Tag Archive: Baking

Sourdough Dreams

Dan P.Sunday, July 20, 20080

“It is important to understand the basic differences between the wild yeast of sourdough and the commercial baker’s yeast in most other breads. First sourdough yeast grow best in acidic doughs, while baker’s yeast does better in neutral or slightly alkaline doughs. Baker’s yeast is a single species, with hundreds of strains and varieties, while sourdoughs are usually leavened by one or more species in the same dough, none of which is baker’s yeast. Baker’s yeast is a highly uniform product that produces an equally uniform texture in bread dough. The wild yeast are anything but uniform, and they vary from country to country. But the most impressive difference between the two yeast types is that a single package of instant dried yeast produces just one batch of bread, while the same amount of wild sourdough culture produces loaf after loaf for the lifetimes of many bakers.”

– Ed Wood, Classic Sourdoughs

Local Breads by Daniel Leader Buenos Aires – Though it was published last year, I just got around to reading through Daniel Leader’s Local Breads. I was particularly interested in this bread baking book because it focuses on sourdough breads from a number of traditional European cultures, and it’s a topic, good sourdough bread, that is, that comes up regularly in expat conversation here. A friend of mine recently went back to the U.S. to visit family and agreed to bring back a couple of different books that I’d wanted, so here was my opportunity. Daniel Leader is well-known for his award winning book Bread Alone that came out in the mid-90s – a solid introduction to the world of bread baking. This new book has gotten rave reviews, with only minimal criticism for at times being a bit technical and dense. I have to admit, I didn’t find it that way, but then, I’m kind of used to reading books of that sort.

I am, however, going to point out the emperor’s nudity… just a bit. Overall, I liked the book immensely. It was a completely enjoyable read, and his stories about different regions and his travels are engaging. His recipes are a little repetitive, giving overly detailed step by step instructions, over and over again – but then, most people probably are not sitting down to read the book cover to cover – they’re picking out one or two recipes and trying those out – so they don’t really want to be flipping back and forth to previously referenced techniques. I can’t really fault him there. I did find his writing to be a bit… hypocritically humble – hmm… maybe that’s not quite the phrase. He constantly bows and scrapes to the various bakers he talks about, as if each, in turn, is some sort of godlike figure in the world of baking – producing the ultimate loaf of bread of their style. He then turns around, one by one, and discusses how he took their product and “perfected it”. Beyond the presumption that he can take on the recipes of the gods (maybe he just writes about them as if they were on pedestals…), his regular assertion of his ability to turn these humble (yet deity-produced) loaves into his version of perfection, is a bit off-putting. Sort of like listening to that guy at a cocktail party who stands there while you’re talking, tapping his foot and waiting for his turn to tell you you have an interesting idea, but he has a better one.

My biggest problem with the book is his math. Initially, it didn’t catch my eye, until I hit the phrase in his section on German breads – “He told me that the average German eats a kilo of bread a week – about 10 ounces of bread a day.” and then goes on to talk about how this seems to be alot in comparison to Americans. Mmmm… no, a kilo a week would be 5 ounces a day, pretty much the same as the amount he talks about for Americans. Either he meant 2 kilos a week, or he simply got his math wrong. I would have just discounted it as a simple mistake, only when I started out to try his recipes, I found similar problems with the numbers.

I decided to start off with his section on liquid levain – a watery sort of sourdough starter that is all the rage amongst a certain group of French bakers these days. The levain itself turned out to be quite easy to make, a simple mix of 2/3 cup of water and 6 tablespoons of flour… hmmm… that is quite a bit of water, no? Left to sit with various stirrings and daily additions of 1/3 cup each of flour and water. Over the course of four days it turned into a bubbling, fermenting container of delightful smelling levain the consistency of light cream.

In the beginning – just mixed

After 48 hours, with two additions of water and flour

After four days and four additions, bubbling and ready to use.

That was all well and good and I was excited and ready to go. My first inkling that something was amiss was as I mixed the ingredients for his Baguette à l’ancienne, an old world style baguette. He talks regularly in the book about doughs that are hydrated more than what we’re used to working with. But this was like thin pancake batter. He didn’t give a detailed description of consistency, merely that it would be far softer than what one would normally think of, and he does say it will be a challenge. At the same time, though he opts for machine kneading, he asserts that it’s possible to hand knead this dough, with care. that wouldn’t have been possible with this – it would have simply poured onto the counter and dripped off onto the floor. I looked back at the numbers in his recipe, and sure enough, his proportion of water to flour comes out pretty close to 1:1 – I mean, even a “wet dough” is generally only about 2/3 the amount of liquid to flour, and most people work with bread doughs that are more like 1:2. Top that with past experience here that the flours here need extra water in comparison to what I’m used to in the U.S., and something was clearly wrong. Still, I gave the mixer a try – he asserted that after 8-9 minutes of high speed mixing the dough would take on the consistency of a marshmallow. Maybe if it’s been melted over high heat…

So, I added in flour – high gluten bread flour in fact to help it develop some structure, almost 50% more than his recipe called for before I got something that was remotely marshmallow-like. At that point I wasn’t going to even try to shape this mess into baguettes and simply poured it into greased mini-loaf pans, let it proof for a couple of hours (it did rise… though slowly), and then baked out these little loaves. The taste was great – the lightly tangy sourdough flavor – and with the extra flour the consistency was okay – though not really baguette-like.

