Foie Gras and Suckling Pig

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

The Future of Food

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Baking Bread: Pullman Loaf / Pain de Mie

I first tried this square loaf at the little La Brea Bakery shop on La Brea. They call it Pain de Mie, and it's a delicious French white bread (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pain_de_mie). After eating their loaf for a week, making French toast with it, and thoroughly enjoying every bite, I decided to have a go at making a loaf myself.

I've baked bread once before—St John's recipe for their unbelievable sourdough loaf. Sadly, it didn't turn out quite as well as what I had at the restaurant. Mine was far too dense to enjoy eating, although it was full of flavor. In trying to make the Pain de Mie, I hoped the same fate would not befall me.

The pan I bought from King Arthur Flour's website (http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/pain-de-mie-pan-with-lid), and I used their recipe for the first loaf I made (http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/pain-de-mie-recipe). I thought this bread was way too dense, and it didn't rise all the way to the top of the pan, which meant no square loaf. I tried the recipe thrice more—with the same meager results. Ok, on to the next recipe.

This time, I'm using Martha Stewart's recipe from her baking handbook (http://www.amazon.com/Martha-Stewarts-Baking-Handbook-Stewart/dp/0307236722/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258346278&sr=8-1). This is a much different recipe, calling for 3 times as much yeast, bread flour instead of all purpose flour, and a different technique for preparing the loaf. My hopes are high. I have trust in Martha.

The bread as it's supposed to look . . .

The first time I made this bread (King Arthur recipe), I kneaded the dough by hand, which, as you might guess, was not pleasant, and did not yield great results. This time I'm using the bread hook attachment to the Kitchen Aid stand mixer.

Everything combined in the bowl: bread flour, sugar, yeast, salt, and warm water.

All the ingredients mix until well combined.

The dough is then transferred to a greased bowl until it rises. After rising, it is rolled out onto a floured surface, rolled into a tight log, and placed into the greased baking pan.

The dough has to rise even more . . . I'm not sure I let the bread rise quite enough during this step. I let it rise for over an hour (45-60 minutes recommended), but I guess it could have used a little longer, considering that it didn't quite form a square at the top.

After about an hour of baking, at 425°, voilà, a wonderful, delicious loaf of pain de mie.

Concerns: the bread did not rise all the way to the top of the pan and create the square loaf. Ok, this is the second time this has happened to me, with two different recipes. And I followed both recipes verbatim. I have a hunch that it's the pan's lid that is causing the shape problem. Next week, when I make my next loaf, I'm going to put a baking sheet on top of the pan . . . hopefully that is successful!

Recipe (adapted from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook)

Ingredients:

4 1/2 cups bread flour

3 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast

1 1/2 tablespoons coarse salt

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1/3 cup nonfat dry milk

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, @ room temperature

1 3/4 cups warm water

Vegetable oil (to grease bowl and pan)

Steps (see above for pictures of every step):

Combine all the ingredients, minus the warm water, in the bowl of the mixer (bread hook attached). Add warm water and beat on low for 5 minutes, until dough is elastic and smooth.

Turn out dough on to floured surface, and knead about five times by hand. Place in greased bowl, covered with plastic wrap, to let rise to double its size, about an hour (make sure to keep in a warm place).

Repeat the above step, inverting the dough in the bowl to allow the other side to also fully rise.

Grease the pan. Set dough on to floured work surface, and roll out the dough into a rectangle. Then roll the dough, long side facing you, into a tight log. Pat down corners, and place log into greased baking pan, with the lid 3/4 of the way closed. Let rise 45-60 minutes, until dough touches lid.

Close the lid completely and bake at 425° for 22 minutes, then rotate the pan and bake for another 22 minutes. Reduce oven to 350° and bake for 30 more minutes.

(For a more elaborate description see Martha's book, our search the web—there are a number of recipes floating around. Maybe some are better than this one?)

Friday, November 13, 2009

Skaf's Grill: North Hollywood

Is this the best Middle Eastern Restaurant in Los Angeles? The best I've ever eaten at? Tough call, of course, but this place definitely makes the running. So what do I like so much about this place? What makes it, as I am increasingly coming to believe, better than all the rest?

First off, let me give the disclaimer outright: I've never been to Lebanon, I've never had the real deal, nor have been lucky enough to learn the ways of a wonderful Lebanese mother. Fine, trash me, dog me, call me a fake out of touch with the real cuisine of Lebanon having an opinion indebted to replication and imitation. So be it. But Skaf's is what I imagine Lebanon being like . . . I mean, minus it being tucked away in a mini-mall in North Hollywood next to an AA depository. But, hey, it's the inside that counts, right? Well, with Skaf's the inside better count.

