Flipping the Bird (or Not)

Are you sick of turkey yet?

I’m not. I didn’t cook a thing for Thanksgiving this year, nor did I have any leftovers to contend with for the following week.

Don’t get me wrong, I had a fabulous holiday. Instead of the traditional dinner at a family member’s house, we traveled to Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia and enjoyed our classic meal in a more rustic and quite memorable setting. Good food, good company, good times.

And, yet, I’m feeling somewhat deprived. By this time of year I’ve typically spent hours in the kitchen doing holiday cooking of some sort or another, but travel and other distractions have kept me largely out of the kitchen. So it’s time to take matters into my own hands, get caught up with my cooking and make myself some leftovers.

Roasting a turkey is, as you may know, a ritual that is not without its challenges. Getting the dark meat cooked through without drying out the breast can be tricky. Many articles I’ve read suggest starting the turkey breast-side down, then flipping it partway through the cooking process so the bird cooks evenly. I’ve had good results cooking my turkey in a cooking bag, using a Nesco roaster, and using a roasting plan plus foil. I also had a horrible first attempt at brining a turkey (though I haven’t given up on the idea). But my favorite way to do it is to roast a whole turkey breast—with bones and skin—and not mess with the rest. My family doesn’t like the dark meat anyway, so why bother?

You don’t even have to flip the bird with this recipe, because the moisture from the olive oil and onions keep the meat from getting dry.

This roast turkey breast is awesome for dinner but also works quite well sliced for sandwiches. And isn’t that the best way to eat turkey leftovers anyway?

One turkey breast, bone in, skin on (these are typically sold as a half breast)
One large onion (or two small onions), quartered
1 tbsp fresh or 1 tsp dried chopped sage
Two whole cloves garlic
One rib celery, cut into large chunks
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper, ground
2 tbsp olive oil

Heat oven to 350 F. Wash the turkey and pat dry. Set onto roasting rack.
Place all remaining ingredients except olive oil into a food processor and chop thoroughly. Add the olive oil while the processor is running and pulverize mix until it is a chunky, soupy paste.

Wash hands well (use gloves if desired). Work your fingers gently under the skin of the turkey to separate it and create a pocket between the skin and the meat. Spread the onion mixture throughout the pocket, covering all areas of the meat. If there are any areas where the meat is not covered by skin, cover it with the onion mixture as well.

Place turkey into the oven and roast until the skin reaches the color you prefer. Then cover it with foil and cook until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 175 degrees F. As a rule of thumb, plan for 25-30 minutes of roasting per pound of turkey.

Remove the turkey from the oven and allow to rest at least 10 minutes before carving.

Happy leftovers!

A few of my favorite things

As a food lover, I sometimes obsess over new flavors I experience. That happened to me a few weeks ago when I tried almond butter. I read an article in my husband’s Runner’s World magazine (September 2010, pg 52) that compared peanut butter, a long-time favorite fuel for athletes, to almond butter. They both have the same amount of fat, but almond butter has less saturated fat and more calcium, magnesium and vitamin E than peanut butter.

I bought Justin’s Almond Butter in the natural foods section of my grocery store, a brand I chose over the others purely based on its packaging. It was fabulous—a grainier consistency than smooth peanut butter with a wonderful roasted almond flavor. After trying a spoonful on its own, I made an almond butter & jelly sandwich and have had one for lunch most days ever since. It’s also great smeared on apples and would also taste great on a bagel.

One week later, while watching the Cooking Channel (another new favorite of mine), I saw Justin and his nut butters featured on a program called “Food Crafters.” It turns out he’s a hiking fanatic who developed these nut butters as an alternative to energy gels and created his recipes obsessively by pulling all-nighters in his small kitchen. I patted myself on the back for making such an excellent choice of almond butters my first time out. (Yes, I know, it was just the packaging.)

Not all of my food obsessions are based on random purchases at the grocery store, but all have become favorites because of a first, addiction-developing taste that connected with me from the start. Here are a few more of my favorite things that I heartily recommend trying. (NOTE: These items are here solely based on my passion for them. I have not received, asked for, or even considered any compensation for including them here.)

Pleasant Ridge Reserve cheese
This is an artisanal cheese made from Uplands Cheese Company in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, that I tried at the Kohler Food & Wine Experience several years ago. It was in a wine and cheese pairing seminar—the same one that introduced me to Moscato d’Asti wine (see my earlier blog for more info). Pleasant Ridge is made in the style of gruyere and has a smooth, slightly nutty flavor. We adore this cheese in our home, kids and parents alike. It can be hard to find—in Northeast Wisconsin, their website lists only McKnight & Carlson Wines in Appleton and Oshkosh and Nala’s Fromagerie in Green Bay (both are great places to shop, and they really know their stuff)—but well worth it.

