As appetizers, I whipped up some warm foie gras with peeled Kyoho grapes on brioche toast, as well as toasted baguette slices with some Rougié goose foie gras pâté. I also made some mini Roquefort and pear quiches.
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| Mini Roquefort and pear quiches |
I also wanted to test my new-ish oven on more delicate dishes - I am quite happy about its baking performance, but still had to put it through the ultimate test: the cheese soufflé. As it turns out, it failed the test - the door is not insulated enough, so that the soufflé cooked faster on one side than the other. Part of it was still very gooey inside and had to be left aside. The rest of the soufflé was pretty good still, and was gobbled up in no time. Going forward, I will have to stick to individually sized soufflés, to make sure they cook evenly.
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| Cheese soufflé |
For the salad that accompanied the soufflé, I prepared some semi-dried tomatoes, to add a bit of umami to the veggie. I am not a big fan of the so-called "sun-dried" tomatoes sold in supermarkets; most of the time, they are too salty, contain preservatives, and have a very sharp taste that makes them difficult to associate with any foods at all, so I prefer to prepare my own at home when I need them.
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| Semi-dried tomatoes |
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| Veal stewed in apple cider, caramelised apples and sage butter gnocchi (picture courtesy of Peech) |
For pudding, I made my usual chocolate marble cake, and after the delicious failure a few months ago, I could only hope for the best this time... it turned out ok, still not quite as marbled as I would like it to be, but definitely a huge improvement on the first try.
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| Chocolate marble cake - the outside is looking promising... |
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| ... but there is still a bit of work to do :-) (picture courtesy of Peech) |
Mini Roquefort and pear quiches (makes about 12)
Crust (“pâte brisée”):
125gr flour
1 egg
75gr unsalted butter, at room temperature
A pinch of salt
Some butter and flour for the forms
Filling:
1 ripe pear, peeled and deseeded then poached in light syrup and cut in 0.5cm cubes
60gr Roquefort or other blue cheese, crushed with a fork (Stilton or Gorgonzola would work equally well)
10cl liquid cream (“crème fleurette”)
1 large egg + 1 yolk
salt, freshly ground black pepper
· First, make the dough for the pie crust, as it needs to rest for at least 2 hours in the fridge before being used. In a bowl, put the flour and salt.
· Add the butter cit in small cubes, then between your thumb and the tip of your fingers, start crushing each cube in the flour, until the mixture takes a powdery consistency.
· Add the egg, and knead the dough until the consistency is smooth. Be careful not to over-knead, as this would make the pie crust hard after baking.
· Roll the dough in a ball, dust it lightly with flour, cover the bowl with cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
· Brush a 4 x 3 mini-muffin tray with melted butter and place in the fridge.
· Preheat the oven at 220°C
· Using a rolling pin, roll the dough until about 3mm thick, then cut out circles and place in the muffin tray; put back in the fridge.
· Prepare the filling: in a bowl, beat the cream and the eggs with a fork until homogenous and slightly frothy, add salt and pepper to taste (try to be light-handed on the salt as the cheese has plenty already).
· Take the tray out of the fridge again, place ½ tsp of pear cubes and ½ tsp of cheese in each mini-tart and cover with a couple of spoonfuls of the eggs/cream mixture (or up to about ¾ full).
· Pop in the oven and bake for 12 to 15mn at 180°C.
Cheese soufflé (serves 4)
25cl whole milk
50gr unsalted butter
40gr flour
100gr grated cheese (comté, gruyere, beaufort, emmental or any combination of these)
4 eggs
salt, freshly ground black pepper, freshly grated nutmeg (to taste)
· Preheat the oven at 220°C.
· Generously brush a 20cm soufflé mold with melted butter and place in the fridge.
· In a saucepan on high heat, melt the butter until boiling and add all the flour at once. Remove briefly from the heat and stir vigorously with a whisk. Put the saucepan back on the heat and let the mixture dry for a few seconds until it forms a ball, the reduce the heat to medium and start adding the milk, one tbsp at the time, waiting for the previous tbsp to be absorbed before adding a new one. Once all the milk is incorporated, the sauce should have the consistency of a thick Béchamel.
· Reduce to low heat, leave to boil for a minute or 2 and season.
· Remove the saucepan from the stove and stir constantly until it is about lukewarm (this will prevent the formation of a “skin” at the surface as the sauce cools down).
· Separate the egg yolks from the whites, add the egg yolks and the cheese to the sauce and reserve.
· Whip the egg whites “en neige” until stiff peaks form and add to the sauce, 1/3 at a time, lifting the mixture with a fork rather than stirring it.
· Bake for about 25mn, until the soufflé rises over the rim of the mold and is golden. Make sure never to open the oven door during baking – the soufflé would fail!
· Serve with a green salad.
Semi-dried oven roasted tomatoes
Roma tomatoes (or other sweet variety)
Thyme
Balsamic vinegar
Salt, freshly ground black pepper
· Preheat the oven at 110°C.
· Line a baking tray with baking parchment.
· Quarter the tomatoes lengthwise and lay on the tray, skin side down.
· Drizzle with the oil and vinegar and sprinkle with the thyme, salt and pepper.
· Bake for 1.5 hours or until the tomatoes are dried; discard the thyme before using in salads.
Can be kept in the fridge covered in olive oil for up to a month.
Jarret de veau au cidre / veal stew with apple cider (serves 4)
4 thick slices veal shank (about 1.2kg in total, bone-in)
1.5 liter French dry cider
4 white cardamom pods, crushed open
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 sprig rosemary
50gr butter
Salt, freshly ground black pepper
Flour for coating
· Place a few tbsp of flour in a plate and coat the veal slices on both sides, shaking off any excess.
· In a cocotte, heat the butter and brown the veal on both sides; remove from the cocotte and set aside.
· Add the spices in the cocotte and stir-fry until fragrant, then add the veal back in.
· Cover with the cider, season, bring to a boil and simmer for about 1.5 hours, or until the veal is tender and the meat starts separating from the bone.
· Serve with apples caramelised in butter and a sprinkle of sugar and gnocchi in sage butter.
Chocolate marble cake
2 eggs
8 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
125gr baking chocolate (Valrhona 68%)
20cl crème fraîche
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp strong coffee
250gr cake flour (not the self-rising type), sifted
· Preheat the oven at 175°C.
· Line the bottom of a 22cm rectangular cake pan with a baking sheet, and thoroughly coat all sides with melted butter; place in the fridge.
· In a bowl, beat the whole eggs with the sugar until fluffy.
· Add the vanilla extract, then the flour in 3 steps, alternating with the crème fraîche.
· Separate the batter equally in 2 bowls.
· Break the chocolate in small pieces and put in a bowl with the coffee. In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, then carefully place the bowl with the chocolate on top of the boiling water until it melts (this is called a “bain-marie” in French cuisine). Remove the bowl from the bain-marie as soon as the chocolate is melted and keep stirring until it is about lukewarm, then add to on half of the cake batter.
· Layer the batter into the cake pan (½ vanilla, ½ chocolate etc…).
· Bake for about 40mn. During the last 10mn of baking, keep a close eye on the cake as the top chocolate layer can burn easily.
Slurp!
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