Adventures in Doughnutland.
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We attended a musical celebration by the the local first grade, Amaya being in first grade. As we walked the school hallway toward the gymnasium-auditorium I was struck by the students artwork. And the quotes that accented the creations.
Years Past
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook
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I have no idea why it never occurred to me before to use a rack to blind bake my pie shells. Perhaps because I don't blind bake my crusts very often? It makes sense, the rack allows for air flow below the pie pan and encourages more even cooking. It was a successful experiment, if I do say so myself, and one that I will happily repeat the next time I'm making strawberry/chocolate/banana cream pie.
It's the small breakthroughs that make every day an adventure.
Years Past
March 30, 2009
March 30, 2005
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
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I like to do these in a shallow pan because the sausages tend to brown more deeply this way. I had some leftover apples and onions that had been baked under the Easter Ham and I laid them in the bottom of my baking dish. You could easily substitute some freshly sliced apples and onions or even just some good applesauce to add moisture and sweetness. Then I added a layer of seasoned cauliflower and broccoli and arranged my sausages (garlic and sweet fennel) on top. They were completely exposed to the hot air of the oven, the vegetables acting as a rack of sorts, so the juices could run down into the pan. I pricked the sausages with a cake tester and put them in a 400°F oven for 30 minutes. Then I flipped the sausages over to brown the bottoms and baked them for another 15-20 minutes. Add some crusty bread and you have an easy weeknight dinner that everyone will enjoy.
Years Past
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook
Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table
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We took the trimmings from making doughnuts and mashed them together. We refrigerated the dough mass overnight. I lightly floured the counter and rolled the dough into a rough rectangle. I sprinkled the dough with brown sugar, folded the dough into thirds adding more sprinkles of sugar on the exposed dough layers. I flipped the dough and added more sugar. I rolled it out, cut it into 8 pieces and put a knob of salted butter in the center of each piece. I put a knob of butter into 8 muffin tins. I folded the dough onto itself and jammed it into the muffin tins. I let the dough rise for 30 minutes. Before going in the oven I sprinkled white sugar over the top of each pastry. I baked the kouign amann for 45 minutes at 350°F with the convection fan on.
After baking I popped the pastries out of the pans and when they were cool enough to handle began to devour them. Doughnut dough strikes again.
Years Past
March 28, 2009
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook
Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table
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I use the camera as a notebook. I take pictures of what I don't know. I take pictures of what is interesting. I take pictures to trigger ideas. Having a camera in my pocket makes taking photographic notes easy. And with the technology on hand I miss the pen and paper. I miss the drawing, the scribbling the writing, the pondering. Even though these notes are destined to be transcribed into a computer log for supposed ease of searching and utilizing. I'm still working on blending technology and tradition. The balance may be a lifelong challenge. A constant ebb and flow of working with what works and can be worked on.
Years Past
March 27, 2010
March 27, 2006
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
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Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table
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We brought back the chocolate new fashioned doughnut with a few tweaks: increased and blended sugars, an extra egg and some more buttermilk. The cuttings are our debris. Debris has a cult following at the shop. Perhaps its the irregular shapes. Perhaps its the crispier appearance. Perhaps its the similarities to beignets and funnel cakes. Perhaps its the people and their unique personalities that makes debris special. Perhaps it's all in the name, debris.
Years Past
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook
Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table
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After searing pork chops we added store bought tortellini to the fat in the pan. We added some water and covered the pan. I turned up the heat. The water steamed the tortellini. Eventually all the water evaporated and the steamed pasta seared in the flavorful pork fat. The bottom of the tortellini developed a lacy crisp crust. The tops were tender and moist. Makes me wonder what other pastas and preparations we should be cooking pot sticker style.
Years Past
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook
Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table
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Soaking cashews plumps and softens them. Our initial plan was cashew milk. As the cashews sat on the counter in plain view, ideas beyond milk emerged: cream, creme fraiche, buttermilk, cream cheese, super thin cashew crisps, cashew hummus, and ice cream. By making the processing simpler we gain productivity and expand what is possible with an ingredient.
