French Friday: Rough Apple Galette

Taken from Laura Calder’s French Taste

Galette Pastry

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups (300g) flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 1 cup (225g) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1/3 cup ice-cold water
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Put the flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl.  Add the butter pieces and pinch with the fingers to create a crumb texture.  Make a well in the middle, and pour in the water and vanilla.  Quickly work in the flour with your fingers to create a dough.  Do not overmix as that toughens the dough.  Divide into 2 disks, wrap in plastic, and chill at least 15 mins. before rolling out.

Filling:

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tbsp. flour
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 6 baking apples, peeled, cored and sliced
• 1 tbsp. butter (optional)

Heat the oven to 400F (200C).  On a lightly floured surface, roll the pastry into a round about 1/8 inch (3mm) thick and lay on a baking sheet.  Stir together the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a large bowl.  Add the apples and toss to coat, then turn onto the pastry, piling them in the middle and leaving several inches of margin.  Dot with the butter, if using.  Fold the edges of the pastry up so they lie, rough edged, on the apples.  They won’t cover the apples completely.  Bake until the crust is crisp and golden and the apples are caramelized and soft when pricked with a fork, about 40-45 minutes.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Not to sound disrespectful, but I think this is even better than my Mom’s apple pie.  The pastry is light and tasty (and I didn’t mess it up!!).  I really like that there is no “top” to this, like you would find with pie, so you don’t get overwhelmed with dough all over the place.  I used Granny Smith apples and they held up really nicely to being baked in the oven.  I would seriously recommend this for Thanksgiving if pumpkin is not your thing.

Homey and delicious.

I give this recipe 8.5 chips out of a bag of 10.

French Friday: Les Madeleines de Commercy au Miel (Honey Madeleines)

Taken from The Country Cooking of France by Anne Willan

Yield: approx. 18 medium madeleines

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 cup butter, melted (more for the molds)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp. dark brown sugar
• 1 heaping tbsp. honey
• grated zest of 1/2 lemon
• 2 eggs
• 1 egg yolk

Directions:

Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl.  In a large bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients.  Whisk by hand or with a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment until very smooth, about 1 or 2 minutes.  Gradually add the flour mixture and whisk for another minute.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours.  Brush the molds with  melted butter, chill in the freezer until set and butter a second time.

Heat oven to 400F/200C.  Spoon the batter into the molds, filling them almost to the rim.  Bake until puffed, golden brown and just beginning to pull away from the sides of the molds, 8 to 10 mins.  The peaked centers will be lighter than the rest of the cake.  Turn them out onto a rack to cool.  They are best eaten fresh from the oven but can be stored in an airtight container for 2 to 3 days.

This is almost like eating lemon cake.  Definately sweet from the honey and a little citrus zip from the lemon zest.  My daughter loves these with powdered sugar on top and I discovered if you put a thin layer of strawberry jam on top (think thin like a glaze), it is  taken to a new level of sweet indulgence. Mmmm…how sweet it is!

Btw,  you can also check out my other madeleine post here for info on the pan needed, a glaze recipe, etc.

I give this recipe 8 chips out of a bag of 10.

French Friday: Cooking En Papillote

I am posting this a day early as I will be computerless tomorrow.  Enjoy!

Cooking in a parchment paper pouch,  or en papillote in French, is the process of oven-steaming your food to capture flavor without adding fat.  The moisture needed may be from the food itself or from an added source like water, wine, or stock.  Ultimately, this means healthy food that cooks quickly with very little clean up.  A foil packet can be used if parchment is not available. 

Any variety of vegtables can be used: carrots, snap peas, onions, bok choy,  whatever suits your fancy.  It also works well with fish and chicken.  My choice of veggies were red pepper, onion, carrots and broccolli.   My packet was constructed out of foil.

1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF.  Cut 12-inch-long pieces of nonstick foil.   If you do not have nonstick foil, spray lightly with cooking spray.

