Daring Bakers Challenge August - Rosewater Ice Cream Petit Fours with Brown Butter Cake

Mmm what could be yummier? An adult's ice cream cake for your birthday....

Not necessarily the prettiest cake I ever baked but amazingly decadent with the chocolate ganache. To make it me I added a tablespoon of rosewater to the ice cream and it was divine! Very rich though, you probably couldn't eat a whole bowl of it by yourself.

The August 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Elissa of 17 and Baking. For the first time, The Daring Bakers partnered with Sugar High Fridays for a co-event and Elissa was the gracious hostess of both. Using the theme of beurre noisette, or browned butter, Elissa chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make a pound cake to be used in either a Baked Alaska or in Ice Cream Petit Fours. The sources for Elissa’s challenge were Gourmet magazine and David Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop”.

Rosewater Ice Cream

1 cup (250ml) whole milk

A pinch of salt

3/4 cup (165g) sugar

2 teaspoons (10ml) pure vanilla extract

2 cups (500ml) heavy (approx 35% butterfat) cream

5 large egg yolks

1 tablespoon rosewater

1. Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a medium saucepan until the liquid steams. Let cool to room temperature.)

2. Set up an ice bath by placing a 2-quart (2 litre) bowl inside a large bowl partially filled with water and ice. Put a strainer on top of the smaller bowl and pour in the cream.

3. In another bowl, lightly beat the egg yolks together. Reheat the milk in the medium saucepan until warmed, and then gradually pour ¼ cup warmed milk into the yolks, constantly whisking to keep the eggs from scrambling. Once the yolks are warmed, scrape the yolk and milk mixture back into the saucepan of warmed milk and cook over low heat. Stir constantly and scrape the bottom with a spatula until the mixture thickens into a custard which thinly coats the back of the spatula.

4. Strain the custard into the heavy cream and stir the mixture until cooled. Add the vanilla extract and rosewater and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, preferably overnight.

5. Freeze in an ice cream maker. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you can make it without a machine. See instructions from David Lebovitz: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2007/07/making_ice_crea_1.html

I made this without an ice cream maker overnight and it was great - went to bed before it had finally set so I took to it with a handbeater the next morning and left it until late afternoon to set it.

Brown Butter Pound Cake

19 tablespoons (9.5 oz) (275g) unsalted (sweet) butter

2 cups (200g) sifted cake flour (not self-rising; sift before measuring; for cake flour substitute 2 teaspoons cornflour to make up each cup of plain flour)

1 teaspoon (5g) baking powder

1/2 teaspoon (3g) salt

1/2 cup (110g) packed light brown sugar

1/3 (75g) cup granulated sugar

4 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F/160°C and put a rack in the center. Butter and flour a 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan.

2. Place the butter in a 10” (25cm) skillet over medium heat. Brown the butter until the milk solids are a dark chocolate brown and the butter smells nutty. (Don’t take your eyes off the butter in case it burns.) Pour into a shallow bowl and chill in the freezer until just congealed, 15-30 minutes.

3. Whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt.

4. Beat the brown butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well, and then the vanilla extract.

5. Stir in the flour mixture at low speed until just combined.

6. Scrape the batter into the greased and floured 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan. Smooth the top with a rubber spatula and rap the pan on the counter. Bake until golden brown on top and when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.

7. Cool in the pan 10 minutes. Run a knife along the edge and invert right-side-up onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Glaze (For the Ice Cream Petit Fours)

9 ounces (250g) dark chocolate, finely chopped

1 cup (250 ml) heavy (approx 35% butterfat) cream

1 1/2 tablespoons (32g) light corn syrup, Golden syrup, or agave nectar

2 teaspoons (10ml) vanilla extract

Stir the heavy cream and light corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat and add the dark chocolate. Let sit 30 seconds, then stir to completely melt the chocolate. Stir in the vanilla and let cool until tepid before glazing the petit fours.

Assembly Instructions – Ice Cream Petit Fours

1. Line a 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) pan with plastic wrap, so that no sides of the pan are exposed and so there is some extra plastic wrap hanging off the sides. Spread 1 ¾ to 2 cups (450ml to 500ml) ice cream into the pan. Cover with more plastic wrap and freeze several hours.

2. Once the brown butter pound cake has completely cooled, level the top with a cake leveler or a serrated knife. Then split the cake in half horizontally to form two thin layers.

3. Unwrap the frozen ice cream. Flip out onto one of the layers of cake and top with the second layer of cake. Wrap well in plastic wrap and return to the freezer overnight.

4. Make the chocolate glaze (see above.)

5. While the glaze cools, trim ¾” (2cm) off each side of the ice cream cake to leave a perfectly square 7.5” (19cm) ice cream cake. Cut the cake into twenty five petit fours, each 1.5”x1.5” (4cmx4cm).

