Egyptian Fig and Date Bread

In researching more about Egyptian food as I am glued to Al Jezeera on line I came across this Fig and Date bread recipe on touregypt.net

The recipe reminds me of a date bread that my grandmother used to make.  In glancing over the recipe I would suggest that you could use all dates if you didn't have any figs and also to use half orange juice and half water (instead of just water) in addition to the grated peel of one orange.  Pecan could be substituted for Walnuts as could Almonds. 

This is the kind of bread that would be best served with a nice slathering of room temperature butter!

Fig and Date Bread, suitable for the Suhoor, the before sunrise meal of Ramadan.

Ingredients

1 cup chopped pitted dates
1 cup chopped dried figs
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
  
Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter an 8x4 inch loaf pan.

In a medium bowl, combine the dates, figs, butter and baking soda. Pour in the boiling water, stir well and let stand for 15 minutes.

Beat the sugar, walnuts and eggs into the date mixture. Combine the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder and salt; stir into the date mixture just until blended.

Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 55 to 65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Jury Duty

So far so good, we had a long lunch and I wasn't pick for the one jury they have selected today.  Cross your collective fingers that I may last unpicked until tomorrow at 3 when I can go home a free man.

In the mean time here is another Ted Talk, this time by local celebrity farm to table chef Dan Barber called Froie Gras Parable.

Distraction

It's hard to focus on anything right now except the news coverage of events in Egypt. I go from AlJazeera on line to Rachel Maddow and the New York Times, instead of being in my kitchen, where I'm (supposedly) working on a goat cheese cheesecake with praline and blood orange syrup recipe, that I've been working on for weeks!

Sometimes the events of the world take priority over the kitchen, even though even in the midst of a revolution we still all need to eat.  Stories of people going from the protest to their homes to get food to give out to the protesters in Tahrir Square in Cairo made me want to know more about Egyptian food, a good overview is here , I feel a need to explore Egyptian food more. All of a sudden a country that I had only thought of as the place with the pyramids has become so much more.

In the mean time Nicholas Kristof of the NYT is in Cairo and sums up my feelings on what is going on in this video from the NYT:

Oysters in the Hudson

Speaking of Meat Pies

I just wrote a post about the best meat pies in the East Village and I couldn't help, but think about Stephen Sondheim's classic song from Sweeney Todd, A Little Priest, which is the only song I know about meat pies.  Here is a clip from a 2005 benefit performance staring the original cast: Len Cariou As Sweeney and Angela Lansbury as Mrs Loveitt. The sound is a bit off, but I'm sure the musical theater fans reading this will over look it.

Tuck Shop

It's funny how you walk by a place a million times and never really see it, or you see it and for what ever reason you have no urge to go in and check it out?  The Tuck Shop on First Street has been like that for me, until a few days ago when I was walking by, starving and looking for a place to eat , all of a sudden the idea of a meat pie seemed like the perfect snowy winter's day meal so I went in and am I ever glad I did! Not only did I go in I went back the next day.   This is an Australian place that specializes in meat pies, which is a bit of a misnomer s they do have non meat pies, like the one below which was a mushroom and prawn pie redolent of garlic and fresh out of the oven.  At $6 you can't beat the price, if you want more of a meal for an additional $4 you can have a side of Coleslaw, Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Scallop Potatoes or a Pea Floater (I should have asked what that is).  The pastry the envelops the pies is thin, crispy, perfection.  The first day I had a lamb and veg pie that was a very meaty lamb stew baked in pastry, filling, tasty and exactly what I was looking for.  Vegetarians need not despair as a Vegetable pie is on the menu.

 The pie warmer.

 The open kitchen.

 Besides soda, good coffee, wine and a unique selection of Australian beer is also available.

Indeed 2011 is going to be my year of the pie now that I have discovered the Tuck Shop, which has also opened up a bigger place at 115 St Marks between Avenue A and First Avenue.  The place at 68 First street where I have gone seems more geared towards take away with  l2 maybe 3 small tables and a few stools at the bar to eat at. The staff are very friendly and generous and I really like how the kitchen staff and the front of house guy help each other out and both help with the service.  They also are very good about offering a taste of the homemade ginger beer or giving out small classic beef "party pies" to try.  In a way it's the sitting at the kitchen counter feel of the places that adds so much to it's appeal, try Aussie hospitality.

Next time you are in the East Village treat yourself to the "great Aussie bite" and stop into the Tuck Shop.

Focaccia Made with Wine

This is my cherry Focaccia from an older post - it is NOT the recipe below, just a visual for inspiration!