2.Thinly slice the vegtables and cut the broccolli into small to medium florets.
3. Mix all the ingredients together, season as desired and spoon equal amounts onto the center of each piece of foil. Draw up the sides of the foil and seal the packets well; leave room around the ingredients, so they can steam. Put packets on a baking sheet.
4. Bake 15 minutes (Open a packet to test.) Serve immediately.

I  love the simplicity of this technique.  Anyone can do it and it is wonderful for anyone with dietary concerns.

I give this technique 8 chips out of a bag of 10.

French Friday: Orange Crepes/Pancakes

Originally printed in Gourmet magazine (Nov. 2005)

Ingredients:

5 large eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

2 tablespoons Grand Marnier

2 tablespoons vegetable oil or melted unsalted butter

1 cup all-purpose flour (preferably unbleached)

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest

1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

In a bowl whisk together eggs, milk, Grand Marnier, and 2 tablespoons oil or butter until combined well and gradually whisk in flour. Stir in sugar and zests and chill, covered, 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200°F.

Gently stir batter. Heat a well-seasoned 7-inch crêpe pan or not-stick skillet over moderate heat until hot and brush lightly with some melted butter. When butter starts to bubble remove pan from heat. Half fill a 1/4-cup measure with batter and pour into pan, tilting and rotating pan quickly to evenly coat bottom. Return pan to heat and cook pancake until underside is golden brown. Turn pancake and cook until underside is golden brown, transferring to a heatproof platter. Make more pancakes in same manner with remaining batter and butter, keeping pancakes warm in oven. Pancakes may be made ahead and kept, wrapped well in plastic wrap, chilled 2 days or frozen 2 weeks. Reheat pancakes, wrapped in foil, in oven before filling them.

I love crepes.  They are sublimely simple yet they feel so decadent when you make them.  Like your soul just knows it’s in for a treat and that it’s special somehow.  And this IS no ordinary pancake, after all.

This recipe was orginally listed as a pancake but it honestly is more crepe-like in nature.  Light and thin, just awaiting some luscious toppings.  It tastes fine with maple syprup but if you really want to kick it up a notch, spread a layer of Nutella and roll this baby up and prepare for your tastebuds to sing.  Lordy me!!  Also wonderful is the combination of these citrus laced crepes with this syrup.  If you find it a touch too sweet for your palette, then the addition of unsweetened whipped creme would be divine.

I give this recipe 8 chips out of a bag of 10.

French Friday: Parmesan Tuiles

Ingredients:

3 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan Reggiano

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400F
• Spoon cheese onto cookie sheet, speading slightly. 
• Bake approximately 3-4 mins. 
• Let cool a few seconds after removing from oven then carefully lift off the cookie sheet with a spatula. 

I really enjoyed making these for 2 reasons: they are super- duper easy (even I can’t bugger them up) and, if you shape them quickly once they come out of the oven, they make the coolest serving bowls.  And who doesn’t love a bowl that you can eat as well?  You can adjust the size of your “bowl” by adjusting how much cheese you put on the cookie sheet.  I actually should have made mine bigger as my bowls were quite small but you get the idea:

Little tips: if you are going to shape your tuiles, do so almost immediately after taking them out of the oven.  If you wait too long, they will be too brittle and break apart.  Hence, only make a couple at a time.  I made my “salad bowl” by draping/shaping the tuile over an inverted bowl.  If your tuiles break apart, you can always just insert them into the salad like I did here as a nice visual extra:

Fun stuff, eh?  I give this recipe 7.5 chips out of a bag of 10.

French Friday: Madeleine Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly
• powdered sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F .  Generously butter and flour pan for large madeleines (about 3×1 1/4 inches).

2. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and 2/3 cup sugar in large bowl just to blend. Beat in vanilla, lemon peel and salt. Add flour; beat just until blended. Gradually add cooled melted butter in steady stream, beating just until blended.
3. Spoon 1 tablespoon batter into each indentation in pan. Bake until puffed and brown, about 10-16 minutes. Cool 5 minutes. Gently remove from pan. Repeat process, buttering and flouring pan before each batch.
4. Dust cookies with powdered sugar.

