Tuna - Sardine - Olive Rillettes #FrenchFridayswithDorie - Αλειμματα με Τονο - Σαρδέλες - Ελιες

There's been a bit of a confusion on our group's Facebook page about this week's recipe, Tuna Rillettes. Have we done it before or not? And if we had, was this going to be a make up week for those who missed it?

I've missed way to many recipes to be concerned with whether we have done it or not. Chances were that it was one of those that I've missed. 

It turns out it was not! There are three recipes for rillettes in Dorie Greenspan's fabulous cookbook Around My French Table, one with sardines that the group did before I joined, in April 2012, one with salmon that has not been chosen yet and one with tuna which was our assignment for today. I have to say that even though technically I had missed the sardines it was not because of my inability to properly schedule my life to cook on time and participate with the group every week. And so I decided to try both the sardines and the tuna and throw another one made with olives on the side as well!

Quiche Maraîchère #FrenchFridayswithDorie

Quiche and I go way back. It was the first "gourmet" recipe I ever cooked for a boy. A rich, eggy Quiche Lorraine with a green salad on the side and a bottle of white wine was the romantic dinner I had planed for us. The quiche turned out great; its smell divine; but the boyfriend never turned up to eat it! He stood me and my quiche up and I blamed the quiche for that. Don't ask me why. There is no way to even begin to decipher the machinations of my 18 year old mind. I just know that I tossed it in the garbage bin, took the wine and left town. OK I am being somewhat dramatic here but I did leave town to go to our beach house and nurse my broken heart well and I did throw the quiche away without even tasting it!  

Fortunately this catastrophic first encounter was not enough to make me hate quiche. That would have been a blasphemy for a foodie like me because it is an incredibly flavourful savoury pastry. Incredibly flavourful and incredibly rich with a savoury custard made from eggs and cheese poured over ham, seafood or vegetables enclosed in a crispy shell of shortcrust pastry. In an ideal world I could eat quiche everyday. 

Now after so many years, quiche has became synonymous with pick-nicks at the park and dinner parties with good friends. And it is not so difficult to make, as my 18-year-old self wanted me to believe. The only part that needs some attention is the preparation of the shortcrust pastry or Pâte Brisée. And that is only for the first couple of times, because once you get the hang of mixing flour and butter with your fingers and kneading it gently to become a soft dough there is nothing really to stop you from making quiche everyday, except maybe your cholesterol. Yes, the sad, sad truth is that a true quiche carries MANY calories between its crispy bottom and its creamy filling. There are at least 3 eggs and loads of heavy cream and even more cheese (Gruyère or Comté) so, um.. yeah.. it is not an everyday indulgence. Unless of course you are French and come with a built-in mechanism that stops you eating when you have reached the minimum daily allowance of calories - in this case after the second forkful. 

 

So yes, this week's recipe for our French Fridays with Dorie cooking group is a quiche. But the Quiche Maraîchère (p.158), is not a typical quiche. It is a vegetable quiche or to be more precise a quiche overflowing with vegetables. It has leeks, celery and red peppers but it doesn't have so much custard. I could say that it is a "lighter" version of the original. 

I made my version of Dorie's quiche even lighter, using almond milk instead of heavy cream and skipping the cheese completely (I just grated a small piece of  Kasseri on the baked quiches to make them look nicer for the photo). 

Instead of making Pâte Brisée for the tart shell, I used some left-over flan pastry or pâte à foncer I had in the freezer. It was enough to make one 20cm tart and 3 baby tarts. Pâte à foncer is less delicate than pâte brisée but has a crisper texture. 

I filled the baby quiches with a few teaspoons of the quiche filling, after I had it fried in a pan like a mini omelette.

I have to admit that I was a little sceptical about the presence of the celery in the vegetable filling. Leeks and peppers are both very acceptable quiche ingredients but I have categorised celery as a soup vegetable. I know it is completely arbitrary and makes no sense because celery goes pretty much with everything but well there you have it. 

I was wrong, off course,  because celery worked amazing with the other two to give an extra savouriness to the quiches. 

The recipe was a huge success. Even in its "lighter" version it was full of flavour and lovely textures. You can find Dorie's original recipe for Quiche Maraîchère at Bookpage and to check how my fellow Doristas liked this recipe click here.