I'm not going to lie: the first time I was taken here I had my reservations. Ugh, another mini mall. What went wrong in the Valley? Who thought this jam-packed mini-mall with six parking spots was a good idea? Where did this mini mall craze come from? Oh, did I mention the pounding heat and rehabilitationoids prowling around?

Ok, enough of the grungy outside. I mean, if all else fails, there's always a Wienershnitzel down the street.

And this is what I truly imagine Lebanon being like . . . stuck in the 1970's, the tile on the floor and pictures on the walls promoting tourism to a place very few Americans visit. It's kind of like a time warp in here, the owner and family taking orders, the businessmen-and-women laughing, eating, having a good time, relaxing on lunch break from work, seemingly miles from any substantial amount of business. Speaking in all sorts of tongues, the people here are having a great time, despite the ganglia outside. Did I mention a soccer game is on? It seems fun, and at the least, captivating: maybe that's why everybody's so happy. It's got to be the food too, I mean, that has to be the root of the joy, right?

Ah, Skaf's. Mr. Skaf comes to take my order—chicken shwarma plate, with all the fixins . . . and throw a beef shwarma wrap in their too—and I walk over to the cooler to grab a Mexican Coke for myself. Now just sit and wait, glancing now and then at the TV, elbows on the wobbly table.

Within a few minutes things starts to arrive. Cabbage salad first, then hummus and warm pita.

Simply, this is the best hummus. At least the best hummus I've ever had. Friend Randy Clemens (with a fantastic tattoo might I add--email him and ask about it) seems to agree: http://www.lamag.com/eat/article.aspx?id=8188. And I'll have to agree with him about what makes the hummus so delicious. . . it is so perfectly laden with lemon, the spritely citrus acidity and the sharpness of the garlic wonderfully accompany the smokiness of the paprika, the mildness of the chickpeas, and the fruitiness of the olive oil they dollop right in the center. For Randy's (see link above), they even adorn the center with cooked chickpeas. Wonderful.

Without much waiting, the rest of the food comes. Mm, chicken shwarma, crispy and succulent, perfectly seasoned . . . and beef shwarma, wrapped in warm pita with hummus and pickled turnips inside.

The beef sharma is just as delicious, more aromatic with spices, but just as perfectly paired with the hummus and turnips.

With the chicken, I make my own wrap, stuffing the pocket of the pita with hummus, garlic sauce, tahini, tomato, rice, cabbage salad, onion, pickled turnips, and chicken. Without exaggeration, this is a heavenly combination, encompassing pretty much everything I love in a meal . . . the juiciness of the meat,the perfect blend of spices,the best spreads in the world, perfectly pickled and dressed vegetables. . . .

And, of course, a little dessert. What else but baklava? They have wonderful baklava here, barely kissed with an essence of rose, judiciously sprinkled with pistachios, the honey and dough melding together as if they had been created to be as one.

The whole meal, with tax and tip, came to $22. Simply an incredible meal at an incredible price.

If I had to pick my last supper meal, the last meal I would eat on this Earth, I think this would be it. This chicken shwarma plate, and only this plate, here at Skaf's, brings me joy time and time again. Thank you Skaf's, Thank you.

My attempt at making an even better hummus: coming soon.

Additional links:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/skafs-grill-north-hollywood

http://www.sporq.com/northhollywood/skafsgrill/6008laurelcanyonblvd

http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com/2005/06/plug-one-plug-two-skafs-lebanese-grill.html

Los Angeles: Lebanese

California is home to more people of Middle Eastern decent than any other state in the Union. Los Angeles—and its surrounding area—contains a majority of this population: hundreds of thousands of Armenians in Glendale, just as many Iranians in Beverly Hills or the Valley, along with thousands of Israelis, Lebanese . . . the list goes on.

With an ardent love for Middle Eastern food, here goes the first country to review . . . (drum roll) . . . Lebanon! Perhaps my favorite region in Middle Eastern cuisine, Lebanese food lacks the fuss of Israeli food. Lebanese cooking still has the rustic, country-style down-to-earth flavors and presentation Israeli food has lost to prodiguous society and, well, an accruing affluence.

And, naturally, there are plenty of Lebanese restaurants in Los Angeles. And not the shitty, immitation, over-charging types you'd find in Berkeley's Asian Ghetto. These places in L.A. are the real deal, the food cooked and served by faithful and proud expatriates. As far as I'm concerned, there are 4 main contenders here: Skaf's, Sunnin, The Cedar House, and Alcazar. . . .

Foie Gras and Suckling Pig

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

The Future of Food

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Baking Bread: Pullman Loaf / Pain de Mie

Friday, November 13, 2009

Skaf's Grill: North Hollywood

Los Angeles: Lebanese

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