Barbara with Panache and Panade

Barbara arrived from San Francisco. It is miserable in Los Angeles: lots of rain. Surprisingly the rain isn’t that cold, but it ruins any attempt to walk and do outdoor activities.

I continued to bake bread and we had a wonderful stinky epoisse cheese with the fresh bake bread. Most of the guests loved it.This time I modified the recipe and had 16% whole wheat flour and 84% bread flour. You can find the recipe for the No Knead Bread in my post of Dec 11, 2010. Click the date to get the recipe.

We invited Robert, Darryl, Kevin and Billy over.

One of Barbara’s favorite restaurants in San Francisco is Tartine and we made a Panade from a recipe from Tartine. We have previously made it and knew Barbara would love it.

It is baked vegetables, bread, cheese and cream. It is very rich and good.

We started with a Mushroom Soup from the The Food of Campanile Cookbook by Mark Peel and Nancy Silverton. The soup is very rich with lots of mushrooms. We used had created a Turkey Stock from our left over Smoked Turkey and used it as a base for the soup.

We had Brownies and Chocolate Chip Cookies for dessert.

Faro and Mushroom Soup

The Food of Campanile

Mark Peel & Nancy Silverton

Serves   10 to 12

This is a wonderful, earthy soup for colder days. Also known as spelt, farro is one of the earliest domesticated strains of wheat. It tastes similar to barley, and in this soup it adds a wholesome, toothy quality. This is delicious topped with Garlic Bread Crumbs. To serve 10 to 12, the bread crumb recipe must be doubled.

If you can't find farro, pearl barley or wheat berries can be substituted, but these must be cooked at least 30 minutes longer. For a com­pletely vegetarian soup, the ham hock or bacon can be eliminated and Vegetable Stock substituted for Chicken Stock.

¾  pound fresh shiitake mushrooms

12  ounces fresh crimini mushrooms

Vegetable oil

1  medium carrot, peeled and cut into thick slices (3/4cup)

1  medium leek, trimmed, split, and cut into thick slices (1 cup)

1  medium celery stalk, peeled and cut into thick slices (1/2 cup)

5  large garlic cloves, peeled and minced (5 teaspoons)

½  cup dry sherry

1 small ham hock, or 4-ounce slab of bacon

12  cups Chicken Stock

Bouquet garni (1 sprig rosemary, 1 sprig marjoram, 2 sprigs Italian parsley, and 1 bay leaf)

¼  cup dried porcini mushrooms

Kosher salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

½  cup faro

1  bunch fresh chives

Have   ready

The Chicken Stock, warm, in a medium saucepan over low heat The Garlic Bread Crumbs (optional)

Wipe the shiitakes clean with a damp towel. Remove and reserve the stems from the shiitakes. Cut each shiitake cap into thin slices and reserve. Quickly rinse the crimini mushrooms and dry them thoroughly. Remove and reserve the stems from the crimini mushrooms. Cut each crimini cap into quarters and reserve.

In a large stockpot, over medium heat, pre­heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Sweat the mushroom stems, carrot, leek, celery, and garlic until wilted and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the sherry. Add the ham hock or bacon, Chicken Stock, and bouquet garni, and bring to a simmer. Continue to simmer, skimming as necessary to remove any foam that rises to the surface, until the stock has good color and a strong mush­room flavor, about 1 hour.

While the broth is simmering, in a small mixing bowl, combine the dried porcini mush­rooms with 1/2i cup of warm water. Allow about 30 minutes for the mushrooms to reconstitute :  adequately.

In a large sauté pan, over medium-high heat, preheat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil just to smoking. Sauté the sliced shiitake caps with­out stirring until almost charred, about 1 to 2 minutes. Continue to sauté, stirring to brown evenly, about 3 more minutes, adding a little more oil as necessary. As the shiitakes brown, season them lightly with kosher salt and black pepper. Remove the pan from the heat, remove the shiitake mushrooms, and reserve them in a small mixing bowl.

Remove the reconstituted porcini mushrooms from the soaking water, gently squeezing them to remove excess water. Reserve the soaking water. Wipe the sauté pan clean with a clean paper towel, reduce the heat to medium, and preheat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Sauté the I quartered crimini caps and the reconstituted porcini mushrooms until lightly browned, I about 3 to 4 minutes, seasoning with kosher salt and black pepper and adding more oil as necessary. Remove the pan from the heat, remove the crimini mushrooms, and reserve them in the small mixing bowl with the shiitakes.

After the soup has simmered for about 1 hour, using a fine-mesh, stainless-steel strainer, strain the soup, pressing the vegetables to remove as much liquid as possible. Remove and discard the vegetables. Pick out the ham hock, allow it to cool, and shred the meat, dis­carding the skin and bone. (If you're using bacon, chop it coarsely.) Return the broth and the ham or bacon to the large stockpot, and bring back to a simmer.

Add the farro to the stockpot. Add the porcini soaking water, taking care not to pour into the stockpot any of the grit from the porcinis that will have collected on the bottom of the bowl. (Dried porcini come with a fine sand that somehow goes through several layers of cheese­cloth, but it's heavy, so it stays at the bottom of the bowl if you pour carefully.) Continue to simmer, over medium heat, until the farro is tender, about 15 minutes. Add the reserved sauteed shiitake and crimini mushrooms, and continue to simmer about 15 minutes.

Mince the chives as needed for garnish.

Spoon the soup into large, warm bowls. Top with Garlic Bread Crumbs, if desired, and chopped chives. Serve immediately.

September 8, 2010

New York Times

Panade

By CHRISTINE MUHLKE

6 tablespoons butter

2 leeks, white parts only, finely chopped (about 1½ cups)

6 cups whole milk

Salt

4-6 slices day-old country bread, each 1 inch thick

1 small butternut squash (about 1 pound), peeled, seeded and cut into ¼-inch-thick slices

1 bunch black kale or Swiss chard, center stems removed

1 head cauliflower (about 1½ pounds), trimmed and cut into ½-inch-thick slices

½ pound fontina cheese, thinly sliced

Heavy cream, optional.

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the leeks and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the milk, the remaining 4 tablespoons butter and 2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a boil and then remove from the heat.

2. Cover the bottom of a heavy, ovenproof 5-quart pot with 2 or more slices of the bread. Arrange the squash slices in an even layer on top of the bread and pour in 2 cups of the hot milk mixture. Top with 2 or 3 slices of bread and then with the kale. Arrange the cauliflower slices over the kale. Press down on the ingredients to compact them if they don’t quite fit into the pot.

3. Pour the remaining milk mixture over the top. Stop adding the milk when the level is almost to the rim. Season with salt. Cover the pot with a lid or aluminum foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and arrange the cheese over the top. Return to the oven uncovered and bake until the liquid is absorbed and reduced and the cheese has melted and browned, 30 to 40 minutes. (When the panade has cooled, it should appear dry.) Serve immediately or let cool and refrigerate for up to 3 days. To reheat, cut the panade into wedges and put on individual ovenproof plates. Pour ¼ cup cream over the top of each wedge and bake for 15 to 20 minutes in an oven preheated to 375. Serves 6. Adapted from “Tartine Bread,” by Chad Robertson.