Tag: Le Boulangerie

Le Boulangerie (6) Peach Cobbler

~ Meg ~ 43 Comments

To accompany my novel in progress: Breaking Bread, welcome to Le Boulangerie.

I planned this post to align with this past weekend’s Super Bowl game. It would either be a celebration or a consolation to the parts of the country hoping for an Atlanta Falcons victory. Well, consolation it is… they lost and in a most heartbreaking fashion. Giving up a commanding lead and ultimately losing in the Super Bowl’s first ever overtime. Here’s to you Atlanta, Georgia. Have some cobbler.

For those of you outside the United States, cobbler is essentially a deep dish fruit pie. Instead of a traditional pie crust, fruit is baked with a sweet batter in a baking dish instead of a pie plate. The dessert originated in the American Colonies while still under British rule. The early settlers, with lack of ingredients and improper tools for cooking and baking, had to improvise. Thus the ‘cobbler,’ possibly derived from the old term: cobeler, which means wooden bowl, was created by stewing fruit, topping it with batter and baking in cook pots rather than pans.

Here is a recipe adapted from one of my Nana’s recipes for apple cobbler. I wanted to make peach, for Georgia after all. (Even though fresh peaches aren’t in season and really that would be the ideal time to make this…)

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 2 cups sugar, divided
  • 4 cups peaches, fresh or thawed frozen (I used frozen)
  • 1-2 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 cup milk
  • ground cinnamon

Method:

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt butter in a 11X13 baking dish in oven. Remove from oven when melted.
  • Mix flour, 1 cup of sugar, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Add milk and mix until just combined. Pour batter into baking dish on top of butter. Do NOT stir.
  • Bring peaches, remaining 1 cup of sugar and lemon juice to a boil in a medium sauce pan. Pour peaches over batter (they’ll sink in). Do NOT stir. Sprinkle with cinnamon.
  • Bake for 40 – 45 minutes until the top of the cobbler is golden brown.
  • Serve with vanilla ice cream.

My condolences, Atlanta. I hope this helps.

 

Le Boulangerie (1) Baguette

~ Meg ~ 84 Comments

To accompany my novel in progress: Breaking Bread, welcome to Le Boulangerie!

There is no more appropriate bread to open this series with than the baguette. The most basic of breads, the simplest of ingredients and yet the most wonderful results. The composition of a traditional baguette is nothing more than flour, salt, yeast and water. You need no complicated tools, this can all be done by hand. Though it takes time to get from start to finish, most of that time is spent waiting for the rise. The actual working time is quite short. Here’s what you do:

We begin with a “starter” – a water/flour/yeast mixture that gives the yeast a head start in the consumption of the carbohydrates in the flour. The byproduct of ‘yeast eating sugar’ is CO2 and that is what makes bread rise.

Starter:
1 cup  flour
1/2 tsp yeast
1 1/4 cup lukewarm water (comfortable enough to dip a finger in)

Combine in a large bowl, cover and let rise 2-3 hours, until it gets bubbly.

When the starter has done its thing…

Add in:
1 tsp yeast
2 additional cups of flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
Enough water to make a smooth dough (usually not more than another 1/4 cup)

Hand form dough into a smooth ball. (Or you can use a stand mixer with a dough hook) Place dough ball in a bowl dusted with flour, dust top with flour. Cover bowl with a kitchen towel. Let rise 40 minutes or until doubled in size. 

When doubled, cut dough in half, keeping as much air in the dough as possible. Fold and roll dough pieces into 2 baguettes. Place on floured baking sheet*, cover and let rise an hour. 

Heat oven to 425. Just before placing baguettes into the oven, slash the tops of the loaves diagonally several times. Spritz with water to make the loaves nice and crusty. Bake 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.

*I actually use a baguette pan. I have a similar one for Italian loaves. These aren’t necessary but they do help make more uniform loaves. I hope these turn out for you if you try them. They are the perfect accompaniment to a hearty soup or stew. Bon appetit!

Baba’s Pepper Cookies

~ Meg ~ 47 Comments

In my current work in progress, Breaking Bread, my main character, Maya Kaminsky bakes a batch of her grandmother’s (Baba’s) pepper cookies. I thought it would be fun to share the recipe for them, since they are one of my favorite cookie varieties. This is a Russian, Eastern European cookie, so-named for the pepper and spices in the mix. It may sound like a strange combination, but trust me, these are amazing!

Pepper Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted
3 eggs
4 cups flour
1 cup milk
1 cup cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
12 ounces chocolate chips

 

Melt butter in milk in small sauce pan.
Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
In a separate bowl, beat eggs together with oil.
Make a ‘well’ in the center of the blended ingredients and add beaten eggs and oil, melted butter and milk and mix to form dough.
Knead in the chocolate chips.
Form dough into small balls, (golf ball sized or smaller) and bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.
Cool completely before icing.

Icing:

16 ounces confectioner’s sugar
milk (amount varies according to desired consistency of the icing)

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Add milk to confectioner’s sugar a little at a time, to form icing. Icing consistency should be the similar to ketchup – pourable but not watery. You want it to coat the cookie and not run off but also not be creamy like cake icing.

Dip the tops of the cookies into the icing and let rest on cooling rack until icing sets completely. Enjoy!

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