Just a French Guy Cooking
Page 12
6 egg yolks
150g [¾ cup] caster or granulated sugar
225ml [1 cup] whole milk
450ml [2 cups] double [heavy] cream
Suggested flavourings
rum and chopped crystallized ginger
unsweetened cocoa powder
vanilla pods [beans] or vanilla extract
crushed strawberries
Place a large, thick glass or ceramic dish in the freezer to chill it thoroughly.
Put the egg yolks in a large bowl, add the sugar and mix until you have a smooth, pale yellow paste. This requires a bit of effort to make it smooth (electric hand whisk, maybe?).
Mix the milk and cream together in a saucepan, whisk in the egg yolk mixture and, stirring constantly, bring to a gentle simmer over a medium heat. On no account let it boil otherwise the egg yolks will scramble and you’ll end up with some really weird ice cream.
Pour the mixture into the chilled dish and stir in your chosen flavouring until it is evenly mixed in.
Freeze for 1 hour. Take the dish out of the freezer and stir the ice cream briskly with a fork. Return it to the freezer for 2 hours. Remove the dish from the freezer and stir again briskly with a fork.
Return the ice cream to the freezer and freeze overnight.
Is it crystal clear?
A good ice cream is a smooth ice cream, that is to say its ice crystals are so small your teeth don’t crunch on them when you eat it. Here, the speed at which you freeze the mixture is vital. Frozen slowly, without being stirred, the ice cream will produce large crystals that are hard and watery, whereas rapid freezing, combined with energetic stirring, will produce tiny crystals and thus a better ice cream.
Chouquettes (sweet puffs)
To tell the truth, I have a crush on this recipe and here’s why – it’s delicious and a real confidence booster as I always feel like a pastry chef at the end. The light, fluffy puffs are made with what the French call ‘pâte à choux’ – that means ‘cabbage dough’ in English. Yum, I know. In fact, the name has nothing to do with cabbages. ‘Choux’ comes from the French word ‘chaud’, meaning warm, as the pastry dough is made over the heat. The more you know... The chouquettes are great split open and filled with ice cream, too.
Makes 30–40 puffs
For the dough
225ml [1 cup] milk and water, mixed in equal proportions
115g [½ cup] butter, diced
a pinch of salt
1 heaped Tbsp granulated sugar
115g [1 scant cup] plain [all-purpose] flour
3 eggs
pearl sugar nibs [nibbed sugar], or sugar cubes, bashed up into small pieces in a cloth
For the dough, put the milk and water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan over a medium-high heat. As soon as the butter and sugar melt and the liquid comes to the boil, tip in all the flour and mix over the heat with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together and dries out a little bit. It will form itself into a weird-looking ball that surprisingly won’t stick to the sides of the pan.
Scrape out the dough into a bowl and add the eggs. Beat with the wooden spoon (or an electric hand whisk on low speed). To begin with, the dough won’t come together but eventually it will. So, go for it, beating until you get a thick, glossy dough and muscles you can be proud of. The dough needs to hold its shape but not be too dry so add a drizzle of milk and mix a bit more, if necessary.
Preheat the oven to 200ºC/180ºC fan/400ºF/Gas 6. Line a couple of baking sheets with baking parchment. If you’ve got a piping [pastry] bag, now’s the time to use it. Otherwise, take a clean, strong plastic bag, turn it inside out and spoon the dough into it. Turn the bag back the right way, snip off one corner with scissors, and twist the top of the bag closed – hey presto, one homemade piping bag!
Pipe about 30–40 small puffs on the baking sheets, lightly pressing the points on top flat with your fingers. Sprinkle the puffs with pearl sugar nibs, gently pressing them into the choux. Bake the puffs for 20 minutes until they are golden. Transfer them to a wire rack to cool.
Tarte Normande
This tart from Normandy makes the most of locally grown apples and Calvados, which is apple brandy Bourbon works a treat too. It’s great both hot or cold and – if you’re feeling brave – do as the Normans do and flambé the tart with extra Calvados before serving it.
