French Fridays with Dorie - Pissaladière

I made this at the last minute as the thought of pizza or pissaladière, as the French say, didn't quite appeal to me on a Friday when we were supposed to hone in on our French cooking skills. The odds were stacked against this dish coming into being - I had no anchovies in my kitchen, nor did I have black olives (or any olives, for that matter). You know me by now, I wasn't going to go out shopping for any extra ingredients to comply with a recipe....if I could use whatever I had at home, I would. In this case, I did.

French Fridays with Dorie - Café Salle Pleyel Hamburger

Oh dear, you can tell we like our meat well done around here. Very well done :-). In fact, a beautiful, juicy burger lies somewhere underneath that charred-looking patty you see in the photo above. In this week's French Fridays with Dorie, we were supposed to replicate that famous hamburger served at the Café Salle Pleyel in Paris. Although, after I cooked mine, I doubt if the Café Salle Pleyel would want anything to do with it! 

Safflower and Lavender Savory Loaf

It's really ironic that I have this food blog because although I've always loved to eat, cooking hasn't come easily nor naturally to me. The people who know me very well wouldn't automatically associate me with an apron or a whisk, or even a broom. I cannot recount many childhood memories of being in the kitchen, happily stirring something delicious on the stove whilst being imparted with useful culinary knowledge from some whiz-in-the-kitchen elderlies. Of course, I'd had plenty of opportunities to learn how to be a good cook, but being in the kitchen was for me a big, tiresome chore. My childhood was spent mostly outside my home, exploring the neighborhood and nature, being up trees, climbing up hills, swimming in rivers or the sea. Those are the things that made me truly happy. Ah well, they still do. 

It's a bit like being in an arranged marriage, this cooking business. I approached it with a certain amount of wariness to begin with, then got slowly used to it and finally, fell insanely in love. Now, being in the kitchen seems somehow normal. Like it was always meant to happen. Such has been the tumultuous history of my relationship with cooking.

Now, science is different. When our worlds collided (I was maybe about 11 or 12), it was love at first sight! I'm talking about grown-up science - chemistry, biology, physics - I loved them all, especially chemistry. My favorite teacher of all time was Mr. P, he taught us chemistry for 2 years. He was some kind of fierce but had a big, caring heart that overrode all his (fake) dictatorial acts. My classmates and I adored him to bits and his greatest legacy was probably to instill in us a passion for this fascinating subject of chemical reactions. Half the class went on to have illustrious careers in the medical, pharmaceutical or petrochemical fields, while the other half went on to other of life's possibilities (guess which half I'm in?). I'm pretty sure that all of us ended up being good cooks, though. The common denominator of those vivid and exciting chemistry lessons we all had with Mr. P probably benefitted us in ways we never, ever imagined.

Chemistry may well have landed me here, writing this blog. Except now the chemical components are (mostly) edible and the lab is my very own kitchen. Mr. P had passed more than a decade ago but I'm sure he oftentimes watches over me while I conduct my kitchen experiments, sharing some chemistry tips, his roaring voice circling in my head. From the bottom of my heart, thank you forever for your kindness and dedication, Mr. P.

Today's flowery recipe was another experiment that ended up rather well. A friend had recently mailed me some safflower (Turkish saffron) she'd bought at the Spice Market in Istanbul, Turkey. The red-yellow florets are similar to saffron, but they're not thread-like nor as expensive as saffron. While safflower does when steeped give that lovely golden yellow color to dishes, the flavoring it gives off is much subtler than saffron. It is one of the oldest crops in mankind's history, with records of its use dating back to the twelfth dynasty of ancient Egypt (1991 BC). The fact that this spice has been in circulation for so long just intensified my curiosity to use it. Only, I had no idea what to do with it. Hmm.. I wonder what an Egyptian Queen would do in her kitchen with safflower? Wait, does she even go into the kitchen? :-}

I had dried lavender flowers left over from a previous International Incident Party recipe, so I thought it would be good to combine both flowers in one dish. It was a long shot, not knowing how the end product would taste like. I hadn't wanted to make anything sweet as my body could really do with a sugar-break right now, hence this savory but flowery-tasting loaf which really seemed like a breath of fresh air (literally)! It had been a while since I'd baked bread so I decided to have some fun with this one and send it to Susan's Yeastspotting.

I started by caramelising some onions and kneading these into the bread dough, followed by the safflower and lavender (separately, of course). I then took some Chinese chives or garlic chives which I rolled up inside the dough and finally stacked these rolled dough pieces up on top of each other inside a loaf pan. Asparagus would be good too if you don't fancy chives. The safflower and lavender dough rolls were arranged alternately in the pan and when the loaf was baking in the oven, the aroma it gave off was unlike anything I've ever smelled before! Can you imagine it... the sweet smell of roasted onions interlaced with the distinctive scent of lavender and a whiff of safflower?

  

Yes, there definitely is a difference between cooking and kitchen chemistry. This loaf was a pure joy to make and even better to eat. I had so much fun making this, and I know that's exactly what Mr. P would've wanted!   

Safflower and Lavender Savory Loaf

Ingredients:
• 2 large onions, diced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 cups bread flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons instant dried yeast
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2/3 cup lukewarm milk
• 2/3 cup lukewarm water
• 1 heaped teaspoon safflower (Turkish saffron)
• 1 heaped teaspoon dried lavender flowers
• 6 stalks Chinese chives (garlic chives)
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted

Method:

1. Lightly grease a 25 x 10cm (10 x 4 inch) loaf tin. Sauté the onions in hot olive oil until soft and light golden. Set aside to cool.

