2009 thanksgiving plan and timings

Looks like Beckey's folks and our friends Ray and Patrick are coming up for Thanksgiving.

Proposed menu:

1. 20-22 lb roast turkey (no stuffing, stuffed with thyme, lemon, and onion)
2. roasted garlic mashed potatoes
3. roasted brussel sprouts with pancetta
4. cranberry sauce
5. gravy
6. Beckey's family sausage stuffing
7. green beans
8. roasted beets
9. yams
10. brandied white onions
11. pumpkin pie

------
Here are the actual timings for 2009 Thanksgiving

23 lb bird, 16-17min/lb, 6.1 - 6.5 hours

Night before:

• Stuffing is made
• Cranberry sauce is made
• Make rosemary compound butter (2 sticks unsalted butter, about 3 tbsp fresh rosemary, 1 tbsp fresh sage)
  

The next day:

Preheat oven to 500F: 800am
Prep turkey: 830am
Turkey in the oven: 900am (actually, 850am)
Garlic goes in to roast: 930am
Make bacon-wrapped dates: 945p
Garlic comes out: 1130am

Set table: 200p
Peel potatoes:200p
Start potatoes in cold water: 230p
Stuffing goes in to bake: 230p
Prep brussels (wash, cut and peel): 230p

Turkey comes out to rest: 330p
CHECK STUFFING FOR DONENESS! 330p
Oven goes up to 425F: 330p
Start green beans: 330p
Start onions & yams: 330p
Onions & yams & beets & brussels go into oven: 345p
CHECK STUFFING AGAIN: comes out?
Heat soup: 400p
Make gravy: 400p
Heat rolls: 415p

DINNER TIME: 430p

Notes:

• Turned out fine! LOTS of turkey for leftovers.
  
• Turkey was done in probably 5 hours! Turkey must've rested for 45min to 1 hour but was still hot and juicy. Skin was beautiful crisp and brown.
  
• I really felt "in the weeds", b/c most of the production took place AFTER the turkey went in: peeling & cutting potatoes (2 person job), brussel sprouts, onions, yams, stuffing going into the oven.
  
• Took about 45 minutes to do stuffing (brought it up to about 167 degrees). It was in one of those 1/2 size aluminum serving trays.
• Gravy turned out really well; our friend Patrick really liked it.
  
• It was great that our friends Ray and Patrick brought homemade butternut squash soup and pumpkin pie.
  
• Fresh green beans: added to 1" of boiling water in large skillet, flipping with tongs took about 15 min, covered with foil and let sit.
  
• Boiler onions: the frozen ones took longer to cook, and were tiny! Still good flavor.
  

yeast pizzas #1 & #2

(ed note: post written between 11/2 and 11/3!)

ok, cooked some chicken thighs, and want to try to recreate alfredo chicken pizza! These are a different crust, I think I used the CPK crust for the previous version.

yeast #1: this one is based on sourdough #2, but without sourdough this time. Please note that while you can use the volumetric measurements, I definitely recommend the weight measurements, you will get more consistent results, and it will scale more accurately. My Salter scale only does even-numbered measurements in grams, and doesn't do gram fractions.

Makes 1 large pizza (14" to 16")

3 c + 2 tbsp bread flour -439g - (100%)
1 c lukewarm water 242g (55.1%)
2 tbsp wheat germ 12g (2.7%)
3 tbsp white sugar 44g (10%)
2 tbsp olive oil 28g (6.3%)
1.5 tsp active yeast 5.5-6g (1.2%)
2 tsp table salt 15g (3.4%)

Assume room temp 75 degrees; if warmer, shorten rise times; if colder, increase, etc.

1. Combine flour, water, wheat germ, and sugar in mixing bowl; knead with hook for about 2 minutes at speed 2, until combined.
   
2. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes.
   
3. Now add yeast, olive oil, and salt.
4. Knead with dough hook for 5 minutes at speed 2.
   
5. Place in covered container to rise about 1 hour; didn't quite double; fold dough and replace.
   
6. Refrigerate covered for 17.75 hours (went in at 11pm, out at 450pm next day)
   
7. Remove from fridge, let come to room temp for 1 hour.
   
8. Preheat oven to 550F, pizza stone 2nd shelf from top. No steam this time!
9. Let dough rise 1 more hour (2 hours total)
   
10. Shape dough, place on parchment, dock, sauce, cheese, meat, and more cheese.
    
11. Bake for 8 minutes.
    

Results:

• Probably my best commercial pizza imitation to date!
  
• Crust browned perfectly on bottom, super thin browning, with perfect spongy chew
• Dough cooked all the way thru, very tender and light.
• Dough has a sweeter flavor; I don't miss the honey at all!
• Didn't notice any effect of the wheat germ at all?
  
• Crust edges have nice browning
• Would I change anything? Probably not! :) This is almost as good as it gets.

For next time:

• Possibly pull the dough out a little thinner; a true "pizza screen" would be great for this, not that bullshit aluminum disc from Target, which seems to reflect more heat than it absorbs.
  
• Possibly a bit more wheat germ? Or try some whole wheat? Not very nutty, probably could use a bit of nuttiness, but even if not, this crust is "da best" so far.
  

Ratings:

• Crust thickness (1=thin CPK, 3=normal PJ Dominos, 5=thick Chicago style): 3
  
• Crust rise (1=no bubbles/some bubbling/5=big bubbles everywhere): 3
  
• Crust crunch (1=eiscafe soft, 5=cracker hard): 3
  
• Crust blistering (1=no blistering, 5=clear, perfect blistering): 2
  
• Crust chew (1=not chewy,5=very chewy): 4
  
• Crust doneness (1=dough still raw, 5=browned and cooked through): 5
  
• Crust texture hole size (1=small, 3=med, 5=large): 3.5
  
• Crust texture hole regularity (1=even, 3=a little irregular, 5=very irregular): 3.5
  
• Crust browning: (1=pale/white, 3=browning, 5=chocolate brown): 4.5-5
  
• Crust sourness (1=not sour, 5=very sour):1
• Crust sweetness (1=not sour, 5=very sour):3-4

yeast #2: this one is built roughly on Petezza's Papa John's clone and uses the Expanded Calculator, and close to Pete's percentages with these changes:
--slightly higher hydration
--significantly more yeast
--slightly less oil
--honey instead of sugar, and slightly less amount

It has more yeast than the original recipe, but only about 1/2 the yeast of #1, so it will likely need to stay in the fridge for about 48 hours.

Makes one 21oz dough ball, for one 14" pizza

Flour (100%): 358 g - slightly less than 2.5 cups
Water (57%): 204 g - about 3/4c + 2 tbsp
Honey (4%): 14.3 g - a hair over 2 tsp
Active dry yeast (.6%): 2.14 g - a hair over 1/2 tsp
Vegetable (Soybean) Oil (7%): 25 g - about 2 tbsp + 1/2 tsp
Salt (1.75%): 6.27 g - about 1.5 tsp - SALT IS MORTONS KOSHER, weights are for such.
Total (170.35%): 607.71 g | 21.44 oz | 1.34 lbs

NOTES: this dough was VERY oily to come together, and didn't knead well in the mixer (oild just caused it to flop around a lot, using the same recipe style as #1 above, so I'm modifying it now.

1. Combine all ingredients EXCEPT SALT, about 2 minutes.
   
2. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes
3. NOW ADD SALT.
4. Knead in stand mixer for 5 minutes.
   
5. Cover in tub and let rest in warm place for 1 hour.
   
6. Refrigerate for ~18 hours (in at 1135pm, out at 545 pm the next evening)
   
7. Remove from fridge, let come to room temp for 1 hour.
   
8. Preheat oven to 550F, pizza stone 2nd shelf from top. No steam this time!
9. Let dough rise 1.25 more hour (2.25 hours total)
   
10. Shape dough, place on parchment, dock, sauce, cheese, meat, and more cheese.
    
11. Bake for 8-10 minutes (check at 8, maybe leave in 10, depending on the size of the pie).
    

Results? We'll see on Friday, probably.

11/5 results update:
Well, I made the mistake AGAIN of using that worthless perforated pizza pan. That POS aluminum seems to reflect more heat (think aluminum foil) than it absorbs. As a result there was no browning on the bottom crust at all.

On the upside the crust was flavorful, and after 10 minutes in the oven, at least it was cooked thru and not raw. The crust edges were nicely browned too.

Also, using the pie pan, I was able to stretch the crust super thin, which, in addition to the docking, would have made a really nice thin crust, closer-to-NY style pie. In addition, I know now that this recipe makes enough for a 16" pie with a nice thin crust (that's the size of my pan.)

This crust had less sweetness than #1, and perhaps a little more crispness/less softness due to lower sugar. Seemed just about as oily. I like the oilier crust, tastes more "tender"; I know my tastes will change as I refine my recipes, though. I would consider doing this recipe again, but FOR SURE baking it on a baking stone or set of tiles. 16" is a good pizza size, and I think it's a perfect amount of dough for a nice thin-crust style.

To get: a REAL pizza screen, or a set: maybe a 14" and a 16". It's handy and it's a confidence builder.

behold...the german taco

I am proud of my latest culinary creation. Behold!

The German Taco: a cross-cultural, trans-national fusion of deliciousness!

You'll need:

• Corn tortillas
• Cooked taco meat (carne asada, ranchera, tri-tip, or steak; any kind of roasted or braised pork would also be excellent)
• Red cabbage braised in red wine (recipe follows)
• Spicy mustard
• "Senf" Crema (recipe follows)
• Minced onion or shallot
• Minced parsley

Assembly:

• Toast your tortillas on a flame or grill (I like them double-stacked)
  
• Spread tortilla with mustard, then taco meat
• Top with red cabbage, crema, minced onion and parsley . Throw down with some German weissbier (try it with lime!) and maybe some "El Yucateco" hot sauce for a kick.

Braised Red Cabbage In Red Wine
(adapted from A. Green's "Starting with Ingredients")

1 medium head red cabbage, cored and shredded
2 tbsp. bacon or smoked pork fat (substitute olive oil if unavailable)
1/4 cup smoked bacon, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 tart apples (like Granny Smith), peeled, cored, and diced
1/2 c brown sugar, packed
1/4 c apple cider vinegar
1/4 c hearty but soft red wine, like Cab, Merlot, Petit Verdot, maybe even Rioja!
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 300. In dutch oven, heat pork fat and cook bacon for 5 minutes. Remove bacon onto paper towels, remove all but 3 tbsp. fat from pan.

Add onion and saute over medium heat until lightly caramelized, about 5 minutes. Add apples, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 5 minutes more.

At once, add brown sugar, vinegar, wine, and cabbage. Bring to a boil (about 1 minute), stirring to moisten all of cabbage.

Cover and bake in oven for 45-50 minutes.