And, I moved on… more cautiously now. I’d already decided I wanted to also try his recipe for Pain de campagne, more commonly referred to as boules. I decided to approach this carefully, as looking at the recipe I could already see that the liquid to flour was at 85% and I wasn’t looking forward to a liquid mess. So I added only about half the water upfront, figuring on adding in more as needed. In the end, I needed very little more, a matter of a couple of tablespoons, and bringing the liquid ratio down to about 65%. From that, I got a nice, soft, pillowy dough, that fit his description perfectly. I continued with the rest of the process, and, voila! Boules.

Now, to this point, I’ve only tried those two recipes, in the section of liquid levain. I have yet to delve into the making of others, though I’m going to continue trying out various ones over the coming weeks and months. My sourdough starter is bubbling away, and I’m feeding it and chatting with it on a daily basis. I’ve read a few blog entries by various other folks who’ve tried different recipes (the most common choice seems to be his basic yeast baguette recipe, different from the one I tried above), that seem to have had good results.

So the question I’m left with is… is his math just off or is there something so very different about the flour here? If anything, I’d have expected based on past experience that if it was the latter that I’d have needed more water, not less, so it leads me to think his math is off, or the book wasn’t carefully proofread. More tests and trials to come….

Other last notes on the book – which may add credence to the proofreading hypothesis – there are numerous typos in the book when it comes to foreign words, a simple example, he refers to an Italian tomato bread as al pomodori – mixing the singular article with the plural noun – I realize that’s not something that everyone will notice, but it’s something he should have (it should be either al pomodoro or ai pomodori). And back to that sort of conceit mentioned above – he subtitles the book Sourdough and Whole-Grain Recipe from Europe’s Best Artisan Bakers, yet, his travels (at least as detailed within the book), and recipes, only cover parts of France, Italy, Germany, and a very brief look at Czechoslavakia in search of one particular bread. Europe’s a whole lot more than that, and there are wonderful artesanal breads from many other countries and cultures – perhaps, who knows, perhaps better than the ones he terms Best.

Books (Reviews)

Baking, cookbooks

On Empanadas

Dan P.Thursday, January 19, 20060

What’s Up Buenos Aires
NEWS
January 19, 2006

On Empanadas

While not impossible to visit Buenos Aires and avoid sampling empanadas, it would be foolish. Argentina is known far and wide for its beef, and aficionados will argue the fine points of presentation from the parrilla or the asado. Yet probably no other item from the culinary repertoire engenders quite so much passion as the defense of one’s favorite empanada. Arguments range from “my grandmother made criollas that your grandmother wasn’t fit to eat” to “my favorite place has the most perfect… baked, fried, cut beef or ground, potatoes, olives, eggs, onions, or raisins, included or not… and I’ll take you there and prove it.” Culinary historians natter on about the origin of this bread enveloped pastry, tracing it back to Galicia in Spain, or perhaps to ancient Persia. To hear some of them go on, we’d need carbon dating to settle on the origin.

It would come as no surprise to find that every culture on the planet has some version of the empanada – from Middle Eastern fatays, to Asian pot-stickers, to Scandinavian pastys, to a classic savory turnover from France. Yet, there is something uniquely Latin American about the empanada. It would be difficult to put one’s finger on it – the dough is not unique in the pastry world, most often made from simple white flour, eggs, water, and lard. The fillings range from beef to pork to chicken to fish. The spices vary in accordance with local favorites throughout South and Central America and the Caribbean. The additions are too numerous to consider. Yet there’s something about them, when one picks them up, hot and juicy, that fits the Latin culture.

Argentines would argue that theirs are the best. That would be a hard claim to prove, but it would be a fantastically delicious exercise to sit down at a table laden with examples from throughout the empanada world. Certainly there is a wide variety of regional styles, thankfully most of them are available here in Buenos Aires (including examples from neighboring countries), removing the need to hop on colectivos and travel province by province to sample them. Here you can find garlicky, spicy catamarqueñas chockfull of potatoes, green onion packed salteñas, white onion filled san juaninos, touches of tomato and various cheeses in the tucumanas, salmon and tuna from the shore, or packed into Chilean styles, lamb and mushrooms from Patagonia, pumpkin based Venezuelans, and finely ground goat meat in the arabe styles. Cheese filled, corn filled, vegetable laden, or a wide variety of meats abound. Local shops may offer specialty versions, and it is worth seeking out something like smoky pancetta and plum, or spicy sausage and green onion, or even an Italian knockoff like a napolitana.

Online Publications, What's Up Buenos Aires

Baking, Travel

How Do You Like Dem Apples?

Dan P.Friday, November 19, 20040

Outlet Radio Network
November 19, 2004

How Do You Like Dem Apples?

Just a short column to let you all know I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth. Being in the food and wine biz this time of year gets a bit crazed. Out in the non-electronic world I’ve gotten several requests recently for good old-fashioned apple pie. Things like “what’s the world’s most amazing apple pie recipe?” and other easy demands to respond to like that.

Well, I’ll tell you. I haven’t a clue. There are probably a gazillion recipes out there for apple pies, and I’ve only tried a few of them. Truthfully, I tend to go about as simple as I can when I make an apple pie, which isn’t very often. You can use something basic from the Time-Life Good Cook series, or that long-famed kitchen staple, The Joy of Cooking. Or your mother’s recipe. Hey, if you think you’ve got the world’s best apple pie recipe, I’d love to hear about it and try it out.

