Radio UserLand Notes

I consider myself an amateur chef, right down to the chef's coat and my shrine to Alton Brown (stored episodes galore on the TiVo), but I didn't have a food processor. I'm not sure why it took so long for me to bite the bullet, besides the fact that they are expensive, but yesterday was the day to do it. My local Famous-Barr department store was closing out the 11-cup classic model (Pro Custom 11, DLC-8S) for $129.99 and Tammy had a $10 off coupon that expired the same day.

It should be noted that I drop $129 on computer equipment without a second thought, but this thing really made me stop and think. After looking it over and comparing prices on Amazon to the store (thanks to SprintPCS and my Treo) it was obvious that it was a good deal. Still, I was feeling a bit uncertain, so we finished our mall shopping and talked about it at the same time. Tammy finally made me understand that while I saw it as an indulgence, she understood the utility of a good food processor and that I should quit denying myself. No problem! Back to the store then and we walked out the with (heavy) appliance. We looked at the models and compared prices--there was a $30 difference between the 7-cup and this model--deciding on the 11-cup.

We brought it home and I unpacked and cleaned the bowl, pusher and blades. I found it some counter space, assembled the pieces and got out the ingredients for the inaugural dish--Steve's Hummus.

Side note: My hummus recipe is often my highest trafficked webpage and it's currently Google's 8th for "hummus"

Hummus

I haven't followed my own recipe straight from the webpage for awhile, winging it from memory, so I got a chance to "audit my work". I followed the steps in the recipe and was ready for my first use. Lid locked. Pusher in place. Plug it in. Press "Pulse".

Wow.

Now I understand why people buy these things. It was amazing! Quiet and fast, the Cuisinart made short work of the chick peas. In fact when the recipe was done, I realized that I over-processed the food. The flavor of the hummus is fine, but the texture is a little thin. I made a double batch of the hummus and put it in a glass refrigerator container for eating later. Our old "food processor" was an extra attachment for a blender and it had a scant 2 1/2 cup capacity. The larger size of the bowl ment less mess and less waste in addition to easier handling. Cleanup was a snap--easier than I expected--and within 5 minutes I was ready for the next project.

Bread

I've been making more bread lately, using a KitchenAid mixer my wife and I got 9 years ago as a wedding gift from my parents. My mom made bread for years and when she got her KitchenAid, it was used nearly every time. I'm guessing she wanted to pass along the tradition to us when she gave us the gift and it worked. I've used it for bread plenty of times, most recently making a recipe from a book "A Chef's Tale--A Memoir of Food, France and America" by Pierre Franey (pg. 232--Quick French Country Bread).

The recipe is very straightforward and works well in the KitchenAid. I've modified it a bit, keeping the flour to wheat flour proportions the same but weighing instead of measuring with "cups". With flour, weight is the only consistent measure so the first time I did the recipe, I measured with cups into a bowl and then used ratios from then on. If you don't have the book, pick it up used because there are more recipes than this one, but here it is:

• 5 cups (710g) of all purpose flour
• 1 cup (140g) of wheat flour
• 2 packages of rapid rise yeast
• 2 1/3 cups of water at 90 degrees F
• 1 tablespoon of salt
• 400 degrees F oven

Instructions: In 1/3 cup of the water, dissolve the yeast. Pour in to the food processor and then add all of the flour. Pulse for 10 seconds. Add the salt. Pulse for 10 seconds. Add the rest of the water while processing. Continue to process until dough ball is formed. Remove the dough and turn out on to a lightly floured surface and knead. Place in a floured bowl and let rise for at least 30 minutes until doubled. Turn out on to the same floured surface and lightly press flat, then fold the dough once, press lightly, then fold again. Shape into loaves and place on a greased cookie sheet to rise--at least 1 hour. Bake at 400 degrees F for 50 minutes until 200 degrees F internal temperature.

I'll write up more on this recipe later and give it a permanent link. The Cuisinart did well and was easier to work with and clean up than the KitchenAid. I can't wait to see what this does with pastry dough.