Duck Fat and Garlic "Toasted" Camembert Mini Grilled Cheese...Holiday Cooking With Ile De France

I love small plates and little nibbles. I also love all things rich ( my men, my life, my food). One of the most most beautiful and richest cuisines out there is French. I look back at long ago my school years in Paris and wish I took advantage of the resources out there then. But I was young and Paris was my Movable Feast.

This past week was the arrival of the Beaujolais Nouveau. My old friend Terry treated me to the Annual Fete at the French American Chamber Of Commerce. This is an opportunity for many restaurants to display their food in the small plate format. One place was making grilled Camembert sandwiches on a hot plate. I took a bite and noticed the Camembert didn't melt through the grilled bread. Terry and I were talking about earlier and I had a revelation. I was going to make this dish with the duck fat I rendered that was in the freezer.

Forget butter, but use the duck fat for that extra dimension. I also decided to add mushed blanched garlic to create a Gascony style Butter. Before the health police start, did you know Duck Fat is better for you than butter? Duck Fat has less saturated fats than butter 32% versus 62%. Duck fat has higher Mono Saturated Fat than butter and is more comparable to Olive Oil (read about it here).

So when I received my Ile de France sample, I was ready. With the Holidays you want a quick easy recipe to assemble and that will keep warm with minimal fuss. Toasting in the oven , rather than frying works very well and insures the cheese is melted through.

Duck Fat and Garlic "Toasted" Camembert Mini Grilled Cheese
makes 12 and can be increased easily increased
24 slices of Baguette
1/2-3/4 cup Duck Fat (can be purchased )
5 cloves of Garlic ( or to taste)
Ile De France Camembert Cheese
Dried Thyme
Water to blanch garlic

In a small saucepan , blanch garlic cloves until tender( about 1 minute).
In a small mixing bowl mash the garlic into the duck fat. You can use a immersion blender or food processor to make smooth.
Take a pastry brush and brush each slice of Baguette.
Assemble small wedges of Camembert into two slices of bread.
Arrange on a parchment lined baking sheet and drizzle with dried Thyme.
Bake at 350 F until golden, approx 15 minutes. Turn/flip sandwiches midway and press down with spatula to aid the cheese in melting. Turn up to 400 F the last few minutes to insure crispness and browning.
Serve on passed platters or on small plates with dressed greens.
*Can be kept in warming oven until ready to serve.

Daring Bakers ...Vol au Vents ( Duck Livers,Mushroom,Spinach in Cognac Cream and Hazelnut Chocolate Mousse)

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

I vowed to do this months challenge after missing a few.Also I believe this month I start my third year with the Daring Bakers! While some people cringe and cower in fright at puff pastry, I love to make it. Maybe I was emboldened by all my pastry classes this summer at French Pastry School. The idea of filling Vol au Vents with sweet or savory was also pleasing to me, as this wouldn't be a challenge that would go to waste. Vol Au Vents could be a meal or dessert. And I just may have some extra dough to freeze for later.

The more and more I make puff pastry , the easier it gets. However I wont say the shaping of these Vol au Vents were easy. I did have some misshapen ones, but they were all good. Currently I am working on some holiday stories for my writing for Ebony Jet.com. As a result, the weekend I tackled the Daring Bakers, I had also roasted a duck. I decided to use those delectable duck livers for one savory filling with spinach, mushrooms,cream and cognac. The other decadent filling was a hazelnut chocolate mousse topped with candied hazelnuts. I love that you can vary the shape size from appetizer portion to entree. I fell in love with hazelnut mousse in my pastry class. Perhaps there is just to much Julia Child influence in me these past few months. Certain Someone was home for a hot second and fed him a quick brunch of the savory Vol au Vents. He did his quiet grumble of approval before he flew off. Not his type of food per se, as he would have put some sausage in there, but good. So with that I take it that they were good.