What I do make pretty regularly with apples is an old Ukranian-Belarusian (somewhere out there) sort of apple pie-cake-crumbly kinda thingie. The recipe isn’t my own and it’s been reproduced in Eastern European cookbooks for eons, but damned if it isn’t really easy and really good! It’s usually referred to as something like “Guest at the Door Apple Cake”, for reasons that should be apparent from the name.

This comes out best if you use a 9″ springform pan, but any deep dish pie, tart, or cake pan will do. You can even do this in a cast iron skillet if you want!

Butter the inside of the pan and sprinkle with bread crumbs or flour to prevent the cake from sticking. Preheat oven to 350F.

Take six large, tart apples and peel, core, quarter and then slice them. Toss the apple segments with a teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Put them in the buttered pan.

In a mixing bowl, whisk or beat together 3 large eggs and just under a cup of sugar (don’t ask me why, but a full cup makes it too sweet, so take out a heaping spoonful). Beat this until it is pale yellow and forms a ribbon when your whisk or beaters are lifted.

By the way, what that means is… if you lift the egg beater, or electric mixer, or hand whisk out of the mixture, it kind of drizzles off and leaves a ribbony looking trail that takes a moment or two to sink in, rather than just streaming off and disappearing into the bowl.

Gradually beat in one and a half cups of all purpose flour. The batter will get pretty thick. Pour the batter relatively evenly over the apples. Bake until it turns puffy and golden colored, about 50-60 minutes, depending on your oven, the pan, etc. Let cool for a little and serve with whatever you like to serve on appley things – whipped cream, ice cream…

On other apple topics, since I promised I’d throw in some booze sort of tasting notes, some drinking thoughts:

Apple cider. Not the stuff in big gallon jugs that’s brown and filled with sediment from apples and your parents made you and all that…

Traditional French, English or American (they’re the only ones I know who make the stuff) alcohol-type apple cider. There are lots of producers out there of these. Two favorites:

Farnum Hill apple ciders, from Lebanon, New Hampshire. Made in relatively dry styles, these, to me, taste like very delicately apple scented light beers. They are quite yummy, and well worth checking out. Farnum Hill distributes primarily in the northeast U.S., but you can hit their website at www.farnumhillciders.com and who knows, maybe you can score some!

Eric Bordelet produces amazing apple and pear ciders in France. They range from relatively dry to relatively sweet. My faves are the Argelette for the apple and the Granit for the pear, but they’re all worth seeking out and trying. Once you taste these you’ll be hooked!

I’m also a huge fan of calvados. This is brandy made from apple and pear wine rather than grape wine. You get all that warming fire that is what good brandy is all about, with a delicious touch of apple fruit. Not sweet! My favorite producer is Christian Drouhin who makes a regular “Selection” calvados and stunningly good vintage calvados under the Coeur du Lion label. The vintage ones make great gifts!

I started writing food & wine columns for the Outlet Radio Network, an online radio station in December 2003. They went out of business in June 2005.

Online Publications, Outlet Radio Network

Baking, Spirits

Blue, Blue, My World is Blue

Dan P.Thursday, June 10, 20040

Outlet Radio Network
June 2004

Blue, Blue, My World is Blue

They fight aging, cancer, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s, they fight bad cholesterol, infection, cure the common cough, prevent blindness (and improve night vision) and strokes, improve your motor skills, and improve your memory. In fact, if I’m reading the USDA’s study correctly, they apparently helped laboratory mice remember just where they left their car keys. Bears will travel fifteen miles on an empty stomach just to find them.

You can eat them. They have vitamins, fiber, and free-radical antioxidants. They are not, however, a cure-all, I found no listings for eliminating hang-nails, regrowing hair, or making your teeth whiter. They are low in carbohydrates, and approved, I believe, by all appropriate low-carb diet plans – since all of us are on one of those these days. They are, by the way, blue.

Blueberries in fact.

There are entire websites devoted to them. “Googling” on the health benefits of blueberries yields up a serving of over 26,000 websites. Blueberries all by their lonesome manage nearly half a million sites. According to these various sites, blueberries are the oldest known plant still living, with evidence of their existence from over 13,000 years ago! They are one of the few native foods indigenous to North America, or so these websites proclaim. In fact, they are so All-American that when they first appear on their bush, they are white, then turn red, and finally blue!

E-Bay, as of today, has 1145 blueberry related items for sale (well, okay, a few of those are Macintosh computers in blueberry color, but…)

The Maine Wild Blueberry Association is sponsoring research into Blueberry Burgers.

They come in lowbush and highbush varieties, they are known by aliases such as Bilberries, Whortleberries, and Hurtleberries. They are not, however, and this is emphasized in many places, the same thing as Huckleberries. Confusing the two is apparently a major Berry Faux-Pas. They are the state berry of the state of Maine. And, for nearly two centuries, there has been a special tool, the Blueberry Rake, dedicated to their harvest.

Next month, July, will be the fifth annual National Blueberry Month. Really and truly.

In preparation for the festivities, my team and I set out to provide you with all the tools you need to make sure you can have the best of the summer blueberry soirees.

Blueberry Cornmeal Muffins

Let’s face it, most of us only eat blueberries in muffins, so we had to start there. These are not your average, day-to-day, blueberry muffins. These will bring tears to your eyes. And your car keys will magically appear in your hand immediately after consuming one.