Serves 6
For the pastry
175g [1½ cups] plain [all-purpose] flour, plus extra for rolling out
90g [1/3 cup] butter, diced and softened
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
For the filling
3–4 dessert apples, depending on size
2 eggs
90g [½ cup] caster [superfine] sugar
100g [1 cup] ground almonds
100ml [scant ½ cup] double [heavy] cream
4 Tbsp Calvados (or, if you don’t want to use alcohol, fresh apple juice)
3 Tbsp flaked [slivered] almonds
For the pastry, in a mixing bowl, rub the flour, butter, sugar and salt together with your fingertips until the mixture is like fine breadcrumbs. Add the beaten egg and gradually work it into the dry ingredients, kneading lightly to make a smooth dough.
Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured board until 5mm [¼in] thick, and lift into a 23-cm [9-in] flan tin [tart pan]. Refrigerate while you prepare the filling.
Preheat the oven to 200ºC/180ºC fan/400ºF/Gas 6. Put a baking sheet in the oven to heat.
For the filling, peel, core and quarter the apples. Cut each quarter into 3 wedges and arrange them in concentric circles in the pastry case. Beat together the eggs, sugar, ground almonds, cream and Calvados and carefully pour or spoon this mixture over the apples. Scatter over the flaked almonds.
Carefully lift the tart onto the hot baking sheet and bake for 30–35 minutes or until the filling is set and the tart is golden. Serve hot or cold.
Foolproof brioche
A word of warning – if you dislike fluffy buns, sweet buttery aromas, rich milky doughs and stretchy but obliging gluten, it’s time to turn the page now. Otherwise, welcome to the wonderful world of brioche.
Makes 1 large brioche
500g [3½ cups] strong white bread flour
7g [1 tsp] instant yeast
2 eggs, beaten
200ml [scant 1 cup] whole milk, gently warmed (but not hot!)
2 heaped Tbsp granulated or caster sugar
1 tsp salt
100g [generous 1/3 cup] butter, diced and softened
extra butter and flour for the tin
Sift the flour into the bowl of a food mixer and stir in the yeast.
Add the beaten eggs, milk, sugar, salt and finally the butter and mix on slow speed to begin with. When everything is evenly combined, increase the speed and continue mixing until you have a smooth dough that is soft and elastic but not too sticky.
Transfer the dough to a large bowl, cover with clingfilm [plastic wrap] and leave in a warm place for 1–2 hours or until it has doubled in size.
Punch the dough down and then knead lightly to burst any air bubbles inside. Divide into 3 equal pieces and roll each into a long, plump sausage. Brush a loaf tin [loaf pan] – the one I use is 30 × 13cm [12 × 5in] and 8cm [3¼in] deep – with melted butter and dust with flour. Plait [braid] the dough sausages together and then drop the plait carefully into the tin.
Cover with clingfilm and leave in a warm place to prove for about 15 minutes or until the dough just reaches the top of the tin. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200ºC/180ºC fan/400ºF/Gas 6.
Bake the brioche for about 25 minutes or until well risen and golden brown.
Remove from the oven, turn the brioche out of the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.
In the unlikely event...
There is little chance of you having any left over the next day but, should that ever happen or you missed a bit first time round, on no account throw it away as it will ma
ke the best French toast in the world.
No-bake raspberry tart
This fantastic tart kills two birds with one stone – you make a cake without even lighting the oven, while passing for a French pastry chef in front of your friends. Hard to believe, eh? And, even better, I guarantee a round of thunderous applause when you place it in the middle of the table.
Serves 6–8
For the base
75g [generous ¼ cup] butter, melted
250g [9oz] digestive biscuits [graham crackers], blitzed into crumbs
For the crème pâtissière
400ml [1¾ cups] whole milk
3 eggs
90g [½ cup] caster [superfine] sugar
4 Tbsp plain [all-purpose] flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
For the topping
250g [2 cups] raspberries, defrosted if frozen
4 Tbsp seedless raspberry jam
For the base, stir the melted butter into the biscuit [cracker] crumbs and press over the base and 4cm [1½in] up the sides of a 20-cm [8-in] springform cake tin [cake pan]. Refrigerate to firm up while you make the crème pâtissière.
