Rosemary Focaccia

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a good baker.  I’ve been able to make pies from scratch from the age of 6, but breads, cookies and cakes are my weak spot in the kitchen. This is certainly an area that I plan on improving.  It’s the exact science, measurements and all of the known and unknown variables of baking that can trip up any cook.  The other day I bought a 25# bag of bread flour.  One way or another, my baking skills are going to improve!

So what should I start with?  Well, the rosemary bush is always ready and willing to give some product to the kitchen, so Rosemary Focaccia it is.  Focaccia is an ideal bread for me.  It’s not too crunchy or hard.  It works great to make a sandwich.  Plus it’s strong enough to slice and dip or grill and top.  I looked over several recipes and this is the one that I went with for Trial #1.  I made two batches at once.  I figured if I was going through the routine, I might as well double the product for basically the same effort.  We had a family reunion coming up and I planned on taking some to share.  I made a spinach and white cheddar dip to go with it.  I sliced the bread into 3/4” slices, making it a great size for dipping.  Focaccia is also great with a simple dipping sauce of extra virgin, balsamic, garlic and herbs.  

There are plenty of good recipes online.  It would take me many frustrating trials to put together a recipe.  Here is the recipe that I used for this batch. 

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/focaccia_bread_with_rosemary/

Homegrown, Homemade Chipotle Peppers

I finally moved ahead with something that I've been aiming to do for a couple of years now...make homemade Chipotles.  This pepper has grown leaps and bounds in popularity over the past few years.  Besides the burrito place, you can find Chipotle this and that pretty much everywhere you look.  Even McDonald's has Chipotle on its menu.  Well, it's at least called Chipotle.  Who knows what kind of ingredients actually flavor it?  Chipotle peppers are smoked Jalapenos.  if you are a pepper lover and grower, it seems that you end up with more Jalapenos than you know what to do with by the end of summer.  Sure you can always freeze them.  Salsa is great to, but how about some homemade Chipotles!  If  you have smoker, then all ya need are some jalapenos and wood chips.

I smoked ribs and bbq for the 4th of July and it just so happened that the first dozen or so Jalapenos were mature enough to pick from the backyard.  With these two events coinciding, the perfect time to make homemade chipotles was upon me.  I placed them on a wire rack and laid the smoke to them.  They absorbed a cloud of Hickory for about 4 hours and were left in the low heat of the smoker for nearly 24 more.  As with pretty much anything else that you smoke, you want to be sure that the heat does not become an issue.  Remember  to smoke them low and slow.  If your smoker climbs above much more than 200, you'll end up cooking and possibly burning the Chipotles.  The great thing is that once the smoker is up and running, there is not any other prep work.  Traditionally the peppers are allowed to fully mature and ripen to their red color.  The Jalapenos in the backyard had reached a decent size, So into the smoke they went.  This picture shows 4 different phases of the chipotle; Green Jalapeno, Chipotle, grinding in the mortar and pestle and finally chipotle powder.  If you want to purchase Chipotles, you will most likely find them canned in a tomato sauce called Adobo.  These dried versions will work great for rehydrating and blending into bbq sauce, soup and who knows what else.

The Long Awaited Olive Tree!

I've added some really cool plants to the garden this year.  Kumquat, Blood Orange, Cape Gooseberries and even a tea plant.  It's been exciting to pick them out and to see them become established and productive in the backyard.  The newest addition to our backyard garden is a Mission Olive tree.  An olive tree is definitely new territory for me.  Until a year or two ago, I had never even seen an olive tree in person. Before receiving the Mission Olive, I had only seen a couple of tiny trees that weren't much bigger than a small twig.  The newest addition to the backyard stands a little more than 5 feet tall.   The trunk is very flimsy.  If not for the bamboo and landscaping tape for stabilization, this tree would barely stand on its own.  From what I've read, olives require well drained soil.  Aside from that, they're not real picky.  They're commonly planted on hillsides where grapes won't grow.  If all goes well it should begin producing olives in 2 years. Unfortunately, I won't be sampling out any homegrown olive oil for quite some time. approximately 40# of olives are required to produce one gallon of olive oil!