STIR THE POTS

Cupcakes, who me?

Whether it's nostalgia or retro rehash run amok, cupcakes have become a ubiquitous part of New York City's specialty bakeries. To me, they have seemed a curse; the creation of bandana-wrapped,tattooed pastry decorators plopping grotesque colored frostings and sprinkles garishly on top of second-rate cake batter, the end product an over-priced mauve or puke green cupcake. To put it mildly, I have not been a fan. At all!

But as I just recieved a copy of Dan Lepard's new book, Short and Sweet, and having some leftover buttercream in the fridge, I put on my apron proceeded to make his oh-so-simple recipe for vanilla cupcakes.... As of now, I'm a convert, a total cupcake maven!

Les Livre de cuisine

A sweet friend recently sent me a birthday gift of some books. Cook books. As if I already didn't have enough. Or did! But that's a story for another post and a cooler time. For now, let's just say that cook books are a great tool for the professional, aspiring, or recreational chefs. Even though so many are far from perfect. Recipes can be difficult to reproduce or just badly put together.

Then you have those like James Peterson's Sauces, a great book that serves as my reference to classics like Escoffier and names like Diane or Veronique. Over the years I've purchased many a cook book, from the rare and out of print like the International Confectioner, and then the classics of my time, Jacques Pepin, Methode and Technique. Opening it makes me feel like a kid in a candy shop.  On the cusp of modernity, old school chef looks forward, always time to learn, never stop looking for inspiration. Books are a rich source of learning. They've helped inspire and enrich my palate and guide me to learning what I love best, cooking!

I wonder in this digital age how these dusty shelved icons of food rich treasures will last? Can they stand by the blogs, the food twittering?

 

Tartine, take #4

Using Chad Robertson's book, Tartine bread, I tried again for a fourth time to make an honest Tartine bread. This time though I followed my friend MC's latest adaption, using both a hot and cold oven, and with exceptional results!

Rather then just white flour, I went for the whole-wheat version of the basic country loaf, but included some add-ins;  soy bean and flax seed, borrowed from the Bourke Street bakery book. As well, I used a 100% hydrated levain and calculated the numbers on a spreadsheet calculator. Instead of adding in the final 50 extra grams of water, I left it out. The dough felt just right and I just used my own intuition on this part of the bake.

I made the dough with the 40 minute autolyse process, and mixed it in my Kitchen Aid, put in my salt and add-ins last. I let the loaf rise for about 40 minutes, gave it a fold and went out for a quick dinner. On my return, I gave it another fold and let it go for about one more hour, even though it was really rising quite fast, even with the cooler temperatures we have been having here. The dough was split in to two loaves, pre-shaped, left to rest about 25 minutes, given a final shape, and then retarded overnight.

                                                            "Hot oven"

Next day I baked two loafs, one in my Cusisinart oven, the other using my mainstay stove. Put the second loaf into a cold oven, placed it into a creuset pot with the temperature set at 470 F degrees, and let it bake about 45 minutes. Then I removed the lid, giving it another 20 minutes to get some color.

 

                                                          "Cold Oven"

 

All in all this latest by far is the best I made from all of my Tartine loaves, and I am sure I will revisit this books fine recipes again. And why not, if not just for a tweak and peek!

Percentages and intuition - critical baking ingredients

The importance of percentages but also intuition can't be overstated when it comes to baking bread. That came to mind right after getting my latest bread book, Tartine by Chad Robertson. It's beautifully packaged with a Corinthian leather feel. And the photography is amazing. As is the inspiring and idyllic story of Chad Robertson's travels through sourdough country in France and California. Getting it gave me the excitement of a kid on Christmas morning. After admiring the photography and glancing through the pages, I quickly whipped into its recipes. But just as quickly I found out that maybe these formula's weren't quite up to snuff in the percentages department.

Recently in the The Fresh Loaf, I read an article Whole Wheat Loaf - "hole-y grail?" which reminds me of this experience. The article suggests that bakers should tap into tuition as much as dutifully following recipes. But also start with checking percentages. Sure you can follow a recipe, but are there errors in many baking/cook books. Thankfully some bakers will correct them. This makes great fodder on forums or a less then perfect loaf, so do the math before you bake.

The two times I made the rye, country loaf and whole wheat breads from Robertson's book, I found the dough was very slack; with a combination levain and dough having a high hydration. I used A.P. flour rather then bread flour, so this may have made a difference. What came out in my first bake, in actuality, was a very nice flax, sunflower seed loaf made with the rye  - though the add in was for the recipe calling for whole-wheat.