6. Glaze the petit fours one at a time: place a petit four on a fork and spoon chocolate glaze over it.

7. Place the petit fours on a parchment-lined baking sheet and return to the freezer for one hour.

Fine Friday Dining

To be honest, it wasn't that fine, but the way that Le Gourmand complained about me going to excessive lengths of cooking for a Friday night, you might have expected a five course meal. Instead what we actually had was lamburgers. What a delightful word! The main reason we had lamburgers was that we had defrosted the lamb mince for Thursday and I had been overwhelmed with the tiredness accompanying the third trimester of pregnancy so Le Gourmand had raced to the rescue with his frozen Spaghetti Bolognese sauce and salad. Otherwise I would have been equally happy to indulge Le Gourmand in his vision of pizza/Thai, beer and football (although choosing not to join him in the latter two endeavours). Given my ambitious purchase of 5 kgs of potatoes that week, they were on the menu again as potato salad. Burgers and potato salad - not really even a little bit fancy!


Menu
Fricadelles de Gigot, Farce aux Herbes
Carottes À La Concierge
Pommes de Terre a L’Huile

The burgers were actually a ploy to start making some of the lamb stuffings without have to roast a whole leg of lamb. Using the stuffings to season lamburgers is a suggestion by Julia in the book, so there was no actually rule-breaking and it meant we were not inundated with lamb leftovers and could eat out on Saturday night with minimal guilt. So basically lamb mince was mixed with garlic, parsley, rosemary, shallots, ginger, salt and pepper. I then refrigerated the patties until ready, then floured them and slowly cooked them in butter until they were medium. I then deglazed the pan with white wine (or was it beef stock?) to make a sauce for them.

The potatoes were boiled (skin on, to at least try for some nutritional value), then sliced and "marinated" in white wine. Shallots were added (for what would a french recipe be without shallots and parsley) and I made an white wine, wine vinegar, lemon juice, mustard and olive oil dressing right before serving.

I had been waiting for ages to make the carrots - which were basically carrots and onions cooked slowly in milk and beef stock, thickened at the end with egg yolk and cream. Just in case the rest of the meal didn't have the richness to which we have become accustomed.

Not a bad end to a week in which we had tried to eat our weight in meat at the Brazilian restaurant on Wednesday night.

Scrambled Days

When the national election results seem a bit scrambled, the best thing to do is make scrambled omelette - L'Omelette Brouillée. I have probably not mastered the art, despite two attempts on Sunday morning. It all happens very quickly - melt butter, beat and season three eggs, pour into pan breaking up eggs until light custard forms, release the edges with a fork, add filling, bang hard on the handle of the pan so that the omelette curls up. First time, it sort of curled up, second time? A bit of a dud. Still tasted like omelette with tomato and herbs - nice for Le Gourmand who likes omelettes, a bit meh for me, who finds something about them just a little bit off.


MTAOFC has been a bit tiring this week - not sure if it is the inevitable pregnancy tiredness catching up with me. Le Gourmand is claiming that he is eating too much rich food but this may have something to do with the fact that on his weekly cooking engagement he chooses beautiful but rich foods like red wine marinated beef cheeks with star anise, juniper and orange peel. I look forward to his announced plan to start mastering the art of asian cooking, in the hope that this will be lighter.

Menu
Sauté De Veau Marengo

Chous de Bruxelles a la Mornay, Gratines (substituting broccoli)

Choux De Bruxelles Etuves À La Crème

The meal on Monday suffered a bit from being prepared on Sunday night - the veal was a little tough and the mushrooms (added on Monday) a little undercooked - but the flavours of the Sauté De Veau Marengo were amazing - tomatoes, thyme, tarragon, more orange peel, garlic - and blended together well. The brussels sprouts baked whole in cream were naughty but delicious and I knocked off another brussels sprouts recipe substituting broccoli into the gratin.

Menu
Poulet Saute aux Herbes de Provence
Epinards Gratines au Fromage
Gratin Jurassien

On Tuesday, Le Gourmand concluded that I had probably lost my mind when he came home to find me cooking in front of Miss Universe, throwing feminist principles to the wind. Of course he appeared to have no problems giving his full attention to the spectacle.

Meanwhile I varied the sauteed chicken recipe from last week, adding fennel, thyme and basil to the chicken and then using egg yolk, lemon juice and white wine to create a hollandaise from the deglazed pan juices. At least it was a hollandaise until it split. If I had mastered the hollandaise sauce section in the book I may have been able to save it, but this was not the night. Luckily it still tasted good - I fear that we are cheating when we eat the Provence inspired recipes, as the flavours are right in our comfort zone.

The naughty (from a cholesterol perspective) vegetables continued - I tried to improve the nutritional value of the Gratin cooked with cream by leaving on the skins of the adorable little Desiree potatoes but I fear this was a vain attempt. Spinach sounds healthy, until it is cooked in stock and butter and then mixed with swiss cheese and sprinkled with bread crumbs and baked in the oven. But it tastes so good!

