Daring Bakers: Basic Pizza Dough

Life has been hectic lately but I simply couldn’t pass up a reason to make pizza. I was really psyched for this month's Daring Bakers challenge because it's been a while since I last hauled out made Steven haul out the pizza stone. Thanks for choosing and hosting this month’s challenge Rosa! Even though I made the pizzas, I still screwed up because I didn’t take any pictures. I apologize for the boring all-text post and I’ll try to keep it short.

My go-to pizza recipe is my no knead pizza dough recipe (the no-knead concept definitely isn’t mine but I’d like to think the pizza recipe itself is my own creation, but eh semantics aside). It has great flavor, has a chewy crumb and crispy crust, and involves zero kneading so it requires next to no effort. Everyone can make it because you don’t need a KitchenAid. Good times. The recipe that the DBs are using this month comes from The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart, which is one of the best cookbooks available for bread baking. Basically, my goal this month was to compare the two recipes.

The Reinhart recipe definitely requires a KitchenAid because even you're willing to to put in some serious elbow grease kneading, the dough will most likely be too sticky to handle so a KitchenAid is really your best bet. Both the no-knead and this recipe involves a long, slow rise (no-knead at room temp vs. Reinhart dough in the fridge), which results in good flavor so neither dough is lacking in the taste department. You can keep the Reinhart dough in the fridge for up to three days and you can transfer the no-knead dough to the fridge after the initial room temp rise for both storage and increasing flavor. While the Reinhart dough is still on the tacky side, it isn’t nearly as sticky as the no-knead dough, making it much easier to work with. On the other hand, the extra water in the no knead dough makes a crispier crust and chewier crumb. In the end, Steven preferred my usual no-knead recipe, which is fine with me because that dough is much faster to make. But the Reinhart dough is still excellent. Really, whichever way you go, you’re guaranteed to have great pizza crust.

Now that you have good dough, you just need good sauce and good cheese. I made the sauce with the roasted tomatoes I made two months ago. The roasting process really brought out the sweetness of otherwise pathetic run-of-the-mill store tomatoes and added a hint of smokiness. Or you can just use a can of decent tomatoes because honestly, who has 6 hours to spare waiting for tomatoes to roast? I certainly don't anymore. It’s also really important to use fresh mozzarella. If you live close to a Trader Joe's or Costco, you can get fresh mozzarella without breaking the bank. I think it'll run you about $5/lb. It simply doesn’t compare to the part skim low moisture bricks from the store - there’s no going back.

Basic Pizza Dough
Recipe from
“The Bread Baker’s Apprentice” by Peter Reinhart

4 1/2 cups flour (I
used 3 cups of bread flour and 1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour)
1 3/4
teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1/4 cup olive oil
1 3/4 cups
cold water
1 Tablespoon sugar
Semolina/durum flour or cornmeal for
dusting

DAY ONE
Mix the flour, salt and instant yeast in the bowl of your stand mixer.

Add the oil, sugar and cold water and mix well. Knead with the dough hook for 5 – 7 minutes. The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is sticking to the sides of the bowl, add a tablespoon or two of flour. If the dough is not sticking to the bottom of the bowl, add a tablespoon or two of water.

The finished dough should be springy, elastic, and sticky (if will stick to your hands), not just tacky, and register 50°-55° F/10°-13° C.

Divide the dough into 4 balls of dough. Brush the tops with a little olive oil, cover and keep in the fridge. Let the dough rest overnight or for up to thee days. You can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag if you want to save some of the dough for any future baking. In that case, pour some oil (a few tablespooons only) in a medium bowl and dip each dough ball into the oil, so that it is completely covered in oil. Then put each ball into a separate bag. Store the bags in the freezer for no longer than 3 months. The day before you plan to make pizza, remember to transfer the dough balls from the freezer to the refrigerator.

DAY TWO
On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator. Dust the counter with flour and spray lightly with oil. Place the dough balls on a floured surface and sprinkle them with flour. Dust your hands with flour and delicately press the dough into disks about 1/2 inch/1.3 cm thick and 5 inches/12.7 cm in diameter. Loosely cover the dough rounds with plastic wrap and then allow to rest for 2 hours.

At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone on the lower third of the cold oven. After the pizza stone is in the oven, then preheat the oven as hot as possible (500° F/260° C). If you do not have a baking stone, then use the back of a jelly pan. Do not preheat the pan.

