People often ask us, what we love about Paris.  The answer is always the same, it feels like coming home.  It is historical but modern.  Romantic is an understatement.  It just feels right, and good.  We have been to Paris many times;  but, never in the Spring.  Normally, we travel there off-season, which is dark and gloomy to most, and romantic and intimate to us.  I had secretly hoped this year (as I do every year) that we could make it to Paris in the Spring.  I have this fantasy that there will still be a bit of gloom in the sense of the old, dark buildings that make Paris Paris, but, that the beginning of new life brightens the city up, without the sweaty heat of summer.

During one of my daydreams of long days sitting near the Siene, drinking Rose and nibbling pastries, I heard that my friend, Jamie was inviting everyone over for April in Paris for the Monthly Mingle.  I pushed myself away from the computer, dusted off the baking pans, and set out to bake something wonderful.  Something that I have yet to enjoy when in Paris.

I, adore cream puffs, but never make them, except in the form of gougeres, which is their savory cousin.  Or, if we are missing Paris, I will whip up a batch of Les Chouquettes, which is a sweet breakfast treat, and a must with our morning coffee when we are there.  Cream puffs are simply baked choux, filled with mounds of whipped heavy cream or a pastry cream, then dusted with powdered sugar.  It was a very hot the day when I decided to tackle this project, so I opted to fill my cream puffs with a Tahitian Vanilla Bean Gelato.  If, I was going to use a pastry cream to fill them, I would definitely use Dorie Greenspan’s recipe that she uses with a gorgeous french pear tart.

Once you master making choux (which is easy), cream puffs are a breeze.  I change my basic choux recipe when making cream puffs, by adding a little sugar, to sweetened things up.  After all, it is dessert.  Simply bake small mounds of the sweet dough, until golden, then use your patience and let them cool.  When you slice off the top of the cream puff there is a somewhat eggy texture inside some people like to remove this before filling, I like to leave it in there.  It is sweet and has a wonderfully like texture.  And, why waste it?  Then I fill it with creamy gelato and drizzle hot fudge over the top.  A sprinkle of pistachio dust, adds a lovely color contrast, and nice little crunch to your dessert.

Come along and enjoy Paris in April.  There will be a round up of Monthly Minglers;  I will update as it becomes available.

Recipe:  Cream Puffs

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup ap flour
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• pinch of salt
• 2 large eggs
• vanilla bean ice cream
• homemade hot fudge
• 1/4 cup pistachios

© Denise for Chez Us, 2012. | Permalink | 13 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: April in Paris, Choux, Cream Puffs, French, Gelato, Hot Fudge, Monthly Mingle, Paris, Tahitian, Vanilla

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Nutella is a guilty pleasure, and one that does not make an appearance all that often at our house.  To be honest, I do not think I have ever bought a container of it.  Usually we enjoy it when we are wandering the streets of Paris.  It is the perfect afternoon pick-me-up while jaunting around town, in and out of museums or shops.

We have two very good friends who make Nutella.  Megan stuffs her homemade Nutella between sheets of buttery pastry dough to create pop tarts.  Danielle, surprises her friends with sweet little pots of Nutella during the holidays.  Ever since, we first tasted their versions, I have talked about making it at home;  but, never have.  Until now.   National Nutella Day, is today, and I could not think of a better recipe to make than homemade Nutella.  This sweet treat would also be perfect for your Valentine!  I know a few of ours will be getting it.

After doing some research, I found that this sticky but delicious journey would be easy to make as well as pleasurable.  Nutella was first created in the 1940s during a chocolate shortage.  A pastry maker by the name of Pietro Ferrero stretched chocolate by thinning out his recipes with the addition of ground hazelnuts.  It became Europe’s “peanut butter”.  If, Nutella did not have such a high sugar content, the nutritional value would be very similar to peanut butter.  The fat comes from the hazelnuts, which is healthier than that double cheese burger you have been eyeing.  And making it at home gives you more control over what will actually be in your recipe.  Think of this recipe as a healthy version of Nutella.

