Crispy on the outside, soft and buttery on the inside, buttermilk biscuits are in many ways similar to croissants, only much quicker and more practical to make at home! The layered texture is the result of repeated stacking and rolling (steps 8 and 9 in the following recipe).
Category: Recipes
Not only can you make bagels at home; you can make your own lox too! In America, lox is synonymous with smoked salmon, but lox is actually just salt-cured salmon, which is easy to do in your fridge, no fancy equipment required.
Once you master the simple and ancient process of nixtamalization, it’s easy to whip up your own tacos, memelas (see recipe below!) sopes, tamales, or pozole. Masa (nixtamalized corn) is the base preparation for all your Mexican and central American favorites. The Nixtamalization process softens the corn and makes b vitamins (Niacin)nutritionally available. Warning, once you have the real deal, there’s no going back to the industrialized imitations found all over!
Challah is an ancient bread with sacred origins in the Jewish culture. Enriched with honey or sugar, and often topped with sesame or poppy seeds, this style of bread has become popular worldwide, inside and outside the Jewish community. Whether you’re serving challah with a sprinkling of salt as part of the Sabbath, or whipping up some french toast over the weekend, there are endless ways to prepare it. It makes fantastic sandwiches or little toast points with fancy toppings for a brunch – a great bread to experiment with! You can even add raisins or chocolate and spices for an excellent babka.
This type of roll was popularized by Italian American immigrants, who filled them with Italian-style cured meats, cheese and pickled vegetable antipasti (like giardinera). The original “Italian” sub inspired many variations that are now famous in their own right, like the Philly Cheesesteak (recipe below!). These rolls contain just enough oil and sugar to make the crust thinner and softer than a baguette or other “straight’ dough (dough without sugar or oil), but not as soft as a hamburger bun or sandwich loaf. They freeze well, so go ahead and make big batch to keep on hand for when you need a quick sandwich fix
French bread is the ultimate juxtaposition of refinement and simplicity – just fresh ground flour, water, salt, and yeast. This recipe yields a moist, supple crumb and crackling, caramelized crust. While making bread can challenge home bakers to no end (part of the fun!), the purpose of our “cool control” technique is to eliminate heartbreak and make your baking endeavors easy and delicious.
With the refreshing taste of yogurt, and the subtle tang of citrus and herbs, Tzatziki is a simple but stunning compliment to hummus and pita bread, as a topping for grilled meats and vegetables, and a dip for raw veggies.
Before developing my recipe and process for making bagels at my bakery, I toured the famous bagel houses of New York and Montreal, each with their own unique style. This recipe is akin to the New York style, with a dense, chewy crumb and toothsome crust.
Char Siu is a celebrated Cantonese dish made of honey-glazed roast pork, marinated in red rice fermented tofu, hoisin sauce, five spice, soy sauce and honey. In the fast food industry, red rice tofu is often replaced with red food coloring, but the traditional flavors are of course far superior (and non toxic). Many cuts of pork can be used, although I recommend pork butt or shoulder.
For years, I thought that hummus wasn’t hummus without chickpeas, then I learned that in some parts of the middle east and north Africa, hummus is traditionally made with fava beans – an entirely different species of bean altogether. My eyes opened to the wider world of hummus, I began to experiment with our own local heirloom beans, and the results did not disappoint!