"Senf" Crema

1/4 c. mayo
1/4 c. plain yogurt
2 tbsp spicy mustard, deli mustard, or Dijon
1 tsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. honey
Juice of 1/2 lime
Salt and pepper

Whisk all ingredients together. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes to let flavors distribute. Add more lime juice or mustard to taste.

Columbia bread #4

Again, another 1/2 size recipe (1 loaf)
Levain rose for about 8 hours.
After mixing, rose 945am to 1245pm (3 hours).
Folded once at about 3 hours, then right into fridge in ceramic bowl from 1245p until 700p (6hr 15min)
Remove from ceramic bowl from fridge, rough shape, into floured basket smooth side down, rise in inflated bag on counter from 645p to 1045 (4 hours).
Bake as usual, 450 for about 30 minutes; I forgot to set the timer, but I'm sure it was very close, at least 25 minutes.

Results:

• Again good oven spring like #3.
• Crust: very nice, thin, like #1 and #2. Perfect browning; if you wanted it a bit richer it could have stayed in the oven for a few more minutes.
  
• Texture & flavor: seems like it needed more salt or more barley malt. Otherwise, texture was really moist but not wet, perfectly soft and chewy but not gummy.
  

For next time:

• Try "flower" or "grapevine" slashing of dough next time
  

Columbia bread #3

Making one loaf; halved all of the quantities. This time measuring by weight in grams.

I screwed up the instructions: let it go for an initial rise of about 3 hours without turning. Then turned, put into the fridge at 10am this morning. Removed from fridge at 530pm to come up to temp (7.5 hours in fridge).

3 hours rise time out of fridge in ceramic bowl. (530-830pm)
Remove from bowl, fold, shape and let rise 3.5 hours. (830pm-1200am)
Bread went in the oven at 12am sharp Saturday morning. It had finally (definitely) risen. Spring back test worked well (poked a finger, didn't spring back); this time, when slashes, didn't immediately deflate. Looks like it's getting some good oven spring.

Results:

• Crust was very close to the same as before, possibly slightly bit thicker
• Oven spring was the best of any load I had ever made; I think previous loaves didn't rise enough!
• Texture and flavor was excellent!
  

Columbia bread #1 & #2 (sourdough)

Made some breads based on Glezer's "Artisan Baking" book. Tried measuring recipe in grams, seems much easier, although it seems the scale doesn't do odd-numbered grams! I really like both of these breads; they may replace my LBB recipe as my favorite!

1. Firm Starter

1.5 tsp sourdough starter
1 tbsp + 2 tsp lukewarm water
1/3 c. bread flour

Mix and knead into fairly stiff dough. Let rest for 8-12 hours between feedings.

2. Levain

30g starter
95g lukewarm water
150g bread flour.

Dissolve starter in water. Knead together with flour til smooth. Cover and let rest at room temp 8-12 hours.

3. Bread

600g bread flour
55g whole wheat flour
15g rye flour
20g wheat germ, toasted
450g warm water
20g barley malt syrup (available in health food stores!)
1 portion Levain
16g salt (1 tbsp + 1/4 tsp)

1. Mix levain and let rise 8-12 hours.
   
2. Whisk 1st 4 ingredients in mixing bowl.
3. Dissolve barley malt syrup in water.
4. Add water to flours. Mix until just combined. Let rest 20 minutes.
5. NOW ADD ALL LEVAIN + SALT.
   
6. Knead in mixer at speed #2 (Kitchenaid) for 5 minutes.
7. Put in covered tub, let rise for 1 hour, til it (at least) TRIPLES in size.
8. Turn out and fold once (4 fold: left, top, right, bottom) and return to tub.
9. RETARD? At this point, you can retard in fridge 8-12 hours. If so, then remove from fridge and do step #10.
   
10. Let rise 3-5 hours, until not quite doubled.
    
11. Turn dough out onto floured surface, cut in 2, rough-shape into rounds, and let rest 10min.
12. Shape dough into batards 10" long, or place into proofing baskets.
13. Cover with inflated plastic bag, and let rise for 2.5 hours.
    
14. At 2.5 hours, preheat oven to 475F. Position rack in middle with baking stone, broiler pan on bottom. Let oven preheat for 45 minutes.
    
15. Add 3/4 c. hot water to broiler pan.
    
16. Turn bread out onto cornmeal-and-flour dusted peel. Slash with razor blade.
17. Spritz bread with water (I didn't do this, but the recipe calls for this).
    
18. Bake for 30-40 minutes (mine seem to be done in about 30.)
19. Let rest for at least 1 hour on rack before cutting into (2 hrs. rest preferred)
    

Results #1:

• Final rise of this was about 3.25hrs.
  
• Wow, crust has the best chew of any bread I've made so far; nice and thin, real chew like good restaurant bread
  
• Barley malt adds great flavor and aroma, kind of molasses-y
  
• Good open texture is just as good as "My Florist" sourdough
• Just wish crust was shinier, seemed a little tannish
  
• I also wish it got better oven spring! All my loaves don't rise enough!

Results #2:

• This one has final rise of about 4 hours.
  
• This one sat in a wicker basket. Dough needs to be much better floured in wicker basket before it goes in; it was stuck coming out, which affected the oven spring/deflation
• Nice texture from wicker
• Darker color than #1 overall
• Nicer blisters than #1 (more consistent, but just about the same size)
• Texture-wise, same as #1

Overall:

• Both of these have best flavor and crust of all sourdough breads I've made.
  
• These are more tender, not as tough/dry as LBB seems to be.
  
• Crusts are super-thin and chewy on both, which is better than LBB.
  

Next time:

• Try making batards instead!
• Try more "turning"/folding? This would be done between steps 7-11 above. More folds should help oven spring. As long as you wait 15-30 minutes between turns, should be fine.
  
• Try retarding it overnight
• Try slightly longer rise time; that should also help oven spring!
  

a possible BBQ rub?

I was watching Guy Fieri's "Diners..." show and he was in Chicago at a BBQ place. The guy he was interviewing won 3rd place in Memphis in May, and here are the ingredients that went in his rub:

The rub:
Crushed red pepper
Salt
Sugar
Paprika
Garlic
Chili Powder
Spanish paprika
Coriander
Dried Ginger
Rubbed sage
Onion powder
Cumin
Cayenne
Equal parts black and white pepper

He used a mustard slather on top of the pork: yellow mustard + beer + pepper + salt + italian salad dressing solids only + apple juice + some of the above rub

Sounds pretty damn good to me!

fish tacos #2

Turned out well, followed my previous recipe. I think the batter could've been a bit thicker. Funny, I used over 1.25 c. flour, and it still seemed a bit thin.

Used a new sauce recipe, based on something I found at Chowhound:

Fish Taco Sauce

1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup mayonnaise
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne
Salt + pepper to taste
1 habanero or jalapeno, minced
4 dashes hot sauce

Mix all to combine, and let sit at least 30 minutes.

Results: good flavor, nice tang. I deseeded the jalapeno, so there's not a lot of heat. Habanero or a really hot japaleno would be nice in here too, if you like more heat.

whole wheat bread #1

Made some ATK whole wheat bread this evening. I opted out of a punch down + final rise, as I didn't think it'd help that much. Then again, it might :)

Whole Wheat Bread #1

This is purely ATK recipe.

1 cup milk
1/3 cup water
2-1/4 tsp. instant yeast
3 tbsp honey
4 tbsp. butter, melted and cooled
2 cups bread flour
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
2 tsp salt

1. Combine milk and water in measuring cup. Heat in microwave for 1 minute.
2. Stir honey into milk mixture.
3. Add yeast and stir to dissolve. Let rest for 3-5 minutes.
4. In mixer bowl, combine flours & wheat germ and stir to combine.
5. Add milk mixture to flour
6. Mix with dough hook for 2 minutes
7. Cover with plastic and let rest for 20 minutes.
8. NOW ADD SALT.
   
9. Knead in mixer with dough hook on setting "1" for 9 minutes
10. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
11. Shape into a rectangle, then roll into a log
12. Pinch seam and put seam side down in buttered/floured baking pan
13. Inflate plastic bag and let rise in bag for 1.5 hours
14. (this is normally where you'd punch down, roll into log, and let rise for 1-1.5 more hours)
    
15. Slash loaf
16. Bake on lower rack for 45 minutes
17. Let cool 5 minutes in pan

My mods:
Baked at 375 for 45 minutes

Results:

• Good rise, decent oven spring
• Texture was slightly damp, and slightly mealy, but even and soft
• Crust had good browning on top and sides, albeit possibly slightly thick
• Good saltiness, but not sweet enough, need to increase hone
• Good softness initially; dried up pretty good by the next day; definitely not super soft & fluffy like sandwich bread.
  

For next time

• Could've baked longer @ 375, maybe 50 minutes
• Try higher temp baking
• Try 1/4 cup honey next time, maybe 1/3 cup, and reduce water slightly.
  
• Try overnight retard
• Try less yeast, esp. if overnight retard (2 tsp instead of 2.25 tsp)
  

LBB sourdough adapted #1

I started some starter for my dad in Florida last week. It was really warm in their house (room temp is probably 77 degrees), so in 2 days the starter was bubbly and "cheesy" smelling, just like my LBB starter was. In his case, I just used 3/4 c white flour with a 1/4 c cup rye, 1 cup water, and let it sit 2 days in a tupperware on the counter.

Now I need to send him the recipe. I don't think he has a scale, so I weighed the ingredients of the original recipe on my scale. Here is the adapted version:

For 2 loaves (original):

7.5 cups + 1.5 tbsp unbleached bread flour
1/2 c. wheat germ
1-1/4 c. starter
2-1/4 c. water
4.5 tsp. table salt


For 1 loaf:

3-3/4 cups + .75 tbsp unbleached bread flour
1/4 c. wheat germ
3/4 c. starter
1 c. + 2 tbsp. water
2-1/4 tsp. table salt

1. Add flour + wheat germ to mixing bowl. Then add starter and water.
2. Knead on lowest setting on mixer using dough hook for 5 minutes.
3. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes.
4. Uncover and NOW ADD THE SALT.
   
5. Knead on lowest setting on mixer for 5 more minutes (10 minutes total). You may need to clear the dough hook if it gets clogged up; however, dough will clear the sides of the mixing bowl.
6. Remove from mixer.
   
7. Form into ball: cup your hands together on the top of the loaf, over the sides and pinching to the bottom, like you are running your hands down both sides of a globe, starting at the Arctic Circle, down through Americas and Asia, pinching your pinkys together at Antarctica.
   
8. Place in lightly oiled ceramic bowl. Cover with inflated plastic bag, and let rise 3.5-4 hours at 75 degrees. If your room is hotter (78 deg), you will need less rise time, maybe 2.5 hours. If your room is colder (72 deg) , you will need 4 hours.
9. Turn dough out onto lightly floured counter.
   