The problem I have with Nutella is not the nuts nor the chocolate, but rather, the extraordinary amount of sugar that most recipes call for.  Don’t get me wrong, I like sweets, just not over sugary sweets, which I find Nutella is.  When I started out developing our Nutella recipe, I knew this would be the first area I would cut.  Most recipes call for powdered sugar and large amounts of it.  I decided to use unrefined sugar in small amounts.  I didn’t want the chocolate to over power the roasted hazelnuts, so I used a minimal amount of cocoa powder.  The cocoa nibs were added for texture.  As well I wanted our recipe to be a bit different, so I added cherry-wood smoked sea salt, and a small amount of roasted hazelnut oil to give the Nutella more depth.  It shined!

Why haven’t I attempted this sooner?  This recipe is so easy and so sultry you will also be wondering why you haven’t made it at home.  Besides enjoying it with merely a spoon, we enjoy a dab of Nutella on slices of baguette with a small sprinkle of Maldon salt.  Or simply wrapped in eggy crepes;  just like street food in Paris.

Happy Nutella Day! (scroll to the bottom for more Nutella Love)

Recipe:  Homemade Nutella

• 2 1/2 cups raw hazelnuts with skins
• 1/2 cup cocoa nibs – used scharffen berger
• 4 tablespoons unrefined sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder - we prefer scharffen berger
• 2 teaspoons roasted hazelnut oil
• 3/4 – 1 teaspoon cherry-wood smoked sea salt

Heat oven to 350.  Scatter the hazelnuts on a cookie sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes;  stir half way through.  The nuts will get very toasty, and the skins will blister.  Once the nuts are finished baking, remove them from the oven, and let set for 10 minutes.  Spread the nuts onto a cloth towel and roughly rub them back and forth to remove the skins.  Continue to do so until most of the skins are removed.  Some will be challenging, and that is okay, they add a nice texture to the finished recipe.  Put the nuts into a bowl and toss out the skins.  Let the nuts cool.

Process the nuts and cocoa nibs in a food processor, scraping down the sides occasionally, until the mixture is a very fine meal, about 5 minutes.  After a while, the mixture will form a ball around the blade.  Keep processing up to 7 minutes;  eventually, you will extract the oils and will have a butter mixture.

Add the sugar and cocoa powder;  process for 2 minutes.  Add the salt.  With the food processor running, slowly add the hazelnut oil, and continue processing for 3 more minutes.  Store the mixture in an airtight container, in the refrigerator, up to 1 month.

Nutella Love

• Nutella Brownies
• Nutella Chunk Cookies
• Macarons Craqueles Noisette-Chocolat
• Homemade Nutella
• Nutella Puff Pastry
• Nutella Banoffe Cream Pie
• Chocolate Nutella Caramel Filled Cookies
• Tuscan Nutella Meringue Tart
• Nutella Ravioli

© Denise for Chez Us, 2012. | Permalink | 15 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: chocolate nibs, Chocolate Shortage, Cocoa, French, Hazelnuts, Healthy, Homemade, National Nutella Day, Nibs, Nutella, Peanut Butter, Pietro Ferrero, scharffen berger, Valentine's Day

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I have become reacquainted with an old favorite, and wanted to share it with you, as it would be a great recipe to have during the holidays.  It is Choux.  Choux is a light pastry dough that is made with butter, flour, water, and eggs.  It does not have a baking agent, instead the high heat that it is baked at, created steam, which helps raise the little puffs.  Once you have the basic recipe down, you can use choux to make many sweet or savory nibbles.  It is also a great stand-by recipe for when you need a last minute nibble to serve impromptu guests.

The other night we were opening a bottle of bubbly to try out some new cocktails.  I wanted something to nibble on while enjoying the moment, normally, I would grab some cheese out of the refrigerator.  This night, I wanted something different.  Then I remembered a classic that I use to make often;  savory gougeres.

Gougeres are little puffs of choux dough that has been seasoned with savory herbs, cheeses, and mustard.  For this recipe, I used white cheddar and sage;  I thought the two would be great compliments with the cranberry champagne cocktails.  I was right;  they were a huge hit.  Other favorite combinations are:   gruyere cheese and dijon, blue cheese and black pepper,  and rosemary and lemon zest.  Use your imagination, the list is really endless.

