two yolks

The entries on here always run at least several days behind when I actually make things. If I’m good, it’s only the night before. Other times, it may be weeks. I don’t think I’ve made it to a month before. But this time, I have an excuse! We were on vacation last week (in France and Germany). And I’d post pictures now but they’re still sitting on my camera. And there are lots of them to go through. The vacation was fun but has very little do with Risi e Bisi. Risi e Bisi is apparently a signature dish of Venice. While I’ve been in Venice, I didn’t try this there. It was the wrong time of the year (I was there in June which is not really pea season). So I have no idea how authentic this version is (outside of the claim from the title of the cookbook). I thought it was good but the real news is that Angela liked it. This is surprising because she a) doesn’t usually like risotto and b) doesn’t usually like green vegetables. So, apparently, I must really have a winner here. It’s typical of much Italian cooking in that it is rather understated. None of the flavors are particularly strong or overpowering. However, they end up well balanced without being bland.

What really drew me to this recipe (outside of the fact that I’ve liked other cookbooks in the series), was the fact that it used the pea pods to make a stock. This actually ended up delaying me by a day for when I could make the risotto (I ended up making the pea pod stock a day in advance) but my experience is that anything that has a stock specifically made for it is better. It really helped for the flavor of the peas to permeate the entire risotto. You could, however, just replace the pea pod stock with 2 cups of meat broth. And, speaking of meat broth, I’ve found that at least for risotto, using a combination of chicken and beef stock produces a better flavor than either of them alone. This also applies to rice pilaf. And if you happen to have duck stuck lying around, try it in a simple risotto.

Risi e Bisi Adapted from Veneto: Authentic Recipes from Venice and the Italian Northeast 1 lbs. peas, shelled, pods reserved 4 cups meat broth (I used half chicken and half beef) 5 tbsp butter 1 tbsp olive oil 1 onion, diced 2 oz. pancetta, diced 3 tbsp diced Italian parsley 1 1/2 cups arborio rice 1/2 cup dry vermouth salt

1. Rinse the pea pods in running water. Place the pods in a pot and cover with cold water by 3 inches. Bring the pot to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to a simmer, and simmer for four hours. Then run the liquid and the pods through a food mill fitted with the fine disk. Combine with the meat stock and place over low heat to keep warm. Season with salt if needed.
2. In a large skillet, melt 3 tbsp of the butter with the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and pancetta and sauté until the pancetta is browned and the onions are soft, about 4 minutes.
3. Stir 1 tbsp parsley and the rice into the skillet. Cook the rice for about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Add the vermouth and simmer until the alcohol has evaporated, about 3 minutes.
5. Add a ladleful of the broth and the peas and stir regularly until most of the broth has been absorbed. Add more broth and continuing stirring until all of the broth is absorbed and the rice is cooked through, about 25 minutes.
6. Remove the risotto from the heat. Season to taste with salt. Stir in the remaining butter and parsley.
7. Serve immediately.

Serves 4 to 6.

For those of you who were hoping for news of my demise, I hate to disappoint you. Instead, I spent the last 6 weeks or so working with a high school on our robot. We need to ship it last Tuesday (the 19th) and were working on it until 2:30 AM the night before. Given the amount of time and energy Angela and I put into this project (it’s all for the kids, it has nothing to do with the fact that robots are cool, really), we frequently ended up going out to eat instead of cooking. Even on the few nights that weren’t dedicated to robots (and it became fewer and fewer as time went on), we generally went out simply to save our sanity. And, for any who are curious, we compete March 21st and 22nd.

And, to make matters worse, I promptly got sick on Wednesday afternoon. Which brings us to today where, hopped up on decongestants, I was inspired to write a post because I watched Gourmet’s Diary of a Foodie about food bloggers. So that’s why you get to read my incoherent, medicated thoughts.

If you saw the entries on Cooking Lessons and thought I had been replaced (that could probably have a positive effect on the readership here), those entries are being made by my wonderful wife (I need to win some brownie points). I wish I knew how to get the author to show up by each post but I can’t figure it out without changing the theme.

Now, back to the food, I made this lamb stew almost two weeks ago apparently (I had to look at the information on the photos to figure it out). In southern California, we are currently experiencing a semi-spring. It’s still cold enough to be winter (well, as cold as it gets during winter here) but the spring vegetables are showing up at the farmer’s markets.

