Harris Bistro

 Do you Sourdough? If you DO sourdough you know there is discard.  If you were raised like I was, my Mother NEVER threw any food away. Both her and my Dad lived through the Depression, both here in the US and in Europe. It was NOT good times. Whenever I think how hard this pandemic has been, I remember their stories and think.....this is not that bad. Hang in there....We can do this. To that, I have a VERY hard time throwing any food away. Got some old-ish fruit? Dehydrate it and make fruitcake! Got some juice that's long in the fridge? Concentrate it and add it to your fruitcake! Got some sourdough starter discard? USE it for SOMETHING! Google sourdough discard! Others have similar issues. I ran across this from King Arthur Flour. I tweaked it a bit, but use it to make CRUMPETS! Which are like English Muffins , but MUCH better. INGREDIENTS: 1 cup (227g) sourdough starter, unfed/discard - THE TWEAK: Feed it and let it grow for 3-4 hours. This makes it so much fluffier 1 teaspo...

 Bread for Food Banks -  2 times a month I bake bread that's donated to local food banks. I am not alone, in fact I just started! I joined NW Bread Bakers. We bake using local wheat, locally milled then donate to local food banks. Interested? Here's a link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfcLAimwN1reNIY2MFmC6hLx1XZ7M6qPySTAeYOr1ZhcAJXUw/viewform?gxids=7757 You can find them on Facebook too! Just google them! I heard about them during a "Food For Thought" podcast. IMMEDIATELY I KNEW I had to join! I JUST finished delivering my second donation. Holy Cow this bread is good! Join us!

Earlier this month we decided to order a steam/combi oven. We actually bake - a lot! And often I could use 2 ovens. Plus, the best bread is baked with steam at the start of the bake. This allows the best "oven spring" which is the last expansion of the yeast prior to it's last gasp. I've been baking bread in my cast iron pots which acts like a steam oven. Here's a quick pic of the boule from the cast iron (#1) and one done in the steam oven (#2). Both are good! My scoring was better on #1. The little hearts were made with scissors. Little cuts made on about a 45deg angle. More to come on the oven. Right now, I've got a pork shoulder roast in it for pulled port. 

  Harris Bistro - Biscotti I love biscotti and so does my husband. They are great dipped in coffee in the morning or dipped in whisky at night. Here's the recipe! 150g Sugar 113g Unsalted Butter 2 Eggs  1 Tablespoon  Vanilla Extract (if no beans)  275g AP Flour  1.5 teaspoons Baking Powder   0.5 teaspoon  Salt 145g  Slivered Almonds any dried fruit you'd like to add - just a few suggestions dried  cranberries candied ginger dried cherries etc? use your imagination PREPARATION Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Position rack in center of oven. With a small knife, scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and place in a small bowl. Add the sugar and use your fingers to mix the vanilla evenly into the sugar. Set aside. With an electric mixer, cream the butter until light. Add the vanilla sugar and mix until fluffy. Add the eggs and the vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Stir together the flour, baking powder, salt and almonds and stir into the butter...