little things in life

Savory Tartelettes: In The Kitchen At Design*Sponge

27.02.2009 55 Comments

I live for the little things in life, the simple and little things that are enough to make us happy and brighten our day. Being contacted by Kristina, one of the editors of Design*Sponge was definitely one of them. I think I read her email about four times saying out loud "You would like to do a "In The Kitchen" feature with me?", "vraiment?", really? I love Design*Sponge, I love the articles, the features, the styles. I have discovered so many great talents and artists that I felt a ~~little~~ very nervous participating.

Kristina asked if I could create something savory for the feature, to give their readers a bit of a change. Hmmmm….even if you are new here, it won’t take long to notice that there is not one bit of savory on this blog…It’s pastry, pastry and more pastry. It took about five seconds for me to decide I was going to make: savory tartelettes! After the initial nervousness disappeared, I did start to look forward to baking and photographing a savory item. I know, I know…I made tartelettes….What can I say? Can’t help it!! These bacon, green onions and parsley tarts filled the house with the wonderful aromas of my childhood and my home back in France.

One thing that we love to make in my family as an easy and casual meal is a savory tart or quiche with a side salad or soup. It was our Saturday night dinner growing up and still is, even though I am miles away from my family. The crust and the egg filling are simply a springboard for all your favorite ingredients and spices. We enjoy variations like salmon, dill and leeks, chicken, oregano and fresh tomatoes, sausage, rosemary and spinach….the possibilities are quite endless once you let your taste buds allow the ingredients to come together.

The tarts were so good that I am making another batch for Sunday night as my parents arrive from France and will be with us through March! I am so excited I can’t hardly contain myself!! Maybe I can coax my mom into guest blogging, what do you think?

You can check out the rest of the feature by following this link. A big "Thank you!" to Kristina and Design*Sponge for this wonderful opportunity. I had a great time!

Bacon, Onion and Parsley Tartelettes Recipe:

Makes six 3-inch tartlets or one 9-inch tart

Crust:
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
5 tablespoons butter, cold and cut into small slices
3 to 4 tablespoons ice cold water
Mix together the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or a fork until the mixture forms pea-sized pieces. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of water over the flour mixture and toss with fork until moistened. Repeat with the remaining water, one tablespoon at a time and gather the dough into a ball with your hand. Do not handle the dough too long. Wrap into a sheet of plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. This will allow the dough to relax and make it easier to roll, keeping it from becoming tough. Roll dough on a lightly floured surface, applying pressure from the center to the edges until it is about 12 inches in diameter. Cut out six 4 inch circles onto the dough and press them into the tartlet pans (or one 9 inch pan if making a larger tart). Refrigerate while you prepare the filling.

Filling:
6 slices bacon
4 stalks green onion, sliced, white and green parts included
1/3 cup chopped flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 ½ cups milk
Pinch of salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese

Preheat oven to 350F.
In a medium sauté pan set over medium heat, cook the bacon slices until crispy brown. Drain them on a paper towel. Crumble them and set aside. Wipe the pan of the bacon dripping with a paper towel and place it back over medium heat and cook the green onion for a couple of minutes, just to take the raw edge off. Divide the bacon, onion and parsley evenly among the tartlets and place them on a baking sheet.
In a bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, salt and pepper until combined and slowly pour the mixture over the tartlets. Divide the cheese evenly in between the tarts and bake for 20 to 30 minutes. Individual sizes bake faster than a whole pie so keep an eye on them after 20 minutes. Let cool before unmolding and serving.
These are best at room temperature with a salad and a simple vinaigrette.

Blackberry Apple Galettes And Burnt Sugar Ice Cream

15.02.2009 90 Comments

Yesterday I woke up to the sound of my husband’s trombone and although he rarely rehearses at home it did not strike me as unusual. It felt nice actually. Deep, resonant notes, slightly muted as they came through the floor and walls. I immediately recognized the melody of "our" song, "Can’t give you anything but love". The trombone stopped, the pupps rushed down the steps toward the bedroom and when they saw the door open, the immediately jumped on the bed to give me a good round of morning licks. Nice..although not earth shaterring new.

