polenta

Kamut and Polenta Bread

I have the habit of buying myself a Chrismas present each year. Nothing frivolous, but something I really want and something I might not otherwise buy. This time it was the third Tartine book – encouraged by a number of reviews, an article about the sheer amount of research Chad Robertson put into the creation of this book and my friend Sara who thought I would enjoy the book given the large number of recipes using ancient grains created by Chad. And Sara was right. I have only had the book for about a month, but in between the present-buying frenzy, traveling and Christmas itself, I have already baked the Chocolate Rye Cookies (crack in cookie form if you ask me), eaten far too many of a batch of the 50/50 sablés, munched my way through 3 loaves of the Toasted Buckwheat Bread and revolutionised my scones thanks to learning about Tartine’s technique of using both baking powder and sourdough

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Peach Polenta Pine Nut Cake

I asked Alessandro the other day what his idea of summer was – his answer? Pasta con pomodoro fresco e basilico (pasta with a sauce made from fresh tomatoes and basil). My idea of summer? Biting into a slice of crunchy, juicy and perfectly sweet watermelon after a refreshing dip in the sea (failing which, a dip in a swimming pool). Like him (and myself) I am sure all of you have your own idea of what summer is (maybe a crisp glass of white wine enjoyed on the porch, a barbecue with friends, the smell of sun lotion etc), it is after all most people’s favourite season of the entire year. Having spent the majority of the last 12 or so years in the UK, first in Brighton and then in London, I got used to a somewhat different type of summer than my childhood ones in Germany, where the days from late May to early September were filled

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