Very few ingredients paired with a no-knead method (the original no-knead method being made famous by Jim Lahey, the world-renowned baker), make for a super crusty bread with an airy crumb and a chewy texture you might not expect from something whole grain. The size and depth of a stand mixer bowl is ideal to do the dough-swirling stunt to avoid seeing the ball of dough fly across the kitchen. It’s a bird, it’s a plane …
Author: Chef M
We find that although kneading this dough also works here, using a stand mixer is easiest to thoroughly incorporate the mashed potato into the flour, and to avoid being too generous with extra whole wheat flour, making for an incredibly soft and light loaf of bread. For a larger loaf, don’t divide the dough in half after the first rise shape it into one single loaf. Let it rise for 45 minutes, until puffed. Bake it for 30 minutes, until browned and hollow sounding when the bottom is tapped.
My introduction to the wonderful spice blend ‘ras el hanout’ was actually in Morocco about 10 years ago. We were travelling with friends and visited what looked like an apothecary with shelf after shelf of tall glass jars filled with vibrantly coloured spices. I will never forget the headiness of the scent. Ras el hanout is a combination of the ‘top drawer’ or more literally ‘head of the shop’ spices. I have read of it being made with up to 28 spices but we make ours (in small quantities) with cumin, coriander, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, cardamom and black pepper. I…
Most people are comfortable cooking a steak on the barbecue so there is nothing to fear here. I have simply taken a larger piece of beef, rubbed it with ground star anise, extra virgin olive oil and vino cotto (though you could easily use balsamic) and left it to marinate at room temperature. Use your judgement with this, especially if you’re in the middle of a heatwave you just need the meat to be at room temperature when you put it on the grill.
This recipe will allow you to use up all the puff pastry trimmings. Serve the crisp cinnamon biscuit with crème caramel or dark chocolate and orange mousse.
This recipe makes the most elegant dried tomatoes I have ever seen. The skin is peeled off plum tomatoes and their pulp is scooped out, leaving only the meaty tomato flesh “fillets.” Drying the tomato fillets for a few hours in a relatively hot dehydrator intensely concentrates the tomato flavor without making them too chewy or leathery. Once you have these perfect red tomato petals, what do you do with them? Roll them up with dabs of goat cheese for an appetizer; chop them and toss with angel hair pasta, olive oil, and basil for an intense version of a…
This full-flavored tomato and garlic sauce with a hint of chili is excellent with spaghetti. The breadcrumbs give a lovely crispy texture make sure they are very fine. Serve with dressed salad.
Every country with a coastline boasts its own version of fish soup; our Provence-inspired version is not only easy to make, it also boasts a richly flavored broth fragranced with fennel, paprika, saffron, and orange zest. We chose thick cod fillets, wanting a firm fish that would not break apart too easily. The problem then came in building the soup base. Initial tests with premade fish stock produced soups that overpowered the fish’s own mild flavor. To cook the fish perfectly, we left it in big slices so that they wouldn’t break apart too much. We tried simmering the fish…
To showcase the brightness of fresh vegetables in our gazpacho, we chopped the vegetables by hand to retain their color and firm texture. A sherry vinegar marinade guaranteed well-seasoned vegetables, while tomato juice and ice cubes provided the liquid. Chilling our soup for at least 4 hours was critical to allow the flavors to develop and meld. This recipe makes a large quantity because the leftovers are so good, but it can be halved. Traditionally, more of the same diced vegetables that are in the soup are used as a garnish, so cut some extra. Serve in chilled bowls with…