A Weekend of Irish Weather: Steak and Stilton Pies and Soda Bread

May you always have walls for the winds,

a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire,

laughter to cheer you, those you love near you,

and all your heart might desire.

It felt like Ireland this past weekend, with all the wind, rain and hail, and it's still raining this Monday morning. However, rainy days are ideal days to spend in the kitchen, and that's what I did most of Saturday, preparing a small St. Patrick's Day dinner, and Sunday, making a pot of soup.

I had seen these English Steak and Stilton Pies in Saveur back in October, and they resurfaced in my brain on Saturday morning as an option for our St. Patrick's Day dinner. Although English in origin, the combination of beef, Stilton, and vegetables, all bathed in a rich stout and beef gravy, and topped with a buttery puff pastry crust, sounded comforting on a rainy St. Paddy's day. You could easily substitute lamb for the beef, and even add some potatoes, for a more traditional Irish dish.

I set up Trapper puppy's pen in the breakfast nook so he could see me, turned on some Irish music, poured a glass of Sparkling Shiraz, and started chopping and sauteing. Of course, Dooley was also there, sprawled out across the kitchen floor in his usual spot. Once everything was in the pot simmering, I had time to make a loaf of Irish Soda Bread.

You can use 6" pie tins per the recipe, ramekins or bowls. My only option was these lion's head bowls, and they worked just fine. You're also supposed to cut the pastry into rounds, but I cut the dough into squares, and just scrunched it up for a more rustic look. I also made a few adjustments to the recipe, adding a little more carrots and celery, and reducing the onions, rosemary, and cheese. The flavor of the cheese was still pronounced, but I think it would have been overbearing with the full 6 ounces. For the stout, I was able to snag the last bottle of Speedway Stout off the shelf.

Steak and Stilton Pies

Slightly adapted from Saveur

Makes 4 individual pies

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 pounds beef chuck, cut into 1" cubes

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 medium yellow onions, sliced

3 ribs celery, thickly sliced

3 small carrots, thickly sliced

1 tablespoon minced rosemary

1 12-ounce bottle stout beer

1/4 cup cup flour

2 cups beef stock

2 teaspoons mustard powder

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

10 ounces mushrooms, quartered 

4 ounces English Stilton (or other blue cheese or Gorgonzola), crumbled

1 10-ounce package frozen peas

1 sheet puff pastry from 14-oz. package puff pastry, thawed

1 egg, lightly beaten

Preparation:

Heat oil in an 8-quart dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season beef with salt and pepper, cook until browned, 10–12 minutes, and transfer to a bowl. Add garlic, onions, celery, carrots, and rosemary to pan, and saute until soft, 10–12 minutes. Add beer, and allow to reduce until all the liquid is absorbed, 18–20 minutes. Add flour and stir until smooth. Return beef to pan, and add stock, mustard powder, and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, cover partially, and cook for 1½ hours.  Turn off head and set aside.

Heat butter in a 10″ skillet over high heat. Add mushrooms and saute until browned, about 8 minutes. Add mushrooms, peas and cheese to the beef filling.

Heat oven to 375° F. Divide beef filling among four ramekins or 6" pie tins (12 ounce capacity). Roll pastry into a 14" square; cut out four pieces. Brush ramekin or tin edges with egg, and place one piece of pastry over each.  Press to seal.  Cut a couple slits into pastry and brush with egg. Bake until browned, about 40 minutes.  Allow to cool 5-10 minutes and serve.

Irish Soda Bread and a few St. Paddy's Day decorations

Irish Soda Bread

Slightly adapted from Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients:

4 cups all-purpose flour (I used 2 cups all-purpose and 2 cups whole wheat)

4 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice

1 1/2 cups cold buttermilk, shaken

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

1 cup currants

1/2 cup Irish Whiskey (optional)

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.

In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the currants and whiskey and heat on high for 45 seconds. Set aside.

Combine the flours, sugar, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is mixed into the flour.

With a fork, lightly beat the buttermilk, egg, and orange zest together in a measuring cup. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Drain the currants and mix into the dough. The dough will be very wet.

Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and knead it a few times into a round loaf. Place the loaf on the prepared baking sheet and lightly cut an X into the top of the bread with a serrated knife. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. When you tap the loaf, it will have a hollow sound.

Cool on a baking rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

For a spur of the moment St. Patrick's Day dinner, this was just about perfect.  Now, PLEASE stop raining!

French Fridays with Dorie: French Country Benedict

John is the biscuit-maker in our house. He has perfected John Besh's Grandmother Walters's Biscuits, and has been known to bake up a batch of Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay Biscuits. Other than those, and a bite or two of his Biscuits and Gravy at a country cafe in our local mountains, my life has been pretty much void of biscuits.

This week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe, St-Germain-des-Prés Onion Biscuits, is Dorie's adaptation of the basic American biscuit. She adds chopped and quickly sauteed onions to the dough, cuts the dough into trendy cocktail-size rounds, and serves them with country ham and Champagne. Dorie's biscuits, named after her swanky Paris neighborhood, are now a staple at her cocktail parties.

St-Germain-des-Prés Onion Biscuits

I needed to make a meal out of these biscuits, so I decided to do a slight twist on Country Benedict, which replaces the English muffin, ham and hollandaise sauce in traditional Eggs Benedict with an American biscuit, sausage patties, and country gravy. The poached eggs are replaced with eggs fried to choice. I used St-Germain-des-Prés Onion Biscuits, sausage patties made with Jimmy Dean sage sausage, and country gravy; I did stay with poached eggs.

French Country Benedict

Breakfast for dinner is nice on occasion, and our French Country Benedict was simple and satisfying. 

Dorie's recipe for St-Germain-des-Prés Onion Biscuits can be found here. Other than the onions, the recipe is almost identical to the John Besh recipe we've used. Some biscuit recipes use buttermilk, instead of milk, and add a teaspoon of baking soda. Thomas Keller uses a combination of cake flour and all-purpose flour (he also uses buttermilk, baking powder and baking soda). 

Critical factors in biscuit-making are: Proper ratios of flour, leavener (baking powder and/or soda), salt, fat (usually butter), and liquid (milk, buttermilk, cream); quick cutting of the fat into the dry ingredients to keep the butter cold and firm (food processor with a steel blade works best); stirring in the liquid just until the ingredients are bound, so the gluten will not become activated (i.e, DON'T OVERWORK); gently patting the dough into a 3/4-inch thickness rather than rolling it with a rolling pin; resist twisting the cutter when cutting the biscuits; and high oven temperature (425 degrees F) with a short baking time (15-18 minutes). It probably goes without saying, but biscuits are best hot from the oven. We also like sprinkling the tops of the biscuits with a pinch of salt just before baking.

For perfect poached eggs, I used the method I learned from Michael Rulman, and for the country gravy, I used this recipe from Homesick Texan.

***

French Fridays with Dorie is an online cooking group, dedicated to Dorie Greenspan‘s newest book Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours. As members of the group, we have purchased the cookbook and cook along as much as we can. There is a new recipe each week, and we post about that recipe on Friday. We are asked to refrain from posting the actual recipes on our blog. The book is filled with stunning photography, and personal stories about each recipe, which makes it that much more intriguing. I highly recommend adding it to your cookbook collection if you haven't already!

Pompe à l’Huile - Provençal Olive Oil Bread

Pompe à l’Huile, a sweet olive oil bread from Provence, made its glorious debut at our Taste of Provence Coronado Concert in the Park during the summer of 2010. Carmen discovered it from Jude (Apple Pie, Patis & Pâté), who slightly tweaked the original recipe from Saveur by "giving the poolish a 16-hour head start, instead of 30 minutes, for that extra hint of complexity that can only come from slow fermentation."

Carmen's Pompe à l’Huile loaves

That particular Concert in the Park was one of the most memorable culinary-themed picnics, because we discovered Pompe à l’Huile, socca (chickpea flour crepes), and rouille (saffron-garlic mayonnaise), all of which I've made several times since.

