My Low Fat Friday - Crepes and Cream Sauce

While Le Gourmand merrily drank his way around Sydney on Friday night, I decided it would be a good night to practice crepes. Julia's recipe involves a little organisation, as it requires you to leave the crepe batter in the fridge for two hours before using it but the pay offs are excellent. Most of the time I could even flip the crepes, which is a nice feeling of achievement.

After I had a nice pile of crepes, I used chicken and asperges au naturel mixed into a Sauce Creme to fill them.

Sauces are my raison d'etre with French foods. If I can cook a mean french sauce after my time with Julia, I will be a happy Brioche. This sauce was basically a bechamel with a cream enrichment, seasoned with salt, pepper and lemon. It was a fantastic texture and, despite the cream and butter, surprisingly light. I spread filling along the bottom third of each crepe and then placed the rolled crepes in a baking dish, covering the dish with the cream sauce and sprinkling it with fantabulous emmenthal cheese before browning it under the grill.

Although I used nowhere near the amount of butter Julia recommended, I think she would have been proud.

What's the deal with turnips?

I still have a wretched cold but have started cooking from the couch in 20 minute bursts of energy. I have decided that on weekends, I am Mastering the Art of French Cooking but on weekdays I am Modernising the Art of French Cooking. So when Julia requests veal mince with pork fat and ham, I will acccept the perfectly adequate substitute of mixed pork and veal mince. Of course, I reserve the right to take short cuts on weekends.

Menu:

Fricadelles de Veau

Choux de Bruxelles a la Milanese (with broccoli instead of Brussels Sprouts)

Carottes aux Fines Herbes

Navets À L'Étuvée

The good news? The veal patties taste fantastic. The bad news? What is the deal with turnips? To me they tasted really bitter. Le Gourmand was less critical but thought that they usually taste better mashed with another flavour. There is a turnip casserole recipe in the book that Julia says brings most people around when they don't like turnips. I think I will have to cook that next because turnips braised in chicken stock and butter is not my cup of tea. All turnip advice will be gratefully received so please let me know if you have any good ideas?

The carrots were yummy - cooked in water, butter, sugar, salt and pepper and then had fresh herbs and butter added at the end.

The broccoli was prepared in the same way that we prepared the Brussels sprouts on the weekend but there was less baking time until I added some emmenthel cheese and parmesan at the end and baked it for another ten minutes. It tasted awesome because of the cheese.

The veal patties involved a bit more effort than I usually make - softening half a cup of minced onion then adding two peeled, deseeded, diced tomatoes, a clove of garlic and some basil and cooking that down, then adding this to half a kilo of mince, parsley, salt and pepper, a cup of milk soaked breadcrumbs and egg before forming patties. These were refrigerated then browned on each side before cooking slowly in the pan for 15 minutes. The pan was then deglazed with two thirds of a cup of beef stock and cooked down with a little enrichening butter at the end. The result was delicious.

Le Gourmand was less sold on the Aubergines Farcies Duxelles (Eggplant stuffed with mushrooms) the next night. I loved mine - the eggplants were baked and most of the flesh scooped out and mixed with lightly cooked minced mushrooms, softened onion, cream cheese, parsley and seasoning - but there were too many mushrooms for Le Gourmand. One variation I recommend is that in the final roasting, the eggplants should be roasted on a tray rather than roasting in a small amount of water, if you like the flavour of roasted eggplant, as I do. We both enjoyed our Haricots Verts a la Creme - let's face it, what's not to like about green beans blanched, tossed in butter and simmered down with a little cream?

Masterchef - Shannon Bennett Judges - Courtney Leaves the Kitchen

Even though Courtney was one of my favourites and it was sad to see her go, inventiveness was not her strongest suit, so her departure last night was not a stunning surprise.

What was fantastic was seeing Shannon Bennett judge as he oversees one of the best French restaurants in Australia - Vue de Monde. One of the sad things about living in Sydney is not being able to make excuses to go to his Melbourne restaurant as often as I would like. It was good to see him in the kitchen, although I thought that he and the other judges seemed to be unnecessarily helpful for a finals week elimination round?

