Tarte Normande aux Pommes (Custard Apple Tart).

Steps
Preheat the oven to 190C.
Toss the apples in a bowl with 1/3 cup sugar and the cinnamon, then arrange them in the pastry shell.
Bake in the upper third of the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until they start to color and are almost tender.
Remove from oven and let cool while preparing the custard.
Beat the egg and remaining 1/3 cup sugar together in a mixing bowl until mixture is thick, pale yellow, and falls back on itself forming a slowly dissolving ribbon.
Beat in the flour, then the cream, and finally the brandy.
Pour the mixture over the apples.
It should come almost to the top of the pastry shell.
Return to oven for 10 minutes, or until cream begins to puff.
Sprinkle heavily with powdered sugar and return to oven for 15 to 20 minutes more.
Tart is done when top has browned and a needle or knife plunged into the custard comes out clean.
Slide tart onto a rack or serving dish, and keep warm until ready to serve.

Frittata.

Frittata for brunch is brilliant because you just assemble it and stick in in the oven while you take a shower and make coffee or set a beautiful table.
You can serve it warm or at room temperature, so you don’t have to worry about serving it hot or tardy guests throwing off your timing.
And it’s gluten free (unless you offer it with pieces of torn baguette, as I do).
Toss together a salad with some nice greens, and your work is done.
Here’s how to make a frittata without a recipe:
- Heat your oven to 180C, and put a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet on the stovetop.
Sauté some sliced onion in plenty of olive oil until it softens (you could throw in some Swiss chard stems or mushrooms, too).
Add a handful of greens for each person—baby spinach or chopped chard leaves are great—and cook just until they wilt and there’s no liquid in the pan.
Meanwhile, crack your eggs into a bowl (two or three per person).
Whisk them together with some full-fat dairy—whole milk, cream, sour cream, whole-milk yogurt—about 1/2 cup for a dozen eggs.
Don’t forget to sprinkle in some salt and pepper.
If you’ve got a bit of parsley in the crisper or some herbs on the windowsill, mince a handful and throw that in as well (save a pinch for garnish).
If you like cheese, mix in up to a cup of something melt-y like cheddar or Gruyère for a dozen eggs, half a cup for six; you can sprinkle more on top, too.
Spread out the veggies in the bottom of the skillet.
Maybe add a little more olive oil for good measure (it’s a healthy fat, anyway), and make sure it coats the sides of the pan as well.
Pour in the egg mixture.
If you want more cheese on top, go for it.
Bake until it’s mostly set but still jiggles in the middle if you shake the pan, 20 to 40 minutes, depending how big it is.
Err on the side of undercooking:
You can always stick it under the broiler for a minute or two if it doesn’t set when it cools.
Serve the frittata warm or at room temperature; it’s fine to let it sit out for hours (I make sandwiches with the leftovers).
Toss together some nice salad greens with a squeeze of lemon, a drizzle of olive oil, and some salt and pepper.

Pintade au choux or Guinea Fowl casserole.

From Cook in Burgundy, France.
Serves 4
4 legs or portions of guinea-fowl
1 onion, peeled and finely sliced
1 medium-sized savoy cabbage, finely shredded
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 teaspoon tarragon
2 tablespoons olive oil
25g butter
500-700ml chicken stock
Salt and Pepper

Oven: 180C/350F/gas 4

Heat olive oil and butter in large oven-proof casserole.
On a medium heat fry guinea-fowl for 2-3 minutes until golden all over, remove from pan and put to one side
Put onion, cabbage and garlic in the same pan, fry until slightly coloured, place lid on pan, lower heat and allow to cook for further 5 minutes.
Stir pan occasionally.
Add guinea-fowl, tarragon salt and pepper and stir thoroughly to mix.
Pour in stock – it should barely cover the mixture.
Bring to boil, replace lid and transfer to oven.
Cook for 1 to 1and quarter hours – until the meat is tender and cabbage mixture well reduced.
Check for seasoning
Serve on warm plates with creamy mashed potatoes.

Wine to accompany: Old vintage Saint Aubin red.

Coq au Vin - "rooster/cock with wine".

Chicken braised with wine, lardons, mushrooms, and optionally garlic.
A red Burgundy wine is typically used.
(Serves 4)
Traditionally this dish is made with a cockerel in Burgundy and would be cooked for 4-5 hours.
However chicken is quicker to cook and easier to buy outside of France.

