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.

Pissaladière aka Pirate Breath Pizza: French Fridays with Dorie

I've been cooking quite a bit this week, keeping us fed while John completes his over-the-top creations and renovations in the Pirate Workshop, front yard, courtyard, dining room, and living room. Yes, my man is totally immersed in his favorite holiday of the year, and our 4th Annual Halloween party.

This year, for the Pirate theme, you'll find me as Mary Read, an English Pirate who sailed with "Calico Jack" Rackham and Anne Bonny.

Last year's theme was Villains on Trial, with me as Cruella de Vil...

Sensing my irritation with frequent deliveries of Pirate stuff over the past few months, our friend Brad suggested Men Without Girlfriends for next year's theme.

After making this week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe, Pissaladière (pronunciation), with all the onions and anchovies on top, it could work as a nice hors d'oeuvre for the Pirate Party, but I think I'll change the name to Pirate Breath Pizza.

Pissaladiere, a thin tart topped with onion, anchovies and olives, is a specialty of Nice, in Southern France. The sweetness of caramelized onions is balanced with the saltiness of anchovies and distinctive, sour flavor of Niçoise olives.  I used Italian Cerignola olives, which have a mild, sweet flavor, because my market was out of Niçoise olives...and I loved the pretty green color. I mixed in some roasted garlic with the onions, and added a sprinkle of pine nuts and grating of Parmigiano-Reggiano over the top.

The recipe has a boat load pirate ship load of onions...

But after over an hour of slow cooking, with olive oil and thyme, they melt down into caramelized sweetness.

The dough is rolled out thin, placed on a baking sheet, and covered with the onions. According to Jacques Médecin, former mayor of Nice and an authority on its cuisine, the layer of onions on a pissaladière should be half as thick as the crust.

After baking about 20 minutes, the top is adorned with strips of anchovies and olives, and baked a few minutes longer. This should most definitely be served only as hors d'oeuvre, but it was all Captain Juan Carlos Rodriguez Dominguez Christiana de Coronado got for his dinner last night!

Fine Cooking has published Dorie's Pissaladiere recipe, here.

***

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!

French Fridays with Dorie - Cold Melon-Berry Soup with Grilled Shrimp

I've said this before about Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours, but I enjoy reading Dorie's introduction to each recipe as much as preparing the recipes themselves. When she mentions an unfamiliar region in France, restaurant, chef, or ingredient, my interest is always peaked and I start Googling! Since I've never been to France, I have much to learn.

For this week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe, Cold Melon-Berry Soup, Dorie tells us her inspiration came from a soup she enjoyed at renowned chef Alain Ducasse's former hilltop retreat, Ostapé ("in the shade of oak trees"), a 45 hectare estate located in the heart of the green Basque country, close to the village of Biddaray. The spacious guest rooms are located in the 17th-century manor house, or in five farmhouses that have been converted into traditional Basque-style villas. This looks like my kinda place!

The Navarrian restaurant serves regional cuisine using fresh, local products, including vegetables from its own garden. See the watermelon on table? Dorie says just about every restaurant has melon somewhere on the menu when they're in season.

The cold melon-berry soup is nothing more than pureed cantaloupe (or Cavaillon if you're in France), topped with melon balls and strawberries. The soup should be served in glasses, to show off its beautiful color.

I'm strawberry'ed out, so I went with raspberries. Actually, The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs, highlights raspberries with cantaloupe, and doesn't even list strawberries. Ginger, lime juice and sweet white wine, basil and mint are also recommended flavor pairings.

To the pureed melon, Dorie's recipe adds grated fresh ginger, fresh squeezed lime juice, and a pinch of sea salt.  To serve, top the soup with a little wine, a few melon balls and berries, and mint or basil chiffonade.  I used raspberries, basil, and Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand.

I had the chance to use my ginger grater I bought from our Little Italy Mercato. It works quite well, and you don't lose the ginger juice.

In an effort to make a light dinner out of the soup, I added grilled shrimp. These shrimp are from one of my newest cookbooks, Steven Raichlen's Planet Barbecue!: 309 Recipes, 60 Countries.  Grilled Shrimp Sprayed with Olive Oil and Wine is from the "archly innovative grill restaurant Etxebarri in Spain's Basque Country."  This also looks like my kinda place!

