STIR THE POTS

Pretzel logic

This weekend has been hot as an oven again, inside and outside. It's my perfect excuse for a baker's lost weekend, as the wife's away and I am furthering my perpetual education in baking. My latest trial has been going for that elusive pretzel, or should I say Laugenbrezel, more commonly known as a German lye pretzel.

For years I have wavered on whether I should try using lye, that caustic chemical that could burn your skin, blind you or, on a more hopeful note, unclog your clogged-up drain. Screw it, times a wasting! Last year I got the courage up and bought some lye online, but lacked courage  and time (or maybe it was just a sourdough recipe) to try and use it. Crank up the AC, crunch the percentages, and what else to do except make brezeln? I mean it's research, really!

My inspiration started last week while visiting my mom. We took a visit to that über supermarket and entertainment park known as Whole foods. As I passed the buffet line of salads and all sorts of healthy stuff, out of the corner of my eye, I saw these huge looking pretzels. I asked the lady behind the counter to cut it in half, dreaming of smearing it with butter and ham, like back in my days in Germany!

To my horror and amazement  she cut the pretzel in half on the vertical rather then horizontal. Horror. How was I gonna make a pretzel and speck sandwich? While trying to rectify the mistake with my wife's handy Swiss Army knife, it reminded me that Americans don't really understand how to enjoy a pretzel (or brezel). They eat these monster soft ones off push carts that are smeared with mustard. Or you find bagged in various guises and shapes of the  hard pretzel variety!

 

There is still a lot to be learned, in terms of what a real brezel is or how it should be eaten. Call it pretzel logic. My batch this weekend were based on the formula from FCI where I attended baking classes ages ago.I decided to turn them into sourdough with my new and improved stiff levain.

 

Laugabrezeln

Makes 6 85g pieces.

220g flour

65g water (you may have to add a little extra depending on your absorption)

187g levain (mine is @60% hydration)

5g    malt

10g oil (neutral, canola, sunflower, or lard if you feel piggish?)

5g salt

Salt for the top of pretzels.

Mix all the ingredients till you get a firm bagel like dough.

Bulk proof about 2 hours. Pre-shape into small logs and rest 25 minutes.

Roll from the middle of dough out to both sides leaving the middle thicker as you roll out edges. Cross your arms and lift the two strands and twist, pressing the ends into the dough as illustrated!

Chill 30 minutes.

Lye dip: 40 grams of lye + 1 liter  water whisked carefully with wire whip until diluted...caution it's caustic, use gloves, goggles and open the windows to vent!!!

Proceed to dip pretzels, one at a time. Using a spatula or skimmer, place on a rack to let excess drip. Salt, I used Sicilian sea salt, or go without?

Bake @440 F for 16 minutes, no steam!

Das ist lecker!

Quatre quart like at Poujauran

It seems like ages have passed since I first stumbled on to the Rue Nicot, walking into the small boulangerie of no other then Jean-Luc Poujauran. His shop was filled with flaky and crusty favorites. I remember how the baker peeked out of the back of the shop, spying as I gawked at his fine bread and pastry selection. Fast forward and sadly his shop is no longer in business. But I was able to find a recipe purportedly his for a quatre quarts aux chocolat, via the French magazine Marie Claire. While bread baking today, I decided to give this recipe a go. It's quite nice, even embellishing here and there with a bit of teff, similar to Aran's recent efforts. And concerned about fat, I substituted cream with a touch of kefir along with mix of yogurt, the two in equal measure. I finished it, gilding of the lily with a bit of piment of espelette, cinnamon and cocoa nibs for texture. And because they are good!

Quatre Quarts au chocolat d'aprés Jean-Luc Poujauran

Makes two small cakes 3.5x6 inch molds

4 Eggs

189g brown sugar

100g Flour( I substituted a quarter of the flour with teff)

40g Cocoa

1/2 sachet of baking powder*

120g Butter, soft

60g Heavy cream or yogurt (I used Fage and some Kefir)

I eye balled the spices to about a 1/2 teaspoon and about a tablespoon of cocoa nibs.

