Heartsurgeon

I typically make a batch of dough (see pictorial above) every other weekend, and keep it in the fridge. I use the dough over the following two weeks. The dough gets progressively wetter/runnier in consistency as time goes on, but the flavor is consistently excellent. Here we are 1 week after making a batch of dough. Time to bake some mini-boules! Everything I've done is designed to minimize mess and clean up of the kitchen. Obviously, you don't need to do it this way to have great results. Hardware and software used to make the buns: Dough, coarse ground corn meal, all purpose flour Digital time (set to 2 hour rise time), spoon, serrated knife Silpat lined baking sheet I lay down cornmeal for 12 mini-boules on the silpat, and line up the tray, flour and dough containers, so when i make the buns, I'm not shedding any flour on the prep surfaces. I flour the top of the dough in the container, and cut off a piece of dough about the size of a plum. The piece is the rolled in flour (inside the flour container) to make it easy to handle. I shape the boule by drawing opposite sides of the dough together, and pinching the dough to the center. By rotating the dough ball and repeatedly drawing the dough to the center, the mini-boule gradually takes on a spherical shape. Once formed, the bottom of the boule (visible under my thumb) appears pleated, while the top of the boule is smooth and spherical. The boule is then dropped back into the flour, and rolled around, and the excessed shaked off. Here is the final appearance of a typical mini-boule, after shaping, and flouring. It goes onto it's cornmeal dusted spot in the baking tray. When all the buns have been made, I leave the tray out at room temp for 2 hours for the second rise. Here we are after two hours of rise time. Above the tray, is the hardware for baking the buns: a cup to hold water, a teflon lined knife for slashing the buns, a spoon to place flour on the tops of the buns, and a spatula to move the buns to the oven (pizza stone). With 30 minutes left in the second rise, i setup the oven: I leave a metal roasting/drip pan on the bottom rack, and a pizza stone on the rack just above. The oven is preheated to 450 degrees, convection bake. If I'm covering the buns with sesame seeds, i general lower the temp to 400 degrees to prevent the seeds from burning. JUST prior to baking, I slash the buns. If you do this prematurely, your buns will tend to spread out, and become flatter. I start by laying down a line of flour on top of all the buns. I make a 1/4 inch slash through the line of flour, and push the flour into the slash to keep it from resealing. Notice the teflon coated knife picks up very little dough when slashing. The slash can dramatically change the shape of the bake bun, and i highly recommend trying different styles of slashes, and different depths of slashing to see which result you like the best! Here's a tray of criss-crossed slashed buns ready to go into the oven. The buns can be sticky at this point, and rather floppy in consistency, making them hard to handle. My approach is to lift one edge of a bun up slightly, and slide a spatula under one edge of the bun, and lift the other side of the bun up with the finger tips (minimal handling), and transfer the bun onto the baking stone. Here's a dozen of my guys ready to be baked. Now I push the top rack in, toss the water into the broiler pan below, shove that in, and close the oven The bake time varies with bread, and the audience. I like a bun with a crunchy crust that puts up a fight, the rest of the family likes a softer crust. My comprise is 25 minutes at 450. Bake it 30 minutes, you've got a harder crust. If i'm coating the bun with an protein or carbohydrate wash, and covering with seeds, i generally bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes to avoid having the seeds or the coating end up burning, and if excessive browning is occurring, i'll drop the temp to 350 and extend the bake time 5-10 minutes to finsh the bun. Adding a wash and seeds complicates matters because the coating will tend to darken before the bun is fully baked...oh well, here's a batch of my boys ready for the cooling rack. And here is the final product.. Since starting the post, I tweaked the recipe by adding 20 gms of semolina flour.. Final Answer: 1000 gms flour, 750 gms water, 20 gms semolina flour, 20 gms malt powder, 20 gms salt, 12 gms granulated yeast

cooked some lamb ribs heavily seasoned (applied like a dry rub) with Ras el Hanout (Urban Accents blend), salt, black pepper, and Aleppo pepper. Placed in a bag with couple tablespoons of olive oil and sealed. 131 F for 24 hours seared in a pan in olive oil to get browning/crust. served with a garlicky yogurt sauce. pretty frickin great!! taste was superb. i might try 36 hours next time for comparison.

get a scale, you will never regret it. the scale gives you consistency. it allows you to scale your recipe's up and down effortlessly. i got mine when i started a series of experiments to determine what level of hydration i wanted to use. In Keller's latest cookbook (Under Pressure), all the recipes are in grams... the three most important tools in the kitchen (in my opinion) for consistency are 1) a digital temp probe 2) a digital scale 3) a digital timer but that's just me! i love gadgets.

