Recreating historic breads enables us to taste the past. Sometimes, that tasting answers questions and sometimes the tasting inspires questions. The deeper one gets into a period, the more I think understanding the breads of the period yields insights. For example, I think it is probably significant that the 1840s bread, below that is made…
Category: Recipes
Malinda Russell Recipe Testing: Conversion Table
Teaspoons 1 tsp 5g 2 tsp 10g 3 tsp 15g 4 tsp 20g 5 tsp 25g 6 tsp 30g Tablespoons 1 tbsp 15g 2 tbsp 30g 3 tbsp 45g 4 tbsp 60g 5 tbsp 75g 6 tbsp 90g Pounds 1⁄4 pound 113g 1⁄2 pound 227g 3⁄4 pound 340g 1 pound 453g Water, Milk, Alcohol, Buttermilk*,…
Boiling Ravioli
February, 2021. Boiling ravioli — ricotta, finely minced chicken fried to the edge of crispy, lemon rind, lemon juice, fresh rosemary, fresh thyme, grated parmesan, lots of nutmeg, a hint of cayenne, and salt to taste.
Sardinian Forest-fed Pigs
Pigs fed on forest acorns roasted in front of a fire in a Sardinian restaurant, 2005. Driving to the restaurant we saw pigs on the side of the road. We stopped. I approached. The group of pigs smelled like the meat tasted.
Repose
I always find it calming. The Dutch oven before the fire. You set the embers over and under and then the magic happens. When cooking meat in the Dutch oven, I have started using a digital thermometer that works remotely — probe inside the Dutch oven connected to the digital output device. The advantage of…
Fetal Pig on a Plate
Laos. Around the year 2000. Fetal pig on plate. I had seen the pigs being grilled by a street vendor so I bought a few for dinner. The French couple with whom we shared a table were taken aback. I recall talking to them about the fact they ate pork sausage, they ate pork roasts,…
Using a Bread Stamp from Uzbekistan
I made this cracker with an Uzbek bread stamp. Etsy is where I buy stamps of this kind. They are used to keep flat breads from fully rising. If you don’t prick flatbreads prior to baking, then they will puff up into a ball — desirable in chapati and pita — not desirable for other…
Cinnamon Buns
Magnus Nilsson’s “The Nordic Baking Book” is a fabulous cookbook. It is far and away the most solid most varied baking book in my library. My daughter and I made these cardamom flavored cinnamon rolls on the last day of this year’s school holiday. They work perfectly as written. The instructions are good, but here…
Roasting duck!
Atavistic reverie. The land’s fat raining into the lèchefrite. I add water, onions, carrot, garlic, etc. to the lèchefrite so that the fat won’t burn. This also creates the basis for a lovely natural sauce.
William Rubel 