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What a pictorial. That seems to answer the question I'd say. insert supplicatory kowtowing smiley here ..... Evan

It sounds great. If you have any tips for success after you have baked it, V, please let us know. Banana for dessert is like - uh - so dreamy. Evan

Hathor If you google, you can probably get a million recipes but it's basically all the same principle. The idea is to culture wild yeast and keep it fed until the populations are strong enough to raise dough and ultimately form a relationship with enough bacteria to give it good taste. A sourdough (often referred to "natural") starter is a balance of natural yeast and bacteria, unlike commercial yeast organisms that can fly on its own without the help of acidic neighbors. The tastier your local bacteria, the tangier the bread - the luckiest have the dominant Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis - guess where? Where I live, it's not really tangy but the overall quality of a bread made with natural starter is very different from commercial yeasted bread. Both are terrific. People have strong opinions about starters and sourdough and so I will keep my voice way down and tell you it's just one guy's humble opinion. Wild yeast lives on your flour. I have read that whole grain flours have more since they contain more of the exterior of the wheat berry and so many recipes start with whole rye or pumpernickel flour. Some don't. I did mine this way. If you want to use regular bread flour - go ahead and try. Other recipes use grapes or fruit or juice to boost yeast but you don't need it. Trust me. One suggestion and summertime is a great time to try BTW ... Day 1: 4 oz rye flour and 4 oz water. Let sit covered for 24 hrs somewhere warmish - like the mid 70s maybe if you can. Day 2: Toss half away and add 4 more oz of water and 4 of rye flour. Let sit 24 hrs. Day 3+: Hopefully you will start seeing first signs of life - bubbles. Scoop out 4 oz and double it with 2 oz of water and 2 oz bread flour. Do this twice a day. You will know when you are up and running. It will take off and easily double between feedings. It should never smell "bad" only sour. Should take about a week, maybe a bit less, maybe more. When I first made mine, there was explosive growth on like day 2 and then no acitivity and it stunk to high heaven. If that happens, start over and add a tablespoon or two of lemon juice to the initial mix. (You could do this anyway to start - it wont hurt). Another nice alternative if you don't want to do it yourself is get "Carl's starter". It's an old 1800's starter that this guy used to give away to anyone who asked and after he died people have kept it alive and will send you a dried piece for like $2.00. It will save you time - just hydrate and feed. Up to you. I don't know if I can link to an outside site (rules??) so just google it. If you get a starter up and running, we can talk more about maintenance - no need to pile it all on now. Not that it's difficult. It's quite easy actually. The cavemen were probably doing it. Evan Hathor: I now see that you are in Italy. Che fortunata ma non ti preoccupare. You can't get carl's but I am sure you can get different flours and it will work fine. Don't use tipo 00.

I made this so long ago but I loved it and I still love that book. I have a recollection of the bottom layer in springform and plopping the top pumpkin layer on the bottom chocolate layer. Ultimately, it all gets released from the springform and the outside layered with ganache and I think crumbled cookies (those deep dark chocolate cookies are quite quite good). Can't see how you could go wrong cooling the pumpkin layer first although I am certain I would have followed directions to a T back then. It will fit snugly in the springform and no it did not slip off (both layers are guarded by the sides of the pan). Upon release, it was chilled and adherent to the bottom layer by its own weight and ganache. I gotta make that again this thanksgiving...... Evan

That sounds like a great combo. I have never seen marshmallow. I wonder how its different from the fior di latte? Sounds like the safer coice than beet-orange they are showing today. Next time since you are now an instant poster, post a case shot before your order and we can recommend something to you!

