Book Review / Hot Bread Kitchen Cookbook: Artisanal Baking From Around The World by Jessamyn Waldman Rodriguez with Julia Turshen

The word hot in the book's title says it all: hot inspiration, hot empathy, hot toughness, hot intellect, and hot skills. All these fantastic aspects came together through concentrated effort just like a loaf of bread comes out of the hot oven, ready to take on the world. Ms Rodriguez took on the world by successfully combining her quest for societal equity and her love of baking into a non-profit social enterprise for low-income, immigrant women so they could transform their baking talents into careers.

How did she pace herself for such success? The steps went like this: identify the passion uniting baking and social justice; learn how to make bread by taking classes at The New School and being apprenticed to the head baker at Daniel Boulud's eponymous Michelin three-star restaurant; start out in your own walk-up apartment kitchen; hire staff/make contacts; sell product; when your kitchen counter can't keep up with demand, rent overnight commercial kitchen space and then office space; when demand still outstrips supply, bring life back to a rundown East Harlem market by setting up a thriving bakery; finally, pass it on via a baking business incubator. Each phase was characterised by connecting with others who related to this passionate focus. A full-throttle open system was embraced all the way.

Recipes not just for flat, leavened, filled, left-over, and sweet breads are offered but also for fabulous accompaniments including main dishes. The international influence, reflecting the cultural diversity of New York City, is on full display here: African, Asian, Middle-Eastern, Hispanic, European, American (Parker House rolls and hotdog/hamburger buns, baby!), and Jewish. The book is worth getting just for the carnitas recipe. But that could be said for the kale, onion, and cheddar m'smen (buttery, flakey Moroccan flatbread) recipe too.  Oh, also the Albanian cheese triangles. And for many others.

Come for the recipes, stay for the stories. One of my favourites is the one about Ms Rodriguez's own great-grandfather replete with picture. Though Laibush Perlmutter—we see him, bespectacled, mustached, and working ever so hard in front of what was considered at that time to be the top-of-the-line baking oven—closed down his Toronto shop way before the author's birth, the shape of his rye bread inspired the one for Hot Bread Kitchen's New Yorker Rye.

My advice? Buy this lovely book which contains many gorgeous photos for yourself and/or for those in your life who bake. The only problem is which recipe do you do first. I am vacillating between monkey bread (rich, sweet, eggy, yeasted loaf smothered with brown sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon) and traditional onion bialys (appreciated by Mimi Sheraton the author of The Bialy Eaters).

À la prochaine!

RELATED POST

Making bialys a la Hot Bread Kitchen Cookbook

RELATED LINKS

Hot Bread Kitchen Cookbook at Amazon
Hot Bread Kitchen Website: Handmade Authentic Multi-Ethnic Breads, Preserving Tradition, Rising Expectations

Fall Frenzy

Our garden is a busy place in autumn. A spell of dry, warm weather is being cooperative allowing my speeding about trying to do this and that at the same time. Les grues (cranes) have not yet started their directly overhead, honking migration to North Africa. Once they do that, then there's about a two week grace period before the cold arrives. One of many tasks is spading the nine annual beds so as to prepare for the sowing of engrais vert (green manure). This horticultural practice was started for the first time last autumn. The results have been nothing short of amazing. Though compost and leaf mould have been incorporated into the soil since our moving here eight years ago, it was only after just one seasonal planting of white mustard that the earth finally reached the holy grail status of friable texture. It is the extensive root system of this fast-growing group of plants which works like a hidden plough, finely breaking up the soil as they grow.

Centre bed is planted with left-over mustard seed and hose is kept nearby for the necessary sprinkling; the bed behind is in process of being spaded

This season, blue tansy (Phacelia tanacetifolia) will be the dominant crop cover since it belongs to a family that contains no plants that are used in agriculture so it makes rotation (prevents plant disease) easier in our potager. Since it needs darkness to germinate, the soil is shallowly turned over once the seed is scattered. A light hammering with the back side of a spade over the bed then follows. The finishing touch is a gentle watering.

Their flowers are loved by bees, but when used as a green manure, it's best to cut down the plants before blooming because of pronounced re-seeding

The raking and piling-up of fallen leaves have begun in earnest. There's still some crunchy drifts in a few corners of our garden, but that task mostly is done. However the major amassing will occur in a couple weeks as the leaves in a nearby oak copse have started falling. The Calm One and I will be scooting down there several times weekly in our Zoe (Renault electric car) whose surprisingly roomy boot accommodates two sizeable leaf bags. As the heap grows, more bird netting is rolled out to prevent scattering by the wind; the netting edges are secured by surplus terracotta roofing tiles. Oak leaves break down fast enough that by early spring there will be plenty of mulch for the veggie beds. That mulch will decompose completely into moisture-retentive leaf mould as the summer unfolds.