Generously sprinkle the back a cookie sheet with no lip with some cornmeal . Flour your hands (palms, backs and knuckles). Take 1 piece of dough by lifting it with a pastry scraper. Lay the dough across your fists in a very delicate way and carefully stretch it by bouncing it in a circular motion on your hands, and by giving it a little stretch with each bounce. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss (optional). Instead of tossing, continue to stretch the dough over your hands, or place on the cookie sheet and using your palms to stretch it into the desired thinness. Make only one pizza at a time.

During the tossing process, if the dough tends to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and reflour your hands, then continue the tossing and shaping. In case you would be having trouble tossing the dough or if the dough never wants to expand and always springs back, let it rest for approximately 5-20 minutes in order for the gluten to relax fully, then try again. You can also resort to using a rolling pin, although it isn’t as effective as the toss method.

When the dough has the shape you want (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter - for a 6 ounces/180g piece of dough), place it on the back of the jelly pan, making sure there is enough semolina/durum flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide and not stick to the pan.

Remember that the best pizzas are topped not too generously. No more than 3 or 4 toppings (including sauce and cheese) are sufficient. Slide the garnished pizza onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the jelly pan. Close the door and bake for abour 6 – 10 minutes. Take the pizza out of the oven and transfer it to a cutting board or your plate. In order to allow the cheese to set a little, wait 3-5 minutes before slicing or serving.


Roasted Tomatoes
3 lbs tomatoes

Cut the tomatoes in half and get rid of the goopy stuff (I don’t know what else to call it) and the seeds).

Arrange the tomatoes in a large nonreactive baking dish like pyrex or corningware.

Roast in the oven at 350 degrees F for 4 – 6 hours or until the tomatoes start to shrivel and dry up but make sure they don’t burn. The roasting time will depend on how watery the tomatoes are.

After roasting, allow the tomatoes to cool. The skins can be slipped off really easily. Store in the freezer or use in soup or sauces.



Quick Tomato Sauce

(makes about 3 cups of sauce)

1 28 oz. can diced or whole tomatoes, pureed in a food processor, blender, or put through a food mill
2 tbsp olive oil
2 - 4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
salt and pepper
1/4 tsp oregano
About 1/2 C fresh basil leaves, chopped or chiffonade (optional, if you have it)

Add garlic and olive oil to a (unheated) saucepan or skillet and heat them up together over medium heat. When the garlic starts sizzling and smells fragrant (don't burn it), add the tomatoes, pepper, and some italian herb mix. Simmer uncovered until the sauce is thickened.

Season to taste with salt and stir in the basil off heat.

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Xiao Long Bao - Little Soup Dumplings

After throwing out the question "Which would you prefer?" in that painfully short post I made last month, I was pleasantly surprised that the majority of commenters loved the dumplings. I grew up eating xiao long bao for breakfast almost every morning when I lived in Shanghai. I think it's one of those things you absolutely must eat in your lifetime; you'd be hard-pressed to find a more perfect morsel of food. Of course, I may be biased since they are my favorite food item but if you've seen the No Reservations: Shanghai episode, I'm sure Anthony Bourdain would agree with me (even though he hates food bloggers or something like that). Hopefully no one falls asleep reading this thesis-length post--I swear I tried to edit out as much as I could. Both xlb and croissants, which will come a little later, were in the top 5 of that huge long list of things I wanted to make this summer. I was able to cook about 1/3 of the list even though I only blogged about a handful of them. As for the rest of the items, the time frame is extended... indefinitely? Gotta love personal deadlines.

The xiao long bao, also called soup dumpling, is a bite-sized dumpling in a thin flour wrapper with a pork, sometimes crab, filling and a rich broth. The soup is what sets the xiao long bao, its pan-fried cousin the sheng jian bao, and the larger relative the tang bao, apart from all other dumplings and buns. The trick to getting the soup inside the dumpling is make a gelatin rich soup that solidifies at room temperature (think meat soup Jello) then mash it up into small chunks and mix it with a ground pork filling. As the buns steam, the pieces of gelatin soup in the filling melts back into a liquid that's now magically encased in the delicate wrapper. Pretty cool huh? A well made xiao long bao will have nearly two dozen pleats in the thin, almost translucent wrapper, a tender meaty filling, and is bursting with savory soup.

