It has been a while since I cooked anything interested on this project. The reason is that we are staging the house for selling it, and our time has been devoted to that.
However, I found a very cool new website for you to create your own cookbook: The Secret Ingredients
. It sounds pretty simple: You sign up, enter your cooking recipes and pictures, check out and you get your own cookbook on the mail. It's the real deal.
My only problem is that I'm not a big recipe inventor. Usually, I can make up a lot of things without recipe and using whatever I have at hand, but I never take notes. One time, we did a beets and squash soup that was out-of-this-world delicious, but since then I failed to recreate the recipe and we keep just wishing to have another taste of that soup.
This week I also did lunch instead of dinner. I need to adapt to my friends commitments. Since I have so many friends with kids, I try to invite one couple of kids and one without. I had some concerns about the quantity so I increase a bit of the portions.
This week's recipes were:
- Onion Tart (Tarte à l'Oignon)
- Mussels with Wine and Cream Sauce (Mouclade)
- Vanilla Bavarian Cream with Raspberry Coulis (Bavarois à la Vanille, Coulis de Framboise)
The Cooking
I love when a recipe allows you to prepare a big or tough part ahead of time, and the dough for the Onion Tart was just like that. According to the book, I could prepare it 2-3 days in advance while keeping it on the refrigerator. That's what I did, but then... When Saturday came, I checked out the though and it was tough like a rock. Did I ruin the dish? Well, I gave it an hour or so to reach room temperature and it was still pretty tough. I decided to roll out the dough anyway, and, surprise... It worked perfectly. I found this dough recipe quite easy to do.
For the mussels dish it seemed like an easy task. I've done mussels many times and I've learned how to know when mussels are ready. That part was very easy. The hard part was creating a reduction with the liquid left-over and crème fraiche. The problem is that if you heat too much, crème fraiche can suffer so chemical separation of the fat (like cheese), and that's exactly what happened.
The desert was quite simple. Crème anglaise, like last week, whipping cream, gelatin powder and the raspberry coulies. I almost messed up the crème anglaise by cooking at a higher temperature than what I used last week, but at the end it worked out pretty well. The gelatin powder also had some issues becoming too firm before I mixed with the crème anglaise. My solution was to poor a little of the crème anglaise over the gelatin, mix until they were relative well homogeny and then turn it back into the big bowl w/ the rest of the crème anglaise.
The Results
I think I never had home-prepared Tart dough before, because this was just perfect. The onion tart was very good. It didn't have onion taste, but a sweet mix of tart dough, cheese and nearly melted onion. Really wonderful and I'm glad I did two tarts instead of just one.
The mussels were good, but not great. I was expecting something much better, but it was just like nearly every mussel recipe I had before. I'm starting to think there aren't any original way of cooking mussels. That said, I love mussels and I ate quite a bit.
And, finally, after five not so great deserts, this one was excellent! It was not too sweet, or too moist or too dry, just great. And given how simple it was to prepare I think I'll have to do a few more times.
Different from other "lessons", I think this one, although without any dish that stand out, was the most uniform experience with three very good dishes.
Technical Data
- Guests: Renato, Ana Elisa, Paulo, Angela, Belinha
- Total cost: $57
- Item hard to find: None
- Utensils bought: 9" tart pan ($12)
- Appliances bought: none
- Best Dish: Onion Tart
- Worst Dish: None
- Accompanying wines: Chateau roumieu-Lacoste, Haut-Barsac, Lauternes, France, 1999; Principessa Gavia, Gavi, Itaily, 2006; Hangtime Pinot Noir, 2005, USA; Facelli, Syrah, 2003, USA.
Score
| Recipe | Ingredients | Preparation | Cooking | Taste (1-5) | Do it again? |
| Onion Tart | Very Easy | Easy (30min) | Easy (60min) | 4 | Likely |
| Mussels with Wine and Cream Sauce | Easy | Easy (30min) | Easy (20min) | 4 | Very Likely |
| Vanilla Bavarian Cream with Raspberry Coulis | Very Easy | Easy (20 min) | Easy (30 min) | 4 | Very Likely |
Table Legend: Ingredients - How hard to find them; Preparation - Cutting, assembling, washing, etc.; Cooking - Roasting, frying, searing, etc.; Taste - 1=inedible, 2=edible, 3=good, 4=great, 5=OMG; Do it again? - How likely would I do it again (based on cost, time and result).
