Raccoon and Lobster

Submitted to Yeastspotting

I coarsely grated the cheese for this bread, and it ended up disappearing into the dough after being cooked. Instead of distinct bites of cheese, there’s more of a general cheesiness infused into the dough even though I used almost double the amount of cheese in the man-bread recipe. If you want distinct bites of cheese, stick with cubes of cheese about 1/4″ instead of grating.

Cheddar Potato Jalapeño Chive Bread adapted from the Ultimate Man Bread

8 ounces potato water
18 ounces bread flour
10 ounces sourdough starter
2 tablespoons yeast
2 teaspoons salt
6 ounces potatoes, cubed and cooked
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese
2 scallions, diced
1 jalapeño, minced and pan fried

Combine the water, flour, starter, and yeast and knead into a shaggy dough. Let rest for 5 minutes. Add the salt and knead for 5 more minutes. The dough should come together enough for you to continue kneading using the french fold for 8-10 minutes. Add in the potatoes, cheese, scallions, and jalapeño and knead until evenly distributed. Shape into a rough boule and cover and let rise until double it’s original size, about 90 minutes to 2 hours. You can also choose to refrigerate the bread overnight at this point to further develop flavor and continue as normal.

Divide into 2 loaves and shape into boules. Let rise in a brotform until it increases in size by half and the dough doesn’t fully spring back when poked, about 60 minutes, more if the bread has been chilled.

Turn out the boules, slash, and bake at 475°F for 15 minutes and then turn down to 450°F for 20 minutes.

Freshly made pasta is so superior to the store-bought kind that I always feel bad that I don’t do it more often. I managed to pick up the KitchenAid pasta roller set on sale so now I definitely have no excuses.

In fact, take a look at my setup:

That is the power of parallel processing, folks.

Fresh Basil Pasta
serves 4-5

4 large eggs
400 grams flour (14.1 oz)
1 tablespoon olive oil
3-5 leaves of fresh basil, finely chopped
½ teaspoon salt

Combine ingredients and gently knead into a smooth dough. If the dough is too sticky or too dry, adjust with small amounts of flour and water. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes. Cut the dough into quarters and run a piece through the rollers at the thickest setting a few times, folding in half lengthwise between each run, dusting lightly with flour to avoid sticking. Then run it through without folding, reducing the thickness setting between each run until you reach the desired noodle thickness. Cut the sheet to a manageable length and run it through the cutter and then hang the noodles up to dry as you finish processing all of your dough.

To serve this, I replicated a recipe from the Old Spaghetti Factory that The Boyfriend was exceptionally fond of back in the day. They claim that Homer—the Greek poet, not the Simpson—lived off of the dish. Always one to fiddle with the classics, I added in some heirloom tomatoes and steak strips to  jazz it up and also to help counteract the saltiness of aged mizithra cheese.

Fettuccine with Mizithra Cheese and Browned Butter
serves 2

3 cups cooked pasta, drained
3 tablespoons of butter
1½-2 cups of hard mizithra cheese, grated
2 large tomatoes, chopped
cooked steak strips or other protein source

Brown the butter in a saucepan and add the pasta. Toss the pasta to coat with butter and mix in most of the cheese. Remove from heat and top with tomatoes and steak strips and season with remaining cheese. Garnish with a little more chopped basil for flash.

I am sitting down to write this post having just consumed approximately double the recommended serving size for an North American moose. Perhaps I would have more of a lead-up to this recipe if I wasn’t desperately in need of a post-meal nap. The one thing I will point out is that instead of regular bread crumbs, if you happen to have a slightly stale roll of Rich Man’s Brioche, it makes things even better. And by better, I mean fatter.

Marcaroni and Cheese adapted from Saveur’s “favorite mac and cheese” recipe

serves 4 gluttons or 6 people with self control

1 lb tube shaped pasta
2 tbsp butter
1 yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp rosemary
sprinkle grated nutmeg
1/4 cup white wine
2 tbsp flour
3½ cups whole milk
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 lb grated cheese – aged gruyere or sharp cheddar are particularly good choices
salt and pepper
2 tbsp coarse bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 400°F. Boil a large pot of water and cook the pasta until not quite done, about 5-7 minutes. Drain.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter and add the onions, garlic, thyme, rosemary, and nutmeg. Cook over medium heat until the onions are soft, 8-10 minutes. Add wine and cook for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute, so the flour taste is cooked out. Slowly whisk in the milk then the mustard. Reduce heat to a simmer and stir until the sauce is thick and creamy and coats a spoon, 15-20 minutes. Remove pan from heat and add 3 cups of the cheese to the sauce, one handful at a time. Stir until melted in before adding next batch. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Add pasta to the sauce until well coated and transfer to a baking dish. Scatter remaining cheese on top and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake until bubbling and the crust is golden brown, about 25 minutes. Gorge yourself.