So, of course, I make a stew that claims to be a spring stew but leave out the green beans (they aren’t in season yet) and use frozen peas (fresh aren’t in season). I’m doing a bang up job of eating seasonally. In any case, frozen peas are almost as good as fresh ones and I’m not entirely sure green beans would’ve worked well in the stew as it turned out.

Stew also is a bit of a misnomer. When I think of stew, I think of something that is primarily liquid with good-sized chunks of meat and vegetables in it. This “stew” consists of good-sized chunks of meat and vegetables with a little bit of liquid covering them. It was good, just not very stewy.

Unfortunately, I made the mistake of cutting the lamb into slightly too small pieces. When it cooked, the lamb managed to dry out. So cut your pieces larger than I did.

The vegetables were the real stars of this dish. The root vegetables soaked up a lot of the flavors of the lamb (and stock) and were exquisite.

I should also note that the recipe for frozen peas is very good on its own. Good enough that Angela specifically asked for me to make it again (and we all know how much she loves vegetables).

Navarin Printanier (Lamb Stew with Spring Vegetables)
Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking

1.5 lbs. stew meat, cut into 2-inch pieces
salt and pepper
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tbsp flour
2 to 3 cups beef stock
2 tbsp tomato paste
a bouquet garni made up of 1 clove of garlic, 3 sprigs of thyme, and 1 bay leaf
6 peeled boiling potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces
3 peeled carrots, cut into bite sized pieces
2 peeled parsnips, cut into bite sized pieces
8 peeled white onions
1 cup prepared frozen peas

1. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
2. Season the lamb with salt and pepper and then dry thoroughly on paper towels. Place a skillet over high heat and add the oil. Brown the lamb a few pieces at a time in the hot oil, then transfer to a dutch oven.
3. Sprinkle the lamb with the sugar and then place in the oven for 3 to 4 minutes or until the sugar has begun to caramelize.
4. Toss the meat with the flour and season with salt and pepper. Place in the oven for 4 to 5 minutes, toss the meat, and then place in the oven for another 4 to 5 minutes, or until it has a light crust. Turn down the oven temperature to 350°F
5. Pour out the fat from the skillet and add the stock. Bring the stock to a boil and deglaze the pan. Pour the stock into the dutch oven. Bring to a simmer in the dutch oven, then add the tomato paste and boquet garni. Stir to combine, return to a simmer, and then cover the dutch oven.
6. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes to an hour depending on the size of the chunks of lamb. Remove the dutch oven from the oven. Add the potatoes, carrot, parsnips, and onions to the dutch oven and mix well. Bring to a simmer on the stove top, cover, and return to the oven for one hour more.
7. Remove the dutch oven from the oven. Add the peas. Check the sauce for seasoning. Bring the stew to a simmer for 1 minute.
8. Serve with good bread.

Serves 3 to 4.

Prepared Frozen Peas
Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking

1 cup frozen peas
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp diced shallots
1/4 tsp kosher salt
pinch of pepper
1/4 cup beef stock

1. Bring the butter, shallots, salt, pepper, and beef stock to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the peas, cover, and simmer for 5 to 6 minutes, or until the peas are tender.
2. Remove the lid and boil off any remaining liquid.

Makes 1 cup of peas.

Ever have a dinner that is surprisingly good? This was one of them. I never have high hopes for anything based around a chicken breast. They’re frequently dry and tasteless. And, while I haven’t tried it, I’m sure that brining helps (yet another thing on my cooking to do list). But, when you get down to it, chicken breasts aren’t particularly exciting. In many ways, they’re the tofu of the meat eating world except they don’t readily take on other flavors as well.

Except, when I made Suprêmes de Volaille aux Champignons (I’ve been avoiding using the proper name as it’s a bit incongruous in a sentence), it was surprisingly good. It wasn’t a burst of flavor in your mouth but it was simple and it was good. The chicken wasn’t dry and had some good flavor but the sauce was very creamy and chickeny. It may not be something to serve to guests but it’s good for a weeknight meal.

I was particularly fond of the mushrooms (Angela doesn’t like them; and she also complains that I only say she doesn’t like things; she did like the chicken, so there). If you look at the pictures, you’ll think I had only a few but I didn’t ladle the rest of them out of the skillet until after taking the pictures. By the time I was finished, there were more mushrooms than chicken.

I should say, however, if you prepare this recipe realize that I did use a smaller chicken that I got from the farmer’s market. The breasts themselves were pretty small, probably only several ounces each; so the times may be different if you use a larger chicken breast. I’d suggest cooking to temperature instead of time.

