Kouign Amann

My friend, Norma again inspired me to pursue more baking with yeast.  She showed me a video of Martha Stewart making Kouign Amann,  which is layered yeast dough.  It looked like a lot of fun, but a challenge.  This would be great to do on a cold snowy day.  You need to appreciate all the phases to get to the wonderful end result,  dense sweet rolls that are delicious and worth the effort.  You can also make other pastries from this dough such as poppy seed snails and cinnamon sugar knots.  We added a little apricot jam in the middle on the Kouign Amann—delicious!!

Rolling the dough with the sugar.

Pinching of the dough.  You can see all the layers!!!

These are a few that were done with the muffin pan.

We tried both the muffin pan and the rings.  

We used the recipe from Martha Stewart.  She has a great video on line that we thought was very helpful.  It was sometimes a bit challenging to find it but if we could locate it on youtube under layered yeast dough or Kouign Amann.

We thought it was successful but I think the next time I would try wet yeast instead of the powder just to see the difference.  I also thought the rings worked wonderfully for this because the dough could flatten out and got crispier than the muffin shape.  I also thought the apricot jam really added to the flavor.

We ended this post with the selected focus version because we liked it too.  We thought the all sharp version made the Kouign Amann look crispier. 

Grilled Cauliflower

North Italian restaurant is one of our regular places… This winter they put Grilled Cauliflower on the menu. An instant favorite! Already interesting visually, adding different colors of Cauliflower we thought would be nice because it was in season

Our dish at North Italia. 

It seemed fairly simple after we asked out waiter how it was prepared. Well, not exactly so simple!

It took us 3 times trying to figure out how to reproduce the flavors of grilling; slight citrus and light cream with Pancetta. We don’t have a wood burning oven either, so this recipe improvises a little. 

Of course we had to photograph the dish without the egg as well... The colors we're amazing!

Ingredients for the Pancetta cream

1 tbsp (15 mL) butter

1 tbsp (15 ) finely chopped garlic

1 tbsp (15 mL) finely chopped shallots

3 oz (90 g) pancetta, diced

2 tbsp (30 mL) white wine

1 cup (250 mL) 35 % cream

Ingredients to marinate the Cauliflower

Juice of 2 lemons
4 or 5 cloves garlic, cut into very thin slivers
1/2 c. olive oil
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tbsp. finely grated lemon zest (yellow part only - opt.)

Trim the cauliflower, breaking off the buds. You may also peel the stems and cut them into 1" sections. Put in a pan with salted water to cover. Also cut the Asparagus into 2 inch sections and put to the side. Put the Cauliflower in the marinade for about two hours.

In a pan sizzle up a bit of Pancetta and set aside. Remove the Cauliflower from the marinade and heat in the same hot pan with a little olive oil and the remains Pancetta oil for about 5 minutes, then add the asparagus for about 3 minutes so as not to overcook . While this is being done put the small cast iron dish on a burner on low and when the veggies are ready, pour into the hot cast Iron dish and add the crispy Pancetta. (Put a fried egg on if you wish!) Drizzle a bit of the Pancetta cream, shred some Parmesan and crispy bread crumbs on there and your done! Careful, it's hot!

Pane Bianco

I visited Izzio bakery at the Denver Central Market a while ago and was very inspired by the artisan look of the bread (and pastries!) I’ve not worked with yeast before, but I was up for the challenge!  So when my friend, Norma, shared a recipe she really liked called, “Pane Bianco” via King Arthur’s recipe and photo on the web site. I saw how rustic and savory it looked I knew it was time to try my hand at bread.  I even envisioned exactly what kind of scene I would create…now the baking part.

Izzio Bakery at Denver Central Market

Rolling the dough out.

Norma and I worked on this post together. We made our first pane bianco together just like the recipe said.  I thought it was little bland, so I added a table spoon and a half of butter and a tablespoon of sugar to the dough.  I realized the first time I used an Italian cheese that was heavy on the mozzarella so we tried another blend with more parmesan and asiago. Much more flavorful. We approximated that we doubled the amount of cheese and and sun-dried tomatoes than recipe called for.  You just slice it like sandwich bread to serve, or toasted and it’s almost like a pizza.

Pane Bianco Recipe from King Arthur

Dough

3 cups King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour*

2 teaspoons instant yeast

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 large egg

1/2 cup lukewarm milk

1/3 cup lukewarm water

3 tablespoons olive oil

Filling

3/4 cup shredded Italian-blend cheese or the cheese of your choice

1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes or your own oven-roasted tomatoes

3 to 6 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1/3 cup chopped fresh basil, green or purple

Directions

To make the dough: Combine all of the dough ingredients in a bowl (or the bucket of your bread machine), and mix and knead — by hand, using a mixer, or in your bread machine set on the dough cycle — to make a smooth, very soft dough. The dough should stick a bit to the bottom of the bowl if you're using a stand mixer.

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let it rise for 45 to 60 minutes, or until it's doubled in size.

Meanwhile, thoroughly drain the tomatoes, patting them dry. Use kitchen shears to cut them into smaller bits.

Gently deflate the dough. Flatten and pat it into a 22" x 8 1/2" rectangle. Spread with the cheese, tomatoes, garlic, and basil.

Starting with one long edge, roll the dough into a log the long way. Pinch the edges to seal. Place the log seam-side down on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet.

Using kitchen shears, start 1/2" from one end and cut the log lengthwise down the center about 1" deep, to within 1/2" of the other end.

Keeping the cut side up, form an "S" shape. Tuck both ends under the center of the "S" to form a "figure 8;" pinch the ends together to seal.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until double, 45 to 60 minutes.

While the loaf is rising, preheat the oven to 350°F.

Uncover the bread, and bake it for 35 to 40 minutes, tenting it with foil after 20 to 25 minutes to prevent over-browning.

Remove the bread from the oven, and transfer it to a rack to cool. Enjoy warm or at room temperature. Store, well-wrapped, at room temperature for a couple of days; freeze for longer storage.

Tips from our bakers

Substitute all-purpose flour 1:1 for the bread flour in the recipe, if desired. Reduce the water to 1/4 cup.

When making anything with yeast, including this bread, let the dough rise to the point the recipe says it should, e.g., "Let the dough rise until it's doubled in bulk." Rising times are only a guide; there are so many variables in yeast baking that it's impossible to say that bread dough will ALWAYS double in bulk in a specific amount of time.

Chop your basil with kitchen shears, just as you do the sun-dried tomatoes.

Want to make a gluten-free version of this bread? See our gluten-free focaccia recipe, with its tips for adding filling.

Inspired Still Life

Irving Penn is a huge inspiration for us in our journey as photographers. From our desires to create images as young adults and thru out our careers, Irving Penn’s work has influenced our lighting and compositions.  Looking back at all of the work we have produced in the last 30 years, some of my favorite still lifes and portraits have a spark of his work in them. 

photo by Irving Penn

photo by Irving Penn

Last summer there was a retrospective show at the Met in New York.  We had to make our pilgrimage and see the show… even though it was July in NYC!  The trip was filled with museum visits and inspiration at every turn.  Thank you Irving Penn!

NYC in July... travel, even when it's hot, is great!

Props for the shoot. Delicious ...