Duck Liver , Spinach, Mushroom and Cognac Cream Vol A Vents

Take a few cooked duck livers and giblets and chopped them. In a skillet brown them in a little butter or duck fat with chopped mushrooms. De glaze pan with some cognac. Add some duck or chicken stock. Then add washed fresh spinach leaves and cook until wilted. At this point our in some heavy cream or half and half. In a small dish mix some 1 tablespoon cornstarch and water . Add to cream mixture in and and cook until slightly thickened. Fill mediu, size Vol au Vents. You can omit the duck liver and just use mushrooms. You can also use chicken livers as a replacement.

Hazelnut Chocolate Mousse Vol au Vents

This is a recipe I'm saving for a later article. But the basics mousse composition is making a Pate a Bomb ( cooked egg yolks, and hot sugar whipped into a froth). I then made a hazelnut praline . Candied hazelnuts are ground into a paste with a little addition of oil to help along. I heated the half of my heavy cream with bloomed gelatin and poured on top of dark chocolate to soften. I whipped the other half of heavy cream into soft peaks and folded with my Pate a Bomb. The Pate a Bomb mixture is then folded into chocolate ganache mixture. Chill to set, and then pipe. Top with additional candied hazelnuts.

Be sure to check out the other Daring Bakers to see their take on Vol au Vents.

Equipment:-food processor (will make mixing dough easy, but I imagine this can be done by hand as well)-rolling pin-pastry brush-metal bench scraper (optional, but recommended)-plastic wrap-baking sheet-parchment paper-silicone baking mat (optional, but recommended)-set of round cutters (optional, but recommended)-sharp chef’s knife-fork-oven-cooling rack
Prep Times:-about 4-5 hours to prepare the puff pastry dough (much of this time is inactive, while you wait for the dough to chill between turns…it can be stretched out over an even longer period of time if that better suits your schedule)-about 1.5 hours to shape, chill and bake the vols-au-vent after your puff pastry dough is complete
Forming and Baking the Vols-au-Vent
Yield: 1/3 of the puff pastry recipe below will yield about 8-10 1.5” vols-au-vent or 4 4” vols-au-vent
In addition to the equipment listed above, you will need:-well-chilled puff pastry dough (recipe below)-egg wash (1 egg or yolk beaten with a small amount of water)-your filling of choice
Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside.
Using a knife or metal bench scraper, divided your chilled puff pastry dough into three equal pieces. Work with one piece of the dough, and leave the rest wrapped and chilled. (If you are looking to make more vols-au-vent than the yield stated above, you can roll and cut the remaining two pieces of dough as well…if not, then leave refrigerated for the time being or prepare it for longer-term freezer storage. See the “Tips” section below for more storage info.)
On a lightly floured surface, roll the piece of dough into a rectangle about 1/8 to 1/4-inch (3-6 mm) thick. Transfer it to the baking sheet and refrigerate for about 10 minutes before proceeding with the cutting.
(This assumes you will be using round cutters, but if you do not have them, it is possible to cut square vols-au-vents using a sharp chef’s knife.) For smaller, hors d'oeuvre sized vols-au-vent, use a 1.5” round cutter to cut out 8-10 circles. For larger sized vols-au-vent, fit for a main course or dessert, use a 4” cutter to cut out about 4 circles. Make clean, sharp cuts and try not to twist your cutters back and forth or drag your knife through the dough. Half of these rounds will be for the bases, and the other half will be for the sides. (Save any scrap by stacking—not wadding up—the pieces…they can be re-rolled and used if you need extra dough. If you do need to re-roll scrap to get enough disks, be sure to use any rounds cut from it for the bases, not the ring-shaped sides.)
Using a ¾-inch cutter for small vols-au-vent, or a 2- to 2.5-inch round cutter for large, cut centers from half of the rounds to make rings. These rings will become the sides of the vols-au-vent, while the solid disks will be the bottoms. You can either save the center cut-outs to bake off as little “caps” for you vols-au-vent, or put them in the scrap pile.

Dock the solid bottom rounds with a fork (prick them lightly, making sure not to go all the way through the pastry) and lightly brush them with egg wash. Place the rings directly on top of the bottom rounds and very lightly press them to adhere. Brush the top rings lightly with egg wash, trying not to drip any down the sides (which may inhibit rise). If you are using the little “caps,” dock and egg wash them as well.

