That lovely boule is a Pain de Provence. There are lots of recipes out there for making Pain de Provence, but I didn’t use any of them. Instead, I played around with the Baker’s Percentage of a standard lean dough.

Categories: baking, bread, technique
Tagged: baking, bread, technique

If there is one arcane art in baking, it’s understanding and using the Baker’s Percentage. Once you’ve grasped the fundamentals, the whole world of baking seems simpler.

Categories: baking, bread, mother recipe, technique
Tagged: baking, bread, mother recipe, technique

At its most fundamental level, bread is a magical mixture of flour, water, salt, and yeast. The one ingredient in that short list that causes fear is yeast.

Categories: baking, bread, technique
Tagged: baking, bread, technique

When I first started as a pastry chef, I was handed a recipe for a chocolate-hazelnut torte and told to fix it. Not just make it, but make it special. I think I succeeded, and apparently so did the judges at the very first Taste of Ashland (Oregon), who awarded this torte a first for [...]

Categories: baking, chocolate, dessert, technique
Tagged: baking, chocolate, dessert, technique

With all the snow blowing around outside, I feel a need for biscuits. Just plain old buttermilk biscuits, flaky and buttery and begging for some of the raspberry jam I made last summer while still in Oregon.

Categories: baking, technique
Tagged: baking, technique

Capelli d’Angelo in Brodo is a classic soup, its peasant origins clear. Bring some broth to a boil, add Angel Hair pasta, cook until just done, let rest, and serve with a generous grating of Parmigiano-Reggiano. It’s the thing to make when your pantry is down to a few bones, a bit of flour, and [...]

Categories: soup, stock, technique
Tagged: soup, stock, technique

I love making scones. When you know that while working as a pastry chef I made scones by the gross on Sundays, and made as many as 150 dozen on Mothers’ Day, you might be surprised that I still love making them. But I do, because then I get to eat them. Here’s a good, [...]

Categories: baking, mother recipe, technique
Tagged: baking, mother recipe, technique

Brioche–memories of Paris and fear of failure, well mixed. But no longer. I lucked into a copy of Ciril Hitz’s book Baking Artisan Pastries and Breads, watched the included DVD, and now I have no more fear of failure. With brioche, that is.

Categories: baking, bread, technique
Tagged: baking, bread, technique

Back in the 80′s I was Pastry Chef at The Winchester Inn in Ashland, Oregon. Among my duties was soupmaking, and over the years I worked there I must have made more than a thousand pots of soup, including several hundred batches of a deceptively simple soup called Cultivator. I may not have remembered the [...]

Categories: dairy-free, gluten-free, soup, stock, technique, vegan, vegetarian
Tagged: dairy-free, gluten-free, soup, stock, technique, vegan, vegetarian

The first time I saw Pumpkin Parmesan Sauce I thought it sounded awful. I couldn’t imagine the combination. So I tasted it. Wow, instant addiction! Just a few days ago, the neighbors gave us an extra pumpkin.

Categories: entrée, sauce, soffritto, technique
Tagged: entrée, sauce, soffritto, technique