It probably didn't assist Le Gourmand's digestive process that he had leftover Brussels Sprouts and Broccoli with his left over beef cheeks for lunch....

Tonight we have a "night off" and are going to an all you can eat meat Brazilian restaurant. All in the name of giving Bruce a multicultural palette, of course.

GD free

The best news of the day? My gestational diabetes test came back clear so this crazy cooking caper can continue. I really didn't know how much Julia could be categorised into the low-carb, low-sugar requirements a GD diet might require (not to mention restrictions on fat) so it was a happy day. Let's just hope things stay this way for the next 12 weeks.

In celebration we cooked Boeuf A La Mode with Oignons Glacés À Brun. I had planned on Brussels Sprouts as a side but in the interests of our health and sanity Le Gourmand made plain rice and salad. A piece of beef is soaked in a red wine, brandy, parsley, allspice, thyme and oil marinade before it is browned and then the marinade is boiled down in the casserole, the beef is returned and stock is added so that the liquid reaches two thirds up the side of the beef. Place covered casserole in a moderately slow oven for 2-3 hours, turning frequently. Meanwhile braise the onions and carrots.

Once the beef is removed, skim fat off the top of the juices and boil down to three and a half cups, if you have negligently failed to add veal knuckles, calves feet or pork rind to give the dish "body", you may decide to thicken the sauce with port mixed with arrowroot or cornflour. My negligence seemed to be advantageous as the port added additional flavour to the sauce, which was probably the highlight of the meal. Add carrots and onions to sauce and simmer for two minutes before removing from the sauce and presenting with the beef.

I suspect braised beef reflects a period when roast beef was usually well-done - great for a pregnant woman trying to avoid toxoplasmosis, but not so fantastic in terms of texture. Luckily the jug of sauce made this a tasty meal.

What is a Bavarois?

Le Gourmand asked the question. I adopted the textbook Julia answer - "A Bavarian Cream". Which means two thirds of bugger all to most people unless they have been a fan of Sara Lee's Chocolate Bavarians. I suspect however that these are a bit more like a cross between a bavarois and a cheesecake with its biscuit base. A bavarois is a gelatin set creamy dessert, lamentably absent the biscuit base, so you need to prepare it well in advance of your evening meal. After a somewhat disastrous clash with gelatin last year, I was understandably hesitant about making an orange bavarois, but it was time to get back on the horse.

Two sugar cubes were rubbed over the skin of two oranges, the oranges were zested and the zest was added to the mashed sugar cubes and set aside. The oranges were juiced and gelatin added to the juice. A cup of sugar was added to the zest mixture and 7 egg yolks were slowly beaten in until the mixture thickened and turned light yellow. It was more difficult to obtain a "ribbon" with the mixture, possibly because of the zest. Boiling milk was slowly added to the mixture which was then heated slowly until it reached 170 degrees (I used my candy thermometer). I took it off the heat and the gelatin juice mixture was added to this. Meanwhile 5 egg whites were beaten with salt and a tablespoon of sugar (I forgot the extra sugar but the finished product was definitely sweet enough) and added to the bowl before it was all placed over an ice bath and delicately folded until "cool". I then folded in half a cup of beaten cream and two tablespoons of orange liqueur before I poured the mixture into my new fangled silicon mould (which I had acquired after torturing the poor sales assistants at Peters of Kensington with my assertions that this could not be the right mould as it appeared much deeper in the photos on the website) and placed it in the fridge, covered with baking paper.

All this happened on Monday. As well as prepreparing my bavarois, I cooked up some Purée D'Épinards Simple and Purée De Pommes De Terre À L'Ail (garlic mashed potatoes) which beautifully complimented Le Gourmand's superlative Osso Bucco. The spinach was blanched and then cooked with a little butter. The potatoes were more complicated - a head of garlic was boiled, peeled and then cooked slowly in butter for ten minutes, before adding 2 tablespoons of flour then 2 cups of boiling milk. Once it thickened it was strained into the potatoes which had been mashed with butter. Le Gourmand was the masher and varied the recipe by adding cream at this stage, rather than at the end, as the recipe directs. The result was superb.

Chicken with the Bull

We hadn't seen Le Taureau, one of Bruce's uncles in waiting, for ages so he came over for a mid-week Julia meal. Things took longer than I wanted them to, even peeling the peas seemed to take forever (or maybe this was because it happened in front of the television).

