Rhubarb Corn Galette with Saffron & we won the James Beard Award!
Last Tuesday we won the James Beard Award. I flew to New York thinking that I had no chance of winning - Ina Garten was nominated in the same category as me: General Cooking. I was sure that this was not going to happen.
And now I’m sitting here at JFK airport, writing these words while waiting for my flight back to Berlin. Trying to think clearly, but I can’t. I wish there were words to describe how I feel, or at least give you a vague idea of what this means to me - but I can’t. It’s almost impossible to talk about a feeling that still shakes me up every time the memories come back and makes my heart fall as if I’m jumping of a cliff. It’s not just in my mind. I feel physically overwhelmed. Just like I did when I went on stage to fall around our host Andrew Zimmern’s neck, to kiss and squeeze him, and to receive the James Beard Foundation medal from his hands (watch my speech here).
When I say we won and not I won, you need to understand that this book, Eat In My Kitchen, would not exist without a bunch of people who gave me all the help, love, support, and inspiration I needed whenever I thought I wouldn’t manage. These people believed in me before I believed in myself, they were the ones who convinced me to trust and follow my instincts:
My editor Holly La Due who guided me through the past two years since we first spoke about a cookbook - and she held my hand in these endless painful seconds before my name was announced at the awards ceremony by legendary Andrew Zimmern; my mother who passed her love for food and wine on to me, the seed out of which Eat In My Kitchen grows every day; everybody at Prestel Publishing and our external experts Lauren Salkeld, Jan Derevjanik, and Ron Longe, who gave everything to make this book look as it looks and stand where it stands. And my family and friends all over the world, your belief in me makes me grow every day. Thank you for trusting me, and for waiting for me patiently.
When your work is recognized and awarded by one of the most critical juries in the food world, a jury who’s not interested in numbers or celebrity status, but in the quality of recipes, it can easily feel intimidating. But that rainy night at New York's Chelsea Piers was not intimidating at all, it was magical. I was in a room together with so many talented people who all love what I love so much - food - and I experienced the warmest welcome to this family (a word that winner Dori Greenspan used). There's a lot of respect, a humble appreciation of the work of the others. Ronni Lundy, Dori Greenspan, Andrew Zimern, Pierre Koffmann, Naomi Duguid, Judith Jones, Keith Pandolfi, Francis Lam and many more (here's the full list of winners), we were awarded for our work, and everybody who came to this event came to celebrate us, but also a passion that we share and that connects us, no matter what part of the world we come from. I want to thank the James Beard Foundation and all the inspiring people who I met that night, a night that I'll never forget in my whole life.
Knowing that I wouldn’t be able to cook or bake anything to share with you when I came back, I made a galette (twice actually because it’s so good) just a few days before I left. It’s a spring treat and it's quite a spectacular one. A crunchy short crust base made of corn flour and spelt flour (you can also use wheat), topped with sour rhubarb and the most fragrant saffron sugar. Cookbook author Yossy Arefi introduced me to this golden spice sugar and inspired me to use it for various sweet pies. Last summer I wrote about her berry galette and I will never forget how the addition of saffron to fruit and buttery crust hit me. It's a true celebration cake.
And now I want to thank you for always pushing me to try out new things in my kitchen, to keep cooking, baking, and writing about what we all love so much: Food!
Photos of the James Beard Award Ceremony by Kent Miller Studios, c/o the James Beard Foundation.
Rhubarb Corn Galette with Saffron Sugar
Update: This recipe is also in my 2nd book, 365: A Year of Everyday Cooking & Baking, Prestel Publishing, 2019
Mind that it's best to prepare the dough for the galette the day before you bake it to give it enough time to chill in the fridge.
Makes one 23cm / 9" galette.
