Happy Bastille Day: Breakfast

Happy Bastille Day, everyone. I'm not one to celebrate national holidays that belong to other countries, but given that this is a food blog and France is the culinary mecca of our world, I thought it only appropriate to honor the storming of the Bastille and the excessive use of the guillotine by planning a French Cuisine-themed menu. That is a menu to cover the entire day.

Let's start with breakfast:

I finally bought My dad bought me a cast iron set (like a dutch oven, with a deeper pot on the bottom and a lid that is also a larger, shallower pot) on the drive back home from Chesapeake, at a Cracker Barrel of all places. But it was real cast iron for an unreal price and it was too good not to buy. (My dad gave himself some cast iron gifts, as well, so I didn't feel too guilty). For some reasons why you need cast iron, read here.

The first thing  I cooked was a loaf of bread, followed by calzones. Then I thought to myself, this shallow pan would be perfect for making crepes. so I woke up early, mixed together a batter, washed some fruit, and made sure Mike woke up in time for his first Bastille Day meal of the day.

Needless to say, he made it.

Basic Crepe Batter

As you know, the foundation of many of my basic recipes are based on the ratios found in Michael Ruhlman's book, Ratio. This way I don't have to search for a recipe every time I want to cook something. Rather, the basic ratio is memorized and I can add flavor and seasoning as I see fit. 

The ratio for a crepe batter is 2:2:1, liquid:egg:flour. (This is where a kitchen scale comes in handy, but it's not essential, just more accurate and is better than having measuring cups and bowls dispersed in a tiny kitchen, or any kitchen for that matter.) If you want 3 medium size crepes, I suggest 2 eggs (an egg is ~2 oz, 1 oz yolk, 1 oz white), 4 oz liquid (I used water, you can use milk as well), and 2 oz flour (I used all purpose, whole wheat flour would be nice, too). It is a very thin batter, thinner than pancake batter. To give it more flavor, add a teaspoon of vanilla, as well as a dash of cinnamon and/or nutmeg.

I then let it soak for 30 minutes to saturate the flour with the liquid, give it one more stir, heat up the cast iron pan over medium heat, melt some butter, then make some crepes. 

I used a measuring spoon to pour the batter over the hot griddle, starting in the center and then slowing moving out in a circle. Let the crepes firm up before flipping over, that way you don't have to worry about batter dripping everywhere and you get a nice brown color on the crepe.

We filled our crepes with fresh blackberries and blueberries and kiwi, topped with homemade whipped cream and blueberry preserves that I made last night. Next time the plan is sliced strawberries and chocolate. Hopefully I'll remember to make a pot of French Roast coffee and then it will really be on.

The third crepe was wrapped up for Mike to take to work, along with some cheese and blueberries. Whether or not he wraps the cheese or the blueberries in the crepe is beyond my power, but that is about as French as he is going to get during lunch.

Looking forward to dinner, though. I'm planning a multi-course affair. And for a little teaser, some of the prep work I did for dinner this morning.

Leeks

Make-Your-Own Pizza.... Dough

I finally picked up a copy of Ratio by Michael Ruhlman, as I'm sure I've mentioned many times at this point. He focuses for a large part on bread and dough ratios as they are some of the most dynamic of all the cooking ratios. According to Ruhlman, the basic bread dough is 5 parts flour : 3 parts water, plus a pinch of yeast and from there the magic begins; you can make an olive-walnut dough, or a rosemary-garlic dough, or a chocolate-cherry dough. The point of ratios is to provide a framework, and from there flavor it however you want. I've tried to present my recipes in the same sense, showing you what I do, but providing alternatives and emphasizing that it can be amended according to personal tastes.

Anyways, I'm also a big pizza/calzone person. They are quick and easy to make and always so satisfying. Part of the ease of pizza/calzone is the ability to walk into Trader Joe's and buy ready made pizza dough for $0.99, enough to yield 4 servings between Mike and myself. However, Ruhlman has shown that pizza dough is so simple to make that even $0.99 for a pound of dough may not be the best savings you can get. Mixing the dough by hand is therapeutic and allows you to invest even more into a meal that otherwise would not be that special. So, here is a dough recipe. It should yield enough for a medium pie or for 3-4 calzones, depending on how large you shape them.

Ingredients:
20 oz flour
12 oz water
1 pinch of yeast (if it is active dry yeast, dissolve in the water before adding to the flour)
1 dash olive oil
1 t salt

Method:
(if you have a scale, this would be the best method, otherwise a cup of flour is about 4-6 oz)
Mix together all of the ingredients until it is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.

Allow the dough to rise to about twice it size sitting in a bowl on the counter at room temperature.

Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead it to get rid of excess gas and redistribute the yeast, then let rest for 10-15 minutes.

If not baking immediately, refrigerate. It can also be frozen for 3-5 months.