It was Dufour puff pastry. Very pricey but worth it!
Thank you kindly!
Looks great - was it good?
thanks
where do you live?
Ovens are rarity in some countries
My mom was one of the best cook I have known
When she was younger, and lived in a remote village in the Philippines, she had a bakery with a huge oven made out of (cement, clay?). It was really big, dome shaped. I almost I would say 20 ’ by. 20’. That oven served the whole village. People would buy bread and cookies from us. They walk miles anid miles barefoot for them. On Wednesday, market day, it was very busy. The oven was wood fired. Alas, pizza was unknown but as appreciation to the natives for their loyalty to us, (of course there were no other bakery that I know of) during Fiestas to celebrate Saints, birthdays, weddings etc, the natives can bring chicken, pig ( beef was not used as cows were for labor. My dad told me that once they tried to butcher. cow, and the cow had tears. So, as far as. he can remember, nobody ever butcher cows. I donate remember goat being roasted ether ).and they would go in the oven to be roasted free of charge since the oven was almost always fired. The bread were called pan de sal ( small crusty loaf, and pan de lemon for soft rolls) . Soon after, my mother sold the bakery, left for the city 7 hours away by train to give us kids an education in Chinese . I was about 6 years old by then. I arrived in the US in 1964, and within a year, I saved enough money for a small countertop oven . I bought it , sent it thru postal system to Mr Ed Mattos, ( he was on sabbatical from Julliard Music School, to serve as cultural attache for the US Embassy. After his stint at the Embassy, he was in charge of Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in DC. Ed was responsible for discovering my sister who came as a Fulbright student 5 months after I arrived in '65. He felt the embassy might think that it was a bribe for giving my sister that chance to study in the US. I met him a few times when my sister was waiting for school term to start, and had played as guest for the Embassy for different functions. Of course, his anger was just briefly understanding how I truly wanted to give my mother a gift but not knowing how it can be sent for an affordable price and also not to get stolen. Sadly, my mother passed away before she received her oven.
That is a story very close to my heard thwysg. My mother would h ave loved that oven. nowadays, there are plenty of countertop ovens and sending it overseas would not be a big problem! Despite the fact I own 2 commercial ovens, I bought a Wolf gourmet countertop oven. I love that small oven and use it most of the time. I hardly use my commercial ovens.
Voting for this fall’s Cuisine of the Quarter is up! Fall 2019 (Oct-Dec) Cuisine of the Quarter - VOTING
You know you’ve hit “the sweet spot” when the Buttah! glistens on the bread!
Singapore.
Me not owning an oven over here is more about the space restrictions in my long and narrow kitchen. It’s only good for one person, countertop is barely 2m long - stovetop and sink took up more than two-thirds of it. Not so much about monetary issues. The kitchen came with the apartment and we didn’t do any renovation works when we got the keys. But it’s on my wishlist for the new apartment few years down the road. Bigger kitchen and lots of space to work with and walk around. Hoping to do some baking and roasting!
this is not big. To wait a few. years down the road is to waste a few. years of. your life to doing what y ou want. The oven can still be used when. you move.
I enjoy it - have made it a lot since I first tried the recipe. With the caveat that I increase all aromatics and spices.
I feel like this is true just about every time I “follow” a recipe.
Phenomenal looking crab !!!
Friday … 27th …
Iberian Ham Salad and Choucroute … Served with a lovely Cava … 25 Centigrade Degrees here and still quite warm …
That all looks great!
Thank you very much for the compliment.
Yes, it was quite wonderful. Had not eaten it in quite a long time, and so I decided a few days to prepare it. We had a lovely time relaxing on our terrace and planning our weekend.
Have a nice weekend …
Lately, I’ve been more distracted than usual, but I somehow caught that little tidbit. Spring onion and I just brought back a jar. I live within a 2 min walk of a relatively quiet and small TJ’s but I sometimes get blinders when I’m blowing through for our usual staples and miss new products. Thank you! I’m planning on jazzing up our Frank Pepe’s clam pizza and American chop suey* leftovers with this stuff and will try to report back.
*A discussion with friends this past Sunday revealed that B grew up calling this dish “Johnny Marzetti”. However, the 2 dishes are completely different, at least in my estimation. I love food history/etymology!
Thanks for sharing that fascinating family history. Honestly, you totally lost me in the 2nd half of your post, but the 1st half about your mom is a wonderful memory.
True for me as well, but I really didn’t expect to for an Ottolenghi recipe.
I often wonder whether it’s worth recommending a recipe if I have to completely overhaul the flavor profile. There’s a curry soup on Epi that’s like that - pretty tasteless unless you doctor it significantly with lots more aromatics and spices, but a simple method and easy to doctor.
I have a decent but not crazy tolerance for spice (despite heritage) - I dig down for the solids, which are crunchy and delicious, and have a slight kick but not too much. Good thing it’s not salted enough, it’s the only thing that’s keeping me from eating the stuff with a spoon