Michel Richard’s Oeufs Sur le Plat – Apricot Puff Pastries – courtesy Baking with Julia
Back in March of 2012, I named my blog Kitchen-Inspirational. This was for a number of reasons. Among them, it tended to be the best catch-all name I could come up with at the time, having quickly abandoned a French phrase that I thought, although highly suitable, sounded just a tad pretentious and honestly, I didn’t think my depth of knowledge of French food, gardens and culture warranted me representing myself as such. So, onto something slightly more basic yet meaningful. Somehow I wanted to capture the degree to which I am inspired in the kitchen, in the garden, in and around the world by past and present – teachers, creators, and others given over to inspiring their protégés. For all I’ve done and dreamt, I suppose I’ll always consider myself a novice and a protégé – and I’m ok with that – I like the idea of “lifelong student”.
This leads me to the question that began the thread for this particular post. Media has been a huge emotional drain on so many of us for the past year as we have been dragged, kicking and screaming through this election cycle. I for one, will be extremely happy when it is all done and we can return to some semblance of normalcy, if that is at all possible after this degree of wreckage and degradation. I, at least hope the overload of a particular genre of “content” will dissipate and we can begin to focus on more productive pursuits……
So, in this particular vein, I ask myself……when and how often is watching tv a passive vs an inspirational experience? That’s quite the broad question and can be approached from just as many topics as you can count coming to you on what once was deemed the “boob tube”. For those of you born after about 1970, yes, tvs have not always been flat-screened – they actually had small and large tubes in them that accounted for their somewhat conical shape and substantive bulk from front to back. (there was a reason for that term, “boob tube” coming to the surface, you know, but I digress now.)
Often, I see people sit in front of the tv watching mind-numbing program after program. I know kids who to this day watch re-runs of the O.C. I do get that tv can be a sedative or better yet, a way to decompress from the demands of your daily demands of life. For the most part, I like tv that you learn something from – mostly travel, history, food culture, art and music. For example, I just finished watching Burt Wolff’s show on Sienna and Assisi and now my heart has a pin stuck right there. Perhaps right behind Ravenna…..
Let me not digress too far here. Last night I happened to catch a couple of Anthony Bourdain shows and one Baking with Julia and the 3 shows got me to thinking – you know those threads that begin and string along, in this case, throughout the night.
photo courtesy Baking with Julia
First, I watched Michel Richard make puff pastry with Julia. I was lucky enough to meet Michel Richard a few years ago at the Newport Food and Wine Festival. We chatted and he signed and drew a cartoon for me in my book. It was a nostalgic show for me then, last night. As I watched Michel prepare his puff pastry, I was intrigued at how he wasn’t bothered by little peaks of butter as he did his folds. I thought back to Pastry School when we were being graded on the numerous batches we made and how that would have been a no-no. But, I said to myself, when this was filmed he said he had been making puff pastry for 35 years – so I guess he knows what he’s doing. On he went and presented to Julia his Tourte Milanese and his Oeufs sur le Plat, Apricot Breakfast Pastries. Especially since I seem to be on some sort of apricot binge lately, my mouth was watering.
I confess to a long-time crush on Eric Ripert (mostly because of his intoxicating accent)
Later, I watched Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert eat their way through the Sichuan cuisine. There I curiously watched Eric Ripert break a sweat over Sichuan chiles while Anthony smirked and scoffed at him and later, his guest, Fuchsia Dunlop, an expert on the cuisine, proclaimed that in Western culture there is no example of foods where we eat them only for texture – I’m paraphrasing here obviously.
Perhaps, I said to myself, I did not hear her correctly? I immediately took exception to that comment and wondered where the examples of Croissant and for that matter, potato chips had disappeared into her memory………. I’ll be the first one to admit that Croissants and especially potato chips weren’t necessarily comparable to the textural delicacies they were sampling, but in the end, I remained with my opinion that that was indeed an odd statement to make in such blanket form as regards Western cuisine. I will have to go back and re-watch this episode and see if I misunderstood her – but, I don’t think I did.
Well anyway, the aftermath of these shows last night combined with the lovely crisp morning today left me with a yearning for a prize-worthy cinnamon croissant or danish pastry – actually most poignantly, the long-coveted Morning Bun. Along with Michel Richard’s luscious-looking Oeufs I was inspired by the discussion among the 3 chefs, but particularly by Fuchsia Dunlop on the importance of textural sensation on the palate. Thoughts of crunchy, ethereal dough followed by swoon-worthy but delicate flavor were too much for me to resist – so much for willpower….