To make choux you will have to be hands on.  It is not a recipe that you can start and then leave on the stove and forget about.  Once you have brought the water and butter to a boil, you will need to mix in the flour, quickly.  It will form a soft ball rather fast;  I keep beating it for a couple minutes (this is a great arm workout as well).  By the time I have finished getting my up arm workout, the dough is cool enough to start adding the eggs.  I find the key to mixing the eggs into the semi-hot dough is to use a wooden spoon;  it gives me more control to mix the dough quickly.  I beat in each egg separately, and do not add the next one until the dough is a little glossy.  After I have mixed the dough, I then stir in my savories.

Some bakers like to pipe the dough onto their baking surface.  I like to use two teaspoons and put little spoonfuls of dough on the baking sheet.  They do get larger when baking, so keep this in mind when making your little puffs.  I usually keep them the size of the teaspoon I am using.  Bake and enjoy.

Simple isn’t it?  I cannot wait to hear what flavors you come up with making these warm little bites.

Recipe:  Basic Choux

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup flour
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• pinch of salt
• 2 large eggs

Recipe:  White Cheddar and Sage Gourgeres

© Denise for Chez Us, 2011. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Appetizer, Cheddar, Choux, Dough, French, Gougeres, Nibble, Pastry, Sage

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Don’t you love saying “Clafouti”  I love saying it … clafouti, clafouti, clafouti.  Not only is it fun to say but it is fun to make as well as eat.  I cannot remember the first time I had it.  I do remember loving the warm custard base and jammy fresh summer fruit. I was hooked.

Clafouti as well as galettes are a staple summertime dessert in our house.  I tend to whip one up whenever I have some overripe stone fruit laying around.  I particularly love late summer apricots with an almond flavoring.  Bliss.  I have never considered adding berries.  Don’t ask me why; because, I cannot even begin to answer that question.  Then my friend Tracy whipped up a strawberry claufouti and provoked the baking goddess in me.

The other evening I had some leftover blueberries and a near overripe basket of strawberries sitting on the counter, just begging to be eaten.  Instead, I pulled out my trusty clafouti recipe and went to work.  Don’t be scared to tackle what looks like a complicated recipe.  A clafouti is really easy to make.  Just put all of the ingredients, except for the fruit, into a blender.  Give a couple whirls and you are set.  I like to put it into the oven about 30 minutes before serving, then you will have a lovely warm dessert to serve your guests, or to just enjoy yourself.  Makes a wonderful breakfast companion with a cup of hot coffee as well.  That is if you even have leftovers.

Happy Clafouti’n!

Recipe:  Blueberry Strawberry Clafouti

• 1/2 pint strawberries, washed and cut in half
• 1 pint blueberries, washed
• 1/2 cup whole-milk
• 1/2 cup cream
• 6 tablespoons flour
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
• 1 tablespoon  orange blossom water
• powdered sugar for garnish

If you like this recipe, check these out:

Apple and Hazelnut Clafouti

Peach Raspberry Clafouti

Sweet Potato and Crabapple Clafouti

© Denise for Chez Us, 2011. | Permalink | 21 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Blueberries, Blueberry, Clafouti, Custard, Dessert, French, Strawberry, Sweet

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It is that time of the month again;  time for the Let’s Lunch group to get together to nosh.  This month’s nibble is pies.  No, I did not instantly think of a sticky, gooey, and sweet pie.  Instead, my thoughts jumped to savory.  Particularly, chicken pot pie.  You know the kind;  thick chunks of chicken, sweet veggie niblets, and a saucy but savory gravy that wraps it all together.  The kind that drips off of your fork, and runs down your chin pot pie.

I have been thinking about this savory chicken pot pie since I picked up these cute chicken shaped ramekins.  I know …. dorky to buy a dish just for a certain meal.  I could not resist.  Let’s Lunch seemed like the perfect time to perfect my pot pie recipe. Which by the way is very simple.  I decided to fore-go the traditional chicken pot pie;  you know the one full of chicken, peas, carrots, and celery.  I wanted this one to be a little French and to ooze summer time.

