Yummy, yummy meal #5, from sister #2

Some years ago, after internet but before Google, I learned that almond flour was used in cakes and as a thickener back in Jane Austen's day, and, of course, I developed a passion to try it if I could ever find it. Thus, today, when I discovered almond flour on the shelf at Whole Foods, I knew immediately that I was going to use it in today's sponge cake no matter what the recipe called for. This turned out to be just one of many substitutions in today's menu.

Unlike the Bride, I made the summer vegetables as diligently as I could--the artichokes stuffed with green beans, cauliflower, celery, tomato. But I drew the line at the mayo. I made it, yes, whisking away, cheating only on the quantity of oil I used, but I served the vegies plain, with the mayo alongside rather than mixed with the vegies. The vegies themselves were delicious. The cauliflower, lightly soaked in vinegar water, was crisp and flavorful. The beans were cooked to just the right state of undoneness. The celery added texture and crunch. The tomatoes provided a vivid red contrast. But Whole Foods didn't have curly endive, so I subsituted some rather odd smooth Belgian endive and a frizzy lettuce that, as far as I could tell, added nothing but expense.


The real revelation of the evening was the seafood cassoulet. I started from canned navy beans, not dry, because, honestly, I haven't had much luck with dry beans in the past, and I didn't feel like messing around with them today. They have always ended up too dry for my satisfaction, and I wanted a nice Toulousain mushiness tonight. Meanwhile, Whole Foods had no monkfish nor did they have Trout NOR did they have whiting filet. So I bought the six scallops required by the recipe and substituted pricey sea bass for the monkfish and filets of tilapia for the trout or whiting fillet. The resulting cassoulet was flavorful, seafood-rich without being "fishy", and the beans were tender.


And the almond flour-adulterated sponge cake was lovely with strawberries and blueberries on the side. I substituted 1/4 cup of almond flour for 1/8 cup of the potato and 1/8 cup of all-purpose flour. The cake had a light almond flavor, almost marzipan-ny, which I quite liked. The only disappointment was the crème anglaise which curdled slightly. It still tasted simultaneously decadent and comfy, but the texture wasn't quite as smooth as I hoped.

We--the husband, the niece, the fiancé, and I--agreed that this was the best Cordon Bleu meal yet. We had a lovely Portuguese white with all this yummy goodness. I'll post pictures just as soon as I can find my transfer cord thingie.

I want to mention level of effort. I started around 1:00 PM after I got home from the grocery store, and I spent the rest of the day cooking with a little quiet email/IM break around 3. We ate around 7:30 PM. The on-line Weightwatchers activity tracker estimated that I earned 8 points for all that standing, slicing and juggling of hot food to help offset the 18 points or so that the meal cost with all its butter, eggs, flour and sugar. (I estimated 240 minutes of activity --four hours rather than the six to seven I had spent--but I had to substitute "housework-ironing" as my activity. I guess Weightwatchers doesn't really want its members to use "cooking a three course meal" as one of its activities. It is the sort of thing that might lead to abuse.)

The Bride Falters on Menu 5

Nothing really new for me in this menu, so I took some liberties. I did a lot of things ahead of time. I did the beans yesterday through the adding of the tomatoes. All I had to do tonight was to brown the fish, layer the cassoulet and put it in the oven for 15 minutes. The beans weren't as soft as the ones I remember from cassoulet in Toulouse, but it made an interesting and healthier variation. The picture shows the cassoulet half eaten.

I made a different starter, as we don't have many Spring Veggies at this time of year. I made a kohlrabi remoulade, using kohlrabi left from our CSA this summer. Since I've made home-made mayo many times, and since we are a little squeamish about raw eggs, I made a home-made vegan mayonnaise for the remoulade. The advantages of the vegan mayo were 1) raw eggs replaced by silky tofu and 2) many fewer calories, as there was only about 1/3 cup of oil in addition to the tofu. Verdict: it made a tasty starter mixed with the kohlrabi, but I wouldn't use it where the flavor and texture of the mayo is important. It was grainier and.... well.... less oily than real mayo.