For the pastry
very fine corn flour / corn meal (not corn starch) 90g / 1/2 cup
plain flour (or white spelt flour) 90g / 2/3 cup
granulated sugar 1 tablespoon
fine sea salt 1/4 teaspoon
unsalted butter, cold, 125g / 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon
water, cold, 2 tablespoons
cider vinegar 1 teaspoon
For the galette
granulated sugar 75g / 1/3 cup and 1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon for the topping
vanilla bean, scraped, 1/2
saffron threads about 1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon
plain flour (or white spelt flour) 1 tablespoon
fine sea salt 1/8 teaspoon
trimmed rhubarb 280g / 10 ounces
freshly squeezed lemon juice 1 tablespoon
organic egg, beaten, 1
For the pastry, in the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the hook attachment, combine the corn flour, flour, sugar, and salt. Add the butter and use a knife to cut it into the flour until there are just small pieces left. Quickly rub the butter into the flour with your fingers until combined. Add the water and vinegar and, using the hooks of the stand mixer, mix until combined. Form the dough into a thick disc, wrap it in plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge overnight (or for a few hours) until hard, or freeze for about 20-30 minutes.
On a table or countertop, place the dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and use a rolling pin to roll it out into a 30cm / 12" circle. Pull off the top layer of plastic wrap and replace with a piece of parchment paper. Flip the pastry circle over, transfer to a wooden board, and pull off the remaining layer of plastic wrap. Store the pastry (on top of the wooden board) in the fridge while preparing the topping.
Using a mortar and pestle, grind the sugar, vanilla seeds, and saffron until the saffron is fine and the mixture is well combined. Stir in the flour and salt and set aside.
Cut the rhubarb into 10cm / 4" long pieces and quarter each piece lengthwise. In a large baking dish, using your hands, toss the rhubarb, saffron-sugar, and lemon juice.
Take the pastry out of the fridge and arrange the rhubarb, overlapping, in a circle on top of the dough, leave a 5cm / 2" rim all the way around the fruit (see 10th picture). Sprinkle with any remaining saffron-sugar. Fold the edges of the pastry over the ends of the rhubarb, press to seal the folds. Chill the galette in the fridge for about 10-15 minutes or until the pastry is firm.
Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F (conventional setting). Place a baking sheet in the middle of the oven while preheating.
Brush the pastry with the egg wash and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of sugar. Take the hot baking sheet out of the oven and pull the galette with the parchment paper onto the baking sheet. Bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let the galette cool for about 10 minutes before cutting. Serve warm or cold.
Nominee - Winner:
Yossy Arefi's fantastic Apricot and Berry Rye Galette with Saffron Sugar
Yossy and I share the same passion for one of the best combinations a coffee table has ever seen: juice-dripping fruit and buttery pastry. When I first saw one of Yossy's famous fruit galettes a couple years ago, I immediately fell in love with its honest and rustic look. And as the New York food writer and photographer announced the birth of her first cookbook, Sweeter Off The Vine, a couple months ago, I was hoping that she'd include a recipe for one of her gorgeous open pies. Yossy didn't let me down and she had my full attention when I spotted her Apricot and Berry Galette with Saffron Sugar made with rye pastry. This innocent pie tastes as good as it looks. Theoretically, I could have eaten the whole cake on my own - and I would have loved to! - but we had guests over for dinner and they enjoyed our fruity dessert just as much as I did, so I had to share.
Yossy Arefi is the creator behind the beautiful blog Apt. 2B Baking Co. and she managed to create a second masterpiece (after her blog) with Sweeter Off The Vine. The book is a gorgeous recipe collection from start to finish, following the seasons with colourful creations that celebrate nature's crop at its peak. Rhubarb and berries, stone fruits and melons, figs, apples, and pears, Yossy didn't leave a single craving of mine unanswered. As I thumbed through the pages, I got lost in her honest and pure, and somehow poetic photography. Nothing feels artificial, the whole book is true and manages to speak to the hungry mind without distraction. Her ice creams, tarts, desserts, and pies look like the food you want to eat in your granny's kitchen, but the young woman from New York always manages to sneak in her little additions that make the recipes very modern at the same time. Aromatic spices, like saffron, vanilla and citrus, orange blossom and rose water, or fresh vanilla bean are used in almost all of her recipes. Yossy's family roots are in Iran, and this heritage brought in her great fascination for the wonderful flavours of Middle Eastern cooking and her love for contrasts.
