Panettone (Italian Christmas Bread) – Hard to Make, Or At Least That’s What We’re Telling People

I’ve never tried to make panettone before, mostly because of how notoriously difficult it is to make, or so I was told. Turns out that wasn’t the case, unless people are factoring in the time, as this does take three days to complete, but other than that, I thought it was a pretty straightforward bread recipe.

I think bakers like us regular folks to believe everything is super hard to make, so as to elevate their standing in society; or, maybe this is difficult, and I just got lucky, but regardless, I was thrilled with how this came out.

I may add a bit more vanilla next time, and possibly a few extra tablespoons of sugar, as it wasn’t quite as sweet as I imagined, but other than using all the fruit, I don’t think I’d change much else. Speaking of the dried fruit, there are so many other things you can include, such as nuts, and chocolate chips, just in case this seems too healthy.

You'll find the panettone baking molds at places like Sur La Table, or other kitchenware stores at the mall, but they're also inexpensive and easy to find on Amazon. You'll see both in this size, and also the more traditional, tall, coffee-can shape. It might be a little late to start this, and finish by Christmas, but I would try it anyway. Just don’t let your guests know how easy it was to make, unless they’re professional bakers, then do. I really hope you give this special occasion bread a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for one 7-inch Panettone:

The night before…

For the panettone starter:

1/4 cup sourdough starter (click here for recipe)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cold water

NOTE: If you don’t have sourdough starter, mix 3/4 cup flour with about 1/3 cup cold water, or enough to simulate the thickness of the one seen in the video, and add a pinch (1/16 teaspoon) of yeast. Mix, cover and leave overnight, just like the one in the video.

For the dried fruit:

1/2 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup dried cherries, quartered

1/2 cup diced dried pineapple

1/4 cup rum for soaking fruit

For the dough:

1/4 cup warm water

1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) dry active yeast

2 large eggs

1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoon sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest

1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest

all the starter from above

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoon fine salt

6 tablespoons softened butter

For egg wash:

1 large egg

1 tablespoon water

Lobster Thermidor – Not Your Parents’ Thermidor

I don’t remember that much about the lobster thermidor I ate in culinary school in the early eighties, other than not really being able to taste any lobster. Instead of the nice, light sauce I used here, the meat was hidden in a thick, eggy, cheese sludge, which looked great broiled to a bubbly, golden-brown, but wasn’t the best method if you actually wanted to know you were eating lobster.

Lobster is sort of sweet, and rich tasting to begin with, so covering it in a super heavy sauce never made much sense, which is why I like this approach so much more. Our sauce is just heavy enough to coat the chunks of meat, without hiding it, and while we’re not adding handfuls of cheese, or a bunch of egg yolks, we’re still going to enjoy a fairly decadent dish.

Not only is this great for a fancy dinner party because it looks and tastes great, but you can also do all the prep ahead of time, and then just pop them in the oven when you’re ready for service. If you go that route, they’re going to be much colder, so you’ll probably need to give them a few extra minutes in the oven. Remember, everything is already cooked, so just roast until the meat is heated through.

The classic version is made with a whole, split lobster, which admittedly tastes better, but is a hundred times messier, and harder to do, not to mention probably more expensive. Frozen lobster tails can be surprising affordable, and there isn’t any waste. Either way, I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 2 large or 4 appetizer size portions:

4 lobster tails (about 4 oz each about)

3 tablespoons butter, divided

2 tablespoons minced shallots

salt to taste

1 1/2 cup diced mushrooms

1 tablespoon flour

2 tablespoons cognac or brandy

1/2 cup whole milk

2 tablespoons crème fraiche or heavy cream

1 generous tablespoon minced fresh tarragon

cayenne to taste

2 teaspoon dry breadcrumbs

2 teaspoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

2 teaspoons melted butter for the top

Chocolate Bark – Temper, Temper

In addition to sharing an easy, and beautiful edible holiday gift idea, I wanted to make this chocolate bark so I could test a simplified technique for tempering chocolate without a thermometer. It sounded too good to be true, but worked fairly well, which is the problem. Is fairly good, okay? 

Properly tempered chocolate will snap when broken, and retain that gorgeous glossy sheen. Poorly tempered chocolate is sort of dull grey, and the texture is soft, and waxy. This was somewhere in the middle.

Using this method, you will get close to properly tempered chocolate, and you might get lucky, and actually end up with perfectly tempered chocolate, but in hindsight, since using a thermometer isn’t really hard, and the extra steps required not that strenuous, I’ll probably just do it the right way next time.