Xiao long bao originated in Shanghai over a hundred years ago and have now become an iconic symbol of Shanghainese cuisine. They were created by the Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant, which still sells these dumplings to this day. In Shanghai, you don’t have to travel far to find this morning staple but here in North America, there are only 3 major metropolitan areas that I know of serving this niche food item. Unfortunately, here in Seattle, you won’t be able to find any that are worthwhile. Instead, you'll have to make the drive up to the Vancouver/Richmond BC area, which has half a dozen or so restaurants serving decent xiao long bao (my favorite location being Shanghai River in Richmond). For elsewhere in the US, I've heard good things about the xiao long bao you can find in Southern California and New York City. Outside of Vancouver, SoCal, and NYC, I’m afraid you might be out of luck but if anyone finds a good city in the States do let us know! You may be tempted to buy the frozen xiao long bao sold at Asian grocery stores but usually they’re utterly disappointing-the skin is too thick, the soup leaks, and the filling is tough and studded with overwhelming chunks of ginger. But when a craving gets really, really, really bad, I'm not gonna say no.

When faced with a fresh basket of soup dumplings, don’t stick the whole thing in your mouth and chomp down. Hot juices will spurt out, dribble on your shirt, and worst of all, scald the inside of your mouth. Instead, after dipping the dumpling in a little black vinegar, place it on your spoon and gently nibble the wrapper and slowly slurp up the soup so you don't burn your tongue. Then dip the dumpling again in the black vinegar if you like a more vinegary kick before eating it. Some places will give you some ginger slivers to add to your black vinegar.

If you really want to try making this at home, I have to warn you that it’s long and time consuming. It was the most tedious recipe I have ever attempted but I'm weird and I like spending my weekend cooking something that takes 2 days to prepare. Even though the majority of my dumplings look misshapen and half of them leaked, the flavor was spot on! I did a pretty good job for a first attempt but I won't be making these again for years... So next time we'll just drive up to Vancouver for our fix.

If you're still set on making these at home, I implore you, please don't take short cuts. Don't make the stock with that can of Swanson's sitting in the pantry from 2001 *blech*. What makes these little gems special is the flavorful soup inside so spend the time to make a good soup base. It's worth it! While you could take some homemade chicken stock set it with gelatin, it will lack the velvety, almost creamy richness of a traditional slow simmered stock made collagen-rich pork feet or pork skin. For my stock, I used a combination of chicken wings, chicken backbone, and some pig feet along with aromatics like ginger, green onion, and star anise. You can use pork skin too but the meat in the pig feet will adds to the flavor. Make the wrappers fresh too because if you spend all that time making the soup and filling, it's a shame to use storebought wrappers.

Xiao long bao – Shanghai Soup Dumplings

Aspic/Gelantized Stock
1 pound chicken wings
2 chicken backbones (carcasses from roast chicken will work too)
1 pork trotter (foot) or a large piece of pork skin
3 1/4 inch thick slices of ginger
4 green onions
1 star anise
8 cups of water
Salt

Wrappers
3 C all purpose flour
1/3 C hot water
2/3 C cold water
Pinch of salt

Filling
1 pound ground pork
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp rice wine
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1/2 tsp sugar
2 C gelatin stock, chopped/mashed into small pieces

Serve with
Black vinegar
Fresh ginger slivers

Make the aspic
When working with pork feet make sure to wash it well, then boil it twice in a change of water to get the smell, bacteria, and scum out. If you're using raw chicken wings and backbones, it's best to boil those once too to get any scum out. Add the pork feet to a pot (large saucepan, stock pot, Dutch oven whatever works) and cover them with water and bring it to a boil. Boil for a minute, drain, and rinse off any scum on the feet in cold water. Wash out the pot as well or use a new pot because there will be scum on the side. Return the pork feet, and the raw chicken wings and backbones to the pot and fill with cold water and bring back to a boil again and boil for a minute. Drain and rinse off any scum and wash the pot again

Add 2 teaspoons of oil to your pot over medium heat. Smash the ginger slices and green onion with the side of a knife and add to the oil and until they are fragrant, then add boiled and rinsed off chicken wings and pork feet, 1 star anise, and 8 cups of cold water. Bring to a boil then simmer gently uncovered, skim any scum on the surface, for 6+ hours. Never let the soup boil again because it will cloud. The stock is ready when it can solidify at room temperature. Test the stocks gelling ability by spooning some of it into a small bowl and allow it to cool down to room temperature. If it solidifies then the stock is ready. Strain soup and season it with some salt. Set aside 2 cups for the dumpling filling. Save any excess for adding to sauces or soups. Let the soup cool to room temp then transfer it to the fridge. The soup can keep for up to 3 days in the fridge. You can scrape off any fat that solidifies on top or mix it into the filling, up to you.