Adam complained that the Jimmy selected ingredients in the Mystery Box - chickpea flour, lentils, garam masala, chilli, lemon, muscat, gorgonzola, ginger and tomatoes - were difficult to transform into a French meal for Shannon but I thought they just required a bit of imagination (especially given the fact that everyone seemed to have access to staples of flour, butter, eggs). In fairness, Adam showed imagination with an egg and soubise dish and candied tomatoes for dessert. Claire, Callum and Courtney also managed at least one French dish. Shannon appeared to be impressed.

Favourite moment? Matt Preston referring to Garry and Shannon as Gazza and Shazza. Does that make him Mazza or Matza?

Boeuf a la Catalane

When I searched for this recipe online I read various comments about its intricate flavours and how people had used it as a dinner party classic.

Menu

Boeuf À La Catalane

Haricots Verts

Champignons Sautés Au Beurre

The dish involves lightly browning blanched bacon and removing to a casserole, then browning beef and removing, then browning onions and removing. Cook a cup of rice in the oil and then remove and keep separate. Deglaze with a cup of wine, then add it and some stock to the casserole containing the bacon, beef and onion. Cook in a very slow oven for an hour then add some peeled tomatoes and extra stock if necessary. Cook for another hour then add rice. As I was cooking a day ahead, I choose to stop before adding the rice. Even though Julia tells you that it is possible to reheat this dish after you put the rice in, I was a bit sceptical and glad that I didn't do it. Monday night I brought the casserole up to a simmer, added the rice and simmered slowly for 20 minutes until the rice softens (this was supposed to happen in the oven but mine didn't get to the right temperature so I did it on the stove, this allowed me to monitor the rice cooking which I was a bit wary of). Add a cup of grated swiss cheese and serve with the buttered blanched beans and mushrooms sauteed in butter with shallots. Le Gourmand is not such a fan of mushrooms so he mixed in a few with his casserole.

One of the worst things about pregnancy is it hits your immune system hard. I have been sick so many times already. Luckily Bruce keeps kicking away but I am really sick of being sick!

A bad cold had set in on Monday so I may not be the best judge but I would not describe the flavours as intricate and Le Gourmand and I agreed that it was good weekday food but we wouldn't serve it at a dinner party. As you can see from the photo, it has no wow factor. The reheating will be.... interesting.

Bruce eats Italian

Or rather, I eat it for him. Lucky for Bruce, his father is committed to ensure that he eats a diet more diverse than French food. Unfortunately for our collective health, this does not mean that his father is committed to low fat food but the end result is awesome Italian food.

Le Gourmand choose an amazing canneloni recipe for his Sunday night special which required veal, pork, bacon and proscuitto. He probably didn't expect it to take five hours to cook but this made me feel a bit better about all the time I had spent in the kitchen the day before. Not surprisingly it tasted amazing - the veal, pork and bacon filling was extremely tasty and the pasta was rolled around not only it but some prosciutto and mozarella cheese before each roll was laid on a delectable tomato sauce and covered in a cream and cheese sauce. Divine!

My contribution - healthy green salad with Julia's Sauce Vinaigrette - lemon juice, vinegar, dry mustard, salt and pepper and greatly reduced oil content.

Menu

Canneloni

Fresh salad with Sauce Vinaigrette

After I washed up I whipped up the Boeuf a la Catalane for Monday dinner and Potage Parmentier (Leek and Potato Soup - simmer leek and potato for 20 minutes, blend in simmering water, season, add some cream or butter). Where possible, we have a nice little system where Le Gourmand cooks a double batch of dinner on Sunday night and I slow cook a meal for Monday night on Sunday so we have a good start on the week ahead.

Saturday Duck!

Menu:

Soufflé Aux Épinards

Caneton a l'Orange

Gratin Dauphinois

Choux De Bruxelles Étuvés Au Beurre

Crème Plombières Pralinée

We can't eat like this more than once a week said the Le Gourmand. In fairness, this was his fifth Julia meal in 4 days and tonight he will have a break. And of course, we can't eat three courses of Julia, many nights a week. But this was a good night.