Well it gives you another chance to experiment. Your dough looks like it holds its shape almost too well from the get go. That's a clue that more hydration is a factor in your dough. Unless someone is there with you, getting the hang of that is trial and error. Getting comfortable with slacker wetter dough is a process. With your healthy starter and a dough that comes out of the mixer fairly supple, squishy and with the surface feeling of a post it note, you will be well on your way. Resist that urge to add flour. "Wetter is better" You may also wish to hold back some of the flour and add if you need it. It is easier to add flour than water during mixing. Bake on! Evan

If it's one loaf, I think you can shape without a rest and then proof it. If you divide and preshape, it helps to give them a little bench rest first. By now you may have already started that but make sure to give it enough time to rise. It's been my personal experience that underfermentation is one possible cause of dense crumb (hydration issue is another biggie esp. in beginners). Bill's point of not overproofing (second fermentation) is very wise but a good first fermentation is important. Cutting time on the second rise is something I frequently do - oven spring helps cover the underproofing. I am crossing my fingers... Evan

Hi Evan, What is "sour salt"? I've never heard of it ← Citric acid.

Depending on if you are a morning person or not you can simplify and still get good results I think by feeding your starter before you go to bed, getting up and feeding again and if it doubles or more after 4 hours, then go ahead and use it in your dough. I try and be practical and make the schedule fit me and not the bread when possible if it's not critical I am not that obsessive. I would try to be sure also that your prefeeds are done on a lively starter. Typically, it will take about 3 feeds to get a dormant but healthy starter from the fridge up to speed again for baking. If you keep it on the counter and feed it regularly, this is not an issue. If it is in the fridge most of it's life, then take it out feed it 2x a day (I keep mine liquid with 1:1 water:flour ratio or 100% hydration) for a couple of days to "charge" it. So first get a healthy starter that will double or more in 4 hours (and you will know when you have it!), give it a feed the night before, again in the morning and make up your dough 4 hours later. This keeps you from getting up with the cows. At a dough temp of 76-78 and room temp the same, expect 4 hours or so to ferment but look at it too and use your eyes to judge as well. This takes some practice. Shape and proof (likely another 2-3 hours but eyeball it - depends on temperature here knowing you have a good starter) and bake on hot surface with steam. As far as steam, the moisture allows greater volume before crust sets. I toss a cup of boiling water in a pan at the bottom of the oven as I load the bread. Shut the door. Some people spritz more after that , some spritz the bread. I don't. I keep the door shut to keep the steam in. good luck. I am curious to see if this helps you. Evan

Actually that's underfermented if it is taking too long. With that temperature of the room (and dough hopefully - another variable if dough is too cool), your starter is likely the culprit. Feed it 2x to get it revved up, making sure it double in between feeds within 4 hours. 4 hours before mixing your dough, feed it again. With a room temp and dough temp in the 76-78 range, you should see a more reasonable time of fermentation and a better crumb inside. Realize again that the acid levels will be lower and so taste will differ. The more acid, the less leavening power. Old starters smell really strong but will raise nothing. Superfresh starter is the opposite. The ying/yang is the fun part of experimentation. People go nuts figuring out the "sweet spots" of their starters. Some people add sour salt to boost taste but I don't like it. As noted above also, oven spring from a very hot baking surface will help your cause also. Another thing in re-reading your initial post. The sequence is a bit avant garde. I wouldn't choose to chill between primary fermentation and shaping. Try to ferment your dough, shape, proof and bake. If you need to break up the process, I would chill it after shaping and let it proof overnight while in the fridge. You will get some action while it cools. the next day, take it out, bake it. I used to let it warm up before baking but was told in a great bread book by Jeffrey Hamelman that this is not necessary and so I now will bake em cold and it works fine. If I were you, I would get your bake done in 1 day to remove all variables of temperature swings and see how it works. Lemme know how you make out... Evan

I had similar problems in the past and here is my take. Sounds like underfermentation. 22 hours for a rise is overly excessive and sounds like you may have a temperature or starter issue. Is your starter truly primed and ready? (meaning it doubles in 4 hours after a feed)? Are you feeding it 4 hours ahead before mixing your dough to give it maiximum leavening power? the longer ytou wait, the more tasty acid you get at the expense of rising potential. What is your fermentation temperature? If your dough is not doubling in a few hours at a temp in the 80 range, that can also be a culprit. I read a million times that bread is all about time and temperature but until I personally heeded the call, my sourdough looked like that. tasty but dense. to sum up my suspects: starter not active enough and/or temperature too low. Good luck! You see that sourdough takes no prisoners. It is a trick balancing leavening power with sourness. Evan

