Monthly Archives: March 2012

Sourdough Pancakes

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My sourdough starters weren’t fed for about two weeks. I was afraid they may have gone bad, so after feeding them last night, I left them out of the fridge to see if they are still active. This morning they were all bubbly and foamy and so I was assured they were alive.

I was going to make bread, but it would take a few hours and I needed some baked good for breakfast. I decided to make sourdough pancakes, which I was planning to try for some time. I checked some recipes online and then improvised a bit to come up with these thick, fluffy, Blini-like pancakes. The starter I used is my rye-fed starter. I was very pleased with the deeper taste it gave the pancakes.

Ingredients (makes about 5 pancakes)

1/2 cup sourdough starter at room temperature
1/2 cup lukewarm milk
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup plain flour
1 egg
1 tbsp sour cream
1 tbsp water
1 tsp baking soda

Mix all the ingredients except the water and baking soda, which should be mixed in a different bowl. Heat up a non-stick pan and when it’s ready, pour the soda mixture in the pancake batter and combine gently. Pour a ladle of batter on the heated pan (I got better results when the pan wasn’t buttered) and cook until bubbles appear. Flip over and cook for another 30-60 seconds on the other side.

Top pancakes with ANYTHING. This time I chose the pretty standard fake-maple syrup and sour cream.

DB: Tiger Bread

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This is the first time I participate in the Daring Bakers challenge, and I really enjoyed it. I love making bread, so I was very happy to see this was a bread baking challenge. I also like the fact that I had to make something I had never baked, eaten or even heard about. Unfortunately, my bread turned out not that great, and I did not have the time to try it again. It was still fun nonetheless.

You can read more about Tiger Bread in Wikipedia but basically it is a kind of bread which is coated with a paste made of rice flour before baking, which then crackles and provides extra crunch. My coating failed to brown prettily, and this led me to leave the bread longer in the oven and eventually it was a little too dry.

The rolls were just beginning to burn when I pulled them out of the oven. When they cooled, I tried one. The inside was perfect but the crust was quite disappointing. I think it is because it dried and burned instead of browning nicely. Maybe it was too watery.

The next step of the challenge was to make a sandwich using the bread. I decided to put some extra effort in this part to make up for the mediocre rolls.

I started by making some kind of pesto using whatever I had in the fridge. Parsley, olives, basil, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic and some olive oil:

I then added some Beaufort cheese and lettuce:

It was a really nice sandwich, even though the roll was one day old by now, and was somewhat stale. For dessert I had some Brie de Meaux:

Later that day I had another sandwich, but this time I put the Brie inside as well. It contributed the missing creaminess and made that sandwich fantastic.

I think the idea of Tiger Bread is very cool, but my version was lacking. I will get it right in time with some experimentation – which will provide opportunities for more sandwich ideas.

Pearl Barley Feta Salad

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Just a quick salad I threw together the other day. I really like pearl barley, but mostly I eat it slow-cooked to creamy consistency. In this Mediterranean style salad it is cooked al dente, serving as the salad’s carbs base, much like bulgur or couscous in other salads.

To cook the pearl barley, first rinse with cold water in a bowl, until the water is clear. Transfer to a small pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until soft enough. When done, drain excess water.

Chop parsley, red onion, olives, celery and sun-dried tomatoes. Mix everything and dress with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and black pepper. Top with crumbled feta cheese.

Butter Chicken (Guest Post)

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Alon and I made some butter chicken and naan. It would have been heavenly, if only heaven smelled of fenugreek…

Alon was mostly responsible of the chicken and photography (which obviously tops any other post on this blog), I made the naans. Here’s Alon’s recipe:

Murgh Makhani
Delicious butter chicken

Step 1: A firm but tender breast

Break up chicken into large 2-bite pieces, while keeping them on the bone. Marinate in salt, lemon juice, chili powder or paprika and some water for about an hour. The lemon and brine help tenderize the chicken, and the paprika gives it a little color.

Step 2: He who controls the spice…

Make your own Garam-Masala. Or don’t. Up to you.
Toast some spices on a dry pan. Cardamom pods, cumin seeds, cloves, white peppercorns, black peppercorns, coriander seeds, mace, bay leaf, cinnamon sticks, nutmeg (in nut form). Let cool and remove cardamom seeds from pods. Discard pods. Chuck it all into a coffee grinder and grind into a fine, aromatic powder.

Step 3: Chicken and spoiled cow-juice

Yogurt (aka spoiled cow-juice) is a wonderful thing. It’s tangy and yummy, and it works great in marinades. Mix some yogurt with your homemade spice melange and some turmeric, dried coriander leaves and mashed garlic and ginger. Add chicken to spiced, spoiled cow-juice and marinate for as long as possible, at least overnight.

Step 4: THE ROAST

After a day or two of anxious waiting, remove chicken pieces from marinade. Do not pat dry or wash off marinade. Broil them in your oven, very close to the heat source, or simply grill them. Do this until they’re nicely charred.

Step 5: It’s better with butter

Alon

Blend a large handful of cashew nuts and a cup of cream. This helps give the sauce a nice texture. Heat up pureed tomatoes (sometimes known as “passata”) and/or canned chopped/whole tomatoes. Add the cashew cream and cook a little, and then season
with some of your Garam Masala, fenugreek and cayenne pepper (for a little heat). Salt to taste. Add chicken and cook until sauce has reduced a bit and chicken is tender. Add a large chunk’o'butter and remove from heat.

Step 6: The inevitable

Devour chicken with basmati rice and naan. Immediately regret the caloric intake.
Go cry in the bathroom.

Me, in Alon's fantastic kitchen

For the naans, I used this recipe which made for great fluffy dough. We topped the naans with garlic and dried mint, and baked them in the oven on a pizza stone. They turned out a bit more like focaccias, but still tasty (can’t go wrong with so much clarified butter..)

Almond Biscotti

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It is a stormy weekend here in Israel, and I needed something sweet to accompany my many cups of tea. My usual candidates for the job are biscuits, but I wanted to bake something almondy, and I wanted it to last for a long time (more than the usual day or two).

I had leftover almond meal from the Financiers, so I thought I could make Biscotti – but I found out it is not made with almond meal. I realized that Biscottis are easier to make than I imagined, so I decided to try them.

As usual, I used JoyOfBaking for the recipe, but I omitted the almond extract because I did not have any. I also used sliced blanched almonds instead of coarsely chopped, so I didn’t get the pretty almond “eyes” my biscottis.

Unfortunately, I didn’t take pictures of the process, only of my breakfast tea.

RECIPE