pardon my french

I am so sorry for the delay in posts, but I am thrilled to report that I am all moved and finally have internet!! I've been going to school, school and more school, started French class…and I have made and tried some delicious things!

Oh--I apologize for all of the following recipes using the ingredient measurements by weight. But, honestly, using a scale for baking will give you much more consistent results. So run to Williams-Sonoma and get cooking!

Quiche Lorraine Pour Ma Mère

My mother made Quiche Lorraine when I was a little girl for some shower or ladies lunch…and I remember thinking it was delicious. It has been made many times since, but it always makes me think of her. We ate this the last day before moving into my new apartment, and it was delicious. Light and buttery crust, creamy filling and crispy bite of pancetta. Yum. Mom can make this now because of her own LCB schooling…so, if you scared by this long recipe, ask her for a demo ; )

Fun fact: Quiche Lorraine comes from Lorraine (curious, i know), the region of France that has flip-flopped between German and French rule. The word "quiche" is thought to derive from the German word for cake, kuchen.

Short pastry
200 grams flour (plus extra for rolling out the dough)
100 g unsalted butter (plus extra for greasing the tart pan)
5 g salt
1 egg
2 T water

Filling
180 g of smoked, slab bacon (thick cut pancetta would be the best to use)
100 g gruyere or ementaller cheese
olive oil
3 eggs
250 ml cream (weighs 250 grams)
salt & pepper
nutmeg

Preheat your oven to 350-deg. Grease a scalloped tart pan (like this one) by brushing it with melted butter, and put in the fridge.

Prepare your short pastry:
Two a large bowl, add flour, salt and cold cubed butter. Mix with your hands ("sablage") to get the mixture looking similar to sand. Be careful not to overmix or warm the butter too much. (A good thing to do before you start mixing is to run your hands under cold water for a few seconds. It helps keep the butter cold.)

When your butter/flour mixture is ready, add one whole egg & water. Pierce the yolk and "mix with one finger," as Chef Cottes would say, until just combined. "Why mix with one finger…because then you only have to clean off one finger," he explains. Turn the mixture out onto your cold counter--it will still be crumbly.

Take the heel of your hand and, little by little, push the dough away from you ("fresage"). This is not kneading, you're pushing it in little bits away from you and leaving it in a pile (not bringing it back each time). Use a plastic pastry scraper to bring the dough back to a ball in front of you, and repeat once or twice. This method works the gluten in the flour the least, and makes your crust flaky and delicious. If it scares you, just mix as gently as you can in the bowl…but trust me, it's easy and well worth it. After your dough is ready, ball it up, wrap it in plastic film and put in the lowest part of your fridge to rest.

Now, begin the filling:
Slice your pancetta into small chunks, about 1/3" cubes. It will slice easiest when cold. Then place them into a pot of cold water. Put the pot over high heat, and bring up to a boil. Just when the water gets to a good boil, remove from heat and strain. This is not to cook, just to remove any impurities (all the foam you will see) and any over-smoky or over-salty flavor. Leave the pancetta in the strainer over the pot while you prepare your cheese.

Grate your cheese. After it's grated, run your knife over the shredded cheese so it's finely minced. This will help it melt better according to certain chefs…others, would say add the pre-shredded stuff out of the bag. Your choice!

Back to your pancetta…heat a sauté pan with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil on medium-high. Add your pancetta cubes and cook until you get a nice coloring (as much or little as you like). Keep your strainer & pot there, because when the pancetta is the color you like, put it right back in the strainer and let the extra fat/oil drain off.

Flour your counter, get out your rolling pin, dough & tart mold.
Roll out your dough so it's about 2" larger than your tart mold all around. When ready, carefully roll the dough up around your rolling pin and unroll it over the tart mold. Gently fit the dough to the sides of the tart pan without stretching the dough or pushing it into the form too much. When it lays inside nicely, roll your rolling pin over the top of the mold to cut off the excess dough. Now, push the dough into the sides of the tart pan so it stands up a bit and takes on the shape of the pretty scalloped edge.