Heat the milk in a saucepan until bubbles appear on the surface. While the milk is heating, beat the eggs, sugar and flour together in a jug until smooth. Pour a little of the hot milk into the egg mixture, stir well and then pour back into the pan. Stir constantly over a medium heat until the custard is thickened and smooth. Make sure you keep stirring vigorously all the time or lumps will form and you don’t want that! If this starts to happen, take the pan off the heat and beat or whisk the custard until it is smooth again.
Take the crème pâtissière off the heat and stir in the vanilla extact. Tip into a bowl and press clingfilm [plastic wrap] over the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Leave until cold and then spread in the chilled tart case.
For the topping, cover the crème pâtissière with the raspberries. Heat the jam with 1 tablespoon of water in the microwave until it bubbles and brush it over the raspberries. Chill the tart until ready to serve. Release from the tin and carefully slide onto a serving plate.
One-pot yogurt cake
Hey – the great thing about this cake is you don’t need any scales or cups to measure out the ingredients, just the pot you bought the yogurt in. So how easy is that? And did I mention that it’s absolutely delicious as well? But don’t take my word for it, try it yourself.
Makes 1 small cake
oil for greasing the loaf tin
1 pot of natural yogurt (about 150g [5oz])
2½ pots of plain [all-purpose] flour
1½ pots of caster or granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
3 eggs, beaten
½ pot of sunflower oil
1 tsp baking powder
Preheat the oven to 180ºC/160ºC fan/350ºF/Gas 4. Grease a small loaf tin [pan] by brushing it with oil and line the base and sides with baking parchment.
Scrape the yogurt out of the pot into a mixing bowl. Wash and dry the pot and use it to measure the other ingredients. Add the flour, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest to the bowl and stir until combined. The mixture will not be smooth at this stage – it will look quite dry and crumbly.
Add the beaten eggs, stir well, then add the oil and baking powder. Beat or whisk until the mixture is glossy, smooth and doesn’t have any nasty lumps left in it.
Scrape the batter out of the bowl into the loaf tin. Bake the cake for 30–35 minutes or until it has risen, is golden brown and a cake tester or skewer pushed into the centre of the cake comes out clean with no uncooked batter sticking to it.
Cool the cake in the tin for 10 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
#HACK
6 magical microwave winners… and 1 epic failure
Some people see it as the devil’s work but, for me, a microwave is just a useful extra piece of equipment in the kitchen. It’s pretty effective, I have to say, but you have to know how to use it. Here are a few microwaving tips and tricks that you might not be aware of.
Instant cake
Mix some self-raising [self-rising] flour with a bit of milk, a beaten egg, salt and sugar until you get something like a thick pancake batter. Pour into a mug so it’s one-third full and microwave on full power for 1 minute and then in 30-second bursts until done. Instant cake!
High-speed cooking
Artichokes take 45 minutes to cook, but only 8–10 minutes in the microwave. I also frequently pre-cook potatoes before I roast them. Put the potatoes in a bowl, add 2–3 tablespoons of water, cover and microwave on full power for 8–10 minutes until just tender when pierced with a knife. Finish in a hot oven.
Even heating
Placing a dish in the centre of the microwave turntable is disastrous, as your food will be burning in some places and frozen in others. Place the dish at the edge of the turntable.
Crisps [potato chips]
Put very thin, even slices of potato in a dish and cover with microwave-safe clingfilm [plastic wrap], or – as I prefer to do – very lightly coat them in oil and place them directly on the glass microwave turntable (if you do this you’ll have to separate them with a spatula). Cook for 2½ minutes on full power and then in 30-second bursts until crisp. They should take 3–5 minutes in total.