Malbec wine
Malbec grapes grow primarily in South America, primarily in Argentina. The resulting wine is dark and full-bodied with nice spiciness. It has started to appear more frequently on wine lists but is often (and unfairly) overshadowed by the more commonly known varietals. If you like Shiraz or want a more interesting alternative to Merlot, give this a shot. My absolute favorite is Catena, and there are many other Malbecs including Felino, Crios and Alamos that can be very good as well.

Alterra Blue Heeler coffee
Like many people, my day does not begin until I have had my coffee, and it’s not uncommon to see me with a coffee mug in my hand at all times of the day. I adore the taste, the smell, the caffeine. Of the many coffee beans I have tried over the years, I have locked in on Indonesian beans as my go-to coffee. Alterra Blue Heeler is a blend of regular and dark-roasted Sumatra beans that make a bold, full-bodied brew that lacks the acidity and other sharp flavors that many other regions’ coffees exhibit. I use it for espresso, but it also makes a fine cup of regular coffee. The Alterra beans seem fresher and more flavorful than other Sumatra beans I’ve tried, so I order whole beans shipped directly to me one to two times per month. Whatever coffee you buy, PLEASE grind your own beans—it makes for a much better cup of coffee!!

I could go on for days, but frankly I’d rather hear from you on this subject so I can find even more food addictions. What are your favorite things? Let me know at pythiaeats@yahoo.com or post a comment.

Per a reader request, here are links to the products and purveyors mentioned above:

Justin’s Nut Butters: http://www.justinsnutbutter.com/
Uplands Farms (Pleasant Ridge Reserve Cheese): http://www.uplandscheese.com/
McKnight & Carlson Wine Sales: http://www.mc-wines.com/
Nala’s Fromagerie: http://www.nalascheese.com/
Catena Malbec (get from your favorite wine shop; mine is McKnight & Carlson): http://www.catenawines.com/
Alterra Coffee: http://www.alterracoffee.com/


Copyright 2010 Pythia LLC. All rights reserved.

Meatball Season!

As Fall has arrived and football season is underway, it's only appropriate that this be declared meatball season as well. Drizzly days with a chill in the air tend to coax me toward heartier foods that warm the kitchen and scent the air. Meatballs certainly fit that bill.

Last year my husband hosted a Cub Scout den meeting at our house. I had decided to make meatballs for dinner that night. I made a big batch so I could cook once and have enough for multiple meals, but, in my typical fashion, I had started too late to feed my family and cook all of the rest before the boys arrived with their dads. While the house smelled wonderful, the kitchen was a mess. I pulled the last meatballs out of the oven, put them on the stove to cool, and disappeared upstairs so I wouldn’t be clanging in the kitchen while they had their meeting in the next room.

When I came downstairs again near the end of the meeting I found the dads standing around the stove eating the meatballs with their fingers. It was an amusing sight and a great compliment.

These meatballs are fabulous for their versatility. They are great for meat-and-potatoes kinds of people, and since they’re a reasonable size, they can also be used as the meat portion of a lighter meal. You can choose to use leaner meats and load them up with vegetables in the mix, or stick with the more traditional beef/pork/veal combinations. And they can be served on their own or integrated into a sauce. Best of all, they freeze beautifully as individual meatballs so I can thaw what I need for a quick weeknight meal.

Ingredients:
3 pounds ground meat—any one (or, preferably, combination) of the following: sirloin, turkey, chicken, pork, or veal
1-1/2 cups finely chopped onions
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/2 cups fine dry bread crumbs (plain)
1-1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
¾ cup skim milk
3 tbsp fresh or 3 tsp dried parsley
3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
1-1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
Optional ingredients:
1 small bell pepper, finely chopped
1 pkg chopped spinach, cooked
½ cup carrots, finely shredded

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray muffin tins very lightly with canola oil.

Place the meat in a large bowl. Add the onions, garlic, bread crumbs and cheese (plus any optional ingredients, if using) and mix well with your hands. Add eggs and milk and integrate well with your hands. Add remaining ingredients and mix until all ingredients are well dispersed.

Scoop the meat mixture into the muffin tins (I use a #20 disher, which is about the size of an ice cream scoop). Bake for 30 minutes or until browned on top and meatballs are cooked through. Serve immediately, or allow to cool and freeze in a large freezer bag so you can grab as many as you want whenever you need them.
How to use them:
• Serve with barbecue sauce or ketchup for dipping, along with mashed potatoes and a veggie.
• Simmer in marinara sauce (roasted tomato sauce, anyone?) for 20 minutes and serve over pasta.
• Instead of making meatballs, form the mixture into loaves (either free-form on a parchment-lined baking sheet or in a loaf pan) and bake as a meatloaf.

