BBA#27: PORTUGUESE SWEET BREAD

Posted in BBA Challenge, Breads by sallybr

This type of bread was a favorite of mine as I grew up, but back in Brazil it goes only by “sweet bread” (pao doce) and is sold as a very small roll. When I came to the US for the first time, I saw bags of “Hawaiian bread” that looked similar to the “pao doce” from my childhood. Only a few years later I learned that indeed those are all the same, brought both to Hawaii and New England by Portuguese immigrants. So, here we have a bread that ties Portugal (the birth country of my grandparents), Brazil, and the United States (and for sure other countries influenced by the Portuguese culture). Of course, I was more than excited to make this bread!

I remind my readers that all recipes for the breads from “The Challenge”, cannot be published, so if you want to make any of these breads, buy Peter’s book.

His version of Portuguese sweet bread calls for a sponge made with a large amount of yeast, that ferments for two hours and is then incorporated in the dough.

Even though I work with microorganisms on a daily basis, it never ceases to amaze me how quickly they go to work once food is around… Water, flour, sugar, and yeast, 90 minutes together…

The dough does not rise that much, after 3 hours it had barely doubled in size, but it seemed light and almost airy. Into the oven it went…

The bread did not have much oven spring, but tasted very good, had a moist, soft crumb, a gentle hint of citrus, not too sweet, just right.

Verdict: a nice, simple bread, not exactly like that of my childhood, but it’s ok, some memories are impossible to match… 😉

Check the Portuguese breads from my fellow bakers:

Txfarmer made a very cute version, shaping them as doves…. click here

Emily from Ready to Wait…. click here

Next on the list: Potato Rosemary Bread…… Stay tuned….

13Nov2009

POTATO ROQUEFORT CAKES WITH RIPE PEARS

Posted in Salads, Veggies by sallybr

I don’t know Michael Bauer, so I have absolutely no ulterior motives for returning to the recipes of his book ‘Secrets of Success,” except for the fact that many of them result in absolutely delicious dishes 😉

This recipe comes from Fabrice Marcon, who was a sous chef for Paul Bocuse, and then opened his own restaurant in San Francisco, Hyde Street Bistro. His cuisine falls into the category of “French-Californian,” simple words that attract me the way that flowers attract bees. France and California: two places I called home in the past, that always bring a nostalgic smile to my face.

Try this dish, it’s very good.

(receita em portugues na pagina seguinte)

POTATO ROQUEFORT CAKES WITH RIPE PEARS
(from Michael Bauer, Secrets of Success, original from Fabrice Marcon)

4 russet potatoes, scrubbed
8 ounces firm Roquefort cheese, crumbled
2 T olive oil
salt and pepper
2 Anjou pears, diced
1/2 pounds salad greens of your choice
1 tsp fresh tarragon, chopped
hazelnut oil

for vinaigrette
1 T red wine vinegar
1 t Dijon mustard
1 shallot, minced
1 T olive oil
salt and pepper

Heat the oven to 375F, and bake the potatoes until tender (about 1 hour). Let them cool until you can handle them, peel them, and transfer the flesh to a bowl. Mash slightly, add the roquefort and 1 T olive oil. Stir until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper, going light on the salt as roquefort is salty. Form the mixture into 4 equal patties, 1/2 inch thick. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Make the vinaigrette by whisking the vinegar, mustard, and shallots in a small bowl to blend well. Slowly whisk in the olive oil to form an emulsion. Season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Heat the oven to 350F. Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the potato patties and brown on both sides until golden brown, 7 minutes total. Transfer them to the oven and bake for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the salad. Toss the pears with the salad greens and tarragon. Add the vinaigrette and place in a serving bowl, or divide into individual plates. Top the salad with the potato cakes, and drizzle with a little hazelnut oil.