Years Past
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook
Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table
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A little spice can make even the simplest meal special. Chicken thighs, broccoli, olive oil, salt, and Kibbeh #15. Simply delicious.
Years Past
March 23, 2010
March 23, 2005
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook
Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table
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Our library seems to be ever expanding and the amount of space we have to store it is finite. We try to trim it down, but can never seem to agree on which books are expendable, and so I am surrounded by boxes and stacks of wonderful cookbooks, thousands of stories, and countless inspirations. Clearly I need more bookshelves, it's a just a question of where I'll find the space to put them...
Years Past
March 22, 2005
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook
Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table
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Scissors are the most underestimated tool in our arsenal. Sharp scissors can cut through almost anything. You can use them to butcher a chicken, separate ribs, slice a pizza, or cut through almost anything where you need clean lines. We can't imagine a kitchen without them.
Years Past
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook
Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table
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One of the pleasures of selling frozen custard is the quality control shift. Every morning that we're open we have to taste the custard and make sure it's up to par. It's a tough job but somebody has to do it. You can have it with a doughnut or perhaps just a little coffee to help wash it down. It's the perfect way to start our day.
Years Past
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook
Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table
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From Bow, NH to Plumstead, PA. It's been a heck of a trip but we all made it in one piece.
Years Past
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook
Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table
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Savah Schaff from Kings Creamery, made in PA.
Years Past
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook
Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table
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Can't wait to get the oven set up at the new house!
(loading up for the trip back to PA)
Years Past
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook
Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table
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I've been thinking a lot about bread lately, perhaps because we're moving and the kitchen has been packed away. It makes me long for things I haven't baked in a while, like fresh crusty rolls. There's something cathartic about bread making. I think it has to do with the process of creating a dough and then leaving it alone to do it's thing. Even though you may have brought it to life, what it does most of the important work on its own. There's magic in yeast and when you check back in to see how the dough has risen, filling with bubbles and seeming to have a breath of its own, you feel the power of your food. When it's baking and the aroma fills the air, you feel warm and happy inside. And after you've waited, not so patiently, for the bread to cool, you are rewarded by something warm and crisp just waiting to be enjoyed. Good bread usually feels lighter than it looks, with a crackling exterior that breaks open to release even more of that comforting, slightly sweet, yeasty scent of warm bread. The first bite can be transcendent and the next, even better. I like to savor the first couple of bites before adding butter, so that it can add it's own sweet, creamy flavor to blend. A few grains of coarse salt for crunch and the bread is transformed, with new textures and deeper dimensions of flavor. It's that experience that draws me back to the kitchen again and again, to create something of my own. Knowing that I've used the best ingredients and put a little of myself into a meal makes it taste even better. That love of food that fires my passion for cooking, no matter who it's for or what their dietary restrictions may be. Whenever I small freshly baked bread it reminds me that cooking is a privilege that I heartily embrace.
*If this makes you want to bake bread, try our Fail Safe Bread Recipe.
Years Past
March 15, 2011
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook
Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table
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Sometimes the best slice of pie is the one you choose not to order.
Years Past
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook
Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table
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The Fried Chicken Project has been interestingly received by our customers at Curiosity Doughnuts. The responses range from curiosity to excitement to dismay--because they had no idea it existed and they were all filled up on barbecue. We have been evolving the chicken offering, while still serving 12 orders a day. Currently we are pairing the fried chicken with our doughnut bread pudding. We top the doughnuts with a glaze made from caramel, pickle brine, black lime, and Luchito Honey.
The tinkering has been fun. The refinement of our processes has been exciting. Now that some of the pieces of the puzzle are in place I am ready to begin bringing new ideas to the table. Where we go with it will be part of the project.
Years Past
March 13, 2009
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook
Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table
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For our fried chicken project we score chicken thighs and bath them in a smoked buttermilk brine. They sit in the brine for 24ish hours. We remove them from the brine and dredge them in our new dredge: masa and potato starch. We lay the dredged thighs on sheet pans lined with parchment paper and wrap them in plastic wrap. We refrigerate the thighs overnight, allowing the starches to hydrate and adhere to the chicken. We fry our thighs for 3 minutes at 375°F.
