Rosemary Truffle Sea Salt Bread

The Tassajara Bread book was in my awareness for years before I bought it.  Every time it's name came up in conversation I would remind myself to pick up a copy...and then promptly forget.  I dabbled in bread making, but my attempts remained mediocre.

On a rare grey day in Colorado, I was wandering the aisles and rooms of the unfathomably awesome Tattered Cover Book Store in Denver.  I had spent most of the morning barricaded into a brick-walled corner by tall stacks of books, sipping my earl grey cambric and forgetting the world.  Stretching my legs, I arrived as if by supernatural force at an abandoned section of discount books.  The fabled Tassajara Bread Book stared up at me, bathed in a aura of shining light.  Trumpets blared.  Time stopped.  It was finally mine!

My reverence for this book has only grown stronger since I started baking with it by my side.  To me, it is the ideal cookbook.  The author, Edward Espe Brown, takes you under his wing, celebrating your triumphs and laughing with you at your mistakes.

This bread was one of those triumphs.  I followed Espe Brown's basic Tassajara Bread Recipe, using mostly whole grain spelt flour, adding a couple tablespoons of cracked dried rosemary and substituting black truffle sea salt for the table salt.  Before baking, I brushed the top of the loaf with olive oil, and showered it with more rosemary and truffle salt.  This is not your childhood sandwich bread that was useless but for making fluffernutters.  This loaf is seductive and sophisticated, to be eaten only in the best of company and with the best of dishes.  Consider using the leftovers (if there are any) to make a gourmet BLT: applewood smoked bacon, heirloom tomato, avocado and horseradish aioli.

  

You can find adequate reproductions of Espe Brown's quintessential bread recipe online, but really you should just buy the book. 

And finally- a shout out to Falls Church, Virginia, a place where at least two good things happened.  1) Edward Espe Brown fell in love with fresh baked bread while vacationing at his aunt's home as a child (Tassajara Bread Book Introduction, page XV).  2) I was born. 

Spicy Zucchini Gouda Fritters

Fritters belong in the category of fried things I don't often get the urge to make.  The last time I fried something was in the 9th grade when I caught a whim and decided to make donuts.  I followed the recipe to a T, whistling along merrily with the gentle pop and sizzle of frying dough.  When I was done I looked upon my creation with horror and wonder.  I suddenly felt great empathy for Dr. Frankenstein.  After savoring each and every bite of those airy, crisp delights, I spirited the nearly empty bottle of vegetable oil to the back of the cupboard and gave up my career in deep-frying.  But I digress.

A few days ago we got our CSA share, loaded once again with summer squash.  I was tiring of my Thai Green Curry squash stir-fry and I wanted something quick and filling for a late lunch.  We had sharp, raw milk Gouda in the fridge.  The wheels got to turning.  I'd seen a recipe for battered zucchini and cheese sandwiches in Vegetarian Planet, a delightful and inventive collection of hearty vegetarian dishes.  I used her recipe as a base, substituting for ingredients I didn't have on hand.  I forwent deep-frying, choosing instead to pan-fry on a cast iron griddle.  Here is the resulting recipe.

Spicy Zucchini Gouda Fritters

1 medium zucchini, cut into 16 1/4" slices on the diagonal
8 thin slices sharp cheese
For batter:
3/4 c. garbanzo bean flour (or substitute other flours)
1 t. salt
1/2 t. cayenne
1 T. mustard
1 egg, beaten
1 T. apple cider vinegar
Filtered water
1 t. baking powder

1.  Arrange zucchini slices and cheese into 8 mini sandwiches.
2.  Mix flour, salt, and cayenne in a medium bowl.  Add egg, vinegar, and enough water to make a thick batter approximately the texture of yogurt.
3.  Heat a griddle to medium high with a generous amount of high-heat oil: i.e. sunflower, grapeseed, or tea seed.  The heat is just right when the oil is thin, but not smoking, and a bit of water dropped onto the griddle sizzles and pops.
4.  Sprinkle batter with baking soda, stir briefly.  Hold the sandwiches firmly and dip into batter, careful not to let the cheese fall out.  Lay gently onto hot skillet and cook until brown and crisp, about 3 minutes per side.
5.  Serve hot, with a green salad and a little mustard for dipping.       

  

Chilled Musk Melon Soup with Mint and Piment d'Espelette

Sometimes a Friday night at home alone is just the thing.  Add a cool evening breeze, some good tunes and a cup of minty melon soup and I can hardly think of any place I'd rather be.  There are some who might choose to save this dish for a dinner party, but it's subtle elegance is just as well enjoyed in the company of rustling leaves and bright stars. 

The inspiration for this unique soup comes from our counter top full of fresh musk melons from Monroe Farm's AMAZING CSA.

The Recipe

1 medium ripe muskmelon (or substitute cantelope)
1 T. apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
2 oz goat cheese
2 T. cream
1/2 t. sea salt
1 t. piment d'espelette (French paprika)
1/4 c. minced onion
2 T. minced fresh mint

1.  Scoop out flesh of melon and place in bender or food processor.  Add vinegar, chevre, cream and salt.  Blend until smooth.
2.  Pour into bowl and mix with remaining ingredients.  Taste and add more salt and/or vinegar as needed.
3.  Chill for at least 1 hour.  Ladle into small bowls.  Garnish with crumbled goat cheese, piment d'espelette and mint, if desired. 