Saveur describes Pompe à l’Huile as "a cross between a brioche and a focaccia...at the center of the spiritual food traditions that make a Christmas in Provence like none other in the world." The beauty of this bread is that you can experiment with the many flavored olive oils available, and there's no need to wait until Christmas to enjoy it. We've tried it with blood-orange, white truffle, lemon, and Tuscan Herb flavored oils. For this Tuscan Herb Pompe à l’Huile, I made it into a more savory loaf by reducing the sugar slightly, using a Tuscan Herb flavored olive oil from Coronado Taste of Oils (thank you, Bradley!), and sprinkling the dough with salt before baking. 

I followed Saveur's recipe with the shorter, 30-minute poolish. Maybe if I tasted the 30-minute poolish loaf next to the 16-hour poolish loaf, I could detect the difference in complexity, but that will have to wait for another day.

After the poolish rests for 30 minutes, add remaining flour, olive oil and salt

After mixing and kneading the dough, it then rests again for 3-4 hours until doubled in size

After doubled in size, the dough is dumped out onto parchment paper, and shaped and cut as desired,
usually shaped like a leaf or sand dollar

I tried to add a few dough embellishments to my sand dollar, but my dough art leaves a bit to be desired. Regardless, everyone loved the infusion of Tuscan Herbs into this Provencal bread.

After a brief 15-minute baking, the bread is allowed to cool

Tuscan Herb Pompe à l’Huile
Slightly adapted from Saveur
(Makes one loaf)

Ingredients:

3 3⁄4 cups flour
1⁄4 cup sugar*
1 7-gram package active dry yeast
3⁄4 cup, plus 1 tablespoon good quality extra-virgin olive oil (I used "Tuscan Herb" flavored olive oil)
2 teaspoons salt, plus more to sprinkle on dough before cooking

*Note: For a sweeter loaf, and depending on flavor of your olive oil, increase sugar to 1/3 cup

Preparation:

Make a poolish: Put 1 1⁄2 cups of the flour, sugar, yeast, and 1 cup warm water (105-115 degrees F, measured with an instant read thermometer) into a large bowl and stir well with a wooden spoon to combine. Let the mixture sit in a warm spot until bubbly, about 30 minutes.

Add remaining 2 1⁄4 cups flour, 3⁄4 cup of the oil, and salt to the poolish and stir until a dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, 5–7 minutes. Grease a large clean bowl with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil, place dough in the oiled bowl, and cover with a clean towel. Set the dough aside in a warm spot to let rise until doubled in bulk, 3–4 hours.

Preheat oven to 400° F. Gently turn dough out onto a large sheet of parchment paper and gently stretch it with your fingers to form a 12" circle. Using a small, sharp knife, cut out 2"long slits, each about 1" wide, starting from the center of the bread and cutting toward the edge, and add few cuts on the edge, so that the dough resembles a sand dollar (discard dough scraps or bake them separately as a cook's-bonus nibble).

Using your fingers, gently stretch the holes open a little wider so that they won't close up completely when bread is baked. Carefully transfer the dough, on the parchment paper, to a large baking sheet, sprinkle with coarse salt, and bake until golden brown and puffed, about 15 minutes.

Transfer the bread to a rack to let cool, or serve warm.

Bourbon Street Madness Caramel Apple Meringue Coffee Cake

Too much unwelcome drama in the hood doesn't make for a happy Daring Baker this month. But cooking does provide an escape, so I welcomed a little Saturday morning baking to unwind and get into my zone. I focused on how much we have to look forward to when we move to our new house in a few months. We're staying in Coronado, but it was time to make a change to something a bit larger, and much more private. Did I mention loads of charm and a fabulous outdoor entertaining space? Did I mention a breakfast nook with beautiful, natural light, perfect for my blog-ography studio? Dooley's just beside himself and so very excited about his new yard, with grass and a huge shady tree for those morning, afternoon, and evening Newfie naps. We're all ready for an awesome summer of Friday night cocktails and hors d'œuvres, and another challenging season of Concert in the Park themed-picnics! In the meantime, just help me through the next few months.

The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake.

Our hostesses instructed us to roll up our sleeves, put our hands wrist-deep in some smooth, silky dough, and create a yeast-risen coffee cake - a brioche-like dough, rolled jellyroll style around a layer of whipped meringue and our chosen filling, shaped into a wreath, and baked.

