Kaiser Rolls

Today, I made Kaiser Rolls, and the result was successful. Wenlei immediately finished one and gave me a warm kiss afterwards. No word is needed.









Here is the recipe:

• Bread Profile:Enriched, standard dough; indirect method; commercial yeast.
• Days to Make: 2
• Day 1: 1 1/4 hours for pate fermentee
• Day 2: 1 hour to de-chill pate fermentee; 10 to 15 minutes kneading; 3 1/2 to 4 hours fermentation, shaping, and proofing; 15 to 30 minutes baking.
• Commentary: I use knotting roll design, direct dough without malt syrup. It turns out to be just fine. Indirect dough could be more tasty.
  

The distinguishing characteristic of a kaiser roll is the start pattern on the top and a thin, slightly crisp crust that yields to the first bite and crumbles deliciously in the mouth around whatever sandwich filling it holds.

Ingredients : for making 6 large rolls or 9 small rolls

• Pate fermentee: 1 1/2 cups
• Bread flour: 2 1/4 coups
• Salt: 3/4 teaspoon
• Malt syrup: 1 1/2 teaspoons
• Instant yeast: 1 teaspoon
• Egg: 1 large
• Oil: 1 1/2 tablespoon
• Water (lukewarm): 3/4 cup

Steps:

1. Take the pate fermentee out of the refrigerator 1 hour before making the dough. Cut it up into about 10 small pieces. Cover it with a towel or plastic wrap and let sit for 1 hour to take off the chill.
   
2. Stir together the flour, salt, malt, and yeast in a bowl. Add the pate fermentee, egg, oil and water. Stir for 1 minute, or until the ingredient form a ball. Add water if there is still loose flour.
   
3. Lightly dust the counter with flour, transfer the dough to the counter, and begin kneading. Knead for about 10 minute, adding flour, if needed, to make a dough that is soft and supple, tacky but not sticky. The dough should pass the windowpane test. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it to coat it with the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
   
4. Ferment at room temperature for 2 hours, or until the dough double in size. If the dough double in size before 2 hours have elapsed, remove it, knead it slightly to degas it, and return it to the bowl to continue fermenting until doubled from original size or until 2 hours have elapsed.
   
5. Remove the dough from the bowl and divide it into 6 or 9 rolls. Mist the rounds lightly with spray oil, cover with a towel or plastic wrap, and let the dough relax for 10 minutes.
   
6. Prepare the individual rolls by the knotting technique.
   
7. Proof the rolls for 45 minutes at room temperature, then flip them upside-down. Mist again with spray oil, cover the pan, and continue proof for another 30 to 45 minutes, or until the rolls are double their original size.
   
8. Preheat the oven to 425F with the oven rack on the middle shelf. Uncover the rolls and prepare them for baking. Mist rolls with water and sprinkle sesame seeds over the top.
   
9. Place the pan in the oven, spray the oven walls with water, and close the door. After 10 minutes, rotate the pan for even baking and lower the oven temperature to 400F. Continue baking until the rolls are a medium golden brown. This will take 15 to 30 minutes for large rolls, or less for smaller rolls.
   
10. Remove the rolls from the pan, and cool them down for at least 30 minutes.
    

Steam Injection and Crust

The breads I made are rustic and their crust is thick. I think it is due to the baking time.
The longer I baked, the thicker the crust became. However, if I paint the dough with water just before baking it, the water may form a coat of steam around the dough. The steam may help lower down the temperature, therefore the crust could be thin even though the baking time is the same.

I learned that professional ovens come with mist injection devices in order to make good quality crust. I think it is based on the same principle. Home-oven does not have the luxury of steam injection. I hope water painting skill I imagine could do the same effect. I will try it out next time I make breads.

Dullness and Quality

I am now re-reading Robert Pirsig's ZAMM without any specific order whenever I am in toilet. Here are some paragraphs I read this morning. ( Very strange, I read best when I am in toilet. This is a habit since my youth. )

"Or if he take whatever dull jobs he is stuck with--and they are all, sooner or later, dull--and, just to keep himself amused, starts to look for options of Quality, and secretly pursues these options, just for their own sake, thus making an art out of what he is doing, he is likely to discover that he becomes a much more interesting person and much less of an object to the people around him because his Quality decisions change him too. And not only the job and him, but others too because Quality tends to fan out like waves. The Quality job he did not think anyone was going to see is seen, and the person who sees it feels a little better because of it, and is likely to pass that feeling on to others, and in that way the Quality tends to keep on going."

