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recipes
May 21, 2007 14:34:50 GMT -5
Post by Penny on May 21, 2007 14:34:50 GMT -5
I was following thread on gitte's ice cream, then saw Grand Mariner souffle. So thought I would post my favorite "french" recipe.
I have a very simple one. Now I know our US baguettes do not even compare to Paris but:
Ingredients: baguette butter (soft) Brie Tomatoes Salt/Pepper if wanted Basil
Works best with a very fresh baguette. Cut baguette in half, or thirds, then split/cut lengthwise. lightly butter baguette cut Brie in thin slices. lay Brie on baguette, does not have to totally cover sliced baguette put baguette with cheese on cookie sheet put in hot (around 400) oven, remove when small bubbles appear on Brie. You do not want to leave in too long or baguette will be a little too crunchy, so watch edges of bread also. Slice tomatoes as thin as possible layer on top of baguette/cheese (after melted) then sprinkle with basil (fresh if you have) I literally can eat the whole thing. Oh did I forget to mention the large bottle of red wine?
and whomever mentioned the souffle, May I have recipe?
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recipes
May 21, 2007 15:14:31 GMT -5
Post by Becky (Berkeleytravelers) on May 21, 2007 15:14:31 GMT -5
Penny, thanks for this recipe, it's just what I love for lunch (with, of course a good glass of red).
I must, however, defend San Francisco's well deserved reputation for french bread generally, including of course baguettes -- I absolutely love sourdough bread/baguettes (which of course I have never seen in France), especially the ones from the SF area bakery Semi Freddie, which have various seeds on top. If you're in SF, give it a try and see what you think -- not necessarily "better," just different and oh so good!
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May 21, 2007 15:50:17 GMT -5
Post by Penny on May 21, 2007 15:50:17 GMT -5
Becky oh yes I love Sourdough, but I lived in CA for many years so I know the bread well and miss it. I am a Napa High graduate! When I won't say! before 9/11 you could buy loaves at LAX or SF. Have not been to SF in many years however now I have an excuse, my son is stationed at Beale in Sacramento. What I cannot find anymore is a good loaf of Italian, texture similair to sourdough. And Kansas City has a very large Italian population. Can get very good Italian sausage though.
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recipes
May 22, 2007 8:38:02 GMT -5
Post by Truffaut on May 22, 2007 8:38:02 GMT -5
There are so many reasons you can't get a good baguette here. First, the flour in the US is softer. Second, the ovens in French bakeries have misters that spray a bit of water on the raw dough during the early stages of cooking. Third, commercial bakery ovens are much hotter. The part about the water being different is a bunch of baloney!
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recipes
May 22, 2007 8:50:19 GMT -5
Post by GitteK on May 22, 2007 8:50:19 GMT -5
Truffaut - I am not a cheese-eater, but I have this tip for your brie-in-the-oven from one of my colleagues:
In a small casserole you mix honey and dark balsamico vinegar and boil it into a syrup. Pour thin stripes over your "brie-on-buttered-baguettes" before you put the baguettes in the oven.
My colleague serves these grilled "baguette-with-brie" as a sidedish to go with a good thick vegetablesoup, like vichyssoise.
I imagine that the balsamico/honey-syrup will go very well with the tomatoes. Sugar is an old trick to bring out the tomato-flavour
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recipes
May 22, 2007 8:58:57 GMT -5
Post by sistereurope on May 22, 2007 8:58:57 GMT -5
Truffaut, There's a bakery in Savage Mill that makes a good baguette - definitely not as good as what you find in Paris (my husband swears it's the yeast)...but good if you have a craving.
I'd love to be able to make a pain au chocolate - Happygoin, is that in your repertoire?? I know that you're a baker! How bout a tart?(to bake, I mean!!! really!!)
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May 22, 2007 9:03:21 GMT -5
Post by GitteK on May 22, 2007 9:03:21 GMT -5
sistereurope (and others) - this requires that you can read a little French, but anyways: photo-de-tarte-sucree.blogspot.com/When you enter the site and scroll down, you will find a list to the left of all sort of tartes. Try clicking on "tarte aux fraises" - and you will drop down from your chair - AFTER having banged your head into the computerscreen.......
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May 22, 2007 9:08:00 GMT -5
Post by sistereurope on May 22, 2007 9:08:00 GMT -5
Oh yum - thanks Gitte...Now I can practice my French and learn to bake a tart at the same time!! That's my kind of multi-tasking...
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May 22, 2007 9:09:59 GMT -5
Post by GitteK on May 22, 2007 9:09:59 GMT -5
Nope - multitasking requires at least 3 simultaneous activities, so you will simply HAVE to pour yourself a glass of the St-Emilion to go along with the baking-combined-with-language-study....
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May 22, 2007 9:12:37 GMT -5
Post by Shoesy on May 22, 2007 9:12:37 GMT -5
Gitte - And if you were to add a 4th activity, what would it be?
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May 22, 2007 9:15:48 GMT -5
Post by sistereurope on May 22, 2007 9:15:48 GMT -5
Maybe a little dancing, Shoesy?? ;D
And yes Gitte, I subscribe to the Julia Child method of cooking - a glass in hand always!!!!!
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May 22, 2007 13:10:55 GMT -5
Post by Truffaut on May 22, 2007 13:10:55 GMT -5
Sister, I've been to the bakery in Savage Mill and found it to be as good as any French bakery I've found on this side of the sea.