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Quiche Maraîchère 

Adapted from "Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours" by Dorie Greenspan
Serves 6 

Ingredients for the flan pastry - pâte à foncer -  (makes about 2, 20cm tart shells)
250 gr flour
125 gr butter, at room temperature, slightly softened and cut into small pieces
1 egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
40 ml cold water
Ingredients for the quiche filling
1 tablespoons olive oil
2 celery stalks, cut into small pieces
1 leek, thinly sliced, only the white and light green parts
1/2 red pepper, or 1 if it is small, cored, seeded and finely diced
2/3 cup almond milk
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
50 gr cheese, grated

Instructions
Preheat oven to 190C/370F.

Lightly grease a 20 cm tart pan (fluted or straight).

Put the flour on the work surface. Make it look like a mountain and then make a well in the centre. Put the  butter, egg, sugar and salt in the well and start creaming them with your fingertips.

Little by little pull the flour into the well and work the dough until it becomes grainy in texture. Add the cold water, little by little, until the dough starts to hold together.

Knead the dough gently until it becomes smooth. Roll the pastry into a ball and wrap it with cling film. Put it in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes or until you are ready to use it.

When you are ready to use it, roll it with a lightly floured rolling pin (I used the plastic rolling pin I use to roll out fondant from Wilton), on a lightly floured surface, to a 3 mm thickness. Make sure that you turn it over frequently. You might have to re-flour the surface.

Transfer the dough to the tart pan and ease it in. Trim off any excess pastry with a knife or by rolling the pin over the tin. Prick the pastry with a fork in several places. Chill the dough in the fridge before baking it for at least 1 hour.

Line the tart pan with baking paper and fill it with ceramic baking beans to weight the pasty down so that it doesn't rise.

Bake blind for 20 minutes. Remove the beans and the paper and return the tart to the oven to bake for another 5 minutes. Allow the tart shell to cool before you fill it.

Heat the oil in a medium pan. Add the vegetables and cook stirring for about 10 minutes until they are tender. Season and put them into a bowl to cool.

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F and put the half baked tart shell on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Spread the cooked vegetables into the tart shell.

Whisk the egg and egg yolk with the milk, season them and pour them carefully over the vegetables. Be careful not to put too much custard. Let it stand for a few minutes and then see if you can add a little more.

Slide the filled tart onto the baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes until it is baked and set.

Transfer the quiche to a rack and let it cool before you serve it.

Cook's Notes:

• The pâte à foncer pasttry can be kept, wrapped with cling film, in the fridge for a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

• If you want to make the baby quiches use small tart moulds (around 4 - 6 cm). Butter them very well and line them with dough. Prick them with a fork. Chill them for at least 1 hour. Carefully line them with parchment paper and fill them with rice before you bake them. Bake them for 15 minutes, remove the paper and rice and bake them again for 5 - 10 minutes until they are golden and fully baked. 
• To fill the baby quiches: Cook the quiche filling in a frying pan. Let it cool and then fill the baby tart shells with one or two teaspoons of the filling and grate some cheese over them.

• If you don't have ceramic baking beans you can use different types of pulses (dried white beans, rise).

• If you use beans or rice you will not be able to cook them after but you can use them for baking for a long time.

Visitandine Mini Cakes #FrenchFridayswithDorie

My brain has been a little foggy these past few days. In the mornings I open my eyes, get out of bed, put my socks on - extra-cheesy pun intended - wash my face and anyway go about starting my day, all the time feeling that I am missing something important.

It is a very strange state of mind to be in. And after a while my relationship with reality becomes hazy and I start to forget and mix things up, like what suit of cards my Bridge partner threw first (huge, friendship-braking mistake) or was I supposed to make a cake called vichyssoise or a soup called visitandine.  Major mix up!

I was almost sure that this weeks recipe for our French Fridays with Dorie was a soup. It turns out it was not. It was this humble but -oh-so-sinful- cake. It was "invented" by an order of French nuns, the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary, whose purpose was to visit and care for the sick and poor in their homes, hence the name Visitandines. 

Dorie says that if she had known the recipe for this cake at the beginning of her baking career, there wouldn't have been a career to talk about. I couldn't agree more. If there is one cake recipe you have to learn in your life then this is it! 