Here is the pictorial presentation of how i make bread using this technique. Obviously. plenty of ways to do it, this is just what my bread making has evolve into. To Wit: The hardware I use to make the dough. A big spoon for mixing, some small spoons, a digital scale, and a big tub to store the dough in. The software includes King Arthur All Purpose Flour, salt, granulated bulk yeast, and malt powder. I mix 20 gms of salt, 12 gms of yeast, 20 grams of malt, and 750 gms of water. Then I add 1000 gms of flour. mix with the spoon until four is well incorporated. This is what the dough looks like immediately after mixing. At this point, i just stick it in the fridge straight away. Here's what the dough looks like after 24 hours in the fridge... next....making the mini-boules...

i've done some different grinds using brisket short rib chuck sirloin so far, the tastiest was 1/3 chuck 1/3 brisket 1/3 chuck use the largest die (insert) on the grinder, grind only once. cut all the meat into small cubes, and lightly freeze when grind at a low speed, add a small amount ( a few ml's) of cold water every now and then when grinding the meat. after that, your on your own! i'm still experimenting with the grinds, and i'm planning on adding a binding agent like bread crumbs, because i'm not happy with the way the plain grind stays together. i will eventually add some internal seasonings as well (minced garlic, spice), but i haven't yet, as i am trying to determine the tastiest meat grind first, before i start modifying the seasonings. for now it's been salt and pepper on the exterior only.

leg of lamb (marinated in garlic, tons of rosemary, olive oil), seared on a barbecue grill, then finished in the oven. greek salad home made bread watermelon

i can fit a dozen mini-boules directly on my pizza stone. i transfer them one at a time to the stone using a spatula. 3 rows of four, maybe 1 inch between the boules. i let the boules rise 2 hours on a siplat heavily dusted covered with cornmeal initially, i tried letting the buns rise directly on a pizza peel, and then slid them onto the stone. the problem was that the cornmeal or flour, or what ever i dusted the peel with, would get soggy, and the bun would stick to the peel. once you get even the slightest adherence to the peel, your screwed because nothing will slide. That's why i went to the silpat (even if the corn meal gets soggy, less likely to stick to the silpat), and i gave up on sliding the buns onto the peel, instead i barely lift one edge of the bun up with a spatula, and cradle the other side with a finger, and deposit the bun on the pizza stone directly. i'm going to try an post a pictoral guide to bun making...

you have to figure out what level of hydration works for the flour your using, and the size/shape of boule your trying to make. you should switch to measuring your ingredients by weight (not volume) for consistency. i ended up liking 75% hydration (750 gms water per 1000 gms flour). when i form my boules, i use liberal amounts of bench flour when i let my dough rest before baking, i do it on a silpat, with a heavy layer of cornmeal. when i move the boules to the oven, just tip them up slightly and slide a teflon spatula under one edge, then hoist them into the oven with minimal handling (the dough can be very sticky). forget about "sliding" the dough around. i only make individual serving size boules (about the size of a plum before rising). bigger boules get sloppy, and working with sticky runny dough can be problematic as you've learned. non-stick, lots of bench flour, lots of cornmeal, minimal handling, modest sized boules...that's the evolution of my bread making. i stopped making big boules because it would all get eaten before i got some. now i make about 24 mini-boules out of each 1000 gm of flour, and i can specify how many buns each family member gets to eat!

Ras el Hanout spiced Lamb pizza lamb meat picked off the bones simmered for 5 hours making lamb stock (that's for lamb risotto...another meal) meat is heavily spiced with ras el hanout, and reserved. pizza dough (enough for 2 large pizzas) - 8 hours ahead (before going to work) 1 cup water 3 cups all purpose flour 1 tsp yeast 1 tsp kosher salt 1 tbsp honey 1 tbsp olive oil dinner time: prep: fire up the oven (with pizza stone, 500 degrees) 1 head of garlic, crushed, in 1/4 cup of olive oil 1 cup grated smoked gouda cheese 1 cup grated extra sharp cheddar cheese 1 cup grated mozarella cheese 1/2 cup sliced bermuda onion (hand crushed/rinsed in water/patted dry) mix the seasoned lamb meat with the onion, salt, pepper, alleppo pepper, and the crushed garlic (reserving the garlicy olive oil) make a pizza crust, pre-cook until lightly browned, remove from oven. brush the edges of the pizza crust with the reserved garlicy olive oil (prevents the edges from burning) dress the crust with seasoned lamg, then layer chees mix on top. back into the oven for about 15-20 minutes (or until done). I get lamb bones from the butcher for about $1/pound, that contain random scraps of meat that fall of the bone after making stock. I just couldn't bring myself to throw this meat away, and this recipe came out of that. The pizza itself is out of this world...

