I’ve been getting a lot of flak the last couple of weeks from pastry students who want me to list more mixing methods in the “Baking Basics” section. It must be finals time or something. I’ll admit my Mixing Methods list isn’t exhaustive, though it does contain the five methods that home bakers use the […]
READ ONThat’s “panettone” with two t’s. Profuse apologies to my few — and getting fewer — Italian readers. Panettone has near-sacred status among the Italian-Americans I know. These are people who know how to eat — but who are frequently disappointed by the panettone they find in most stores, both here and in Italy where (they say) mass-produced versions have largely replaced the artisanal kind. Even so, they fear making their own because of the time involved.
It’s true that some panettone recipes have more assembly steps than an Imaginarium Pirate Island Playset (forgive me, Christmas is coming), but between the quick-rise, easy-bake iterations and the slow-rising, multi-day religious ritual versions there is a happy medium. Peter Reinhart strikes it in his masterful book, The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. The recipe is classic Reinhart: starter-based but with a commercial yeast “spike” that delivers the best of both worlds: a voluminous light crumb and a deep, satisfying flavor.
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What’s the difference between crêpes, blintzes, blini and just plain ol’ skinny pancakes? Don’t answer that. I don’t want to know. Probably much less than the French, Slavs, Russians or English would ever want to admit.
Ultimately the only difference between all of them is context. Blintzes go with applesauce, blini with caviar, pancakes with sugar and lemon (or syrup) and crêpes…well, with just about anything. For indeed in France a crêpe is a medium…for sweet things, savory things and anything in between. Sort of like sandwich bread, it becomes what it contains.
READ ONReader Catherine writes:
Can you tell me how to influence the softness or firmness of homemade caramel? All the best googling I can come up with isn’t producing a satisfying answer.
Typically I make it with a bare minimum of ingredients — dissolving white sugar in water, then boiling until it turns deep amber and adding cream and perhaps a bit of butter, depending on the recipe.
Sometimes it turns out more “pourable” than other times. I need to know how to make sure it will hold its shape (but still be soft), so I get that soft firmness when I need it, and still know
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Reader Rick wants to know why air bubbles make crêpes rigid. Rick, it’s as easy as this: think about an air mattress when it’s full of air. You might be able to fold it, but you can’t roll it. That is until you let all the air out…then it rolls up with ease. The tens […]
READ ONLet’s spend a minute on the “French women” topic, as I’ve already received several emails on it. As to why American women seem so fixated on French women, reader Dotty says “It’s because they seem to have everything American women want.” Reader Trisha says “It’s because they have a certain mystique, an allure.”
READ ONNope, you don’t. A standard 9″ nonstick sauté pan works perfectly. If you really get into crêpes you can consider getting a specialized crêpe pan. The nice thing about one of those, even though it’s a pan that only does one thing, is that you tend to baby it when you wash it, which is […]
READ ONThis week’s recipe comes from a new cookbook called The Bonne Femme Cookbook: Simple, Splendid Food that French Women Cook Every Day by Wini Moranville. It’s pretty darn nice stuff. Though I admit when Harvard Common Press’ PR agency contacted my about it, my first thought was oh no, not another “French women” book title! An Amazon search of those key words turns up an astounding 30,000+ results. (As an aside I must say I’m at al loss to explain why American women seem so fixated on their French counterparts, but that’s a subject for another time).
But The Bonne Femme Cookbook isn’t your average bit of book aisle French-envy. It’s a highly useful — and highly readable — manual for femmes and hommes who simply like cooking good food at home. Here is where I could go into an exhaustive (and exhausting) overview of the book’s recipes à la the New York Times book review section. I’ll spare you that and simply say that what I especially like about
READ ONA massive anthropological tome could be written on the subject of pancakes, as they were in all likelihood one of mankind’s first prepared foods. Hunter-gatherers have been cooking gruels of mashed grain on hot rocks for millennia. When they invented the first Stone Age IHOP is unknown, though remains of paleolithic policemen have been found huddled over platters of what look like Pick-A-Pancake double blueberry stacks. Experts are still debating the evidence, of course. They might be Rooty Tooty Fresh n’ Fruity combos.
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