Bagels: Round One.

I have been wanting to make a batch of bagels for a while now so this morning, that’s just what I did.

Bagel dough is quite stiff and I don’t have a stand mixer in my current kitchen so I alternated kneading the dough with a hand-held mixer and by hand. (So I wouldn’t wear out the motor or my wrist.) I just made a small batch so it wasn’t too bad.

After about an hour of fermentation, I divided the dough into rounds and let them rest a little bit before shaping them into logs and then bagels. (I need to practice this part a bit more to get a cleaner seam. The idea is that you cross the ends over and roll them together to seal it, I’m hoping the next time around they will be a little more even at this point.)

Another hour and they were ready to boil and bake. I set up my station; water boiling on the stove, a seed tray with my favorite seed blend sesame/poppy/fennel, a cast iron griddle in the oven, and a cooling rack.

First I popped the bagels in the water for about 30 seconds….

Then I coated them in seeds, lots of seeds.

They baked for about 15 minutes with a flip after about 2.

Not bad for a first try…

New Roots with a Cake to Match

One of my dear friends got married on Saturday, naturally, I couldn’t resist making her wedding cake. We decided on carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. V and I were inspired by a cake with leaves vining up and around the tiers so I went with it. I got together some gum paste supplies and made a bunch of leaves ahead of time. I used two shades of green and made them somewhat irregular (although they ended up being pretty uniform.)

While I was in baking school we used a recipe for carrot cake that quickly became my favorite. It has buttermilk in it and is quite moist. The original recipe calls for walnuts but we chose to exclude them.

I was pretty nervous about making a cake that was big enough so I went with 14-10-6″ tiers. (As it turns out, I was VERY generous with my estimate.)

 

Each tier was 4 layers, two cakes split in half, each layer was filled with cream cheese frosting. I did a thin crumb coat before the final coat of frosting.

Finally I decorated it with the gum paste leaves. I also had a few fresh flowers leftover from the bridal bouquet so I snuck a few on as well.

The bride, the groom, and the cake.

A Sunny Sunday

Last weekend I had some friends over for brunch. I picked some goodies out of the garden and brunch began to unfold.

I had been craving this carrot salad so I made some using the parsley. I sliced the radish and tossed it with some english cucumber and salt for another fresh treat, perhaps now is a good time to mention that I love salads. We also made some gently scrambled eggs with garden leeks, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and capers. I tossed a sprig of thyme and rosemary in with the leeks to give some aroma and extra flavor.

K and A brought over some delicious Humboldt Fog goat cheese, a perfect accompaniment to the Whole Emmer (Wheat) Sourdough I had made the day before.

For dessert we had fresh fruit and some of the Sachertorte I made in class last week (I have moved on from the bread portion of baking school to pastry.)

Between the brunch and the lovely sunny weather, we had a perfect picnic.

After lunch, we retired to the lawn with several baking books and enjoyed the sunshine.

(photo credit: Angel Trumpet Tree)

The beginning.

I just moved to San Francisco to go to baking school. I am very excited about it! Today was my first day in the program. It is a small class, 16 of us. I am really looking forward to getting to know everyone and learning all about bread and pastry!

Here is a picture of a couple of baguettes that I made!

Tarte Tatin

One of my favorite kitchen items is this adorable copper pan with “ears” it makes it out of the cupboard in the fall when apples are a plenty. I have had it out for the past week or so, to admire and as a reminder not to let the apple season pass me by. Last weekend my friend Ila and I went to an orchard and got some fresh crisp apples.

Tarte Tatin is a classic french dessert, it is somewhat similar to an apple pie in terms of ingredients but the process is quite different and the result is caramelly . We mixed up a small batch of pie dough, enough to cover it only, and put it in the fridge to chill. We then melted some butter and sugar in the little eared pan.

As it was melting, we peeled and cored 7 apples.

When the butter and sugar were ready, we nestled the quartered apples into the butter in two layers and let them cook on the burner for about 30 minutes.