It’s pretty easy to change up a tart by swapping some ingredients around. Yesterday’s tart was so well received that I knew immediately I would be making another one today. I actually purchased this tart pan on Bastille Day and it has sat around unused since then. I suspect that it will be in heavy rotation for the rest of the summer. These directions are just a guideline, you can vary proportions, add or remove spices, change up the cheese, or any number of other twists.

Start as before with your pâte brisée and line your tart pan with the crust.

Bacon and Tomato Tart
1 sliced tomato
4 oz grated gruyere cheese
2-3 slices bacon, cooked and chopped
4-5 cloves roasted garlic (to make roasted garlic, wrap a head of garlic in tinfoil, drizzle with olive oil, seal, and stick in a 350°F oven for about 45 minutes)
1 egg
2 dollops of sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
shredded basil

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Edit: As mentioned in a new post, I’ve discovered how to ensure that the crust stays flaky instead of getting soggy. Before putting in the tart filling, first parbake the crust by itself for about 10 minutes, until it just gets a touch of color. Then brush it lightly with an egg white wash and let that cool to form a barrier against the moisture of the filling.

Sprinkle in about half of the grated gruyere. Layer in sliced tomatoes. Add the bacon and roasted garlic. Beat the egg and stir in the sour cream, salt and pepper. Pour evenly onto your tart and cover with more gruyere and the shredded basil. Bake until cheese is bubbling and crust is golden brown, about 25 minutes for an 8″ tart. Serve warm.

A poor harvest from my own garden meant that I was constantly low on tomatoes. No matter how many I purchased from the farmer’s market, we were still always low on tomatoes when the need arose. Finally, the boyfriend picked up a bounty of heirloom tomatoes, which, of course, I now had to figure out a way to use up.

Enter the tomato tart. Refrigeration and baking time aside, this recipe is fast. Less than 15 minutes of work total. I was really pleased with how little good it was given how little effort I put in.

Tart dough (aka pâte brisée for you francophiles)
(makes enough for two 8″ tarts)
5.5 oz (1 1/4 cups) all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1 stick butter, chilled and cut into small chunks
~3 tablespoons ice water

You can use the pastry cutter method for this, but I’m a recent convert to the use of a food processor for making flaky crusts. Either way, you want to cut the butter in to the flour, salt, and sugar, leaving pea sized chunks. Gradually add in the ice water until the dough combines and is no longer crumbly but is also not wet or soggy. Wrap with plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes.

When the dough is properly chilled, it’s time to roll it out. You’ll need about half for an 8″ tart. Roll the dough out to 1/8″ thickness on a lightly floured surface, making a circle large enough to line the bottom and the edges of your tart pan. Gently lay it on top of your tart pan and press it down into the corners. If you let the excess dough lay over the edge of the pan, you can run your rolling pin over the pan and it will cut off the excess, leaving a neat shell in the pan.

For the filling, you can have some fun varying the ingredients. The one I’m making tomorrow with the leftover dough will have bacon and roasted garlic.

Tart Filling

ripe tomatoes, sliced 1/4″ thick
4 oz gruyere cheese, grated
2 eggs
splash of heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
shredded basil

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Edit: As mentioned in a new post, I’ve discovered how to ensure that the crust stays flaky instead of getting soggy. Before putting in the tart filling, first parbake the crust by itself  for about 10 minutes, until it just gets a touch of color. Then brush it lightly with an egg white wash and let that cool to form a barrier against the moisture of the filling.

Sprinkle half of the cheese in the pan and then lay out slices of tomatoes on top. Beat the eggs, add in the cream, salt, and pepper and pour into the pan. Cover with remainder of cheese. Sprinkle basil on top and bake for about 25-30 minutes (for an 8″ tart), or until the crust is golden and the cheese has melted. Serve warm.