Monthly Archives: May 2014

TJ’s Kougin Amann, again

TJs KA - again

Trader Joe’s kougin amann, for the third time.

This time I really liked the shape — I smooshed them (pinched four corners together) into a cupcake pan. They cooked pretty evenly, except the bottom — which was likely due to the non-preheated baking steal that was under the cookie pan.

I think this, minus the baking steel, is probably my kougin amann baking shape of choice.

Tartine’s Frangipane Croissant

tartine croissant

A cross-section of the best croissant ever.
That’s all.

Shamiq and I stopped by yesterday, and also picked up a raspberry chocolate croissant. They don’t make them often, and I suppose it’s probably a seasonal thing. I hadn’t even realized Tartine made seasonal items (other than the fruit with their bread pudding).

BUT NOW I KNOW.

Must go at all times of the year! In reality though, the almond croissant is better than the raspberry chocolate, but I’m not a big fan of chocolate croissants in general. I find that the chocolate is too heavy compared to the light buttery flavor of the croissant.

Newb SQL Time

Because this is a blog for notes and I’m forgetful. Here’s some SQL things:

1. Connecting to a remote mySQL server over ssh: (source)
ssh -L 3306:localhost:3306 raccoon@raccoonstar.com

Now you can use MySQL Workbench instead of just a command line! woo!

2. Now, to import my CSVs… Make the database
create database testdb;

Then create the table… (After stealing Shamiq’s cleverness and using find-replace to steal the first line of the CSV and replace with varchar(255s…))
create table TableNameWoo (
column1 varchar(255),
column2 varchar(255),
column3 varchar(255));

Now that your table exists, import dat CSV~
LOAD DATA LOCAL INFILE '~/csvs/filename.csv'
INTO TABLE testdb.TableNameWoo FIELDS TERMINATED BY ',' LINES TERMINATED BY '\n';

mySQL then yelled at me: ERROR 1148 (42000): The used command is not allowed with this MySQL version

Google then revealed that I needed to start mysql with “–local-infile”, which worked! (Though I’m not sure why)ˇ

Now you have a table with your CSV in it! Woo. :D

Breakfast of delicious leftovers

Lengua and chicken hash

Breakfast is a magic meal. Leftovers are always an acceptable meal, especially if topped by an egg.

Chicken Lengua Sweet Potato Hash-thingy
Peel and chop sweet potatoes into chunks ~1/2 in cubes
Boil for 20 (could have probably done 15 minutes), then let air dry.
Fry onions, garlic and potatoes
Throw in meat
Throw in egg
Eat and be happy

*Will this work better with baked tubers? This didn’t quite crisp…

Fruit Galette

Galette

Here is one very blown out picture of a fruit galette. This is what I get for focusing on the filling, which happens to be very dark.

1 pie crust (I’m lazy and use premade ones)
2 tsp cornstarch
~1/4 c sugar (I usually do more like 3/4ths of the 1/4c, but I’m not very precise…)
splash of vanilla
fruit (I like peaches, berries and even pears, usually approximately 1 peach/pear + 1-2c berries)

Mix up the fruit, sugar, cornstarch and vanilla. Let sit for a few minutes. I like using some sliced fruit, since those release liquid.

Roll out your crust, mound the fruit mix in the center, then fold up the crust.

Brush with a beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Bake at 375F until the crust looks done. Usually 35-45 minutes for me.

Rising Post Shaping?

I’ve always wondered if letting loaves rise post-shaping made a difference. And the answer is yes! A pretty big difference.

The loaf on top was shaped, then chucked in the oven in about five minutes. The loaf on the bottom was shaped, sat for half an hour, then baked. Huge difference in appearance. Insides were about the same though. (Though these rye bricks don’t rise much anyway)

Sidenote: This post about “Doodies” is hilarious. Cooking as a sport ftw!

Trader Joe’s Kougin Amann

Thanks to Serious Eats & Shamiq, I now know that TJs sells these lovely things.

TJs kougin amann

$3.99 for 4 frozen kougin amann, way cheaper than any bakery. And way less work than making them myself.

Cooked Kougin Amann

Results? Pretty good. Especially given that I could eat them warm out of the oven. Flakey, sugary, slightly crunchy. My weekend plans involve taking some of these apart and trying to add in marmalade, fruit or chocolate.