Wood fire oven bread baking outing in Fan Ling

On March 14th, 2010 – we gathered 25 passionate foodies ranging from professionals to amateurs. The result of the day was simply awesome.

We had possibly some of the best chefs in their own field in Hong Kong to bake bread, pizzas, roasted meat and the great apple tart. The people participating at the outing were on a lucky strike for great food. All of this of course with the trimmings such as cheeses, farm vegetables and jam – a truly great day for any foodie. There was no high-tech equipment and techniques. It was all back to basics, as simple as simple gets, and the results were just sensational. All the kids were helping Mark to knead the dough. On that day we produced a rosemary batard, pizzas and whole wheat bread. After having baked several pizzas and roasted a few pieces of meat, our oven wasn’t hot enough anymore, so we re-heated it and finished to bake the succulent bread thereafter.

Moreover, Teresa and her friends at the organic E-farm, Fan Ling (next to the Lavender Garden) were amazingly friendly and helpful. They even started a culture of sourdough following my book, which I thought was an excellent initiative with such an oven, they’ll be able to produce really high quality breads!

Below are some photos of the day…

New Baking Class at ADG – March 26,27

On March 26 and 27, I will be holding a 2 days baking class for up to 20 participants. We will prepare sourdough breads and direct dough breads with different textures, shapes and very intersting flavors using top seasonal ingredients such as fresh black cherries.

More info at http://www.atelierdugout.com.hk/ or http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/adg-hk

See you there!

New Dessert Book!

Hello!

I am pleased to announce the upcoming release my new dessert book!

Indeed, we are currently working very hard on that new dessert cookbook with the topic of using fresh cheeses in the making, such as mascarpone, creamcheese, quark, ricotta and many more excellent and surprising dairy products!

With excellent desserts, cakes and treats to please everyone, the new book should be published (hopefully )  in July 2010! The final title is not confirmed yet, but i’ll post it as soon as it is official. So, keep posted

Thank you!

Festive Season!

Sorry not to post much these days. With the Festive Season around the corner, we are frantically busy on a daily basis!

Have a good time during this festive period!!

“Never Skip Dessert” Errata

On page 132 of ‘Never skip dessert’, a printing mistake has unfortunately occured in the list of ingredients for the macaroon. The white sugar should be 54 grams and not 540 grams. Sorry

Hong Chi Association and Chef’s day

On October 20th, 2009 – For the International Chef’s Day, Gregoire Michaud joined other chefs in a great day of charity to prepare and serve meals to 700 handicapped kids at the Hong Chi Association in Hong Kong. On that exceptional event of sharing, chefs are joining hands helping this association to bring a smile on the face of all the kids. More info at http://www.hongchi.org.hk and a complete coverage available at HK Chef’s association website.

Serving Lunch

“Atelier Du gout” Baking Demo

The baking demo at the excellent L’atelier du Gout, was a great success and I can understand the so many questions from the passionate bakers attending the class. One of the question was about the stone to be used in a home oven.

Using a stone in home baking makes a big difference to your end product, whether you bake a pizza or a loaf of bread.
The stone can be the same nature as heat resistant “engineered” brick (used to build wood fire oven), or another common natural stone used is the cordierite. Granite and slate are also fine; of course any stone used to bake should not be glazed.

A thickness of about half an inch will be appropriate. The thicker the stone, the more time it will take to heat up. If you use a gas oven, it should take a total of about 45 minutes to bring the stone to even heat. And if you are using an electrical oven, it will take about 60 minutes. In a oven with bottom and top heat control, the stone can be directly on the bottom of the oven, but if the heat is too strong from the bottom, you might need to keep your stone on a grid at the lower level in your oven to avoid a too intense heat.

Every stone, either man made or natural have a certain degree of moisture in them and you will need to “dry” them or else the stone will crack or break at the first usage. So before baking with your stone, you have to warm it up gradually to “temper” it. For example 1 hour at  50C degrees followed by 1 hour at 100C degrees, followed by one hour at 150C degrees and finally half hour at 200C.

There is no need to get an expensive stone with brand name, visit a local stone shop and ask them to cut a slab of your desired stone for the size of your oven.

To come back to the demo, below are some blogs link with some amazing photos of the class!

http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/jw!sIpGPwCeEwT4qmm2cj4W/article?mid=1052
http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/jw!Mwjpd6iRERmuGYW7Ix_6xzVXFYQ-/article?mid=4698
http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/jw!ifhHndaRGAIm3eaklybk7Xy2ZjI-/article?mid=23562
http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/amoon-littleworld/article?mid=24569
http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/maychung/article?mid=4518

…and from L’Atelier du Gout Blog:
http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/adg-hk/article?mid=504 (preparation)
http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/adg-hk/article?mid=507 (demonstration)

Thank you to all!