STIR THE POTS

Dee Ann Quinones

 

To help guide me into the new world of cocktails and wine, I decided to ask one of Los Angeles' top mixologist. Her name is Dee Ann Quinones. She agreed to to talk to me about her work, especially  how she pairs a myriad of flavors to a thirsty crowd.

From cocktails and wine, she shares her knowledge and advises us on good deals in wine, as well as pairing drinks with food. An innovator and true professional, Dee Ann continues to explore flavors and gives a new twist to old favorites. She is also one of six finalists in the LA Best Bartender contest!

Click to listen

Check out her site too

 

 

Javier Marca

 

 

It's always a pleasure to make acquaintances from far away, especially with like-minded bakers and chefs. Even more when they share my love of sourdough. Checking out bakers with whom to connect, recently, I found Spanish panadero, Javier Marca.

Trained and working as a professional graphic artist, Javier was tired of the methodical churn of his trade. So he swapped that world for a more  ancient, humbling craft -  baking bread. Javier and his fellow blogger/baker Augustin Oliet whose blog, Madrid Tiene Miga (Madrid has crumb), are just a few of the new vanguard for a new "Pan Español." 

They are exploring hand made loaves, in the process forsaking processed and factory flavored bread which has made Spanish bread tradition a forgotten memory. Like me they don't want flaccid pillows of bleached white bread! They want to redefine a dying craft and bring it back to life!

Jeremy:  Tell us about yourself, where, what and who ?

Javier: I'm a graphic designer, and I've been working for 20 years in the editorial business, designing magazines. About three years ago I ended up dissapointed with the institutional environment of it. In the middle of that process of disillusionment, and just by chance, I found a blog about food and homemade sourdough breads. With a mix of curiosity and the will to dedicate my time and passion to something different I started baking sourdough breads, as an observer at first, then as an amateur and finally as a professional. Bread has become, for me, in a way to make a living.

Jeremy: How did you start baking?

Javier: I started baking at home, following the instructions and directions of that one blog. I kept documentating about the properties of sourdough and practicing a lot to get familiar with the techniques and the ingredients. Then I got the chance, through the british baker Dan Lepard (whose book The Handmade Loaf was, and still is, a tremendous guide), of working as an apprentice at Daylesford Organic, in UK, during the summer of 2009, getting to know the part that I was missing: chain production of sourdough bread, keeping the quality of artisan bread, far from industrial standards. When getting back to Spain I started working as the head baker of a new bakery.

 Jeremy: Que es pan Español? What is Spanish bread?)

Javier: There is a huge variety of breads in Spain, depending of the regions, being 'pan candeal' one of the top breads when coming to customer's preferences. The culture of bread in Spain is totally lost, and people are not able to remember how a good bread used to taste. The culture of 'white, crunchy and soft' is mandatory, which couldn't be so bad if 'flavour' wasn't out of the equation. Bread here is loaded with chemicals and yeast, and people don't seem to care.

Jeremy: What makes good bread?

Javier: Love. Time. Hands.

Jeremy: Yeast or sourdough?

Javier: Sourdough mostly; preferments with little yeast for some specific breads.

Jeremy:  What and who are your references for bread?

Javier: Iban Yarza, for his bread culture and generosity, and for getting me into the bread world; Dan Lepard, for his imagination and care, and for guiding, illustrating and advising me; my fellow partners and home bakers at the blog (madridtienemiga.wordpress.com), for their passion and dedication; the 1.255 members of the spanish bread forum (www.elforodelpan.com) for their constant will to learn.


Jeremy: With or how do you eat bread, sanduche, tostada, con mermelada?

Javier: In good company.

Jeremy: Bak, Pan Casero & Cocina, what is it?

Javier: A space that will cover everything related to artisan bread, from classes to debates, conferences, literature, friends, amateurs and professionals... where people can get together and share thoughts, experiences, ideas and techniques about bread.

Jeremy:  Favorite type of bread, or food?

Javier: My own loaf. If I have a good pastrami, then my favourite is a rye sourdough. For a picnic with the kids, a soft white sourdough. And to keep my girl happy, a crunchy baguette with a poolish.

Jeremy: Are forums or blogs helping bread become a better product?

Javier: They absolutely do. They are the best way of learning for beginners and the best window for bread lovers.

Jeremy: How is commercial or professional baking in Spain?

Javier: It is terrible. So focused in profitability and far away from quality. Luckily, that is changing, even though the attempts are, by now, quite tepid. Professional bakers are becoming aware of the poor situation of the bread here, but the step forward hasn't quite arrived.

Jeremy: How do you make a formula or recipe?

Javier: Sometimes, straight from a book; sometimes looking at what I have in my flour cabinet; always translating yeast to sourdough, changing hydrations.

