Spring Wintercress Frittata

This frittata is built around wild wintercress (Barbarea vulgaris) which you can find during early spring in the Northeast. Wintercress is a wild green in the brassacacea family, and when harvested at this stage it is very reminiscent of broccoli rabe. Its other common name is bittercress because as the name suggests it can be very bitter raw. When blanched it takes on a more mild flavor profile and is perfect as a central ingredient to a frittata. Video of the process below.

The other two greens are wild alliums. A handful of ramp leaves (Allium tricoccum) and finely diced field garlic (Allium vineale) as a garnish. Whenever I’m writing a recipe involving ramps I have to do my obligatory reminder to not harvest the bulbs. It take seven years for ramps to reach maturity. Leaving the bulbs in the ground helps maintain healthy populations. Ramps have been totally devastated in many parts of the country.

Ingredients

Tender wintercress florets
Field garlic
Ramp leaves
Eggs
Shredded mozzarella and fontina
Butter
Sour cream

Instructions

1. Separate and reserve the tender tips of the wintercress from the tougher sections of the stem. Blanch for 1-2 minutes in simmering water. Run under cold water and drain. Set aside. Set oven to 375F.

2. Scramble the eggs in a medium sized bowl and set aside. For an 8” skillet I used 8 eggs.

3. In a cast iron skillet or oven proof pan, melt a generous amount of butter. Add the ramp leaves and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add in the blanched wintercress and season with salt and pepper.

4. Pour in the eggs to cover the greens.

5. Cover the entire surface with the shredded cheese.

6. Transfer to the oven and bake for about 20 minutes until the top is puffy, and starting to turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes. It will lose a little height as it cools.

7. Spoon in a dollop of sour cream and sprinkle the diced forks garlic all over the top. Cut into wedges and enjoy.

Classic Sicilian Pizza

We made it through another week! We thought we deserved some deeply satisfying Sicilian pizza to celebrate. A kid hosted cooking video is below!

One of the most important parts of this pizza is the sauce. It’s simple, uses high quality ingredients, and is laden with parmesan cheese.

The Red Sauce

Ingredients

Stewed whole San Marzano tomatoes

Garlic

Yellow onion

Basil

Parmesan Rind

Salt

Pepper

Extra virgin olive oil

The key here is simplicity, and good ingredients (especially the tomatoes). Lightly puree the tomatoes in a processor or with a stick blender. Be careful not to aerate the tomatoes too much. For a chunkier sauce you can simply crush the tomatoes by hand. Set aside in a bowl. Peel and dice three to five cloves of garlic and set aside. Peel and chop the onion in half. By cooking the entire halves you will impart the flavor of the onion and the sauce won’t have chunks of onion in it. 

Heat a generous pour of EVOO in your saucepan at medium to low heat. Add your garlic and onion halves and let simmer for a few minutes. Be careful not to burn anything. Add a piece of parmesan rind into the hot oil, and let it simmer for another minute. The oils from the cheese will add depth to the sauce. Add your tomatoes to the pan, and bring to a simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add some chopped basil, stir, and set on medium/low. You want your sauce to simmer for about 30 minutes. Stir frequently to make sure it's not sticking to the bottom.

The Dough

Ingredients

Bread Flour

Active Starter

Salt

Water

This is my go-to recipe for focaccia, sfincione, and Sicilian style pizza. Keep in mind that you may need to adjust the quantity depending on your size of pan. This is designed for approximately an 11” x 14” pan.

1. Mix together 410 g of water and 530 g of bread flour and set to autolyse for up to six hours.  Add 15 g of salt and 90 g of active sourdough starter and start working into the dough with your hands or with a rubber spatula until more or less homogenous. Let rest for 45 minutes.

2. You’ll want to fold the dough two more times (with your hands) over the course of the next 1 - 2 hours to develop the gluten. By the end the dough should be very smooth and should not stick to your hands while folding. Cover and rest overnight at room temperature.

3. In the morning transfer the dough to the refrigerator and take out one hour before you’ll be making your pizza.

The Pizza

Ingredients

Olive Oil

Red Sauce

Shredded mozzarella cheese

Grated parmesan

Basil

Instructions

1. After the dough has come to room temperature, dump it out into a well oiled pan. Spread the dough out so it has a uniform thickness. Use the tips of your fingers to press down into dough to push it into the edges of the pan. Drizzle more olive oil on top.

2. Cover the entire surface of the dough with shredded cheese.

3. Ladle on the tomato sauce generously so it covers all of the cheese.

4. Sprinkle freshly grated parmesan on top.

5. Set oven to 425F and allow the dough to proof for another 30 mins.

6. Bake for 30 minutes and serve.

Mock Horseradish Sauce with Invasive Garlic Mustard

Experimenting with using invasive garlic mustard and I’m pretty in love with this mock horseradish cream sauce using garlic mustard root, white vinegar, dehydrated ramp powder, and sour cream. While not quite as spicy as true horseradish, it delivers on everything else and goes perfectly with venison or other red meat. The ongoing covid situation is just one more reason to avoid grocery stores and to think outside the box. Video of the process below.

Ingredients

Garlic Mustard Root

White Vinegar

Dehydrated Ramp Powder

Sour cream

Instructions

I recommend focusing on the larger roots as you’ll have difficulty peeling the smaller sections. This is invasive, and aggressive so there is plenty to go around.

