Homemade Pasta Noodles

Recipe and procedure to follow.

Photos to start!

Pasta making

Real Caramel Sauce

This started as a dally into cake making but ended with unfortunate results (in regards to the cake at least). However, I DID create a fantastic recipe for real homemade caramel sauce.

Real Caramel Sauce

2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup of water

1 cup of water

Combine in sauce pan with high sides (the higher the better) sugar and water. Make sure you're wearing long sleeves and have a bowl of ice water available (in case things go badly). Turn the heat up all the way and stir occasionally. The second cup of water is for "stopping" and should be close to the the stove. The mixture will go through a variety of stages as it boils and reduces away. Watch in wonder, stir occasionally and wait until the mixture has thickened up, about ten minutes. It will start to turn from a light brown blush to a deep caramely brown. Turn the heat off, wait a few seconds and add half of the "stopping" water, when you have reached the shade of caramel that makes your heart sing AND stand back. There will be hissing and bubbles and lots of opportunity to get burned. Wait a few seconds and than whisk,whisk, whisk the mixture. Voila - caramel syrup.

Pour off and reserve for another occasion about 1/2 the caramel syrup. Return to low heat and add,
2 tablespoons of butter

Whisk and add,
1/3 cup of heavy whipping cream

Whisk, whisk, whisk and add,
1 tablespoon of corn starch.

Continue to whisk over low-to-medium heat until the sauce reaches a thickened, delicious consistency. Do not fret if its a little thin, it will thicken a lot as it cools. Allow to cool a bit before drizzling onto or into whatever you like caramel sauce on. The sauce can be re-warmed in the microwave for a few seconds if it get too thick.

Fall Preview

The end of summer is just around the corner. It hardly seems possible that in just a week, I'll be back in classes and all my free time will be claimed. This will be my last year at San Francisco State and my entire schedule is filled with classes that I have been taking pre-requisites for, for two years: Experimental Foods, Clinical Nutrition, Advanced Nutrition, etc... The tangible applications of Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry and Physics. For the first time in my academic career I will be immersed in the subject I have chosen for my work's focus. It is simultaneously exhilarating and scary-as-all hell.

I am also looking forward to the busiest social calendar I have seem in months. Visits from friends from Utah and Canada, family from Seattle; two weddings and a big, 50th-birthday blow-out.

Farther out, close friends are planning a spring wedding in which I may act as an assistant baker. In order to be prepared I am researching and practicing my cake baking skills. So, look forward to cakes, cakes and more cakes!

Orange-Soy Marinade

In a small bowl combine:
1/2 cup of orange juice
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of rice wine vinegar
1 inch section of smashed/grated fresh ginger
2 cloves of garlic, smashed
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
1 tablespoon oh honey

Great marinade for chicken (several hours) or salmon (about an hour). With boneless, skinless chicken pieces I bread in panko and pan fry. With salmon, I grill.

Extra marinade can be brought to boil for a minute or two and used as a glaze to finish the dish.

Peach Ice Cream

4 fresh peaches (2 very ripe, 2 ripe but firm)
1/4 sugar

Lemon juice

Turn on your broiler and position rack approximately 4 inches from the top. Cut the peaches in half, remove the pit and sprinkle the cut side with sugar. Place on a baking sheet and broil until brown spots start to appear on surface, approximately 5 minutes. If the skins easily slip off the peaches, remove them. If they do not, don't worry about. Cut the peaches into bite-sized pieces and place in a bowl. If your some of your peaches are mushy enough, macerate with a fork or hand. If they are not, don't worry about it. Sprinkle with lemon juice (to prevent discoloring). Set to the side and allow to cool.

1 1/2 cups milk (1 or 2%)
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large sauce pan, over low-medium heat, warm the milk, and cream until steam starts to rise. Do not allow to boil.

2 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
1 - 3 tablespoons of water
Combine yolks and sugar in a small bowl. Mix to combine. Add enough water to make if just barely pourable. Add several tablespoons of the warm milk-cream to the eggs, stirring constantly to temper. Pour slowly into the saucepan, stirring constantly to avoid cooking the egg. You can slowly raise the temperature but be very careful to avoid boiling the mixture. Stir constantly until mixture thickens (think think pudding). If you think you have cooked the egg, you can strain to remove bits. Transfer to a bowl, stir in vanilla and refrigerate until completely cool.

Once cool, add peaches and freeze according to your ice cream maker's directions.
Towards the end (about 20 minutes), watch your bowl to avoid over-flowing and making a mess. The addition of the peaches was at the the limit of what my ice cream maker could accommodate (but worth it).

Time: More than an hour (I forced the custard to cool in the freezer), less than two
Yield: Generous quart