The Great Mash-Up

I have been making mashed potatoes wrong for years. This was quite a shocker to me, someone who knows her way around a kitchen and considers mashed potatoes to be one of the ultimate comfort foods.

I came to this rude awakening last year when I attended Advanced Culinary Boot Camp at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. It was a thrill to be working in a professional kitchen with a real chef who challenged us to make and try new things. I was feeling pretty good about myself, having maneuvered pretty well through the dishes we’d made thus far. Apparently I was due to be taken down a notch for my overconfidence.

It started when I was cutting up the potatoes. I was diligent about peeling them thoroughly and cutting out the eyes so my end product would be perfect. The recipe said to quarter the potatoes, but I interpreted this loosely since I had always cut them into 1” chunks for boiling and proceeded as I had done in the past.

“What does ‘quartering’ mean?” Chef asked over my shoulder.

“Well, four pieces, but these potatoes are kind of big so I . . .”

“No. Stick to the directions.”

“But won’t they cook faster if they’re in 1” chunks?” I asked naively.

“Yes, but you’ll leach out too much of the potato’s starch. Stick to the directions.”

OK, I stood corrected. Then Chef noticed the pot of water on the stove that was heating over a high flame.

“What’s the water for?” Chef asked.

“For the potatoes,” I responded. In my attempt to save time, I have always brought the water to a boil before adding the potatoes so, once again, they’ll cook faster.

“No,” Chef sighed again. “You put the potatoes in cold water. That way the potatoes heat up at the same time the water does, and by the time the water comes to a simmer your potatoes should be almost done. If you put them into boiling water, the outside of the potatoes will cook faster than the inside and they’ll get mushy.”

Ouch. Two blows to the ego on one simple dish. The third blow (they always come in threes, right?) came when the potatoes were in the pot on the stove. My definition of a simmer is a light boil with lots of little bubbles constantly surfacing. Chef’s definition is that the water is steaming and there is an occasional “bloop” from a bubble, but nothing more. My simmer was, in his eyes, a boil; my definition of boiling was more of what he considered to be a rolling boil.

The rest of the preparation went well, as did the rest of the week, and I have followed Chef’s instructions ever since. So now I share his instructions with you, along with some side notes and variations on the preparation and final product.

Mashed Potatoes
Potatoes—preferably russet or Yukon Gold
Cold water

Scrub and peel potatoes, then cut into quarters (that’s four pieces—not open to interpretation). Place potatoes in a pot and cover with cold water to 1” above the top of the potatoes. Bring to a simmer, then begin testing the potatoes every few minutes for doneness. You should be able to pierce the potato easily with a fork when it is done.

Drain the water from the pot. For the best texture, run the potatoes through a ricer (which, if you’ve never seen one, looks like a giant garlic press) or mash the potatoes. Add heavy cream, butter, salt and pepper to taste.

Variation #1: Healthier version (also dairy-free)
Substitute chicken broth for at least half of the water (can use in place of all the water if you choose). When potatoes are cooked, drain most of the cooking liquid off but reserve enough for mashing, which you will use in place of the heavy cream. The easiest way to do this is to drain off all of the liquid but pour about ½ cup into a liquid measuring cup or bowl so you can add it back to the potatoes after ricing or mashing them. I have tried to eyeball this by leaving just enough liquid in the pot and then mashing, but it’s too easy to end up with not enough liquid (so you have to supplement with milk anyway) or too much liquid (so you get soupy potatoes). Add salt & pepper to taste, and butter (or butter substitute) if desired.

Variation #2: Umame version
Umame is the term for the fifth distinct taste our tongues are able to identify, the one that was added in the recent past to round out sweet, salty, bitter and sour. The Japanese scientist who discovered it also named it, and the name loosely translates to “deliciousness.” Umame—pronounced like “OO-ma-may”—is found in beef, mushrooms, garlic and other items. Google it sometime if you’re interested.

This is my umame version of mashed potatoes because it contains roasted garlic and truffle oil, which turns this wonderful comfort food into the ultimate in deliciousness.

Before cooking the potatoes, start the garlic roasting in the oven. Slice the top off of a head of garlic (or more if you want to reserve some for other uses) and place it in an oven-safe dish. Do NOT peel the garlic. Sprinkle salt & pepper on top and drizzle the top lightly with olive oil. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 40 minutes, until the garlic cloves turn caramel-colored and the house smells like garlic.

Start cooking the potatoes using either method (water or chicken broth) when there are about 10 minutes left on the garlic.

Remove the garlic from the dish and allow to cool. Squeeze the cloves from their papery skin into a clean dish or directly into the potatoes if you’ve already drained them. Rice or mash the garlic with the potatoes, adding the cream or butter (if using) and salt & pepper, plus 1-2 teaspoons of truffle oil into the mixture while mashing. Heavenly.

