Success: Blood Orange Sorbet by David Lebovitz

I know, I know, dead of winter, nice and cold (and very wet in California) but I had a tree full of Blood Oranges and they needed to be used.  So while I am making this, and yes I did try some, I am planning on serving it down the road on a warmer, sunnier day.  Of citrus sorbets like this are better eaten hot, er I mean cold off the press, but just not today.

David Lebovitz has a sweet life.  He worked at Chez Panisse in Berkeley with Alice Waters for a while before heading off to Paris to find love.  He has been there about ten years, writes a GREAT blog and some wonderful cookbooks as he eats his way across France.  I like his dessert recipes and his writing style is fun.  Sorbet is an easy one, but since I am also writing a blog and have been neglectful lately due to some deadlines, I decided to follow his recipe for Blood Orange Sorbet

As you can see I had a lot of oranges, about 6 pounds.

After much hand juicing, I do not own an electric one (hint-hint), I ended up with about 3 cups of juice and very wrinkled hands.  The house smelled great though.

Now I should have saved the rinds and made the candied rind, but laziness and a Chimay Beer caused me to toss them.

Once again I have to praise my Kitchen Aid mixer and Freezer Bowl, make life so easy for Ice Cream and Sorbet making.

Someone asked where I found the pint sized containers, Smart and Final carries them.

OK, I need to resist, but next week we will have a sunny dry day, I am sure of it!

Blood Orange Sorbet by David Lebovitz

1. Juice your blood oranges. The measure the juice.

2. For each 1 cup (250ml) of juice, figure 1/4 cup (50g) of granulated sugar to be added.

For example: Use 1/2 cup (100g) sugar for 2 cups juice (500ml).

3. Put the sugar in a small, non-reactive saucepan. Add just enough juice to saturate it very well. Heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar is completely dissolved.

4. Stir the sugar back into the reserved blood orange juice.

5. Chill thoroughly, then freeze in your ice cream maker

SUCCESS!

Success: Domaine Saint Luc's Cake aux Olives by Patrica Wells

I just adore Patrica Wells.  I have been following her career since the late 1980s and have used two of her books as if they were my bible (Food Lovers Companion to Paris and FLC to France). These books not only have restaurant recommendations and food history but also recipes from the areas and restaurants she frequents.  Call me jealous, I would love her job, to visit all areas of France, eat and then write about it!  She is my rockstar of all rockstars.  She is the only author whom I have collected all of her books and read from them often.

She also offers courses and in fact some friends from Seattle were able to join her in Provence for one such course.  They sat down to a lunch seated next to Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) who is apparently a good friend of Patricia Wells.  They said that Ina was warm, charming and funny, but that Patricia was a bit stiff.  They made it clear that she was not rude, mean or nasty, just that she was not as warm as they expected.  Oh well, warm, cold or in between, I think she is AMAZING and so are her books!

So I had some friends over the other day and needed an easy first course.  So after much reading I decided to try Patricia's savory olive cake, titled: "Domaine Saint Luc's Cake aux Olives"

The recipe called for Nyon's olives, which as I am currently in California, I did not have available to me.  Nyon's are small black shiny olives from the south of France.  They are mildly salty and slightly bitter.  I was going to just pick up some black olives from Trader Joes, when I found some Cerignola olives at Whole Foods.  Cerignola olives are giant green Spanish olives.  Mild in flavor and slightly salty.

From Well's book, The Paris Cookbook, I decided to serve it sliced using the tomato sauce that she references from the same book.  Simple clean and easy.  I made the cake the night before and served it at room temperature on top of the heated tomato sauce.

Now I must tell you, the cake as it came out of the oven was HEAVEN!  Slightly salty but light and fluffy.  When I served it the next day I was worried that it might firm too much and loose the light fluffiness.  I was surprised that it did not, all of my guests commented on how light it was.  However, they also commented that it was a wee bit too salty.  I think this is because of the olives I used.  If I had used the Nyon's or even the basic black olives from Trader Joe's it might have been just perfect.  I did make the dish again for Michael and he loved it, we like salt.


Domaine Saint Luc's Cake aux Olives
8 servings
from The Paris Cookbook by Patricia Wells
4 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 ounces (1 cup) freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Swiss Gruyère cheese
1 scant cup black Nyons olives, pitted and halved lengthwise
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
About 1 cup homemade Tomato Sauce (optional)
1. Butter a 6-cup loaf pan (preferably nonstick) and set it aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt, and stir to blend. Slowly add the eggs, whisking to incorporate. Whisk in the milk, cheese, olives and oil. Set aside for 2 hours to allow flour to absorb the liquids (making for a lighter cake).
3. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
4. Stir the batter to blend once again. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Place in the center of the oven and bake until firm and golden, about 30 minutes. Serve at room temperature, sliced and cut into cubes. Or to serve as a first course, slice and serve with tomato sauce.


