Steamy Kitchen Recipes » French

French Carrot Fennel Salad

SteamyKitchen — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 17:10:15 +0000

I’ve known Béa, author of La Tartine Gourmande blog, ever since I first started blogging. The first time I saw her blog, I was just blown away – every photo made me daydream that I was on some kind of gorgeous picnic in heaven! (they do have picnics in heaven right?!)

All these years of corresponding with Béa via email, blog, twitter and facebook, it was only last year that I finally got to meet her in person. We were both in London to speak at Food Blogger Connect - Béa brought her family along and I got to squeeze the baby toes of sleeping Lulu. Sweetness!

Béa just came out with her book, La Tartine Gourmande Cookbook and it’s every bit of picnic in heaven as her blog. There are so many fresh and healthy recipes that I want to try: Beet and Quinoa Tabouli, Potato Nests with Gingered Crab and Crustless mini Quiches, just to name a few. All the recipes are gluten-free.

The dish I chose to make first is crazy simple – French Carrot Salad is grated carrot tossed with lemon juice and olive oil. I’ve added fresh shaved fennel from my garden and plucked a few fennel fronds to add to the salad.

It’s absolutely refreshing. Picnic in heaven food.

French Carrot Fennel Salad

Fennel in my garden:

Have a taste of the fennel fronds (the green stuff) and it’s amazing – AH-MAZE-ING raw in salads. Don’t throw it away! In fact, I grown the fennel in the garden specifically for the fronds. Every time I make salad, I just pinch one little stem off and mince for the salad.

The bulb, shaved and added to a salad gives an nice crunch and light anise flavor.

Slice the bulbs very thinly – I used a mandoline, but feel free to just use a sharp chef’s knife.

Whisk together the dressing ingredients – lemon juice, salt, pepper, olive oil, fresh parsley and a few pinches of fennel fronds.

Toss with grated carrots and fennel bulb.

French Carrot Fennel Salad

Servings: 4 Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 0 minutes

From La Tartine Gourmande Cookbook by Bea Peltre

Ingredients:

1/2 fennel bulb + fennel fronds
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
sea salt and pepper
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 1 large lemon)
1 garlic clove, minced
6 tablespoons olive oil
3-4 large carrots, peeled

Directions:

1. Pick a few fennel fronds to make 1 tablespoon. In a bowl, whisk together the fennel fronds, parsley, salt, pepper, lemon juice, garlic and olive oil. Set aside.

2. Use the large holes of the box grater to grate the carrots. Use a mandoline to shave the fennel bulb (or slice very thinly with chef's knife).

3. Toss together the carrots, fennel bulb with the dressing.

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2012. | Permalink | 10 comments

Simple Pate a Choux and Cheese Puffs

SteamyKitchen — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:12:22 +0000

Update 11/17/11 I’m re-posting this recipe from 2009 – it’s perfect for Thanksgiving dinner – 3-ingredient recipe with impressive results. Add cheese to make Cheese Puffs – gougeres!

Update 12/8/09 I’m thrilled to share that I’m a featured blogger for Oprah’s Holiday 2009 where this recipe is being featured!

Pâte à Choux

paht-ah-shoo!

Sounds like sneeze, those fancy French words that I can’t ever get right!

But so easy that it can be summed up with this ratio 1:1:1:1:1

1 cup water: 1 stick butter: 1 cup flour: 1 cup eggs: 1 pinch salt

And so easy that even *I* an oven-fearing, non-baker could master it on the very first try.

So easy that I’ve made these cute little babies 6 times in the past 6 days.

Now that’s easy.

Or obsessive.

Either way, you MUST make these — like TONIGHT! Or perhaps your holiday meal? I’ll be making Pâte à Choux for our Thanksgiving dinner! Actually, I’ll add gruyere cheese and make gougeres.

And if you try to make me pronounce gougeres, I can’t.

So we’re calling them “Fancy Cheesy Puffy Poofs” at dinner.

The person responsible for my little poofy puffy pastry addiction is none other than Michael Ruhlman and his very useful ratios. Who knew 1:1:1:1:1 could do this? Well, Ruhlman did, and I know there are Pâte à Choux recipes out there that is way more complicated than 1:1:1:1:1….remember…

Rule #1: Simplest is best.
Rule #2: It’s RUHLMAN.

Oh but wait. I know what some of you smarty pants are going to say – this isn’t a TRUE Ruhlman ratio. A true Ruhlman ratio is by weight. And my 1:1:1:1:1 isn’t by weight — it’s just my way of remembering this recipe.

This choux dough is so versatile, that you can make the puffs sweet or savory. In fact, you can fill ‘em with cream to get Cream Puffs, fry them to get farts of nuns, make easy donuts, stuff them, boil them, dip them in chocolate, drizzle them with chocolate, serve ‘em with sauteed cherries, make cute little ice cream sandwiches with them, dip in peppermint fudge sauce, boil/saute for parisian gnocchi <- watch those 2 videos of Thomas Keller.

