Rustic Bread At Home

For the past few days I've been experimenting making bread at home.  My goal was to find something that came close to the flavor of Sullivan Street Bakerys Integrale Bread.  I find this to be one of the tastiest breads they make and it's wonderful with cheese & wine as well as eggs & bacon.  Recently I noticed the flavor and texture of their Integrale Bread changed and so I'm on a quest to try and make some at home. Considering the facts:  I don't know what types or brands of four they're using. I chose flours I could easily find in the supermarket, Whole Foods and my local Italian food store.

I started using Jim Lahey's No Knead Bread.  Don't get turned off by the photo they posted on the website even though it's pretty gross looking.  Yours will look infinitely better ~ mine definitely did and I substituted the yeast for my sourdough starter. I also found this wonderful website Turn Table Kitchen .




The recipe adapted from Turn Table Kitchen
Jim Lahey’s Pane Integrale recipe adapted from:
My Bread by Jim Lahey 
makes 1 loaf of bread
2 1/4 cups of bread flour (You can also use a combination of 00 and all purpose which I did)
3/4 cup of white whole wheat flour (Rye Flour can also be used)
1 1/4 teaspoons of salt
1/2 teaspoon of active dry yeast (I substituted 1 teaspoon of fresh yeast)
1 1/3 cup of cool water (around 60 degrees F)
cornmeal, for dusting - (I omitted this but it will help get the dough off the towel)
a 4 1/2 – 5 1/2 quart dutch oven (with a lid)
1. Combine the flours, yeast and salt in a medium bowl. Pour in the water and use your hands to mix the ingredients until you have a very wet, very sticky dough (about 30 seconds).
2. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the bowl sit at room temperature, in a draft-free spot for 12-18 hours (until the dough is more than doubled and is covered with bubbles).
3. Dust a work surface with flour and scrape the dough out of the bowl with a spatula. Flour your hands a bit and fold the edges of the dough towards each other just a few times (until the dough is round).
4. Dust a tea towl with cornmeal and place the dough gently inside. Wrap the towl loosely around the dough (make sure the edges are free at the top, allowing the dough to expand inside). Let rise for another 1-2 hours at room temperature. You’ll know the dough is ready if you poke your finger in the dough and it does not spring back.
5. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F and place the dutch oven (with the lid on) inside the oven for about 30 minutes, as the oven preheats.
6. Carefully take the pot out of the oven. Unfold the tea towl and nudge the dough into the pot, seam side up. Cover the pot and bake for 30 minutes.
7. After 30 minutes, remove the lid from the pot and continue baking for 15- 30 minutes more (until the crust is nicely browned–but not blackened–and some cracks develop at the top).
8. Remove from the oven and carefully take the bread out of the pot and place on a cooling rack. Wait to eat until cooled (this will allow the inside to firm up).

Have Fun & Enjoy!

Wood Fired Brick Oven Sourdough Pizza

It is possible to make amazing pizza at home.  I've mentioned Jim Lahey's No Knead Pizza dough in a previous blog on Sourdough Pizza. I've baked pizza make with this dough n a gas oven at 500 degrees F on a pizza stone and 400 degrees F in an electric oven on a sheet pan.  I've followed the recipe exactly and I've made it with kids not so exactly. Every time, it's a winner so if you want to make great pizza at home and you don't have a wood fired brick oven in your backyard this is the only way to go.

On the other hand, if you just happen to have a friend who built a brick oven in their back yard make your pizza in that and you will be amazed.The oven should reach over 800 degrees F.  It's incredible to watch it puff and bubble ~ like magic.

So, as you know, I've been experimenting on my sourdough starter to make pizza dough.  Well, I've finally found the ultimate recipe so far.  Its not Anthony Mangieri's Una Pizza Napoletana but it's mine.  It's the best pizza I've ever made and as far as I'm concerned unless I'm eating Anthony's pizza I make the best and don't need to eat any other.  I know that's a huge thing to say.  I've repeated the recipe several times.  Now the test will be to see it through the different seasons, the change in humidity and pressure of the atmosphere.

Now that it's fall, the humidity and ambient temperature are affecting the dough.  But still it can be made at home.  I bake mine on my pizza stone with the temperature set to 550 degrees F and look at the results.

These are the best of the 4 days of pizza making at home.  I made two batches of dough on Monday.  Tuesday I divided the dough into 3 parts and we baked two pies.  Wednesday  morning I took the second batch out and in the evening made two pies again.  Then Friday morning I took the last batch out in the morning and the photos here are the two pies we baked. I wasn't able to bake on day 3 so this is day 4.  The dough was very tasty and you could begin to taste the flavor of the sour without it being over powering.  The crust puffed up nicely and when we let it sit for a few minutes before diving right in, the juices from the tomatoes soaked into the dough making it tender.  Yet the bottom remained crisp.