110g rindless lean bacon, diced
55g butter
8 button onions
110g button mushrooms
1 clove garlic, crushed
4 chicken pieces
290ml red wine, preferably a Burgundy pinot noir
Approx. 290ml chicken stock
20g plain flour
1 bouquet garni (1 bay leaf, 1 sprig each thyme and parsley and 1 stick of celery tied together with string)
Salt, freshly ground black pepper

Heat half the butter in a heavy saucepan and quickly brown the chicken pieces all over.
Remove and place to one side.
Peel the onions by immersing them in boiling water for 1 minute and then removing the skins.
Dry them and with the remaining butter fry with the bacon until brown.
Add the mushrooms and garlic fry for 2 minutes.
Stir in flour thoroughly on low heat.
Return chicken to pan.
Add the wine and enough stock to nearly cover the chicken pieces.
Add bouquet garni, salt and pepper. With a wooden spoon, move the chicken pieces about and stir the sauce until it thickens and comes to the boil.
Stir well to loosen any sediment.
Cover with a well-fitting lid and simmer slowly until onions and chicken are tender (about 45-60 minutes).
Remove bouquet garni and serve sprinkled with chopped parsley.

Wine to accompany: Givry rouge, Hautes côtes de Nuits, Savigny les Beaune

Guinea fowl with cabbage.

Pintade aux Chou or Guinea fowl with cabbage.
A small domesticated fowl somewhat similar to chicken or pheasant in flavour with a darker, slightly dryer and gamier tasting flesh.

This recipe is equally suitable for pheasant during the season.
The flesh of guinea fowl is not white, but brown like a game bird.
Its wild nature means that it has always been unsuitable for intensive rearing.

The guinea fowl is the leanest of poultry.
This is a nicely low-fat and well-rounded dish, with vitamins, fibre and minerals from the vegetables, plus the super healthy constituents of cabbage.

Nothing but goodness!

French Toast.

Frittata and French Toast: Two Easy, Delicious Brunch Recipes - Vogue
French toast

Brioche is best for French toast (or challah or pain de mie or any other soft, buttery bread).
Mix two or three beaten eggs and a tablespoon of sugar with a cup of milk to make enough batter for about six thick slices of bread (multiply that as needed).
Season the batter how you like: a pinch of salt, a sprinkle of cinnamon or nutmeg, and a dash of vanilla is always a safe bet.
A couple tablespoons of bourbon or rum is nice, too (I’ve flavored it just with booze at a scantily stocked vacation house).
See? It’s been less than 10 minutes and you have batter.
There are two secrets to perfect French toast:
- dredging it in flour and using a startling amount of butter.
Start warming a big skillet on the stove over medium heat, and melt enough butter so that there’s a good 1/4 inch in the pan—more if you dare.
Sprinkle a handful of flour on a plate.
Soak each slice of bread in the batter for a few minutes (once you get going you’ll soak a few while you fry a few), dip each side in the flour and shake of the excess, then fry it in the butter.
Cook each side until it’s rich golden brown (what the Japanese call fox color), adjusting the heat as needed to keep the butter from burning.
Repeat, adding a little fresh butter for each slice, until you’ve made enough French toast.
You can send out the slices one at a time, or keep them warm in the oven on its lowest setting and serve them all at once on a platter.
A lavish scattering of fresh berries and a little pitcher of warm maple syrup, and you’ve got a brunch worth waiting hours for, except you didn’t have to.
Now sit back and sip bottomless mimosas—on the house.

Garlic & Sweet Pepper Confit.

Garlic & Sweet Pepper Confit. | Honest Fare
Confit ,comes from the French word confire which means literally "to preserve" - cooked slowly over a long period of time as a method of preservation.
You can throw in some sea salt and cracked peppercorns or red pepper flakes or even some fresh herbs to add some depth to your confit.
I did all of the above, as well as some sweet Italian peppers in this particular batch.