Four basic ingredients: eggs, flour, sugar and butter are all you need to bake the perfect Visitandine every time. From the eggs you use only the whites. You whisk them until firm and then you mix with the flour and the melted butter. If you want to take it up a notch, brown the butter because brown butter makes everything more fragrant and absolutely delicious. 

You can give the cake any size and shape you like. It will manage perfectly in all of them. I made mini cakes using a well buttered muffin tin and I added a few frozen blueberries and sliced almonds.

You can find Dorie's original recipe here.

Improvise and create your favourite flavour combination. Use the leftover egg yolks to make a pastry cream. Whatever you do the cake will still be fantastic.  

Who would have thought that it was "invented" by nuns! I have to hand it to the sisters, they know how to bake a cake. 

As for the soup. My woolly brain did not dream about it. The soup was last week's recipe. It was not a vichyssoise but the Vegetable Barley Soup with the Taste of Little India as Dorie calls it, only that in my case it was with Chickpeas.  

It was a gorgeous soup both in appearance and in taste. Bold, aromas; subtle and comforting flavours; full of colour and character. I loved it so much I made two huge pots and put it in the freezer for the next time I am in the need for a little Indian fix. Turmeric and garam masala are the stars of the recipe and if you want to make your own garam masala spice mix head over to my friend Alice's blog for a great recipe. 

To see how my fellow Doristas like both recipes click here.

French Fridays with Dorie (FFwD) is an online cooking group where we cook recipes from Dorie Greenspan's cookbook Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours. 
We do not publish the recipes on our blogs. For more information about our group and on how to join us click here. 

Sausage - Stuffed Chicken #FrechFridayswithDorie

Is there anything better than a juicy, tasty, roasted chicken for Sunday lunch? 

Yes! There is!

A juicy, tasty, STUFFED chicken! And some potatoes au gratin for a side!

This my friends is not any old stuffed chicken. I made it using Dorie Greenspan's Sausage-Stuffed Cornish Hens, our French Fridays with Dorie recipe for this week. Unfortunately, I could not find Cornish Hens so I stuffed a chicken with the most amazing white sausage and herb stuffing. 

But let's talk about the bird first. I had never heard of Cornish Hens before reading this recipe. And then after I read it, I thought that they must be some ultra small and fancy game birds, like quail or pheasant, that roam the English countryside. In any case something that I would never be able to find in the humble Zagreb butcher shops. As it turns out Cornish Hens are not that fancy, wild nor elusive, and are not from Cornwall - at least not entirely!  They are just a breed of chicken. A cross between the Cornish and the Rock Hens. 

Nothing fancy here but they are, indeed, smaller, have more white meat and cook faster than your everyday chicken. 

And as I had expected I was not able to find them or anything like them in the market here. But I did not despair. I chose a nice free-range chicken from my chicken lady at the market, stuffed it and put it in the oven. 

I tweaked Dorie's recipe quite a bit, again, to serve our dietary preferences - see gluten and lactose free. So no butter and instead of normal bread I used a few leftover pieces from the Gluten Free Spring Herb Buns I made earlier this week. And that's when I got the idea to add a lot more fresh herbs and spring onions to the stuffing. 

Herbs in the bread and herbs in the stuffing. Genius! 

The stuffing came out just amazing. Moist, rich in flavour and so very fragrant! From now on this is going to be my go-to recipe for every time I need to stuff a chicken!

As for the Potato Gratin, it is yet another favourite from Jamie Oliver's 15 Minute Meals. Seriously tasty and so easy and quick to make! 

Have I told you how much I love this cook book? I have? Well I am going to say again... 

I just love it and I have already made all the recipes in it. Most of them are gluten free, so no extra effort is needed from my part to adapt them and are so quick to prepare. But the most important trait of these recipes and Jamie Oliver's cooking at the moment, is that they are so extremely flavourful without the need to add a lot of fat or processed food ingredients. Just use lots of fresh herbs and spices and the result will be extraordinarily powerful. 

Like these potato gratin. Made in under 15 minutes and flavoured with fresh sage, chives an onions. 

To see how my fellow Doristas liked this recipe, or to join our little online cooking group, please click here.