The unusual part was they were spotting brand new heart shaped name tags and a love poem was tucked inside a notch of their collars. Ah! Love Day! A serenade, two pimped up furry fuzz balls and the man whose love is more beautiful than anything I have ever known. Love and the little funny things in life, as we try to live them everyday. Except he tied it all up in a virtual red bow and I had extra butterflies in my stomach. Singletons out there, do not despair!

Hidden from him were my breakfast plans. I know B. and I know he loves and enjoy eating and one thing we share is our love for pies, tartlets or galettes and a good ice cream, separate, together, one after the other, etc….Granted this breakfast was a little richer than what we usually have but B. is playing music, serenading others this lovely night, so it was like starting the day the way we would have ended it if we had been together, with dessert. I had made blackberry and apple galettes as a thank you gift for a neighbor and kept one for us to share and topped ours with a scoop of burnt sugar ice cream. Come to think of it, we had all the major food group covered!

The beauty of these galettes is that you can use any combination of fruits that strikes your fancy and you don’t have to worry about tart pans and sizes, blind baking, etc… The pate sucree dough gets just a little rolling, filling, crimping and you’re almost there. I like to add a pinch of fresh cracked pepper to the fruits to enhance their flavor as they bake. The burnt sugar ice cream is one of my favorites from Dorie Greenspan, almost enough to make any man or woman swoon it is that good, creamy and tasty.

Breakfast that is enough make you want to give your mate an extra hug or kiss today and for the days to come…And for those of you who inquired about my friend Linda who was proposing with a ring and a box of heart macarons, I just got a text message that her partner said "yes!" and then there were pelnty of these "!" and a bunch of smileys….

Blackberry Apple Galettes And Burnt Sugar Ice Cream Recipe:

Makes three 5-inch galettes

For the Pate Sucree:
2 cups (250gr) all purpose flour
2 tablespoons (25gr) sugar
pinch of salt
1 stick (113gr) butter, cut in small dices
1 egg
2-4 tablespoons cold water

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt and cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or two forks until the mixture ressembles forms pea size crumbs. Make a well in the center and add the egg. With a fork, start working the flour in a little at a time and when most of it is incorporated, quickly mix the dough into a coherent and smooth mass, adding some cold water, a tablespoon at a time, if necessary (this varies depending on the humidity or altitude of where you live). Wrap the dough in plastic and let it rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

For the fruit filling:
1 small apple (I chose Granny Smith, peeled, cored and diced
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons (25gr) sugar, divided
1 tablespoon (10gr)cornstarch
3 tablespoons water
1 cup (200gr) blackberries
pinch of frech cracked black pepper
egg wash to brush the crust with before baking

In a medium saucepan set over medium low heat, cook the apple with one tablespoon of sugar and the lemon juice until fork tender. Add the blackberries and let them cook for a couple of minutes. Dilute the cornstarch in the water and add it to the fruits along with the cracked pepper. Cook until the mixture is not cloudy anymore from the cornstarch. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

To assemble:
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Roll the dough onto a lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thick and cut three 6-inch rounds in it and place them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Fill the center of each round with the filling and crimp the edges towards the center. I don’t like to cover the fruit that much with the dough but that is a personal preference. Brush the crust with egg wash and sprinkle with the remaining sugar over the galettes. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Burnt Sugar Ice Cream, adapted from Dorie Greenspan:

1/2 cup (100gr)sugar
2 tablespoon water
2 cups(500ml) whole milk
1 cup (125ml) heavy cream
5 egg yolks
pinch of salt

Stir the sugar and water in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat and cook until it becomes a caramel of deep amber color. Lower the heat and add the milk. It will bubble like mad but continue stirring until the mixture is smooth, remove from the heat. Add the cream and stir until combined.
In a large bowl, whip the egg yolks and salt until pale and thick. Slowly pour the hot milk mixture over it and whisk to temper the yolks. Put the mixture back into the saucepan and cook until it coats the back of a spoon (creme anglaise consistency or 170 degrees F).
Let cool completely and refrigerate until very cold (preferably overnight. Process the ice according your ice cream maker manufacturer’s instructions. Freeze for 2 hours or more or until firm to scoop.