I also did the Creme Anglaise last night. That didn't go so well - it got too hot and 'split'- I think it's called. Annoying, since I have made it many times with no problem. In fact, I made it last week for the plum pudding and it was fine. Anyway, rather than start from the beginning, I used a cheat. I strained it, then re-heated it with a little cornstarch. It wasn't as good as it would have been, but it was OK. Next time I'm going back to Julia Child's recipe.

The sponge cake was fine. I've also made it before many times, so no surprise. I sprinkled powdered sugar through a doily to create a pattern. This would have been better if the doily had been round, not square.

Tomorrow.... the lamb!

Chilean Sea Bass

It isn't Cordon Bleu, but tonight we had pan-roasted Patagonian Toothfish, aka Chilean Sea Bass, for supper. The name change, evidently, is for the US market.

I was delighted by how flavorful it was. Very buttery and flaky! Am I the last member of the family to discover this delicious fish?

The Bride makes Salmon Crepes - Yummy Yum Yum

Tonight we had the Smoked Salmon Crepes from menu 4 for dinner. It was really fun to make crepes again, after learning how in France last Spring. They were great, really delicious. We had them with a salad and, for dessert, a meringue to use up egg whites left from Christmas.

Tomorrow night I plan to jump back into the program and fix the Fish Cassoulet from Menu 5. Instead of the Spring Veggies in the starter, I'm going to do winter vegetables in the mayonnaise. And, because we are all a bit squeamish about raw egg, I'm going to make a vegan mayonnaise. I'll let you know how it goes. Otherwise I'll stick to the menu. I promise.

Then on New Years Day, I"m going to do the lamb, the swiss chard gratin and the pineapple sorbet, which everyone else has already done. I was waiting for the lamb. We've bought an organically reared lamb from Maine, which was delivered Christmas Day. Menu 4 will be our inaugural meal.

Sputtering along

I have made three of the four recipes from the fourth lesson, distributed over severals days, which, go figure, seems a lot easier than doing a three course meal at one time! On Christmas Eve, we had the main course--Gigot d'agneau and the Gratin de Blettes--but I substituted our traditional oyster stew for the entrée of salmon crêpes.

I was under the impression that I was the only one in our household who liked oyster stew, so, accepting reality uncomplainingly like the saint that I am, I was going to give up on my family tradition--as I had done with fruit cake. I was planning to make the crêpes instead of the stew. But then my son objected. But he LIKES oyster stew! Then my husband also protested that he, too, likes Christmas eve oyster stew. Even my daughter admitted that her particular Christmas tradition involved eating and then complaining about the oyster stew. So we had the oyster stew, and all of us were happy in our own ways.

The method for making the lamb was basically what we have always done--garlic shards embedded, rubbed with oil and seasonings, hot oven. The swiss chard gratin was tasty and straightforward to make. It was even better several days later. The meal was not for the lactose-intolerant.

We had the salmon crêpes for dinner Wednesday night, the day after Christmas. No real challenges there. I used a chunky salmon rather than strips, but it tasted delicious. Since our crêpes pan is in storage, I used a small omelet pan and that worked out okay; My French-learned, crêpes-flipping technique served me well. We used crème fraîche on top. Overall, I thought it was a bit bland, though.

Lesson 4: Crêpes, Sugar Syrups, Roasting

23 Decembre 2007

Crêpes au Saumon Fumé
(Smoked Salmon Crepes)

Gigot d'Agneau
(Roast Leg of Lamb)

Gratin de Blettes
(Swiss Chard Gratin)

Ananas Givré
(Pineapple Sorbet)

Veal Redux

Last night I made the Veal with the creme fraiche sauce again. I used thinly sliced boneless pork chops - they came that way, I didn't do anything special to them.

