Meyer Lemon-Rosemary Campagne Boule

Since moving into our temporary home and using our temporary-too-small kitchen, I think I’ve spent more time reading about bread than baking bread. First, I read a review copy I received of In Search of the Perfect Loaf by Samuel Fromartz. This is a memoir of a bread baking journey. Fromartz set out to learn from other bakers in order to perfect his home bread baking, and in the process learned about different types of wheat used for flour in addition to learning new baking and dough making techniques. Time and again lately, I’ve been reading about the use of locally grown types of wheat that are fresher and more flavorful than the packaged stuff from the grocery store. Different flours present challenges and require adjustments to mixing and hydration percentages in recipes, but it’s so worth the effort to try what’s available and support the small-scale crop diversity. Fromartz visited bakers in Paris, Berlin, Cucugnan in the South of France, San Francisco, and Petaluma. Della Fattoria is located in Petaluma, California, and I first learned of this bakery from reading about it here. That led me to the next book I read recently about bread. 

I received a review copy of Della Fattoria Bread by Kathleen Weber who became a professional baker somewhat by accident. She began baking bread at home and developed a passion for it, eventually providing loaves for The Sonoma Mission Inn. Her second client was Thomas Keller of The French Laundry. Her bakery has grown substantially since then, but the artisanal process of bread making hasn’t changed. The book takes you by the hand and walks you through all the different types of bread Weber has baked at home and for the bakery over the years. The first chapters present Yeasted Breads and Enriched Bread before you get to the Pre-Fermented Breads and Naturally Leavened Breads. Last, there are Crackers, Breadsticks, Pizza Doughs, and Flatbreads. I want to make the Hot Dog Rolls because I’ve never made my own before, and the Sticky Buns look impossible to resist. I always mention that no matter how many books I read about baking bread, I always learn something new from each book. This time, I learned the technique of stuffing the dough with ingredients while shaping. There’s a Garlic Jack Campagne Boule made by spreading a garlic puree on the dough, topping that with grated Jack cheese, and then folding the dough up and around the fillings to shape the boule for proofing. Last, a hole is poked in the top of the boule and a small head of garlic is inserted into the loaf where it roasts as the loaf bakes. There’s a similar loaf made with a small bunch of grapes nestled in the top and grape leaves pressed on the surface. The loaves are beautiful and delicious-looking. I decided to attempt a loaf with a filling, and I chose the Meyer Lemon-Rosemary Campagne Boule. 

Delightfully, I had some Meyer lemons from my tree and some rosemary from our permanent home to use for this. I pop over to our property (permanent home) where our new house is being built to snip herbs when I need them. The bread was made with sourdough starter, so I needed to revive mine to get it ready to use. In the book, it’s suggested that starter be fed with a mix of all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour. I used locally grown, whole grain-whole wheat flour from Richardson Farms. The dough was made with water, starter, and all-purpose flour. Weber makes a point of mentioning that water is a large percentage of all bread dough, and the water you use should be considered. If your tap water smells or tastes off, it could affect the bread. I used filtered water. After the resting or autolyse phase, salt was added to the dough, and it was left to ferment. This was a very wet dough, and I have my troubles with wet bread doughs. It was folded and turned every 30 minutes for the first hour and a half, and then it was left to rest for another two to three hours before being pre-shaped. Since it is a wet dough, the folding and turning isn’t as simple as it could be, but I did my best. Lemon zest was mixed with chopped rosemary and olive oil. The dough was pressed into a round and dimpled with a well in the center, and the lemon-rosemary mixture was poured into the well. The dough was then carefully gathered up and around the oil mixture, the seam was pressed to seal in the oil, and the dough was turned over and formed into a boule. You can see the oil mixture spread just under the surface of the boule. The boule went into a proofing basket for two to three hours before baking. Just after slashing the top, coarse sea salt was sprinkled on top. La Baleine coarse salt was recommended, and I actually had some on hand. The book includes instructions for baking on a stone or baking in a lidded cast iron pot. I wanted to bake on a stone but probably should have known better. Of course, the dough spread a bit more than I would have liked, and a cast iron pot would have given it more support. Regardless of how it was baked, the aroma of the lemon and rosemary from the oven was fantastic. 

Adding the filling of lemon, rosemary, and olive oil was a new twist in bread making for me, and when I make sourdough breads, I usually use bread flour and a mix of other whole grain flours. Using only all-purpose flour resulted in an exceptionally tender and chewy crumb. And, the crust was crispy in the best way as a result of the oil. Even though the loaf flattened out more than I would have liked, the flavor of this bread more than made up for that small disappointment. This book has made me want to spend more time baking bread. 

Meyer Lemon–Rosemary Campagne Boule 
Excerpted with publisher’s permission from Della Fattoria Bread by Kathleen Weber (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2014. Photographs by Ed Anderson. 