Clean and peel the roots and chop into small sized pieces that will fit into your food processor. Blitz on high until the roots are fully grated. Slowly add in white vinegar and blitz again until there is a nice consistency. Not too thin. It should look like the jarred horseradish you might buy in the store.

Now mix into a bowl of sour cream and taste to mix to your liking. Sprinkle on ramp powder and stir together. Taste again and adjust to your liking. You can add a dash of salt here, a step I would skip if you’re using this as a sauce for a well seasoned piece of meat.

The recipe for the dehydrated ramp powder can be found here.

Seasonal Spring Sea of Green Pie with Ramp Dust

I drew some inspiration from @danieleuditi at @pizzana with his use of dehydrated basil. This time of year in the northeast, ramps (allium tricoccum) are in their full glory. If you know where to look, you'll find vast hillsides of vibrant green ramps. I wanted to make a seasonal pie that pays tribute to this incredible woodland ingredient. I harvested just the tender leaves of the plant, leaving the bulbs in the ground, and made a dehydrated ramp dust that is central to this pie. The powder retains the most amazing deep green color so we decided to call it the Sea of Green. Fired in my @oonihq Pro. Video of the whole process below.

Just a reminder to harvest ramps responsibly. Don't yank the bulbs or harvest more than you need! It takes seven years for ramps to reach maturity from seed.

Once you have your fresh ramps, I like to trim the stems off so you’re only drying the green leafy section of the plant. The stems are great as a pickled condiment, which can get eaten as is or processed into salad dressing. Any of your favorite pickling recipes will be great for the stems.

Place the leaves in the dehydrator and it should take about 2 - 3 hours until the leaves are fully dry. When done, they should be brittle and break apart in your fingertips.

In a bowl, crush the leaves with your hands to break them down to a smaller size. You can use a mortar and pestle to break down further or just skip ahead and blitz everything in a spice grinder to create a fine powder. You’ll be left with an amazing green colored dust that you can store by itself or mix it 50/50 with salt to make ramp salt. The raw ramp dust is extremely versatile and can be used to spice meat, vegetables, fused into sauces, etc.  I keep a jar of it in my spice cabinet and I store the rest in the freezer for future use. Like any spices, it will lose its potency over time.

For the pizza I have been very happy using a Ken Forkish recipe from Flour Water Salt Yeast for an overnight dough with levain. It’s one of the few recipes that I have decided not to mess with as it always yields great results.

The foundation of the pizza is a plain pie, with a parmesan laden red sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese and a drizzle of olive oil. The pie comes to life with a generous dusting of the ramp dust all over the top of the pie, followed by fresh basil leaves. It’s subtle and delicious.

Tumminia Flour Sourdough Zeppole

I never dared mess with my Nonna’s zeppole (sfingi) recipe but after a few weeks of shelter in place all rules are out the window. If she were here to taste the result I think she’d approve. The addition of the sourdough yeast and the Sicilian tumminia flour give the sfingi a much more distinct flavor and spongy texture which I quite like. The shell also ends up being much crispier so there is an audible crunch upon taking your first bite. They behave a little differently in the hot oil and require some manual nudging of the dough as they cook - where as in the original recipe they did all the work themselves (flipping and turning over all on their own). I also added some vanilla while I was at it. And since I already committed my crime against tradition I made a simple chocolate sauce instead of the confectioner’s sugar. These were incredible and I look forward to making them again and again. 

The process is a bit more complicated and time consuming but it’s still a relatively approachable recipe.

Ingredients

80 g tumminia flour (or regular whole wheat flour)

70 g 00 Flour 

50 g active starter

4 eggs

6 tbsp butter

Pinch of salt

½ tsp vanilla

1 cup of water

Zest or orange (optional)

For the sauce

½ cup of semi-sweet chocolate chunks

1 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp butter

Instructions

1. Bring water to a boil. Add butter, and a little bit of salt. Stir in the flour and mix thoroughly, and quickly. Remove from heat and let cool at room temperature. 

2. Add the starter yeast and mix together well. Cover and set in the refrigerator overnight. 

3. In the morning, take out the dough and allow to get back to room temperature so the dough begins to soften again. 

4. Add eggs one at a time, mixing very well until there are no clumps of flour. Add in lemon or orange zest. Add the vanilla. The consistency should be smooth, thicker than pancake batter, but thinner than a bread dough. Let rest for a few more minutes. 

5. Bring canola or peanut oil in a dutch oven or deep fryer to 350 F. 

6. Using a spoon, drop globs of batter into the hot oil. This recipe will require a little extra attention than the traditional non-sourdough recipe. You’ll need to manually flip them once they are fully cooked on one side. Once fully browned and crispy, remove the zeppole with a slotted spoon and let rest in on a baking rack or in a bowl with paper towels to absorb the excess oil. 

7. In a small saucepan, melt together the chocolate, butter, and sugar and simmer for a few minutes - stirring well. 

5. Once the zeppole have cooled a bit, drizzle the chocolate sauce all over the top of the zeppole and enjoy.

Pan Fried Gnocchi with Ramp Pesto

It’s still a bit early in the season so most ramps are too young to harvest. With a little effort we found a more mature patch along a sunny south eastern facing ridge. We harvested just enough leaves for a small batch of pesto and left the bulbs in the ground. For the pesto I kept it super simple. Ramps, pistachios, olive oil, and salt blitz in the food processor and served on top of pan fried gnocchi (in lots of butter) and some freshly grated Parmesan and ground pepper. It’s a once a year kind of meal. 

