Nice article on bread

Here' s a re-posted article from Slowfood USA - Nicely thought out and I love the name.

Breaducation

Posted on Thu, January 08, 2009 by Jerusha Klemperer
7 Comments | Categories: Bread,

Our newest team member at Slow Food USA is Nathan Leamy.  Nathan came to us from San Francisco where he was working to help organize for, and subsequently, clean up from Slow Food Nation.  Prior to his adventures there, Nathan wandered the globe with a Watson Fellowship studying the impact of the Green Revolution on grain consumption in Mexico, India, France, and Egypt.  A graduate of Oberlin College and Deep Springs College, Nathan grew up in Portland, Oregon.  Here he starts what we hope to have as a series on his passion, hobby, and means of sustenance – bread.

by Slow Food USA staffer Nathan Leamy

Though I have been a voracious eater all my life, my breaducation (‘cause that’s what the cool kids are calling it these days) started while I was living on a ranch in Eastern California.  Since then, the works of Nancy Silverton, Julia Child, and Steven Kaplan have inspired me to find, produce, and eat better baked goods.  Work in various quasi-professional kitchens, an apprenticeship at a bakery in Paris last spring, and the dedicated consumption of carbohydrates have rounded out my working knowledge of bread.

While I respect all breads, my passion goes out to traditional French loaves made with sourdough. Sourdough is a wild yeast which has been caught and tamed to produce slow developing, flavorful bread. Contrary to the term, sourdough breads need not be sour. Many breads labeled as sourdough in the US are still made with commercial yeast and actually just have extra acids added to them to make them taste sour, but traditional bakeries nationwide are seeing a resurgence of sourdough use.  Sourdough breads can be made in any shape or size, but the traditional shapes are the boule, baguette, and epi.

Even where crusty, artisanal breads can be found, many fall flat in flavor.  How can you tell if a loaf of artisan sourdough is good?  For your reading pleasure - and perhaps even the first part of your breaducation – here’s an attempt to summarize the five easy indicators of good bread.

Judge a book by its cover. Ugly bread is rarely good.  Pallid, dimpled, and dull bread should turn you away. Good sourdough should have a dark, caramel crust with weight to it. The bread should be aesthetically pleasing - well formed, balanced, even. It is saggy or looks over stuffed, no good. The crust shouldn’t shine like it’s been lacquered - but it should have a healthy amount of texture to it. If you’ve got a real winner it will have a pinhead sized, light bubbles evenly spread about it. Slashes across the top should be pronounced and should have prevented the bread from ripping at the seams during baking.

Listen to your bread. When picking up a loaf of good bread, it should have an even feel – it should not be lopsided or off-kilter. Knock lightly on the bottom with your finger tips and you should hear a hollow thump like you are striking a drum. Squeezing lightly, the bread should have some give and make a crackling noise.

What’s on the inside counts too. The inside of the bread (called the crumb) should have air holes in it. Unevenly spaced, unevenly sized, with stretches of gluten on the edges. How dense or light you like your crumb is all a matter of personal preference, but you need to see some holes to show that there was some action inside the loaf.

Dive in, nose first. Good bread shouldn’t be just a neutral medium to pile other things atop. It should have a flavor and smell that complement what you are eating. Breaking open a loaf and pushing your nose in it should give you the best idea of what’s going on in there. Depending on the sourdough used, flavors can run the gamut - but most importantly there should be some sort of fragrance and not the dull, sweet, hollow smell of industrial yeast.

Eat it. Since the point of bread is eating, a bread should be, well, good to have in your mouth. Biting into bread you should have a bit of pull on the crust, but not have to fight with it. The crumb shouldn’t just dissolve, be so dry as to make you feel parched, yet not so soggy to make you feel icky.  It should feel good to loll around in your mouth for a little bit before you finally get to eat your good bread.

That’s how you identify good bread.  The most important matter is to stop and think about it.  Though eaten nearly everyday, people often settle for something mediocre without giving it a second thought.  These indicators aren’t prerequisite for good tasting bread – but every little bit helps.  Whether buying from a bakery – or making your own sourdough treats at home – it takes all of your senses to find that which is good.

 http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/slow_food/blog_post/breaducation/

Green Tomato Chutney

So I made all those green tomatoes into Chutney. It took about 15 min to chop up things. I did some in the food processor and then sum by hand just to mix up the texture a bit. I based the whole thing on that recipe from Instructables but changed it a bit to account for what I had on hand.

