Monday, April 7, 2008

Salade Francillon (Potato and mussel salad)

Salade Francillon is a simple but costly entrée that was made famous in a play called "Francillon" by Alexander Dumas. Dumas was also the author of "La Dame aux Camelias" ("Camille"), which was the basis for Verdi's 1853 opera, La Traviata. Here is a quote about how to make this salad that was described by one of the actors in the play:

from a review of the play “Francillon”
published in The New York Times on February 13, 1887

Once again, I get to use truffles, but this time they’re poached in Champagne. I didn’t splurge on actual Champagne produced exclusively within the Champagne region of France, but instead I bought a small bottle of “sparkling wine” from Italy. After poaching the truffles, I had a glass leftover that I enjoyed while putting this salad together!

Truffles, Champagne, mussels. This dish has been described as a special occasion salad. In my books, it’s just a fancy potato salad.

Recipe for Salade Francillon

Serves 2-3

Potatoes:
1 pound baby potatoes
2 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon salt

Mussels:
2 pounds mussels

Truffles:
2 truffles
1 cup Champagne

Vinaigrette:
¼ teaspoons fresh tarragon, finely chopped
½ tablespoon parsley, finely chopped
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil

You can find a recipe at Food & Wine.

Tasting Notes:
The mussels give this potato salad its main dish appeal. The truffles give it an air of sophistication, but it would be nice without them as well if you don't have any hiding in your pantry.

. . . . . . . . . .

Running total: $308.28 + $30.15= $338.43

Butter used so far: 4 pounds, 21 tablespoons

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Sunday, April 6, 2008

Salade des nonnes (Rice salad with truffled chicken)

I’m so glad “Salade des nonnes” came with a translation, because I couldn’t find any information about “nonnes” at all. “Salad of nuns” is what it translates to. In my research, I found this quote:

John Parkinson, the 17th century grandaddy of all garden writers, recommended lettuces for "Monkes, Nunnes and the like of people... to keep them chaste." Poor Nunnes. Lettuce on its own is not much of a diet.

In one of my cookbooks, I found a recipe for chicken salad with truffles, so I’m going with that, substituting rice for the potatoes in the recipe.

Truffles
I’ve never worked with truffles before, but I was game to give it a go. Truffles (and not the chocolate kind) grow underground at the roots of Oak, Chestnut, Hazel, and Beech trees. The biggest harvests are mostly in the Provence and Perigord regions of France. They are a “gourmet mushroom” with a strong, earthy, pungent taste. Prices can be as high as $2,500 per kg. The one I bought wasn’t that pricey—only $8! For centuries in Europe, female pigs and dogs have been used to help find truffles because some gourmet truffles produce a scent that mimics a male pig sex hormone. Here’s a good article about truffles, if you want to find out more information.

Rice
Rice is such an easy side dish to prepare. To add extra flavor, the onions are sautéed in butter for a bit, then the rice is sautéed until translucent. Steamed with a bouquet garni adds even more flavor to the rice.

Chicken
In this recipe, the chicken is poached in an aromatic broth. Poaching is a low simmer, not a boil. After being immersed in this flavorful broth, the chicken comes out tender and tasty.

Mayonnaise
The trickiest part of this recipe was the mayonnaise. Mayonnaise is an emulsion—a mixture of two substances that don’t want to be together, namely oil and egg yolks. The flavorings of mustard and lemon juice or vinegar try to act as go-betweens to get these two substances to talk to each other. All ingredients should be at room temperature.

I first tried making it after watching this video. I even used my immersion blender, but it came out runny. After starting over, I tried the classic, patient method of adding the oil one drop at a time and whisking until my arm dropped off. This worked.

If the sauce breaks, add a teaspoon of cold water. If this doesn’t work, whisk 1 teaspoon broken mayonnaise into 1 teaspoon mustard to emulsify it. Then add it to the rest of the mayonnaise. If this doesn't work, try Hellman's Mayonnaise!

Recipe: Salade des nonnes (Rice salad with truffled chicken)

Serves 2-3

Chicken:
1¼ pound chicken
½ medium carrot, coarsely chopped
1 medium leek, coarsely chopped
½ stalk celery, coarsely chopped
½ large onion, studded with a whole clove
1 Bouquet Garni
Salt
½ tablespoon peppercorns, crushed

Rice:
1½ tablespoons unsalted butter
½ medium onion, chopped
1 cup long-grain rice
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 cups water
1 Bouquet Garni

Vegetables:
2-3 heads Belgian endive
½ tablespoons strained lemon juice
6 ounces celery hearts

Garnish:
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 black truffle, sliced
Micro mesclun

Mayonnaise:
1 egg yolk
½ tablespoon Dijon mustard
Freshly ground pepper
½ cup vegetable oil
Juice of ¼ lemon, strained

You can find the recipe in from Le Cordon Bleu at Home (affiliate link).

Tasting Notes:
One truffle for this recipe cost more than the chicken itself! But, it was a tasty meal. The rice, the chicken, the slightly bitter Belgian endive, combined with the mayonnaise and the earthy yet crispy truffle made for a delightful salad.

