5 posts tagged “french”
Is there a person on this planet who doesn't love madeleines? I mean, these small French cakes are pretty little packets of buttery goodness. These are the kind of 100 calorie packs I can get behind ;)
You know what else I love? The Food Blog Search Engine. When I got a craving for madeleines last night, I checked out the search and found a recipe for almond madeleines from alpineberry. Since I love almond anything, these sounded perfect.
And they were! So delicious and moist and almondy. I ground almonds for the almond meal (using around 20 almonds to get the 3T) and followed the recipe exactly. I was a little worried about overbaking so my scallops may not be quite as golden as they should be (especially since I put my madeleine pan on top of a cookie sheet; hey, my oven is very temperamental!), but they were perfectly done and exactly what I was craving.
Almond Madeleines
From: alpineberry
Makes 12 madeleines
2 large eggs
1/3 cup superfine sugar (I just put granulated in the food processor)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1/3 cup flour, sifted after measuring
3 Tbsp. almond meal or finely ground almonds
4 Tbsp. butter, melted & cooled, plus an additional 1/2 Tbsp. or so for greasing the pan.
Preheat your oven to 375 and butter and flour your madeleine pan/molds.
Beat the eggs, sugar and salt together on medium speed until pale, fluffy and thick, about 5 minutes. Mix in the almond and vanilla extracts.
On low speed, mix in the flour and almond meal until just incorporated. Gently fold in the butter.
Divide the batter evenly among the 12 molds and bake until the tops spring back when lightly touched, about 10-12 minutes.
Cool in the pan for 2 minutes before moving them to a rack to cool completely.
Nutritional Information Per Madeleine: Calories: 96 / Fat: 6.2 / Saturated Fat: 3g / Carbs: 8.6 / Fiber: 0.3g / Sugar: 5/6 / Protein: 1.8
The other day, I saw a recipe for a gruyere chicken, where the chicken was baked in the oven with some onions and mushrooms and topped with gruyere at the very end. Gruyere got me thinking to how much I love French onion soup. But, I didn't really want to make soup since my kitchen is about 112 degrees on a good day. I decided to be inventive and came up with a French onion chicken. Basically, this is a chicken breast stuffed with gruyere, topped with a French onion soup sauce, and served atop garlic crostini. It was seriously delicious! I just made some green beans with garlic and pine nuts to go with it.
French Onion Chicken
1 Tbsp. butter
1 small onion, sliced
1 sprig thyme
1 bay leaf
2 Tbsp dry sherry
1/2 cup beef broth
1/4 cup chicken broth
splash of cream
2 chicken breast halves
salt
pepper
garlic powder
1/4 cup shredded gruyere
EVOO
2 slices French bread (or other bakery bread)
1 garlic clove, halved
For Sauce
Heat a skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add the butter and melt. Reduce heat to medium-low and add sliced onions, thyme and bay leaf. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions begin to turn golden, about 20-25 minutes.
Add sherry and cook until it's just about evaporated and onions are brown, about 8 minutes.
Increase heat to medium-high and stir in broths. Cook until liquid is reduced by about half. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Turn heat to low and stir in cream, just heating through. Remove thyme and bay leaf (unless you are using it for photographing purposes, like yours truly :)
If you want to decrease the cooking time of the dish, you can just cook onions until translucent in the pan where you browned the chicken and follow the remaining steps accordingly. I didn't do this because I wanted my onions to caramalize, but I'm sure it would still taste great.
For Chicken
Preheat oven to 350.
Depending on the size of your chicken breasts and whether you prefer a stuffing or roll-up technique, prepare/pound chicken accordingly.
Season chicken with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
Stuff chicken with gruyere.
Heat a pan over medium high heat. Add EVOO and heat. Pan fry chicken on both sides until browned. Remove pan to oven to finish cooking.
Meanwhile, spray or drizzle bread with a little olive oil. Put bread in the oven at the same time as the chicken (or, if you are using thicker chicken or didn't pan fry it, the last 8-10 minutes of cooking).
When bread is out of the oven, rub with a clove of garlic.
Plate dish by placing chicken on top of toasted bread and spoon onion sauce over the top.
I couldn't decide what to do with my half of a pork tenderloin tonight, besides roast it, so I decided to do another take on an au poivre. This time I used red wine, and flavored the pork with a little dry mustard. It was great.
