My motivation for buying this cookware was based on my expectation of superior results when steaming fish. So frozen filleted Salmon portions had to be the first food I cooked in the "Steam Case". The instructions for microwaving using the Léuké cookware specify 800 Watts of power. Most present day microwave ovens are rated at 1000 Watts and higher. So it will take some tinkering with the microwave power setting in order to correlate the cooking times. Most likely, not a big deal- we have the same issue with actual temperature vs. the oven setting with conventional ovens. Also, when using frozen food, there is the variable of degree of frozen or internal temperature when partially thawed.

The finished salmon was as I expected, moist and cooked just to firm, though it needed about 5 minutes vs. the 3 minutes cooking in the recipe. I am confident that this method will be a convenient and very fast means to steam delicious fish and vegetables. The clean up is a dream come true.

Rather than proceed with Ken’s formula as given, I decided to increase it by 30% beginning with the poolish. That meant nearly all of the other ingredients would be increased by 30% except the salt and yeast, which remained at given levels. Gold Medal Bread Flour was substituted for the All-Purpose Flour because I wanted chewier loaves with maximum volume. Up to this point I have usually halved FWSY formulas for a single loaf yield- this time I kept to the two-loaf formula. The process proceeded pretty much according to his timeline, now that days have turned warmer (including my kitchen).

I own the Emile Henry 4-liter “dutch oven” Ken suggests (I got it mainly to produce Lahey’s breads) but I prefer using the Lodge cast-iron Combo-cooker for its inherent easier and safer transfer of the proofed loaf from the banneton to the shallow cooker half. Though the Emile Henry has many more uses, I reserve the Combo-cooker for bread only. And since I only have one Combo-cooker, I devised a process that allows the second loaf to be inserted into the super-heated cooker immediately after the first loaf is removed from the oven stone. The oven is configured with the stone on the lower rack positioned at the first level up from the lower-most level; this is the baking platform. A second rack is positioned on the first level down from the top-most level. The deep half of the Combo-cooker is removed at the end of 30-minutes baking and placed beneath the baking platform on the over floor. After 10-minutes more, the loaf is transferred to the stone from the shallow cooker half, which is then placed on the empty top rack. Now both Combo-cooker halves remain in the 475º oven ready to be used for the second loaf with no preheating. The loaf finishes baking on the stone until the internal center reaches 205º. When the loaf is removed from the oven to its cooling rack, it will “sing” appreciatively to you while it cools!

This bread really does have a “buttery” flavor that Ken describes and is delicious all by itself. My 30% adjustment yielded two loaves weighing 37-ounces and 36-ounces respectively. Thank you Boulanger Forkish for yet another fine success.

I’m not a very big fan of eggplant, yet I haven’t delegated it to the same category as rutabaga- that of persona non grata. My aversion to most eggplant could most likely be traced to exposure to mushy, glopped eggplant parmesan during my formative years. Though I have found some forms that I can say I do like- my favorites are a dim sum presentation of small Japanese eggplant somehow magically stir-fried with a savory garlic sauce, and, plum-sized Indian eggplants cooked in a red Thai curry.

My “sous chef” spouse is actually a huge eggplant fan (they say opposites attract) and made this dish entirely without any interference by me. No lamb was at hand so she used very lean ground pork. Reduced the spice and sugar amounts, eliminated the cinnamon sticks, traded the pine nuts for hazelnuts. Then complied with the remaining instructions using small Italian eggplants. The pork was a reasonable Goy stand-in, but lamb would certainly have provided traditional and improved flavor. Next trial will use lamb, added garlic and some chili heat to align more with our preferences. And perhaps some goat feta topping would nicely guild the lily. This is a time consuming prep that won’t fit into a “60-minute gourmet” routine, but it is worth the effort and I will “order” it again.