Staff of Life

Four simple ingredients provide the staff of life; water, flour, salt, a rising agent. I believe good bread is a serious and important subject and anyone who knows their craft deserves the spotlight. I have great appreciation and respect for those who do it right. 

Lucky for me, locally, I have a top master bread baker at Blue Duck Bakery Cafe, in Southampton, NY. Their artisan breads are made in the old world tradition of European bakers. Simply, well done.

“The technique and observation of sensitivity of the artisan baker produce distinctive and personalized loaves of bread. Artisan bread may differ from day to day and loaf to loaf with variations in shaper, color and texture due to human touch and the breads’ organic nature. Each loaf is formed by hand, assessed by the eye and subject to the baker’s judgment at every step”, Keith Kouris, master baker, The Blue Duck Bakery Cafe.

My passionate beginnings as a chef were rooted in bread baking, taught by master bakers. You had to learn respect of the ‘basic four’ ingredients and how they react, based on a variety of circumstances; like weather and the 'living product's' own conditions, due to bread’s organic nature.

It used to be that to experience the taste of a European Bakery you had to travel across the pond. That is no longer true. You can receive a fire oven baked loaf from Poilâne, Paris via mail. Yes, it can be done. Poilâne ships loaves daily; like the Breadclub 5 Loaf Pack, so you can let your family and friends in on the good dough.

Poilane, Paris

The Poilâne Story: In 1932, a young baker from Normandy came to Paris to open his first shop. The bakery was located in the artsy Saint- Germain des Prés district. Large round off-white crumb sourdough loaves (below) are a traditional French bread. Pierre Poilâne saw a dual advantage to his four pound loaves: they kept longer and could be cut into large slices. Pierre's son Lionel carried the passion for bread and what he called "retro-innovation". The old tradition continues today as this thriving family business has expanded beyond Paris - now in London; with grand daughter carrying on in grand-father's and father's floured footsteps.

The Poilâne Loaf: The signature loaf is made of 4 ingredients: sourdough, flour, water and sea salt from Guérande. It is a round loaf with a thick, golden crust as it is cooked in a wood-burning oven. It carries the signature mark P for Poilâne. Each loaf weighs about 4lbs or 1.9kg (weight may vary as each loaf is handcrafted). Well suited with meats, soft cheeses as well as foie gras or salmon. The size of the slices makes it a good bread for sandwiches.

Poilane Bread

Friends, I would love to finish this post with a recipe replicating the bread from the image above. But honestly it can't be done. The magic in that wood-fired brick oven just can't be duplicated in your home kitchen range. Yes, baking bread at home can be done. I just can't bring myself to selling you on the idea that it is going to look or taste remotely like that. Today, I am encouraging you to support your local bakery or market and buy a good loaf.

Don't Cry For Me Sardo

Having a good stock of cheese in my fridge is one of those things that's very important to me. It goes hand in hand with having good bread and wine at the ready. Today - I have a good cheese find for you, I found it at my local Citarella Market and it's of Argentine origin, called Sardo. Sardo is similar to the familiar Pecorino Romano, but milder, a bit salty and made from cow's milk rather than sheep's milk. It is wonderful to see cheeses imported from Argentina gaining in popularity; I have been a long time fan of Argentine wines such as Malbec. 

Sardo is delicious grated on pastas or risotto. To get you inspired for a quick weekday dinner, with or without the Malbec - enjoy my recipe.

Eggplant And Rigatoni 
Makes 4 servings

From George Hirsch Living it UP! TV series
chefgeorgehirsch.com

1 pound rigatoni pasta, cooked
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups eggplant, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped
8 cloves garlic, chopped
6 plum tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup pitted calamata olives, chopped
1/2 cup white whine
1 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon each: dried basil, oregano, thyme, hot pepper flakes
2 Tablespoons pine nuts, toasted in a sauté pan or oven
2 Tablespoons fresh basil
Parmesan or Sardo cheese to taste and fresh black pepper

Preheat a large nonstick saucepan.  

Add half the olive oil; then eggplant, onion, garlic, tomatoes, and bell pepper. Cook 5-10 minutes or until light brown.  

