Baked Camembert With Garlic And Tarragon

Baked Camembert With 

Garlic And Tarragon

Oozing baked cheese is the perfect way to get a lunch started – with lots of crusty bread, crispy crackers or vegetable crudités for dipping in fondue-style.
Ingredients
2 tbsp clear honey
1 large clove garlic, crushed to a paste
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
½ tsp fennel seeds, plus extra to garnish
½ tsp fine sea salt
¼ x 3/4oz. pack tarragon
1 large unwaxed lemon, zest
8oz. pack baking Camembert
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp pistachio kernels, roasted, to garnish (optional)
seeded crackers, crusty baguette or vegetable crudités, for dipping.
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400ºF,  

In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, garlic, vinegar, ½ tsp finely crushed fennel seeds, salt, finely chopped tarragon leaves and most of the lemon zest.

Remove the cheese from its wooden tray and wrapper, then use a knife to score a cross-hatch diagonal pattern – cutting just over halfway through it. Using a spoon or knife, fill each slit generously with the garlic-herb honey.

Put the cheese back into its wooden tray (or use a ramekin), then drizzle over the oil. 

Place onto a baking sheet to capture any spillage, then bake for 13-15 minutes, or until the cheese is fully oozing in the middle.

Finely crush the pistachios, if using, and sprinkle over the cheese to garnish, with a pinch of fennel seeds and the remaining lemon zest. Serve immediately, with crackers, crusty baguette or vegetable crudités for dipping.

Cook’s tip
You can also do this with other cheeses such as Brie and Taleggio.

Cardamom Honeyed Kumquats on Ricotta Toast

Cardamom Honeyed Kumquats On Ricotta Toast

A simple dish to make at home with the best of what's in season. Kumquats are so readily available in the grocery store. Anyone with a tree has an abundance to share.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup water
3 cardamom pods, gently cracked
3 cups Kumquats, sliced
Crusty bread, cut in 1/2 inch slices
Ricotta cheese
Poppy seeds

Directions:

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the water, honey, and cardamom pods. Bring to a simmer and stir until the honey dissolves.

Add the kumquats and bring the mixture back to a simmer for 10 minutes or until the liquid slightly thickens and the kumquats are translucent.  Remove the pan from the heat and let cool.  Discard the cardamom pods

Preheat oven to 350*F and place rack in middle position[.

Arrange bread slices on a baking sheet or directly on oven rack and bake for 10 minutes, flipping over half way if needed.

 Spread a generous amount of ricotta cheese on each slice of toast and top with a few spoons of kumquats.  Garnish with a few spoons of poppy seeds.

Store the leftover honeyed kumquats in a airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Dumplings In Hunter's Sauce ~ Knodel mit JagersoBe

Knödel mit Jägersoße (Dumplings in a hunter's sauce)

It's still potato season and I still have a lot to work through! Germans have a lot of varieties of dumplings that go by many names depending on the region. These are made with mashed potatoes and a mushroom cream sauce. Simple but filling.

Ingredients:

Dumplings:

2 1/2 pounds starchy potatoes (Russet or white potatoes)

4 slices of stale crusty bread

2 tablespoons butter (more in needed)

1 tablespoon starch

2 eggs

1 teaspoon salt and pepper.

JagersoBe:

2 pounds mushrooms

1 shallot

2 cloves garlic

Salt and Pepper to taste

Thyme, 

Balsamic Vinegar to taste

Tablespoon tomato paste

1 to 2 Tablespoons flour 

Stock or water

Cream

Directions:

Boil 2.5 lbs of starchy potatoes until fork tender. Peel the skins off and put through a potato ricer (or mash until smooth) and cool completely. 

Cut 4 slices crusty, stale bread into cubes and fry in a little butter to make croutons. 

Mix into the potatoes 1 Tablespoon corn/potato starch, 2 eggs, 1 tsp salt and pepper. 

Form into a small tennis ball, add a crouton into the middle, boil 15-20 minutes. 

Remove and serve with Jägersoße.

Jägersoße.

Dice 2lbs mushrooms, 1 shallot, and 2 cloves of garlic. Cook in butter for 10 minutes. 