Apricot and Berry Rye Galette with Saffron Sugar
Recipe from Sweeter off the Vine: Fruit Desserts for Every Season by Yossy Arefi, Ten Speed Press.
Makes 1 9" (23cm) galette
For the rye pie crust
2/3 cup (85g) rye flour
2/3 cup (85g) all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon (125g) very cold unsalted butter
1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
4 tablespoons (60ml) ice water
For the galette
1/2 vanilla bean
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
pinch saffron threads
2 teaspoons all purpose flour
pinch salt
8 ounces (225g) apricots
1/2 cup (80g) blueberries
1/2 cup (80g) blackberries
1/4 cup (60g) apricot jam (I used blueberry jam)
1 large egg, lightly beaten for egg wash
1 tablespoon turbinado sugar
Whisk the flour and salt together in a large bowl, cut the butter into 1/2-inch (1 1/4cm) cubes, and add the apple cider vinegar to the ice water.
Working quickly, add the butter to the flour and toss to coat. Then use your fingers or the palms of your hands to press each cube of butter into a flat sheet. Keep tossing the butter in the flour as you go to ensure that each butter piece is coated with flour. The idea is to create flat, thin shards of butter that range from about the size of a dime to about the size of a quarter.
If at any time the butter seems warm or soft, briefly refrigerate the bowl.
Sprinkle about 3 tablespoons of the icy cold vinegar-water mixture over the flour mixture. Use a gentle hand or wooden spoon to stir the water into the flour until just combined. If the dough seems dry, add more cold water a couple of teaspoons at a time. You have added enough water when you can pick up a handful of the dough and easily squeeze it together without it falling apart.
Press the dough together, form into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill the dough for at least 2 hours before using, but preferably overnight. Keeps for up to three months in the freezer wrapped in a double layer of plastic wrap and a layer of foil. Thaw in the refrigerator before using.
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a roughly 12-inch (30cm) circle, just under 1/4-inch (1/2cm) thick; it’s okay if it isn’t perfectly round. Transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet. Store in the fridge while you prepare the filling.
Use the tip of a knife to cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Reserve the pod for another use. Add the granulated sugar to a mortar, add the vanilla seeds and saffron threads, and grind with a pestle until finely ground. The sugar will turn pale yellow and smell wonderful. Stir in the flour and salt.
Gently tear the apricots in half. Place the apricot halves into a large bowl and discard the pits. Add the berries and the saffron-vanilla sugar mixture to the bowl and toss with your hands to combine.
Remove the dough from the fridge and spread the jam on top, leaving a 2-inch (5cm) border around the edges, then top with the fruit. Fold the edges of the pastry over the fruit and press gently to seal the folds. Chill the formed tart until the dough is firm, about 15 minutes.
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400ºF (200ºC). When the tart is nice and cold remove it from the fridge and gently brush the dough with the egg wash; sprinkle with the turbinado sugar.
Bake until the fruit juices bubble and the pastry is deep golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving. This tart is best served the day it’s made.
Arancine - Sicilian Rice Balls with Saffron and Mozzarella
If you're still looking for a festive vegetarian dish for your Christmas table I can only recommend these little golden balls of rice refined with saffron and stuffed with melted mozzarella, the famous Sicilian arancine! Imagine a bright yellow risotto alla milanese cooked with aromatic saffron in a strong both, mixed with egg yolk and parmesan and shaped into little dumplings. The balls are stuffed with mozzarella and fried with a coating of flour, egg and breadcrumbs until golden brown (which is done in less than a minute). The result looks like tiny oranges which gave them their name arancini or arancine in Sicily, derived from the Italian word for orange, arancia.
Sometimes they are also filled with mushrooms, pistachios or aubergine, or with a meaty tomato sauce, a rich ragù, like in Malta where I love to eat them for lunch at my local confectionary, Busy Bee. The old fashioned atmosphere of the marble panelled cafe on the Msida seafront is my favourite place for a little midday snack and an espresso when we're on the Mediterranean island. The room is often filled with the same business people and elderly couples and I imagine them meeting at this café for a date like they have done all their life. We all enjoy the authentic cooking and traditional Maltese and Italian dishes which taste like mama's kitchen.
