When I was little I had a major sweet tooth. OK, so I still do. My parents were pretty controlling with sugar—we got one small desert after dinner. Period. My mother actually hid the candy. I can’t tell you how agonizing it was to my 7-year-old self when she would forget where she’d hid it and we had to watch her forage through cabinets for what seemed like hours. All of these suppressed candy cravings led to crazy, wild dreams in which I was running through massive piles of candy and desserts (like the scene in the treasure cave from Aladdin), throwing everything I could grab into a giant burlap…
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Mango Mojitos
I am clinging on to summer for dear life. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love the fall, I just hate that season whose name we won’t speak that follows it. I figure if I keep posting summer recipes I can hang on a little longer. And we can thank our friend Mike’s mom, Mrs. Truckenmiller, for this one. I forget the exact measurements, but this is the gist of it: Mango Mojito (Makes four small drinks. If you’re my kind of people you’ll double this. Or triple it. No judgement.) You’ll need: several fresh mint leaves 6 oz rum 2 cups club soda 4 oz simple syrup (2 parts…
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What I learned from 7 straight days of Bread Baking
It’s been a few days since the end of Bread Week, and I’ve had some time to decompress from my bread-baking frenzy. I’ve also had some time to gather some tips and tricks I picked up along the way that I think any beginning baker could benefit from. So here they are—the things I wish I’d known before I started this crazy endeavor: When kneading, use the windowpane or finger poke test to ensure the dough is ready. For the windowpane test, the dough should be able to stretch to the point of being opaque without breaking. For the finger-poke test, poke the dough with your finger. If the indent…
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Happy one-year anniversary, Flavor Bible!
I’ve told you all before how invaluable The Flavor Bible is to my cooking. But I haven’t yet gone into detail about why this book is such a must-have for novice cooks and culinary masters alike. Since tomorrow marks a full year of publication, success and praise for The Flavor Bible, I thought today would be an appropriate day to give you my full review. WHAT MAKES A GREAT DISH? The first two chapters of the book delve into the “Language of Food,” in other words, what makes food what it is: Taste + Mouthfeel + Aroma + “The X Factor.” We all know that taste and texture are big…
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Last day of bread week: French baguette
Well my friends, today is officially the last day of bread week, and as I type, I still have dough underneath my fingernails and a fine dusting of flour covering every square inch of my kitchen. I’m not going to lie: This was a lot harder and more time consuming then I thought it would be. My mixer is on the verge of suicide (it was literally walking itself off the table with a loud thumping noise on that last large batch of dough), and I am in a carb-induced coma. But I’ve learned a lot and gained some serious patience along the way. And I can’t tell you how rewarding…
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Bread week, day 6: Pita
It seemed so easy. All was going according to plan. Day 6 of bread week was sure to be a piece of cake … er … bread. Until my pitas failed to puff. They were as deflated as my ego after a thus-far-successful bread week was foiled. I’ll give you all the recipe, because I think the inability to puff isn’t the recipe so much as the execution. Bake at your own risk. Pita Bread Adapted from The Bread Bible You’ll need: 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons salt 2 teaspoons active yeast 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water Mix the water and yeast until the yeast…
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Bread week, day 5: No need to knead
I stumbled upon a recipe for no-knead bread on The Vegetarian Foodie blog. Not that I was excited to find a no-knead recipe. What are you saying? I love kneading. Are you accusing me of getting burnt out on all this bread baking, proofing and kneading? Nonsense. I was just … ummm … curious. Riiiiight. Anyway, I was slightly skeptical. Why would anyone ever knead dough if they could skip this step and still get a great bread (besides those of us who are brimming with passion for perfecting the art and science of kneading, of course)? Well, my friends, I was utterly amazed at the ease of this recipe and the…
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Bread week, day 4: Challah
Something about bread week would be amiss without at least one recipe to celebrate my (half) Jewish heritage (and just in time for Shabbat!). Thanks to Heather at Chick n’ Pastry for the inspiration. This challah is my first real loaf of the week—a braided one at that!—so it took some major chutzpah. Especially during my first few attempts to braid the dough. I was schvitzing like a whore in synagogue, I tell you. Oy vey. Challah Adapted from A Blessing of Bread You’ll need 2 teaspoons instant yeast 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/8 cup warm water (add a little more if the dough isn’t moist enough) 3 large…
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Bread week, day 3: I say Lavosh, you say Lavash
Lavosh/lavash. Know aliases: cracker bread, lawaash, paraki, Armenian cracker bread, lahvosh, lawasha, naan-e-lavaash. But it’s moniker isn’t important. In the words of William Shakespeare, this cracker by any other name would taste as good. Joelen at What’s Cookin’ Chicago recently made Lavosh, and after finding out that the recipe is included in The Bread Baker’s Apprentice (and in fancy restaurant bread baskets everywhere), I decided that it counts towards day three of bread week. Rosemary and Parmesan Garlic Lavosh Crackers (adapted from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice) You’ll need: 1 1/2 cups bread flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast 1 tablespoon honey (I substituted corn syrup) 1 tablespoon vegetable…
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Bread week, day 2: Onion Rosemary Flatbread (a.k.a. Monti’s Roman Bread)
A little discouraged by my mediocre bagels, I picked myself up off my flour-dusted floor and moved on to day two of bread week: Monti’s Roman Bread. As I read the recipe, my mind bubbled with doubts. Will mine taste anything like the warm, greasy delicacy I remember? Am I setting myself up for failure? Am I being too ambitious?? As the smells of the baking bread began to waft through the air, I simmered down a bit. Pulling the sheet pan out of the oven, my confidence rose again—at least it looked as it should. I cut out a corner and slathered it with butter, as I’m sure Nona…