Add salt, pepper, thyme, and balsamic vinegar to taste. May add tbsp of tomato paste as well. 

Add 1-2 tbsp flour and cook for a few minutes. 

Add stock or water and cook until sauce forms. May add a bit of cream as well.

Beans And Greens Alla Vodka

Beans and Greens Alla Vodka 

Pasta alla vodka is a classic because each ingredient works together beautifully: the heat of the red-pepper flakes and vodka, the sweetness of the tomato and the richness of the cream. And that combination works equally well with beans and greens. Use chickpeas or white beans, and kale or any other dark leafy green, like Swiss chard or broccoli rabe. The finished dish keeps for up to three days in the fridge. Eat it on its own, with crusty bread for dunking, or over pasta.Time 20 minutes / 4 Servings

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Kosher salt
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
1/4 cup vodka
1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
2 (15-ounce) cans white beans (such as cannellini or Great Northern 

   Beans or Chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 bunch of Kale with ribs removed and torn into smaller pieces.

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Crusty Bread

Directions:
In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over
medium-high. Add the onion and garlic, season with salt,
and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3 to 5
minutes. Add the tomato paste, vodka and red-pepper
flakes. Cook, stirring, until the tomato paste is a shade
darker and starts to stick to the bottom of the pot, 2 to 3
minutes.

Add 2 cups water, the beans and the kale, season with
salt and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to maintain a
simmer, cover, and cook until the liquid is flavorful and
the kale is tender, 7 to 10 minutes.

Pasta alla vodka is a classic because each ingredient works together beautifully: the heat of the red-pepper flakes and vodka, the sweetness of the tomato and the richness of the cream. And that combination works equally well with beans and greens. Use chickpeas or white beans, and kale or any other dark leafy green, like Swiss chard or broccoli rabe. The finished dish keeps for up to three days refrigerated.

Pain de Campagne (Country Bread)

Pain de Campagne (Country Bread)

Using unfed sourdough starter, minimal kneading, long fermentation, and baking in a hot Dutch Oven are some of the techniques  Once you read through and bake this recipe yourself,  you'll no doubt discover exactly how to adapt it to your own schedule — which means you may very well find yourself baking this country bread weekly (or even daily!).   Prep 20 mins.  Bake 40 to 45 mins    Total 21 hrs 5 mins
Yield 2 large loaves

Ingredients
*900g Unbleached Bread Flour
100g Whole Wheat Flour
800g tepid water (75°F to 80°F )
20g salt
40g sourdough starter, unfed/discard
*Don't have a scale? See "tips," below, for approximate volume measurements.

Directions
Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl or extra large (6-quart) dough rising bucket. It's fine to use sourdough starter straight from the refrigerator if that's where you keep it, though it's best if you've fed it at least once in the past week.

Mix the ingredients by hand until the dough forms a shaggy mass and the flour is hydrated. Cover the bowl or bucket and let the dough rest at room temperature for 15 minutes.

Fold the dough by grabbing a section from one side with a wet hand, lifting it up, then pressing it down to the middle to seal. Repeat this with the remaining three sides of the dough. Cover and let it rest for 15 minutes.

Fold the dough two more times, giving it a 15-minute rest between the two, for a total of three sets of folds in 45 minutes. As you perform the folds you’ll notice that the dough smooths out, gaining strength and becoming elastic.

Cover the dough tightly after the final fold and leave it at room temperature (approximately 72°F) for about 12 hours. It's helpful to mark the height of the dough (use the markings on the bucket or a large rubber band around your bowl) to gauge how much it rises.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured or greased surface and divide it into two roughly equal pieces. Gently form the pieces into rounds, cover them, and let them rest seam-side down for 10 minutes.

Generously dust two lined bannetons or towel-lined large bowls with whole wheat flour.

Shape the loaves into tight rounds (boules), place them seam-side up into the prepared bannetons or bowls, and cover them with a plastic bag or shower cap.

If your dough doubled (or came close to doubling) during the 12-hour rise period, immediately place the boules into the refrigerator. But if your dough was a bit more sluggish, let the boules rest at room temperature for 30 to 60 minutes to give them a head start on the second rise.