Basic Pâte à Choux (cream puff dough) Recipe

Servings: 20 medium pastries Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes

(paht-ah-shoo)
recipe from Michael Ruhlman
To this recipe, you can make savory (add 1 teaspoon kosher/sea salt) or sweet (add 2 teaspoons sugar)

To make gluten-free pate a choux, head over to The Sensitive Epicure, Gluten Free Girl and Jenn Cuisine

Ingredients:

1 cup water
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
1 cup all purpose flour
1 good pinch of salt
1 cup eggs (4 large eggs)

Directions:

Preheat oven 425F.

1. In a medium pot, bring the water and butter to a simmer on medium heat. Add the flour and with a wooden spoon or spatula, stir very quickly in one direction. Carefully watch and you'll see that the flour starts absorbing the liquid -- and a dough will form. Keep stirring to continue cooking the flour and cook off some of the water, another minute or two.

2. You can do the next step one of two ways:

Transfer the paste to the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or to a bowl if you're using a hand mixer.

If you want to mix the eggs directly into the dough in the pot, let it cool slightly, 4 or 5 minutes, or cool off the pan itself by running cold water over its base if you will be mixing the eggs in that pot. You don’t want to cook the eggs too quickly.

3. Add the salt and the eggs one at a time mixing rapidly until each is combined into the paste. The paste will go from shiny to slippery to sticky as the egg is incorporated. The pâte a choux can be cooked immediately at this point or refrigerated for up to a day until ready to use.

4. Spoon the dough into a large gallon-sized plastic bag (or piping bag.) Use your hands to squeeze dough towards the bottom corner. With kitchen shears, snip off just the tippy tip of the bag, about 1/4" of the tip. Pipe onto a baking sheet into little puffs, keeping the puffs 2-inches apart. With your finger, press down the peaks (as they can burn.) Bake at 425F for 10 minutes, then 350F for 18-30 minutes, depending on the size of your puffs.

To make gougeres (cheesy poofy puffs)

Stir in 1/2 cup finely grated gruyere cheese (or other grated hard cheese of your choice) + 1 teaspoon kosher/sea salt (1/2 teaspoon fine table salt) - I used a rasp/microplane grater to get ultra-light snowflakes of cheese so as not to weigh down the dough with heavy cheese. You can also sprinkle a bit of the cheese on top of the puffs after you've piped them.

Easy Mushroom Pate

If you’d like to try the Easy Mushroom Pate shown in the photo below, you’ll have to head over to Tasty Kitchen.

Add a bit of truffle oil to that mushroom pate? Now that’s luxurious!

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2011. | Permalink | 65 comments

Bouillabaisse

SteamyKitchen — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 18:30:04 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, I hosted my buddy Hank Shaw of the award-winning Hunter Gardener Angler Cook at our home and hit 2 out of the 4 activities from his blog name: fishing and cooking. If you must know why those 2 specific activities, our garden is winding down for its summer rest and hunting involves either a gun, spear, snare or crossbow – none of which I know how to use.

Hank is traveling the U.S. as part of his book tour for Hunt, Gather, Cook: Finding the Forgotten Feast, where he will be visiting each of the 50 States to experience each native species. For us here in Florida, we were out to snag a grouper. You can read about our experience on my blog post. Oh, and if you have a chance, you must read the glowing review by the NY Times of Hank’s book.

Not only did we catch the grouper – but also (from left to right): Bonito, Grouper, 5 Amberjack, 3 Snapper.

So what do you make with all this fish, but more importantly the heads and tails of fresh fish? Bouillabaisse, of course.

This Mediterranean seafood stew’s uniqueness comes from the herb and spice combination of orange peel, fennel and saffron, which is what gives the soup its deep golden color.

Continue reading Bouillabaisse...

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2011. | Permalink | 39 comments

Foolproof & Super-Easy Cheese Souffle

SteamyKitchen — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 12:46:53 +0000

I’m a firm believer that if you want to learn something, find a pro and ask them to teach you. Of course, you’ve got to find a nice pro who’s willing to share.

For eight years now, I wanted to learn how to make a savory breakfast-y cheese soufflé, but never really found the right person to ask. I was seeking something easy, fool-proof and a method that didn’t deal with delicately folding egg whites.

It’s breakfast, it shouldn’t be complicated and I certainly don’t do “delicate” anything early in the mornings. After all these years, I finally found my Cheese Souffle pro in Mount Dora.

We took a family trip to the very charming historic village last month and stayed at the quaint Tremain Street Cottages owned by friends Brian and Rachelle:

Oh, before I go on, don’t be fooled the town’s name, as there isn’t really a mountain at all. The town is 184 feet above sea level, and in flat Florida’s record books, that counts as a mountain.

Brian introduced us to Jim, innkeeper of the Mount Dora Historic Inn who invited us over for breakfast and cooking lesson. Eureka! Jim is a gourmet chef and lavishes his inn guests with homemade breakfast every morning.

The best part about his method is that there’s no stiff peaks, no delicate folding and Jim’s method only uses one mixing bowl. And it works, I witnessed the quick making of and the rise of the savory Three Cheese Soufflé.

