STIR THE POTS: Recent Episodes
Jonathan Field & Jeremy Shaprio
Years ago, one of my baking teachers warned us that baguettes are among the easiest of breads to bake but among the hardest to prepare....
New Years brings me back to Chad Robertson's Tartine book. Every time I read it, it reminds me why Chad has the respect of bakers...
My wife had intended to imbibe a couscous salad of hers with currants, raisins and alcohol. It made no sense to me until I recalled...
Just before New Years hit, me and my wife invited over friends for "hanging out." While the friends suggested that we avoid long stays in...
Getting in my last bread of the year, the latest was inspired by Kruste & Krume's Youtube channel. It led to an amazing French crown...
I found a new way sandwich roll for the holidays. It's a mix that riffs off panettone, all-be-it a bread that's not studded with fruit...
New challenges at work including sweetening the table for business meetings. I decided on baking "petit fours," classic's that I haven't made for many years...
For years, I have served Baked Alaska at my workplace. And each year I say we'll try something different. Up till now, no luck. As...
As is my usual predicament with timing and levain, I find myself in an endless battle to slow the hell down! Why? With fermentation. Here's...
Pain de campagne (aka "country bread")is a flavorful and structured bread. A wheat bread generally includes rye at around 10 percent. Below is a recent...
From my trip to France this past summer. Returning late to Cassis from a day trip in Aix-en Provence we couldn't get a bus or...
Work has been overtaking my usual lazy baking routine. All to say, that my job has forced me to baking without involving any retarding of...
From this past summer's vacation in France. Cassis offers a range of familial, starred and various tourist restaurants. Le Clos des Arômes is one of...
My Instagram feed has a variety of followers. A fellow by the name of Bun had a profile photo that caught my eye. It's of...
Years ago when I called myself "the lazy baker," I spent a lot of time on Facebook whining about scheduling my bread bakes. Writer and...
Pan Bagnat is an iconic Provencal sandwich which my mother taught us in childhood it's base is Nicoise salad on bread. Returning from Provence I...
It's been four years since we first visited Le Relais 50 in Marseille's Vieux-Port neighborhood.We taxied our way through ports docks to find my wife...
Visiting the south of France inspired both delight and anxiety. How to satisfy such great expectations? Well, I decided to book my restaurant reservations far...
Some Frenchmen claim that bread is in decline in this nation that is known for treasured loafs. Apparently, French kids are as crazy as their...
My eight-hour flight to France made me feel like an aging sardine; dry, brittle, and salty. Also, awfully eager to slip into a tub of...
For me, linzertorte lingers among my childhood memories. Recently after making some blueberry jam, I picked up a linzertorte recipe and decided to bake a...
Tasked with making a simple dinner that was primarily plant-based, I revisited a dish from one of my visits to Turkey. Actually, it was one...
Kruste & Krume bakers Barbara van Melle and Simon Wöckl have a wonderful YouTube channel. Shot in their Viennese bakery (and spoken in German), their...
I am not sure why macaroni and cheese became entrenched as a deeply American dish. Someone once told me Thomas Jefferson might have introduced it,...
I always remember advice from my mother concerning food lingering in the fridge. She told me that before it dies forgotten on a shelf, gather...
Nougat is a chewy nut confection with roots back in the Roman Empire, only more likely first crafted in what is now Turkey and Greece...
Martin Philip's life has been a rich journey; from working in finance to pursuing his passion for music. Today he is head baker for King...
Scheduling a time to bake can be precarious as a working chef. There are just so many hours (actually I'd settle for a few more...
Once again I returned to gluten free baking to maybe break the code of milled grains and legumes to finally understand its mysteries. First up...
My Instagram account was hacked by a bitcoin hacker. It pisses me off. Making it worse is the lack of accountability by the site. I...
Here is a loaf without refrigeration processing. Instead its focus is on a simpler methodology. Forget about all those things they teach you in baking...
Each year the private club where I am chef holds their "Spring Fling." It's a great excuse for a colorful spread. This year's was 15...
It's time for my kitchen's annual spring Spring Fling. This year we'll feature pizza. Previously, I have focused on sourdough pizza crusts. This time I...
Pot au feu is a French classic peasant dish that's wonderful for winter. Or for early spring. It consists of secondary cuts of beef and...
Photo credit : Melissa Rivard Before devoting himself to baking, Andrew Janjigian worked in the biotech industry as an organic chemist. His background was probably...
Macarons are sometimes confused with Emmanuel Macron, the President of France, at least too news-deprived Americans. In fact, macarons are splendid sweeties, a mix of...
When it came to my baking mentor and friend, Thierry's formulas were often difficult to execute. But they have always proved well worth the challenge....
My mind navigates toward bread. Whether biking city streets, traveling New York's subways, or walking our wonderful avenues and less wonderful boulevards, my mind inevitably...
Sourdough baking can be a challenge. Despite years practicing, I have frequently had disastrous results. The primary challenge? Perfecting the levain. When it fails, the...
Since the height of the pandemic, I've cut back on a daily 5 o'clock cocktail hour. Regardless, I have been inclined to periodically imbibe some...
One of my favorite cookies are sablé Breton. They are made from a basic dough composed simply from butter, sugar and flour. Indulged with tea...
While on a day tour through Alsace on holidays I stopped into a kitchen supply store and purchased molds, including some for canelé. Canelés are...
Wordloaf is a weekly email letter published by baker and writer Andrew Janjigian. It's always packed with great information. I recently tried one of his...
It's always one of my dreams to enjoy real world meetings with people whom we have interviewed on our blog. Last week surfing Instagram, I...
Store bought snack food have been on my radar for sometime, reminding me of my childhood where processed foods, were a no-no. Anytime I'd sneak...
White pan sandwich loaf are the quintessential American breads. From starting as high intensity factory-whipped doughs all the way to arriving in plastic bags to...
I finally made a proper batch of kimchi at home. David Lebobvitz's newsletter inspired me. In it, he described kimchi as "easy to make, difficult...
Photo credit:Joel Blevins of WoodenBarn Media. Sonya Hundal is a baker and writer who specializes in wood-fired goods. Owner of Greenfield Bakers, a small bakery...
Years ago, I took a week-long wine course at the French Culinary Insitute. Our teacher was master sommelier Roger Dragorn, someone tops in the business...
In one of my early gigs as a chef, I worked at a hotel. During that job, I volunteered to train as a pastry cook,...
With some time off from work, I took a class offered by the Bread Bakers Guild of America. Taught by Craig Ponsford, the class was...
Pierluigi Mazzella grew up on Italy's island of Ischia, which lies just off the coast of Naples. His father worked as a fisherman. Pierluigi followed...
My efforts at making a Provencal rendition of a Roscon de Reyes or kings cake to celebrate the epiphany ironically fell on the historically important...
Moqueca is a Brazilian fish stew that has interested me but I had yet to experience. In one of the evenings during the holidays, I...
Photo Marc Danton My former bread baking teacher Nick Greco sent an email to inform me of the death of a wonderful baker. Jacques Mahou...
Shortages have many of us foodies searching for substitute products. Among those I am missing as a soft cheese spread favorite, one blended with bourbon...
While I have a Komo mill at home, at work I was using an old mill attachment for my mixer. A few weeks ago, I...