Farmer’s Market Bounty: Roasting Tomatoes

Once the summer temperatures finally reach their peak, I know I can expect our local farmer’s market to be overflowing with beautiful vegetables, fruit, flowers, cheese . . . and people. The growing season is short in Wisconsin, and it seems like everyone counts the days until this point since the wave of produce and people tend to converge on the center of town on the same weekend. Get to the farmer’s market early or you’re going to have to make do with the scraps.

Our strategy at the market is pretty straightforward: get to our favorite stands first to nab the best selection of the two to three things we absolutely want to get, then spend the rest of our time strolling through the market to see what else looks good. In mid July, it’s the tomato lady first so I can get a good ten to 15 pounds of Romas for roasting. If the tomatoes look especially good and I’m feeling ambitious, I’ll take everything she has.

An offshoot of our weekly farmer’s market ritual, roasting tomatoes for sauce has become an event of its own. Most weekends I spend either Saturday or Sunday afternoon filling the house with the irresistible scent of tomatoes, garlic, onions and herbs, then freezing the results so that we can enjoy this little piece of summer all through the winter. It’s a simple recipe, but the preparation can be putzy, as my mother would say, if you’re using larger tomatoes. But once the tomatoes are in the oven, they just stay there for three hours, leaving me time to putter through the house doing other things.

I prefer Romas for this recipe because their meaty texture holds up well to the roasting process and they caramelize nicely. Honestly, though, I have used all different kinds of tomatoes from cherry to beefsteak and had nice results. If your tomatoes taste more acidic, you may want to add sugar to the mixture when you’re turning the roasted tomatoes into sauce. If you are using a thinner, less meaty tomato, either leave them whole (as with cherry tomatoes) or reduce the temperature (as with beefsteak or other tomatoes) to keep them from burning. And enjoy playing with different combinations of flavors, both when roasting and when creating the sauce. The roasted tomatoes make an excellent foundation for many different dishes.

Ingredients:
Olive oil
10-15 pounds fresh Roma tomatoes
1 large or 2 small onions, roughly chopped
8 cloves fresh garlic, smashed, peeled, and roughly chopped
¼ cup chopped fresh herbs (basil, oregano, thyme, chives)
Salt & pepper to taste

Prepare 2-3 glass lasagna pans by drizzling 2-3 tsp of olive oil in each and tilting the pan to spread it. Preheat oven to 300° F.

Wash tomatoes and drain. If the tomatoes are 2” or less in length, leave them whole and spread them in a single layer in the pans. If they are larger, slice them in half, scoop out the seeds, and place them cut-side up in the pans. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the tomatoes.

Scatter the onions, garlic and herbs evenly over the tomatoes. Drizzle olive oil lightly over the top. If you are using whole tomatoes, you can toss the whole mixture with your fingers to mix well; for halved tomatoes, leave the “layered” mixture intact.

Roast tomatoes for three hours uncovered. Browning is good, even deep browning, but burning is not, so monitor the tomatoes’ progress and adjust the temperature downward if needed.

Remove the tomatoes from the oven and allow to cool on the stovetop.

Decision point 1: Freeze whole or puree first?

Freeze some of the tomatoes whole in a freezer bag if you like to toss a few of them into another dish (e.g., risotto) to add color and flavor.

Use a food processor to chop to desired consistency if you would like to use the tomatoes for sauce. Include the garlic and onions when you chop. Proceed to Decision Point 2 to create your sauce, or freeze into portion-sized containers for future use.

Decision point 2: What kind of sauce to make? Here are two options:

Rich tomato sauce: Pour chopped tomato mixture into a heavy saucepan and heat over a medium flame. Stir in vegetable broth, chicken stock or white wine to thin to desired sauce consistency (I use about ½ cup of liquid). Stir in 2-3 tsp balsamic vinegar, and add salt, pepper, and additional herbs to taste. Serve over pasta, use as a base for lasagna or pizza, or whatever suits your mood.

Tomato & Italian sausage sauce: Brown 1 lb. of Italian sausage in a pan. Add ½ cup diced onion and 1 diced bell pepper and sauté until onions are translucent. Pour tomato mixture over the top, adding 1-2 tsp balsamic vinegar and stirring well. If the mixture is too thick, add some liquid (white wine or broth) to thin to desired consistency. Serve over pasta.
Enjoy!

How do you use your roasted tomatoes? Let me know at pythiallc@yahoo.com.

The Ultimate in Comfort Food: Guinness-Braised Brisket

The ultimate comfort food, in my definition, is slow-cooked, hearty, and involves garlic and/or onions in some way. This doesn’t particularly match well to summer, when we avoid heating the entire kitchen with the oven while the air conditioning chugs to keep the house cool. However, when the craving hits, it must be satiated.