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Sausage Stuffed Whole Roasted Chicken

Adapted from "Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours" by Dorie Greenspan

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 whole chicken

1 onion, chopped

400gr white sausages, casings removed and chopped finely in a food processor

1/2 stale gluten free fresh herb bun or any 2 slices of other gluten free bread

1 large egg

1 cup mixed fresh herbs (dill, mint, spring onions, parsley, basil), chopped

1/2 cup dry white wine like a Viogner

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400F/200C degrees.

Heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a big oven going skillet or pan over medium heat. Sauté the onion for about 2 minutes. Add the sausage and cook for 5 minutes, breaking up any lumbs that might form. Remove from the heat and let it cool.

In a medium bowl, beat the egg and herbs. Season and add the bread. Mix everything very well and add the sausage from the skillet.

Wash and pat the chicken dry with some paper towels. Salt and pepper the insides of the chicken and spoon in the stuffing. Don't over-stuff the chicken. If you have any left over stuffing, sauté in a pan over medium heat for 5 - 10 minutes until the sausage is fully cooked.

Rub the chicken with olive oil and sprinkle some salt and pepper. Put in the ovenproof skillet, add a cup of water, cover with foil and put it the oven.

Roast the chicken for at least 50 minutes, checking it regularly and basting it with its juices. The chicken is ready when the juices run clear if you prick the thigh at the thicket part.

When the chicken is ready, move it to a serving dish. Put the skillet over high heat and when the juices start to bubble pour in the wine. Let is boil away until the liquid is reduced by half. Pull the pan from the heat and strain the juices. Serve the chicken with the sauce.

Potato Gratin

Recipe from "Jamie's 15-Minute Meals" by Jamie Oliver

Serves 4

Ingredients

800gr (1.7 pounds) potatoes, peeled

3 onions, peeled

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 chicken stock cube

1/2 a bunch of fresh sage

1 tablespoon chopped chives

100ml soja cream

30gr Grana Padano cheese, grated

Instructions

Slice the potatoes in the food processor, using the fine slicer tool, or with a mandolin. Put them in a medium pan with boiling water and cover them with the lid. Boil for about 10 minutes, until they cook but still hold their shape.

Slice the onion in the food processor, using the fine slicer tool. Put the in a pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, crumble in the stock and season with salt and pepper. Tear in the sage leaves and sauté until they become translucent, adding some water if needed.

When the onions are ready, tip them into a large roasting pan. Drain the potatoes well and arrange them in a flat layer over the onions. Check and adjust the seasoning. Pour in the soja cream and sprinkle the cheese over.

Put the tray under a hot grill for a few minutes until the top starts to brown.

Gateau de Crepes #FrenchFridayswithDorie

It was 10 years ago on this day that George and I went on our first date. In Athens, at a bar, right next to what would be our first apartment together, only 3 months later. We drunk strawberry daiquiris and he gave me as a very late birthday present a book about spices.

Ten years! I cannot believe they went by so fast! I guess time flies when you are happy!

So how do you celebrate 10 years of love? With a special dessert of course! And some other "stuff" I am not going to mention here ;)

One of George's favourite desserts is crepes. Since he went gluten free, a couple years ago, I tried different recipes with different flours. Some of them were a success some of them were not. But he still ate them - such a nice guy. 

Now, I might have mentioned before that I don't really believe in coincidences. For me, what we define as random events are more like road signs, put there to guide us to our destiny. Definitely not random and in my case, today, my destiny was to make this beautiful "cake" of crepes and pastry cream to celebrate our ten year anniversary. 

Because it was like this cake was following me around. Every time I went on Pinterest there was a different version of this French classic, beckoning me to click. These first signs are so easy to bypass, forget or simply ignore. I kept going on Pinterest seeing stack upon stack of crepes and ignoring them, denying my destiny until I read this week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe Butter and Rum Crepes. There at the end of the two page recipe was Dorie's Bonne Idee - an alternative way of approaching the crepes by making a Gateau de Crepes. 

Yes! Destiny! Twenty or so, soft vanilla scented crepes, one on top of the other and in between the pastry cream of my dreams. The praline pastry cream I fell in love with when I made the Paris-Brest. 