I had planned to use chicken thighs for this recipe, but had a very large breast left over from another meal, so I used that.  I started by using a little carrot, celery and shallot as my base and then threw in summer fresh green beans, and summer squash. As well I added a diced russet potato which acted as a thickener.  The saucy sauce that brought the dish together was made with a little olive oil, butter, flour, chicken stock, and an abundance of fresh tarragon – the French part of the dish.  Don’t all French recipes seem to use so much tarragon.  The tarragon seemed to make, what can otherwise be a heavy meal, light.  The pot pie was fresh tasting, and the vegetables were still slightly crisp, not over cooked.  I did cheat a bit by using a premade puff pastry as the topping;  Dufour is my favorite to use, as it is light and fluffy, and browns perfectly.  Our summer pot pie recipe is so easy, that I had dinner on the table in an hour.

*note if you decide to use chicken that has not been cooked you will need to allow at least 15 minutes extra to precook the chicken.

Recipe:  Summer Chicken Pot Pie

What you need:

• 1 carrot, diced very small
• 1 celery, diced very small
• 1 small shallot, diced very small
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 3 tablespoons tarragon, torn into pieces
• 1/4 lb green beans, cut into small pieces
• 1 small yellow summer squash, cut into small pieces
• 1 russet potato, small dice
• 1 large pre-cooked chicken breast, cut into small pieces
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups chicken broth
• salt and pepper to taste
• puff pastry, cut to fit your baking dishes
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon water

What you need to do:

Heat oven to 400.  Butter two large ramekins or 4 smaller ones.  In a large dutch oven, drizzle a small amount of  olive oil; heat over medium heat.  Add the shallots, stir, and cook until soft;  about 3 minutes.  Add the carrots and celery, stir, and cook for another 5 minutes.  Add the green beans, summer squash and russet potato;  stir and cook for 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and tarragon, stir, and cook for 1 minute.  Turn off the heat and set aside.  In a small saucepan, add the olive oil and butter, heat over medium heat until the butter is melted.  Whisk in the flour, and continue cooking until slightly bubbly;  about a minute.  Add the chicken broth, whisk until smooth, and cook over low heat until thick;  about 3 – 5 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Pour the sauce over the vegetable mixture, and gently stir in the chicken.  Pour the mixture into the buttered ramekins.  Cover the tops of the ramekins with puff pastry that has been cut slightly larger than the top of the dish.  Lightly crimp the sides of the puff pastry over the sides of the dish.  Beat the egg with a tablespoon of water, and gently brush the tops of the puff pastry.  Put the ramekins onto a baking sheet, and slide into the oven.  Bake until the tops are golden, and the inside is bubbly, it will begin to come out the sides;  will take approximately 25 – 35 minutes.  Serve.  Eat.

Be sure to see what other #LetsLunch folks are slurping up this month.

A Tiger in the Kitchen

Blog Well Done

A Cow Girl Chef

Geo Fooding

Show Food Chef

Hot Curries and Cold Beer

Free Range Cookies

Kitchen Dreamer

Cooking the Fruit Bowl

Can It You Nit

Beyond the Plate

Caitlin Shetterly

© Denise for Chez Us, 2011. | Permalink | 11 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Chicken, Chicken Pot Pie, French, Green Beans, Let's Lunch, Pie, Pies, Savory, Summer Squash, Tarragon

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First we had Tuesdays with Dorie, or as Lenny liked to call it (lovingly of course) Tuesday with the Devil (because there were too many delicious baked treats around) and now we have French Fridays with Dorie.  You see I love her book Baking From My Home to Yours;  why? Because every recipe is always right now and comes our perfectly.  A little secret, I currently only own her book as my go-to baking book, no others exist in our house.  It is the bible of baking as far as I am concerned.  I remember the day I found out Dorie had a new book coming, I could not contain myself, I told everyone I know.  I just have this warm feeling in my soul that Around My French Table will be just as great as Baking.  I am sure the “French” part of the title has something to do with it, being I love France and all;  but, in all honesty Dorie has never let me down.  Geez, if I could marry her I probably would!