Tomato Sauce by Patricia Wells
Makes about 3 Cups
1/4 Cup Extra virgin olive oil
1 Small white onion minced
3 Cloves garlic minced
Healthy pinch Sea Salt
1-3/4 pounds Crushed tomatoes in puree
Several springs of parsley, bay leaves and celery leaves
1. In a large unheated saucepan, combine the oil, onion, garlic and salt and stir to coat with oil.
2. Cook over moderate heat just until the garlic turns golden but does not brown, 2 to 3 minutes.
3. If using whole canned tomatoes, place a food mill over the skillet and puree the tomatoes directly into it.
4. Crushed tomatoes can be added directly from the can.
5. Add the herb bundle, stir to blend, and simmer, uncovered, until the sauce begins to thicken, about 15 minutes.
6. For a thicker sauce, for pizzas and toppings, cook for 5 minutes more.
7. Salt and pepper for seasoning as needed.
8. Remove and discard the herb bundle.


SUCCESS!

Fail: Chocolate Pot de Creme The Balthazar Cookbook

I love Balthazar Restaurant in New York, every time I have been I inevitably run into some working there who I worked with in the 1990s in San Francisco.  So they treat me nice, I like the space and while the food is not mind blowing it is typically consistently good.  So several years ago I bought their cookbook when it came out and it has sat on my shelves collecting dust ever since.

Yesterday I had a lunch for some friends so I decided to make Chocolate Pot de Creme, who doesn't love this dish?  It also happens that I found these really cute ramekin/pots over the weekend and wanted to use them.


One of the nice things about Pot de Creme is that it usually needs to be made the day before so it can set up / cool in the fridge.  This gave me the opportunity to test it out before I served it, and am I glad I did.


As I get further into this blog what I am finding is that someone has written and critiqued just about every recipe out there. I am often tempted to read comments, suggestions, tips, etc, but more than often don't so I am not swayed to correct any problems in advance.


I went to the market and bought the products to make these little guys.  I was very careful to follow all of the instructions closely, as a kid my sister worked in a small chocolate shop so I knew how tempering was such an issue. I was very VERY careful to slowly introduce the hot chocolate creme to the egg yolks so they would not cook.

I filled the pots carefully and then I put them into my version of a bain marie which was nothing more than a roasting pot filled with water covered with aluminium foil.  Now, what does this mean?  Well it means that you cannot look at them without taking the foil off, which means that the cooking process suddenly ends and restarting can be a bummer.  So I made sure the oven was at 250F with both the oven control and a separate thermometer.  I also had two timers set so it would cook the exact prescribed time, 1 hour 15 minutes.

At the exact time I took them out of the oven, removed the foil and alas they were wet and runny like water.  Not what they should have looked like according to the recipe.  So I had seen somewhere that when you take them out they are not set, that they have to cool so I let them come down to room temperature and then placed them in the fridge, 4 hours later I had cold chocolate creamy water!


So, I stated all over, but after reading other peoples comments on line, and looking at many different recipes, I decided to crank up the oven to 350F and added an extra 1/2 hour of cooking time.  And voila, this time they were perfect.

Everyone enjoyed them and they set up perfectly.  On both occasions I got to lick the spatula after I was done filling the pots and the taste and texture reminded me of fabulous chocolate pudding from my childhood.  So all in all the ingredients worked for this recipe but the cooking time and temperature are suspect.


INGREDIENTS for 6

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
8 ounces Valrhona semisweet chocolate, coursely chopped (I used 1/2 Valrhona and 1/2 Sharffen Berger 70% chocolate)
6 large egg yolks

METHOD
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

In a medium saucepan, combine the cream, milk, sugar and vanilla.  Whisk to combine and bring to a boil over a medium heat.  Add the chopped chocolate and whisk until melted.  Remove from heat.

In a medium bowl, lightly beat the eggs yolks.  In a slow steady stream, add the chocolate-cream mixture, whisking until smooth.  Divide the mixture among 6 ramekins, small custard bowls, or espresso cups (about 6 ounces each) and place them in a large casserole or high-sided baking dish.

Make a bain-marie (or water bath), by pouring cold water into the casserole so that it comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins or custard bowls.  Cover tightly with foil and bake on the center rack for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  The custards shouls jiggle slightly in the center when finished.

Let cool to room temperature then place in the regrigerator.  Serve cool.

FAILURE!

Fail: Meyer Lemon Sorbet Elise at Simply Recipes dot com

I am an avid reader of David Lebovitz for those of you who do not know him, check him out.  He has a fun blog and a great writing style, not to mention he is a great pastry chef.  He recently wrote about Meyer Lemons and although I had heard part of the story I must admit I did not know all of it.  I was told that they were a hybrid between an orange and a lemon, but not all the rest.  For the rest of the story and a wonderful recipe for Lemon Curd click here, Link to DL Curd 


We have three dwarf Meyer Lemon trees at the house in California and neighbors with lots more.  So I am always either picking them from our trees or having them left on more door in hopes of returned treats.  I have made other things but I LOVE MEYER LEMON SORBET!  So I make it when I can.  

