Neta and Vishi Gerber bake the slopes of the Hermon Brioche egg and sourdough sourdough bread and dishes worth coding for them.

A few years ago I moved to Kibbutz Snir in the far north. The beautiful area, which I loved to stroll and cook from time to time, became a home for me. As a man whose North is his home, I get to know many lovely people here who are engaged in culinary and many small businesses, which, like most of the country, go through simple months.

This is exactly the time to introduce you to Neta Vichy Gerber. Yishai was a baker at Raphael, and then studied baking in New York. He and his wife came to the North by chance and decided to set up their home here. In September 2013, they opened the Nofit Hermon complex on Highway 99, east of Kiryat Shmona, a small bakery called "Lachmeke". "We started as a bakery," he says. "We really wanted them to taste the bread with the right toppings, and slowly the toppings became an integral part of the bakery. That's how it developed into a cafe."

I asked Mishi and Minta to share with us recipes for three simple summer dishes, in order to teach us how to make two types of breads that "Hamakka" is famous for: brioche and cereal bread. Both are uncomplicated; The sourdough bread requires a little more patience and "getting ready", but they are definitely possible for home preparation. We have incorporated baking tips into them, which you can use for other foods as well.

Now that the great freedom is already here and everyone in the country is already here, I recommend you to spend a few hours, come and travel in the north and remember what a beautiful country we have.

Brioche

Making brioche bread at home is not that complicated. Then, of course, you can make infinite bread for reasons. Our favorite use is a dish called egg brioche. The inspiration for the dish is a Benedict Egg, but in a different version and personal interpretation.

The ingredients (for a square of about 10 slices):

√ 250 grams of flour

√ 4.5 grams of yeast

√ 55 grams of eggs

√ 55 grams of cold water

√ 25 grams of milk

√ 5 grams of salt

√ 30 grams of sugar

√ 80g cold butter in small cubes

In a mixing bowl with kneading hook, mix the flour and yeast for a minute. Add the eggs, liquid and salt. When the pulp begins to consolidate, add the sugar by 2-3 beats. When the sugar is swallowed, add the butter a few beats so that the dough can get the amount of butter. When the dough is uniform and smooth, stop kneading and cover for the first swelling.

After 45 minutes, fold the dough inside itself a few times and swell for another 45 minutes. Remove to a lightly floured surface and form an initial shape similar to an English cake mold (not a round shape to make it easier to reach the final shape).

Cover the dough with a towel and let it rest for another 15 minutes. Then form a final shape, place in English cake mold on baking paper and spread in egg. Bake again for 45-30 minutes, until the dough is very swollen and soft to the touch. Spread egg one more time (the extra smear is for a glossy appearance) and bake at 180 degrees for 20-15 minutes, until a nice brown color is obtained.

Brioche with egg

Materials:

√ 3 slices of plump brioche

√ 50 grams of butter

√ 2 eggs

√ 1 tablespoon sour cream

√ A handful of dried spinach without the stems

√ 3 slices of smoked salmon (bought)

√ Grated parmesan cheese

√ Salt

√ Pepper

Heat a frying pan with butter and fry the slices of brioche on both sides until browned. In a saucepan, place a tablespoon of sour cream and place the slices on it. At the same time, heat another skillet with eggs with a little butter and fry 2 seasoned egg eggs with salt and pepper (the yolk needs to stay liquid, so it will dissolve in place of sauce). Place the fried eggs on the brioche.

In another pan heat some butter and steam the spinach leaves for half a minute with a little salt. Place over the egg, and over it place smoked salmon. Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese over the dish.

Mozzarella salad and beets

If you have already made brioche, then let's make a light salad, suitable for summer and fun to eat alongside brioche. The inspiration for the salad is of course the classic caprese salad, but with a personal twist of beets.

Salad ingredients:

√ 1 Red and hard green tomato

√ 6-5 colored cherry tomatoes

√ 1 radish

√ Some slices of purple onion

√ 5-4 Kalamata olives

√ 1 Pickled medium beets (see preparation)

√ 4 cloves of garlic confit (see preparation)

√ 1 Buffalo mozzarella ball

√ Salt, pepper, lemon, olive oil and a handful of basil leaves for seasoning

Beetroot silage:

√ 1 Medium beetroot with the peel

√ 1/2 cup vinegar

√ 1/2 cup sugar

√ Salt

√ Pepper

√ 3 thyme branches

√ 1 garlic clove tooth

For no confession:

√ 4 peeled garlic cloves

√ Olive oil

√ Salt

√ Pepper

√ Slightly right

To make the silage, cook the beets with the rind in a pot with water, covered with lid, over medium heat for about 20 minutes, until the beets are soft (but not very - that's important). Peel the beets under a stream of cold water, cut into eights and set aside. Put in the silage, cook 2-1 minutes on medium heat and add the beets. Bring to a boil, remove from heat and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

To make the garlic confit, cook the roasted garlic cloves in olive oil over low heat with very gentle bubbles with salt, pepper and a little thyme, until soft (30-20 minutes).