I went for a simple filling with mozzarella as I wanted to enjoy my arancine on a light and fruity salad of orange, fennel and rucola. The mild cheese merges perfectly with the risotto's saffron aroma and the whole composition makes quite a pretty platter!
Arancine with Mozzarella
The oil is very hot, so you should always fry with lots of care!
For 4 people (about 15 small arancine) you need
Arborio rice 200g / 7 ounces
medium onion, finely chopped, 1
vegetable or meat broth around 600ml / 2.5 cups (depending on the rice you will need more or less liquid)
white wine 100ml / 1/2 cup
a pinch of saffron
salt and black pepper
olive oil
organic egg yolks 2 plus 2-3 eggs to coat the arancine
Parmesan, freshly grated, 20g / 3/4 ounce
mozzarella, cut into small cubes, 80g / 3 ounces
plain flour, a large handful, to coat the arancine
breadcrumbs, a large handful, to coat the arancine
vegetable oil for deep-frying, around 1l / 2 pints (plus more depending on the size of the pot you use)
fennel bulb, very thinly sliced, 2
orange, peeled and cut into filets, 2
rucola (arugula), a big handful
Mix the wine and saffron.
In a large pot, heat a splash of olive oil and sauté the onions on medium heat for about 2-3 minutes until soft. Stir in the rice and cook on medium heat for 1 minute. Add the saffron wine and some of the broth, the rice should be covered, stir and turn the heat down to medium-low. When the liquid has been absorbed add more broth, a little at a time, stirring in between. Depending on the rice, it will need more or less liquid. When the rice is al dente and the broth is absorbed take it off the heat and season with salt and pepper to taste. Close with a lid and let the risotto sit for a minute. Stir in the egg yolks and Parmesan and let the mixture cool completely.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot. Check if it’s hot enough with a wooden toothpick, little bubbles should form around the toothpick.
Prepare three deep plates, spread flour on the first one, beat the eggs on the second one and fill the last one with breadcrumbs.
Prepare a little bowl with water, wet your fingers and take a heaped tablespoon of the risotto. Form a small, thick disc in your wet hand palm, put 2-3 mozzarella cubes in the middle of the rice and form a round dumpling. The cheese should be completely covered. Gently roll the dumpling like a snow ball in the flour, then in the eggs (this has to be done quickly so that it doesn't fall apart) and finally, roll it in the breadcrumbs. Continue with the remaining risotto and put the arancine on a large plate or baking sheet (they will flatten a bit, you have to put them back into a round shape before you fry them in the oil).
Fry the arancine for about 1 minute in the hot oil, turning them in between. They should be golden brown but not dark. Take them out with a slotted ladle and put them on kitchen paper to remove excess oil.
Divide the fennel, orange and rucola between the plates and drizzle a little olive oil over it. Serve the warm arancine on top of the salad.
A quick Fish Soup with Saffron and Vermouth
Bright red, with chunks of firm fish filet and king prawns, this was one of the best fish soups I have ever eaten! It was so rich in aromatic flavours, saffron, vermouth, thyme and bay leaf that it makes my mouth water when I think about it. My mother cooked the soup with wolfs fish and cod, we went to the market to get monkfish but her fish monger didn't have it that day. Our choice was good, the fish tasted nice and strong and we enjoyed every single bite of it!
The soup is made of a concentrated fish broth, lobster works as well, which you can either prepare yourself beforehand or use a store bought one of good quality (my mother used a broth she had in the freezer). Once you have the broth ready in the pot, the basis of this soup, you only need 20 minutes in the kitchen before you can fill your plates with this delicious fish soup. We added saffron, vermouth, herbs and a couple vegetables and let it simmer for 10 minutes before we threw in the fish for another 7 minutes, that's it. A sumptuous meal in such a short time!
