cream

Baking Through Fika: Summer Torte

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As promised, here is a much more complicated recipe from Fika!  I destroyed my kitchen with this one, so you know it’s good.

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For my third dessert I tried my hand at a layered cake filled with a lemon mousse, topped and filled with fruit and frosted around the edges with sweetened whipped cream and almonds.  Are you drooling yet?!

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I ran into a few little issues with the ingredients in this recipe.  Since these recipes are Swedish, some of the ingredients are not things you’d find in a non-European kitchen.  Here are the ingredients I struggled with and how I worked it out.

  • Potato flour: I did not have any potato flour (anyone out there use it on a regular basis?) and was not about to go buy some for a measly 1/4 cup.  After a little research I decided to grind potato flakes into a flour-like consistency.  It worked just fine.
  • Gelatin sheets: This is a European thing, or at least it seems to be based on my limited internet searching.  I could order gelatin sheets on Amazon, OR I could find a way to use powdered gelatin.  Turns out that 4 gelatin sheets (called for in the recipe) is just about equivalent to 1 packet of powdered gelatin.  Sprinkle it over 1/4 cup of cold water before using it.  Problem solved.
  • Jelly Sugar: This turned out to be a non-issue since I simply decided to skip this part of the recipe!  You are supposed to use the sugar to make a glaze for the fruit on top of the torte, which makes it nice and shiny.  I just chose not to glaze the fruit, and it was fine.  But just so you know, jelly sugar is not just plain ol sugar.  It contains pectin which causes it to gel when mixed with water and heated.  I’m interested to try it, but since it wasn’t easy for me to find I didn’t use it.  When talking about this with my Aunt Vivie, she suggested heating up some jam and glazing with that.  Wish I’d talked to her before making this!  I think that would be a great alternative.

It wasn’t just the ingredients that tested my baking knowledge and skill!  The methods for making the lemon mousse filling and the cake were things I had never done before.  The filling ended up being just as it should be (at least I think it was) but the cake was maybe not as tall as it should have been, and it was sunken in the center.  When I sliced it in half the middle of the top layer was significantly thinner than the outer edges.  BUT when all was said and done, this was super good.  I’m glad I made it during the summer, it is a perfect summer dessert.

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This is best eaten within a few days, so make it for guests (it serves 6-8) or for a family who will eat it within that time!  In my house I am the only one eating stuff like this, so I pawned it off on a few friend and visitors who were kind enough to help me finish it.

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Summer Torte

Ingredients

Cake

  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup potato flour
  • 1/3 cup flour

Lemon Mousse

  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1 envelope powdered gelatin (4 gelatin sheets)
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • zest and juice of one lemon

Fruit and Garnish

  • Some combination of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries (3-4 cups total)
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1-2 teaspoons powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 couple hefty handfuls of sliced almonds (toasted if desired)
  • 1/4 cup jelly sugar heated with 1/4 cup water OR heated apricot jam OR nothing

Directions

Cake

  1. Pre-heat oven to 400F.  Grease a 10-inch springform pan or line it with parchment.
  2. Heat a pot of water over medium heat.  Beat the eggs and sugar with a hand mixer until light and fluffy in a bowl placed over the hot water.  Once the mixture reaches 140F (about 7 minutes) remove from the heat but continue to beat for a few minutes.
  3. Sift the potato flour and all purpose flour over the egg mixture, then fold it into the eggs until just combined.  Pour into the prepared pan and bake in the lower third of the oven for 15-18 minutes.  Let cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack.

Lemon Mousse

  1. Whip the cream to medium-stiff peaks and keep in the fridge.
  2. Sprinkle the gelatin over 1/4 cup cold water and let bloom.
  3. Beat the egg and sugar until light, then beat in the lemon zest.
  4. Pour the lemon juice into a small saucepan.  Add the gelatin and heat over low to melt the gelatin.  Once melted, remove from the heat.  Stir in a spoonful of the melted gelatin into the egg mixture, repeat 2-3 times to temper the eggs, then add all of the gelatin mixture and mix to combine.  Fold in the whipped cream.