Make the dough
In a large bowl, add 2 1/2 cups of flour. First add the 1/3 cup of very hot water and stir that into the flour. Then add the 2/3 cup of cold water and stir it into the dough. Bring the dough together and knead while incorporating additional flour if you need to, until the dough is not sticky. Don’t overknead or it will be too tough and gluteny to work with. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rest for an hour while you prepare the filling.

Prepare the filling
Mix the ground pork with all of the seasoning ingredients. Roughly chop the aspic then use a pastry blender or two forks to mash it into smaller pieces. Mix this into the ground pork mixture. Keep it in the fridge until the dough has finished resting.

Wrapping the dumplings
Divide the dough into 3 portions. Work with one portion and keep the other two covered. Roll the dough into a long snake. Then cut a small cylindrical piece off of the snake. Flatten with your palm and roll the dough out into a 2 1/2 inch diameter wrapper. The best rolling device for making Chinese wrappers is a small wooden dowel thats about 6 inches long and 3/4 inch in diameter.

The first 4 pictures in the eating Chinese xiao long bao tutorial shows the process of making the dough and wrappers. You want the wrappers to be a bit thicker than wonton wrappers. If the wrappers are too thin, the soup will dissolve it and leak out.

Place about 2 teaspoons of filling in the center of the wrapper. Hold the outer edge of the wrapper with the thumb and index finger of your dominant hand. Using the other thumb and index finger, hold the edge of the wrapper and bring it to your dominant hand to pleat. Pleat around the circumference of the entire wrapper, turning the dumpling as you go, and seal the tip to close. The third and fourth pictures in the third row of the eating Chinese xiao long bao tutorial gives a somewhat helpful guide. The hardest part for me was getting my thumb out of the inside of the dumpling and sealing the tip.

Steam and serve
Bring some water to a boil in a wok or large pot with a steamer insert. Line a bamboo or metal steaming basket with cabbage leaves or damp cheesecloth. Place the dumplings in the basket and steam on high for 5 – 7 minutes. (5 minutes was enough for my dumplings but make sure the filling is cooked all the way before eating)

Serve hot with ginger slivers and black vinegar.

Read more....

Blueberry Crumb Bars

Med school is off to an intense start with a 6 week block of anatomy. We had our first exam after only three days of class. I’m pretty much in class and lab for 8 hours a day and studying the rest of my day so when I say I have no free time, that’s why. I told myself going into this that blogging is a priority, but not important enough to lose my precious sleep over. I do still want to keep it up, and right now we're in the eye of the tornado so to speak so I have some time to squeeze this update in.

The last few months, my blogging frequency has dropped significantly due to a variety of reasons and I've always been making updates trying to explain myself (making excuses) and making outlandish goals ("101 Things to Cook This Summer" ring a bell?) in an attempt to get back to the way things were. Sadly, as much as I wish I could, I won't be able to post multiple times a week for, most likely, a very long time. With this final update post, I want to let everyone know that I will be busy indefinitely and if I haven’t posted for weeks, I'm probably studying my ass off. I will still be posting recipes but I won't be able to visit and comment on my food blogging buddies’ blogs as much as I want to. I also won’t be able to answer the comments on here individually like I have been in the past but even though I may not answer your comment, please do continue to leave comments because I do read each and every one of them! If you have a burning question about something, especially about a recipe, shoot me an email and I will answer it. If you leave a comment I might not get around to answering it for a few days. Please don't hate me or think I'm being selfish because at this point I'm just trying to stay sane. After the content stealing fiasco, a rude comment someone left, and just the time consuming maintenance and upkeep (I still haven't updated the banner, which I've been meaning to do since spring... but hey if you want to make me a banner lemme know) I wanted to take some time to remember why I blog.

At first I started this blog as a way of talking about food and release all my nerdy excitement when talking about cooking that no one I know wants to hear about. In the beginning days, with only a handful of readers, it was essentially a one way conversation. But now after blogging for over a year, I love sharing my recipes with my small-but-growing reader base. The best part is when you guys write me an email or leave a comment saying that you tried a recipe and it turned out great. That is my absolute favorite part about it all. Blogging has made me more aware about eating seasonally and locally. When you see 10 different recipes on 10 different blogs using apples in the fall or fava beans in the spring, it's kinda hard to be oblivious to fact that food is supposed to be enjoyed at its peak. On a similar note, Steven and I are eating more locally sustainable and organic foods too, especially after signing up for our CSA box, which is totally awesome by the way. Not only do we eat our 5-a-day, but we feel good about where we get them. And finally, while I already have hundreds of things I want to cook, I still see creative and delicious looking recipes on other blogs that make me say to myself "Wow I have to make that!" Food bloggers as a group never fail to impress me with their originality and creativity.

