Mini Sub Box

Mini Sub Box

Mini turkey and meunster cheese sub on homemade roll. I packed the tomatoes and lettuce on the side to keep the sandwich from getting soggy. I also packed some potato chips, strawberry and kiwi salad, celery sticks with peanut butter (in the yellow tub), cashews, and an apple.

I asked my husband to pick up some leaf lettuce. I had this nagging feeling that he would buy romaine. I don't know how or why I knew this. I buy and prepare all kinds of leafy greens for the family, but somehow I just knew he was going to buy romaine. So I called him and I was right. He said it was a good thing I called because he was just about to buy romaine. So I reiterated: leaf lettuce. Somehow he still came home with the wrong lettuce.

Iceburg :|

Seriously...I thought it was a joke. I mean how do we go from leaf, to romaine, back to leaf, to iceburg?

Sigh. Once I realized that he was not going to produce a head of leaf lettuce from some secret hiding place, I went from mildly annoyed to furious. I mean I called him to make sure! I walked him through it as he stood in front of the lettuce at Sun Harvest. How on earth could this happen?

I went on for a while. I mean I had a really hard time wrapping my head around how this could have happened. Among my immidiate thoughts, I wondered if he did this because he does not take me seriosuly. If he can't take me seriously when it comes to lettuce, what else could he do to hurt me. He was wise to walk away. Although some part of me always hopes he'll just pull it together and (a) recognize that while I have strong feelings for lettuce, my reaction is connected to something bigger, (b) be able to calm me down and reassure me of his love when I am upset thereby working to rebuild the trust we so clearly have not entirely worked out,  (c) maybe just get it right the first time. It's not rocket science. Ugh.

But then that analytical part of me kicks in and I realize that he (like many of us working class brown folks) did not grow up with a variety of dark leafy greens. I get it. I do. Iceburg is cheap. Usually it's the cheapest so most of us are familiar with this one. Still, considering all that, leaf was on sale for less than iceburg and I walked him through it! Or so I thought.

This thought process took a few minutes. I worked it out as I continued to make dinner. Once I finished I was just tired of it all. Then I just felt silly. I mean if that's the worst he can do, I guess I should count myself lucky. Could be worse, right. Could be much worse. As a matter of fact, it has been. But you can probably guess that from the trust issues oozing out of this story. I wonder sometimes if he half-asses things like this so he won't have to do them again. You know I very near threw in the towel and conceded to live by the "If I want it done right, I'll just do it myself" rule. But that just makes more work for me. That's the last thing I need.

Speaking of more work, I made my own bread for these subs. I actually like baking bread a lot. It's really relaxing (when I'm able to do it in peace). But I don't always have the time to make bread that requires kneeding everyday. That's an all day event. This is why I love Zoe Francois and Jeff Hertzberg's second book: Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day . I checked it out from my local library and have renewed it twice just to hold on to it longer. I will buy it just as soon as I can afford to :)  
 
I made the sub roll using the whole wheat brioche recipe from Zoe Francois and Jeff Hertzberg's second book: Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day . Unfortunately the recipe in the book has errors so don't try to follow it from the book. It won't work. I found that out the hard (and expensive considering my graduate student salary) way. Thankfully, the authors posted the corrected recipe online on their website . This dough is wonderful! So far I've used it to make doughnuts, chocolate pockets, hamburger buns, and mini submarine rolls. The sweets didn't last long enough for me to snap shots. Next time I promise.

Whole Wheat Brioche (replace recipe on page 275 in the book)

Makes enough dough for at least two 2-pound loaves. The recipe is easily doubled or halved.

4 cups white whole wheat flour (we use the white whole wheat for its lighter color and flavor)
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
2 1/4 cups lukewarm water
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted or (zero trans fat, zero hydrogenated oil margarine) or (neutral-flavored oil)
3/4 cup honey
5 large eggs
Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water) for brushing on the top of loaf

The following are the basic instructions for brioche, for more details refer to the book.

1. Mixing and storing the dough: Whisk together the flour, yeast, salt, and vital wheat gluten in a 5-quart bowl, or a lidded (not airtight) Food Storage Containers .

2. Combine the liquid ingredients and mix the m with the dry ingredients without kneading , using a spoon, a 14-cup food processor or a heavy duty stand mixer with paddle.

3. The dough will be loose, but will firm up with chilled.

4. Cover (not airtight) and allow the dough to rest at room temperature until it rises and collapses, approximately 2 hours.

5. Refrigerate it for at least 2 hours before using. The dough can be stored and used over the next 5 days.

6. On baking day, grease a Non-Stick Brioche Mold or an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch nonstick loaf pan. Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 2-pound (cantaloupe-size) piece of dough. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball. Place the ball into the prepared pan and allow to rest, loosely covered with plastic wrap, for about 1 hour 45 minutes. (dough should no longer feel cold and will have a bit of spring to it).

7. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, with a rack in the middle of the oven.

8. Just before baking, use a pastry brush to paint the loaf’s top with egg wash.

9. Bake the loaf near the center of the oven for about 40-45 minutes. For smaller or larger loaves you will need to adjust the resting and baking times.

10. Remove the brioche from the pan (see page 50) and allow it to cool on a rack before slicing.