Menu
Poulet Sauté
Petit Pois Frais III
Navets À La Champenoise
Gratin de Poireaux
Balsamic Tomatoes
Bavarois À L'Orange

I was determined to reclaim turnips, after the last bitter experience, and Julia assures that this recipe is what turns most turnip hate to love. Le Gourmand countered that there was probably no point in persisting with a vegetable that requires such a vast amount of attention to taste edible. In this case the attention involved sauteeing blanched bacon and adding onion to soften before adding flour, sugar, sage and seasoning, then beef stock and the lightly boiled turnips to the saucepan to gently simmer for 20 minutes. It tasted much better and less bitter than the last turnips but still not a dish I would rush to cook again.

The peas were slowly cooked with shreded lettuce, green onions, butter, sugar, salt and pepper and covered with water. They tasted fine but I have enjoyed the other pea recipes more. Luckily Le Taureau is a big pea fan so he ensured there were no pesky leftovers (not sure how boiled lettuce reheats and not sure I want to know).

Le Taureau had helpfully read me instructions on how to cut my chicken into frying pieces. Stupidly I forgot that I had a boning knife, which might have been useful, opting instead for a pair of kitchen shears and my hands. Eventually the chicken was in pieces (next time I suspect the convenience of Chicken Marylands will win over the dismembering approach) and I was able to start frying it in butter and oil before seasoning the chicken with thyme, covering it and leaving it to cook over a moderate heat. Once that was done I poured out most of the fat, added some chopped shallots and then some white wine and stock, reducing it to a jus.

The real hero on the plate was the leek gratin. Leeks were braised and then rolled in ham before being covered in egg and cream and sprinkled with cheese and being baked in the oven. It was amazing. I would cook it again in a heart beat (possibly a slightly clogged heart beat, I kept ignoring Le Taureau's question about how much butter had been used in the meal). The three of us gobbled it up with the rest of the meal.

And then the moment of truth - would the bavarois collapse in a milky heap? Le Gourmand thought this was a distinct possibility. With great care we chose a serving platter that would not see the bavarois spilling onto the floor. Le Taureau dipped the mould in hot water for the prescribed second and then carefully ran a knife around the outside before unmoulding. Success! The flavour? Fantastic. We all had second helpings. My cautious optimism in gelatin was restored.

Duck a la Dimanche

Dinner with Blairgourmand and Petit Poulet is always an extravagent event so we agreed to divide the duties for Sunday night. The advantage of Sunday night was that people were less inclined to drink themselves silly, whereas this is almost expected on a Saturday night chez Blairgourmand... unless, of course, you are pregnant.

Menu

Terrine of Minced Pork, Chorizo, Bacon and other really yummy meats served with a salad of frisee, pear and parmesan

Caneton Roti a l'Alsacienne

Steamed Carrots

Cauliflower au gratin

Hasselback Potatoes

Pate Brisee Sucree

Tarte Normande Aux Pommes

So Blairgourmand made the vegetables and a pregnant friendly terrine - not a skerick of offal in sight, which was a relief to the offal averse Le Gourmand and Petit Poulet. The result was fabulous. It was difficult to be restrained and just eat an entree sized piece. Blairgourmand was very much looking forward to his lunch the following day, hopefully with a plethora of cornichons, as they made a very late appearance on the plates for entree.

We arrived with the stuffing prepared and the shell baked for the pastry when it became apparent that I had bought the bag with the chicken not the duck. Quelle catastrophe! Le Gourmand valiantly drove home to switch the birds and I chopped the obligatory onion and carrot to strew around the duck while it cooked and soak up the duck fat (did we eat these at the end once we had strained the gravy? I cannot answer this question for fear it may incriminate me)

The duck was, once again, when it finally arrived, not the meatiest I have ever come across and it was just enough to feed four. It was stuffed with pork sausage in a port and stock reduction mixed with peeled apple pieces, lightly sauteed and sprinkled with port, sage and cinnamon. The flavours were vibrant and punchy and effectively made an extra side when we removed them from the duck. The duck was cooked Julia side, breast up, side up, other side up and then breast up again, with a few extra minutes under the grill at the end to make the skin yummier. The sauce was made by pouring off the fat and adding two cups of duck stock to the pan, reducing by half and adding port, then straining and adding some enrichening butter. This took a while to reduce, possibly because I was not using my trusty Le Creuset roasting pan.

We had used the duck fat which was sealing the duck stock from last time to add a little je ne sais quoi to the potatoes. The cauliflower was creamy and delicious and the carrots were naturally sweet and a little crunchy. All together I found the meal less rich than I expected, although I commented that this could be the result of a month of intensive Julia eating. I also decided that as the only difference between Caneton Roti a l'Alsacienne and Caneton Roti is the stuffing, and I had stuffed it the other way for by Caneton a l'Orange, that I would count tonight as cooking both recipes. This decision followed the experience of Memere that the Caneton Roti by itself was a little plain.