I’m a bit surprised by this recipe as it doesn’t involving browning the chicken. Normally, browning meat is important for the development of flavor but not in this recipe. And I can’t say I missed it. Given that the chicken breast is small, a greater proportion of the flavor comes from the sauce and from the chicken stock in the sauce.

Serve with Gratin Dauphinois Madame Cartet (Madame Cartet’s Potato Gratin).

Suprêmes de Volaille aux Champignons (Chicken Breasts with Mushrooms and Cream)
Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 tsp lemon juice
salt
3 tbsp butter
1 tbsp minced shallots
1/4 lbs. mushrooms, cleaned and quartered
2 tbsp chicken stock
2 tbsp white vermouth
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp parsley

1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
2. Rub the chicken breasts with a small amount of the lemon juice and season with salt. Set aside.
3. In a large skillet, heat the butter over medium heat until it is foaming. Add the shallots and sauté for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and sauté for 2 minutes more. Season with salt.
4. Add the chicken breasts to the skillet and roll them in the butter. Cover the skillet and place it in the oven. Cook for about 7 minutes or until the chicken breasts reach an internal temperature of 165ºF.
5. Remove the skillet from the oven and remove the chicken breasts from the skillet. Add the stock and vermouth to the skillet and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil until the liquid is syrupy.
6. Add the cream and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer until the cream is thickened. Remove from the heat.
7. Season with salt and lemon juice as needed. Stir in the parsley.
8. Serve the chicken covered with the sauce and mushrooms.

Serves 2.

Growing up, my parents had a raspberry bush in the back yard. I used to love going down to eat them right off the bush. I even picked them and sold them in a mini-road side farm stand. It was all on the honor system and no one took advantage of me. Someone did eventually steal the Fisher Price picnic table that I used for displaying the produce but they may have assumed it was sitting out for the trash. Unfortunately, the raspberry bush is no longer there (it reached it’s fruit producing lifespan and my parents opted to not replace it) but my love of raspberries is.

On my first visit to France, there was a small bakery across the street from our hotel. The first couple days I partook of the hotel’s continental breakfast but was not particularly impressed. I went to the bakery for breakfast instead and settled on the raspberry tart. My French is practically non-existent but by a combination of half remembering framboise and pointing I was able to get what I wanted.

It may be the haziness of memory, but it was good. Really good. I did a little more traveling in France and couldn’t find anything similar. I’ve looked elsewhere and never found something quite as good. I found a raspberry tart in San Francisco but it used a lemon curd base which wasn’t what I was looking for.

A while ago, I had decided that I would make myself a raspberry tart. I may not be a pastry chef (I don’t have the patience for that) but what better way to make something that you like? Aside from inertia, the main reason I had never attempted to make one before was simply that raspberries were expensive and I didn’t want to waste them by making a bad tart.

The other day, I was walking by Farm Boy and noticed they were advertising a half-pint of raspberries for $1.00. That was too good of a deal to pass up (regardless of the unknown provenance of the raspberries).

I really haven’t made any tarts before so it was an issue of figuring exactly what to use in making it. A tart consists of the tart shell, the cream used in the shell, and then the topping. I settled on pâte sablée and creme pâstissière because they seemed closest to what I’d had in the past and they both seemed fairly simple and classic. I’m not entirely sure it was the right choice.

The tart was good. Quite good. But the creme pâstissière seemed to overpower the raspberries a bit. The pâte sablée also didn’t have great structural integrity so the creme pâstissière started spilling out and making a mess. I ended up having to eat it with a fork.

This recipe may need a bit more work but it’s still good. It isn’t overly sweet. It would make a good afternoon snack.

Tartlette aux Framboise (Raspberry Tart)

Pâte Sablée
Crème Pâstissière
1 cup raspberries

1. Pat the dough into 3 four inch mini tart pans. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
3. Place a layer of aluminum foil over the tart pans. Place pastry weights on top of the aluminum foil.
4. Place the tart pans on a baking tray and bake in the middle of the preheated oven for 20 minutes.
5. Remove the tart pans from the oven, remove the pastry weights and aluminum foil, and return to the oven. Bake for 7 more minutes.
6. Remove the tart pans from the oven and allow to cool completely. Remove the tart dough from the tart pan.
7. Rinse and dry the raspberries.
8. Place a layer of crème pâstissière in each tart. Cover with the raspberries.
9. Chill completely and serve.

Makes 3 mini-tarts.

