Mac and Cheese With Dogs. Wife's Pasta and Overnight Country Blonde


 
Cliff Bartlett

Cliff Bartlett

R.I.P. 5/17/2021
I debated whether to even post this or not. We had our foot long hot dog fix for the month and I was looking for a side. Usually go with potato or macaroni salad. Wanted something different. Was browsing through Alton Brown's website I saw a macaroni and cheese recipe that sounded good. The other cook was my wife's but I decided to take another stab at Ken Forkish's Overnight Country Blonde bread to go with her spaghetti dinner. This recipe has been kicking my butt for nearly a year. This is a pure levain bread and contains no store bought yeast. The three recipes for this type dough are, in my opinion, the hardest in the book. Never once had a decent loaf and threw several others in the trash before they even got to the oven. I've been working with my levain for several weeks and it is extremely robust right now. This latest loaf still needs work and practice, but overall I was extremely happy. Decent rise on the loaf, not great, but decent. Excellent flavor and the crust was amazing. Anyway, here goes.

Mixed casserole and cooked in kettle for 30 minutes.







Used Casper foot longs, topped with my chili, mustard and onion.







A few quick shots of my bread and my wife's wonderful spaghetti dinner.







Well, that's it. Hope you're all having a nice weekend. Thanks for looking.
 
Last edited:
A good hot dog is one of life's greatest guilty pleasures, and those look great, Cliff! Glad that the bread worked out better for you this time (any notes to give you a clue why?), and the mac/cheese had to hit the spot!

Nice cookin', sir!

Rich
 
That is one great cook on the grill. Always great to see cooks that are not just centered on smoked foods.
 
The dogs and mac look really good and your wife's spaghetti looks excellent also. I gave up on Ken's overnight blond, using a pure Levin at 5000+ft just gets you an oversize pancake. I've created a no knead blond that's a start to finish four hour job, it does use a little commercial yeast along with a cup of my recently fed starter. Made it about ten times and perfect every time. It's my go to bread now great rust and crumb and my starter which is just the natural wild yeast in the air gives it a great taste.
Also my frustration level is way down on my bread making now;)
 
Looks great Cliff! I have a good hot dog bun recipe now I just need to make some dogs!
 
I'm sure I can't teach you much about baking bread, but I'd try a little more sugar and a little less salt to get a better rise. Looks nice & airy & crusty, perfect for that spaghetti. My other fav pic was the browned cheese on the mac.
 
Cliff both those dinners look delicious, I'd be happy to take a plate of each. Please tell your wife, her spaghetti looks awesome.
 
Thanks for the nice comments everyone. Greatly appreciated.

Bob.... The last time you posted the Jingle "Let's All Go To The Lobby" on Chris's T Shirt thread, I had that stuck in my head for a week. Thanks for the new material! ;)
 
Fantastic looking meal Cliff. But where is the overnight country blonde??

Ah, I see it's a type of bread. Oops! :o
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top