I used:

about 5 kgs of tomatoes
1 quart of red wine vinegar
1 pint of balsamic vinegar
2 lbs of brown sugar
3 big onions
sea salt
dried cranberries

It turned out really well and now my favorite thing to do with it - small patty shell filled with goat cheese and topped with the chutney... instant appy.

Recipe:The Frittata

The other day Mark was giving me a bad time that I had so few recipes on the blog. So in an effort to make him happy I decided to post some of my favorite breakfast dishes. One of the B's in B&B does stand for breakfast!

A Frittata is an Italian omelette that is baked in the oven. Some call it crust less quiche which is also especially correct. The following is the one I make regularly. You can substitute and fillings you like just watch that your choices don't add to much liquid to the mix.

Preheat oven to 375 F
Ingredients:

6 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
garlic, fresh basil, oregano, salt and fresh ground pepper ( don't be shy with the seasonings)

1/2 cup grated cheese blend - I tend to use mozza, provolone and cheddar but you can use what ever your tastes run to
crumbled bacon, chopped cooked spinach, diced onion, diced tomato equaling about 1 1/2 cups

procedure:
whip eggs and cream together  then add remaining ingredients. Spray or grease an oven proof casserole dish big enough that the mixture will fill 1/2 to 2/3 full but make sure the pan not more than 2 1/2 inches deep. ( the Frittata will take too long to bake and become too brown on top otherwise)
Bake until the center is just set anywhere from 30 - 45 mins.

Serve with hash browns or if brunch a nice greens and tomato salad.

Taste the Local Difference

On March 18 and 19 Mark and I going to launch our new sourced local menu -"Taste the Local Difference"
This menu has been many months in the making. We have reached out to regional suppliers for ingredients with a local flair to come up with some unique dishes. Producers like Rose Creek Ranch and Sunset Colony have met the challenges and we are set to go. 75% of the ingredients come from producers in Southern Alberta. Mostly small operations from our area.  All are farm fresh and delicious.

For the two nights we have put together a sampling of dishes off the new menu and are offering it to the general public at our place in Coleman.

Selected hors d'œuvre and Wine reception to start
Wild Mushroom Chowder
Heirloom Tomato and "Fairwinds" goat cheese salad
Wild Saskatoon Chicken Breast
"Rose Creek" Fillet Medallions with Wild Mushroom Sauce
Cherry Balsamic  Pork
Dessert sampler

You can see the full banquet menu here .

So come out for a great evening of good food and wine.

Place: Country Encounters Accommodations
          7701 17 ave Coleman
Time: 7: 00 pm Friday March 18 or Saturday March 19
Cost: $35 per person including wine with hors d'œuvre 
By reservation only  space is limited  Call Dawn @ 403-563-5299

Roast Beef

We were serving a banquet last night. Our standard roast beef buffet, nothing outrageous, in fact pretty easy in the scheme of things.  I was carving on the buffet line and a lady comes up and asks for a piece of "prime beef" or something like that. The first thing I thought was uggg another one that really doesn't know what she is eating.
On our way home Mark and I discussed the situation. The guest had been influenced by marketing practices of grocery stores and restaurant chains without a doubt. Now the question is: " what" did she think she was eating?
Was it Prime Rib or just "prime" meaning "good" beef ?  Well in an effort to help sort out the differences in beef cuts served by commercial operations such as mine I thought I would give you a little information on the topic.

First off; restaurant cuts and retail cuts are two different beasts. The retail outlets of the country have thought up niffty names in an attempt to make their products more sell able and so they can charge more . The likes of "standing rib roast" and "sirloin tip roast" don't exist in my world. We buy beef in much lager cuts, in fact primal cuts are what I purchase. They have no fancy adjectives to describe them or their tenderness. They just tell me what part of the beasties they come from.

What does all this mean you ask? Well it means that on my menu I have 3 types of what would be considered "Roast Beef" and with a little help you can tell which one you are being served just by looking at it on my cutting board.

1. Roast Beef -  I use round roasts - now that does not mean that the roast is round like a ball. It is the primal cut from the leg of the animal - it may be an inside round or an outside round - depends on what is the best price that week. If they had a bone the inside would be one side ,the outside would be another and the whole thiing with the bone would be a hip of beef. Like all our roasts we season them and then roast them slow ( about 275 F and no lid on it please- if you put a lid on it you are steam or braising it not roasting it)  It is an irregular shape and has grain running in several directions. The round is not a particular tender cut of beef but if you treat it well it will treat you well. Two most important things - Cook it slow and do not  over cook it.  When you carve it always carve across the grain and in thin slices.