Braising is one of my favorite cooking techniques for comfort food because it creates moist, flavorful meat that falls apart without need for a knife. Braising involves simmering the meat in liquid that is ultimately served with it. This differs from poaching, a technique that also cooks the meat in liquid but the liquid is eventually discarded. Braising is well-suited to tougher (and often less expensive) pieces of meat like brisket where extended simmering breaks down the connective tissue and allows the flavors to fully permeate the meat. Tender cuts of meat like tenderloin or chicken breasts do better with faster dry-cooking methods; braising only toughens the muscle because there is no connective tissue or fat to break down.

In preparation for friends coming to dinner, I decided to go with a no-miss favorite: Guinness-braised brisket. Most people think of brisket as a barbecue favorite, but I’ve never actually tried it that way. I came across this recipe in Bon Appetit magazine from October 2009 and have made minor modifications to it to suit my taste and portion sizes (the original recipe serves 12, mine serves 6). I’ve increased the proportion of herbs, garlic and Guinness to beef because I think it provides a more intense flavor and it makes a really good sauce at the end.

In total, this recipe takes three hours in the oven plus 15-30 minutes of prep time. Much of the oven time is hands-off, which allows plenty of opportunity for making side dishes, cleaning the house for guests, or lounging and drinking the rest of the Guinness.

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp Kosher salt
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp dry mustard powder
2 Tbsp chopped fresh sage
1 Tbsp dried thyme
3 lbs flat-cut brisket, trimmed but with some fat still remaining
3 cups vegetable broth or low-sodium chicken broth
1 12-oz. bottle of Guinness beer
4 bay leaves
2 tsp (packed) dark brown sugar
3 cups sliced onions
6 whole garlic cloves, peeled
1 Tbsp whole grain Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp malt vinegar

My Le Creuset Dutch oven works well for this recipe, but any heavy, ovenproof pot with a lid will work. You can also use a heavy roasting pan and cover it with foil when needed.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350° Fahrenheit. Mix the first 5 ingredients in a small bowl. Rub all over brisket.

Heat 2 cups of the broth in a heavy, ovenproof pot until it comes to a boil. Stir in Guinness, bay leaves and brown sugar and return to a boil. Add the brisket fat-side down and scatter the onion slices and garlic on top. Put on the lid and braise in the oven for 1 hour. Turn the meat over so that the onions and garlic fall into the liquid and the meat is fat-side up. Cover and braise for 2 more hours. Check periodically to ensure there is enough liquid in the pot, adding more broth if necessary.

Turn off the oven. Place the meat on an ovenproof platter and cover with foil, returning it to the oven to keep warm. Remove the bay leaves from the remaining juices and pour the juices into a saucepot. Add mustard and malt vinegar and stir. Heat the mixture well, then puree using a stick blender. Remove the meat from the oven and slice across the grain. Serve slices with the sauce. The brisket goes very well with potatoes—mashed, steamed or baked.

Focaccia: Flying Solo

Baking bread in the kitchens of the Culinary Institute in New York was exhilarating. Under the guidance of a professional chef to help me overcome my fear of making yeast breads and to answer my seemingly constant stream of questions (Has it proofed long enough? Is this right?) my partner and I made beautiful, wonderful-tasting bread. My past experience, however, was lackluster at best. So when I decided to make my first solo attempt at recreating the experience from class, it wasn’t without anxiety.

I decided to bake focaccia because it had tasted delicious, I knew my family would enjoy it, and since I had already invested in six new cake pans specifically for it, it seemed like the prudent choice. My oregano and chives were also taking over my backyard, giving me a ready source for fresh herbs.

I took a good half hour to get all of the ingredients measured and ready for assembly. At the CIA and in many professional kitchens, the ingredients are measured by weight, not volume, for the greatest level of accuracy. That meant dirtying several bowls, but the care taken at the beginning of the process would produce a bread worthy of the additional dishwashing at the end.

Ingredients:
0.5 oz active dry yeast
8 oz. water
4 oz. milk
2 oz. eggs (equated to 1 large egg when I weighed mine)
1 oz. olive oil
29 oz. high gluten flour or bread flour
0.75 oz. honey
2 oz. herbs (finely diced rosemary, thyme, basil, oregano, chives—whatever you like—and garlic, plus freshly ground black pepper)
0.4 oz. salt

Whisk the yeast and water together in a bowl until it looks like cloudy water, then pour it into the bowl of your standing mixer and add the other wet ingredients. Follow with the flour, honey, and herbs, with the salt on top so it doesn’t come into direct contact with the yeast until it is diluted by the entire mixture. If the salt comes into direct contact with the yeast/water mixture it can kill the yeast and then, ultimately, kill your bread.

