden
• Father-in-law brought Irises from their garden and planted them for us :)

Snow-in-Summer
The survival rate of snow-in-summer by far is not that brilliant. It seems the whole cluster of snow-in-summer mainly depends on few deep roots; the rest are quite shallow and couldn't handle the shock. Let's just hope that the remaining part will thrive next year. I didn't have much faith in its survival the first year it was in our garden but it exceeds my expectation and has taken over a good portion of our front garden.

Picture of the void in the front garden

It is now filled by (starting from the left) Thai basil, marigolds and dills.
See picture here

Lamb's Ears
The progress on removing the lawn is a lot slower than expected (mainly due to the heat and high humidity). I transplanted 5 groups of lamb's ears in front of the dog woods. That's about half of the lamb's ears I plan to move. The other half is still pending. The lamb's ears look droopy over the new location; however, I have faith in their ability of multiplication. If they manage to put down their roots this year, they'll come back strong and conquer the world (back yard) in the years to come.

Although we didn't manage to remove lawn where the IncrediBall hydrangeas should be planted, we decide to plant them first. Just in case this project will really extend into the next year or so. Those two were the only plants which didn't get planted over the Victoria Day long weekend. They were sitting on the porch for one week.
Picture of IncrediBall hydrangeas in the pots

It's going to be a bit tricky to remove grass around them. But at least they are in the ground now. So we can take our time.

Iris
We got few hand-me-down irises from my parents-in-law. They are huge! And, another purple flower in the garden. It wasn't in the plan but it is a welcome surprise. Picture of Iris

Annuals
Vinca Cora Punch in a planter and marigold.

More about the simple plan for the backyard:
Simple plan
Simple plan-revised

Tequila braised beef with apples and onions

I find it's interesting that when some of my Mexican friends hear the brand José Cuervo, they have that same expression like the Aussies to Yellow Tail. Anyhow. I don't remember why I have a bottle of tequila (as suggested by my name, I'm a gin drinker). I do notice that I cook with tequila more often than drinking it. Tequila adds interesting flavor to a dish and its full body goes well with meat.

Ingredients:

• Beef blade roast (oven roast)
• onion, 1 large or 2 mediums, peeled and quartered
• 1 or 2 apples, peeled and quartered
• 1 bunch green onions, cut about 5cm-long
• Garlic, 4 cloves
• Sage. We have abundant supply of sage from our garden, so I use a lot. About handful of fresh leaves
• Seasonings: soy sauce, sugar, black peppers, Worcestershire and last but not the least, a generous splash or tequila!

Note: a bit of kick from chipotle, jalapeno or other chili peppers will be nice. Alas! that's too much for a 3-year-old.

Process:

• Marinate the beef (with seasonings, water and all the ingredients) overnight
• Heat the pot with a splash of olive oil
• Drain and pat-dry the beef, sear it in the pot until the brown crust develops.
• Remove the beef from the pot, deglaze with the marinade.
• Add all ingredients and beef back to the pot, cover with lid. Simmer for 2 hours

Picture of marinade

Picture of searing

There is no picture for the final product; everyone was hungry.

The verdict:
Not sure if it's due to the cut or the cooking. It was too tough to TripleQ's liking. It is indeed on the tough side, despite I cut against the grains. Maybe I'll try to cook it in the oven (with low temperature) next time.

The pot - Staub Dutch oven

I just realize that I never post any information about our enameled cast iron pot.
Picture from Staub USA website.

Staub round cocotte, size 26, 5qt. Royal blue.
This is probably the most versatile size: big enough for a chicken (and other trimmings) yet not too heavy to handle. And I love that glossy gradient blue.

MINI on duty

MINI's first nursery run

She was the only MINI in every nursery I visited today. No Smart car in sight. She was surrounded by SUVs, vans and grand sedans. Some people smirked at her presence in a garden center parking lot. WELL... how many plants can you fit in a MINI?

See here!

Quite a lot, actually. That's pretty much all the plants we need this year (I hope).

Carrot and potato stew

Picture of carrot and potato stew.

Earlier this year, I posted a different version of vegetable stew. This one takes a different direction (although still savory).