Everyone has an idea of what and how they want their pizza to be.  I am no exception.  I want it crisp yet soft with a slight chew and lots of flavor.  It also depends on what I'm doing with it.  Will the pizza be the main meal or an appetizer.  Is it a side dish or are we just snacking.  All these elements determine how I want my pizza to be.  This dough recipe also allows me to pile on the cheese or the fresh tomatoes and not worry that the dough won't be able to handle it.  I know Anthony would disagree.  I think he would say it's all about the dough, the toppings should be minimal and not over power the dough.  I would agree with conditions ~ it's all individual and depends on what you're looking for.

The key is to use a small amount of starter and let it sit in your refrigerator for 3 days.  I've found that 2 days will work but the flavor isn't quite developed yet.  4 days also works but you may notice that you don't get the same rise almost like day 2 but with more flavor.Your pizza can also be grilled, yes on your gas, charcoal, or wood fired grill.  The flavor is amazing.  Your dough should not be sticky but not to worry, as long as the grill is hot enough that it is unlikely to stick. 

The sourdough dough is very sensitive to temperature, humidity, pressure,etc, very unlike dry or fresh yeast.  It requires getting to know it very well.  Now that the temperature outside has dropped to 70 and below the dough needs more time to sit out and come to room temp.  But its not just room temp it has to come to, it needs to relax and to help it relax it needs both heat and time.  So the next 6 months of cooler temperatures will keep my apartment warm using the oven so much and will give me the experience I need not only to get to know my new oven but to understand my dough.

I've read a lot about making pizza with a starter and it's hard to know which recipe is going to be the one you're going to like unless you start trying them all.  There's also not a lot out there about using the starter.  What I've learned so far is that your dough should feel like a baby's bottom.  Soft and supple and fresh literally.  When you get the feel right you will know instantly (unless of course you've never felt a baby's bottom, in which case you're out of luck).  That actually means it will be moist and might even be sticky until you put some flour on it.  Just a little and then it will feel perfect (until you work the flour into the dough and then it might feel sticky again but that's ok).  It needs to be kneaded and you can use a mixer, your hands or a combination which you will do anyway.  It is important to feel your dough.  If it breaks when you gently stretch it you may be using too much starter.  It is vital that once you knead the dough for about 8 minutes using the mixer, that it sits for ideally 3 days in the refrigerator.  Your refrigerator is best set at the middle setting or just a notch warmer.  It should not be freezing anything.  Ideally your kitchen temperature will be above 72.  Depending on the temperature inside and out will determine when you take your dough out to come to room temp.  If it's 100 degrees F outside you can take the dough out 2-4 hours before baking so it can come to room temp while the oven or grill is heating up.  If you're going to be outside definitely let the dough sit outside for an hour or two.  If it's fall like it is now and only reaches 72 at it's warmest you can take the dough out when you get up in the morning and leave it out all day as I did.

I would love to hear from anyone making pizza at home.  I'm not ready to share my recipe but I am happy to share techniques and help you along or just discuss it.  Dough is a living breathing organism and each dough is unique to itself.

Send me a note EdibleThymes at Gmail dot com.

Paris, France

I finally have my notes in front of me and can begin to tell you about our 48 hours in Paris.
As Patricia & Walter Wells said "We've always had Paris...."  This is a wonderful city.  It may be the color of the buildings or the romance of the history.  Maybe it's just the cheese. Paris is a magnificent walking city beautifully laid out with something to see at every turn.  Outside of Paris is a different story.  Just take the train to the airport and you'll see the change.

Eighteen hours after arriving at the airport in Porto we arrived in Paris. Wanting to use every minute we had to eat and enjoy we took a taxi into the city right to Rue des Fossess St Jacque to a local wine bar, Cafe de La Nouvelle Mairie. When you walk in you know you're in Paris, the people squish together sitting so closely they are practically sitting on each others laps drinking, talking and laughing. My first meal and bottle of wine in Paris, consisted of an assorted cheese plate and charcuterie, delicious bread, and a bottle of Le Fleurie- I was in love (I'm sorry I can't be more specific aside from the photo .  I don't care what anyone says but for me red wine is better in France.  Hahahaha I couldn't believe I was in Paris the bottle went down so smoothly I looked for another, but it was late and the place was closing and we needed to get a little rest before embarking in the morning for all the pastries we could fit into one morning before lunch and the next bottle of wine.

