Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts

Saturday, March 07, 2009

Chocolate Tartelettes


Tartelettes au Chocolat, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.
These tartelettes will satisfy any chocolate lover, as they have both dark and white chocolate in them. I made them last night and was surprised at just how easy they were to put together.


The buttery crust of pâte brisée goes well with the dark chocolate ganache, and makes for a delicious dessert that is sure to please.

The recipe is posted below:

Chocolate Tartelettes

Makes six 4.4-inch tartelettes.

Pâte brisée:

Recipe adapted from Paulette Buteux's La Cuisine Toute Simple, 1973.

- 200 g flour
- pinch of salt
- 100 g butter
- 2 or 3 tablespoons of cold water
- 1-2 tablespoons sugar*

*I added some sugar to the dough to make it a little sweeter, since it is after all a dessert.

Sift the flour into a bowl, throw in the pinch of salt, and make the flour into a mountain-shaped pile. Preheat the oven to about 400° F.


Cut the butter into small pieces and put them in the center of the flour mound. Add the 2-3 tablespoons of cold water, and knead rapidly (or use an electric mixer). Work the dough just until it is smooth, does not stick, and is firm enough to be rolled out.


Roll the dough out until it is about 1/5th of an inch thick. Drape the dough over your buttered tartelette molds and press into the corners. Gently press the bottom of a measuring cup onto the dough to ensure that it evenly covers each tartelette mold. Use a fork to poke holes in the crusts so that they do not puff up in the oven.


Bake the tartelettes in the preheated oven for about 10-15 minutes, or until the edges of the crusts are starting to turn golden brown. Be careful not to let the crusts burn!

Dark chocolate ganache:

- 10-12 ounces of dark chocolate (62-70% cocoa content), chopped
- 3/4 cup of heavy cream

Heat the cream in a saucepan until it comes to a boil. Add the chocolate and let sit for about 1-2 minutes. After waiting the 1-2 minutes, whisk the chocolate-cream mixture together until smooth.

White chocolate ganache:

- 4 ounces of white chocolate
- 1/4 cup of heavy cream

Follow the same instructions for the dark chocolate ganache above, but let it thicken for about 10 minutes after whisking. Transfer the ganache to a piping bag (or a Ziploc bag with the tip cut off).

Assembly:

Carefully remove the crusts from the tartelette pans. Fill the crusts with dark chocolate ganache until there is about 1/4 of an inch left between the chocolate and the top of the crust. Pipe the white chocolate ganache onto the dark chocolate in your choice of design. Refrigerate the tartelettes until the ganache has become fairly solid.


When ready to serve, remove the tartelettes from the refrigerator and let stand for about 20 minutes at room temperature so that they soften a little.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Homemade Dark Chocolate Ice Cream


Dark Chocolate Ice Cream, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

I know it's not ice cream season, but just bear with me... ;)

A while back, a good friend of mine brought back some dark chocolate from France. After experimenting with many different ice cream flavors, including rose and lemon verbena, I decided I needed to make a good and simple chocolate ice cream.

Tasty ice cream can be surprisingly easy to make, and toying with a basic vanilla recipe can yield delicious results. In this case though, the chocolate needed to be melted with hot milk and cream, and then chilled, which added a few hours to the whole process.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Flambé















An almost essential part of making coq au vin is flambéing the chicken (or rooster). Here is my exciting attempt - and by exciting I mean flames that jump out of the pan about 2 feet. Anyone else have experience with flambéing?

Sunday, December 07, 2008

Making Coq au Vin


Making Coq au Vin, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.I finally got around to making the French coq au vin. After browning the chicken in a pan and putting it in a French oven, I poured in two full bottles of Burgundy wine. I threw in a few sprigs of rosemary from the rosemary Christmas tree we just bought, as well as some fresh thyme.


The chicken will marinate in the wine overnight, and will be cooked tomorrow!

P.S. Those rosemary Christmas trees are a great deal - you can get a 2-foot tall tree for about $10 at many home improvement stores. If you go to a professional nursery and buy a similar-sized plant, it can easily cost you $25.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Quiche Lorraine


Quiche Lorraine, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

I just made this quiche lorraine from a recipe found in a 35-year-old French cookbook, La Cuisine Toute Simple.

The quiche was actually pretty good. Just make sure you use plenty of Gruyère cheese - that makes for the best flavor!