Baking bread is always a challenge, especially when the weather changes. Lately I have been having quite a lot of trouble. They seem dense, even non-reactive. Makes for lousy loaves. First, I blamed mistakenly mixing spelt into a formula rather then bread flour. And not having marked the flour bin, I ended up with some flat and flaccid hunks of baked dough.  Yesterday I asked MC for some help and she pointed out DDT. Did she mean  agent orange? No, that's when I remembered my school lecture... Read Full Story

  Whenever I have worked with other chefs, it's almost most always been me as the student or observer. Cooking tends to be competitive, and there isn't much time for making friends when you're trying to climb the so-called "ladder."  But recently, begun in travels to Turkey, I've had the chance to "play" with friends in the kitchen. Starting with my good friend, Dilara in Istanbul,  I have met and interacted with cooks in a less stress filled setting. In such a setting, these chefs, like... Read Full Story

Ever have a bad bake? Lately for me, it's been happening far to often. Admittedly I am no professional baker. Nor do I have  scientific ability to judge what went wrong. But this has been ridiculous and really annoying. Take this weekend.  Lousy weather made it a great time to stay home. My first attempt was Saturday, when I attempted a triple bread bake. It turned out either jinxed by the cold, bad levain, or the scheduling,or the hydration or just not having a damned clue. The end resu... Read Full Story

Yes, I am still here, busy at work. But I'm also ready to enjoy a night of drinks and food with friends. As I did for the impromptu wine and snack party thrown together the other night. You don't want to spend all day cooking for a festive evening, and then find yourself exhausted, or continuing to prep while they're there. Or, at least I don't! Take it from me, you want to enjoy your company, eating and drinking along with the guests. With this in mind, I winged together some easy hor's deuv... Read Full Story

Susan of WildYeast asked for some baguettes, so here, a version of Bouley bakery's mini baguette paysanne. It's a bakery where I worked one summer. This version of their baguette is completely 100% levain and are made to an unorthodox size to fit my home oven, as I don't think the deck ovens at SFBI would fit through any doorway in my building or make the 5 flights up to my apartment! Read Full Story

Over the summer while cooking at Abracadabra, Dilara asked me to make tarts for my guest chef menu. Figs and various fruits were married with pistachio sable dough, the end result molded into a lemon tart originally created by Marco Pierre White. More recently, I was asked to make a daily tart on my fall menu. At first I was reluctant. My clientele are primarily a business bunch, in and out for lunch, not much time for a pastry. Perhaps they would go for a pudding, a mousse aux chocolat , ber... Read Full Story

Simit is a bread that is  found usually sold in red carts on the streets of towns and cities throughout Turkey. It's simply delicious and the choice of most Turks who seem to enjoy it with some cheese and çay.  While I had seen the simit carts  on my first trip to Istanbul, I didn't manage a taste. This trip, I made sure to try it. My first initiation was on a ferry ride to a market near Istanbul. Dilara, my host, had our driver purchase some as we waited for the boat. F... Read Full Story

I have already described my classes at the San Francisco Bread Institute. You can also find my friends Susan, MC and Shiao-Ping talking about their own classes in great length on each of their blogs. I got a lot of practice in all aspects of baguettery, as well as  some quality human contact with people all interested in the same thing, baking bread. Baguettes are the most commonly-known French bread. It's familiar but isn't easy to bake. Even with the basic ingredients of flour, water, yeast... Read Full Story

Sure, I said posts would be far and few between. But I got some stuff I have to share!Here are just a few loaves I was able to conjure from my levain, working on some new ideas in the meanwhile, plantain and quinoa bread?In this batch there are my most recent test on simit, a Turkish bread, soured of course!Then a cranberry levain I gave to my barber, Frank.  Sicilian, from Aetna, he loves bread. In fact, when I used to bring him bread from my classes at FCI he wouldn't accept tips. He still ... Read Full Story

It's not as if my vacation was long enough. It wasn't. At least it doesn't seem so to me, even between wonderful visits to San Francisco and Istanbul. Most people I know considered me nuts for cooking throughout both trips taken within that vacation. Like my mom, who constantly urges me to relax. Get out of the kitchen. I tell her cooking for me "does it." When I cook or bake, it's my "zone.  Back again, manning my stoves at work, it's harder for me to do that dreamy vacation style cooking - ... Read Full Story