Interlude - a welcome rest for our stomachs, happily punctuated by the arrival of French Toast. French Toast works for an establishment that makes amazing cheese toast (you may have visited one of these establishments as a teenager) and has promised me that he will endeavour to keep me in good supply in the last month of pregnancy if he possibly can. Unfortunately he was working late at said establishment and was only able to make it for dessert. While he waited we fed him terrine and he snacked on leftover carrots and gravy.

I had accidentally made a pastry base using the more delicate and sweeter Pate Brisee Sucree instead of the Pate Sablee. This was probably a blessing in disguise as it meant I was much more careful in preparing the pastry shell and the tart and I avoided burning the pastry. This was also due to diligent removal (and consumption) of the darker edges of the pastry sides at each stage of cooking. The part-cooked pastry shell was filled with 2 peeled, cored and thinly sliced Golden Delicious apples, coated in sugar and cinnamon and cooked for twenty minutes. Meanwhile I made the custard using 1/3 cup sugar, 1 egg beaten together, with 1/4 cup flour, half a cup of cream and 3 tablespoons of brandy. This I poured over the cooked apples, and returned the tart to the fridge for at least another twenty minutes (It took a little longer to cook than Julia indicated). Serve warm.

Boys really love apple pie. Or at least these four boys did. Petit Poulet had bought some yummy ice cream (thank goodness Julia doesn't have an ice cream recipe). Blairgourmand thought it was one of my best desserts of recent times. We were all full as the proverbial googs.

The French House - review

We have been so busy eating French food at home that it has been hard to prioritise French restaurants when we leave the house (in fact there was furious agreement on Saturday night that our Thai dinner was spicy and good... what was left unsaid was "and nothing like Julia"). The compromise? breakfast at The French House. We stumbled across it in Danks St, Waterloo on Saturday we were looking for a dinner venue. It had been recommended to me the night before and one glimpse at the opulent decor and its stunning chandelier convinced me that it was time to eat French... more French.

Le Gourmand has exacting standards when it comes to coffee but was willing to risk his morning cup on a new player. He enjoyed his Latte although he noted it was not of the standard of his Newtown favourite Campos. I noted that Campos is not open on Sunday mornings, so he wasn't really missing out. My weak latte was very creamy and I spied inside someone drinking out of a bowl and resolved to find out if this was latte or hot chocolate next time.

The pastries were great. The chocolate twist had some custard mixed in with the chocolate, so I will probably try the pain au chocolate next time to see if that is pure chocolately goodness. The hero for me was the tart filled with creme patissiere and topped with fresh strawberries and blueberries. A winner. Still a little way to go with the pastry but the freshness of the topping was fantastic. The French House also serves baguettes, quiche and soup for lunchtime visitors. Their fairly extensive range of bread looks good and not ridiculously overpriced.

We are already plotting our return.

Hamburgers of sorts

Which means no burger bun or tomato sauce. But they still tasted good.

Menu
Bifteck Haché
Cherry Tomatoes with Sauce Ravigote
Carottes a la Crème
Beurre d'Ail (on potatoes)

I was a bit reluctant to use one of the simple recipes which I am trying to save for Bruce's arrival, when putting any meal on the table will be a challenge, but suddenly hamburgers seemed like the best option. They were fairly straightforward although you gently cooked the onion before adding it to the minced beef, salt and pepper, butter, beaten egg and thyme, forming the patties and refrigerating. Le Gourmand was very approving of the thyme flavouring. After the meat was cooked I added some stock and red wine and cooked it down, enriching it with some Garlic Butter (I always struggle with the french word for garlic) that I made by mortar and pestling some garlic (I was supposed to boil it but forgot) and adding butter. The garlic butter was also great on the potatoes.

Carrots was the usual drill - cook the carrots in water, butter, sugar, salt - once that was done I drained them and cooked them in cream for another 15 minutes. A naughty way to enjoy vegetables but I keep finding myself with leftover cream from the other recipes.

The sauce ravigote was the simple addition of capers, parsley and shallots to Sauce Vinaigrette (oil and white wine vinegar shaken together with salt and pepper, given the other flavours I omitted the optional dry mustard) and it was delicious on the cherry tomatoes I chopped into halves.

A nice hearty Thursday night dinner. Now what will I cook when Bruce arrives?

Vegemite pierogi?

Just in case you thought our kitchen was exclusively French...

The August 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by LizG of Bits n’ Bites and Anula of Anula’s Kitchen. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make pierogi from scratch and an optional challenge to provide one filling that best represents their locale.

