Focaccia with Tomatoes & Oregano; Plus, My First Day Back to School as a Baking & Pastry Arts Student!

So, why would a perfectly sane(ish) grown woman with a graduate degree in literature and a freelance writing career decide to take on unpaid work and go back to school to learn an entirely new trade, possibly embarrassing or even humiliating herself in the process?

That is an extremely good question.  I was asking myself that very thing this morning as I was pulling on the most unflattering pair of checkered chef pants you have ever seen and tying my hideous-yet-sensible black nun-like kitchen shoes,  part of my required uniform as a brand-new culinary student in the baking and pastry arts program at a local, respected-yet-affordable school that I'll call U of Trix. 

And what does all this have to do with focaccia?

You see, yesterday,  as I was making sure my chef's coat and apron were pressed, gathering together notebooks, pens, Sharpies, my knife kit, text books, and going over all of my course requirement lists and checking them twice, I had something of a panic attack: "What was I thinking signing up for this? I have no idea what I'm doing! I do not want to be in a kitchen full of teenagers! I'll feel old! I AM old!" And so on.

I realized that what I really needed to do was try to remember why I had felt compelled to embark upon this mad path in the first place. I needed to bake some bread.

When you decide to bake bread at 4 in the afternoon your options are somewhat limited, so I decided on focaccia. It turned out to be the perfect choice; after all, this was the first real bread I ever made.

As soon as I started to mix the ingredients, I felt myself begin to relax.  (The glass of wine didn't hurt either.) That yeasty smell, the feel of the dough, the way my spinning brain began to slow down and focus ... these were the things about baking I had fallen in love with right from the start.  I felt my courage returning. 

And guess what? I needn't have been so worried. I was over prepared for class, a fairly usual state of affairs in my life,  thanks to my OCD. The whole age thing didn't bother me like I thought it would.  I mean, if being that young means being simultaneously bored, terrified, and extremely awkward, as so many of my fellow students appeared to be, then I'm glad to be past all of that. Besides, there's one guy in there who I swear must be at least 5 years older than I am. What a grandpa!

After listening to a lecture about baking processes, we did some straightforward leavening experiments in the kitchen, so I didn't even have a chance to make a fool of myself. (There will be plenty of time for that later, when we do macarons.) Of course I plan to faithfully record my (modest) successes and inevitable kitchen failures right here.

But what about the focaccia, you ask? What's the recipe? Is this a food blog or isn't it?  I used the exact same recipe I did the first time I made it, only I changed the topping based on what I had: this time it was tomatoes, garlic, black olives, kosher salt, and oregano.

I was certainly tempting fate - if my bread had come out badly, I would have been a complete wreck for class! Who knows? Maybe I would have stayed home with my head under the covers. But fate decided otherwise, and it came out beautifully. Whew.

I know that doing something professionally is a far cry from doing it as a hobby, and I realize that I'm running the risk, however small,  of ruining something I love to do.  But that's a risk I'm willing to take. No, working in a frenzied kitchen is not my long-term goal, though I'd certainly give it a shot. I know that many chefs crave the adrenaline rush that comes with being impossibly, insanely slamming busy, but I most definitely do not. Is there a little Tasty Trix bakeshop in my future? Maybe.  Half the fun is not knowing what the future holds. 

Stay tuned!

Laganophake: Roman Lentil & Red Wine Stew

If your entire idea of ancient Roman food and eating habits was formed by Caligula, then this healthy, hearty, and downright sensible lentil stew will certainly challenge that assumption.  And if you're thinking, "Laganophake? That sounds Greek. Who is she kidding with this Roman stuff?"  you get a gold star! Although this is a traditional Roman dish, its origins are Greek.

But wherever it comes from, this lentil stew has definitely withstood the test of time. The fragrant spices, wine, and onions come together to lend a subtle sweetness to the earthy flavor of the lentils; somehow it tastes simultaneously of the past and present.

Libum: Ancient Roman Cheese Bread

Let's see, my whole post-holiday "I'm not gonna eat any carbs for awhile" thing lasted, oh, what?  ... Two days? Two-and-half, if I'm being generous. Sigh.

In my defense,  there are extenuating circumstances. You see, Poppa Trix went and bought me a whole mess of cookbooks, most of which include irresistible bread recipes, like this one for libum, an ancient Roman cheese bread, from Mark Grant's Roman Cookery. And as long as I'm passing around some blame for my carb-o-mania, I might as well include The Winter Guest, a Madrid-based blog chock full of beautiful breads and starchy sundries that I absolutely covet. This was the site that introduced me to Roman Cookery, via a post about staititai, a scrumptious honey and sesame pizza.

Simple, Succulent, Spicy: Shrimp in a Chipotle, Lime, & Cilantro "Remoulade"

Look at me, getting all fancy with my plating! But who am I kidding? Dinner actually looked more like this:

Now that's more like it. 

That baked corn tortilla in the above photo notwithstanding, I am going pretty light on the carbs for the next couple of weeks.  Don't worry, I haven't gone all Atkins on you! Shudder. It's just a temporary  post-holiday measure - I could never live without my beautiful breads, savory pies, or pillow-y pastas for too terribly long.