Beat the eggs and sugar to ribbon stage.

Sift the dry ingredients and fold gently into the egg sugar mix.

Finally delicately fold in butter and cream.

Fill molds and bake at 350 degrees between 40-50 minutes depending on your stove.

Torta de yuca

 

When it's as cold and windy as this weekend, it's time for some comfort food. Sure, eggs, bacon, and pancakes are fine. But why not indulge in a griddled starchy tropical tuber filled with mozzarella and scallions instead? Yuca, manioc, cassava... the funny waxed and woody thing found amongst the other odd tubers and fruits in the Latin section of your mega supermarket or local bodega.

It's white flesh is usually sweet, though at times it has a kind of bitter aftertaste, the latter less welcome. It's a indigenous to the Americas and is one of the foods carried by colonial trades across the oceans from Africa to Southeast Asia.

I first had this particular preparation from my wife. This morning she asked me to show her how to shape smaller tortas, as her's were mammoth, not a bad thing if you're hungry!

This is a no-recipe recipe. Basically, find a nice tuber, firm, check for black spots or mushy specimens. Peel the yuca of its waxed skin, then split and cut into two halves. Make smaller pieces about an inch or two, try removing the center vein, as you can't chew on that.

Place into a pot and cover with water, and add a couple pinches of salt. Cook till tender and mash with the back of a fork. Have some grated mozzarella and chopped scallions around. To make a flattened cake of mashed yuca, place a good bit of cheese and onions in the center, fold over the yuca on to itself and flatten to a round sort of pancake. I used a black skillet with about a tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Cook till golden brown and flip over and crisp the other side. Serve hot with some coffee, maybe some  chicharrón would be nice too.

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.

Simit au levain

Simit is a bread that is  found usually sold in red carts on the streets of towns and cities throughout Turkey. It's simply delicious and the choice of most Turks who seem to enjoy it with some cheese and çay. 

While I had seen the simit carts  on my first trip to Istanbul, I didn't manage a taste. This trip, I made sure to try it. My first initiation was on a ferry ride to a market near Istanbul. Dilara, my host, had our driver purchase some as we waited for the boat. Finally boarding, Dilara inspected the simit, bit into it with a piece of cheese, and her face dropped. According to her it was stale. Later, we had a chance to try it again. Much better. How to describe it?  Well, it's a cross between several different well known and similarly crafted breads; bagels, pretzels, taralli. In otherwords, a hybrid of all these cousins.But with simit, they are plated, dipped in a solution of molasses (pekmez) and water, then coated with sesame seeds and baked.

I can't seem to find a baker back home in New York City who makes a decent simit. So I took a formula adapted from the book, Classic Turkish Cooking by Ghillie Başan. It's a great reference book, which everyone online seems to have interpreted or just copied. Anyway, I felt souring or fermenting this dough with levain would kick it up a bit! Depending on how fresh it is, simit can be airy, chewy, or stale, in which case it really sucks! The best I had was when my friend Gökhan Sökmen, Abracadabra's baker extraordinaire, made g me breakfast, preparing a simit with tomato and melted cheese - a delicious meal.

Anyway I feel it's time to start introducing some of these terrific breads so you can try and enjoy or even close your eyes while chewing on the sesame seed crusted simit and think of Turkey, like I often do.

Simit au levain 

237 g    Levain

781g       flour

164 g    water

10g       salt

Dip:

225 g molasses (I used carob pekmez)

225 water

680 sesame seeds

Mix flour, levain, salt and water. Knead  hand, or  mixer, until the dough is very smooth and resilient. Put the dough in a oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise 2 hours.

Lightly degas the dough place on a lightly floured work surface,  divide into equal pieces,(mine were 50 grams each.) Roll each piece into a loose ball and let rest under a slightly damp towel about 30 minutes.

