winter cooking creations
a spark of creativity, many hours of proofing, and a rly good breakfast
Sometimes, in the gloomy depths of winter, baking is a function of survival. First, it gives you a sense of purpose for being, something to occupy extended periods of time. Second, it allows you to crank up the oven, an added benefit of heating when your heaters just aren’t working well enough.
You can’t go wrong with crusty bread, rich creamy sauce, and a runny yolk.
In a rut, I was feeling uninspired but also kind of lazy. Focaccia fit the bill. A no knead, customizable canvas for flavors. And sure, I did a poor job of dimpling the dough, but hey it still had a crisp crust so who’s complaining. I topped it off with Asian-inspired ingredients: shallot oil, scallions, shallots, sesame and nori.
And to dress it up a bit more for a weekend breakfast, I poached some eggs and made a quick savory miso brown butter hollandaise with pickled shallots, inspired by Mandy Lee’s recipe in The Art of Escapism Cooking, a cookbook I always turn to when I am seeking inspiration. Often it ends at inspiration – so many of the beautiful recipes in there are a bit too much of a project for me to commit to, but sometimes the ingredients list and the ingredients in my fridge line up just enough and we get a half decent meal out of it.
Recipe references
For the focaccia, I followed the Bon Appétit recipe, but instead of olive oil to top off the dough before baking, I used homemade shallot oil and added the toppings (which burnt a bit, so would recommend adding the toppings real quick halfway).
For the miso brown butter hollandaise, I used the cookbook recipe, but used the white shiro miso I had on hand. I pickled the shallots in some rice wine vinegar and a little sugar, and I topped the poached egg with some sichimi togarashi and hari kizami nori.