As I said, I made crepes before. Some were good and came out in one piece, perfectly round, airy and thin. Some were not so lucky. I even managed to flip a couple with the pan, the way the chefs do it on TV. Now I had to make twenty of the looking more or less the same. Scary!!!

To be on the safe side I tripled Dorie's original recipe - you need a double dose to make the amount of crepes needed for the Gateau but what if I run out of nice looking crepes halfway up? I left the batter in the fridge overnight and started flipping them first thing in the morning. I had prepared the praline pastry cream the night before and just mixed in some whipped cream a few minutes before I assembled the cake. 

My Gateau came out very rustic looking. Precision was never my strongest point in baking anyway. The taste though was absolutely fantastic! George loved it! 

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Gateau de Crepes with Praline Pastry Cream

Adapted from "Around my French Table" by Dorie Greenspan - The pastry cream was adapted by Joe Pastry.

Serves 8 - 10

Ingredients

For the Crepes - makes about 20

4 tablespoons sugar

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

Finely grated zest of  1/2 orange

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

6 tablespoons (130gr) butter, melted

1 cup all purpose gluten free flour

For the Praline Paste
8 ounces (225gr) sugar
1/4 cup (60ml) water
4 ounces (113gr) blanched almonds, toasted
4 ounces (113gr) peeled hazelnuts, toasted
2 - 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
For the Vanilla Pastry Cream
2 cups (480ml) milk
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup (115gr) sugar
1/3 cup (40gr) cornflour
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla seeds
3 1/2 tablespoons (50gr) butter, cut into small pieces at room temperature
100gr Praline Paste
2 cups cold heavy cream

For the Chocolate Syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup cocoa powder
1 cup water
1 pinch salt

Instructions

You can make the Praline Pastry Cream the day before and refrigerate until you use it.

To make the praline paste: Spread the almonds and the hazelnuts on a silicon mat or a piece of baking paper. They have to be close together but not on top of each other. Set it aside.

Put a heavy bottomed saucepan over a medium heat and combine the sugar and the water. Swirl the pan around to combine them but DON'T stir them. When the syrup reaches a dark amber colour, anything between 10 - 15 minutes remove it from the heat and carefully pour the caramel over the nuts.

Let it cool completely.

Once cooled brake it into pieces and place it in a food processor. Process it until it becomes fine and then start adding the oil, gradually, one tablespoon at a time, until a paste begins to form. You might not have to use all the oil or you might have to use more.

Keep it in the fridge, covered, until the time comes to mix it with the pastry cream.

For the pastry cream: Whisk the egg yolks together with the sugar and the cornflour in a medium, heavy bottomed saucepan until they are all blended very well. Bring the milk to a boil in another smaller saucepan.

Drizzle a little of the milk on to the yolk mixture, whisking all the time. Then add the remaining milk in a steady stream, still whisking. Put the pan over medium heat and "whisking vigorously, constantly and thoroughly" bring the mixture to a boil. Keep whisking for 1 or 2 more minutes and them pull the pan from the heat.

Whisk in the vanilla seeds. Let the cream stand for 5 minutes and then whisk in the pieces of butter, one at a time until all the butter is incorporated and the cream is smooth.


Put the cream into a bowl, press a piece of plastic wrap against its surface and refrigerate.
 - This cream will keep covered in the fridge for up to 3 days. -

For the Crepes: The crepe batter has to stay in the fridge for at least 2 hours before you use it. I suggest you make it the day before and let it stay overnight in the fridge.

Melt the butter and let it cool. Mix the sugar with the lemon and orange zest together. Put the eggs,vanilla, sugar with zest, milk and salt in a blender and mix on medium speed. Pour in the butter and blend until it is well combined. Add the flour and pulse until it is blended. Be careful not to over-mix it!

Pour the batter in a pitcher, cover and refrigerate for up to one day. It should have the consistency of heavy double cream. If it is thicker than this you can add a splash of milk to lighten it.

Assemble the cake: Take the pastry cream and praline out of the fridge and let them come to room temperature. Mix about 80 to 100gr of the praline with pastry cream. Set aside.