This recipe is an example of why I love the food blogging community—because we inspire each other. I made this a month ago at the height of blueberry season. Blueberries have disappeared by now but if you're lucky you may have some stashed away in the freezer. Right now my freezer is filled with strawberries from July, as well as blueberries and blackberries (from my backyard) from August. I'm hoping this berry stash will carry me through the dreary winter. I first saw this recipe on Susan's blog Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy. The instant I saw this, it was one of those "gotta make this" moments and I went ahead and made it later that week. Susan had seen these on Deb's Smitten Kitchen who got the recipe from All Recipes.com. Now I'm making my version with very minor adjustments from Deb's recipe (which had minor adjustments from the All Recipes recipe).

I definitely recommend this recipe especially if you need to make a quick dessert for a party. I brought this to a potluck and it was just one of the best potluck desserts I've ever made. It's one of those ridiculously simple things to make that tastes so unbelievably good.

Blueberry Crumb Bars
From Smitten Kitchen and Allrecipes.com

3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 C white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup cold butter (2 sticks or 8 ounces)
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest and juice of one lemon
4 cups fresh blueberries
1/4 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9 x 13 baking pan.

In a medium bowl whisk together the 3 cups of flour, 3/4 C sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest. Use a pastry cutter or fork to cut into the butter until the butter is in peices no larger than a pea then mix in the egg. Or you can do this in a food processor. The dough will be crumbly but stick together when you squeeze it. Pat half of the dough into the pan.

In another bowl, mix the sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Add the blueberries and gently toss them to coat. Pour the blueberry mixture on top of the dough in the pan. Then crumble the rest of the dough evenly over the surface of the berries.

Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 60 minutes, or until the top is slightly browned. Cool completely then cut into squares. Dust with powdered sugar if preferred. Can be stored in the fridge for a few days.

Oh also, I haven't forgotten about the xiao long bao and croissant recipes, both of them are just extremely long. In fact I have the xiao long bao post all written up but it's 4 pages long (yeah, I know) and I haven't gotten around to editing it. I'm sure there are some pretty embarrassing grammatical errors interspersed in there. I'll post that after I get around to editing it.

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Chocolate Eclairs - Daring Bakers August

First off, I want to thank Margot of Coffee and Vanilla and Maybelle's Mom of Feeding Maybelle for alerting me that a certain website has been stealing my content. Grr! That site seems to be down at this moment but it's certainly on my radar now and I'll be keeping a close eye on them. Thank you both for bringing this to my attention because I honestly wouldn't have known about this if it weren't for you two awesome ladies so these eclairs are dedicated to you gals. The food blogging community is so great, it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. :)

It's the end of the month and that can only mean one thing - it's Daring Baker time again! When our hosts Meeta (What's for lunch Honey) and Tony (Olive Juice) announced that our challenge this month would be eclairs, I was totally psyched and ready to go. This challenge was right up my alley because I love working with pâte à choux dough. But this wasn't just any eclair recipe, this is the recipe by the King of Pâtisserie, Kitchen Emperor, Picasso of Pastry, (okay I'll stop now) Pierre Hermé. Okay, this is when I start getting butterflies in my stomach and a little intimidated.

The actual making of the dough went off without a hitch. The recipe called for one more egg than I normally use. I didn't have a pastry tip large enough to squeeze the dough into the eclair shape so I snipped the tip off a ziploc bag, which works just as well. However, I was a little confused by the baking directions, which said to prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon after baking 7 minutes. My usual standby recipe warns that opening the oven door during baking will cause the choux to deflate. After some debating, I went with my instincts and kept the oven door closed the whole time. I would have done the wooden spoon thing just to see what would happen if I hadn't been making the eclairs for a party. A part of me feels terrible for doubting the words of Pierre Herme but I certainly didn't want 20 collapsed eclairs and no eggs left in the fridge.

The pastry cream was also very straightforward and simple to make. But in my opinion, what makes this recipe really stand out is the chocolate glaze. The glaze is a 2 part process that involves first making a chocolate sauce, then using part of that chocolate sauce to make the glaze. I'm sure it would have been amazing but I didn't have enough time or chocolate to make the special sauce. Instead I just melted some chocolate, butter, heavy cream, and a little corn syrup and used that as my quick 1 minute glaze. *shrugs* Worked well enough.