Refrigerate the assembled vols-au-vent on the lined baking sheet while you pre-heat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). (You could also cover and refrigerate them for a few hours at this point.)
Once the oven is heated, remove the sheet from the refrigerator and place a silicon baking mat (preferred because of its weight) or another sheet of parchment over top of the shells. This will help them rise evenly. Bake the shells until they have risen and begin to brown, about 10-15 minutes depending on their size. Reduce the oven temperature to 350ºF (180ºC), and remove the silicon mat or parchment sheet from the top of the vols-au-vent. If the centers have risen up inside the vols-au-vent, you can gently press them down. Continue baking (with no sheet on top) until the layers are golden, about 15-20 minutes more. (If you are baking the center “caps” they will likely be finished well ahead of the shells, so keep an eye on them and remove them from the oven when browned.)
Remove to a rack to cool. Cool to room temperature for cold fillings or to warm for hot fillings.
Fill and serve.
*For additional rise on the larger-sized vols-au-vents, you can stack one or two additional ring layers on top of each other (using egg wash to "glue"). This will give higher sides to larger vols-au-vents, but is not advisable for the smaller ones, whose bases may not be large enough to support the extra weight.
*Although they are at their best filled and eaten soon after baking, baked vols-au-vent shells can be stored airtight for a day.
*Shaped, unbaked vols-au-vent can be wrapped and frozen for up to a month (bake from frozen, egg-washing them first).
Michel Richard’s Puff Pastry Dough
From: Baking with Julia by Dorie GreenspanYield: 2-1/2 pounds doughSteph’s note: This recipe makes more than you will need for the quantity of vols-au-vent stated above. While I encourage you to make the full recipe of puff pastry, as extra dough freezes well, you can halve it successfully if you’d rather not have much leftover.
There is a wonderful on-line video from the PBS show “Baking with Julia” that accompanies the book. In it, Michel Richard and Julia Child demonstrate making puff pastry dough (although they go on to use it in other applications). They do seem to give slightly different ingredient measurements verbally than the ones in the book…I listed the recipe as it appears printed in the book. http://video.pbs.org/video/1174110297/search/Pastry
Ingredients:2-1/2 cups (12.2 oz/ 354 g) unbleached all-purpose flour1-1/4 cups (5.0 oz/ 142 g) cake flour1 tbsp. salt (you can cut this by half for a less salty dough or for sweet preparations)1-1/4 cups (10 fl oz/ 300 ml) ice water1 pound (16 oz/ 454 g) very cold unsalted butter
plus extra flour for dusting work surface
Mixing the Dough:
Check the capacity of your food processor before you start. If it cannot hold the full quantity of ingredients, make the dough into two batches and combine them.
Put the all-purpose flour, cake flour, and salt in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse a couple of times just to mix. Add the water all at once, pulsing until the dough forms a ball on the blade. The dough will be very moist and pliable and will hold together when squeezed between your fingers. (Actually, it will feel like Play-Doh.)
Remove the dough from the machine, form it into a ball, with a small sharp knife, slash the top in a tic-tac-toe pattern. Wrap the dough in a damp towel and refrigerate for about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, place the butter between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and beat it with a rolling pin until it flattens into a square that's about 1" thick. Take care that the butter remains cool and firm: if it has softened or become oily, chill it before continuing.
Incorporating the Butter:
Unwrap the dough and place it on a work surface dusted with all-purpose flour (A cool piece of marble is the ideal surface for puff pastry) with your rolling pin (preferably a French rolling pin without handles), press on the dough to flatten it and then roll it into a 10" square. Keep the top and bottom of the dough well floured to prevent sticking and lift the dough and move it around frequently. Starting from the center of the square, roll out over each corner to create a thick center pad with "ears," or flaps.
Place the cold butter in the middle of the dough and fold the ears over the butter, stretching them as needed so that they overlap slightly and encase the butter completely. (If you have to stretch the dough, stretch it from all over; don't just pull the ends) you should now have a package that is 8" square.
To make great puff pastry, it is important to keep the dough cold at all times. There are specified times for chilling the dough, but if your room is warm, or you work slowly, or you find that for no particular reason the butter starts to ooze out of the pastry, cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate it . You can stop at any point in the process and continue at your convenience or when the dough is properly chilled.