3 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1½ teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon salt
3 large eggs, beaten
3 cups milk
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup molasses
1 cup melted shortening or butter
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Take about a tablespoon of the flour and toss the blueberries in them to lightly coat, this will help prevent them all sinking to the bottom of your muffins as they bake. Sift together the dry ingredients, and in a separate bowl, combine the wet ones. Combine the wet and dry ingredients, and then stir in the blueberries. Grease a muffin tin and divide the muffin mixture evenly. Bake at 400F for 25 minutes. Makes 12 large muffins.

Savory Blueberry Sauce

Anyone can open a can of sweetened blueberry sauce to pour over cheesecake, onto blintzes, or just to eat with a big spoon. We wanted a sauce that could be used for savory dishes – a delicious fruit sauce for meats – game, ham, turkey, use your imagination!

2 tablespoons chopped shallots or onions
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon dried rosemary
½ cup dry red wine
½ cup water
1 pint of fresh blueberries

Saute shallots in butter in small saucepan. Add flour, thyme and rosemary, cook and stir until the mixture bubbles and thickens. Add wine and water and stir in the blueberries. Cook and stir until mixture comes to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 2 minutes until it thickens.

Makes 2 cups.

Our last task was to set out to explore the world of Blueberry Spirits. Nothing you might worship, light incense for, or perform any particular rituals on behalf of. Wine and liqueur. There is a thriving industry in the production of Blueberry Wine, and a fair amount in world of sweet cordials. They are not always easy to find unless you live in a Blueberry-centric part of the world, but we managed to scrounge up a few to taste and review.

I started writing food & wine columns for the Outlet Radio Network, an online radio station in December 2003. They went out of business in June 2005.

Online Publications, Outlet Radio Network

Baking, Humor, Sauces, Spirits, Wine

Oscar hors d’oeuvres

Dan P.Friday, March 3, 20000

Q San Francisco
March 2000
Pages 54-55

Oscar hors d’oeuvres
and the QSF Award for best wines of the year

The idea of the importance of wine to film seems a stretch. But my view is, any excuse to throw a party and drink a little wine is…well, any excuse. There are few films in which wine is of key importance. There is Night of the Comet, which revolves around a large, old bottle of wine, sort of. There is Days of Wine and Roses, which really doesn’t relate to wine at all. In most films, the only wine ever noted is Champagne, but that’s too easy.

As I write this, the time for the Academy Awards approaches. Nominations have been announced, and we all wait with baited breath. For nearly 70 years, someone’s been voting on the best picture, best director, best actor, best…you know the drill…and sending one film after another into the halls of immortal fame. Many of us probably haven’t seen most of them. How many of you have rented a copy of the very first film to win – Wings? How many people who happened to attend the first Oscars had actually seen it?

At least today, we can watch the awards from the comfort of our own living rooms and see clips that somebody thinks are what it’s all about. And don’t forget the costumes – of the recipients, not the people in the films… So, we have all the elements. Film, awards show, wine, costumes…hey kids, let’s put on a party!

First, the setting. Obviously you don’t want to completely redecorate just for one night’s festivities. I suppose you could string up strands of 8mm film around the sofa, and paint a bunch of Ken dolls in gold and pose them around the room. Hire some cute young pool-boy types to paint themselves gold and stand around looking Oscar-ish. I like to let my friends be the decoration. Ask them to come as their favorite film stars or in a fabulous costume that Cher or Sally Fields or Angela Lansbury would wear. Perhaps one, or all of them, or even you, could wrap yourselves in celluloid – or the pool-boys. The possibilities are endless.

Next, the show. You need a television set. Big would be good. You do plan to invite dozens of your absolutely best friends to this soirée, don’t you?

In my view, the important part is always the food and wine. But that’s just me. Regardless, I’m going to inflict this view on you. How about some party snacks? I give you one of my favorite, reasonably easy to make, hors d’oeurves.

Smoked Tomato Cheesecakes

Crust:

3 sticks unsalted butter
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Whip the butter, sugar and salt together in a mixer until light and fluffy. Sift the flour and spices together and mix into the butter mixture. Press out into a pan approximately 12″ by 16″ and 1″ or more deep. Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes, just enough to set the crust.

Filling:

4 8-ounce packages cream cheese
1 tablespoons salt
4 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes (reconstitute in olive oil if dry-packed)
4 eggs
Fresh marjoram

Mix the cream sheese, salt, flour, lemon juice and liquid smoke together till thoroughly blended. Whip in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the tomatoes. Pour filling over the crust. Bake at 450°F for ten minutes, then reduce the heat to 250°F. Continue baking for another 20 minutes and then check. Depending on the exact size of the pan and the depth of the filling, let it cook until lightly browned on top and the filling is solid.

Cool and then cut shapes either by knife or cookie cutter. Decorate each piece with a leaf of fresh marjoram.

And now, my own little awards show. The Oscars for best wines of 1999. All votes are my own and do not reflect the whims of the Academy. These are wines that should be currently available – I didn’t think it fair to include older wines that may be impossible to find. Sample them yourself and cast your own votes.