You mean, like naming a restaurant "Pasta Blitz"? I have an image of terrified patrons hiding under their tables, waiting for the approach of the dreaded Linguinewaffe... ← It was named for the signature dish "penne a la VOOODDDDDKKKKAAA" More on topic, I never made it there but Sweet Lucy's is hopefully going nowhere. Evan

I will add my thanks to Andrew also. Mighty good kid plate. Strange combo indeed but it was all really good and mindboggling filling. Evan

Well I get to answer my own question. Last dinner my dinner went over great with my guests. I was able to concentrate mainly on baking all the bread the day of. I made the evening garlic soup in the morning and whisked in the eggs right before serving. I made the duck confit with cabbage salad before my guests arrived and that was pretty easy work. The short ribs with cepes and prunes was done two days prior - that was really really delicious. I decided to move off the board and get a dessert recipe from Claudia Fleming's The Last Course, chocolate brownie cookies along with earl grey ice cream.

Hey guys, I'll be your wookie and you can feed me your table scraps. Very impressive blog, Bryan. Terrific. Evan

I appreciate the help. For the uninitiated (like - uhhh - me!) can you elaborate on the steeping process? Drop it hot cream and let it sit off the heat? How long? Thanks again Evan

I had this before in a restaurant a long while back and thought I could recreate it by heating the cream with a pureed banana for flavor and then straining the finished custard through a chinois. Well that didn't work very well. The texture of the final result was starchy and not smooth like expected. Needless to say, the professional version was very flavorful and smooth (It was a real banana and not extract). Any tips for iprovements from the experts are much appreciated. Thanks Evan

I've never seen mulberries in nearly 25 years of shopping at the RTM. ← Whoa - I'd call that a big no! Have you ever seen some elsewhere in the city? Evan

I have made a bazillion pizza doughs and a great standby is Alton Brown's recipe on foodtv.com. It was my first foray into dough many years ago. Most lay recipes do not call for refrigeratring (retarding) the dough overnight. That is a critical step and is the difference (along with an appropriately hot cooking surface) between a yeasty tasting quick dough and a professional crust. As michaelg said, oven heat is key. Get a stone and crank your oven up as far it is will go. Also, use bread flour or King Arthur hi gluten for extra chew if that is your desire. As far as the caution of overkneading, I will respectfully disagree on that one. If using higher protein (bread) flour, it takes even more time to knead those doughs and unless you are using a professional mixer (not the KitchenAid like home machines) and fall asleep at the switch, you will likely never overknead a pizza dough. Pizza is a case where long mixes are your friend. Time = gluten development = stretch and chew. Higher protein ultimately forms more gluten. The recipe I mentioned will put you on the right path..... Although I never checked, there must be a pizza discussion in here somewhere. Good luck Evan

Tiramisu down on South Street bill themselves as Roman Jewish fare. I haven't been there in 10 years at least. Other than that, I can't think of any subspecialized restaurant.

Does anyone carry mulberries now?

My folks are coming in later this month and I try to take them somewhere different each visit. Has anyone been to Gayle recently? Still worth a visit?