There are so many practical applications for garlic confit in the kitchen, so it’s nice to make a big batch to keep in the fridge so you can:

1. Impress your friends with a no-big-deal snack of velvety garlic confit and crackers, like so…
2. Use the flavored oil in your cooking.
3. Whip some confit into a salad dressing or some softened butter.
4. Be cute about it and jar some up as gifts.
5. Or drop a few cloves into a pasta dish or a frittata, like we did here…

Cook time: 30-40 mins.
Double recipe to increase batch size.
Keeps in fridge for a month.
Adding the Italian sweet peppers is optional.
Feel free to experiment by adding fresh herbs like thyme, rosemary or basil or even dried herbs de Provence.
YOU NEED:
24 cloves of whole, peeled garlic
1 cup olive oil
Cracked black pepper
Sea salt
Red pepper flakes
Sprig or two of fresh rosemary, stem on
Splash of water
Several sweet Italian peppers
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350°F/176°C
Place garlic cloves, olive oil, splash of water, salt, pepper and herbs (if using) in an oven safe casserole dish.
Cover with lid or foil and bake for up to 40 mins or until garlic is nice and soft.
You’ll want the oil to reach a simmer, but not much more in order to avoid any browning, which will cause bitterness.
Remove from oven and let cool completely before transferring to storage container.
Remove stems, seeds and skin from Itailan peppers before serving.

OR:
- Onion and Red Pepper Confit Recipe on Food52

How to Make the Perfect Crepe.

How to Make the Perfect Crepe | Williams-Sonoma Taste
Sweet Crepes

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
Melted unsalted butter for greasing pan

Prepare crepes according to the directions below. Serves 4.

Crêpe.

From Tante Marie.

The key is the quantities - you need to have perfect proportions with batter. This is light, lovely and will stay with you forever.
Makes about 30 pancakes

600ml milk
300ml water
300g flour
6 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tbs salad oil
1 tbs brandy

Add the milk and water to the flour gradually, beating constantly so that the batter becomes very smooth.
Add eggs, salt, oil, and brandy.
Beat the batter until smooth and set aside to rest for an hour or two.

Heat a large frying pan and grease very lightly.
Pour a serving spoon of the batter into the frying pan and move the pan around until the entire surface is covered.
Both the batter and the resulting crêpe should be thin.
When it is brown, turn with a large spatula and cook for a moment on the other side.
Continue this process until all the batter is used.
Keep the crêpes in a warm place.

Gariguette Strawberry Tart.

Learn to Cook in France with The Cook’s Atelier & the Secrets of Their Gariguette Strawberry Tart:
Makes one 9-inch tart (or 8 individual tartelettes)

Ingredients:
1/2 recipe Pâte Sucrée (recipe follows)
All-purpose flour, for work surface
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
Pastry Cream (recipe follows)
2 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Brioche Façon Pain Perdu. Toasted Brioche.

French-Toasted Brioche Recipe - Chocolate & Zucchini:
– 1/3 liter (1 1/3 cup) milk
– 1 vanilla bean
– 4 eggs
– 100 grams (1/2 cup) sugar, plus extra for sprinkling (I use unrefined cane sugar)
– 10 thick (3 cm or 1 1/6 inch) slices from day-old brioche or challah bread (I use pain de mie brioché from the bakery), about 450 grams (1 pound) total
– Butter for greasing

Serves 6 to 8.

Pour the milk in a saucepan.
Split the vanilla bean, scrape the seeds with the tip of a knife, and put bean and seeds in the milk.
Bring to a simmer, remove from heat, and let cool. Scrape the last of the seeds from the bean, stir them into the milk, and discard the bean. (If you’re in a hurry, just stir a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract into the milk and skip this step.)

Whisk together the eggs and sugar in a medium salad bowl. Add the milk and whisk to combine.

Line a baking sheet with foil. Melt a pat of butter in the skillet you’re going to use to sear the brioche (it should be large enough to accomodate two slices).
When the butter is melted, remove from heat, and use a pastry brush to butter the foil lightly.

Dip two of the brioche slices in the egg batter and stir gently to soak well and on both sides.
Return the skillet over medium heat and melt a little more butter.
When the butter starts to sizzle, transfer the soaked slices to the skillet and cook for a few minutes on each side until golden-brown.

Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and repeat with the remaining slices.
Let cool, cover with foil, and refrigerate until time for dessert, up to three or four hours.

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F).
Sprinkle the brioche slices with a little more sugar, and bake for 15 minutes, until heated through, then switch to broiler mode for 5 minutes, until lightly caramelized, keeping a close watch on the slices.