Makes 1 large boule 

This has become our signature bread. Lemon zest and finely chopped rosemary are mixed with olive oil to make a pesto-like slurry that appears as a bright and delicious swirl along the underside of the crust. But what really sets the bread apart is its raised crown design, studded with large salt crystals. Ed, my husband, tells everyone to eat this bread toasted with soft-boiled eggs. I love cutting thick slices of the bread and grilling them over low coals, or pulling it apart and eating it just as it is. 

1 1/2 tablespoons (8 grams/0.3 ounce) grated lemon zest, preferably from Meyer lemons 
1 1/2 tablespoons (6 grams/0.2 ounce) chopped rosemary 
About 3 tablespoons (40 grams/1.5 ounces) olive oil 
Pain de Campagne Boule, taken through the pre-shape 
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons (4 to 6 grams/1.4 to 2 ounces) coarse sea salt (see Note) 

1. Combine the lemon zest and rosemary in a small bowl. Add enough olive oil to create a pesto-like slurry. 
2. After the 10-minute rest, turn the dough over (flour side against the work surface) and gently press into a 9- to 10-inch round. Dimple the top, make a well, and add the rosemary mixture to the well. Fold the sides in, as when forming a boule, enclosing the mixture, then tighten the boule against the work surface until you just begin to see the rosemary mixture under the surface of the dough. 
3. Generously dust a 9-inch bread basket or linen-lined bowl with flour or a mixture of flour and wheat bran. Follow the remaining steps for proofing and baking the bread, and when ready to score, score it with a 4-scored asterisk. It will be because of the slurry underneath that the points raise into a crown as it bakes. Sprinkle the sea salt over the top. 

Note on coarse sea salt 
I prefer La Baleine coarse sea salt (in the red canister). The crystals are clear and shiny like diamonds, and they won’t melt. 

Pain de Campagne Dough 

Makes 1.35 kilograms/3 pounds 

A request from Thomas Keller right after he reopened The French Laundry in 1995 got me into making pain de campagne. So I asked Thomas lots of questions. (How do you envision serving this bread? Do you like lots of crust? What shape would look best on your bread and butter plate?) In the end, I created the bread he was looking for. For Thomas, I shaped the dough into batards. Here we make both a batard and a boule.  

Firm Starter 126 g -  4.4 oz - 1/2 cup 
Water at 80°F/27°C 506 g -  17.8 oz - 2 cups plus 2 1/2 Tbsp 
All-purpose flour 704 g - 24.8 oz - 5 cups 
TOTAL FLOUR 704 g - 24.8 oz -  5 cups 
Fine gray salt 19 g -  0.6 oz - 1 Tbsp 
TOTAL WEIGHT 1,355 g/1.35 kg - 47.6 oz/3 lbs 

1. Lightly oil or spray a deep 4 1/2- to 5-quart ceramic or glass bread bowl. 

2. Put the starter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the water and mix on low speed until the starter is broken up and the mixture appears frothy, about 30 seconds. Add the flour and pulse a few times on the lowest setting (to keep the flour from flying out of the bowl), then mix on low speed for 2 minutes to combine. Remove the paddle attachment, scraping any dough from the paddle back into the bowl with a plastic bowl scraper, and let sit, uncovered, for 20 minutes. 

3. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with the bowl scraper and add the salt. Fit the mixer with the dough hook and mix on low speed for 6 minutes. This is a slightly sticky dough. Using the bowl scraper, turn the dough into the bread bowl. Cover tightly with a lightly oiled or sprayed piece of plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes. 

4. For the first fold, wet your hands, then loosen the dough from the sides and bottom of the bowl and fold it underneath itself from left to right and then top to bottom. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes. 

5. For the second fold, repeat as for the first fold. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes. 

6. For the third and final fold, repeat the folding as before. Cover and let proof in a warm, draft-free spot until there is bubbling on the surface of the dough, 2 to 3 hours. 

7. The dough is ready to be pre-shaped and shaped for Meyer Lemon–Rosemary Campagne Boule. 

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Shitake Mushrooms with Sourdough Toast and Rosemary Blue Cheese Creme Fraiche