If harvesting ramps, don’t yank the bulbs, don’t raze entire hillsides, don’t take more than you need. They take seven years to reach maturity.

Video of the process below.

Gnocchi Ingredients

2½ pounds russet potatoes (about 4 large)

1¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 egg

Butter 

Instructions

1. Boil potatoes for 35 - 45 minutes until fork tender.

2. Drain and allow to cool so you can handle them but they need to still be warm for the next step. If allowed to cool they’ll become gummy.

3. Peel the potatoes with your fingers or by using the edge of a spoon. Cut up the potatoes into small chunks.

4. Press all of the warm potatoes through a potato ricer into a large bowl. 

5. Sprinkle on the flour and salt, and work together with your hands for about 30 seconds. Make a well in the center of the bowl and pour in the egg, which should already be beaten. 

6. Mix together with your hands for another 30 seconds. 

7. Pour out the contents of the bowl onto a well dusted work surface and continue to knead together for another 1 - 2 minutes. An important note is to not overwork this dough. The more you work it, the denser the gnocchi will be. 

8. Divide the dough into about 4 - 6 different balls and dust each with more flour. 

9. Begin rolling each ball out with your hands to create a long rope of rough about ¾ inch thick. Use more flour if it feels like the dough is sticky. And again, don’t overwork!

10. Using a knife or bench knife, cut each rope into approximately 1 inch pieces. 

11. You could stop here, and transfer them to a tray dusted with semolina to prevent sticking. 

12. Or you can continue with embellishing them a bit by using the tines of a fork to create the classic dimples and grooves you might often see. Carefully take each individual piece in your fingers, and with your other hand press the tip of your fork into the center of the gnocchi, and roll it gently to form the grooves. Now you can set it into your tray with semolina until ready to cook.

13. Bring a big pot of water to boil. Cook the gnocchi for about 4 minutes until they float to the surface. Drain the gnocchi. 

14. In a heavy skillet, melt butter and bring up to medium/high heat. 

15. Transfer the boiled gnocchi into the hot pan and allow to crisp for about 3 minutes on each side. They’ll start to turn golden brown and form a nice texture on the shell, while the interior stays light and fluffy.

16. Now toss the pan fried gnocchi with the pesto. Plate each portion and top generously with freshly grated parmesan and black pepper.

Pesto Ingredients

¼ cup of pistachios

½ cup olive oil

Sprinkle of salt

Two handfuls of washed ramp leaves

Grated parmesan (optional)

Instructions

1. Shell the pistachios and blitz in the blender

2. Add all of the other ingredients and blend until smooth 

3. Add more olive oil if pesto is too thick

Homemade Zeppole (Sfingi)

Zeppole, also called sfingi in Sicily, are typically associated with celebration, whether on Christmas or St. Joseph’s Day. They’re also perfect for quarantine cooking. It is the Italians’ answer to the donut and some versions can be quite elaborate, filled with ricotta cream and topped with candied fruits. This version from my Nonna is super simple. They’re light, airy, and relatively quick and easy to make with only six common ingredients. If you don’t have 00 Flour, regular all purpose will do the trick. Watch the whole process in a fun kid hosted cooking below.

Ingredients

1 cup of 00 Flour

1 cup of water

4 eggs

6 tablespoons of butter

Lemon or orange zest

Confectioners sugar

Canola oil

1. Bring water to a boil. Add butter, and a little bit of salt. Stir in the flour and mix thoroughly, and quickly. Remove from heat and let cool at room temperature.

2. Add eggs one at a time, mixing with your hands. Add in lemon or orange zest. The consistency should be smooth, thicker than pancake batter, but thinner than a bread dough. Let rest for a few more minutes. 

3. Bring canola or peanut oil in a dutch oven or deep fryer to 350 F.

4. Using a spoon, drop globs of batter into the hot oil. The trick here is to let the zeppole alone, as they begin to form a golden brown crispy shell. As they cook, they will expand, burst open, and roll over all on their own without any additional help. Once fully browned, remove the zeppole with a slotted spoon and let rest in on a baking rack or in a bowl with paper towels to absorb the excess oil.

5. Once they have cooled a bit, liberally dust with confectioners sugar and enjoy. They should be light and airy.

Venison Reuben on Poppy Seed Rye

On the surface, this is just a sandwich. But a lot of labor and love went into the making of it. Months spent scouting the woods trying to find the perfect position. Cumulatively, there were probably dozens of miles walked. Early mornings watching the sun rise and light up the ice encrusted tree canopy as my feet felt like they were going to freeze. Then there was the harvest and the subsequent months of planning how to do justice to every pound of meat. Six more weeks for the sauerkraut and the fine tuning of the sourdough poppy seed rye. Six days for the cure on the pastrami. Three hours in the smoker. And just a few minutes to devour it. Was it worth it? I don’t regret any minute of it. 

Video of the process below.