Pâte Sablée (Shortbread Dough)
Adapted from The Roux Brothers on Patisserie

250 g flour
200 g cold butter (about 7 tbsp), diced
100 g powdered sugar
pinch of salt
2 egg yolks

1. Sift the flour onto a work surface and make a well in the center.
2. Place the butter in the well and work with your fingers until it is very soft.
3. Add the powdered sugar and the salt to the butter and cream them together with your fingers.
4. Add the egg yolk to the well and mix well.
5. Slowly incorporate the flour into the butter mixture. Mix until it is just homogeneous.

Crème Pâstissière (Pastry Cream)
Adapted from The Roux Brothers on Patisserie

6 egg yolks
125 g sugar
40 g flour
500 ml milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Place the egg yolks and 1/3 of the sugar in a bowl. Whisk together until pale ribbons are formed. Whisk in the flour.
2. In a sauce pan, combine the flour, remaining sugar, and vanilla extract. Heat over high heat.
3. When the mixture begins to bubble, remove from the heat. Temper 1/3 of the milk mixture into the bowl with the eggs, stirring constantly. Pour the milk and the eggs back into the sauce pan, stirring constantly.
4. Heat over medium low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens.
5. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely.

This was actually made over a week ago. I had queued up a couple recipes as we last Friday we headed to the airport to fly to visit Angela’s parent’s for Christmas. We made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Our flight took off on time and it looked like our trip would be uneventful.

And then we arrived over Milwaukee. And entered a holding pattern. We circled for about an hour until we were told we were running out of fuel and had to divert to Madison. Flaps were out, landing gear was down, and we were approaching the run way. I could just see the landing lights through the fog and then the pilot gunned the engines and pulled up. Turned out we had to abort the landing as air traffic control wasn’t sure whether or not there was another plane on the runway. We were able to turn around and land successfully.

And then we had to wait to get our luggage. And then take a bus to Milwaukee where we found out we could get a flight out the next day. The airline was nice enough to give us a hotel to stay in (of course, they gave us the wrong name of the hotel first and once we got the correct name gave us incorrect information as to how to contact them).

The next day was as fogging as the last. And pretty quickly our flight was canceled. We rebooked for the next day and went to another hotel.

So, after two days, the fog cleared and we showed up at the airport again, a bit hopeful, a bit apprehensive. At first, our flight was going to be delayed. And then it was on time again. When we saw the plane at the gate, Angela did a happy dance. And when, sitting at the end of the runway, the pilot revved the engine and we started accelerating, I had one of the biggest smiles on my face ever (not quite as big as my wedding day).

And I’ve never been happier to be in Florida.

Of course, this has nothing to do with the apple tart. I like apple tart’s quite a bit and am always looking for new ones to try. For some reason, I tend to like them better than apple pie. It may not be very American of me but it’s true (call homeland security!).

This apple tart is mostly apple sauce in a tart shell covered with sliced apples. It’s very simple. It doesn’t even use cinnamon. It’s apples at their simplest.

When I made it, the green apples we had were extremely tart. So tart that I felt the need to sprinkle sugar on top of the tart even though the original recipe didn’t call for it. And it was still tart. So be aware.

Normandy Apple Tart
Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours

1 9-inch partially-baked sweet tart shell

For the applesauce:
2 lbs. red apples
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp light brown sugar
1-4 tbsp sugar (optional)

For the topping:
2 medium green apples
egg wash of 1 egg beaten with 1/2 tsp water
2 tbsp sugar

1. Cut the apples into chunks and place in a large saucepan. Mix in the water and brown sugar. Cover and heat over medium-low heat. Cook at just below a simmer until the apples are soft, about 15 to 20 minutes.
2. Remove the pan from the heat and run the apples through a food mill fitted with a disc with the largest holes. Taste the sauce and add sugar if necessary. Allow to cool to room temperature. The sauce may be refrigerated for several days.
3. Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
4. Fill the tart shell almost to the rim with the apple sauce.
5. Peel and core the green apples. Slice them thinly. Arrange the apple slices in a spiral pattern on top of the apple sauce. Rub the cut apples with the egg wash and sprinkle with the sugar.
6. Bake the tart for 45 to 50 minutes.
7. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves 8.

Partially-Baked Sweet Tart Shell
Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 tsp salt
9 tbsp cold butter, cut into 1 tbsp chunks
1 egg yolk

1. Place the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix briefly, until the ingredients are well combined.
2. With the mixer at low speed, add the butter 1 tbsp at a time. When the butter is fully added, increase the speed to medium, until the butter and flour mixture forms pea sized granules.
3. Reduce the speed to low and add the egg yolk. Increase the speed to medium and mix until the dough is slightly sticky.
4. Remove the dough from the mixer bowl and press it into a fluted 9-inch tart pan.
5. Put the tart pan in the freezer and freeze for at least 30 minutes.
6. Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
7. Press a greased sheet of aluminum foil onto the tart dough. Bake for 25 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven and remove the aluminum foil. Press down any places the dough has puffed. Allow to cool before using.