Basically you make lemonade and then freeze it.  I have a KitchenAid mixer with the ice cream attachment, which could not make ice cream and sorbet marking easier.  

You pick the lemons, then lots of zesting and then lots of juicing, which I do by hand first with a zester then with a reamer and a strainer.  

It is a messy job so I would suggest doing this over a sink with lots of towels nearby for spilling.  Wear gloves if you are making a lot, as the lemon juice will burn after a while.  I have enough here to make about 6 pint sized containers of sorbet, about 2 liters of juice.
So after about an hour and probably close to about 40 small to midsized lemons I had a mess, some juice (about 2 liters) and some zest.  

But the house smelled great and they do make pretty pictures.


Now I had more than I needed but with a vision.  I first made the recipe as written knowing that it would be too sweet for my taste.  The nice thing about making this recipe is you actually can taste it before the freezing, so you know what you are gonna get.  Most of the recipes I have seen for this call for 1 to 1 ratio of Simple Syrup to Lemon Juice.  I think that is WAY TO SWEET!  I like my lemon sorbet with a bit of lemon tartness.  So the first batch I made 1 to 1 and gave it to neighbors, who loved it.  The second batch I made 1 liter of lemon juice to 3/4 liter of Simple Syrup.  In both cases I added the accurate called for amount of lemon zest, which I think adds a nice punch to it.  

So really this recipe as written could be a success for some, if you like your lemonade sweet.  If you are like me and enjoy bitter things (let the comments fly) then I would say this recipe is a kind of fail with a slight correction for taste.  

Using 2 liters of juice and 1.5 liters of simple syrup will create 6 pints of sorbet.  The mixer's freezing bowl needs to freeze between batches so you make enough for 3 pints (1 liter juice to 3/4 liter syrup and zest) and then make the second later after the bowl freezes again.  After the mixer is done (the exterior condensation ice line will melt to the top of where the sorbet begins) you will need to put the pints of sorbet in your freezer to finish it off as they will be slushy not frozen all the way. I put a layer of plastic wrap touching the sorbet in each pint before I put the lid on it and place it in the freezer.  

Meyer Lemon Sorbet Recipe

INGREDIENTS

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

1 cup freshly squeezed juice from meyer lemons (about 3-4 lemons)

2 teaspoons fine lemon zest

METHOD

1 In a small saucepan on medium high heat, make a simple syrup by heating sugar and water until the sugar has completely dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool. Mix in the lemon juice and zest. Chill, either in the refrigerator, or by placing in a metal bowl over an ice bath.

2 Once the mixture has thoroughly chilled, freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. If you don't have an ice cream maker, you can pour the mixture into a shallow pan and freeze in your freezer until semi-solid. Then take a fork and fluff it up, returning it the the freezer to freeze firm. Then put in a food-processor or blender to process until smooth.

Place sorbet in an airtight container and freeze until ready to serve.

3 Scoop out preferably with a melon-baller. Garnish with mint. Makes 2 1/2 cups.

FAILURE! 

Success: Sweet Potato and Gruyère Soufflé Gourmet Magazine 1992

So tonight I am back from a great trip in Seattle.  I came back to an empty fridge with the exception of a wedge of Gruyere and a stack of sweet potatoes.  I have seen one of these on Martha but I am a huge fan of the now defunct Gourmet Magazine so to honor the work they did I decided to make this one.

The recipe was pretty easy to follow as long as you read through it and do a nice mise en place and get your self all ready so you do not have to stop to butter this, shred that, measure this, etc., etc.  My Souffle bowl is not 1.5 Qt so I did not fill it full, that meant that it did not rise above the line, next time I will fill it to the top.

Here is the recipe from Epicurious:

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

1 cup finely chopped onion

1 large garlic clove, minced

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

1 cup coarsely grated Gruyère (about 3 ounces)

2 cups mashed cooked sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds)

4 large eggs, separated

preparation

Butter a 1 1/2-quart soufflé dish and dust it with 1/4 cup of the Parmesan. In a large heavy saucepan cook the onion and the garlic with salt and pepper to taste in the butter over moderately low heat, stirring, until the onion is softened, stir in the flour, and cook the roux, stirring, for 3 minutes. Add the milk in a stream, whisking, and simmer the mixture, whisking, until it is thickened. Remove the pan from the heat, whisk in the Gruyère, whisking until the cheese is melted, and whisk in the sweet potatoes and the egg yolks, 1 at a time. In a bowl with an electric mixer beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they just hold stiff peaks, whisk one fourth of them into the sweet potato mixture to lighten it, and fold in the remaining whites gently but thoroughly. Pour the mixture into the prepared soufflé dish, sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan over it, and bake the soufflé in the middle of a preheated 375°F. oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until it is puffed and golden. Serve the soufflé immediately.