Making the Turns:
Gently but firmly press the rolling pin against the top and bottom edges of the square (this will help keep it square). Then, keeping the work surface and the top of the dough well floured to prevent sticking, roll the dough into a rectangle that is three times as long as the square you started with, about 24" (don't worry about the width of the rectangle: if you get the 24", everything else will work itself out.) With this first roll, it is particularly important that the butter be rolled evenly along the length and width of the rectangle; check when you start rolling that the butter is moving along well, and roll a bit harder or more evenly, if necessary, to get a smooth, even dough-butter sandwich (use your arm-strength!).
With a pastry brush, brush off the excess flour from the top of the dough, and fold the rectangle up from the bottom and down from the top in thirds, like a business letter, brushing off the excess flour. You have completed one turn.
Rotate the dough so that the closed fold is to your left, like the spine of a book. Repeat the rolling and folding process, rolling the dough to a length of 24" and then folding it in thirds. This is the second turn.
Chilling the Dough:
If the dough is still cool and no butter is oozing out, you can give the dough another two turns now. If the condition of the dough is iffy, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. Each time you refrigerate the dough, mark the number of turns you've completed by indenting the dough with your fingertips. It is best to refrigerate the dough for 30 to 60 minutes between each set of two turns.
The total number of turns needed is six. If you prefer, you can give the dough just four turns now, chill it overnight, and do the last two turns the next day. Puff pastry is extremely flexible in this regard. However, no matter how you arrange your schedule, you should plan to chill the dough for at least an hour before cutting or shaping it.
Steph’s extra tips:
-While this is not included in the original recipe we are using (and I did not do this in my own trials), many puff pastry recipes use a teaspoon or two of white vinegar or lemon juice, added to the ice water, in the détrempe dough. This adds acidity, which relaxes the gluten in the dough by breaking down the proteins, making rolling easier. You are welcome to try this if you wish.
-Keep things cool by using the refrigerator as your friend! If you see any butter starting to leak through the dough during the turning process, rub a little flour on the exposed dough and chill straight away. Although you should certainly chill the dough for 30 to 60 minutes between each set of two turns, if you feel the dough getting to soft or hard to work with at any point, pop in the fridge for a rest.
-Not to sound contradictory, but if you chill your paton longer than the recommended time between turns, the butter can firm up too much. If this seems to be the case, I advise letting it sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes to give it a chance to soften before proceeding to roll. You don't want the hard butter to separate into chuncks or break through the dough...you want it to roll evenly, in a continuous layer.
-Roll the puff pastry gently but firmly, and don’t roll your pin over the edges, which will prevent them from rising properly. Don't roll your puff thinner than about about 1/8 to 1/4-inch (3-6 mm) thick, or you will not get the rise you are looking for.
-Try to keep “neat” edges and corners during the rolling and turning process, so the layers are properly aligned. Give the edges of the paton a scooch with your rolling pin or a bench scraper to keep straight edges and 90-degree corners.
-Brush off excess flour before turning dough and after rolling.
-Make clean cuts. Don’t drag your knife through the puff or twist your cutters too much, which can inhibit rise.
-When egg washing puff pastry, try not to let extra egg wash drip down the cut edges, which can also inhibit rise.
-Extra puff pastry dough freezes beautifully. It’s best to roll it into a sheet about 1/8 to 1/4-inch thick (similar to store-bought puff) and freeze firm on a lined baking sheet. Then you can easily wrap the sheet in plastic, then foil (and if you have a sealable plastic bag big enough, place the wrapped dough inside) and return to the freezer for up to a few months. Defrost in the refrigerator when ready to use.
-You can also freeze well-wrapped, unbaked cut and shaped puff pastry (i.e., unbaked vols-au-vent shells). Bake from frozen, without thawing first.
-Homemade puff pastry is precious stuff, so save any clean scraps. Stack or overlap them, rather than balling them up, to help keep the integrity of the layers. Then give them a singe “turn” and gently re-roll. Scrap puff can be used for applications where a super-high rise is not necessary (such as palmiers, cheese straws, napoleons, or even the bottom bases for your vols-au-vent).