Makes 6 small portions

Spicy Honey Mustard

I've made several mustards from Internet recipes all using the same basic technique of steeping mustard seeds in a combination of vinegar and spirits and blending to the desired consistency.  Each time, the resulting mustard has been harsh and out of balance, with no structure to support the heat.

This time, when mustard cravings set in, I ditched technology and resorted to the more Jeffersonian technique of digging through my library to find the perfect recipe.  In the course of my search, I learned quite a bit about mustard.  In The Joy of Cooking, I learned about the chemical reaction that activates mustard's heat, and about how to make mild mustard by avoiding that chemical reaction.  In The Tassajara Bread Book, I learned that it makes a fine addition to gingerbread, and in The Flavor Bible that some of its great affinities are cucumbers, curry leaves and honey.

As interesting as all this was, it didn't get me any closer to my goal- a sweet and spicy mustard, rich in body, to slather on toast or nibble with cured meat and cornichon.

I should have known that I would find the perfect recipe in my new pet book:  The Lewis and Clark Cookbook, by Leslie Mansfield.  This collection of historic recipes is full of little gems, and is a great read, containing food-related quotes from letters between Jefferson and the Lewis and Clark expedition. Her recipes are literal trips back in time, inviting us to taste the exciting flavors of a young America. 

Sweet Hot Mustard
from The Lewis and Clark Cookbook

1/2 c sugar (I used Honey)
2 eggs
2/3 cup ground mustard
1/2 cup malt vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)

In the top of a double boiler, whisk together the sugar and eggs until smooth.  Whisk in the mustard until smooth.  Add the vinegar in a thin stream, whisking until all is incorporated.  Place the double-boiler over simmering water and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture has thickened.  Serve the mustard at room temperature.  Store covered in the refrigerator.  Makes 1 cup.

Golden Oat Bread with Dried Nettles

I have become shamelessly addicted to the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin.  I've raced through the first two books and am trying to resist picking up the third, for fear that I might continue to neglect everything else in my life.  The characters in this epic story are constantly eating mouth-watering foods.  They do audacious, unholy things, like slathering their wild meats in glazes of honey and dark beer.  They feast on fig-stuffed capons and buttery roasted parsnips.  But my mouth gets to watering the most when they describe breakfast: oat cakes or crusty brown bread, honey, soft cheeses and dried fruits.  My celtic knees go weak.

   The rustic flavors of this morning's breakfast take me far away to a calm wood, my horse grazing besides me as I nibble and daydream under an ancient grandfather oak.  I'll conveniently ignore the fact that were I in the actual story, war would be raging and the wood likely not at all calm.

Golden Oat Bread
   I first discovered this recipe many years ago in one of Susun Weed's lovely herbals, Healing Wise.  Since then I've made it many times, often experimenting with different flours and herbs.

3 cups flour (I used 2 cups oat flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour)
1 cup whole oats
5 t. baking powder
1 t. sea salt
2 T. dried nettles (or experiment with other herbs or dried greens)
1 egg
3 T. honey
1 T. olive oil
1 1/2 c. milk, buttermilk or thinned yogurt

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 8" cake tin or 9" pie plate.
2.  Mix dry ingredients in large bowl.  Beat egg in small bowl, then add rest of wet ingredients.  Pour wet into dry and stir just until blended. 
3.  Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until center is dry and top is golden brown.

The resulting bread is very moist and a bit crumbly, but it holds together well enough to be slathered with sweet butter.  I like it for breakfast with a big bowl of berries and creamy plain yogurt.

Cherries

or Why YOU Should Join a CSA

Plump, juicy cherries

Bursting gently in my mouth

Sweet summer nectar

Spelt Pizza Crust - A Foodie's Canvas...

This wholesome, nutty spelt crust perfectly cradles nearly any ingredient from the fridge, transforming leftover bits and bobs into a satisfying, artful meal.

Here's what spilled onto my pizza the other night:

Arrabiatta, Sheep Feta, Pine Nuts and Fresh Arugula

Parsley Pesto, Applewood-Smoked Chevre and Wine&Black Pepper Salami 

Spelt Crust (Makes 2 10" pizzas):

about 1 1/2 c. warm water (110 degrees), more if needed
1 packet dried yeast
1 T. honey
2 T. olive oil
2 t. sea salt
3 1/4 c. spelt flour
cornmeal, for dusting

1.  Dissolve the yeast and honey in the warm water and let stand at room temp 10 minutes, or until bubbly.
2.  Stir in olive oil, salt and 1 cup spelt flour.  Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon for 1 minute.  Add remaining flour, mixing to incorporate.
3.  Turn dough (and any leftover flour in the mixing bowl) onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth.  Clean the mixing bowl and coat with oil.
4.  Place dough in bowl and cover with a damp towel.  Leave in warm place to rise for about 1 hour.  Meanwhile, prepare topping ingredients.
5.  When dough has doubled in size, turn out onto floured surface and knead briefly.  Split into 2 balls and roll into rounds (or freeze for later use). Place on cornmeal-dusted baking sheet.
6.  Preheat oven to 400.
7. Top your pizza with whatever you've found in the fridge- curried spinach and mozzarella; caramelized onions, sun-dried tomatoes and goat cheese; ricotta and rosemary...you decide!
8.  Place in the oven and cook until crust is golden and toppings are sizzling.  Finish with a splash of good olive oil and a sprinkling of fresh herbs or greens.