Wednesday, November 7, 2007

IT TAKES A CERTAIN KIND OF PERSON...

How can you screw up on a recipe that only has 6 ingredients?  Simple... just give the recipe to ME!  It was a basic bread recipe, flour, sugar, salt, shortening, water and yeast.  I was doing okay until I got to the yeast part.  I'm not a baker.  I think the last time anyone baked anything in my house was when my sister Lisa was here in March.  I seem to recall her saying something about my jar of yeast being a little old.

That little jar of yeast is now 8 months older.  For some reason I thought that a little pinch more would help just in case the yeast was too old and tired to rise.  Okay, maybe it was a little more than a little pinch, but the yeast was expired by over a year!

The dough was real slow to rise and I waited over 3 hours for it to double in bulk.  The soft dough was giving off a nice, strong yeasty aroma and I dug in to make my manapua.  The dough was real elasticky and when I stretched it out, it almost immediately shrank back to its original shape.  No biggie, I just had to work faster.

I stuffed and shaped them, then steamed them for 20 minutes.  Everyone's mouth was drooling by the time the kitchen timer buzzed.  The bare minimum time allotted for cool down and we dug in.

And then we spit it all out.

The filling was delicious, but the steamed bun tasted like 101 proof Everclear.  Confused I grabbed the ball of unused dough.  Even before I got it close to my face I could smell the fermentation and my eyes began to water from the fumes.

Is that normal?  Is that even possible?

Drunk bread.  I'm sure there's something I can exploit there, maybe a new  taste sensation.  But not for manapua

The Oompas went to bed hungry last night.

Tonight = Tobasco Steak.

Well, I've already screwed that one up too. I didn't have enough Tobasco sauce to marinade the meat in so I substituted Franks Hot Sauce.  Hopefully it won't matter too much.

Other wise the Oompas will go to bed hungry again.

(I felt so guilty that I actually got up early this morning on my day off and made them breakfast.)

Incidentally, as I sit here blogging and sipping on a glass of cheap boxed Zinfandel I can't help but notice the similarity in smell and taste of the wine and last night's bread... very interesting!  I'm going to have to try it again, maybe with a garlic topping and a little extra virgin olive oil for dipping.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

LOL... aparently too much yeast = bad.  LOL  Enjoy your white zin!  

be well,
Dawn
http://journals.aol.com/princesssaurora/CarpeDiem/

Anonymous said...

LOL I'd call your dinner last night a yeast infection (but not in front of your kids!) ;)

Luv,
Promise

Anonymous said...

lol lol.....maybe you can bottle it!
lol
love ya,
carlene

Anonymous said...

I suck at baking from scratch but ever now and then I make a good batch of yeast rolls. Going to bed hungry sucks big time! I remember once when we were kids and didn't have anything to eat, I woke up in the night chewing on my quilt because I was dreaming of eating a cheeseburger. Back then that burger was a porter house to us. LOL I cried when I realized the quilt wasn't a real burger.

We had homemade beef stew tonight with soft bread and butter. It was very good. Hope yours is too Dorn!

Lahoma

Anonymous said...

Jodi, please don't invite me for dinner when I come to visit. We will just have cocktails and wine. Well maybe some hot dogs in a blanket from Costcos.
Bill

Anonymous said...

I'd rather drink my yeast in a cold glass of beer lol
donna In TEXAS

Anonymous said...

Oh bless it!  You're a good mom to get up to fix breakfast!
Traci

Anonymous said...

No Japanese food? My MIL was the best cook, she taught me so much...I have my whole extended family hooked on oriental cooking. Make Gyoza's your kids would love it...love, Sandi

Anonymous said...

I'm a terrible cook!  I once made corn bread and forgot the corn meal, no kidding! LOL
Missie

Anonymous said...

Bread always ferments...that is what makes it rise.  HEHEHE When we were brewing homemade beer, it smelled just like bread rising.

Anonymous said...

LOL I could imagine serving that bread to an AA meeting. Why yes I am wicked and also 3 years sober (winks). Thanks for the laughter today Jo. (Hugs) Indigo

Anonymous said...

LOL i have had yeast that wouldn't rise but never taste bad lol hope the steak turned out ok

Deb

Anonymous said...

Yeast is a finicky ingredient...and one of the most important that it be fresh.  Of course, how fresh is it sitting on the store shelf??  I've purchased many jars and packets of yeast with the best of intentions of making bread...then 9, 10 months or even a couple of years will pass, then I have to go buy more.  Hmmm, guess that doesn't count.  Try it again with new yeast...don't you love that smell of bread baking??!
xoxo ~Myra