. . . . . . . . . .

Running total: $281.42 + $26.86 = $308.28

Butter used so far: 4 pounds, 21 tablespoons

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Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Salade Niçoise (Vegetable salad Provençale, garnished with tuna, anchovies and egg)

Salade Niçoise (nee-SWAHZ) is a classic salad that seems light but is filling enough to be a main-dish meal. With all the different colored vegetables on the plate, it makes for a beautiful presentation.

Niçoise salad contains tuna and egg as the protein with a ton of vegetables thrown in that are drizzled with a vinaigrette.

Tuna
Instead of canned tuna, I decided to buy a slice of fresh tuna from a local fishmonger. It tastes so much better than canned tuna.

Hard-boiled eggs
I used regular farm eggs, but I checked Thomas Keller's French Laundry Cookbook, and he uses quail eggs. His take on Niçoise salad is unique, as is everything he does. Very inspiring.

Watch a pro hard-boil eggs.

Vegetables
Butter lettuce, green beans, yellow beans, red pepper, yellow pepper, orange pepper, red tomatoes, red potatoes, white potatoes, and red onion. The rainbow of colors makes this salad a thing of beauty. There are other vegetables you can use instead, such as artichokes, cucumber, fava beans, or fennel. Different lettuce can also be used, such as frisée or romaine.

Olives
Of course, Niçoise olives are the ones to use in this salad, but another option from brainchild Thomas Keller is a tapenade, which is a purée of olives, capers, and olive oil.

Vinaigrette
As I learned for the Frisée aux lardons, a vinaigrette is 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. Flavorings such as mustard, salt, and pepper are sometimes used. Always whisk the vinegar and flavorings first, and then whisk in the oil. The dressing is usually drizzled over the top or served on the side.

Playing with presentation
Since this salad is part of the “composed” family of salads (or salade composée, in French), it’s a good one to practice food-presentation skills. You can arrange the plate, play with color, and introduce shapes such as rings, hearts or whatever suits your fancy.

Watch a pro
Here’s a video on how to make Salade Niçoise.

Recipe: Salade Niçoise (Vegetable salad Provençale, garnished with tuna, anchovies and egg)

Serves: 2

2 eggs, hard-boiled, cut in half or quarters

1 7-8 ounce slice of tuna (or 7-ounce can)

2 small new potatoes (I used one red and one white for color), cut in half or quarters
Salt
2 ounces green beans
2 ounces yellow beans
5 grape tomatoes, cut in half
½ red, yellow, and orange bell pepper, cut into julienne
¼ red onion, thinly sliced

1 head butter lettuce
2-4 oil-packed anchovy fillets, drained
4-5 black olives (preferably Niçoise or Kalamata), pitted

Vinaigrette:

1½ tablespoons white-wine vinegar

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1½ tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

You can find the recipe in Le Cordon Bleu at Home (affiliate link).

Tasting Notes
This is a simple, but satisfying salad. It’s a fun salad to play around with, but since the ingredients are all so beautiful, it’s hard to go wrong.

. . . . . . . . . .

Running total: $261.55 + $19.87 = $281.42 (That tuna was expensive, but it was worth it!)

Butter used so far: 4 pounds, 19.5 tablespoons

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Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Tuesdays with Dorie—Gooey Chocolate Cake

If you’re a chocolate fan at all, this cake does not and cannot disappoint. Molten or not, chocolate cake is a favorite around my home!

Chocolate
Since this recipe is all about chocolate, you need the best tasting chocolate you can find. The ”no-name brands” just won’t do for this recipe.

Chocolate comes from the cacao (ka-KOW) tree. The pods are hand-harvested, sorted, and fermented. Then, they’re shelled and dried (preferably by the sun). The beans are then cleaned, roasted and ground into a paste, which is the starting point for all chocolate and cocoa products.

Types of Chocolate
In my opinion, there are two types of chocolate: cheap and expensive! Chipits, which definitely fall in the first camp, are high in sugar. In fact, it’s the first ingredient listed, even before chocolate! They also contain artifical flavors.

Couverture is very high in cocoa butter (usually a minimum of 32% cocoa butter) and expensive. It’s a professional-quality chocolate made with the best beans. You can buy couverture at finer grocery stores or chocolatiers.

Amedei Chocolate
The best couverture is from a small artisan company in the Pisan village of Pontedera in Tuscany called Amedei. I found out about Amedei chocolate from one of the best chefs in our city, Stephen Vardy from Beckta (who's sadly moved away from Ottawa now) who I also mentioned in a previous post about orange soufflé. At one of the local cooking classes he taught, he raved about the chocolate from Amedei and highly recommended it. Since then, Amedei has won the top award called the Golden Bean for “best chocolate from bean to bar” by the London-based Academy of Chocolate for the past three years (most recently in February 2008).

