Friday, August 10, 2012

Tomato Tarte Tatin


                                                    8 Portions

Ingredients:

3 T Olive oil 
3 sweet onions, julienned 
Mix of heirloom and/or cherry tomatoes: 
3 green, 3 yellow, 14 red cherry, for example 
Some sprigs of fresh basil 
225g/1/2 lb firm mild goat’s cheese 
1-2 cloves garlic, minced 
optional spoon of fresh thyme, bay leaf 

Pate brisée Pastry 
200 g (7oz.) all-purpose flour 
100 g (3.5oz.) soft, cool butter diced 
50 g (scant 2oz.) cold water

Procedure:

  • For the dough, work 3/4 of the flour and a pinch of salt into the butter with a fork until you have small crumbs, then mix in the water till you has a homogenous paste. 
  • Add the remaining flour and incorporate by hand without overworking. 
  • If dough still sticks, add another spoon or so of flour, but incorporate fully. 
  • Roll into ball, dust lightly with flour, wrap in plastic, and cool at least one hour. 
  • In a medium size non-stick sauté pan with oven-proof handle, sauté onions in olive oil till light brown. 
  • Cut tomatoes into large wedges, removing water and seeds if necessary, and leave cherry tomatoes whole. 
  • Add to pan with garlic, bay leaf, thyme and tomatoes and cook a very short time just to soften tomatoes and evaporate excess moisture. If very watery, incorporate a spoon or two of sifted flour. Salt and pepper to taste. 
  • Top with sliced cheese. Bring pastry to room temperature and roll out just larger than pan diameter. 
  • Lift off with scraper and rolling pin and place over tomato mix, tucking sides under a bit. 
  • Score top to allow release of steam and bake about 30 minutes at 375 F/160 C on bottom rack, or until pastry has browned lightly all over. 
  • Remove and cool 5 minutes before inverting onto serving plate. Serve warm or cold.
  • Optionally add some capers or anchovies, or top with more cheese.

Wine Suggestion:

Rosés from Provence, Corsica or Languedoc. Dry Riesling or young unoaked Chardonnay.


Made in the Market class with chef Brian Defehr and his students.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Strawberry Clafouti

                                                     6 portion

Ingredients:

Unsalted butter (to grease the dish or molds)
8 ounces or 250g strawberries, take off the green top and halve lengthwise
3 eggs
1 cup heavy cream, half and half or milk
2/3 cup or 95g flour
1/4 cup or 50g granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons or 8ml vanilla or sweet liquor such as Cointreau or Grand Marnier
A pinch of salt
Powdered sugar

Procedure:

  • Preheat oven to 350°. 
  • Grease a 2-qt/2liters baking or gratin dish with the butter. 
  • Arrange strawberries, cut side down, put in the bottom of the mold and set aside.
  • In a blender, whisk eggs, milk, flour, granulated sugar, vanilla, and salt for 15 seconds.
  • Pour batter over strawberries.
  • Bake until puffed, golden brown, and set in the center, about 50 minutes. 
  • Dust with powdered sugar and serve warm.
     
Chef Patrick says: 

As easy to make as a pancake, this classic French dessert from the Limousin region involves pouring a simple batter over fresh fruit (typically cherries) and baking until puffed and golden brown. The fruit rises to the top, leaving a soft layer whose texture falls somewhere between custard and cake. I like to cook the clafouti in individual daugh crust. It gives a crunchy texture and a nicer presentation.

Made in the Market class with chef Patrick Hebert and his students.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Flounder with Asparagus, Spinach & Hollandaise Sauce

                                                       Portion 6

Ingredients:

2 Flounder Filleted, bones chopped
2 Sweet Yellow Onions
4 Cloves Garlic
1 Fennel
2 Carrots
1 Branch Celery
4 Sprigs Thyme
1 bottle White Wine
1 Bay Leaf
1 bunch chives
5 Egg Yolks
1.5 Cups Clarified Butter
2 Lemons juiced
2 bunches Asparagus
2 bunches Spinach
Butter
Olive Oil
Salt / Pepper
1 Small Pinch Fleur de Sel (sea salt)


Procedure:

  • Peel and chop the onions in 4. Peel and smash the garlic. Slice the fennel. Peel and rough chop the carrots. 
  • Chop the celery with leaves and all. Wash the Spinach and let dry. Chop the chives very small and reserve on the side.
  • Peel the asparagus and bend them. They will naturally break in the spot that will leave a good tip, and throw away the fibrous bottom.
  • In a large pot, sweat the onions, half of the garlic, fennel, carrots and celery in olive oil for 10 mins on high heat.
  • Add the fish bones and the bottle of wine minus 1/3 cup of wine for the hollandaise. When the liquid comes to the boil, reduce heat to a simmer and add the herbs (minus the chives), a pinch of salt and some black pepper.
  • Cook for 30 mins. Strain and reduce the liquid until there is only about 1 to 3⁄4 of a cup left.
  • Then chop 5 tablespoons of cold butter and whisk this into the reduced liquid until smooth. Reserve on the side, but keep warm.
  • In a large pot, bring to boil 3 quarts of water and 1 cup of salt and blanch the asparagus until they are still slightly crunchy in the center. They should be a bit under done, cause they will be re- heated later on.
  • When slightly cooked, remove and plunge into an ice bath to “Shock” them. Then strain and dry them.
  • In a wide flat sauté pan, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil. Season and dust the fish with salt, pepper and a bit of flour. Cook until golden brown on one side for about 4-5 mins. Then flip and cook for 1 min and remove. 
  • At the same time, in a double broiler, whisk the egg yolks and the wine until thick. When thick, off the heat, add slowly the clarified butter (Note: The butter should be warm, not hot, not cold) If the mixture gets too thick, you can add a bit of the lemon juice at this stage to stabilize.
  • When all butter is in, season with 2 big pinches of salt, fresh black pepper, lemon juice to taste.
  • In another pot, heat 3 tablespoons fresh butter and heat until golden brown and “noisette.” Add the rest of the Garlic, then the spinach, 2 pinches of salt and wilt for 1 min. 
  • Roast the dry asparagus in olive oil until warm. 
  • On the plate, spoon some warm fish stock butter sauce (Fish Fumet Beurre Blanc) on the plate, Then a few of the asparagus. Then a small pinch of the spinach. Then the fish filet. Then top with the Hollandaise.

     
 Made in the Market class with chef Alex Dreyer and his students.
 

Friday, July 13, 2012

Seared Shrimp with Piment d'Espelette and Orange & Fennel Salad


Ingredients:
4-6 Shrimps
4 fennel bulbs
4 oranges
extra virgin olive oil, preferably strong
Mesclun salad mix
Salt
Pepper
Piment d'espelette

Procedure:
  • Sear the shrimp in a pan for 1 min, tossing with salt and piment d'espelette. 
  • Cut the oranges into segments, save some juice. Cut the fennel into thin slices, use a mandolin slicer if you have it. 
  • Prepare the vinaigrette by using 1 cup of the orange juice, three tablespoons of olive oil, a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper. Whisk well and pour over the sliced fennel and mesclun salad mix. 
  • Toss well then mix with the orange segments. 
  • Finish with shrimp over the salad.
  • Serve immediately.
Note: If fennel slices are a bit hard, they can be blanched in lightly salted boiling water. Run them under cold water to stop the cooking.

Made in the Market Class with Chef Constance and her students. 
 

Friday, July 6, 2012

Dark chocolate tarte

Photo taken by Brian Defehr
Photo taken by Brian Defehr
                                                   Portion: 8

Ingredients:

Sweet pastry:
90 g (3 oz.) icing sugar 
30 g (1 oz.) ground almond 
125 g (4.5 oz.) soft butter 
1 egg 
250 g (9 oz.) all-purpose flour

Chocolate ganache:
20 cl (4/5 C.) heavy cream) 
170 g (6 oz.) dark chocolate 60% 
I egg 
60 g (2 oz.) butter

Procedure:

