Finally Back to Painting

 I finally uploaded a new painting video today.  In the spring, I was really gung ho about uploading frequently, but then I got COVID, was hospitalized, and took months to start feeling better.  I'm still not 100%, but I'm a lot better than I was.  I'm going to try to upload regularly again because I really enjoy both painting and video editing.  Painting is a great stress reliever for me.  This week was my birthday and I decided that my gift to myself was going to be setting my painting area back up so that I could start painting again.

Here's the new video:

Caramelized Onion Parmesan No Knead Bread

For my third go at bread-making, I decided to make an onion Parmesan bread inspired by this reddit post from user mielismydzieko.

I did make a couple modifications based on ingredients that I had and things I thought would go well.  Without further adieu, here's my version of Caramelized Onion Parmesan Bread:

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp active dry yeast

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups warm water

2 tbsp olive oil

3 yellow onions

garlic salt to taste

black pepper to taste

3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1 tbsp butter, melted

The night before you plan to make your bread, mix together flour, yeast, salt, and water in large mixing bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise overnight (somewhere between 12-20 hours).

While the dough is rising, caramelize the onions.  Heat the olive oil in a large skillet on the stove.  Quarter, then slice the onions and add them to the pan.  Cook on low/medium heat and stir every few minutes.  After 30 minutes, add seasonings, if you'd like.  I added black pepper and garlic salt, but you can add whatever seasonings that you enjoy.  I cooked the onions on low for two hours and I was really happy with the flavor that developed.  Put the onions in the fridge to cool down until it's time to add them to the bread.  I cooked the onions the night before so that they could be completely chilled when I added them to the dough the next day.

After you've allowed the dough to rise, scrape the dough out onto a floured surface.  Pour the chilled onions on top, spreading them out a little.  Pour on 1/2 cup of the Parmesan (reserving 1/4 cup for later).  Knead the dough, adding flour as necessary and working the cheese and onion through the bread.  The onions are a little sticky and tricky to work with, but just keep folding the dough over them, they will eventually incorporate into the dough.

Once the dough is uniform, form it into a ball and place it in a parchment lined bowl for two hours.  Make sure to place the bowl in a warm place during this time.  My apartment is cold and I have no windows in my kitchen so I turn my oven on low and set the bowl on a potholder on the back of the stove at this point.

Forty minutes before the two hours is up, preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Once the oven is preheated, place the dutch oven in the oven to heat up for 30 minutes.

Once the dutch oven has heated up, gently pick up the parchment paper with the dough and place it in the dutch oven. Close the lid and bake in the oven for 40 minutes.

After baking for 40 minutes, remove from oven, open lid and pour the melted butter over the dough and sprinkle on the last 1/4 cup of Parmesan.  Close the lid and bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.  If you want a crispier crust, bake for 5 minutes with the lid off.

Allow to cool for at least an hour and then enjoy.  I made garlic bread to have with homemade lasagna and it was delicious.

First Adventure in Breadmaking

I've done lots of baking in my life (cakes, cookies, muffins, etc.), but had never made anything that used yeast. With everything going on right now, I bought some yeast a few weeks ago so that I could take a crack at bread making since there was no bread to be had at my local stores.

I'd heard a lot about no knead bread recipes, and I decided to follow this no knead recipe from Steamy Kitchen.  My first attempt wasn't without its mishaps.  I didn't have bread flour available to me, so I used all purpose flour.  I also didn't realize that there were different types of yeast and sure enough, I used active dry yeast when the recipe calls for instant yeast.  Looking into this to see how much of a big deal it was, basically I should have proofed the yeast in warm water before adding the other dry ingredients.  I mistakenly stirred the dry ingredients together, then added the water and stirred. There was an initial foaminess from the yeast, but that went away when I stirred everything together.

I panicked a little at 12 hours in because there was condensation on the plastic wrap, but the dough hadn't risen a significant amount. I did a bit of reading and asked around on reddit.  I was assured that my failure to proof the yeast shouldn't significantly impact my bread, but that the dough's failure to rise might have more to do with the temperature in my kitchen.  It was quite cold in my apartment and I don't have a window in my kitchen.  I ended up setting the bowl on a potholder on the stove while dinner was in the oven to warm it up a little, then put it on the counter on top of the dishwasher while it ran.  After seeing positive results from that, I left the oven on low with my dough on a potholder on the stove for the rest of the rise time.

I baked in my dutch oven on a piece of parchment paper as directed, and here's how the loaf turned out:

We had chicken alfredo for dinner and I was able to make garlic bread with my homemade loaf of bread:

Overall, I'm happy with how the bread turned out, though it was a little chewy.  I'm definitely going to try the recipe again and actually proof the yeast.  If I can get a hold of bread flour, I am also curious to try that.  I'm also interested in trying a softer, sandwich style loaf, so I'll be on the lookout for a recipe.  I have a kitchenaid mixer so I can make a kneaded dough recipe without too much hassle.  I'm excited to continue exploring breadmaking now that I'm not longer intimidated by yeast.

Art Therapy: Grieving Through Art

I've spent the last couple of months very sick, including a few days in the hospital, but I think I'm finally starting to get through it.  In early March, right before I fell ill, my grandma passed away.  The night that I heard about her passing, I did the thing that made the most sense and painted.  I wanted to use rainbow colors, but I also wanted a dark base for the colors to pop against.

I created the Dark Rainbow Series, which is a set of four paintings, done with the same colors but different techniques for each painting.  Art is therapeutic for me, and it was very helpful for me to have a little wine and just paint.  If you're interested, please check out the videos of these paintings:

More Acrylic Pour Painting

I've continued to make acrylic pouring videos.  I've really been enjoying it and I'm trying not to feel bad about other things that I feel like I should be doing instead of painting or editing.  You have to make time for the stuff that makes you happy too, otherwise, what's the point?

Please check out my new videos if you're interested:

The last one is probably my favorite out of this group.  There are more to come as I have several videos filmed, edited, and scheduled to post over the next couple weeks.  Please check my channel out and subscribe if you like pour painting videos!