Roll each ball into a 14 inch/ 35 centimeter long rope. Hold down one end of the rope with one hand while twisting it with the other. Then form this twisted rope into ring, pressing and rolling the overlapping ends together on the work surface with one hand to seal. Place on a greased baking sheet and let rest 1 hour or check with the finger and poke your simit. If your indentation doesn't spring back your about there!

Dissolve the molasses in 225g water in a bowl. Put the sesame seeds on a flat plate or sheet pan and set it next to the molasses water dip. Dip each simit in molasses water solution first, then in the sesame seeds, making sure the ˇ˝simitˇ˝ is completely and thickly coated with the seeds on all sides. Put it back on the baking sheet and let rest for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 550 degrees Fahrenheit or 287 Celsius  30 minutes before baking. Put a few cups of water in an ovenproof pan and place it in the oven, or spray with a mister.

Take each ring and rotate it gently through your hands, enlarging it into a 7 inch/ 17 centimeter circle. Place the rings back on the baking sheet and let rest for 15 minutes or until well puffed.

Bake about 15-20 minutes until rich golden brown in color.

They are their best eaten fresh out of the oven.

Pide,Tunçilik=dinner

The weather got warm again in New York. Feels like summer and time to enjoy the last bits of it. I found some nice peppers and eggplant shopping at Fairway market in Redhook, all to say that I was ready to act on a porterhouse steak dinner. But I wasn't in the mood for a grand production. I quickly changed gears and  instead went for something easy; vegetarian in fact!  Tunçilik, a Thracian dish I often ate for meals at Abracadabra. The smokey flavors and unctuous oil rich dish is comforting, especially topped with some yogurt and some fiery Aleppo pepper flakes.  As with any Turkish meal, a bread was needed, and I was out of a loaf, so I whipped up some pide, a recipe sent by Dilara, modified it into a sourdough pide.This is a non-recipe recipe for tunçilik - basically you roast or grill an eggplant, a tomato, a couple of banana peppers,(aka "Carliston pepper") and chop some garlic, make a simple vinaigrette of vinegar and oil, a dash of salt and pepper, chopped parsley, voila!

Pide you asked?, well ok here it is:

Straight dough

Flour                250g 

 salt                      5g

 sugar                 15g

 yeast                   5g

 water               160g

Sourdough version:

levain                 82 gr

flour                   210gr

water                 110gr

 salt                     5gr

yeast                    2gr (optional if your in need of hybrid dough?)

make   a smooth dough soft as your ears lobes,(Dilara's directions), cut 50gr balls and let them rest a half an hour, than "flatten" them, brush with some yogurt on top and and dot them with your finger tips towards the edges,top with sesame, hashhash,(Turkish spice) zatar, almost anything you like on top.. oven 270 C or 520 F (if your oven gets that hot!)

Rhubarb chutney

Many moons ago, working for Chef Jean Michel Bergounoux, I was lucky to get a chance not only to learn his cooking methods as well as techniques. The experience was hands-on private cooking classes. By far he was my biggest influence and I think one of the best chefs in New York City. Strictly rooted in the French classics, he has years of experience in the most renowned kitchens both in France and throughout Europe. Beyond experience, he has an adventurous streak, a constant curiosity to try elements not in his usual repertoire, something that would seem out of  terroir for many Frenchmen.

For instance, he'll create a chutney, more common in the pantries of English kitchens. When first meeting to discuss our opening menu for the restaurant we were launching, Jean Michel had us take notes for the various preparations. One recipe he pulled out was for rhubarb chutney. Jean Michel told us he had found it in some old American cook book. Since the name of the book escapes me, I credit it to my former boss and mentor. The flavor packed chutney  accompanied a roasted duck breast. We often used it with seared foie gras for amuse bouche, or ate leftover in the copper pots  by spoonfuls.