10. Cut dough into two equal pieces. Slap each piece to deflate.
11. Tuck all edges under, rough-shaping into a ball. Let rest for 15 min.
12. Shape each into ball, and place into lightly oiled bowl or floured basket. Let rise for 1 hr.
13. Cover rounds with inflated plastic bag, and put in fridge for about 8-12 hours, no more than 24 hours.
14. Remove dough from fridge, cover with inflated plastic bag, and let rise on counter at room temp for ~3 hours. Dough should be doubled in size and at ~62F.
15. Heat oven to 500. Set your baking rack 2nd from the bottom. Put a broiling pan at the bottom of your oven
    
16. Slash the loaf 2 or 3 times across the top with a sharp knife or razor.
17. Put loaf in, add 1 cup hot water to broiling pan, and bake for 45 minutes as follows:

• first 5 minutes at 500
• next 20 minutes at 450
• rotate bread
  
• 20 more minutes at 450 (total of 45 min).
  

Should hit 210F when fully baked, and sound a bit hollow.

Remove from oven.

Let bread cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting in!

Notes:

1. In mixer it came together correctly, definitely cleared bottom of bowl. 10 minutes total kneading in mixer, as listed.
   
2. Initial rise was 3 hours in oiled bowl
3. After punch down and basket, next rise was about 2 hours
4. Fridge retardation time was approximately 13 hours; removed from fridge at 310pm.
5. Rise time out of fridge in bag: 3 hours.
   
6. Preheated oven for 45 minutes prior to baking.
7. Baking on middle rack with stone.
   
8. Single slash in middle of loaf.
   
9. Flour + cornmeal on the peel
10. Loaf in oven, then 2/3 cup near-boiling water in broiler pan.
    
11. Bake for 5 minutes @ 500, 35 minutes @ 450, middle rack on baking stone.
    
12. Let cool for 1 hour on rack.
    

Results:

• Great chocolate mahogany exterior
• Really good oven spring (perhaps best so far)
• Good blistering but not huge
• Good flavor
• Texture was pretty good: cooked through, tender with nice chew. No real problems to speak of, I want bigger holes though.
• Could be a slight bit more sour...maybe add a touch of rye flour?
  
• Crust was a little thick, perhaps too much steam for too long?
• 3 hours seemed like a good new final rise time; could even try 2.5?
  

For Next Time:

• Less hot water in broiler pan (1/2 cup only); OR no steam but brush/mist crust with warm water right before the oven
• More water in the dough, increase to 1-1/4 cup (add'l 2 tbsp) for each loaf.
  
• Slightly longer fridge ferment - 15 hours? 18 hours? Grandma's bread had a nice crust at 24 hours.
  

oven fried chicken

Made this last night, after thinking about what to make with chicken thighs I had and seeing Alton Brown's "Fry Hard" episode. Also make in consultation with my ATK cookbook. The buttermilk pre-soak adds a lot of flavor. The oven baking helps keep the calories lower. If you're even more concerned about such things, remove the chicken skin, or use chicken breasts.

Oven-Fried Chicken

4 chicken thighs
2 cups buttermilk
2 tbsp spice rub (your choice; I used Wolfgang Puck's pork rub)
2 cups breadcrumbs (season with extra garlic powder, onion powder and other spices as desired)
Salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400.
   
2. Soak chicken in buttermilk in plastic container overnight. Drain chicken, and place on paper towels. Dry off with towels to remove excell buttermilk.
   
3. Season chicken with salt, pepper, and spice rub
4. Line a baking sheet with foil. Place a wire rack on baking sheet.
   
5. Put breadcrumbs in separate container. Using tongs, dredge chicken in breadcrumbs, coating both sides, pressing down to adhere. Shake off excess, and place chicken on rack.
6. Let chicken sit on rack for 2-3 minutes; no more, no less. This helps crumb adhesion.
   
7. Place chicken on sheetpan+rack in the middle shelf of oven.
8. Bake for 30-4o minutes, or until reaches 175 degrees F.
   
9. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes, tented under foil.

Serve with mashed potatoes and a salad.

Speaking of mashed potatoes, the mashers I made last week with yellow potatoes were great. The key was a dash of cream, a reasonable amount of butter, and enough milk to make it more runny than you think it should be...it will set up as it cools!

tale of two tarts

One savory, one sweet. I had some great summer heirloom tomatoes from the farmer's market, and some pears that were really almost too ripe. What better thing to do than bake a tart! Made the tomato tart yesterday, and the pear tart tonight.


Summer Tomato Tart

1 pastry dough of choice (I used Martha's recipe, which follows; use whatever you want)
1 beefsteak (or heirloom) tomato, sliced into thin slices
6 cherry tomatoes, sliced in 1/2
4 eggs
2 italian sausages, cooked and cut into thin rounds (0ptional)
1/2 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper
3 oz of fresh mozzarella
1/2 c. asiago cheese, grated
Fresh parsley, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 375.
   
2. Roll out dough, put into tart pan and trim. Use fork to dock the dough.
3. Chill dough for 1 hour in fridge, if desired.
4. Bake for 25 minutes to partially bake, and remove from oven.
   
5. In a bowl, beat eggs with heavy cream until uniform. Season with salt and pepper. Combine with cooked sausage. Set aside.
6. In a small skillet, over low heat, warm up egg mixture.
7. Add 1/4 c. of asiago to bottom of tart shell
8. Next add egg mixture to tart shell. Layer on tomatoes, mozzarella, and remaining asiago.
9. Bake for 25-30 more minutes on middle rack, on top of sheet pan. Bake until shell is golden brown.
10. Remove from oven, let rest for 15-30 minutes.
    
11. Garnish with parsley.

Pear and Cranberry Bourbon Tart

1 pastry dough
4 pears, peeled and sliced
1/2 c. water
1/4 c. apricot jam
1/4 c. brown sugar
2 tbsp. maple syrup
2 tbsp. bourbon (like Jack Daniels)
pinch of salt
1/4 c. dried cranberries
1 tbsp. butter

1. Combine all ingredients except cranberries and butter in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to medium. Allow to reduce to a syrup, when it starts getting really foamy, about 8-10 minutes. Stir in cranberries, cook for 1 minute, remove from heat.
2. Remove from heat, and stir in butter until melted.
3. Blind bake dough in tart pan for 25 minutes.
4. Arrange pears in a nice even layer. Drizzle sauce over tart.
5. Bake for about 25-30 more minutes (with tart pan on a sheet pan), until crust is golden brown.
   
6. Let cool for 10 minutes, then serve and enjoy...ice cream would be good!
   

Pastry Dough

This one turned out very buttery, not too flaky, but not too crumby either. Good savory flavor. Only downside was that it shrank...a lot. This comes from Martha Stewart, but apparently it's a pretty classic pastry recipe. To be honest, I remember more success with the plum tart I made with Roland and Bev's plums, and I think I used Alton's recipe in this blog.

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar. Add butter, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds.
2. With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream through feed tube. Pulse until dough holds together without being wet or sticky; be careful not to process more than 30 seconds. To test, squeeze a small amount together: If it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
3. Divide dough into two equal balls. Flatten each ball into a disc and wrap in plastic. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill at least 1 hour. Dough may be stored, frozen, up to 1 month.

Beacon chicken wings

Watched a video on the delicious Beacon chicken wings that Kazuo Matsusaka makes in Culver City.

He says that he marinates in soy, ginger, and canola oil overnight. Then they are dusted in cornstarch before frying.

Looking closely at the wings on the plate before he puts them in the deep fryer, it \looks like these wings have been blanched in hot oil (they already look golden and crispy), then re-fried for 3-5 minutes. I'm sure that helps with their extra crispy texture.

A little Google search turned up an LA Times Culinary SOS article for these wings. I'm reviewing and adapting this recipe to better suit.

Beacon-like Chicken Wings

12 wings
1/2 cup cornstarch
Marinade (recipe follows)
1 cup Ginger-Soy Glaze (recipe follows)
1/2 tbsp butter (optional)
4 cups vegetable oil (for frying)


1. Make marinade. In non-reactive container, add wings to marinade, cover, and refrigerate overnight (at least 8 hours, but no more than 24 hours preferable). Drain marinade and discard.

2. Season the wings with the salt and pepper, then dredge with the cornstarch. Shake off excess.

3. In a large pot, heat oil to 350 degrees. Fry the wings, a few at a time, until lightly golden about 2 minutes. Drain the wings on paper towels and/or rack and let cool. Repeat with remaining wings.

4. Reheat oil to 375 degrees; working in batches, fry wings for 2nd time, for about 5-8 minutes. Drain the wings on paper and/or rack.

3. When all the wings almost all fried, heat a wok or heavy sauté pan over high heat. Add the reserved ginger-soy glaze and bring to a boil, then add the wings, stirring to coat. Cook the wings in the sauce, stirring constantly, until the sauce reduces enough that it coats the wings in a thick, syrupy glaze, about 1-2 minutes.

4. Remove from the heat. Serve on top of daikon sprouts. Pour remaining extra sauce from pan over wings, and sprinkle with black and white sesame seeds. Serve immediately.

Marinade
makes about 3/4 cup

3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp mirin
3/4 tsp. fresh ginger, minced
1/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
1/2 c. canola oil

Whisk marinade ingredients together, and set aside.

Ginger-Soy Glaze
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/3 cup mirin
1/4 cup sake
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon finely chopped ginger

Boil, then simmer until reduced to about 1 cup.

Grandma's Bread #13

Making a going-away loaf for my lady, who will be San Jose at sommelier school next week. No better reason to bake some comfort food that she can bring with her!

Grandma's Bread #13 - Sept 14-15, 2009

Makes 2 loaves

1-1/4 cups water
2 cups buttermilk
1-1/3 cup rye flour

6-1/4 cup AP wheat flour
2 tsp yeast
1/2 cup honey
3-1/2 + 1/8 tsp table salt

1. Over medium-low heat, warm buttermilk and water, stirring occasionally, just until it curdles and remove from heat. Stir in all rye flour, cover tightly and leave at room temperature overnight (at least 12 hours).

2. In stand mixer bowl, pour in rye mixture. Add yeast, then honey, then flour. Using beater attachment, mix on speed "2" for 2 minutes, until the dough is uniform. It will look like a thick, uniform batter at this point. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 10 minutes (should be 20, but I used 10 min this time).

3. NOW ADD THE SALT ALL AT ONCE. Mix using dough hook for 8 minutes, set to "2" (low speed). You may need to clean the dough hook once in a while. Dough will be very thick and sticky; it will never clear the sides of the bowl, more like a thick wet batter...it will not stop sticking! This is why the stand mixer is so handy. Total kneading time is 8 minutes. You will see some gluten strands forming in the dough towards the end.

6. Grease two bread pans with butter, and dust them with white flour. Using a wooden spoon or stiff bowl scraper, turn out the sticky dough onto a very well floured board. Form into a single round; dough will be very soft but with a well-floured board, won't be very sticky and will form a smooth surface. Cut dough into 2 equal pieces, shape dough into loaves (they will feel pretty soft, not quite baby's bottom but close) and place in bread pans. Press down on dough to get loaf to expand across the bottom of the pan. Cover with inflated plastic grocery bag, and leave in warm place to rise for 2.5 hours.