Here is what I did. I used 1 tbsp of butter(for taste) and 1 tbsp of healthier olive oil and cooked the pork quite quickly until they were done - only a couple of minutes on each side was enough. Took the pork out and put in the shallots and the mushrooms and a wee bit more olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and cooked it for a couple of minutes. The salt makes the mushrooms lose moisture so they cook faster, at least so it seems to me. When they looked done, I added the calvados and a bit of chicken broth to deglaze the pan. I didn't set fire to the calvados, and I don't think it added much to the flavor. then I added the pork again, just for a minute to heat and to let the juices cook down a bit more, maybe by half. Finally I added 1/2 cup of creme fraiche, (which was perfectly adequate) and stirred. It was quite nice, although I think it could have used.... something. It was a bit bland. I put quite a lot of parsley on mine and that helped some. Maybe sprinkled with fresh thyme.... or instead of calvados, I'm going to try maybe red wine or marsala or something. I know it changes the recipe to something entirely different, but so what.

Oh. apples. I did intend to make the baked apple side dish, but the apples I wanted to use were a bit old - the last of the local organic farm - so I made apple crisp instead.

Where in the world were we?

You know how Mother always tells us to write down when and where photos were taken? I have totally forgotten when and where this one was taken. When I look at it I think of Menton a couple of summers ago, but the Botanical gardens were closed when we walked up there. Was it in Nice? Do you remember?

Chicken stock redux

I tried making chicken stock again using the recipe from lesson #2. The last time, you may remember, I had to abort after an hour. The stock ended up on the porch as a frozen block of leeky ice. This time, I gave myself enough time, but I misread the recipe and cooked the chicken for 1.5 hours instead of one. It was pretty rubbery when I pulled out. Then during the final hour of simmering, I was distracted by the charming film, Stardust, which I watched with daughter and visiting Oregon sister. As a result, when I got back to the stock, I had two cups of intense stock instead of eight. Sigh.

So I'll have to try yet again. Perhaps it will be A Quest. I'm not going for perfection here; I'm going for basic competence.

Lesson 3: 16 Decembre 2007

Oeufs à la Tripe
(Gratin of Hard-Boiled Eggs)

Rouelles de Veau Bourgeoise
(Veal Shanks with Pearl Onions and Mushrooms)

Mousse au Chocolat aux
Noisettes et au Whisky
(Chocolate Mousse with Hazelnuts and Whisky)

(Extra Lessons: Roux and Flour-Bound Sauces, Liaisons)

The Mousse au Chocolat was found to be delicious by all respondents.

Poll Results: Lesson 2

Eaters! Lesson 2: Any four star courses?

Country-style Vegie Soup 1 vote (25%)
Veal Scallops with Apples 1 vote (25%)
Caramel Custard 4 votes (10%)

4 votes

Chocolate mousse poems

Butter, sugar, eggs,
Dark chocolate and thick cream.
This dessert is rich.
(Peaceable)


Some cooks are wusses
Using tiredness as excuses
from making chocolate mousses.

Real chefs never cease
or allow disturbances of their peace
to interfere with the making of chocolate meese.
(Vivi)

The Bride Takes Liberties with Menu #3

Fourteen eggs, and thirteen tablespoons of butter, not to mention the 1 cup of heavy cream, the chocolate and the sugar. According to my calculations over 6,000 calories for the meal. More than one thousand per person, at 6 servings per dish - about as much as the Bride should eat in one day.

But no sacrifice is too great in the name of Sisterhood! The Bride took liberties, but did not cut the amount of fat/eggs etc in the recipes.

Recipe #1: The strange egg dish. The COG and the Son of pronounced it delicious, but possibly too rich and the texture was too soft. The Son said he would eat it again. Next time, we'd add more onions, serve it on toast or with crusty bread and a green salad. The Bride experienced some difficulties in preparation. The 10 minutes called for did not fully hard cook the eggs, but the Bride averted disaster, though she does not wish to discuss how.