For the first time we did lunch on Sunday instead of dinner on Saturday and I think it work out better, because we don't feel so tired at the end of the meal. On the other hand there is just so much that can be done in the morning, which is critical for foods that must be prepared just hours before serving.
The recipes were:
- Summer Harvest Salad (Salade Messidor)
- Fish and White-Bean Stew (Cassoulet de Poissons)
- Sponge Cake with Crème Anglaise (Biscuit de Savoie, Crème Anglaise)
The Cooking
This time I had to compromise on three fronts.
The salad was quite simple. It was the first time I cooked artichokes by trimming the leaves first. Usually I cook as a whole and eat the base of the leaves as well. The first compromise of this lesson was the mayonnaise. The recipe called for a home-made mayonnaise with Dijon mustard. There was two pregnant and I couldn't serve that because the base for mayonnaise is raw egg yolks.
The cool part was blanching the tomatoes to remove the skin. I didn't know it was that easy, but dropping them in boiling water for 10 seconds or so and then quickly moving them into cold water (so they don't cook). It works amazingly well.
The main dish was very promising, with onions, tomatoes, carrots, white beans and fish. The second compromise of the night was that I couldn't find monkfish. I tried 3 different markets, but they were all out. Instead, I used Halibut Cheeks. I left the white beans in the water for about 24 hours, so they were relatively fast to took (less than 1.5 hours). The third compromise of the night was the tomato and onion mixture to go into the stew. Since this is not tomato season, they were pretty tasteless, so I decided to add a can of diced tomatoes.
Finally, there was the dreaded desert, which so far is 0-4 against me. The Sponge Cake was so thick that was near impossible to spread it on the pan. I wonder if anyone at Cordon Bleu ever followed the recipe instructions they wrote. The Crème Anglaise was very easy to make. The hard part was to wait for it to thicken (I think I had the fire too low).
The results
Contrary to what I was expecting, the salad was not heavy because of the mayonnaise. The artichoke bottoms were excellent and a bit more firm than you usually find on cans, which I really liked.
The Cassoulet was also very good. According to Jordana it’s the best dish I’ve done to date! The topping of the Cassoulet didn’t look as crispy – with the bread crumbs – as it should have been but it wasn’t a problem. The white-beans with tomato sauce and the fish were all near perfect seasoning (not under-salted like many of my previous dishes). This Cassoulet felt like a perfect dish for a Sunday family lunch.
Finally, the desert had some issues (again!). The Sponge Cake was neither a cake nor a biscuit, it was something in between. However, one of the persons on the table, which lived in France for a year said it was quite common that kind of hard dry cake with Crème Anglaise in France. So, I probably did it right, but the taste was not great.
Technical Data:
- Guests: Alfredo, Audrey, Roger, Dana
- Total cost: $100 (Artichokes are quite expensive this time of the year)
- Item hard to find: Monk Fish (substituted with Halibut Cheeks).
- Utensils bought: Gratin dish ($20), Flour Sifter ($7), Small Whisker ($3), Cake Pan ($17).
- Appliances bought: none
- Best Dish: Fish and White-Bean Stew
- Worst Dish: Sponge Cake with Crème Anglaise
- Accompanying wines: Patianna, Sauvignon Blank, Mendocino, 2005 (USA).
Score:
| Recipe | Ingredients | Preparation | Cooking | Taste (1-5) | Do it again? |
| Summer Harvest Salad | Very Easy | Medium (45min) | Easy (30min) | 4 | Likely |
| Fish and White-bean Stew | Medium | Medium (45min) | Medium (3h) | 4.5 | Very Likely |
| Sponge Cake w/ Crème Anglaise | Very Easy | Easy (20 min) | Medium (30 min) | 3.5 | Maybe |
Table Legend: Ingredients - How hard to find them; Preparation - Cutting, assembling, washing, etc.;
Cooking - Roasting, frying, searing, etc.; Taste - 1=inedible, 2=edible, 3=good, 4=great, 5=OMG;
Do it again? - How likely would I do it again (based on cost, time and result).
This lesson was relatively easy with the biggest challenge being to find the Leg of Lamb to the specifications the recipe required. After a one minute discussion with the butcher, I gave up. He was not going to understand what I wanted and I couldn't make myself clear.