The Pastrami

First off I want to credit Hank Shaw for the basis of this recipe. For the most part I followed the fundamentals of his recipe but just tweaked a few ingredients and temperature/timing in the smoker. The cut I used for this recipe was the bottom round, cleaned and trimmed. 

Ingredients

The Cure

A 2 - 4 pound piece of venison (single muscle works best)

Kosher salt (2% of the weight of the meat)

Instacure No. 1 (0.25% of the weight of the meat)

1/4 teaspoon celery seed

1/4 teaspoon caraway seed

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon crushed juniper berries

The Dry Rub

3 tablespoons ground black pepper (1 tbsp per pound)

3 tablespoons coarsely ground coriander (1 tbsp per pound)

1/4 cup dry sherry

Instructions

1. Weigh your piece of meat. In a spice grinder, mix together all of the ingredients for the cure. Measure your salt and curing salt carefully based on the percentages listed above. 

2. Using your hands, pack all of the spices and salt onto the meat, massaging it into ass nooks and crevices of the meat. Make sure all sides are equally coated. Transfer into a large ziplock bag, airtight container, or vacuum seal. The meat will now cure in the refrigerator for 4 - 6 days. Hank’s general rule is 2 days per pound of meat. 

3. Remove the meat and rinse it off in a bowl of cold water to remove the bulk of the cure. Pat the meat dry and place back into the refrigerator uncovered for another 30 mins up to a day. 

4. Using the spice grinder again, blend together the peppercorns and coriander spinkly it across the bottom of a baking tray, reserving some more to sprinkle on top.  

5. Place the meat in a bowl and pour the dry sherry all over it and massage it into the meat. 

6. Transfer the meat, coated in sherry, to the tray of spices and carefully work it around the dry rub so it is coated on all sides. Pack more of the dry rub on top with your hands until every part of the surface is covered. 

7. Set your smoker temperature to 250F and smoke the meat for 2 - 3 hrs until the internal temperature reaches 145F. Allow the meat to cool and slice very thinly.

The Poppy Seed Rye

For the full rye bread recipe click here to view previous post.

The Sauerkraut

This is a pretty ubiquitous recipe that makes for a simple but delicious kraut. 

Ingredients

1 head of green (or red) cabbage

2% of the weight of cabbage in kosher salt

Caraway Seeds

Instructions

1. Peel the outer leaves from the cabbage. Wash thoroughly. 

2. Thinly slice cabbage and weigh it on a scale.

3. Measure exactly 2% the weight of the cabbage in salt.

4. In a large bowl using your hands mix together the salt of the cabbage. Massage it. Crush it with your hands until all the liquid from the cabbage starts to be extracted. Continue massaging for 5 - 10 minutes.

5. Add in a sprinkling of caraway seeds. Mix together again.

6. Pack all the cabbage and it’s juices into your fermentation vessel of choice. Use the outer leaves as a protective layer on top of the kraut and weigh it down with a glass weight or similar. 

7. Allow to ferment for 4 - 6 weeks in a cool and dark area of your house. After 4 weeks you can transfer it to the refrigerator. 

8. That’s it.

Pappardelle with Rabbit Ragu

This is a deep and decadent ragu that is a perfect accompaniment to big fat pappardelle noodles. Video of the process below.

Ingredients:

1 whole rabbit

¼ cup chopped bacon or pancetta 

1 onion (diced)

3 cloves garlic (minced)

½ cup thinly chopped celery

½ cup thinly chopped carrots

8 oz tomato paste

12 oz canned tomatoes (crushed) 

½ cup red wine

2 cups hot broth

1 tbsp herbs de provence

1. Break down the rabbit into 6 pieces. Hind legs, forelegs, and split the body into two. Season with salt and pepper. 

2. Brown the meat on all sides in a deep pot. Set aside. 

3.  Cook the bacon for a few minutes to begin rendering the fat.

4. Add the garlic, onions, celery, and carrots and cook on medium/low for another few minutes until softened.

5. Add the tomato paste, herbs de provence, and mix together until well incorporated.

6. Pour in your red wine and cook for another few minutes. 

7. Add the hot broth, and tomatoes and bring up to a low simmer.

8. Add the browned rabbit back into the pot, partially cover, and simmer for 1.5 hours - turning the meat every 15 minutes and stirring the sauce so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. If the sauce feels like it’s getting too thick add a little more hot broth to thin it out.

9. Remove the meat when tender and allow to cool. Turn off the heat. 

10. Shred the meat from the bones and pull apart into small pieces. Add the shredded meat back into the ragu and stir together. 

11. Serve right away or refrigerate the sauce until mealtime. Can be kept in the fridge for a few days. 

12. When serving, generously coat the noodles with the ragu by tossing in a bowl. Top each plate with a generous amount of freshly grated parmesan cheese. 

The pappardelle recipe was straight from Evan Funke of Felix. I highly recommend his book American Sfoglino: A Master Class in Homemade Pasta.

Video below.

Tumminia Flour Busiate with Fire Roasted Red Sauce

I was delighted to receive a package from @gustiamo with this incredible tumminia flour from Filippo Drago's flour mill in Castelvetrano, Sicily. I've never worked with this variety before - an ancient variety of wheat native to Sicily. I was intending on making a wood fired pasta alla norma with handmade tumminia busiate, but because of the chaos at the supermarkets and the threat of coronavirus I wasn't able to source all my ingredients and instead just opted for a simpler wood fired red sauce in the @oonihq Pro. The flour has an amazing smell and flavor, and I'm looking forward to using it to make a traditional pane nero next. A compromised vision - but a pretty tasty dish none-the-less. Full video about the process below.