Layer and Assemble

  1. Prepare the pan by first cutting a cardboard round the size of the cake.  Line the spring form pan with plastic wrap, then place the cardboard round in the bottom of the pan.
  2. Divide the cake in to two layers and place one layer (the sturdier of the two) into the pan.  Spread a good layer of the mousse (not quite half) onto the cake, then place half of the fruit on top.  If you are using strawberries be sure to slice them.
  3. Place the other layer on top and repeat with some (but probably not all) of the lemon mousse and the rest of the fruit.  You can use whole strawberries on top (stems removed).  Refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
  4. Before removing the torte from the refrigerator whip the cream with the sugar and extracts.
  5. Remove the torte from the pan and spread the cream around the edges, then press the almonds into the cream.  Slice and serve!

Caramelized Pineapple Ice Cream

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I had an excess amount of pineapple in my fridge last week (a situation I’ve found myself in more than once) after cutting up a fresh one to eat with dinner. Even after we’d had our fill with dinner and I’d done some snacking on it through the week I still have enough left over that I needed to do something with it.  So I started brainstorming what to do.  Pineapple ice cream.

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I found a few recipes, but this one with pineapple cooked down with sugar and cinnamon sounded so delicious.  The blog where I found the ice cream recipe had a great set of pictures showing how to cook the pineapple.  She even includes are warning about being careful not to leave it cooking while you go do something else.  Well, even with the warning I left it cooking over low heat while I spent some time outside with the kids and it cooked a little too much.  After cooling it some of the sugar had hardened on the bottom of the pan.  I kept going with the recipe and was glad I did because the deep caramel flavor with the pineapple and cream was spectacular.

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I wound up using the raw egg version, but here are some cooked egg custard vanilla ice cream base recipes that you could easily substitute.  Just stir the cooled pineapple puree into the cold custard and freeze in the ice cream maker.

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This ice cream is rich, which isn’t hard to predict without trying it when you see the ingredient list!  With all that cream and milk a little goes a long way.   I really prefer to eat rich and creamy ice cream, it’s so much more satisfying.  I always wind up eating more of the light and airy stuff and it’s never as good as a small amount of the good stuff.

Caramelized Pineapple Ice Cream

From La Gringa’s Blogicito

Ingredients

  • 5 cups of fresh pineapple chunks
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 – 1 1/2 cups milk

Directions

  1. Place pineapple chunks in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add sugar and cinnamon and stir together.
  2. Cook, stirring occasionally and monitoring the heat so that it is just at a medium simmer, for 20-30 minutes.  The pineapple will release a bunch of juice at first and then start to thicken up.  Remove from the heat and let cool for a few minutes.
  3. Place pineapple and as much of the sugary stuff as you can scrape from the pan into a blender or food processor and mix until very smooth.
  4. Transfer to a bowl and let cool in the fridge until cold.  (You can also put it in the freezer to speed up the process without letting it freeze.)
  5. Whisk eggs in a large bowl for 2 minutes.  Add in the cream and the pineapple puree (Add in all of it if you have 1 1/2 cups or less, if you have more than 1 1/2 cups, then save the excess for ice cream topping).
  6. Add in enough milk to make no more than 5 cups of ice cream mix.
  7. Place the bowl in the freezer and stir every 30 minutes for 1-2 hours, until the edges of the mixture begin to freeze.
  8. Transfer to an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturers instructions.
  9. Transfer to a freezer safe container and let chill in the freezer for at least 1 hour.

Ham & Cheese Quiche with Thyme

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Of  course the first thing that comes to mind for me when I have ham around, after ham sandwiches of course, is quiche.  I’ve made ham & cheese quiche before, and you’ve likely seen this combination many times.  But this one is extra decadent and amazing thanks to some super yummy cheese that I had on hand.  I LOVE when a meal comes together without having to try too hard and when you just so happen to have ingredients that end up being delicious together.

