Tartine Croissants

Haven’t actually made these yet, but writing down the recipe in the hopes that will change soon. Seems… complicated.

Makes 14 to 16 croissants (maybe try half or ¼, though its unclear how that would affect the dimensions during lamination/shaping).

Ingredients

Poolish

  • 200 g all-purpose flour
  • 200 g water (75°F/23.9°C)
  • 3 g active dry yeast

Leaven

  • 1 tbsp mature starter
  • 220 g all-purpose flour
  • 220 g water (80°F/26.7°C)

Croissants

Baker percentages in parentheses.

  • 450 g whole milk (45%)
  • 300 g leaven (30%)
  • 400 g poolish (40%)
  • 1 kg bread flour (100%)
  • 28 g salt (2.8%)
  • 85 g sugar (8.5%)
  • 10 g active dry yeast (1%)
  • 400 g cold unsalted butter (40%)
  • ½ cup all-purpose flour (for butter)

Egg Wash

  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1 tbsp heavy cream

Procedure

This is a multi-day affair. Make the leaven and poolish the night before. Mix at 8AM, bulk fermentation should be done by mid/late afternoon, lamination by the evening. Proof overnight, and bake the next morning.

Leaven

  1. Mix starter, flour and water in a bowl.
  2. Let ferment overnight at room temperature, it’s ready when it passes the float test (drop a bit in some water to see if it floats, if not, its a witch and you should burn it).
  3. If the leaven smells too vinegary, you can discard half, feed it 100g flour and 100g, and wait a couple of hours.

Poolish

  1. Mix flour, water, and yeast in a bowl.
  2. Let stand for 3 to 4 hours at a warm room temperature (75° to 80°F) or overnight in the refrigerator.

Mix

  1. Before mixing, remove milk from fridge and let it come to room temperature
  2. Pour milk into large mixing bowl
  3. Add the leaven and the poolish and stir to disperse.
  4. Add the flour, salt, sugar, and yeast. Using your hands, mix thoroughly until no bits of dry flour remain.
  5. Let the dough rest for 25 to 40 minutes.

Bulk Fermentation

  1. Fold dough onto itself and transfer to bulk fermentation container.
  2. Ferment at warm room temperature (75° to 80°F) for 1½ hours. Turn the dough every 30 minutes (4 sets of stretches and folds).
  3. Transfer the dough to a plastic bag, press to flatten it into a rectangle, and chill it in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours.

Butter Prep

  1. Cut cold butter into cubes.
  2. Pound cubes with rolling pin until they come together in a single cohesive mass. Incorporate flour as you pound. You want the butter to be the same consistency as the dough without making it too warm.
  3. Mold butter into 8”x12” rectangle, place on parchment paper and keep cool (not so chill that it becomes stiff again).

Lamination

Work quickly so the butter doesn’t warm up too much.

  1. Place dough on surface dusted with flour, and roll out a 12” x 20” rectangle oriented horizontally.
  2. Place butter in the center.
  3. Fold the right and left portions of the dough over the butter as if you are folding a letter.
  4. Turn the dough 90 degrees and roll it again into a 12” x 20” rectangle again.
  5. Repeat the letter fold, taking care to keep the edges of the rectangle even and unbroken. This is your first turn.
  6. Wrap dough in parchment paper and refrigerate for 1 hour. If you leave it too long, and the butter gets too hard, give it 15 extra minutes to warm up.
  7. Flour surface, roll out into a 12” x 20” horizontal rectangle and fold edges again similar to step 3 to complete the second turn.
  8. Refrigerate for another hour.
  9. Perform a third turn, you’ll have a 8” x 12” x 2” rectangle of dough, called a block.
  10. Wrap block in parchment paper or plastic wrap, place in the freezer, and chill for 1-2 hours. If finishing in the morning, leave in the freezer and transfer to fridge right before bed.

Shaping & Proof

  1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. Roll dough into a 18” x 24” x ½” rectangle.
  3. Cut in half along the long edge, so you have two 9” x 24” rectangles.
  4. Cut each rectangle into six to eight equal-sized triangles.
  5. Roll up each triangle, beginning at the widest side.
  6. Place croissants on baking sheets, spaced at least 1½” apart.
  7. Let them rise at warm room temperate for about 2 hours. They’ll be ready to bake when they’re 50% larger, firm but puffed up. If you have the shaped croissants in the evening and want to bake in the morning, wrap the sheets loosely in plastic wrap and stick them in the fridge.

