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Saturday, November 6th, 2010

French in a Flash: Chouquettes

RECIPE: Chouquettes

Chouquettes

Get the whole story at Serious Eats.

Pâte à choux, or choux pastry, is the Madonna of doughs. It is always reinventing itself. It can be fried into beignets; boiled into Parisian gnocchi; piped into éclairs; piped with cheese and roasted in gougères; sliced and sandwiched into profiteroles. But the most simple and perfect of them all is when they’re crusted in sugar and baked into the little-known (Stateside)chouquettes.

Chouquettes loosely translates to “little bits of choux.” They are usually sold in baskets perched atop the glass pastry cases of bakeries and pastry shops in France. A sort of afterthought, they are just profiteroles shells—crisp, airy, and hollow, crusted in lumps of pearl sugar. They are just a bit sweet, and slightly rich and eggy from the pastry. They make the perfect snack: unassuming, unextravagant, unfilling. But yet they add that touch of afternoon sweetness to the day, and take the edge off a rumbling belly.

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Categories: Bakery, Bread & Butter, Breakfast & Brunch, Eat, French in a Flash, Recipes, Series, Sweets, Vegetarian

Friday, November 5th, 2010

French In A Flash: Easy-Omelet With Zucchini, Goat Cheese, And Mint

RECIPE: Easy-Omelet With Zucchini, Goat Cheese, And Mint

Zucchini Mint Goat Cheese Omelet

Get the whole story at Serious Eats.

I suppose my “easy-omelet” is somewhere between an omelet and a quiche. No crust, but baked in the oven until fluffy. The flavors are simple: buttery zucchini, fresh mint, and soft, tangy goat cheese. You could swap out the mint for basil, parsley, or thyme and choose asparagus or even cooked autumn squash in place of the zucchini. Then, all you need is eggs and milk and, as if by some miracle, the whole thing cooks up into a dish that is beautiful and rustic, fluffy and golden. A one-pot wonder!

Easy-Omelet With Zucchini, Goat Cheese, And Mint

serves 4 to 6

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3 medium zucchini, sliced 1/4-inch thick
Fine sea salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
8 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
15 leaves fresh mint, chiffonade
4 ounces fresh chèvre (goat cheese)

PROCEDURE

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a 9-inch sauté pan (not skillet), melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the zucchini and season with salt and pepper. Lower the heat to low, and cover, stirring every so often until zucchini is tender, about 7 minutes. Set aside to cool uncovered.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, mint, salt, and pepper.

Crumble the goat cheese, and arrange on top of the zucchini in the same pot the zucchini has cooked. Pour the egg mixture over the top, adjusting the zucchini with clean hands or a fork so they lie parallel to the bottom of the pan.

Bake 30 minutes until set. Then broil about 7 minutes, until puffed, bubbling, and golden. Cut into 6 wedges and serve immediately with chopped green pistachios as garnish.

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Categories: 30 Minutes, Bread & Butter, Breakfast & Brunch, Easy, Eat, Eggs, French in a Flash, Main Courses, Recipes, Series, Tarts, Quiches, Pizzas, Vegetarian, Vegetarian

Thursday, November 4th, 2010

Franglais: Moules Marinière over Spaghetti

RECIPE: Moules Marinière over Spaghetti

Moules Marinière over Spaghetti

Read the full article at The Huffington Post.

To me, when travelling, there are two kinds of places: those places you plan and plan to go to, and the places in which you suddenly end up. Though I often dress as I picture a Normandy gamine might dress–Breton striped t-shirts and snub-nose ballet flats–Normandy was definitely the latter. I never expected to go there, but as my stepfather recently hails from one of its cities, I found myself unmeditatedly in the coastal city of Deauville. Because I tend to be an obsessive trip planner, packing every never-to-be-lived-again second with activities I agonize over for months, I found the sudden appearance of the northern French coast both charming and disarming. And while I was supposed to be intoxicated with new family encounters, I was instead giddy at the sight of the carnival-striped beach umbrellas, Coco Chanel’s first clothing shop location, and, of course, the mussels.

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Categories: 15 Minutes, Cheap, Easy, Eat, Fish, Franglais, Main Courses, Recipes, Series

Saturday, October 30th, 2010

Franglais: Peanut Butter Cup Profiteroles

RECIPE: Peanut Butter Cup Profiteroles

Peanut Cup Profiteroles

Get the whole story at The Huffington Post.

Halloween is all about putting on airs. Whether you dress kittenish or devilish, you, and everyone else, are dressing up, not down.

Franglais means taking French flavors and American preparations, or American flavors and French preparations, and mashing them up into something delicious. And when I put American flavors into a French preparation, I have to admit that, like on Halloween, I am dressing them way up.

The all-American flavor duet of peanut butter and chocolate is to die for. Who doesn’t love a Reese’s peanut butter cup? I don’t know if there was a Mr. Reese, or if he did invent the magic of peanut butter and chocolate, but whoever it was, he was a visionary.

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Categories: Chocolate, Desserts, Eat, Franglais, Pastry, Recipes, Series, Vegetarian

Friday, October 29th, 2010

French in a Flash: Allumettes with Pistou

RECIPE: Allumettes with Pistou

Pistou Allumettes

Get the whole story at Serious Eats.