"Beautiful to put together, and gorgeous out of the oven, the cake is light and fluffy,

barely sweet, and the meringue miraculously melts into the dough as it bakes,

leaving behind just a hint of sweetness and adding to the perfect moistness of the cake."

Jamie provided us with her all-American version (cinnamon, chopped pecans and chopped chocolate) and Ria's version incorporated Indian flavors (saffron added to the sweet yeast bread dough, and garam masala, cashews, and semi-sweet chocolate chips in the filling). We were free to try one of their versions, or get creative and create our own personal flavor variation. They suggested we let our own national cuisine inspire us.

My inspiration for our coffee cake came from the amazingly decadent Apple Pie Caramel Apples at Fuzziwigs Candy Factory in Coronado. A crunchy, juicy, sweet apple, dipped in gooey caramel, dipped in melted white chocolate, and then rolled in cinnamon sugar, best cut with one of those apple corer/slicer doohickeys, and eaten by the slice.

With a squeeze bottle of John's Bourbon Street Madness caramel sauce still in the refrigerator, the filling for our Saturday morning coffee cake was a no-brainer: Apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, white chocolate, and bourbon-caramel sauce. I didn't shape mine into a wreath - too much like the Stollen we made at Christmas-time.

Bourbon Street Madness Caramel Apple Filled Meringue Coffee Cake
Adapted from Filled Meringue Coffee Cake
Makes one coffee cake and serves 8

Ingredients

For the yeast coffee cake dough:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 package active dried yeast (3.5 grams)
1/2 cup whole milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg at room temperature

For the meringue:

2 large egg whites at room temperature
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste
1/4 cup sugar

For the filling:

2 large apples (peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup caramel sauce

Egg wash: 1 beaten egg

Extra caramel sauce and/or powdered sugar for serving.

Directions:

Prepare the dough:

In a large mixing bowl, combine 3/4 cup of the flour, the sugar, salt and yeast.

In a saucepan, combine the milk and butter and heat over medium heat until warm and the butter is just melted.

With an electric mixer on low speed, gradually add the warm liquid to the flour/yeast mixture, beating until well blended. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes. Add the egg and 1/2 cup flour and beat for 2 more minutes.

Using a wooden spoon, stir in about 1/2 cup of the remaining flour to make a dough that holds together. Turn out onto a floured surface (using the remaining 1/4 cup of flour) and knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes until the dough is soft, smooth, sexy and elastic, keeping the work surface floured and adding extra flour as needed.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 45 – 60 minutes.

Prepare your filling: 

Place the chopped apples in medium bowl, add the lemon juice and stir to coat the apples with juice. In a small bowl, stir together the cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar, and sprinkle over the apples. Toss together to incorporate.

Once the dough has doubled, make the meringue:

In the clean mixing bowl of your electric mixer, beat the egg whites with the salt, first on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high and continue beating until foamy and opaque. Add the vanilla then start adding the sugar, a little bit at at a time as you beat, until very stiff, glossy peaks form.

Assemble the Coffee Cake:

Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.

Punch down the dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a 20 x 10-inch rectangle. Spread the meringue evenly over the rectangle up to about 1/2-inch from the edges. Distribute the apple mixture and chopped white chocolate evenly over the meringue.  Squeeze caramel sauce all over (that's John's hairy arm).

Roll up the dough jellyroll style, from the long side. Pinch the ends closed to seal. Very carefully transfer the filled log to the lined cookie sheet, seam side down.

Using kitchen scissors or a sharp knife (although scissors are easier), make cuts along both outside edges of the roll, at about 2-inch intervals. Make the cuts about 1-inch deep.

Cover the coffee cake with plastic wrap and allow it to rise again for 45 to 60 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).

Brush the top of the coffee cake with the egg wash. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until risen and golden brown. The dough should sound hollow when tapped.

Transfer baking sheet to cooling rack and allow to cool.

Serve warm, or at room temperature, with extra caramel sauce and/or powdered sugar.

For the complete challenge recipes, please visit The Daring Kitchen Recipe Archive, and take a browse-through the Daring Bakers' Blogroll to see what some of the other members created this month. There are some fabulous savory versions also.

