Bread. Like everyone else, I need more of it.

I remember when I was young, I was informed by Mom that if I ate the crusts of my bread it would put curls in my hair.  She would point to my older cousin and relate to me how well it worked for him.  My cousin had a rich head of  wavy hair, that my Mother used to like to flaunt in front of me just to get me to eat the crust on my sandwiches.

Well it didn’t put a curl on my head.  In fact, not only did it not provide me with more spring in my locks, I have become more follicular-ly challenged over the years.  We won’t talk about what happened to my cousin’s fabulous coif (but between you and I, it ain’t all there anymore either, and considerably less than mine).  Lies, all lies.

Coming back to the present, and all bitterness aside, I have recently rekindled my affinity for bread.  Especially the crunchy goodness of the crust contrasting to the rich interior of the crumb.  On it’s own, with a hunk of cheese, or simply with a thin spread of really good butter, there is nothing that can replace a good loaf in the kitchen and in the belly.

I need to give credit, where credit is due.  Recently my friend Natanya of Fete and Feast posted about her recent and renewed exploits in the baking world.  In her original post on the subject (which can be found here), she credits her success to a book by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois called “Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day“.  While I am normally skeptical of being able to do anything ‘in Five Minutes’, her composition along with the knowledge that Natanya does not embellish, compelled me to re-enter the world of baking and to give the book a read.

So, after gaining some confidence from Fete and Feast, I dove in to my first foray of the world of yeast for many a year.  Historically, I have had a lot of trouble baking bread.  Most, if not all of my endeavors ended in wonderfully shaped bricks and stops for various doors.  Pizza has been a decent success for me in the past, so that is where I started, dusting off my favorite deep-dish pizza pan and creating a delicious treat for the family one night (another tidbit I will blog in the future).  Having had a modicum of success, I decided to try the next step.

After a little digging (and the recent purchase of a Kindle, to which I find myself somewhat addicted), I found Jeff and Zoe’s first book “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery that Revolutionizes Home Baking” available for download.  From the beginning it was intriguing, and I found a bit more confidence in my bread making skills by just reading the first few chapters.  And, I would suggest that reading the first five chapters is essential in the success of the recipes that you may try.  From there, it is all downhill as all of the recipes are built upon the foundation of the recipe for Boule.

My first loaf was a success.  An amazing turn-around from previous attempts, and I think the Wife actually used “Amazing” as a description of my efforts.  Although, I have to say that the success of the first loaf is much less an accolade to my baking skills than it is to Jeff and Zoe’s writing/baking/teaching skills.  Following their direction (which is simple by the way), I was able to make my first tasty and crunchy loaf of bread after MANY failed attempts.  Although for the past couple of weeks I have not followed their suggestion of using a pizza stone on which to bake the bread, I have had wonderful success using simply a cookie tray lined with a silicon mat.  Today I plan to pick up a baking stone to see how that pushes the envelope.

My First re-Attempt at Bread

No more will my bread be littered with substances such as “Partially Hydrolyzed” anything, high fructose corn syrup, diglycerides, ethoxylated mono – something-or-other, nor anything with the word ’stearoyl’ in it (I am actually afraid to look that one up).  It will be of flour, water, salt, yeast and any other healthy ingredient that will add flavor to the mix and not just something I cannot pronounce.

Cheers!

A Blissful Garlic Bread. Yes, I said ‘Garlic Bread’. Just make, and all will be clear…

Yeah, I know, garlic bread sounds so mundane.  Actually, this is a recipe that has been in my family for about 20 years.  Yes, I said 20.  And, yes, I am dating myself.   I’m over it.

The recipe itself, comes from a family friend, Barb (last name withheld for whatever greedy lawyer reasons I can think of).  We’ll just call her ‘Barb’.  She and her husband have been friends of my family for a long time.  Barb is an excellent cook, and although I have not been fortunate enough to receive a lot of recipes from her repertoire, this is one that the whole family cherishes enough to only make on special occasions.  If I remember correctly, she acquired it from a cooking class she attended many years ago and it still holds up today.

Anyway, the Wife’s birthday celebration is tomorrow, and to accompany her “I am Special Today!” plate (see photo below . . . yes we actually own this) she has also requested this special garlic bread.

