This is the dough to make viennoiserie, risen buttery concoctions like croissants and pains au chocolat. It’s incredibly fiddly to say the least. One essential step: get the best — by which I mean highest fat content — butter you can find....
Credit where credit is due: I got this from Ken Forkish of Ken’s Artisan Pizza in Portland. It’s one of my favorite pizza places. Sadly I don’t have a wood-burning oven at home....
A crumble is about the easiest dessert it’s possible to make. Get good fruit, toss it in a bit of sugar to taste, add some cornflour to thicken, and then cover with this topping....
Poached eggs can be a pain. There’s nothing fun about hunching over a giant pot of boiling water or delicately sliding raw eggs into the pot, hoping they won’t fall apart....
While there is some pleasure to be had in baking my own bread, I’d honestly be a lot happier if I could pop into a bakery in the morning and pick up a great loaf of professionally-baked bread every day....