The day the book arrived, the first thought besides, what to make, was “I wonder if anyone will start a virtual cooking club such as TWD”.  I tossed around the idea of maybe I should;  but, then schedules, work, traveling, started clouding over those thoughts.  I was so excited when I saw a little tweet out there that Laurie had started French Fridays with Dorie and I was even more excited to read that there was not the “participation rule” (you see I got the boot out of TWD as my work (and hips) schedule was not allowing me to bake at least 2 – 4 times a month).

The kick off recipe for French Fridays is Gougeres (p. 4 – 6) .  Gougeres are basically a cream puff, similar to the Les Chouquettes I love to make for breakfast;  but they are savory.  I have made them many times as they are the perfect small bite with a nice glass of Floc or Champagne before dinner.  I normally add a bit of dijon or maybe a little fresh cracked black pepper along with what-ever cheese I have on hand.  This time I made them exactly as Dorie specifies in her book with lots of Gruyere or cheddar;  I used Gruyere.  I tossed around the idea of cutting the recipe in half as it said it would make 36 (which it did);  but, decided to just go for it.  Glad I did as Lenny had the first batch finished before dinner was on the table.  I served the puffs with dinner as we were having soup and I wanted something different from the stand in warm loaf of bread.  The Gruyere Gougeres were the perfect companion with a warm bowl of  butternut squash soup.

Don’t be afraid to make this small little bite known as the Gougere.  They are easy to make and Dorie makes them even easier, you don’t have to stand over a stove, beating in your eggs by hand;  her recipe has you using your trusty mixer.  What are you waiting for, whip up a batch this weekend.

Surprise your family and friends with this small treat and let us know what you think of them!

Recipe:  Gougeres
* you must buy Dorie’s book to get her wonderful recipe, which I highly recommend, it is beautiful

If you enjoyed this dish, you may enjoy these others as well:

Gougeres with Mardi

Gougeres with Marie Alice Joan

Gougeres with Cafe Lynnylu

© Denise for Chez Us, 2010. | Permalink | 13 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Appetizer, Around My French Table, Cheese, Dorie Greenspan, French, French Fridays with Dorie, Gougeres, Gruyere

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The past two weeks have been heavy meat eating weeks.  Don’t get me wrong, we love to eat and we love to socialize with our friends over food, but, it has been a little nutty.  This week we decided to take it a little easier with some meals that we could extend over a few days.   Quiche was one of the first meals that came to mind.

I love making my quiche crust-less.  Yes, it makes me feel less guilty about all those eggs and cheese.  If you don’t mind a crust, please by all means do use one.  I used the same recipe that I use for all of my quiche recipes but I made a few minor adjustments. This particular quiche was heavily scented with fresh thyme.  I used some zucchini blooms as the main veggie ingredient.  The addition of grey salt and a sprinkle of espelette pepper brought all of the ingredients together.  Served with a green salad and warm bread, it was the perfect meal.

Recipe:  Zucchini Blossom Quiche

© Denise for Chez Us, 2010. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Cream, Crustless Quiche, Easy Dinner, Eggs, Espelette pepper, French, Quiche, Recipe, Vegetables, Zucchini Blossoms

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(this is a long post, please keep reading, you will not want to miss any of it ….. delicious news)

(photo taken by Sara Remington)

After months of searching high and low and endless talking about how hard it is to find digital classes up in the Bay Area, we took the matter into our hands.  We looked at the resources in front of us.  We have so many friends who work professionally in a creative space, from photography all the way to film making;   we sat with them explained the situation and the playground was born - Digital Media Playground.  We are going to keep the workshops, small and intimate.  We feel the best way to learn is by actually doing what you want to learn.  We won’t sit you in a room, hand you a manual and fly through a session.  You will get to work  side by side with the instructor.  You will ask the questions.  You will learn.  We are currently populating the calendar with an agenda;  but we currently have some exciting workshops scheduled with some very talented photographers.   We are starting off with  beginning photography, studio shooting and food photography workshops.  We personally know each photographer who will be teaching and can tell you right here and right now …. you will be learning a lot!!!