Ham & Cheese Quiche | Hottie Biscotti

I had a little block of gruyere and some wine soaked goat cheese left from the Easter cheese tray.  Any cheese would do, but these seemed to take this quiche to a new level of wonderfulness.  Trader Joe’s has a goat cheese gouda that I think would be awesome, similar in flavor and texture to the goat cheese I used.  It’s not your typical soft and creamy goat cheese, this one is soft but still grate-able.

The crust and the base for this came from this America’s Test Kitchen cookbook.  Have you bought yourself a copy yet?  What’s stopping you?  I had to do some things differently with the crust because I started dinner at 5 and it needed to be on the table at 7.  I didn’t have the time to chill the dough for an hour, roll it and chill for 30 minutes, par-bake for 30 and then bake the custard for another 45 minutes.  So I improvised.  The recipe below shows what I did, but if you have the time, chill the dough before rolling and par-bake for a full 30 minutes.  It will yield a crispier crust.

Ham & Cheese Quiche | Hottie Biscotti

The quiche base is not for the faint of heart.  It’s heavy on the eggs, cream and whole milk.  Add in the ham and cheese and you’ve got yourself a quiche that is hearty enough for the manliest of men.  Add in a little crumbled bacon and they won’t have a hard time scarfing down a few pieces.  But it’s not so heavy that you can’t serve it at a ladies lunch.  It’s just too delicious for any sane person to say “no” to.

Ham & Cheese Quiche | Hottie Biscotti Ham & Cheese Quiche | Hottie Biscotti

You can take this quiche base and add in whatever you want to.  Make it vegetarian with mushrooms, spinach, peppers, asparagus, etc.  Use bacon instead of ham, or cooked chicken or other meat.  Play with the herbs as well.  Endless options.  Enjoy!

Ham & Cheese Quiche with Thyme

Adapted from America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

Crust

  • 1 1/4 cups flour
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable shortening, cut into chunks and chilled
  • 4 tablespoons butter, cut into chunks and chilled
  • 4 to 6 tablespoons ice water

Custard

  • 5 eggs
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, roughly chopped
  • 1 cup of cooked chopped ham
  • 4 ounces of shredded cheese, 2 ounces of gruyere and 2 ounces of firm goat cheese such as goat gouda

Directions

Crust

  1. In a food processor combine flour, sugar and salt, and pulse a few times to combine.
  2. Add in the chunks of shortening and butter and pulse a few times until the fat is in coarse pieces.
  3. Add the ice water into the machine, start with 3 tablespoons, pulse a few times, then add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing once or twice in between additions, until dough looks like it is just holding together, but not until it is smooth.
  4. Pour the dough out onto a large piece of parchment and pat it together into a disk.
  5. Place another piece of parchment on top and roll the dough out, as quickly as possible into a 12-inch circle.  Peel off the top piece of parchment, then place the pie plate on top of the dough circle.  Turn it all over together and carefully press the dough into the pie plate and peel off the parchment.  Make sure the dough is pressed into the pan evenly, crimp the edges and transfer to the freezer for 30 minutes.
  6. Preheat oven to 375°F.
  7. Line the crust with foil and fill with pie weights, beans or rice.
  8. Bake for 20-30 minutes, prepare the custard mixture while it cooks.
  9. Remove the foil and weights, then immediately fill with the custard.

Custard

  1. Whisk the eggs, milk and cream well in a bowl.
  2. Whisk in the salt, mustard and thyme.
  3. When the crust comes out of the oven scatter the ham on the bottom of the crust then scatter the cheese on top.
  4. Move the pie plate to the oven then pour the egg mixture slowly into the pan until it is almost full.  You may have egg mixture left over if you have a shallow pie pan.
  5. Close the oven and bake for 40-50 minutes.  Remove from the oven when quiche is just about set.
  6. Let cool before cutting and serving.