To make the salad, cut the tomato into eights and cherry tomatoes in halves. In mandolin, slice the radish thinly and sprinkle the tomatoes together with the slices of purple onion. Add the garlic and olives. Place over 6-5 pieces of pickled beets. It is important not to mix the ingredients, but to work in the order listed here, otherwise the beet will paint all the other ingredients.

Tear the mozzarella ball into pieces and sprinkle over. Season with salt, pepper, lemon, olive oil and basil.

Breads soured grains

The materials for the job and coating:

√ 30 grams of sunflower seeds

√ 30 grams of pumpkin seeds

√ 30 ounces thick oats

√ 30 grams of linen

√ 30 grams of sesame seeds

Prepare this amount twice as much - one is for the job and the extra amount to be coated just before baking. The night before the bread is made, soak the quantity intended for the job in 120 grams of water and put in the refrigerator (so that the kernels do not annex water from the dough itself and already reach the dough filled with water).

On the day of preparation:

√ 200g white flour for bread (recommended, but also plain white flour)

√ 100 grams of whole flour

√ 35 grams of rye flour

√ 190 ml water (if hot outside, use cold water; if cold - lukewarm water can be used)

√ 120 grams sour

√ 10 grams of salt

Mix the dough ingredients, except the salt, for a few minutes by hand until combined and allow the chewing to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature. Then add 10 grams of salt and put in the hand (or mixer with kneading hook) for about 10 to 7 minutes, until gluten is developed (until the dough is stretched and you see that it is elastic and not ripped).

Add the kernels we made the day before and mix by hand until a uniform mass is obtained. Swirl for about an hour in a bowl covered with plastic wrap.

Fold the dough in 4-3 times and bake another hour (in winter bake more time). When you feel the dough swell and not "catch," create an oval loaf.

Roll in a wet towel to get the dough wet, then roll in the second grain mixture (not soaked in water). Leave to swell on a surface (or bowl) with flour, towel covered, for 90 minutes at room temperature, or overnight in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (preferably with a falling stone, available in a cookware store) and place an iron tray at the bottom of the oven to heat with it. When the oven is hot, place the bread on the stone, and at the same time throw ice cubes into the pan to create a steam shock. Bake 40-30 minutes until desired color and crust are obtained.

Portabella sandwich sour cream

Materials (for 4 sandwiches):

√ Confabella Portabella mushrooms (see Preparation)

√ 4 cloves of garlic confit (the ingredients and preparation of the previous dish)

√ 1 carrot

√ 1 small collar

√ 1 sweet potato with the rind

√ 1 Rocket bundle

√ Salt, pepper, lemon and olive oil for seasoning

For Pesto:

√ Basil leaves from 2 bunches

√ A handful of walnuts

√ Olive oil

√ Salt

√ Pepper

For Portabella Confetti:

√ 1 Portable Mushroom Pack

√ Olive oil

√ Salt

√ Pepper

√ Some branches of thyme

To make the pesto, in the magimix place the basil leaves, king nuts, salt and pepper, grind and slowly drizzle olive oil until the texture of the spread is obtained.

To make the portabella confetti, lower the legs of the mushrooms and sky in a pot with salt, pepper and some branches of thyme. Add olive oil about 2/3 height below the mushrooms. Cover the pot with foil (or a lid that fits the pot) and cook on low heat, for a gentle simmer. Be careful not to fry the mushrooms but cook them, so the fire must be small. After 10 minutes, remove from heat and leave covered for another 15 minutes.

To make the sweet potato fries, in mandolin, thinly slice the sweet potato with the shell and fry in deep canola oil. You have to watch out, it can burn easily.

To assemble the sandwich, slice 2 slices of sourdough bread and spread pesto on each slice. In a small bowl, cut a confetti portal into slices and add 2 confit garlic cloves. Peel some carrot strips on the peeler. In mandolin, 4 slices of kohlrabi are sliced ​​and cut into strips.

Add the sweet potato fries, a little rocket, salt, pepper, squeezed lemon and a little olive oil. Mix everything, place on the slice and close the sandwich. 

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