I nestled a melon ball in the curve of each shrimp, and threaded two shrimp per skewer. During grilling, the shrimp are lightly misted with olive oil and wine, and then finished with course sea salt.

Not too shabby, for a light, summer dinner on the patio.

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!

French Fridays with Dorie - Tourteau de Chèvre

I'm a few days late on my French Friday with Dorie weekly recipe, but I saved this gorgeous Tourteau de Chèvre for Saturday, so I could bring it to Nina's birthday party.

The traditional Tourteau Fromagé is a specialty cheesecake of Poitou Charentes, a tranquil and largely unspoilt region halfway down the western coast of France. The cheesecake is unique, in appearance and taste. It has a charcoal-black crust on top, which is achieved by baking it at a very high temperature at first, before lowering the temperature for the rest of the baking time. Unlike just about everything in the American cheesecake family, the torteau is not soft, creamy, moist, or even rich. Instead, it's a fairly dry cake, similar to a sponge cake, that you can cut into wedges and eat out of hand.

Photo:  Wikipedia

Although I've never experienced the traditional version, I'm glad Dorie's emerges from the oven quite different, and beautifully puffed and golden brown, like a soufflé. It also deflates rapidly once out of the oven.

The recipe provides the option of using a savory or sweet tart dough, depending on whether you plan to serve it with white wine as an apertif, as a dessert with a drizzle of honey and fresh fruit, in the afternoon with tea, or in the morning with coffee.

The filling is made with a soft goat cheese, egg yolks, sugar, pinch of salt, cornstarch, a touch of Cognac, and whipped egg whites gently folded in. It's best to use an 8-inch springform pan, but I made do with a pie dish.  I had a little piece at the party, and loved the soft and light texture.  It had a nice flavor, and excellent just on its own, but I think some fresh strawberries and a drizzle of syrupy balsamic vinegar would be the perfect pairing. 

French Fridays with Dorie is an online cooking group, that just hit 2,000 members, 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!

French Fridays with Dorie: Bistrot Paul Bert Steak au Poivre and Pommes Soufflé

Congratulations, Dorie! If you haven't heard, In the Kitchen and On the Road with Dorie is a finalist in the 2nd Annual Saveur Best Food Blog Awards, Best Professional Blog category. You can vote through May 12, 2011.

For this week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe, Bistrot Paul Bert Pepper Steak, Dorie takes us to Bistrot Paul Bert, one of her favorite family-owed bistros in Paris. The tagline on the chalkboard menu always reads: Iciles viandes sont servies bleues, saignantes, ou malcuites...we serve meat blue [just barely warm in the center], rare, or badly cooked. She sings praises of the bistro's Steak Frites in her blog post, The Paris Ten: Must-Tastes...

To my mind, the best version of the classic steak-frites dish is found at Bistro Paul-Bert (18 rue Paul-Bert, Paris 11), which is a good thing for me because the place is also one of my hands-down favorite bistros, and you can't beat the combination of having the iconic dish in a setting that's Parisian through and through.  It also doesn't hurt that Bistro Paul-Bert has a remarkable wine list.

carte postale du restaurant ©paul bert, from Linternaute

It's been a while since we've enjoyed a nice steak, so I splurged on a couple of thick filets. At Bistrot Paul Bert, the steak comes with frites, and after reading The New York Times' article, Steak Frites:  Seeking the Best of a Classic, and watching the accompanying slideshow narrated by Mark Bittman, Steakout in Paris, I had to try making Pommes Soufflé. They are adorable balloon-like fries that require peeling and slicing the potatoes 1/4 inch thick, preferably with a mandoline, soaking them in ice water for 25 minutes, patting dry, and then double-frying them, first in 325 degree F oil, and then a second time at 375 degrees.   Proper puffage can be affected by the age of the potatoes, humidity in the air, and oil temperature.  For your standard bistro frites, the double-frying method is also used, but the potatoes are not soaked in water - very important!

