Not only did this breakfast satisfy my insane waffle-craving, I was able to incorporate all of my DIY ingredients in one recipe — clarified butter, brown sugar (dark, with two tablespoons of molasses instead of one), and vanilla extract (rum-based). Win-win.
Homemade bread’s a little like sex — even when it isn’t transcendent, it’s still pretty good.
To put it another way, this focaccia didn’t really come close to meeting my expectations for the Life List, but the charred bits of lemon rind and salty crunch were enough to keep me stealing bits all weekend whenever I found myself in the kitchen. And maaaaybe I found myself in the kitchen just a little more often than usual, but I’m not really helping my case here, am I?
I had two issues with it: The lemons were far too tart, even sliced paper-thin, and the bread itself wasn’t as pillowy as I know it could be. Using Meyer lemons would solve the first issue, but I’m not sure what to do about the second.
Any suggestions or recipe recommendations? I’d be happy to invite you over for a sample, assuming I don’t just park myself in the kitchen until it’s all gone.
A couple of months ago, I was inspired by Maggie Mason‘s Mighty Life List (a Bucket List for the young, healthy and positive-minded) to make my own (though I’m not so young and some might argue the other two points). As you probably could guess, quite a few cooking-related items are on there, despite their relative unimportance to the bigger stuff. But I’d argue that perfecting my smoker technique or turning out a sublime focaccia could add more value to my daily existence than seeing the Northern Lights, becoming fluent in French or going on an Auntie Mame-style journey around the world. (OK, maybe not that last one, but you get the idea.)
Not one to dawdle when I have a goal in mind, I took my first steps to making the Weber Smokey Mountain
Animated Otis, for your viewing pleasure.
Food post coming tomorrow, promise.
We’ve had a busy, busy, busy few weeks. Between traveling to St. Louis for Passover, catching up at work, and puttering around the house, I haven’t been doing a lot of cooking by my standards, though there has been some. More updates coming soon, but for now a picture from today’s birthday brunch at Double Crown — Chip Delany (the guest of honor) posing with his picture from last week’s New York Magazine.
Happy birthday, Chip. Here’s to many, many more.
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