Serve immediately, one slice per guest, with fruit coulis or fruit sorbet, and a bit of whipped cream.
'via Blog this'

Caramel Crepe Cake.

Caramel Crepe Cake | Williams-Sonoma Taste:

Popular in France, a gâteau mille crêpes (thousand-crepe cake) is traditionally made with a thin layer of pastry cream separating each crepe layer. Here, however, this stunning dessert gets a modern update by substituting homemade whipped caramel cream for the pastry cream. Garnished with edible flowers, it would make a charming centerpiece for an Easter dessert buffet.

For the caramel:
1 cup (8 oz./250 g) granulated sugar
1/4 cup (2 fl. oz./60 ml) water
Pinch of salt
4 cups (32 fl. oz./1 l) heavy cream

For the crepe batter:
4 eggs
4 cups (32 fl. oz./1 l) milk
2 1/4 cups (11 1/2 oz./360 g) all-purpose flour
2 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup (2 oz./60 g) confectioners’ sugar

For finishing:
1 tsp. unsalted butter
Lightly sweetened whipped cream for garnish (optional)
Fresh berries for garnish (optional)

Tartiflette Savoyarde with Reblochon Cheese.

Ski Chalet Supper: Tartiflette Savoyarde with Reblochon Cheese:


Tartiflette - it is made with potatoes, reblochon cheese, lardons and onions.
Ingredients

1.2kg potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
200g smoked lardons (or smoked streaky bacon cut into small pieces)
2 large pink or red onions, peeled and diced (or 10 pink shallots)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely diced
150mls dry white wine
1 x 500g Reblochon cheese
6 tablespoons crème fraiche
butter
salt and pepper

Directions
​- Pre-heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas mark 6 and butter an oven-proof gratin dish or shallow casserole dish.
​- Boil the potatoes until just soft. Drain them and allow them to cool before cutting them into slices.
​- Meanwhile, fry the lardons (or bacon pieces), onions and garlic until the lardons are crisp and the onions and garlic are soft and translucent.
​- Add half of the wine to the lardons and onion mixture, turn the heat up and de-glaze the wine for 2 to 3 minutes until half of it has cooked down with the other ingredients.
​- Add the cooked potatoes to the lardon and onion mixture and gently mix together. Spoon half of the mixture into the prepared dish.
​- Cut the Reblochon cheese in half through the centre, and the cut the two halves into cubes.
​- Scatter half of the Reblochon cheese cubes over the lardon and onion mixture, crust side up, then spoon the remaining lardon and onion mixture over the top. Pour over the remaining wine and spoon the crème fraiche over the top. Season with salt (not too much as the lardons are salty) and pepper.
​- Scatter the rest of the Reblochon cheese cubes over the top, crust side up again, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the cheese has melted and the tartiflette is golden brown and bubbling.
​- Serve hot from the oven with salad, cornichons (gherkins), pickled onions, charcuterie and crusty bread.
salt and pepper

'via Blog this'

Caramelized Crepes Filled with Fresh Cheese.

Lottie + Doof » Caramelized Crepes Filled with Fresh Cheese:
Caramelized Crepes Filled with Fresh Cheese (from Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich)
Difference Between Crepes and Pancakes.
Pancakes start as a batter that you pour into rounds on a skillet, griddle, or pan, cooked over high heat.
They can be thick and fluffy, which is the American-style breakfast pancake, or wafer-thin and delicate, which is the French-style crêpe.
The American version is also called a hotcake, griddlecake, or flapjack.
In Korea, they're jeon, in Hungary, they're called palacsinta, and in Russia, blini, which includes blintzes.
Jews have potato pancakes called latkes, and the Irish, boxties.

1 3/4 cups whole milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
3 large eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt

Butter for cooking crepes and sauteing filled crepes
1 pound slightly tangy fresh cheese, such as cottage cheese, fromage blanc, mild goat cheese, paneer, or yogurt cheese
Sugar for sprinkling
Sour cream or whipped cream for serving (optional)

To make the crepes: Combine the milk, melted butter, and eggs in a pitcher or measuring cup with a pouring spout.
Put the flour and salt in a blender or food processor.
With the motor running, pour the milk mixture through the feed tube and blend for 5 seconds.
Set a medium mesh strainer over a bowl and strain the mixture into the bowl.
Press any lumps through the strainer and stir them into the batter.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 1 day.