Using the bread hook attachment on your mixer, start mixing the ingredients on low speed. After about two minutes, stop the mixer and feel the dough. Mine felt very tight and dry, like a rubber band stretched to its limit. This had also happened to me at the CIA kitchens. I added about ¼ cup of water and started the mixer again. It’s important to do this early in the process because the water will become harder to incorporate as the mixture develops further.

Begin mixing again, one notch higher on the mixer. Keep going for several minutes until the dough passes the “membrane test”: Take a small hunk of the dough—no more than 1” in diameter---and gently work it with your fingers into a disc. Gently stretch the center as you knead. The dough should be able to stretch to the point where it is thin enough that you can see light through it and, ideally, even read your recipe through it. When it reaches this point, stop the mixer.

Chef had forewarned us to use a powerful mixer when making bread, especially when making large quantities. The smaller CIA mixers, which were 5-qt. KitchenAid Professional mixers with 350 watts of power, regularly broke down due to the stress of working the dough. Whenever possible, Chef would use the 20-qt. Hobart mixer, an ancient brute of a machine that Chef said would easily break your wrist if you were inattentive enough to put your hand into the bowl before turning it off.

My KitchenAid standing mixer has been with me for about 20 years. It’s the basic model, with a 4-qt. bowl and a top that tips back. I love my mixer and was a little concerned about what the bread would do to it. It chugged away, clunking and groaning, until it produced a dough that successfully passed the membrane test. I was giddy. My mixer survived, but quickly showed its displeasure at having been put through the ordeal. The bowl, which twists into its base, had been so tightly screwed into position by the churning motion of the dough that I had to beat the handle of the bowl with my hand several times in order to remove it. Several minutes later when I started wiping it down, it was still quite warm to the touch from the exertion of manipulating the dough. Hopefully it will continue to perform for the occasional breadmaking effort, but if I begin doing this regularly, I may need to invest in a more substantial piece of equipment.

Put some olive oil into a large bowl—about a tablespoon should do—and roll your dough into a ball with your hands. Stretch the top of the ball into a smooth surface by turning the ball in onto itself on the bottom, much like rolling a pair of socks into a ball or turning a hat inside-out. Then place the ball into the bowl, smooth side up, and cover the top with plastic wrap. The bowl should be large enough to allow the dough to double in size without touching the plastic wrap.

Now the dough needs to proof or rise for 30-45 minutes. The CIA kitchen had impressive proofing ovens which kept the bread at about 100 degrees Fahrenheit and provided steam for a humid environment that the yeast just loves. I have no such ovens, so instead I used a trick that Chef suggested: heat a mug of water it in the microwave until it boils. Open the door, quickly place the bowl of dough inside, and close it to retain the moisture from the water. Voila—a nice, warm, humid place for the bread to proof.

Check the bread after about 30 minutes by poking it gently with a knuckle. If it bounces back, give it more time. If the indentation stays, it is done proofing, as the gluten has been stretched to its limits. Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface (use bread dough for the surface---it won’t clump) and press the dough down with your hands to expel most of the air. Fold it over once and manipulate it into a fat log. Weigh the log, then cut it into six equal pieces by weight. Take each piece and roll it into a ball just as you did with the full ball of dough before the first proofing—roll it onto itself for a nice, smooth skin on the top. Set all six balls on the counter and drape with plastic wrap (or, if your kitchen is cold, place them onto parchment-lined sheet pans, drape with plastic and place them in a warm place) to proof for another 30 minutes or so until they pass the knuckle test again.

Pour 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil into the bottoms of six round cake pans. We used 8” at school, but I used 9” for this effort. When the dough is done proofing, place a ball top-side down into a pan, spin it to coat, then start poking with your fingertips to begin to flatten it. Flip it so the “pretty” side is up. Use your fingers to poke and spread the dough to fill the pan, leaving a dimpled surface. Allow the dough to rise one last time for about 15 minutes.

Place the pans in a 400 degree Fahrenheit oven and bake until browned. Brush olive oil on top & sprinkle with Kosher salt. Cool for a few minutes, then turn out while still warm and allow to finish cooling on a rack. Slice into wedges and serve, or slice the entire loaf horizontally and use as a pizza crust.

Success! The scent of yeast, fresh herbs and garlic (these are a few of my favorite things) filled the kitchen. The focaccia had a slightly crispy crust surrounded a nicely chewy center. I am now emboldened to try another yeast bread. Stay tuned.

Moscato d'Asti--a versatile, flavorful wine for summer or anytime

One of the best pre/post dinner wines I’ve ever had is one I never would have expected to be so versatile. It is the one I pull out when I have a wine novice at my house who is fearful of the flavorful reds I usually serve but wants to try something. Yet even wine aficionados enjoy its friendly fruit and gentle bubbles. Moscato d’asti will always be a favorite of mine.