You know a restaurant takes sustainable sourcing seriously when its recipes are named for particular vegetable varieties grown in their own garden. That was one of things I loved about The Ethicurean Cookbook of which I received a review copy. The Ethicurean restaurant and kitchen are located in two glasshouses of the Barley Wood Walled Garden on an estate just outside Bristol in England. The restaurant is run by a group of four friends who joined together on this mission in 2010 to highlight seasonality and sustainable sourcing. Vegetables and fruits come from the Walled Garden and orchards including 70 varieties of apples, and other ingredients are carefully sourced or foraged nearby. I was confused about the recipe for Sea Robin with Fennel Butter Sauce and Herbed Pink Firs until I read through it and learned that sea robin is another name for gurnard which is a thin, mild, white fish. And, pink fir is a type of waxy potato grown in the restaurant’s garden. Of course, in the spirit of The Ethicurean, it would make perfect sense to substitute ingredients that are local and seasonal to the reader. The book is divided by season, and it’s full of stories about what’s growing at different times of the year. There are also lots of side notes about the history of some ingredients and explanations of food science. In the recipe for Caerphilly and Cider Welsh Rabbit, the authors explain that since Caerphilly is a mature cheddar with a good level of acidity and high moisture content, the casein molecules in the cheese will separate preventing it from becoming stringy when it melts. The photo of the lovely, broiled and cheese-filled sandwich next to a fresh, crisp salad looks delicious. Some other dishes that caught my eye were the Ewe’s-Curd-Stuffed Courgette Flowers with Fennel Sherbet; the Crab Salad with New Potatoes, Pickled Carrot and Smoked Paprika Mayonnaise; the homemade Vermouth; the Globe Artichokes with Hollandaise Sauce and Sumac; and the Chocolate and Salt Caramel Brownies with Cherry and Elderflower Sauce. 

Kurt and I share a fondness for blue cheese, so my first stop in the book was at the recipe titled Wild Mushrooms with Sourdough Toast and Thyme Stichelton Creme Fraiche. I made a few changes to keep the sourcing at least a little closer to home. We have fresh, locally-cultivated mushrooms that are available year-round, so I used local shitakes. I usually have thyme in my herb garden, but it died back during one of our freezes this winter. I substituted rosemary for it since I always have rosemary growing in multiple spots in our yard. And, last, rather than using Stichelton which is a British-made, raw milk, blue cheese, I used Jasper Hill Farms’ Bayley Hazen Blue which is also a raw milk blue. On little pieces of sourdough baguette, these mushroom toasts are a great appetizer. The mushrooms were sliced and then sauteed in some oil with chopped rosemary (or thyme). They were left to brown a bit before being stirred and turned. When fully cooked, butter was added to the mushrooms with a sprinkling of sea salt. The topping is an easy mix of creme fraiche,  blue cheese, and some rosemary in my case that was combined in the blender. The sauteed mushrooms were spooned onto pieces of toasted bread and topped with the blue cheese creme fraiche. My rosemary still had some flowers clinging to the sprigs which I used as garnish. 

I might have made some extra blue cheese creme fraiche and learned that it also makes a fabulous dipping sauce for roasted potato wedges. But, it was perfect with the mushroom toasts. They were crunchy and savory and a nice start to a meal on one of our chilly days. I’ll be looking back to this book for inspiration as the seasons change and different ingredients are at their best. 

Wild Mushroom with Sourdough Toast and Thyme Stichelton Creme Fraiche 
Recipe reprinted with publisher's permission from The Ethicurean Cookbook (Ebury Press).

Serves 4 

2 tbsp rapeseed oil 
300g mixed wild mushrooms, such as slippery jack, penny bun, russula, horse mushroom, sheep’s foot and puffballs, cleaned and sliced into 1cm strips 
leaves from 4 sprigs of thyme 
25g unsalted butter 
8 very thin slices of sourdough bread 
fine sea salt flaky sea salt 

For the thyme Stichelton creme fraiche: 
25g Stichelton cheese, roughly chopped 
75ml creme fraiche 
leaves from 5 sprigs of thyme 

For the thyme Stichelton creme fraiche, put all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse to a semi- coarse consistency. Season with salt to taste and set aside. 

Place a large frying pan over a high heat and leave until it is very hot. Add the rapeseed oil; it should begin to smoke. Immediately add the mushrooms and thyme leaves, plus a dusting of fine salt, and toss to coat them evenly with the oil. Leave undisturbed for a minute or so, until the mushrooms colour ever so slightly, then toss and colour on the other side. Remove from the heat and add the butter to the pan. Toss until it has melted and the mushrooms are evenly coated, then check the seasoning. 

While the mushrooms are cooking, put the sourdough bread under a hot grill and toast, turning every minute, until both sides are golden brown. Thin slices of bread will curl under the grill, and the regular turning prevents this happening. Remove the sourdough from the grill and add a couple of slices to each plate. Cover with the mushrooms, season with flaky sea salt and add a heaped tablespoon of the Stichelton creme fraiche.

