STIR THE POTS

She'll come she'll go.... another year gone

Yes, it's the end of another decade. So I can't help but feed  a piece of old bread into  a new loaf to eat for tomorrows breakfast! My levains are bubbling and staring at me from the jars like  sponges ready to pop with a gaseous carbon dioxide release, almost like a champagne cork?

This is my first night going out for this end of year celebration, always seems a bit frivolous watching the minutes tick and a ball of lights lowered on television? But tonight, orelay guey, I'm gonna be rockin in the new year with Los Lobos!

Besides, I have a loaf of bread ready to bake, out from the confinement of a slow rise in the fridge straight into a hot oven  into the new day!

See you next year!

Flan Boulanger

Flan Boulanger

Mecklenburger Landbrot

I recently bought a German book about rye bread, and perusing the pages of grain speckled breads, one particular dark loaf caught my eye. It's called Mecklenburg Landbrot. I was not familiar with its origins. What struck me was it's gorgeous brown hue and scattered schrot on it's crust. But later, finding out that Mecklenburg is a region, my interest was peaked.

Though I was born and lived in Germany, I never really traveled to those distant northern provinces. With their Teutonic heritage and mix of Slavic and German traditions, you would undoubtedly find some great breads, especially rye. Mecklenburg, it seems, is in the lowlands. Snug between Schelswig-Holstein and Pommerania, it's  always been a poor land, and the peasants always got the short end of the stick.

I won't try to give a history lesson here. But reading about its rye production, I knew that this loaf was from that place, even with its bit of wheat to give the poor rye some gluten! It was a bread from peasant stock, but rich enough to be a king or emperor?

This bread is wonderful with cheese. I had some apple cheddar from England with it, even hummus and just plain, worth eating however you like it!

 

Mecklenburger Landbrot(adapted from Roggen-Der Standardwerk, by Olaf Bauermann &Ines Gromes)

Sauerteig (DEF =Detmolder Einsufenführung, single build)

sourdough

8g Anstellgut or levain

198.5 g rye (I used whole grain throughout the formula, as I haven't received

shipment of my white rye!)

158.5g water

16 -24 hours @ 78-80 F 26-27 Celcius

Quellstück

Soaker

188g rye meal

188g water

68-77 F 20-25 C

15-20 hours

Teig

Final dough

357g sourdough

376g soaker

123.5g Rye (light or medium if you got it, though whole grain is just fine!)

127.25g Wheat flour (A.P.)

15g Barley malt

Yeast (optional, I didn't use it or need it!)

12.5g salt

.5g ground caraway

125g water

Mix 4 minutes on 1st speed/2 minutes on 2nd speed

DDT: 82-86 F

First rise: 20-25 minutes,(I let mine go a bit more since I didn't have yeast.)

divide: 1150g loaves

Shape: Blunt batard for a more rustic form or use bread pan mold for a more uniform looking loaf?

Second proof: 40-45 minutes, I would say an hour and a half for straight sourdough.

Bake: Start oven @480 F and gradually lower to 445 F with some steam to start

Bake time: 50 to 55 minutes for a dark loaf,due to malt.

Chef, ghost of kitchen past and present.

Chef:chef | sh ef|
noun
a professional cook, typically the chief cook in a restaurant or hotel.
verb ( cheffed, cheffing) [ intrans. ] informal
work as a chef : when they finish cheffing, they gather themselves together and they drink their owners' best wines.
ORIGIN early 19th cent.: French, literally ‘head.’

Ever think how much one person influenced your daily action or routine? I do. Constantly. At least when it comes to my life in the kitchen. How those role models inspired me. Or more accurately gave me a frame. How I mirrored and then transposed their lessons, a bit like a child taking their first steps. And later when I felt  the natural ease, the flow, it became second nature.

