All posts by Nate

Nate is the Techie / Barbecue-y half of the House of Annie team. Born in Hawaii, his favorite hobby is surfing...WEB surfing that is. Visit my Google+ Profile
Bakes, Fruit, Western, Yeast

Cranberry Raisin Walnut Bread

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We’re lucky to have a good, artisanal bakery in the Bay Area known as Acme Breads. We bought (and devoured) a few loaves from their stall at the San Francisco Ferry Building Farmer’s Market. Recently, they debuted a cranberry-walnut whole-wheat bread that was divine. Annie tasted some during a trip to Lunardi’s and immediately placed an order for a boule.

A few days later, when that boule was but a happy memory, she decided to make her own cranberry-walnut bread, based on the “Cranberry-Walnut Celebration Bread” recipe in “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice”.

Though the recipe called for 3 cups of white flour, she substituted one cup of whole wheat flour and added some vital wheat gluten. She also added some golden raisins to the mix.

Here is the bread at the first rise after kneading.

She skipped the braiding part and just baked the dough as loaves in two bread pans. Here is the final result.

The loaf lasted just about as long as the Acme bread.

Aloha, Nate

Texas

Rudy’s BBQ (San Antonio)

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I am a barbecue aficionado. Before my “awakening”, I used to think that Tony Roma’s was the best place for ribs. But then I found out that true barbecue does not involve boiling or steaming meat to tenderize it before slathering it with sauce and throwing it on the grill. True barbecue comes by slowly cooking meat in the heat and smoke of a wood fire. Sauce, if it is to be served, should be on the side so as not to hide any imperfections but complement the meat’s smokiness.

I like to think that I can turn out some pretty good ribs, which rival or beat any restaurant ribs, including specialty barbecue joints. That could be easy to do here in the south SF Bay Area, but Texas is a different story. Texas is one of the hotbeds of barbecue.

One joint that was recommended to us by a friend is Rudy’s. My uncle, himself an experienced barbecuer, claims they make the best brisket. So while we were in San Antonio we decided to visit Rudy’s for a late lunch / early dinner. We chose to go to the location near SeaWorld.

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Texas

Hoover’s Cooking (Austin)

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A friend recommended Hoover’s Cooking in Austin as a place to get some good chicken-fried steak. We got there in the late morning, a little before they started serving lunch, but were seated promptly.

Annie got the chicken-fried steak and the garlic-cheese grits. The thin steak was breaded in a light batter, then deep fried until golden brown. She liked the breading, but thought the steak wasn’t tender or salty enough. The kids liked the grits more than she did.


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