That said, I didn't miss a thing with this meal. The shrimp were tangy, spicy, and juicy mouthfuls, and the guac - just mashed up avocado with a bit of lime juice, salt and pepper - was a fresh, filling, and satisfying companion to my zesty little camarones.

Plain, Stuffed, and Stacked Sky-High: Kids, It's Omelette Party Time!

"Welcome to the Omelette Show!"

I have become a bit ... single-minded lately. Some might even say obsessed. All I want to do is make -  and eat - omelettes. Not exactly post-holiday diet food, but at least they're no-carb, right?

It's all Poppa Trix's fault. He just couldn't bear to be predictable and get me Julie & Julia for Christmas, oh no. It's just as well, really.  I'll see it eventually, but I have absolutely no doubt that the Julie character's incessant whining is going to irritate me to no end.  So instead he got me something that's (in my opinion) far superior: a collection of The French Chef, Child's groundbreaking PBS cooking show. 

For Top Chef Fans: My Late December Lunch at Volt

Happy belated New Year everyone! (Did you miss me?)

Welcome to my first post since the 12 Days of Feasting ended two weeks ago.  Honestly, I think it's taken me this long to recover from posting every day, not to mention cooking (and eating!) all those medieval meals. ...  Let's just say I still have a lot of bread pudding, slices of Ember Day tart, and egg nog to work off.

For those of you following along at home, in my last post I promised to share the deets of my  late December lunch at Volt.  Top Chef fans will recognize Volt as the restaurant of finalist and first runner-up Bryan Voltaggio,  brother of winner Michael Voltaggio. If you don't watch the show, there's a good chance you've never heard of the place, unless you happen to live in Frederick or the Baltimore/DC metro area. That's too bad: The vibe at Volt is definitely more urban than the Western Maryland location would lead you to expect, and I'd happily drive double the hour-plus it takes me to get there to enjoy both the (mostly) spot-on food and the impeccable, knowledgeable service.

A Baker's Dozen: A Very Brief Wrap-Up, and a Very Big Thank You on the Unofficial 13th (and last!) Day of the 12 Days of Feasting

Fools make feasts, and wise men eat them.

Benjamin Franklin

I know, I know: Enough with the feasting already, right?  I thought I was finished with this whole  12 Days of Medieval Feasting thing too, but much like Michael Corleone in the Godfather III ... they just keep pulling me back in.

Day 12: Caudell, Medieval Egg Nog

A man cannot make him laugh - but that's no marvel; he drinks no wine.

Shakespeare, Henry IV, part 2

It's finally here - the last day of the 12 Days of Medieval Feasting.  And what better way to end than with a fond farewell toast over a warm cup of medieval eggnog? 

To be honest, I can't remember where I saw this drink referred to as the medieval version of eggnog (though I am certain I did); it's actually frothy white wine or ale thickened with egg yolks, sugar, and saffron.  The first time I made it, I didn't get the comparison at all. For one thing, I hardly used any sugar  because I don't generally prefer sweet alcoholic beverages.  But the result, to me, tasted of strong hot wine and eggs, kind of like spiked egg beaters - not exactly the stuff that pleasant holiday memories are made of, if you ask me.

Day 11: Payne Foundow, Medieval Bread Pudding

Take bred; frye hit in grece or yn oyle.

Put hit in rede wyne & gryne hit with reysons, & draw hit.

Claryfye honye with gleyr of eyron & watyr; scome hit clene & put hit to that othir.

Do therto clovys, macez, & gynger mynced & good poudyr & salt.

Loke hit be stondyng, & floresch hit with annise in confite.

from An Ordinance of Pottage, fifteenth century culinary recipes

Even though I am not generally a big dessert person, I do have a soft spot in my heart for bread pudding, in particular Creole bread pudding souffle with whiskey sauce. After all, that's what Poppa Trix and I had for our first anniversary lunch at Commander's Palace in New Orleans this past June, a dish he subsequently recreated  (sans the souffle part) for my birthday. So when I came across this fifteenth-century recipe for medieval bread pudding - payne foundow - I was naturally curious to try it.

Day 10: Fish in Erbage, Whole Snapper Stuffed with Oysters & Herbs in a Red Wine Butter Sauce

He hath eaten me out of house and home; he hath put all my substance into that fat belly of his.

Shakespeare, Henry IV Part I

I have a confession to make: This is likely not the most perfectly historically accurate dish I have presented during the 12 Days of Medieval Feasting.  For one thing, the fish is supposed to be a pike, a popular fish in the Middle Ages, not a red snapper, but a whole pike was nowhere to be found.

The recipe itself is from Eating Like a King: A History of Royal Recipes, by Michelle Brown. The author says that pyke in erbage was served at the coronation feast of Queen Katherine, wife of Henry V, in 1419. That much I've confirmed - the dish was served, in fact, as a first course along with (among other things) "trought," "crabbys," and "tartys."