Pork tenderloin au povire (for 2)
1 tablespoon black peppercorns, coarsely crushed [I use my mortar and pestle]
1/2 of a pork tenderloin (about 1/2 lb.)
salt
1/8 tsp dried mustard
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 small to medium shallots, sliced
1/3 cup red wine
1/3 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon butter.
Pat the pork tenderloin dry with a paper towel. Sprinkle salt and dry mustard over tenderloin. Press peppercorns onto one side of the tenderloin.
Heat skillet over medium heat and add olive oil. Once hot, add tenderloin to pan and sear. You can either cook the pork tenderloin entirely in the pan, or move it to the oven to finish cooking (either way, flip it once). I cooked the tenderloin about 4 minutes per side or to about 120*, then moved to a hot oven to finish cooking as I made the sauce [I removed the tenderloin with about 5 minutes left of the sauce, to rest before slicing.]
After removing the tenderloin from the pan, add the sliced shallots and cook until tender. Stir in the red wine and the chicken broth. Increase heat to medium high and cook until liquid has reduced to 1/3--1/4 cup, making sure to scrape up any browned bits in the pan.
Stir in butter. Season sauce to taste, and serve over sliced pork tenderloin.
With the tenderloin, I decided to make a pilaf and some green beans. Since I had some hazelnuts leftover from Valentine's day, I thought those would be a great complement to the cremini and white mushrooms I had in the fridge, for the pilaf. I was right. Hazelnuts + mushrooms = crazy delicious.
Hazelnut-Mushroom pilaf
1 tsp butter
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup sliced onion
1.5 cups sliced cremini mushrooms
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp dried sage or about a tsp. fresh
1/2 cup wild rice [or any rice/orzo combo you prefer]
1 cup chicken broth [or amount of liquid called for per your rice]
1/4 cup toasted, chopped hazelnuts
Melt butter and oil together in saucepan. Add onions and mushrooms and cook until tender, about 5 minutes, sprinkling with a little salt.
Add garlic, sage and rice and cook an additional 2 minutes.
Stir in chicken broth. Simmer covered until done.
Stir in toasted hazelnuts.
I decided to make a somewhat nicer dinner today, being Valentine ’s Day and all. Truth be told, the meal was not even the slightest bit more difficult than my everyday-dinners but we had a soup and dessert course so the sheer amount of food was greater. This proves slightly problematic when you do not yet own your dream kitchen with a double cooking surface and 2 wall ovens. Anywho, tonight I made a mushroom soup; lamb chops au poivre with mashed and green beans tossed with garlic and pine nuts; and homemade ice cream sandwiches.
I have never made a mushroom soup before, so I decided to give it a shot and just make up my own recipe. Most of my soups start out in one of two ways: mirepoix (carrots, celery and onions) or sauted (or caramelized) onions eventually deglazed with some type of booze. I decided to go with the latter and work from there. This was very simple and flavorful.
Mushroom soup
3 tbsp. butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 lb. assorted mushrooms, chopped
2 sprigs (leaves) fresh thyme or probably about ½ tsp dried
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup dry sherry
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup beef broth
½ cup half and half or heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
Melt butter in large stockpot/saucepan. Add onions and cook until tender over medium-low heat, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms, thyme, and garlic. Continue cooking over medium-low until mushrooms brown (do not add salt) and most of the moisture they’ve released has evaporated, about 15-20 minutes.
Add sherry. Switch heat to medium-high and cook until sherry is reduced by at least half, about 3 minutes.
Add broths. Simmer for about 20-30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Add half and half or cream and heat through over medium-low, about 5 minutes.
If you like a chunky soup, serve as is. If you like it smooth, puree with an immersion blender or food processor. If you are like me and like something in between, do what I did: put a couple ladlefuls of the soup into a processor and pulse process. Re-add back to the soup and let it thicken slightly.
For the lamb chops, I used a recipe from Bon Apetit. The only difference is that I used short loin chops instead of rib and a splash of half and half at the end. A nice change from steak au poivre, easy and delicious. I seared the chops about 2 minutes per side and then put them in a warm oven to finish cooking while I made the sauce. This made for a perfectly medium rare chop.
For the mashed potatoes, I just made them with butter and half and half since we had some in the fridge. A rarity since I tend to make mashed potatoes with skim milk and a little bit of butter or sometimes even *gasp* Smart Balance.