Indeed, from my personal experience, Quality usually grows out from Dullness. Dullness frees up our minds, hence our brains could think of Quality when they are free from forms. That is why meditation is done in such a way. I particularly like the phrase ".. and they are all, sooner or later..", which is very true in this world. The question is that when it becomes dull, what can you do about it? The way you handle it determines your Quality.

What is good; what is bad? Hard to tell !

The title concludes my thoughts regarding the film, Quills. It also represents my attitude towards this world.

The movie, Quills, was inspired by the stories of Marquis de Sade, who was an atheist, an extreme freedom philosopher and a very controversial erotic writer. The English word, sadism, is derived from his name.

The brief plot of the movie goes on like this:

Marquis was prisoned in a madmen asylum overseen by a liberal Abbe. To cure Marquis, the Abbe encouraged him to write. With helps from a chambermaid, Madeleine, Marquis's stories leaked out and got published. His erotic stories became popular among people and the infamous popularity soon called for misfortunes. Emperor Napolean banned Marquis's stories and dispatched Dr. Royer Collard to tighten the administration of the asylum. That is where the movie begins its own story. With each of Marquis's fightings to write, the policy was further tightened and more misfortunes happened. The movie ends with the death of Madeleine, Simone's turn into a prostitute from an innocent angel, the Abbe's self-destruction into madness and Marquis's final relief.

In the story, there are several contrast characters -- Dr. Royer Collard and Marquis; Madeleine and Dr's young, superficially virginal wife, Simone. The Abbe himself also contrasts to Marquis, who does not believe in God.

Dr. Collad and Marquis stand on the two ends of spectrum in moral, at least, on the surface. Marquis never pretends to be a Saint. He is not shamed of being a libertine and an atheist. He is whom he claims to be. Dr. Collad, on the contrary, is a beast with a human-being's form, an evil with moral's outfit. He is a cruel old man who has no pity with other people. It was he that cruelly locked the cell's door while he knew that Madeleine was in danger inside. Marquis , in another cell, bursted in tears for being unable to save her. Who is moral in front of God, if there is one?

Madeleine assisted Marquis to spread his stories. She helped other patients in the asylum. She secretly loves the Abbe. She likes marquis's erotic stories. She said that "I imagined to play a part in those dirty stories so I could be a good girl in this real world". And, she died as a virgin. Madeleine is like a virginal lotus out from a dirty pond.

Unlike Madeleine, Simone was raised up in a church and received good education. She did not know of any earthly thing before marrying to Dr. Collad. She reads Marquis's stories, and before long, she seduced other man and indulged in lust.

Both Madeleine and Simone read same stories and why did they behave so differently? Who should be blamed, the reader Simone or the author Marquis? Why does looking-good thing turn bad and looking-bad thing good? After all, Marquis said that he only 'records' what truly happened. Why are people so weak in oppose to the truth? Otherwise, how can we explain the Abbe's final madness? Perhaps that is why Marquis chose to be an atheist since he has seen the hell.

Indeed, it is so difficult to tell what is good and what is bad in this world.

Example of Economic Hit Man

This is a contemporary example of Economic Hit Man.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9642196

--
--peter
http://lishihwei.googlepages.com/home

Slaughterhouse-Five

Kurt Vonnegut passed away last night. This was the news being broadcasted on NPR when the radio alarm waked me at 7:30 AM. I knew Vonnegut, but I thought he was dead long time ago. I did not realize he was a living icon until he now is surely dead.

To be precise, I don't know Vonnegut himself, but his masterpiece, Slaughterhouse-Five. To be more precise, I forget about the content of the novel, but keep all memories associated with it. They happened in that hot and humid summer in 1992; they happened when I liked one girl very much. In 1992, during the summer, I stayed at school and took Japanese 101 in the neighboring QingHua U. since that girl also took the class. To see her is my only motivation to take the course. I thought that I may have a chance to chat with her after the class on the way back to Chiao-Tung U.