It looks something like this. 

or cooked 

its tasty and lean and what 80% of our roast beef banquets are. (We used 77 cases last year- thats 144 roasts)

2. Roast Striploin : The second type we roast is the striploin sometimes called New York Striploin.  This is the same piece that a New York steak is cut from but we roast them whole. If you think of a T bone steak  one side of the bone is the tenderloin or fillet the other is the New York. The grain is fine and runs all the same direction making it really easy to carve. Again we roast it slow and never cooking past medium rare. ( those that must have well done can get it from the end cuts)  Its by far my favorite form of roast beef . You can spot it on a buffet line by its uniform rectangular shape and the thin fat cap on it. It looks like this

 

3. The Prime Rib- What many consider the King of roast beef.  No its not a standing rib roast ( although that is what retailers sell pieces of prime rib as) it's not a cross rib roast ( thats just a messy thing and a way for retailers to get more for a piece of meat than its worth) It's an 8 bone ( although you rarely see the bones on the buffet) primal cut that is a wonder all it's own. This is the one we done for the Teck coal Christmas parties. Boarder Lumber had it this year and what I would recommend to anyone that wants to impress there guests. It does cost more but its worth it.  We roast it slow ( see the pattern here) with the bones and the fat cap on then remove them for service.  It has a fine grain that runs all the same way and can be carved as thick as you like which makes it really easy to serve and the one that I train new carvers on.  On the buffet it is the easiest to spot ( it just lies there with its flat bottom, thats the side the bones were on, and its rounded top tapering to its little tail.)  Don't ask for it with no fat ( it doesn't come that way, and thats why it has sooooo much flavour) but do take it done anywhere up to medium. ( this helps to melt the fat and make it taste better) It looks like this:

raw

cooked

and on your plate

Well I hope this dispelled some of the confusion around the mighty "Alberta Roast Beef"

Continuing Education Classes

For the first time in many years I taught a Con-Ed class last week. It was as much fun as I remembered. The ladies that joined me gathered around the bar that separates the kitchen from the rest of the house and we chatted and I cooked. The topic of the class was Hors d'œuvre. You know, those little bite size wonders that sends hostesses into fits. Well we made a bunch of easy, many do- ahead, items that work really well, sampling all the while.  

  
Thanks again for coming Ladies. I hope to see you again in other classes.
Anyone who is interested in joining us can register with Toni and CNP Adult Education 

Hors d’oeuvres – Intermediate

Make simple and elegant hors d’oeuvres that will allow freedom through advanced preparation so you are able to both enjoy your party and impress your guests. These great do ahead treats are sure to be a hit!!!

Dates: Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Time: 6:30 – 8:30 pm
Cost: $25.00
Instructor: Dawn Rigby
Location: Country Encounters Hospitality – 7701 17th Avenue Coleman
Registration Deadline: Wednesday, November 3, 2010
To Register: 403-562-2853

How to Make Sushi

Learn the special techniques of Japanese cooks to make these easy recipes in your own kitchen. You will work with special tools and ingredients and learn how to select the freshest foods available to you. You are sure to wow any dinner guest with these hand-made beauties. Nori rolls and Nagari made easy!!!

Dates: Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Time: 6:30 – 8:30 pm
Cost: $25.00
Instructor: Dawn Rigby
Location: Country Encounters Hospitality – 7701 17th Avenue Coleman
Registration Deadline: Wednesday, November 10, 2010
To Register: 403-562-2853

The new generation

Every so often I talk about my kids, usually the one that chose to go into my trade. Well these days the little darling is at the Lethbridge Lodge. What a great place for her to apprentice. She gets lots of exposure to all kinds of cooking and the Chef there is treating her very well. The other day she sent me some pictures of things she has been doing. Boy the kid does good work.

A cold and dreary Sunday afternoon ....

my answer is to cook. I had to make cabbage rolls for a couple of clients .... so I made cabbage rolls- 35 lbs of them. Anyone want some? Besides that I did up a batch of Fougasse - an olive and herb bread. Nice stuff.

2 tsp dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup warm water

dissolve yeast and sugar in water and set aside to bubble.

