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Tag Archives: French
This month’s challenge is brought to us by the adventurous Hilda from Saffron and Blueberry and Marion from Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux. They have chosen a French Yule Log by Flore from Florilege Gourmand.
 
What is a French Yule Log you say and how is it different from the Buches de Noel that the Daring Bakers made last December? In France you can buy two kinds of Yule log, either the Genoise and Buttercream type such as the Buches de Noel or what is more common which is a frozen Yule Log, which is very reminiscent of an ice cream cake, only it is not made of ice cream but rather chocolate mousse. In French this is called an entremets, which is sometimes translated in English as simply a cream dessert. When I first read the recipe I was definitely intimidated by the 18 pages of instruction, in fact, I seriously reconsidered making it on and off for a couple weeks. Then as with all challenges, I just decided to do it, I knew I could this! So, I came up with a plan and decided to prepare this special dessert for our annual crab fest with our good friends, Evelyn, Will and MEM. WAIT! There’s more »
First day of October, this is the day I consider the “real” first day of fall and it definitely felt like fall. The air was crisp as the evening cooled down … not to mention the fog rolled in! We were feeling exhausted and hungry when we got home from the office and decided it would be a good night to stay in, pour a glass of wine and make dinner. Just get cozy. Cozy for us equals food home cooked French food.
We made a French onion soup and a Frissee salad with poached eggs. I did take some fennel, thinly sliced it and carmalized it with the onions for the base of the soup. The fennel gave it a slightly sweet taste, it was really refreshing and a nice surprise. I found my original recipe for Frisee salad, it is a Alice Water’s one and it is by far the best we have ever made. Not only very easy but the flavors are fantastic! After eating the Frissee salad with the crispy bacon and warm poached eggs, flavored with a slightly garlicky and dijon dressing, I decided this was definitely my favorite salad. I probably could eat it almost everyday and this is coming from the girl who really is not a “big egg” fan. If you think about it, it really is a meal, you don’t need anything else but a warm piece of bread and a nice glass of wine!
Thursdays dinner will include the “other white meat” as well as a write up on what we are doing this month! Come dine with us later.
and you all know what that means, Dorie Time! Due to busy schedules at work and taking a mini-vacation, I have not had a chance to par-take in the weekly baking club – my waist line is definitely Thanking Me! I was bummed to miss the last two weeks as we were making Madelines and Pecan Sticky Buns, two of our faves around the house.
Thank you to Di of Di’s Kitchen Notebook for choosing an Outrageous recipe. Our challenge this week was French Chocolate Brownies – now one can not go wrong with Brownies! The recipe had a twist thrown in, raisins! Since I was giving this away to a non-raisin lover, I did leave them out and I added some bittersweet chocolate chips. Otherwise, I followed the recipe to a T and it is very straightforward and easy. The verdict …. Lenny said they are “crazy moist” and I have to agree, the moistest brownie I have ever had, at the same time the top is lightly crunchy and flaky.
Pour yourself a big cold glass of milk, grab a book or turn on a movie and sit back and eat yourself into a chocolate bliss, this is definitely ….Sinful!
We thought we would do something different today and share our breakfast with you and a little story. When we are in Paris, we like to rent an apartment and it seems that every time we have done so, we are lucky enough to be right next to a bakery. The smell of yeast, flour and sugar penetrates the walls as early as 5am, this is our alarm clock. I always wake up before Lenny and I lay there until the entire apartment smells of this sweet sweet heaven, by then it is 7am. I cherish this time of the morning in Paris. I throw on my sweats, grab the camera and hit the rue, to pick up breakfast. The light is always perfect at this time. The streets are still with only the vendors bringing in the fresh produce, meat, fowl and fish. The yeastiness of what is baking mixes with all these wonderful smells and makes me so incredibly happy at comfortable at this perfect moment at the beginning of my day. One of our favorite morning treats are these wonderfully warm Les Chouquettes. They are light airy and slightly sweet, perfect with a strong cup of espresso or a latte, first thing in the morning. By the time I get back to the apartment, Lenny is awake, the Les Chouquettes are still warm and all that is left is the beginning to a perfect day with the one I love, in the city that we both love.
Yesterday morning we were listening to our favorite French radio station, drinking coffee and missing one of our favorite places, so I dug out the recipe for the Les Chouquettes and added the missing link to our “perfect morning in Paris“!