New Wave Garlic Bread

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 teaspoon Chinese chili sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground Szechwan pepper
8 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 bunch fresh chives, minced (if unavailable, use 1/2 cup minced scallions)
1/2 cup minced cilantro
1 loaf French bread, 12 inches long
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1.  In a small saucepan, place the butter, chili sauce, Szechwan pepper, and garlic.  Melt the butter over low heat until it bubbles around the edges of the pan.  Remove from heat and stir in the chives and cilantro.
2.  Split the bread in half lengthwise.  Spoon or brush on a thin layer of the butter sauce.  Add a generous amount of cheese to one half.  Shake the bread to evenly coat with the cheese.  Repeat with the second half.  Place on a cookie sheet buttered sides up.  Do not wrap in foil.
3.  Toast the bread on a barbecue until golden or in the oven at any temperature until it is very hot and crusty.  Cut into slices and serve.

This is seriously the best Garlic Bread I have EVER had.  Not saying there isn’t better.  Just sayin’.

Enjoy.

*Just realized I forgot the picture of the plate.  Oops.

Sunday’s Football wings. . .my best sauce yet.

Well, for those of you ‘in the know’, I am a fan of hot wings.  A big fan. For years I have worked to perfect the art.  Which, of course, I still haven’t. But, I am getting closer, and this recipe is a further step towards a perfection that I will never achieve.

I have progressed over the years through hard dedication and the advise of others.  And by ‘advise’, I actually refer to some harsh comments about a previous post where I baked the wings.  Not sure of the exact phrase, but in my mind it rang as “You JACKASS, you can’t bake wings.”  The reader didn’t really say that but not only was it the underlying message, the message was correct.

This ‘advice’ shamed me and caused the purchase of a deep-fryer (something which I had actively avoided for years, reason why can be read about here), and, I am sure, added a couple of extra pounds to my frame.  Deep frying wings is vastly superior, and has created a little bit of experimentation over the last few weeks.  The level of heat on the fryer as well as the length of time the wings bathe in the hot fat vary by fryer.  Still working on that, and getting closer to perfection.

I actually use a Delonghi Roto, which works REALLY well.  Has some great features including the rotary basket which spins during cooking.  This model is wonderfully easy to clean, and the fat of choice (I use peanut oil) is easily drained, cleaned and re-usable.

This weekend I fried at 360 for 12 minutes per batch.  Not quite as crispy as I would have liked, but they were VERY juicy, which was good.  I think next time I will try 370 for the same amount of time. See if we can increase the crispiness of the wings.

For the sauce (which ultimately is the point of this post) here is what I did.  It’s very basic (which sometimes works best). I thought it was really good.  Wife thought it was amazing!

• 8 T of unsalted butter (1 stick)
• 2 t crushed garlic (use a press)
• 1/2 t cayenne
• 1 12 ounce bottle Frank’s Red Hot (it used to be called Durkee’s, and may be still called that in some places)

Seriously that is it for ingredients.  Cook the wings as you normally would (deep fried works best, although if you MUST bake them, here is a post on that).  Once the wings are cooked, keep them warm at 220 in your oven.  Melt the butter over medium-low heat in a large sauce pan.  Once heated, add the garlic and saute for a couple of minutes being careful not to brown the garlic as it will get bitter.  Add the Cayenne, stirring just to heat the essential oils in the pepper.  Turn off the heat, add the Frank’s, and stir to combine.  Toss in the wings and serve with Blue Cheese dressing (or Ranch, if you must . . . another chastisement I have gotten from readers).

This should be enough sauce to cover about 4 pounds of wings.  I cooked about 2 1/2 pounds and had some sauce left over.

These won’t be super-spicy wings, but they do carry some heat.  I was sweating a little by the time I was done.  And, as I always say, if they don’t make you sweat, its not worth the effort.

Enjoy!

Mother Nature made me do it.

Originally, tonight’s dinner was to be grilled steak and potatoes.  Complete lack of creativity and shameful laziness on my part.  I am glad that Mother Nature conspired to force my lazy ass into the kitchen and create a much better dish.

My first thought was to create a soup.  Miserable weather dictates soup for some reason.  I didn’t make the rules, I just follow them.  Something in a Tuscan white bean was foremost in my mind, but my wife suggested something with potato, so that is the direction I went.  We’ll work with the white bean later in the week.

Not sure what to call it.  Potato Soup sounds a bit lame.  “Kartoffelsuppe mit Trüffeln” sounds a bit harsh.  I speak German, and my family is of German descent, but this doesn’t really roll off the tongue.   And “σούπα πατάτας με τρούφα” I can’t even read.   Same with “Картофельный суп с трюфелями”.  French is a little more romantic.  How about “la soupe de pommes de terre à la truffe”?  Actually, that sounds awesome.  Plus, it kinda goes with the placemat.  That’s what it is then . . .

