Community Cookbook: Drink a beer; get inspired.

Chef Bart Hosmer shares this month's featured recipe from the Forno Bravo Community Cookbook.

Last week my business travels took me to Boston. I was very fortunate to be on the receiving end of a private tour of the Harpoon Brewery. Harpoon is a working brewery that also has a large bar you can visit and order up the brewery's latest suds. To accompany your beer, they serve soft pretzels that are made to order. The pretzels have a wonderful fermented flavor, and I immediately needed to find out the “how’s and why’s.” Turns out the brewery uses some of the spent grains from the brewing process in their recipe for the pretzel dough. Aha! This got the wheels turning.

I started with Nancy Silverton’s The Mozza Cookbook dough recipe as a base and went to work like a mad scientist juggling beakers of potions. Three versions later, I stumbled upon a magic mix that yielded a spectacular dough. The end result has a crunch to the outer crust, a rich, dense chewy texture, and an amazing deep flavor of toasted grains and soft caramel with a malty aroma.

The dough is wetter than most and will take a bit of effort to make. To see the recipe, follow this link.

Hope you enjoy. Until next month, feast well.
– Chef Bart

Peter Reinhart + Pizza Quest + Forno Bravo Expo = An AMAZING Weekend in September!

Last month we announced the reboot of the Forno Bravo Expo, a celebration of pizza ovens, great food and gathering of wood fired cooking enthusiasts.
Plans are coming together, and we are excited to announce that famed chef and author Peter Reinhart of Pizza Quest will be demonstrating his craft. We will soon be announcing additional guest chefs and the agenda for the two-day event. All of the information for the Expo can be found on the Forno Bravo Expo Facebook page. Under the Events tab, click on subscribe so you’ll be notified of any updates.

The Forno Bravo Expo is free to attend but you must register through Eventbrite.

The 2015 Forno Bravo Expo will be held September 19-20 on the grounds of the Talbott Vineyards in the beautiful wine country of Monterey, California. The Expo will feature live cooking demonstrations and seminars with guest chefs, hands-on access to our ovens, oven management tips, tons of food and the opportunity to ask lots of questions. Information on flights and hotels has been posted on the Forno Bravo Expo Facebook page under the Notes tab.