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Cayenne Cantaloupe Sorbet with Honey-Cornmeal Cones

I somehow got it into my head that I should try making ice cream cones. It wasn’t just the idea of making a frozen dessert and scooping it onto a cone that was fascinating me. It was actually making the cones themselves that I had to do. I wasn’t so concerned with the waffle texture and using a proper pizelle maker, but I did want to form cone shapes not just drape tuille circles over little bowls for crunchy cups. I ordered a cone roller, and was ready to experiment. There are recipes for ice cream cones in The Perfect Scoop, and I opted for the Honey-Cornmeal variation with added chopped rosemary. I’d already decided on the Cayenne Cantaloupe Sorbet from the Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream Book, and honey and cornmeal in a cone seemed like a good match for it. Now, I enjoy a good kitchen challenge as much as the next obsessed home cook, but I will say that making the cones was one of the trickier things I’ve attempted lately. David Lebovitz offers some great tips for baking the batter in the oven and rolling the cones, but there are a lot of variables at play here. I drew six-inch circles on the back of parchment paper which lined the baking sheets. Then, I was able to spread the batter thinly, as instructed, to fill the circles. A baking time of ten to fifteen minutes was suggested, but that produced edges that were far too crispy to roll. You need to catch the baked batter at just the right moment when it’s set and cooked through but still pliable enough to roll into a cone. Oh, and you have to do this while it’s hot, which burns your fingers a bit. After one or two ugly results from trial and error, I pulled on some plastic gloves and got determined about this. Finally, a few cones seemed worth keeping, and the dessert plan was able to happen. 

There are a couple of other sorbets in the Humphry Slocombe book I also want to try which involve Hibiscus Beet and Thai Chile Lime, but I had a cantaloupe on hand so this one came about first. It’s a simple puree of a whole chopped cantaloupe, sugar, a pinch of salt, a couple of tablespoons of rice vinegar, a couple of tablespoons of vodka, some lime juice, and some cayenne. I usually always say that I add more of any hot chile ingredient in a recipe, but here, the one-half teaspoon called for was actually more than enough. I’d use a little less next time. All of the ingredients were pureed in a blender and then poured through a sieve before being chilled and then churned in an ice cream maker. While it spent some time in the freezer to firm, I set about the project that was making ice cream cones. The batter was made with an egg, an egg white, honey, melted butter, sugar, flour, cornmeal, and a little chopped rosemary. Two tablespoons of batter was used for each cone, and it was spread into a six-inch circle on a parchment-lined baking sheet. The batter baked for about six to eight minutes until set and golden at the edges. Once removed from the oven, the baked circles were flipped over with a metal spatula and immediately rolled into a cone on a wood form. The edges should be golden but not so crispy that they break when rolled on the form. Plan to test the first two to gauge the needed baking time. Also, wearing plastic gloves helps with touching the hot cones while rolling. When slightly cooled and firm, the cone was removed from the form, and then next cone was shaped. Since there is a small hole in the bottom of each cone, I melted chocolate for dipping. When the chocolate set on the tips of the cones, the holes were sealed. 

I don’t think I’d want to make homemade cones for a large party, but they were a fun treat for just a few desserts. And, the chile-spiked, fruity sorbet was a great flavor for the cornmeal cones with a hint of rosemary. If you’re going to burn your fingers for a kitchen project, it should be one with a result at least as delightful and tasty as this one. 

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Almond Rosemary Cake with Lemon and Creme Fraiche Glaze

“Rustic” is such a handy word when it comes to describing food. My homemade sourdough baguettes are always “rustic” which means I’m sloppy about shaping the loaves, and when my pastry doesn’t turn out as perfectly as it could, all is well if the word “rustic” is added to its title. However, there are times when “rustic” isn’t a euphemism for messy. Sometimes, a thing is “rustic” because it’s simple, charming, or well-textured. This almond cake is that kind of rustic. When I saw it in the June issue of Food and Wine, it went directly into my to-try stack of recipes. I have a not-so-successful history with almond cakes, so I headed into this recipe with a little concern. In the past, almond cakes I’ve made have been dense, dry, and dull. Thankfully, there were a few tricks to making this cake that prevented all of that. The cake batter is made with polenta and minced rosemary which added interest in both the flavor and texture departments. Also, the eggs were whipped with sugar to a fluffy state, and folding the mixture into the dry ingredients lightened the batter. One last trick was the use of a sugar and lemon syrup that was poured over the warm cake and prevented it from becoming dry.

Let me run through the details and the minor changes I made the original recipe. Skin-on, raw almonds were toasted, chopped, and ground in a food processor. I added some of the sugar to the almonds in the food processor to prevent them from forming a paste. The dry ingredients were combined, and I always sieve dry ingredients. I used whole wheat pastry flour instead of all-purpose, and polenta, baking powder, and salt were also included. After sieving those, I added the ground almonds, minced rosemary, and lemon zest. In a stand mixer, the eggs were mixed with the remaining sugar using the whisk attachment for about ten minutes until tripled in volume. Then, creme fraiche and cooled, melted butter were added. The egg mixture was folded into the dry ingredients in three additions. For baking, an eleven-inch springform pan is suggested, but I used a ten-inch pan. The cake baked for 25 minutes while the syrup was made. Sugar, water, and lemon juice were boiled and reduced for five minutes, and then I added a sprig of rosemary to steep in the syrup as it cooled. When the hot cake was removed from the oven, the syrup, minus the rosemary sprig, was poured over the top, and it was left to cool completely. Once cool, it was glazed with a mix of confectioners’ sugar, creme fraiche, and lemon juice and topped with pieces of rosemary.