Serves 4-6

 

I served this dish as a side to a roasted pork loin wrapped in bacon and a salad of arugula and red onion in a light vinaigrette.  It was light and fluffy, the sweet potato taste came through as did the Gruyere.  I might suggest a bit less Parmesan, maybe a 1/8 of a cup on top.  But all done, this dish ROCKED!

SUCCESS!

Success: Chicken Pot Pie by Ina Garten (aka: the Barefoot Contessa)

So happy that this turned out as good as it did.  I am a HUGE fan of the Barefoot Contessa and watch her show all the time.  
I have not purchased one of her cookbooks, but I download her recipes often and have had mostly positive results.  
Occasionally there is a step missing (Caramels with Sel).  
This was not the case with the chicken pot pie, it is easy and amazing.

I did a test run the night before as I planned to serve this for lunch the next day.  I followed the recipe and it was perfect.  
Now for my lunch run I did take a few shortcuts that I can admit....  
I bought market baked chicken so I could cut that step out.  
You need them freshly cooked to keep them moist and you must trust that the butcher you use knows how to bake a chicken!  
I mixed half breast meat half thigh meat which I think made it juicier.  
I also used store bought puff pastry which saved some time and was great.  
I just added the chicken mix, hot into a bowl, then covered it with puff pastry and an egg wash on both sides of the pastry (top and bottom).  
Then I put the whole thing in a 400 F oven for 20 minutes, PERFECT!


Guests commented on the whole onions and the moist chicken meat.  A real crowd pleaser.  Will be doing this again soon!


Ingredients
3 whole (6 split) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on
3 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
5 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
2 chicken bouillon cubes
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups yellow onions, chopped (2 onions)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 cups medium-diced carrots, blanched for 2 minutes
1 (10-ounce) package frozen peas (2 cups)
1 1/2 cups frozen small whole onions
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
For the pastry:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 to 2/3 cup ice water
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
Flaked sea salt and cracked black pepper


Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cooked through. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then remove the meat from the bones and discard the skin. Cut the chicken into large dice. You will have 4 to 6 cups of cubed chicken.


In a small saucepan, heat the chicken stock and dissolve the bouillon cubes in the stock. In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and saute the onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until translucent. Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the hot chicken stock to the sauce. Simmer over low heat for 1 more minute, stirring, until thick. Add 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and heavy cream. Add the cubed chicken, carrots, peas, onions and parsley. Mix well.


For the pastry, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the shortening and butter and mix quickly with your fingers until each piece is coated with flour. Pulse 10 times, or until the fat is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water; process only enough to moisten the dough and have it just come together. Dump the dough out onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.


Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Divide the filling equally among 4 ovenproof bowls. Divide the dough into quarters and roll each piece into an 8-inch circle. Brush the outside edges of each bowl with the egg wash, then place the dough on top. Trim the circle to 1/2-inch larger than the top of the bowl. Crimp the dough to fold over the side, pressing it to make it stick. Brush the dough with egg wash and make 3 slits in the top. Sprinkle with sea salt and cracked pepper. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, or until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling hot.


SUCCESS!

Failure: Crispy and Creamy New Potato Pie by Tyler Florence

After my earlier success I was so excited to try something of Tyler's again.  I watched him make a New Potato Pie on TV that looked so good I decided to make it for our lunch today.

Here is the link to the video: http://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/crispy-and-creamy-new-potato-pie/45104.html

And here is the written recipe from the Food TV Webpage


Ingredients

• 2 pounds potatoes, washed and halved
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated horseradish (or prepared)
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup chives, chopped
• Kosher saltand freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Wash and boil potatoes in salty water with bay leaf until fork tender. Drain potatoes and mash along with horseradish, sour cream, and chives. Season with salt and pepper.

Put mixture into a 10-inch skillet with 1 tablespoon olive oil and bake until golden and crispy. To serve, invert onto a plate and cut into pieces.

I followed the written instructions to the T and the result was a total failure....

The pie's crispy top stuck solidly to the pan and the potatoes were dry and limp.  I even tried scrapping the bottom of the pan but as we speak it is soaking in the sink... 


In the video he clearly puts the pan on the fire and presses down firm.  I am not sure if that was the step, which they obviously left off the written or if it was something else they left out.  The potatoes themselves were very dry all the way around.  He also didn't specify how much time in the over other than golden and crispy... If the bottom is what he means, well you can not see it until you take it out of the pan.  needless to say, no potato pie for lunch today :(

FAILURE!