Days in and days out. My Japanese and other things (I took other classes, too) improved a lot except my relationship with her. She was still like a dove which always kept a safe distance from me, and I was just too shy to say anything beyond "Hello. It is so hot today." A dumb conversation easily choked a budding love affair. I was troubled by this situation very much, but just did not know how to fix it.

To attend Japanese 101, I had to pass by a big white building in Qing-Hua U., and I was very curious about that building. One day, in order to expel my sorrow, I decided to visit it. It was the main library. Comparing to the one in Chiao-Tung, this library contains much more novels--the fine, contemporary but classical ones. Slaughterhouse-Five is among them. For the rest of the vacation, I constantly visited the library during weekends. I picked up a looking-good novel, took a table close to the window, dived into the novel and forgot about the girl.

I now can't fully recall what Slaughterhouse-Five is about, but all memories associated with the book in that hot summer in 1992 come back to me as vivid as they just happened yesterday.

秋游波城

秋游波城 2001文蕾作

深秋枫正红，携家波城游。
久闻哈佛名，直奔剑桥头。
红叶映新骄，旧舍叙史悠。
踊摸铜像足，愿得子孙优。
又行查理河，垂柳拂岸秀。
两校依水立，严谨数麻工。
漫步自由道，细述自由说。
兴尽披霞归，友人烧烤候。
美酒伴佳肴，喜极展歌喉。
畅谈陈年趣，不知夜已旧。
当即许好友，它日再来游。

Homemade Bread

Recently, I developed my own philosophy of craftsmanship and I decided to apply it. Artisan bread is one of things I can contribute to.

The result is quite successful. The bread tastes great under the cherry blossoms. Here is my secret for its quality:

• 3 1/3 cups of flour, 1 1/2+ cup of warm water, 2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of instant active yeast.
• Mix all of them together, roughly kneading into a shaggy ball.
• Rest the ball for 10-15 minutes.
• Kneading the ball for another 10-15 minutes until it becomes smooth.
• Pre-heat the oven to 'warm' level. Put the mass into a big mix bowl covered with a wet sheet of paper-tower. Put the bowl in the oven for rising.
  
• Leave it in the oven for 8 hours.
• On a well-floured surface, roll the flour mass and cut it into four balls. Each of balls can be stuffed with minced garlic.
  
• Pre-heat the oven for 420 F.
• Put the balls into the oven for 40 minutes.
  

The reason why resting the mass for 10-15 minutes is to let the fabric of flour reorganize themselves. This is what I learned from the book. It speeds up the whole process, then reduces the number of kneading, then reduces the exposed surface to oxygen, and therefore, increases the flavor of the bread. Raising in the oven is my idea. Oven is a perfect place for raising since it is a closed environment with controllable temperature setting. The ideal temperature is 70-80F and that is why I preheat the oven with 'warm' setting. Holes in bread is a key to a successful bread. The more holes the bread has; the softer the bread is. The number of holes depends on the degree of raising. That is why I chose to use instant yeast and 8-hour duration for raising. Moisture also directly contributes to the softness of bread. More water during the mixing stage makes softer bread. Bake the bread in high temperature first, and the hardened surface of the bread encapsulates water inside.

Xiao Tian tossed on the bed and could not sleep, so he got up and wandered along the beach. It was a clear night. Moonlight sprinkled down from the sky. Xiao Tian just enjoyed the romantic atmosphere around the lake.

Suddenly, the moonlight disappeared. Before Xiao Tian understood what happened, he first realized that he was in the air! It turned out that a big Eagle can't sleep either, so he flew out and seek his prey. (If Xiao Tian remained on the bed, he could avoid this disaster. However, he also missed the chance of adventures if he have done so! Of course, I won't tell Anbo the last part.)

The Eagle brought Xiao Tian back to his nest. There are several hungry baby eagles. They pecked Xiao Tian. Poor Xiao Tian was thrilled. He backed up and up, eventually he dropped out of the nest and fell into a very deep valley. It is so deep that the bottom can't be seen.