Thank you, Ria and Jamie! Although I procrastinated until the last minute and almost skipped this one, we were rewarded with a lovely Saturday morning coffee cake.

French Fridays with Dorie - Savory Smoked Cheddar and Chive Bread with Walnuts

Here I am again, baking savory bread from Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours. I haven't turned my nose up at any of the weekly recipes since joining French Fridays with Dorie, because they have all been interesting, tempting, and ultimately enjoyable. Our appreciative friends and hungry boys at work seem to agree. John adores bread, and he made sure I was making this loaf.

In France, savory "cake" is often served with aperitifs, but a lightly toasted and buttered slice pairs especially well with a salad. I could use an aperitif right about now...although I just ate lunch. I could use a digestif right about now.

Dorie's Savory Cheese and Chive Bread is made with Gruyere, Comte, Emmenthal or cheddar cheese, minced fresh chives, and optional toasted walnuts. But there are endless variations, substituting different cheeses, herbs, and nuts, and choosing from various add-ins, such as ham, bacon, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and shallots. Preparation and baking time totals only about an hour.

I used smoked cheddar cheese, chives and red walnuts in my version; unfortunately, you can't see the beautiful color of the red walnuts. There's grated cheese and little diced pieces of cheese, for more cheesy flavor and texture. Although I'm not a beer drinker, I think a slice of this smokey, slightly salty bread would taste great with a cold beer.

I'm going to keep this one in mind for picnics, cocktail parties, or as a hostess gift. And for John, to go with his beer.

This bread is very similar to another favorite savory bread I've blogged about previously, Chorizo, Sun-dried Tomato and Pistachio Bread.  This is a winner also - a bit heartier and spicier with the chorizo. Both are very pretty, colorful loaves.

And, If you prefer savory cookies over savory cakes, I strongly recommend these Pistachio-Orange Cocktail Cookies, also made with cheese and nuts.

French Fridays with Dorie members are asked to refrain from posting the actual recipes. This Cheddar Chive Bread is already plastered all over the web, but I still encourage you to purchase Dorie's cookbook. I've already prepared next week's recipe, a unique pasta, so I'm ahead of the game!

A Taste of Germany for the Holidays: Christmas Stollen

The 2010 December Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Penny of Sweet Sadie’s Baking. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make Stollen. She adapted a friend’s family recipe and combined it with information from friends, techniques from Peter Reinhart’s book, The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread, and Martha Stewart’s demonstration.

Stollen is a traditional German cake, usually eaten during the Christmas season, called Weihnachtsstollen or Christstollen. The cake is typically made with chopped candied fruit and/or dried fruit, nuts and spices.  Similar cakes around the world include the Dutch Kerststol, the Italian Panettone, and the infamous mail-order fruitcake in the United States.

For my first stollen, I borrowed the main ingredients from Mary Cech's Sweet Potato, Golden Raisin, Cranberry and Pecan Strudel (Savory Baking), featured on Leite's Culinaria. I also played around with some decorative dough, and only used a light dusting of powdered sugar.

I spread two roasted, mashed sweet potatoes over the dough,
and then sprinkled the dried fruit and nuts evenly over the top prior to rolling

I made a second, more traditional stollen for a German Christmas Eve dinner hosted by our friends, Mike and Ruth Ann. This one featured dried cherries, cranberries, golden raisins, all soaked in dark rum, toasted almonds and marzipan. Traditional recipes also use red glacé cherries and mixed candied citrus peel, but I omitted these and added a little more dried cherries, cranberries and raisins instead.

Cherry-Almond Stollen Wreath
Adapted from The Daring Bakers' challenge recipe, here
Makes one large wreath. Serves 14-16 people

Ingredients

1/4 cup lukewarm water (110º F / 43º C)
2 packages (4 1/2 teaspoons) active dry yeast
1 cup milk
10 tablespoons (140 grams) unsalted butter
5 1/2 cups (770 grams) all-purpose flour (Measure flour first, then sift); plus extra for dusting
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon (salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
Grated zest of 1 orange
1 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
1 teaspoon orange extract
2-3 cups dried fruit (I used a combination of cherries, cranberries and golden raisins)
1/2 cup dark rum (or brandy)
1 cup sliced almonds (toasted)
1 package (7 oz.) Marzipan

Melted unsalted butter for coating the wreath
Confectioners’ (icing) (powdered) sugar for dusting wreath

Preparation

Soak the dried fruit and toast the almonds:

In a small bowl, combine the dried cherries, dried cranberries, and golden raisins. Pour about 3/4 cup rum over the top, stir and heat in the microwave about 30 seconds. Cover and allow to macerate several hours, or overnight. Toast the almonds in a pan over medium heat and reserve.

