Easy and tasty Recipes !
My Millefeuille of fresh Raspberry and homemade whipped Vanilla Cream
Ingredients for 6 individual Millefeuilles :
1 sheet of puff Pastry Pepperidge Farm
16 oz heavy cream very cold
2 tbspoon of icing sugar
1 teaspoon of good vanilla extract
1 or 2 packs of fresh Raspberry
Preheat the oven at 390 °F.
Place the dough on a baking sheet place. Cover it with parchment paper and place the puff pastry. Bake dough in oven for twenty minutes. Cut the puff pastry into 6 rectangles and slide each rectangle by half.
Arrange some Raspberry on the bottom part of each rectangle.
Pour the heavy cream into a bowl placed on a bed of ice. Start beating slowly, then accelerate gradually as the cream thickens. Keep beating and as soon as you see some firm waves, add icing sugar and then the vanilla extract. keep beating until you get firm mousse.
Stop whipping when the foam forms a spout at the end of the whip. Fill up the whipped Vanilla Cream in a pastry bag with a piping whipped cream tip. Then spread the whipped cream and make waves. Arrange fresh raspberries on the edge, like in the picture above. Add the top of the puff Pastry rectangle and sprinkle with icing sugar on the top, using a fine strainer.
Slow Cooked lamb Leg
Ingredients for 6-8 servings:
1 leg of lamb (7 to 8 pounds)
4 onions, peeled and sliced
8 -12 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
4 large carrots, peeled and quartered length ways
2 cup of beer (Guinness, Leffe or other stout beer)
4 cups stock
2 tablespoons Armagnac or 2 tablespoons Cognac or white Wine
salt and pepper
3 sprigs fresh thyme
3 bay leaves
Directions:
Prep Time: 30 mins
Total Time: 7 1/2 hrs
Preheat the oven to 100 F
Season the leg of lamb with salt and pepper to taste.
Put a tablespoon of olive oil in a oven safe large casserole and heat on the medium heat to brown the lamb thoroughly on all sides (it is important to do this now as the meat will not brown in the oven).
If the lamb sticks add a little more oil to the casserole.
Remove the lamb and add the Armagnac into the casserole and scrape the fat that has gathered in the bottom.
Add the vegetables & herbs to the casserole along with the beer and stock. Add the lamb . It should be covered at 2/3. season and bring to the boil.
Put on the lid or cover tightly with tin foil and place in the pre-heated oven.
After 1h30 cooking, increase the oven to 200F and turn the meat. Cook again for 2 hour and turn the meat etc ...
Watch that the meat doesn't burn in the bottom. Add some stock if
The meat will be cooked after 3 hours and offer no resistance to the knife.
The meat requires no resting time when cooked in this way. Transfer the meat and vegetables to a serving platter.
Strain the meat juices into a jug and pour or blot away the fat with kitchen paper. Pour the juices into a pan and boil vigorously until reduced by a quarter.
Adjust the seasoning. Garnish the lamb with the sprigs of thyme and serve with the sauce.
Use a spoon to carve and serve the lamb - a la cuillere as the French call it. It will be tender, succulent and delicious !
Serve with fresh Linguines, or mashed potatoes or green beans.
French Crepes ... yummy !!!
Ingredients (for about 15 crepes):
2 cups Flour
2 1/2 cups Whole Milk
4 Eggs
2 tbsp. Butter (melted)
Pinch of Salt
1/2 Vanilla Stalk or Few Drops Vanilla Extract (optional)
Vegetable Oil (for pan)
How to Prepare Batter:
First secret : Sift flour and mix with salt in the bowl of your food processor
Make a well and pour in eggs. Stir well.
Slowly pour in milk while stirring (2nd secret : use half milk and half beer (blond) : you will get a crispy crepe, and lighter)
Keep stirring batter until small bubbles form on the surface.
4. Stir in Butter.
Et Voilà!
Third secret : Let you batter stand 1/2h before using it. After 1/2h, add 1 tbsp. of water before cooking with it.
Other secret : if it seems thicker than heavy cream, add a little more water, and/or a little more milk.
How to Prepare Crepes:
1. Pour a little vegetable oil on a folded paper towel, and wipe the pan evenly. Keep paper towel at hand while preparing crepes, in case you want to give it another wipe.
2. Pour in 2 - 3 tbsp. of batter and quickly move pan around, so that batter spreads evenly, covering the whole surface with a thin layer.
3. Let cook for about 1 minute. Then, flip with a metal spatula, and cook other side for about 30 seconds.
Repeat these steps until you are out of batter, stacking cooked crepes on a plate. Yum!
Variation of the recipe :
Prefer whole wheat flour? No problem. You can substitute the white flour with your own favorite!
Actually I prefer wheat flour for salty crepes and all-purpose flour for sweet crepes.
Serving Ideas:
Traditionally, a crepe is lightly topped, and then folded into quarters. Meaning, fold in half, and then fold in half again.
If you prefer, you can also top your crepe and then roll it up like a tortilla.
Of course, when you are using thicker fillings, you will probably just want to fold the crepe in half once.
