Category: French

Chocolate Palmiers Equals Love

When I went to art school in Paris I had this friend Shelly that I will always remember for her love of Palmiers, cigarettes, and coffee. It seemed thats how she survived between our studio classes.Palmiers are puff pastry folded into a fan shape, rolled into sugar and baked into caramelized crispy like thin cookies.

You could make some from commercial puff pastry, but I wanted the challenge of making a Pate Feuilletee from scratch, which I haven’t done for years.

While surfing through the online Desserts Magazine , I came across a blogger , who I should have been following, but I am always slow on the uptake. Aran, from Cannelle Et Vanille. She adapted Pierre Hermes Chocolate Pate Feuuilletee and her recipes for a Caramelized Chocolate Mille-Feuille with Chocolate Mousse and Fresh Raspberries Napoleon and Chocolate Palmiers.
Aran warns this recipe can take upwards of 2 days.For me It took 3. I didn’t do the first two steps on the same night, and had to fudge a little. I should have mixed my butter/cocoa mix the same night as I made the dough, and let both rest overnight, but I read the directions wrong. So the next evening after work I speed the process of chilling the butter in the freezer for a few hours so I could incorporate it into the folds and turns of dough.This dough required 5 turns, and you start to see the cocoa and butter turn the white dough into a marbled chocolate slab. I used half a block of dough for 20 Palmiers, and stored the rest in the freezer.
The Palmiers cooled up buttery and crisp. The perfect shapes didn’t hold perfectly and my sugar really caramelized with the butter, thereby not looking all freshly rolled in sugar as Arans were. But nevertheless they tasted superb. Rich, crispy, flaky, full of butter and chocolate, but not to sweet.So the labor, and sore arms and hands from all that rolling and turning are worth it for this special treat. I would love to have a block of this puff pastry on hand in the freezer all time.If life were so perfect…sigh.
Click here for the recipe and check out all the other great articles.

Cauliflower Souffle… Cooking with Madame E. Sant Ange


Well I told you I would be back with some inspiration from my new book La Bonne Cuisine De Madame E. Sant Ange…The Original Companion for French Home Cooking. Jessica’s Biscuit offered this book a incredible sale price of $9.00. Its worth far more.Flicking through I see this book is not for the novice, or one who wants a recipe all spelled out for them. First published in 1927 by the folks who also published Laurousse Gastronomique, its been a indispensable guide to the common home cook and the great cooks and chefs like Madeline Kamman and our American Julia Child.Paul Aratow lovingly took on the task of translating this resource in the voice of Madame. Paul Aratow was one of the original founders of Chez Panisse along with Alice Waters, and used this book as his kitchen guide!So you are reading a cookbook for readers at the time of early twentieth century. Don’t expect to find modern equipment mentioned, cooking temperatures, etc. Madame can go on about technique, exact measurements, equipment, utensils, and ‘science’ but this book calls on you to use your prior experience and basically figure it out. So don’t expect a lot of exact instructions. I rather like this way of learning as its more challenging and in the end I learn more.
So today I chose something with cauliflower. I have an abundance of it . Certain Someone loves it , and I find it OK. Bland but OK. I’m challenged finding new ways to cook it.The book describes this vegetable as a basic one found mostly in home cooking. Not glamorous at all. Looking at this I had most of the ingredients and changed some others( which the Madame strongly cautions against). The components of the souffle called for a Bechamel, mashed cauliflower, egg whites, yolks,Parmesan,and butter. I didn’t have Parmesan so I substituted a Colby( talk about Americanization!). Now I thought I knew Bechamel . I don’t know Bechamel. I had to refer to her sauce chapter to find this classic component of a lot of meat free cooking. I went with the Bechamel Maigre( lean Bechamel) because it only requires milk, not heavy cream. It also requires a Mirepoix( carrots, onion, celery finely diced). I never knew. But I never claimed to to be a pro. I didn’t have carrots or celery. I did have leeks, mace for nutmeg, and mushrooms. Some Becahmels can use the whites of leeks, mushroom trimmings, and even ham in the Mirepoix. So I used leek whites and mushrooms to give that Aromatic dimension to this white sauce. After slowly cooking the roux, milk, added sauteed mirepoix, you gently strain out the solids. I got what looked like a cream of mushroom soup with out the mushrooms bits. Nevertheless a good flavor for my souffle. The short recipe calls for you to combine the 87/8 OZ od mashed cauliflower , with 3/4 cup of Becahmel. Add 3 yolks, a walnut sized piece of butter,grated parmesan,fold into 4 whites that have been tuned into ‘SNOW’. Cook for 20 -25 minutes.