Our featured workshop for May will be with Sara Remington (the photo of the berries was taken by her).  I am really excited that Sara will be teaching this hands-on workshop about food photography.  I mean, have you seen her drool worthy photography?  She currently has 15 books out there featuring her work, the most recent being:  The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook and My Nepenthe:  Bohemian Tales of Food, Family and Big Sur .  Sara believes in shooting organically, with ingredients and natural settings.  If you want to learn how to shoot stunning photographs as well as how to style them, then this is the class for you.  I caught a glimpse of the agenda a couple weeks ago ….. I am so excited for all of you.  You are going to learn so much!!!   You will not want to miss it!  To sign up and for more information please visit this link.  Or if you have any questions please do not hesitate to drop me an email or tweet me.   As well be sure to check out some of her most recent work from shoot in Greece;  but, prepare to become very hungry from these fantastic food scenes.

Now on to these delicious financiers….

I am so happy that berry season is lurking around the corner!  Literally just waiting to burst into our lives.  We are big berry eaters this time of the year, all the way to the last bite.  Lenny and I don’t discriminate, we love them all, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, oallie berries.  You name it, you will find throughout the season over at Chez Us.  Not only are they the perfect ingredient, but they are the perfect snack.  Come over on a weekend and you will find a big bowl of them on the counter.

I have fond memories of berry picking and summer is just not summer without a trip to the berry farm to pick.  Since I don’t have kids to torture, I drag MEM (they do love it) and we pick berries and we eat berries.  I love their little berry covered faces and fingers.  All the way home we talk about how we are going to use the berries;  ice cream, muffins, sauces for ice cream or the best way …. stuffed into our mouths!  It really is a great way to bring the season into our kitchen.

I had some leftover egg whites the other day and needed some new creativity, so I put a tweet out.  Normally I make macarons;  but, Pim convinced me (which was not very hard to do) to venture over to Dorie’s kitchen and to make her financiers.  If you are not familiar with them, financiers are a little square French cake.  They were created by a French pastry chef by the name of  Lasne in the nineteeth century.  They are made of egg whites, ground almonds, sugar, flour and a lot of butter (the first time I misread the recipe and added 3 sticks).  It is not quite time to hit the berry farm;  but, I did manage to find a few pre-season raspberries that looked great and were slightly sweet.  As well I had a few blueberries laying around, so I decided to add a little berry kiss to each of the financiers.  As well I did not have the square little pans that are normally used and could not find them in San Francisco.  Pim said  to use a muffin pan which worked perfectly.  These little cakes are delightful and you will definitely be seeing them more often over at Chez Us.

Recipe:  Berry Financiers

(click the above link for a printable & down-loadable recipe)

© Denise for Chez Us, 2010. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Baking, Berries, Blueberry, Cake, Cookies and Bars, Digital Media Playground, Financiers, Food Photography, French, Friands, Raspberry, Recipe, Sara Remington, Workshops

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Galette is a French term used for free form crusty cakes; think, buckwheat crepes from the Normandy area.  I love galettes, either sweet or savory, they are wonderful.  And I really love their rustic appearance.  I know when I see a Galette that it will be simple good food.

I had some beets left over from the market last weekend and decided I would make a simple galette with them.  I seasoned my pastry dough with a generous handful of fresh thyme and then lined the dough with goat cheese, beets, olive oil and a sprinkle of maldon salt.  It was lovely, really lovely and made the perfect light dinner, especially when paired with some soup or a small salad.

Do you like Galettes?  If so, are you sweet or savory?  What is your favorite recipe?  Do tell ….. we are always looking for new inspiration from our readers.