For the green beans, I heated some olive oil in a pan, then threw in 2 cloves of minced garlic and some chopped pine nuts. I sautéed that over low heat, while my green beans boiled (just covered fresh beans with water, brought to a boil and cooked for about 5 minutes). Then I tossed the drained green beans with the oil-garlic-pine nut mixture and some salt and pepper. See, I can make vegetables besides asparagus!
For the ice cream sandwiches, I used Ina’s chocolate white chocolate chunk cookies and vanilla ice cream. I rolled them in some chopped hazelnuts. I tried to take the pic before the ice cream started to melt, but no dice there. It doesn’t look that great but it tasted pretty damn awesome. Thank you, Ina, for never letting me down.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
I haven't forgotten about cooking, I've just forgotten about the blog. Luckily, I have a million things to do around the house today and, since I am looking for a reason to procrastinate, I remembered I haven't visited the old Vox site in a while. So, here I am, typing away in an office that needs a MAJOR cleaning.
At any rate, I made a nice dinner last night for two friends who recently celebrated birthdays. Unfortunately, I only remembered to take a picture of the very first thing to come out of the oven (stuffed mushrooms). Doh! So, last night we had:
- Stuffed mushrooms
- Goat cheese-marinara bake with garlic crostini
- French Onion soup
- Filet of beef bourguignon with mashed garlic redskins and roasted asparagus
- Chocolate lava cakes
Stuffed Mushrooms
I have made these a few times and everyone always loves them. The best part (for me) is that there is no crab in there since I am not a seafood kinda gal. And who doesn't love bacon?
4 tablespoons butter, divided
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
5 slices bacon
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
10 oz. fresh spinach
1/3 c. heavy cream
12-16 large stuffing mushrooms
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
1. Preheat oven to 400 and grease a cookie or baking sheet (or just use a silpat)
2. Cook bacon, drain, and crumble. Set aside.
3. Remove stems from mushrooms. Arrange caps in baking dish and finely chop stems.
4. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in saucepan over medium heat and add onion. Cook 2-3 minutes before adding garlic and spinach. Cook spinach down and make sure garlic and onion are tender.
5. Mix in bacon, chopped stems, and cream. Bring to a boil and then remove from heat. Mix in cheese, salt, and pepper.
6. Stuff mushroom caps generously with mixture. Drizzle 2 tablespoons melted butter over. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
Goat cheese-marinara crostini
Probably one of the easiest things ever to make, and one of the best. Pat a log of goat cheese until it is slightly flat, and put in a small, shallow baking dish. Pour homemade or your favorite jarred pasta sauce around the sides of the cheese, coming just up to the cheese (but not covering it). Bake at 325 for about 20 minutes or until it starts getting bubbly. During the last 10 minutes, toss in a baking sheet with some slices of French bread that you have brushed with extra virgin olive oil so they become nice and toasty. Once the crostini are out of the oven, rub them with a fresh head of garlic.
French Onion Soup
I have made a creamy onion soup before, but never a plain old onion soup. I looked at a couple recipes and each seemed as though it was missing something, so I made up my own and it was delicious! The other good thing was that I was able to make this earlier in the day and refrigerate it until it was ready to reheat and pop in the oven. The added bonus, of course, is that soups always taste better after they have been resting for a bit.
This makes about 6 bowls of soup (I used the standard oven-proof bowls so I could melt the cheese on top).
7 medium yellow onions, sliced
6 tablespoons unsalted butter (I only keep unsalted in my fridge)
4 thyme springs, leaves stripped
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup dry sherry
4 cups beef stock
2 cups chicken stock
French bread croutons (did the same thing I did for the crostini, above)
Gruyere - 2 cups shredded or 6 slices
In a large pot over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onions, bay leaf, and thyme leaves and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions begin to turn golden brown--about 25-30 minutes.
Add the sherry and cook until it is almost evaporated and onions turn brown, about 15 minutes.
Add the beef and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer, and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Ladle the soup into the oven-proof bowls. Top with a French bread crouton and a handful (or slice) of the gruyere. Bake at 450* until cheese is bubbly and starts to turn brown, about 8-10 minutes.
Filet of Beef Bourguignon
I used Ina Garten's recipe. It was great, primarily because it uses such a great cut of beef ("the Cadillac of meats" as the butcher called it). It was tender and flavorful. The only problem I had is that there it too little sauce. Between the deglazing and simmering of vegetables the sauce reduces quite a bit so I would probably 1.5x the liquid if I were to make this again.