Heat crepe pan or 6-inch/15 centimetres skillet over medium-high heat.
Brush the pan lightly with butter.
Pour 2 tablespoons of the batter into the pan and immediately tilt the pan to coat the entire surface evenly.
Cook, on one side only, until the crepe is uniformly translucent and the surface no longer looks wet, 45 seconds to 1 minute.
Loosen the edges of the crepe with a spatula and invert it onto a piece of waxed paper.
Repeat with the remaining batter, buttering the pan as necessary. (the crepes can be stacked between sheets of waxed paper, wrapped airtight, and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.)

To assemble the crepes: Place a slightly rounded tablespoon of cheese below the center of the brown side of a crepe.
Shape the cheese into a cigar about 3.5 inches/10 cm long.
Then roll up the crepes, as you would a rug, around the cheese.
Place the filled crepe, seam side down on a wax-paper lined tray.
Repeat with all of the crepes.
Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.

To saute the crepes: Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.
When the pan is hot, add 1 tablespoon butter and swirl to coat the pan.
Sprinkle 2 to 3 teaspoons sugar over the butter, and add only as many crepes to the pan as will fit comfortably.
Cook seam side down only until just browned on the first side, about 30 seconds.
Sprinkle the crepes with sugar, turn then carefully, and brown the bottoms.
Place on a warm serving plate. Repeat with the remaining crepes.
Serve immediately, with a dollop of sour cream or whipped cream, if you like.

* I made these with cottage cheese and fromage blanc, I loved them both. If you are using an especially tart cheese, you might want to add a tiny bit of sugar to even things out.
'via Blog this'

Shortcut Recipe for Demi-Glace.

Shortcut Recipe for Demi-Glace:
"Demi-glace is an amazing sauce to serve with red meats, like roasts and grilled steaks and such. The only thing about it is that making it from scratch can be quite time-consuming.
Fortunately, you can save a lot of time by making your demi-glace with store-bought beef stock or beef broth.
Purists might raise their eyebrows at this, but the reality is that if something's too hard to make, you're probably not going to make it. Which is a shame, because everyone should be able to enjoy the deep, rich, sumptuous flavor of demi-glace, which is pretty much the ultimate sauce.
Okay, it's not literally the ultimate sauce. You can in fact use demi-glace to make other sauces. Add some red wine and reduce it for a bit and you have the classic red wine sauce. Do the same with mushrooms and shallots and you have a traditional mushroom sauce.

Demi-glace is made by combining a mixture of half basic brown sauce and half brown stock (such as beef stock) and then simmering until it's reduced by half. The shortcut here is that instead of making the stock from scratch, we'll use store-bought stock or broth. It won't have the same body as a homemade demi-glace, but it'll save you about 8 hours.


My advice is to use the best quality stock or broth you can find, and stick to the low-sodium, reduced-salt (or even no-salt) varieties. Reducing concentrates the saltiness, and you don't want your finished sauce to taste like a salt-lick.
You'll need some cheesecloth for straining the sauce and also for making the sachet d'epices, as well as some cooking twine for tying it up.

Ingredients:
- 5 cups beef stock
- 1/2 cup chopped onions
- 1/4 cup chopped celery
- 1/4 cup chopped carrots
- 1 oz clarified butter (2 Tbsp)
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 6-8 fresh parsley stems
- 8-10 whole peppercorns

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 70 minutes
Total Time: 80 minutes

Preparation:
1.Place the bay leaf, thyme, parsley stems and peppercorns onto a square of cheesecloth and tie it up into a bundle with cooking twine.

2.Heat the butter in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, and add the chopped onions, celery and carrots. Saute them for a couple of minutes, until the onion is partially translucent.

3.Sprinkle in the flour and stir to form a paste. Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until the flour is lightly browned, but by no means burned.

4.Now whisk in 3 cups of the beef stock.

5.Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then lower heat to a simmer, add one of the sachets and reduce for about 20 minutes or until the total volume has reduced by about one-third.
6.Remove pan from heat and retrieve the sachet (and set it aside). Carefully pour the sauce through a wire mesh strainer lined with a piece of cheesecloth.

7.Now return it to the pan and stir in the remaining two cups of stock and return the sachet to the pot.

8.Bring back to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Simmer for about 50 minutes or until the sauce has reduced by half.