Bake

  1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
  2. Stir egg yolks and cream together in a small bowl to make the egg wash.
  3. Brush the top of each croissant with egg wash
  4. Bake until croissants are deep golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Ari's Lecso

Ingredients

  • a generous amount of paprika (Hot & Sweet)
  • 1 spanish onion, halved and cut into thin half-moons
  • 3-4 peppers (Hungarian wax, bell, poblano etc.), cut into thin strips
  • 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 1 can of tomatoes
  • 12 oz cured sausage
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste if you have it

Procedure

  1. Saute onions in olive oil.
  2. Add peppers and garlic, cook for a few minutes.
  3. Add sausages, cook through.
  4. Add tomatoes, break them up with a spoon, simmer until saucy.
  5. Add paprika, salt and pepper
  6. Add tomato paste, its done when the peppers are very soft
  7. Adjust paprika, salt, and pepper to taste.

Enjoy over rice!

Foccacia

A condensed version of Perfect Loaf’s focaccia.

Ingredients

  • 345 g (70%) all-purpose flour
  • 148 g (30%) high protein bread flour, malted
  • 10 g (2%) extra virgin olive oil
  • 394 g (80%) water
  • 9 g (1.9%) salt
  • 94 g (19%) sourdough starter (100% hydration)
  • toppings at your discretion

Procedure

Mix (15 minutes)

  1. Add mature sourdough starter, flour, water (reserve 50g for mixing, later), and salt to a mixing bowl.
  2. Mix by hand until dough is cohesive mass in mixing bowl, then on the counter using sap/fold for 5 minutes.
  3. Put dough back in bowl and slowly add remaining water.
  4. Add olive oil, mix until oil is fully absorbed, 3-5 minutes.

Bulk Fermentation (4 hours)

  1. 2 hours in covered bowl, 4 sets of stretch and folds, 30 min apart.
  2. Transfer to heavily olive-oiled baking pan (9” x 13”). Cover. Every 30 minutes, gently stretch dough towards corners.

Proof (2 hours)

Proof covered dough at 76-78°F (24-25°C) for 2 hours. Can proof overnight in a airtight container in the fridge. Bring it to room temperature in the morning and resume.

Top & Bake

  1. Dimple dough all the way down with wet fingers.
  2. Drizzle 1-2 tbsps olive oil, add toppings, and sprinkle with herbs and salt.
  3. Bake at 450°F (232°C) for about 30 minutes (check color during last 5 mins).
  4. Let cool in the pan for a few mins, then transfer to cooling rack.

Biji's Stuffed Shimla Mirch

Ingredients

  • 2 green peppers, American ones are usually too sweet, I like to use poblanos
  • 2 potatoes
  • 1 medium onion diced
  • 1 tsp red chili powder
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp ground coriander seeds
  • 2 tsp amchoor

Procedure

  1. Peel potatoes, and cut into large chunks. Save the peels and roast them as chips with some oil and salt.
  2. Bring to boil in a pressure cooker, reduce heat to low after initial pressure, and cook for 10 minutes.
  3. While potatoes are boiling, cut the tops of the peppers, and scoop out the insides.
  4. Drain and mash the potatoes.
  5. Fry 1 small onion until lightening (does’t need to be too dark).
  6. Add red chili powder.
  7. Add potatoes.
  8. Add salt, coriander powder, and amchoor.
  9. Fry for 5 minutes.
  10. Add garam masala.
  11. Stuff peppers with the potato mixtures.
  12. Heat oil, and cook covered on medium low heat, turning to cook all sides. It’s done when the peppers are dark caramel.

Wholy Holy - A Mix from Mr Twin Sister

Tagore

I made a mix a couple of weeks ago, and forgot to post here for posterity. Think its the longest one ever? Had fun using MTS material woven into other peoples’ music.