indeed, you can make a nice pizza in a sheet pan, and it does minimize cleanup, but i could never get the crust i wanted in the sheet pan. Since i have OCD, i had to get the crust perfect.....

i make pizza about 1 nite a week, from scratch..and i work every day here's how i do it in the morning, before going to work, i make the dough (Wolgang Puck's recipe) 1 cup water 1 tsp dry yeast 1 tsp kosher salt 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon honey mix this up until everything is dissolved, then add 3 cups all purpose flour (King Arthur) mix this up with a wooden spoon until it just comes together (add 1-2 tablespoon water as needed to get the dough to form a ball) cover the bowl with sarah wrap, leave out on the kitchen counter...go to work. it takes about 5 minutes to mix up the pizza dough... 8-12 hours later, i'm home from work... turn the oven on to 500 degrees (i have a pizza stone that i always leave in the oven ) while the oven preheats, i do my prep work.. garlic press one entire head into 1/4 cup of olive oil, let steep shred 1-2 cup extra sharp cheddar shred 1-2 cup smoked gouda 1-2 cups shredded mozzarella dice up some red onion mix the cheese, red onion and garlic bits (reserve the olive oil), some salt and pepper, in a big bowl. get out the protein (what ever you like, my two favorite pizzas are lamb seasoned with Ras el Hanout, or clams) divide the dough into 2 equal sized lumps. in a flour dusted sheet pan i take the dough (well dusted with flour), and just using my finger tips, i press the dough down to make a flat crust. you can make it as thin as you like by lifting the dough up (it stretches fantastically thin). liberal dust with flour to keep it from sticking. do not let the crust sit around, or it will get sticky and hard to move around. also, you will NOT be adding the topping yet. lightly rub flour on your pizza peel. Tranfer the crust to the peel, and promptly pop it in the oven until it just starts to brown. By moving the uncooked crust quickly into the oven, it will not stick to the peel. This pre-cooking takes about 5 minutes. Remember to dock the pizza dough (poke holes in the dough to prevent it from puffing up). while your first crust is pre-cooking, prepare your second crust. remove the pre-cooked, lightly brown crust, and pop your second crust into the oven. Precooked crust gets the outer 2 inches of the crust brushed with the reserved olive oil (helps prevent the edge of the crust from burning). Layer on your protein, then layert the cheese/onion/garlic mix over the protein. Add anything else (tomato) you want on top of this. remove your second crust, pop your prepared pizza into the oven for about 20 minutes, or until done. cook #2 pizza while your eating #1 pizza. left over olive oil infused with garlic makes a great salad dressing with lemon juice, or balsamic vinegar. by adjusting how thin you make the dough, and how long you pre-cook the dough, you can "tune" this recipe to get any kind of crust you want...from thick and chewy to thin and crisp. i used to make pizza in a sheet pan, but you lose the ability to make a super thin or crispy pizza, because the sheet pan traps moisture, and keep the underside of the crust from getting crunchy (if that's what you crave). Even if you pre-cook the sheet pan crust, it gets soggy again, once you add ingredients. get a pizza stone, leave it in the oven, you'll never go back.

there is one added advantage to the hardware torch.... not only can you do creme brulee, but when your water heater stops working, you can use the same torch to "sweat" your new copper joints and install a new water heater... i know because i have done both, with the same torch... heck...kinda the same anyway, one is with sugar, the other is with solder...

i have made fish stock with a mixture of different fish bones including some salmon bones, and it tastes really good. I have not made stock using ONLY salmon bones, but if i did....i would make cream of salmon soup or salmon chowder...i have had both, and they are simple fabulous... stock (made from the bones of any beast) is your friend. one thing i've learned recently in making fish stock, is the addition of sauteed fennel to the stock pot. it elevates the stock to another level in my opinion.

Anyone have a fabulous sous vide technique (time and temp please!) for making Bernaise sauce? It's always a pain to be making a meal for guests, and trying to make a perfect Bernaise at the last minute.... anyone done it? or even just making the sauce the standard manner, substituting a water bath for the bain marie....if so what temperature for the watre bath?

i make my rice pudding with rice flour..... you can either buy rice flour, or if you have a burr grinder (i happen to have a spare coffee grinder) you can mill you can make your own rice flour out of any rice you want. i have made rice pudding with red Himalayan rice (you get pink pudding), and black "Forbidden" rice (you get lavender/blue pudding) with nice result. I use a turkish recipe for the pudding (Muhallebi)

as far as yeast goes...you can get two one pound vacumn sealed foil bags of yeast for $4.24 at Sam's Club... i open one at a time and keep the yeast in a vacumn sealed jar (Foodsaver) in the fridge....enough yeast to last at least a year!! works just fine.