The next morning we had breakfast at Le Loir Dan Latheiere on Rue de Rosiers for an outrageous hot chocolate and delicious artichoke omelet.

Headed to Pierre Herme's shop for a buttery croissant and to Poilane for second breakfast ~ an apple tart and onto dessert for chocolates at Patrick Roger. Spent an outrageous amount on various chocolate bars that we ate within days of coming home.

For dinner we met friends ~ yes Americans in Paris at Chez Michele.  O had been here before and loved the place.  Instead of bread or olives on the table they start you off with snails and butter.  I don't know if the shell was empty or what but after 4 shells and not being able to get the snail out I decided to give up. We started out with a 2007 Thierry Puzelet.  The nose was very funky to me but I was liking everything I ate and drank in Paris.  I think we ordered everything on the menu.  It's hard for me to tel you everything we ordered because it was all in French but we had: Asparagus Soup with Goat Cheese, Raw Scallops, Eel Carpaccio which was divine. We moved onto a 2004 Breton Bourgueil Les Perrieres which I loved. There was Duck with peas, carrots and turnips, Goat Rib & Breast, Coucou de Rennes with morelles & cream in a pot ~ that was enough for 4 people.  These birds are spectacular and moist and come from Brittany~nothing like the birds we have here.  Do you know the old SNL expression if it's not Scottish it's crap well if it's not from Brittany..........

Dessert was over the top and I don't know how I ate any of it.  I had an Apple Clafouti with a pot of cream yes a pot that poured like cold honey.  I've never seen anything like this in the US of A.  Rice Pudding comes in a pot also enough for 4 people served with a citur marmalde with almost no sugar ~ not my thing but very interesting and good.  Creme caramel with coffee this was so light not anything like the pot de creme or creme caramel that's made here either.  Then the cheese plate comes.  You take what you want off the huge hunks of cheese they put before you.... it's unreal I tell you. And this was just the first day.

When you travel to smaller towns and places where the urban and the neighboring countryside blend together naturally, you will find the food and wine coming from the local area. It seems odd to me looking at how "local" "sustainable" & "farmers markets" are now the trend.  When I was a child we had a bungalow just outside of the town of Peekskill. Across route 202, just before you veer off to the right towards the Bear Mountain extension, was a farm.  We would stop there every weekend when we came up from the city. He had the best corn and we'd get all our vegetables from him.  I even have a photo of my brother riding the tractor when he was about 4 years old. The farmers name was Angelo and I thought he was a distant relative.  Then one day he was gone.  He must have been old when I was a kid and I don't think they had any children so the farm disappeared.  I don't know what's there now as I don't want my memory changed.  I'm glad the farmers markets are coming back  Well, I digress but it's interesting how Europe is so far ahead of us in so many ways regarding food.

The next morning it was back to the same ~ apparently we had already established a routine.  Head to Pierre Herme for croissants and then compare the rest ~ hahaha.  His are the best in Paris! After gorging ourselves on croissants here and there and a piece of chocolate at Michel Chaudun and at Patrick Roger both are different one is older and traditional yet the best you can buy the other innovative & sublime.  He carries signature bars made from cocoa beans from all over the world.  The most amazing selection you will find. Here's a list of choclate & pastry shops to see in Paris.

In Paris it's always a holiday so if you don't have the time you can miss a lot.  We missed an amazing wine bar.  We got there too late for lunch and the place is so small if you don't make a reservation you can't have dinner. We were lucky enough to hit it right and get a lovely table outside at Le Comptoir which also has a hotel connected to it next door. In fact we had lunch and dinner here because it was that good.  You sit outside feeling just like one of the locals except that you don't smoke.  You order a carafe of wine and chat enjoying the street musicians and the people passing by.  You might even see a friend who will stop and sit with you for a while.  We drank a caafe of the house Rose a 2008 Bandol by Alain Constant.~ I could drink this all year long. They had white asparagus with chives and butter so of course... you haven't had white asparagus until you've had it in Paris~ the stuff you get in New York doesn't taste like anything. Then we ordered a bottle of C'est Le PRintemps 2009.  I don't know how to describe this but it was wonderful, you could tast the spring time and it smelled like red cherries.  Everything we ordered from the Pork & Lentils, to the Steak and Lamb came with purple potato chips ~ the best I ever had.

Did I mention earlier that it was cold in May in Paris?  We I was freezing the whole time.  It's a good thing those heat lamps were there or not only would I not been able to sit outside I wouldn't have been able to eat dessert either ~ which was simply delicious.