9.Discard the sachet. Strain the sauce through a fresh piece of cheesecloth. Season to taste with Kosher salt. (But if you're using the demi-glace to make another sauce, season at the very end.)

Demi-glace will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks, and in the freezer for months."

French cuisine.
In the early 20th century, the chef Auguste Escoffier refined Carême's list of basic sauces in the four editions of his classic Le Guide Culinaire and its abridged English translation A Guide to Modern Cookery. He dropped allemande as he considered it a variation of velouté, and added hollandaise and sauce tomate, defining the five fundamental "mother sauces" still used today:

Sauce Béchamel, milk-based sauce, thickened with a white roux.
Sauce Espagnole, a fortified brown veal stock sauce, thickened with a brown roux.
Sauce Velouté, light stock-based sauce, thickened with a roux or a liaison, a mixture of egg yolks and cream.
Sauce Hollandaise, an emulsion of egg yolk, butter and lemon or vinegar.
Sauce Tomate, tomato-based
'via Blog this'

Springtime Lamb Stew (Navarin d'Agneau).

Navarin
The name "navarin" possibly comes from the French name for "turnip", "navet." Some cooks are now calling anything that has turnips in it a "Navarin."
Navarin is a French ragoût (stew) of lamb or mutton. If made with lamb and vegetables available fresh in the spring, it is called navarin printanier (spring stew).

A navarin is a lamb dish that celebrates the spring harvest. It brings together young, tender lamb and the first of the new season's baby vegetables. The sauce is lighter and less complex than those in the more robust winter casseroles. This brothlike sauce is well suited to the subtle flavors of the baby carrots, baby turnips, peas and asparagus tips. Fava beans or haricots verts are optional additions. The most typical accompaniment is boiled new potatoes, tossed in butter and parsley.

Ingredients:
4 Tbs. (1⁄2 stick) unsalted butter
1 boneless leg of lamb, about 1.5 kg, cut into 5 cm pieces
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 Tbs. all-purpose flour
2 cups dry white wine
2 1/2 cups water
2 Tbs. beef demi-glace *
3 fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs
2 fresh thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
4 garlic cloves, chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
600 gr. baby carrots, peeled
12 baby turnips, peeled
600 gr. shallots, peeled
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
24 asparagus tips, each 7 cm long

Directions:
In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, melt the butter. Working in batches, brown the lamb on all sides, about 15 minutes.
When all the meat is browned, return it to the pot. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 1 minute. Sprinkle the flour over the meat and onion and stir until the flour browns, about 30 seconds. Add the wine, water, demi-glace, parsley, thyme and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes.

Stir the meat, add the garlic, and season lightly with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes. Add the carrots, turnips and shallots, cover and simmer until the meat is tender, about 40 minutes more. Add the peas and asparagus and cook for 6 to 8 minutes more. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the meat and vegetables to a warmed serving dish; keep warm.

Increase the heat to high, bring the liquid to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the bay leaf. Season the sauce with salt and pepper, and pour over the meat and vegetables. Serve immediately.

Serves 6.

*beef demi-glace - Demi-glace (pronounced "demi-GLASS") is a rich and deeply flavorful sauce that is traditionally served with red meats.
Demi-glace is made by reducing a mixture of half basic brown sauce and half brown stock.

When cooking with demi-glace, keep these tips in mind:

Season a sauce made with demi-glace just before serving. The demi-glace is so intensely flavored that further seasoning may not be necessary.

Demi-glace will boost the flavor of a finished dish when incorporated at the end of cooking. Before adding the demi-glace, dilute it with a few teaspoons of hot water until it reaches the consistency of heavy cream. This will make it easier and faster to incorporate. Add the diluted demi-glace one teaspoon at a time until you achieve the desired flavor.

Simple dishes become stellar ones with the addition of demi-glace, as you'll discover in the recipes here.
Enjoy!
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Savoring Series, Savoring Provence, by Diane Holuigue (Time-Life Books, 2002).
Diane Holuigue ‘Australia’s Julia Childs’!

Kitchen Notes from Terry Boyd: Lamb Recipes: Lamb Navarin (Navarin d’Agneau):
- You can also use boneless lamb shoulder and cut it into chunks. You can even use bone-in lamb shoulder chops and cut them up.