The challenge was to give a local flavour to pierogis made from scratch. I took inspiration from the very popular Asian dumplings which have probably been my only preganancy craving and made pork and shallot dumplings. Oh and instead of soy sauce, I used Vegemite to add salt to my pork seasoning. To make them more pierogi-like I cooked the meat filling first (ordinarily I would experiment and allow the boiling process to do this)

Russian style pierogi (makes 4 generous servings, around 30 dumplings)

(Traditional Polish recipe, although each family will have their own version, this is Anula's family recipe)

Dough:

2 to 2 1/2 cups (300 to 375 g) all-purpose (plain) flour

1 large egg

1 teaspoon (5 ml) salt

About 1 cup (250 ml) lukewarm water

Australian style pork filling

400 gm minced pork

2 shallots chopped coarsely

2 tab japanese rice wine

1-2 teaspoons vegemite

2 tab mashed ginger

2 tab mashed garlic

1-2 birds eye chillis, sliced

1. Mix ginger and garlic in mortar and pestle, add rice wine and vegemite to taste. Stir in chilli and shallots. Cook minced pork over moderate heat until just cooked, stir in all other ingredients. Use a dessert spoon full for each pierogi.

2. Place 2 cups flour in a large bowl or on a work surface and make a well in the center. Break the egg into it, add the salt and a little lukewarm at a time (in my situation 1/2 cup was enough). Bring the dough together, kneading well and adding more flour or water as necessary. Cover the dough with a bowl or towel. You’re aiming for soft dough. Let it rest 20 minutes.

3. On a floured work surface, roll the dough out thinly (1/8” or about 3 millimeters) cut with a 2-inch (5 cm) round or glass (personally I used 4-inch/10 cm cutter as it makes nice size pierogi - this way I got around 30 of them and 1 full, heaped teaspoon of filling is perfect for that size). Spoon a portion (teaspoon will be the best) of the filling into the middle of each circle. Fold dough in half and pinch edges together. Gather scraps, re-roll and fill. Repeat with remaining dough.

4. Bring a large, low saucepan of salted water to boil. Drop in the pierogi, not too many, only single layer in the pan! Return to the boil and reduce heat. When the pierogi rise to the surface, continue to simmer a few minutes more ( usually about 5 minutes). Remove one dumpling with a slotted spoon and taste if ready. When satisfied, remove remaining pierogi from the water.

5. Serve with a soy sauce, lime juice and brown sugar dipping sauce. Cold pierogi can be fried. Boiled Russian pierogi can be easily frozen and boiled taken out straight from the freezer.

Pasta Julia Style

The challenge? Cook pasta using Julia when there are no recipes for pasta in MTAOFC volume one.

Menu
Coulis De Tomates À La Provençale with zucchini, bacon and capsicum
Linguini
Champignons À Blanc
Choux De Bruxelles Etuves À La Crème
Cherry Clafoutis

The tomato sauce had a subtle blend of fennel, coriander, saffron, basil, a herb bouquet (which Le Gourmand found in his pasta, oops), garlic and onion. I cheated a little, and used a mix of tinned chopped tomatoes and peeled, deseeded, juiced tomatoes. Then, to turn it into a more interesting pasta sauce, I added capsicum in the simmering process, and then fried up some zucchini and bacon and added that towards the end. Out of sympathy for the fungal apathy of Le Gourmand I made the stewed mushrooms as a side and the Handyman and I added ours to the pasta.
The brussel sprouts braised in cream were a naughty, delicious side - who knew Brussels sprouts could be so good? Maybe Julia's method could even make celery taste good (doubtful).

The final act - cherry clafoutis - was a little darker than I would have liked, possibly a symptom of our unrealiable oven. Le Gourmand promises a new oven is on the horizon but it is difficult to see amidst the sea of baby furniture before it....

Mission accomplished.

Julia light

Le Gourmand's father, the Handyman, is in town, being handy at our house, which we love. Accordingly I tried to cook Julia to his tastes - he is not a huge fan of very rich foods. Bruce breathes a sigh of relief!
Le Menu
Suprêmes De Volaille À Blanc with brown deglazing sauce
Epinards au Jus
Riz Duxelles
Petits Oignons Persilles
Tomates À La Provençale

The Handyman had seen the movie Julie and Julia, which was several steps ahead of Le Gourmand, who had stubbornly refused to watch it at the movies. We agreed to disagree on whether the Julia Childs character was annoying, but all agreed that Meryl Streep is a fantastic actress.

Our spinach was blanched then cooked in some butter to remove the moisture before being slowly braised in beef stock. The onions were last week's fabulous onions braised in stock with herbs but with the addition of parsley (I have never used so much parsley in my life as with Julia). The tomatoes were stuffed with shallots (another frequent ingredient), breadcrumbs, garlic, salt and pepper, thyme and - you guessed it! - parsely, then baked in the oven for 15 minutes.

The chicken was lovely, dusted in seasoned flour and cooked in clarified butter (I added a little oil, and pondered whether melting butter and oil together without clarifying the butter woud achieve a very similar outcome) until golden and springy. I removed the chicken and deglazed the pan, adding some beef stock and port. In retrospect I should have cooked the sauce down a little longer but time was passing.