I finally got over my losing streak with almond cakes. This is in no way light and fluffy like a chiffon, but it definitely wasn’t as dense as other almond cakes I’ve attempted. The sugar syrup worked like a charm in warding off a dry texture too. Next time, I might add a bit more minced rosemary to the batter since its flavor was very subtle, and those extra flecks of green will just make the cake even more “rustic” in a very good way.

Polenta and Pepita Country Bread

One of my resolutions for 2012 is to keep trying with the very-wet category of bread dough. I’ve been open about my inability to bake ciabatta with a fabulous, holey structure. And, it’s not just ciabatta that flummoxes me. The basic country bread from Tartine Bread is also made with a very wet dough, and I’ve yet to create anything with big holes from that recipe either. The baking technique suggested in that book is the covered cast iron pot method. A proofed loaf goes into a hot cast iron pot, the pot is covered with a hot lid, and the moisture from the dough steams inside the pot as the bread begins to bake. I’ve had mixed results with that method in the past. On one occasion, the dough was just too wet, and the resulting baked loaf was a little soggy on the bottom. I made some changes to the dough, tried again, and this time, the cast iron pot baking method worked fine. To hedge my bets since this recipe makes two loaves, I actually baked one loaf in the cast iron pot and one directly on a baking stone. The loaf from the cast iron pot was the better of the two since the pot prevented the loaf from spreading. However, I still didn’t find those lovely, big holes in the crumb. Hence, I vowed my resolution to keep trying. In Tartine Bread, after introducing the basic country bread, there are a few variations including this polenta and pepita option. Soaked, coarse-grained polenta, toasted pepitas, and chopped fresh rosemary are added to the basic dough. It’s a chewy, hearty bread with a crunchy, dark crust.

I mentioned that I made a couple of changes this time. First, one of the suggestions for beginning the basic country loaf is to make a leaven using only a tablespoon of mature starter to prevent the resulting dough from having a too-sour flavor. My mature starter isn’t very sour in flavor, so I ignored that and just fed my starter as usual to use as the leaven for the dough. Next, the dough is suggested to be mixed by hand, but I used a stand mixer with a dough hook because it’s easier. The leaven was combined with water, white flour, and whole wheat flour and left for the autolyse. After about 20 minutes, another 50 grams of water was to have been added. Since my dough seemed extra wet last time, I skipped that additional 50 grams of water. Also after the autolyse, salt was added. Then, the dough was to have been placed in a bowl for the bulk fermentation with turns every half hour. The soaked polenta, toasted pepitas, chopped rosemary, and some corn oil were to have been added after the second turn. I followed those instructions when I made the flax and sunflower seed whole wheat bread, and it was difficult to get the seeds mixed into the dough at that point. So this time, I added the polenta, etc. in the mixing bowl along with the salt right after the autolyse. Then, I transferred the dough to a bowl to ferment for about four hours. It was turned in the bowl every 30 minutes. After four hours, the dough was transferred to a work surface and divided into two pieces. Each piece was shaped into a round, but the wet dough spreads easily so the rounds should be well-spaced apart. The rounds were left to rest for 30 minutes. Final loaf shapes were then formed, and towel-lined baskets were sprinkled with a mixture of rice flour and wheat flour before the loaves were placed in them. I opted for a delayed final rising of the dough by covering the proofing baskets and leaving them in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, I baked one loaf in a heated cast iron pan. After twenty minutes of baking, the lid was removed. I baked the other loaf on parchment, which made the wet dough easier to transfer from the peel, directly on a baking stone. The loaf on the stone spread more and browned more, and the cast iron pot method worked well.

What I’ve learned is that maybe sometimes a wet dough is just too wet. Skipping the additional water seemed to be a good thing with this version. I still haven’t learned how to get those lovely holes throughout a loaf, but hopefully if practice doesn’t make perfect it will eventually make better. Meanwhile, I had two big, round loaves of rustic, homemade bread full of crunchy pumpkin seeds and corn and rosemary flavors to enjoy.

I’m submitting this to Yeastspotting where you’ll find some seriously well-made bread.