I served this with some mashed garlic redskins [boiled the redskins until cooked, drained. To to the warm pot, added some butter (to melt) and some roasted garlic. Re re-added potatoes and mashed. Added salt, pepper, and a little parmesan cheese] and roasted asparagus.
Chocolate Molten Cakes
I used Dave Lieberman's recipe (sidenote: I *puffy heart* Dave) but did half semi sweet and half bittersweet chocolate. I undercooked them a little (because I was so afraid of OVERcooking them) but they were still yummy. And, it's pretty much a given Iwill never make a perfect dessert since I don't like to bake.
PHEW. So, onto (or back to?) last week. Well, I don't really remember when we had these meals, but over the past week or two we have eaten...
Italian beef sandwiches
For "crockpot Friday," I just put a 2.5 lb. beef chuck roast in the crockpot after searing it a little. I heated up some beef broth (I would say to use about 1/2 cup for every pound of meat) and to that I added: 3 cloves minced garlic; 1 tablespoon oregano; 1 tablespoon basil; 1/2 tsp black pepper; 1 bay leaf, 1 tablespoon dried minced onion; 1 tablespoon parsley and a little salt. Poured that over the roast, cooked it on low all day while I was at work.
When I came home, I shredded the beef and let it continue to cook on low, uncovered (to thicken up/reduce the juices a tad) for about another hour.
I know the traditional way to serve these is with peppers, but I prefer a pepper cheese instead. So, I toasted up some sub rolls that I made into garlic rolls by adding a little butter, garlic and a spray of EVOO, and added cheese the last minute they were toasting.
Chicken with mushrooms, prosciutto, and cream sauce over egg noodles and with peas. Honestly, even ith modifications, I thought this was kinda "eh" at best. I think in general I am not a huge fan of sauces made with sour cream (despite loving sour cream) but I thought I would give it a whirl because we had leftover sour cream.
Beef Stew
This is one of those dishes I love experimenting with, be it changing up the ingredients, or cooking it in a crockpot versus an oven. The recipe below can easily be put in the oven instead of a crockpot. I just like the ease of the crockpot, and that I don't have to be home while it cooks. While this takes a lot more prep than a normal slowcooker meal, if I am making this on a weekday where I have to be at work, I do all the prep (vegetable cutting, etc) the night before. If you like a more tomato-y stew, you could throw in a can of diced tomatoes. I used to make this without tomato paste but realized even adding a tbsp or two really added some depth of flavor, so I do that, now.
If you make this in the oven, cook it in a covered dutch oven at 275-300* for about 2 hours. Stir the frozen peas in at the end, the same way you would for the crockpot version.
2 pounds cubed beef stew meat
4 cups red wine, divided
4 cloves garlic, minced, divided
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2-3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1.5 cup sliced carrots
1.5 cup sliced celery
4-5 potatoes, cut in fourths or eighths depending on size
1/2 cup frozen peas
8 oz. sliced mushrooms, stems removed and cut in half
2 bay leaves (or 1, if it's bigger)
1 Tbsp. dried parsley
1.5 tsp. dried thyme
1.5 tsp. dried rosemary
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 cups beef broth
1 tablespoon butter
2 small or 1 medium onion, sliced
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1. Place meat, 2 cloves garlic, and 3 and 1/2 cup red wine in a container. Refrigerate for a couple hours, or overnight.
2. In a large plastic bag, combine flour, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper. In batches, add meat and shake to coat.
3. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add stew meat, and cook until evenly browned on the outside. Cook in batches if necessary so as not to crowd the meat.
4. Place the potatoes, carrots, celery and mushrooms on the bottom of the crockpot. Top witb browned meat, Worcestershire sauce, parsley, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper.
5. In the same skillet, melt butter and saute onions until softened. Add the tomato paste and cook off a bit and stir in garlic until fragrant.
6. Pour remaining 1/2 cup red wine and beef broth into the skillet, deglazing the pan and scraping the brown bits. Reduce slightly before pouring the mixture into the crockpot.
7. Cook on low for 7-9 hours or if I am home I like cooking on high for one hour and then on low for 5 or 6
8. When done, stir in peas
Damn, Gina! I think that finally gets up up to speed.
