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Showing posts with label French Cuisine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label French Cuisine. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

January 16, 2018

Chocolate Croissants – But Just Barely

I’ll admit to being pretty underwhelmed the first time I had a chocolate croissant, or “pain au chocolat,”as I’d mispronounce it; but eventually I realized the relatively sparse amount of chocolate wasn’t any kind of stinginess, but rather the true secret behind this amazing pastry.

Properly done, this should ride that line between sweet pastry and a savory bread, so don’t overdo it with the chocolate chunks; otherwise you’ll lose that beautiful balance. Other than that, not much can go wrong. Just be sure to bake them until nicely browned, and let them cool before enjoying.

While this will work with that dough in the tube, I’d like to think you’d make a batch of your own dough using our recently posted croissant recipe. Don’t worry, it only seems like a lot of work. Either way, I really do hope you give these chocolate croissants a try soon. Enjoy!


Ingredients for 12 Chocolate Croissants:
1 batch of croissant dough from this recipe (split in half for two batches of 6)
about 1 cup roughly chopped chocolate chunks, or chips
1 large egg, plus 1 tablespoon of water for the egg wash
coarsely ground sea salt
- Bake at 400 F. for about 20-25 minutes, or until well-browned
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Tuesday, December 19, 2017

December 19, 2017

Lobster Thermidor – Not Your Parents’ Thermidor

I don’t remember that much about the lobster thermidor I ate in culinary school in the early eighties, other than not really being able to taste any lobster. Instead of the nice, light sauce I used here, the meat was hidden in a thick, eggy, cheese sludge, which looked great broiled to a bubbly, golden-brown, but wasn’t the best method if you actually wanted to know you were eating lobster.

Lobster is sort of sweet, and rich tasting to begin with, so covering it in a super heavy sauce never made much sense, which is why I like this approach so much more. Our sauce is just heavy enough to coat the chunks of meat, without hiding it, and while we’re not adding handfuls of cheese, or a bunch of egg yolks, we’re still going to enjoy a fairly decadent dish.

Not only is this great for a fancy dinner party because it looks and tastes great, but you can also do all the prep ahead of time, and then just pop them in the oven when you’re ready for service. If you go that route, they’re going to be much colder, so you’ll probably need to give them a few extra minutes in the oven. Remember, everything is already cooked, so just roast until the meat is heated through.

The classic version is made with a whole, split lobster, which admittedly tastes better, but is a hundred times messier, and harder to do, not to mention probably more expensive. Frozen lobster tails can be surprising affordable, and there isn’t any waste. Either way, I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!


Ingredients for 2 large or 4 appetizer size portions:
4 lobster tails (about 4 oz each about)
3 tablespoons butter, divided
2 tablespoons minced shallots
salt to taste
1 1/2 cup diced mushrooms
1 tablespoon flour
2 tablespoons cognac or brandy
1/2 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons crème fraiche or heavy cream
1 generous tablespoon minced fresh tarragon
cayenne to taste
2 teaspoon dry breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 teaspoons melted butter for the top
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Friday, December 1, 2017

December 01, 2017

Croissants – Slightly Easier than Flying to Paris

I wouldn’t describe homemade croissants as an easy recipe, since there are multiple steps, and it does take a least half a day, but it’s really not that hard either; and certainly simpler than flying to Paris, which is the only other way to enjoy these amazing pastries.

Sure, some of you may live near an authentic French bakery, maybe even one of the few that still use pure butter, but for the sake of this post, let’s assume that you don’t. Besides, sitting next to a basket of homemade croissants raises your foodie street cred like few other things.

Despite taking a fair amount to time, this is actually the quick version, in that we’re not leaving the dough to rest overnight, before laminating with the butter. I don’t think there’s a huge difference, but I did want to mention in case you’d prefer to start the dough at night, and do the rest of the work the next day.

The technique is pretty straightforward, but be sure to pay attention to the temperature of your butter.  If you’re slab is too soft, it will just blend into the dough, and you won’t get the gorgeous layering seen herein.  And if it’s too cold in firm, it won’t spread between the layers of dough like it needs to. It should basically have the firmness of clay.

So, take your time, and when in doubt, pop the dough in the fridge for a few minutes to chill it down as you’re working. You’ll notice I didn’t serve anything on my croissants when I did the final shots, and if you make these, you’ll understand why.  I really do hope you give these a try soon. Enjoy!


Makes 12 to 16 Croissants:
This recipe was adapted from one by Bruno Albouze, from The Real Deal (which he is)
For the dough:
1 cup warm water (about 100 F.)
1 packet active dry yeast (about 2 1/2 teaspoons)
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
3 teaspoons kosher salt (1 3/4 teaspoons if using fine salt)
3 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour
6 tablespoons room temp butter for the dough

For the croissants:
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted European-style butter for the slab
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water for the egg wash
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Friday, October 6, 2017

October 06, 2017

Canelés de Bordeaux (Crispy Baked French Custards) – Hold the Mold!

I’ve wanted to do a Canelés de Bordeaux video forever, but just never got around to buying the specially designed molds that they require. After seeing a picture of them online a few days ago, I decided this would be the week, and headed out to the one store near me I knew carried the necessary hardware.

Since it was actually a hardware store that also carries lots of kitchen equipment, I figured they would have the beeswax, as well. I’ve been in that store at least a hundred times, and I would anyways see the canelé molds beckoning me, but never pulled trigger, since I was usually looking for something else.

So, you can imagine my shock when I walked down that aisle, as I’d done so many times before, only to find they were no longer stocked. Thanks a lot, Amazon. Anyway, purely out of spite, I decided to make them anyway, using a regular muffin pan, and the results were pretty amazing.

As long as you cook them long enough, the muffin tin works great, assuming you don’t care about getting the classic shape. Since this was an experiment, I only did six, but I’ve scaled the recipe below to make 12. I’m not sure how many real canelé molds this recipe will fill, but it’s probably close to that. Either way, I really hope you give these a try soon. Enjoy!


Ingredients for 12 Canelé de Bordeaux:
2 cups whole milk
2 tablespoons plus one teaspoon unsalted butter
1 cup white granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, or 1/8 teaspoon of fine salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup rum

For greasing pan:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons beeswax

- Bake at 450 F. for 10 minutes, then at 375 F. for about 50 minutes more, or until well browned.

-- NOTE: These only stay crispy for about 8 hours. So, fair warning if you plan to make them a day ahead. I've never tried to re-crisp. 
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