Thinkery

Longtime readers will remember my fascination with bread, my fear of yeast, and my many failures. I was writing about them back in 2005, here and here and here and here. After that string of misadventures, I pretty much gave up on bread for another 7 years. Compatriot G. started making bread back during the No-Knead Bread Fascination of 2006 or so, when Lahey’s famous New York Times recipe came out and set all the food blogs on fire with bloggers making bread in their dutch ovens. I studiously ignored all this and happily ate all the bread that G. sent my way while we wrote our dissertations.

Then about a year ago, Mr. Husband ordered this marvel:

It came out in 2007, but was still new to me. I was curious enough to start fiddling around with it, and it changed everything. It bolstered my confidence, taught me some things about yeast, and made bread more feasible from a time management standpoint. And as I worked my way through a handful of the recipes, I got brave enough to dip into our other bread books that had been languishing on the shelves as we moved to three different residences. After starting out with no-knead bread in May, I was making full-on French bread for guests in early July. I’ve been baking bread of one sort or another every week since, and I can’t remember the last time we paid $4 for a loaf of something from Wegman’s.

Here’s what I’ve baked so far (and I’m still not nearly done with this book):

1. Boule
2. European Peasant Bread
3. Olive Bread
4. Deli-Style Rye
5. Bran-Enriched White Bread (Google-fu is failing me on this one)
6. Light Whole Wheat Bread
7. 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread
8. Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread Inspired by Chris Kimball
9. Oatmeal Bread
10. Challah
11. Brioche
12. Sunflower Seed Breakfast Loaf
13. Sticky Pecan Caramel Rolls

The Sticky Pecan Caramel Rolls are so fabulous that I made 60 of them as gifts for our department staff at Christmas. It began with a rise in front of the fireplace since there wasn’t enough room in the fridge for a slow rise there:

And things eventually ended up here:

Sticky Pecan Caramel Rolls
1 1/2 pounds of any of these refrigerated pre-mixed doughs: Challah (page 180), Brioche (page 189), or Boule (page 26)

Caramel Topping:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
30 pecan halves

The Filling:
4 tablespoons salted butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped and toasted pecans
Pinch of ground black pepper

On baking day, cream together the butter, salt, and brown sugar. Spread evenly over the bottom of a 9-inch cake pan. Scatter the pecans over the butter-sugar mixture and set aside.

Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1 1/2 pound (cantaloupe-sized) piece. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go.

With a rolling pin, roll out the dough to a 1/8-inch thick rectangle. As you roll out the dough, use enough flour to prevent it from sticking to the work surface but not so much as to make the dough dry.

Cream together the butter, sugar, and spices. Spread evenly over the rolled-out dough and sprinkle with the chopped nuts. Starting with the long side, roll the dough into a log. If the dough is too soft to cut, let it chill for 20 minutes to firm up.

With a very sharp serrated knife, cut the log into 8 equal pieces and arrange over the pecans in the pan, with the “swirled” edge facing upward. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rest and rise 1 hour (or just 40 minutes if you’re using fresh, unrefrigerated dough.)

Twenty minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 350F. If you’re not using a stone in the oven, 5 minutes is adequate.

Bake about 40 minutes, or until golden brown and well set in center. While still hot, run a knife around the inside of the pan to release the caramel rolls, and invert immediately into a serving dish. If you let them set too long they will stick to the pan and be difficult to turn out.

1/2 cup of mint leaves
1 1/2 cup of cilantro leaves
2 green chiles
1/2 medium onion
1/2 inch piece of ginger
6 garlic clothes
salt to taste
water

Throw it all in a food processor and process to a smooth paste, adding water as necessary to keep things going and smoothed out. That’s it: store in the fridge for up to a week, where the flavors will continue to bloom. When you’re ready to eat it, mix it with some plain yogurt in a bowl and serve it with freshly toasted papadum.

The Ithaca Farmer’s Market opens today, and we are not there. I’m more fond of the produce and vendors at the Regional Market, which has the added benefit of being just across town instead of 60 miles away. (Plus, it’s April, a time when ain’t nobody going nowhere if you’re an academic.) But one thing that the Ithaca Market has is the Cambodian food stand, which produces truly amazing and copious filled pancakes. These are completely unlike American pancakes, and I’ve been experimenting off and on over the past couple of years with making my own. The last couple of versions have finally almost nailed it, and so I’m filing the recipe here.