Bring the crepe batter to room temperature. Place a 9-inch/20cm nonstick pan over medium heat. Swab the surface with vegetable oil. Add about 3 tablespoons of batter and swirl the pan to cover the surface. Cook until the bottom just begins to brown, no more than 1 minute. Using a spatula lift an edge and flip the crepe. Use your fingers - it is hot but it is the safest way. Cook on the other side for just a few seconds. Carefully slide the crepe onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Repeat until you have about 18 - 20 perfect crepes.

Whip the heavy cream with 1 tablespoon of sugar. Fold it into the praline pastry cream. It will become fluffy and lighter.

Lay one crepe on a cake stand. Cover with a layer of pastry cream using an icing spatula. Cover with a crepe and repeat until you use all your pastry cream. Make sure to keep a nice looking crepe to put on top.

Chill the cake for at least 2 hours! Before serving you can sprinkle it with icing sugar or with chocolate syrup.

Make the Chocolate Syrup: Whisk the sugar, cacao powder, water and salt together in a small saucepan until they combine. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil whisking frequently. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes until it thickens. Remove from heat and cool. You can store it in a bottle in the refrigerator.

Helene's White Salad #FrenchFridayswithDorie

This week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe is Helene's All White Salad. It is named after the woman who created it, another of Dorie's friends from Paris, Helene Samuel. She was the owner of a very fashion conscious cafe in Paris where the food was perfectly colour coordinated with the décor.

I was so happy when I saw it on the menu for this week! I've been on a quest to fit into a pair of jeans I bought two years ago and are a size too small now so salads were on the menu throughout the week and are going to be for the next few to come! 

Variety is a diet's best friend if you ask me and this salad is definitely something I've never tried before. 

Apples, white cup mushrooms, cabbage and celery sticks! All raw and fresh. It is definitely a herbivore's dream meal.

 I changed it up a bit to make it almost fat free since the original vinaigrette called for 3/4 cup of olive oil ---way too much for my diet--- and I used fennel instead of celery because George jinxed the celery.

On Thursday night as I was writing down the shopping list for the ingredients I needed to make the salad, George looked over my shoulder and said:

"This is going to be one strange salad. Where are you going to find celery sticks? Is celery even available in Zagreb?"

Off course there is celery in Zagreb! Tons of celery in Zagreb! I said. Only the day before I saw all these huge, fresh, almost fluorescent green, celery stalks sitting languidly in Mercator.

He looked at me with an apologetic puppy look and went back to his laptop to continue his battle with Championship Manager.

And then the next day when I went to the supermarket and all that beautiful celery was gone! I looked everywhere! Under the swiss chard and the spinach and the lettuces. No celery stalks anywhere. Talking about heartbroken!

I did find a few gorgeous bulbs of fennel though! They were white and crunchy and so aromatic. Perfect for a raw, fresh salad like this one. I sliced it really thin and I think it added so much flavour.

I also tampered with the vinaigrette. I tampered quite a lot actually. The original recipe calls for a type of mayonnaise made from an egg yolk, Greek yoghurt and olive oil. Very tasty, I am sure, but I opted to skip it all together and make a skinny version of a mustard vinaigrette with a little bit of coconut milk.

I have to confess that the fennel substitution worked perfectly with this salad! In the end I am happy that George jinxed the celery!

To see how my fellow Doristas liked this recipe please click here!

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All White Salad with Fennel & Mushrooms

Adapted from "Around my French Table" by Dorie Greenspan

Serves 6

Ingredients for the Salad

1 large bulb of fennel

3 apples

Lemon juice

300gr (10 ounces) white cup mushrooms

1 small Napa cabbage

A few small cubes of Graviera cheese or any other hard cheese

Ingredients for the Vinaigrette

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

3/4 teaspoon coarse salt

1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons coconut milk

Water to taste

Instructions

Wash and trim the fennel. Finely slice it using a food processor or a mandolin. Set aside.

Peel, halve and cut the apples into small cubes. Sprinkle them with a little lemon juice to keep them from becoming brown. 

Clean the mushrooms with a brush or a wet paper towel and slice them very thinly. Sprinkle them with lemon juice and add them to the apples. 

Wash the cabbage and cut it in very thin slices (like coleslaw) and add it to the bowl with the apples and mushrooms. Sprinkle the fennel slices on top and mix everything well.