Grilled Peach Sundaes with Balsamic Fudge

Despite the fact that everything is supposed to be bigger in Texas, Texas-grown peaches are kind of small. I would argue, however, that their flavor is very big. Not many other fruits compare to a perfectly ripe peach. I mentioned the other day that I’d been reading Farmers' Market Desserts, and most of the recipes in that book include suggestions for alternate fruits. There’s a dessert called grilled fig sundaes with balsamic fudge, and I took note of the suggestion to use peaches or plums instead when in season as I had just received some peaches from my CSA. Whichever type of fruit is used, each piece is cut in half and skewered onto a rosemary sprig and grilled. The fruit skewers only remain on the grill long enough to soften and brown in spots and take on some smokiness. And, the fruit is only one part of this dessert. There’s also ice cream which is a natural with warm fruit, and then there’s the sauce. This is no old-fashioned, ice cream parlor kind of sauce. It’s a tangy, sweet reduction of red wine, balsamic vinegar, and sugar, and it makes this a sundae with grown-up flavor.

I’m sure both figs and plums would work very well for grilling. The peaches I used were nicely ripe which means they were a little tender and had to be pierced and skewered carefully. The pieces of fruit didn’t stay in place very well on the rosemary sprigs. They tended to flip around the stem and would have been difficult to turn on the grill. To fix that issue, I also pushed a wooden skewer through the fruit behind each rosemary sprig. With two skewers in place, the fruit stayed put and was easy to turn. To start, you should soak your skewers in water so they won’t burn on the grill even though any rosemary leaves left on the ends will catch the flame regardless. Meanwhile, you can begin the sauce. Good balsamic vinegar, red wine, and sugar, and the amount of sugar depends on whether you’re using a dry wine or a sweet, dessert wine, were stirred together in a saucepan. Over a bare simmer, that mixture was left to reduce by half which took about 15 minutes. It thickened as it cooled. Then, the fruit was brushed with olive oil, seasoned, and grilled for a few minutes per side, and the timing will depend on how hot your grill is. The goal is to just allow the fruit to soften and begin to brown. I served the grilled fruit and sauce with vanilla gelato, and I always follow the recipe from Demolition Desserts. It includes only two eggs and is made with more milk than cream making it slightly lighter than other vanilla ice cream recipes I sometimes use.

Savory flavors from the grill smoke and rosemary challenged the sweetness of the peaches and gelato in a delicious way. Likewise, the sauce was a mix of sweet and tart, rather than just sweet, which nudged the taste of the gelato in the direction of cheesecake. Plain, ripe, summer peaches are a pleasure, but if you’d like to dress up a few of them for dessert, I highly recommend this sundae.

Rosemary-Olive Oil Bread

From the looks of things around here, it doesn't seem like I've been baking much bread. The last time I mentioned baking a loaf of bread was on January 12. The truth is that I have been baking bread. I just haven't been thrilled with what I've baked. You see, ciabatta has become my nemesis. I set out to bake loaves of chewy, airy, holey ciabatta, and my results have been less than perfect. Some loaves have a few holes but not enough, and other loaves have a crumb that looks the same as my sourdough baguette. I've tried different recipes and techniques and eventually got to the point of dreading the moment of cutting into a baked and cooled loaf. Now, I have a freezer stocked with loaves of bread disappointments. I may have to admit defeat eventually, but I'm sure I'll try again as soon as I clear out some freezer space. For now though, I needed to move on, change things up, and bake a different kind of bread. I went back to the Breads from the La Brea Bakery book and chose the rosemary-olive oil bread recipe. In the headnote, this bread is described as having a "multifaceted flavor in which the rosemary is a strong but not overpowering element," and the olive oil coats "the gluten strands and make[s] a softer dough than usual." It was to have a uniform crumb and is basically a white dough flavored with herbs. This was perfect. A holey crumb was not the goal here, and that's the change in bread baking I needed.

As usual, the two-day dough process turned into three days for me because I always need to bring my sourdough starter to room temperature and feed it the day before mixing the dough. Then, on day two, the dough was mixed by combining water, white starter, bread flour, and wheat germ in a mixer with a dough hook. It was left for the autolyse, and there's a fantastic description of exactly what that 20 minute resting period is all about at A Bread a Day. After the autolyse, salt was added to the dough, and then chopped, fresh rosemary and olive oil were mixed in as well. It didn't seem like the olive oil was getting well-mixed into the dough in the mixer, so I transferred it to a board and kneaded by hand until the oil was incorporated. The dough was placed in an oiled bowl, covered, and left to ferment for about three and a half hours. It was then placed on a floured board, cut into two pieces and allowed to rest for a bit. After the rest, each piece was shaped into a boule, both were placed in proofing baskets, the baskets were covered, and the dough was left to rise at room temperature for an hour and a half. At that point, the baskets were covered with plastic and refrigerated for 12 hours. The next day, the baskets were removed from the refrigerator so the dough could warm up for a couple of hours before baking. I baked the two loaves at the same time on a baking stone, and the oven was spritzed with water from a spray bottle during the first five minutes of baking. After a total baking time of about 40 minutes, the loaves were browned and crisp on the surface.

