Chef and World Traveller and Bread Baker, Oh My!

I met Carolyn Hough many years ago when she moved to Summit with her husband and three kids.  My mother-in law in Chicago was friendly with her mom and she suggested I  give her a big Summit welcome.  

With 6 kids between us, we just couldn't find any time to meet and weeks turned into months before we finally sat down for a cup of coffee.  I remember walking into her house, slightly harried, and feeling guilty that she wasn't exactly new to Summit any more.  But, its funny how friendships start and to my complete surprise we became kindred spirits over, you guessed it, our passion for cooking.

It all started with the bread that was baking when I walked into her house that fateful day.  I'd never experienced that familiar bakery smell in someone's home and she had a confident casualness  as she pulled the hulking bread out of the oven and cut into it. We were literally "breaking bread" and it was so simple and perfect, I was desperate to get to know my new friend and find out her story.  

Turns out she'd wanted to cook since she was five years old.   Jump ahead to a year in Italy her senior year in college  which led her to study at The Culinary Institute of America.  From then on she became a professional chef working in some of the best restaurants in America and England.  But, once her twins were born, she found herself at home with a lot of free time.  Therin lies her journey in bread baking.

"Bread baking was never part of my experience in restaurants, so I taught myself.  I made starter from grapes and it creates a natural sourdough so I can bake with or without yeast.  The starter is natural yeast.  I feed the starter every day and bake bread every day.  It can be manipulated in different ways to make different bread."

Carolyn continued to bake bread with homemade starter when she and her family moved to Melbourne, Australia for six years.  Melbourne is known to be the culinary backbone of Australia.  Living there along with lots of travel in that part of the world gave her a whole new perspective on food and cooking.

So now its been a few years that I've had my friend back in Summit.   She's still feeding that same starter and baking bread every day (thankfully) but, interestingly her global perspective on food has refocused her to go local.  

"I'm developing a website, www.panetica.com that's all about food that can be found locally and how it can be cooked.  I love the name, which is latin, "pan" meaning all and bread and an "etica" meaning ethical.  Together they sound to me like a name for a food emporium. It's about whole, pure, good ingredients and the recipes that go with them. I'm working with three farmers in upstate New York and I'm going to write about what they're growing."

Carolyn also plans to sell her bread through her website.  In the meantime, she shops at farmers markets  all over including Summit and Union Square in NYC, looking for inspiration from whatever's in season.  Her recipes below were inspired by the recent offerings this past Sunday.  From the bottom of my big, hungry heart I am thrilled to say, glad your settling in and I hope you stay for a while.

Summer Market Salad

Shallot, chopped finely, 1 tablespoon
Dijon mustard, 1 teaspoon
Fig- infused Balsamic vinegar, 1 tablespoon
Extra-virgin Olive Oil, 3 tablespoons

Arugula, 3 large handfuls
Parsley, 1 large handful, stems removed
Beets, roasted and lightly pickled (recipe follows), 3 each
Shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, 1 handful
Sugar snap peas, blanched and refreshed, 1 handful

Marcona almonds, skin on if possible, 1/2 cup
Manchego cheese, 3 ounces, shaved

Place shallots, mustard, vinegar and oil in a glass jar with lid. Shake to combine and set aside. In a bowl large enough to toss all of the ingredients, combine the arugula, parsley, beets, mushrooms, and snap peas. Drizzle with the vinaigrette, add the almonds and the cheese, and toss again lightly. This salad is great alone for lunch with some crusty sourdough bread, or would work really well with either grilled steak or roasted chicken for dinner.

Pickled Beets

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Wash beets and remove greens. Place beets in shallow roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil and the juice of 1 orange. Sprinkle with sea salt and roast in oven until just slightly soft to the touch, about 25 minutes. While beets are roasting, prepare brine for pickling. In a container that can hold all of the beets, combine 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup white wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon caster sugar and 1 tablespoon kosher or rock salt. Shake to dissolve sugar and salt and put aside until beets are ready. Remove beets from oven, and while still warm, run under cool water and remove skin. Cut into quarters and put them straight into brine. Let the beets pickle for at least twenty minutes, or as long as overnight. Pickled beets will last for 5-7 days in the refrigerator.

Overnight Bread

1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 5/8 cups cool water
5 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon sea salt

Combine all ingredients in electric mixer. Turn mixer on to low to combine, and mix until all is combined and looks "stringy" in the bowl. Gather into a ball with your hands and place in a large bowl rubbed with a little olive oil. Cover with plastic and leave to rise for 8-10 hours. Turn it out on the counter and knead a few times with your hands. Place the loaf on a tray lined with parchment and cover with a tea towel; let sit for a further hour and a half. Heat oven to 485 degrees. Bake bread until it sounds hollow when tapped and is nicely browned, about 40-45 minutes. Remove from oven and try not to slice into it until the crust has softened slightly and is no longer hot to the touch.

Summit Patch food columnist, Amy Currie, a mother of three and teacher at the   Kings Cooking Studio in Short Hills, is the author of Memoirs of a Home Cook, Every Great Recipe Has a Story and her latest cookbook, Secrets of a Home Cook. You can e-mail her at summitpatchdish@gmail.com. Check back every Thursday for the latest installment of Summit Dish.

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