April 27, 2010
Swiss Chard Gratin with Vegan Bechamel
[Gratin de blettes]
A favorite from the archives, this post was originally published in April 2009.
I generally steer clear of ready-made preparations and other "helpers" sold at the grocery store: not out of snobism, but I love to cook, I devote time and thought to selecting good ingredients, and I welcome the opportunity to practice and experiment, so I am reluctant to give up the driver's seat and let some industrial product take over.
Bu...
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April 20, 2010
Squeeze Cookies (A Roasted Flour Experiment)
A favorite from the archives, this post was originally published in April 2008.
Among the many things I learned during that memorable conference on molecular gastronomy, one idea has been whirling around my brain with particular insistence since then, and it is that of farine torréfiée*, or roasted flour.
It was introduced to us by way of a truism: raw flour is bland, browned flour isn't. This is why we bother to make roux, and why the crust ...
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April 13, 2010
Lamb and Orange Khoresh
A favorite from the archives, this post was originally published in April 2009.
I know little about Persian cuisine. I do know it is a multifaceted one, that its flavors are refined and its roots run deep, but I have never been to an Iranian restaurant nor an Iranian home -- though now that I think about it, one of the Middle Eastern groceries we went to in California may have been Iranian -- so this Persian stew (that's what khoresh means) wa...
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April 6, 2010
Hot Cross Buns with White Chocolate, Dates and Pistachios
To celebrate Easter this weekend, I made hot cross buns, the brioche-like spiced loaves the British bake and serve on Good Friday*. I have made them on previous occasions, but instead of following the recipe I used last time, I decided to take a leaf from Dan Lepard's book.
I loosely followed the process he describes -- the overnight fermentation in the fridge, in particular -- but converted the recipe to use my sourdough starter, though the r...
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April 1, 2010
April 2010 Desktop Calendar
At the beginning of every month, I am offering C&Z readers a new wallpaper to apply on the desktop of your computer, with a food-related picture and a calendar of the current month.
Our calendar for April is a picture of these sugar-studded brioches I wrote about a few years ago, and have made again several times since then -- with much less hand-wringing. Let this be a message of encouragement to anyone who's still intimidated by yeast!
Inst...
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