Best Domestic Wine from a White Grape – Matthew’s Semillon, Yakima Valley, Washington

Best Domestic Wine from a Red Grape – Oliver Caldwell Zinfandel “Aida Vineyard”, Napa, California

Best Foreign Wine from a White Grape – Domaine Marcel Deiss Altenberg de Bergheim Grand Vin, Alsace, France

Best Foreign Wine from a Red Grape – Roger Belland Santenay Premier Cru “Gravières”, Burgundy, France

Best White Wine Featuring Bubbles – Krug “Grande Cuvée”, Champagne, France

Best Pink Wine Featuring Bubbles – Pommery “Cuvée Louise” Rosé Brut, Champagne, France

Best Red Wine Featuring Bubbles – Peter Rumball Sparkling Shiraz, South Australia

Best Wine Featured as a Dessert – Alois Kracher Trockenbeerenauslese “No. 12”, Burgenland, Austria

Best Packaging for a Wine – Vranken Demoiselle “Cuvée Twenty-One”, Champagne, France

Best Wine – Château de la Gardine Châteauneuf-du-Pâpe “Cuvée des Generations”, Rhône Valley, France

Q San Francisco magazine premiered in late 1995 as a ultra-slick, ultra-hip gay lifestyle magazine targeted primarily for the San Francisco community. It was launched by my friends Don Tuthill and Robert Adams, respectively the publisher and editor-in-chief, who had owned and run Genre magazine for several years prior. They asked me to come along as the food and wine geek, umm, editor, for this venture as well. In order to devote their time to Passport magazine, their newest venture, they ceased publication of QSF in early 2003.

Magazine articles, Q San Francisco

Baking, Sparkling Wines, Wine

Desserts and Dessert Wines

Dan P.Tuesday, January 5, 19990

Q San Francisco
January 1999
Page 56

Desserts and Dessert Wines

“Oh,no, I couldn’t eat ANOTHER bite. Well… MAYBE I’ll just look at the DESSERT list.”

Dessert is one of nature’s most perfect inventions. Properly made, it contains elements of all four basic food groups–sugar, fat, caffeine and a touch of salt. These of course correspond to the cardinal essences of life: earth, air, fire and water. In point of fact, dessert is a true Zen experience.

For some inexplicable reason, heated debates often occur after dinner over dessert–arguments about dieting, health, and even people who claim not to like a good chocolate mousse. These poor, deluded individuals have merely strayed from the path of all that is good, decent and moral in life. You, as a righteous individual, have a decision to make. You can reach out to them and bring them back into the fold. Or you can reach out and take the extra helping yourself.

Dessert should be accompanied by a beverage. I’ve never understood why perfectly sensible people who enjoy liquids of various sorts with their appetizers, entrees and cheeses suddenly seem to feel that nothing but water should accompany their last course. It remains shocking, but the most often overlooked part of the winelist in a restaurant is the listing of dessert wines.

Understanding sweet wines is not as difficult as it may seem at first. There are a few basic types, the rest is all variation on a theme. Perhaps most common are late-harvest wines. Simply, these are wines that have been made from grapes that are, well, late-harvest.

A basic premise in winemaking is that you leave grapes on the vine until enough of the acids in them have converted to sugars which will enable you to get a sufficient level of alcohol when you ferment the grape juice. With late-harvested grapes, you leave them on the vine till there’s so much sugar that only a portion will be converted to alcohol (the fermentation yeasts die off when the alcohol level reaches around 15%). This leaves the wine very sweet.

If you read any food and wine magazines, you’ve probably read about “botrytis” or “noble rot”. This is a fungus that develops on grapes. What the fungus does is drill little holes in the grape skin and suck the water out. This concentrates all the flavor and sugar elements in the grape, almost to the point of turning the grapes into raisins. Needless to say, the wine made from what little juice can be pressed from these grapes is highly flavored and rather sweet. The most famous of this type is Sauternes.

A similar result happens with ice-wines. Here, the grapes are left on the vine till the first frost. They are picked early in the morning while still frozen and crushed. Because much of the water is crystallized as ice, the juice is once again very concentrated and flavorful. The risk, however, of just killing off the grapes or having them rot before the first frost is high. That’s why the prices are too. Ice-wines made from Riesling in Germany generally top the quality list.

The last category are the so-called “fortified wines”. Ports, sherries, and other similar wines are made in a variety of methods, but the underlying idea is the same. Neutral grape brandy is added to grape juice or sweet wine to a level that prevents or stops fermentation (remember that 15% yeast die-off thing), resulting in, you guessed it, sweet wine.

Okay, enough of the technical stuff. Let’s get some dessert whipped up and pick a few dessert wine favorites to try out. I happen to love banana bread (like any reasonably sane individual), and then there’s this chocolate thing…

The Ultimate Banana Cake

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup corn or canola oil
1/2 cup maple syrup
4 eggs
2 tablespoons of milk
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup of chocolate chips

(Note: All four basic food groups are indeed represented.The bananas and whole wheat flour are purely spurious…)

Mix the flour and salt. Blend in the oil and syrup. Beat the egg yolks lightly and mix into the flour mixture. Add milk and bananas and stir thoroughly. Add chocolate chips and mix. Beat the egg whites till stiff and fold in carefully till it is just blended through. Don’t over-mix at this point or you will deflate the egg whites and the cake will be just a little too dense. Pour in a loaf or cake pan and bake in a 350ÉF oven for 45-50 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve with whipped cream.

Dessert Wine Picks

For something a little light, refreshing and just plain fun, I like Moscato d’Asti from Piedmont in Italy. This is the sweeter, less sparkly version of Asti Spumante. My current fave is Giorgio Carnevale’s “Sori”. Other great choices, Bologna’s “Vigna Senza Nome” and Bava’s “Bass Tuba” (don’t ask).