(serves 4 regular guests, or 2 very hungry people… )

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments – Great food is all about contrast. A little spice, a little sweetness, something smooth, something crunchy, teasing your palate at every bite. This dish is it. The roquefort cheese (which must not be too soft or the cakes will not stand up to the frying), counteract the sweetness of the pears extremely well, and the hazelnut oil ties it all. Who doesn’t like cheese, fruit and nuts? 😉 The cakes are wonderful by themselves, but please follow Marcon’s take on it, you won’t regret it.

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10Nov2009

PASTA WITH ZUCCHINI STRANDS AND SHRIMP

Posted in Pasta & Noodles, Seafood by sallybr

The pasta of my childhood was all about the sauce, either a heavy red sauce, or an equally heavy white sauce, often loaded with cheese. I loved them both, and I still make slightly lighter versions every once in a while. But, over the past few years my taste buds gravitated more and more towards pasta with veggies. Now the sauce plays a secondary role, formed in part by a simple ladle of the pasta cooking water, full of the starch released during cooking.

The possibilities for this kind of dish are nearly endless. I’m fond of cutting zucchini to match long stranded pasta, like spaghetti or fettuccine. This recipe, which I threw together in minutes the other day, is perfect for weeknights: quick, simple to make, not too heavy, but substantial enough to leave you satisfied and happy at the end of a busy day.

PASTA WITH ZUCCHINI STRANDS AND SHRIMP

(serves two, amounts are pretty flexible)

dried spaghetti, fettuccine or any long strand pasta
12 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2-3 medium size zucchini
1 shallot, finely diced
1 T olive oil
1/2 ounce goat cheese, crumbled
lemon zest
salt and pepper

Place a large pot with water to boil.

Prepare the zucchini by cutting off both ends and using a mandolin or food processor to cut it lengthwise into fine strands. Ideally, you want the dimensions of the zucchini to match the pasta, but don’t worry too much about it, just make sure to have long, even-sized strands.

When the water boils, add the pasta: while it cooks, heat a little olive oil in a large saute pan, add the diced shallot, season lightly with salt, and cook for a couple of minutes in medium heat. Add the shrimp and cook on both sides until opaque, do not overcook. Remove the shrimp to a plate and add the zucchini to the pan, increasing the heat to high. Season with a little salt and pepper, and when the zucchini cooks down return the shrimp to the pan. Cook it together with the zucchini for a minute.

When the pasta is cooked al dente, remove 1/2 cup of the cooking water and set aside; drain the pasta and add it to the zucchini/shrimp mixture. Add some of the pasta water to get the consistency you like, immediately sprinkle the goat cheese and mix everything gently to allow the cheese to slowly melt and incorporate into the dish. Right before serving sprinkle lemon zest on top of the pasta, and adjust seasoning if necessary.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Zucchini strands or ribbons are a busy cook’s best friends! If you have a food processor, it takes just seconds to cut, but if you prefer not to deal with washing the processor, a mandolin or a box grater, which is what I used, works well too.

The amounts are flexible: the higher the proportion of zucchini, the lighter the dish will be. It’s is a wonderful way of “stretching” the pasta, by shaving off some calories without compromising flavor.

I like the combination of goat cheese with zucchini and shrimp. Some people find that seafood and cheese don’t go well together, but in this case I beg to differ.

You can make many variations on this basic dish – omit the shrimp, add black olives, sun dried tomatoes, fresh herbs such as oregano, mint, or basil. Zucchini is very “social”, enjoys playing with all sorts of flavors, so let’s profit from it 😉

para receita em portugues, siga ate’ a proxima pagina….

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6Nov2009

CHICKEN PARMIGIANA 101

Posted in Poultry by sallybr

When a person has a cookbook addiction, planning meals can be stressful. Like a dog with five balls to fetch, I go from one cookbook to another, saying to myself “this might be pretty good“, or “wow, I’ve got to make this one instead“… But, the thing is that the meals we love to eat, the ones we crave the most, are not from cookbooks. When I ask my husband what he’d like to have for dinner, he often says “you haven’t made chicken parmiggiana in a while“…. The truth is, I sometimes ask the question hoping for exactly that answer, as I also love it and crave it. My Mom used to make some type of parmiggiana all the time, chicken, beef, so I have lots of fond memories. Once I started making it for my own family, they also loved it, closing a wonderful cycle.