Traditionally, this soup is topped with mayonnaise, you can either use the one from yesterday's artichoke with 3 dips or my garlicky aïoli. The traditional Provençal Bouillabaisse is served with an aromatic Rouille (I haven't shared a recipe for this yet) which is made with saffron and spicy chili peppers. We got so excited over the quick preparation of our soup and the beautiful German white wine we already savored while cooking, that we simply forgot about this creamy dip. We didn't enjoy it any less without it, with ciabatta bread on the side and the most amazing view of soft hills in juicy shades of green behind my mother's blossoming garden. It was a good day!
Fish Soup with Saffron and Vermouth
For 4 people you need
fish ( firm filets of loup de mer, monkfish, wolfs fish or cod and king prawns), cut into chunky pieces, 800g / 1 3/4 pounds
fish or lobster broth 1200ml / 2.5 pints
vermouth 100ml / 3.5 ounces (we used a mix of Noilly Prat and Pernot)
shallots, finely chopped, 2
medium carrot, finely chopped, 1
garlic, crushed, 1 clove
tomato paste 2 tablespoons
thyme, the leaves of 3 sprigs
parsley, finely chopped, the leaves of 3 sprigs
bay leaf 1
a pinch of saffron
a pinch of cayenne pepper
salt and pepper
olive oil
In a large pot, heat a splash of olive oil and sautée the vegetables and garlic on a medium heat for 2 minutes. Add the tomato paste and mix with the vegetables. Deglaze with the vermouth and let it cook for 1 minute. Add the broth, bay leaf, thyme and parsley and let it cook for 10 minutes on a medium heat. Season with saffron, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper to taste and take out the bay leaf.
Add the fish and let it simmer on a medium-low heat for about 7 minutes until the fish is done. Don't overcook it, the texture should stay firm.
Serve with white bread (you can also roast it under the grill with a few drops of olive oil) and a spoonful of mayonnaise.
Saffron Bread
Here's the saffron bread I promised!
Let's start with the texture, it's juicy but light, a quality I love of all of my bread recipes, be it my Zucchini Bread, the Olive Loaf or my Potato Bread, but this one has a special aroma. It's made with one of the most precious and expensive spices, dried saffron threads. Only a very small part of the saffron crocus' flower is used for the production of this red spice, the three crimson stigmas growing at the end of the carpel. Lots of flowers, 150 - 200, are necessary to produce 1 gram of this treasure! Luckily, its aroma is so intense that a tiny amount is enough to refine other ingredients with its flavour.
For my bread made of a bit more than a pound of flour I used a pinch of saffron threads (around 1/5 teaspoon) to spread their unique taste. At first I was a bit worried that it wouldn't be strong enough for yesterday's sandwich, the Greek feta dip mixed with harissa and cayenne pepper had quite an impact of different flavours. To my surprise, the hot spiciness and the saffron complemented each other perfectly! It was a Greek reunion as antique mythology tells that the Greek God Zeus used to sleep on a bed covered in saffron.
Saffron Bread
For 1 big loaf of bread you need
plain flour 550g / 19 ounces
yeast 1 package (for 500g / 1 pound of flour)
salt 1 1/2 teaspoons
water, lukewarm, 230ml / 8 ounces
olive oil 4 tablespoons
a pinch of saffron threads (around 1/5 teaspoon)
Mix the saffron with 3 teaspoons of the water.
In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients, add the olive oil, saffron liquid and the rest of the water and mix with your dough hooks for 5 minutes until well combined. Continue kneading with your hands for around 5 minutes until you have an elastic dough ball. Put the dough back into the bowl and cover with a tea towel. Let the dough rise in a 35°C / 95°F warm ( top / bottom heat, no fan!) oven for 60 minutes.
Take the dough out, punch it down and knead for 1 minute. Form 1 long loaf and put on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover with a tea towel and let it rise for 25 minutes in a warm place.
Set the oven to 225°C / 440°F.
Cut 4 diagonal slashes into the bread and bake for 20 minutes or until cooked through. If you’re not sure if it’s done turn the bread around and knock on its underside, it should sound hollow. Let it cool for a couple minutes on a wire rack covered with a tea towel to soften the crust a bit.
