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?
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
I have become obsessed with Italian bread, and the sandwiches made with it. After several attempts I have come close to my Platonic ideal of schiacciata, the Tuscan version of focaccia using the recipe from this YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9siBd-FZJc&t=409s.
Lamb Tagine with Stewed Chickpeas - diced lamb leg is braised with onions, garlic, dried apricots and dates, jalapeño, orange zest, cinnamon, sesame seeds, coriander and cumin seeds, tomato paste and vegetable broth. In parallel, you cook some chickpeas in vegetable broth and butter. The tajine is finished with cilantro and rose water and served over couscous
Sausage, Peppers, and Onions with Melty Caprese - simple dinner from Colu Cooks. Different peppers, red onions and cherry tomatoes with some sweet Italian sausages are roasted in the oven. Topped with mozzarella for the last few minutes and finished with some basil
Wow I need to learn how to make that!
Paneer Makhani from one of the Curry Guy books - the sauce is made by cooking diced tomatoes, red onions, garlic, ginger, fresno chile, green cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, sirarakhong chili, butter, cashews and water and pureeing it. At the same time you pan sear cubed paneer with ginger and mix with the sauce. Finished with some dried fenugreek leaves and cream and served over rice
In another on the occasional series stuff on Toast, we have meatballs on homemade bead and aged Gouda
Iberian Linguica and Chicken Stew from Wright’s “Real Stew” - first you poach a whole chicken with onions, carrots, celery, white peppercorns, oregano, thyme and bay leaves to make shredded chicken and chicken broth. You use the chicken broth to cook linguica, potatoes, carrots, ancho chile, pearl couscous, saffron and collard greens before adding the shredded chicken
While I used the recipe from the YouTube channel I had to adapt it a little as he has the fancy Ooni mixer and I have a 37 year-old KitchenAid (I know the age as it was a wedding present).
So I had to mix the dough longer than the video does as the dry biga likes to stay in lumps. I got them as small as I could, but I was worried as they didn’t completely disappear. Didn’t matter as baking dissolved them. Try it! I am sure you will nail it!!
Roasted Chicken Thighs with Brussels Sprouts and Carrots - brussels sprouts, carrots and shallots get oven-roasted. You sear the chicken thighs on the skin site and then add it to the vegetables in the oven. Served with yoghurt mixed with dill and garlic.
I used input from J. Kenji, Mandy Fu (https://www.youtube.com/@SoupedUpRecipes), and Kiam Lam Kho for this ho fan. Mandy’s tip about saucing the noodles before frying is a key. As it was just the two of us I didn’t break out the wok burner, but used a blowtorch for wok hei. Had a big bunch of garlic chives on the LettuceGrow which I needed to use.