In fact, I may do a future chocolate truffle video as an excuse to show you the “professional” method, but in the meantime, check out this great article I found on Allrecipes, as well as this video from Monarch Media that does a good job of explaining the steps. There are also hundreds of other videos online that take you through the procedure. Regardless of which method you go with, quick and imprecise, or deliberate and exact, I stand by my assertion that this would make a great holiday gift. I hope you give it a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for about 36 pieces of Chocolate Bark

1 1/2 pounds dark chocolate (70% cacao)

1 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

1 cup shelled, roasted, salted pistachios

1/2 cup dried gogi berries

about 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Butternut Bisque – To Roast or Not to Roast

That is the question, and for me the answer depends on what else is on the menu besides this delicious butternut bisque. 

When you roast butternut, you caramelize, and concentrate the flesh, and get something sweeter, starchier, and richer, which is perfect if you’re enjoying it as a meal, but maybe not such a great thing if it’s going to be followed by additional courses.

The last thing you want when you start a big holiday meal with a soup course are your guests feeling full when they finish. Of course, as with all things food, this is highly subjective, but I did want to share my thought process on skipping the roasting step.

I really enjoyed the festive, seasonally appropriate garnish seen herein, but if you are going for more of a stand-alone meal, it’s pretty amazing embellished with a handful of crispy bacon, and spoon of crème fraiche. So, whether you roast or not; whether you’re going to serve at some fancy feast, or just some chilly Tuesday night, I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 6 portions:

1 butternut squash (about 2 lbs)

3 tablespoons butter

1 large onion, diced

1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 quart chicken broth

pinch of cayenne

1/2 cup heavy cream or crème fraiche (plus more to swirl on top)

2 tablespoons maple syrup, or to taste
chives and pomegranate to garnish

Tourtière – A Meaty Holiday Main Course That’s Easy as Pie

Many holiday main course recipes involve expensive ingredients, and/or time consuming, complicated techniques, not to mention the anxiety that comes along with worrying whether all that time and money will have been worth it. I’m looking at you, dry, overcooked beef wellington.

If you want to avoid all that, maybe consider making tourtière. This French-Canadian meat pie is hearty, satisfying, easy to make, visually impressive, relatively affordable, and since it’s best served at room temperature, doesn’t require any kind of precise timing.

You can also easily tailor this to your own tastes, since other than the ground meat and mashed potato, pretty much anything goes. Or, make it just like this. I’ve only had tourtière a handful of times, so I’m certainly no expert, but I thought this came out extremely well, and I wouldn’t change anything when I make it again.

Although, I may try it with some beef gravy, as a few of my Canadian friends have suggested. Some even suggest ketchup, which I did try on a cold slice, and not surprisingly it was delicious. But, no matter how you serve this tourtière, I really do hope you give it a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for one 9-inch Tourtière:

For the crust:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, sliced, frozen

7 tablespoons ice cold *water

2 teaspoons white distilled vinegar

*add a little more if dough isn’t pressing together

1 large russet potato, boiled in enough salted water to cover (reserve water)

1 tablespoon butter

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 large onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup finely diced celery

1 pound ground pork

1 pound ground beef

1 cup potato water, plus more as needed

For the spice blend:

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon dried sage

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1⁄2 teaspoon  ground ginger

1⁄4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground mustard

1/8 teaspoon ground clove

pinch cayenne

For the egg wash:

1 large egg

1 tablespoon water

Please note: Once your filling has cooled, taste for salt, and adjust before filling the crust.

- Bake at 375 F. for 1 hour, or until browned

Holiday Cheese Board – Finding Michele

After posting the long, and relatively complicated croissants video last week, I decided to take a little mental break, and do a video for how to put together a holiday cheese board. I’ve wanted to do this one for a while, and since we’re in the middle of entertaining season, I thought the timing was perfect.

It’s always stressful to have people coming over this time of the year. You want to please, and impress, but there never seems to be enough time to get everything done, especially in the kitchen, and that’s when a well-designed cheese board can save the day.

They’re fast to put together, and you don’t need any special skills, other than being able to talk to strangers at the fancy grocery store. Most feature extensive cheese selections, and it’s been my experience that the people who work in those departments love helping you pick out your cheese. 

I know this, since I’m married to one of those people. Michele used to sell cheese in various shops and charcuteries, and her selection/pairing skills are legendary. Customers would simply tell her how many guests were coming, as well as what was being served, in particular, which adult beverages, and she would work her magic.