Jeremy: Is there a good reference for old Spanish bread recipes, ie, books, or just people?

Javier: Hummm... maybe books and blogs like panisnostrum.blogspot.com.

Jeremy: And what are you baking lately?

Javier:  White sourdough loafs, whole wheat, rye and caraway, rye with pine nuts or rye with raisins and walnuts, 3-stage Detmold process, spelt... All of them sourdoughs for the classes. Also testing soft swedish flatbreads, persian flatbreads with za'atar, grilled naan...Oh and tons of sourdough pizza(00 flour and 20% Semolina!

Jeremy: When will http://labakeria.com/panes/pan-de-espelta/be up and running fully, I am very curious!

Soon, I hope.

 

Gracias!

Châtaigne

Chestnuts were once known as poor people's food, but to me they sing autumn, roasted or in desserts they are just lovely. Chestnuts are grown and popular in the Ardeche region of France, where they use it in breads. Chestnuts are not a commonly used flour, due to it's lack of gluten properties. Recently I was lucky enough to get my hands on some  farina di castagne over at my buddy Frank's at Sorriso's meat market in Astoria. this weekend while baking and sampling some breads with a friend,I changed gears on a formula for a cheese bread I had in mind, and decided  to use chestnut flour instead. E perché no?(and why not?)

 

I aimed my range of chestnut to wheat at about 20% with a bit of spelt and honey for a background flavor. What came out was a slightly lean dough, but quite a pusher when it came to rising. I suppose I could add in some lipids next time, maybe some chestnuts and herbs, but this one was frugal, almost like the fruit itself. A poor man's bread maybe? It's definitely a nice bread to go with some bold cheeses, or killer honey! Ne vous croyez pas? (Don't you think so?)

 

Picture: Zen chef

Pain au farine du châtaigne

 

Levain

I didn't have enough stiff levain which I keep at 50 % hydration, so I topped off with liquid levain (100%) and held back a bit of water in the final dough to guage the dough.

You could use a stiff or liquid levain, you do the math!

Final dough

60g chestnut

90g spelt

150 wheat (A.P.)

 160g Water

280g levain

5g of honey,(I had some honey from Ecuador, made by killer bee's!)

6g    Salt

(Possible add in's , walnuts, raisins, chestnuts, rosemary....and on and on!) Great with butter and honey or a tranche of foie gras, salami....dream on!

Picture by Zen chef

 

 

Work in progress, a pizza.

There isn't a minute I am not thinking of a specific vegetable to cook, some bread I want to bake, a dessert I would love to eat, but pizza well, it's just one of those things. There, I just want to make the perfect dough; light, crisp, slightly bruciato (how I love that word!).

Certainly my goal is a sourdough based pie, sure a Napolatano with just water, salt and flour. Of course I know you need a 800 F oven, but I just don't have one, yet! This is my latest effort, a bit unorthodox, no sauce, just fresh tomatoes with cheese, basil and a bit of that nduja for some heat and salty pork goodness. 

I based the recipe on an assortment of wonderful information gleened from Pizzamaking.com And that information is based on the one time pizzaoila and blogger Foolish Poolish Bakes, who sadly is no longer blogging, but still inspires!

 

If I recall right, the dough has a 72-75 percent hydration, one percent salt and something around 30 percent levain (I used my 100 percent hydrated sourdough). My levain was already percolated so I used it straight from the jar. I made up the dough, which rose in bulk about four hours and then in the fridge overnight.

The next day when I got home I shaped two 270 gram balls and let them warm up for about three hours. Then I flattened and stretched the dough by hand, and baked it in my Cuisinart baker oven (pre-heated for about 40 minutes) at broil with the stone on the top shelf. And then it baked for about 20-25 minutes until browned and slightly spotted - mai cosi bruciato!

A blogger comes to visit....(Zen and the art of bread baking!)

Sometimes I dream of opening a neighborhood bakery. But right now I have a full time job as a chef. And weekends, when I'm not doing chores with my wife, visiting my mother, or riding my bike, I bake as much as I can. For now, I'm a bakery for a core audience of family and neighbors in Sunnyside. 

 

Today though was different. I shed my namesake moniker of the "lazy baker" and  was up early. Taking notes, calculating water temperatures, etc. I was getting ready for a visit from fellow blogger, Zen chef, someone I've admired for some time. He asked for an invite to my apartment for a on-the-spot story about my bread baking. Interesting since he hadn't even tasted it. I was both nervous and humbled. This was a visit from fellow "culinarian" (someone who genuinely knows as well as loves food), and I wondered how he would guage my skill on what I do when moonlighting as a baker at home.