Amedei roasts and crushes the cocoa beans, using its own beans from a farm in South America that grows Criollo and Trinitario trees. Criollo trees are the most prized, rare, and expensive cacao trees due to their complex, fruity flavor. Amedei chocolate is the Dom Perignon of the chocolate world. And I was about to bake a gooey chocolate cake with it!

There are only a few stores in Ottawa that sell Amedei chocolate. At $5 per 100 grams, the best chocolate in the world isn’t cheap, but it’s worth it!

The Amedei chocolate I bought was labeled as having 63% cacao. This means it has 63% chocolate flavor and 37% sugar. The higher the % cacao, the less sweet the bar and the stronger the chocolate taste. I was told by Chef Vardy to go no lower than 63%, so I was set.

Semi-sweet versus bittersweet chocolate
Another angle to all this is semi-sweet chocolate versus bittersweet chocolate. According to this article, semi-sweet chocolate is classified as having 50-60% cacao and bittersweet as having 70-100%. What I bought fell in the semi-sweet range. I’ve seen recipes that have a mix of bittersweet and milk chocolate to counteract the bitterness. I've also been told that semi-sweet and bittersweet are interchangeable.

Dutch-processed cocoa versus natural cocoa
The other chocolate puzzle piece is the cocoa powder. Here, there are two products to choose from: Dutch-processed cocoa powder or Natural unsweetened cocoa powder.

I wondered what kind of cocoa powder was sitting in my pantry and found out it was dutch-processed. Dutch-processing was developed by a Dutch chocolate maker who found a method to eliminate the acidic (sour, bitter, acrid) components of the cocoa. In doing this, our taste buds don’t stop dead on the harshest notes, but they can taste the sweet, smooth, rich chocolate flavor.

Other notes

I used room temperature eggs, as suggested in the recipe. But, I wanted to know why they had to be room temperature. In this recipe, the butter is melted on the stove with the chocolate. Then, this mixture is drizzled into the eggs. If the eggs are not at room temperature, the emulsion in the butter/chocolate mixture could break, the batter could lose air cells, and the baked cake could be grainy, flat, dry, flavorless, and possibly sink. I’ll stick with room temperature eggs.

As for the salt, I’ve learned that a touch of salt brings out the flavor in anything, even chocolate. One recipe I have suggests using sea salt, which would be a nice variation.

Playing around with presentation

Several years ago, I was given “the pyramid kit” to go along with the cookbook Stacks: The Art of Vertical Food, and I thought this might be the perfect way to bake one of these gooey cakes. I used empty corn cans for the pyramids to sit in and put a ½ cup of batter in each and popped them in the oven.

Recipe: Tuesdays with Dorie—Gooey Chocolate Cake

In my quest to make the best gooey chocolate cake I could, I performed an experiment: I made half the recipe with Dutch-processed cocoa powder and half with natural. I highly recommend the Dutch-processed cocoa powder. All my testers agreed that they would rather eat the cake made with the Dutch-processed cocoa powder. It was not bitter, but smooth and rich.

You can find the recipe for Gooey Chocolate Cake at this blog (Lemon Tartlet) or in the book Baking: From My Home to Yours (affiliate link) by Dorie Greenspan. To see how the rest of the TWD group fared with this week's recipe, click here and then click on each blogger!

Tasting Notes
This is definitely a crowd-pleaser. I served mine with a choice of raspberry gelato, vanilla ice cream, or coffee ice cream, and a touch of whipped cream. It was delicious.

This is also a great dessert for entertaining since you can make it ahead, have the ramekins (or pyramids!) all set to go in the fridge, and bake them off when you’re ready to eat them.

Serve this gooey chocolate cake with a dessert fruit wine, such as Southbrook Farms Framboise. The combination of raspberries and chocolate is delicious.

More to Explore:

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Frisée aux lardons (Warm chicory with bacon)

Frisée (free-ZAY) aux lardons is a classic French bistro salad with spicy chicory lettuce, bacon pieces, croutons or toasty bread, and often a poached egg. The vinaigrette and the runny yolk from the poached egg blend to create a creamy sauce over this delicious and filling salad.

Frisée
Frisée is a cousin of radicchio, Treviso, green endive, and escarole and is often part of a mesclun salad mix. But, to confuse the issue, it is called different things depending on where you live.

British : Chicory
US : Beligan endive
French : Witloof

British : Curly endive
US : Curly endive
French : Chicorée frisée

In Canada, it was labeled “Chicory lettuce” at the grocery store so maybe that’s our British roots showing through yet again.

It has a slightly peppery, nutty, and bitter taste. As for looks, it is frizzy, curly, and feathery. It ranges in color from yellow or light green to dark green. Try to find the lighter colored frisée since it is less bitter than the darker green. (I, however, didn’t know this tidbit when I was at the grocery store.)

To prepare, tear the frisée with your hand. Wash it just before serving. You can refrigerate frisée in a plastic bag for up to 5 days.

Lardons
Lardons are strips of bacon or pork that are blanched and fried until they are crispy. They add a crunchy texture and a salty, smoky flavor to the salad.

