Breakfast… Momofuku-style

There’s only one word for these suckers… obsessed!  I am, my husband is, our friends are… The bagel bombs from Christina Tosi and the Momofuku Milk Bar are incredible.  The mother dough that is the “bagel” outside is super easy to whip up in the KitchenAid and then the filling can be whatever you want it to be, though I’ve yet to venture far from the original of cream cheese, bacon and scallions…  You can order the book on Amazon at the link above for this recipe and a ton of my other favorites (chocolate chocolate cookie, candy bar pie, the list goes on and on!)

Breakfast Delight!

We were in Buffalo for the weekend and were delighted when our friend, Doug, made these for breakfast one morning.  We thought he’d been up for hours fussing in my mom’s kitchen… kneading and waiting and rolling… little did we know!  He did spill the secret, which you’re just not going to believe!  I’ve made homemade doughnuts a few times and they’re always delish, the problem is just that if you’re serving them for breakfast, that means you’re up hours before everyone else… Not anymore… Keep reading for the secret

Francophiles Unite!

For Make-it Monday, instead of storming a Parisian prison, storm into that kitchen and get cooking!  Thursday’s the day the French stormed the Bastille prison in 1789, an open act of rebellion against the monarchy that is considered a turning point of the French Revolution.

After the Revolution, “while their former bosses were fleeing the country or losing their heads to the guillotine, chefs of the royal court found themselves out on the rue without so much as a roux to whisk,” said Carl Hanson.

Lucky for them, a promising new institution had begun popping up in Paris during the second half of the 18th century. This new-fangled thing was known as the restaurant. The first restaurants had opened in the 1760s and originally catered to those of fragile health. In fact, the word “restaurant” refers not to resting or ranting but to the “restorative” broths that were intended to return delicate Parisians and weary travelers to good health.

With the arrival of revolution, however, the restaurant became a venue for displaced chefs to practice their craft in a clean setting that, significantly, was open to all comers, not just royalty. For once, it did not require a noble pedigree to dine like a king, only sufficient funds to pay the check. And with that, the art of fine dining was born!

So, in celebration today, we made homemade croissants (the recipe is after the jump).   This one if not for the faint of heart, but the results are well worth the effort!  Bon appetit!

Classic French Croissants
adapted from Epicurious

1 1/2 cups whole milk, heated to warm (105°F–110°F)
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tbsp plus 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
3 3/4 to 4 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon kosher salt
3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) really cold unsalted butter

Oh Sugar, Sugar…

We’ll, I’m back.  I’m not sure if I’m more rested, but I’m definitely fatter and had a good time!  These suckers helped with that.  If you never make breakfast rolls because they’re fussy and take too much time early in the morning, you’ve got to give these a go.  I bet if you did a blindfold taste test you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference from those that were kneaded and rolled at the crack of dawn and these that began the night before as a bag of frozen roll dough!The recipe is my mother-in-law’s.  She made them for Christmas morning breakfast and I haven’t stopped talking about them since then.  I finally remembered to ask for the recipe, and I’m sure glad I did.  I really couldn’t believe how easy they are.  Keep reading for the recipe…

Crumbs

I’ve been baking up a storm this weekend since in this incessant chilly rainy weather and overwhelming pile of work I’ve got on my desk it’s the only thing that’s making me feel better.  This morning I whipped up a couple of my Mom’s English Muffin Bread – I’ve posted about it and the recipe before, but I couldn’t help sharing this image.

In Print: Clips from Food Sections

5. - The Boston Globe Renewed Faith in Sprouted Bread “In recent years bread has found itself in an increasingly contentious relationship with the general public. Sales have flat-lined, and to dieters everywhere the staff of life has come to equal unwanted carbs – otherwise known as poison. In an effort to resuscitate the market, breadmakers have festooned just about every package with the words “whole” or “multi-grain,” which usually ranslates to a little or even a lot of whole-wheat flour, plus some seeds.”

4. - The Chicago Tribune Stocking Up “Perhaps you consider yourself an exception in a nation in which eating has become a national pastime and cooking a competitive sport. Perhaps you eat broccoli the way other people breathe air and go to the greenmarket the way others go to Walgreens. We do. But when we made the mistake of trying to confirm our exemplary habits, we stumbled onto the Food and Drug Administration’s MyPyramid Tracker (mypyramind.gov) and eatright.org, and discovered we had been living on about 800 calories more than recommended for our height/weight—while still not getting nearly enough dark green vegetables and whole grains, and eating a lot of empty calories in the mix.”