This post is written with a special someone in mind, my youngest stepson who is in college and starting to cook for himself and for friends. He’s had my chicken parmiggiana many times, I know he’l love to make it, so I’ll be going through every step showing exactly how I do it, in a Crash-Course: Chicken Parmiggiana 101.

Alex, this one’s for you! 😉

CHICKEN PARMIGGIANA
(family recipe; step by step photos after the jump)

3 boneless chicken breasts, preferably organic

salt and pepper

2 eggs, beaten with 2T water and a pinch of salt

1 cup flour

1 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 cups tomato sauce (bottled or homemade)

shredded cheese (mozzarella or another melting cheese of your choice)

Butterfly the chicken breasts (see comments for explanation), season both sides with a little salt and pepper. Pound the fillets gently with the flat side of a meat mallet or the handle of a table knife, protecting the meat with plastic (Saran Wrap or similar).

Place three bowls or trays side by side, add flour to the first, season the flour with 1/2 tsp salt and a little black pepper. Add the beaten eggs to the second, and bread crumbs to the third. Coat the chicken fillets with flour, transfer to the egg mixture, coating both sides with it. Allow the excess to drip out, transfer the meat to the bread crumbs tray. Pat the bread crumbs well all over the meat, to make it stick.

Heat vegetable oil in a large frying pan until very hot but not smoking. Fry each piece of chicken on the first side until golden, 90 seconds to 2 minutes. Turn to fry the second side for a similar amount of time. Remove from the oil and place over absorbent kitchen paper to blot excess oil. When all pieces are fried, place them in an oven-proof baking dish or cookie sheet, add tomato sauce and shredded cheese on top.

Place in a 350F oven for 15 minutes. If you like, turn the broiler on high for a couple of minutes to get a nice browning. Serve immediately with cooked pasta in tomato sauce, or any other side dish of your preference.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

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2Nov2009

BBA#26: POOLISH BAGUETTES

Posted in BBA Challenge, Breads by sallybr

These days the the wonderful aroma of bread is wafting through the Bewitching Kitchen … For those who don’t know about “The BBA Challenge“, a few months ago Nicole, of “Pinch My Salt“, decided to bake every bread from Peter Reinhart’s book “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice“, and sent out a virtual invitation to anyone interested in joining her. It involves forty-three breads in all, made in the order that they appear in the book. Over two hundred people accepted the challenge, including me. It’s been a ton of fun so far, with ups and downs, successes and failures.

Here we are, at recipe number 26: Poolish Baguettes

Poolish is a soft mixture of flour, water and yeast that ferments overnight (or longer) and then gets incorporated into a bread dough. In this recipe, the dough contains both white and whole wheat flour, but the whole wheat is first sifted to remove some of the bran. It’s an interesting method, and here’s all the bran left behind after sifting a few ounces of flour:

Reinhart’s recipe calls for kneading the dough. I prefer folding instead of kneading, so that’s what I did: 3 folding cycles during the initial 2 hours of fermentation. After cutting the dough into three pieces, I shaped each one as a baguette. After two more hours rising, the baguettes were slashed with sharp razor blade, and placed in the oven.

Notice how bubbly the dough was…

Even though my slashing skills still need improvement, this time my shaping wasn’t too bad. There are many online videos showing how to shape a baguette; maybe one day if I get really good at it… I’ll post my own 😉

In the meantime, you can watch a particularly instructive video here….

These baguettes were delicious! I’d probably reduce the proportion of whole wheat in the dough, but this recipe is already a winner for me and my husband.