The Dough

1/2 cup of Tumminia Flour (or regular whole wheat)

1/2 semolina flour

1 cup of cold water

Olive oil

Salt

The Pasta

Form a mound in the center of your work surface with your blended flour. Using your finger tips, create a well in the center like a volcano. Slowly pour in the water a little at a time and use a fork to start combining the flour with the water. Incorporate the water completely and the mixture will be somewhat crumbly. Now start working the dough together with your hands for about 5 minutes. it will start to feel smoother. Drizzle on a little bit of olive oil, a pinch of salt, and continue working the dough for another 5 minutes until it is very smooth. If the dough feels too sticky, use a little more flour to dust the surface until the dough does not stick to the work surface or your hands. Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and set aside for 30 minutes at room temperature.

Unwrap a corner of the dough and start pulling out one of the side to form the shape of an elongated pear. You’ll keep pulling more dough off the end while keeping the remainder wrapped in plastic so it doesn’t dry out as you work. Rip off small balls about the size of a large grape and roll them into thin “snakes” about 6 inches long with the palm of your hands. Gently dust with more flour.

There is one essential tool you’ll need for this which essentially is a thin wooden dowel which in Sicily is referred to as a busa. Any thin wood dowel safe for food should work for this. The original way to roll the pasta was with the stem of a piece of native grass grown in Sicily. The translation of stem is busa. Hence busiate.

Take the tip of the busa and lay it over one of the ends of the rolled out dough “snake” and it should be at about a 45 degree angle. Now gently roll the busa so that the dough begins to wrap around the wood. Use gentle pressure but don’t push too hard. Here is where you’ll realize that if you don’t dust the dough enough, it will start sticking to the wood, and you’ll start to get frustrated. I promise. So be calm and make sure the dough is not sticky. After the dough is coiled around fully, gently wiggle the busa so it comes loose, and slide it out of the corkscrew shape that you just created. Repeat. Repeat, until there is no dough left. This recipe makes about 4 medium sized plates of pasta.

The video is helpful to visualize how the process looks.

The Sauce

Stewed whole San Marzano tomatoes

Garlic

Yellow onion

Basil

Parmesan Rind

Salt

Pepper

Extra virgin olive oil

The key here is simplicity, and good ingredients (especially the tomatoes).

For this recipe I’m using my wood fired Ooni Pro, but this is wonderful done on the stove top as well. When cooking with fire, you’ll just need to be more mindful of temperature regular but it makes more a wonderful rustic and smoky sauce. Lightly puree the tomatoes in a processor or with a stick blender. Be careful not to aerate the tomatoes too much. For a chunkier sauce you can simply crush the tomatoes by hand. Set aside in a bowl. Peel and dice three to five cloves of garlic and set aside. Peel and chop the onion in half. By cooking the entire halves you will impart the flavor of the onion and the sauce won’t have chunks of onion in it. 

Heat a generous pour of EVOO in your saucepan at medium to low heat. Add your garlic and onion halves and let saute for a few minutes. Be careful not to burn anything. Add a piece of parmesan rind into the hot oil, and let it simmer for another minute. The oils from the cheese will add depth to the sauce. Add your tomatoes to the pan, and bring to a simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add some chopped basil, stir, and set on medium/low. You want your sauce to simmer for about 30 minutes. Stir frequently to make sure it's not sticking to the bottom.

Finishing

Boil the pasta for about 4 minutes. Drain and transfer to a bowl with the sauce. Use tongs to roll the pasta around so it coats all of the noodles. Plate your pasta and finish with a generous amount of freshly grated parmesan and fresh basil. Enjoy.

Whole Wheat Pancakes with Farmer Cheese

Cooking in the time of quarantine. Stuck at home with your parents? Are you tired of your dad’s lousy old pancakes? Here’s a little video to get you through your morning. These are unusual times, but we can all get through this together! This recipe is for semi-healthy and super-tasty whole wheat pancakes. We’re using a special tumminia flour from Castelvetrano, Sicily thanks to our friends at Gustiamo - but any old whole wheat flour will do. Enjoy! Video below.

Ingredients

1/2 cup of whole wheat flour

1/2 cup of all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp brown sugar

a pinch of salt

1 tbsp melted butter

1 cup of milk

1 egg

1 cap of vanilla

1/4 cup of farmer cheese, or ricotta (optional)

Flake salt for finishing

Maple syrup

Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add the wet ingredients and mix well. Add the farmer’s cheese last and gently mix in without breaking it up too much. You want it a little chunky.

Heat up butter in a skillet (a generous amount is recommended) and cook pancakes over medium/high heat until crispy along the edges.

Finish with some nice flake salt and maple syrup. Enjoy!

New England Style Clam Pizza

When the world seems like it's on its head, I can always find comfort in the things that taste good. And as the weather warms up, I'm feeling a bit more motivated to fire up some pizzas. I haven't had much of a chance this winter to test out the new Ooni Karu - but this past weekend was the perfect opportunity to give it another go. This is my spin on the iconic New England style clam pizza from Frank Pepe's with the addition of broccoli rabe and saffron. This one really hit on all cylinders and will be replicated again. Short video of the entire process below.