In between all this eating, we tried to visit The Picasso Museum.  Unfortunately or fortunately for the future it's under renovation and will not reopen until 2011 so if you're going check first.  Otherwise anywhere you walk you will find museums and places of interest.  The city is so full of history that every park and every square, every church and every corner for that matter has history you can read about.  We happen to walk into a mansion, the floors were beautiful.

Generous portions and nothing pretentious about these desserts. Deliciousness in ice cream, Espana Chocolate of all things.  A vanilla pot de creme with a simple piece of chocolate cake.  Okay the chocolate cake should have been a cookie as it was on the dry side.  But then again they probably expected that anyone else was going to have a coffee ~ hahaha I fooled them didn't I!!!  No Coffee for me.

And last but not least the fruit tart an apple tart with armagnac with a soft flaky pastry served with a prune ice cream.  At least that's what we think it was.  I can't read French and it's hard trying to have everything translated and then figure out exactly what is it.  Besides I wasn't there to translate I was just there to eat up all the yummy deliciousness.

The great thing about Paris is that at 11pm at night on your way back to your hotel, just when you think, where are we going to pick up a couple of sandwiches to take with us to the airport.... you pass a sort of street deli where they're selling sandwiches and roast chickens for people to take home.  This is what I call fast food! And now we go home.


Check the links for addresses and places to eat.

Sourdough Pizza Update

We've recently been making pizza like crazy.  Using my uncle's sourdough starter has been the greatest inspiration as the culture is very lively and tasty not to mention that it smells wonderful.  I keep 2 parts in the fridge and one of them I'm starting to modify so it's much less sour.  I wish I was a chemistry major- hahahaha

The experimenting never stops but I've finally developed a recipe that for the moment I can live with.  For some it would be the end, and don't get me wrong, this recipe makes great dough. The pizza is amazing and we're using the best ingredients you can buy.  Cheese from Di'Paolo's in Littley Italy, fennel sausage from Faicco's on Bleecker Street and miscel.things like greens and bacon from the Union Square green market and occasionally Whole Foods.  I'm just looking for something a little different, something more like Anthony's at Una Pizza - watch the video it's so cool.

I think the problem is that I've only had the pizza I'm looking for once and I may not be able to duplicate it at home because it's impossible to get the oven to 800 or 900 degrees F not to mention it's extremely dangerous at home. The recipe I'm currently making came about when I finally sat down and read Jeff Varasanos website. He talks about the mistakes you should watch out for and gives detailed information and percentages that really helped put me in the right direction.

Right now I think I will have to wait for the weather to warm up a bit so we can head to Chris's place and get the wood fired oven warmed and ready for pizza.  If you want my recipe email me.  Just remember it for use with a starter not instant yeast.

I was in the middle of this blog when I got interrupted.  Currently I am still working on the recipe. I am determined to develop my own but I am still obsessed with a single pizza I ate last year at Una Pizza Napoletana in NYC before they closed.  As of today I have dough sitting in my refrigerator ready to go.  I will bake some on Sunday and some on Monday and I will let you know how they are. 

Yes, I know I've left you hanging on the last 3 posts but I'm trying to get back on pace so please keep checking back there's more to come.

Porto, Portugal

I have been lax in my blogging about our trip to Portugal. You all know most of the photos I take are of the food we eat, but here I took some pictures of the area.  This is still a work in progress but I wanted to get it up so you could see some of the photos.

Portugal and specifically the city of Porto is right on the Atlantic Ocean.  New York City is literally across the ocean, just on the other side!!!! Most of the buildings are very old and have the typical mosaic tile covering the fromt.

We began our trip in London and then flew to Portugal for three days well 4 if you count the day wasted in the Porto airport because they didn't have a crew for our flight.  Ohhhh, don't ask,  just take my word and when someone tells you what TAP airlines stands for "Take Another Plane", trust me, they aren't joking.

Our trip to Portugal was based on a Vino Verde (Verde is prounced Veard the e at the end is silent) my friend O had 1 drank several months ago from a wine producer called Casa de Mouraz. They use a ladybug symbol on their labels that signifies their wines are biodynamic.  The wine was so unlike a typical Vino Verde in that the grapes tasted like Riesling.  We were so enamoured of this wine not only did we want to get more we wanted to meet the wine makers.  After some difficult investigating O finally found them.  This trip was about meeting the wine makers and visiting their vineyards with the hope of bringing back some of their wine.

My friend O also has an American friend living in Porto for almost 20 years, she plays Violin in the local orchestra so it was also a great excuse to visit her. She is amazing, a plethra of information about the city and the best tour guide ever.  She is fluent in Portugese and told us all about the history past, present and possible future of the city.


