melissa makes bread

Quince Tarte Tatin

I've been in the mood for fall things.  This afternoon I began poaching quinces.  I made a simple syrup to which I added some white wine.  I peeled and quartered quinces and left them at a low simmer.  Then came back to them a couple of hours later.  They had turned such a beautiful rose color that I wanted to use them right away.  I made a flaky dough - sort of a cross between quick puff pastry and pate brisee.  I located a pie tin, put granulated sugar in the bottom and placed the tin in the oven to caramelize the sugar.  Then I placed the quinces on top of the caramel, and then the dough on top.  It was pretty simple.  Into the oven and then out about 30 minutes later.  Now running out to buy ice cream.

Pissaladière

I was recently reinspired by Provençal cooking. I'm already daydreaming of my next trip to France. Ken and I had such a remarkable time cooking for ourselves in the apartment we rented in Paris, that an idea flashed across my mind that we could do the same thing in Provence.

Inspired, I opened up all the cookbooks I have pertaining to the South of France. My most favorite and beloved is Patricia Wells' 'At Home in Provence'. I also paged through many bread books and decided to make a Pissaladière - that onion Pizza dotted with black olives.

I started with a dough leavened with both instant yeast and levain, and I lightened the dough with extra virgin olive oil. I fermented the dough at room temperature, shaped it into boules and proofed the boules overnight in the refrigerator.

Meanwhile I sweated 3 large onions until caramelized. Then I added 4 crushed anchovies and seasoned with salt and pepper.

Today, I removed the boules from the refrigerator and let them continue to proof for about 3 hours, until the were slightly under 70 degrees. I sprayed the boules with olive oil and dimpled them. Then arranged the onions on top, along with black olives and grated parmesan. The pizzas baked for 30 minutes directly on the pizza stone. I've found that the pizza stone really radiates heat well and makes a better crust when you bake directly on it versus placing a sheet pan on top of the stone.

Du Pain et Des Idees

My visit to Du Pain et Des Idees (34, rue Yves-Toudic, 10th) was really special. I wasn't expecting so much as I walked down the street searching for the number, but I was really blown away. First by the atmosphere, both inside and out, then by the decor, and then by the beautiful breads on display. I struck up a conversation with the woman behind the counter. Her English was perfect and I was in such a trance by my surroundings that I forgot to ask her name.

She encouraged me to take my time in deciding what I wanted. And I think I stood there for at least 5 minutes trying to make up my mind. Most enticing were the gentle stacks of Pain des Amis, which were cut into large squares and had this exquisite-looking crumb.

I mentioned that I was a baker from New York, formerly an engineer, and she shared that their bakery had recently been named Best Bakery in Paris by Gaullt Millaut. She also offered that perhaps the executive baker/owner, Christophe Vasseur (also a career changer), might be able to recommend places for me to study or stage in France. A smile came across my face - I couldn't have been more thrilled and grateful at just the offer.

I came back to our apartment with both bread and pastry. A square of the Pain des Amis (you can find the photos on flickr), a quarter loaf of multigrain, baguette ancienne, pistachio chocolate snail and a chausson aux pommes. If I could have a favorite bakery in Paris, this would be it. The Pain des Amis had such a delicious and unique flavor. The flavor was so unique that I recognized it from a loaf I tasted from the Boulanger du Monge. And I think it must be the type of stone ground wheat they are using.

The multigrain was amazing - the sweet, roasted cereals balanced the acidity of the levain, which was present unlike many of the naturally leavened breads I recently tasted. This definitely has to be the best mutligrain loaf in Paris! The grains and seeds were toasted before they were added to the dough to lend a really nice nuttiness. When I first started to mix doughs in bakeries, I was surprised that the nuts weren't toasted before being added to the dough, since that was what I learned to do via recipes and school and i making pastry. I came to enjoy that the nuts on the outsides of the loaves became toasted and the inner ones retained a nice texture, but I always wanted them to all be toasted.

The flavor of the baguette was complex and the texture indicated a long fermentation time. The pistachio chocolate snail was gone before we reached the end of the bakery's block - instead of the usual pastry cream raisin combo, this had pistachio pastry cream and chocolate chips.

I almost passed over the chausson aux pommes. I had grown tired of them from an overdose a while back. But the woman, whose name I don't know, said that Christophe would want me to try one as it represents what the bakery is all about - taking good produce and ingredients and baking from scratch wonderful breads and pastries. Fresh apples are baked into the puff pastry, as opposed to pre-made apple compote which most bakeries use. The chausson was delicious. Not too sweet, fresh, buttery and tasty.

Boulangerie Gosselin

Milk & Muffins

I went to the Marche Raspail yesterday morning. On Sundays, this market becomes an all organic market, which essentially means that only growers and producers will be selling their foodstuffs. It weeds out many of the purveyors which buy produce at Rungis and then sell it at the markets throughout Paris.

Many of the dairy stands sold raw milks, and I couldn't resist picking up a bottle. We heated it up for our cafes au lait, and the skin that formed on the surface was a beautiful golden hue.

Most of the produce stands sold their own produce as well as produce from Rungis. One of the stands, in particular, noted which was their own produce, 'notres tomates', for example. I found beautiful Perigourdien mushrooms and black figs from the South of France.

And I saw Mirabelles at virtually every produce vendor. Mirabelles are practically non-existent in the States, unless they are imported, already preserved in jars. There is one stand at the Union Square Greenmarket. The owner has just a couple of Mirabelle trees, and when he harvests the fruit in early September there is only one day when the fruit is available. Last year I went on a Saturday to find out that he sold the fruit the previous Wednesday. So yesterday I purchased a pound of mirabelles to preserve and take home.

On my way out of the market as I studied my map to get home, I stood in front of a stand where aromas of fried onion and butter drifted in my direction. And I couldn't resist further inspection. The gentleman was griddling onion and potato galettes. I picked up a couple to have with our breakfast. A photo of the galettes can be found on my flickr page with my other food photos.

Boulangerie Malineau

Bread at Le Boulanger de Monge

Baguette

Cross-Section

Pain de Levain au Miel & Pain au Semoule Ble Noir

Maison Kayser

Baguette Monge & Baguette Paline

Baguette Monge Cross-section

Laduree Macarons

The Box

The Selection

Closeup - Quatre Fruits Rouge, Cassis-Violet, Caramel, Fraise

Pain Poilane

Our first day in Paris. We're getting over jet lag. Took a nap, unpacked, freshened up and then headed over to the Grande Epicerie for stocking up and dinner items. I waited in the cheese line with old French women. French women must have cheese and the one in front of me wanted a low fat cheese. There was only a thin slice left of the cheese she wanted and the counter lady proceeded to try to slice it in half, but to no avail. The older Frenchwoman was not so happy.

On the way home we stopped at Poilane where I bought 200 g of Miche. Poilane makes very large boules of their Miche bread, which one then orders by weight - the bread is sliced. 200 g is approximatetly equivalent to 3 to 4 very long slices of bread. We also got 2 petits pains de seigle aux raisins - which are rye rolls with raisins. Starving, we nibbled on the rolls on the way home. And we decided that the rolls were baked much, much earlier today. The miche, by contrast, was moist and flavorful and amazing. It is made with sour starter, but the acidity was so low and the flavor of both the wheat and rye so high that the bread tasted like where it came from.