Make the vinaigrette by mixing all the ingredients in a small jar. Shake the jar well until they emulsify. Add salt and pepper and a few tablespoons of water to make it as thin as you wish. The vinaigrette can be used immediately or stored in the fridge (might need to come to room temperature before it is used again due to the hardening of the coconut milk). 

To serve pour the vinaigrette over the vegetables and add a few cubes of cheese, if you want!

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Paris-Brest #FrenchFridayswithDorie

How does that saying go? Third time lucky? Fourth time is a charm? No? Fifth time then? Well, in my case was nearer to SIXTH time - and NOT so lucky - until I gave up trying my luck making pâte à choux for this week's French Friday with Dorie recipe.  Paris-Brest!  Up until a week ago I had no idea it existed, let alone what it was. But I learned, oh yeah, I learned all about it.... the hard way.  Paris is the capital of France and Brest is a small town, 500 km west of Paris at the Westernmost part of Bretagne, again in France. So you have two cities, miles apart, with nothing in common, other than the fact that they are both in the same country, and have a strange circular dessert named after them. Why in the world would someone name a pastry after not one, something that many pastries around the world have in common, but two cities that are so far from each other? Only in France!!! Distance is the key here as well as the fact that the French love bicycle races almost as much as sweet pastries. There are almost a dozen races every year. They cover virtually every part of the country, culminating to the world famous Tour de France in July. All of them are quite popular with both professional and amateur bicycle racers, but only one of them has its own dessert named after it. The Paris - Brest. A 1200 km high endurance race from Paris to the town of Brest and then back to Paris, is one of the oldest bicycling events in France. And the circular choux pastry filled with praline flavoured cream that you see above and which I had to make over and over until I got it, almost right, was created to celebrate this race.  It became very popular among the bicyclists and the spectators and not because its shape reminded them of a bicycle wheel. It was the praline pastry cream! Its flavour is just heavenly. The pastry chef who came up with this recipe was truly an artist. Because on their own the praline paste and the vanilla pastry cream are okay. Not bad but neither great. When you put them together though, they become something amazing! A flavour elevated to a whole new level of deliciousness.  But let me start from the beginning. That is the pâte à choux. Traditionally French and notoriously troublesome to those of us who are not seasoned bakers, but absolutely necessary to showcase the majesty of the cream. It is airy and light and melts pleasantly in the mouth. Then there is the praline. A potent paste made from roasted almonds and hazelnuts coated in hot caramel and then whizzed around in the food processor until it all becomes THE most luscious nut butter. You can just eat it on its own or spoon it on a piece of bread. In fact I've done both, while waiting, utterly frustrated for the choux to bake, and I had to restrain myself from eating it all because a good part of it has to go into the actual pastry cream. That is a very traditional vanilla pastry cream made with cornflour, milk, butter and plenty of egg yolks. It is good, thick and packed with calories, much appreciated I guess from all the cyclists participating in the race. But as I said before the magic happens when you mix those two together. The overwhelming smokiness of the praline mellows and the underwhelming thickness of the cream becomes more elegant. To me it is the definition of balance. One bite of the finished whole and I  forgot how difficult it was to tame the choux rings and make them sit as they were supposed to sit so that they puff and huff and stay high. Six times I had to make the pastry. More than four hours I spent in front of the oven willing it to rise. And 24 broken eggs later I managed to get it to stay halfway were I wanted it. After that I gave up and decided it was time to eat it! To check out how my fellow Doristas liked this recipe click here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Paris - Brest with Vanilla and Praline Cream Adapted from "Around my French Table" by Dorie Greenspan and Joe Pastry Serves 8 For the Praline Paste 8 ounces (225gr) sugar 1/4 cup (60ml) water 4 ounces (113gr) blanched almonds, toasted 4 ounces (113gr) peeled hazelnuts, toasted 2 - 4 tablespoons vegetable oil For the Vanilla Pastry Cream 2 cups (480ml) milk 6 large egg yolks 1/2 cup (115gr) sugar 1/3 cup (40gr) cornflour 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla seeds 3 1/2 tablespoons (50gr) butter, cut into small pieces at room temperature For the pâte à choux 1/2 cup (120ml) milk 1/2 cup (120ml) water 8 tablespoons (110gr) butter, cut into 4 pieces 1 tablespoon sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup (110gr) flour 4 large eggs, at room temperature 1/2 cup sliced almonds 1 egg whisked with 1 teaspoon of water, to wash the pastry before you put it in the oven Icing sugar Instructions I suggest you tackle this dessert in stages like a bicycle race, as Dorie says in her book.  