The world’s freshest watercress for savory watercress flatbread

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I picked the world’s freshest watercress from a chilly Minnesota river last week, and baked it into fantastic savory flatbread, all out in the wild (everything tastes better outdoors).  This camping-trip method blends two favorite techniques from our book:  rolling in something that wasn’t originally mixed in the dough, like our raisin challah on page 183, and baking in a skillet on the stovetop (like our naan on page 173).  Read More

Door County Sour Cherry Preserves for Brioche

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Yes, I did bake some brioche on the outdoor gas grill, and it works quite well, but more on that in a minute.  My family just got back from Door County, Wisconsin, home of the famous Montmorency sour cherry.  It has an indescribable, almost spicy flavor that can be perfectly heightened by adding sugar in jams and sauces (they’re not for eating out of hand).  For jams, you’re pretty limited to a sweet version (for canning safety), and that’s what’s pictured above.  It’s what we gave you in the book (page 213 of Artisan Bread in Five).  When my family goes to the Door peninsula, we make a bunch of different versions, some that we can and store; but some that we just eat immediately.  This time around, we put the cherry preserve on top of luscious brioche (yes, done on the grill).  Then we gilded the lily with a little fresh whipped cream:

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We ate very, very well, and everyone was in a good mood–no one was voted off the peninsula.  Cherries and brioche didn’t hurt–  Read More

Contest and Giveaway Rules (don’t post your entry here!)

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From time to time we run giveaways here on the website.  Sometimes it’s one of our books or baking equipment, other times, it’s been ingredients.  We randomly select from entrants who respond to the post using the Comments field in the post where the contest announcement appeared (don’t post your entry anywhere else or we won’t see it).  Here are contest rules:

  1. We will only ship to U.S. addresses in the 50 states.  If you’re a winner, you must respond to our e-mail within 24 hours to win (winners will not be notified by surface mail).
  2. You must type  your “Comment” entry under the post announcing the contest.
  3. Only one entry in any single contest is allowed. If you post more than one comment on the contest post, you will be disqualified.  But you can enter in any or all of our contests over time.
  4. If selected, you will be notified electronically. You must respond electronically, with a U.S. mailing address, within 24 hours to claim your prize, otherwise we’ll repeat the drawing for an alternative winner.

Good luck!

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Rustic Fruit Tart On The Gas Grill (from brioche dough!)

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A fruit pizza: The fruit sat on top of our basic non-enriched white dough (Master Recipe in the book, page 25), but I’ve been wondering whether we could get away with using brioche dough on a stone placed in the gas grill.  I wasn’t so sure, because brioche dough is a bit finicky and prone to scorching or drying if the temperature isn’t quite right or the heat isn’t quite even.  So today’s recipe is very similar to the fruit pizza, but it’s made with rich brioche dough (page 189 in the book) and it’s folded into a rustic tart.

For me, it’s the Holy Grail:  the entire meal done outside in the summer, including a delicious dessert.  It works beautifully, so long as you have a gas grill with a reasonably controllable heat source.  If you do, you can bake brioche dough outside, at least when it’s rolled out for tarts and other thin creations.  Read More

Fruit Pizza on the Grill (baked with the stone)

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As many of you now know my house is not air conditioned and it is creeping up into the 80s and 90s every day. So the idea of turning on my oven to bake a pizza is less than a thrilling one. To the grill I go, which we all know by now is not only “man’s” work. I love to grill and with this heat I’ve been doing a lot of it.

My son had a sleep over last night and they wanted pizza for dinner. I pulled out my bucket of dough, rolled it out and they loaded them up with toppings. Instead of baking the pizza directly on the grates, I preheated the grill with my pizza stone to 500° and slid the pizza directly onto the stone. I love the bottom crust on these pizzas, it is always nice and crisp. The topping takes a few more minutes to bubble, but it will eventually. Read More

Smoked salmon on pumpernickel on the lawn

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I admit it, I’m becoming obsessed with outdoor dining.  We’re at the perfect summer moment up here Minnesota– not too buggy, and perfect temperature for dining al fresco.  So I’ve been doing everything on the grill.  The pizzas and flatbreads are no surprise, but the loaf breads are more challenging.  I did a pumpernickel on the gas grill and topped thin slices with butter, smoked salmon, fresh dill, and capers.  But you need to know the new twist for trapping steam to crisp the crust, which usually doesn’t work well on the well-ventilated gas grill. Read More

Rosemary Scented Baguette

Rosemary Baguette

I just bought herbs to plant in my garden. Unlike my girlfriend Anne Phyfe who lives in Seattle and has a hedge of rosemary in her yard, all year round, I have to replant mine every spring and hope for enough to get me through the season. After I planted the rosemary my hands were perfumed with that fresh herbaceous scent. I was moved to cut off some of the new delicate stems and bake it into the baguette that was rising on the counter. The result was a crust that had the light smell and taste of rosemary. Read More

Brioche à Tête on Mother’s Day!

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This is a fabulously simple bread to make, and incredibly quick if you have a bucket of Brioche dough on hand. You can bake the bread in a loaf pan but for the Brioche à tête (tête means head) you really want to have the traditional fluted pan. It will be wonderful served with Lemon Curd (page 228) and jam on Mother’s Day this weekend. Not to mention its shape reminds me of the Venus of Willendorf, the ultimate 25,000 year old symbol of being a mom!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the proud moms!

Now let me show you how to shape the Brioche à tête. Read More