Let the boules rest in the refrigerator for 8 to 12 hours, depending on your schedule (not theirs!).

When you're ready to bake, place two Dutch ovens or other lidded bread bakers onto a rack set in the lowest third of the oven. If you just have one Dutch oven or don't have room for two in your oven, you can certainly bake one loaf at a time, leaving the other in the refrigerator while the first one bakes. Preheat the oven (and Dutch ovens) to 500°F for 45 minutes (you'll want to ensure that they're tough enough to withstand preheating; not all are).

Turn each loaf out onto a piece of parchment paper and slash them with a lame or sharp knife.

Remove the preheated Dutch ovens from the oven. With the help of the parchment, carefully transfer the loaves to the Dutch ovens.

Cover the Dutch ovens with their lids and place them in the oven.

Immediately reduce the oven temperature to 450°F and bake the covered loaves for 20 minutes. Remove the lids from the Dutch ovens and bake the loaves for 20 to 25 minutes uncovered, until they're a deep golden brown.

Remove the loaves from the oven and carefully turn them out of the Dutch ovens onto racks to cool completely. If you're baking one loaf at a time repeat the process with the second loaf, preheating the Dutch oven if necessary.

Store leftover bread, loosely wrapped, for several days; freeze for longer storage.

Tips from our Bakers

The proportion of the ingredients in this recipe is partly why we like it so much; the weights of the ingredients are easy to remember if you work in baker's percentage. That said we recognize that some bakers prefer to work with volume measurements, so here are the volume approximations for the ingredients in this recipe:

– 7 1/2 cups Unbleached Bread Flour
– 3/4 cup + 3 tablespoons Whole Wheat Flour
– 3 1/2 cups tepid water (75°F to 80°F )
– 1 tablespoon salt
– 3 tablespoons sourdough starter, unfed/discard

Spanish Tomato And Bread Chilled Soup

Ingredients:
2 pounds ripe tomatoes, cored
2 1/2 oz. country style crusty bread
1/2 medium red bell pepper
1 medium garlic clove, smashed and peeled
1 teaspoon white sugar
3 tablespoons Sherry Vinegar, plus more to serve 
Kosher Salt and Ground Black Pepper
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
    plus more to serve.
4 thin slices prosciutto (12 ounces) torn into pieces
4 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and quartered (optional)
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flatleaf parsley

Directions:
In a blender, combine the tomatoes and bell pepper, garlic, sugar, vinegar, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper.  Blend on high until completely smooth and no bits remain, about 1 minute.  With the blender running, gradually add 3/4 cup oil.  Transfer to a larg bowl, then taste and season with pepper.  Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 2 hours or up to 4 hours.

In a blender, combine the tomatoes, bread, bell pepper, garlic, sugar, vinegar 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon black pepper.  Blend on high until completely smooth and no tomato skins remain about 1 minute.  With the blender running, 
gradually add 3/4 cup oil.  Transfer to a large bowl, then taste and season with salt and pepper.  Cover and refrigerate until well chilled or up to  2 to 4 hours.

While the soup chills, in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat, heat the remaining1 teaspoon oil until shimmering.  Add the prosciutto and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 2 minutes.  Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and let cool completely, then roughly chop; set aside.

Taste the soup and season again with salt and pepper.  Ladle it into chilled bowls.   Top with prosciutto, and hard boiled eggs (if using) and parsley. and season with salt and pepper.  Drizzle with a vinegar if desired.

Don't forget to taste the soup for seasoning after chilling, just before serving.  Chilling blunts the favor,  so through the soup may have initially tasted If peak-season, perfectly ripe tomatoes are available, use them in this simple but richly flavored, no-cook chilled soup. Otherwise, Campari or cocktail tomatoes are a good choice, as they are dependably sweet year-round. Excellent results also require high-quality extra-virgin olive oil, so make sure the oil you use does not have bitter or harsh notes. Bread helps thicken the soup and gives it its creamy consistency; choose a crusty, country-style loaf with a relatively soft interior so the bread blends easily into the soup, but remember to remove the crust. To keep the soup chilled for as long as possible at the table, we like to refrigerate the serving bowls.

Chilling the soup blunts the favor.  Season with additional salt and pepper.