Most Souffles I have made had a choux sort of base with flour. This didn’t. I should have baked it in smaller dishes, It rose , but didn’t rise past the top of my larger souffles dish. Nevertheless the outcome was good. A light nice lunch to serve alongside a salad. Great for your non meat eater friends. Is it outstanding. I wouldn’t say that but a great recipe for when your perplexed as to what to do with that head if cauliflower. There are way more better and interesting recipes in this book. I’m just starting with with what I have on hand. That’s what makes you a better cook Ne C’est Pas?

I will be announcing a Giveaway shortly related to an upcoming book review. Stay Tuned!

A Euro Evening with The Green Fairy

I can just imagine my Monday morning water cooler chat.


Absinthe.
Originally uploaded by DonnellyImages


How did you spend your weekend.Oh I tried some Absinthe and went to see ATB.They would look at me blankly and wonder what the hell I was talking about. ATB was new to me, however Absinthe was on those ‘Things to do before I reach 40 list”,which is rapidly approaching. Where did all those years go?Back in the day , just released from the nuns at a school which will remain nameless, my parents turned me loose in Paris. A night like last night would be a weekly occurrence.Certain Someone loves DJ’s like ATB. Unfortunately he was away and I had to represent . I planned to have fun because I havent had a evening like this in a while. A German friend had brought over some Tabu Absinthe. Its legal now to bring into the US, and there are some US producers. A few of the group had it in Prauge and don’t have pleasant memories of it, taste wise.In reading I hear the Czech ones are the worst. The Thirty Something Frat Boy men gathered shots glasses lighters,and sugar and tried to prepare it.No one knew what they were doing. I was trying to recall this sexy scene with Susan Sarandon and Jude Law in Alfie where she tries to educate him on to prepare a proper glass. Cant find it on You Tube. Needless to say we just downed it with some sugar on the bottom. Now water ,as I am to find out is essential. However I read the brand we consumed can be taken straight. Half liked the anise flavor,and half wanted to hurl. All of us were warm and fuzzy as it was 100 proof someone said.We all started talking about how old were getting and how our joints don’t seem to be like before.I thought it was just me. We were skeptical of the twenty somethings that would be at the event. Nothing hallucinogenic happened to us that evening. We all continued to imbibe vodka as we watched the Go Go type dancers in their neon pink underwear and boots, on raised platforms , dance to the ‘Messiah’ like DJ. Thank goodness we were cordoned off in our Yuppish VIP section while the masses in hundreds danced on. Where did these people come from and what do they do by day we asked. Then I remembered I was one of them once and I turned out alright.All in all a clean crowd. I was rather surprised. I made it to bed at 4:45 forgoing the after hour party in some Russian Bath House. No Thanks. The old timer Thirty Somethings grabbed some Burritos from one of those Taquerias on Ashland(good eating), and bitched about how we were going to make it through the week. I woke up and felt like I had been hit by a truck, and I didn’t even get drunk.That’s why I don’t party anymore. I leave you with Monsieur Creepiness to see how to prepare Absinthe properly.