In France, you can buy Lardons pre-packaged ready to fry up at home. We’re not so lucky in Canada.

Poached Eggs
For the poached egg part of this dish, use the freshest eggs possible to get the nicest shape during poaching. As it turns out, I’ve never poached an egg in simmering water before. I’ve always used some sort of gadget. Well, never again since it was so easy.

The water needs to be right below a boil. Adding a small amount of vinegar to the water prevents the whites of the egg from dispersing into the water enabling the egg to remain round.

You can even make poached eggs 2 days ahead and rewarm them in simmering water for about 30 seconds.

Here’s a great video on how to poach an egg.

Vinaigrette
A vinaigrette is 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. Flavorings such as mustard, salt, and pepper are sometimes used. Always whisk the vinegar and flavorings first, and then whisk in the oil.

Recipe for Frisée aux lardons

(The picture shows the original recipe ingredients. I’ve scaled it for 1 serving.)

Serves: 1

1 handful of chicory lettuce
2 ounces bacon, diced

Poached egg:
⅛ cup white vinegar
1 egg

Vinaigrette:
¾ teaspoon sherry vinegar (or half red wine vinegar and half cooking sherry)
⅛ teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Crouton:
1 slice of bread, cut and toasted

You can find the recipe in from Le Cordon Bleu at Home (affiliate link).

Tasting Notes
I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious this salad was. I was expecting a more bitter taste, but the creaminess of the egg yolk blended with the flavor from the sherry vinaigrette masked the bitterness in the chicory. The bacon added a nice crunch and saltiness to the salad too. It’s a quick and easy lunch.

Next time I would buy some delicious bread to use on the side. I used what I had on hand, which is more kid-friendly than gourmet-friendly. I’ve also seen recipes with shallots sautéed with the bacon, and that would be tasty too. Also, I didn’t have sherry vinegar on hand, so it would be good to try that. As with any vinegar, you can get luxury versions aged in oak for years. But given I only needed ¾ of a teaspoon, I used what I had on hand! Garlic, pancetta, and Gruyère cheese are other variations to enhance this salad.

. . . . . . . . . .

Running total: $257.70 + $3.85 = $261.55

Butter used so far: 4 pounds, 19.5 tablespoons

More to Explore:

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Review — Frozen Desserts

This is the last class for a long time (class 24, actually) that will have any dessert in it. It’s back to cooking basics, such as salads and sauces which is up next. Oh well. Tuesdays with Dorie will feed my baking hunger.

This class covered several frozen treats. Here’s what my plan would look like if I were to make these in one go:

• Cigarettes aux amandes
• Crème glacée vanille
• Glace au café
• Granité au Calvados (Although I made three granités, I’ve chosen one for this review. It was the easiest one to make.)
• Sorbet au citron vert
• Soufflé glacé à l'orange

I would need three ice cream makers to make these frozen treats in one afternoon! However, I could make all three bases and have them ready to go on subsequent days.

Step 1: Make Granité au Calvados
Mise en place: measure herbs, spices, and pantry items
⅛ cup sugar

Mise en place: measure liquids and eggs
1 cup apple juice (replace some with water, if desired)
½ tablespoon lemon juice and/or ½ tablespoon apple brandy

Step 2: Make base for Crème glacée vanilla
Mise en place: measure herbs, spices, and pantry items
½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean, split open

Mise en place: measure liquids and eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
4 egg yolks

Step 3: Start freezing Crème glacée vanilla and stir Granité with a fork about every 30 minutes

Step 4: Make Cigarettes aux amandes (or Krumkake)
Mise en place: measure herbs, spices, and pantry items
⅔ cup sugar
4 ounces sliced almonds
⅓ cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mise en place: measure liquids and eggs
1 large egg
3 large egg whites

Step 5: Let batter for Cigarettes aux amandes rest

Step 6: Make base for Glace au café
Mise en place: measure herbs, spices, and pantry items
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder

Mise en place: measure liquids and eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
4 egg yolks

Step 7: Make base for Sorbet au citron vert
Mise en place: measure herbs, spices, and pantry items
1½ cups sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Mise en place: measure liquids and eggs
1½ cups water
1 egg white, lightly beaten
¼ cup white rum

Mise en place: fruit
¾ cup lime juice, strained
1 pineapple (about 1¾ pounds)
Zest of 1 lime

Step 8: Make Soufflé glacé à l'orange
Mise en place: measure herbs, spices, and pantry items
2¼ teaspoons (1 7-ounce package) granulated gelatin
1 cup sugar, divided

Mise en place: measure liquids and eggs
4-6 tablespoons water
½ cup water
3 eggs, separated, room temperature
1 cup heavy cream, chilled

Mise en place: fruit
Zest and juice of 2 oranges

Step 9: Bake off Cigarettes aux amandes

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Tuesdays with Dorie—Caramel-Topped Flan

Caramel-Topped Flan Recipe | Tuesdays with Dorie

Caramel-Topped Flan Recipe

Well, as of last week, I’ve joined the esteemed-blogging-baking ranks of Tuesdays with Dorie, which is a weekly baking and blogging community working through Dorie Greenspan’s cookbook called Baking: From My Home to Yours. I lucked out this week by getting to make one of my favorite desserts: crème caramel (or Caramel-Topped Flan as it’s called in this cookbook). I’m looking forward to playing hooky on a regular basis from the “cooking school” angle I’ve set up for myself.