The finished product was really delicious - I mean how can you go wrong with double the chocolate?


Notes:
- Pipe the dough so it is about 4 inches long and roughly 3/4 inch across. I think eclairs look best when they are slender and elegant. They start to look like donuts if they're too chubby.
- Personally, I felt like the baking time in the recipe was not sufficient. My eclairs started deflating when I took them out of the oven after 20 minutes. Luckily, I was able to salvage most of them by putting them back in the oven for another 5 - 10 minutes to finish baking and reinflate.
- If you've stored the pastry cream in the fridge overnight, take a spatula and mix it up a bit to loosen it before piping.
- Either use poke a hole in the eclair and use a special filling tip (the long skinny almost-needlelike one) on a pastry bag, or cut the eclair lengthwise but do not cut all the way through and spoon or pipe the filling inside. Keeping the pastry shell intact allows for easier dipping into the chocolate glaze.
- To glaze the eclairs, hold the eclairs upside down and dip the tops in the chocolate making sure to coat the surface evenly, let any excess drip off before turning right side up. This will only work if the glaze is thin enough.
- It's best to serve the eclairs as soon as you make them, but they will keep in the fridge for maybe 1 - 2 days (they can possibly keep longer but by then the choux will get soggy).

Pierre Hermé’s Chocolate Éclairs
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 20-24 Éclairs)

Choux Pastry
1/2 cup (125g) whole milk
1/2 cup (125g) water
1 stick (4 ounces; 115g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour
5 large eggs, at room temperature

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Divide the oven into thirds by
positioning the racks in the upper and lower half of the oven. Line two baking sheets with waxed or parchment paper.

In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to the boil.

Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to medium and start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough comes together very quickly. Do not worry if a slight crust forms at the bottom of the pan, it’s supposed to. You need to carry on stirring for a further 2-3 minutes to dry the dough. After this time the dough will be very soft and smooth.

Transfer the dough into a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using your handmixer or if you still have the energy, continue by hand. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough. You will notice that after you have added the first egg, the dough will separate, once again do not worry. As you keep working the dough, it will come back all together again by the time you have added the third egg. In the end the dough should be thick and shiny and when lifted it should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon.

The dough should be still warm. It is now ready to be used for the éclairs as directed above. Once the dough is made you need to shape it immediately. You can pipe the dough and the freeze it. Simply pipe the dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets and slide the sheets into the freezer. Once the dough is completely frozen, transfer the piped shapes into freezer bags. They can be kept in the freezer for up to a month.

Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a 2/3 (2cm) plain tip nozzle with the warm cream puff dough. Pipe the dough onto the baking sheets in long, 4 to 41/2 inches (about 11 cm) chubby fingers. Leave about 2 inches (5 cm) space in between each dough strip to allow them room to puff. The dough should give you enough to pipe 20-24 éclairs.

Slide both the baking sheets into the oven and bake for 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes, rotate the pans from top to bottom and front to back. Bake for 5 - 10 more minutes, or until the shells are golden brown and crisp. The éclairs can be kept in a cool, dry place for several hours before filling.


Chocolate Pastry Cream
2 cups (500g) whole milk
4 large egg yolks
6 tbsp (75g) sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted
7 oz (200g) bittersweet chocolate, preferably Velrhona Guanaja, melted
2 1/2 tbsp (1¼ oz: 40g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. In the meantime, combine the yolks, sugar and cornstarch together and whisk in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.

Once the milk has reached a boil, temper the yolks by whisking a couple spoonfuls of the hot milk into the yolk mixture. Tempering the eggs raises the temperature of the eggs slowly so that they do not scramble.
Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the milk into the tempered yolk mixture.

Strain the mixture back into the saucepan to remove any egg that may have scrambled. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously (without stop) until the mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 more minutes (still over medium heat).Stir in the melted chocolate and then remove the pan from the heat.

Scrape the pastry cream into a small bowl and set it in an ice‐water bath to stop the cooking process. Make sure to continue stirring the mixture at this point so that it remains smooth.

Once the cream has reached a temperature of 140 F remove from the ice‐water bath and stir in the butter in three or four installments. Return the cream to the ice‐water bath to continue cooling, stirring occasionally, until it has completely cooled. The cream is now ready to use or store in the fridge. The pastry cream can be made 2 - 3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator. In order to avoid a skin forming on the pastry cream, cover with plastic wrap pressed onto the cream.