Milk Chocolate And Chestnut Mousse Verrines

05.02.2009 103 Comments

I hold dear and close the big things in life like love, family, friendships, and connections. I also believe they are all enhanced by the little things. The little things in life…Those little trickets or thoughts that we hang onto. They might be in a shoe box in your closet or the attic, they might be on your nightstand. Special paper and photographs in your desk drawers. A dish or an ingredient that you are cherishing to the last crumb.

When I moved to the US, I came with the two suitcases and a few little things that kept me connected to my home. Among those items were "Pipou" a stuffed rabbit that I got when I was born and a tiny porcelain box with my name on it. What was I thinking?. Imagine the first time B. stayed over: "oh and by the way, meet my favorite blankie type thingie, Pipou" Now that a sure way to get rid of your date!! Or was I so afraid to become mute that the box would become another way to give my name out?! Well I know why they came along but retrospectively it could have thrown a few people off. However I did meet a wonderful man who embraced all the crazy little things his crazy expat of a wife enjoyed and needed to stay connected with.

A lot of the little things that bring me a smile on my face are, you can guess, often related to food. I just have to open a jar of Herbes de Provence that I can hear the cicadas and all of a sudden I am home for a brief instant. Open the jar, close the jar. Open the jar, close the jar…..smile. Slicing lemons almost always makes me want to drop a couple of slices in a hot cup of tea, just like Mamie used to do. Within ten minutes, the kettle is singing away. Little things like that make me vibrate, keep me alive, keep me going. We all have our inner batteries, these are mine.

I made a bunch of souffles earlier this month, and for one of them I opened up my last and treasured can of chestnut paste.One of my little things. I kept it waiting on the shelf for a long long time but one souffle I wanted to bake again was my family’s Chesnut Chocolate Tapioca Souffles ( you can read the full article in Desserts Magazine). When I served one to B., he exclaimed "Oh my gosh! Did you finally pop that last can open? That’s serious!" while my head was screaming "yes I did , so pay attention and eat it slowly!". I did not say it outloud though. I did however scrape that can to the last drop of cream and froze the leftover for a future dessert.

It then hit me that my favorite way to eat it is still the simplest: with a spoon. However, since it is a delicacy after all, to be savoured to the last bit, I decided to give it a more proper farewell than us, our spoons, a tin can and a comfy sofa. I made a verrine layering a simple milk chocolate mousse, a layer of bittersweet chocolate ganache, chesnut cream mousse and a little whipped cream. Delicious! It was winter comfort at its best for me. Now I must remember to ask mom to bring more when they come next month (read this mom?!).

What are your "little things" in life?

Milk Chocolate And Chesnut Mousse Verrines Recipe:

Serves 4 depending on the size of your ramekins or glasses.

Kitchen Notes: you can find "creme de marrons" or chesnut cream online, here for example or make your own. The chocolate painted glasses I used were extras I had prepared for the Daring Bakers challenge last month and did not used and they worked perfectly with this.

For the Milk Chocolate Mousse:
4 oz (120gr) semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons (30ml) whole milk
3 tablespoons (25gr) butter
3/4 cup (175ml) heavy cream, cold

In a bowl set over a pan of simmering water (make sure that the bowl fits snuggly over the pan and does not touch the water), melt together the chocolate, milk, and butter. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. In a mixer, whip the cream to medium peaks and fold it into the chocolate mixture. Pipe or spoon the mousse into ramekins or glasses. Refrigerate.

For the Chocolate Ganache:
1/2 cup (125ml) heavy cream
6 oz (180gr) bittersweet chocolate

In a small heavy saucepan set over medium hight heat, bring the cream to a boil. Place the chocolate into a medium sized bowl and pour the hot cream over it. Let the mixture stand for 2 to 3 minutes. Gently stir the cream and chocolate together with a spatula until the mixture comes togethr and is fully combined. Let cool completely before dividing it on top of the chocolate mousse. Refrigerate.

For the Chesnut Cream Mousse:
3/4 cup (157ml) heavy cream
1/2 cup (125ml) chesnut puree

In a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream to medium stiff peaks. Add one third into the chesnut puree to lighten it and then fold in the remaining whipped cream until combined. Pipe or spoon on top of the ganache layer. Refrigerate.

For the whipped cream:
1/2 cup (125ml) heavy cream

In a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream to medium stiff peaks. Pipe or spoon on top of the chestnut layer and level with an offset spatula.