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Nummy Naan
Khusrau baji prem ki khelun pi ke sangJeet gayi to piya more hari pee ke sang. (I’m playing a game with my beloved; if I win he will become mine, if I lose, I will become his.) – Amir Khusro. Bubbly, fresh, fluffy naan – that beautiful Indian flatbread not just popular in South Asia but all over the world. Derived from an old Persian word meaning ‘bread,’ naan’s first recorded history dates to 1300 C.E. Thanks to Indo-Persian poet and musician Amir Khusro, we know that naan-e-tunuk (light bread) and naan-e-tanuri (cooked in a tandoor oven) were cooked at the Imperial Court in Delhi. By the early 1500s, naan was…
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Sensational Sachertorte
“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” – Charles M. Schulz. It is on my bucket list to go to Vienna. And under that bucket-list Vienna entry there is a sub-entry to head straight for the Hotel Sacher for a slice of the “original” Sachertorte. Divinely rich, sinfully chocolatey, shiny and gorgeous, Sachertorte is one of those sexy, luxurious desserts you hear or read about (or see them botch pretty badly on GBBO), but no one seems to actually make just for the hell of it.
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Tomato Zucchini Galette with Goat Cheese
“A pie is homey. A tart is fancy. And a galette splits the difference, but is easier than either one.” – Melissa Clark, The New York Times. Galettes are that perfect dish, resting halfway between rustic and refined, and this particular galette is just bursting with flavor. The tangy tomatoes and goat cheese are offset by the sweet honey and caramelized shallots, while the thyme takes it over the top. And roasting the vegetables first adds yet another layer of deliciousness.
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Best-Ever Deep-Dish Blueberry Pie
If you wish to make a … pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe. – Carl Sagan. This post was originally going to be for cake. That’s right – delicious, delectable cake. But woe is me – neither my lemon bundt cake nor my layer cake was remotely edible worked out, so I decided to focus on pie. Because if cakes are my Achilles’ heel, pies would be my forte.
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Fabulous French Fruit Tart
The Queen of Hearts she made some tarts, All on a summer’s day; The Knave of Hearts he stole the tarts, And took them clean away. The King of Hearts called for the tarts, And beat the Knave full sore. The Knave of Hearts brought back the tarts, And vowed he’d steal no more. – Nursery Rhyme.
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Focaccia with Tomatoes and Caramelized Onions
A tavola non si invecchia. (At the table one does not age.) – Italian proverb. How can you not love focaccia? While the dough makeup is similar to that of pizza – flour, water, sugar, yeast, oil and salt – it’s the baking process that makes focaccia unique. The basic recipe is considered to have originated either with the Etruscans, or in Ancient Greece, and its name is derived from the Latin “panis focacius”, with panis meaning bread, and focus meaning hearth or fireplace. As focaccia was cooked in the ashes of the fire, you could read this as ‘bread baked on the floor of the oven.’
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Homemade English Muffins
Do you know the muffin man, The muffin man, the muffin man? Do you know the muffin man, Who lives in Drury Lane? – Nursery Rhyme. So, are “English muffins” really English? Yes and no. It’s complicated. More complicated than a number of misinformed websites would have you believe.
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Ravishing Raspberry Jam
“The rule is, jam to-morrow and jam yesterday—but never jam to-day.” – Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass. My homemade English muffins seemed to cry out for some rich red raspberry jam so I went for it – my first stab at canning. I didn’t have much to go on but I thought, This is jam – how hard can it be, right? Just mix equal parts sugar and fruit, with some lemon juice thrown in, and boil away.
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Proofing Yeast
I always proof my active dry yeast. As in always. Nothing worse than spending hours putting together a beautiful loaf only to find it won’t rise because your yeast was dead. It’s super easy. Just dissolve a teaspoon of sugar in 1/4 cup warm water – warm as in 105ºF to 110ºF – and stir in the active dry yeast, then let it sit for 5-10 minutes. (If my recipe calls for water I count this as part of the amount.)
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The Excellent Egg
“A box without hinges, key, or lid, yet golden treasure inside is hid.” – One of Bilbo Baggins’ riddles for Gollum, The Hobbit. What can thicken a sauce, emulsify a custard, or leaven a cake? What can give a shiny glaze to a new loaf of bread, be whipped into sugary clouds of confection, or keep that mohawk sharp, beautiful, and pointing skyward? (Sorry, ’80s flashback there.) I am talking, of course, about the most excellent egg. Understanding the properties of the different parts of an egg, i.e. the whites and the yolks, can help make baking, especially pastry-making, a little less daunting.