The Onion does it again! http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28135 Coke Mandatory!

"You might enjoy watching how Nancy Silverton handles the really wet dough here" at first i thought you meant wet money.....she's loaded don't you know...

"You are assuming that "sell out" and "earn an honest living" are synonymous. I don't think they are. Normally, the definition of "sell out" is to do something so alien to your values that "cashing in" is the only conceivable explanation. If Colicchio were hawking Swanson's Fish Sticks, that would be selling out. Appearing as a judge on Top Chef is not." Your assumptions are silly. Your definitions are confused. Collichio is a celebrity chef, a brand name, and a businessman. Fish sticks, Coke, what's the difference?? He did it FOR MONEY. Hawking Coke has NOTHING to do with being a chef. He did it for the love of cash. Good for him I might add.. I'm sure he thanks God every night for the gig on Top Chef...it's made him a celebrity, and gets him priceless free advertizing for his business ventures...he's one smart dude, he's WAY MORE than just a successful chef. "Then I guess you consider his restaurants on par with Macaroni grill and Olive Garden? " Another nonsensical statement...you would know better than me. "Tom Colicchio is the main reason Top Chef has any culinary credibility or relevance" Culinary relevance??? Get real, it's entertainment..it's a "reality show"!!! There is a credible and relevant art form!! HAHA! Look, i like top chef, i like colicchio. if he wants to hawk coke, good for him. lighten up.. "

the reason they drink so much on that show is because you gotta have a one when you smoke.

"I also think Colicchio does a decent job holding himself above and away from the extensive product placements on Top Chef" whatttt????? Colicchio is a GIANT PRODUCT PLACEMENT AD for himself and his chain of eateries... come on, in for a penny, in for a pound...the only reason ANY of these folks is doing Top Chef is to sell themselves... To paraphrase Winston Churchill..We have determined Collichio is a "sell out", we are merely quibbling over the price....

well, i sous vided some brisket for 48 hours at 147 degrees. salt, pepper, stick of butter in the bag. meh.. it was ok, but nothing to die for. next time, i think i'll try it 135.. anyone with a killer sous vide brisket recipe??

"I think the malt powder from KA has definitely helped" when i first started with the "artisan bread in 5 minutes", i used bleached all-pupose flour from Sam's Club (bulk all pupose flour). The bread was ok..not great crumb, decent crust, flavorless. I relied on lots of "toppings" for flavor (poppy seeds, sesame seeds, nigella seeds). i switched to the King Arthur Flour after i ran through a veritable mountain of Sam's Club flour, and noted completely a completely different consistency to the dough, with the same amount of flour and water as before. This led to a series of experiments (and a digital scale), to come up with the right amount of hydration to use. Now I had great crumb, nice crust, but still had bland (although slightly tastier than before) bread. My goal was to at least equal the flavor of the LaBrea bread I was buying at the grocery store. Perusing the LaBrea bread ingredients, and the ingredients of other commercial bake goods i liked, i noted the addtion of malt...so i bought some from King Arthur. I'm still not sure which is better, the diastatic or the non-diastatic malt....the shipping cost as much as the malt, so i ordered one bag of each..i ended up mixing the two bags of malt together. I played around with the amount of malt, and ended up with the flavor i like. the final part of the puzzle was shoveling flour down into the slashes to keep the slashes from "healing" shut..that really turbo-boosts the oven rise. it's been a long carb-loaded road, but it's been worth it. i'm now working on perfecting the home baked Simit, a super chewy sesame encrusted Turkish "bagel" of sorts... now i'm experimenting with super high gluten flour's, with low hydration!! makes for a powerfully chewey experience

well, went back to basics...fuggetabout the whole wheat..bleech... my standard formula is bread nirvana...

this is a niche TV program which is aimed at food masochists. it is quite possible the worst form of entertainment i can recall seeing, since the movie Eraserhead. It is a food show that makes a person want to stop eating. It stars an inexplicable collection of people, including an anorexic, someone who needs a gastric bypass, and Chuck Schumer's twin sibling (not meant as a compliment). The only bright spot is Claudia Bassols (complete hottie). Why exactly she is on the show, other than for hottiness, is however, an utter mystery.