Then the butter was nicely browned and the apples began to caramelize, we transferred the pan to the hot oven and baked them for about another 30 minutes. Towards the end of baking, we rolled out the dough and placed it on top of the apples and baked it for another 20 minutes until the crust was golden.

Turning a tarte tatin out of its pan can be messy, especially if you wait to long. Most of the apples turned out of the pan for us but we did have a couple of apples that stuck to the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream.

Farmers’ Market Cook-Off

Last weekend I participated in the Farmers’ Market cook-off. We had a table loaded with kale, winter squash, summer squash, peppers, and beans to choose from. I also gathered some parsley, tomatoes, leeks, and onions from some of the vendors. One of my favorite things to eat this time of year is soup, I love it! So that is what I made.

I sautéed the onions and leeks in some of my favorite olive oil. (It is from Tunisia and is thick and buttery with a nice grassiness to it. It comes from one of my favorite food producers Les Moulins Mahjoub and is available at the At Home Store.)

Next, I added the peppers, tomatoes, and a few sprigs of parsley. While that was cooking, I prepared the various winters squashes. I forgot to bring a spoon to clean out the squash seeds but I discovered a new technique, a 1/4 cup measure is just the right size to clean it out in one scoop!

I let the squash saute a little before adding water. When the soup was about halfway through cooking (maybe a little more) I added some green beans, golden flat beans, and summer squash and salt. Then, when the soup was about 5 minutes from being ready, I fished out the parsley sprigs and discarded them. I took out a couple of cups of the soup and blended it until it was very smooth, and poured it back in the pot to thicken the broth. I then added some finely chopped kale and let it simmer until the kale was tender. I finished eat serving with a drizzle of olive oil, some black pepper and minced parsley.

Seckel Pears

My friend has a seckel pear tree, so today on my way home from work I stopped y to see if her tree had any fruit this year. To my delight  it did! I didn’t have a ladder with me so I couldn’t get too many but I did get a good amount of “ground pears.” (Being very selective, avoiding the fruits that had already been snacked on.) I have my pears displayed on the kitchen counter, waiting to be eaten. My sister and I will probably can some whole with maple syrup, and I can’t wait to make a pie!

Buttermilk Ice Cream

I love buttermilk. My local grocery store just started carrying some really good, fresh, cultured buttermilk. I now have an excuse to buy it all of the time, that is at least until it gets too cold for ice cream. One of my friends recently turned me on to making buttermilk ice cream and as soon as I made it at home my family got hooked too. So far I haven’t made it the same way twice, I am having a lot of fun playing around with it, trying out different proportions and flavors. It’s hard to say which has been the best but I will say it is fantastic with grilled peaches! The peaches get really juicy and a bit caramelized.

Currently, I have a batch of peach buttermilk ice cream base chilling in the fridge waiting to go into the ice cream maker. Raspberries also go really well with the buttermilk. I’m thinking I will have to try out a batch with some plums when they are ripe!

Tapas Class with Avi

We were happy to have Avi teach a tapas style cooking class last month at the At Home Store! It was lots of good food, lots of garden vegetables, and lots of fun!

Here are some pictures along with the class handout Avi wrote.

Light Dishes for Summer
Cooking with Avi

– Torilla de Espana – New Potatoes Caramelized Onions and Chilies

– Summer Stew of Fresh Beans and Tomatoes served with toast

– Ragout of Fennel – with fresh peas carrots and caramelized shallots

– Seared seasonal vegetables with Garlic Aioli

– Sauté of summer squash and sweet corn with Savoy cabbage

These dishes, inspired by Spanish tapas, represent my favorite ways to prepare some of the bounty of summer. The flavors are clean and light but full of depth due to the browning and caramelizing of many of the ingredients. This menu is ideal for a backyard cocktail party. Any of these preparations would be a good side dish to accompany a main meal or simply as a delicious snack.

Tortilla de Espana – A potato omelet served hot or cold. This version includes caramelized onions as well as spices and chilies to give the classic dish a southwestern flavor.

Brown potatoes on medium high heat with plenty of olive oil. Add thinly sliced onions garlic and shallots. After the onions show color turn to low and cover for seven to ten minutes. While the potatoes cook soak 3-4 mild chilies in warm water. Once soft add to the potatoes and stir. Salt to taste.