Pigeonne and Crevette were joining us with great enthusiasm for dinner (their adorable daughter slept in the next room). They enthusiastically assisted with duck turning and vegetable preparation, although Le Gourmand heroically dealt with most of the sous-chefing. They were also fantastic food stylists and photographers (and didn't mind that their duck was a bit cold as a result of my insistence that we take some good photos).

That morning Le Gourmand had valiantly found a free range duck at the local farmer markets with a beautiful long neck for making duck stock. Meanwhile I had completed the dessert using my sponge fingers, which I dried out in a very slow oven for an hour and then drizzled with a viennese coffee liqueur in the bottom of a nice bowl. On top of this I added creme patissiere, folded with stiffly beaten egg whites and pulverised praline. Into the fridge while I fiddled with my quiche for lunch.

When P&C arrived we were realising that duck a l'orange, Julia style, is quite complex - peel, julienne and blanch orange peel then create perfect segments of duck, boil down some duck stock (for an hour and a half! some short cuts were taken) and make a sauce base of red wine vinegar, sugar, duck stock, port, arrowroot and blanched orange peel. Season your duck with salt, pepper, thyme and orange peel then cook breast side up for half an hour. Then lean it on each side to cook for 15 minutes. We improvised with ramekins to allow the duck to sit on one side then the other and had to take the duck out half way for the souffle.

Mmm the souffle was yummy. Knock wood I have always been lucky with souffles rising and this was another success. Make your souffle base with milk and roux until thick, add egg yolks of the heat, then add blanched spinach that has been dried in a pan. Fold in egg whites, pour into a buttered souffle dish that has been dusted with grated parmesan and place in your oven.

Remove to great excitement 25 minutes later. Take photos quickly as souffles may sink at any second. Just like the inside of cheese and spinach triangles without the filo opined Piggeonne. For Le Gourmand on final round up - the hero of the meal.

Therein followed a bevy of main course activity - finishing the duck and its sauce and finishing the gratin and buttered brussels sprouts in the oven. The duck was beautifully presented with the orange segments, photos were taken and then Le Gourmand was faced with the difficult task of carving duck - our free range fellow didn't have a lot of meat on him. We still managed to get enough for four but we could not have fed more. The sauce - a reduction of pan juices and more port with the prepared base, some Cointreau and a splash of lemon - was beautiful. Perhaps a little less arrowroot next time, but this time we do it JC's way. Pigeonne and Crevette enjoyed the meal. Le Gourmand was impressed at the balance of the slight bitterness of the brussel sprouts with the sweetness of the duck sauce. The gratin, potatoes lovingly prepared by Le Gourmand on the mandoline, with milk, swiss cheese and a little butter, was beautiful and not overly rich.

We washed up a storm - great way to do it when you have hands on guests with a reward of dessert at the end. I proudly took the dessert out of the fridge and sprinkled it with more pulverised almonds. I am not looking forward to the version with canned pineapple instead of praline. Out of the bowl it was not the most aesthetically pleasing dish but it more than delivered on taste - Crevette noted that the swollen sponge fingers and crunchy praline were particularly good. All was right with the world!

Quiche for the pastry queen

Yesterday we went to visit my nan. Her specialty dish is caramel tarts with amazing pastry so it was with a little trepidation that I took her a Quiche Lorraine. This involved making Pâte Brisée and I was less then delighted when I removed the blind baked pastry shell to see that the sides were not very deep and all the pricking of the base and fandangled pastry weights had not prevented the middle from puffing. I poured the seasoned egg and milk filling in and some of it slowly but surely trickled out of the pastry and around the sides.

Miraculously it rose, brown and puffy and when we ate it the pastry was fine. It's like puff pastry, raved the pastry queen, who ate two pieces of quiche - quite unusual for her. The main event for her is actually Bruce, as s/he will be the first great grandchild, but it was nice to see her enjoying lunch too!