Daring Bakers Take on Julia Childs Labor Of Love , French Bread

This is my fifth Daring Bakers Challenge, and I must say the most challenging. But that’s the whole point of me joining, to push my limits and explore all aspects of baking from savory to sweet. When Mary at Breadchick and Sara at I like to Cook, took on hosting duties, they went all out. Our challenge reflects Julia Child’s own obsession with mastering French Bread. Last year I read Appetite For Life, The Biography of Julia Child by Noel Riley Fitch. Julia, ever the perfectionist, spent years mastering her bread with her ever patient husband Paul at her side , encouraging,tasting, and critiquing. Its reflected in Volume 2 of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. 18 pages are dedicated to this recipe that consists of just flour,water, yeast, and salt. Go figure. I was pretty confident I could do this and set aside one Saturday as it takes about 10 hours in total of rising, shaping, etc. I had purchased the baking tiles, a tool for slashing, prepped my muslin as the pastry clothes.All seemed well until it started getting around dinner time , and Certain Someone was impatiently waiting. I had purchased Brie,charcuterie, etc for us to have sandwiches on my homemade baguettes. The end result at around 10:30 pm was a hard pale,misshapen baguette. we ate the sandwiches , or shall I say gnawed. It was edible but had a hard shell to it that wasn’t what I would call crusty. Nevertheless I vowed to attempt it again and finished up the rest over the next day. Not awful , but not right. I figured with Certain Someone gone on a golf outing,I would have time. But I got a cake commission that took my whole weekend and had to put it off. So on the final Sunday of the month I woke up at 6:30 am determined to have a decent bread to post about. I decided to one large Boule. I didn’t feel confident enough to shape the baguettes again. All went well and at 5:00 we had some slices with raspberry jam and butter. A pre Oscar Night snack.I liked the color and the outer shell softened as it cooled down. Certain Someone was happy about that, and so were his teeth. He said it was good.One thing I learned for sure is that bread making demands your respect and attention. Whatever distractions and disruptions in your life will show up in the final result. Its not ironic that bread is symbolic and referenced in religion.Bread is life.My month has been trying to say the least. But all my fears and worries about my life and job were resolved by the time I made the second round.

The recipe is long,so I will post it to Coco’s Recipe Box and you can check it out here.Meanwhile check ot the ever expanding Daring Bakers and what they produced.

60 Minute Gourmet

I never throw anything out. My Mother thankfully kept a lot of good stuff I valued. My fashion magazines and books were stored in boxes.The fashion magazines have long since gone,but a lot of cookbooks remain.One of my first cookbooks as a pre-teenager was The New York Times 60-Minute Gourmet(1979). Yes that’s was the type of child I was.The late Pierre Franey collaborated with the late Craig Claiborne on this great book and others that changed the way America cooked at home. Pierre Franey believed many great gourmet dishes can be prepared in a hour with good preparation and well stocked pantry. He pairs a entree and a side on each page.I chose to make a cheese souffle , which I never made before,and he makes seem so simple.I paired this with another entree, since the souffle was so light.Rather than the Swiss or Gruyere cheese, and Parmesan ,that was called for, I used Gouda,Peccorino Romano and some chives for color.I chose Poulet Scarpiello (chicken in white wine)as the main entree. Can I just say I love making souffles. My first attempt was sloppy(need one big dish rather than individual ramekins) but I can see myself having fun with these.Pierres Franey took the fear of making these out. No more images of the famous scene in Sabrina where all the classes souffles fall. The taste was pretty good. Light and buttery. Certain Someone came home a little later than planned and was hungry. He ate all, but declared it wasn’t his type of food( naturally it wasn’t pasta or sausages for a change). Certain Someone went into the refrigerator for leftover SPAM. Yes we have SPAM. He loves it. I have come to tolerate it , but it has to be cooked crisp like bacon for me. I admit I was still hungry afterwards too. I ate another mini souffle. but still was hungry. The meal had a lot of flavor but was very light. And I don’t think that’s a bad thing as I want to cut back but eat well.
Souffle au Fromage adapted from The New York Times 60-Minute Gourmet 1979
Pierre Franey
Cheese Souffle
1/4 Swiss or preferably Gruyere
2 cups milk
3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons of butter
6 large eggs
4 tablespoons flour
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of Cayenne Pepper
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon water
1/4 finely grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.Grate cheese into tiny cubes. It should be about 3/4 cup. Set aside. Heat milk to just about to boil.Butter your souffle dishes/dish with the 2 teaspoons of butter.Separate the egg yolks from whites.Put whited into mixing bowl to beaten stiff .
Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan.Add flour and stir with wire whisk until smooth. Add hot milk to mix,stirring rapidly with whisk. Add salt,pepper,cayenne,nutmeg, stirring for approx 5 minutes.Blend cornstarch and water and add. Remove from heat.Add yolks stirring rapidly.Scrape mixture into a large mixing bowl and add Parmesan cheese. Beat egg whites until stiff.Add half the whites to the sauce and fold in with the whisk. Add remaining whites and grated cubed cheese and fold into mixture with rubber spatula.Fold until all is Incorporated.Pour and scrape mixture in souffle dish and bake for 20 min.