Cinnamon and Cardamom Knots (Kanelsnurrer)

Dough-

240 grams whole milk

10 grams dry yeast or 21 g fresh

1 egg

1 yolk

475 grams wheat flour

105 grams granulated sugar

3 grams ground cardamom

6 grams salt

84 grams unsalted butter

Heat milk to warm and add yeast.  105F/40C.  Let rest for 10 minutes.  Add the egg, egg yolk, flour, sugar, cardamom and salt.  Mix together until well combined then knead for 15 minutes.  Add butter a little at a time.  When all the butter is incorporated continue to knead until smooth and shiny (10-15 min).  Store dough in a buttered bowl with film and towel.  Let proof until doubled 1-1.5 hours.  Punch down, cover slightly and chill overnight.

Filling-

684 grams unsalted butter

24 grams ground cinnamon

150 grams brown sugar

Mix the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon in a mixing bowl until it is very smooth.

Syrup-

150 grams brown sugar

100 grams water

Heat the water in a small pot and when it starts to steam, add the sugar. Stir until dissolved, bring to a simmer then set aside to cool to room temperature.

Keep the dough chilled.  Turn out the dough on floured parchment.  Roll out into a ¼ inch thick rectangle.  Cover with plastic and chill for 60 minutes.  Spread butter/sugar mixture over ⅔s of the dough.  Fold the plain side over the middle.  Fold opposite ⅓ over that.  Roll out to a ½ inch thick rectangle.  Slice lengthwise into eight 1 inch thick strips.  Twist and fold strips to create a knot.  Place on sheet pan, in a baking dish or in a muffin pan and cover with film and proof until doubled in size.  Bake at 325°F/162°C for 25/30 minutes.  When finished baking, brush the dough with the syrup. Wait 5 minutes and brush again.  

 

Root Vegetable Potato Cake

Making potato cake is something that many people learned to do as they grew up. Because it is something cheap and easy to make, it is also something easy to modify and add your own flavors.

-5oo grams of mixed grated root vegetables (potatoes, parsnips, carrots, raw beets)

-100 grams grated yellow onions

-2 eggs

-5 grams cornstarch

-5 grams flour

-2 grams baking powder

-2 grams sea salt

-1 gram fresh black pepper

-1/2 bunch cilantro chopped

-1 gram ground cumin

-1 gram ground coriander

-1 gram ground chili powder

-Mix the grated vegetables and onions and squeeze out all the extra liquid.

-Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well until completely incorporated.

-Form the mixture into a potato cake and pan fry in olive oil over low heat until golden brown on both sides.

I like to add corned beef brisket with fresh goat cheese, roasted butternut squash and chili powder.

 

Strawberry “Salad”

I am working on the new menu and trying to enhance the natural flavors to keep it simple.

This dessert consists of fresh French BIO strawberries macerated with a little brown sugar and lime juice. After about 20 minutes I crush the mixture with a fork then place it in a bowl followed by topping with fresh sliced strawberries, lime zest, toasted pistachio and micro shiso leaves. Delicious and light. Keep it simple and enjoy!

 

Avocado Toast

We recently decided to restart breakfast service at the restaurant so we did a couple of tastings to see what exactly we would put on the menu.  Over the past few years we have seen the rise of the avocado toast everywhere from restaurants to hipster coffee shops.  The trick is to find your own unique version and run with it.  Because we are a California brasserie, I decided to use a kale pesto.  For the bread, we chose to use brioche toasted and seasoned with the pesto.  Then topped with a fresh ripe avocado, sliced and seasoned simply with sea salt, pepper and lime juice.  Next, a perfectly poached egg with a beautiful rich liquid gold center.  The whole thing is finished off with a roasted chili oil and pumpkin seeds.  The only challenge now is to go to work everyday and try not to make this my daily breakfast.  The avocado makes it healthy, right?

 

Root Vegetable Gratin

For this week’s lunch menu we did a root vegetable gratin using carrots and parsnips. You can use any vegetables you like. We cleaned the vegetables, seasoned with salt, pepper, olive oil and rosemary then roasted them in the oven until just tender. While they were roasting we made a bechamel sauce and added forum d’ambert blue cheese. After the vegetables were cooked we topped them with a little blue cheese sauce, bruleed it then finished with bread crumbs toasted with sesame seeds and a little melted butter. This dish can be made with any vegetable or cheese combination.