Today I made a pistachio and cinnamon sugar Pain Soleil (Sun Bread) for staff meal. You might remember I was interested in making it after seeing a demo by Chef CP the other day. So when I had the chance today, I asked to make a Pain Soleil, and Chef CP said OK.
The Pain Soleil I made was made from a sweet dough (that is similar to brioche or panettone). I cannot provide the recipe here because I do not have permission to do so, but I can show you what I made, so that you can imagine all the possibilities with different flavours (both sweet ones and savoury ones).
This is the Pain Soleil I made. The sweet dough was rolled out to a large circular shape, and placed on a baking tray lined with parchment paper (baking paper). Then I put a small upturned bowl in the middle of the dough before cutting the "rays of the sun" around the upturned bowl. After that, I lifted the small bowl off, egg-washed the whole dough, sprinkled some cinnamon sugar (i.e. ground cinnamon mixed with fine sugar), then I twisted the "rays of the sun". Finally, I sprinkled some chopped pistachios in the middle of the dough.
After proofing the dough for about 30 minutes, I baked the bread at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. When it was golden brown, I took it out of the oven. Voila!
Everyone who saw the Pain Soleil (Sun Bread) I made said it was beautiful. I loved it too. It is a simple pattern, but makes the bread look so pretty. I will be making more of these when I get another chance.
This morning, a classmate and I (both of us are regular volunteers for Production Kitchen) were in charge of making two large pizzas for staff meal as well, so we set about making a thick crust pizza, and preparing the tasty toppings. We used (1) duck confit, sliced potatoes, smoked bacon, anchovies, onions, and mozzarella, parmesan and feta cheese, and (2) smoked meats, garlic, onions, egg plants, zucchinis, tomatoes, kalamata olives, and gruyere and feta cheese for the topping. Both pizzas turned out well.
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The following was what I made for staff meal (dessert) on Monday. I used the leftover Kataifi dough (which are very thin threads of phyllo/filo dough) to make Pistachio Kataifi, based on several online recipes that I found.
I'm happy I got the chance to do something other than LCB Ottawa recipes. That is one of the reasons why I volunteer in Production Kitchen.
This batch of Kataifi tasted fine. I wish I had seen the bottle of orange blossom water sitting on a shelf in Production Kitchen, because it would have been good to have it in the simple syrup that I poured over the Kataifi.
I've had a great week. Monday and Friday in Production Kitchen. Tuesday and Thursday at Stubbe Chocolates (where I learnt to make chocolate Easter eggs); Wednesday was the inspiring Bread Workshop at LCB Ottawa.
One more week to go before my final exam. I will be spending most of that time studying, so I won't have much time for blogging. But I promise to resume blogging after my final exam on 16 March 2009.