Recipe:  Beet and Goat Cheese Galette

Click the printer icon for a downloadable PDF of this recipe

© Denise for Chez Us, 2010. | Permalink | 10 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Beet, Free Form Crepe, French, Galette, Goat Cheese, Olive Oil, Thyme, Vegetables

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Despite the last few crazy rain storms we have had out this way, spring is definitely in the air.  When I open the back door every morning the first thing I smell is sweet succulent jasmine starting to bloom.  I love the dewy fragrant smell and always wish I could bottle it up and bring it in.  At our old apartment we had planted four big bushes of lavender and that is what we smelled mixed in with intoxicating jasmine.  I love lavender as it takes me to a far away place …. this dreamy little farm house in the middle of France.  There are a few chickens, a couple goats and yes, Jacqueline, a pig.  As well there are fields upon fields of lavender.  When we open the doors in the morning to enjoy the sunshine on our feet while making coffee the lavender wraps it sweet arms around us.  This is spring!

For this months’ Mac Attack Challenge 5 (can you believe it has been 5), we are participating in “World Macaron Day, which is March 20.  The lovely duo Jamie and Deeba challenged us to put a little bit of spring into our macarons.  I decided to make a soft but sweet lavender macaron with a vanilla bean buttercream.  I was very pleased with this round as every one of the macarons came out perfect.  Beautiful little feet, perfectly round, slightly crunchy but still a little chewy – perfect!  I am so pleased with myself as I feel I have finally, after 3 years of making these petite bisous, I have done it!  I have Jamie and Deeba to thank for pushing me beyond the comfort zone and to keep with it!   Be sure to check out all the lovely spring time macarons over at the MacTweet site.

Recipe:  Lavender Macarons with Vanilla Bean Buttercream

I used my basic macaron recipe but I added a couple drops of violet colored paste.  As well before drying the macarons I sprinkled a touch of culinary lavender.  I filled them with a buttery vanilla bean buttercream – simply leave out the bergamont and add the beans from one vanilla bean pod.  This macaron is definitely all about spring time.

© Denise for Chez Us, 2010. | Permalink | 24 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Baking, Buttercream, Cookies and Bars, Dessert, Food Blog Event, French, Lavender, macarons, Macaroons, Mactweets, Recipe, Vanilla, Vanilla Bean

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Almond flour and sugar is gently folded with egg whites to create the French macaron.  Nestled between the delicate cookies is a slight layer of  nutty but chocolatey Nutella.

I have to admit I have been eavesdropping on a Twitter conversation between, Jamie, Deeba, Hilda, Aparna, Barbara, Meeta, Ilva, Shelley, Erin, Deborah,  Rachael, and Ria the past couple of weeks.  Okay, I do have better things to do with my time then listen in on things that have nothing to do with me, but they were chatting about one of my favorite things to nosh on, The French Macaron.  Finally, I could not stand it any longer and I tweeted Rachael and asked what was taking place?  How did I miss this mac-a-thon and how could I get involved, not that I needed another reason to bake something!  Being as sweet as she is, she told me to tweet Jamie for all the info, so I did!

This wonderful group of bloggers are attempting to perfect the macaron, the French macaron, by using one of the queens of macarons, recipe, Helen of Tartelette.    Now since I was a little behind, they are posting today, the 15th, I had to take jump on it and decided only to make one round of macs using Helen’s recipe.  We were suppose to make the basic shell and fill with a chocolate ganache.  Everything was right on track, egg whites sat out for 24 hours, the batter came together beautifully, the macs looked so pretty on the baking sheet, they came out of the oven looking the best they ever have (mine usually look like dreidels), they had feet, yes, they had feet and then after they cooled, I attempted to remove them from the baking sheet and their feet, legs and all, stayed behind!  What went WRONG?  I think I should have baked maybe one more minute (Jamie suggested this as well) or maybe it was the humidity in the air?  I had one left that was nearly perfect, well, it had a top and bottom, the rest, well, let’s just say they make nice little noshes with a hot cup of coffee!

*disclaimer, I did not, I say DID NOT make a batch of ganache for this photo shoot, I used nutella.

Recipe:  Macarons

© Denise for Chez Us, 2009. | Permalink | 17 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Cookies and Bars, Dessert, French, macarons, Macaroons, Mactweets

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* I am entering this old post  in Gel’s Kitchen Blog event, NTTC July 2009 Egg Challenge.  This is a fantastic and easy salad to make for a light and quick dinner.

