A great read if you love food and if you love Paris is David Lebovitz's book, The Sweet Life in Paris. I think I have accepted the glaringly obvious fact that I will never live in Paris or the south of France; so when I can read about someone else and their escapades in this city and country I am smitten with, it's a real treat for this Francophile. In addition to the travails of daily life in Paris, David has filled this book with recipes. I recently spent a day tending to a 5 pound pork shoulder from Whole Foods to make David's recipe for Carnitas. I loudly announced for many days prior to our weekend dinner, a meal that our daughter and her boyfriend join us for weekly, we would be having "Carnitas and Margaritas" ! I expected it to be good because it was David's... and it did not disappoint. This weekend we're having friends for dinner and I am tempted to make it again. I don't think anyone in my family would mind a repeat. It was delicious; and the margaritas weren't bad, either. This photo shows the cubed pork, cooling after braising for 3 hours in the oven. It was then shredded and returned to the oven for an additional hour. The carnitas were rolled in warmed flour tortillas and served with homemade guacamole and salsa. I'll send you to David for the recipe. enJoY !
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I guess I fell off the horse, or off the wagon, or whatever you want to call it. I'm one day over a week into the new year and my healthy eating attempts have flown the coop. I'm back into my routine of incorporating huge amounts of butter into all that I do in the kitchen. Google Adsense should be thrilled. They can place more ads on my web page, helping those who need to "reduce belly fat". And I'm back into my routine of using canned apricots in my baking. At least the butter is being equalized (?) by good-for-you fruit. This sweet little tart will be preceded by filet mignons seasoned with coarse pepper, seared, finished in the oven, and topped with a balsamic reduction and gorgonzola (Maytag Blue, thank you very much). I can't think of a better way to spend a very cold night in St. Paul, Minnesota. • Tarte aux Abricots • a tart from Patisserie Lerch in Paris | recipe from Paris Boulangerie Pâtisserie by Linda Dannenberg Pâte Brisée au Sucre • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour • 1/2 cup sugar • 1/8 teaspoon baking powder • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces, very cold • 1 large egg, beaten Filling • 1 large egg • 1/4 cup sugar • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour • 1/8 teaspoon baking powder • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened Fruit • 4 pounds canned apricot halves, well drained and dried with paper towels • 2 tablespoons sugar • Confectioners' sugar, for dusting Pâte Brisée au Sucre: Combine the flour, sugar, and baking powder in a mixing bowl and form a well in the center, or blend in a food processor. Add the butter and cut the mixture together until crumbly. Add the egg and stir the combined ingredients vigorously until the dough comes together, pulsing the mixture if using a food processor. Flatten the dough in a disk shape, wrap it in plastic, and chill for at least 1/2 hour. Roll the pastry on a lightly floured sheet of wax paper or plastic wrap into a 13-inch circle, about 1/8-inch thick, lightly dusting the pastry with flour as needed. Chill the pastry briefly to make it easier to handle. Carefully invert the pastry, wax paper-side up, to a buttered 10 or 11-inch false-bottomed tart pan. Press the dough to fit the fluted sides of the pan. Carefully peel off the wax paper and trim the edges. You can also fit the pastry into a buttered 9-inch springform pan, forming even sides about 1 1/2-inches high. Refrigerate the pastry shell for at least 1/2 hour. Filling: Preheat the oven to 400˚F with racks in the lower third and upper third of the oven. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, sugar, and vanilla. Sift the flour and baking powder into the egg mixture, stirring gently with a wooden spoon until just combined. Add the butter and mix just until the batter is smooth. With a spatula, spread this mixture over the bottom and sides of the crust. Fruit: Arrange the apricot halves over the filling, standing them up with the edges upward in concentric circles, overlapping slightly, to cover the filling completely. Bake the tart on the lowest oven shelf for 25 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. Carefully transfer the tart to the top shelf. Sprinkle the apricots with granulated sugar, taking care not to sugar the pastry, or it will become too brown. Bake the tart until the apricots