Crème caramel: custard and caramel
As I learned earlier in this blog about crème caramel, this recipe covers two difficult things in baking: custard and caramel. But, I’m willing to practice both skills in order to get another crème caramel out of the deal!

Playing around with flavor
This time, I played around with the recipe and followed the suggestion of using coconut milk, and for my own spin added some ginger juice.

Also since I only have skim milk in the house, I used ½ cup of skim milk and ½ cup of whipping cream instead of the 1 cup whole milk recommended for this coconut flan. I also strained the custard before pouring it into the pan to ensure no stray bits of curdled egg found their way into the flan.

Playing around with caramel
I doubled the caramel ingredients. You can never have too much caramel to lick off the plate! And next time I’d even triple it.

Also, I thought the addition of lemon juice unusual. I did a bit of hunting, and found that acid in the juice inhibits crystallization of the sugar syrup.

In more research, I found that to avoid a “pale” crème caramel, the caramel should be cooked to 340°F.

Playing around with presentation

I also tried baking it in one of my rarely-used, but fun Nordic Ware pans to see what would happen. One of my problems was finding a pan large enough to hold my sunflower pan so that I would have the bain-marie effect. My broiling pan worked, but I was worried I didn’t have enough water to come halfway up the sides, but I did (just barely).

The other problem was unmolding. I warmed the bottom of the sunflower pan on a burner on top of my stove and then used a thin knife to get around the edges of the pan, but next time I would try it without the knife since it did some damage to the sides.

Cool tips
I thought the trick of heating the pan before pouring in the caramel was brilliant. That gives you more time to pour the caramel before it hardens. I made sure after doing this that the caramel hardened before adding the custard, though.

Recipe: Tuesdays with Dorie—Caramel-Topped Flan

You can find the recipe at this blog or in the book Baking: From My Home to Yours (affiliate link) by Dorie Greenspan. To see how the rest of the TWD group fared with this week's recipe, click here and then click on each blogger!

If there isn’t enough caramel oozing out of your crème caramel, you can always make your own and serve it on the side.

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 tablespoon butter
½ cup heavy cream

Combine the sugar and water. Bring to a boil and cook, without stirring, until the syrup turns a caramel color. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Add the butter. Stir. Add the cream and stir. Serve warm. (Reheat in microwave if desired).

Tasting Notes
Dorie Grenspan’s recipe contains more milk but less eggs, sugar, and vanilla than the original recipe I used, but it didn’t make an impact on the taste. Both flans tasted delicious. However, I didn’t find the coconut (or the ginger juice) flavor was noticeable. Either I need to add more ginger juice or try steeping the coconut milk with fresh ginger instead). Also, I would triple the caramel part of the recipe. You can never have too much caramel. I might also double the flan part of the recipe if I’m going to use a Nordic Ware bundt pan again since it turned out rather thin. However, I won’t have trouble finishing up this flan since it’s one of my favorite desserts.

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Sunday, March 23, 2008

Soufflé glacé à l'orange (Deep-frozen orange soufflé)

Frozen Orange Soufflé Recipe | Soufflé Glacé à l'Orange

Frozen soufflé is not a true soufflé but a frozen mousse. It is a custard mixture usually thickened with gelatin and lightened with egg whites or whipped cream or both. Its presentation looks like a soufflé because the mixture is frozen in a soufflé dish that’s been wrapped with a tall paper collar so that it looks like a soufflé has risen out of the dish like a baked one.

I tasted an amazing frozen soufflé by one of the best chefs in our city, Stephen Vardy from Beckta (however, he’s no longer at this restaurant). It was a passion fruit soufflé and his recipe didn’t include gelatin or egg yolks so it was a bit simpler than the one below: Italian Meringue + passion fruit purée and a touch of lime + whipped cream. He served it in an espresso cup with raspberry gelato. Yum!

Italian Meringue
Meringue is simply sweetened egg whites. It’s more stable than meringue made with egg whites and spoonfuls of sugar. It is believed that an Italian baker named Gasparini from the Swiss town of Meiringen created meringue. There is more interesting history in this article.

When making meringue, superfine sugar is recommended since it dissolves faster, but I used regular sugar since I was making a sugar syrup. The heat of the syrup cooks the eggs and allows it to hold its shape much better than an uncooked meringue.

Use room temperature eggs to increase the meringue’s volume. To get stiff egg whites, the bowl must be free from grease and the whites must be free from any yolk. Stiff peaks mean the whites are glossy and very stiff, and the peaks are stiff enough to hold their shape.