The following glaze can be used in place of dusting with powdered sugar.

Lemon Glaze (optional)

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 tbsp. water

Mix ingredients in small bowl until smooth.  Coat both sides of madeleines with a pastry brush or dip into the glaze and brush off the excess.  Place on rack and let the glaze firm.

First of all, to make these cookies you do require a special Madeleine pan.  It will look like this:

This cookie puffs up more like a cake so I’m not sure why they call it a cookie.  In any case, it’s best eaten warm from the oven.  The crumb is buttery and dense but not heavy.  The lemon gives it a lovely zip, especially with the glaze (which I prefer over the powdered sugar).  This is a super cookie to accompany a cup of tea and you can easily substitute the lemon for other types of citrus (such as orange).

I give this recipe 7.5 chips out of a bag of 10.

French Friday Cooking with Kids: French Breakfast Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 2/3 cups sugar
• 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup plus 2 tbsp. milk
• 6 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Cinnamon-Sugar Coating

• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Grease a 12 cup muffin pan and set aside.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, sale and nutmeg into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg until frothy.  Blend in the milk, melted butter, and vanilla.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the liquid mixture.  Mix with a wooden spoon until evenly blended.  Spoon into the muffin cups, filling about 2/3 full.

Bake for 20 mins.  Let cool for 5 mins before removing muffins from the pan.

Prepare cinnmon-sugar coating by mixing sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.  In a separate bowl, melt better.  Quickly dip each muffin first into the melt butter and then into the cinnamon-sugar mix to coat the entire top of each muffin.

Makes 12 muffins. 

A simple recipe that is great to do with kids.  I know my daughter loves to join me in the kitchen and my son often does too.  :0)  These muffins were a hit both as a breakfast item and as a snack later in the day.

I love anything kid friendly and give these little babies 7.5 chips out of a bag of 10.

French Friday: French Roast Chicken

Taken from Julia Child’s, ” Mastering the Art of French Cooking”.

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs broiler-fryer chickens
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons softened butter
• 1 small carrot, sliced
• 1 small onion, sliced

Baste Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 tablespoon minced shallot or green onion
• 1 cup brown chicken stock or canned chicken broth
• salt
• pepper
• 1-2 tablespoon softened butter

1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Sprinkle the inside of the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt, and then smear in 1 tablespoon of the butter.
3. Truss and dry the chicken, and rub the skin with the other half of the butter.
4. Baste: Melt butter in a small saucepan with cooking oil.
5. Leave on stovetop with a basting brush for later use.
6. Back to the chicken: Place the chicken, breast side up, in a shallow small roasting pan.
7. Scatter the veggies around it, and set it on the rack in the preheated oven.
8. Allow the chicken to brown slightly for 15 minutes, turning on the left side after 5 minutes, then onto the right side for the last 5 minutes.
9. Baste with butter quickly after each turn so that the oven does not lose a lot of heat.
10. Reduce heat to 350.
11. Leave chicken on its side, baste every 8 to 10 minutes, using the butter in the bottom of the roasting pan once you have used up all of the baste in your bowl.
12. Watch and adjust oven heat so that the chicken is noisy, but fat is not burning.
13. Halfway through estimated roasting time (which is 70-80 minutes; so after about 35 minutes), salt the chicken and turn it onto its other side.
14. Continue to baste regularly.
15. 15 minutes before end of estimated roasting time, salt again and flip chicken breast side up.
16. Continue to baste regularly.
17. Chicken will be done when drumstick moves easily in socket and juices run a clear yellow.
18. Let sit on a platter 5 to 10 minutes before carving.
19. Remove all but 2 tablespoons of fat from the roasting pan.
20. Stir in shallot or onion and cook slowly for 1 minute.
21. Add stock and boil rapidly over high heat, scraping up bits that are stuck in the pan witha wooden spoon.
22. reduce to about 1/2 cup.
23. Season with salt and pepper.
24. Off heat just before serving, swirl in the last 1 to 2 tablespoons butter by bits until it is absorbed.
25. Pour a spoon of the sauce onto the chicken, then pour the rest into a gravy boat and serve with the chicken.