Moscato d’asti is a sparkling white wine made in small batches from Italian moscato grapes in the southeastern region of Piedmont. Not to be confused with asti spumante, which is a more traditional style of sparkling wine made in the same region, moscato d’asti is much less effervescent and is described instead as “frizzante” or fizzy. The nose makes me think of peaches, apricots, pears, and is ever so slightly floral. The tiny bubbles lighten the sweetness of the wine so that it is not at all syrupy but quite easy to drink, acting a bit like a palate cleanser with each sip.

I first tried a moscato d’asti at the annual Kohler Food & Wine Experience in a wine and cheese pairing event led by master sommelier Andrea Immer. At the time, my husband was immersing himself in learning about wine. I was not quite as in love with wine as he was at that point and was drawn to this particular event for the artisanal Wisconsin cheeses, which ranged from mild to quite funky. That was where I fell in love with strong and funky cheese . . . and moscato d’asti. While Immer identified some ideal pairings between the different wines and cheeses in front of us, she kept returning to the moscato as a good match for all of the cheeses. It wasn’t until later that I came to learn that it went well with desserts, particularly lighter cakes and pastries. In fact, moscato d’asti is often listed with the dessert menu, but I have found that it works well with light appetizers as well.

The alcohol content in a moscato d’asti is relatively low compared to other wines, making it a great wine to sip while cooking or entertaining. It also serves as a good starter wine before proceeding to bolder selections, as it will prepare your palate rather than overpowering it. Proceed with caution, though. We bought several bottles of the wine we tried in Kohler, the Michele Chiarlo Nivole Moscato d’Asti, and several weeks later served it with cheese, crackers and crudite while preparing Thanksgiving dinner for my extended family. Given the long preparation time for the meal and the fact that the wine was so easy (and delicious) to drink, those of us who were cooking dinner were feeling quite festive (and feeling no pain) by the time dinner was served.

Try a chilled moscato d’asti this summer as your starter wine for the evening, or enjoy it any time of year as a great cheese or dessert course accompaniment. I like mine with a strong bleu cheese, while my husband prefers his with a sharp cheddar. Either way, since it does not retain its fizz well once open, share it with friends and enjoy.

One bottle of Michele Chiarlo’s Nivole Moscato d’Asti was sacrificed in the writing of this article.

Copyright 2010 Pythia LLC. All rights reserved.

Improvised Italian Sausage & Potatoes

When I eat something wonderful in a restaurant but can’t pry the recipe out of the chef, I often jot down some notes about it so I have a shot at recreating it myself. Many of these notes do nothing but accumulate until I or, more often, my husband tosses them as part of a much larger pile of papers. This afternoon I perused some notes I’d made on my iPhone and came across the following list of ingredients from a tapas dish I’d once eaten:

chorizo, red potatoes, red wine, onions, tomatoes, parsley?

I had an image of the dish in my mind, but I couldn’t remember the details. Then I recalled that I had purchased mild Italian sausage at the grocery store yesterday and had red wine and onions. And beautiful red potatoes were in every grocery store now. This was a great opportunity for my own interpretation of the dish, since I couldn’t remember the original perfectly anyway.

I ran to the grocery store for red potatoes and found some baby reds that looked especially good, plus a bunch of fresh Italian parsley.

What I came up with was a sort of hash that resembled the dish we’d had in the tapas restaurant but with a distinctly Italian twist. The verdict: Thumbs up all the way around. So here it is:

Italian Sausage & Potato “Hash”
Serves 4 with leftovers
2T canola oil
1-1/3 lb. Italian sausage (without casings, or remove casings if you purchase sausage links)
1-1/2 lb. baby red potatoes
1 lg onion, diced
1 red and 1 orange bell pepper, diced
3 tomatoes, roughly seeded and chopped
3T red wine (I used a nice Chianti. Save the rest to drink with dinner.)
Salt & pepper (to taste)
2-3T chopped fresh parsley
2 tsp dried Italian herbs or 2T chopped fresh cilantro and basil

Heat large pan over medium heat. Add oil and tilt pan to coat. Add sausage and brown thoroughly.

While the sausage is browning, slice the potatoes in half and place into a microwave-safe dish with about 2T water. Cover and microwave for 5 minutes to steam the potatoes.

When the sausage is browned, add onions and peppers to the pan and sprinkle with salt. Sauté until onions start to become translucent. Remove from pan into a dish, retaining as much oil in the pan as possible, and keep the mixture warm.

Return the pan to the heat. Add potatoes and toss them in the oil. Allow the potatoes to brown, then add tomatoes and wine to the pan and scrape up the bits on the bottom of the pan. Add the sausage mixture back to the pan and mix well. Sprinkle the herbs into the mixture and stir well. Bring everything up to temperature and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with bread.