The quality of the ingredients is crucial, especially when it comes to the sprouts. One of the things that’s really been putting these last few batches over the top is Mr. Husband’s home-grown sprouts. We tend to buy bags of mung bean sprouts from the Korean grocery weekly, but lately he’s been growing them in a corner of the kitchen along with fenugreek sprouts and sprouted wheat. The wheat goes into porridge and the mung beans and fenugreek go into any number of things, including this pancake.

My version of Khmer pancake is adapted from this one and serves two.

3/4 cup of rice flour
1/2 tsp turmeric
1(+/-) cup of water
1/4 pound of ground pork
1/2 teaspoon of chili-garlic sauce
2 green onions, slivered
1/2 medium purple onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup of red or orange pepper, thinly sliced
1/4 cup of mushrooms, thinly sliced
Fistfuls of almost any sort of sprouts, esp. mung bean
Soy sauce
Olive or peanut oil

Whisk together the rice flour, turmeric, and water. Begin by adding 3/4 cup of the water, whisk, and then add more based on consistency. I find that rice flours vary quite a bit in how much water they require. You’re aiming for a very thin batter that will be able to run between the nooks and crannies of the other ingredients.

Set the largest, flattest skillet you have over high heat. Heat enough oil to slick the bottom of the pan and fry the pork and chili-garlic sauce together until the pork is done. Add the onion, pepper, and mushrooms and saute until crisp-tender. Add a splash of soy sauce and stir it all around, then arrange everything evenly across the bottom of the pan.

Turn the heat all the way up and pour in the batter, doing your best to distribute it evenly. Slap a lid on it, but keep an eye on condensation so the top of your pancake isn’t getting wetter rather than dryer. When it’s done (which will probably take longer than you think), you’ll be able to touch the surface with a finger and press in without much give. Nothing will still be bubbling, and the edges will be a bit brown and start pulling away from the edge of the pan. Sprinkle as many sprouts as you’d like on one half, fold the pancake over, and serve with sauce.

Dipping Sauce:
1-2 small Thai chiles or dried chile flakes (or both)
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1/2 cup fish sauce (lately we’re using nuoc mam, the Vietnamese version)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup sugar (white or, if you have it, palm sugar)

Combine everything and stir until sugar is dissolved. If you’re not used to it, it will likely taste odd by itself but delicious on the pancake.

We’ve been cooking a lot of Indian lately, and so of course we’re reading a fair amount of Indian cooking blogs. Mr. Husband stumbled across The Colors of Indian Cooking, and it’s a delight. Written by an Italian screenwriter in LA, it makes Indian cooking wonderfully accessible — and as you might expect, it’s extremely well written. Reading it alongside a canonical dose of Madhur Jaffrey makes for a long, long list of things to cook.

I assumed that Indian Fries had to be an American thing, but when we mentioned it in passing to our friend Sharif, he swooned a little and said that we had to make it pronto. And he was right. These are fabulous on their own, and I’m thinking they’d also be good served at breakfast alongside curried scrambled eggs.

Indian Fries from The Colors of Indian Cooking:

Peel a half-pound of Russets, and cut then into strips.

In a deep pan or skillet, heat 1 and 1/2 Tbs of vegetable oil on high. When the oil in the pan is just starting to smoke add in 1/2 tsp of cumin seed and 1/2 tsp of mustard seed.

When the seeds start to sizzle and pop, add 1 seeded and finely chopped serrano chili and the potatoes. Stir everything around well so that the potatoes are well-coated with the oil. Keep cooking them at this high temperature for about 4 minutes. The potatoes will start to crisp and brown on the edges.

Now, add in 1/2 tsp of salt (or more to taste) and 1 Tbs of ground peanuts. Mix everything around well, then turn down the heat and cover the pan. Cook everything for another 10 minutes or so until the potatoes start to brown further. Take the lid off the pan occasionally and give everything a whirl. The potatoes should be nicely golden at this point.

Take them off the heat and then give them a squirt of lime and a sprinkle of chopped fresh cilantro. Don’t skip the cilantro unless you really must — it puts the whole thing over the top.

Stuffed Baby Eggplants from The Colors of Indian Cooking (also known around our house as Eggplants in Bondage:

This dish is easier than it sounds, provided you have some kitchen twine on hand. I used a couple of long Asian eggplants that I picked up at the local Eastern Supermarket. If you get your hands on some sliced almonds, whir them in a spice grinder or small food processor and you’ll have ground almonds. You just soak, stuff, tie, and sautee, and that’s that. Serve alongside chana dal and roti, and you’ve got an amazing and filling dinner. I cut the recipe down to serve two people one eggplant apiece, but the original is meant to serve six people 1-2 small eggplants.