Make the dough:

Pour 1/4 cup warm water into a small bowl, sprinkle with yeast and let stand 5 minutes. Stir to dissolve yeast completely.

In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup milk and 10 tablespoons butter over low heat until butter is melted. Let stand until lukewarm, about 5 minutes.

Lightly beat eggs in a small bowl and add vanilla and orange extracts.

In a large mixing bowl, or in the bowl of an electric mixer with paddle attachment, stir together the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and orange zest.

Then stir in, or mix on low speed with the paddle attachment, the yeast/water mixture, eggs and the lukewarm milk/butter mixture. This should take about 2 minutes. It should be a soft, but not sticky ball. When the dough comes together, cover the bowl with either plastic or a tea cloth and let rest for 10 minutes. Add in the soaked fruit and almonds and mix with your hands, or on low speed, to incorporate.

Sprinkle flour on the counter, transfer the dough to the counter, and begin kneading (or mixing with the dough hook) to distribute the fruit evenly, adding additional flour if needed. The dough should be soft and satiny, tacky but not sticky. Knead for approximately 8 minutes (6 minutes by machine). The full six minutes of kneading is needed to distribute the dried fruit and other ingredients and to make the dough have a reasonable bread-dough consistency. You can tell when the dough is kneaded enough – a few raisins will start to fall off the dough onto the counter because at the beginning of the kneading process the dough is very sticky and the raisins will be held into the dough but when the dough is done it is tacky which isn't enough to bind the outside raisins onto the dough ball.

Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling around to coat it with the oil. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and allow to proof for about 2 hours. You can also put the dough in the refrigerator overnight.

Shaping the Dough and Baking the Wreath:

If you refrigerated the dough, let it rest for 2 hours after taking out of the refrigerator in order to warm slightly.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C, with the oven rack on the middle shelf. Punch dough down, roll into a rectangle about 16 x 24 inches and 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle the almond paste crumbles evenly over the dough. Starting with a long side, roll up tightly, forming a long, thin cylinder.

Transfer the cylinder roll to the sheet pan. Join the ends together, trying to overlap the layers to make the seam stronger and pinch with your fingers to make it stick, forming a large circle. You can form it around a bowl to keep the shape.

Using kitchen scissors, make cuts along outside of circle, in 2-inch intervals, cutting 2/3 of the way through the dough.

Twist each segment outward, forming a wreath shape. Mist the dough with spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap.

Proof for approximately 2 hours at room temperature, or until about 1-1/2 times its original size.

Bake the stollen for 20 minutes, then rotate the pan 180 degrees for even baking and continue to bake for 20 to 30 minutes. The bread will bake to a dark mahogany color, should register 190°F in the center of the loaf, and should sound hollow when thumped on the bottom.

Transfer to a cooling rack and brush the top with melted butter while still hot. Immediately tap a layer of powdered sugar over the top through a sieve or sifter. Wait for 1 minute, then tap another layer over the first. The bread should be coated generously with the powdered sugar. Let cool at least an hour before serving. Coat the stollen in butter and icing sugar three times, since this helps keeps the stollen fresh.

When completely cool, store in a plastic bag, or leave it out uncovered overnight to dry out slightly, German style. The stollen tastes even better in a couple of days. It tastes especially good toasted, with butter.

Storage: The more rum and the more coatings of butter and sugar you use, the longer it will store. Stollen freezes beautifully about 4 months; the baked stollen stores well for 2 weeks covered in foil and plastic wrap on the counter at room temperature, and one month in the refrigerator well covered with foil and plastic wrap.

