dorie greenspan – Beyond Umami

Apple Pandowdy from Baking with Dorie

Beyond Umami — Wed, 10 Nov 2021 03:55:00 +0000

All right everyone! We are back with another recipe from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking with Dorie. Of the two options for those month I chose to do the Apple Pandowdy first. We were going over to a friends’ place so bringing a warm dessert seemed to fit the occasion nicely. We happened to just have enough ambrosia apples in the fridge to make the dessert so it was meant to be. The main difference for this dessert is that usually when you see a dessert with apples you think of cinnamon. Dorie Greenspan highly suggests keeping it simple and just having a lemon forward dessert for this apple pandowdy. The apples are simply dressed with sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice. The reason why its called a “Pandowdy” is because typically this dessert is made with the scrap pieces of dough you may have around after baking a pie. It isn’t about perfection but just random scraps of dough.

In our case, since we were using fresh dough, we decided to make it fun and cut out some heart shapes. I must admit that this might be the first time I even used our heart shaped cutter! I have also been fairly busy prepping for my first ever pottery sale and keeping Luna (our pup) busy that Dan actually did everything for this dessert. He blended the pie dough in the food processor, made the flat dough, peeled and cut the apples and even assembled the Apple Pandowdy. I think the most I did was mix the ingredients together and put the Pandowdy in the oven! Thanks hubby for being such a great sous chef/baker.

The top of the apple pandowdy is topped with ample amounts of sugar

Would we make this again? Most definitely. The lemon forwardness of the dessert didn’t make us miss the cinnamon at all. Dorie Greenspan also gives ideas on how to change up the dessert; more spice for a warmer dessert and/or adding in different fruits depending on the season.

Clearly it must have smelled amazing as Luna (our own pup) made an attempt to hop up onto the bench at our friend’s place to get a taste. Don’t worry, she wasn’t able to. But you can definitely see in the picture how much she wanted to while Lovey (her sister from another litter) looks on.

You can find the recipe for this Apple Pandowdy on page 257 of Baking with Dorie or here.

Feel free to check out the Tuesdays with Dorie page to see what everyone else ended up cooking up (you had the choice to make either Apple Pandowdy or English Muffins).

Baking with Dorie – Maple Miso Loaf

Beyond Umami — Sun, 24 Oct 2021 21:16:00 +0000

Baking with Dorie: Sweet Salty & Simple

Side profile of the Maple Miso Loaf

Yes it is true! Dorie Greenspan wrote another amazing cookbook – Baking with Dorie. I have honestly learned so much in the past few years cooking through Every Day Dorie with the Cookthebookfridays group. When I received the initial PDF of Baking with Dorie I was so excited for the glorious pictures that it would hold and was even more pleased upon receiving the real cookbook. The pictures are excellent as always (read: mouthwatering), all the directions are easy to follow and Dorie writes in a way that you feel like you are baking in the kitchen with her.

This newest cookbook – Baking with Dorie: Sweet Salty & Simple has now launched into the world. To celebrate some of us baked up her Maple Miso Loaf (page 69-70). I know it is interesting to think about baking with miso. Not miso soup but the paste is used to create this sweet yet savoury loaf.

I love that there is ample time spent rubbing the orange zest (or lemon if that is what you have) with the sugar so it becomes infused with the orange flavour.

Sugar and orange zest rubbed together

Then all the ingredients are whipped together (sugar, butter, miso paste, maple syrup) and finally the dry ingredients.

As the maple miso loaf bakes in the oven our entire place filled with a lovely zesty savoury smell.

Before the bake

We actually served the Maple Miso Loaf during Luna (our pup’s first birthday) party. Don’t worry the pups had beet pupcakes with yogurt icing, while the adults had slices of maple miso loaf. Everyone enjoyed the loaf. It is a coarse-crumbed cake, but still super soft. Certainly made for a different sort of dessert.

Typically you should not post the recipes straight from cookbooks but in this case we have permission. Definitely check out the Tuesdays with Dorie group to see how everyone else did. If you want to join the group all you have to do is bake and then post your link to the group (under the LYL post/comments). This cookbook is baked on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month.

Maple Miso Loaf Recipe

from Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan

4 ounces/113 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the pan
1 ¾ cups/238 grams all-purpose flour, plus more for the pan
1 ¾ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup/150 grams granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
finely grated zest of 1 orange or tangerine
¼ cup/70 grams white or yellow miso
¼ cup/60 milliliters pure maple syrup (I used dark)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
⅓ cup/80 milliliters buttermilk (well shaken before measuring)
¼ cup/80 grams orange marmalade or apricot jam (for the glaze, optional)

Directions

Center a rack in the oven and heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8 1/2-inch loaf pan and dust with flour, or use baker’s spray.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and baking soda in a medium bowl. Put the sugar, salt and zest in the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl that you can use with a hand mixer. Reach in and rub the ingredients together until the sugar is moist and fragrant; it may even turn orange. Add the butter, miso and maple syrup to the sugar. If using a stand mixer, attach the bowl and fit it with the paddle attachment.