Recently I rustled up the recipe from my folder. Its food stained and yellowing pages had already been torn from the notebook years ago. I wanted to pass it on to a new friend, Sonia F. Bañuelos, who makes some fabulous chutneys herself on her site, Saffron Paisley. She mentioned her gardens rich bounty of California fruits, herbs and vegetables and how she is  preparing all sorts of delicious sounding recipes for preserving from her home  kitchen. I decided to send over this recipe so she could rate this old favorite of mine.  The recipe is a deliciously spiced, unctuous jam, a perfect foil for foie gras or duck breast like we made with Jean Michel. It's a refreshing snack like the one pictured above, which I accompanied with a some rye hopped beer recently. I am sure Sonia will find a good dish to marry it with!

Rhubarb Chutney

2lbs Rhubarb

11/2 cups onions chopped

1/2 cup of raisins

11/3 cup sugar

4 cloves garlic chopped

1 Tbsp. ginger grated (you can use dry, but I prefer fresh!)

1Tbsp. Sel rose or Salt peter (optional)

1Tbsp. Mustard seeds

1/2 Tsp.Coriander seeds

1/2 Tsp. cinnamon

2 Cups Vinegar

1/2 cup of sugar

Cut rhubarb into dice, add the rest of the ingredients except the 1/2 cup of sugar, cook over low heat covered for about an hour, stirring  every few minutes to avoid scorching. Add in the last 1/2 cup of sugar and cool. Can be eaten cold or heated according to what you serve it with.

Inge's Ribiselküchen

 

I like to think seasonally when I cook, but yesterday was an exception. While shopping for food at Trader Joe's, I spied some red currants in the fruit and vegetable section, and quickly stuffed them into my filling cart! These red jewels, slightly sweet and a bit sour were going into a dessert I have had on my trips to Switzerland visiting my sister. It's a recipe from  her mother in-law Inge  who kindly gave me a copy. Since  I rarely see currants in New York, Trader Joe's gave me both ingredients and inspiration to act.

So what is this memorable treat? Ribiselküchen, or more simply currant cake. It's perfect marriage of cake, merengue and fruit that make for a Mama cake. My problem is not being able to have just one slice. It's easy to demolish this cake in one seating. I know it happened to me once or twice.

Inge's Ribiselküchen

Serves 6-8

Cake:

150g Powdered sugar

5g Vanilla Sugar

3 Egg yolks

3 Tbsp. water

50g Melted butter

250g flour (A.P. or cake)

1/2 tsp. Baking Powder

160ml Milk

Beat powdered sugar, vanilla sugar, yolks, water until light. Add sifted flour, baking powder, and milk in thirds slowly folded slowly.

Spread into a cake pan 8x8, non-stick or lined with parchment and buttered. Bake for about 15 minutes until 3/4 cooked in a 350 oven. Spread meringue and currant mix on top and finish for about 10 minutes or until meringue is golden and slightly firm to touch.

Merengue Topping:

3 egg whites

200g sugar

5g Vanilla sugar

300g Currants (fresh)

Whip egg whites and gradually add sugar until fluffy and stiff. Fold currants  and spread on top of 3/4 cooked cake. Finish in the oven until whites are golden colored.

Bolon on my mind (Economics and a plantain recipe)

Today while making my breakfast of "bolon", a plantain cooked and enriched with chicharron (fried pork), mani (peanut butter) and cheese. It's a dish I first learned about from my wife who is from Ecuador. As well my brother in-law was famously named, "Rey" del bolon for his renowned version, with what he secretly confided to me on a visit was the "concentrado;" his approach in which the sucs and juices were added and absorbed into the awaiting plantain.

Anyway, after a visit to Ecuador, I never found anyone producing them here in the USA. So I taught myself and have since every so often when in the mood, make a batch at home or at work. It just happened this morning while browsing the headlines, I read about Ecuador defaulting on it's foreign debt accrued by corrupt former leaders and how the new President who wants to change the way banks hold nations hostage with there own draconian methods. While enjoying my rendition of this Ecuadorian comfort food, I reflected on how the current economic craziness would effect that nation, especially with the latest drop in oil prices since Ecuador is a nation that depends on selling natural resources like oil as much as bananas.