As promised, the flavor from the rosemary was evident but not too strong. The tender texture of the crumb and the crispness of the crust were due to the olive oil. This made me excited about bread again. Not only did I finally have a couple of loaves that weren't failures, they were also very flavorful. This is a bread I'll look forward to baking and cutting into again, and then I'll think about going another round with ciabatta.

I’m submitting this to Yeastspotting where you’ll find some seriously well-made bread.

Apple Phyllo Tarts

Apple fritters, apple dumplings, or a buttery apple-filled coffee cake would have been delicious, but I wanted to keep things a little less indulgent at least until Valentine’s Day. So, I found a great way to use the apples I’ve been getting from my CSA in Martha Stewart's Healthy Quick Cook. These are easy, little tarts to make with store-bought phyllo dough, and I even found whole wheat phyllo dough to make them that much more virtuous. The phyllo tart shells are baked empty to keep them very crisp, and the cooked apples with their syrup get spooned into the shells just before serving. The recipe was kept simple and low-calorie for a dessert by using minimal amounts of butter and sugar. I did complicate matters just slightly by adding two additional ingredients with rosemary and lemon zest.

Once the phyllo was thawed by leaving it in the refrigerator overnight, the sheets needed to be cut into squares. I doubled the recipe to make eight tart shells instead of four and used six sheets of phyllo which were stacked and cut into seven inch squares. I’m terrible at eye-balling a straight, even-sided square, so I used my trusty, kitchen ruler. Ordinarily, when using phyllo, each piece is brushed with melted butter before another layer is added, but here, the butter was only used on the second of three layers. A scant bit of sugar was sprinkled on each layer, and three squares were stacked for each tart. The stacked layers of dough were then gently fitted into ring molds that had been sprayed with oil. I used English muffins rings. Then, the tart shells were baked for about ten minutes until crisp and golden. Meanwhile, apples were chopped and combined with lemon juice and apple juice, and I left the peels on them. Butter was melted in a skillet, one tablespoon of sugar was added to caramelize, and a splash of cognac gave it another layer of flavor. Out of instinct, I added some sea salt to the caramel. Then, the apples and juices were added to the pan and were left to cook while the sauce reduced, and that’s when I added a sprig of rosemary. The cooked apples and sauce were spooned into the tart shells, and I garnished with chopped rosemary and some lemon zest.

If you don’t have ring molds or English muffin rings handy, you can also just make little stacks of crumpled phyllo sheets to be baked and then topped with the apples. On television years ago, I saw Michel Richard prepare a recipe involving just that with multiple layers of apples and phyllo pieces served with custard. But, if you have a way to form cup shapes with the layers of phyllo, they hold the filling perfectly. I loved how they shattered into flaky bits when cutting into them with a fork. And, the caramel sauce with lemon and subtle rosemary flavor made the apples special without being too rich.

Rustic Rosemary-Parmesan Crackers

I have two new books from Sur la Table to tell you about today. Both were just released in late September, and I received review copies. Simple Comforts, is a cute, little book about seven inches square. It's full of classic dishes that everyone craves, but the recipes have been updated for a more contemporary feel through the addition of fresh herbs and oils and vinegars that have become easy to find these days. Favorite comfort foods like cinnamon rolls, old-fashioned dinner rolls, chicken noodle soup, chicken pot pie, classic extra-cheesy macaroni and cheese, and strawberry shortcakes are all here. But, you'll also find banana chocolate chip bread with chocolate icing, pizza margherita, kabocha squash soup with toasted cumin and chiles, chard mushroom and swiss cheese frittata, and an ice cream sundae with roasted strawberries with a brown sugar-balsamic drizzle. It's a great go-to reference for meals that are sure to please and would be a perfect book for a beginner cook.

The second book, Gifts Cooks Love, offers just what the title suggests. It presents homemade goodies that make great gifts and ideas for packaging them as well. There are preserved gifts like aleppo pepper-peach chutney, apricot-bourbon mustard, and cotes du rhone-rhubarb compote. The smoked and cured options include homemade bacon, salmon gravlax, and a smoky ketchup. Of course there are baked goods like double fudge brownie pops, panforte, and a very cool-looking biscotti Christmas tree. For the tree, the biscotti are cut to different lengths and then stacked bottom to top, from large to small, to form a three-dimensional tree shape. It looks so great in the photo in the book, I have to try it. You'll also find confections, homemade liqueurs, spice blends, and gift kit ideas. I jumped in and tested the homemade rosemary-parmesan crackers, and these are mentioned in one of the kit suggestions that would also include green tomato chutney, aleppo pepper-peach chutney, panforte, and chipotle chile candied pecans.