- Onion! You start with a yellow onion to flavor the overall braise.
In this recipe, shallots are added later, offering the occasional mild oniony bite.
Some recipes call for spring or green onions.
You could also use leeks.
When preparing the shallots for this version, peel off the dry outer skins, separate individual lobes, then slice them once crosswise and once lengthwise to quarter them. As they cook, they will probably further separate into smaller pieces.
That’s fine.

- Making the roux is the most French way to thicken the stew’s sauce.
You could make a beurre manié instead, kneading together soft butter and flour and adding it to the sauce, also very French.
But the roux avoids the raw flour taste and is far less messy to deal with.
You could also thicken the sauce with cornstarch dissolved in cold water.
And finally, you could say screw it and not bother to thicken the sauce. Only don’t do this.
A velvety sauce gives the whole dish a nice finish.

Three-cheese soufflé.

Eat! Donna Hay’s comfort food | The Times:



Published at 4:03PM, January 17 2015
Serves 4

Melted unsalted butter, for brushing
2 tbsp finely grated parmesan, plus 40g extra
30g unsalted butter
35g plain flour
160ml milk
4 eggs, separated, plus 1 egg white extra
100g ricotta
60g grated gruyère
½ tsp english mustard powder
Sea salt and cracked black pepper
Grated parmesan and toasted sourdough bread, to serve.

Суфле (фр. воздушный)
'via Blog this'

Пирог с яблоками и грушами.

Gâteau Invisible Pommes & Poires - Eryn et sa folle cuisine:

Gâteau Invisible Pommes & Poires.

Для 4-6 порций:
Я использовала блюдо из жаростойкого стекла 20 х 20 см.

- 3 крупных яблока (или 4 маленьких) - Golden Delicious
- 3 крупные груши (или 4 маленьких) - Passe Crassane Pear
- 2 яйца
- 100 мл молока
- 70 г муки
- 50 г сахара
- 20 г сливочного масла, растопленное
- 1 чайная ложка пекарского порошка (Baking powder)
- 1 столовая ложка ванильного аромата
- 1 щепотка соли

- Разогреть духовку до 200°C.
Просеять вместе муку, разрыхлитель и соль.
Взбить яйца с сахаром.
Затем добавить растопленное сливочное масло, молоко и ваниль.
Взбейте снова.
Добавить постепенно мучную смесь, продолжая взбивать.

- Разделить тесто на 2 равные части в две разные миски.
Яблоки очистить, удалить сердцевину и семена.
Разрезать их пополам и нарезать очень тонко с мандолиной.
Это для одной из мисок с тестом.
То же самое с грушами для второй полвины теста.
Смешать тесто с фруктами так, чтобы тесто обволакивало дольки.

- Смазать форму маслом или панировочными сухарями.
Вылейте содержимое миски с яблоками, разровняйте.
Залить сверху содержимым миски с грушами. Разровняйте.
Выпекать 35 минут при 200 ° С
Дайте остыть в форме.
Посыпать сахарной пудрой и нарезать прямоугольниками.

Этот торт можно есть теплым, но он лучше на следующий день ...
'via Blog this'

Galette. Mary Berry Christmas recipes.

Galette
The galette des rois is a French staple at Christmas, it’s traditional to hide a figurine inside!

Preparation time - less than 30 minutes 
Cooking time - 30 minutes to one hour 
Makes 1 large tart 

Ingredients
750g ready-made all-butter puff pastry, chilled
Plain flour, for dusting
1 free-range egg, beaten, to glaze

Salade Niçoise.

Just perfect: Salade niçoise | Mail Online: Felicity Cloake's new book.
Salade Niçoise is a salad that originated in the French city of Nice.
It is traditionally made of tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, Niçoise olives, anchovies, and dressed with olive oil.
Delia Smith called it "one of the best combinations of salad ingredients ever invented.
Serves 2
2 eggs
500g broad bean pods or 50g (1¾oz) French beans
4 ripe tomatoes
¼ of a cucumber
2 spring onions, finely chopped
½ a red pepper, thinly sliced
50g small black olives, pitted
1tbsp capers
4 anchovies, cut into slivers
A few basil leaves, roughly torn
For the dressing
1 small clove of garlic
A pinch of coarse salt
2 anchovies, finely chopped
A small handful of basil leaves, torn
4tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½tbsp red wine vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper