salmorejo

What if I told you there was a chilled soup just perfect for summer? A soup that really makes the best of your surplus of red, juicy ripe tomatoes? Maybe you would say, 'I know gazpacho, and I'm not that crazy about it.'

Well, it's not gazpacho. It's the lazy southern Spanish version called salmorejo.  Lucky for me (and you) salmorejo is like a cross between gazpacho and romesco.  You could also think of it as a liquified pa amb tomaquet.  Either way, it's just amazing.

Salmorejo hails from Córdoba, and is usually accompanied with hard-boiled egg and mini-ribbons of jamón. What's the word itself mean? Folks are divided. It could be a derivation of the Latin for brine and vinegar. It could also come from the Latin for salt and pestle.

Either way, you need to get this simple soup cooking before your tomato season comes to an end. Trust.

salmorejo

• 6-8 tomatoes
• 1 baguette, day old if possible
• small clove of garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• generous drizzle of apple cider vinegar
• salt

Peel the tomatoes and cut into pieces. Combine in a blender with the bread, also cut into pieces with crust removed, and garlic.  Blend until homogenous, then add the vinegar, salt to taste, and olive oil. Blend again until beautifully creamy. Refrigerate.

Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls

Sometimes I get in heated discussions (arguments?) about food. I don't mind them; disagreement is what makes the world go round, and I actually don't mind finding out that I'm wrong about something.

But then there's the pastry argument.  The discussion often begins innocuously enough, like, 'do you think this tarta is storebought?' or 'i'm not much of a sweet eater'. But somehow (and I swear it's not my fault!) it often ends up at the question 'which culture is King of the Sweet?'

And, sorry if this seems patriotic, it's not, but it's the United States.

As exhibit A, I would like to present one of my favorite pastries, the sweet potato cinnamon roll. Maybe you know what it is to eat a cinnamon roll hot out of the oven. Maybe you don't. But I swear to you that these are a world of their own. The rarity of a completely homemade cinnamon roll already puts these at an advantage, but the sweet potato gives the dough an edge, making the finished product shockingly tender.

It takes time, but most can be done the night before and it is soooo worth the wait.

Every aspect of these is perfect. When I can't get my hands on pecans, that American nut, I sub with walnuts. Rarely is a dessert so fun to make. Rolling up the dough around the filling, then slicing what you know will turn into the most delicious of breakfasts-it's so satisfying.

So, whoever wants to try to convince me that the USA doesn't have the best desserts and pastries can do so in the comments section.

I proudly present you a recipe that is not mine, but that I am honored to have grace the pages of this site: 

Southern Living's Sweet Potato Cinnamon Roll

• 2 (1/4-oz.) envelopes active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
• 1 teaspoon Granulated Sugar
• 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup mashed sweet potatoes
• 1 egg, lightly beaten 
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
• 1/4 cup melted butter $
• 2 tablespoons grated orange rind $
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Filling (recipe below)
• Glaze (recipe below)

Stir together yeast, 1/2 cup warm water (100° to 110°), and 1 tsp. sugar in a 1-cup glass measuring cup; let stand 5 minutes.  Combine yeast mixture and 1/2 cup flour in a mixing bowl; stir vigorously until mixture is well blended. Gradually add mashed sweet potatoes, next 7 ingredients, and 4 1/2 cups flour, stirring until well blended after each addition.

Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface, and knead in remaining 1/2 cup flour. Continue to knead until smooth and elastic (about 4 to 5 minutes). Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 1 hour to 1 hour and 30 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Punch dough down. Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface, and roll into a 10- x 18-inch rectangle. Spread evenly with Filling, leaving a 1-inch border. Roll up dough, jelly-roll fashion, starting at 1 long side. Cut into 12 (1 1/2-inch) slices, and arrange in a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking pan. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 30 minutes.

Bake rolls at 400° for 10 minutes. Remove rolls from oven; drizzle about 1/2 cup Glaze slowly over rolls, starting at 1 edge of pan and drizzling in a circular pattern; let glaze soak in. Repeat procedure with remaining Glaze.  Bake rolls 7 to 10 more minutes or until lightly browned and a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Remove rolls from oven, and invert onto an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet. Invert again, glaze side up, onto a serving platter. Let cool 20 to 30 minutes. Serve warm.

filling

• 3/4 cup melted butter 
• 2 cups firmly packed Light Brown Sugar
• 1 cup chopped toasted pecans 
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

 Stir together all ingredients until blended.

glaze

• 1 cup firmly packed Light Brown Sugar
• 1/3 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup butter 
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Stir together sugar, corn syrup, and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a light boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in cream and vanilla.

How To Make Queso

So I've been doing these classes at The Loaf all summer, once a week, spreading the gems of American cuisine.

You know, like cookies, brownies, hummus and....queso!

That's Mexican, you say? NO! (And if you know me, you know exactly what kind of no that was).

It's as American (and caloric) as apple pie. So I spread the love at my class yesterday on how to throw an American snack party. Truthfully I just wanted to see those heat-avoiding Basque people talk about how spicy it was. Also on the roster were hummus and tzatziki (dips on the short list were guacamole and spinach-artichoke dip).

I can talk as bad about the US as the next person, and I don't live there, but you know what? I sure do love our generosity with the 'bad' stuff in the kitchen (butter, cheese, sugar, etc: it's only 'bad' when it comes to quantity, people!) and our unabashed willingness to create really weird, non-traditional dishes.

Chungo is a word used here that I would translate as 'ghetto' for people under 40 and 'juryrigged' for older folks. This is chungo, even more chungo than regular queso dip, due to the scarcity of ingredients in the markets here. Enjoy!