What I am getting at is my visit at Christmas Eve dinner with my former head boss and mentor, Jean Michel Bergounoux, probably the most influential chef in my career. Tonight we recollected stories, shared recipes forgotten and remembered all our times at the infamous restaurant Raphael, once the NYC bastion of nouvelle cuisine.

Enjoying the meal, plates and ingredients that seemed so familiar. Jean Michel even joked about the periwinkles I was having, remembering the way we used to make them with salmon. According to Jean Michel, Eric Ripert said that was the finest dish we made there, then admitted that he couldn't recall how we did it. "No problem, chef," I quipped, "just reduce the court boullion and monter avec huile d'olive. Simple!" Jean Michel's response was kind. "Oh yeah" he said! You have to come back once in awhile to remind me about those old recipes." Laughing and eating at his restaurant was a real treat, reliving our glory days in the hovel of a kitchen where we once toiled in side by side.

Thanking Jean Michel and wishing him a happy holiday, it hit me that 15 years have passed and I still have the taste and memories of each dish. It was a good time, indeed!

Merci Chef! Or oui chef?

Holidaze!

Yes, my three weeks of festive hell has ended! My final Wellingtons were a bloody success, so much that, after selling eight servings for a single lunch, I had to put together a new batch on the fly. Unbelievable.

Today I am still in my pajamas, doing some gift wrapping and getting ready for a smart French dinner at L'Absinthe. Ah, a night where my former Chef Jean Michel Bergounoux's and his team will be cooking for me, not a bad exchange, the boss cooking for his former student and protege.

Anyway, wishing all of my friends and fans the best, whatever holiday you may find yourself celebrating. Pagan or organized religion, no matter. This next year I hope that we can all celebrate good food, bake more bread and forget the whirlwind of stupid politics and concentrate our good efforts on more human endeavors, especially when it comes to eating!

Happy Holidays!

Pain de d'Argovie

A bread from the Aargau region in Switzerland, which I visited a few times. Since my sister will be coming to America for 6 months with family in tow, I decided to try my hand at a loaf that I could bring for her when I visit, sort of a welcome to America gift. She wont have to fear missing a good loaf that is for sure, especially when I bring some starter for her!

Welcome to America sis!

Holidays!

Holidays...  package  holidays of the packaged kind, Majorca here I come, caramba! -John Cooper Clarke (The Bard from Salford)

Yes I am knee deep in Christmas holly, roast suckling pigs, smoked salmon and the lot. Can't complain, yet this holiday seems odd (and at odds!) with my pondering mind. Not only do the hard questions of current events worry, but most of my days involve vegetable and fruits that are not in season, work relationships, bread order missing, refrigeration problems inside while windy cold weather looms outside. It's not strange. It's actually the norm for the season. And yet I yearn for a simpler and more stress-free spot. A place that makes me and other people happy, just add mixer, water, flour and salt... etc.

Oh, well, just a week and a half left of this weariness, then comes the real rush of winter, the hot braised stews and other comforts on a plate... then more pondering!

See you on the other side.

Luff & kisses from the chef.

Back to the future, my Waterloo!

It's the height of the holiday season and I have been tested in battle, my Waterloo. A request was handed down from upstairs.  Beef Wellington will be offered for the Christmas season. Emphasis on the "will be served." Not mentioned, first it must be cooked. By me!

Hearing the order, my jaw dropped in disbelief, frustrated at being told it was to be made during the maddening rush of the Christmas festive season. Not even at culinary school had a 1960's housewife's platter ever been made, save for perhaps a coulibiac. But a chef is a chef. And being such, I whipped out my Escoffier to brush up, then went for the digital version of dialing for help.  Namely, I turned to YouTube, watching Gordon Ramsay's version for kicks! Onward and upward, tally ho!

I made my batches of this filet mignon smothered in duxelles of mushroom, a slice of foie gras and enveloped in puff pastry! I can't believe it, I have sold all but one. Hell I have to make more tomorrow for a full house of guests, along with pate, tarts, soups, etc.....Christmas, indeed, what do I get?