2. In a large mixing bowl, mix the yeast, salt, pepper and flour. Stir in the cooled sautéed onions. Make a well in the centre, add the water and milk and knead with your hands or using a dough hook attachment to form a soft dough. Turn out on to a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.

3. Divide dough into 2 equal portions. Take another portion and knead in the safflower. To the second portion, knead in the lavender flowers until fully incorporated.

4. Place each dough in separate, lightly-oiled bowls. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

5. Punch each dough down. On a lightly floured surface, roll one dough portion into a flat, rectangular shape. Place 3 stalks of Chinese chives along one long edge, and start rolling the dough forward into a cylinder, wrapping the chives inside it.

6. Cut off both ends of the chives protruding out of the dough, and slice roll into 12 equal pieces. Repeat this process for the second dough.

7. Alternating the safflower and lavender doughs, arrange 6 pieces of each in the prepared loaf tin (so 12 pieces altogether). Brush with some melted butter, then top with the remaining slices of dough. Brush tops with melted butter. Cover with oiled clear film and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake at 190C/375F for 40-45 minutes.

8. Brush tops with more melted butter as soon as the loaf comes out of the oven. Leave to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out on a wire rack.

Savory Onion, Garlic and Purple Sweet Potato Pie

I can't even remember how long ago it was that I had learnt to make this pie. All I remember was that the first time I made it, it actually tasted better than it looked and much, much better than I had thought it would. Somehow at the time, I had been more of a pie person than a cake person - as far as baking them was concerned. There could be several reasons for my pie-affinity: pies don't sink, they always look warm and inviting on a table, they are easy to make and hard to get very wrong that they're rendered inedible. Pies and I, we have a good history together and we are that (links index fingers) tight.

 Fresh lemon basil and oregano from my garden

Of course, years ago, purple sweet potatoes were not part of this recipe. However today, I am still very much enamored by these purple beauties, and so have decided that they will add an extra, sweetish dimension to this savory pie. Unfortunately, I only had about half the amount of purple sweet potatoes required left in my kitchen, but if this pie were to be redone another day, I would definitely add more potatoes.

The best bits about this pie are the oregano-flavored crust and a hint of lemon basil in the sweet-savory filling. If you're wondering about this herbal combination, well, oregano and basil are the only herbs currently thriving in my garden and are therefore the most obvious choices. Previously, I'd always used dried oregano to flavor the crust, but using fresh leaves this time around gave the pie that extra kick.

Butter, black pepper, flour and salt for the crust

 Oregano strips kneaded into the pastry

My masseuse taught me that if you soak your onions and garlic in water for about 30 mins,

the skins slip off effortlessly. Funny the sort of things you can learn on the massage table!

Quite purposely, I left the garlic cloves whole and they cooked beautifully and became so tender in the pie. Bite into a slice of this creamy pie and you can immediately savor how the softened garlic and onions lend their very subtle but distinct flavors. Of course, the Purple Queen of Carbs (but good carbs!) adds beauty and interest to an otherwise just rustic-looking dish. The beauty of this pie is that it also keeps well for up to 3 days in the refrigerator, so you can have a slice for breakfast, bring it into the office for lunch or pack it up for a picnic in the park. Want your guests/family/friends to come back for seconds? Go on and make this versatile pie!

Savory Onion, Garlic and Purple Sweet Potato Pie

Ingredients:

Pastry Base:

250g plain flour

125g cold butter, cubed

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 egg

4 fresh oregano leaves, julienned

Filling:

2 large onions, sliced

10 cloves garlic, leave whole

10 basil leaves

3 tablespoons olive oil

200g purple sweet potatoes, sliced and steamed

250ml heavy cream

4 eggs

salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200C.

2. Make pastry crust first: Put flour, salt, pepper and butter into a large bowl. Rub cold butter into flour until it resembles breadcrumbs, then add the sliced oregano. Crack the egg into a well made in the flour mixture and knead with your hands for about 2 minutes until it forms a smooth dough. Add a bit of flour if necessary, the pastry should still be pliable but not sticky.

3. Roll  the pastry out to line greased a 9-inch pie tin (I found it easier to press the pastry in using my palm and finers). Trim the edges of the crust by pressing down on the sides of the tin and breaking off the dough.

4. Prick the base of the crust with a fork, line with baking paper or aluminium foil and bake for 10 minutes.

5. Reduce temperature to 180C, take pie tin out of the oven and remove the paper or foil.

6. For the filling, slice the purple sweet potatoes into round pieces and steam for 30 minutes until cooked through. Set aside to cool.

7. Saute the onions, garlic and basil leaves with olive oil for 5 minutes until the onions are soft and translucent. Leave to cool slightly. Spoon this mixture into the pie crust, making sure the ingredients are fairly evenly distributed. Arrange the sweet potato slices around the pie evenly before pouring over the cream topping.

8. For topping, whisk together heavy cream, eggs, salt and pepper in a bowl until fully combined. Pour this carefully into the crust, making sure the potatoes stay in place.

9. Bake for 25 minutes until the topping is just firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Serve warm or cold with salad or soup.