A Disappointment of French Magnitude

Brioche.  It's what I set out to make, savor and share with pride.  I labored over it for two days, mixing and kneading, rising and resting.  I put it into my oven, enjoyed the aromatherapy wafting through the room...and when the time came, all I got was that sad, buttery brick shaped like a brioche that you see above.  This is officially a baking disaster, and I have no idea what went wrong.  

See, the thing that gets me is, the whole time I was making it, I had a sneaking suspicion it was going all too well.  I kept thinking, "this is not hard at all...time consuming, but easy!"  In the back of my head, I knew something was up. Things with yeast as an ingredient do not tend to emerge from my oven, victorious.  I followed Thomas Keller's recipe to a 'T' and I really have no idea what the problem was.  It looked beautiful in my mixer, rose like a champ the first time, but when I took it out of the fridge to rise, after it's overnight rest, it barely rose at all.  Maybe I kneaded it too much after the first rise?  I don't know, but I am going to keep trying until I get the brioche of my 'traditional french breakfast' dreams.   I am trying not to let this debacle rain on my pastry parade, but It's so frustrating! I spent a lot of time on that thing, who does it think it is, turning out like that?!

OK, before I hang myself with kitchen twine, I'll share a really delicious recipe I created last night for dinner.  It was my version of  Thai Drunken Noodles.  I love thai food, and have yet to find a good thai place in my new neighborhood, so I had to figure out a way to satisfy my craving on my own.  I'm sure the ingredients aren't authentic, but I think I definitely captured the essence and flavors of one of my favorite dishes.  

Drunken Noodles

Wide rice noodles

1 lb chicken, shrimp, beef or tofu cut into strips (marinated in soy sauce and red chili sauce for 1 hour)

Baby corn

Shitake or straw mushrooms sliced

large bunch fresh basil leaves(thai basil if you can find it) cut into ribbons

4 cloves garlic minced

1 or 2 red chiles

1/4 tsp white pepper

4 tbsp oil

3 tbsp dark soy sauce

2 tbsp oyster sauce

2  tbsp fish sauce

2 tbsp rice vinegar

2 tbsp red chili sauce

1 tbsp sugar

Soak noodles in very hot tap water for 25-30 min.

Heat oil in wok until it dances around.

Add garlic and chilles and stir to keep from burning. 

Almost immediately add meat and saute` untill cooked through

add corn and mushrooms, saute for a couple minutes

Drain and add noodles, all the sauces and pepper, toss and saute` for a few minutes

Remove from heat, toss in basil and add more sauces to taste.