I completely forgot about Easter.  Not only until today,  did it cross my mind, when E & M stopped by flapping their Palms from Sunday Church.  Normally, I love Easter.  It is the beginning of all things Spring.  I am usually baking hot cross buns, making marmalade, starting the garden, baking Masa;  not, this year.  Since all the things we love about Easter, food wise, will have to wait this year, I decided we needed to do something remotely related to the holiday.  In the middle of making breakfast it came to mind, why not pay tribute to the “egg”, and with that we also decided we should start a series on how to make the perfect eggs.

The poached egg.  Now, as  regular reader, you know I am not a huge fan of eggs.  I must confess, I actually like them when they are poached, perfectly, that is. The egg has to be done the right way, which is, my way.  Lenny, on the other hand, will eat an egg any old way ….. poached, fried, soft boiled, scrambled, hard boiled, not picky.  The egg white has to be firm, but the yolk cannot be overcooked or it will be chalky.  The yolk must burst when you lightly pop it with the tip of your fork, so it can ooze all over your bowl, toast and your lips.

When I poach an egg, I bring a shallow frying pan of water and white vinegar to a boil.  Not a gentle, rolling boil, but a fierce rumbling one.  Then I crack the egg into a shallow bowl, and gently slide the egg into the rumbling pan of water.  I let it swirl around for 3 – 5 minutes, depending on how large the egg is, and how rumbling the boil is.  I will use a wooden spoon, and gently swirl it around in the water.  You will know when it is done, when you lightly tap the top, and the yolk is still jiggling.  That is the trick to the perfectly poached egg.  Motion.

Recipe: Perfectly Poached Egg

1 egg

2 teaspoons white vinegar

1 teaspoon sea salt

water

Bring water to boil in a shallow frying pan, about 2 inches deep.  Crack egg into a small dish.  Lower the heat on the water to a simmer and slowly slide the egg into the simmering water.  Cover with a lid and let sit about 3 – 5 minutes depending on how soft you like the yolk.  Gently remove from the water, with a slotted spoon and lay on a double folded paper towel for about 1 minute.  Put into a serving bowl.  Sprinkle with salt and cracked pepper.  Serve.  Eat.

Poached eggs don’t have to be only for breakfast.  They are also wonderful for brunch, think Egg’s Benedict, as well they are fantastic for dinner, over mushrooms, or even on a salad.  One of our favorite ways to have a perfectly poached egg is the classic French salad, Frisee with Lardons (bacon).

**  Don’t forget to check out our other delicious perfectly cooked egg dishes:

• Perfectly Soft Boiled Eggs for breakfast and a Creamy Pasta with Fresh Peas for dinner
• Perfectly Scrambled Eggs for breakfast and a Green Garlic Torta for dinner
• Perfectly Fried Eggs for breakfast and a Fried Egg Sandwich for dinner

Recipe: Frisee with Lardons

1 head frisee, cleaned and torn into pieces

6 bacon slices – cut into small pieces

2 tablespoons red vinegar

2 tablespoons dijon mustard

1 small shallot, thinly sliced

4 tablespoons olive oil

4 tablespoons bacon fat, left from browning bacon

salt, to taste

fresh cracked pepper, to taste

Cook bacon until golden and crispy.  Remove from pan and left set on folded paper towels.  Set aside

Combine vinegar, mustard, shallot, olive oil, bacon fat, salt and pepper in a jar, shake to combine.

Toss frisee with dressing and bacon bits.  Set aside.  Poached eggs using directions above.  To serve put a bed of lettuce on a plate and top with two poached eggs each.  Serve with a nicely warmed baguette.  Serve.  Eat.

© Denise for Chez Us, 2009. | Permalink | 14 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bacon, Breakfast and Brunch, Dinner, Easter, Eggs, French, frisee salad, Gel's Kitchen Blog Event, How to Poach an Egg, lardons, light lunch, NTTC Challenge, perfect poached egg, poached egg, simple poached egg

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