7. Cover with inflated plastic grocery bag, and refrigerate for 6 hours.

8. Cover loaves with a towel, and let rise again at room temp (~74F) for 2 hours.

9. Preheat oven to 450, adjust racks to put bread on 2nd to lowest rack, and put an empty broiler pan at the bottom. Slash loaves down the center with a serrated knife or a sharp razor blade, and place bread pans on rack in the oven. Add 1 cup hot water to pan to steam and close door. Bake at 450 for exactly 40 minutes; they will look dark chocolate brown (almost black!) on top.

10. Take bread from oven, remove from pans. Let cool on rack, uncovered, for at least 30 min; will still be warm 2 hours later.

11. Store in large Ziploc freezer bags when cool; this will help promote a soft crust.

Results

• Inflatable grocery bag worked very well! Even when dough stuck to it, was easy to peel off without ruining texture.
  
• Crust is as good as #12. There were huge, puffy bubbles on the top crust. Had to deflate these before baking; even then a few popped up.
  
• Interior is less holey (see pix). I think it needs more fridge ferment time, more like #11 and #12
• Flavor is the same, again, slightly more damp, with same flavor and texture.
  
• Good rise and good oven spring.
  
• Overall interior seems more damp than #11 and #12; but not too damp, still good. After 30 minutes of resting, still feels like there's steam/moisture coming out.
  
• Brush tops with butter this time after removing from oven. Gives it a nice shine!
  

Notes/Next time:

• Go back to longer fridge ferment time; 7.5 to 8 hours will be best, or overnight (like v11).
• Might have used 5 extra minutes of bake time, or even letting it rest in the pan after removing from oven.
  

"Madmax" pizza

Read about this dough when I was researching pizza sauce on Pizzamaking.com. A poster named "Mad Max" shared this recipe, so I'm trying it out

Makes two 12" pies

3 c unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/3 c warm water
1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt

1. Heat water in microwave for 15-20 seconds. Should be no more than 110 degrees.
   
2. Add sugar and yeast to water, stir to dissolve. Let rest for 4 minutes
3. In stand mixer bowl, add flour. Dig out a well, and pour in all liquid.
   
4. Mix with dough hook on lowest setting "1" for 4 minutes.
   
5. Cover and let rest for 20 min.
   
6. ADD SALT.
7. Mix with dough hook on lowest setting for 13 minutes.
   
8. Cover and let rest for 20 min.
   
9. Oil a plastic bowl, scrape sticky dough out of mixing bowl, cover and refrigerate for 2 days. (mine went in the fridge on Sunday at 3pm, so it should be ready Tuesday 3pm; can also try it Monday night).
   
10. Make two 12" pizza skins
11. Preheat oven for 500 degrees, with pizza stone.
12. Bake for 7-8 minutes.
    

Day 1 Results:
(I took 1/2 batch out this afternoon at 3pm, after 24 hrs in the fridge; then did a 3.5 hour bench rise, baked at 500 deg for 8 minutes, 2nd to top rack in oven w/ pizza stone)

1. Nice texture and good flavor! Good puffiness, good chew, not raw or yeasty
2. Thinnest crispy crust on the pizza bottom. Pizza edges started to get a tiny bit blistery with a nice chew.
   
3. Crust did not brown (2 out of 5); probably could stay in the oven 1 more minute. Sometimes I wonder if it's my pizza stone. According to PizzaMaking.com, I should try having the stone in the middle or bottom of the oven, preheat oven to 550 (at least) for 1 hour! This helps the stone get up to the right temp. Found a good thread on white crust problems. Things to consider: less sugar (there's already so little), slightly more salt, less final bench rise, higher temp, lower rack + stone.
   

For 2nd crust:

1. Go for 2.5 to 3 hour bench rise
2. Preheat to 550, stone on last level
3. Bake for 8-9 minutes
   
4. After 7 minutes move pizza from stone to middle rack
   

For the future:

1. Get home air temp thermometer(s); one for fridge, one for kitchen so I can see what my "room temp" is now, as well as my fridge "cold temp" is.
   

Crunchy Tilapia with Basil Oil

Enjoyed some more tilapia tonight, or shall I say "revisited". Was totally delicious, and very simple to make. Beckey really liked the result. 4 of 5 stars on Beckey's scale.

2 tilapia filets
Salt and pepper

3 tbsp mayo
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp ground fresh basil (leftover from making basil oil)
1 tsp dried dill or 1 tbsp fresh dill
Salt and pepper

1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
2 tbsp butter + 1 tbsp EVOO
Basil Oil (see previous blog entries)

1. Combine mayo, mustard, lemon juice, basil, and dill. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
2. Dry both sides of tilapia with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper, and let rest 10 minutes.
3. Pour breadcrumbs in a layer on a dish or a plate.
   
4. Apply a thin coat of mayo mixture to one side of fish. Place mayo side into breadcrumbs. Repeat mayo on other side. Add more breadcrumbs on top, and gently press in, flip as necessary and repeat to get a good coating.
   
5. Heat butter + oil in nonstick skillet over high heat, til butter browns. Place "hilly" side of face down, and cook undisturbed over high heat for 3 minutes. Carefully flip onto other side, cook for 2 more minutes.
6. Remove onto plate immediately. Sprinkle with Basil oil. Serve with steamed rice and a simple salad.

Orange chicken

Made orange chicken tonight, best crust ever so far. This recipe calls for 75:25 ratio cornstarch-to-flour. This worked really well, I think it maybe was just a tad too thin. However, I have to say that parts of it fried up exactly like restaurant-style chinese fried chicken: that kind of crispy, almost glassy transparent yet toasty thickness with a good crunch. More than the batter, the key I think is the double-fry technique: blanch at low temp, cool, then re-fry at high temp.

Next time I recommend:

1. Try cornstarch only; cornstarch lends crunch, flour lends chew.
   
2. Try using a bottle of Blue Moon Amber Ale for the batter: should make it more crispy, and Blue Moon naturally pairs well with orange, as any respectable bartender will tell you. Or, seltzer water should help enhance crispness.
   
3. Make sure the liquid that's added to the batter is cold! May even consider refrigerating the batter.
   
4. Slightly thicker batter. The recipe below has been adjusted to reflect this already.
   

Ingredients

4 chicken thighs, de-boned, skin off and cleaned of excess fat, cut into 1" chunks
Marinade
Batter
Sauce
3 thick scallions, cut into 1" rings
At least 4 c. vegetable oil, for frying

1. In a plastic bowl, combine chicken pieces and marinade. Stir to combine, and let sit 1-2 hours.
   
2. Drain chicken in colander, reserving 1/3 cup of marinade. Pat chicken dry with towels.
   
3. Make sauce (without slurry) and set aside.
4. Combine batter ingredients and set aside.
5. In a large pot, heat oil to 350 degrees (use a fry thermometer!).
   
6. Working in 4 batches, dip 1/4 of chicken in batter, shake off excess, and add pieces quickly but one at a time (so they don't stick together), fry for 1 min, turn, fry for 1 more minute (2 min total). Use spider or slotted spoon to remove to paper-towel-lined plate or sheet pan to drain and cool.
7. Repeat for remaining 3 batches. Make sure oil temp stays around 350 degrees. Don't stack cooked chicken on top of each other, it needs to be spread out to cool.
   
8. Reheat oil to 375-380F.
   
9. Starting with coolest pieces (1st batch that has cooled), work in batches to refry the chicken for 1.5-2 minutes. Return the oil to temperature before adding next batch. Drain on separate paper-towel-lined sheet pan.
   
10. When last batch is finished, heat sauce to boiling, whisk in slurry, bring to boil.
    
11. Pour over chicken, toss chicken (like you would for chicken wings), then serve immediately.
    

Marinade

1/4 c mirin
2-3 tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2 c vegetable oil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
1 pinch chili flakes

Batter

(3/4 c cornstarch + 1/4 cup all purpose flour) OR (1 c cornstarch)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup COLD liquid (cold water, cold beer (see intro note), or cold seltzer water...)
1-2 tbsp water (extra)

Whisk dry ingredients together. Whisk in 1/2 cup liquid ingredients except extra water together. When combined, batter should coat a piece a chicken so you can't see the raw meat when you dip and shake off the excess batter. I think perfect crust would be at just the moment when it ceases being transparent; too thick and then it's not good either. Whisk in extra water only if the batter is too thick (it may be).

Sauce

1 c chicken stock
1/4 c ketchup
1/4 c white sugar
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 c chicken marinade, reserved
1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp sesame oil
1 pinch chile flakes
Juice of 1 orange
4-5" x 1" strip of orange peel, chopped into 1/2" pieces
Corn starch slurry: 1 tbsp corn starch, dissolved in 2 tbsp water

Combine all ingredients except slurry, bring to a boil in a sauce pan, reduce heat to low. When chicken is ready, bring back up to a boil, whisk in slurry all at once, return to a boil and boil for 1 minute till you get sugary, foamy bubbles. Pour immediately over chicken, toss and serve.

dijon vinaigrette

When our friends R + P came over this weekend, R. really enjoyed the dijon vinaigrette I made for the salad. Speaking of Dijon, did you know that "Dijon" refers to the mustard recipe, not its origin? And even further, did you know that over 90% of mustard seeds used to make Dijon-style mustard in France come from Canada? It's apparently easier for the French to process the Canadian seeds than the native Burgundian mustard seeds.

Regardless of the mustard, this vinaigrette is as simple as it is delicious; nice with peppery veg! It's also nice to marinate onions or shallots in this dressing ahead of time.

Dijon Vinaigrette a la 'Rillo'

1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tbsp dijon mustard
1/2 tbsp capers
1/2 tbsp anchovy paste
3 pickled garlic cloves, minced then smashed to a paste with side of knife
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup (4 tbsp) extra virgin olive oil

Whisk all ingredients but oil. When thoroughly combined, whisk in oil in steady stream to form emulsion. Dip a salad leaf into the dressing, taste to test. Adjust seasonings: salt, pepper, oil and acid as necessary.

Now go enjoy a big healthy salad for dinner! Maybe throw some fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, pickles, sliced red onion, roasted red peppers, green olives, artichoke hearts, and grilled chicken (or even canned albacore tuna!), maybe a few leaves of basil! Hearty and satisfying.

fish tacos and french fries

Made fish tacos and homemade fries tonight, in part based on this fish taco recipe.