First make the praline paste: Spread the almonds and the hazelnuts on a silicon mat or a piece of baking paper. They have to be close together but not on top of each other. Set it aside for now and concentrate in making the caramel.   Put a heavy bottomed saucepan over a medium heat and combine the sugar and the water. Swirl the pan around to combine them but DON'T stir them. If you stir them the caramel will crystallize and this is not very good. When the syrup reaches a dark amber colour, anything between 10 - 15 minutes remove it from the heat and carefully pour the caramel over the nuts.  Let it cool completely.  Once cooled brake it into pieces and place it in a food processor. Process it until it becomes fine and then start adding the oil, gradually, one tablespoon at a time, until a paste begins to form. You might not have to use all the oil or you might have to use more.  Keep it in the fridge, covered, until the time comes to mix it with the pastry cream.  Now for the pastry cream: Whisk the egg yolks together with the sugar and the cornflour in a medium, heavy bottomed saucepan until they are all blended very well. Bring the milk to a boil in another smaller saucepan. Drizzle a little of the milk on to the yolk mixture, whisking all the time. Then add the remaining milk in a steady stream, still whisking. Put the pan over medium heat and "whisking vigorously, constantly and thoroughly" bring the mixture to a boil. Keep whisking for 1 or 2 more minutes and them pull the pan from the heat.  Whisk in the vanilla seeds. Let the cream stand for 5 minutes and then whisk in the pieces of butter, one at a time until all the butter is incorporated and the cream is smooth.  Put the cream into a bowl, press a piece of plastic wrap against its surface and refrigerate until you are ready to fill the choux pastry. - This cream will keep covered in the fridge for up to 3 days. - Brace yourself for the pâte à choux: Preheat your oven to 425F/220C. Draw an 8-inch (20cm) circle on a piece of baking paper, turn it over and use it to line a baking sheet. This going to be your piping guide. You can use the bottom of a baking pan or a lid to draw the circle around it.  Fit a large pastry bag with a large plain tip (1 inch/2.5cm). If you don't have a tip just cut the end of the bag.  In a medium heavy bottomed saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to a rapid boil, over high heat. Add the flour all at once, lower the heat to medium-low and start stirring with a wooden spoon.  The dough will come together quickly and a crust will form on the bottom of the pan. Keep stirring vigorously for another minute or two to dry the dough. It should be very smooth.  Turn the dough into the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Let it sit for a minute and then add the eggs one at a time. Make sure that each one is fully incorporated before you add the next. Beat, until the dough is thick and shiny.  Once it the choux pastry is made, it should be used immediately, so now spoon it into your prepared pastry bag and pipe a thick stream along the circular guide line on your baking paper. The trick, according to Joe Pastry is to keep the tip well off the paper and let the pastry fall out of the bag from a height of at least 1-inch (2.5cm). Otherwise the pastry will spread out, which is what happened to mine and is not good.  Once you have your first ring, pipe a second ring of dough inside the first ring, barely touching each other. Now pipe a third ring on top of the other two, right in the middle.  You are going to have some leftover dough, which you could make into éclairs or cream puffs.      Gently score the rings with a fork and apply some egg wash. Sprinkle with the sliced almonds.  Put it in the oven for 15 minutes. Lower the temperature to 375F/190C and bake for another 20 minutes. If you have an air oven reduce time by 5 minutes. When it is puffed, brown and firm turn the oven off, open the door and allow it to dry in the oven for about half an hour.  Meanwhile take the pastry cream and praline out of the fridge and let them come to room temperature. Mix about 80 to 100gr of the praline with pastry cream and put it in a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip.  Construct your masterpiece: Slice off the top half of the cream puff ring, using a serrated knife in a gently sawing motion. Put the bottom half on your serving dish and pipe the pastry cream in circles or shells.  Gently place the top half of the pastry on top of the cream and sprinkle with icing sugar. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before you serve and bask in the glory of your efforts! ~~~~~~~~~~~ I am submintting the post to the following parties Mouthwatering Mondays