Desultory Cordon Bleu from Vivi

Over the last couple of weeks, we've slacked off a lot on Cordon Bleu, for a number of reasons. One of the household is formally On A Diet (and others of us are informally following suit because we really need to anyway). Money is tight, this tax month, and Cordon Bleu meals tend to be pricey. And I haven't been that interested in cooking (I've had a cold), nor in the meals as presented.

However, we have done some. I made a cheese soufflé a week ago Saturday, that was quite tasty. I've never made one before, and it was both surprisingly easy, and fun to watch bake.

(through the oven door, Before....and After)






And it was very tasty. I used the called-for cheese, a Conté, basically a French Swiss cheese (with no holes), which I got at Trader Joe's for cheap. Stinky, but very nice melted with a lot of eggs.
Then, on Wednesday this week, I made the dessert for Lesson 16 (for which I have not made the other dishes), Pêches, Poires, et Pruneaux au Vin Rouge (Poached Fruit in Red Wine). I used pears and prunes, as called for (but no peaches, as they are out of season, and you can't even get them from Mexico -- which of course, we wouldn't do anyway, for environmental reasons). It calls for madeleines alongside, which I was excited about, because I've never had madeleines.

Every time I encounter Pears poached in Red Wine, something about them, perhaps the spicy, sweet-sharp scent of the dark syrup, reminds me of Mother Bleu's eldest sister. She served them for dessert once, for Mother Bleu and me. I was a callow girl in her mid-20's, unworldly, still full of hopes and dreams not yet set adrift by so-called "polish" or refinement.

I really ought to read more of Proust before I try writing a send-up. By "more" I mean "any".

I actually did first experience this dish at our aunt's house, but I can't remember anything at all about the meal or the visit, except that we had pears poached in red wine. I had never eaten anything so sophisticated. To be honest, I remember more delight in being treated as a grown-up than in the flavor combination -- the pears were fruit after all, not chocolate or ice cream, and the wine tasted very, well, winey -- I didn't drink wine in those days, and certainly didn't like red wine. But, my, I felt urbane, eating that dessert.

My tastes have changed dramatically. Everyone quite liked the pears (not the children -- the pears and prunes are fruit after all, not chocolate or ice cream, which they chose instead). I used, I fear, the cheapest Shiraz from Australia that I could find, not the Burgundy called for, but it didn't seem to make a difference. And I forgot entirely to serve the madeleines! (which I had purchased, not made.) I want to make the dish again, if only to get those literary cookies on the table.

For those without the recipe, it's essentially a bottle of red wine, 10 oz. red currant jelly (no sugar), 12 peppercorns, and a cinnamon stick. Let it boil for 5 minutes, then poach the peeled and cored fruit (6 pears and 6 peaches, and 24 prunes) for 15 minutes. Let the whole mixture cool together, and serve. They have you soak the prunes in water for 20 minutes ahead of time, but I had purchased fresh, soft prunes, and after 5 minutes they were half dissolved.

(By the way, they are now called not prunes, but dried plums, as Baby Boomers hope to differentiate their middle age digestive issues from those of their parents').

We will have a guest for dinner on Sunday, so it will be another Cordon Bleu day. I haven't yet decided whether to cook from Lesson 16 (Carrot Soup and Breaded Veal Scallops -- I'll use Eggplant -- with Milanaise Sauce and Spaghetti), or Lesson 17 (Duck Breasts with Pears). If I do the former, we could have the Poached Pears again (this time remembering the madeleines). Otherwise, it will be Pots de Crème (and it's hard to bypass Pots de Crème, particularly when they are vanilla, chocolate and coffee flavored. It's not a fruit dessert, after all).

How to fix sauces that 'break'

A while back, we had problems with a sauce 'breaking' and kind of had to fudge the results. I've just learned what to do when your sauce breaks, so I thought I'd post it here.  This is from Apartment Therapy - The Kitchen blog.

If your sauce is just starting to break, little droplets of fat will start to form around the edges of the bowl. When you see this, hold off adding more fat for the moment and add a little liquid instead. Use a teaspoon or two of whatever liquid you've used as a base (like water, wine, vinegar) and whisk vigorously.  The sauce should tighten up in a few seconds and the fat droplets will get suspended back into the emulsion. If the sauce isn't thick enough yet, you can pick back up with adding the fat one teaspoon at a time.

If your sauce has broken completely, the fat and liquid have separated and the sauce will look grainy and thin.  To save this one, you need to take a few extra steps.  In a separate bowl, whisk together one egg yolk and a teaspoon of whatever liquid you've been using as a base. Whisking constantly, add the broken sauce to this egg yolk one teaspoon at a time. This will form a fresh emulsion and a new stable sauce.  If you're making a warm sauce and the eggs start to cook, unfortunately there's not a lot you can do to save it. If you're down to your last egg or stick of butter, you can strain out the curdled egg and begin a new sauce using a fresh egg and the old sauce as we describe above.