Blind bake your crust: To make sure it doesn't shrink, line your crust with heat-proof plastic film, thin aluminum foil or parchment paper, and fill with pie weights (like these). Bake for 10-15 minutes, or just so the crust can stand up on it's own.

While it's baking, whisk together eggs, cream, salt, pepper and a bit of fresh grated nutmeg. Set aside.

When your crust is blind baked, remove the pie weights and plastic film/foil/paper. Put in the pancetta, sprinkle the cheese over, and pour in the egg/cream mixture just to the top. (Do not let it spill over the side of the crust or it will stick to the pan and look ugly when it's baked. You not use all of the egg/cream.)

Bake for 20-ish minutes. Just until the center is fully cooked (test with the point of a knife) and the bottom of the crust is golden. Let set for a few minutes, and remove from the pan. Slice & serve with a delicious salad!

With this method, you can use any sort of filling you like. If you would like to use any meat or vegetables, just make sure they're cooked and drained first so the quiche doesn't get soggy.

Choux Pastry for the Shoe Lover
Another dish that reminds me of being a little girl is my grandmother's cream puffs. She would make them for my Aunt Marie's birthday dessert with vanilla ice cream and Saunder's hot fudge. As Ina Garten would say, "how bad can that be!?" At LCB, the dough is called "choux" pastry, which to us Americans sounds like shoe pastry. So, Marie…choux for you next time I see you and…well, there's plenty of shoe shopping in Paris ; )

Choux Pastry
125 ml milk (ml measure out equal to grams)
125 ml water
100 g unsalted butter
5 g salt
15 g sugar
150 g flour
4 eggs
Piping bag with a 12mm tip
(1 egg for egg wash if you like)

Preheat the oven to 340-deg. Line baking sheet with parchment paper with a mini-magnet at each corner to hold in place.

To a large saucepan, add milk, water, butter, salt & sugar. Bring just to a boil to melt all ingredients together, stirring the whole time. Remove from heat and pour in flour all at once. Stir in the flour (don't use a whisk), and put back on heat for a few seconds at a time to cook out some of the liquid. It should steam a bit, but be careful not to let the bottom of the pan color. Once smooth, transfer dough into a large bowl. One at a time, mix in the eggs.

Fit your piping bag with the pastry tip, and fill the bag about half way. Pipe out the puffs to the desired size. Make sure to leave enough room on the pan for them to puff. You can whisk one egg together to  brush it on the puffs if you would like them to have a bit more color and shine, but it's not necessary.

Put the pan in the middle of the oven. After about 10 minutes, turn the heat down to 325-deg. Bake for about 10 more minutes, checking the whole time. Take out when they are golden brown and transfer to a rack to cool. (Each oven is different, and it also depends on the size of the puffs. The first time babysit them a bit, and make a note of how long until they were done.)

When cool, slice in half, fill with ice cream and top with caramel, chocolate, fruit, nuts, or whatever you like. You can also make a small hole in the side to pipe in chantilly cream, pastry cream, or fruit filling...simply dip in chocolate…even plain they taste pretty good ; )

Bonus: Choux pastry is meant to be eaten the same day it's baked. To make in advance, do everything above, including pipe out each puff onto the parchment paper…but instead of putting them in the oven, you can put the pan into the freezer. After a few hours, when the dough is frozen all the way through, put them in a ziplock and store for up to 3 months. When ready to bake, put them back onto a parchment lined baking sheet, let them thaw and bake just as you would before. I haven't tested this--but the chefs said it's how bakeries can keep up with having extra pastry prepared for busy times of the year like Christmas. Voila!

Coming up this week we have eclairs and meringue in pastry, grilled salmon (with an emulsified butter sauce of course!) and stuffed veal in cuisine. Yes, veal stuffed with veal, 3 different kinds pork, goose fat and a dash of cream for good measure. Needless to say, fewer homeless on the streets of Paris will be hungry that night!

Bisous!
LZ