I gave you our basic approach for composing one of these boards, but there are many different ways you can go, so I encourage you to find the “Michele” at whichever place you’re buying your cheese. You won’t regret it. No matter which cheeses you end up with, or how you garnish them, I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Le Mothais sur Feuille - Goat Cheese 
Prunes 
Fuyu Persimmons 
Bread - Rye Krisp 
Knife - Combo (spread, slice, stab) 

Manchego Membrillo - Sheep Cheese
Quince paste
Bread - water crackers 
Knife - slice and stab (knife with holes) 

Stilton - Cow Bleu Cheese 
Candied Pecans 
Grapes
Bread - sliced baguette 
Knife - spreading

Note: Allow for at least 2 ounces of cheese total per guest, as a portioning rule of thumb.

Croissants – Slightly Easier than Flying to Paris

I wouldn’t describe homemade croissants as an easy recipe, since there are multiple steps, and it does take a least half a day, but it’s really not that hard either; and certainly simpler than flying to Paris, which is the only other way to enjoy these amazing pastries.

Sure, some of you may live near an authentic French bakery, maybe even one of the few that still use pure butter, but for the sake of this post, let’s assume that you don’t. Besides, sitting next to a basket of homemade croissants raises your foodie street cred like few other things.

Despite taking a fair amount to time, this is actually the quick version, in that we’re not leaving the dough to rest overnight, before laminating with the butter. I don’t think there’s a huge difference, but I did want to mention in case you’d prefer to start the dough at night, and do the rest of the work the next day.

The technique is pretty straightforward, but be sure to pay attention to the temperature of your butter.  If you’re slab is too soft, it will just blend into the dough, and you won’t get the gorgeous layering seen herein.  And if it’s too cold in firm, it won’t spread between the layers of dough like it needs to. It should basically have the firmness of clay.

So, take your time, and when in doubt, pop the dough in the fridge for a few minutes to chill it down as you’re working. You’ll notice I didn’t serve anything on my croissants when I did the final shots, and if you make these, you’ll understand why.  I really do hope you give these a try soon. Enjoy!

Makes 12 to 16 Croissants:

This recipe was adapted from one by Bruno Albouze, from The Real Deal (which he is)

For the dough:

1 cup warm water (about 100 F.)

1 packet active dry yeast (about 2 1/2 teaspoons)

1/4 cup granulated white sugar

3 teaspoons kosher salt (1 3/4 teaspoons if using fine salt)

3 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour

6 tablespoons room temp butter for the dough

For the croissants:

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted European-style butter for the slab

1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water for the egg wash

Flaxseed Crackers - Meet the “Flackers”

I usually try new recipes, or techniques because they sound delicious, or unusual, but once in a while I’ll try something just because it sounds impossible, and that was the case with these flaxseed crackers. 

I heard that if you mix flaxseeds with an equal amount of water, let it hydrate, spread it thin, and bake it in a low oven, you’ll get light, crispy, and surprisingly tasty crackers. I heard right.

I generally like to leave eating seeds to the birds, but these have a very mild nutty/earthy flavor, and while quite light, they’re still study enough to use with your favorite dips and spreads. Above and beyond the taste, I find that these start to lose their crispiness after about a day, so if you make them ahead of time, I’d re-crisp them in the oven again for maybe 30 minutes to dry them back out.

Also, please feel free to season these more creatively than I did. Although a plain cracker is perfect for pairing with a slice of cheese, I can’t help but think there are so many other ways these could’ve been spiced-up. Regardless of what you add to yours, I really hope you give them a try soon. Enjoy!

PLEASE NOTE: I've been told that whole flax seeds are not fully digestible, and to get the health benefits you should use flaxseed meal, but other sources are telling me that the soaking, and chewing takes care of that, maybe. Probably not a big deal unless you're going to eat a whole batch, but consider yourself warned if you are sensitive to high-fiber foods!
 
Ingredients for 32 Flaxseed Crackers:

1 cup raw flax seeds

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

pinch of cayenne

1 cup cold water

- Soak overnight, then bake at 200 F. for 3 hours, or until crispy.

Sweet Potato Biscuits – Before or After

I originally planned for these sweet potato biscuits to be this year’s Thanksgiving leftover recipe, but they came out so well, I decided to upgrade them, and I’m now officially suggesting you make these as one of the centerpieces for your feast. The downside of that plan is that you’ll have to share them with your guests.

Adding things like mashed sweet potatoes can cause all sorts of issues in a biscuit recipe, since they need to take the place of some of your “wet” ingredients, and considering how much thicker they are than something like buttermilk, over-mixing the dough can occur. By the time the potato mixture is incorporated, you can develop too much gluten, which can make biscuits tough.  

