Just a note that we’re having unexplained issues with our server this week and are attempting to resolve the problem. Please excuse a larger number of typos as well as difficulty responding to your comments. Everything should be back in order next week. Special thanks to our designer Roman for helping us. And thanks to Kelly for constantly changing the tape drives.
Commercial bread ovens have a steam injection system. The steam keeps the surface of the dough supple so that dough can expand gracefully during baking. Jim Lahey’s popular no-knead bread recipe uses a dutch oven to emulate steam injection. The Dutch oven method seals in the moisture contained in the dough during the first half hour of baking. It works great and I cook all my bread this way.
That being said it can be tricky to plop a loaf of wet, sticky dough into a 475º F Dutch oven without either burning yourself or messing up the dough. I’ll note that even when I’ve screwed it up (like the loaf above) and the dough lands off center, the bread still turns out fine. It’s just an aesthetic issue.
Some other bakers have come up with variations on the Dutch oven technique. Chad Robertson, baker and author of Tartine Bread suggests using a cast iron combo cooker like the one below:
You use it upside down, putting the dough in the skillet rather than dropping it down in the pot. Then you stick the pot on top. I imagine that the handle is handy.
Someone in a bread class I was teaching suggested using a bread baking stone and simply inverting a pot or large roasting lid over the stone. As long as the lid or pot seals properly, this should work too.
Other folks use parchment paper and don’t do the inversion at all. I’m a bit skeptical, but haven’t tried this technique myself.
You can also buy a clay cloche, but they’re on the expensive side.
There are other steaming methods. I used to throw a shot glass of water in the oven–it just doesn’t work as well and, I’ve been told, can damage some ovens. I’ve also tried preheating a roasting pan and then pouring water in it, but it doesn’t work as well as the Dutch oven. And I was really surprised to read about an elaborate steaming technique that involves a length of chain in a roasting pan described in the Bouchon Bakery Cookbook. Too much work!
For now I’m going to stick with my Dutch oven. Most of the time I manage to get the loaf into the pot and our kitchen is so small that we don’t have room for more gadgets.
If I’ve left out any steaming techniques or you have an opinion, please leave a comment . . .
Nancy Klehm is coming to Los Angeles for two exciting events–one on foraging and the other on humanure:
Edible Urbanforage Walk Saturday February 16 4 to 6 pm.
February, is the ideal time to forage Los Angeles!
Nance Klehm will be leading this urbanforage. On this walk, we will learn to identify edible and medicinal plants, hear their botanical histories and stories of their use and share tastes of what we find.
The urbanforage will start with an herbal beverage and end with a simple herbal food shared over discussion of the experiences and questions generated by the walk.
Bring a notebook and a pen for sketching or note taking and a bag and a knife for collecting.
All ages welcome!
Adults 18+ years $20/person
Children 6-17 years $10/person
Children 5 years and under *free*
Reserve your space for this event by sending your PayPal payment to: [email protected]
There are no refunds. Registration closes February 15.
Mon. Feb 18 – Safe & Sound Human Manure Class
Can we use human waste in our gardens? Is it safe? Come to this incredible workshop by Nancy Klehm, a human manure expert, where we will explore these questions and more. Learn about compost toilet design, and Nancy’s amazing previous work.
Nance Klehm is a steward of the earth. She is an ecological systems designer, landscaper, horticultural consultant, and permacultural grower, as well as an in demand consultant, speaker, and teacher. She is respected internationally for her work on land politics and growing for fertility.
Nancy has been featured in Time Magazine, the Utne Reader, the Chicago Tribune, Reuters news service, on the MSN Money website, and many other publications and media outlets. She has been interviewed extensively about her work including spots by American Public Media’s Weekend America program, KRCL in Salt Lake City, BBC Radio Canada, Chicago Public Radio, and KBOO in Portland, Oregon.
Date/Time
Monday, February 18
7 to 9pm
Location
Seventh-Day Adventist Church
1280 East Washington Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91104
Registration (click here to register)
Pre-register by 2/10: $15
Pre-register by 2/17: $20
At the Door: $25
Hosting Organizations
RIPE Altadena
Institute of Urban Ecology
More about Nance Klehm:
http://ecolutionist.com/
www.spontaneousvegetation.
Photo ©President & Fellows Harvard College, photo of Blaschka Glass Model by Hillel Burger.
This cactus is made out of glass. Root Simple reader tworose tipped me off to the Harvard Museum of Natural History’s collection of glass flowers. According to the museum’s website:
This unique collection of over 3,000 models was created by glass artisans Leopold Blaschka and his son, Rudolph. The commission began in 1886, continued for five decades, and the collection represents more than 830 plant species.
Reminds me of the 3D flower x-rays on display at the Museum of Jurassic Technology. They have to be seen in person to really do them justice, but you can see a selection in 2D here.
Pickled turnips–photo and recipe by The Domestic Man
Having some trouble with our blogging software this weekend–so Root Simple may look a little funky until we figure out what the problem is.
Cookin’
Kabees El Lift (Pickled Turnips) http://wp.me/pWGRR-YU
DIY
Forklift Furniture: 10 DIY Projects for Used Wooden Pallets | Designs & Ideas on Dornob http://dornob.com/forklift-furniture-10-diy-projects-for-used-wooden-pallets/ …
Champions of wood planing: http://boingboing.net/2013/02/08/champions-of-wood-planing.html …
IKEA Hackers: IKEA featuring JBL http://www.ikeahackers.net/2013/01/ikea-featuring-jbl.html?spref=tw …
How to stock a minimalist kitchen: http://tinyrevolution.us/2010/12/08/how-to-stock-a-minimalist-kitchen/ …
Signs of the Apocalypse:
Pizza Hut China’s hot-dog-encrusted shrimp tempura pizza, with mayonnaise: http://boingboing.net/2013/02/06/pizza-hut-chinas-hot-dog-enc.html …
Yuckylicious: Salami Bouquet http://yuckylicious.blogspot.com/2013/02/salami-bouquet.html?spref=tw …
Urban Farm Magazine owner BowTie sold – Business – The Orange County Register http://www.ocregister.com/articles/bowtie-414242-fancy-company.html …
For these links and more, follow Root Simple on Twitter:
Follow @rootsimple
Ikea’s Fejka.