are glazed with gold, about 15 minutes longer. About 5 minutes before the tart is done, prop the oven door slightly ajar with a wooden spoon, so the steam can escape and the pastry doesn't become soggy. Transfer the tart to a wire rack to cool completely. Just before serving, sprinkle the crust and edges of the tart with confectioners' sugar. Serve at room temperature. The majority of my visits to Paris have been in early June. I have found that time of year to be perfect - not too hot; not too crowded. But I have, on occasion, traveled to Paris in the fall and winter. For someone who prefers walking to taking the metro, it becomes more challenging at those times of the year. Fall and winter are, as expected, cooler and rainier, with fewer daylight hours to navigate the streets of Paris. Another noticeable change is the restaurant menu. On one October visit, I remember every café and bistro I entered had a chocolate cake with vanilla sauce on the dessert menu. It was common to see chocolate cakes and large pitchers of crème anglaise atop small tables placed in the dining rooms amongst the clientale. It is hard to pass up dessert when you have been staring at it the entire meal, imagining the entire time what it might taste like. And, in my case, I also order it so I can compare it to my creations at home. It was my husband's birthday this past weekend and I made Fran Bigelow's Deep Chocolate Torte along with a Crème Anglaise Sauce - a reminder of fall in Paris. This cake will go far. It is dense and rich. I suggest doubling the recipe for Crème Anglaise. I like placing the slice of cake in a deep pool of the sauce. Fran Bigelow's Deep Chocolate Torte recipe printed in Saveur | November 2001 • 1 pound dark chocolate, preferably Cacao Barry Equateur (60 percent cacao) or Callebaut (56 percent cacao), finely chopped • 6 eggs • 1/4 cup sugar • 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier • 1 cup heavy cream • Cocoa for dusting 1. Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl or the top of a double boiler over barely simmering water and allow to melt completely. 2. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Generously butter a 9-inch cake pan. Cut a 9-inch round of waxed paper and press it over the bottom of the pan. 3. Beat the eggs, sugar, and liqueur in a large heatproof mixing bowl. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring with a wooden spoon, until warm but not hot. Remove from the heat and transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat with the whisk attachment for 5 minutes. Slowly stir in the melted chocolate. (Be patient with this step. Slowly stir until fully incorporated). 4. Whip the cream to soft peaks and gently fold into the chocolate mixture. Carefully transfer the batter to the pan. 5. Bake for 40 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the torte at least 2 to 4 inches from the side comes out clean. The center should be just set; do not overbake. 6. Let cool to room temperature, remove from the pan, and peel off the liner. Dust with cocoa. Crème Anglaise from French Tarts by Linda Dannenberg • 5 large egg yolks • 1/2 cup sugar • 2 cups whole milk • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1. In a large saucepan, whisk together the yolks and the sugar. In another saucepan, heat the milk and the vanilla extract over medium heat until hot but not boiling. Pour the hot milk into the yolk mixture, stirring constantly with a spoon. Set over medium heat and stir constantly until the sauce thickens and coats the back of the spoon. Do not let the sauce come to a boil or it will curdle. Remove from the heat and place plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Let cool, then refrigerate if not serving immediately. We happened to be in the Marais on Gay Pride Day June 2006. We usually stay on the Left Bank when visiting Paris, but had just returned for one night after a week in Provence and decided to stay near the Gare de Lyon. That way, we would be able to walk to our hotel from the train station, eliminating a costly taxi ride. I expected a quiet night, having dinner near our hotel and turning in early since we were catching our flight back home the next morning. What was I thinking?? We were in Paris, andwhen you are in Paris, and when it's your last night in Paris, YOU DO NOT TURN IN EARLY! We arrived at our hotel, threw down our luggage, and we were out of there. When I traveled to Paris for the first time in 1997, I was introduced to macarons. They are amazing little almond meringue confections with endless varieties of fillings. If you've never had one of these you are truly missing out. The December 1996 issue of House & Garden magazine published a beautiful article, "Cookie Fortune" which included the history of the French macaron, photographs that I have been tempted to frame, and a recipe from patisserie Ladurée. I found that recipe and the procedure totally intimidatiing. I filed it away, only taking it out occasionally to admire again the photographs of the beautiful, pastel-colored marcarons. As I've become more involved in visiting pastry-themed blogs, I've realized that the French macaron does not have to be intimidating and is something that can easily be made at home, and has been on my growing list of "things I need to bake". In fact, it has been on my list for quite a long time, but a photograph that was posted by Corey of Tongue and Cheek was what finally inspired me to set aside a morning for my first attempt at making macarons. I am now hooked and on the way to further experimentation. I took a morning off from what seems to be constant busyness and enjoyed a cappuccino and pastries with a friend. One of my all-time favorites is chouquettes, made from choux pastry dough that is piped into little mounds and topped with a large course-grained sugar. I was first introduced to chouquettes in Paris by our friend Maria. She would purchase a little bag full of them from a patisserie for snacking while we walked the city. It's another one of those "when you can't be in Paris" treats that is easily made at home, but gives me the feel of being somewhere special. So what do I do when I dream of being in Paris and can't? I bake French pastry and try to trick my mind into thinking I am actually there. Sad, but true, I doubt I will be visiting Paris anytime soon. Never say never, but I just don't think this is the year. After my trip last summer, I came home to stories of my dog Pipi acting suicidal while I was gone. That's when I said, as long as I have Pipi I cannot travel anywhere without her. (But, give me a convincing argument why I should go, and who knows... ) A pastry that you will see in many of the pâtisseries in Paris is Brioches aux Gouttes de Chocolat (chocolate chip brioches). I found Patisserie Gérard Mulot's recipe for this in the book, Paris Boulangerie Pâtisserie, by Linda Dannenberg. It takes some time, but is worth every minute. This brioches recipe is my favorite. I've always had fantastic results. After the second rise, in the refrigerator, it is rolled rather thin into a large rectangle and spread with vanilla pastry cream then sprinkled with chocolate chips before folding and cutting into thin strips. Any brioche dough that is left, I form into a ball and bake. Brioches aux Gouttes de Chocolat I have been making this French orange-currant cookie for many years. Recently however, I found the identical recipe printed in Linda Dannenberg's book Paris Boulangerie Patisserie. Dannenberg attributes the cookie recipe to Jean-Luc Poujauran (actually his father, also a baker). Not far from the Eiffel Tower, Patisserie Poujauran is located on rue Jean-Nicot on the Left Bank of Paris. Both a patissier and a boulanger, Poujauran's organic breads and pastries are considered by many the best in Paris. Poujauran delivers his breads to restaurants around Paris in this truck with a basket on top.
I suggest when making these cookies to use all organic ingredients as Jean-Luc does, and European butter, if possible. A wood burning oven wouldn't hurt either (sigh). Also I have found that kept in a tin, allowing the orange zest to infuse the cookies, they just get better and better over time. This is my ultimate obsession... my French Bulldog Pipi (yes, I know what her name means in French and it's quite appropriate).
I would even see Frenchies used in window displays! After that visit, I made it my mission to find a Frenchie of my very own. And this is the little girl I found. Pipi is now seven years old. (In this photo she is modeling her coat designed and constructed by me). Frenchies are becoming very popular in our neighborhood of St. Paul. They are described as little clowns in a philosopher's robe. Here Pipi is shown with house guests Tayto and Belle. How can you not love a Frenchie? Over the years I have clipped many pages from the food section of the Sunday New York Times Magazine. The September 25, 1988, magazine featured the article Time for Snacks by Patricia Wells and listed recipes for after-school treats from four pastry shops in Paris. One recipe that I make often is Tartelettes aux Pommes (free-form individual apple tarts) from Poilane on the Rue du Cherche-Midi.
Poilane's butter cookies, known as Punitions, can be found in Dorie Greenspan's cookbook Paris Sweets. |
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