So, to protect against that, we’ll do most of the mixing while we form and fold our dough on the work surface. Not only does this make for a tender biscuit, but as you saw, we also get lots of beautifully buttery layers.

These are amazing with just plain butter, but for a little seasonal twist, I made a pomegranate spread, and have explained how to do that below. No matter what you serve this with, I really do hope you give these amazing sweet potato biscuits a try soon Enjoy!

Ingredients for 8 large or 12 normally sized Sweet Potato Biscuits:

1 1/2 cup mashed orange sweet potatoes (cooked in well-salted water, drained thoroughly)

3 1/4 cups *self-rising flour 
(*if using all-purpose flour, add 4 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1 1/2 tsp fine salt)

1 rounded tablespoon brown sugar

12 tablespoons ice cold butter, grated in

1/2 cup buttermilk

For the pomegranate spread:

4 tablespoons room temp butter

1 teaspoon pomegranate syrup, aka pomegranate molasses (you can make your own by reducing juice until it thickens)

1 teaspoon fresh pomegranate juice, for a better color

fresh pomegranate seeds to garnish

Peposo dell'Impruneta - Making Bad Beef Better Since Before Columbus

Some recipes have amusing, or romantic stories for how they came to be, but this peposo isn’t one of them, unless you consider making bad quality beef taste better by covering it in black pepper, amusing or romantic.

As the story goes, the workers who made terracotta tiles in the city of Impruneta, would place this stew into clay pots, and leave it their still-hot kilns overnight, where it would be ready the next morning. Since they were often stuck using less than fresh meat, copious amounts of black peppercorn was used to make the beef palatable.

Luckily, this recipe adapts quite nicely to fresh meat, and produces one of the more uniquely flavored braised beef dishes I’ve ever had. The amount of black pepper is up to you, but even the ridiculous amount I used wasn’t overpowering. The acidity and sweetness of the reduced wine balances everything beautifully.

I hear that beef shank is the traditional cut of meat to use, but short ribs worked really well. You could even use some beef chuck, cut into two-inch pieces, but you’d have to adjust the cooking time. Having said that, forget the time, and keep cooking until a fork goes in easily. Regardless of which cut you use, or how fresh it is, I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 6 portions:

6 bone-in beef short ribs (about 8 to 10 ounces each)

1 tablespoon kosher salt to coat the beef

8 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 tablespoons black peppercorns, freshly crushed

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

3-4 sage leaves

3-4 small sprigs rosemary

2 cups red wine, preferably Chianti

2 bay leaves

salt to taste, to adjust sauce

- Simmer on low, covered, about 3 1/2 hours, or until fork tender. Turn occasionally.

Caldo Verde – My Green Soup Redux

Caldo verde is many things: simple to make, inexpensive, nutritious, famously delicious, and beyond comforting. What it isn’t, however, is Spanish. I learned that after posting a version of this soup 10 years ago, when I tagged it as “Spanish Cuisine,” and a few very “passionate” Portuguese viewers let me know, in no uncertain terms, that was not accurate.

This soup hails from the Minho Province in northern Portugal, and now that the record has been set straight, we can move on to just how great this simple soup is. This is one of those recipes where you actually hope for horrible weather, so you can enjoy it in all its soul-warming glory. This is so hearty and comforting, you’ll almost forget how good it is for you.

I recommend trying to find Portuguese linguica, but like I said in the video, pretty much any cured, spicy, smoked sausage will work. Andouille would be a great choice, as would a dried chorizo. As usual, feel free to adapt this as you see fit, but I wouldn’t change the recommended russet potatoes.

They have the perfect starchiness for this soup, and produce a wonderfully silky texture. Waxier red potatoes won't work as well, but, having said that, it’s your soup, so do what you want. Just don’t call it Spanish. So, whether you wait for some nasty cold, wet weather or not, I really do hope you give this caldo verde a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 6 large portions:

1 tablespoon olive oil

12 ounces Linguica sausage
1 onion diced fine, plus a pinch of salt

3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, sliced

2 teaspoons salt, plus more as needed

2 quarts chicken broth or water

2 pounds kale, trimmed, chopped, washed and drained

pinch of cayenne, optional

Pork Saltimbocca – Jumps in Your Mouth, Not in Your Hands

You have to give it to the Italians when it comes to naming recipes, and this pork saltimbocca is a perfect example. By now, you’ve probably heard that “saltimbocca” means “jumps in the mouth,” which makes perfect sense if you’ve had it before.

Maybe we should start doing this to American recipes? For example, we could rename Buffalo Chicken Wings, “Order More Beer Bones.” Let me think that one through a little more, but the point is, I love the idea of trying to describe a food’s affect in its name.

