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.