The dark-hued breads found at Cheesecake Factory and Outback restraurants may just be the best thing on their respective menus. Dense and sweet, when married with a generous slather of salted butter, spells "delicious." This recipe is based upon the recipes found in Peter Reinhart's book, "Whole Grain Breads." In the book he outlines a mash method that attempts to keep your oven hovering around 150 °F for the duration of the cook. I own a consumer sous vide "stick" so holding the mash at that temperature for several hours is super easy — barely an inconvenience.
To ensure the finished bread has good chew to it, I substituted some bread flour, making this a transitional whole-grain recipe by the definitions in Reinhart's book.
Yields a single loaf or two batards.
Written by Jeff Frey on Thursday December 24, 2020
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Thanks to Coronavirus confinement I had plenty of time to make my own naan bread when we had Indian for dinner (versus buying it at the grocery store). This is an adaptation of a recipe I found online: I wanted some whole wheat flour to make the loaves a teeny bit better for us.
Written by Jeff Frey on Thursday April 9, 2020
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For as long as I can remember my mom has made a summer dessert called Sundae in a Pan. An Oreo cookie crust, vanilla ice cream, peanuts, whipped cream, and a layer (never thick enough) of fudge sauce. Very much like a classic ice cream cake. The same fudge sauce functions equally well on its own served warm over ice cream.
Written by Jeff Frey on Sunday August 28, 2016
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When I was an undergraduate at Lebanon Valley College I worked for the school's computer services unit. Every now and then the entire group would head to lunch at nearby Harper's Tavern. The lunch special typically consisted of soup or salad and one of their sandwiches. I'll never forget my first visit because of the soup: a clam chowder in the New England style. This wasn't the from-a-can thick and creamy with little clam bits version that I was used to at the time, though. The broth was not as heavy, had a definitive herbal quality that melded perfectly with the briny clam flavor, and had chunks of celery and hard boiled egg amongst the usual potatoes. But of most note, it had clams: I'm talking whole clams, here.
Later in life, on an episode of "Emeril Live!" the noted chef made a true New England version from scratch, stressing (in his usual way) the importance of pork to the recipe. No clam chowder is done right unless it starts with rendered salted pork as the basis for the roux.
These two experiences form the basis for my New England-style clam chowder.
Written by Jeff Frey on Friday January 27, 2017
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Personal taste is something that's quite…personal. Sometimes the few tweaks you make to a recipe to adjust to your own palate might appeal to another. Such is the case for this riff on Alton Brown's delicious home-made onion dip.
Written by Jeff Frey on Wednesday March 14, 2018
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Written by Jeff Frey on Sunday November 20, 2016
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