Bistro owner, Bertrand Auboyneau, uses filet mignon for his Pepper Steak, pressed with coarsely cracked Sarawak pepper, pan-seared, and topped with a quick Cognac and cream sauce.  Dorie recommends using Sarawak pepper to replicate Bert's dish, and I tracked some down through Pepper-Passion.

Over the last hundred years, Sarawak Pepper has been exported throughout the world from Sarawak on Borneo Island, Malaysia. It has gained international recognition by chefs and gourmets as one of the favorite pepper ingredients due to its distinctive flavor and taste perfected through years of government research effort. It has a mild flavor with a fresh aroma that is often described as fruity, with hints of chocolate and Syrah.

The peppercorns are coarsely cracked with a mortar and pestle

Cracked peppercorns sprinkled and
pressed onto both sides of the filets

Due to the thickness of our filets (those puppies were at least 2 inches thick), I was unable to fully cook them on top of stove with Dorie's method. I pan-seared them first, and then transferred the pan to the oven to finish cooking. I was not wowed by the Cognac-cream sauce - all I really tasted was cream. To add a bit more flavor, I added a touch more Cognac, cooked it down a bit, and then added a tiny bit of Worcestershire sauce and Dijon mustard, and a little more cream at the end. I achieved beautiful puffed potatoes with less than half of my potato slices, so we had a mix of Pommes Soufflé and potato chips, and steamed asparagus, with our Steak au Poivre.

There are slight variations of the Cognac-cream pan sauce that typically accompanies Steak au Poive, but I prefer the addition of some shallots and a little beef broth. Also, finishing the filets in the oven is necessary for thicker cuts of tenderloin. In Dorie's book, she also provides a recipe for Bistrot Paul Bert's Steak a la Bourguignonne - steak with red wine, garlic and shallot sauce.  Next time I splurge on red meat, I'll be sure to try that sauce.

Filet of Beef au Poivre

Adapted from Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours
Serves 2

Two 8-ounce filet mignon steaks
Kosher salt
1 tablespoon black peppercorns, coarsely ground
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons minced shallots
1/2 cup canned beef broth
1/4 cup Cognac or brandy
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Season both sides of the filet mignon with salt, and then press the black pepper evenly onto both sides of the filets. Allow to rest at room temperature for 15 minutes.

In a large heavy, ovenproof skillet, heat the butter and olive oil over medium-high heat until almost smoking. Place the filets in the hot pan and cook until well-seared on one side, about 3 minutes. Turn the filets over and then transfer the pan to the oven. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until the filets are medium-rare (internal temperature of 125-130 degrees F). Remove the filets to a platter to rest, and tent with aluminum foil to keep warm.

Return the pan to the stove over medium-high heat. Add the shallots to the pan and cook for 2 minutes. Add the beef broth and allow to reduce by half, scraping the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Carefully add the Cognac (use caution, it may ignite), and cook over allow to simmer for about 2 minutes. Lower the heat to medium-low, add the cream, and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Season with salt to taste.

Serve the steaks with the sauce poured on top.

French Fridays with Dorie is an online cooking group, that just hit 2,000 members, 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!

French Fridays with Dorie: Don't be a Mustard Stick in the Mud!

I'm delighted when one of our weekly French Fridays with Dorie recipes provides just what I need for a gathering that week. I was a little ahead of schedule for this one, and made these Mustard Bâtons last week for Pammy's birthday cocktail party at the Pink Palace (her darling, pink, beach cottage here on the island).

Dorie confessed she was embarrassed to admit she resisted this recipe for years, thinking three simple ingredients couldn't possibly make something great tasting, and good looking too. I wasn't very enthusiastic about these Mustard Sticks either, who attempt to sound fancier by calling themselves Mustard Bâtons.

"Boy, those French. They have a different word for everything."

-Steve Martin

Along with Dorie, I've been convinced and converted.  However, if you're determined to be a mustard stick in the mud, the basic version, which is really quite nice, with only Dijon mustard, and an optional sprinkling of poppy seeds, can be transformed with different fillings and/or toppings to make it appear you've slaved in the kitchen longer and dirtied a few more dishes. If that's the case, Dorie suggests alternative fillings such as olive tapenade, roasted peppers, pesto, or sun-dried tomatoes.  