Transfer potatoes to a large mixing bowl. In a separate mixing bowl mix six to eight eggs. Add to the cooked potato and mix well. Clean the potatoes cooking skilled of any large particles add plenty of olive oil a tablespoon or more. Heat to medium high. Pour in the potato eggs and shake pan to settle the mixture.

Cook for 4-5 minutes on medium high while slowly swirling the pan to allow the liquid egg to fill in the spaces at the edges of the pan. Turn to medium low and cover for twelve to fifteen minutes.

Take a flexible spatula and slowly loosen the underside of the omelet. Jostle pan to make sure it does not stick. Put a large plate over the skillet and in one motion turn the skillet upside down onto the plate. Slide omelet back into skillet and cook for 8 – 12 more minutes.

Aioli – Often described as garlic mayonnaise, but has many regional variations. This recipe is one I use often, as I have found it works and compliments many dishes.

Chop two large cloves of garlic.

In a mortar and pestle crush the chopped garlic with a large pinch of salt. Once thoroughly smashed add the egg yolk and mix until the mixture turns slightly lighter in color. Add two or three drops of lemon juice and stir for a few more moments. Taste and add salt if needed. While continuously stirring add olive oil one drop at a time – very slowly. The mixture should thicken and make a sucking sound. This is when you know the emulsification as happened. If the mixture is too thick add a few more drops of lemon juice and stir in some more oil. Sometimes I mix safflower oil with the olive oil to lighten the flavor and conserve the expensive ingredient. Serve with just about anything.

Thin aioli to make a salad dressing. Mix in chopped herbs or capers for a herb sauce.

(A picture of Avi making aioli. Sorry it’s so fuzzy)
Important terms and Concepts:

Umami– a Japanese concept which roughly translates as deliciousness. Umami is described as the fifth flavor along with salty sweet, sour, and bitter. Many foods have umami – it is often associated with mushrooms, ripe tomatoes, browned meats, soy sauce and other fermented foods such as cheese.

Maillard Reaction-The Maillard reaction is a form of nonenzymatic browning similar to caramelization. It results from a chemical reaction between an amino acid and a reducing sugar, usually requiring heat. This reaction results in the brownness of toast, seared vegetables, caramel and any really good tasting food. In the process of breaking down the sugars and proteins under high heat – at least 310 degrees Fahrenheit – savory and complex flavors are created. For this reaction to occur properly the food should be relatively dry and free of acids.

Sauté– from the French to jump. Sautéing is a cooking technique where food is cooked in a hot pan and is mixed or flipped frequently. A good sauté will result in fresh clean flavors.

Emulsion – a suspension of water droplets in oil. Mayonnaise, aioli and hot dogs are all emulsified foods.

Searing– Browning food on high heat.

Deglaze- To dissolve the flavorful remnants of a sear or sauté from the pan using a liquid – often wine or stock.

Sweet and Savory Tarts

Oh my, I am way behind on my posts! I’m ashamed to say that this is from May. Yikes! I taught a class on tarts at the At Home Store. It was really fun and I had a great group of students. I made two types of crusts and five different fillings, both sweet and savory. One of my favorite ingredients to use in baking is rhubarb. I like it nice and tart and makes your lips pucker a little. For the rhubarb tart, I used some orange juice and a bit of zest, I actually used a recipe I came up with last spring.

I also made a tart with a light pastry cream (made without eggs) and fresh raspberries. Geri did a fabulous job arranging the berries and the mint!

I made two different asparagus tarts, one was more like a Quiche and the other was asparagus spears and jarlsberg cheese (gruyere would be even better!)

The roasted vegetable tart was especially fun, I prepared a bunch of individual tart shells so everyone could create one. I roasted beets, butternut squash, and onions with some fresh herbs. I also had some fresh goat cheese for people to use if they wanted. After everyone assembled their tarts I popped them in the oven so the flavors melded together a little.

Just as we sat down to eat, the power went out on our block. Perfect timing, we lucked out!