Goodbye comfort, Hello world

Finally!! Yesterday was the day that I left home, home is what most of us know as where we feel comfortable at, I am leaving the comfort of life as we know it, I am leaving everything behind, family, friends, roof to sleep under, warm water to bath. I am looking for Orli, this girl who got lost along the way and wants to come back to us, to me. 

Don't wait for us, we won't be back before dark, we are going to explore this world as it is, nature, fresh air, a sky full of stars, a wavy ocean. 

I don't know anything about bikes nor cycling, I've always ridden a bike without gears and from today I'll be learning as I go. 

I really dislike the fact that I am riding alone, not because I will be alone, all by myself for the next few months, but because I wanted this great guy to join me, till this day I haven't met someone like him, it's his loss though, cause I know I will have lots of fun and I'll se the most wonderful sunsets and breathtaking scenery

DAY 1: not bad ha?

It was harder than I expected it, my bike is carrying a lot of wight, makes it so hard to do everything, park, ride, turn, get on n off the bike ¡wow! But I'll keep goin!!👍🏼💪🏼

Enjoy life and live the adventure!!

Chef's Table

Chef's Table is one of the most brilliant short series/ documentary I've ever seen, created by Netflix. Lately this online streaming website has developed really good productions, that noone can deny. But this time, I enjoyed every single second of film, especially if you are into the business, it gets you the ambition of becoming one of them nevertheless to go visit and experience what this great chefs have to offer. Six episodes, each one dedicated to a chef: Dan Barber, co-owner and executive chef at Blue Hill in NY; Massimo Bottura, chef patron at Osteria Francescana, a three- Michelin- Star restaurant in Modena, Italy; Francis Mallmann, Niki Nakayama, chef at N-Naka, a closed kitchen in an upscale Japanesse restaurant in L.A. Magnus Nilsson, chef at Fäviken in Sweden and Ben Shewry, head chef at Attica in Melbourne Australia.

Directed by David Gelb a young American director and screenwriter, well known for the critically acclaimed documentary "Jiro Dreams of Sushi" (highly recommended!!)

Flamiche au Maroilles

This is one of the recipes that I learned with Jeffrey Hamelman at the King Arthur Flour Baking Education Center, delightful! It is a brioche based "tart" full of  rich flavors.

Maroilles is a cow's-milk cheese made in the region of Nord-Pas-De-Calais in northern France, from where it obtained its AOC in 1976. It has a strong smell and it is quite salty, therefore I suggest you not to add salt to the recipe, the cheese will do it for you.

Ingredients
128 gr Brioche dough  
128 gr Maroilles cheese, shredded
170 gr Crème fraiche  
2 Large free range eggs
Pepper to taste

1. Preheat your over to 375°F/ 190°C. Roll out the brioche dough to 2mm. Fit ino a 9" fluted tart mold. Set aside and let rest for an hour.
2. Whisk together the crème fraiche, eggs and pepper. 
3. Spread cheese over the brioche and pour the egg mixture over the cheese. 
4. Bake the flamiche for about 30 minutes. It will be puffed and golden when fully baked.

Enjoy!

Baked Break

Last week I took a small break from the routine and headed to Vermont to learn how to set up a successful bakery, although most of the subjects reviewed on this course I already knew from university, it was very interesting to learn, to hear from a professional baker, who has been through the setting and opening of a successful bakery.
I didn't know what to expect abut this course, I thought everyone would be professional bakers or chefs who are looking to expand their businesses, but no, actually I was the only chef in the class, and some other people were clueless about cooking and baking.

It felt great to be back into a real kitchen, even though it was just for a few moments. This course is imparted by Jeffrey Hamelman, a great baker with more than 30 years and a loong, extensive incredible experience in baking. What I loved about Jeffrey is his passion for what he does, he has this special way of guiding you through everything at the bakery, from the place and equipment to the hands on and baking.I wasn't expecting any practical work at the course, I was going for pure theory, but I'm glad we got to bake a few things, basic recipes that any baker must know, like croissants, brioche and baguettes, and the many varieties you can come up with from this basics. Jeff has this way of explaining the "whys" from it in a very understandable way, that even mortals can get it. I haven't had this much joy, pleasure and enjoyment in such a long time, I am very happy I decided to fly half a world for this 3 day course.

Something that I loved and admire very much from Jeffrey is the way he passes on his knowledge. He is confident about his accomplishments, being able to transmit all his passion and secrets. He is not afraid of letting you know the proper way. Not for nothing he is a master baker.

The King Arthur Flour Baking Education Center is located in Norwich VT, a small town, that when I checked on Google maps where the F I was going to, seemed to me like I was heading to the middle of nowhere; right across the river from Hanover NH. It is a very nice town, kind of colonial looking place, very cozy. I've heard Vermont is a beautiful state and I got there during snow season, right after new years and I loved it, SUPER cold but gorgeous.

What is your guiltiest food pleasure?

I was on my break at work the other day, so I went into the fun room, around 4 a.m., and so I turned on the t.v. and on E entertainment, there was this show called "101 guiltiest pleasures" or something like that, they were talking general pleasures, like Victoria Secret´s angels and things like that, so I came up with the idea of "Your Guiltiest Food Pleasure", something you cannot resist too. I started asking my colleagues at work, and some people on the street, my goal was to interview around 100 people, but apparently people finds food a complicated subject, so I stopped.
As some of you may already know, I live in Israel, and this country is so multicultural, there is people from all around the world, I asked people from Italia, India, Uruguay, Peru, Mexico, US, (Israel of course), UK, Russia, Ukraine, etc... And so the answers are so diverse.
Now, I got some interesting facts, like men answered mostly junk food, mainly sweets and treats, and women answered dishes.

so here are the top answers from the crowd.