***

How to Make Cheese Souffle

Really, only one mixing bowl. All of it comes together so quickly and effortlessly! This foolproof method only works for savory cheese souffle – not the chocolately sweet souffle.

Basically, shredded cheese goes into the bottom of the souffle dish, eggs are cracked into a mixing bowl, beaten. Then spices are added to the mixture and beaten one more time. Pour that egg mixture into the souffle dish and bake!

After 55-60 minutes in the oven at 350F….this is what comes out:

Guys, I doubt you can find an easier method of making cheese souffle…totally easy.

Three-Cheese Soufflé Recipe

Servings: Makes 1 souffle (serves 4) Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 55 minutes

Recipe by Jim Tuttle of Mount Dora Historic Inn

Ingredients:

7 large eggs
4 ounces sour cream
1/3 cup whole milk
freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dry mustard
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon Tabasco (or other hot sauce)
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1 ounce grated cheddar cheese
1 ounce grated muenster cheese
1 ounce grated gruyere cheeseequipment needed: one medium soufflé dish (holds approximately 22 ounces, for Williams Sonoma brand, it's the #4 size)

Directions:

Pre-heat your oven to 350F.

Using an electric blender, blend together the eggs, sour cream and milk for 30 seconds. Blend in the black pepper, dry mustard, nutmeg and Tabasco.

Brush the butter all over the inside of the soufflé dish. Layer the cheese in the soufflé dish, then pour the egg mixture gently over the top. Leaving 1-inch of space at the top to prevent spillage as you carry it to the oven.

Place the soufflé dish in the oven, then carefully pour the remaining egg mixture to fill to the tippy top of the dish.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes—the soufflé will be golden brown, puffy like a balloon, and will have risen up to three inches above the ramekin.

Present immediately to guests, as this dish will begin to fall in about 45 seconds. (if the soufflé does not fall, then the second law of thermal dynamics, does not exist in your home—if this occurs, call NASA right away)

***

Mount Dora, Florida

If you’re in Florida, I highly recommend taking a visit to Mount Dora, we stayed for the weekend and just had one of the best mini-vacations ever.

Quiet, quaint and small-town. The downtown area is packed with fantastic eats – including some of the best sushi I’ve had in Florida at Mount Dora Sushi

Uni Shot with Quail Egg, Ponzu Sauce and Sriracha Chili Sauce:

Crusty, fresh pizzas at Pizza Amore

A dog-lovin’ town…we happened to crash the “Yappy Hour” in downtown (yes, they really do have a Yappy Hour!)

But most importantly, good karma. Rock on, Buddha…rock on.

More information on Mount Dora at What To Do In Mount Dora.

Chocolate Yogurt Snack Cakes

SteamyKitchen — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:01:03 +0000

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Watch me make chocolate muffins!

My buddy, David Lebovitz, just came out with a brand new book called David Lebovitz’s The Sweet Life in Paris.

It’s a fun, light read and answers all of the nosy questions that many are dying to know about David, including “Why are you in Paris?” and “How long will you stay?” Last week, I got on the phone with David and recorded our convo. Have a listen below! In addition to chatting about his new book, The Sweet Life in Paris, I asked him boxers or briefs?, is there a sequeal to Perfect Scoop? and what’s his next book that he’s working on?

Podcast with David Lebovitz

David Lebovitz Chocolate Yogurt Snack Cake from Jaden Hair on Vimeo.

I originally had asked David for a recipe and photo to post along with his podcast, but felt a little guilty that I didn’t even attempt to make any of the 50 fantastic recipes in The Sweet Life in Paris, so this morning I made Nathan ditch school and bake for me.

We made his Chocolate Yogurt Snack Cakes. Well, I mean, NATHAN made the Chocolate Yogurt Snack Cakes. I just took the pictures. It’s a fun recipe to make, I never expected to put yogurt into a cake! The yogurt makes the chocolate cakes moist!

PR for The Sweet Life in Paris

Yes, I took that shot when we were at Club Med Columbus Isles a couple of months ago! David was really enjoying the water aerobics class, can you tell?

David Lebovitz Chocolate Yogurt Snack Cakes

Bouchees Chocolat Au Yaourt

Recipe from The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz

Makes 12 individual cakes
7 ounces (200g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup (125ml) unflavored vegetable oil, divided
1/2 cup (125ml) plain, whole-milk yogurt
1 cup (200g) sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 cups (180g) flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
whipped cream (optional – that’s just my little addition to his recipe)

1. Preheat the oven to 350f (180C). Line a muffin tin with 12 indentations with paper cupcake liners, or lightly butter them.
2. In a heatproof bowl set over simmering water, melt the chocolate with 1/4 cup (60ml) of the oil. Once melted and smooth, remove from heat.
3. In another bowl, mix together the remaining 1/4 cup (65ml) of oil with the yogurt, sugar, eggs, and vanilla and almond extracts.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the yogurt mixture. Stir lightly a couple of time, then add the melted chocolate, and stir until just smooth.
5. Divide the batter into the muffin tins and bake for 25 minutes, or until they feel barely set in the middle.
6. Remove from oven and cool before serving. Top with some whipped cream, if desired.