STIR THE POTS

Goat Butter

Goat butter has always interested me in the possibility in baked goods, why you ask ... But seriously, I love goat and sheep cheeses, they have a different flavor, and easier to digest then cow's milk. The trail of my endeavors go way back, I found in my local supermarket both goat milk and butter. I'd sneak in a pound of butter into my basket, my partner doesn't like goat anything, childhood development issues it seems.. And many of those  projects failed and I reconsidered the price quotient and waste, that is until recently when my Viennoiserie game caught fire and was at peak, that I snuck in some goat butter if found at the grocery from a UK dairy and laminated it precariously. It was a bit leaky, and I crossed my fingers. Here's what I got..golden layers.

Sour Pickles

I've made pickles in the past, including this variety. My first batch was a bit salty. But I got tired of buying  industrially-produced German  pickles. They're "okay" but not nearly as satisfying as the homemade pickles I've had throughout the years.  Having in the past overdone the salt, this time I vigilantly focused, measured and followed a recipe exactly to the last gram. I also slowed down the fermentation. Finally with hours turning into days and weeks, I am ready to open them They look so good in the jar, inspiring delicious visions of corned beef and pastrami sandwiches. 

Poppy Seed Roll

Poppy seed rolls are a goody that I  first enjoyed at New York City's legendary Lower East Side Jewish delis and bakeries.  But later I discovered great poppy seed rolls could be found in the Polish enclave of Greenpoint in Brooklyn. I remember biking over to the neighborhood with my buddy, Michael, visiting a great Polish bakery, Rzeszowska, which has now since closed.  I often yearn for a sliver of this treat. Recently, using some extra laminated brioche dough mix of poppy seed (masa makowa) filling, I rolled up a loaf. It was a success - the meeting of poppy seed with light French brioche. It made me think of the old saying; "let them eat cake."

Brioche Feuilletée

A project this past summer was baking varieties of "brioche feuilletée." It's a laminated brioche dough in which the baker holds back part of the butter in its building. During hotter weather, any butter-rich Viennoisserie can be tricky. It's recommended to keep the kitchen air conditioned and maintain dough chilled between the folds.  Always remember to measure and weigh dough to loaf pans size accordingly, as these doughs grow. What's so pleasing is the feel the light airy baked pieces, golden and flaky made from levain.

Special Breads

Among my few but favorite possessions are a series of baking books. They go back to my Culinary school days and include both pastry and bread baking books. The two bread books alone are packed with years worth of baking methods and techniques. When first purchased, they seemed an expensive but worthwhile investment in my career, though at the time I focused on becoming a chef. Just starting out, I also had minimal excess money at the end of each month.

Fast forward 30-years and I have gained a bit of knowledge from experience, but also grown passion for specific areas, especially around baking bread. Looking recently at the second volume of my bread books I noticed the name of co-author Eric Kayser, a wonderful baker whose bakery in Paris I visited years ago. Later he came to New York where I followed him, as well.  Sadly there's this recent news on his bakery chain (and others), that remind me of the impact of this terrible pandemic. And yet still we bake. Here are some examples of classics of this fully French-filled repertoire from the books, the formulas that have recently inspired another immersion. Below are some photographs of the results. 

Return To Work

My workplace gave us employees a phone call a few weeks ago. "Come back to work!"  I am now acting as both the morning baker as well as lunch and evening chef, as we are trying to save on bread. Why? We are only at 25-percent capacity using outdoor seating. Though next week we'll move indoors but we're still cost-conscious. This new practice  has given me more responsibilities but also the chance to experiment with  fresh levain. Our menu is paired down, less innovative, but we try to make the best with limited hands and time, precision and no waste.

Beef Cheeks

Planning for a last minute dinner, we did our meat shopping at Harlem Shambles, a boutique butcher with several locations around New York City. Asking about the different cuts of meat, the butcher talked me into beef cheeks. I owe those butchers a big thanks, as those beef cheeks led a French-inspired menu that left each guest with a happy belly and a smiling face. 

Peruvian Ceviche

Ceviche to me is like sushi, albeit marinated or cooked with citrus and chilies. My first exposure to ceviche was in Ecuador. Looking back at it, this version is a shrimp "cocktail" style. I believe that the Ecuadorians fear raw fish, which explains a a short semi-cooking or longer marinade in salt and lime.  With chiles less a common condiment than mustard and ketchup, it's less spicy. 

For garnishes, Peruvians use corn and sweet potatoes, whereas Ecuador prefer plantain chips, popcorn and there is various Asian immigrant influences including Nikkei (Japanese) and and Chifa (Chinese) flavors.  Peruvian restaurants such as Brooklyn's Llama Inn are my go-to Peruvian cervice place. But with Covid limiting us to take-out, I prepared an at-home Peruvian styled corvina fish classic, which resulted in awesome depths of textures and taste.