Add the wine, chicken broth, olives, dried basil, oregano, thyme and hot sauce. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes; mix in the cooked rigatoni. Top with remaining olive oil.

Top with fresh basil, toasted pine nuts and grated cheese.

Better, One Quart at a Time

There's something good to be said for putting on your robe (a long one please) and stepping outside your front door in the morning to fetch a fresh glass bottle of milk. And the convenience of fresh yogurt, sour cream, and farm eggs, would be extra good. I admit, the convenience would be very, very nice, but I am more excited about the quality of the product that would be delivered. Here, fresh means better.

I live out in farm country and yet the dairy farmers of yore are-no-more. There is definitely a want for these types of quality products. A good indication is the surging sustainable movement and more farm cooperatives gaining notoriety. Locally, boutique farm products are becoming more widely available. But, I am still hoping for the milkman to come back to town.

I stumbled upon Hornstra's Dairy Farm, a family owned operation suppling Grade A quality milk, and dairy products to South Shore Massachusetts, and They DELIVER! The operation is done old-school; with Vat Pasteurization and glass bottles; ensuring every product is the freshest and purest available.

Doing things the old-fashioned way means that their herd is not injected with synthetic hormones. 100% of Hornstra Farms' milk comes from their own cows, and is free of synthetic growth hormones. Just call them happy and healthy cows. Vat pasteurization method means they heat their milk to 145° F for 30 minutes. This gives the milk the smooth sweet taste of yesteryear. 

FYI, pasteurization involves heating milk to kill bacteria. Nearly all milk sold in industrialized countries is pasteurized. Most milk is pasteurized using the Flash Pasteurization Method, which is accomplished by heating the milk to 161° F for 15 seconds and then quickly cooling it.

Now wouldn’t a glass of Hornstra's Farm milk delivered go well with a Banana Muffin? Wherever you live, I hope you have a Hornstra's close by. I'm thinking of buying a house in MA., just for the milk, delivered in a glass bottle.

Get Your Haggis On

For 21 years, an estimated 6 million Americans of Scottish descent have had to celebrate Burns Night (I'll get to Burns in a moment) without an authentic haggis. Haggis was banned by US authorities in 1989 because they feared its main ingredient - minced sheep offal - could prove lethal, according to The Guardian. Update, good news for Scottish Americans, the haggis ban has been lifted. So now, get your haggis on.

Each year during the week of January 25th, Burns fans gather for suppers to celebrate the birth of Scottish bard Robert Burns, who was born Jan. 25, 1759. At what are referred to as Burns Suppers, like the one at St. Andrews, there are poetry readings, kilt wearing and Scotch whisky drinking. And of course, main course haggis consumption. 

painting of Robert BurnsRobert Burns (1759-1796) was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is also in English and a "light" Scots dialect, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland. He also wrote in standard English, and in these pieces, his political or civil commentary is often at its most blunt. Also, Burns most notably penned the poem/song Auld Lang Syne. To create your own Burns Supper. 

Visit Macsween of Edinburgh

Have fork in hand? Well- not so fast. You should know that haggis is a dish containing sheep’s stomach stuffed with ‘pluck’ (heart liver and lungs) chopped with onion, oatmeal, suet or fat, salt and just the perfect seasoning blend of secret seasonings that Colonel Sanders might envy, simmered in broth or water for 3-4 hours like a chitterling, savoury pudding or blood sausage.

Haggis is traditionally served with mashed rutabaga and potatoes and during a Burns Supper with glasses of Scotch whiskey. According to the Larousse Gastronomique, "Although its description is not immediately appealing, haggis has an excellent nutty texture and delicious savoury flavour".

pine nuts

It's not the time of year to harvest pine nuts, that would be in the late fall, but there is no time like the present to bake with these tasty and nutritious seeds, aka pinoli or pignoli nuts. Pignoli Cookie Recipe Here.The pignoli cookie, an Italian specialty confection, is made of almond flour formed into a dough similar to that of a macaroon and then topped with pine nuts. Also, here's a nice bit of history on pine nuts and The People of The Great Basin.

sugar coneraw pine nuts, in shell
pine nuts