7. When I asked about your "orgasmic food pleasure" people actually answered OREO and Burger King, assuring this cookies and hamburgers are the most delicious treat they have ever tried.

 

6. Chocolate, chocolate brownies and bacon brownies are a guy's fave pleasure. Actually bacon covered chocolate covered treat is something really popular this days.

 

5. Salads is something very popular, not a lot of people enjoys eating salad because they say that they need something substantial as a meal, veggies are mostly water and its not enough when it comes to feed your system. I personally love them, you can eat a lot, and wont feel heavy afterwards, very nutritious and there are super tasty salads. Besides, salad is one of the easiest and cheapest dish available and it doesn't have to be poor, it can be simple and still have a whole variety of ingredients. If you're not a salad fan, is because you haven't tried a good one.

 

4. I scream for ice cream! I know this is not food/ dish/ meal, but guys just don't care. it can be ice cream, sorbet or granita, specially now on summer time, everybody is craving for this delicious treat.

3. Seafood, but mainly shrimps made to the top 3. Here in Israel, there are not many choices for seafood restaurants, but there are a couple of good ones, and when I mean "good" I mean Great!

To get seafood here is not that easy due to religious laws of eating, called Kashrut, so when you open a seafood restaurant its a win win situation, because people will always pay for it, instead of going and looking for it all over the place.

Some people said that they like shrimps, period. It doesn't really matter how you cook it, they love 'em. Some others gave me particular dishes that they like from certain places. Seafood pasta takes the lead.

2. Sushi is one of my favorite dishes, is a healthy and light dish that you can enjoy at any moment.

although there's people who say that sushi is not healthy because of the sugar added in the rice, it is mainly based on raw ingredients which provide a lot more benefits than cooked food. Eating raw provides a high intake of nutrients such as potassium, magnesium, fiber and plant phytochemical. A report from the Journal of Nutrition state that increased use of raw foods in our diet lowers both cholesterol and triglyceride levels on the body, some of the main indicators for heart disease, obesity and high blood pressure. So this is why this delicious Japanese dish is in our top 3. Also there are many types o sushi, for vegan, vegetarian or animal lovers, sushi has something to offer for everyone.

1.Lasagna is the guiltiest pleasure of all times! According to the majority of the participants, there is not much to say about lasagna, it is one of the most delicious dishes ever. whether is meat, vegetarian, cheese or seafood, to mention some, it is so good!

BROWKIES: Brownies or cookies? confusion total!

This is the question, is it a brownie or a cookie? and the answer is... Browkies!

So, as we talked about on the previous post, I am on a mission to bake cookies and brownies, so what better to start  with brownie cookies! ha! brilliant, I know.

We start by melting on a heat proof bowl over simmering water (bath marie) 16oz of bittersweet chocolate and 4 tbsp of butter.

until completely melted and perfectly combined

Once you get a silky smooth melted chocolate, remove from the bath and let cool. DON'T put it in the fridge or freezer cause you will harden the chocolate just set aside for a few minutes, stir if necessarily 

While the chocolate is melting, combine 4 eggs, 1 1/3 cups of granulated sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla extract, set aside. 

When the chocolate is room temperature fold into the egg mixture, make sure it is not hot cause you don't want to cook the eggs with the chocolate.

scrape down sides of bowl, and add 1/2 cup of all purpose flour and 1/2 tsp baking powder, sifted. 

Incorporate all the ingredients and do not over beat the batter, this is just like with regular brownies.

Now its time for 1 cup of chocolate chips! 

Mix mix!!

Dance Dance!

Refrigarate for at least two hours before baking. 

Spoon the batter on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Aaandd bake!! on a pre-heated oven at 350° or 170°C for 10-12 minutes or until firm on the outside 

and we are waiting for cookies!!!

and Voila!

this browkies are amazing! Soak your cookies in cold milk and OMG! pure heaven

ENJOY!!

Ideas, Ideas, too many Ideas... Let's get to work!

Let me talk to you about some ideas I've had lately, well I will start with 2 and I will keep on posting as we go progressing.
I've met someone recently who told me about a cookie shop he would love to own, is not that I never thought about it before, it's just very funny that a total stranger towards cooking, will have this idea, specially a guy; anyway, so I've decided to start trying cookie baking, just for fun, he said he would hire a professional chef after all, so this way I can try as many combinations as I please and then, who knows, maybe he will hire... me! Yay!.
So if you have any recipe that you would like/love to share with me, I'm all eyes, I will read them all and post them on my blog! with very cool pictures. And I also have this very cute book that I happened to find by accident at the book store.

With very handy and useful tips on how to decorate sugar cookies, mainly with royal icing. 

 Very cute ideas by Bridget Edwards.

The second I'm going to tell you about today is ... Cha Cha Cha Chaan!! Hahaha! Brownie baking, I am committed to find THE PERFECT, MOST AMAZING CHOCOLATE BROWNIE RECIPE. I will try as many as I can until we get to the bottom of the subject. 

The next section of the post might have nothing to do with the actual fact of brownie baking, well it does, but not from the investigation point of view. This is just a tip/anecdote that I just want to share... because I can!

This is about an accident that I had once, I admit, this pictures aren't mine since I didn't try this recently, I did many years ago.One day, when I was young and naive, I was making some brownies from mix,

and as you may know if you have tried them before, it usually calls for 2 eggs,

but I accidentally added 3 oops! confusing the recipe with a cake mix; I realized before baking but there was nothing to do at the moment, just wait and see the results.

When It came out of the oven, instead of looking like a chocolate fudgy, gooey, chewy brownie

It came out like a fudgy, aired, really fluffy, tasty, awesome chocolate cake.

So there you have, one unfortunate accident that perfected a simple recipe. Try it and let me know what you think.