u Vents

ound

Chocolate Palmiers Equals Love

When I went to art school in Paris I had this friend Shelly that I will always remember for her love of Palmiers, cigarettes, and coffee. It seemed thats how she survived between our studio classes.Palmiers are puff pastry folded into a fan shape, rolled into sugar and baked into caramelized crispy like thin cookies.

You could make some from commercial puff pastry, but I wanted the challenge of making a Pate Feuilletee from scratch, which I haven't done for years.

While surfing through the online Desserts Magazine , I came across a blogger , who I should have been following, but I am always slow on the uptake. Aran, from Cannelle Et Vanille. She adapted Pierre Hermes Chocolate Pate Feuuilletee and her recipes for a Caramelized Chocolate Mille-Feuille with Chocolate Mousse and Fresh Raspberries Napoleon and Chocolate Palmiers.

Aran warns this recipe can take upwards of 2 days.For me It took 3. I didn't do the first two steps on the same night, and had to fudge a little. I should have mixed my butter/cocoa mix the same night as I made the dough, and let both rest overnight, but I read the directions wrong. So the next evening after work I speed the process of chilling the butter in the freezer for a few hours so I could incorporate it into the folds and turns of dough.This dough required 5 turns, and you start to see the cocoa and butter turn the white dough into a marbled chocolate slab. I used half a block of dough for 20 Palmiers, and stored the rest in the freezer.

The Palmiers cooled up buttery and crisp. The perfect shapes didn't hold perfectly and my sugar really caramelized with the butter, thereby not looking all freshly rolled in sugar as Arans were. But nevertheless they tasted superb. Rich, crispy, flaky, full of butter and chocolate, but not to sweet.So the labor, and sore arms and hands from all that rolling and turning are worth it for this special treat. I would love to have a block of this puff pastry on hand in the freezer all time.If life were so perfect...sigh.

Click here for the recipe and check out all the other great articles.

Cauliflower Souffle... Cooking with Madame E. Sant Ange

Well I told you I would be back with some inspiration from my new book La Bonne Cuisine De Madame E. Sant Ange...The Original Companion for French Home Cooking. Jessica's Biscuit offered this book a incredible sale price of $9.00. Its worth far more.Flicking through I see this book is not for the novice, or one who wants a recipe all spelled out for them. First published in 1927 by the folks who also published Laurousse Gastronomique, its been a indispensable guide to the common home cook and the great cooks and chefs like Madeline Kamman and our American Julia Child.Paul Aratow lovingly took on the task of translating this resource in the voice of Madame. Paul Aratow was one of the original founders of Chez Panisse along with Alice Waters, and used this book as his kitchen guide!So you are reading a cookbook for readers at the time of early twentieth century. Don't expect to find modern equipment mentioned, cooking temperatures, etc. Madame can go on about technique, exact measurements, equipment, utensils, and 'science' but this book calls on you to use your prior experience and basically figure it out. So don't expect a lot of exact instructions. I rather like this way of learning as its more challenging and in the end I learn more.
So today I chose something with cauliflower. I have an abundance of it . Certain Someone loves it , and I find it OK. Bland but OK. I'm challenged finding new ways to cook it.The book describes this vegetable as a basic one found mostly in home cooking. Not glamorous at all. Looking at this I had most of the ingredients and changed some others( which the Madame strongly cautions against). The components of the souffle called for a Bechamel, mashed cauliflower, egg whites, yolks,Parmesan,and butter. I didn't have Parmesan so I substituted a Colby( talk about Americanization!). Now I thought I knew Bechamel . I don't know Bechamel. I had to refer to her sauce chapter to find this classic component of a lot of meat free cooking. I went with the Bechamel Maigre( lean Bechamel) because it only requires milk, not heavy cream. It also requires a Mirepoix( carrots, onion, celery finely diced). I never knew. But I never claimed to to be a pro. I didn't have carrots or celery. I did have leeks, mace for nutmeg, and mushrooms. Some Becahmels can use the whites of leeks, mushroom trimmings, and even ham in the Mirepoix. So I used leek whites and mushrooms to give that Aromatic dimension to this white sauce. After slowly cooking the roux, milk, added sauteed mirepoix, you gently strain out the solids. I got what looked like a cream of mushroom soup with out the mushrooms bits. Nevertheless a good flavor for my souffle. The short recipe calls for you to combine the 87/8 OZ od mashed cauliflower , with 3/4 cup of Becahmel. Add 3 yolks, a walnut sized piece of butter,grated parmesan,fold into 4 whites that have been tuned into 'SNOW'. Cook for 20 -25 minutes.