The bird baths will be maintained throughout the winter

Ivy climbing up pillars, fences, and walls have gotten their last haircut as has the laurel hedge before the winter. Not to mention the lawn.

To elongate the existing laurel hedge, a number of cuttings were taken this past spring. They were trimmed (stem shortened, leaves reduced in number then cut in half), the bottom of their stems dusted with rooting hormone, potted up, and tucked into small, tabletop greenhouses. Only a small percentage are showing new leaves so they will stay in their little plastic homes throughout the winter. Once they all show new growth, they will be planted in a nursery bed. Eventually they will join the mature ones in the hedge.  The snipped-off runners of the strawberry plants were planted in small pots about six weeks ago and are now ready to be transplanted in a bed.

See the pale, small, new laurel leaf in the bottom centre? Too cute!

My love for tulips is a recent and very guilty pleasure. My flower preference is for perennials like daylilies, dahlias, asters, etc., and inexpensive, grown-from-seed annuals like zinnias and cosmos. Tulips unfortunately except for the botanical species, often do not put on a good repeat show. And they are like potato chips. How, you may ask? You can't just eat one chip, and you can't just plant one tulip. You must have dozens and dozens and dozen to get that punch of colour that only many glowing tulips of different types can provide throughout spring.

Dirac the Cat has assured me that this avalanche of tulip bulbs is a necessity and not an indulgence

Autumn is not only the time to buy and plant flowering bulbs like daffodils and tulips, but also to pop into a nursery bed, some young, easily shipped, and therefore inexpensive, evergreens like these two adorable Lawson's cypress 'Ellwoodii'.

They will be planted in their permanent location next fall so they can grow into their tall selves

These zinnias are still going strong but when they do succumb to the cold, a major part of the tulips will be planted in their place.

Eight years ago, this same pot of mums brightened up our Grenoble balcony overlooking the foothills of the Alps for ten years. Yup, that's right, this perennial in a pot has been going for eighteen years. I do give it liquid fertiliser faithfully a couple of times each year. But still. What a champ!

I am very attached to this baby

A large pot of echeveria and heather adorns our entrance steps.

À la prochaine!

Parsnip & Apple Soup

I love parsnips. There I said it. Parsnips may be earthy like their more colourful relatives, carrots, but they also have a touch of finesse bordering on the elegant.

Go all Jackson Pollock with the garnishing of cream & thyme!

Our small crop was harvested after being exposed to two weeks of cold, nightly temperature to tease out their sweetness even more.

Parsnips were sowed this past March so they take time to mature. The seed needs to be very fresh so it makes sense to buy just what is required for a season's sowing.

Look at that friable soil! So glad after we moved here eight years ago I focused on 'growing' the soil and not just plants thanks to incorporation of compost & leaf mould and using cover crops

I chose Reinette Grise apples because they have smooth, full-bodied flavour when cooked.

After throwing out the umpteenth pot of fail-to-thrive Thymus vulgaris (common thyme), I planted Thymus serpyllum. It took a while to cover the ground, but now it is flourishing. It having a milder taste means I use a bit more than I did with the common variety.

Ingredients
makes 4 ample servings

• Butter, sweet, 30 g/1 dry oz
• Olive oil, extra virgin, 1 T
• Onions, yellow, medium, 2, finely chopped
• Parsnips, 600 g/1 lb 5 oz, scrubbed, chopped (remove any woody bits & peel if they are old)
• Garlic cloves, 2, finely minced
• Thyme, dried, 2 large pinches
• Apples, cooking (I used reinette grise du Canada, other choices would be granny smith, golden delicious, belle de boskoop, gala, bramley), 600 g/1 lb 5 oz)
• Stock, veggie/chicken or high quality stock cubes (I used chicken), 1 L/34 fluid oz)
• Milk, 400 ml/13.5 fluid oz
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Garnishes: cream, splash of cognac, and fresh thyme

Though the soup tastes wonderful if made fresh, making it the day before will deepen the flavour. Gently heat the butter and oil over moderate low heat. Toss in the onions, parsnips, and thyme. Stir occasionally and saute for around fifteen minutes. The veggies need to be softened, translucent, and fragrant. Add the apples and garlic and cook for another minute or two.

Add the liquid stock or if using stock cubes, add the same amount of water as you would the stock along with the stock cubes (my brand called specified two cubes for a litre of water). Cover and simmer for around thirty minutes or until the veggies are very soft.

Puree either with a stick mixer or in a blender. Thin with milk (you may need more than the recommended amount especially if you let the soup sit in the fridge overnight). Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Garnish with squiggles of cream and fresh thyme. This luscious soup for some reason tasted cheesy, mostly Parmesan, a bit of Brie, which made it so goooooood. (It could have been due to the hefty amount of turmeric in the stock cubes I used.) The balance between savoury and sweet was perfect. Splash some cognac in your serving if you wish.

Cream and cognac made it almost too gorgeous. A garnish of Parma ham would work a treat too. If a less rich soup would be preferred, then use more stock and less milk. Omit the cream and cognac. It still will taste wonderful.

Now that the parsnips have been harvested, the only veggies remaining in the potager are the sweet red peppers which are snugly cocooned in their tent of triple-thickness horticultural fleece so as to protect them from the cool night temps.

Our three cats adore playing hide and seek with each other inside the tent

À la prochaine!

No Post for Week of October 9, 2017

See you next week!

More Seasonal Fresh Fig Recipes!

We, along with the starlings, continue to eat ripe figs supplied generously by our tree. The birds descend onto the figuier and we to the table; they peck noisily and we guzzle the luscious, juicy fruit just as noisily. Can we say lip-smacking good? Grain bowls are excellent for using up any left-over grains. Top with what you have in the fridge and larder to get a wholesome, hearty supper.

Bulgur is delicious and cooks up quickly. You probably have encountered it in the form of tabbouleh. Put one volume of it in 2 volumes of boiling, salted water, lower heat, and simmer uncovered for ten minutes. Take off heat, cover, and let steep for about five minutes until it is fluffy and any excess moisture has been absorbed. I tend to make more than is needed so either the left-overs are used for the next couple of days or it's frozen for future meals.

Bulgur boasts of a nutty flavour with a satisfying texture

Figs are halved, their centre crevices filled with a bit of sweet butter, and placed close under a preheated broiler for several minutes until their edges are browned.

Using a veggie peeler or a paring knife, scrape off several slivers of Parmesan.

Slice deli ham into strips. Arrange figs, ham, and Parmesan slivers on top. Season with freshly ground black pepper.

Hot open-faced sandwiches are fun to do and are nicely warming on an autumn day. Again use what you have on hand. For us, it was moist dark rye speckled with flax seeds, figs, apples, Cantal, and walnuts. Preheat oven to 410 degrees F/210 degrees C.

Place bread slices in an oven dish. Top with thinly sliced, cored apples, Cantal, halved figs with a bit of butter inserted in their crevices, and chopped walnuts.

Heat in the oven for around five minutes until cheese is melted and the figs are soft and glistening.

Don't hesitate to cut the figs into smaller pieces.

This way, your fork can pierce more easily into the whole stack of bread, cheese, figs, and nuts in one, bite-sized go.

À la prochaine!

RELATED POSTS

French cheeses: Cantal Apple Clafoutis
Do Give a Fig! 

Cape Cod Cookies or Kitchen Sink Cookies?

Somewhere in my cobwebby memory which probably goes back decades the recipes for Cape Cod and Kitchen Sink cookies became entwined, mostly Cape Cod, a little Kitchen Sink.  When living and working in Manhattan all those years ago, I loved going to Cape Cod for summer vacations. Fannie Farmer, the author of my culinary bible, authoritatively calls a particularly delectable, chewy oatmeal raisin cookie that name though I never did encounter the eponymous cookie during my visits to the hook-shaped peninsula. Kitchen Sink cookies came from Frances Moore Lappé's Diet for a Small Planet. Those cookies are wittily called that because the only ingredient not included in the chock-a-block, goodie-filled cookie is a kitchen sink.

Looks aren't everything as these cookies fill the kitchen with divine fragrance too

Since The Calm One does not care for nuts or chocolate, the dough was divided into two portions before the delicious morsels of walnuts, chocolate, and raisins were added. His section got 1/2 cup of raisins and mine got 1/2 cup of the solid bits in thirds.

Molasses is wonderful in all aspects, but especially in its licorice flavour. So distinctive and so associated with childhood, that nostalgic taste transcends culture and language as when we were enjoying some ice-cream at a sidewalk cafe in Hyères, our hostess when I asked what that silky black mass was in her cone repeatedly said reglisse to no avail since I did not know that word then. Briefly frustrated, her face changed to one of enlightened purpose, and she thrust the cone near my mouth, saying, gouter (take a bite). I did, and my face then lit up in recognition. Licorice. Unmistakable and unforgettable.

Though I wouldn't say no to a good quality white or milk chocolate, my preference is and always will be chocolat noir.