Whipped Cream
Cream with 30%-36% fat can be turned into whipped cream by whisking it with air. Prepare whipped cream just before using since it won't stay whipped for very long. The cream should be cold when whipped to make sure it doesn’t collapse. Don’t overwhip the cream or it will curdle and separate. It should double in volume and form soft peaks.

Recipe for Soufflé glacé à l'orange

2¼ teaspoons (1 7-ounce package) granulated gelatin
4-6 tablespoons water
½ cup water
1 cup sugar, divided
Zest and juice of 2 oranges
3 eggs, separated, room temperature
1 cup heavy cream, chilled

You can find the recipe in from Le Cordon Bleu Dessert Techniques (affiliate link)..

Tasting Notes
This is a light dessert after a heavy meal. It can be served frozen or at room temperature like a mousse. There are lots of opportunities to play around with this recipe with flavorings and ingredients. I think orange is mild, but a dash or two of Grand Marnier would spark this up a bit.
. . . . . . . . . .

Running total: $252.69 + $5.01 = $257.70

Butter used so far: 4 pounds, 27.5 tablespoons

More to Explore:

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Sorbet au citron vert (Lime sorbet)

Lime Sorbet Recipe | Refreshing Citrus Dessert

Lime Sorbet Recipe

Here's another frozen dessert - lime sorbet. Check out the Granité au Calvados blog entry for more info about other frozen desserts.

This one has a bit of egg white so maybe it should be called sherbet since it contains some dairy! According to The Columbia Guide to Standard American English, the word sherbet appeared in English in the seventeenth century and it meant a cold, fruit drink. It had two pronunciations at the time: sherbet and sherbert. However, some purists argue that only sherbet is acceptable now.

But let’s not mess with language, and just taste it. It’s undeniably delicious by any name!

Recipe: Sorbet au citron vert (Lime sorbet)

1½ cups water
1½ cups sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup lime juice, strained
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 pineapple (about 1¾ pounds)
¼ cup white rum
Zest of 1 lime

You can find the recipe in from Le Cordon Bleu at Home (affiliate link).

Tasting Notes
The Lime Sorbet was amazing. Sweet, citrus-y, tangy wrapped in a frozen mouthful. It was especially tasty with the rum-soaked pineapple (even though I forgot to photograph that part of it!).

. . . . . . . . . .

Running total: $246.25 + $6.44 = $252.69

Butter used so far: 4 pounds, 27.5 tablespoons

More to Explore:

Friday, March 21, 2008

Granité au Calvados (Calvados sorbet)

Apple Granité & Calvados Sorbet Recipes | Refreshing Frozen Desserts

Apple Granité & Calvados Sorbet Recipes

Granité (grah-nee-tay) and sorbet (sor-bay) are frozen dessert cousins that, unlike ice cream, do not contain any dairy products (such as milk, cream, or eggs). Both can be used as a palate cleanser in between courses or as light desserts.

I remember the first time I was served a frozen treat in-between courses at a restaurant. I thought it was so chic that later in the week I went out and bought some Häagen-Dazs® lemon sorbet for the next time we had dinner guests. Now, I can make it myself and feel even more culinary!

Granité
Granité is the plural form of granita in Italian. It’s a coarse-textured, grainy, crystalline frozen mixture that contains sugar, water, and a flavored liquid. It is traditionally made in a pan in the freezer and stirred with a fork about every 30 minutes.

Sorbet
Sorbet is French for the Italian sorbetto or sorbetti (plural). It’s a smooth, creamy, sweet, fruity frozen mixture that contains sugar, water, and fruit (either juice or puréed). It is made with a sorbet or ice cream maker.

Other Frozen Desserts
There are so many different frozen desserts: granité, sorbet, Italian Ice, sherbet, gelato, glace (pronounced glahs) among others. At first, I found the list of different frozen desserts overwhelming. Inspired by Jessica Hagy at her blog called Indexed, I decided to come up with my own index card graph, albeit a little more boring than hers! Here’s my compilation of several frozen desserts and where they fit on a creamy/icy scale and a fine/coarse scale.

A few more facts:

Sherbet (NOT sherbert): Lighter than ice cream but richer than sorbet and contains dairy products.

Ice cream: Creamy flavor. Up to 50% air. Higher butterfat content (11-15%)

Gelato: Italian for ice cream. Denser flavor because it has less air (10-20%) in it than ice cream. Lower butterfat content (4-14%) than ice cream. Stored at a higher temperature (-13°C).

Glace: French for frozen custard. Rich flavor.

Italian Ice: A smooth, sweet water ice.

There is a ton of information about all these different types on the internet. Click here for one of the best pages I found that discusses all of them. Also, Shirley O. Corriher in Cookwise explains the different frozen desserts and their science very succinctly. Definitely worth a read.

Calvados

As I learned when making the Charlotte aux pommes, Calvados Calvadosis an apple brandy from the heart of Normandy in France. Although I didn’t splurge on a bottle for that recipe, I broke down and bought one for these frozen treats! I’m going to have to make a few more Apple Charlottes and apple sorbets to make up for it.