Focaccia is an easy quick yeast bread that is prefect for those nights when you want to have a homemade bread, but didn't have the forethought to start it the night before.  My favorite Focaccia tend to be thicker and spongier then the traditional version.  Over the years I have experimented with several recipes and even though most are fine I feel like I still haven't found the holy grail of Focaccia recipes.  Then yesterday I came across this on in the LA Times and was peaked by it's use of white wine.  I have not made it, but thought I would post it today and make it in the next couple of days and get back to you with my thoughts and some pictures.  If you have a Focaccia recipe you love and would care to share it I would love to see it.

This is adapted from "Focaccia" by Carol Field

Sponge

2 1/2 teaspoons (1 package) active dry yeast

2/3 cup warm water

1 cup (4.9 ounces, or 140 grams) unbleached flour

Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water in a large mixing bowl, stir it in and set aside until creamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in the flour and beat until smooth. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and set aside to rise until puffy and bubbling, about 30 minutes.

Dough and assembly

Sponge

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup dry white wine

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus about 2 tablespoons for drizzling

2 1/2 cups plus 2 teaspoons (12.7 ounces, or 360 grams) unbleached flour plus 1 to 2 tablespoons as needed

2 teaspoons coarse salt, plus ¾ to 1 teaspoon for sprinkling

1. To the sponge in the large bowl, add the water, wine and one-third cup olive oil, and stir to combine.

2. If mixing by hand, whisk in 1 cup of flour and 2 teaspoons salt, then beat in the rest of the flour until you have a dough that is very soft and very sticky. Knead on a lightly floured board with the help of a dough scraper and 1 to 2 additional tablespoons of flour until the dough comes together nicely and is silky and shiny, 6 to 8 minutes; it should remain soft but not wet.

If mixing with a mixer, using the paddle attachment beat together the water, wine, one-third cup olive oil and sponge. Add the flour and 2 teaspoons salt and mix until the dough comes together (it will be very soft). Change to the dough hook and knead for 3 minutes at medium speed, stopping once or twice to press the dough into a ball to aid in the kneading. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead by hand using the 1 to 2 additional tablespoons of flour to finish, 6 to 8 turns at most. It should remain soft but not wet.

3. Place the dough in a large, lightly oiled container, cover it tightly with plastic wrap, and set aside until doubled, about 1 hour.

4. The dough should be soft and full of air bubbles and should stretch easily. Press it into a well-oiled (17-by-12-inch) jelly roll pan, dimple it well with your fingertips or knuckles, cover with a towel and let rise until puffy and doubled, about 45 minutes. If the dough springs back before it is completely stretched, set it aside to "relax" the dough for a few minutes, then stretch again; the dough will stretch more easily after it is rested.

5. At least 30 minutes before you plan to bake, heat the oven to 425 degrees with a baking stone inside on the lowest shelf. Once again, dimple the top of the dough with your fingertips or knuckles, drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil so it pools in the little indentations and sprinkle with the remaining salt.

6. Place the pan directly on the stone and immediately reduce the temperature to 400 degrees. Place a shallow metal container of water on the floor of the oven to make steam.

7. Bake until the focaccia is golden (lift the bread to check underneath as well), 25 to 30 minutes. Immediately remove from the oven and cool briefly on a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Each of 12 servings: 231 calories; 5 grams protein; 32 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram fiber; 9 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 cholesterol; 0 sugar; 420 mg sodium.

Cutting the Curd

Anne Saxelby is a friend of mine who also happens to be the proprietor of my favorite cheese shop in NYC: Saxelby Cheese.  As luck would have it her shop is located a few blocks away from my home in the Essex Street market, regular readers here know I speak of Saxelby's often. 

Anyway in addition to selling local farmstead cheeses Anne also has a radio show on Heritage Radio (which is part of Roberta's out in Bushwick) called Cutting the Curd.  Being the technology troglodyte that I am I have yet to be able to figure out how to get pod casts to work on this here blog thingy, so I was very excited today to discover that there is a video of Anne and thought you'd like to see this person I have spoken so much about.  I'm sure after watching this you will want to find your way down to Essex street market to meet her in the flesh and buy some delicious local cheese


Cutting the Curd from Heritage Radio Network on Vimeo.

Fruit Loops Versus Fruit

Josh Viertel, President of Slow Foods USA submitted one of over a 140,000 questions that were submitted to be asked to president Obama on this You Tube face the nation Q & A.

Out of all the questions submitted only a few were asked but Josh's was one of them! Watch the video below and see what you think about the president's response.

If you aren't a member of Slow Foods you should for sure check out their site and consider joining.

Colbert on Taco Bell "Beef" Controversy

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
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Too funny.