This looks really lengthy but really it’s pretty simple.  Everything is just broken down into little steps.  When I first saw this recipe it looked so basic that I thought it wouldn’t taste like much but I was wrong!  I think this is going to be my new way to make roast chicken.  The skin was nice and crisp all over and the reduction sauce was killer!  It was a bit finicky to have to baste so often but totally worth it.

I give this recipe 8 chips out of a bag of 10.  C’est bon!!

French Friday: Champignons Farcis

Don’t be frightened by the French name; it’s stuffed mushrooms a la Julia Child.

Ingredients

• 12 large mushrooms
• 2-3 tbsp. melted butter
• salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp minced shallots or scallions
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 tbsp flour
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 3 tbsp fresh minced parsley
• additional salt & pepper
• 1/4 cup grated Swiss cheese
• 1-2 tbsp melted butter

Remove mushroom stems and reserve.  Wash and dry the caps, brush with melted butter and arrange (hollow side up) in a shallow baking dish.  Season lightly with salt and pepper.

Wash and dry the stems and mince.  By handfuls, twist in the corner of a towel to extract as much juice as possible.  Saute with the shallots or scallion in butter for 4 to 5 minutes until the pieces begin to separate.  Lower heat, add flour and stir for 1 minute.  Stir in cream and simmer for a minute or two, until thickened.  Stir in parsley and seasonings.  Fill the mushroom caps with this mixture; top each with 1 teaspoon of cheese and dribble on droplets of melted butter.  Set aside until ready to finish cooking.

Final Cooking

Fifteen minutes or so before serving, bake in upper third of a preheated 375 degree oven until caps are tender and stuffing has browned lightly on top.

Even though they don’t photograph very appealingly, I have to say these were lovely, delicately flavored, mushroom caps.  My husband prefers stronger flavors so he really didn’t appreciate the subtlety of these.  This recipe would be easily modified to suit the cheese of your choice.  If you don’t like Swiss, try a strong old cheddar or perhaps a gruyere.

And by the way,  I have trouble moving my rack in my oven which is why my caps aren’t browned on top.  Bummer.

My rating?  7 chips out a bag of 10.

French Fridays return: Raspberry Chocolate Souffle

I have never eaten souffle, savory or otherwise, so I was walking into this one blind!  But what sounds more French than souffle?

For this recipe you will need:

• 4 egg yolks
• 3 egg whites
• 4 oz. dark chocolate (or 114grams)
• 2 tbsp. butter plus a little more for coating the ramekin
• 3/4 tbsp. raspberry liquer
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1/6 cup sugar plus a little more for coating the ramekin

Directions:

1. Rub butter on ramekin and roll some sugar to coat the inside completely
2. Melt chocolate and butter over a double boiler.  Add raspberry liquer and vanilla extract.  Mix well.
3. Cream egg yolks with the sugar for about 3 mins. until light yellow and thick.
4. Remove chocolate from heat.  Mix egg yolk mixture into chocolate.
5. In another bowl, beat egg whites until they are frothy.  Add cream of tartar and beat until thick (about 4 mins. or so).
6. Stir in about 1/4 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture.  Then carefully fold the rest of the egg whites until just incorporated.  This is important: do not overmix (or fold, in this case).
7. Fill ramekins and place on a cookie sheet.
8. Preheat over to 375 and cook for approx. 18 mins.  Your souffle should appear light and puffy!

 

Having no experience at all with souffle, I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of taste or texture but what I found was a light cake-like souffle.  Delightful!  I didn’t have raspberry liquer so I substituted raspberry extract.

Oh, yes, and I believe my ramekins were the little 1/2 cup size.  I got 6 souffles from this recipe.

I give this souffle 8 lightly baked chips out of a bag of 10.