Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Cooking with Paula Wolfert's Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking


Richard Kilgore

Recommended Posts

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 by FoodMan (log)

E. Nassar
Houston, TX

My Blog
contact: enassar(AT)gmail(DOT)com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 by Wolfert (log)

“C’est dans les vieux pots, qu’on fait la bonne soupe!”, or ‘it is in old pots that good soup is made’.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

“C’est dans les vieux pots, qu’on fait la bonne soupe!”, or ‘it is in old pots that good soup is made’.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

pork-and-mushroom-daube-terrine1.jpg

E. Nassar
Houston, TX

My Blog
contact: enassar(AT)gmail(DOT)com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

!

“C’est dans les vieux pots, qu’on fait la bonne soupe!”, or ‘it is in old pots that good soup is made’.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 by Smithy (log)

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx; twitter.com/egullet

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

Green Beans with Tomatoes and Garlic.jpg

Hearth-Roasted Chicken with Moroccan Flavors:

Hearth roasted chicken smaller.jpg

Edited by Smithy (log)

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx; twitter.com/egullet

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
×
×
  • Create New...