The beauty in this challenge was the ease in adapting the recipe to personal tastes.  You can use so many combinations of fruits, nuts, spices, and fillings.

Happy Holidays!

Coronado Concerts in the Park and a Taste of Provence

The pink wine was flowing freely as our Coronado Concerts in the Park culinary group launched the first challenge of the summer season, A Taste of Provence.

John and I secured our spot in Spreckels Park by 4:00, and we dressed the main table with a tablecloth and vase of sunflowers and lavender sprigs.

Jim and Carmen were next to arrive with a steaming dutch oven full of Poor Man’s Bouillabaisse, also known as Bourride de Séte or Bourride Setoisé. John and I had the pleasure of Carmen's Provencal fish stew twice over the weekend, first on Friday night, on their balcony, and again at the Concert when she prepared another divine batch with scallops and monk fish. The bisque-like bourride is so incredibly flavorful with the addition of aioli and rouille.  Please see Carmen's witty and informative history in her "guest post" with the complete recipe and preparation notes.

As our friends continued to arrive, Provencal dishes in tow, John offered glasses of Ricard, a liqueur flavored with a subtle blend of star anise from China, licorice from the Mediterranean, and aromatic herbs from Provence.  Careful, that stuff will hurt you!

After everyone finished their aperitif, we uncorked various Vins de Provence. According to David Lebovitz, author of the blog, David Lebovitz, and several books, including The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World's Most Glorious - and Perplexing - City, "...for any wine snobs out there that think it's folly to serve wine in cups instead of glasses haven't had the pleasure of standing near a wood-burning oven, eating a blistering-hot wedge of socca with a non-recyclable tumble of wine. Preferably served over ice, Marseille-style."

We didn't have a wood-fired oven at the park, but still managed to recreate the pleasure of drinking Rosé in plastic tumblers, and eating torn shards of Socca hot off the grill.

For our grill-method, John poured the Socca batter onto a cast iron skillet, closed the lid on the grill for a few minutes, and then flipped the crepe over onto a pizza stone to brown the other side. The texture is crisp on the outside and soft in the middle.

Below is a photo from our "test-run" the night before.  Drizzled with olive oil and showered with coarse salt and pepper, these incredible crepes became our Saturday night dinner. Who knew that chickpea, or garbanzo flour, seasoned with a touch of smokey cumin, and mixed with water and olive oil, could be so flavorful and addictive. You can find David's recipe, here, and I beg you to try these at home! The batter takes about two seconds to whisk up, but then needs to rest for a few hours. I used Bob's Red Mill Garbanzo Bean Flour, 22-Ounce (Pack of 4).

For my second dish, I strayed with a non-traditional version of Salad Niçoise, featuring Seared Ahi Tuna with a Lavender-Pepper Crust, blanched haricots verts, roasted fingerling potatoes, oven-roasted Roma tomatoes, sauteed fava beans, Niçoise olives, hard-boiled eggs, hearts of palm, purple spring onions, anchovies, and capers, drizzled with Tyler Florence's Niçoise Vinaigrette.

According to Wikipedia, the original version of the salad always included raw red peppers, shallots, and artichoke hearts, never potatoes. The French, especially in the Nice area, will clearly state no cooked veggies are to be used. "[...]la salade niçoise ne contient pas de légumes cuits."Rumors suggest the famous choreographer Balanchine may have influenced the creation of this dish during his tenure in Monte Carlo. Others claim it is a Provençal dish. This salad was made famous in America by "the French Chef", Julia Child.

Inspired by another wonderful blogger, Helen, author of Tartelette, Mom prepared Petits Farcis a la Provencal, Provencal Filled Zucchinis.  They are stuffed with a mixture of sausage, shallots, garlic, shitake mushrooms, tomatoes, brown rice, and fresh herbs, and baked.

Mom adds...Denise and John's foodie group always seems to spend a lot of time searching for that flawless recipe, then we change our minds daily when something else pops up that may be even more appealing. So when Denise came across Tartlette’s Petits Farcis a la Provencale or Provencal Filled Vegetables, and suggested this might be the recipe for me to prepare, I couldn’t resist. After all, not only is Tartlette one of my favorite food bloggers, she is from the Bouches Du Rhone, and tells such a lovely story about her sharing this little bit of Provence. What’s more, Denise was able to find these adorable little round eight balls zucchini squash at the Little Italy Farmers’ Market. They really are so darn cute and delicious!