In the sweeter, more serious vein is anything made by Alois Kracher of Austria. Personal top pick (and only because I had it most recently), his Scheurebe Beerenauslese. It may be unpronounceable, but delicious definitely. Another top pick is from Chambers in Southern Australia, any or all, but the best is the Rare Muscat.

Now for something a bit heavier and red. Yes, red–dessert wines do come in all colors. I think I would have to go with Paolo Bea’s Sagrantino Passito from central Italy. But I could easily be talked into a Banyuls from Dr. Parce in southern France or Ridge’s Zinfandel Essence from California.

Q San Francisco magazine premiered in late 1995 as a ultra-slick, ultra-hip gay lifestyle magazine targeted primarily for the San Francisco community. It was launched by my friends Don Tuthill and Robert Adams, respectively the publisher and editor-in-chief, who had owned and run Genre magazine for several years prior. They asked me to come along as the food and wine geek, umm, editor, for this venture as well. In order to devote their time to Passport magazine, their newest venture, they ceased publication of QSF in early 2003.

Magazine articles, Q San Francisco

Baking, Desserts, Wine

Harvest Fusion

Dan P.Wednesday, November 5, 19970

Q San Francisco
November 1997
Pages 44-45

Multiculturalism is the “ism” of the 1990s and food is no exception. I recently returned to my hometown in the Midwest to discover a new “multicultural” restaurant had opened in the midst of the university campus. The menu stated that each selection had been carefully designed to include “elements of the native cuisines of at least five foreign peoples.” The place was packed, the food was clashingly inedible, but everyone seemed to feel they were politically correct for eating there.

Now, mind you, I’m not opposed to so-called “fusion cuisine.” I am, after all, trained as a chef in both classical French and Japanese cooking. My wine experience has been multinational, and I am not one of those who feels that you should serve only French wine with cassoulet or Indian beer with curry. Nor am I one for rules in cooking that restrict you to not trying out new combinations. But for goodness sake, taste the damn dish before you put it on a plate, don’t just mix ingredients selected by opening your world atlas to random pages.

The United States is ostensibly a “melting pot,” a little multicultural haven on our spinning waterball, and we are approaching one of the few holidays that is unique to our country, Thanksgiving (okay, the Canadians do it too, but they’re just copying). Despite popular myth, there was no first pilgrim Thanksgiving in 1621 – they did indeed have a feast day (actually three days), in June, that included “the Indians,” they did indeed eat turkey (also pheasant, partridge, squab, and swan), and who knows, they may have even indulged in a cranberry or two. But for the pilgrims, a devoutly religious caste, a day of thanksgiving would have been a day of prayer and fasting, not revelry and gluttony.

When it comes down to it, Thanksgiving was created by presidential and later congressional decree, basically as a way to take a day off and celebrate America’s prosperity and diversity. Most countries have similar holidays – though, each that I’ve found is related to a particular harvest, such as rice harvest festivals or grape picking festivals or white truffle snuffling festivals. I thought that this year, I’d celebrate the holiday in this column with a little multicultural, multinational fusion of my own (just to prove it can work). Think of the “progressive dinners” where you eat each course at a different person’s house – only we’re going to do it in different countries; and just for the sake of diversity, I’m picking the cuisines and wines by opening my atlas at random.

The classic required dishes for the meal (at least in my view) are turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberry relish, and apple pie. Here’s the test of my multicultural sensibilities in the kitchen – the countries picked are: the Netherlands, Afghanistan, Ireland, and Ecuador. I decided on coming up with two white wine recommendations and two red wine recommendations, and the regional winners are (sensibly using a wine atlas). . . St. Emilion, France; Robertson, South Africa; Badacsony, Hungary; and South Australia.

The Netherlands are easy. Let’s face it, the potato is practically the national tree. One of the most classic dishes of Dutch cuisine is hutspot, sometimes called in English, “hotchpotch.” Substituting sweet potatoes for boiling potatoes yields up a delicious sidedish to accompany your Ecuadorian Escabeche de Pavo con Higos or Wild Turkey Escabeche with Figs (a dish based on a recipe from one of the most famous chefs in our community’s history, Felipe Rojas-Lombardi).

Given the sweetness and fruitiness of the fig sauce, cranberry relish seemed like fruit overkill, so, from Ireland, I went with traditional scones – substituting cranberries for the usual currants. For dessert, classic Afghani apple turnovers – my only question – do they really have apple trees in Afghanistan?

With the dinner coming together nicely, it’s time to select the wines. Since, with Thanksgiving, dinner is usually buffet style, the white and red can be offered at the same time, leaving the choice up to each person’s preference. For the whites, the Hungarian first – Badacsony is famous for its white wines, especially Pinot Gris. With all the fruit and sweetness of the various dishes, try Hungarovin’s Badacsonyi Szurkebarat, or “Grey Friar of Badacsony,” a medium-dry version. From South Australia, specifically the Clare Vale, one of my favorite white wines, full of tropical fruit flavors and just a touch of sweetness, Tim Adams Semillon.

On the red side, Robertson, South Africa is easy, because there’s one truly world-class producer, Hamilton-Russell, and they make one of the finest Pinot Noir’s you’ll ever have the pleasure to drink. St. Emilion has another fave, Château Clos des Jacobins, a Merlot and Cabernet blend that is soft and rich in fruit.