Chocolate Glaze (makes 1 cup or 300g)
1/3 cup (80g) heavy cream
3 1/2 oz (100g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
4 tsp (20 g) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature
7 tbsp (110 g) Chocolate Sauce (recipe below), warm or at room temperature

In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and slowly begin to add the chocolate, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula.

Stirring gently, stir in the butter, piece by piece followed by the chocolate sauce.

If the chocolate glaze is too cool (i.e. not liquid enough) you may heat it briefly in the microwave or over a double boiler. A double boiler is basically a bowl sitting over (not touching) simmering water.

It is best to glaze the eclairs after the glaze is made, but if you are pressed for time, you can make the glaze a couple days ahead of time, store it in the fridge and bring it up to the proper temperature (95 to 104 F) when ready to glaze.

Chocolate Sauce (makes 1 1/2 cups or 525 g)
4 1/2 oz (130 g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup (250 g) water
1/2 cup (125 g) crème fraîche, or heavy cream
1/3 cup (70 g) sugar

Place all the ingredients into a heavy‐bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil, making sure to stir constantly. Then reduce the heat to low and continue stirring with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens.

It may take 10 - 15 minutes for the sauce to thicken, but you will know when it is done when it coats the back of your spoon.

You can make this sauce ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for two weeks. Reheat the sauce in a microwave oven or a double boiler before using. This sauce is also great for cakes, ice-cream and tarts.


Assembling the éclairs:
Slice the éclairs horizontally, lengthwise only on one side (do not cut all the way through), using a serrated knife and a gently sawing motion.

Pipe the pastry cream into the éclairs.

The glaze should be barely warm to the touch (between 95 – 104 degrees F or 35 – 40
degrees C, as measured on an instant read thermometer). Spread the glaze over the tops of the éclairs using a metal icing spatula. Or if your chocolate glaze is thin enough, dip the tops of the eclairs in the glaze and let the excess drip off then set aside to dry. and allow the tops to set. If you have chilled your chocolate glaze, reheat by placing it in a bowl over simmering water, stirring it gently with a wooden spoon. Do not stir too vigorously as you do not want to create bubbles.

The éclairs should be served as soon as they have been filled.

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Look what I made!

I haven't had much time to blog, but I did make some goodies this weekend.

Like this:


and this:


Which would you prefer?

I'll post the recipes and a recap of our Oregon trip last week after I get back from a short (school-related) overnight. This week is orientation week then school starts after Labor Day. Eek!

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Chocolate Chip Pistachio Candied Orange Cookies

Steven and I are leaving for a much needed vacation tomorrow. Yippee! But before we go, I want to share a quick recipe.

After reading Jen's post on candied orange peels last October, I made a mental note to try this one day. I even put it on my summer to-do list (#63). Months later, as I was reading Christine's blog, Holy Basil, I saw that she too was inspired by Jen's candied orange peels and made her own candied citrus peels using tangelo and pomelo peels. Tangelo?! Brilliant! It just so happened that I received 2 tangelos in my CSA box that week. I immediately ate the tangelos and candied the peel. I'm not a big candy person so I had no interest in eating the peels straight but I couldn't wait to incorporate them into my baking. First, I added some finely chopped pieces to the blood orange olive oil cake. Then I thought of adding it to chocolate chip cookies because chocolate and orange go so well together and threw in some pistachios too because I just love the color.

Chocolate Chip Pistachio Candied Orange Cookies

2 C all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
12 Tbsp butter, melted and cooled slightly
3/4 C brown sugar, packed
1/4 C granulated sugar
1 egg
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 C semi or bittersweet chocolate chips or chunks
1/2 C pistachio halves, lightly toasted (be care to not burn)
1/3 C chopped candied orange pieces

Preheat the oven to 350 deg F.

In a bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and baking soda together. In a separate large bowl, whisk the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg, and vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix about halfway evenly mixed then add the chocolate, nuts, and chopped candied orange, and mix until thoroughly combined and evenly distributed.

Place 1/4 C balls of dough on a parchment or silicone mat lined baking sheet. Space the dough about 3 inches apart. Using your hand press the dough ball down until it is about 3/4 in thick and about 2 1/2 inches across. The dough needs to be pressed down because the cookies do not spread much.

Bake at 350 deg F for 12 - 15 minutes. Bake until the outer edges are set and light golden brown but the middle is still soft and puffy.

Note: to make candied orange peels, head over to Jen's blog for the detailed instructions.

