Posted by Ventura County Star, CA on June 13, 2010 at 11:05:40:
Cook du Jour: Win inspired 'an empowered cook'
By Eva Smythe
Ventura County Star
Name: Heather Moloian.
City: Thousand Oaks.
Specialty: Cooking from scratch.
Secret: Going with my instinct.
Holiday detour: A funny thing happened on the way home from vacation — Heather Moloian decided to enter a baking contest during the final leg of the family motor home trip. She didn’t tell anyone until the day before the contest. “I didn’t want to change our vacation plans,” Moloian remembered. “We wanted the entire journey to be peaceful.”
Moloian made it to the Citrus Festival in Ventura County with less than five minutes to spare, topped off the glaze on her zesty lemon popovers, and won the $100 prize for best lemon recipe. “Many of the judges were professional chefs,” Moloian said. “I was so flabbergasted and overwhelmed that my simple lemon popovers won over these elaborate pastries and cakes.” Her enthusiasm unleashed a zest for developing new recipes. One of her favorites is Tomato, Basil and Mozzarella Loaf, which has become the cornerstone of many meals.
Unbridled passion: “The first prize spawned my unbridled passion,” she said. “I became an empowered cook.” So in the next four years, Moloian entered some 48 contests, including the Los Angeles County Fair, the Ventura County Fair, the Southern California Fair and the San Fernando Valley Fair, amassing numerous awards. Her first year she won Best of Show at the 2006 Ventura County Fair, entering eight items, all of which won first or second place.
Every year thereafter she has been nominated for Best of Show (which means best item in its class), winning first- and second-place trophies. In last year’s Ventura County Fair, she entered 38 items, winning handily in each division, but she ultimately paid a big price. “I made artisan breads that took three hours apiece, so I didn’t sleep for four days,” she remembers.
Family dedication: What is most impressive is Moloian’s dedication to her family. A part-time professor of public speaking and interpersonal communication and family dynamics at Pasadena City College as well as mom and wife, Moloian maintains a very active role in the school and community activities of her children, Avery and Saige. Her daughters have inherited their mother’s culinary passion and competed at the 2008 Ventura County Fair, Avery winning third-place sweepstakes for her age division, and Saige picking up an award for best of division. Though she has never taken a formal cooking course, Moloian has relied principally on her instincts, which have served her well. “When I bake or cook, it’s my vision to inspire others so that they enjoy the flavor and experience of the hard work of creating the meal,” she said, “even if it was a simple dish.”
Tomato, Basil and Mozzarella Loaf
Dough:
8 ounces or 1 3/5 cups of white bread flour
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 ounce fresh yeast, crumbled or bagged
3/4 cup and 1 tablespoon water at body temperature
1 tablespoon of Italian herbs
1 tablespoon minced or dried onion
Olive oil
Filling/topping:
1 garlic clove
Coarse sea salt
2 teaspoons of fresh basil
4 tablespoons of sun-dried tomatoes or cherry tomatoes
4-6 ounces of diced or shredded mozzarella cheese
1. Put the flour on a clean work surface. Gently mix in the salt, and then form into a mound with a well in the center. Cream the yeast with 3 tablespoons of water. Pour the yeast liquid into the hollow in the flour and carefully fold the flour over it, adding 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Add enough of the remaining water to make a stiff but pliable dough. Sprinkle the herbs and dried onion over the dough.
2. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for 10-15 minutes. Put it in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a damp dish towel. Leave it in a warm place for 30 minutes, until double in size. Punch down several times until smooth and even and then let rise for another 30-40 minutes, covered with the towel.
3. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Brush a pizza stone or baking sheet with some of the olive oil. Then, peel and crush the garlic and steep it in 1 tablespoon of olive oil and set aside.
4. Punch down the dough, and then knead it for minutes on a lightly floured surface. Roll out a round at 1/4-inch thick and shape in a rectangle. Place the dough on the pizza stone or oiled baking sheet. Brush the garlic and oil onto the dough and sprinkle with coarse sea salt and layer with the basil, tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. Bring both sides in to the middle and pinch together from the top to the bottom of the loaf, to keep the filling covered. Cover for 10 minutes.
5. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375 degrees and bake for another 10-15 minutes (do not overcook). Serve hot with butter or olive oil.
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