Julia Child said that in France the chicken tasted more chickeny. I like to think that she was talking about this dish.

The problem with a lot of chicken dishes is that they really don’t taste like much. How many times have I had a grilled chicken breast or chicken caesar salad that didn’t really taste like much of anything? And yet chicken is the most popular form of protein in the United States.

When I first made this recipe, it was refreshing to find a chicken recipe that actually tasted like, you know, chicken. It quickly became one of my wife’s favorite meals.

And, it’s not only good, it’s also pretty easy. It takes about 45 minutes including preparation time. It’s even faster if you quarter the chicken the night before (or as soon as you get it home from the store). It’s easiest enough for a weeknight but tastes good enough for a special occasion. I’ve even made it when visiting family on the other side of the country.

The dish is decent with a mass produced whole chicken but even better with an all-natural or organic bird. This is the dish that made me switch my change my chicken buying habits.

When I quarter my chicken, I don’t use the wings (we never eat them). I also bone and skin the chicken breasts (Angela prefers them that way). If the breast halves are large, I cut them in half again. I usually save the chicken carcass for making stock later on.

The pan sauce made is really for topping the chicken. In our household, we usually dip bread into it. Usually I serve this with a potato gratin and green beans or peas. A light white wine also goes well. Last night, we had a Lucas & Lewellen Chardonnay (it wasn’t overly oaked or buttery so it worked well with this dish).

Poulet Sauté aux Herbes (Sautéed Chicken with Herbs)
Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking

1 3-4 lbs. chicken, quartered
salt
4 tbsp butter
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried tarragon
1 tsp dried basil
pepper
1 tbsp shallots, minced
1 cup chicken stock

1. Preferably the night before, salt the chicken on both sides and refrigerate until the next day (if not salting the night before, salt immediately before cooking).
2. Dry the chicken with paper towels thoroughly. Heat 2 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken in the skillet on both sides, in batches if necessary. Remove the chicken to a plate and reduce the heat to medium.
3. Sprinkle the herbs on each side of the chicken. Season the chicken with pepper.
4. Add the dark meat (thigh and leg) pieces back into the skillet and cover. Cook over medium heat for 8 minutes.
5. Turn the dark meat chicken and add the remaining chicken to the skillet. Cover and cook for 15 minutes, turning once.
6. Remove the chicken from the skillet and cover with aluminum foil. Add the shallots to the skillet and cook until softened, about 1 minute.
7. Add the chicken stock and increase the heat to high. Boil the sauce until its slightly reduced, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in the remaining butter.
8. Serve the chicken with the pan sauce.

Serves 4 to 5.

It’s finally getting cold in our area (cold is a relative concept here but bear with me). I had to light the pilot light in our heater last weekend (no surprise that it was Angela who was cold). With the weather turning, there was an opportunity to make all those dishes that it was too hot to make during the summer.

Specifically, I’m referring to braised dishes. There’s something magical about taking a cheap (relatively) piece of meat and turning it into a great meal. It seems closer to real cooking.

And when it comes to things like braises, I think the rustic style classics are the best. Things like Coq au Vin (which was my original choice for this meal but we decided on beef instead). Or, in this case, Boeuf Bourguignon. And, while it was codified by Escoffier, I still think it’s rustic at heart. And that appeals to me. Particularly on a cold day.

However, I’d not recommend doing what I did: starting cooking at 4:30 PM thinking that it would only take two hours to braise. The recipe specifies from 3 to 4 hours but, luckily, mine was fork tender after two and a half hours so we were able to eat right around 8:00 PM (the prep work and browning takes time). Good things are worth waiting for.