What I wanted to show him was that anyone can bake bread at home, with levain being the master. Well, ultimately he seemed satisfied by what someone could do even in a small kitchen. A full four dough batches baked in one bake off - not too shabby!

I am sorry I didn't snap any pictures worth looking at, but Zen chef and I sampled the bread with some fine charcuterie from my pal Johnny. Everyone needs their own local butcher like Johnny. Anyway, until his post about his visit is up, I will encourage him to learn the basics of percentages, hydration and all the inner workings that make for a good loaf.

Merci Stephane!

Eskerrik asko lagun eta zoriontsu gozogintza

 

 

Wähe a Swiss tarte.

It's likely when visiting my sister in Switzerland she will whip up some extraordinary traditional desserts, a quark kuchen, Baseler leckerli,Quarkkuchen mit shokolade striesel. One of my top favorites is wähe which is made with seasonal fruits,like apples or plums. It can be a quick breakfast bite, or coffee time dessert, or all day if there is any left...with my nephew and three nieces, oh and my brother in-law around,well you get the picture.

Wähe can be a fruit  or savory  egg and cream custard filled tarte, it's related to the quiche as well the onion tarte's and other favorites along the Rhine river by the Swiss, German and French borders. Most often I like them with mirabelle that come off the trees at my sisters orchard.

Feeling the last breaths of summer, I decided to make a Wähe, and my sister reminded me about them when she called me the other day.

So I had only a few Italian plums and decided to add in some local concord grapes as well some muscat,and apples sort of an hommage to the vendage or wine harvest...actually I'm just really craving a wähe!

Racheli's wähe teig

Makes 1 8" inch square or round tarte. Enough  wäehe for a hungry family!

250g Flour

75g butter

pinch of salt

5g sugar

3-4 Tbsp. water, (American flour probably needs more water, higher protein and it likes to drink!)

Mix dry ingredients, then rub butter and flour mixture between your hands until you get a sandy mixture.Gradually add in water, gently incorporating to form a ball of dough.(Don't knead, it's not bread!)

Chill in fridge for a half hour to an hour. Roll out to about a 1/4 inch thick and place it into a quiche or tart mold. If you don't have a mold, feel free to place the circle on a flat sheet pan and make a free form tarte, but with caution to fold the edges up so you can place fruit and custard filling to bake.

Filling:

My filling was a bit unorthodox, I didn't have cream and probably shouldn't either! So here I went for a healthy substitute of yogurt.

6Tblsp. milk

2 eggs

2Tblsp. sugar

2 full Tbsp. Greek yogurt

pinch of salt

11/2 Tbsp of  Dr. Oeteker pudding powder, or corn starch. (I just happened to be out of starch and found the pudding mix!)

4 Tbsp of almond meal, for the bottom of the dough

Fruits, apples sliced, grapes, plums halved and whole.

Whisk eggs and pudding or starch, sugar in a bowl, add yogurt and milk, set aside. Poke the bottom of the rolled dough with tines of a fork, cover with almond meal. Fill tarte with fruit in prepared shell in free form or in concentric circles. Cover with custard and bake.Bake for about 45 minutes at 400 for 25minutes lower to 375 F for about 10 minutes till custard is set and tarte shell is golden. Serve at room temperature.

Oh! You Pretty Thing (Jack D'or American Saison Ale)

Sometimes labels can catch your eye, especially when they're labeling drinkable substances. I have tasted a large number of beers labeled as local; Brooklyn Beer, Shmaltz brewing company and others. Shopping for supplies at Wholefoods this weekend, I spied lots of familiar labels of different style beers. There were the hugely popular Belgian krieks, IPAs and lagers, but this  particular bottle had a look that reminded me of Alice-in-Wonderland, albeit with a David Bowie reference. It's called Pretty Thing, Jack'Dor-American Saison. Of course I snatched it up, and will taste it with some pizza. Who wants soda when you can have beer!

 

With some closer research, this is not only an Artisanal beer, it's a gypsy company based in Cambridge, with no home brewery, and working on a shoe string budget according to there homemade website! Just goes to show you how small business are the heart of this country!

Postscript: I Couldn't wait till tomorrow for the pizza!  In any case it tasted great,no...Superb with a perfect foamy head, fabulous fruit tones, full bodied...get this stuff, it's addictive, and with my tuna crunchy sprout salad and walnut cranberry bread, mmmmm to die for!

Pescadores

 
Visiting Ecuador, I developed a lot of respect for their working fishermen, who don't just catch but clean the fish we cooked each day in our small kitchen. In fact, the visit - especially the fishermen - reminded me just how important to know where your food comes from when you cook. Ecuador is  a country that eats a large amount of seafood, for breakfast lunch and dinner! Staying in Puerto Lopez, I loved strolling the beaches each day to watch the pescadores (fishermen).

