In the book Breadsong by Kitty and Al Tait, they call a signature bread at their English bakery “The Comfort”. It is an example of the Jim Leahy No Knead bread with the addition of some marmite to increase the unami of the loaf. (I often use small amounts of marmite in gravies and other Read More …
The very last scene in the movie Goodfellas is the mobster Henry Hill talking into the camera and complaining about how boring life is in the witness protection program. A specific complaint is that he went to a local Italian restaurant and ordered spaghetti with marinara sauce and what he got was egg noodles with Read More …
When I have made sourdough boules (such as Whole Wheat Sourdough Boule ) I have a lot of starter which is discarded on the morning of the second day, which seems wasteful. I decided to use it as the base of a flatbread for breakfast. The starter is 100% hydrated (i.e. equal weights of flour Read More …
This classic dates back to the August 1998 issue of Gourmet magazine, where it was described as “Bill’s Blueberry Cobbler”. It is sweet and rich and has particularly tasty edges. As promised, it is also very easy. I served it for Memorial Day with vanilla ice cream. It makes 4 large or 6 adequate servings. Read More …
This is a variation on a “Slow Food Fast” recipe in the Wall St. Journal on May 13-14, 2023. That recipe seemed to be in general a good idea, but it also called for some ingredients I did not have. Here is how I made it for 2 people using what I did have. This Read More …
On a recent trip to Germany, Carol very much enjoyed German breads made with lots of seeds, so I baked a loaf for her based on a recipe in Peter Reinhart’s Artisan Breads Every Day. The quantities below are enough to make 2 boules of the size shown in the photos. (710 g. unbaked and Read More …
A couple of years ago, in their “Slow Food Fast” series, the Wall St. Journal published a British version of “fish en excabeche”, “Seared Mackerel With Soused Vegetables”, with the oily fish mackerel balanced off by lightly pickled root vegetables and a bitter leafy vegetable. I made three substitutions due to ingredient availability. For mackerel, Read More …
I frequently make Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake as a dessert for large groups. I recently saw on YouTube a recipe for “Texas Sheetcake for Two” on Whippoorwill Holler and decided to make it for Carol and myself. (As they confess in the actual video, this is really more of sheetcake for four.) It can be Read More …
Gnudi (ricotta gnocchi) are a lighter and less-glycemic alternative to the common gnocchi made out of potatoes and flour. They are similar to the filling of a cheese ravioli.) This version is adapted from lifehacker.com. They think it makes 2 servings, but Carol and I were satisfied with 2/3 of the result. It was fairly Read More …
Carol frequently orders lamb shanks when they are available at a restaurant, so when I saw some at Kroger’s I bought them and made this dish, based on a recipe in Molly Stevens’ book All About Braising. The 2 lamb shanks were about 3 lbs. total, and I cut the meat off the bones after Read More …