Some notes:

• If you're gonna do fries as well, you really should have 2 separate fryers going. I blanched and fried the fries first, then did the fish, and the fries were a little cold.
• Blanched the fries for 2 minutes at 325 degrees, then about 2-3 minutes at 375 degrees. They puff up this way, and have a perfect texture (used yellow potatoes).
• For fish sauce, yogurt would be good...I thinned it out with a little milk. Really needs crema or something for a more sour tang. Maybe buttermilk? It needs to be thinned out enough to be kinda runny.
• Batter in the original flour-to-beer ratio was pretty runny, perhaps too runny. You get more of a gossamer-thin layer of crust this way; you could see the fish texture thru the batter. Adding about 1/4 cup of flour made it thicker like a fish n chips thing, a non-translucent coating. Thinner, original consistency would be a more crispy, wispy layer, and I like something a little more substantial.
• Sauce: good flavors, but I think maybe too much spices, it needed something to kick up the freshness. Less dill next time! Next time, use yogurt like original recipe, mexican crema, or buttermilk. Also consider adding some garlic, like in aioli.
• Fresh tilapia works well: it's semi-firm, very clean and very mild tasting, totally delish.
  

Fish Tacos My Way
Serves 2-3

Batter
Sauce
Corn tortillas
2 tilapia filets, cut into 1" wide strips, 2.5-3.5" lenghts
1/2 head of cabbage (green preferred, or red), sliced very thin
At least 4 cups vegetable oil

Mix the sauce ingredients, and set aside.
Heat oil to 350-375.
Mix batter ingredients with whisk.
Dip fish in batter, shake off excess, and put into fryer (about 7-9 pieces at a time, depending on the pot)
Fry for 1 minute, flip sides, fry for 1-2 minutes.
Remove onto paper towels.
Season with salt, and serve immediately.
Make a taco with some cabbage, corn tortilla, some fish and some sauce.


Sauce

1/2 cup mayo
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 tsp dried dill (was originally 1/2 tsp, was too much)
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne
Salt + pepper to taste
1 habanero or jalapeno, minced* (I left this out)

Batter
1c flour (+ extra 1/4c)
1 tsp baking powder
1 can/bottle (12oz) cold beer (preferably a golden Mexican lager, like Corona, Pacifico, Tecate, etc. I used Olympia, which worked fine)
2 tsp table salt

Whisk together all but 1/4 c. flour all ingredients just before battering fish. Whisk together; add as much reserved flour (up to 1/4 cup) to make it "thick enough", so that it's not transparent when it's on the fish. The batter should be thick enough so that it's just beyond watery, runny, and transparent, so you don't see the fish through the batter. Not quite as thick as pancake batter, maybe a little thinner. This photo of how the batter drips off in the original recipe is a good example. If it's too thick, thin out with a little more beer (or water, or seltzer water), if necessary. Too thin, add some more flour.

kick ass tri tip rub

Made tri tip this evening for our friend Ray and Patrick. Ray is a nurse who works in helicopter trauma transport, Patrick works for a singing group. They spent the afternoon with us today, drinking wine, marinating in the jacuzzi, enjoying dinner, port and multiple games of Catchphrase. They really enjoyed the tri-tip...and I even surprised myself at how good it was!

Tri tip turned out kick ass. About 15-17 minutes on medium heat setting on the Weber, 10 minutes on 1st side, 7 minutes on 2nd side, with 10-15 minutes rest was pretty perfect medium rare. But best part was crust: the rub was beautiful this time! I think the sugar is what made this really come together, compared to my previous rubs. I'd like to share the recipe with you.

Magickal Tri Tip Rub

3 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp kosher salt
2 tbsp fresh ground black pepper (use spice/coffee grinder!)
2 tbsp cane sugar (or other white sugar)
1 tbsp Montreal Steak Seasoning
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tbsp mesquite smoke flavor (dry malt base)

Combine all spices in a small jar with lid. Rub tri tip with olive oil. Coat thoroughly and rub with spice blend. Let sit for at least 6 hours.

Cook tritip over medium indirect heat (about 350-425 degrees) for 15-17 minutes for medium rare.

oh man eggplant parmigiana

I made this recipe based on what I had seen on Bobby Flay's Throwdown episode with Mike's Deli for Eggplant Parmesan. Bought some beautiful eggplants at the Ojai farmer's market, and decided to try this recipe earlier this week. It was totally amazing! If there was ever a meal that a vegetarian would enjoy, this is it!

Oh Man Eggplant Parmigiana

Serves 4

• Vegetable Oil
• 2 medium eggplants
• 1-2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs, beaten
  
• Homemade Bread Crumbs
  
• 1 jar Classico Roasted Garlic tomato sauce (or marinara sauce)
  
• 8 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced or crumbled.
  

Homemade Crumbs

• 4 cups stale white bread, cubed about 3/4-1" pieces (such as homemade sourdough)
  
• 1 tbsp onion powder
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp dried parsley
• 1 tsp table salt

Combine all ingredients in food processor. Process to desired consistency (a sandy consistency works well for the eggplant parmigiana).

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and heat oil in a large pan, Dutch oven or deep-fryer.
2. Wash the eggplant, and slice into 1/4-inch thick slices the long way using a mandoline (or a commercial bread/meat slicer). You don't have to peel it! Sprinkle with flour as you place it in a bowl.
   
3. In a separate bowl beat eggs with 1 tbsp water. Dip the eggplant into the egg to coat both sides. Then dip in bread crumbs, pressing breadcrumbs in place on each side. Shake off excess, and place on a large tray.
4. Once the oil is hot, put the eggplant in the hot oil a few pieces at a time (in batches, don't crowd!) and fry until golden brown on both sides, about 60-90 seconds on each side. Remove with skimmer and drain on paper towels, salting immediately after.
   
5. Once all of the eggplant has been fried, get a rectangular baking pan and start the layering as follows:

• tomato sauce to the bottom of the pan,
• then the eggplant, more sauce, fresh mozzarella, Romano cheese,
• eggplant-sauce-cheese
• repeat until you have reached the top of the pan. Top off with sauce, mozzarella, and grated Romano

Place the eggplant into the oven and cook for 20 to 25 minutes.

Here are some photos of my recent results:

gazpacho and fresh bread

It's a hot summer day today, so gazpacho seems to be a perfect fit. Great heirloom tomatoes from the Farmers market. Decided to try Mark Bittman's recipe from "Best Recipes In the World". I didn't have any "good quality stale bread", I decided to bake some of my own from the same book ("European White Bread"), with a little twist of my own.

Gazpacho

Makes a giant bowl, serves 4-6

2 lbs tomatoes (1 giant heirloom and 1 large tomato)
1/3 English cucumber, peeled
1 red pepper, cored and seeded
1 garlic clove, peeled
4 slices stale bread (or toasted Fresh Bread*) + water for soaking
1 or more tbsp. good quality spanish Sherry vinegar
1 tsp kosher salt
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, preferably Spanish
1 cup water (plus more, see notes)


Take a slice of tomato, a thin slice of red pepper, and some cucumber. Mince each and set aside as garnish.

Soak bread in water for 5 minutes, then drain, and squeeze out remaining water.

Rough chop tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, and garlic. In two batches, add to food processor or blender, with about 1/2 cup water in each batch, puree until smooth.

Recombine in big soup bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Soak bread for 5 minutes in water, and squeeze out. In batches, add to blender, and puree for 3 minutes, add olive oil while running, puree for 1 more minute.

Strain thru chinois if a ultra-silky texture is required.

Garnish bowls with minced veggies.

Notes: Bittman calls for 6 cups of water! That's crazy! Jose Andres doesn't add any in one recipe I read, and adds only 2 cups in another. What is Bittman thinking? It appears cold water is added at the end to achieve a certain consistency. I think at most, 1 or maybe 2 cups water TOTAL is all that's necessary. Add more to improve a thin texture. I used 3 cups, and it was plenty, any more and it would be too watery.

Results:

• Adding the bread and oil makes a very smooth, paler, creamy texture. The EVOO adds a pepperiness, depending on the style.
• Very very delicious! Beckey and I really liked it.
• Nice texture, very silky when thru chinois.
  
• Vey refreshing! Great light dinner with a bottle of wine and some bread.
  

European White Bread

(Based on Bittman's recipe in "Best Recipes in the World"; I added sourdough starter for extra flavor, as well as a bit of olive oil for richness).

3 cups bread flour + 1 tbsp
2 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup sourdough starter
1 cup water
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp kosher salt

Combine flour, yeast, starter and water in mixer bowl. Knead on lowest setting with dough hook for 2 minutes. Cover and let rest for 20 min. Knead with dough hook for 20 minutes. Turn out onto a floured board, shape into round ball, and put in floured cloth proofing basket. Cover with inflated plastic bag (a fruit/veggie bag works well) and let rise for about 1 hour, until a little less than doubled.

At 1 hour, preheat the oven to 500 deg F. (Preheating will take about 30 min!)

Now watch your dough for the next 30 minutes or so. It was hot in the house today (probably about 78 degrees), and at 1.5 hours it was doubled but at 2 hours started to collapse. If it starts to collapse, probably overproofed, so it won't turn out as well, but still edible. Don't go more than 2 hours!

As soon as it's doubled, turn out gently onto well floured peel, slide onto baking stone, add 1 cup hot water to broiler pan at bottom, and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove and let cool on wire rack for 15-30 minutes before slicing.

Results:

• Mine started to collapse, a bit overproofed. Didn't get a good oven spring, a fairly flat, biscotti height disk.
• Pretty good crust browning & crunch and flavor, considering short rise time.
  
• Try using milk instead of water!
• I think possibly a little too wet. Cut down water (or milk) to 2/3 cup.
  
• For next time, add 2 tbsp wheat germ or whole wheat flour; should give extra nuttiness

back from France

Had some great food, especially at Le Montrachet for lunch, incredible (but expensive - 190Euro) meal: 3 course lunch menu, with several amuse bouche & palate cleansers. Yum.

And the wine, ooohhhh...I love Puligny-Montrachet. We had either one of these (I don't know which one, I do know it was a 2007 Puligny-Montrachet):

Premier cru - François Carillon PULIGNY MONTRACHET « Les Folatières » 2007
Villages - Pascal PULIGNY MONTRACHET 2007
Villages - François Carillon PULIGNY MONTRACHET 2007

We also had
Marc Morey CHASSAGNE MONTRACHET « Morgeot » 2005, which was a nice red

Their current wine list is available online


On my last night in France, had andouillette, a grilled tripe sausage, at a bouchon called "Les Lyonnais" in Lyon. Despite others complaints about andouilette being stinky, I thought it was totally delicious and not stinky at all, in fact, very herby. I didn't know the interior of the sausage was tripe, but it was herby, garlicky and delicious.

pizza sauce and garlic dipping sauce

Oh yeah, here is a copy of the PJ's Pizza sauce recipe:

Papa John's Pizza Sauce
1 10 3/4-ounce can of tomato puree
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1. Combine ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.
Makes 1 cup.