You can tell where the fishermen are working by looking up in the sky for the frigate birds who circle them above, or  the large crowds of people that gather to buy their fish and tourists try to take all of it in.

 

 

 

 

 

Fishing doesn't stop in Puerto Lopez. It's a 24 hour activity. And the varieties of fish I saw had my chef's imagination buzzing. From albacore tuna, picudo (sort of a cousin of swordfish) comatillo, wahoo, mahi-mahi, so many species I was unfamiliar with, but certain that with some more time spent I would learn the names. It's a far cry from buying fish at home in the United States, going to a sanitized grocery store where you actually aren't even sure whether the fish is fresh and can't be sure where the fish was caught. 

Much of the local fish end up on the tables of hotels and restaurants around the world. But you could always find something fresh to buy. I found albacore tuna for $1.30 per pound, shrimp $2-$3 dollars a pound, depending on size and availability - head on or off.

Every day you'd see people filleting their catch, or on a cyclo-cart passing  by with a fish on their way home for lunch or dinner with the days catch.

 

 

 

We saw where the fish were caught. And who caught them. One guy in particular, a friend of my wife who filleted for our restaurant.  His name was Polito he quickly grabbed my attention.. He's 90 years old, but still agile and with a smile on his face. Cutting fish on his wooden table, he moved with a finesse of a younger man.

 

 

  

 

 

And then there are those waiting for something to eat. Along with frigate birds, pelicans, vultures, cats and dogs who are looking for a fish fallen out of a bucket or boat, then there were tourists like me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Knowing these fishermen has been a highlight for me and I thank all the hardworking people of this fishing village.

Pissaladiere a slight return

Not so long ago I posted about pissaladiere, that summer favorite from the Côte d'Azur. While visiting my mother recently, she urged me to take a turn at making one. Growing up, I used to watch her with interest as she cooked meals that weren't just delicious but interesting. Some from cookbooks she collected (a passion that I picked up from my mother, it seems) - and others from her French background, including, quiche, boulettes de viande or meatballs, and of course pissaladiere.

As a kid I liked her exotic dishes. I still do, only now we cook together. And enjoy them together. Whether it's the anchovies on top, or eating a pissaladiere at room temp, it's all good. Sort of like wine that needs to breathe. Somehow letting the dish cool down releases the flavors of all the ingredients. Letting the salty filets, olives and onions mellow for a better degustation. Of course you can eat it hot, but we happen to like it room temperature, a family idiosyncrasy I guess.

Pissaladiere:

Dough:

1.5 tsp yeast

400g flour (you may need to add in more depending on your flour.)

.05g corn meal (optional

280g water

20g oil

8g salt

Mix dough and let rise till doubled. Fold dough once or twice depending on feel or strength of dough. At this divide into two balls and rest, 15-25 minutes. Roll out to a circle about 8 to 12 inches, remember, not too thin.

Topping:

2 large onions,(I mixed white and red, just because I had some and I like both!)

1 Tbsp. Herbs: thyme, rosemary, chopped or Herbs de Provençe, (if using dry herbs, remember it's stronger!)

1-2 tsp Olive oil

1 bay leaf

salt and pepper 

8-10 anchovy fillets,(you could soak in milk if you want to mellow the flavor,optional.)

12 Pitted Niçoise olives (we only had some cured Italian or something, black and cured are just as nice, but Niçoise would really make it certified!)

1 Sliced tomato (Now here is where we veer from the orthodox, usually you don't put tomatoes, but this is how my maman does it and she comes from that part of the world, so she should know?)

Thinly slice the onions.Sweat the onions with oil, add herbs, bay leafs and cook over medium heat till translucent, season  salt and pepper to taste and cool.

Slice tomato. Cover the dough with onions evenly spread out. Crisscross the anchovies all over the pissaladiere. Add pitted olives either whole or cut in half, cover the pissaladiere with tomato slice and bake in a pre-heated 420 F oven for about 15 to 20 minutes till the edges are golden and the bottom is golden browned.

Le pain sauve les vies

No, this isn't a call out to S&M. It's a rave for bread, "pain" the French word for our beloved loaves.  Today I spotted this street graffiti while on a mission, bringing supplies my hard working friend and fellow blogger, Shuna Fish Lydon. She's the pastry chef at the newly bustling Bowery restaurant/bakery Peels.

As a kitchen worker, it's often difficult to eat in our profession. Sometimes there are no breaks in between service. You're frequently too tired, or lack interest in the "staff meal," or just yearning for something different than what's being prepared in your kitchen. 

  

   

I got a message from Shuna this week. She was craving peanut butter sandwiches. I like peanut butter with the right bread. So I brought her some loaves. And on the way spotted the sign. Kind of captures the day.