Smoke-Buttermilk-Pickle Brine
1000 grams buttermilk
500 grams pickle brine
120 grams Crystal Hot Sauce
40 grams liquid smoke
35 grams salt
Put the buttermilk, pickle brine, hot sauce, liquid smoke and salt into a bowl. Whisk the ingredients together to combine and dissolve the salt. Submerge scored chicken thighs in the brine and refrigerate the chicken in brine for 24 hours.
Years Past
March 12, 2011
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
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Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table
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Last week I stopped by the King of Prussia Shake Shack. I ordered a smoke shack and a chicken shack. I started with the chicken shack and bounced to the smoke shack. I went back and forth. When I was halfway through both sandwiches I realized I wanted them as one. The union on my tray sparked the connection in my mind. I needed to eat a cheese burger topped with fried chicken.
Today, after rolling doughnuts, I popped into the kitchen at Charcoal BYOB. I shared my my chicken-burger experience and ensuing want. Thankfully Mark was game to bring the burger to life. He topped their signature CVaped cheeseburger with a piece of their fried chicken. He added Firehouse pickles and their french fry sauce.
We quartered up the creation and quietly ate. It was worth the wait. We crushed the first of many fried chicken cheeseburgers I'll be eating.
Years Past
March 11, 2006
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook
Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table
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I have a cornflakes fetish. It is well known. I have made crepe cakes, ice cream, caneles, crusted clams and chicken fried steak. Today I took cornflakes into topping land for Curiosity Doughnuts. I toasted the cornflakes in a 250°F convection oven for 15 minutes. I let the cornflakes cool and ground them into a coarse crumb. I added twice as much white chocolate chips to the food processor and pulsed the mixture until it formed a uniformly irregular crumb. I seasoned the crumbs with 0.75% salt and the topping was complete. It is sweet, salty, toasted and rich. The topping is destined for doughnuts and our vanilla-buttermilk frozen custard.
Years Past
March 10, 2005
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook
Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table
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We were dining at local Mexican restaurant and were running our of salsa because the freshly fried chips were just that good. The next time the server swung by our table we asked for more. He delivered it in a carafe, pouring some into our empty dish and leaving the rest on the table. I had never seen that before and it struck me as smart yet simple solution to the problem of the empty salsa bowl. Most bowls are small, probably to discourage us from filling up on free chips. This way we could pour what we wanted and any leftovers were still in the bottle. We didn't have to keep asking for more and everyone was happy.
Years Past
March 9, 2009
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook
Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table
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We love it when people wander into the market and "get" the doughnuts. This kind of experience is what makes all that hard work worthwhile.
Years Past
March 8, 2012
March 8, 2005
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook
Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table
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I was inspired by the condiment taps during a recent visit to the King of Prussia Shake Shack. It is convenient to have the ketchup and mustard available to dispense with the pull of a lever. Soda and beer are almost always on tap. What if doughnut glazes were on tap? What if, (there probably already is), ranch dressing was on tap? I'm sure barbecue sauce is on tap. What about chocolate and caramel sauces? What if you could dress your own doughnuts?
Years Past
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook
Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table
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A lesson from two sisters on leadership and empowerment via TED. We all have a spot in our homes where we stow plastic supermarket bags, even those of us who try to utilize re-usable bags for most of our shopping. Have you ever thought about where they all end up? I can't say that I did, before I saw this video.
Years Past
March 6, 2005
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook
Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table
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I am not one for soggy bacon or even once crispy and now overly leathery bacon on a doughnut. I do like the idea of smoke and maple together. Over the years we have done a lot with smoked maple syrup: from tapioca pudding to buttermilk-maple puree. In the land of doughnuts we started with the incredible barrel aged and smoked maple syrup from Blis.
I made a glaze with the syrup adding buttermilk, (apparently our signature) salt and powdered sugar. I dipped our cluster doughnuts (recently being referred to as doughnut daisies) into the glaze. I topped the doughnuts with a sprinkling of our cream cheese cookie crumbs. Maple and smoke in harmony on a doughnut without the pointless bacon.
Years Past
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook
Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table
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Sure, these were probably grown in a greenhouse, still, the colors were vibrant and the stalks were firm and juicy. These were the nicest asparagus I've seem in the market in ages.