          For the sweet pastry: 
  • Mix well with fork: the sugar, ground almond, and soft butter in large bowl. Incorporate 1 whole egg, mixing well.
  • Then add 5 oz. all purpose flour, 3/4 of it with a wooden spoon or plastic spatula, then the last 1/4 of the flour mixed in with your fingertips, without kneading. 
  • Continue to sprinkle in more flour if necessary till dough no longer sticks to bowl and fingers.
  • Don't work the dough like bread kneading, just squash it if necessary to incorporate all the flour. Once you have a smooth, homogenous ball, not sticking, wrap in plastic and refrigerate 1-2 hours. 
  • Remove dough from fridge, allow to warm 5 minutes if cold and stiff. Butter and dust 8 tartlet pans with sugar. Either roll out dough flat and cut out circles large enough to fit perfectly in your pans, or roll dough into cylinder, and cut into 8 or 9 portions, about 45g / 1.6 oz each. 
  • Dust each slice of dough with flour only if sticky and press into tart pans evenly, with thumbs. Prick all around base of pan with fork to prevent dough from ballooning while cooking. 
  • Bake at 400 F/200 C about 10-12 minutes, until just lightly browning, remove and cool 5 minutes before adding the chocolate filling.


    For the chocolate filling:
  • Melt the chocolate and butter together over steam in a double boiler, stirring to blend.
  • Bring cream to a simmer, beat egg in a separate bowl and slowly pour cream into beaten egg while whisking. 
  • Strain if you see any solid egg bits, and mix well with chocolate, then pour into prebaked tart shells, and bake at 150 C/300 F about 15 minutes, just to set. 
  • Cool 2 hours before eating, and if storing in fridge, warm to room temperature before eating. 
  • For an alternative with less risk of salmonella from undercooked eggs, replace the egg with 2 yolks and cook with 1⁄4 C. heavy cream as for sabayon till thick, before adding to the chocolate and baking. 
  • Optionally top with fresh raspberries and dust with icing sugar, or with caramelized walnuts.

Friday, June 29, 2012

Crispy-skin Duck Breast with Stewed Cherries

                                                   Portion: 6-8

Ingredients:

3 duck breasts
4 minced shallots 
2 T. olive oil 
1⁄4 C. balsamic vinegar 
1 T. honey 
1 bay leaf 
2 sprigs fresh tarragon or fresh basil 
Salt, pepper 
2 C. pitted, halved cherries

Procedure:
  • Gently cook shallots covered in 2 tablespoons olive oil, about 10 minutes with no browning. 
  • Add all other ingredients except for fresh herbs and simmer 5 minutes, then add tarragon at the end of cooking. 
  • Be sure to test for a good balance of sweet and sour before serving. 
  • Trim excess fat from duck breasts, slash the skin and place skin side down in hot pan, no oil if using non-stick pan. 
  • Brown duck skin till crispy, draining fat from pan once or twice, about 10 minutes over medium heat. 
  • Flip to sear bottom side one minute, salt skin only, then place in very slow oven, about 250 F, just long enough, about 10 minutes, to bring interior from bloody rare to pink, firm but juicy.    
  • Salt bottom, rest 5 minutes as with a good steak, then serve with cherries. Sprinkle duck with “Fleur de sel” to accentuate the flavors.
  • Serve with celery puree.

Wine Suggestions:

Young, deep reds, not too dry : Corbières, Minervois, Cotes-du-rhone, Saint-émilion, St-Chinian


This recipe tried and tested in the Morning Market class with Chef Brian this week.

Friday, June 22, 2012

Artichoke Veloute Creamy Truffle Oil

                                                        Portion 6

Ingredients:

6 artichokes
1 onion
left over white wine if you have
Cream
Black truffle oil
Salt, pepper, thyme , bay leaf
4 slices of bacon

Procedure:

  • First, prepare the artichokes, cut the stem and clean up the leaves, keep only the heart.
  • Cut them in four and take out the center ( the blond hair!).
  • Chop the onio.
  • In a deep frying pan sweat the onion then add the artichokes, the thyme and bay leaf.
  • Deglaze with the wine then cover with water and turn the heat down, let it cook slowly with a lid on.
  • Meanwhile whisk the cream add salt and pepper and a drizzle of truffle oil.
  • When the artichokes are cooked, blend them with the cooking water
  • Add a little of cream to have a creamy consistency.
  • Chop the bacon in small pieces and sear them on a frying pan with no fat.
  • On a deep plate pour the veloute, add the bacon and a scoop of truffle cream.
  • Decorate with herbs and enjoy!