Good eating and a Happy (and now, no doubt, politically correct) Thanksgiving!

Recipes

Wild Turkey Escabeche with Figs (Serves 6-8)

1 wild turkey (about 7 pounds)
3 quarts of chicken or turkey stock
1 bottle of white wine
1 cup whole blanched almonds
4 large onions, peeled and sliced in
1/8″-1/4″ rings
1 cup port
3 cups sherry vinegar
8 large dried figs (1/2 pound)
20 dried pitted dates (1/4 pound)
12-15 pitted prunes (1/4 pound)
3 sprigs of mint
1/4 cup cooking oil

Spices:
2″ piece of ginger, sliced
2 teaspoons cumin seed
2 teaspoons turmeric
12 whole cloves
12 whole allspice berries
2 dried hot peppers

Combine stock, wine, and all spices and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1/2 an hour. Pour over turkey in roasting pan and roast for 2-1/2 to 3 hours at 350F, basting regularly. Remove turkey and set aside, strain the stock and reduce by boiling to 4-5 cups. Meanwhile, heat oil in large saute pan, add the nuts and onions and saute, stirring continuously, till onions are translucent, about 3 minutes. Add port, bring to a boil and cook till liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add vinegar and the reduced stock, simmer for 10 minutes. Add the figs, cook for 15 minutes, then the dates and cook for 5 minutes more, then the prunes and cook for 10 minutes more. Carve the turkey, which by now will have cooled somewhat, and ladle the hot fruit sauce over it.

Hutspot

2/3 pounds onions
4 pounds sweet potatoes
2 pounds carrots
milk
4 tablespoons butter

Scrub and mince carrots. Peel, wash, and slice onions and potatoes, and add them to the carrots. Boil until done (about 30 minutes).

Mash all the vegetables and add butter and salt and pepper to taste. If too thick add some milk (but a spoon must stand up in it).

Cranberry Scones

3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
4 ounces butter
2 ounces sugar
3/4 cup of cranberries
(thawed if they were frozen)
2 eggs, slightly beaten
8-10 tablespoons of buttermilk

Sift flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar into a bowl. Rub the butter into the mixture with your fingers till it is light and crumbly. Stir in sugar and cranberries. Add egg and 6 tablespoons of the buttermilk and mix till it comes together as a dough. If it is too dry, add more buttermilk. Don’t overmix or it will become stiff.

Take ping-pong sized balls of dough and press out into 1/2″ thick, 1-1/2″ across rounds.

Bake at 350F on a baking sheet for 10 minutes till lightly browned.

Afghani Apple Turnovers

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups water
2-1/4 pounds slightly tart apples
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup raisins
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup apple juice

In a bowl, mix together the flours and salt. Add the water and stir vigorously until it is well mixed.

When it becomes too stiff to stir, turn out on a floured board and knead for 5 minutes till smooth and not sticky. Wrap in plastic and let sit for 30 minutes. Cut the apples into small chunks, mix with remaining ingredients.

Divide dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll each out to a 7″ circle. Place 1/2 a cup of apple mixture just off-centered on each round and fold over. Pinch the edges together decoratively.

Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes till golden brown.

Q San Francisco magazine premiered in late 1995 as a ultra-slick, ultra-hip gay lifestyle magazine targeted primarily for the San Francisco community. It was launched by my friends Don Tuthill and Robert Adams, respectively the publisher and editor-in-chief, who had owned and run Genre magazine for several years prior. They asked me to come along as the food and wine geek, umm, editor, for this venture as well. In order to devote their time to Passport magazine, their newest venture, they ceased publication of QSF in early 2003.

Magazine articles, Q San Francisco

Baking, Poultry, Vegetables, Wine

Summer Parties

Dan P.Friday, April 5, 19960

Q San Francisco
April/May 1996
Pages 44-45

Summer Parties

You have an incredible terrace with the best view in the city. It is modest, however, limited to accommodating no more than forty of your closest, dearest friends. Your budget will not allow for any more than a few kilos of caviar and certainly no more than three cases of Dom Perignon – in magnums.

From my fire escape (comfortably seating two) overlooking the local chapter of the Hell’s Angels parking strip, I will, however, try to advise. My delightfully spacious studio apartment makes a swell place for a gathering of eight close friends, or six casual acquaintances. For my last summer party I invited fifty. Many of them brought dates. It was a raging success.

Summer parties en appartement are based on the well-known economic principle “KYSSS” — Keep Your Soiree Simple, Sweetheart! You need a theme. It doesn’t have to be something exotic like requiring everyone wear red or tropical fruit hats, or serving Hawaiian barbecue from a pit dug in your very own windowbox.

At my last party I chose Italian wine and cheese. I sent out incredibly witty invitations with Dante’s inscription from over the gates of Hell (in both the original Latin and an English translation) and a sketch of the leaning tower. I served Italian wine, beer, cheese, olives and those great hot cherry peppers stuffed with parmesan and prosciutto. There were still hangers-on when the sun broke the horizon.

Select your food and wine in keeping with your theme. There are, in my view, a few “musts.” A crudite plate: raw vegetables, fruit, and some kind of dip. Cheese: even though I have to pop lactase pills to eat the stuff, I love it. Bready, crackery, chippy kinds of things with dip. And, of course, something sweet like cookies or brownies.