Six or 12 small eggplants, depending on size.
3 Tbls of blanched slivered almonds, ground
1 Tbs ground coriander
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. garam masala
1/2 tsp of turmeric
1/4 tsp of cayenne
1/2 Tbs of lime juice, assuming you don’t have amchoor powder.
1/2 Tbs salt

Cut the eggplants lengthwise, almost to the top but not all the way through. Stop about a half inch from the stem part. Soak them in a pan of cold water for 10 minutes, then drain and dry them.

Combine the ground almonds, coriander, cumin, garam masala, turmeric, cayenne, lime juice or amchoor, and salt. Smear it on the insides of the eggplants, and then push the halves together and tie them with kitchen twine at each end so that they hold their shape while cooking.

Heat a few tablespoons of peanut oil in a heavy skillet, and then toss in a thinly sliced round of ginger. When the oil is good and hot, add the eggplants and cook then until they’re shiny and starting to brown. Then turn the heat to low and slowly cook them until done. The original recipe estimates 20 minutes, but it may take less.

When they’re as soft as you’d like them to be, remove them to plates, snip their bindings, and sprinkle them with some finely chopped cilantro.

All that duck confit I made in November and December is one of the most wonderful things you can do with a duck. You can do any number of things with it. Perhaps best of all, it leads the way to this cassoulet, which I made twice in the depths of winter. It’s not the kind of thing you’ll likely make often, but there isn’t much that’s more satisfying when there’s a couple feet of snow on the ground.

Cassoulet from Saveur Issue #117:

1 lb. dried great northern beans
10 tbsp. duck fat or olive oil
16 cloves garlic, smashed
2 onions, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 large ham hocks
1 lb. pork shoulder, cut into 1″cubes
1⁄2 lb. pancetta, cubed
4 sprigs oregano
4 sprigs thyme
3 bay leaves
1 cup whole peeled canned tomatoes
1 cup white wine
2 cups chicken broth
4 confit duck legs (optional)
1 lb. pork sausages
2 cups bread crumbs

1. Soak beans in a 4-qt. bowl in 7 1⁄2 cups water overnight. Heat 2 tbsp. duck fat in a 6-qt. pot over medium-high heat. Add half the garlic, onions, and carrots and cook until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add ham hocks along with beans and their water and boil. Reduce heat and simmer beans until tender, about 1 1⁄2 hours.

2. Transfer ham hocks to a plate; let cool. Pull off meat; discard skin, bone, and gristle. Chop meat; add to beans. Set aside.

3. Heat 2 tbsp. duck fat in a 5-qt. dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add pork and brown for 8 minutes. Add pancetta; cook for 5 minutes. Add remaining garlic, onions, and carrots; cook until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Tie together oregano, thyme, and bay leaves with twine; add to pan with tomatoes; cook until liquid thickens, 8–10 minutes. Add wine; reduce by half. Add broth; boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook, uncovered, until liquid has thickened, about 1 hour. Discard herbs; set dutch oven aside.

4. Meanwhile, sear duck legs in 2 tbsp. duck fat in a 12″ skillet over medium-high heat for 8 minutes; transfer to a plate. Brown sausages in the fat, about 8 minutes. Cut sausages into 1⁄2″ slices. Pull duck meat off bones. Discard fat and bones. Stir duck and sausages into pork stew.

5. Heat oven to 300˚. Mix beans and pork stew in a 4-qt. earthenware casserole. Cover with bread crumbs; drizzle with remaining duck fat. Bake, uncovered, for 3 hours. Raise oven temperature to 500˚; cook cassoulet until crust is golden, about 5 minutes.

SERVES 6 – 8

I made this recipe from Nigel Slater‘s The Kitchen Diaries just about forever ago and loved the tart, sticky pepperiness of them. The Dinner Companion is not as big a fan of tartness, and so they haven’t been a regular dish around here. But if that’s your thing and you’re a fan of wings, make these pronto.

