Lemon Sea Salt Focaccia

How many of you think that this recipe would be better off without the pretentiousness of sea salt being added to the name?  Maybe just Lemon Salt Focaccia, or Lemon Focaccia since there is always salt on focaccia anyway?  Normally I can't stand that kind of thing, but this recipe merits whatever devices can be employed to lure you into trying the recipe because it's good.  The recipe is here.  Eat it all hot out of the oven.

English Muffins

 

I wonder if you have had the same experience I did.  Thomas' English Muffins were the only game in town and they were great fresh out of the toaster.  Then maybe you tried a Thomas' Bagel.  Guess what, it's horrible!  It tastes like an English Muffin!

Well guess what?  You don't have to buy Thomas', you can make your own.  And they don't have that "Thomas'" flavor.  In fact they are really, really good fresh.  Basically, it is a bread started in the pan and finished in the oven, then fork split.  The versions pictured here are from "The Bread Baker's Apprentice" but there are many recipes out there and of course, Emily is still experimenting.  

  

This is the second batch that came out even better than the first!

Cinnamon Bread

Cinnamon bread smells delicious in the oven.  This is one of Emily's latest projects.  She is working through The Bread Baker's Apprentice, which currently under her review to see if it stands up to rumors that it is an excellent reference on a wide variety of breads.  We will keep you posted.

Gougeres

Okay, now that some of the holidays are behind us,  I can start to fill you in on some of the things that happened in our kitchen.  Here is one of the really good ones: gougeres.  These are a French type of cheesy puff with big taste.  The traditional ones are made with gruyere cheese, and that how these were made.  For a second batch we tried manchego with very similar, but maybe not quite as good results.  The comments on the recipe's main page are correct - there is indeed too much salt in the recipe.  We took it down to 1.5 tsp the second time around and they came out less powerfully salty.  They are great right out of the oven when a puff of steam emerges as you break it open.  Try not to eat them all right then, they do save for a nice appetizer.

Polenta Quickbread with Lemon and Thyme

Martha occasionally does an article on a theme and posts a lot of recipes online with variations on that theme.  This one was quickbreads which I must say is an appealing concept.  There is never enough time to make them all, but so far, I think that you do better reading the recipes carefully and picking the best one anyway.  At first they all look amazing, but then as you get serious about picking a recipe, suddenly none of them seem that appealing.  This quickbread was interesting... it appears on the surface to be more of a savory bread, but in fact is a bit sweet.  It's not quite a dessert, not quite a plain cornbread.  The lemon-thyme flavors are nice, but what does it go with?  The recipe is here.  This subject is worth returning to for further evaluation.

Banana Bread

Cook's Illustrated came through for my office with this banana bread recipe. We had an emergency with a number of bananas going bad over the weekend - black enough that they got passed over for the new all-yellow bananas from Peapod Monday morning. Banana bread is great for past their prime bananas because their intense banana flavor is muted and more tasty in a cake. You can make this recipe with stuff you have on hand (if you generally have yogurt in the fridge) and it is very quick to make. I would have added chocolate if I had some in the house - banana-chocolate is one of my favorite combos.

Corn Spoonbread

Something about the name "spoonbread" just sounds delicious. A reminder of bread pudding. This recipe from Cook's Country, while good, is way too much effort when warm, yummy, moist cornbread can be achieved with much less fuss and with far fewer dirty dishes. (My favorite recipe is still Cook's Illustrated's version.) This dish is incredibly light and is for all practical purposes a souffle, which means it has beaten egg whites folded into the batter. In the end, though, this concept won't stay in my file.

By the way, I have heard a number of comments on this blog that ask where I get the pictures posted here. Well the answer is that I take them all, and what is pictured is the actual food I made. It's a little demonstration that anyone can cook, and with a careful camera, take pictures that make it look good.

Focaccia

One of Emily's staples is a focaccia variant of the NY Times No-Knead Bread recipe. Basically, it is a quick mix before you go to bed, and some time for a second rise and baking in the morning, which makes it perfect for weekends. Top it with whatever you want - in this case caramelized onions, roasted red peppers, goat cheese, and of course garlic and olive oil.

Walnut Bread

Walnut bread as good as Paul (the European bakery chain) is one of the grails of baking in this household. It was nearly achieved this time. Eat it with butter and honey and you will finish the loaf in one sitting.