Marilena's Milk Pan di Campobasso, a traditional Dolci del Molise
I have wonderful news, eat in my kitchen is in the final of the Kitchn's "Best Daily Read Cooking Blog" together with nine other blogs! Thank you for your support and help to come so far!
It would be great if you could vote (one last time, I promise) for the final vote of the "Best Daily Read Cooking Blog" here.
A few weeks ago a very sweet lady, Marilena, got in touch with me. It was the day I wrote about Mussel with Ginger, Lemon Grass and Coriander and we got to talking about seafood recipes, cakes and olive oil. At one point she asked me if I would like to try one of her cake recipes, the Milk Pan di Campobasso.
Marilena lives in Italy in the Molise region (in the Campobasso province) which is north-east of Napoli. She loves to bake, beautifully decorated cakes for weddings and special events and she produces her own olive oil, Marilena has 300 olive trees! She already sent me some of her wonderful extra virgin olive oil which is divine, a few drops on fresh bread and some salt, delicious!
So finally I baked her cake, Marilena's Milk Pan di Campobasso. I was excited, it's a special recipe, a traditional Dolci del Molise and it required a few preparations. First I had to get a special liqueur, the Italian Strega (meaning "witch") which is a herbal liqueur produced since 1860, bright yellow made with saffron, mint and fennel. I ordered it and when it arrived I prepared the "liqueur milk". A mixture made of milk, Strega liqueur, sugar, saffron, vanilla and lemon peel which has to sit overnight, it gives the Milk Pan its typical taste and yellow colour. The cake is baked in a dome cake tin, it's very juicy, a bit moist but still light. It is covered with a glaze of nocciola cream, a hazelnut spread, mixed with white chocolate and sprinkled with hazelnuts. It's hard to describe the taste, it's the taste of Italy, wonderfully sweet and aromatic, with a slight hint of saffron which is a great match to the hazelnuts. I love it, thank you Marilena!
Milk Pan di Campobasso
For this cake you need a 1 liter dome cake tin (mine is ceramic, you can also use a metal one).
For the liqueur milk
I made more liqueur milk than I needed for the cake as I want to use it for other dessert recipes as well. You will need around 50ml (one espresso cup) of this mixture for the cake.
milk 50ml
granulated sugar 50g / 2 ounces
Strega liqueur 50ml (you can also use another herbal liqueur with fennel and saffron)
a tiny pinch of saffron
the seeds of 1cm / 1/2" vanilla bean
a long strip of lemon peel
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, cover and let them infuse overnight.
For the hazelnut chocolate icing and topping
white chocolate 150g / 5 ounces
nocciola cream (hazelnut spread) 2 big tablespoons
sunflower oil 2 tablespoons plus more for mixing
hazelnuts, chopped, 3 tablespoons, or more if you like for the topping
In a sauce pan, melt the chocolate on low temperature and stir in the hazelnut spread and oil. It should be smooth and liquid, if it's not liquid enough you will have to add a little more oil.
For the cake
butter, soft, 150g / 5.5 ounces
granulated sugar 150g / 5.5 ounces
organic eggs 3
pinch of salt
plain flour 80g / 3 ounces
potato starch 80g / 3 ounces
baking powder 1/2 teaspoon
liqueur milk, 1 espresso cup (around 50ml)
Set the oven to 180°C / 355°F ( (fan-assisted oven), butter the dome cake tin and sprinkle with breadcrumbs.
Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt till stiff. Combine the flour, potato starch and baking powder. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar till fluffy, add the egg yolks, one at a time. Stir in the dry ingredients and the liqueur milk and continue mixing until well combined. Gently fold in the egg whites.
Scrape the dough carefully into the prepared tin and bake until golden. Check with a skewer, it should come out clean. Marilena told me to check it after 30 minutes, mine needed 55 minutes. The baking time depends on the shape, size and material of your tin.
Let the cake cool (I put the tin in cold water which makes it easier to take the cake out), carefully flip it over on a big plate and ice it with the hazelnut chocolate icing. Sprinkle with hazelnuts and enjoy its beauty (and taste)!