If you don’t want to mess around making the fake pork stock with the chopped up trimmings, you can still use the gelatin trick, and simply dissolve a teaspoon into a cup of chicken broth, and reduce it by half. However, the browned scraps do add extra meatiness, and this way you won’t have to feel guilty about trimming off too much meat. By the way, if you’d made our demiglace, you could skip the gelatin and add a nugget of that.

Feel free to use the more classic veal loin for this recipe, but the pork tenderloin really works beautifully. It’s just as tender, and maybe even a bit more forgiving if slightly overcooked. Which reminds me, don’t overcook this. Slightly pink pork tenderloin is completely safe, not to mention juicy and delicious. So, whether you use pork, veal, or even a chicken breast for this, I really do hope you give it a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 2 portions:

1 to 1 1/4 pound pork tenderloin, seasoned generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

about 12 sage leaves

4 large thin slices prosciutto

flour for dusting

2/3 cup white wine, or Marsala wine for a little sweeter sauce.
- Be sure season the final sauce before serving.

For the stock:

1 tablespoon butter

chopped pork trimmings

1 cup homemade or low sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup water, or as needed

1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin

- simmer until reduced by half

“Code Red” Cheese Spread and a Hot Pepper Challenge for ALS

I was halfway through production on this “code red” cheese spread, when I heard that Andrew from “Binging with Babish” had tagged me for his Hot Pepper Challenge for ALS. What are the odds? Anyway, I happily accepted his challenge, although, as you’ll see from this video, I took the coward’s way out, and used the almost already completed pepper spread, instead of eating whole chilies. I have some gastrointestinal issues that, while relatively minor, would make such an endeavor “problematic.” So, to make up for my good judgment, I donated a little extra, and hope you can do the same.

Above and beyond raising some funds for ALS research, this delicious spread is simple to make, and a real crowd-pleaser. Just ignore those initial complaints. As you’ll observe, people will literally be spreading more of this on their next cracker, while they tell you that it's too spicy. It isn't, and by the end of the party, they will agree. They may be sweating when they do, but they'll agree.

Here’s the link to Andrew’s video, where he shares the inspiration for the challenge, as well as heroically eats a habanero, AND a ghost pepper. It hurt just to watch. If you'd like to participate, the link is https://www.gofundme.com/alshotpepperchallenge. I really hope you give this great pepper spread, and hot pepper challenge a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for about 4 1/2 cups “Code Red” Cheese Spread:

1 1/2 pounds cream cheese

8 ounces fromage blanc, mascarpone, or just more cream cheese

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 teaspoons cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 cup sriracha hot sauce

2 tablespoons ghost pepper hot sauce, or to taste

2 tablespoons sweet paprika

2 tablespoons hot smoked paprika

2 teaspoons chipotle pepper

1 teaspoon cayenne, plus more to taste
salt to taste

Chicken Little – The Sky is Not Falling

Armed with nothing more than a sharp boning knife, and some patience, pretty much anyone can make this visually impressive, “chicken little.” At least that’s what I’m calling it, for lack of a better name. In the business, this is sometimes referred to as an individual chicken ballotine, which really doesn’t have much of a ring to it.

I was thinking of going with “pear chicken,” but then I’d have to deal with all those “where’s the pear?” comments. Anyway, regardless of the name, this is a real showstopper, and easily adaptable when it comes to seasonings, and glazes. I did the simplest pan sauce possible, by deglazing the drippings with a splash of chicken stock, but you could use wine, and/or demiglace, to fancy it up even more.

I’m recommending that we cook this to an internal temp of 150 F., to ensure ultra-juicy meat, which will terrify some of you, “Henny Penny’s”. I still see recommendations online to roast chicken to 165 F., which is not only crazy, but completely unnecessary. Anything that would harm you is killed at 140 F., so please try to relax.

Since there is a bit of production involved, I do suggest making these ahead, and keeping them in the fridge until you’re ready to serve. Not only will they roast to an even more beautiful golden brown, but your flavored butter ingredients inside will have time to permeate the meat. So, whether you’re making these to impress guests at a dinner party, or just improve your knife skills, or both, I really hope you give them a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 2 portions:

one 1.5 pound game hen (this will work with any size bird, but roasting times will change)

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

For the butter:

1 clove garlic, sliced

large pinch of salt and pepper

1 teaspoon minced thyme and rosemary

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup seasoned chicken broth to deglaze and reduce in roasting pan

- Roast at 450 F. for about 30 minutes, or until internal temp of 150 F.