Nov 01
Normally the day after Halloween is when you can pick-up bargains on candy (sweets), but it’s also the day that supermarkets drastically reduce the prices of pumpkins since everyone has finished making their lanterns. Not that pumpkins in the US are particularly expensive anyway, but just look at this 13lb (5.8kg) beauty I picked up today for $1. I think I’ll be making some spicy pumpkin soup for tonight’s dinner.
Pumpkin Bargains
Nov 01
Last week I made some brioche, a type of French sweetish bread somewhere between a cake, pastry and bread, and I mentioned it was really good for making French toast. Well I cut a couple of slices and allowed them to go slightly stale and then made some of the most decadent French toast you will have ever tasted. There is so much butter, eggs, milk and sugar in the brioche already, that I think keeping this French Toast savoury works better than loading it up with cream, fruit, syrup, jam, etc.
Decadent French Toast – Brioche Eggy Bread
Throughout the world most people will know of French toast, even though the French don’t call it that (It’s called Pain Perdu), and there are many additions and regional variations. But the main ingredients are slightly stale bread and beaten eggs. In Britain it is more common to find savoury versions rather than sweet, and as well as it being called French Toast and Eggy Bread there is also a version called ‘Poor Knights of Windsor’, which contains sherry and is served with cinnamon sugar and jam. In German, Russia, Norway, Finland and Denmark it is also known as ‘Poor Knights’, but the recipes are different. The rest of the world seems to like their French Toast on the sweeter end with additions such as jams, maple syrup, cream, ice cream bananas, powdered sugar, as well as sour cream, Marmite, bacon, different types of cheese, etc.
I don’t think it is really necessary to give a recipe for this version of French Toast, other than use 1 beaten egg for 2 slices of stale brioche. Leave the bread to soak in the egg for a few minutes.
Soaking the stale brioche in beaten egg
Heat a tablespoon of butter in a skillet. Fry each side of the bread for about a minute or so each side and then season with salt and pepper to taste.
Frying the French Toast
Oct 30
These ricotta fritta antipasti are a little like gnocchi, but a lot lighter and very ‘more-ish’. Ricotta is a strange cheese. It literally means ‘re-cooked’, as in that after normal cheese has been made by separating the curds from the whey, the whey is then heated to create the ricotta. Also ricotta doesn’t really melt, but to help prevent it from burning, this recipe for these ricotta fritters adds some flour.
Ricotta Fritta
These little fritters sort of look like ‘drop scones’ while cooking, but they have a fluffier, lighter texture, that sort of oozes out when you cut into it. The are great on their own, with a little side salad, or as part of a bigger antipasto plate. However just be sure these are the last thing to prepare before serving as they only take a few minutes to cook and they are best served warm. I suppose you could even serve these as dessert with a spoonful of jam. I’ll try and remember that for next time I make some.
Ingredients
Method
Ricotta Fritta Ingredients
Ricotta batter
Ricotta Fritta Cooking
Ricotta fritters turned
Oct 28
I go through phases of making sourdough, and yes I admit it here, that sometimes, I have allowed my sourdough pet to die. I am a bad sourdough parent. Keeping a sourdough pet isn’t difficult and it is far easier than looking after a dog or a cat, since you only have to feed it once a week, and unlike dogs or cats, your sourdough pet will provide you with some of the best bread you have ever tried.
Keeping a sourdough pet
Sourdough is one of the oldest types of bread, and it was created by accident, before humans ever knew of the biology/chemistry that went on inside bread. The two active components of sourdough are lactic acid bacteria and yeast that live in a stable symbiotic culture. The lactic acid bacteria provides the main flavour component of the sourdough and help metabolise some of the sugars for the yeast which produces the gas (CO2) for the dough to rise.
Bread from a potato?
Usually I create a sourdough starter from a little rye flour and water and then leave it for a few days to kick in. This is my guaranteed way of creating a starter, but after seeing a TV show about a bread maker making Pagnotta in Puglia, Italy, I wanted to try a different type of sourdough starter to see if it affect the flavour of the bread. I found a technique that as well as using the basics of flour and water, this sourdough used boiled potatoes, which it said was to help increase the bacterial activity with the additional starch from the potatoes. The process takes a lot longer than my usual method, but the resulting bread has more flavour. However, just like any sourdough starter, once it has been created, it only needs a little care and attention once a week. This is now my favourite sourdough starter until the next one.
Ingredients
Method
Mashed cooked potatoes slurry
Mixing the flour and yeast with the potato slurry
The finished sourdough starter
Potato Sourdough Starter
Oct 27
I love risotto but sometimes I do not have the time, patience, or maybe the inclination to commit to the neediness required to make a good risotto. A nice swap is a dish I call Orzotto. It is Orzo pasta cooked in the manner of a risotto. The joy is that it requires very little effort and the recipe can be tweaked to your tastes.
Orzo Pasta in a Package
Orzotto!
Instructions:
Orzo Added to Sauted Onions, Mushroom and Garlic
Serve immediately!
If you want to change it up, you can add grated cheese, diced olives instead of mushrooms or with a dollop of fresh pesto!
Mushroom Orzo Topped with Pesto