Special Garlic Sauce
1/2 cup margarine spread
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1. Combine ingredients in a small bowl.
2. Microwave on 1/2 power for 20 seconds. Stir.

sourdough pizza #3

Was reading the Pizzamaking.com web site when I came across this recipe for Papa John's Pizza Sauce . More than the sauce, I was intrigued by another author's recipe for pizza dough:

3 C KA bread flour
1 1/3 C water
1/2 t ADY
1/2 t salt
1/2 t sugar

Then he did this:

"Proofed the ADY in 1/3 C of water and all the sugar. Then added the yeast mixture to 1 cup flour and mixed for 3-4 minutes (Kitchen Aid dough hook setting #1). Rest for 20 minutes. Added salt, and remainder of flour. Mixed for 13-15 minutes. Rest for 20 minutes. Placed into tupperware with a few drops of oil. Then into the refrigerator for 2 days...bench rise for 3-4 hours. Made 2 12" skins, topped, then into preheated stone at 500. Cooked in 7-8 minutes. Light and airy, and yet crisp. "

Made me rethink my hydrations, and using active dry yeast altogether. So here's another variation; bumping up water, wheat germ & sugar, and increasing ferment time.

Makes 1 large size pizza, perhaps 14-16".

3 c bread flour
1 c water
1/2 c active sourdough starter (I use my LBB starter)
2 tbsp wheat germ
2 tbsp canola oil
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp table salt

1. Add all ingredients except salt to mixing bowl.
2. Mix using dough hook for 2 min. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 min.
3. NOW ADD SALT. Mix with dough hook on speed 2 for 8 minutes. Dough will be soft and sticky.
   
4. Place dough in oiled bowl covered with plastic wrap. Let rest for 2 hour at room temp.
   
5. Refrigerate dough in bowl for 24-48 hours.
6. Remove dough 3 hours before baking.
   
7. 30 minutes before baking, preheat oven to 550 degrees; make sure your pizza stone is in there.
   
8. Dip dough in flour & shake off excess. On a very well floured board, stretch dough into shape.
9. Transfer dough to parchment paper on rimless baking sheet (or parchment on pizza peel)
10. Slide pizza into oven, on stone, located 2nd shelf from top.
    
11. Add 1 cup hot water to broiler pan at bottom of oven.
    
12. Add toppings and bake for 10 minutes, or until crust is browned as desired.

Results:

• Crust thickness (1=thin CPK, 3=normal PJ Dominos, 5=thick Chicago style): 3
  
• Crust rise (1=no bubbles/some bubbling/5=big bubbles everywhere): 3
  
• Crust crunch (1=eiscafe soft, 5=cracker hard): 2
  
• Crust blistering (1=no blistering, 5=clear, perfect blistering): 2
  
• Crust chew (1=not chewy,5=very chewy): 3
  
• Crust doneness (1=dough still raw, 5=browned and cooked through): 2
  
• Crust texture hole size (1=small, 3=med, 5=large): 3
  
• Crust texture hole regularity (1=even, 3=a little irregular, 5=very irregular): 3.5
  
• Crust browning: (1=pale/white, 3=browning, 5=chocolate brown): 1
  
• Crust sourness (1=not sour, 5=very sour):1
  

Notes:

• Dough by comparison to #1 was pretty dry; didn't stick to mixer bottom.
• After 10 minutes, bottom was still pale, as though it didn't cook through, but it appeared cooked through.
  
• When stretching the dough, it stretched nice and thin, and bubbles were visible throughout, just didn't bake out correctly.
  
• Barely hints of sourness.
  
• Wheat germ added nice nuttiness, but subtle
• Crust was nice and tender
  
• Would need to re-do this recipe, as was too pale

For Next Time

• Rotate pizza 180 degrees after 1st 5 minutes.
• Perhaps add more water?
  
• Perhaps add less sugar, oil and salt?
  

Sourdough pizza #2

Trying out some sourdough pizza dough again. This time doubling the recipe, should make one thick pizza. Based on CPK recipe but adding LBB starter.

I was watching Guy Fieri at a pizza place in Glendale, AZ. The guy made a wood fired pizza, oven temp was 800 deg F, and cooked pizza for 4 minutes. Cheese was bubbling like molten lava on top! My oven doesn't go that high :( But I'll make do. Decided to kick up oven temp to 550F this time, and it seemed to help. I also used bread flour this time instead of AP flour.

Makes 1 large size pizza, perhaps 14-16".

3 c bread flour
1/2 c + 1 tbsp water
1/2 c active sourdough starter (I use my LBB starter)
1 tbsp wheat germ
1.5 tsp active yeast
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp honey
2 tsp table salt

1. Add all ingredients except salt to mixing bowl.
2. Mix using dough hook for 2 min. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 min.
3. NOW ADD SALT. Mix with dough hook for 8 minutes. Dough will be very soft and sticky.
   
4. Place dough in oiled bowl covered with plastic wrap. Let rest for 2 hours at room temp. Dough will still be very soft and sticky.
   
5. Refrigerate dough in bowl for 12 hours. (Went into fridge about 10:00pm or so).
6. Remove dough 2 hours before baking. (came out at 10am from fridge, sat until 12 noon).
   
7. 30 minutes before baking, preheat oven to 550 degrees; make sure your pizza stone is in there.
   
8. Dip dough in flour & shake off excess. On a very well floured board, stretch dough into shape.
9. Transfer dough to parchment paper on rimless baking sheet (or parchment on pizza peel)
10. Slide pizza into oven, on stone, located 2nd shelf from top.
    
11. Add 1 cup hot water to broiler pan at bottom of oven.
    
12. Add toppings and bake for 10 minutes, or until crust is browned as desired.

Results:

• Crust thickness (1=thin CPK, 3=normal PJ Dominos, 5=thick Chicago style): 3.5
  
• Crust rise (1=no bubbles/some bubbling/5=big bubbles everywhere): 2.5
  
• Crust crunch (1=eiscafe soft, 5=cracker hard): 3
  
• Crust blistering (1=no blistering, 5=clear, perfect blistering): 3.5
  
• Crust chew (1=not chewy,5=very chewy): 4
• Crust doneness (1=dough still raw, 5=browned and cooked through): 5
  
• Crust texture hole size (1=small, 3=med, 5=large): 2.5
  
• Crust texture hole regularity (1=even, 3=a little irregular, 5=very irregular): 2.5
  
• Crust browning: (1=pale/white, 3=browning, 5=chocolate brown): 4.3
• Crust sourness (1=not sour, 5=very sour): 1
  

Notes:

• Dough by comparison to #1 was pretty dry; didn't stick to mixer bottom.
• Went a little hotter on the oven. Cooking time was exactly 10 minutes, which was perfect for this size pie and dough wetness.
• Crust bottom was 85% perfect: wood-fired brown, more on one side than the other. Brown part was thin and cracker-like, while rest of interior was soft.

For Next Time

• Try white sugar instead of honey, and possibly increase a little (2-3 tbsp)
• Rotate pizza 180 degrees after 1st 5 minutes.
• Try slightly more hydration (+3 tbsp water instead of +1)
  
• Try 2 tbsp wheat germ instead of 1; couldn't really taste 1, didn't add significant nuttiness.
  

Mushroom Bacon soup

2 weeks ago, the local supermarket had a special: button mushrooms for $0.50 per package! Unheard of! The reason was the "sell by" date was the following day. So I brought them home that day and cooked them up. I like them as a spread on grandma's bread, in omelettes, etc. They had been sitting in the fridge for a few days, so I thought I would try something new. Well, it turned out pretty well. I made it without the cream, but it would be nice for some added richness.

Mushroom Bacon Soup

Serves 2

1 medium onion, diced
2-3 strips bacon
1 container button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 shot (1.5 oz) brandy
2 tbsp butter
2 sprigs fresh thyme, stems removed
1 + 1 cup (2 c. total) homemade chicken stock (or good-quality boxed chicken stock)
1/4 cup heavy cream (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat chicken stock in a small pot to a boil; reduce heat to low.
2. In a skillet, cook bacon, draining on towels. Pour off all bacon fat from pan. Over high heat, add 2 tbsp butter. Add onions, and cook til translucent, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms, garlic and thyme. Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add a shot (1.5 oz) of brandy. Flame off (if desired) or cook til evaporates, about 2 minutes. Reemove from heat.
4. Reserve about 2 tbsp mushroom/bacon mixture for garnish.
5. Add remaining mixture to blender. Add about 1 cup stock, puree mushrooms. Adjust mixture with remaining (or more) stock if needed, so it's more like soup (a bit runny) and NOT like baby food (or applesauce).
6. Return to pot over medium heat to keep warm. Add cream if desired, and adjust salt and pepper to taste.
7. Serve in bowls, garnished with reserved mushroom/bacon mixture and a sprinkle of thyme.

Southwestern Chicken Crepes with Summer Corn and Red Peppers

Serves 2-4

Filling

Garlic Cream Sauce (recipe follows)
Basil Oil (recipe follows)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium yellow or white onion, small dice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 red pepper, cored, seeded and cut into small dice
1 fresh cob of corn, kernels trimmed off with knife
dash of chili powder (1/8 tsp)
dash of smoked sweet paprika (1/8 tsp)
2 sprigs fresh thyme, stems removed
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1 chicken breast, cooked, and cut into 1/2" cubes
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. First make the Garlic Cream sauce, and set it to reduce.
   
   
2. Next make the Basil oil, and set aside.
   
   
3. In a skillet over medium high heat, heat olive oil and add onion. Cook for 5 minutes until soft and translucent, stirring occasionally (you don't want it to brown though). Add garlic, red pepper, corn, chili powder, paprika and thyme. Cook over high heat for 2 minutes.
   
   
4. In a small bowl, combine butter and flour with fork into uniform paste. Whisk paste into cream sauce. Increase heat on cream sauce, whisk butter mixture into cream sauce, and bring to a boil; it should thicken.
   
   
5. Return skillet to high heat. Add cream sauce and diced chicken to skillet all at once, stirring to heat through, about 1-2 minutes. Sauce should be pretty thick; adjust with more milk if too thick.
   
   
6. Remove from heat and set aside.
   
   
7. Make crepes.
   
   
8. Reheat filling if necessary. Wrap filling in crepe. Serve crepe with a little extra filling on top, and drizzled with some Basil Oil.

Garlic Cream Sauce
Makes about 1 cup

1 cup half-and-half
1 cup milk
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 sprig fresh thyme, stem removed
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine 1st 4 ingredients in small saucepot over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and let cook until reduced to about 1/2. Salt and pepper to taste.

VARIATION: consider adding 1 tbsp pureed chipotle en adobo to garlic cream sauce.

Crepes (makes 6 crepes)
My recipe is from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook

2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp melted butter

Blend all in blender until smooth. Let stand for at least 30 minutes.

To cook crepes, brush a nonstick skillet with a little melted butter over medium high heat. Pour in a batter in center of pan about 1/2 the size of pan, and tilt/swirl immediately to coat whole pan. Keep swirling over heat until batter freezes. Cook over medium high heat for about 2 minutes. Carefully flip onto 2nd side, cook for about 1-2 minutes. Remove onto plate, and repeat with remaining. Use 1st cooked side as presentation side.