Worry-free garlic
To save time when you have to peel a lot of garlic, microwave a whole bulb for 20 seconds and then take it out without burning yourself. Rub the bulb between your hands to separate the individual cloves and remove their skins. And, there’s even more magic, as the smell on your fingers will last FOREVER!
Chopping without tears (almost)
Peel an onion, make a couple of small cuts in it so it doesn’t explode (oh, the joys of cooking!) and microwave for 30 seconds. This releases the tear gases so the task of chopping the onion will be much less traumatic.
Something you must never do
Twice in my life I’ve tried to hard-boil an egg in the microwave. Twice it has exploded, ruined the inside of my oven and the smell in my kitchen has been unbelievable. TWICE!
Index
ahi poké salad wrap 1
almonds: tarte Normande 1
anchovies: niçoise salad 1
pissaladière pizza 1–2
apples: tarte Normande 1
arepa, reina pepiada 1
artichokes, niçoise salad with 1
asparagus: Paris tartine 1
Parisian pizza 1
aubergine [eggplant]: baked caramelized miso aubergines 1
avocados: reina pepiada arepa 1
salmon, avocado and pickled beetroot rice bowl 1–2
bacon: frisée salad with bacon bits 1–2
magic-crust quiche Lorraine 1–2
tarte flambée pizza 1
baguette ball soup 1–2
basil 1
bay leaves 1
beef: beef-bur-ger-nion 1–2
beef-flavoured ramen 1
meatballs done right 1
perfectly cooked steak 1
pot-au-pho-bò 1
terrifyingly terrific steak tartare 1
beetroot [beet]: salmon, avocado and pickled beetroot rice bowl 1–2
black pepper 1
bread: baguette ball soup 1–2
a convenient onion soup 1
croûtons 1–2
foolproof brioche 1
panzanella, or the art of the stale bread salad 1
picture-perfect eggs meurette 1
prawn banh mi crossed with a jambon beurre 1
sourdough 1
Tunisian snack 1
two tartines: NYC vs Paris 1
brioche, foolproof 1
broad [fava] beans, niçoise salad with 1
buckwheat: buckwheat crêpes 1
buckwheat pancakes 1
burgers: beef-bur-ger-nion 1–2
buttermilk pancakes 1–2
butters 1
&
nbsp; cakes: instant cake 1
one-pot yogurt cake 1
caramel, salted 1
carbonara, eggs en cocotte like a 1
carpaccio, scallop 1
carrots: colourful carrot salad 1
pickled carrots 1
cheat’s omurice 1
cheat’s tortilla 1
cheese 1–2
cheese omelette 1
Comté cacio e pepe pasta 1
a convenient onion soup 1
French fries and poutine 1
irregular quiche with ’shrooms and blue cheese 1
macaroni cheese gratin 1
Neapolitan pizza 1
Parisian pizza 1
wine pairing with cheese 1
see also ricotta
chervil 1
chicken: baguette ball soup 1–2
middle-kingdom roast chicken 1
reina pepiada arepa 1
‘sort of’ Ayam 1
chickpeas [garbanzo beans]: chickpea pancakes 1
crisp-fried chickpeas 1
vindaloo – hot hot hot 1
chillies 1
Sichuan chilli oil 1
Chinese fried rice, the weekly 1
Chinese sausage, cold green lentils and 1
chives 1
chocolate: chocolate tart 1
fake pains au chocolat 1–2
chouquettes (sweet puffs) 1
cinnamon 1
clafoutis, polenta 1
clams: mussels marinière without the mussels 1
cloves 1
coleslaw, spring greens 1
colourful carrot salad 1
Comté 1
Comté cacio e pepe pasta 1
coriander [cilantro], fresh 1
coriander (spice) 1
cream cheese: NYC tartine 1
crème pâtissière 1
crêpes: buckwheat crêpes 1
French crêpes 1–2
savoury toppings 1
sweet toppings 1
crisps 1
croissants, fake 1–2
cumin 1
curry: garam masala spice mix 1
good karma korma 1
vindaloo – hot hot hot 1