Allumettes means matchsticks, and in the kitchen they not only mean the little sticks of wood used to ignite a stove, but also long thin strands of anything crisp, be it French fries, or more commonly, twigs of crisp puff pastry served as snack or to dip into soups.

These allumettes are slightly longer than the industrial standard, baking up to be over a foot long. They’re made from pizza dough, chewy and crisp, like fougasse, France’s version of focaccia. I smother store-bought pizza dough with homemade basil pistou. If you want to be dogmatic about the pistou, leave out the nuts (the distinguishing factor between the Provençal pistou and Ligurian pesto). Then I cut the dough, twist the strands, and bake them. They brown and crisp that way that Parmesan does. The olive oil seems to melt into the bread, and the basil glues onto the allumettes. With little effort, I have delicious better-than-breadsticks. I serve them in a jam jar so they stick up like edible branches. Delicious!

Allumettes with Pistou

makes 14

Ingredients

1 pound pizza dough
1 clove garlic
4 cups basil leaves
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus 2 tablespoons
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
1/4 finely grated Parmegiano Reggiano

Procedure

Place pizza dough in large bowl lightly greased with olive oil. Cover with damp paper towel (not touching dough), and cover that with dry kitchen towel. Allow to sit in warm place and proof for 2 hours.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 425°F. Make pistou by pulsing garlic in food processor until finely chopped. Add basil and pine nuts and pulse until finely chopped. With machine running, stream in olive oil. Scrape down sides, and pulse again to incorporate. Season mixture with salt and pepper, and add cheese. Pulse to combine. There should be 3/4 cup of pistou. Spoon into small bowl, and set aside.
Roll out dough on floured surface into 16-inch by 7-inch rectangle. Spread 1/4 cup pistou over one side of dough. Cut dough into long 1/2-inch strands. Twist several times and place on 2 parchment lined baking sheets. Lightly brush tops of allumettes with olive oil. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pans in oven, until golden and crisp. Cool on rack. Serve in jam jars.

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Categories: 30 Minutes, Appetizers & Hors D’Oeuvres, Bakery, Bread & Butter, Easy, Eat, For a Crowd, French in a Flash, Recipes, Series, Vegetarian

Thursday, October 28th, 2010

Franglais: Boeuf Bourguignon Meatloaf

RECIPE: Boeuf Bourguignon Meatloaf

Boeuf Bourguignon Meatloaf

Read the full article at The Huffington Post.

It is a well-established culinary urban legend that the French hate ketchup. I always think of that I Love Lucy episode with the escargots and the tongs on her nose and the ketchup and the chef who comes tearing out of the kitchen in a fit to see who would dare to order ketchup with his perfect snails. I may have a French family, but Lucy and I share a passport. I love ketchup.

Where else do you find ketchup if not in meatloaf? My mother, being of that beloved race of ketchup-haters from across the Atlantic, never made it for me growing up. So, instead of being that Wednesday night dreaded hockey-puck dinner, meatloaf became for me a kind of sought-after delicacy. Even now when I see it at those gourmet comfort food places that are so trendy, I am entranced at the idea of meatloaf. So homey and comforting and filling and maternal. Like a big hug.

I flavor my plate of all-American nostalgia with the flavors of my own childhood comfort food: Continue reading …

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Categories: Eat, Franglais, Main Courses, Meat, Recipes, Series

Monday, October 25th, 2010

The Secret Ingredient (Coffee) Part III: Dark Chocolate Espresso Bean Bark

RECIPE: Dark Chocolate Espresso Bean Bark

Dark Chocolate Espresso Bean Bark

Get the whole story at Serious Eats.

When we were in our senior year in college, my friends and I were given a small room in the basement of the library. Five of us kept our books and computers there and subsisted on nothing but chocolate-covered espresso beans, to sustain us through the long nights in the bowels of the earth. I’ve never forgotten to be thankful for them!

Here, I add a touch of coffee to the chocolate itself, and stud the chocolate with chocolate-covered espresso beans. There’s no sleeping after this! Consider yourself warned. You may be more productive than you ever thought possible.

Dark Chocolate Espresso Bean Bark

serves 6

Ingredients

10 ounces plus 2 ounces dark chocolate (semi-sweet chocolate chips)
1/4 teaspoon instant espresso powder
3/4 cup (1 4.3-ounce package) dark chocolate-covered espresso beans, roughly chopped

Procedure

Melt 10 ounces of chocolate in a double boiler over simmering water, stirring often, until smooth. Whisk in instant espresso powder. Pour onto a baking sheet with a rim lined with parchment paper to form a 7-inch by 10-inch rectangle of chocolate.

Place the bowl back on the double boiler, and add the remaining 2 ounces chocolate.

Press the chopped espresso beans gently into the rectangle of chocolate on the parchment. Pour the remaining 2 ounces melted chocolate over the top, spreading evenly with silicone spatula. Allow to sit in the fridge to harden for 2 hours. Break into shards with hands.

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Categories: Recipes, Series, The Secret Ingredient