Before reaching the bottom, Xiao Tian fainted due to scary. Before long, Xiao Tian was awakened by a small read wild horse. The little horse soon befriended with Xiao Tian. He took Xiao Tian back to his tribe -- a herd of 40 or so wild horses.

Xiao Tian was hungry and wanted to do fishing, so he made a leave-boat. He sailed out and the little horse swam beside him. The lake was so clean that the beautiful under-water scene attracted Xiao Tian. Therefore, under the little horse's encouragement, Xiao Tian overcame his fear and learned how to swim. And Xiao Tian succeeded ! While enjoying being surrounded by cool water, Xiao Tian saw two mermaids swam toward hims. They invited Xiao Tian to their palace. Riding on the back of the little horse, Xiao Tian swam behind the two mermaids for the palace.

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

I am quite happy that I can now read faster and faster in English. I finished John Perkins' Confessions of an Economic Hit Man in two days. There are two reasons why I could finish the book fast: the book itself is easy to read and I consciously practice the principles of "How to read a book".

Recently, Chinatimes translated and published a book titled "经济杀手的告白“。Chinatimes put the first chapter on line. After skimming the chapter, I assessed the book would help me understanding better what is going on in this world. So, I borrowed the book from our local library and started reading it. I was not disappointed. The book answered many questions. However many more questions are not answered. I hope Arnold J. Toynbee can help me finding them.

What is the common part between writing software, baking bread, and making furnitures? Crafting would be my answer and quality would be the goal of these activities.

After seeking for so many years, I finally realize what I was pursuing, why I was not satisfied, and what I want to be. A craftsman.

Next day, the Elephant felt much better when he waked. It must be due to Xiao Tian's medicine. The elephant thanked Xiao Tian. The elephant lead all of them to a cool spring water nearby. After drinking delicious spring water, everyone felt refreshed.

The elephant invited Xiao Tian and his father to ride on him. They wandered on the savanna. On the elephant's back, they saw lots of animals on the grass field. There are lions, zebras and horses. Suddenly, animals looked scared and ran away. Before long, the sun disappeared, too. A huge shadow fall upon them. Xiao Tian and his father did not have faintest idea what was going on. The elephant urged them to hold tight since he is going to run away from the flying fire-dragon, Dilon.

The fire balls, from Dilon, almost hit them. Finally, the elephant successfully escaped from Dilon and hide in a narrow cave. Dilon waited outside of the cave and looked angry. In the cave, the elephant told Xiao Tian about Dilon's story -- why and how Dilon turned into an ugly fire dragon from a naughty and bad-tempered boy.

Outside of the cave, Dilon outcried. After the story, Xiao Tian paid his sympathy to Dilon. Both the elephant and Xiao Tian's father thought it is a stupid idea to feel sorry for Dilon. After all, Dilon suffered from what he deserved. Xiao Tian is a good boy and he thought everyone can be changed. He decided to give it a try tomorrow.

At night, Xiao Tian, his father and the elephant slept in the cave while Dilon still waited outside.

Xiao Tian, accompanied by Pink Pig and Grandpa Grasshopper, finally found his father. His father and mother were just back from sailing. On the boat, the father introduced Xiao Tian every level including the deck. In the refrigerator, there were a huge octopus and a big shark. The father told Xiao Tian how he caught these two monsters.

On the deck, the father invited Xiao Tian to fly with him in a small airplane. In the air, both of them saw a poor elephant fainting on a small island. Xiao Tian wants to save the poor one, but his father feared to death and did not want to go. Xiao Tian educated his father that all poor ones are worthy to be saved no matter how they look.

Reluctantly, Xiao Tian's father landed the plane and Xiao Tian rushed to the fainted elephant. The poor one was crying. Xiao Tian checked the elephant, found the problem, and cured him. At night, they camped by the elephant.

Our family had a long trip to Centreville, MD yesterday. We visited there to see the model house and Wenlei liked the model house.

On the way to the Centreville, we went through the Bay Bridge. The blue sky, the sunshine and the reflections of the ocean waves made me feel I was driving in San Francisco, California. Therefore, I had a good mood and driving was enjoyable. It would be better if there are few vineyards there, too. There might have, but I have to find out.

There is one thing special about this trip -- everyone got what he or she likes. Wenlei saw the house, I enjoyed the beautiful scene, and Anbo found his dreamy horses in the farms in Centreville.