The recipes were:
- Smoked Salmon Crêpes (Crêpes au Saumon Fumé)
- Roast Leg of Lamb (Gigot d'Agneau)
- Swiss Chard Gratin (Gratin de Blettes)
- Pineapple Sorbet (Ananas Givré)
The Cooking
I've made crêpes several times before(BTW, to my English speaking friends, it sounds like "crap", not "crape"). The secret to great crêpes is to not worry too much about making a few that look like a truck with snow chains went over them. I only needed 7, but I've made 10. The last 7 were the better one because they were thinner. The content was macerated smoked salmon ("marinated in milk").
The Roast Leg of Lamb was the wrong part. It was a leg of lamb with the bone, but it was not "shortened". I would have cut to the right subject if I knew what I was supposed to do. Because the piece was 4.9lbs, while the recipe called for a 3lbs, it took way longer to cook. Instead of 40 minutes, it took about 1h. I always use thermometer to know when the meat is "perfect". It just eliminates the guesswork.
The Swiss Chard Gratin was another recipe that I had a bit of a problem with one ingredient: The swiss chard. Turns out that it's really hard to find that one (at least this time of the year), but I found a "Red Swiss Chard". It looked very similar except by the stem being red. This recipe also used Béchamel, which was used on the last 3 lessons, so I'm becoming an ace on that.
Finally, the Pineapple Sorbet was a great experiment. I had never, ever done ice cream before (or sorbet) and it sounded so simple, that I was over optimistic about its success. Well, after I unboxed the Ice Cream maker that I had just bought, I start reading the manual and I found out I should have put the container in the freezer for 6-24 hours. Well, too late for that now. I manage to put it in the Freezer for about 2 hours, because I needed to make the Sorbet and then leave the sorbet for 2 hours.
The results
The Smoked Salmon Crêpe was very good. It was a perfect first course. I was expecting a very bland taste, but it was very tasteful. Seasoning was perfect and the creme fraiche topping matched very well.
The dinner was the Roast Leg of Lamb and the Swiss Chard Gratin. The Leg was thick, so the middle was more of a medium-rare, while the outside was medium to medium-well. That was ideal because of some people on the table not being able to eat medium-rare (because they are pregnant). It seems people really liked the Leg of Lamb but for me was a bit chewy.
The Swiss Chard Gratin was ok. Not a great dish and I probably won't repeat it because it's a bit too much work for not so great results.
Finally, the Pineapple Sorbet worked quite well. It tasted very fresh, but the consistency was very different from the first scoop to the last one. Probably because the churning on the ice cream maker suffered because I forgot to freeze the container. I'll absolutely do the Pineapple Sorbet again and I'll try a few more fruits like Banana, Mango, Nectarine and more.
Technical Data
- Guests: Marcelo, Flavia, Fabricio, Lilian
- Total cost: $86
- Item hard to find: Shortened Leg of Lamb (had to use the regular one); Swiss Chard (used "Red Swiss Chard")
- Utensils bought: none
- Appliances bought: 1 Ice Cream machine
- Best Dish: Pineapple Sorbet.
- Worst Dish: Swiss Chard Gratin
- Accompanying wines: Columbia Valley Sockeye, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005 (USA); Scala Dei Prior Criança (Priorat), Grenache/Syrah/Cabernet Sauvignon, 2000 (Spain); Porto Rocha, LBV Prot, 2000 (Portugal).
Score
| Recipe | Ingredients | Preparation | Cooking | Taste (1-5) | Do it again? |
| Smoked Salmon Crêpes | Very Easy | Easy (10min) | Easy (15min) | 4 | Likely |
| Roast Leg of Lamb | Medium | Easy (15 min) | Easy (1h) | 3.5 | Likely |
| Swiss Chard Gratin | Medium | Medium (20 min) | Medium (25 min) | 2.5 | Unlikely |
| Pineapple Sorbet | Very Easy | Medium (15 min) | Easy (10 min) | 4.5 | Very Likely |
Table Legend: Ingredients - How hard to find them; Preparation - Cutting, assembling, washing, etc.;
Cooking - Roasting, frying, searing, etc.; Taste - 1=inedible, 2=edible, 3=good, 4=great, 5=OMG;
Do it again? - How likely would I do it again (based on cost, time and result). Because my son's birthday party on Saturday, we didn't schedule a lesson for this weekend. Back to our regular schedule next week.
The one thing I manage to do this weekend was a major clean up on our pantry, which included throwing out 3 fondue sets (who needs 6?), several serving plates (ceramic and metal) and a box of Pringles that had expired *4 years ago*!
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