3. - The LA Times Kitchen String Theory “You gotta love any kitchen tool that you can get at Home Depot. At the top of my list of must-have hardware-store cooking gear — along with an inexpensive Microplane and a blowtorch — is a simple ball of string. Or at least it’s my favorite until Thomas Keller figures out how to sous-vide with duct tape.”

2. – The NY Times It’s Organic, but Does That Mean It’s Safer? “The plants in Texas and Georgia that were sending out contaminated peanut butter and ground peanut products had something else besides rodent infestation, mold and bird droppings. They also had federal organic certification.”

1. – The Washington Post Dining Moguls on the Go “Besides their attention to detail, the owners have another thing in common: They run multiple units, each of which can benefit the others, creating advantages in staff training and management, stronger buying power and a leg up in real estate transactions. They need all the advantages they can get. According to the National Restaurant Association’s 2009 Restaurant Industry Forecast, released in December, one in three people nationally report not going out to restaurants as often as they would like. So far, Washington doesn’t seem to be part of that trajectory. Lynn Breaux, president of the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington, calls the local industry “amazingly resilient” despite closings in the suburbs.”

From the Kitchen of: Patrick Deiss

2941 Restaurant is excited to introduce their entirely new line-up of its much celebrated bread. Artisan baker Patrick Deiss prepares the new bread twice daily to complement Chef Chemel’s innovative menu. The new recipes change weekly using high quality market ingredients and seasonal products to create a bread experience that is fresh, modern and more in harmony with the latest dishes coming out of Chemel’s kitchen. Current styles and flavors include olive rosemary, San Francisco sourdough, French artisan baguette, sour cherry chocolate, cranberry pecan and Pumpernickel.

Deiss’s breads are available both to diners in the restaurant and for sale to the general public. The bread will have to be picked up at the restaurant, but orders can be placed by calling 703-270-1690.

What is your favorite kitchen gadget?
My Japanese chef knife for all of my fine slicing. More recently my bread mixer for giving me great doughs.

What is the most overrated food/technique in restaurants today?
While I enjoy sous vide cooking and all that it has brought the industry, I believe that it will pass. I’m a purist when it comes to food and keeping things as simple as can be and being drawn in by the best ingredients and proper technique.

If you were to open a restaurant with a different type of cuisine than what you are cooking now, what would it be?
A little neighborhood French Asian restaurant with simplicity and Asian décor. Also, an old style bakery with a great coal fired oven.

What is your favorite local product or purveyor to work with?
Organic heirloom tomatoes from Tuscarora in Pennsylvania and Whipple Farms where Doug Whipple grows beautiful bio-dynamic vegetables and herbs.

What is your biggest customer pet peeve?
When customers request salt and pepper before tasting their food first.

What do you drink/eat after work?
Enjoy a Fiji water, fresh salad good olive oil, lemon and balsamic and bread, of course.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home? Will you share the recipe with us?
Thai Beef and Basil for my daughters Brianna and Maya, their favorite. Recipe after the jump.

Hot out of the Oven

I was delighted to receive a review copy of Nancy Baggett’s book of fabulous, fuss-free, no-knead breads,  “Kneadlessly Simple” last week.  The book is available on shelves today and it’s one of those baking books (along with Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook) that you’ll be reaching for time and time again.  The secret is in Baggett’s slow-rise method, which allows the yeast to grow slowly and develop the same full, satisfying flavor of traditional bread, without any kneading at all.

On my first flip through the book I flagged 10 recipes as “must try” and since the process is fairly hands-off, immediately threw the ingredients for English Muffin Loaves into the mixer.  While these recipes are not ones you can start 2 hours before you want to serve dinner, the actual amount of time you are actively working with the dough is not much and the time they take to slowly rise while in the refrigerator is well worth the wait!  I started this recipe on Friday afternoon and refrigerated the dough overnight.  Saturday morning I let the dough rise slowly in a cool place for about 15 hours then in the evening, I stirred in the powdered milk and put the dough into the bread pans.  Then, I left them in the refrigerator again overnight and Sunday morning took them out to let them rise one more time before baking.  So the total time from when I started the yeast until I was eating the delicious crusty bread was about 40 hours, and I would do this again every weekend.

Both the flavor and texture that results from the slow-rise, no-knead process is as good, if not better then many of the bread recipes I’ve tried that require long periods of messy kneading.  If you enjoy hot bread just out of the oven, but don’t have the time/patience for kneading, this book is for you.

Next up, Easy Buttermilk Pot Bread with Coarse Salt!