Most Souffles I have made had a choux sort of base with flour. This didn't. I should have baked it in smaller dishes, It rose , but didn't rise past the top of my larger souffles dish. Nevertheless the outcome was good. A light nice lunch to serve alongside a salad. Great for your non meat eater friends. Is it outstanding. I wouldn't say that but a great recipe for when your perplexed as to what to do with that head if cauliflower. There are way more better and interesting recipes in this book. I'm just starting with with what I have on hand. That's what makes you a better cook Ne C'est Pas?

I will be announcing a Giveaway shortly related to an upcoming book review. Stay Tuned!

A Euro Evening with The Green Fairy

I can just imagine my Monday morning water cooler chat.

Absinthe.
Originally uploaded by DonnellyImages

How did you spend your weekend.Oh I tried some Absinthe and went to see ATB.They would look at me blankly and wonder what the hell I was talking about. ATB was new to me, however Absinthe was on those 'Things to do before I reach 40 list",which is rapidly approaching. Where did all those years go?Back in the day , just released from the nuns at a school which will remain nameless, my parents turned me loose in Paris. A night like last night would be a weekly occurrence.Certain Someone loves DJ's like ATB. Unfortunately he was away and I had to represent . I planned to have fun because I havent had a evening like this in a while. A German friend had brought over some Tabu Absinthe. Its legal now to bring into the US, and there are some US producers. A few of the group had it in Prauge and don't have pleasant memories of it, taste wise.In reading I hear the Czech ones are the worst. The Thirty Something Frat Boy men gathered shots glasses lighters,and sugar and tried to prepare it.No one knew what they were doing. I was trying to recall this sexy scene with Susan Sarandon and Jude Law in Alfie where she tries to educate him on to prepare a proper glass. Cant find it on You Tube. Needless to say we just downed it with some sugar on the bottom. Now water ,as I am to find out is essential. However I read the brand we consumed can be taken straight. Half liked the anise flavor,and half wanted to hurl. All of us were warm and fuzzy as it was 100 proof someone said.We all started talking about how old were getting and how our joints don't seem to be like before.I thought it was just me. We were skeptical of the twenty somethings that would be at the event. Nothing hallucinogenic happened to us that evening. We all continued to imbibe vodka as we watched the Go Go type dancers in their neon pink underwear and boots, on raised platforms , dance to the 'Messiah' like DJ. Thank goodness we were cordoned off in our Yuppish VIP section while the masses in hundreds danced on. Where did these people come from and what do they do by day we asked. Then I remembered I was one of them once and I turned out alright.All in all a clean crowd. I was rather surprised. I made it to bed at 4:45 forgoing the after hour party in some Russian Bath House. No Thanks. The old timer Thirty Somethings grabbed some Burritos from one of those Taquerias on Ashland(good eating), and bitched about how we were going to make it through the week. I woke up and felt like I had been hit by a truck, and I didn't even get drunk.That's why I don't party anymore. I leave you with Monsieur Creepiness to see how to prepare Absinthe properly.