The crackers were made in a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, and flour, chopped fresh rosemary, salt, and sugar were combined. Water was poured over that mixture, and it was kneaded with the mixer. The dough was set aside, wrapped in plastic, to allow the gluten to relax. Then, working with half the dough at a time, it was rolled out and cut into long, thin crackers. They were placed on olive oil-coated baking sheets, the tops were brushed with more olive oil, and they were sprinkled with freshly grated parmigiano reggiano. They came out of the oven golden and puffed in spots. They bake pretty quickly, in just about ten minutes, but you do need to watch them and remove the crackers on the ends of the baking sheet that brown before the ones in the center. These were crunchy, addictive snacks, and they'd make a gift I'd be happy to give and even happier to receive.

Whiskey Fizz and a True Gin Sour

I like making cocktails at home, but it usually involves a lot of tasting or tinkering for me to get them right. The Cocktail Primer takes out the guesswork and offers an interesting way to categorize drink types. I received a review copy of this book and was happy to expand my cocktail knowledge while trying a few drinks along the way. Eben Klemm, master mixologist and head bartender of B.R. Guest Restaurants, organized this book by grouping descendants from master drinks. He offers six master drink classes, which are defined by style and technique, and the cocktails that belong to each group. For instance, from the martini comes the vesper and negroni. These drinks are not sweet or acidic, and they have a high alcohol content. They each have a primary and a secondary spirit but no fruit or sweet liqueurs. There is also a wealth of cocktail history sprinkled throughout the book. I learned that martinis weren’t always such strong drinks. Originally, they contained a more equal ratio of gin or vodka to vermouth and bitters. As the quality of gin and vodka has improved over the years, there became less need to mask the taste of the liquor, and the modern martini is now much more alcoholic. And, should you shake or stir? Klemm explains that as well. You should shake to aerate and slightly dilute a drink and stir for a more elegant, still result.

I found myself drawn to the chapter about simple sours. These drinks all include one type of liquor, some form of citrus for acidity, and a small amount of sweetness for balance. The fizz was particularly interesting because of the egg white foam that results on top. A fizz should be shaken to aerate the egg white and blend it with the liquor of choice, fresh lemon juice, simple syrup, and bitters. These can be made with gin, whiskey, or rum, and they are finished with a splash of both club soda and red wine. First, I tried a gin fizz, and Kurt and I were both unsure about the flavor and texture combination. Next, I made the same drink with whiskey instead, and we both preferred that version by far. The fizz is shown in the photo at the bottom of this post. Since the gin didn’t work for us in the first cocktail, I tried it again in a true sour. This time, rather than using plain simple syrup, I took Klemm’s advice about trying flavored syrups and made one infused with rosemary. The gin, lemon juice, and rosemary syrup were shaken with ice, and the mixture was strained over fresh ice in a glass. A dash of bitters was added along with a splash of soda, and it was garnished with a maraschino cherry. The true sour is shown in the photo above. It was fresh-tasting, and the lemon and rosemary combined well with gin.

This book does a great job of simplifying the world of cocktails and helping you understand them from the inside out. Once you master the basics and learn about variations on some general themes, you can start getting creative. In the final chapter, there are a few examples of complex sours that make use of more ingredients than the other cocktails in the book. I’m looking forward to trying the paradiso with white peach-white pepper foam that’s made with limoncello. Then, I might be ready to invent a signature cocktail or two of my own.

Mascarpone Ice Cream with Peaches

Sometimes you just know. You see a recipe and you don’t even have to think about it or wonder how it will taste or worry about the technique because you know it will be great. You can already imagine the flavor, and it’s very, very good. That was what happened when I saw this dessert in July’s Food and Wine. Yes, ice cream made with mascarpone and served with peaches floating in a white wine-honey syrup scented with rosemary required no thinking. This was also a good choice for dessert because local peaches are still available, and rosemary is one of the few items in my yard that hasn’t succumbed to the searing, persistent heat this summer. The garlic chives are limply hanging on, the lemongrass is ok but requires a lot of water, and there are still a few green leaves on the sage. The basil isn’t entirely happy, but it’s surviving in containers which are watered daily. Everything else is long dead, but the rosemary doesn’t mind this weather at all, and I was happy to find another use for it.

The ice cream was made with a pretty standard custard including four egg yolks and whole milk. After the custard was cooked and poured into a bowl to cool, mascarpone was whisked into it, and then it was churned in an ice cream maker. For the syrup, white wine, honey, water, and sugar were combined in a saucepan and boiled until reduced by half. Rosemary was added and allowed to steep, and I veered from the recipe at this point. Rather than pouring the syrup over peaches and baking them, I simply sliced the peaches and let them sit in the warm syrup while it steeped with the rosemary. I wanted to keep the peaches a little firmer and closer to their fresh state. They were so fragrant and juicy, I didn’t feel the need to bake them to intensify the flavor.

A big scoop of the ice cream was topped with peach slices and a few spoons of syrup. The interesting thing about the ice cream is that there is no vanilla. The flavor comes entirely from the mascarpone. It was a nice change from the familiar taste of vanilla, and it was as good as expected with the peaches and syrup.