5 ingredients:

• carrots: peeled and chopped
• potatoes: peeled and cut in chunky pieces
• deep-fried bean curd: rinsed and drained. If you can't find this from your regular grocery stores, try a Chinese grocery store.
• garlic, about 3 cloves
• Chives: handful, about 0.5 cm long

Seasonings: sugar, soy sauce, garlic fermented black bean paste, worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, cooking wine.

Process:

• Heat the pot with a splash of olive oil
• Carrots, in. Add a table spoon of sugar to help caramelization.
• Deglaze with balsamic vinegar and cooking wine
• Push carrots to the side, add bean curd.
• Deglaze with cooking wine
• Add potatoes, seasonings and water in the pot. Bring to boil. Cover with the lid then simmer with low-medium heat.
• Stir in chives prior to serving.

For this dish, I like to have the carrots cooked through and the potatoes all starchy and soft. So I'll let it simmer for an hour or so. And don't stress about the seasoning for this dish. If it's too
light, reduce the liquid further. If it's too salty, add water. No one will know what you do in the kitchen anyway. The only rule is you have to taste it and adjust the seasoning accordingly.

Note: for Buddhists who can't have wine, garlic and perhaps chives, replace the garlic fermented black bean sauce with regular one or vegetarian oyster sauce, and add minced ginger to this dish.

I want another enameled cast iron pot

Last week, CanadianTire had a promotion for KitchenAid (5qt oval?) enameled cast iron pot; it was $59.99 after 40% off. I wanted to get one but TripleQ was against the purchase.

"We have one already. And we don't use it that often."
"But this one is so much cheaper! It can be for everyday-use."
"Why can't the other pot (the one we have) be for everyday-use then?" (Implying that we don't use the pot that often because we just don't find the need for it.)

Just to prove a point (look! This pot is su-per useful in the kitchen!), I made three pots of stew/braised meat in one week! Notes and pictures for each dish will be posted separately.

Backyard garden plan 2010-revised

Updated my garden plan over the weekend. Changes are below:

• Corrected the hard landscape layout; I didn't include the stairs of the patio last time.
• Updated the border. After few rainstorms, it became obvious that grass is thinner in some area than others. Reduce the size of the flower bed on the left but expand it around the cherry tree on the right accordingly.
• Give up the purple leaf sandcherries; now in favor of Proven Winner hydrangeas (maybe Invinsible Spirit?).
• Plan to divide and reuse more perennials from other areas.

I am hoping to divide and transplant as many plants as possible not just to save money. The growing condition at the back is not too bad; a bit of gentle morning sun but scorching afternoon sun. Some shrubs (e.g. dogwoods) also suck up a lot of water and leave little for smaller plants. So it's time to turn to those trial-and-true survivors in our garden.

For the past few years the shady garden right behind our house is a testimony of Darwin's theory - Survival of the fittest. TripleQ has had enough of the "mess"; I think he lost it after seeing all the forget-me-not growing out of the shady garden boundaries and into the lawn. We will wipe out the whole shady garden and leave only 1 or 3 (in a roll) specimen plant(s). Unfortunately I don't have pictures of the shady garden in previous years. I think our shady garden was kind of cool though; the garden was ALWAYS full from late spring to fall. If I didn't like a plant, I just snipped it. But I agree that it could look messy when you are up and close.

There are snow-in-summer, forget-me-not and catmint (Nepeta mussinii) in the front garden and they all try to take over the garden. It gets a lot more crowded than the picture taken about half month ago, especially after the peony and herbs are back. Time to move big chunks of snow-in-summer, forget-me-not and catmint to the back so they can "run" wild. :-) Hopefully I can create a relaxed, low-maintenance pretty garden.

Backyard garden plan 2010

I am kind of proud of myself that I created this garden plan. It took me hours to design and draw, hopefully it works out as planned. (Will need TQ to help on execution.) TQ always teases me on going all out on planning. When I shopped for patio furniture, I cut out circles and squares in proportion to map out the arrangement and find out proper size of each piece of furniture. But hey! It works!! No money was wasted.