Leftover crepes can be wrapped in plastic wrap and will keep 3 days in fridge.

Basil Oil
Makes about 1/4 cup

20 leaves of fresh basil, washed
Olive oil

Heat a small pot with water to a boil. Add leaves, swish for 2-3 seconds and immediately remove into a bowl with ice water to cool. Once cool, remove leaves and squeeze out all water, pat dry with towel. Add to blender with olive oil to barely cover. Blend until smooth. Pass through strainer or chinois, scraping bits from outside of strainer.

Bottle in squeeze bottle and refrigerate; keeps for about 1 week.

Sourdough pizza dough #1

Trying out some sourdough pizza dough. Based on CPK recipe but adding LBB starter

Makes 1 small CPK size pizza, perhaps 12-14".

1.5 c AP flour
1/4 c + 3 tbsp water
1/4 c active sourdough starter (I use my LBB starter)
1 tsp active yeast
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp salt

1. Add all ingredients except salt to mixing bowl.
2. Mix using dough hook for 2 min. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 min.
3. NOW ADD SALT. Mix with dough hook for 8 minutes. Dough will be very soft and sticky.
   
4. Place dough in oiled bowl covered with plastic wrap. Let rest for 2 hours at room temp. Dough will still be very soft and sticky.
   
5. Refrigerate dough in bowl for 7 to 24 hours. (Went into fridge about 8:00pm or so).
6. Remove dough 2 hours before baking.
   
7. 30 minutes before baking, preheat oven to 500 degrees; make sure your pizza stone is in there.
   
8. On a very well floured board, stretch dough into shape.
9. Transfer dough to parchment paper on rimless baking sheet (or parchment on pizza peel)
   
10. Add toppings and bake for 9-10 minutes, or until crust is browned as desired.

Results:

• Crust thickness (1=thin CPK, 3=normal PJ Dominos, 5=thick Chicago style): 1
  
• Crust rise (1=no bubbles/some bubbling/5=big bubbles everywhere) : 1
  
• Crust crunch (1=eiscafe soft, 5=cracker hard):2
• Crust chew (1=not chewy,5=very chewy): 3
  
• Crust texture hole size (1=small, 3=med, 5=large): 1
  
• Crust texture hole regularity (1=even, 3=a little irregular, 5=very irregular):1
  
• Crust browning: (1=pale/white, 3=browning, 5=chocolate brown): 2.5

Notes:

• Dough was very wet in the mixer, very sticky
  
• I let it rise for 48 hours in the fridge; perhaps too long; it was pretty wet/sticky.
  
• When I stretched it, used too much flour; on the parchment, the flour on bottom didn't cook and so there was raw flour on the underside of the pizza

Grandma's Bread #12

It's become a hot July. I was cleaning out the fridge, and started looking at my starter, which was looking a little brown, and so I started thinking about grandma's bread again. Haven't made any since April, and I bought some buttermilk over the weekend with the idea of making some more.

Grandma's Bread #12 - July 23, 2009

Makes 2 loaves

1-1/4 cups water
2 cups buttermilk
1-1/3 cup rye flour

6-1/4 cup AP wheat flour
2 tsp yeast
1/2 cup honey
3-1/2 + 1/8 tsp table salt

1. Over medium-low heat, warm buttermilk and water, stirring occasionally, just until it curdles and remove from heat. Stir in all rye flour, cover tightly and leave at room temperature overnight (at least 12 hours).

2. In mixing bowl, combine wheat flour + yeast. Transfer rye mixture to mixing bowl. Add honey. Using beater attachment, mix on speed "2" for 2 minutes, until the dough is uniform. It will look like a thick, uniform batter at this point. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes.

3. NOW ADD THE SALT ALL AT ONCE. Mix using beater for 4 minutes, dough hook for 4 minutes, both set to "2" (low speed). You may need to clean the dough hook once in a while. Dough will be very thick and sticky; it will never clear the sides of the bowl, more like a thick wet batter...it will not stop sticking! This is why the stand mixer is so handy. Total kneading time is 8 minutes. You will see some gluten strands forming in the dough towards the end.

6. Grease two bread pans with butter, and dust them with white flour. Using a wooden spoon or stiff bowl scraper, turn out the sticky dough onto a very well floured board. Form into a single round; dough will be very soft but with a well-floured board, won't be very sticky and will form a smooth surface. Cut dough into 2 equal pieces, shape dough into loaves (they will feel pretty soft, not quite baby's bottom but close) and place in bread pans. Press down on dough to get loaf to expand across the bottom of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and towel, and leave in warm place to rise for 2.5 hours.

7. Cover tightly with oiled plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 7.5 hours.

8. Cover loaves with a towel, and let rise again at room temp (~74F) for 2 hours.

9. Preheat oven to 450, adjust racks to put bread on 2nd to lowest rack, and put an empty broiler pan at the bottom. Slash loaves down the center with a serrated knife or a sharp razor blade, and place bread pans on rack in the oven. Add 1 cup hot water to pan to steam and close door. Bake at 450 for exactly 40 minutes; they will look dark chocolate brown (almost black!) on top.

10. Take bread from oven, remove from pans. Let cool on rack, uncovered, for at least 30 min; will still be warm 2 hours later.

11. Store in large Ziploc freezer bags when cool; this will help promote a soft crust.

Results

• Forgot to oil the plastic wrap, so it got stuck to crust when I pulled it off. Made it extra rustic :( Best bet would be an inflated bag in the fridge; or a large rectangular ClickClack or other see-thru small airtight plastic cannister. So when I recovered with a towel, I dusted with some extra flour. Had a nice looking "snow dust on mountains" effect.
  
• Nice dark brown top crust. Bottom crust is solid tan with a few chocolate-y spots in the corners.
  
• Interior is perfect, just like #11 that proofed in the fridge. Same flavor, same texture. Would've risen more if I had oiled the plastic wrap.
  
• Didn't brush tops with butter this time. Didn't seem to matter (today, at least).
  

Notes/Next time:

• We'll see
  

tomato pie

Haven't made this one yet, but borrowed it from someone else's web site. The recipe comes from the Martha Stewart Living cookbook. Looks really good! Evan Kleinman's "Good Food" blog on KCRW was been talking about "Pie-a-Day" and she referred to her liking of this recipe.

MAKES ONE 10-INCH PIE; SERVES 8

Gruyère cheese and cherry tomatoes provide a savory version of that summer classic, the double-crusted fruit pie. Resist the temptation to eat this pie straight from the oven. Wait until it has reached room temperature; the juice from the tomatoes will have had time to collect. Serve it as a light lunch or as a side dish.

Ingredients

• 2¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2½ teaspoons kosher salt
• 2½ teaspoons sugar
• 1¼ cups grated Gruyère cheese
• 1 cup (2 sticks) plus 1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 pounds assorted cherry tomatoes
• ½ cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large egg

Method

1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine 2½ cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sugar, and 1 cup grated cheese. Add 1 cup butter pieces; process until mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds. With machine running, gradually pour ¼ cup of ice water through the feed tube. Pulse until dough holds together without becoming wet or sticky; do not process more than 30 seconds. To test, squeeze a small amount of the mixture together: If it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
2. Divide dough into two equal balls. Flatten each into a disk; wrap in plastic wrap. Chill 1 hour.
3. Melt remaining tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent and softened, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl to cool slightly.
4. Place tomatoes in a large bowl. Toss with remaining ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons flour, 1½ teaspoons salt, and 1½ teaspoons sugar, and the basil and pepper; when the onion mixture is cooled, add to tomato mixture; toss to combine. Transfer the mixture to a deep 9- or 10-inch pie plate. Set aside.
5. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Roll out half the dough into a circle 1 inch larger than the pie plate. (The remaining dough may be frozen up to 2 months for later use.) Transfer rolled dough to top of plate; tuck in edges to seal. Make 3 to 4 small slits in the top crust; form a decorative edge.
6. In a small bowl, mix the egg with 1 teaspoon water for an egg wash. Brush the egg wash over the crust; sprinkle the crust with the remaining ¼ cup of grated cheese. Place the pie plate on a baking sheet to catch drips; bake until the crust is golden and the insides are bubbling, about 50 minutes. Bring to room temperature, and serve.

Dinner party

Chris and Larisa are coming over for a visit; they just got back from Spain. We're looking forward to their stories and photos!

On tonight's menu:

Pastry bites (TraJo appetizer)
Spinach salad
Peppered New York Steak with Port-Cherry Reduction
Swiss "Rosti" Potato and Leek Cake
Roasted mixed vegetables (crookneck squash/zucchini/red peppers/onion)

Dessert: who knows?? Zouk is bringing it. I also made a zingy lemon sorbet for dessert (or perhaps a palate cleanser)

Should be a fun evening! I'm doing prep right now:

• Sliced the veg, EVOO + seasonings, waiting on sheet pan
• Set the port-cherry sauce on to reduce
  
• Made the steak rub and seasoned the steaks
• Sliced the leeks, washed them, peeled the potatoes

Rosti turned out well; I micro'd 1/2 of the potatoes before shredding; frankly, I probably didn't have to micro any of them. Worked well in 9" cast iron pan, had to do 3 flips, but it came out nice n crispy on 2nd side.

blue cheese dip II

Here's a revised version of the blue cheese for wings. This one adds a little dill (which I've seen in copycat ranch dressing recipes) and onion powder. Also going smaller qty on sour cream, and using mayo instead of yogurt (didn't have plain yogurt)

Blue Cheese Dip II

4oz of mild blue cheese, such as Danish Rosenborg, crumbled
1/4 cup mayo
8oz (1/2 tub) sour cream
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tbsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp. thyme, dried
1/2 tsp. oregano, dried
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. dried dill
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. white (or white wine) vinegar

Results: immediately, well balanced flavor, slight garlic in the finish, but can taste nearly all the seasonings. May need a touch more salt. We'll see tomorrow, after it is refrigerated overnight.

Chicken stir fry with Brown Sauce

Don't know how better to describe this one. I made chicken stir fry over the weekend, and was enjoying some leftovers this evening, and after tasting the leftover brown sauce I thought "boy that's good!" Too bad it was relatively improvised, so I'm not sure on the quantities; but I am sure on the ingredients.


Chicken Stir Fry with Green Beans

2 chicken breasts
1 cup Brown Sauce (recipe follows)
1 cup frozen green beans
1 small onion, halved and sliced thin
1 large or two small red bell peppers, cored, seeded, and sliced thin
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced into rounds
2 tbsp vegetable oil
4 tbsp hot bean paste
Salt + pepper

1 tbsp corn starch
1 tbsp beef stock

Start the sauce first, and keep it simmering on a burner.