Recipe: Granité au Calvados (Calvados sorbet)

This is a traditional granité that’s icy and crunchy.

from tbsp blog

Makes: 4 small servings

1 cup apple juice (replace some with water, if desired)
⅛ cup sugar
½ tablespoon lemon juice and/or ½ tablespoon apple brandy

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl to dissolve the sugar. Pour into a metal pan and put in the freezer. Stir with a fork every 30 minutes until it reaches a coarse, grainy texture.

Recipe: Calvados Sorbet

This sorbet is smooth and creamy.

Adapted from Food Network

Makes: about 3 cups

⅔ cup water
½ cup sugar
1½ cups apple juice, chilled
⅓ cup Calvados, chilled

Combine the water and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and let it boil for 2 minutes to dissolve the sugar. Cool. Add the apple juice and the Calvados and stir.

Transfer to a sorbet or ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer’s directions. Then, transfer the mixture to a container and freeze until firm, about 1 hour.

The addition of alcohol to the recipe lowers the freezing point, so this type takes longer to freeze and tends to separate after storage. Just stir it before serving.

Recipe: Green Apple Sorbet

This recipe is from the website for the Calvados brandy that I purchased. The puréed apple with the peels looks delicious in the sorbet.

Makes: 4 servings

4 Granny Smith apples (500 g)
1 lemon, juiced
1¼ cups water
1¼ cups sugar
Calvados, for drizzling

Core and dice the apples; leave the skin on. Toss with the lemon juice and freeze overnight.

Combine the water and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and let it boil for 2 minutes to dissolve the sugar. Pour the hot syrup over the frozen apples and blend in a blender.

Transfer to a sorbet or ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer’s directions. Then, transfer the mixture to a container and freeze until firm, about 1 hour.

When serving, drizzle some Calvados on top.

Tasting Notes
My freezer is now full of so many apple-flavored frozen treats, I’m not sure what I’m going to do since they don’t keep for very long (a week, if that). I liked each one for different reasons.

• Apple Granité had a very grainy, icy texture that was very similar to a popsicle.
• Calvados Sorbet from Gourmet was smooth with a kick from the brandy.
• Green Apple Sorbet from Calvados Boulard was sophisticated, sweet, and beautiful.

I also tried making a granité that the kids would like using their favorite juice and leaving out the brandy! I thought they’d like the popsicle angle. Again, they were amazed that I could make something that they could enjoy (since I still haven’t been able to convince them that chicken is delicious!).

I also thought a mix of granité and sorbet in one bowl would be interesting to try and provide some contrasting tastes in each bite: smooth and crunchy. This turned out to be my favorite way to finish up all the frozen treats I’d assembled.

. . . . . . . . . .

Running total: $237.04 + $1.21 (Apple Granité) + $5.05 (Calvados Sorbet) + $2.95 (Green Apple Sorbet) = $246.25

Butter used so far: 4 pounds, 27.5 tablespoons

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Friday, March 14, 2008

Cigarettes aux amandes (Tubular almond biscuits) with Crème glacée vanilla (Vanilla ice cream) and Glace au café (Coffee ice cream)

Cigarettes aux Amandes & Krumkake Recipes - A Crunchy Ice Cream Treat

Cigarettes aux amandes are a wafer-thin, crisp, sweet biscuit often served as an accompaniment to ice cream or hot chocolate. They’re sometimes called tuiles (or tiles) because they look like authentic roof tiles found along the French countryside. To me, they look a lot like Pringles! However, this recipe calls for them to be formed into cigarettes, so I’ll try that too.

Krumkake—the Uff Da treat
The recipe for tuiles reminded me of Krumkake (which means crumble cake or cookie, pronounced KROOM-kah-kah), a Norwegian favorite at Christmas time in our family. It’s a flat cookie that’s rolled around a cone-shaped pin or dowel, similar to a waffle cone or a pizzelle (the Italian waffle cookie). It, too, has an almond flavoring.

The batter is put into a Krumkake iron, which resembles a waffle iron. A traditional old world iron is placed over a hot burner on the stovetop, although now you can buy models that are electric. Typically, the iron stamps a pattern onto both sides of this thin golden-brown cookie, which has a crisp texture once it is cooled. Once cooked, you must quickly roll it using a cone roller before it becomes too brittle to roll. Krumkake is often served with whipped cream inside, but ice cream is delicious too.

A few years ago, my mom brought my grandmother’s heavy cast iron Krumkake iron on the plane for me to have. What an honor, and finally, I’ve used it. It’s been well-loved and has the patina of many Krumkake cookies layered on it. Although it’s not electric and doesn’t have a “color select dial” to let me choose from golden to brown, it worked just fine and I felt connected to times past and fond memories of eating this delicious cookie at Christmas. I also realized how easy it is to make and next time will not hesitate to pull it out of the back of the pantry.

Watch a pro make Krumkake
Here is a video videoof how the Krumkakes are cooked and rolled. These guys make it look easy! However, it's not everyone's favorite thing to make.