Beat on medium speed for about 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl and beater(s) as needed, until the mixture is smooth and creamy. One by one, add the eggs, beating for a minute after each goes in. Beat in the vanilla. The mixture might curdle, but this is a temporary condition. Turn off the mixer, add the dry ingredients all at once and pulse to begin the blending, turning the mixer on and off in very short spurts on the lowest speed. Then, beat on low speed until the dry ingredients are almost incorporated. With the mixer still on low, pour in the buttermilk and blend well. Scrape the batter into the pan, working it into the corners and smoothing the top.

Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, checking the loaf after 40 minutes and covering the top loosely with a foil or tented parchment if it’s browning too fast. The loaf is properly baked when it pulls away from the sides of the pan and a tester inserted into the centre comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and let the bread rest for 5 minutes, then run a table knife around the edges of the loaf and unmold onto the rack; turn it right side up.

If you’d like to glaze the loaf, stir the marmalade or jam with 1 tablespoon water and heat the mixture in the microwave or over low heat until it comes just to a boil. Using a pastry brush or a spoon, cover the top of the loaf with the glaze. Allow the loaf to cool to room temperature before slicing.

Wrapped well, the cake will keep for about 4 days at room temperature. If it becomes stale — and maybe even if it doesn’t — toast it lightly before serving. If you haven’t glazed the cake, you can wrap it airtight and freeze it for up to 2 months; defrost, still wrapped, at room temperature.

Summer Vegetable Tian from Every Day Dorie

Beyond Umami — Sun, 28 Jun 2020 04:35:00 +0000

Hello! I am finally back at it with #cookthebookfridays! I missed joining in the fun over the past few months as it has been a bit crazy with us moving back from Ottawa to Edmonton (in the middle of a lockdown pandemic!) and then finding our own place to live again. After a few months it is nice to have our own place again to cook and make desserts.

Dorie’s Summer Vegetable Tian was the main star for tonight’s dinner. It was prepped relatively quickly even though it involved a cornucopia of summer veggies. We put in eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini and mushrooms, a few good tablespoons of good extra virgin olive oil on the bottom of the dutch oven, along with fresh herbs, salt and pepper. While it shares the same set of veggies as a ratatouille, Dorie says a good tian has lots of oil and the veggies should be melting and bordering on jam-like consistency.

To make a vegetable tian preheat the oven to 400F. Then coat the bottom of the dutch oven with a few good tablespoons of olive oil. Then generously add salt, cracked pepper, fresh basil and sliced garlic. We also had chopped onions on the bottom of our dish as we had some left over from another dinner dish.

All the veggies are sliced to about 1/4 inch thick. Then the sliced eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, and mushrooms are all layered and nestled into each other. Dorie suggests sandwiching the eggplant slices between slices of tomatoes. Ensure that all the veggies are tightly overlapping each other in a spiral.

The hardest part was waiting for the entire vegetable tian to bake! It smelled amazing as it sat bubbling in the oven. It took almost 2 hours in order for the vegetables to be bubbling, tender and juicy.

This recipe turned out really well. I loved how all veggies roasted together creating the most amazing aromas. We were a bit surprised that the two of us finished the entire dish when it was meant for four people. We will definitely make this again as it was so simple and so delicious. Next time, we will have to make sure that Dan has a fresh loaf of sourdough ready so that we can enjoy it with the vegetable tian.

You find find the recipe for Dorie’s Summer Vegetable Tian here. Alternatively, you can also purchase the cookbook yourself and find this recipe on page 234! Go check out the Cook the Book Fridays page to see how everyone else did with this recipe, their thoughts and of course the pictures!

Cook the Book Fridays: Maple Syrup & Mustard Brussels Sprouts from Everyday Dorie

Beyond Umami — Sat, 10 Nov 2018 02:06:00 +0000

Here we are! Another Cook the Book Fridays post! Wow the week went by so fast! This week’s Cook the Book from Dorie Greenspan’s Everyday Dorie recipe is her Maple-Syrup-and-Mustard Brussels Sprouts.

I should probably note that I am in fact snacking on this exact dish as I write up this blog post (seeing that I just finished cooking mere minutes ago). Interestingly enough, in all of my 35 years of life, this week was the VERY first time I have bought brussels sprouts! So there I was standing in the Italian Centre wondering to myself how do I “know” which brussels sprouts are the ones to buy? Thankfully, since I was at the Italian Centre any of the choices I made were just fine. It does help to shop local as the produce is always so fresh! I ended up choosing most of the bigger brussels sprouts available and quickly filled my bag with the 1 pound of fresh brussels sprouts that the recipe called for.

In terms of ingredients not much is needed for this recipe aside from the brussels sprouts – maple syrup, grainy mustard, shallots, garlic, thick cut bacon, salt, pepper and olive oil. Her recipe is super easy to follow and everything came together fairly quickly. You just need to stay organized and remember to cook the bacon while the brussels sprouts are steaming away!