Taking a chance or just hoping for the best made it more interesting with an addition of a soaker. It was extremely wet and virtually impossible to shape. No picture but believe me, it was very tasty. The country loaf was also slack and sort of shapeless, even with the foldings, and dried out quickly. This latest bake, was promising but the loafs seemed flat, and my mom said it had too many  holes for her liking.

Far from wanting to judge or  critique this book, I want to go back and try this formula again, this time I want to use my intuition, or change something in the levain or final hydration, check the percentages. It's all about feeling your way around baking, figuring it out.

Mujadara, lentils and rice.

I first tried mujadara at one of my local eateries, which is a family run Lebanese food shop based in Sunnyside, Queens.  Lately, I have tended to make my own renditions, as the shop's quality has lagged recently. And initially I thought, how hard is it to make lentils with rice? Well, it's not that simple, really! But that shouldn't stop you from trying this awesome dish. 

Wanting to find a recipe, I consulted a book I found at Argosy books. My years of perusing their shelves have led me to finding some awesome books, including Egyptian Cooking: A Practical Guide. Don't ask me why this book caught my eye, but the cover talked to me right away! Though it's said to be from the levant, I guess with all the historical interchange, this is a good source as any. My local guy wasn't giving me any hints, as his recipe was a family secret.

Mujadara

I followed the book's basic recipe but adapted it to my taste and what I had on hand in my pantry.

Serves two hungry people and a few more, quite filling.

1 cup of brown lentils

1/2 cup of rice (Basmati, Egyptian if you can find it, or like me I used Jasmine.)

2 3/4 cup of water...a little bit more can be added if needed.

1 onion, red, white or yellow, I used shallots..nothing is sacred in cooking.

3 Tblsp. Olive oil

about a teaspoon of cumin, seed or ground.(toast and grind cumin)

1/4 tsp cinammon

1/2 tsp. of Turmeric (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste.

Slice onion thinly, (shallots), in a pan add about 3 tblsp oil over medium heat, add sliced onions. Stirring every minute or two till you notice them getting a golden hue, continue stirring making sure to keep the onions coloring evenly. You want a toasty onion, remove from oil to a paper towel to absorb the oil, season with salt.

Clean lentils for stones, and wash. Cover with 2 cups of water and bring to boil. Cook until it starts to get tender...the book says till soft, I don't like it too mushy.

Add rice, spices and cover with remaining water, cook for about 10 to 15 minutes covered on low heat.Season with salt and pepper. With lid on allow it to rest for a good five minutes, toss with a fork and check to see that it is cooked. 

Cover mudjadara with fried onion, and stir into the rice and lentil.

شهية طيبة

Derivatives

This post isn't anything to do with the Wall Street type of derivatives. Rather it's an homage to a bakery "down under," namely in Australia. Sydney's Bourke Street bakery  is owned by Paul Allam and David McGuinness. It's a much talked about neighborhood bakery that also has a book chock-full of wonderful baked goods.

While I haven't been to visit yet, my friend Shiao-Ping talked about the book on The Fresh Loaf, motivating me to buy it. So far I used its recipes for two or three loaves, all with pretty good success. It offers easy-to-use formulas for more experienced bakers, but it's also a good starter material for beginners.

Today's bake was one of there so called derivative loaves, a sourdough-meets-linseed-and-soy. It's easily made and sports an awesome flavor. I think it's sure to become a staple. My neighbors Jane and Adrian, serving as bread guinea pigs, were my first customers. While slathering the freshly baked loaf with French butter, Jane asked if I was baking another loaf, as this one was halfway gone!

Roggen, the grain, the flour, oh and it's in German too!

After seeing this book mentioned on chili und ciabatta site, I quickly found a source where I could buy it, knowing full well it's in German. I haven't spoken German since I was a child and always have a chuckle when my nieces and nephew laughingly cajole me to read childrens books to them in my kinderdeutsche,(children's German). So when seeing the wonderful looking breads made by some German homebakers from this book, I had to have it. It's my hope that one day rye will be as common a loaf as say ciabatta,pain au levain or bagels? Not likely for the moment, but as I take child-like steps to understand and translate (no mutilate) the German language. Anyway, here's another small step to introduce people to a wonderful grain, flour and bread.