You’ll have to figure out decorations, party favors, and your own ensemble yourself. I’ve been wearing black since the late 1970s. Not because I was anticipating its trendiness in the 1990s, but because I don’t have to worry about coordinating anything with anything else. I saw a picture of someone wearing a striped tie with an identically striped shirt the other day. My boyfriend, a designer, said it was okay. I don’t know, it looked awfully complicated to me.

Enough rambling. Let’s get onto some food and wine favorites for summer partying.

Aioli Dip

Been there, done that, bought a t-shirt. It’s a classic — no one ever turns it down. A favorite for dipping those veggies.

8 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley leaves
4 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
Juice of 2 lemons
2 cups extra virgin olive oil

In a food processor whip yolks, salt and lemon juice until pale and thick.
Slowly drizzle oil in through the top.
Don’t pour too quickly or it will separate.
When all the oil is in, you should have a thick sauce – hey, you’ve just made your first homemade mayonnaise!
Continue processing and drop in the garlic and parsley.
Blend thoroughly and then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to combine flavors.
Makes about 2-1/2 cups.

Smoky Yellow Salsa Dip

This one is a favorite at our parties – it’s just different enough to stop those chip-dippers in their tracks.

3 large yellow tomatoes
1/2 cup finely diced fresh pineapple
1 or 2 yellow habanero peppers
1 yellow bell pepper
1 large Spanish onion
Juice of 2 limes
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pink peppercorns

Roast bell and hot peppers over an open flame (hopefully you don’t have an electric stove) and rotate until skin blisters.
Cool and peel.
Meanwhile, peel and seed tomatoes.
Finely dice tomatoes, pineapple, peppers and onion.
Add lime juice, olive oil, mint leaves and liquid smoke
(okay, it’s cheating, but are you going to buy a food smoker just to make salsa?).
Season with salt and pepper (if you can’t find pink peppercorns, use black or white but only 1/4 teaspoon).
Makes about 3 cups.

Chocolate-Lemon Squares

Since we’ve got this sort of yellow thing going, I thought I’d go with a favorite that bolsters the theme.

Crust:
1 stick of butter
1/4 cup sugar
1-1/4 cups flour
1 egg
1 teaspoon powdered cocoa

Chocolate Filling:
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup half-and-half or cream
1 egg
pinch of salt

Lemon Filling:
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
Juice and grated zest of 2 lemons

For crust, cream butter and sugar together (food processor is fine for this), add flour, egg and cocoa and process or mix until blended.
Grease and flour 9-inch square baking pan.
Press crust into pan and bake at 375¡F for 10-15 minutes until firm and lightly golden.
For chocolate filling, bring half-and-half to boil and pour over chopped chocolate. Let sit for five minutes.
Whisk together thoroughly. Beat egg lightly with salt and quickly mix into chocolate cream. It will immediately begin to thicken.
Pour over crust.

For lemon filling, beat two eggs with sugar and lemon juice.
Sift flour, baking powder and salt together.
Stir in egg mixture and add lemon zest.
Pour carefully and slowly over chocolate layer.
Layers will swirl a little bit together, but won’t completely mix up.
Reduce heat in oven to 325°F and bake for 25-30 minutes until firm and lightly golden on top.
Cool, cut into squares (6×6 gives 36 good-sized squares) and serve.

Summer Wine Picks

Summer is a time for crisp, light wines with lots of zip and character. Well-chilled Sauvignon blancs are my favorites for hot day drinking. Choices should be “as young as possible,” with wines from the southern hemisphere being 1995 vintage and from the northern, generally the 1994s. Here are my round-the-world picks for this year

Starting in the down-under part of the globe, Cloudy Bay in New Zealand makes a ripe, rich Sauvignon that is best described as “raspberries climbing out of the glass.” Nearby Stoneleigh is similar but a little leaner with a more “green” character. A good part of the way around the world, from South Africa, the unpronounceable, but basically unbeatable, Buitenverwachting Sauvignon blanc is minerally, grassy, and perfect for summer drinking. Running a close second is the entry from Mulderbosch. Also from the deep south, Chile delivers up the tart and tasty Santa Rita Reserva. The runner-up, Miguel Torres, a top Spanish producer who was one of the earliest investors in the rejuvenation of the Chilean wine industry.

Moving north and way east, the French entries that grabbed my attention most recently were the Domaine Fernand Girard Sancerre “La Garenne” and the Domaine de la Charmoise Touraine “Cuvee M.” Unfortunately, my top choice for California Sauvignon blanc is not available on the market — the Araujo Estate “Eisele Vineyard” may just be one of the best to come out of the state. But coming in close behind, latch onto the latest offerings from Sanford if you love that herbal, lean style, or, if you prefer a richer, fuller style, try the new release of the Peter Michael “L’Apres Midi.”

Q San Francisco magazine premiered in late 1995 as a ultra-slick, ultra-hip gay lifestyle magazine targeted primarily for the San Francisco community. It was launched by my friends Don Tuthill and Robert Adams, respectively the publisher and editor-in-chief, who had owned and run Genre magazine for several years prior. They asked me to come along as the food and wine geek, umm, editor, for this venture as well. In order to devote their time to Passport magazine, their newest venture, they ceased publication of QSF in early 2003.

Magazine articles, Q San Francisco

Baking, GLBT, Sauces, Wine

Tag Archive: Baking

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