Bouef Bourguignon
Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking

3 oz. bacon, cut into lardons
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1.5 lbs. lean stewing beef (such as chuck pot roast or top round), cut into 2-inch cubes
salt and pepper
1 small sliced carrot
1 small sliced onion
2 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups red wine
2 to 3 cups beef stock
1/2 tbsp tomato paste
a bouquet garni consisting of 1 clove of garlic, 1/2 bay leaf, and 4 sprigs of thyme
9 to 12 brown braised white onions
1/2 lbs. sautéed mushrooms

1. Preheat the oven to 450ºF.
2. Blanch the bacon in boiling water for 10 minutes. Remove from the boiling water and dry.
3. In a large dutch oven, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. When the vegetable oil is hot, cook the bacon in it until the bacon is browned. Remove the bacon from the dutch oven and reserve the bacon.
4. Dry the beef in paper towels. Season with salt and pepper. Brown the beef in the dutch oven on all sides, in batches if necessary. Remove the beef and place it with the bacon.
5. Brown the sliced carrots and onions in the dutch oven. Pour out the fat.
6. Return the beef and bacon to the dutch oven. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the flour and stir. Put the dutch oven in the oven for 4 minutes. Stir the contents and return to the oven for 4 more minutes. Remove from the oven and change the temperature to 325ºF.
7. Deglaze the pan with the wine. Add enough beef stock until the beef is barely covered. Add the tomato paste and mix well. Add the bouquet garni and bring to a simmer on the stove top. Cover the dutch oven and place in the preheated oven. Cook for 2 to 3 hours or until the meat is fork tender.
8. While the beef is cooking prepare the onions and mushrooms. They will be reheated in the boeuf bourguignon before serving.
9. When the meat has finished cooking, remove the dutch oven from the oven. Taste the sauce for seasoning. Simmer the sauce over medium-high heat if it’s not thick enough. If it’s too thick, add more beef stock. Add the mushrooms and onions and simmer for several minutes, until the contents are equally warm.
10. Serve with boiled potatoes or egg noodles.

Serves 3 to 4.

Brown-braised Onions

9 to 12 pearl onions
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup beef stock
salt and pepper
a bouquet garni consisting of 2 parsley sprigs, 1/2 bay leaf, and 2 sprigs of thyme

1. Peel the onions and cut off the root and stem ends. On the root end, cut an x into the base.
2. In a sauce pan, heat the butter and oil over medium heat. When hot, add the onions and brown for 10 minutes, shaking the pan or stirring regularly.
3. Add the beef stock and bouquet garni and season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer slowly for 40 to 50 minutes.

Sautéed Mushrooms

1/2 lbs. button mushrooms
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp vegetable oil

1. Scrub the mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Cut off the bottom of the stem and cut the mushrooms into halves if small or quarters if large.
2. Heat the butter and oil in a large skillet over high heat. When the butter stops foaming, add the mushrooms and cook until browned, about 6 minutes.

I like veal a lot. The only problem is finding it. In our area, the only types I can find are veal scallops, veal chops, and ground chops. And, once in a great while, veal blade steak. And, sadly, while we have ethnic grocery stores in our area, none are the type to carry veal (they’re all Asian or Hispanic).

So, in most cases, I stick with veal scallops which aren’t quite as expensive as the veal chops. To Americans, the classic preparation of veal must be in veal parmesan (which has been mostly subsumed by the chicken variety). While it’s good (and I’ve made it and will probably make it again), I think the veal flavor gets overwhelmed by the tomato sauce and cheese.

When I pull out of the freezer, I usually look for something a bit out of the ordinary. While veal isn’t a special occasion dish for us, it is a bit more special than a normal dinner. French preparations seem a bit better at emphasizing the flavor of the veal without overwhelming it.

The major reason for choosing this recipe was that I had fresh tarragon that I wanted to use. The dish is fairly fast and the main time constraint was boiling water for pasta twice because I didn’t discover that the egg noodles had bugs in them until after the pasta was in the water (I switched to farfalle in fresh water afterwards; I didn’t need extra protein that night). The sauce nicely accents the veal without overpowering it. It also has the consistency of a cream sauce without having any actual cream in it.

Escalopes de Veau à l’Estragon (Veal Scallops with Brown Tarragon Sauce)
Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume One

4 veal scallops (veal scallopini)
salt and pepper
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp minced shallots
2 tbsp vermouth
2 tsp fresh tarragon, minced
1/3 cup chicken stock
1 tsp corn starch mixed with 1 tsp water
1 tbsp softened butter

1. Season the veal with salt and pepper on both sides. Dry with paper towels.
2. In a large skillet, melt 1 tbsp butter with the oil over medium-high heat. When the butter stops foaming, add the veal scallops and brown on each side, about 5 minutes per side. Remove the veal to a plate.
3. Add the shallots to the skillet and cook for one minute.
4. Deglaze the pan with the vermouth, scrapping up any browned bits.
5. Add the chicken stock, corn starch, and 1 tsp tarragon. Boil for 2 minutes or until the sauce is thickened.
6. Return the veal to the skillet and simmer for 5 minutes or until the veal is cooked through.
7. Check the sauce for seasoning. Off heat, add the softened butter and remaining 1 tsp tarragon.
8. Serve with buttered egg noodles (or at least that’s what we had).