4 cups strong white flour
1/4 cup olive oil
3/4 cup warm water
2tsp salt

mix flour and  salt together and then mix in the remaining ingredients including yeast to form a ball. Kneed for 10 min or until smooth and elastic ( I do this in my mixer - takes about 4-5 min.) then place in a greased bowl. Cover and let stand in a warm place until doubled in volume ( about 1 hour)

Punch down and mix in 1 cup chopped black olives and a handful of herbs ( basil, parsley, thyme etc what ever you have) kneed for about 5 min.  divide dough into 4 equal pieces and form into small oval loaves about 3/4 of an inch thick. Score the top and cover and let rise another 20 min. or so.

Bake in 410 degree oven for about 35 min ( until crisp)  To make a crispy crust spray the inside of the oven with water about 15 min into baking time.

Fresh from the oven ..... good stuff


 

New Tastes are a Go!

It must be true. People are tired of the same old offerings.


I had an interesting tie in to an article I read regarding restaurant trends happen today. One of my repeat customers is having a retreat coming up soon and when the front desk clerk contacted her to find out how many people would be attending, she asked what my experiments were lately. What she was referring to; I tend when left to decide the menus for a function, to serve things I have been playing with and they usually follow some sort of theme. For instance when I came back from our trip to NOLA last winter I was hooked on Creole and Caribbean (that came from the cruise further south that was part oft that trip) dishes. Now how it works for me is I will come home and duplicate as closely as possible whatever it is that took my fancy then I start playing with it, adapting it to easily acquired ingredients, service styles etc. Usually the resulting dish is a blended thing that the original creators would not necessarily recognise but is my interpretation. Also things tend to evolve and developed for us out of boredom. We get board making the same things so we go in spurts making the unusual; right now Mark is on a bread making kick so if you end up at a banquet in the near future that has a bunch of different types of breads and buns offered , yes we made them while playing around. I'll post the recipe for the best one( it never did make it to the buffet table as it was grabbed up by staff and friends) or you can look for it come the Christmas banquet season.

This article I was reading was quoting trends with consumers. According the survey they quoted " Consumers are interested in expanding their palates when dining out and want to patronize restaurants that offer innovative flavours. A new study from foodservice industry consultant Technomic finds that 42 percent of consumers, particularly males aged 25 to 34, are more likely to visit restaurants that offer new or unique flavours" It reinforces what we do by being creative. Now if I could just get organisers to follow trend and live a little on the wild side maybe their guests could get that itch in " expanding their palates" scratched.

Other interesting results from that survey include:

• Two-thirds of consumers (66 percent) say that discovering a new flavor at a restaurant can persuade them to return to that venue for the same dish, and more than half (55 percent) say they may try other dishes there.

• A substantial portion of diners (36 percent) say they are more interested in trying new flavors than they were a year ago.

• Over a third of consumers (35 percent) are willing to spend more on a meal that incorporates new or innovative flavors.

• Among less broadly established ethnic cuisines, those of high interest include Spanish (72 percent), Hawaiian (71 percent), Tex-Mex (69 percent), Greek (66 percent), and Caribbean and Mediterranean (66 and 62 percent).

• Roughly one-third of consumers look for sauces and condiments that are low in fat or calories (34 percent) and sodium (29 percent), or prefer to use 'organic' or 'all-natural' condiments when available (26 percent).

• Garlic, pepper and smoky barbecue flavor profiles dominate entrée menus. Global influences are also prominent, specifically those with a Mexican, Asian and Italian flair.

'Flavor innovation presents a solid competitive advantage for both operators and manufacturers, especially when it comes to dips, sauces, condiments and marinades,' says Darren Tristano, EVP of Technomic. 'The punch of heat and spice, and the balance of creaminess or sweetness underscores the uniqueness in the preparation. An unusual flavor profile could be one that drives repeat visits by consumers.'

The 2009 Flavor Consumer Trend Report's Consumer Insights section examines flavor preferences and purchasing behaviour based on surveys of more than 1,500 consumers. The Menu Insights section utilizes Technomic's proprietary Menu Monitor database to provide an in-depth look at how leading, independent and emerging chain restaurant operators are incorporating flavor profiles into menu items. Throughout the report, 2009 results are compared to results from Technomic's 2007 Flavor Trend Category Report. Appendices feature menu listings showcasing the top 10 flavors as measured by menu data, plus detailed demographic profiles of consumers who enjoy these top 10 flavors.

Find the original article here