Friday, October 21, 2011

FFwD: Pissaladiere

I in no way hold the unfortunate outcome of my Pissaladiere (pg 45 of Around My French Table) against the recipe, or against pissaladieres around the world. In case you're wondering what the hell a pissaladiere is, it's a thin-crusted dough smeared with caramelized onions, anchovies, and olives. In Nice, I'd give one a try without thinking twice. In my kitchen, everything that could go wrong, did.

I first suspected something was up when I opened the tin of anchovies. It looked like cat food. In the photo in the book, there are long, solid lengths of anchovy laced across the onions. I looked back at my tin, and found it impossible to separate a single fish from its friends. It was one mushy mass. I figured that would save me the step of chopping the anchovies, and dumped them in with my onions. As promised, they dissolved into the onion. It smelled awfully fishy, though, and when I tried an onion, it left a very unpleasant aftertaste in my mouth.
Yum. Please ignore the weird stains on my windowsill. I just noticed that.
My aunt, via facebook, saved the day, as much as the day could be saved. A fan of pissaladiere, she said:
A) She hoped I didn't use the little sardine type tins of anchovy, but the better kind that come in jars. Woops. I bought the tin that cost 20 cents more than the one next to it, figuring they were better. Ha!
B) If the onions tasted too fishy, rinse them off, dry them well, and sautee them again with lemon juice and brown sugar. I did, and the onions were muuuuuch better. Phew! Disaster averted. Right? Wrong.

My dough didn't rise. I don't know why. I baked a bread using this yeast last weekend, and it was fine, so I don't think bad yeast was the problem. I put the dough in the garage, which is warmer than the house. Maybe it wasn't warm enough. It cooled down to the mid-70s here this week. I thought that would be warm enough. Beats me. All I know is my dough was pretty much the same exact size two hours later.

Then, Charlie started having a clingy fit about ten minutes before the buzzer was set to ring. Matt said he'd do what needed doing. I told him that when the buzzer rang, throw the olives on top, then bake it for five more minutes. At the end of those five minutes, the onions had burned and the dough had turned into a too-dark cracker. Matt told me after the fact that it looked done to him before he put the olives on, but I told him to bake it another five minutes, so he did. Urge to kill RISING.
Anyway, we ate a few bites. Matt heated up leftover pad thai. I finished my glass of wine and called it a night.

I would try this one again if I could find the right kind of anchovy. I don't hold anything against the concept. This Dorie disaster was my own doing. Onward!

19 comments:

  1. Oops! I bought a tin of anchovies as well. I'm sure my sister will still eat them.

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  2. AGGHH... i was afraid of this result- I just think it is very hard to make this pie. The most fool proof recipes call for a focaccia type dough and also go easy on the onions. little nicoise or ligurian olives are necessary, you need good anchovies and just wisps of carmelized onions and fresh thyme. Goat cheese is a great elevator of mediocre or problem pissaladiere . Though I have had versions that were excellent with well made, flavored onion confit on a sturdy thin crust, I have had just as many lame soggy ,overly salty versions too. When you go to Nice and Marseiiles you can do the grand pissaladiere taste tour along with the grand bouillabaiise taste tour- and then when you make it again - you'll know exactly how it needs to be...

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  3. Sorry! Sometimes it seems the wrong day to cook...happens to everyone. But, look at what has been learned. What a great aunt who can help you with hard questions. Better luck next time.

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  4. it sounds like you had only one glass of wine... TELL ME IT ISN'T TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)
    ... shit happens... NEXT... XO

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  5. Oh no! I guess we're all due for a kitchen disaster once in a while. I hope you try this again sometime. We really enjoyed it.

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  6. My anchovies were just like yours. I ended up spooning them in little mounds. If it is any comfort, my dough over-rised (the perils of using rapid-rise yeast and leaving the unbaked pissaladiere in the counter for half an hour) and I wasn't too crazy about the crust.

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  7. Oh no.... I hate those days. And don't you just love it when "they" hold back important pieces of infomration. I hope you had a second glass...

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  8. We all have those days in the kitchen. An A for effort and I hope you had that 2nd glass of wine too :) Happy weekend!

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  9. Well, at least you had a valiant go at this and that's all that mattered. If I were you, I'd had given up at the sight of the anchovies and flat dough. Which reminds me of his tip...if you want your dough to rise in a warm place, heat a cup of water in the microwave (on high) for 4-5 minutes, then place your bowl of dough in there with the cup. The steam and heat will help the yeast do its job faster. LOL, do I sound like another aunt? :-)

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  10. awesome mail order:

    http://www.taylorsmarket.com/

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  11. My anchovies came in a tin, and they worked out OK. Sorry this one didn't work out. Do try again. If you're game for the anchovies, you'll love it when it comes out as it's supposed to. Yum!

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  12. So sorry about the multiple disasters (you could have been a guest blogger on tasty mayhem this week - it is so something I expected to happen when I read "anchovies"!), but I think these posts are helpful too. My Cento tin of anchovies were all little fillets in oil and I looked for ones that said fillet since the store did not have them in jars where I could see what was inside. Love the tip about the lemon and brown sugar. Next week, pumpkin! I'm sure it will be better - no anchovies or yeast in sight. :-)

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  13. Oh dear! Murphy's Law I guess. Give this one another go though because it sounds like when the universe isn't dead set against you this dish is pretty good!

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  14. I hope you try again, as this was really a good dish. Remember: anchovy paste, puff pastry, and sundried tomatoes (for the criss-crosses, instead of anchovy fillets) are your friends!!

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  15. At least kitchen disasters make for a good story ... right?! If it makes you feel any better, I used the anchovies in the jar, and they were still pretty fishy.

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  16. Yikes...I'm sorry for all the mishaps, but at least the cat food comment gave me a good giggle :)

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  17. Yeah, I had to laugh at that comment too. Save the tin anchovies for mashing up a tiny bit into spaghetti sauce or meatloaf. Secret ingredient time. Seriously.

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  18. Ok...more comments about anchovies. If you get them salt packed, you need to rinse them and de-bone/fillet them. There is widespread disagreement re: the superiority of salt-packed ( in round cans) vs. oil packed ( in jars) and France vs. Italy vs. Spain.
    The best, most consistently well-rated brand is Spanish "Ortiz". The main difference is that oil packed versions are already boned. However the Sicilian brand Recca, which is salt packed, is highly rated by both Alice Waters and Julia Child. Salt packed come in bigger tins and make more sense if you use the product frequently. Some other Italian oil-packed brands to look for (mail order only !!): Sangiolaro, Scalia and Rizzoli. French: Roque Spanish: Ortiz( widely available too) Arroyabe, and El Valero- Taylor's market in CA. , Marky's in FLA. and other high-end mail order houses sell these. Typical supermarket and pizza anchovies can't compare to these.

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  19. OK- please note that I am laughing WITH YOU :) Your post had me howling. Esp the "resist urge to kill" comment. Sorry but anyone who can't empathize must have just started the FFWD. I also learned a lot about anchovies and yeast with your post so I appreciate this info. Great job and looking forward to next week....

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