My favorite filling :
- Caramelized apples with SeaSalt Caramel and Vanilla whipped Cream
- Nutella with Bananas or Coconut
- Nutella and Cashews (Yumnuts Cashews, the best on the market !!!!)
- Butter and splash of Lemon Juice
- Butter and granulated Sugar
- Swiss Cheese, grilled Mushrooms and Ham
- Poached egg, Salmon and Chives
- Fresh Salmon, Spinach and Cream
- Ham and Cheese
Bon Appetit : don't forget to keep a coin in you hand when you toss a crepe : you will be rich the all year !!!!!!
La Galette des Rois
Ingredients for 6 people :
- 2 round sheets of puff pastry
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup quality unsalted butter
- 1 cup ground almonds meal (for the pistachio galette, use gground unsalted pistachio or half pitachio and half almond - up to you !!)
- 2 drops of almond extract
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
For the glaze :
- 1 egg yolk
- 50g icing sugar
Place one sheet of puff pastry on a greased baking sheet.
Prepare the almond mixture: soften the butter and add the sugar. Beat strongly to obtain a smooth texture. Add the ground almonds, then the 2 eggs , the vanilla extract and the almond extract.
Place the almond mixture in the centre of the round-shaped pastry and spread it evenly up to 1 inch away from the edge. Add the lucky charm near the edge (if you add it near the centre, it might be easily discovered when cutting the cake!).
Cover the base with the second round-shaped pastry and make sure the two pastry sheets are stuck down together, otherwise the almond mix may slip away from the cake when cooking. You may use a little water to join the two sheets along the edges.
Make an egg wash with the egg yolk and a little water and using a pastry brush, brush all over the top.With a knife, carefully trace decorative shapes (diamands, flowers or any other creative designs). Make sure you don’t press too hard in order to avoid piercing the pastry.
Cook in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees F for about 40 minutes. Our advice is to check on it regularly as we found our oven cooked it a lot quicker (25 mins).
Mix the icing sugar with some water to make a liquid sugar syrup and spread all over the top of the galette.
Cook the galette for a further 5 minutes at 410 degrees F to enable the sugar to cook slightly and create a shiny effect. Take out of the oven.
Eat the cake lukewarm and enjoy the party!
Moelleux au Chocolat
Only for Chocolate Lovers !!!!
INGREDIENTS for 2 people:
- 100g chocolate (ideally about 70% cocoa solids)
- 75g unsalted butter
- 50g icing sugar
- 25g flour
- 2 eggs
Preheat the oven to around 400degres F. Melt the chocolate and butter in a bain marie.
Mix together the icing sugar and flour in a seperate bowl. Then add the eggs and mix well.
Butter two ramekin dishes. When the chocolate/butter is truly melted, pour the mixture into the flour/icing sugar/egg bowl and mix completely.
Pour mixture into the ramekins about 3/4s full. Cook for approx 10mins, or until they have risen about an inch.
I serve it still in the ramekin dish (in a very rustic French style!) with a raspberry coulis (recipe to follow soon) and vanilla ice cream.
The Swiss Cheese Gougeres
So good when they are just out of the oven !
INGREDIENTS for about 4 dozen gougères :
- 1 cup water
- 7 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt, or more to taste
- Pinch of sugar
- 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 large or 5 small eggs
- 1-1/4 cups grated Swiss Cheese
- Freshly ground white pepper
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium saucepan, combine the water, butter, salt, and sugar and bring to a boil. Add all the flour at once, reduce the heat to medium, and stir with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes, or until the mixture forms a ball and the excess moisture has evaporated (if the ball forms more quickly, continue to cook and stir for a full 2 minutes).
Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle and beat for about 30 seconds at medium speed to cool slightly. Add the 4 eggs (one after the other) and continue to mix until completely combined and the batter has a smooth, silky texture. Stop the machine and lift up the beater to check the consistency of the batter. The batter in the mixing bowl should form a peak with a tip that falls over. If it is too stiff, beat in the white of the remaining egg. Check again and, if necessary, add the yolk. Finally, mix in 3/4 cup of the Gruyère and adjust the seasoning with salt and white pepper.
Fill a pastry bag fitted with a 3/8-inch plain pastry tip with the gougère batter. Pipe the batter into 1-tablespoon mounds on the baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between the gougères as the mixture will spread during baking. Sprinkle the top of each gougère with about 1/2 teaspoon of the remaining grated cheese and bake for 7 to 8 minutes, or until they puff and hold their shape. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees F. And bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes.
When the gougères are done, they should be a light golden brown color. When you break one open, it should be hollow; the inside should be cooked but still slightly moist. Remove the pans from the oven and serve the gougères while hot.
My Vanilla Creme Brulee ...
... Crispy on the top & melted inside .. yummy !!
INGREDIENS FOR 6 PEOPLE :
•1 quart heavy cream
•1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
•1/2 cup vanilla sugar
•8 large egg yolks
•6 teaspoons of brown sugar
INSTRUCTIONS :
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Dip the vanilla bean into warm milk during 30nmn. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean. Keep the bean.
Place the cream, vanilla bean and its pulp into a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean and reserve for another use. In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup sugar and the egg yolks until well blended and it just starts to lighten in color.