The rice was Julia's rice recipe from last week with the simple addition of some finely chopped shallots and mushrooms cooked in butter. The Handyman is my ally in all things mushroom but Le Gourmand was a bit lukewarm about the inclusion of fungus anywhere other than in a hearty stew. Both the Handyman and Le Gourmand heartily approved.

As a side project I am considering documenting the various kitchen burns that I receive as I master the art of french cooking. This one was a particularly brilliant one, borne of wanting to see how hot a piece of metal that had been sitting on the gas flame was, a few minutes after it had stopped being heated. Do not try this at home. Le Gourmand and I frequently discuss whether full body armour would be the most appropriate protection for me in the kitchen. Or maybe something like this? http://www.builtny.com/kitchen-oven-mitts/renzo-oven-mitt.html

Happy Birthday AM

It's been a slower than usual Julia weekend as my attention has been distracted by Bruce-related shopping endeavours: prams, change tables etc. There were also a lot of leftovers in the fridge so when the Bear (Bruce's aunty in waiting) arrived on Saturday night it was cold lamb and vegetables with Haricots Verts À La Mornay. The Bear is a big fan of Mornay although it was not as thick as it should be, thanks to my failure to heat the milk to boiling before adding it to my white roux. It eventually thickened but it was interesting to see how important that step is to a nice thick mornay. Not that I was complaining as I used my beans and mornay as a sauce for the reheated lamb.


On Sunday the Bear and I were cooking for our lovely auntie's birthday at the Queen of Pastry's house. The Queen of Pastry (grandma) loved the last quiche so much I decided to try Quiche aux Oignons. I used a springform pan instead of my quiche mould and this was much more successful as there was plenty of space for the filling and much less spillage over the side. The QOP chopped the onions (with the able help of one of my cousins) which I slowly cooked over a golden heat before adding to the eggs, cream, emmenthal and seasoning. The chopping was so fine that whilst she ate the quiche with relish QOP kept asking, but where are the onions? They had blended beautifully into the filling.

The Bear had made a fabulous salad with pan fried haloumi, pumpkin, capsicum and pomegranate syrup and a very naughty gratin to accompany. Quiche and gratin? Bruce was drowning in dairy but I was in a beautiful, decadent place.

Bruce ate a little lamb

Even if your manage to get away from work on time, cooking seven Julia recipes on a weeknight with no preparation is a bit of a challenge. Luckily we were cooking for my oldest friend St Ives and she had no qualms about patiently waiting, assisting where needed and pouring the wine. St Ives is an English teacher and will no doubt be horrified by any grammatical errors in this post (I suspect she takes a dim view of mid-sentence hyphens, for example). I blame her fascinating conversation for my one major disaster: pouring off the bean water into the garlic sauce I had spent an hour working on, leading to trying to boil off said bean water with thin results.

Le Gourmand was slightly distracted by the new dishwasher, which he lovingly embraced for St Ives' camera. The good news is, it appears to work and the minor dispute we had as to how it should be packed was fairly quickly resolved. Isn't it amazing how having someone else around makes it easier to fight fairer?

Luckily Le Gourmand was also full of praise for the meal. It was nice to have a leg of lamb, even if fear of toxoplasmosis meant that I had to pick the most well done pieces of meat, I tried not to be excessively jealous of the rare meats on everyone else's plates.

Menu
Potage Cremé De Cresson (substituting spinach for watercress)
Gigot De Pré-Salé Rôti
Sauce a l'Aile pour Gigot
Haricots Verts Étuvés Au Beurre (second recipe)
Gratin Savoyard
Oignons Glacés À Blanc
Crème Plombieres au Chocolat

Le Gourmand was mightily impressed by the spinach soup. Concious of the thin nature of the garlic soup, I slightly reduced the amount of stock that I added to the softened onions and wilted, chiffonaded spinach. After simmering, I ignored Julia's entreaty not to blend spinach soup (watercress could be blended, perhaps if I knew a little more about watercress I would understand the distinction) and quickly blended it, trying to leave a little texture. It was a Cream of Spinach soup after all! I then dribbled the warm soup into two egg yolks and cream, continuing to beat until all was combined. I returned the soup to the stove to heat enough to "cook" the egg yolks. Voila!

The lamb involved searing in the oven on high heat so that it was brown on both sides before cooking for about an hour. Possibly as a result of the garlic I had stuck into it, it made my oven very smoky, which was a bit nerve-wracking.

The garlic sauce involved slowly simmering some milk with rice and seasoning. It was difficult to get the sauce to simmer slowly enough despite adding more milk at Julia's suggestion, so eventually I just added the stock, simmered for a while and then pushed it through a sieve. Soon afterwards the bean water incident meant that I had to simmer it for another 15 minutes before adding the meat juices from the lamb.