Broccoli Rabe

Olive Oil

Dried chili peppers

Garlic

Clams (2 dozen)

Shallots (2 -3)

Thyme

Parsely

Saffron

White Wine

Heavy Cream

Salt

Pepper

The Broccoli Rabe

Blanch broccoli rabe in a pot of boiling water for about 3 minutes. Remove, rinse with cold water and chop into small pieces. Heat oil in a skillet and saute garlic and chili flakes for a minute or so and then add the broccoli rabe to saute for another few minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

The Clams

Finely dice shallots, 2 cloves of garlic, thyme, and parsley. Bring a heat resistant pan up to temperature in the wood burning oven (or stovetop) and add the olive oil. Saute the aromatics for a minute or so until softened and fragrant. Add the saffron and stir. Add in about a half a cup of white wine and return to the heat for another minute. And the clams (as many as will fit in your skillet), mix together, and place back into the heat. Stir occasionally until the clams begin to open. Discard any clams that fail to open up. Remove the clams and allow the liquid to cool down a little. Remove the clam meat from the shells and chop roughly on a cutting board.

The Sauce

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the heavy cream until frothy and thickened. Slowly pour in the liquid from the clams and continue whisking vigorously until well incorporated. 

Assembly

Stretch your dough. Spoon on the cream sauce leaving an edge around the entire dough. Layer on the chopped broccoli rabe and clams and slide onto your pizza peel. Fire in the oven for 60 - 90 seconds (or until fully cooked through with leoparding around the crust).

Finishing

Finish the pizza with freshly chopped parsley and a big squeeze of lemon juice. 

The Dough

I have been using the overnight levain recipe from Ken Forkish’s Flour Water Salt Yeast and I really haven’t found a good reason to deviate from the recipe.

Venison Chili

The recipe makes an amazingly tender chili using venison chuck slowly simmered over 4 -5 hours.

4 lbs chuck stew meat

1 large diced onion

4 cloves diced garlic

1 large diced red pepper

tomato paste

4 -5 cups of chicken stock

cumin

paprika

chili powder

spicy dried chilies

plum vinegar (or similar)

brown sugar

red wine

Salt and pepper the meat and brown on all sides. Set aside. Reduce the temperature in your pot and gently saute the onions, garlic, and red pepper until softened. Add 8 oz of tomato paste, 1.5 tsp cumin, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp chili powder, dried chilies to heat preference, a few tsp of plum vinegar, 1 tbsp brown sugar, 1/2 cup red wine, and a few cups of chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Add the browned meat back into the pot. The liquid should not completely cover the meat, and you’ll want to keep an eye on this as it cooks for the next few hours, adding more as necessary. Simmer on low for about 4 hours until the meat is fork tender. Without 20 minutes left to cook, add cooked red kidney beans and stir.

Allow to cool for a few minutes and serve with avocado, freshly chopped scallions, sour cream, shredded cheese, and pickled onions. Perfect for serving with homemade cornbread.

Upside Down Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake

This is a wonderful cake to make in the winter when blood oranges are at their peak. The addition of the coarse corn meal gives it a wonderful texture and flavor.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup cornmeal (coarse)

3/4 cup fine granulated sugar (caster)

3 - 4 blood oranges

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3 eggs

1/2 plain yogurt

1/2 cup olive oil

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp water

Set your oven for 350F.

Zest one orange and mix with the sugar. Peel remaining oranges and slice thinly into medallions. Carefully remove the rind with a knife, removing as much of the pith as possible without breaking the circular forms.

Add the yogurt to the sugar and whisk together. Add in the eggs and olive oil and continue to mix together. Add in all of the dry ingredients one by one and continue mixing.

Line a circular baking pan with a sheet of parchment paper. Combine the brown sugar and water, and pour over the parchment paper, and spread it around evenly so it covers the bottom of the pan. Carefully arrange the orange medallions so they fill the entire surface of the bottom of the pan. Cut smaller wedges to fill the gaps between the circles. Pour the batter to cover the oranges.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until done. Allow to cool before serving.

Poppy Seed Rye Sourdough

Mix together 410 g of water, 360 g of bread flour, 85 g of whole wheat flour, 85 g of rye flour and set to autolyse for up to six hours. Add 15 g of salt, 7 g of cracked caraway seeds, 7 g of poppy seeds and 90 g of active sourdough starter and start working into the dough with your hands or with a rubber spatula until more or less homogenous. Let rest for 45 minutes. You’ll want to stretch and fold the dough two more times (with your hands) over the course of the next 1 - 2 hours to develop the gluten. By the end the dough should be very smooth and should not stick to your hands while folding. Cover and rest overnight at room temperature.

In the morning transfer the dough to a clean working surface lightly dusted with flour. Fold the dough one final time and shape while being careful not to degas. Gently roll the dough into another bowl of poppy seeds. Transfer into banneton, cover and let rise for 2 - 3 hours.

Set oven to 475F with dutch oven inside to heat up. Transfer the dough to a peel with parchment paper and slip it into the heated dutch oven. Using a bread laim, score the top of the dough. Bake for 25 minutes with the lid on and 20 more minutes with the lid off. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before slicing.