After a quick toss with olive oil and salt followed by 20 minutes in a 400°F. oven, they were, infinitely sweeter and softer. We ate them with our fingers straight from the sheet pan. As we savored and laughed at the the way the juices ran down our fingers, it felt like springtime had finally arrived.
Years Past
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook
Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table
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I've eaten pickles. I've eaten pickled jalapenos. I've eaten pickles made spicy with jalapenos and habaneros in the pickling brine. What I had not eaten, until last night, was a jar of pickles upgraded with fresh sliced jalapenos. Over at Charcoal BYOB they start with Firehouse Pickles and then add a freshly sliced jalapeno to the jar. The fresh heat added to the vinegar pickles was insanely hot, bright and gripping. I could not stop eating the pickles and the jalapenos. And now I will be jalapenoizing pickles from now on.
Years Past
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook
Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table
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These days I often find myself dealing with large quantities of vegetables. While a large pot may be useful in these cases, it is not my favorite choice. Too heavy and cumbersome to deal with. I much prefer using my roasting pans. After trimming and washing the broccoli rabe, I shook it gently and laid it in my roasting pan. It was two large bunches and filled the pan almost to overflowing. I made a quick mixture of olive oil, anchovy paste, minced garlic and splash of apple cider vinegar and used it to dress the greens. I also added a little extra salt, just in case the anchovy didn't quite cut it. Then I roasted it in a 400°F oven for 30-45 minutes. I mixed it twice during the process to ensure the top layer didn't dehydrate while bottom steamed. The water clinging to leaves was enough to form a shallow layer on the bottom of the roasting pan and the rabe cooked until it was meltingly soft and tender.
I scooped out the vegetables and laid them in my bowl. Then discarded the liquid at the bottom of the pan. The rabe was so good, almost sweet with just a hint of bitterness. You got a little kick from the garlic, a hint of the floral qualities of the olive oil, and the rich rounded flavor of the anchovies to balance everything out. It was easy to make and easy to clean up. I'll definitely be making this one again.
Years Past
March 2, 2005
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook
Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table
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As a kid I was never very impressed with cauliflower. It was always served as part of a "vegetable medley" and it paled in comparison to the broccoli or peppers or whatever else lay beside it on the plate. It was white in color and flavor, bland and tasteless, or so it seemed to me. Many years later I was a professional cook and while I had tasted some good cauliflower here and there, it wasn't a vegetable that I ever gave much thought to. Then I dined at Peacock Alley, while it was under the reign of chef Laurent Gras. My mother and I were having a tasting menu and one of the early courses was seared hamachi with cauliflower and caviar. It was the first time I had eaten cauliflower puree and it was rich and decadent, full of earthy sweetness, with a silky texture that lingered on my tongues. It was a wonderful dish and it seems odd to me that what stuck in my head was the cauliflower. It was one of those moments where a chef let's you see an ingredient in a new way. I discovered that night that I never knew the true potential of cauliflower.
As I learned, cauliflower does work amazingly well as a creamy puree. But it is equally good roasted, as pictured above. It needs a little extra care to bring out its best aspects. I like to roast florets underneath my chickens, they become softly tender, almost melting into the pan drippings. Everyone is whole roasting cauliflower these days. It's the thing to do. We simply rub ours with olive oil, season it with salt, and roast it in a 425°F oven until it is tender and golden, 30-40 minutes. If you're feeling adventurous you could baste it periodically with a miso-butter, rich meat jus, barbecue sauce, or any rich savory sauce of your choice. The vegetable will soak it in and the sauce will add new dimensions to the cauliflower. You can slice it and serve it with more sauce on the side.
Personally I don't mind a simply roasted vegetable. If I'm eating alone, I cut off a chunk and and pull apart the florets so I can eat them with my fingers, savoring the contrast of textures and flavors throughout each bite. I may dip it into a little vinaigrette or add a softly cooked egg or I may simply enjoy the flavor of the cauliflower, all by itself.
Years Past
March 1, 2011
March 1, 2009
March 1, 2007
March 1, 2005
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook
Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table
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