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Pasta with Fava Beans, Prosciutto, and Shaved Parmesan

Last Saturday Steven and I went to the U District Farmers Market with a mission: to find fava beans. I was hoping I would still be able to find some since it's usually a springtime crop. The Udist market is always extremely crowded but it's worth it just seeing the dozens of stalls selling farm fresh produce, organic eggs, artisanal breads, pastas, honeys, and so much more. After being distracted by all the overwhelming and sometimes unusual offerings (sea beans anyone?), I finally found the only stand that still sold fava beans. Whoo! Success! Since I was going through all trouble of shelling fava beans, I figured I might as well go all out and make some fresh pasta to accompany this special treat.

While the pasta dough was resting on the counter, I enlisted Steven's help and we began shelling the beans. Fava beans are a pain in the butt. First the beans needed to be zipped out of the fuzzy outer pod, which was easy enough. Then they are blanched in boiling water for a minute, dunked in ice water and finally, the bean must be peeled (thank goodness for fingernails) and squeezed out of the waxy outer layer. In the end we only got about a half cup of beans but they were really delicious - buttery, nutty, and sweet. I quickly sauteed them with just a tiny bit of garlic and tossed them with fresh pasta, olive oil, thin pieces of prosciutto and Parmesan shaving. It was labor intensive but it was quite the treat. Light and fresh, it was the perfect summer pasta dish.

For this dish, I would really recommend making or purchasing fresh pasta if possible but dried pasta will work in a pinch. I prefer wider noodles for this dish, like pappardelle, but the narrower tagliatelle and fettuccine are also good substitutes.

Pasta with Fava Beans, Prosciutto, and Shaved Parmesan

8 ounces wide pasta noodles (pappardelle, tagliatelle, fettuccine), preferably fresh
1 pound fava beans (also called broad beans, English beans, or Windsor beans)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 - 3 ounces prosciutto, cut into bite size pieces
2 ounces Parmesan (or Romano) cheese, shaved and 1 ounce grated (about 1/4 C)
Extra virgin olive oil
Squeeze of lemon juice
Salt and pepper

Shelling Favas:
First shell the beans from the fuzzy outer pod by opening it with your fingers. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Meanwhile prepare a bowl of ice cold water. Add the shelled beans and boil for a minute. Drain and plunge into ice water. When the beans are cold, drain them. Peel and slip the beans out of the waxy coating. Use your fingers to make an incision in the coating if needed. Place the shelled beans in a bowl and set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil for pasta. If using fresh pasta, it will cook in 1 to 2 minutes, whereas dried pasta will take 9 - 11. Time your prep and cooking accordingly depending on which kind you use.

Heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the fava beans and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute and set aside.

After the pasta has finished cooking, toss the pasta with a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, the garlic sauteed fava beans, grated Parmesan, thin slices of prosciutto, and a squeeze of lemon juice. Add the Parmesan shavings on top and serve.

Serves 2

To make fresh pasta, I follow Marcella Hazan's recipe:

Fresh Pasta
1 C flour
2 large eggs

First make a mountain of flour on your work surface, then create a crater in the center. Add your eggs in the crater. Use a fork and beat the eggs in the crater incorporating a little bit of the flour at a time. Once the egg mixture begins to look like a batter, you can start incorporating more of the flour into the dough. After incorporating all the flour, you will end up with a dough. If the dough is still sticky, add some more flour. Knead by pushing with the heel of your palm, fold the dough in half, give it a half turn, and repeat the process for 8 minutes or until it feels smooth. Marcella did not specify to let the dough rest but I let the dough rest (covered) for 20ish minutes.

Cut the dough into 3 equal portions. Take one portion of the dough and press it flat, then run it through the pasta machine on the widest setting. Fold the dough in thirds and run the narrow end into the machine again. Repeat twice more. Do this to the remaining 2 portions of dough. Now you should have 3 portions of dough that have been passed through the widest setting 3 times each. Go up one setting, and run each portion of dough through twice, but do not fold in thirds this time, just run it straight through twice. Repeat with the two other pieces of dough. Go up one setting, and repeat again. My machine has 7 settings and I stopped on setting #3 for fettuccine because I want my noodles a little on the thicker side. After running the pasta through the #3 setting twice more, run it through the fettuccine cutter (the wider cutter). Separate any noodles that did not get cut all the way through. Lightly toss the noodles in some flour.

Bring a pot of water to a boil, salt the water, then add the pasta. Cook for 1 1/2 - 2 minutes or until the pasta is al dente. Drain the pasta reserving some of the pasta water to thin out the sauce if necessary.

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