Cooking with Paula Wolfert's Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking

[FoodMan]

Elie, Paula, anyone - regarding Elie's comment about the different conductivity of various clay pots, can you tell us more about which pots are likely to take more time or less time than others to cook the same dish? That would be really helpful to know.

That is definitely a question for Paula, Richard. I am not sure what the answer is but, I'd be interested to know as well.

Edited November 15, 2009 by FoodMan (log)

[Wolfert]

In this daube recipe which is made in a true daubiere, the meat and vegetables are packed and never stirred. Once the sheet of parchment is placed directly on the surface of the meat and vegetables, it stays there until the meat is completely cooked and cooled down. At that point when the paper is lifted, almost all of the fat goes up with it.

Hope this helps.

Edited November 15, 2009 by Wolfert (log)

[Richard Kilgore]

In this daube recipe which is made in a true daubiere, the meat and vegetables are packed and never stirred. Once the sheet of parchment is placed directly on the surface of the meat and vegetables, it stays there until the meat is completely cooked and cooled down. At that point when the paper is lifted, almost all of the fat goes up with it.

Hope this helps.

Thanks, Paula. While you made it in a true daubiere, in what other types of clay pots will this daube, or any daube, do well?

[Wolfert]

A 4- or 5- quart deep earthenware casserole, bean pot, Chinese clay pot, or  Spanish olla can

stand in for the daubiere. Also, the Emile Henry or claycoyote flameware casserole can be used.

[FoodMan]

We ate it the Pork and Mushroom Daube leftovers for a day or two, simply reheated, but with the gelatin rich sauce that this stew has, I wanted to try something else. I separated the solids from the cooking liquid and chopped everything coarsely. I reduced the cooking liquid a bit more, tossed it back with the chopped solids and added a bit more seasoning. Since this will be served cold, a bit more salt is a good idea. I packed it in a terrine and refrigerated it till it gelled solid. Served with cornichons and good Pomery mustard this is elegant and delicious. Since I did not mince everything, the terrine did not slice perfectly, but I love the coarse texture I got by hand chopping.

[Wolfert]

Elie

done like a true .provencal!

On another note:

have you any idea how l can open this video? I am preparing

a Moroccan tagine/tagra o n the show

One can substitute any deep sided cazuela or buy

the real thing from tagines.com

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/moroccan-fish-tagine-with-tomatoes-olives-and-preserved-lemons

thanks, paula

Sent from my iPhone

!

[Richard Kilgore]

The video link works fine, Paula. What a great set of clay pots you took to the Martha Stewart show. And the Moroccan fish dish made in the tagra looks delicious!

[Smithy]

Last week's triumphs were the Hearth-Roasted Chicken with Moroccan Flavors, and Green Beans with Tomatoes and Garlic. The chicken came out with a beautifully golden-brown skin, and I was surprised (although I shouldn't have been) at how much difference the smen coating made. Lovely. It came out of the oven and I gloated, "I've got to take a photo of this for eGullet!"

"Never mind that," my husband countered, "You've got to show them the green beans!" The colors are very festive, and the flavors wonderful. There were enough beans left over from our original meal that I served the rest to dinner guests last night. This is the very first time I've served leftovers to friends, and it was well worth it. They loved the flavors. They had no way of knowing, as I did, that the flavors were even better than on the first night.

The photos weren't wonderful, but if I could get them uploaded I'd add them anyway. Alas, you'll have to take my word that the food was beautiful.

Edited November 16, 2009 by Smithy (log)

[Smithy]

I am determined to post photos with the new system, and to attempt to show how lovely the dishes were. Trust me, the Real Deal was better, but I hope these inspire someone anyway:

Green Beans, Tomatoes and Garlic

Hearth-Roasted Chicken with Moroccan Flavors:

Edited November 17, 2009 by Smithy (log)

[Richard Kilgore]

I am going to do two or three dishes over the weekend in order to get ahead of Thanksgiving week and will post a report and pics next week.