The beans were great - boiled and then sauteed with butter, lemon juice and parsley. The onions were slowly braised in stock with a herb bouquet. I have become a bit lazy on the old herb bouquet front and just threw in some parsley sprigs, thyme and bay leaf into the stock. Naturally there was some butter involved. As we explained to St Ives, it's hard for Julia not to taste good, given her tendency to add butter and/or cream to so much of her cooking.

Is there any way that gratin might be considered healthy? Probably not, it tastes far too good to be healthy. This version involved thinly slicing the potatoes (super efficiently with the mandolin) and dividing them into two layers which were each sprinkled with swiss cheese, butter and seasoning. Then a cup of stock was poured over it and it was put in the oven. Despite being left in the oven a little bit longer than instructed, it was fantastic. I suspect reducing the butter and substituting low fat cheese would make it a lot healthier but not quite as nice.

Dessert may have been a matter of "here's one I prepared earlier", but there was no other way to manage the Chocolate Plombiere, with its chilling time of several hours. We moved from the table to the couch for the final course. I had drizzled stale sponge fingers with cointreau and then topped this with creme patissiere, melted chocolate and whipped egg whites folded together. All I had to do was grate chocolate on top (easier said than done, I failed Le Gourmand's hand inspection afterwards).

Bruce was probably the least impressed party of the evening. As he grows, he fights my stomach for space and when I have a three course meal, he is clearly not a happy camper. Obviously I am trying my hardest to ensure that he is as fat and healthy as possible so we are at an impasse. Hopefully he will not emerge victorious when I do the glucose intolerance test next week. To pacify him we are heading off into the murky world of baby shopping this weekend.

Le Gourmand's life has been completed by the acquisition of a dishwasher

Although said dishwasher has not yet been "seasoned", Le Gourmand has great hopes that it will lessen the burden of a wife madly cooking from Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

A complicating issue with many of the weeknight Julia meals is the unpredictability of when Le Gourmand will arrive. Julia's suggestions for preparing ahead are extremely useful but there is a limit to their usefulness, particularly with more delicate dishes like asparagus. I guess this is what life was like for a 1950s housewife!

Menu
Cotes de Porc Robert
Pointes D'Asperges Au Beurre
Petit Pois (variation with green onions)

The pork was lightly browned and then braised in the oven in a tomato sauce of onions, garlic, white wine, beef stock, tomatoes, tomato paste, thyme and salt and pepper. Last time the pork had been a little dry so I was careful not to cook it for as long as Julia indicated in the oven but I think the braising sauce would have protected it in any event. I also made the full amount of sauce but reduced the amount of white wine and substituted more beef stock so that we weren't consuming excessive amounts of wine.

Note for future pork dishes - Le Gourmand prefers his pork marinated. Obviously he is not as big a fan of the other white meat as me.

The peas were lovely - similar to last time with a little butter, sugar, salt and pepper but the addition of sliced green onions was fantastic.

The lightly boiled asparagus had the tips cut off and the then remaining stalks diced before being drizzled with butter and baked under cover of baking paper. So tasty! Obviously the butter was a little naughty but they were well balanced by the tomato sauce and the peas.

Last night the only Julia was her recipe for rice which Le Gourmand suggested might but our rice cooker out of business - Riz À La Vapeur - it was an absorption method but only involved cooking the rice for 12 minutes once it had been brought to the boil (I usually follow a 20 minute absorption method). Tasted good with our defrosted chicken curry, one of Le Gourmand's specialities.

50 recipes down...

Apparently the end of financial year has not assisted my accounting abilities and the exact number completed is a little fuzzy but after last night we have definitely cooked 50 recipes from MTAOFC. Le Gourmand cast doubt onto the impressiveness of this last night with the argument that cooking beans in butter was not really that impressive and I challenged him to a night following 5 (or more) different Julia recipes and flicking around in the cookbook without his head exploding. If the challenge was accepted I did not hear the very faint agreement...

So back in the Julia saddle after a weekend away -
Menu
Lamb and rosemary sausages with Sauce Soubise
Broccoli (slight altercation in the oven, was going to use them to make the creamed brussel sprouts recipe but ended up sticking with braised in butter)
Cherry tomatoes
Crêpes De Pommes De Terre

The Sauce Soubise involved slow cooking sliced onions in butter (surprise, surprise) then adding some flour and milk and simmering before blending and then adding some cream to thin it out and salt, pepper and nutmeg to season. Tasted great with the flavours in the sausages as well as with the broccoli. A really smooth French sauce - Le Gourmand was impressed and agreed that sauces were where French cooking comes into itself.

The potato pancakes were mashed cream cheese, flour, eggs, cheese, grated potatoes and seasoning mixed together with some milk. They were cooked like pancakes and were light and delicious. I had grated the swiss cheese instead of finely dicing it, which ensured very smooth pancakes.

Le Success!