La Soupe de Pommes de Terre à la Truffe

• 4 Potatoes, baked, cooled, peeled, diced and very roughly mashed
• 1/2 lb Applewood Smoked Bacon, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped fine
• 4 T unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
• 6 T flour
• 3 C Milk, warm
• 4 C Chicken Stock
• 1 T Thyme
• 1 T Crushed Rosemary
• 1 T Salt (this will vary to taste)
• 1 t Freshly ground pepper (white pepper can also be used)
• 1 T Truffle Oil
• Grated cheddar and scallions for garnish

In a large heavy bottomed pot, cook the bacon at medium heat, crisping the meat and rendering the fat.  Towards the end of cooking, add the onion and saute until soft and bacon is crisp.

In a microwave safe container, heat the milk in the microwave for about 2 minutes. Set aside.

Add the flour to the onion and bacon stirring continuously, creating a roux. Once a ‘nutty’ smell arises from the roux (it will be faint, but you can tell once the flour starts to brown slightly) add the milk, stirring constantly.  Once incorporated, add the chicken stock also stirring and bringing the mixture to a simmer.  Once thickened, add the Thyme, Rosemary, Salt, Pepper and Potatoes, stirring to incorporate.  Allow to simmer 20 minutes. Drizzle with the Truffle Oil just before serving.

Serve garnished with cheese, green onions and crusty bread.

Enjoy.

Pasta Carbonara – the easiest dish you may never have made.

First, I would like to apologize for the hiatus from posting.  There are instances where the non-cyber life take precedence over those of the cyber, and for me, there have been several weeks of those instances in succession.   But, as things come and go, I am getting back into the kitchen as well as venturing out to new establishments, and developing new material.  The pause in my material has pent up lots of creativity and I fully plan to express this in the coming weeks.

That being said, tonight I took a venture into a dish that I have actually never made.  While in college, my family lived overseas, and during my holidays I would venture home to the enjoyment of Pasta Carbonara made by one of their friends, usually enjoyed on a chilly and wet evening with other friends and family.  While the family friend had shown us repeatedly how to make it (his family being native of Italy), the raw egg intimidated me early on, and I must confess that the dish went somewhat forgotten for a number of years in my paranoia.  It wasn’t until tonight that I ventured into the world of Carbonara and even added a few twists of my own.

Pasta Carbonara

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp Olive Oil
• 1/4 lb. Pancetta, Diced
• 2 tsp Garlic, crushed
• 1/2 C (+2 TBS) Grana Padano Cheese, Finely Grated
• 2 eggs, whipped
• 1/2 lb pasta, cooked to al dente (I used Tagliatelle)
• Salt
• Pepper

Cook the pasta in boiling, salted water to al dente.  While the pasta is cooking, heat a heavy saute pan over medium heat and crisp the pancetta in the olive oil, rendering the fat.  Extract the crisp pancetta over paper towels to drain and reserve 1 TBS of the rendered fat in the pan. If pasta is not yet done, set the saute pan aside until the pasta is done.  Drain pasta reserving 1TBS of the liquid.

Once the pasta is cooked, briefly cook the garlic in the pancetta renderings (30-45 seconds) until you catch the aroma of the garlic cooking.  Add the pasta to the pan along with the reserved liquid and stir briefly to coat the pasta in the pan drippings (the extra liquid will keep it from sticking).  Remove the pan from the heat and top with the rested pancetta, 1/2 cup cheese and egg mixture.  Stir constantly until the egg mixture becomes silky (but not scrambled).

Add salt and pepper to taste (being careful of the salt, the pancetta and cheese offer a lot of sodium), top with the 2 TBS of extra cheese, and you’re done.  It’s really that easy.  Something I never understood, until now.

The dish will serve 2 as a main, or 4 as a side and can be multiplied out as needed. Also, topping with parsley would add some additional color.  And don’t be afraid of the egg.  Stirring constantly in the hot pan along with the fat of the cheese will cook the egg without coagulating into a scrambled mess.  It will create a creamy sauce that everyone will love.

Traditionally, Pasta Carbonara is made with Parmigiana Regiano, but tonight I substituted Grana Pandano and it worked very well.

Enjoy!