Tracklist:

  • Mr Twin Sister - Resonant Arp
  • Carlton & “Family Man” Barrett - Ista Episode
  • The Clash - One More Dub
  • Mr Twin Sister - Torimas
  • Mr Twin Sister - Fantasy (8/15/15)
  • Mandingo Griot Society - Sounds From the Bush
  • Mr Twin Sister - Scan 3
  • Offering - Love in the Darkness
  • Round Five - Na Fe Throw Version
  • Jon Hassell/Brian Eno - Ba-Benzélé
  • Mr Twin Sister - Scan 1
  • Mr Twin Sister - Cheb Mami Für Immer
  • Pole - Streit
  • Normal Brain - Frottage (One Way)
  • Mr Twin Sister - One
  • Ndagga Rhythm Force - Ndiguel
  • Khaled - Chebba
  • Laid Back - White Horse (Extended Mix)
  • Villalobos - Morphunk
  • Key Tronics Ensemble - Calypso Of House (Paradise Version)
  • DV8 - This Beat is Over
  • Model 500 - Ocean to Ocean
  • Mr Twin Sister - Scan 2
  • Frantz Casséus - Suite No 1. Yanvalloux
  • Meredith Monk - Dawn
  • Aretha Franklin - Wholy Holy
  • Michael Jackson - Lady in My Life (उद्भव Edit)
  • João Donato - Me Deixa (MTS Dub)
  • 2Pac - Keep Your Head Up (DJ Screw)
  • Mr Twin Sister - Upright n Even Endless Broadcast
  • Jai Paul - Do You Love Her Now

Painting by Rabindranath Tagore

Cory's Baba Ganoush

Baba Ganoush

I subbed cilantro for the parsley, and also stirred in some too-strong chili pickle juices I’ve been trying to finish off. As usual, these quantities are rough, but you can adjust everything to taste at the end. Thanks to Cory and Ari for the recipe!

Ingredients

  • 2 eggplants
  • 4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp tahini
  • the juice of 2 lemons
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • parsley, diced

Procedure

  1. Cory uses an oven, I wanted to try it smoky, so I did it in a broiler on high. I have very little experience with broilers, and usually use a gas flame on a stove, but it was a huge savior on messiness. You’ll want to rotate it every 5-6 min so it cooks/chars evenly. Eggplant is done once its deflated and the skin is blackened, took me 20-30 min.
  2. Place eggplant whole in a bowl and cover with a plate and let it cool until its comfortable to handle. The covering traps the water which makes it much easier to peel.
  3. Peel off and discard all the skin, it can be annoying but you don’t want any skin in there.
  4. Chop the eggplant roughly, and strain for 10-15 minutes. You want as little moisture as possible, I waited until nothing dripped out when I pressed on my eggplant.
  5. While you’re waiting for the eggplant to strain, you can prep the remaining ingredients. As per Ari’s suggestion, I added a little salt to my garlic as I minced it to make it into a paste.
  6. Mix everything together, adjust levels to taste.pp

Bihari Gobi Matar

Ingredients

  • 1 head of cauliflower broken up into bite size pieces. Use the stalks!
  • ½ bag of frozen peas
  • 1 dried red chili (I didn’t have one and subbed in a fresh one)
  • mustard oil
  • cumin
  • turmeric
  • cilantro, chopped

Procedure

  1. Heat oil on medium
  2. Add chili, fry for a couple of minutes
  3. Add cumin, let it darken
  4. Reduce heat, add turmeric
  5. Add cauliflower, mixing well
  6. Cover and cook for 10 minutes
  7. Check cauliflower, if not soft yet, cover, and cook longer
  8. Remove lid, increase heat, and fry until cauliflower starts to darken, stirring regularly
  9. Add peas, cook for another 5-10 minutes
  10. Add cilantro before serving

Ghee

Ingredients

  • 4 sticks unsalted butter

Procedure

  1. Melt butter in a pan on low heat.
  2. Once melted, reduce heat until butter is bubbling every so slightly
  3. After 10-15 minutes, you should see a coating start to form on the top, you don’t need to skim this off
  4. Monitor every few minutes, you’ll know its ready when the coating starts to darken
  5. Turn off heat, and let it cool until its easy to handle, 10-15 minutes
  6. Strain into jar, the liquid should be a rich amber color. Increase cooking time next time if its too light.
  7. Ghee should set and lighten into a light yellow overnight

Yogurt/Dahi

Ingredients

  • whole milk
  • 1 tbsp live yogurt culture

Procedure

  1. Fill up the container you plan on storing the yogurt in with milk to measure.
  2. Boil the milk in the container if microwave-safe, or in a pot. It’s important that you bring the milk to a full boil, this helps the yogurt set.
  3. Cover, and let the milk cool until its lukewarm. You don’t want to kill the bacteria, but want it to be nice and warm for them.
  4. Stir in yogurt, don’t worry about any cream/malai, you can stir that in
  5. Leave the yogurt covered in the oven with the light on for 4-6 hours
  6. Move to fridge after it thickens