michael tuohy's

Artisan Bread at Home

recently, i have been testing recipes for gluten free pizza dough. after several versions and coming up with mostly similar results, i found myself day dreaming of delicious, hearth baked artisan bread, yes full on gluten! one of the issues with gluten free baking is, using flours that are low in gluten or protein that form the great crumb structure found in delicious artisan bread. so, i remembered reading a method  in the tartine bread book for baking artisan bread in a home oven using a castiron dutch oven inside. the tartine bread book written by: Chad Robertson, of Tartine Bakery in San Francisco, is fantastic! it is very detailed in the entire process and if followed, you will be able to produce amazing results using your home oven. i have baked artisan breads in my own restaurant previously without a fancy steam injected oven but using quarry tiles to line the shelves and spray bottles & ice to create steam. i was able to produce very good results. at home, I have just a kenwood electric oven which is guaranteed to let the necessary steam escape and will not produce a good result. by using the castiron dutch oven method inside of the electric oven i was able to produce great results! the crust was dark, crisp and crunchy, the crumb structure had nice holes and great texture and flavor. while it may not be quite as good as you'll find at Tartine Bakery, which may produce the best artisan bread in the country, it's not too far from it
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Happy Baking!

Grilling Local Sardines & Lamb Burgers!

temperatures are supposed to climb to the mid 80's today here in Napa. as we just pass the middle of spring and head into late spring, this blast of heat and warm winds from the northeast create lots of opportunities. i think of grilling! of course in northern california, we love to cook on hard woods like mesquite, oak, & alder. firing up the outdoor grill is one of those rights of passage to living here. it is fact, and proven again and again, grilling over real wood rather than gas has trememdous advantages, most noteably flavor. second, the ability to create a nice char and sear on whatever it is that you are cooking.

i have been seeing beautiful local monterey bay sardines at the market this week along with local lamb from nearby rio vista. tonight, should be a perfect warm summer like evening where we will grill and sit outside and enjoy the early season treat. 

Sardines, lightly seasoned with sea salt & extra virgin olive oil, simply skewered whole and placed onto a very hot grill will provide a delicious first course. accompanied by a fresh, bright and healthy salad of young fennel, celery, radishes, meyer lemon & california extra virgin olive oil from mad dog mesa in the sierras. next, lamb burgers, seasoned with kosher salt & piment d' espelette the addictive special AOC pepper from the Basque pyrenees. toppings are essential here and keeping with the brighter, healthier theme, tangy pickles & tzatziki sauce made from delicious thick greek yogurt and juice from meyer lemons off my tree.

the perfect wine to bridge the gap for both dishes in my opinion is a bright, dry, crisp rose'. specifically my new found favorite is the 2011 Rose' of Cabernet Franc from Virage in Napa Valley. truly a spectacular find from the Carneros (my hood) area of Napa. at only 12.5% alcohol, this light, refreshing and crisp wine will work well with many foods and especially, hot weather grilling!

Tasty Grilling!

 

Yesterday, I made a batch of one of my favorite comfort foods, Lamb Ragu with Bucatini. Using ground lamb from local producer Martin Amigh, I started out with a traditional approach of browning the meat then deglazing with some old vines zinfandel from nearby Cline Cellars, then adding aromatics, tomato paste, deglaze again, a little tomato puree. this approach is decidedly Italian but, I decided to take a turn and add some golden vadouvan spice to add nice sweet & fragrant spice notes. why haven't I thought of this before? i tend to be a very traditional cook when it comes to dishes like this but, every now and again, it's fun to mix it up! of course, i grated some nice 3 year parmigiano-reggiano on top. by the way, the Cline Old Vines Zin was a great pairing for the dish. it worked extremely well with the spice notes and the ragu........