Recipe: Les Chouquettes
1 cup water
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup flour
4 large eggs, at room temperature
Glaze: 1 egg yolk, mixed with a small amount of water
Crystal sugar or Pearl Sugar
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper, you can use a silicone baking mat I prefer parchment. Heat the water, salt, sugar, and butter in a saucepan, stirring, until the butter is melted. Remove from heat and add all the flour at once. Stir quickly until the mixture is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Briskly beat in the eggs, one at a time, until smooth and shiny. Using two spoons, scoop up a mound of dough with one spoon about the size of a walnut and then scrape it off with the other spoon onto the baking sheet. Or you can use a pastry bag, I like the number 807. Place the mounds evenly-spaced apart on the baking sheet. Brush the top of each mound with some of the egg glaze then sprinkle the sugar crystals over the top, don’t be shy on this part. Use a lot! Bake the cream puffs for about 30 minutes, or until puffed and well-browned. Serve. Eat.
Our friends Andy and Jeff love to entertain as much as we do. We have been talking about picking a theme and spending the day cooking for a couple months now. Now this was only going to be Jeff and I cooking, Andy and Lenny were to stay out of the kitchen, this was our baby! Lenny had no problem sticking to this, after all, he is happiest eating it! Andy, was pretty good as well, I assume it was somewhat hard as he loves to bake; but, we put him in charge of the special cocktail for the evening and helping with the decorating. So, we picked a date and picked the theme …. French Bistro cooking was going to be it. Jeff has cooked the French Laundry style of food a couple months back and Lenny and I eat a lot of French inspired food at home so I was feeling very confident about this venture. Jeff and I spent the first half of the morning drinking coffee and working our way through the market. Was fun shopping with him – I loved telling him, we need 72 ounces of chicken broth, 4 dozen eggs, 32 ounces of cream …. his mouth dropped to the floor every time and the word, “WHAT?” fell out just as fast! We spent most of the day cooking, baking, straining, chopping and laughing! By 5pm the food was finished, our feet and backs were tired and all that was left was to set the table, get the bar ready, change and then let the fun begin!
I have to say, everyone was pretty floored. The food was fantastic! The ohs and ahs were great! We really out did ourselves! (more photos here, eye treats!) If you want the recipes, email us and I can send the PDF version to you!
French Bistro Table
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  I have been DYING to make French Onion soup – don’t ask me why, because I do not know. Maybe it is the looming French Gourmet magazine on our counter … not sure. L. was getting ready to leave town so I figured I would load him up on onions and garlic, not sure why I decided to do that either!I have this recipe from Moosewood cookbook, that I use. I found it about 20 years ago and love how simple it is to make and how rich it tastes. I have tweaked it over the years … I now slow cook the onions until they are caramelized and I add some garlic to it as well I do not make it vegetarian. I use a good rich beef stock – I love the richness of the beef stock and the color the soup turns.
To serve I toast slices of baguette, that have been drizzled with olive oil and rubbed with crushed garlic. The richness of the stock and onions really compliment the garlicky goodness of the toast!
 
L.’s aunt from Boston and his cousin from the Azores are visiting us for a few days and I decided to try out a new dish on company; which, mind you is something I usually never do. I have a standby roasted chicken dish that I seem to serve whenever we have people over for dinner from out of town. After all, you can not go wrong with the chick, everyone loves a good chick, right?! Well, MOVE ON OVER stand-by chick, you have just been replaced by the new chick in town – Tarragon and Pancetta Roasted Chicken!
This chicken is not only SUPER easy but it is so darn good. The skin is raised on the chicken and lightly stuffed with a breadcrumb, tarragon and pancetta mixture and then cooked to perfection. The stuffing sealed in all the juices, making an ultra moist and juicy chicken – so succulent! I usually do not care for tarragon; but, with the saltiness and flavors of the pancetta it was just like spring time in Italy!
You have to try this one, it will be your new favorite dish to fall back on.
L. and I really do not “celebrate” V~day. We both are strong believers that all these special “things”, should be things that are done throughout the year, not saved up for one “big” day. And, since we eat pretty well on a nightly bases, why should this night be any different or for that matter stuck out at a restaurant, paying over priced prices for food that is not that good because it is so busy – save it for a rainy day! In the same breath, it is kind of hard not to get a little sucked into all the pink & red fluff everywhere, so I do always pick up a little token of my love, a bottle of pink bubbly and a card.
Now, since I LOVE to cook as well, I know L. was expecting the big fancy french meal; but, I surprised him with a Jamie Oliver pizza of Pancetta, artichoke hearts and an egg! He was quite surprised!
For dessert I made L.’s favorite dessert, Iles Flottantes – a big Thank You to Tartelette for a wonderful recipe! Not only was it delicious but very easy.
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