I finally was able to get down to New York as I had been wanting to try the pasta tasting menu. It did not disappoint. We went with the riserva wine flight (not necessary in retrospect) Black Tagliatelle with Peas and Parmigiano Sauvignon Ronco Delle mele Venica 2004 The first course turned out to be one of the best. Fresh but toothsome squid ink pasta with super fresh peas in a butter sauce blended with pureed peas. Asparagus and Ricotta “mezzalune” with Scallion Butter Tocai Friulano Raccaro 2004 Semilunar shaped as the name Italian implies, the ravioli were accented with Aspargus and thyme and were fairly solid, although not extraordinary. Having said that, one of us at the table dubbed it their dish of the night. Whatevah. Beef Cheek Ravioli with Crushed Squab Liver sauce and Black Truffle. Vespa Bianco Bastianich 2000 This is an entrée choice on the a la carte menu and not included as part of the tasting menu but since I had heard good things about it, we added it as a course. God Forbid I lose my standing as a bleeding heart gulleteer. In actuality, this is really my kind of plate. No one flavor dominated and it was great to taste the liver, truffle and meat without one ingredient outdueling the other. Garganelli with Funghi Trifolati Barolo Vigna dei Dardi Fontino 1997 This was my favorite and the favorite of most of us at the table. Coming from the latin word for trachea, this tube shaped pasta looked like – well like little tracheas and I have seen them - like for real. It was in a butter sauce mixed with a few varieties of mushrooms. The sauce was just outta sight. I would have sworn there was animal fat in it as there was a feel and taste of such but I was told without equivocation that this is a vegetarian friendly plate. Well, Gandhi would have been proud of this one. Fernando’s Pyramids with Passato di Pomodoro Aglianico del vulture Minarco Sasso 2002 While not too creative, this plate was a preparation of pouches, filled with what I cannot recall. Nonetheless, it was simple and tasty. Heavily perfumed with EVOO in a concentrated simple and bright tomato sauce. If you haven't had Aglianico yet, this one was really good. I dig Campanian wines in general though. Pappadelle Bolognese Carmigniano Villa dei Cappezzana 2003 Not the best for last, this plate was good but nothing more than a well prepared plate of pasta in a veal Bolognese sauce. The wine however, 90% sangiovese spiked with cabernet, was the winner of this round. Gelatina di Moscato Moscato D’asti Scrapona Marenco 2005 A dollop of translucent gelatin made with the accompanying wine and sitting in a bath of a strawberry syrup. Alas, a signal that the marathon was coming to a close. Warm Chocolate Torta “fondente” with Ginger Cream Sherry Emilia Lustow NV Not too far off the ubiquitous lava centered chocolate cake theme, a thimble sized warm chocolate cake without a liquid center, served with a tongue tingling ginger cream. Olive Oil and Rosemary Cake with Olive Oil Gelato Upside Down Cherry cake Panna Cotta with strawberries Mixed Berry Tart like thingy Muffato Della Sala Antinori 2003 late harvest sauvignon blanc Why we all got different desserts I am not sure but I can’t argue. The woman next to us was the pastry chef’s mom so dessert was flying outta the back. By then, it was getting super late and even I was hoping the guillotine would fall soon. We were warned it was a lot of food and jeez Louise – it certainly was. Four and a half hours after sitting down at the table, we waddled, rolled and floated out the front – passing a crowded anteroom of folks still waiting to sit down at 10:30. Gotta luv NY, man.

Late in posting, just back from NYC. The meal was indeed terrific and the companyt equally so. When I got the menu the night before, it was like a cryptic treasure map. I didn't have an idea it was going to be so many plates but whose complanin'? The Belle Glos was an 04 Clark and Telephone vineyard. Very much the cali style of pinot noir. And those Moscato Floats? Katie split the apple on the head with that call. Ready for 'Episode 2: Revenge of the Pif' when you are Evan

Should we hit it before or after Komi Let me know when and I am there. Andrew-could you tell us about how you are conducting your research, other than reading eG? Will you be coming to the different cities and trying the restaurants out? How do you decide what's in and what's out? How much do we have to bribe you to make sure our favorites make the cut? ← I've been using a number of Philadelphia sources to try and find the best and the undiscovered, but those two categories are usually not mutually exclusive. I posted a new topic, "Philadelphia's Best" to try and see if anyone had any comments on four restaurants. I would link you to that post but I don't know how to work this Egullet thing. ← I will add my two cents Marchiano's bakery is really undiscovered. Carman's for breakfast Capogiro for beyond world class gelato Fisher's pretzels in the Reading Terminal Market Gosh there is so much.... Evan