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May 22, 2007 13:23:46 GMT -5
Post by GitteK on May 22, 2007 13:23:46 GMT -5
sistereurope - glass in the hand, I thought that was this crazy english guy, Keith Floyd - he drinks like a fish (in DK we say "drinks like a sponge"). Shoes, the 4th activity would be practicing that devilish left hand of my Beethoven romance.... I can always do the tart with the right hand - PLUS drink the St.Emilion through a straw !
Truffy dear, you haven't commented on my gourmet suggestion to improve on your baguette - - - tsk, tsk..... mommy is veeery disappointed !
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May 22, 2007 14:00:59 GMT -5
Post by sistereurope on May 22, 2007 14:00:59 GMT -5
Yes Truffaut - Bonaparte has a store in Baltimore as well (in Fells Point). They make sinful almond croissants too...mmmm
Gitte, Julia Child definitely sipped while she cooked. Now, I know that I can drink like her...I sure do wish that I could cook like her!
To keep on topic...We have a great cookbook by Julie Child and Jacques Pepin called something like "Julia and Jacques"...GREAT recipes. We've made several out of that book. I'll try to post some of our faves later.
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recipes
May 22, 2007 14:23:22 GMT -5
Post by Becky (Berkeleytravelers) on May 22, 2007 14:23:22 GMT -5
When we cook, there's always an open bottle of red in use (we usually cook together on weekends, and there's a standing joke around our house that the food doesn't come out right if we haven't been working on the wine during the process). So, glad to hear we're in good company on that one!
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May 22, 2007 14:41:51 GMT -5
Post by sistereurope on May 22, 2007 14:41:51 GMT -5
Just wanted to add that the recipes I plan to post are my very own...I usually end up changing and combining recipes so that they come to be my own (see, the wine definitely helps with the creativity )
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May 23, 2007 9:29:52 GMT -5
Post by Happygoin on May 23, 2007 9:29:52 GMT -5
sistereurope, I had the great good fortune to be in the audience at BU when Julia and Jacques filmed a program for PBS in the early 90's. They were just a stitch to watch. Julia snuck butter into everything Jacques was cooking behind his back. It was great. A picture of Julia in her kitchen in Cambridge adorns a wall in my kitchen since she was my idol. I learned more about cooking from her and Jacques on PBS than any other single source.
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May 23, 2007 9:52:25 GMT -5
Post by Happygoin on May 23, 2007 9:52:25 GMT -5
Ok everyone here are two:
The Roti Chicken You Buy inParis (My Kitchen Version)
1 Roaster Chicken 2# red or Yukon Gold (waxy) potatoes One large sprig of thyme One large sprig of parsley 1/2-1 cup of white wine Olive Oil
Wash Henny Penny well. Dry well with paper towels and apply salt and pepper inside cavity. Add the parsley and thyme to the cavity as well. Cut potatoes into large wedges. Scatter over roasting pan. At this point, you may add garlic cloves, olives, or anything else you have hanging around the house that sounds like it would taste good cooked in chicken fat and white wine. Salt and pepper the potatoes well. Put a roasting rack on top of the potatoes. Put the chicken in the rack. Pour about 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the chicken and give her a nice massage with the oil. Pour the white wine over the chicken. Apply salt and pepper. Roast at 400 degrees (I'm sorry, I don't know gas marks for our European friends) for about 30 minutes. Turn heat down to 325 and cook until the juices run clear.
Grand Marnier Souffle
2 tablespoons of orange zest (about 1 1/2 oranges) 1/3 cup sugar + 3 tablespoons sugar 5 egg yolks 7 egg whites 1/2 cup Grand Marnier pinch of cream of tartar
Before you start! Rub unsalted butter all over the insides of a souffle dish. Right up the sides to the very top of the dish. Add the 3 tablespoons of sugar and tip and roll the dish so that all the butter is covered with a coating of sugar.
In a bowl set over simmering water (or double boiler), whisk sugar and egg yolks until they're thick and you can't feel any sugar granules when you rub it between your fingers (about 7-8 minutes). Take off heat and add the orange zest and Grand Marnier. Whisk well. Put into a large bowl and put into refrigerator immediately to cool. You can do this several hours ahead.
When you want to bake the souffle, preheat the oven to 425.
Beat the egg whites until frothy. Add the pinch of cream of tartar. Beat only until stiff peaks form. This is the part where people often run into trouble. Overbeating will make it difficult to fold the whites into the base. It's better to stop the beaters often to check.
Gently mix 1/3 of the white into the base (to lighten the base). Then gently fold the remainder of the whites into the base in two additions. Smooth the top and put the souffle into the oven. Make sure to turn the oven light on to watch the fun. It will bake in about 20 minutes. When the top is a dark golden brown, it's done. Souffles are really easy and fun. All sorts of bases can be used. A white sauce with melted cheese makes a great souffle.
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May 23, 2007 10:06:40 GMT -5
Post by sistereurope on May 23, 2007 10:06:40 GMT -5
Happygoin...I LOVE Julia! I missed her shows with Jacques, but that book is one sticky mess because we use it a lot.
These recipes are wonderful!!! You might want to move them to their very own thread so that they don't get lost in the drink while you cook shuffle, though.
We do make souffles whenever we have the time - with those 7 chickens laying eggs pretty much every day, we sure have a steady supply!! I've never done a dessert souffle - this one sounds like a great place to start!
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May 23, 2007 10:37:46 GMT -5
Post by Happygoin on May 23, 2007 10:37:46 GMT -5
Oh s.e. I AM jealous! Your very own eggs. When I lived in CT I had access to fresh eggs and they are heavenly. Can you fax me some?? I will pm you with my Julia Child story. Too long and off-topic for here, but funny.
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