I loved how nice and charred the brussels sprouts became as I cooked them up in the hot oil (I cooked my dish in a cast iron pan)! Then, adding that bit of extra saltiness with the thick cut bacon was perfect! I enjoyed adding extra grainy mustard to the dish at the very end to give it that extra kick of flavour.

However, one thing I would like to try next time is more maple syrup. I ran out of maple syrup so I wasn’t able to add any more to my dish. I wonder if that would have helped to add more caramelization and bring together all the flavours in my dish.

All in all, a great recipe! I would most definitely serve this as a side or add to my salads! now…excuse me as I figure out how to get rid of all the smoke in my house – as it become a bit smoky with all the crisping of the bacon and charring up of those brussels sprouts!

Oh and if you are wanting the recipe, I did a quick search and found it over here or better yet, buy the cookbook and you will find it on page 212 of Every Day Dorie.

Check to see what everyone else thought about this recipe over at Cook the Book Fridays!

Cook the Book Fridays: Gougères from Everyday Dorie

Beyond Umami — Fri, 02 Nov 2018 15:00:00 +0000

I’ve decided to take a stab at joining a “Cook the Book” group! I, along with others from “Cook the Book Fridays” will be cooking from Dorie Greenspan’s Everyday Dorie! Her newest cookbook just released on October 26, 2018! First up on our list of recipes to cook is her gougères titled “My Newest Gougères”.

Have you ever had these fluffy balls of goodness? Gougères are a type of pâte à choux. The same exact dough that can be used to make cream puffs, eclairs and churros. In this recipe, we make a savoury one called gougères as they have cheese in them. The cheese is grated and then combined into the dough mixture. The one unique part of Dorie’s newest Gougères is the addition of walnuts! There is also dijon mustard for a highlight in flavour.

I loved the addition of the toasted nuts in the gougères as they gave them a bit more depth. We ended up using caved aged gruyere for our gougères as the Italian store I had purchased cheese from last night only had two options available. That likely resulted in my gougères coming out a tad salty. I’ll have to find a nice sharp cheddar or just source a regular gruyere when I give this recipe another go.

Dorie’s publisher has allowed us to share this recipe so you too can make your own batch of these savoury bites!

Dorie Greenspan’s Newest Gougères

makes about 55 small gougères or about 35 large ones

Ingredients

1⁄2 cup (120 grams) whole milk
1⁄2 cup (120 grams) water
1 stick (4 ounces; 113 grams) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
11⁄4 teaspoons fine sea salt
1 cup (136 grams) all-purpose flour
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 large egg white, at room temperature
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard (preferably French)
2 cups (170 grams) coarsely grated cheese, such as Comté, Gruyère and/or sharp cheddar
2⁄3 cup (80 grams) walnuts or pecans, lightly toasted and chopped

Working ahead: My secret to being able to serve guests gougères on short notice is to keep them in the freezer, ready to bake. Scoop the puffs, freeze them on a parchment- lined baking sheet or cutting board and then pack them airtight. You can bake them straight from the oven; just give them a couple more minutes of heat.

Directions

Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat it to 425 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
Bring the milk, water, butter and salt to a boil over high heat in a medium saucepan. Add the flour all at once, lower the heat and immediately start stirring energeti- cally with a heavy spoon or whisk. The dough will form a ball and there’ll be a light film on the bottom of the pan. Keep stirring for another 2 minutes or so to dry the dough. Dry dough will make puffy puffs.
Turn the dough into the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or work by hand with a wooden spoon and elbow grease). Let the dough sit for a min- ute, then add the eggs one by one, followed by the white, beating until each egg is incorporated before adding the next. The dough may look as though it’s separating or falling apart but just keep working; by the time the white goes in, the dough will be beautiful. Beat in the mustard, followed by the cheese and the walnuts. Give the dough a last mix-through by hand.
Scoop or spoon out the dough, using a small cookie scoop (11⁄2 teaspoons). If you’d like larger puffs, shape them with a tablespoon or medium-size cookie scoop. Drop the dough onto the lined baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each mound. (The dough can be scooped and frozen on baking sheets at this point.)
Slide the baking sheets into the oven and immediately turn the oven temperature down to 375 degrees F. Bake for 12 minutes, then rotate the pans from front to back and top to bottom.
Continue baking until the gougères are puffed, golden and firm enough to pick up, another 15 to 20 minutes. Serve immediately—these are best directly from the oven.

Storing: The puffs are best soon after they come out of the oven and nice (if flatter) at room temperature that same day. If you want to keep baked puffs, freeze them and then reheat them in a 350-degree-F oven for a few minutes.

When I baked these, I accidentally made the larger puffs and was wondering why I only could make about 18 or so puffs when the recipe says you can make 35 large ones. So mine must have been huge in comparison to what Dorie says to make! They were so big that we could each only eat 2 last night. As I wrote, they felt a bit saltier than I would like it to be, so I would also reduce the amount of salt probably from 1 1/4 tsp down to 1/2 tsp of salt.

I am looking forward to cooking through Every Day Dorie with everyone! I truly hope that I’ll be able to keep up! Go see what others participating in the Cook the Book Fridays thought about this week’s recipe!