A scone is a scone is a scone . . . not so much

I have loved scones for years, from the first “real” ones I tasted with clotted cream in England, to the pumpkin scones at Starbucks, to the power scones I sometimes buy when I’m in Milwaukee. I love them all, but each one is distinctly different from the other. Some are crumbly and dry, others are more like a triangular muffin or even have a sugar-cookie-like crust.

For the past few years I have made power scones for my family, trying to provide a healthful breakfast item and snack by loading it with whole wheat flour, flax seeds, and plenty of fruit. It’s my own recipe, one I created using a combination two sources: the list of ingredients from a favorite power scone we’ve had in the past (the bakery gave us the list of ingredients but not the recipe), and modeled after another recipe that had some similar ingredients. I went through numerous batches to tweak the recipe to incorporate fruit and lighten it from the hockey-puck texture of the original, and my family loves them.

Last week I had the luxury of attending Baking Boot Camp at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. One of our four days was focused on scones & muffins. I was excited to make more traditional scones and see how different it was from what I made. The CIA’s recipe incorporated eggs and cream, two ingredients completely missing from my recipe.

The CIA recipe and my power scone recipe are quite different from each other, and the contrast in ingredients is a wonderful illustration of the effects of gluten and fats on the texture and flavor of baked goods. Gluten is the substance in flour that reacts to moisture and activity to create strands like elastic bands that ultimately create the structure for your scone (or bread or cookie or cake). Different flours have different levels of gluten in them, ranging from cake flour at the low end, followed by pastry flour, all-purpose flour is somewhere in the middle of the range, and bread flour at the higher end of the range. In addition, the more the flour is “worked”—kneaded, stirred, etc.—the more gluten is activated, which will serve to tighten those elastic strands and provide more structure and, if overworked, stiffness. Whole wheat flour includes the bran from the wheat, which is sharp and actually cuts some of the gluten strands. This is one reason why items made with whole wheat flour are often more dense than their counterparts made with regular flour.

The traditional recipe from the CIA calls for pastry flour (less gluten in it than all-purpose flour), eggs and cream. Together they should provide a light, delicate texture to the final product. My power scones use whole wheat flour paired with bread flour, which has more gluten to help overcome the effects of the sharp bran and give the scones structure and lift. They also use yogurt instead of cream, and no eggs at all. I also add ground flax seed for additional nutrients. Both recipes use ample amounts of butter.

The results: The traditional recipe created a light, tender scone with a desirable amount of crumbling. The whole wheat flour and flax seeds in the power scones resulted in a darker-colored scone, but the bread flour did an effective job of lightening the end result and the berries added plenty of flavor.

As for my taste testers—three kids and four adults so far—they’ve had mixed opinions, but the power scone so far is in the lead five to one.

What’s your vote? Test the recipes yourself and let me know what you think!

Power Scones
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup bread flour
½ cup oatmeal
6 tbsp sugar
¾ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
2 tbsp ground flaxseed
10 tbsp cold, unsalted butter, shredded in a cold food processor
1 tsp lemon juice
1 to 1-1/2 cups berries or fruit (dried, fresh or frozen)
6 oz vanilla yogurt
1-2 tbsp skim milk
Turbinado sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
Combine ingredients up to (but not including) butter and mix well. (These ingredients can be premixed and kept in the freezer.) Mix in shredded butter and fruit, integrating flour mixture into the butter with your hands. Do this quickly so that the butter does not melt. Gradually stir in the lemon juice.

Stir together the yogurt and milk and pour into the main mixture. Stir lightly until the dough comes together. Scoop dough onto lightly floured surface and knead twice. Divide the mixture into 2 balls, place onto parchment paper-lined sheet and press into a disk. Sprinkle tops with turbinado sugar. Slice into triangles using a pastry cutter or board scraper. Bake for 25-35 minutes until browned and set.

Recut along original lines. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes on the pan, then cool on a rack.

Scones—CIA Recipe
17 oz pastry flour
2 oz sugar
.75 oz baking powder
.25 oz salt
7 oz butter, cold, cubed
12 oz diced apples
0.25 oz cinnamon
1.5 oz egg yolks
1.25 oz eggs
10.25 oz cream
Turbinado sugar (to taste)*

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a bowl. Add the butter and apples and work the butter into the dry ingredients with your hands, piecing the butter out until you have chunks the size of large peas.

Combine the eggs, egg yolks and cream and add the mixture to the dry ingredients. Gently mix together (OK to use a standing mixer on low speed) until just combined into a dough.

Pat the dough into a square or rectangle approximately ¾” thick on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Cut the dough into triangles/wedges. Sprinkle sugar on top.

Bake at 375 degrees F until browned on the bottom and along the edges. Recut along original lines. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes on the pan, then cool on a rack.

Copyright 2010 Pythia LLC. All rights reserved.