Porto is a very poor city and every where you go you can see the remnants of history in the local ruins (which are mostly old homes with mosaic tile covering the front and in some cases sides as well).  The people of Porto and maybe most of Portugal are very laid back and don't seem to realize it, they are also very friendly.

Along the Atlantic coast of Porto is a beach lined with a few cafes and restaurants.  Each restaurant has a deck where you can look out on the ocean or view it from the dinning room.  These restaurants seem to be a little on the pricey side for the locals but for visitors they are reasonable.  The food isn't spectacular but it's good. One of the restaurants Shis has a view of the beach and gives the impression of being on a boat.  We had a delicious meal of Duck with black pepper and vanilla.   The best meal we had in Porto was at the restaurant Cafeina.  They also have a wine bar up the block on the corner where a glass of wine runs about $2.50 a $3.00 glass is considered expensive.  Almost everyone you come across speaks English and they love the chance to practice. By the time we got to the restaurant I must have been more inebriated than I realized.  Looking back on my notes I only noted 3 things.  The first was an outstanding smoked duck and chestnut soup. Then we had an appetizer a Bacalou Carpaccio with arugula and parmesan cheese.  This was served with chickpeas and I've never known I could like baccalou before.  (No matter how it's been prepared for me in the past I've never liked it.  It's always much too fishy for me.) This dish was delicious. I don't know what I ordered as an entre but it might have been  Nero Pasta with Shrimp, Octopus and tomato.  And then my notes just end just like that.  All I know is that the wine we ordered something from the Beiras area went well with everything.  Apparently from my notes it had a full fruity nose with a sort of buttery finish but not much in the mid range.  Sorry I can't add more to that.  Unfortunately the lighting was very low in the restaurant and I didn't want to rudely use my flash so none of the photos came out either.

The morning after we arrived in Porto we met the wine makers, Sara & Antonio, at a local restaurant in Porto I think the name was En Casa- but not to worry if you're going to visit there are some better restaurants to try. Though I enjoyed this meal it was on the expensive side and the food was very Mom & Pop mostly fried and served with 3 different rice dishes and mediocre bread.  I don't remember most of the food except the fried squid and some other local fried fish were very tasty.  During lunch we tasted Sara & Antonio's wines.  Of course the one we were looking forward to was the Vino Verde.  I'm going to say upfront that Sara & Antonio know how to make wine and many of their wines taste like they will need some aging though even young I enjoyed most of the reds. I preferred the Vino Verde.  If you get a chance look for the Casa de Mouriz label.  They are small producers so each year their wine can be significantly different.  Their current Vino Verde doesn't taste anything like the Vino Verde we had from them.  Of all the wines we drank I think I preferred their Vino Verde above the others.

Sara and Antonio are lovely people who took us to lunch and to dinner and spent 2 days driving us around the Duoro area of Portugal where the hills and mountains are composed solely of vineyards with a sparse few trees here and there. They use 3 vineyards- the story of which I don't fully remember but it's shared land.The hills of the Duoro also contain the vineyards of the worlds top Port Wine vineyards.  In my opinion the wines of Portugal though they may work with the local foods are not as sophisticated as the wines of say Italy or France.  The Portugese wine makers have some refining to do.  Though they have many hidden gems Grape and Apple juice for two.  Unlike any you have ever had.  They should be exporting the juice which is not your kids apple or grape.  These juices are great, unfortunately they are not exported to the U.S. but luckily in Portugal they can be found in local supermarkets.

The view driving through the Duoro is magnificent as the  river flows through the vineyard clad mountains.One place to stop overnight is the Hotel Folgosa Duoro right across the street, literally, from a fantastic local, modern, delicious Portugese restaurant (which at first it looks out of place in mountain side town but at the same time it fits perfectly nestled along the river) Rui Paula which by the way has two locations the other being in Porto. The chefs expression of local cuisine is taken to a new level and for the discerning traveling palate this is one of the places to go in Porto. On of the dishes we had here was a sausage called Alheira. It's a traditional dish we saw in many restaurants.  The sausage is made of various poultry and smoked to imitate the flavor of pork and you'd never know it wasn't.  The smoked meat was wrapped in a filo type pastry served with a port reduction and mushrooms.  The smoked flavor was outstanding.

All in all I am happy I visited Portugal the highways are pristine mainly because they are new and almost no one uses them- the tolls are very expensive.  I would like to return but I may visit Spain first.  My experience in the airport still reminds me that I lost 24 hours I could have spent in Paris eating and drinking amazing food and wine.  And yes that can happen anywhere but for me it happened in Portugal so don't fly TAP.

We will definitely return to this area and spend some time in Spain as well as continuing to explore the food and wine or Portugal.