Home Cooking 2025

Direct! with such a long cold ferment probably a pre-ferment isn’t necessary. I like the idea of bassinage more than the reality lol. I have a KA which doesn’t want to incorporate the added water so I end up having to do a (messy) hand mix.

For toppings you could always add them on a second bake to get a crisper bottom but maybe that is cheating?

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You’re prob right about the pre ferment. I’ll get around to experimenting though. This flour also struggled with the extra hydration added in stages. I may go back to adding the water all at once.

And don’t think that’s cheating. I see a lot of taglio videos/posts with an initial bake with light sauce, then once the dough has sprung, topped with cheese, more sauce plus toppings.

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Sweet Potato Moussaka - plating definitely needs much more work but this recipe from “essen & trinken” was as good as always. They tend to produce creative dishes on level with upscale restaurants.
Here you make a few things in parallel to assemble later - roast red and yellow peppers under the grill until black and remove skin to create a nice smoky flavor. Cut sweet potatoes in thin slices and pre-bake in the oven with olive oil. The ragu is made with ground lamb, onions, garlic, tomato passata, thyme, parsley, 5-spice powder and chile flakes. Spinach is quickly sautéed with onions and garlic and squeeze dry. And finally one makes a nutmeg heavy béchamel sauce. Once you assemble everything you top it with a mix of feta, egg yolk and heavy cream before baking it in the oven

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Polenta with Mushrooms and Egg - polenta made with vegetable broth and milk and finished with parmesan and olive oil. King oyster mushrooms and white mushrooms are sautéed with scallions and thyme before finished with some aceto balsamico. Served with a soft boiled egg

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Chicken Thighs with Lentils, Chorizo, and Red Pepper - chorizo, onion, garlic and red peppers are sautéed and added with thyme and bay leaves to green lentils and cooked until tender and finished with parsley and lemon juice. Chicken thighs are seared before quickly pan-braised in chicken broth

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Spelt Bowl with Green Vegetables and Parsley Hummus - spelt (soaked overnight and then cooked) was the base for this bowl. Toppings were parsley hummus (quickly blanched parsley pureed with chickpeas, lime zest and juice, tahini, garlic, yoghurt and olive oil), romanesco (blanched), napa cabbage (raw), edamame, red onions, cilantro, avocado, toasted sesame seeds with a vinaigrette made from olive oil, sesame seed oil and lime juice

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Spaghetti with Shrimps and Kale - kale was quickly blanched before sautéed with almonds and fresno chile and than mixed with spaghetti and pasta water. Shrimps seared with cajun spice mixture. Everything is mixed and finished with some olive oil

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Stir-Fried Pork, Eggplant, and Onion with Garlic and Black Pepper - pork tenderloin get marinated in soy and fish sauce before stir-fried. Subsequently, you stir-fry diced eggplants, onions, garlic and black pepper before finishing everything in a sauce made with fish sauce, soy sauce, light brown sugar, chicken broth, lime juice and cornstarch. Finished with some cilantro and served over rice

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