In the meantime I'll mention this cavet about caveats on a heat diffuser you may see on Amazon. La Tienda recommended this to me: Flame Tamer/Simmer Ring. I noticed that there are a few Amazon reviews that warn about these smoking and the handles catching on fire. I picked up a couple of them at a local Indian market and the directions say quite clearly to wash them thoroughly with soap and water before using...or they will smoke. I have a hard time seeing the handle catching on fire if you are using low to medium heat, which is what it's designed for. I have used mine once on an electric element with no smoke (or fire) and I think it works at least as well as the much more expensive simmer mat, which I also have, although it may well not be as durable or last as long.

[Richard Kilgore]

I am making Red Beans with Chorizo, Blood Sausage, and Piment d'Esplette and am out of Piment d'Esplette. Central Market apparently no longer carries it locally. Paula lists three sources in the book, but none of them have it on their sites. Does anyone have 1) another source, or better yet for this batch 2) any suggestions for the best alternative?

[Richard Kilgore]

For anyone else who may be looking for Piment d'Esplette, I found it at Zingerman's and on Amazon.

[Richard Kilgore]

I am doing Paula's Roast Turkey with Sausage, Mushroom, and Walnut Stuffing (p.118) for Thanksgiving...but have someone with a nut allergy I need to dodge. He can eat hazelnuts and pecans. I am inclined to go with the pecans, but wondered if anyone has a suggestion about which of the two is likely to work the best.

[snowangel]

Richard, what about almonds?

[Richard Kilgore]

Thanks, Susan, but he can only eat hazelnuts and pecans.

[snowangel]

I'd probably use hazlenuts. Walnuts are sort of "bitter" (read, not sweet). IMHO, hazlenuts are less sweet than pecans.

[Richard Kilgore]

Update - new information says almonds are indeed okay, but pecans are not, so looks like almonds are the better choice.

[heidih]

I would just note that almonds are more firm than walnuts, so perhaps a finer chop to get the texture right. Maybe even give them the lightest toast first because on their own in a cooked dish they do not present themselves in full.

[Richard Kilgore]

Thanks, Heidi. I'll chop a little finer. Turns out they get browned for about three minutes so that should take care of the toasting, yes?.

[Richard Kilgore]

The turkey turned out well, with the parchment-like skin Paula writes about in the book. The sausage and mushroom dressing was a big hit with cornbread-stuffing-loving Texans. No pictures; it was gone in a flash and the carcass was not terribly photogenic. (I used the baking stone method rather than the Romertopf method.) This definitely will go in my Thanksgiving rotation.

I also made the Pumpkin with Roquefort Soup and multiplied the recipe 2.5X. A boy who doesn't care that much for pumpkin soup went back for seconds, and my brother who actively dislikes pumpkin in any form wanted more, more, more. I may be required to do this every year.

[emmalish]

I just picked this book up on my way to work this morning. I'll curl up and explore tonight, and then tomorrow I'm planning to buy the tagine I've had my eye on for awhile. I'll probably try a recipe out this coming weekend.

[Richard Kilgore]

I finally did the Red Beans, Chorizo, Blood sausage and Piment d'Esplette. I did it in a 4 1/2 qt. La Chamba Covered Roaster that works like a deep casserole. I'll do this again at least once this Winter and use better beans.

The recipe calls for small red beans, heritage of course. I have some Rancho Gordo Scarlett Runners, but they are not at all small. In visualizing the finished dish, I thought the small red beans from Central Market that I had on hand would look better as background for the larger chunks of chorizo and blood sausage, so opted for those. Mistake! They turned out to be slightly grainy and no amount of cooking improved the texture. So the RG Scarlett Runners go in the next batch.

Photo later.

[snowangel]

Richard, where did you find the Piment d'Esplette? We're not po-dunk here in MN, but I can't seem to source it locally.

[Richard Kilgore]

I found it on Zingerman's site and on Amazon, where there are several options. I could not find it here locally; though I got it a few years ago at Central Market, they no longer carry it. Low demand for a very high priced unfamiliar item took it off the shelf I imagine. Even the two Spanish cookware and food sites don't carry it.

[heidih]

There are several lovely dishes from the book shown in the Dinner topic here.