Sourdough Discard Breadsticks

We have been doing wine and cheese (minus the wine, due to baby) regularly for the past several Fridays, ever since the beginning of summer when we starting reviving Chad (our starter). More sourdough breads in the house means more discard. Along with the usual suspects of cheese, cured meats, roasted veggies, grapes and nuts, this week I have decided to add a little bit of variety to our bread basket, by way of revisiting this recipe for breadsticks, along with a no-knead focaccia bread.

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Arzak Egg with Morel Cream Sauce

Arzak egg with mushroom cream sauce

This post comes to you from the bottom of our draft pile. I had meant to post this many years ago, this has got to be one of my favourite dish.es The Arzak egg is one of the best ways to poach eggs in my opinion. The egg is cracked and placed into a bowl lined with plastic wrap. The egg is then seasoned with salt and additional fat, (white truffle oil in this case. Mmmmm!). It is then wrapped up and placed in a warm water bath for 20 minutes at 62°C. Don’t worry if you don’t have a water bath or a circulator, you can simply poach it in a pot of water (the water should be warm but not hot – without any bubbles at the surface). While the eggs are poaching, sautee some shallots with butter and then add some heavy cream. Then add thyme leaves and dried morel mushrooms, and let the cream reduce and the mushrooms rehydrate. Seasoned it once it has reached a sauce-like consistency. Finally, put the sauce and eggs together, top it with generous shaving of parmesan and serve with a slice of crusty bread. 

Salsa Verde

Our first batch of salsa verde was from a few years back when there was a bumper crop of tomatillos at the farm – most of them made their way into a gigantic batch of pickles. Salsa verde is one of the main things we’ve made with them since then. It’s great as a condiment in its own right, but also makes a tasty addition salads among other things!

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Dashi

Dashi is a simple stock, a foundation of Japanese cooking, which typically consists of three ingredients: Kombu (kelp), katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) and water. The combination of these ingredients creates a stock that amplifies the umami flavour in any dish. It is widely used not only for soups, but a wide range of dishes such as simmered vegetables and even dipping sauces. For this reason, it’s great to make a good-sized batch to have on hand in the fridge to use throughout the week.

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Crème Brûlée

What is a Crème Brûlée? A rich custard made with egg yolks, sugar, cream and flavouring. It is usually finished with a thin piece of torched sugar at the top of the custard (the Brûlée). A hallmark of a great crème brûlée is that the custard remains cold even after torching. It should also have a well-defined flavour, and a crisp crackly top: you should be able to hear the the sugar shards crack as you dig into the sugar crust with a spoon. The custard should be light and silky, with a rich cream and caramel flavour. Like anything else, it comes down to temperature, taste, and texture.

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