Chef's Blog, Chef's Notes Plus

Savory Pies for Any Time of Day

Pies typically fall into one of three categories: fruit, cream, and custard. But there is one often-overlooked member of our pie family that deserves more attention than it gets. Savory pies! Pies can be filled with nearly any vegetable, cheese, or other savory ingredient, though the most familiar version is […]

Chef's Notes Plus, Family Fun

Say “I Love You” with Chocolate

We don’t know about you, but when we think about Valentine’s Day, we think chocolate! Chocolate candies, chocolate cookies, chocolate brownies. Hm. Cookies and brownies… If one is great, how good would they be combined!? This Valentine’s Day, if you want to bake something for a special person – maybe […]

Chef's Blog, Chef's Notes Plus

Scaling Baking Recipes Up and Down

Doubling or tripling recipes or cutting them in half successfully requires more than simple multiplication. Recipes for baked goods rely upon a number of “sensitive” ingredients, such as leaveners, flavorings, seasonings, and thickeners. These ingredients don’t scale up or down directly in proportion with other ingredients. If you are planning […]

Main Dishes

Semolina Pizza with Fresh Herbs and Goat Cheese

Makes two 12-inch pizzas Using a baking stone or tiles will help approximate the intense heat of a woodfired pizza oven, resulting in a better pizza crust. Use a baker’s peel to transfer the prepared pizza to the stone. If you don’t have a peel, you can substitute a baking […]

Desserts, Pies and Tarts

Shoo-Fly Pie

Makes one 9-inch pie This pie is made with alternating layers of streusel-like crumbs and molasses filling, resulting in a cakelike texture with a base of gooey and flavorful molasses. It is a type of traditional Amish pie that is called “wet bottom,” for the layer of molasses that settles […]

Desserts

Shortbread Tartlet Shells

This recipe makes a lot of tart shells, and while you can halve the recipe, this tender and buttery dough freezes incredibly well. With just a quick trip to the oven, they are a vehicle for any filling, either homemade or prepared, making them an easy last-minute dessert option you’ll […]

Chef's Notes Plus

Simple Syrup

Keeping a jar of simple syrup in your pantry may seem like a waste of space, but once you have it, you’ll reach for it more than you think. And sure, you can buy a bottle of prepared simple syrup for many dollars, but it’s sort of absurdly easy and […]

Chef's Notes Plus

Simply Put: Dutch-Process Cocoa Powder

“1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder” is a phrase that strikes to the core of any baker who hasn’t yet spent hours of their time figuring out what that means. Read on for a possibly oversimplified but perfectly digestible guide to cocoa powder for your everyday baking needs. 1. There are […]

Appetizers, Hors D’oeuvre, and Snacks

Soft Pretzels

Makes 4 large pretzels Big pretzels are easier to shape, but if you would like more than 4 big pretzels, you can make eight that are half-as-big. The resting and baking times will be shorter, so just keep an eye on them. Ingredients Dough 2 cups bread flour 1 1/2 […]

Chef's Notes Plus

Sourdough Starters: 101

The process of making sourdough bread begins with creation of a sour, a culture of microorganisms that are fed and cultivated to increase their quantity. This sour is then used to ferment the final bread dough. To fully understand the process of sourdough baking, it is important to examine each […]