Add the cream a little at a time, stirring continually. Pour the liquid into 6 (7 to 8-ounce) ramekins. Place the ramekins into a large cake pan or roasting pan.
Pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake just until the creme brulee is set, but still trembling in the center, approximately 40 to 45 minutes. Do not overbake or your custard will be rubbery.
Remove the ramekins from the roasting pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Remove the creme brulee from the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes prior to browning the sugar on top. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon sugar at the top of each custard.
Using a torch, melt the sugar and form a crispy top. Allow the creme brulee to sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.
If you don't have a torch : Keep the cremes brulees in the fridge until the last minute.
Preheat broiler. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon sugar atop each custard. Place dishes on small baking sheet. Broil until sugar just starts to caramelize, rotating sheet for even browning, about 2 minutes. Chill until caramelized sugar become hard. Wait about 15mn before serving.
Chewy and Fruity Cherry Almond French Clafoutis ...
... the perfect cake for the Summer !!
INGREDIENTS FOR 6 PEOPLE :
- 2 cup whole almonds
- 1 1/4 cups whole milk
- 2 cup of granulated sugar
- 8 ounces dark sweet cherries, pitted, halved (about 2 cups)
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
Preparation :
Grind almonds in a processor until ground. Don't blend until pastry.
In a small saucepan, put milk and almonds and bring to simmer. Remove from heat and wait around 30 minutes to get it cool.
Pour through fine strainer, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard solids in strainer.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter 10-inch-diameter pie mold or 6 individual molds ; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar. Scatter cherries evenly over bottom of dish.
Using electric mixer, beat eggs, almond extract, salt, and sugar in medium bowl until well blended. Add strained almond milk and beat to blend. Sift flour into egg mixture and beat until smooth. Pour mixture over cherries. Sprinkle granulated sugar. Bake until set and knife inserted into center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
Cool completely.
This Clafoutis can be made 6 hours ahead. Try it with other fruit !!!
You can eat either warm or cold, and serve it with Pistacchio or Vanilla Ice cream ... your children will love it !!!!!!
Honey, Pistacchio & Caramel Praline icy & creamy Nougat with a fresh Raspberry Sauce ...
... so fresh, so good !!!
INGREDIENTS FOR 6 PEOPLE :
• Pistachio Nougatine (Praline):
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup of water
1/2 cup pistachios, toasted and roughly chopped
• Nougat Glace (icy) :
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup honey
2 tablespoons corn syrup
5 egg whites
1/2 cup chopped pistachios (you can make a mix with nuts)
¼ cup dried candied fruits (orange, cranberry and/or cherry are my favorite ) that have been macerating into 1 tablespoon of rhum (you can skip this step if you prefer)
• Raspberry Sauce
1 pound of fresh Raspberries
2 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoon of water
½ cup of sugar
1. Start with Pistachio Nougatine (Praline) :
Before making the pistachio praline, line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Then combine sugar and water in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Stirring just until the sugar is dissolved. Increase to medium high heat and cook without stirring until mixture turns golden caramel brown. Stop the heat as soon as the caramel starts to become brown!!!
Remove from the heat immediately and quickly stir in the toasted chopped pistachio to coat them in the caramel and pour the mixture in a thin layer on the prepared parchment paper (use a spoon to make a thin layer of praline)
Allow to cool completely and harden. Break into 1 to 2-inch pieces. Finely chop the praline and reserve at room temperature.
2. It is time for the Nougat :
In the bowl of your mixer, whip the cream until it forms soft peaks, then set aside in the refrigerator.
Get your mixer ready and start beating the eggs whites (with a hint of salt) starting with low speed.
In the same time, combine the 1/2 cup sugar, honey, and corn syrup in medium saucepan and place the pan on medium low heat. While sugar is cooking, look at the eggs and turn into high speed. When you see some peaks, adding remaining 1/4 cup sugar slowly. The eggs should be smooth and shinny, but no stiff.
You may need to reduce speed to keep whites this soft until sugar is ready. Once sugar reaches 480ºF on a candy thermometer (it is bubbling), slowly pour syrup into whites with the mixer on low speed and continue beating until the mixture cools—about 5 minutes. (touch the bottom of you bowl to ensure cool temperature).
Then fold the mixture in the chilled whipped cream in thirds until smooth. Fold in the candied fruits, pistachio praline, and the rest of chopped pistachios.
Put the nougat mixture into a 9 x 4-inch loaf pan or into individual soufflé molds lined with plastic wrap (you can definitely create the form of nougat that you want !!). You can also use silicone molds).
Freeze overnight.
3. To finish, the fresh Raspberry Sauce :
Heat the sugar, water and lemon juice in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring from time to time, until the sugar dissolves completely, about 5 minutes.
Put the raspberries and the sugar syrup in a blender and puree.
Strain through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds, and keep in the fridge.
4. Dress the plate and Bon Appetit !!
When it is frozen, take the nougat out of the molds or pan, remove the plastic, slice and dress a trickle of Sauce around the Nougat !!!
Put fresh raspberry on the top of the Nougat, some pieces of pistachios, and a leaf of mint !!