Over high heat, heat 1 tbsp oil in skillet until almost smoking. Add onion, season with salt, stir 3x and cook undisturbed for 2 minutes. Add bell peppers, stir 3x and cook undisturbed for 1 minute. Stir occassionally and cook for 1 more minute. Add 2 tbsp hot bean paste + garlic, cook for 30 seconds, then transfer pepper-onion mixture to a bowl/plate.

Blanch the green beans in Brown Sauce for about 2 minutes, and remove using wire skimmer. Add to pepper onion mixture. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and beef stock to form a slurry. Whisk into brown sauce, and reduce heat.

Season chicken liberally with salt + pepper. Heat remaining 1 tbsp oil in skillet over high heat until almost smoking. Add chicken all at once, and spread out quickly into single layer. Let cook undisturbed for 2 minutes. Stir and cook for 2 more minutes. Add hot bean paste, and stir. Add onion/pepper/bean mixture to chicken. Add in about 1/2 cup sauce, and cook for 1 minute, until sauce bubbles and thickens. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Serve immediately with white or brown rice.

Variations:

• Try marinating chicken in cornstarch/brandy/salt/pepper
• Add orange zest/orange peel to veggies at the beginning
  

Brown Sauce

2 cups beef stock
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp quality balsamic vinegar (or lower quality balsamic vinegar, cooked to reduce by 50%)
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tbsp brandy
Salt + pepper to taste
1 tbsp fresh ginger (minced) or ginger juice (optional)

Combine all ingredients, bring to a boil, turn down and let simmer uncovered for 30 minutes until reduced. Adjust seasonings to taste. Ready to use, or refrigerate overnight for better flavor.

Pineapple sauce

Made a tasty sauce with some fresh leftover pineapple a few weeks ago. The acid here will help it keep well, like a ketchup.

2 cups fresh pineapple, cubed
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp. minced ginger, or 1 tbsp ginger juice.
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tbsp. white wine or cider vinegar (unseasoned rice vinegar is optional)
1 tbsp lemon juice
Pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
Salt to taste

In small saucepot, heat pineapple, sugar and water, and ginger juice. Cook for 15-20 minutes until pineapple is soft. Remove from heat, add pineapple to blender and blend until smooth. Add back to saucepot, and whisk in, ketchup, vinegar, lemon juice, and optional chili flakes. Heat for 5 minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste. Strain and serve.

Customize it: consider adding some lime juice, or some fruit zest.

Scallops with Limoncello Thyme Sauce

Made scallops from the ATK recipe on Wed. night. They were prev. frozen, but still pretty good. I think the key for searing is high heat, big pan (so as not to crowd them), just a LITTLE oil (maybe a 1-2 tbsp), and at least 3 minutes on the initial side undisturbed.

ATK suggested a lemon/thyme/wine sauce, I decided to switch it up and do it limoncello. It was a good call!

Limoncello Thyme Sauce

1 shallot, minced (or about 3 tbsp onion, minced)
4 cloves garlic, roasted in cast iron, then minced/mashed
1/2 cup limoncello
Zest of one lemon
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp fresh thyme
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
Salt + pepper to taste

Drain fat from scallop pan. Return to medium-high heat. Add 1 tbsp butter, and saute shallot for 3 minutes, until soft. Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add limoncello, and cook for 30 seconds. Remove from heat, add zest, lemon juice, thyme, and whisk in remaining 2 tbsp butter. Adjust with salt & pepper. Add scallops, and heat for 1 minute or so.

Jose Andres' Aioli

This recipe is a neat exercise in technique.

From Mark Bittman: "When I joined Jose (Andres) for an early dinner with his friends on a hilltop in the Pyrenees, I expected a relaxing day. Yet as everyone set about the simple task of grilling big coils of butifarra (Catalonian sausages), pig's feet, lamb chops, peppers, and onions, he put me to work on this three-ingredient sauce that took 30 arduous minutes. I was ordered to make it without using a food processor, and, I must say, it was worth it to observe the old-fashioned alchemy of a sauce gradually emulsifying before my eyes. Fortunately, this pungent emulsion (essentially aioli made without egg) can be made in a food processor. Use it sparingly, as it packs a wallop of garlicky flavor."

Ali-i-oli (aioli)

Salt to taste 2 tablespoons minced garlic (roughly chopped if you're using a food processor) 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

To make my hand, add a pinch of salt and the garlic to a mortar and steadily pound the garlic with a pestle. Add a few drops of the oil, continue pounding, and repeat until the mixture begins to emulsify. When an emulsion starts to form, you can add the oil a little faster. Continue until the sauce is completely emulsified and at the thickness you like, about 30 minutes.

To make by machine, put the garlic in a blender or a food processor and turn the machine on. While it's running, add the oil in a slow, steady stream. When an emulsion starts to form, you can add it a little faster. It's done when it's full emulsified and at the thickness you like. Salt to taste and serve.

customized pulled pork

Bought a 5lb pork shoulder today, on sale, for $5, from Vons. Decided to cook it up, but it took nearly 8 hours (cooked to 175 deg internal, because I'm gonna slice/chop it).

Took 3 stages of prep:

1. Slather
2. Rub
3. Mop

Here are the related recipes:

Slather:
1/4 cup Tecate or other light-flavored beer
3 tbsp prepared yellow mustard
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp louisiana hot sauce (like Red Rooster)
1 tsp worceshire sauce
Fresh ground pepper
Salt to taste

Whisk to combine. Taste to adjust mustard, etc.

Rub:
this one is Wolfie Puck's. I like its sweeter flavor.
4 tbsp brown sugar
4 tbsp onion powder
4 tbsp garlic powder
4 tbsp thyme
4 tbsp oregano
2 tbsp mild paprika
2 tbsp hot paprika
4 tsp cayenne pepper
4 tsp ground coriander
4 tsp ground black pepper (or 2+2 black + white pepper; that's the original recipe)
2 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp dry mustard (I don't see the mustard in his original recipe, but looks like I add this)
OPTIONAL: a few shakes of hickory smoke powder

Mop: made this one up myself, but inspired by some recipes in Paul Kirk's book; the jack + brown sugar, along with the "holiday spices" give it a (strangely) fruity, pleasant quality.

1/2 cup Jack Daniels
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp cider vinegar
1 tsp worceshire sauce
1 tsp louisiana hot sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
pinch allspice
pinch cloves
pinch cinammon

Bring to a boil and simmer for about 5 minutes.

The whole process:

1. Pat shoulder dry
2. Slather with slather sauce.
3. Sprinkle with rub, and let sit for 15 minutes.
4. Bake at 250 degrees, unwrapped, for about 4 hours.
5. At 4 hours, FLIP the roast, and rotate it.
   
6. Then start the mop; mop about every 30 minutes; cook for about 4 more hours.
7. For slicing, 165-175 degrees is optimal; for pulling, it's 195-205 degrees. Use a thermometer to check.

Enjoy some delicious pork!

Secret Spice Rub

Well, not so secret. From Bruce Aidells, famous for poultry sausage, this one is on the back of the Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt box. Like I said, not so secret.

1/3 cup Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt
2 tbsp fresh ground Black Pepper
2 tbsp light brown sugar
3 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp ground sage
1 tsp dry thyme
1/2 tsp ground allspice
2 tsp ground fennel

2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp dry basil
2 tbsp granulated garlic or garlic powder

Combine ingredients in jar. Seal and shake well. Store for up to 3 months.

Good for meats or poultry.

Grandma's Bread #11

#10 was the best so far (perfect texture, great flavor), so hopefully #11 will be at least as good. I'm doubling the recipe this time, because uncle Gus wants some for easter.

Grandma's Bread #11 - April 10, 2009

Makes 2 loaves

1-1/4 cups water
2 cups buttermilk
1-1/3 cup rye flour

6-1/4 cup AP wheat flour
2 tsp yeast
1/2 cup honey
3-1/2 + 1/8 tsp table salt

1. Over medium-low heat, warm buttermilk and water, stirring occasionally, just until it curdles and remove from heat. Stir in all rye flour, cover tightly and leave at room temperature overnight (at least 12 hours).

2. Into dough mixture, add white flour, yeast, honey. Mix on speed "2" for 2 minutes, until the dough is uniform. It will look like a thick, uniform batter at this point. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes.

3. NOW ADD THE SALT ALL AT ONCE. Mix using dough hook (or beater attachment) set to "2" (low speed). You may need to clean the dough hook once in a while. Dough will be very thick and sticky; it will never clear the sides of the bowl, more like a thick wet batter...it will not stop sticking! This is why the stand mixer is so handy. Total kneading time is 7 minutes. You will see some gluten strands forming in the dough towards the end.

6. Grease two bread pans with butter, and dust them with white flour. Using a wooden spoon or stiff bowl scraper, turn out the sticky dough onto a very well floured board. Form into a single round; dough will be very soft but with a well-floured board, won't be very sticky and will form a smooth surface. Cut dough into 2 equal pieces, shape dough into loaves (they will feel pretty soft, not quite baby's bottom but close) and place in bread pans. Press down on dough to get loaf to expand across the bottom of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and towel, and leave in warm place to rise for 2.5 hours.

7. Cover tightly with oiled plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight, or 7-8 hours (maximum of 24 hours).

8. Cover loaves with a towel, and let rise again at room temp (~74F) for 2 hours.

9. Preheat oven to 450, adjust racks to put bread on 2nd to lowest rack, and put an empty broiler pan at the bottom. Slash loaves down the center with a serrated knife or a sharp razor blade, and place bread pans on rack in the oven. Add 1 cup hot water to pan to steam and close door. Bake at 450 for 40 minutes or until loaves sound hollow when tapped; they will look dark chocolate brown (almost black!) on top. Alternately, should be done somewhere around 190-210 degrees.

10. Take bread from oven, remove from pans, and brush tops with butter. Let cool on rack, uncovered, for at least 30 min; will still be warm 2 hours later.

11. Store in large Ziploc freezer bags when cool; this will help promote a soft crust.

Results

I baked 4 loaves using this recipe; however, 2 loaves skipped steps 7-8; the remaining two followed the recipe exactly.

The ones that skipped 7-8 (i.e., no refrigerated proofing) ended up with a result exactly like #10, but the bottom crust didn't brown as much. The rise, crumb, etc. were, for all intents and purposes, the same. Good oven spring, good flavor, good crumb, no sogginess.

The ones that I followed steps 7-8 were a whole different animal. I refrigerated for 24 hours, let rise again for 2 hours after coming out of the fridge. They didn't rise that much, but the texture and flavor was totally different: more mellow flavor; larger holes and better chew (more like my sourdough); not as much oven spring (seem to have barely risen); darker crust all around (top+bottom); crust was more thin and "crackery" like my best sourdough. I think I may like this one even better than the full #11, but it's not traditional.

Here's a photo, overnight #11 is LEFT, short rise is RIGHT:



Notes/Next time:

• Doubling the recipe doesn't work with a standard mixer; you have to do 2 separate batches. Split the buttermilk mixture into 2 separate containers; knead separately.