Archives for October 2007
Eggsactly what I wanted
After the bad mojo was banished with the ethereal brioche I just didn’t feel like cooking. Its not that I didn’t want to eat, it’s just that I didn’t want to cook. On Monday I made a big pot of veggie soup and it was really good and satisfying. We ate that for 3 nights and then it was gone. Thursday found me craving a poached egg. Poached eggs are truly a perfect food…simple, satisfying, delicate, and good served alongside almost anything. Salad and bread are the usual standbys but since I’ve got quite a magnificent stockpile of potatoes I went with hash browns instead. Eggs are thought of as breakfast food here in the States but I think they make an excellent quick dinner.
Hash browns are simple to make and require only a good cast iron skillet, 1/2 a stick of butter, 4 red potatoes, scrubbed, and sliced with their skin on, salt, pepper, and a medium onion, sliced. The secret to perfect hash browns is to cook them on medium high heat and don’t add the onions until the potatoes have been in the skillet for about 10 minutes. Oh, don’t forget to salt those spuds well right after you put them in the pan, and then salt the onions too when they go in. Don’t over-stir or flip or whatever you do…the potatoes need to form a crisp, brown crust before you dislodge them. Ummmm, delicious brown, buttery, crispy, chewy, potatoes.
Poaching an egg is simple too. Bring salted water to a boil, reduce heat so it’s just a moderate simmer, add a dash of white vinegar, then crack your egg into the pan and let it sit until it’s done. Fish it out with a slotted spoon and enjoy.
The eggs were sourced from DreamFarm and the potatoes and onions from Vermont Valley. This post is part of the CLICK: show us your eggs food photography event. Check out the other entries here and vote for your favorite.
Petite brioche à tête…World Bread Day 2007
Here in the lovely Madison area we have some delightful bakeries. Anything baked at Madison Sourdough Company is crusty and satisfying, Café Soleil turns out an Epi roll that I long to have with a double shot latté for breakfast each morning, and we have a soft spot for Clausen’s boysenberry bread and they make an awesome rye.
But alas, very few turn out brioche on a regular basis. For me, this is the most indulgent, celebratory bread imaginable…the perfect bread to give you to celebrate today, World Bread Day 2007.
Over the past few weeks I’ve browsed through many bread books. Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice includes 3 different recipes with varying degrees of richness and a step-by-step guide to form the brioche into the classic tête shape. Unfortunately for me it was a library book that I had already returned.
I ultimately used Nancy Silverton’s recipe from Julia Bakes. It was well written, offered encouragement in just the right places, and produced a bread that had the perfect texture, crumb, and flavor of the classic brioche.
If you’ve never made this bread before I can give you some advice: don’t be in a hurry. It involves a sponge, 5 eggs, 6 ounces of butter, about 25 minutes of mixing on medium (must use stand mixer), and then several long rises…including an overnight stay at spa refrigerator. This bread takes time, and then surprise…it bakes up super quick. While they baked some of them lost their heads and they all came out of the oven looking like drunken babies…and then they disappeared, gobbled up by my hungry men.
The finished product may not have looked perfect but the taste was superb…not too yeasty, sweet but not too sweet, soft yet strong…this is a bread full of contradictions…I love it. I can’t wait to make it again. Happy World Bread Day and thanks to Zorra of Kochtopf for hosting the party.
Bad mojo
I’m suffering from some bad cooking mojo brought on by that heinous harvest feast. I think I’m still capable of baking though, so I do have plans to bake this weekend and you’ll see the results soon. Instead, I’ll share some laughs…two incredibly funny videos. Thanks to Chris, who pointed me in the direction of The Wisconsin Gourmet and to my fabulous son Alex, he pointed me to the Powerthirst video…it’s a laugh riot.
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