Sourdough Brioche Ravazzata with Venison Ragu

I was recently turned on to Ravazzata, a traditional street food found in Palermo. The experience is like what would happen if an arancino and a sloppy joe had a baby. There are both fried and baked versions but I opted to go with a baked version for my first attempt using a sourdough brioche recipe inspired by Artisan Bryan. The ragu is mostly traditional, with the exception of swapping out beef for ground venison.

The filling

1 lb ground beef (or venison)

Half of a yellow onion, finely diced

3 cloves of garlic, finely minced

6 oz tomato paste

1 cup of frozen peas

Salt and pepper to taste

Cubed provolone, caciocavallo, or your cheese of choice

Saute the onions and garlic in some olive oil for a few minutes until soft. Spoon in the tomato paste and work into the mixture. Add just a little more olive oil if you find it hard to work with but it is important that the ragu stays on the drier side to make filling the ravazzata easier. After sauteing a few more minutes add in the ground meat and keep turning until it browns evenly. Add in the peas and cook for a few more minutes, turning frequently. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside to cool and put it into the refrigerator to firm it up before filling.

The dough

250g Bread flour

250g All purpose flour

250g active levain

115g cold water

170g unsalted butter

175g eggs (approximately 3-4 eggs)

150g sugar

15g salt

I based the recipe off of a sourdough brioche recipe from Artisan Bryan and made a few modifications to make it more savory and less aromatic. I think it will take a few more iterations to get it perfect, but I was pleased with how it turned out for a first attempt.

2pm Day 1

Cube the butter. Mix all of you dry and wet ingredients into a mixer/kitchenaid. Start off on the slowest setting and gradually increase the speed. The dough is going to be really wet and sticky but try to avoid adding more flour. Mix for about 10-15 minutes to properly develop the dough. 

Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl or container and allow to rise at room temperature for about 6 hours. Transfer to the refrigerator and cold ferment overnight for about 10 hours. 

7am Day 2

Remove dough from the refrigerator and allow to soften a little for about 20 - 30 mins so it’s easier to work with. Gently flour your work surface and remove the dough from the bowl. Gently dust the top of the dough. Now divide the dough into individual bun size balls (approx 130g each). These will proof with the filling for another 4 hrs.

Assembly

Using your fingertips gently press each ball down to form something that looks like a large pancake. The edges should be slightly thinner than the middle as they will be folded up over onto each other after filling. Fill each dough round with a few spoonfuls of ragu and top each with the cubed cheese. Gently bring up the edges of the dough, around the ragu, and use your fingers to seal it together. Flip the whole thing over so that the smoother bottom now becomes the top, and transfer to a parchment lined baking tray gently dusted with semolina. 

Brush each bun with an egg wash and sprinkle a generous amount of sesame seeds all over the top surface. Set aside and proof for another 4 hours at room temperature.

Baking

Set your oven to 400F. Bake for 30-35 minutes until light to medium brown depending on your preference. Best enjoyed while still hot.

Sourdough Ciabatta

My first attempt at ciabatta was a total disaster. I decided to start from scratch and completely rethink the recipe. Second time around I think I nailed it. Beautiful open crumb and wonderful flavor.

450 g water

53 g whole wheat flour

477 g bread flour

90 g active starter

15 g salt

18 g olive oil

*yields two medium size loaves at 85% hydration

Step 1 Autolyse - 2pm Day 1

Mix together 400 g of water and 530 g of the combined flour. Make sure there are no clumps, cover and set to autolyse for up to six hours. Note that you are reserving 50 g of the total water for the next step.

Step 2 Bassinage Technique - 7pm Day 1 

Because of the high hydration, a stand mixer makes this process quite a bit easier. You can mix by hand but it doubles the amount of time it takes to develop the gluten. 

Combine the autolyse mixture, 15 g of salt, 90 g of active sourdough starter, and 18 g of olive oil into your mixing bowl. Lower the hook attachment into the bowl and start it at the lowest setting for a few minutes. Very slowly add in the remaining 50 g of water. At this point you may begin to question whether or not it’s going to work but stay the course and the dough will start forming structure. Increase the mixer speed and continue to add water slowly. Increase the speed again. Total mixing time will take about 10-15 minutes. You’ll notice that with patience, the dough begins to form a ball and will start slapping against the sides of the bowl. Transfer the dough into a large mixing bowl or container.

Step 3 Additional Folding - 7:15pm - 9:00pm Day 1

You’ll want to fold the dough three times (with your hands) over the course of the next 1.5 hours to develop the gluten. By the end the dough should be very smooth and should not stick to your hands while folding. It will remain very wet but it should pass the windowpane test. Cover and rest overnight at room temperature. 

Step 4 Proofing - 7am Day 2

Uncover the dough and generously flour the surface. Gently pull the edges of the dough back from the sides of the container allowing flour to rolls down along the edges. Turn the container over onto a floured surface and divide the dough into two halves. The key now is to touch the dough as little as possible. Gently shape each half into rectangles and transfer them onto a well floured couche. Any clean kitchen linens will work if you don’t own a baker’s couche. You’ll want to make sure there is a barrier between the two doughs as they proof. Give another dusting of flour to the top of the dough and cover with another couche or kitchen linens. Allow to proof for another 2 - 3 hours.