It was certainly a nice trip. After all, if a trip, in which everyone got what he or she likes, can't be a nice trip, what else trip can be?

We had our dinner in Prena Bread in Germantown, MD. The pizza there was excellent. I would exclaim it was the best one I've ever had. The nice dinner concluded our nice trip.

Having a peaceful mind seems the only way to realize quality in our work -- no matter the work is to maintain a motorcycle, to design a software system, or to draw a picture.

In the latest episode of "殷媛小聚"，蒋勋 introduced a water-ink landscape drawing, 秋江渔父图，by 许道宁 in Song dynasty. He explains that the drawing is excellent because it merges the outside scene with the inward mood. Depending on viewer's mood, the picture unveils different details. A peaceful mind is needed by the drawer as well as by the viewer. An absent-minded viewer sees nothing but mountains and waters; however, a careful one sees that the painting is not about waters and lands, but about secrets of life and death.


--
--peter
http://lishihwei.googlepages.com/home

I finished last chapters of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" on the flight back to U.S. This is a deep book -- you can read it many times and still learn new things each time.

To me, the most important chapters are 24, 25 and 26. The most important message I got is "Quality is a result of the peace of a mind".

2007 春联

海棠红，玉兰香，怀先父悉心照料。
千山路，万里归，携子孙旺业兴家。

文蕾 作

林红与友

重庆解放碑有一抄手达人，食客林红偕友夜访于不期。店未开，人未至。闻达人居陋巷， 巷深窄而黑无灯。为抄手，二人摸至达人居所。达人在寝。二人央求抄手于达人不依不饶。达人无奈，起而作抄手。食罢，二人归。吾闻之，但觉快意，二女子所为任性痛快而率真，颇具我辈之风， 可入吾食客列传。

就是开阿

What will you think, when you see the four Chinese words---"就是开阿"? Will you associate them with someone's name? Perhaps not, if you know Chinese. The direct translation of the four words is "Just open it!".

But, it indeed is someone's Chinese name. 就是开阿 looks like an Africa-American, about 45-year old, around 5-feet and 3-inch tall, a little bit overweighted, and is probably crazy about Chinese culture. 就是开阿's English name is Joseph Tahar. I knew all of these because my dear fellow, Joseph, was standing in front of me in the lobby of National Aqurarium at Baltimore. Joseph preciously hold a painting and the four Chinese words, in Chinese calligraphy, dominated the major part of the painting. Two nicely-drawn Chinese golden dragons surrounded the four Chinese words, and Joseph Tahar, written in smaller and artistic calligraphy, floats above 就是开阿. Overall, the painting looks very nice if you forgo the meaning of those four chinese words.

Joseph bought the painting for that four little chinese words. He must know that those four little words represent his Chinese name. I guess that the artist painted Joseph's Chinese name after Joseph told the artist his English name because the pronunciations of Joseph Tahar and 就是开阿 sound alike. Joseph hold the painting so preciously that he probably will hang the painting in the best spot in his house. I sincerely hope he has no Chinese friends, otherwise, I worry his love towards Chinese culture will be blown away by his Chinese friends' laughs.

The author of the painting played a cruel naming joke on my poor fellow, Joseph. However, I have to admit that the artist did it excellently since I can't forget 就是开阿's English name!

Took Anbo to National Zoo

We took Anbo to National Zoo last Sunday (Dec/31/06). That was the third time Anbo visited the zoo. In the previous visits, Anbo was not very interested in animals. Most of time, he sucked
his thumb and stared at animals blankly. It was different this time. Anbo watched animals with great interests---his face flushed and he shouted excitingly when he saw cute ones, such as otters, giant panda and apes.

Anbo liked apes most. We visited the apes hall in the last minute. By the time we entered the hall, most of apes already finished their dinner. They just lay down; none of them were playing.
Those apes seemed like to lie close to windows, through which we watched them. There was a black Chimpanzee, who lay down by the window and lazily scratch his armpit. Anbo watched the chimpanzee scratching, giggled and said, "He is so cute !" At that moment, I felt my son is the cutest animal in the world.
--
--peter
http://lishihwei.googlepages.com/home