Serves 2.

I have no idea where my love of madeleines developed from. At some point in the past year, I knew that I liked them but I don’t know when I had had them. I do know that the ones usually available in the US are expensive (seriously, Trader Joe’s sells them for about $1 per cookie) and not particularly good.

This summer, I had decided that at some point in the indefinite future I was going to get madeleine pans. Whenever we’d go into a store that would sell esoteric kitchen supplies, I’d look for them and determine that I really didn’t want to buy a single use pan (Alton Brown would be upset with me now) for $12 (realizing that I’d probably need at least two to make them effectively).

When my in-laws came to visit, we tend to end up at shopping locations more frequently. As I was still on my quest, I continued to look for them and mentioned to my in-laws. About a week after they had left, a package arrived in the mail for Angela and I and, lo and behold, there were two non-stick madeleine pans inside. Apparently, my mother-in-law had decided that she needed to go out and buy them for me right away. Her decision was my gain.

This isn’t the first time I’ve made madeleines but the first time I’ve used this recipe. This recipes seems to produce a better texture but the other recipe (from Susan Herrmann Loomis) seemed to make one with better flavor. I think I may combine the two at a later date. Either way, madeleines are always good.

Madeleines
Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours

1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 cup sugar
grated zest of 2 lemons
4 large eggs, at room temperature
4 tsp vanilla extract
12 tbsp melted butter, cooled

1. Place madeleine pans in the refrigerator.
2. Mix together the flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl.
3. In a mixer’s bowl, mix together the sugar and lemon zest with your finger.
4. Add the eggs and, using the whisk attachment, mix at medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and mix to combine.
5. Fold in the flour followed by the melted butter.
6. Remove the madeleine pans from the refrigerator and grease them. Place batter into pans, about 1 tbsp per madeleine.
7. Refrigerate the pans and any remaining batter for at least 1 hour.
8. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
9. Bake the madeleines for 11 to 13 minutes. There’s no need to refrigerate any remaining batter before cooking.

Makes 24 madeleines.

The name of this dish really stretches the limits of my French ability (which isn’t saying much as I don’t speak French). I did try an online dictionary to translate blanquette which apparently is translated as blanquette in English (I know English is a strange language but I never really though blanquette was part of it; Firefox’s spellcheck hasn’t heard of it). Anyway, it’s basically a white stew.

The genesis of this dish (well, for me making it) stems from my love of veal. As a note to farmers, please confine cute baby cows to tiny cages in order that they may be slaughtered and I may feast on their succulent flesh. I have no qualms about the condition of the animals as long as they’re still tasty. Which is not entirely true but makes for good copy.

So, several months ago (at this point, “several months ago” can be construed as a bad sign) I was grocery shopping and happened to notice that there was veal blade steak for sale (not a cut of veal that the grocery store regularly sells; speaking of which, why is there such poor selection of veal and lamb at the average grocery store? I’ve never seen a veal roast of any type anywhere). Not only was it for sale, it was also no sale. So I grabbed the promised deliciousness, after all there was something I could make with it. Once it arrived home, it was put into refrigerator. And it waited. And waited. Until I realized that it was liable to go bad if I left it in there any longer. So, up to the freezer it went. And it waited. And waited. And waited. Realize that several months have passed at this point and it looks like it’s accumulating a significant amount of freezer burn (good thing I didn’t take any pictures of that or I’d be the laughing stock of the food blog world for weeks; or maybe not, there’s at least one advantage to not being popular). And of course I’ve realized by this point that I have no idea what to do with it. It’s shoulder meat which isn’t particularly tender but it’s sold as a steak which would imply that you should pan fry it and cook it quickly but the shoulder part says it should be braised. What to do? As you may assume, I decided to just let it relax in the freezer for awhile (it was kept comfortable by various chicken pieces, some pork chops, several pieces of pork butt, and some veal scallopini).

About a week ago, I decided that it was time to use up all that meat that have been lounging in the freezer for who knew how long (which resulted in the General Tso’s Chicken and the Chicken Pot Pie; I actually have some freezer room available now). On Friday I decided it was time to play my trump card and actually cook (and hopefully eat; it wouldn’t be the first time a meal I’ve made has been inedible) the veal.