Shaping
For both Cigarettes aux amandes and Krumkake, shaping them can be the trickiest part of the recipe. You must do it while the cookies are still very warm, or they will dry and become brittle and impossible to bend. You can use a pencil, a dowel, a skewer, a special cone shaped dowel, a bowl, a teacup, or a rolling pin. You can even buy a tuile sheet for shaping them into the traditional curved shape. If you're baking them in the oven, you can make your own template using acetate or stiff plastic (such as the top of a plastic container). You can also pipe patterns using a piping bag or paper cone. Use your imagination.

Ice cream
Now that the crunchy bit of the dish is done, it’s time for the creamy ice cream. Ice cream is so simple to make. All you need is an ice cream maker. Thankfully, after all the years of Christmas gifts and appliances I’ve received, I seem to have all the ones I need.

Ice cream is just crème anglaise that’s frozen. That’s it, that’s all. For the Charlotte aux pommes recipe, I learned how to make crème anglaise. This time, I added a real vanilla bean to the vanilla ice cream base and some instant espresso powder to the coffee ice cream base. Threw it in the ice cream maker, and 2 hours later, I had homemade, rich, delicious ice cream

Watch a pro make Crème anglaise
Here's a useful video videoon making Crème anglaise.

Recipe: Cigarettes aux amandes (Tubular almond biscuits) with Crème glacée vanilla (Vanilla ice cream) and Glace au café (Coffee ice cream)

⅔ cup sugar
1 large egg
3 large egg whites
4 ounces sliced almonds
⅓ cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

You can find the recipe in from Le Cordon Bleu at Home (affiliate link).

Recipe: Krumkake from my grandmother

Makes:: about 24

3 eggs, beaten
½ cup sugar
½ cup butter, melted
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup flour
1 teaspoon almond flavoring

Whisk the eggs and the sugar. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Do not over-beat. Heat the iron. Drop about 1-2 tablespoons of batter on the iron. Follow the manufacturer’s directions. Roll on pin immediately.

Like Cigarettes aux amandes, these cookies should be served the same day they are made. That’s when they’re the most crispy. If you can’t serve them right away, store them in an airtight tin. Do not store with other cookies or they'll get soft. A friend of mine makes large batches of Krumkake at Christmas time for friends and family and delivers them in paper boxes tied with a ribbon. They keep well for weeks that way and they make a nice gift!

Recipe: Crème glacée vanilla (Vanilla ice cream)

Makes: 6 ¼-cup scoops

1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
4 egg yolks
½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean, split open

You can find the recipe in from Le Cordon Bleu at Home (affiliate link).

Recipe: Glace au café (Coffee ice cream)

Makes: 6 ¼-cup scoops

1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 egg yolks
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder

You can find the recipe in from Le Cordon Bleu at Home (affiliate link).

Tasting Notes
My kids were amazed that I was able to make vanilla ice cream, asking incredulously, “You made this??” And the coffee ice cream…let’s just say that I’ll never have to buy Coffee Häagen-Dazs® again! The problem was that the recipes only made 6 scoops of each kind! I’d definitely double these recipes next time!

I made both the Cigarettes aux amandes and the Krumkake. I found the Krumkake lighter, more crunchy, and tastier with the ice cream, but I’m part Norwegian! I even added some sliced almonds to the Krumkake batter and tried baking them the way the recipe for Cigarettes aux amandes describes. These turned out good too.

A delicious ice cream treat to enjoy any day of the year, even after the 13 feet of snow we’ve had to shovel this winter in Ottawa.

Quick Survey:
What’s your favorite ice cream flavor and
how much snow have you had to shovel this year?

. . . . . . . . . .

Running total: $219.91+ $3.57 (Cigarettes aux amandes) + $2.52 (Krumkake) + $7.36 (Crème glacée vanilla) + $3.68 (Glace au café) = $237.04

Butter used so far: 4 pounds, 27.5 tablespoons

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Monday, April 7, 2008

Recipe for Salade Francillon

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Recipe: Salade des nonnes (Rice salad with truffled chicken)

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Recipe: Salade Niçoise (Vegetable salad Provençale, garnished with tuna, anchovies and egg)

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Recipe: Tuesdays with Dorie—Gooey Chocolate Cake

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Recipe for Frisée aux lardons

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Caramel-Topped Flan Recipe

Recipe: Tuesdays with Dorie—Caramel-Topped Flan

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Recipe for Soufflé glacé à l'orange

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Lime Sorbet Recipe

Friday, March 21, 2008

Apple Granité & Calvados Sorbet Recipes

Recipe: Granité au Calvados (Calvados sorbet)

Recipe: Calvados Sorbet

Recipe: Green Apple Sorbet

Friday, March 14, 2008

Recipe: Cigarettes aux amandes (Tubular almond biscuits) with Crème glacée vanilla (Vanilla ice cream) and Glace au café (Coffee ice cream)

Recipe: Krumkake from my grandmother

Recipe: Crème glacée vanilla (Vanilla ice cream)

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