The lawn slopes away from the house at the back (6"-12"). In the ideal world, I would like to have a low retaining wall to hold the land and flatten the back. Replant the trees because the mistake from "the early years"(see note 1) is so evident. HOWEVER, we have NO budget for hard-landscape. And the little we spend on everything else, the better. So here's the plan. I want to move the spireas from the area close to the house (that's another problematic area; we'll have to clean up the patch and leave minimal plants). We have a lot of forget-me-nots, lamb's ears and catmint from the front that we can transplant good chunks of them and let them run wild at the back. The growing conditions at the back are not the best but hopefully they are hardy enough that they can be "unleashed". Actually we have A LOT of forget-me-nots growing among the grass or through the gravel in the backyard already; I am sure they will thrive. Yes, I know lamb's ears are taller than forget-me-not. The reason I plan this way is because forget-me-not tends to bloom while new lamb's ears are still small. Once it finishes blooming, its leaves are not particularly inspiring. So lamb's ears can block them.

I have been wanting to have purpleleaf sand cherry but I am not sure if they will be too big for the space. Still need some time before making the final decision. But hopefully they will be the only items we need to buy, in addition to dirt and mulch.

Note 1: mistake from "the early years": dogwoods and one snowberry are within the same border (why we did so really puzzles me, considering they are not even at the center). Two lilacs are next to dogwoods, another two are on the left hand side (and the adjacent ones don't even have the same color of blooms). WHY~~

Ice stick tulips

Ice stick tulips are one of pricier plants in our garden; pricey compared with a bag of tulip bulbs from Costco, or plants native to Southern Ontario (such as columbine, bleeding heart, etc) from my mother-in-law's garden (FREE!). The bulbs of ice stick tulips were ordered from The Breck's.

Back at the beginning of April I wasn't sure if we would see any bloom this year; the center stems got nibbled by some naughty critters. Photo was taken on April 3, 2010.


But time proves that the tiny damage will not impede its performance. See this picture taken in mid-April, 2010.

Here's a close-up (fuzzy) shot of ice stick tulip.

You can see so many colors in one flower: white, yellow, pink/deep pink, blue/green. Another great thing about ice stick tulips is that they bloom in early spring. When other's gardens are slow to recover from the winter/snow, they make your garden instantly stand out. ;-)

Spring April-May 2010

Many things remain the same from last spring except:

• Moss phlox is missing in action. I trimmed them all the way back last year in the fear that once dried, the needle leaves might be sharp and hurt Baby Martini. Its spot is currently occupied by a succulent recently transplanted from the deck planter (to make room for more herbs next to the kitchen this year.
• Cranesbill geranium kind of died last year. I planted an annual afterward but its spot is taken over by forget-me-not this spring.
• Mistake from "the early years"; we followed the instruction on the bag to space the bulbs but didn't realize this type (Darwin?) of tulips don't multiply much and they stay tall. I managed to move some along the border to group next to the forget-me-not. They look less awkward this year.
• This brings up another issue. Popsicle tulips (around the Japanese maple, bloom is gone) multiply every year so it gets really crowded around the J maple. Have to thin them out this year or next.

See full picture here.

Lamb's Ears

Photo date: April 2, 2010

For those who don't have a green thumb, I'll recommend to try planting Lamb's Ears. They are indestructible! Just keep coming back! The first year I planted one lamb's ear, I was really concern because it didn't grow much. Just when I wonder if it would come back the next year, it came back STRONG, lots of them! The bees LOVE their pinkish purple flowers.

I don't mind having lots of Lamb's Ears, as long as they don't take over my tiny front garden. I really enjoy stroking the silvery green leaves. They are so soft, it's really like patting a baby animal.

By the way, the picture was taken when the lamb's ears just started to grow after the long winter. That's why they look so tiny. With so many new plants tightly packed, I really don't know what to do with them once they grow bigger. Maybe I can divide them when I have chance. They are so hardy under full sun or part shade, I probably don't need to worry when will be a good time to separate them. :-p

Mysterious purple flowers

Picture was taken on April 2, 2010.

I was scratching my head when I saw this plant. Don't remember when I planted it but it for sure looks too pretty to be weed. It took me a while to realize that it's one of the mums I planted last fall. Why does it bloom now (early spring)?

Spring May 2009

Picture was taken last May.

• Light purple at front are moss phlox.
• Next to moss phlox are cat mints, super invasive!
• Blue are forget-me-not.
• The big bushy perennial at the back is bleeding heart.
• Purple on the right are grape hyacinths.

This is the most lively time of the year for our front garden. All the blooms after this are of "quieter" colors - white, muted purple and pink (hydrangeas).