What will that mean to those there who struggle daily, the people? My tribute or my commiseration with my "Querido Ecuador" can be only a simple gesture; make bolon, a dish that incorporates simple components but gives comfort and goes really well with some great coffee, especially from Zaruma my wife's hometown.

Bolon (my gringo version)

2 servings:

2 green plantains
1 speckled maduro (yellow plantain, just getting some spots)
4-6 Tbsp oil
1 piece chicharron (I used some maple wood smoked bacon)
3 Tbsp cheese (queso fresco if you can get it in a Spanish market,buffalo mozzarella, or I like morbier, melts great!)
2 tsp peanut butter (I like chunky, if you just have peanuts crush them in a mortar to a paste or a blender!)
Salt to taste

Peel and cut plantains into 1 inch pieces. Heat oil in a frying pan, add in plantains till golden brown, drain on towel and place into a bowl. Add warm chicharron, crush with a malet for pounding meat or a pestle, add peanut butter. Finally add in cut in pieces of cheese to warm mixture, season with salt.Then form into a soft ball and serve with a piping hot coffee...enjoy y buen provecho.

Pide Suçuk by any other name would be pizza with salsice?

Like most nations, Turkey's cooking is varied so far as flavors, textures, etc. More interesting are the range of culinary influences, other cultures brought in to the mix during the historic Ottoman empire. Since coming back from Istanbul, I've missed the plethora of street food, yearning for the flavors I sampled but also missed (there was so much I wanted to try!).

Dilara, who runs Istanbul's excellent restaurant Abracadabra, sent me home  from my recent trip with a gift basket full of delicious things. One such delicacy was suçuk, a dried sausage known around the whole of the former Ottoman empire. It's a dried sausage made of beef or lamb, redolent with flavors and scents that are a reminder of the spice route that ran through Anatolia. Since I have been slaving at work, that suçuck has been hanging out in my fridge waiting to be sampled. My cat has been eyeing it for some time, so yesterday I took it off the hook from which it was hanging on the side of my baker's bench, afraid it  would be gnawed to bits by my cat if I waited.

Meanwhile I set about converting the pide hamuru (dough) recipe from my friend Gökhan the baker, throwing in some old fashioned intuition, not to mention some useful videos in Turkish on You Tube. Together, this assortment of ingredients and user-help led to a fair recreation of the great street food I've been pining for since returning from  Istanbul. The result is a winner, and it sure beats that tired take out pizza from your local where you're lucky if they bake the pie rather than just reheat.

   

 

 

 

Gökhan’s  Pide Hamuru with suçuk

Dough

Serves two (Unless your hungry and don't want to share!)

285 g Flour
8 g Salt
5g yeast(optional)
14g sugar
170 g water or as Gerkan said, squeezing his index and thumb to ear (gauge hydration by feel.)
68g levain

I used a combination no knead like Jim Lahey with a couple fold like Dan Lepard, but left the dough for about 8-10 hours or so to rise, while I went shopping at the market for the rest of the ingredients!

I cut the dough into two equal portions and rolled them out into oblong shapes covered with the fillings and pinched up the side of the dough like the shape of a canoe. Brushed with extra virgin olive oil and baked in a 450 F oven for about 15-20 minutes till nicely colored, finish with another coat of olive oil, can't get enough of the stuff!

Fillings: In this I used

1 sliced onion slightly sauted with 2 green peppers, also sliced. ( green frying Italian style peppers)

1 beautiful red ripe tomato, quatered and slice about a 1/4 inch wide

Suçuck chopped up, you could substitute any good sausage really, chorizo, merguez etc...

I didn't have any mozzarella, instead I used grated ricotta salata.

With this delicious pide I had a wonderful Hog Heaven Barley winestyle- ale from Avery Brewing Co. in Boulder, nice.