 Pépites (little seeds=chips) of dark chocolate

Ingredients
makes 70 small cookies, about 5 cm/2 inches in diameter, ingredients can be doubled

• Flour, white, 210 g (1 1/2 American cups, that is, 12 fluid oz)
• Baking soda, 1/2 tsp
• Cinnamon, ground, 1 tsp
• Salt, 1/2 tsp
• Egg, large, 1, slightly beaten
• Sugar, white, 200 g (1 American cup, that is, 8 fluid oz)
• Butter, sweet, 115 g (8 T), melted
• Molasses, 1 T (tastes wonderful but also is essential to provide the acid that activates baking soda)
• Milk, whole, 60 ml (1/4 American cup, that is, 2 fluid oz)
• Oatmeal, raw, flaked, not instant, 420 ml (1 3/4 American cups, that is, 14 fluid oz)
• Raisins, 79 ml (1/3 American cup, that is, 2.6 fluid oz)
• Walnuts 79 ml (1/3 American cup, that is, 2.6 fluid oz)
• Chocolate chips, dark, 79 ml (1/3 American cup, that is, 2.6 fluid oz)

Preheat the oven 180 degrees C/350 degrees F. Mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Arrange by slightly mounded teaspoonfuls (heaping teaspoons or even tablespoons can be substituted for larger cookies but they will need more baking time) on unbuttered cookie sheets (pans are easier to clean if first lined with parchment or silicon mats) and bake until the edges are brown, about twelve minutes.

Capacious British yellowware bowl beloved by The Calm One. That flattened area near the bottom allows easy tipping of contents

Let cool for a minute or so and then using a thin spatula, lift them off the pan.

While they are still in the oven, I peek underneath one to see if it is browned enough before shutting off the oven.

To keep the outsides crisp, cool on a wire rack. Store in lidded jars where they will keep in the larder for about a week or so. They also freeze well.

A colleague's husband was known to adore chocolate chip cookies so I made a batch of these for them. She came back the next morning and told me that he said that these were the best cookies he ever tasted. The Calm One would agree though he will always reserve a special place in his heart for ginger cookies. For those weird folks who dislike raisins, find yourself another cookie to love.

Broken in half to reveal all that is within, small masterpieces that they are

Home-baked cookies and cold milk. You can't beat that combo.

À la prochaine!

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Our visit to Hyères and Nice

French Cheeses: Cantal Apple Clafoutis

Years ago, when we first arrived in France, cheddar was much harder to come by so I had settled on using Cantal as a substitute since it has a similar melty butteriness though the flavour is tangier. Nowadays cheddar is frequently sighted in our fridge, often along with Cantal. It is one of the several superb AOC cheeses from the Auvergne region. There are three levels of affinage (aging): jeune (young) Cantal aged from one to two months; entre deux (between the two, that is, between jeune and vieux Cantal) aged from two to six months; vieux (old) aged more than six months. Cantal is further categorized by it being made from pasteurized milk (laitier/dairy) or from raw (fermier/farm).  Entre deux laitier is the one that is easily found and is used in this clafoutis. 

Cantal is one of the oldest French cheeses, dating back to the time of the Gauls

Though being simple and homey, Cantal apple clafoutis is pleasantly balanced between savoury and sweet. With a golden brown puffiness, it is as attractive to the eye as it is to the palette.

Ingredients
Adapted from this French site
makes a 20 cm/8-inch square

• Eggs, large, 2, (or 3 medium)
• Flour, white, 100 g/7 dry oz
• Milk, whole, 200 ml/6.8 fluid oz
• Apple, royal gala, large, 1
• Cantal, entre deux, 100 g/3.5 dry oz
• Salt, 1/2 tsp
• Black pepper, a grinding or two
• Nutmeg, freshly grated, 2 large pinches

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F. Slice the cheese and the cored apple (peel if desired) thinly.

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs well, either with a fork or a whisk. Blend in the flour with a wooden spoon until very smooth. Add the nutmeg, salt, and black pepper. Pour in the milk and stir well.

In a well-buttered oven dish, layer the apples and cheese. I did three layers, ending in cheese for a nice browned effect.

Pour the batter over the layered cheese and apples.

The apples should be barely covered. Bake for around an hour or until the surface is completely puffed (including the centre). A knife inserted should come out mostly dry.

Let cool for a bit so it will set. Slightly warm to room temperature is a good range for serving.

At one time, a large, uncut Cantal was referred to as a Tomme which is synonymous to Fourme which refers to a type of drum created by les danseurs de bourrée de l'Aubrac for their dance which they did in their Burons (ancient stone dairy huts) situated upon the wild hill area of Auvergne. After eating a few servings of this custardy, savoury, slightly sweet dish, I did a dance too.

Le Livre du Fromage recommends several wines to go with Cantal, and one is Rully (a Burgundy Chardonnay) which happened to be in our cellier. Figs from our tree rounded off the meal.

À la prochaine!

RELATED LINKS

Wikipedia article on the bourrée (French clog dance)