Now, I’ve heard reference to blanquette de veau several times. I know it’s mentioned by Anthony Bourdain in at least one of his books (uh, the one full of short stories) and I know there’s a recipe for it in Les Halles Cookbook (oddly, Amazon is charging more for the paperback version than the hardback version). Of course, being a French classic dish means that it’s almost never served in a restaurant anymore (I think the only places that serve classic French are cruise ships and it’s a bit too exotic, or possibly expensive, for a cruise ship). I had no real clue as to what it was or what it tasted like but I figured it couldn’t be that bad. And when had Julia Child led me wrong?

From what I’ve read (it sounds like I’ve extensively researched this dish; I have not; I’ve just heard reference to it), it’s supposed to be in a white sauce. And it’s supposed to be pretty much completely white. Go look at the pictures I posted and determine if the sauce is white. Sure, it’s not brown by any means but it’s also not the whitest sauce ever (you should’ve seen it before the addition of the cream). And really, I’m okay with that. It all results from the fact that I make much more of a brown chicken stock than a white one. This is the first time I’ve had a recipe that really wanted a white stock and even then, I can’t imagine making it. You mean you want me to generate less flavor by not browning the meat and then you want me to make some Rube Goldberg-esque contraption involving a raft of egg whites? Just so the stock isn’t dark? I’m sure that will fly in a classical French brigade kitchen but I’ve got better things to do with my time than that. There’s, uh, Scrubs reruns to watch. That’s the ticket. So I just used the brown chicken stock I had in my freezer (I really don’t think the taste would’ve changed much).

So what’s my opinion of the dish? It’s, uh, different. I’m not used to eating boiled meats and the texture was different (it reminded me of corned beef which is usually boiled). The flavor of the sauce was quite good. The veal probably could of used being salted before being cooked; it seemed like it was missing some salt (there’s no instruction to salt the meat before cooking; is there a reason you wouldn’t want to do that with a dish like this?). Also, the original recipe includes an addition of parsley at the end. The green of the parsley just looked odd and the taste didn’t really mesh with the rest of the dish. I would vote for omitting it. If you want an adventure, go ahead and try it. It’s not as hard or complicated as it looks and you might just like it.

Blanquette de Veau à L’Ancienne
Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking

1 lbs. veal stew meat cut into 1″x1″ pieces (I used veal shoulder blade steak)
2 to 3 cups chicken stock
1/2 an onion studded with 1 clove
1 half of a large carrot, peeled and cut into several pieces
a bouquet garni consisting of 1 stalk of celery, 4 parsley stems (with leaves removed), 1/2 bay leaf, and 2 thyme sprigs
salt
9 small white onions
1 1/2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp butter
9 mushrooms
3 tbsp heavy cream
1 egg yolk

1. In a dutch oven, place the veal and cover with water by 2 inches (you may want to season the veal with salt before this step). Simmer for 10 minutes. Pour the water and veal through a strainer. Rinse off the veal and clean out the dutch oven.
2. Return the veal to the dutch oven and add the chicken stock to cover the veal by 1/2 inch. Bring the veal to a simmer. Skim any remaining scum from the surface. Once the scum has subsided, add the onion, carrot, and bouquet garni. Season the sauce lightly with salt. Cover with the lid slightly ajar and cook the veal at a simmer for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes.
3. While the veal is cooking, cook the onions: Peel the onions and cut a cross in the root end. Place the onions, a 1/4 cup of the stock from the cooking veal, 1/2 tbsp of butter, and a pinch of salt in a sauce pan. Cover and lightly simmer for 50 minutes.
4. When the veal is finished cooking, pour the contents through a strainer into a bowl. Return the veal to the dutch oven and discard the vegetables. In a sauce pan, over medium heat, melt 1 tbsp of butter and then whisk in 1 tbsp of flour. Cook for 1 minute. Off heat, whisk in the stock from the veal and any remaining liquid from the onions once they have finished. Simmer the mixture for 10 minutes.
5. Sprinkle the mushrooms with a few drops of lemon juice. Add the mushrooms to the sauce mixture and simmer for another 10 minutes. Check the seasoning of the sauce.
6. Pour the sauce into the dutch oven with the veal. Add 1 tbsp of cream. Place the dutch oven over medium heat.
7. In a small bowl, combine the egg yolk with 2 tbsp of cream. Whisk in 1/4 cup of the hot sauce from the dutch oven then add the mixture back into the dutch oven.
8. Simmer the mixture for a few minutes to warm the contents.

Serves 2.