Unbaked bâtons can be kept in the freezer for up to two months, and then brushed with egg wash, sprinkled with poppy seeds, and baked while still frozen. It's nice to have a few hors de'oeuvres like this in the freezer when friends stop by and you want a little nibblet to go with a glass of wine.

The recipe calls for a package (2 sheets) of thawed, frozen puff pastry. Working with one sheet at a time, roll out the pastry to a rectangle about 12 x 16 inches, and brush 1/4 cup of Dijon mustard over the lower half of the dough, with the shorter side closest to you.

Fold the top portion over the bottom, covering the mustard, cut strips about 3/4 inch thick (a pizza cutter works well), and transfer to a lined baking sheet.

Glaze the strips with a light egg wash, sprinkle with poppy seeds, and bake for about 15 minutes at 400 F, rotating the baking sheets half way through.

These are best served warm, and are especially tasty with white wine or kir, the official aperitif of Dijon, which is made with a measure of crème de cassis (blackcurrant liqueur) topped with white wine. You can bet I'll be stopping by the liquor store on my way home for crème de cassis and a bottle of wine, so I can see if just two ingredients can be combined to make a great tasting and good looking cocktail.

The complete recipe for Mustard Batons is published on Dorie's blog, In the Kitchen and on the Road with Dorie, here. The New York Times also published it here.

Moutarde de Dijon (Mustard Shop in Dijon)

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.

Garden to Table: Linguine with Red Walnuts and Swiss Chard

After a week of birthday celebrations with Pammy's limousine and Espresso-Frangelico Eclairs, and Sparks' yacht and Seashell Cake, I was ready to enjoy a few quiet evenings at home with John.

When John commented how beautifully our Swiss Chard was doing in the backyard, I suggested we try eating some of it. I used a few leaves under my Peruvian Ceviche not too long ago, and then promptly forgot it was back there. We have a very narrow yard that borders the back of our house, but you can only get a glimpse of the long box of herbs hanging on the fence when looking out the bathroom and bedroom windows. We also have a couple things growing in pots, including the Swiss chard, but I hardly go back there. This will be changing soon when we move in June. We will have a gorgeous yard and patio off the dining room and kitchen, with space for a few more vegetables. There's just something so satisfying about using the herbs and vegetables you've grown in your garden. As long as John continues to plant, water and grow them, I'll be happy to use them in my cooking.

I chose this Saveur pasta recipe mainly because of the Swiss chard, but also because of the Port Salut cheese and walnuts. And, with just a few ingredients, it was nice for a weeknight dinner.

Linguine with Red Walnuts and Swiss Chard

Adapted slightly from Saveur
Serves 2

1 cup shelled red walnut halves
10 ounces Swiss chard
2 tablespoons walnut oil
2 shallots, peeled and minced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces dried linguine
4 ounces Port-Salut or other semisoft cheese, coarsely grated

1. Place walnuts in a single layer in a medium skillet. Toast over medium heat, turning occasionally, for 7 minutes. Set aside. Trim chard leaves, discarding tough stems. Coarsely chop leaves and set aside.

2. Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-low heat. Add shallots and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until shallots are soft, about 7 minutes. Add chard, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until chard has wilted, about 5 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain, reserving about 1/4 cup of the cooking water. Add pasta and reserved cooking water to chard mixture. Stir in cheese and walnuts, adjust seasoning, and serve.

Port Salut (pronounced POOR sah-LEW) is a creamy, delectable semi-soft pasteurized cow's milk cheese from Mayenne, France, with a distinctive orange crust and a mild flavor.

Chard is very popular among Mediterranean cooks, but the first varieties have been traced back to Sicily. It has shiny green ribbed leaves, with stems that range from white to yellow to red, depending on the cultivator. The flavor is mild yet earthy and sweet with slightly bitter undertones. Fresh young chard can be used raw in salads. Mature chard leaves and stalks are typically cooked or sauteed; their bitterness fades with cooking, leaving a refined flavor which is more delicate than that of cooked spinach.