Daring Bakers Take on Julia Childs Labor Of Love , French Bread

This is my fifth Daring Bakers Challenge, and I must say the most challenging. But that's the whole point of me joining, to push my limits and explore all aspects of baking from savory to sweet. When Mary at Breadchick and Sara at I like to Cook, took on hosting duties, they went all out. Our challenge reflects Julia Child's own obsession with mastering French Bread. Last year I read Appetite For Life, The Biography of Julia Child by Noel Riley Fitch. Julia, ever the perfectionist, spent years mastering her bread with her ever patient husband Paul at her side , encouraging,tasting, and critiquing. Its reflected in Volume 2 of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. 18 pages are dedicated to this recipe that consists of just flour,water, yeast, and salt. Go figure. I was pretty confident I could do this and set aside one Saturday as it takes about 10 hours in total of rising, shaping, etc. I had purchased the baking tiles, a tool for slashing, prepped my muslin as the pastry clothes.All seemed well until it started getting around dinner time , and Certain Someone was impatiently waiting. I had purchased Brie,charcuterie, etc for us to have sandwiches on my homemade baguettes. The end result at around 10:30 pm was a hard pale,misshapen baguette. we ate the sandwiches , or shall I say gnawed. It was edible but had a hard shell to it that wasn't what I would call crusty. Nevertheless I vowed to attempt it again and finished up the rest over the next day. Not awful , but not right. I figured with Certain Someone gone on a golf outing,I would have time. But I got a cake commission that took my whole weekend and had to put it off. So on the final Sunday of the month I woke up at 6:30 am determined to have a decent bread to post about. I decided to one large Boule. I didn't feel confident enough to shape the baguettes again. All went well and at 5:00 we had some slices with raspberry jam and butter. A pre Oscar Night snack.I liked the color and the outer shell softened as it cooled down. Certain Someone was happy about that, and so were his teeth. He said it was good.One thing I learned for sure is that bread making demands your respect and attention. Whatever distractions and disruptions in your life will show up in the final result. Its not ironic that bread is symbolic and referenced in religion.Bread is life.My month has been trying to say the least. But all my fears and worries about my life and job were resolved by the time I made the second round.

The recipe is long,so I will post it to Coco's Recipe Box and you can check it out here.Meanwhile check ot the ever expanding Daring Bakers and what they produced.

60 Minute Gourmet

I never throw anything out. My Mother thankfully kept a lot of good stuff I valued. My fashion magazines and books were stored in boxes.The fashion magazines have long since gone,but a lot of cookbooks remain.One of my first cookbooks as a pre-teenager was The New York Times 60-Minute Gourmet(1979). Yes that's was the type of child I was.The late Pierre Franey collaborated with the late Craig Claiborne on this great book and others that changed the way America cooked at home. Pierre Franey believed many great gourmet dishes can be prepared in a hour with good preparation and well stocked pantry. He pairs a entree and a side on each page.I chose to make a cheese souffle , which I never made before,and he makes seem so simple.I paired this with another entree, since the souffle was so light.Rather than the Swiss or Gruyere cheese, and Parmesan ,that was called for, I used Gouda,Peccorino Romano and some chives for color.I chose Poulet Scarpiello (chicken in white wine)as the main entree. Can I just say I love making souffles. My first attempt was sloppy(need one big dish rather than individual ramekins) but I can see myself having fun with these.Pierres Franey took the fear of making these out. No more images of the famous scene in Sabrina where all the classes souffles fall. The taste was pretty good. Light and buttery. Certain Someone came home a little later than planned and was hungry. He ate all, but declared it wasn't his type of food( naturally it wasn't pasta or sausages for a change). Certain Someone went into the refrigerator for leftover SPAM. Yes we have SPAM. He loves it. I have come to tolerate it , but it has to be cooked crisp like bacon for me. I admit I was still hungry afterwards too. I ate another mini souffle. but still was hungry. The meal had a lot of flavor but was very light. And I don't think that's a bad thing as I want to cut back but eat well.

Souffle au Fromage adapted from The New York Times 60-Minute Gourmet 1979

Pierre Franey

Cheese Souffle

1/4 Swiss or preferably Gruyere

2 cups milk

3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons of butter

6 large eggs

4 tablespoons flour

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Pinch of Cayenne Pepper

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon water

1/4 finely grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.Grate cheese into tiny cubes. It should be about 3/4 cup. Set aside. Heat milk to just about to boil.Butter your souffle dishes/dish with the 2 teaspoons of butter.Separate the egg yolks from whites.Put whited into mixing bowl to beaten stiff .

Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan.Add flour and stir with wire whisk until smooth. Add hot milk to mix,stirring rapidly with whisk. Add salt,pepper,cayenne,nutmeg, stirring for approx 5 minutes.Blend cornstarch and water and add. Remove from heat.Add yolks stirring rapidly.Scrape mixture into a large mixing bowl and add Parmesan cheese. Beat egg whites until stiff.Add half the whites to the sauce and fold in with the whisk. Add remaining whites and grated cubed cheese and fold into mixture with rubber spatula.Fold until all is Incorporated.Pour and scrape mixture in souffle dish and bake for 20 min.

Playing with the Classics: French Onion Soup Gratinee

I'm alone again as Certain Someone has flown off to yet another business trip. In thinking about dinner for one , with some leftovers I was stumped. I ran across some inexpensive beef shanks and immediately thought of soup. A french onion soup to be exact. I remember my first as a young high school student in Washington DC. On a field trip, I had the most incredible soup chock full of onions , beef and topped with gooey Gruyere. Heaven! I have rarely come across a onion soup I didn't like, but none compare like your first. And I liked the heartiness of the beef floating in it.

So I decided to roast the shanks and onions until caramelized and brown, deglaze with red wine and chicken stock,add spices , herbs and some beef soup base, water and slowly cook until the meat was tender and started to fall of the shanks. If you don't want to go through all of that but want the gist of a perfect example try this recipe. Either way its all good. I couldn't find Gruyere so I settled on a tangy Fontinilla cheese( Italian, I know) and it did just the trick.Hopefully there will be some leftover soup in the freezer when Certain Someone comes back home.

Busy Body (Interesting Obits, Rissoto Balls, and Bread.)

I'm one of those nosey, morbid people that always reads the obituary section of any paper. So while browsing through the NY times on line today,I noticed two obits with a American Culinary angle. Two people passed this week that either reflected or influenced the way most Americans ate for a period. I wouldn't say they are household names,but very significant. Both were near in age and attitude towards food. Peg Bracken wrote a book I never heard of, but seemed to be a sentiment of many woman called I Hate To Cook. Seems Peg was a modern woman and go getter in the advertising world who hated the expectation of domesticity. Ironically she wrote a tongue in cheek cook book for those who were like her. Kind of like the Sandra Lee (Semi Homemade) or Rachel Ray (30 Minute Meals)of her day. Love them or hate them,they make a impact. She's the total antithesis of today's trends. The other departed was man named Vincent De Domenico, the creator of Rice-A-Roni. Most Americans have had this leading processed convenient food at one time or another. It was interesting to read about his influence and activities in Napa as well. Peg and Vincent were quite in sync.

Well I love to cook, but don't always have the time as I work a full time job and two part time.As well as take a class.I'm not adverse to leftover and convenience. Reading many blogs , I have discovered many things I want to try.Above are some my adventures this week. I give full credit to Deborah at Taste and Tell for inspiring me to make a risotto( but I added butternut squash puree purchased from Williams and Sonoma) and Rosa at rosas-yummy-yums for making a pumpkin challah( of which I didn't take a photo, topped with Pepita's, and devoured). They both turned out excellent and I served it alongside my improvised Coq Au Vin for dinner last night. Certain Someone and I gobbled it up.I then took the leftover risotto , rolled it in some leftover panko /pecan breading, and made fried rice balls.So good!See convenience, inspiration, and creativity.

Courtney's Coq au Vin

Chicken Breasts

country bacon

sweet onions( I used a variety called Candy Onions)

Herbs de Provence

Bay leaf

1/2 bottle of red wine or more depending on amount of chicken( I used a cheap Merlot hanging around)

salt

pepper

garlic cloves

*I didn't have mushroom, but they are a traditional component

Chicken Stock

Cut up bacon and brown in a heavy duty casserole. Drain most fat and add chopped onion, and spices, and herbs. Add chicken and brown the skin on all sides. The bottom of the pan should start to caramelize. De glaze with red wine. Add chicken stock and cover to simmer, stirring occasionally. This dish takes approx 45- 1 hour depending on cuts and amounts of the chicken. Cook till tender. I like to do this in a slow cooker as well. The chicken will fall of the bone.