Alec and Nina's Moules Marinières with Parsley were heavenly, especially with a slice of crusty bread and Ina Garten's version of Rouille, from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics: Fabulous Flavor from Simple Ingredients, served alongside.

Kai and Hill arrived with pizza...SIX pizzas! We sampled Pissaladiere, the classic olive, anchovy, and onion pizza...

and two other versions - one with bacon and one with smoked salmon, capers and sour cream...

By now, as you can imagine, we were pleasantly floating on our rosé high and our tummies were full. We took a little break, listened to some music, and then tackled the desserts!

Nina's Chocolate Lavender Cake was inspired by France Monthly's Smooth Chocolate Cake. She added a smidgen of lavender to the batter and garnished with more lavender sprigs.

Mom's Gâteau aux carrottes, was inspired by David Lebovitz' version, here, which was adapted from Lulu's Provencal Table: The Exuberant Food and Wine from the Domaine Tempier Vineyard. I need to send David a note and thank him for two wonderful recipes! 

Mom says,  At my age, I get quite a kick out of my daughter, the food blogger, her foodies, food porn, and all the other gourmet wonders she and her fine chef friends create for our dining and picnic tables. I’m always invited to be a guest at our Concert in the Park galas, but sometimes, I just get caught up in searching for the perfect recipe from the chosen country or region, because I find it’s even more fun to join in.

That’s why when I spied the recipe for David Lebovitz’ Gâteau aux carrottes, as adapted from Lulu's Provençal Table by Richard Olneyon, I knew I had to make it. As David says,"Lulu is the proprietaire of Domaine Tempier in Province, and is a natural cook, using products from the region; lots of spring garlic, just-caught fish from the Mediterranean, locally-pressed olive oil, and pungent thyme. . . This is her recipe for Carrot Cake. It's not a traditional two-layer pièce de résistance, but moist and compact." That’s my kind of carrot cake and I was also intrigued by it.

John's Tarte Tropézienne with Basil, Vanilla and Orange Blossom Crème Pâtissière, was inspired from versions by Pastry Studio and Jean-Claude Perennou. John's brilliant idea of rolling the brioche dough into balls, baked closely together so they melded into one, made his Tarte more intriguing, and fun for everyone to simply pull off a piece at the park.

John slathered on the pastry creme table side and then listened intently as everyone tried to figure out his secret flavor combination. I knew he would enjoy The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs when I bought it!

Here's Kai enjoying a piece of Carmen's Pompe a l'huile.

Carmen says:  "This sweet olive-oil bread is a traditional favorite in Provence and serves as a staple during the holidays. Even though Pompe à l’huile ("oil pump") has a reputation for failed attempts, I did well to trust Jude's excellent recipe which you can find on his blog, Apple Pie, Patis & Pâté. I made three impressive sand-dollar shaped loaves - all were moist, flaky and delicious. Just a guess, but I think the bread's name describes the activity in the fermentation process as the dough, repeatedly releases the oil and draws it up again. I will definitely make this bread again!"

At some point during the evening, Carmen's husband, Jim, traded in his plastic tumbler for a real wine glass...

And, at some point in the evening, Bradley, our friend who doesn't even drink wine, attempted to propose to me with a piece of Chocolate Lavender Cake!

I wasn't able to photograph, and/or take decent photographs (blaming it on the Ricard), of all our French and Provencal dishes showcased at the Park, but I truly appreciate everyone who participated in making this first challenge of the season such a success! Thank you to Brent and Lenore for their Ratatouille; Kevin and Randi for their Shrimp, Asparagus and Tomato Salad; Sandra and Jack for their Roast Beef & Brie Sandwiches on Croissants; Madeleine for her Brownies; and Brad for his Apple and Brie platter.

We're looking forward to Sunday and Home on the Range!  Interpret it how you wish and wear your cowboy hat!  Foodies meet between 4:00 - 4:30 p.m.  "Chuck away, come an' get it" at 5:00 p.m.

Cheers!

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