What is a Morning Bun exactly? For those of you holding strictly to nomenclatural standards (I’m obviously going to take liberties here), according to thekitchn:
a Morning Bun courtesy thekitchn
“Morning buns are made with croissant dough that’s light, flaky, and extremely buttery, rather than a chewier, more bread-like dough. They are sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, occasionally orange zest, and peel apart in delicate, fluffy layers.” Hmmmm, so while I actually dreamt of croissant dough, none was in sight this morning. So, we improvise and somewhat sheepishly call them Morning Buns.
There is no better place to enjoy a selection of Morning Buns (loosely defined) than Paris. There, the ritual of the most wonderful pastries is, almost casually, presented to you on your table every single morning – a presentation seemingly without regard to from whom and what actually went into making them just a few hours before. No leftover, shelf-life calculated assemblages here, I tell you. That would be a huge sacrilege in this culture and thereby the very top reason I crave Paris.* I’ve been lucky enough to confirm this on a number of occasions first hand. Parisians certainly know how to eat well and, in my dreams I’m living and writing in my flat with those floor-to-ceiling windows, preferably open to the sun……. Oh, how easily I get dissuaded…….
table for 2,St. James Paris, where the breakfast room is a complete indulgence
One of my most favorite experiences it to sit at an elegant table in a beautiful room for breakfast. 🙂
Avenue Victor Hugo
Ahem, jeez, sorry – A few years ago, when I was in pastry school, I used to get a sort of decent one (cinnamon danish) at the Whole Foods on 7th Avenue. They don’t have these anymore – they only have something with a huge glob of icing dumped on top – looking like something akin to the pastries at Starbucks. (Don’t get me started on Starbucks – I have resisted writing about them for 4 years and I hope to continue to stifle myself if I can.) Anyway, I walked the dog early this morning as it was indeed so beautiful and I returned home seeking to make myself a suitable, albeit quickbread version of the Morning Bun. Is this kosher? I don’t know – but I’m going to go for it. There was, of course, no time for yeast and there was no time for croissant dough or puff pastry this morning.
I was after cinnamon-sugar this morning and a hearty cool-morning satiating combo of toasted pecans and dried cranberries – suitable for the season. I could indeed incorporate the requisite orange zest** to at least make it legitimate on that score. Fluffy layers? Perhaps not exactly. What could I throw together?
Well, that was surely a long introduction to this recipe. This may not be your version of a morning bun. But, if you only have a little bit of time, try these. I felt like they suited the day, rose from the suggestion of some of my mentor chefs as regards texture, and they suited my time constraints and purpose.
for those in need
THE QUICKBREAD MORNING BUN (You can call them SCONES):
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
zest of one half large navel orange
8 tbsp unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup plain greek yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup toasted pecans, chopped
1 cup dried cranberries
2 tbsp soft unsalted butter
1/2 cup cinnamon sugar
egg wash
Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
In the bowl of your food processor, whir together the flour, baking powder, salt and orange zest. Add the butter and pulse 8-9 times or until the butter resembles small peas. Dump the dry ingredients into a low, wide bowl and make a well in the center.
In a 2 cup measuring cup, whisk together the buttermilk, yogurt, eggs, and vanilla extract. Pour the mixture into the center of the dry ingredients and, working with a dough scraper, gently pull the dry ingredients into the wet. Do this until the dough just begins to hold together. Then, knead with your hands into a cohesive mass. Move the dough to a lightly floured board and roll out into a rectangle, about 8″ x 10″. Use a bench scraper to keep the dough in a rectangle. Pat the 2 tblsp soft butter about on the surface of the dough. Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar all around, right up to edges. Sprinkle the pecans over all. Sprinkle the cranberries over all. Starting at the long edge, roll up the dough into a log. Adjust shape to be uniform. Cut into 9 scones and place them on the baking sheet, rolling them in your hand to a uniform and slightly taller shape. Brush with egg wash. Bake for 20 minutes, turning pan in the middle. Remove from oven when the scones are nicely browned and firm to the touch.
Now you have a quick morning bun!
* (that’s another grand slap to Starbucks et al but, I’m not writing about that).
** the spray of essential oil that you get when you zest a good orange is magical – I must write a post about this