Chicken wings -12 large
A large juicy lemon
Bay leaves – 5
Black peppercorns – 1 heaped tbsp
Olive oil – 2tbsp
Sea salt flakes – 2tbsp

Set oven at 400 degrees (gas 6 / 200C). Check the chicken wings for the stray feathers – they seem to be more prevalent on the wings than on any other part of the bird. Put the wings into the roasting dish. Halve the lemon and squeeze it over them, then cut the lemon shells and tuck them, together with the bay leaves, between the chicken pieces. Put the peppercorns in a mortar and bash them so they crack into small pieces. They should still be knubbly, like small pieces of grit, rather than finely ground. Mix the peppercorns with the olive oil, then toss with the chicken and lemon. Scatter the salt flakes, without crushing them over the chicken. Roast for forty to forty five minutes , turning once. The chicken should be golden, sticky, the edges blackened here and there. Serves 2.

We’re now at the tail end of citrus season, and there are only a few squash still lingering in the cellar. I’ve spent the past couple of months using up our stores in desserts. We’re fans of pudding around here, and I’ve been making rounds of these two puddings and potting the batches up in half-cup ramekins for use throughout the work week. You can get fancy and pat in a graham-cracker crust or top things off with whipped cream, but I may like them best plain.

Meyer Lemon Pudding Cake from Simply Scratch
I’ve not tried making this one with plain lemons; Meyers give it a less-tart-tang. The end result is like a cake with pudding embedded in it, and the recipe is definitely a keeper.

1 cup White Sugar
1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
4 Eggs, separated
1/3 cup of Meyer Lemon Juice
1 tablespoon Meyer Lemon Zest
1 tablespoon unsalted Butter
1-1/2 cups Whole Milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine sugar, flour and salt in a small bowl, stir with a fork to break up any lumps and set aside.

Beat together egg yolks, butter and zest. Add the lemon juice while whisking. Alternate between adding the dry ingredients and the milk, stirring after each addition until combined.

Whip egg whites until stiff and fold them in gently with the lemon mixture. Pour into either an 8×8 pan or individual ramekins.

Fill a large pan with a little bit of hot water and then carefully place the pan or ramekins into the water bath. Bake for 40-45 minutes; serve slightly warm.

Squash Pie Pudding, slightly adapted from Gluten Free Girl and the Chef

I’ve made this with Long Island Cheese and Jarrahdale pumpkins, Kabocha squash, and butternut squashes. The basic principle is something like a pumpkin pie but without the crust. This version includes ricotta, which subtly changes the texture into something just a little more fluffy and wonderful, and local maple syrup, which lends a more complex sweetness. This is a formulation that really rewards fresh, local sourcing. The fresher the ingredients, the more marvelous it will be.

2 large eggs
1 cup fresh ricotta cheese
3/4 cup fresh cream
2 Tbsp real maple syrup
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp fresh ground ginger
1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
2 cups roasted, pureed pumpkin (or squash)*

Preheat oven to 350.

Beat the eggs until fluffy, then add the remaining ingredients. Continue blending until the mixture is entirely smooth and coherent. Pour into ramekins and place them in a bain marie. Bake until you can insert a knife into the center of the filling and have it come out clean, approximately 30 minutes.

*Fresh roasted pumpkin and squash must be drained before you bake with them. If I have enough time during the day, I roast mine in the morning and let it drain in a sieve all afternoon. Otherwise, I roast it the evening before we want to use it and just let it drain in the fridge all night and sometimes into the next day.

Chile-Roasted Pecans were part of our Christmas giving this year, and I’ve been meaning to file the recipe here ever since. They come together very quickly, and I’m grateful to Bill H-D for posting his recipe for Chile-Roasted Almonds to his Tastebook files. What follows is simply his recipe with pecans subbed in for almonds.

2 c raw pecan halves
1/4 c brown sugar
pinch salt
2 T water
2 T honey
1 T almond (or peanut) oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground roasted chile (more or less depending on heat; I used Rancho Gordo New Mexican Red Chile Powder)
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375. Toast pecans lightly in a dry skillet until fragrant; don’t allow to brown. Combine brown sugar and salt and set aside.

In a large saucepan, bring water, oil, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, and chile to a light boil; stir in pecans and cook until the liquid has been mostly absorbed by the nuts. (This will likely take less time that you’d suppose it would.) Transfer almonds to a large mixing bowl and sprinkle with sugar/salt mixture to coat. Then turn them out on a lined cookie sheet and arrange in a single layer; finish in the oven for 6-7 minutes or until the coating is glossy.

Allow them to cool completely on parchment or waxed paper, and then package in a festive fashion.