bonjour dear readers, and so, here it is, our first stop on the culinary tour of our little globe...click the menu items for recipe links if you fancy a petit try yourself...
For those who know me well, know that I am more than a little bit partial to cheese. So naturally this classic and delicious French starter appealed. I had never made soufflés before so was hoping that they would not
a. Deflate as soon as they were taken from the oven,
b. Reveal themselves to be made entirely of air or,
c. Look like they were about to attack the planet like a B-movie monster
After coating the individual ramekins with butter and grated parmesan I warmed milk in heavy small saucepan over medium-low heat until steaming-not simmering! While the milk is heating, I made a roux from the butter, flour, paprika, salt and nutmeg. Adding the egg yolks makes the base of the soufflé.
I used Elle’s delectable Kitchen Aid to whisk the egg whites until firm, then added about a third of them in to the mixture stirring gently and sprinkling in the Gruyere as I went. After folding in the remaining whites (don’t over-stir) I transferred the mixture to the ramekins and baked until they looked well risen and golden brown. Now, don’t be put off by subtle yet distinct smell of feet that smells the kitchen while they’re cooking. That is the smell of gruyere…and success. They rose beautifully, didn’t deflate, and were absolutely delicious. If a novice soufflé maker like myself managed it then I’m sure the more experienced among you will find it a breeze.
I have made a fair number of stews in my life to date, I am a big fan of the one pot dish, usually the most filling and comforting of dinners can be made in my big old le creuset pan, and this one was no different.
The whole bottle of wine that goes into it may have helped.
As this dish takes 4-5 hours to prep and cook I started early, so that when Lucy arrived we could crack on with the starter and dessert together. In a surprising move I came over all TV cookery and prepped all my ingredients first, placing them in tiny individual dishes, most pleasing. Hunting down some string I tied up the bouquet garni, and I was ready to go.
I think the best part was de-glazing the pan with a cup of brandy, smelt amazing, then nestling the meat back in amongst the veg and glugging over the bottle of wine (cotes du rhône – keeping French). Then essentially that is it for 3½ hrs until you need to prep the onions and mushrooms which are added at the last minute before serving.
The onions: Top Tip #1 blanch the onions whole in boiling water for 1 minute, then pop straight into cold water...the skins with slip off with ease...careful though as some slipped off with such ease the onion poinged out of my hands. But what is cooking without a little danger.
Deciding what to serve with the stew was complex, some people say rice (I say no, not rice) and some say boiled potatoes...Lucy & I had decided on nice crusty bread. I then proceeded to forget that we had decided this and re-decided on buttered new potatoes and curly kale, which went nicely indeed. Curly kale is just lovely.
It possibly goes without saying, but I do like a contradiction, that this dish was utterly delicious. I find it hard to see how something cooked for that long, with those ingredients can fail to be anything but. The liquid had reduced to a thick, dark gravy...the meat was falling apart with the lightest touch and the individual tastes were defined but came together perfectly.
Tres bien indeed.
Oh yes, lemon tart, nice. A sound suggestion by Lucy for a lemon dish to finish what was otherwise a rich and intense meal.
Using individual tart rings I made 4 x 4” pate sucree cases, these were blind baked and left to cool. Whisking up the filling is simple enough, getting the zest out of the microplane is always irritating and fills me with an impotent rage that closely, but not quite, matches that felt when trying to get a piece of cling film to simply stick to another object and not itself (this, I have decided, is the SINGLE most irritating thing in my life, and the removal of this irritant would have no end of improvement to my existence).
Tart cases were filled and popped back into the oven to cook for 30 minutes, until the filling was set but still had a jiggle to it. While these were cooking I whizzed up some raspberry coulis to serve alongside the cooled tarts.
Served with the coulis and a dusting of icing sugar (use a tea strainer – brilliant) and we had the climax to our Parisian culinary event.
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