Recipe #2: Couldn't get the right kind of veal and used veal chops. They were perhaps overcooked in this method and were a little tough. All of us agreed that they were nicely flavored, but there was a huge amount of sauce left over and I don't think it thickened enough.

Recipe #3 The Mousse. Liberties were taken. Instead of Hazelnuts we used Hickory nuts gathered this autumn along the road while walking the dog. It was a pleasure to use local nuts and they tasted fabulous! However, extracting the tiny nut meat from the shell was tedious to say the least. It took an hour or more (over 3 days) to get enough tiny pieces. The good news was that there was no need to crush them, since the pieces were so tiny. (Think - Hickory Nut is to Hazelnut as Crawfish is to Lobster).

The Bride also used brandy instead of scotch. That was because we had no whiskey in the house and, because it was snowing, we couldn't get any.

And the Bride used chocolate chips instead of chocolate cut into small pieces. They were the nicest chocolate chips, however.

And, worst liberty of all, the Bride stirred the chocolate, risking having her chocolate 'seize'.

The verdict, intensely chocolatey, but waaaaay too rich to eat very much of. The sugar didn't seem to dissolve enough - possibly due to the Bride's impatience. The COG pronounced it 'Nice'. The Son of didn't eat any. He's a bit squeamish about raw eggs. The COG and I are old, so we take more risks with our lives.

OTOH the pastry bag is really fun and The Bride is looking for ways to use it again.

Wine: We had a Russolo Mussignaz, an Italian white that we'd never heard of before, but which was recommended for the meal by our favorite wine store. It was nice, but not a patch on what Chez Peaceable had.

Vivi Chokes on Menu #3

Not literally, figuratively. I didn't do the menu this week. We had a large party yesterday, which involved, among other preparations, the making of three loaves of yeast bread, a double batch of blueberry muffins and a double batch of banana bread, a roast ham, apple cake, Swedish Meatballs, chocolate fondue, and two dozen half hard-boiled eggs. Even though there were four boiled eggs leftover (easing some of the preparation of the first course), the prospect both of cooking an unfamiliar menu, and of eating a second high fat meal, in two days, made me quail.

So we all went out to a local pub for dinner, instead. Hard to top pub food when you're tired.

I want to try the gratin, and am looking forward to the chocolate mousse (possibly for Christmas). I think the veal shank recipe sounds interesting, but Peaceable's review is not enthusiastic, and I've not yet found a steady supplier of pink veal, so I don't know.

Menu #3..."wow, wow, rich & heavy," moaned sister 2

I suppose, given the number of eggs and the amount of butter, it should have been obvious that this was going to be a heavy meal. In France, a number of non-French mentioned that they found French cooking heavy, and I wasn't sure what they meant because I wasn't experiencing French food as particularly heavy. Until tonight. Maybe I'll just have a gallbladder attack to spite myself. Or a coronary.

In terms of technique, the dishes were very straightforward, though I continue to struggle with the sequencing with so many steps and multiple courses.

In terms of the food, the diners liked the egg dish starter which they described it as tasty and "interesting" though I thought it was dull. White eggs, white onions, white sauce...bland. However, it was good practice with Bechamel sauce, one of the "Mother" sauces of France. On the other hand, the diners didn't care for the veal shanks bourgeois (I substituted beef ribs.) They thought it was dull, a cover-up for a poor cut of meat. They didn't even think it was very "french." I liked it, though. I thought it could be adapted very easily as a technique for a lot of meat stews, We served it with wild rice so the Vegetarian would have something to eat, but I wondered if potatoes might have been better; The other diners pooh-poohed that idea vigorously. I believe the term, "meat and potatoes," was used in a pejorative way. I missed fresh and green at this meal.

But the chocolate mousse...we all agreed that was divine! Today was the Husband's 60th birthday. We had lunch at the St. Paul Grill with his family and returned to our house for cake and presents. Instead of cake (which we cooks won't reach until lesson #5) I made the chocolate mousse (it is pictured here, half devoured.) It was easy to make and fantastic. The chocoholics considered it first rate, high praise indeed. I wasn't able to find a pastry bag in the desultory shopping that I did, so I used a cookie press. Not perfect, but worked well enough.

