extras recipes
Whatever you name these and however you spell them and whichever way you assemble them, whether it’s an Italian soffritto or a Spanish or Hispanic sofrito, a Catalan sofregit, a Portuguese refogado, a Caribbean holy trinity, a German suppengrün, a Polish wloszczyna, an African-Taino epis and of course a French mirepoix, these basic...
A perfectly shaped, not too soft, neither too firm, somewhat rustic and obviously delicious bun, can be easy to make if you correctly balance the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients, so it’s easy to knead (several times) and if you give the buns the space they need to rise and to bake beautifully ! It’s all a question of...
Basic recipes with variations that everyone should know because they’re always part of other recipes, as toppings or as binders for the fillings. And if you follow me, then you know I use them often, so I’d like to make it simple enough to remember without having to look up the recipe all the time and without explaining it (and...
It’s going to be a DOUBLE RECIPE POST weekend, divided into 2 PARTS: PART 1 is for the PIE CRUST (or the exterior casing of a huge and high and deep-dish quiche, that could feed 6-8 people) and PART 2 is all about the FILLINGS that go inside that deep-dish quiche but in a new way, with less eggs and cream...
It’s only MID-SEPTEMBER so STOP YOUR WHINING because you can still fire up that barbecue (that’s probably still out lying there in the yard or balcony) and pretend it’s still SUMMER … because it is technically ! Here’s an easy, no-fuss, no-mess, delicious and tender IRISH that has become kind of MEDITERRANEAN...
I’ll be in the city of Nice in the south of France in 1 week and in that city, they make the famous and huge “pan bagnat” sandwich, filled with so many different things, so I’ll retest and analyze a few and report back with the recipe in 2 weeks, but in the meantime, here’s my recipe for the making these large round...
What could compare to the pleasure of having one dozen fresh BREAD ROLLS on your table ? The added pleasure of moist and stringy bread rolls, with a thin and crispy crust, that are easy and quick to prepare, shape and bake ! And on top of that, they almost look like cinnamon rolls. What are you waiting for ? It’s amazing how altering some...
Did you make any BREAD during the “lockdown” or “partial confinement” period ? Did you have flour ? Did you have yeast ? Is everything almost back to “normal” where you are ? Are you all okay ? Is it ALL GOOD ?! If YES, have you tried quick-rise, normal-rise and slow-rise dough schedules ? Have you tried...
WHY 1-2-3 ?! Because this sequence of numbers represents the proportions or ratios of the ingredients. 1 part fed & active sourdough starter (at 100% hydration, which mean half flour & half water), plus 2 parts water plus 3 parts flour. It’s easy, mathematically speaking. It may not be a total success at the 1stattempt...
PART 1 (of a summer mini-series) of 3 episodes ! ... Here’s a story about how refreshing and surprisingly vibrant RAW & UNCOOKED (and yet still slightly prepared) FRESH & RIPE HEIRLOOM TOMATOES can be and how you can accentuate these same flavors and prepare them without cooking (I mean without applying heat) during a...
With summer drawing to a close and the availability of tasty tomatoes that can be transformed into various preserves, here’s a new option : to prepare a concentrate or base for a sauce, in advance, which will be ready to use, for the various tomato sauce preparations you’ll need, right up until next summer‘s tomato harvest...
Believe it or not, your final preparations, whatever they may be and if they require any broth or stock, will only be as good as the broth or stock you use and incorporate into your dishes, whether home-made or store-bought. Many view stock or broth as just an ingredient and most often as a cube or two of dehydrated and compressed powders, to...
We have a tall LOQUAT TREE in the shared garden of the property-owners. The LOQUAT isn’t a well-known fruit and it is still often called a Japanese MEDLAR or PLUM, even though originally from China and Central Asia. The other European names for this fruit that you might recognize are NISPERO, NESPOLO, PIPA, MISPEL, MOUSMOULIA, BIBACE or...
This SOURDOUGH series is in 3 parts : the 1st is for making the sourdough starter, the 2nd is for making the actual sourdough bread with the sourdough starter and the 3rd is for how to use the daily leftovers that you accumulate and usually discard but that you should save, while preparing the sourdough starter, to make some...
Here’s a 'recipe request' (which I sometimes entertain) from my sister STELLA who loves SLICED & TOASTED SANDWICH BREAD (particularly a healthy whole-wheat version with seeds). SLICED SANDWICH BREAD is just one of those things I rarely buy and rarely consume, unless on rare morning occasions of...