On a recent pilgrimage to Ikea, I ended up staring at a large display of fake plants while Mrs. Root Simple found a replacement for our kitten-shredded drapes. Viewed from a distance Ikea’s plastic plants were realistic, though seemingly outside of any known plant genus. I found myself pondering the question of what permacultural context in which these plastic plants would be an appropriate design solution. I couldn’t answer my own question. More plastic and less living things in our lives is probably not a good idea. But I am willing to consider a very limited use of artificial turf–neighbor Anne Hars once showed me Home Depot’s astonishing selection of fake grass–some that even has fake dead grass mixed in for realism. Perhaps in some ironic post-modern house this artificial turf could fit in.
It did remind me of the time a neighbor, who is a Hollywood art director, grabbed me late one evening to help her fake a vegetable garden for a movie. From her I that learned that their are businesses in Hollywood that do nothing other than provide fake plants. Not just flowers, but everything from corn to . . . hemp.
Having a bad year with your tomatoes? Green Set Inc. will set you up with some fake ones:
They even have a very large (and suspiciously shiny) fake zucchini:
But I think my favorite fake plants come from a company called New Image Plants, providers of “The World’s Best Artificial Marijuana.” Customers? Marijuana dispensaries, the set decorator for Weeds and law enforcement! From their website:
Across the world law enforcement finds itself with the continuous dilemma of having to train new recruits to identify and find illegal marijuana plants . . . Our plants are used by many police departments across the world, the US Military and the Royal Mountain Police in Canada to name just a few.
Be forewarned that the bush above, complete with realistic buds, is a $325 gag gift for the gardener in your life. For some reason I would love to sneak one of these into my dentist’s waiting room.
Image from Reboot’s Unplugging campaign.
I was pleasantly surprised to see an article on “unplugging” in the last issue of Sunset Magazine, “The Unplugged Home.” That the article features a family in the San Francisco Bay area (the capital of plugging in) isn’t surprising. When I was a video editor many years ago the last thing I wanted to do was sit in front of another TV when I got home. I suspect many tech workers feel the same about computers.
We got rid of our TV a long time ago and have never missed it. But the interwebs are a different matter. I think we humans are hardwired to be attracted to novelty and the interwebs are a crack cocaine pipe full of informational novelty. Sometimes I’m using the internet wisely to, say, find the optimal planting times for rhubarb. But other times I’m reading nonsense about the Bavarian Illuminati hand signals Beyonce allegedly deployed during her Superbowl appearance.
Reboot, a Jewish arts organization is sponsoring a National Day of Unplugging from sundown to sundown March 1st to 2nd. I think this is a great idea and I plan on participating–I especially like their Sabbath Manifesto.
But the problem for me is not disconnecting from the internet–that’s easy–since I don’t have a smart phone I do that every time I leave the house. No, the problem is reconnecting responsibly, i.e. using the internet productively. The internet is, after all, a fantastic research and connectivity tool.
Ahead of the National Day of Unplugging I’d like to hear from readers about how you manage technology in your household–your strategies for disconnecting and connecting responsibly. If I get enough responses I’ll feature them in a follow up post on March 4th.
Just a quick note that I’ll be on HuffPost Live tonight at 6:30 PST to discuss, “Backyard Chicken Coops, greenhouses, beehives and compost bins show that back-to-the-land activities and sustainable living are back. Say Hello to Victory Gardens 2.0!”
You can watch here. Guests include:
The show will be archived and I’ll post a link when it appears on the HuffPost website.
You hear a pop and suddenly the stove door on your O’Keefe and Merritt flops down. Thankfully, with an O’Keefe and Merritt, you’ve got a stove that’s easy to fix. All you need to do is access the springs and repair or replace them. Here’s how you do it–read the rest after the jump:
Canning jars are the best way I know to avoid using plastic when freezing foods. You’ll want to use wide mouthed canning jars like the one above, that come in pint and half pint sizes. Don’t use jars with shoulders–these jars will break due to the expansion that happens when food is frozen.
Kerr and Ball jars are marked with a freeze fill line that’s about an inch below the rim. Don’t put food you intend to freeze above this line.
Avoiding plastic lids is more difficult. Two piece Ball lids have a BPA coating (which, I’ve heard that they are considering phasing out). I suppose you could use a BPA-free Tattler lid, though I haven’t tried them. For freezing I use food grade plastic lids sold by Ball. Food is not in contact with the lid, so I’m not too concerned about the plastic, though I understand that some people won’t agree. At least the lids are more easily reused than ziplock bags.
But jars won’t work for freezing a pork chop–see an interesting thread on Chowhound about this issue that Root Simple reader Peter Shirley alerted me to. Long story short: home freezing is a product of the post WWII era of plastics and refrigeration, so there’s not a lot of alternatives other than the jar option and less than optimal aluminum foil and heavy paper. It’s hard to beat the moisture retaining and freezer burn excluding properties of plastics. The plastic-free meat freezing alternative is to bring back the corner butcher shop and buy fresh.