We had extraordinary wines tonight. In honor of his 60th birthday, The Resident Oeniphile brought up a couple of bottles of wine that he bought when he was a young whippersnapper: a 1970 Château Giscours, from the Margaux region and a 1973 Château Margaux. We had a third bottle of a California pinot noir for comparision. I'll have to let him write his own observations in the comments section because I drank almost no wine (too much rich food for my blood today.)

So, overall, in the Midwest, the opinion was that lesson #3 was a good menu for techniques, had a fantastic, killer-chocolate dessert, but too much butter and too many eggs for people concerned about their weight or arteries. Or people concerned about weight AND arteries.

Menu #1, redux

Last night, I redid Menu#1. We had chicken, trussed and cooked the Cordon Bleu way and the peas, minus most of the butter and extra water, and the fruit. The chicken was very nice, but I love roast chicken and it's not hard. The peas were actually better this time because I defrosted the peas and onions before cooking them. I added only 1 tbsp of butter and almost no water, so there was no sauce. I think I need to tinker with it some more, but I thought it tasted better this time. It was still buttery, but not so watery. The fruit was a last minute thought. I only had apple, banana, orange and pineapple in the house. I used almost no sugar, but 2 TBSP of cointreau. It was easy this time.

Skipped the cucumbers because I didn't have any, but added mashed potatoes. Oh, and the gravy turned out very well.

Lesson 2: 2 December 2007

Soupe Villageoise
(Country-style Vegetable Soup with Noodles)

Escalopes de Veau Vallée d'Auge
(Veal Scallops with Apples and Calvados)

Crème Renversée au Caramel
(Caramel Custard)

Crème Renversée was found to be most delicious by most respondents.

Baby Grows Up (Vivi)

Frankly, I hate being called Baby. So I'm changing my name. I've gone thru a bunch of alternatives, and have ended up with .... Vivi. It's a little used old Latin name, meaning "alive", which can be taken in its minimal sense (breathing, functioning), or in a more happy connotation (vivid, vivacious). And it's easy to type.

Anyway, that's my story, and I'm sticking with it.

Ladies, Start your Pastry Bags

Sisters, have you looked at the next menu? It's veal again, shank this time, cut into rounds. And the dessert, a scrumptious looking chocolate mousse with hazelnuts and whiskey and chantilly creme, requires a pastry bag. I will have to go buy one and if I happen to see a good looking Charlotte pan, I might buy that as well.

It's all about sauces and thickening with eggs and I believe the recipes call for a total of 14 eggs.

How much work, really?

If you discount mistakes (letting it get frozen, forgetting it on the stove)*, was the cabbage soup really such a lot a work? I mean, stocks are foundational cooking. I make them all the time.

Let me reframe the question: If we separate out the stock-making (which I believe was the purpose of the soup in Lesson #2) from the soup-making, it's not such a big deal. In fact, the cabbage-and-leek soup was intentionally chosen because it was so easy to make in its final form.

Okay, I just remembered the 27 steps to prepare the cabbage. Hmmm.

Still, my point is, the lesson was the stock (I think?). The soup was intended to be easy. And perhaps the lesson was also that with a great stock, even a simple soup can taste really good. But we are all reasonably trained cooks, so these basic lessons are not truly aimed at us. Making stock is not a surprise, nor that homemade offers great flavor.

By the way, the food critics -- urr, children -- ate and actually loved the plain boiled stock-cooked chicken, reheated with no other seasoning. Neither of them usually prefers homemade to frozen prepared breaded nuggets. Who would know they required French cooking?


*Not meaning to pick on Peaceable -- I have myself carefully strained all the vegetables out of a stock, letting the liquid flavor pour out down the sink drain.