Also, let me know what dips you think are super American...it's only when one really sits down to think about these things when one realizes how much one takes for granted that is truly culturally unique.

chungo spanish queso

• 1/2 onion, chopped
• green pepper, chopped
• tomato, chopped
• 3 containers of crema de queso, flavor semicurado
• 1/4 cup Orlando Salsa Brava (or more)

Heat some oil in a pan. Saute the onion and pepper, seasoning lightly, until transparent. Add the tomato and saute a few more minutes. Turn off the heat, adding the crema de queso and salsa brava. Enjoy. Make fun of Spanish people who say it's too spicy.

how to: the perfect paella

Paella is SO misunderstood.

Since its magnificence lies in the very small details, paella rarely gets the care it deserves and is often served up as nothing more than rice-with-something. And that's not even counting the times that it's straight from the freezer. Even (especially?) in Spanish homes, artifical coloring is used in place of saffron.

Paella 101: It's a dish from the Valencia region of Spain. The original paella, from what I can gather, had rabbits, green beans, saffron...snails, if you could find them; white broad beans, hard to find outside of the regions; maybe artichokes.  Paella is 'pan' in the Valencian dialect, so it refers to the cooking instrument and has evolved to refer to the entire dish.

So. Nowhere did you see me talk about peppers, seafood, sangria or the sunny South of Spain (if you want a seafood paella, look at my paella phase from last summer). But you WILL hear me talk about the socarrat. This is the much-desired crust on the bottom of the paella, which cannot be faked or hurried. How do you acheive it? The perfect cooking time and temperature, which is closely linked to the ratio of water to rice.

Fortunately, there is a way to calculate this ratio without, well, calculating. Plus you look really cool doing it. It's never failed me: when are at the final point of the cooking before adding the rice, and the stock/water is up to the screws of your paella, you pour the rice along the diameter of pan. Keep pouring until it rises about a finger above the liquid. Stir and step away. That's it. A perfect paella.

paella

• a rabbit
• a chicken
• 3 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• short-grain rice, like arborio
• 1 lb flat green beans
• a large pinch of saffron threads
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• Extra virgin olive oil
• artichokes or peas

Saute onion in a pan until translucent. Add tomato, season, and saute for about ten minutes. Blend or pass through a food mill.

Break down rabbit and chicken, cutting meat (thighs, saddle, breasts, etc) into pieces (larger than bite size). Season pieces with salt and pepper.

Heat paella (pan) with oil. Arrange meat in hot pan, allow to brown before turning and moving towards the outside of the paella.  Add the beans, cut in 2 inch pieces, to the center of the pan, allowing to brown, then pushing to the outside. Add the garlic and then the tomato sauce, allowing it to simmer for a bit.  Then mix everything together and fill the paella pan with hot water up to the screws. Salt generously (you want it to be oversalted). Let it simmer for 15-20 minutes until it reduces some.

Add more water up to the screws, maintaining the simmer. Add saffron. Pour rice into paella pan in a straight line along the diameter. When this line peeks above the broth by about a finger's width, you've added enough. Stir it in and cook on low for about twenty minutes. Do not stir anymore. If it looks like it's dry on top, cover with a sheet of newspaper.

The Best Classic Brownie

Brownies. Another classic American dessert that is often imitated and never duplicated. Earlier this week, I taught another American baking class at The Loaf, this time on this wonderful baked good, invented at the start of the 20th century. The brownie is traced back to the Boston Cooking School cookbook, where it evolved from what we would call a blondie (1896), to something with a bit of chocolate, to something with more chocolate and more eggs (1908). Then, things went awry in 1954 with the introduction of the first brownie mix, aka something that does not save any time.

I love gleaning cultural viewpoints from my students during these classes, whether they're on cookies or cupcakes. My question posed this week was: "What would you call a brownie in Spanish?" And the answers ranged from "bizcocho de chocolate" (chocolate cake) to "morenitos" (little brown things). Ay ama.

So of course I had to explain the brownie polemic, about those strange people who want a bar of melted chocolate with extra sugar and an egg; and about the even stranger ones who want, indeed, a piece of chocolate cake.

I fall right in the middle. I want a brownie at least two inches high. I want a brownie that has a crispy crust on top. The outside part better crunch then be chewy. The middle better be soft and slightly underbaked. I don't want any interruptions (okay, a few nuggets of dark chocolate studding the dough is okay, but NUTS? No.) That is my ideal brownie.  And this is the recipe to end all recipes.

Baking time is the unsung hero of the brownie recipe. Talk about making or breaking something...I find that these are perfect to my taste at around 42-45 minutes, but you can take them out as early as 35 minutes for a brownie reminiscent of the batter from whence it came. Or leave it for up to an hour if you want something cakey. You DON'T want the knife/toothpick to come out clean.

So, here's the recipe that is truly the best classic brownie. Don't be afraid to mix vigorously...this is a key to the texture and shine of the batter and crust. You might want to add nuts, a swirl of chocolate, or pieces of dark chocolate. I don't.

Ah! Y para los que habeís venido a mi curso, aquí una receta para algo estilo 'blondie'.

the best classic brownie

• 2 sticks unsalted butter (226 g)
• 8 ounces good quality chocolate, coarsely chopped (70% or more) (227 g)
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (156 g)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups sugar (400 g)
• 4 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C. Using two pieces of parchment paper, line the pan.
Melt butter and chocolate in the microwave, stirring occasionally.
Whisk together sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl, then pour in chocolate mixture, whisking until combined well. Add flour, baking powder, and salt, then stir really, really well.
Bake until top is shiny and set and sides have begun to pull away slightly, 45 minutes.