Step 5 Baking - 10am Day 2 

Your oven should be set to 450F with a heatproof bowl of water on the rack to create steam. The next part can be a little tricky and you may need to improvise depending on the type of tools you’re working with. Now it’s time to get your proofed dough off of the couche, onto a peel or board, and into the oven. As long as you have floured the couche and dough liberally you shouldn’t have any issues with the dough sticking. Because of the high hydration you’ll need to work somewhat quickly and confidently. Now you’ll flip each dough off of the couche and onto your launching tool in one clean motion so that the bottom now becomes the top. I like to use parchment paper for this stage as well. For this recipe, both doughs should fit on a medium sized pizza peel and will bake directly on a stone in a medium sized conventional oven. Bake for 20 minutes with the steam and lower the temperature to 425F. Remove the bowl of water and baker for another 20-25 mins until golden brown and well risen. Remove from oven and allow to cool before slicing. 

Sourdough English Muffin Breakfast Sandwich

This might look like an ordinary breakfast sandwich, but this thing has a lot going on. Sweet and spicy venison + pork sausage patty, melted cheddar cheese, and a fried egg on top of a homemade sourdough English muffin. This is my version of Thomas’ English Muffin where I tried to replicate the textural experience with a naturally leavened dough. They’re super easy to make once you have an active starter and dare I say better than the original. Video of the process below.

The Sourdough English Muffins

Day 1 Evening

Make your sponge with 110 g active starter, 260 g bread flour, 276 g whole milk and set out to rest overnight at room temperature for approximately 8 hours.

Day 2 Morning

Add another 75 g bread flour, 1 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of baking soda, 1.5 tsp of honey, and 1.5 tsp of melted butter. Knead for about ten minutes until all the ingredients are well incorporated. Flour your working surface and roll the dough out to about half an inch thick. Using a circular form, punch out circles of the dough and dust them with a light coat of semolina. Set aside and let proof for about 45 to 60 minutes. 

Lightly oil a cast iron skillet and set to medium/low heat. Cook muffins directly in the pan for about 7 minutes on each side until golden/toasted brown. Cool on a wire rack and split open with a fork.

The Sausage Patties

   1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage

    1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme

    2 teaspoons light brown sugar

    1½ teaspoons kosher salt

    1 teaspoon crushed fennel seeds

    ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

    ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

    ¼ teaspoon garlic powder

    ¼ teaspoon sweet paprika

    .5 pound ground pork 

    .5 pound ground venison

Mix sage, thyme, brown sugar, salt, fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, black pepper, garlic powder, and paprika in a medium bowl. Add pork and venison and work spice mixture into meat with your hands until it's very well blended.

Using your hands, form approximately 3 - 4 inch patties about ¼ inch thick. Griddle sausage over medium-high heat until browned on one side, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook 2 minutes more. Use a grill press to ensure a thin and crispy patty.

The Sandwich

Lay your split English muffin open on a cast iron skillet and top with good quality cheddar cheese. Set into a broiler until the cheese melts. Meanwhile fry your egg in another pan with a generous amount of butter. Set the sausage patty on top of the melted cheese followed by the fried egg gently placed on top so it doesn’t break. Season with salt and pepper and the top half of the muffin. The sausage is already a little spicy but add hot sauce to your liking.

Le Casse Croute Tunisien

Le Casse Croute Tunisien is a North African adaptation of the classic French sandwich of the same name. It basically translates to a hasty snack, something you’d find walking through the streets of Paris or in Tunis. On the Tunisian version you’ll find ingredients like hummus, olives, harissa, tuna and eggs. I’m experimenting with a new recipe for these seeded rustic mini baguettes pushing up to 80% hydration. The recipe is available here.

I’m still fine tuning this hummus recipe which I’ll post as soon as I feel like it’s ready. Next attempt will be made to produce a silkier end product.

Whole Wheat Oat Bran Seeded Sourdough

Mix together 430 g of water, 424 g of bread flour, 106 g of whole wheat flour and 15 g of oat bran and set to autolyse for up to six hours.  Add 15 g of salt and 90 g of active sourdough starter and start working into the dough with your hands or with a rubber spatula until more or less homogenous. Let rest for 45 minutes. You’ll want to fold the dough two more times (with your hands) over the course of the next 1 - 2 hours to develop the gluten. By the end the dough should be very smooth and should not stick to your hands while folding. Cover and rest for about 10 hours at room temperature. For timing, I normally will aim to start mixing in the salt and active starter around 7pm. By 9pm I leave it alone for the bulk ferment at room temperature.

In the morning (around 7am) transfer the dough to a clean working surface lightly dusted with flour. Divide the dough into 4 - 6 equal parts depending on the size and shape of the rolls you’re making. Shape each piece being careful not to degas the dough. Gently roll each dough into a mix of seeds. I like to use golden flax, sesame, and poppy seeds. Cover and let rise for 2 - 3 hours. 

Set oven to 450F. Using a bread laim, score each dough. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes with a heat proof bowl of water in the oven to create ambient moisture. Remove rolls from oven and allow to cool before slicing.

This recipe also works really well for a larger loaf which I bake in a Dutch oven t 475F for 20 minutes with the lid on and 20 minutes with the lid off. See below.