 

One Pan Penne with Sausage, Spinach and Sundried Tomatoes

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A special thanks to Andrea who introduced me to this dish and the cookbook it came from!  She made this for Ben and me when we went to visit Boston and stayed with them for a night.  After a day of traveling it was so nice to be in someone’s home for dinner and to have such a satisfying and delicious meal.

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What originally attracted me to the recipe, before I’d even tasted it, was that everything is made in one pan!  No boiling pasta separately and adding it to another pan where you’ve made the sauce.  You get to do it all together and only have one pan to clean.  This makes me very happy (and Ben, too since he’s the one who usually does the dishes after dinner).

This recipe is from America’s Test Kitchen Family Recipes, a cookbook I bought on Amazon the same night I had this pasta.  I love the Test Kitchen.  I think I’ve mentioned this before.  The recipes are reliably good and they include tips on ingredients and methods to use in the kitchen.  They also give you the whys and hows of cooking and baking.  Included in this large ring-bound cookbook are tons of recipes for all kinds of things, appetizers to desserts.  Inside the front cover you’ll find some emergency substitutions, and inside the back cover are temps for cooking meat, equivalent measurements and conversions for baking.  Inside you’ll not only find recipes but cookware tips and food safety.  I often find myself pulling out my phone to remind myself how many tablespoons are in 1/4 cup or what temperature my pork should be, but this book has it easily accessible and I won’t get flour on my phone!  Have I sufficiently plugged the cookbook?  I should be getting paid for this…

This pasta dish is delicious and comforting, but not heavy.  There is some heavy cream and Parmesan which makes the dish just rich enough without making you feel like you’re over indulging.  You can use hot, sweet or mild Italian sausage in this dish.  The spinach and sun-dried tomatoes are the perfect additions.

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To prep ahead you can cut the onion and garlic and store them separately.  If you have sun-dried tomato halves you can slice them and store them as well.  You can grate the Parmesan unless you bought it already grated.  I didn’t try making this completely ahead, but did have some reheated the next day for lunch and it was terrific.

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Sausage, Spinach and Sun-dried Tomatoes with Penne

From Americas’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil or reserved oil from sun-dried tomatoes
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 pound Italian turkey sausage
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 cup chopped or sliced oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, oil drained and reserved
  • 8 ounces penne or ziti
  • 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 6-ounce bag baby spinach
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add the onions and cook until they begin to soften.
  2. Add the sausage, breaking it up as it cooks, until it is no longer pink, 4-5 minutes.
  3. Stir in the garlic, then scatter the tomatoes and penne on top of the sausage.  Add the broth and the cream then cover and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat and simmer for 10-12 minutes until pasta is al dente.
  4. Add the spinach and cover for 1 minute.  Remove the lid and stir together to fully wilt the spinach.
  5. Add in the Parmesan, stir and season with salt and pepper.

 

Basic Cream Biscuits

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As I declared recently I am on a mission to be a master biscuit maker.  So today I am stating with a basic biscuit recipe, the cream biscuit.

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The ingredients are simple and you probably have all but the heavy cream right now.  Maybe you have the cream if you’re an avid baker or you drink cream in your coffee, or you just have a kitchen that’s ready for anything!  I had to go out and buy some cream to make these biscuits, but I had everything else, flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.  That’s all you need.  And from start to finish these only take about 25 minutes!  What could be better than a quick, simple and delicious biscuit?

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Everyone wants a tender biscuit.  So, as I began making these biscuits I was very conscious of a tip I’ve heard and read many times regarding biscuit making, DO NOT OVERWORK THE DOUGH.  So I mixed it up just until it held together, and I kneaded it just enough so that I could easily pat it together to cut from.  After cutting three 2 1/2 inch biscuits from my first round of dough I was a little scared to bring the scraps together to cut from, so I dealt with them very gently.  The result was a less uniform biscuit, but one that still tasted amazing!  The lesson I learned from this was to make sure you get as many biscuits from your first round of dough as possible to get as many beautiful biscuits as you can.

I was also shooting for tall biscuits, so I patted the dough out a little thicker than the recipe states, about 1 inch thick.  This led to fewer total biscuits, 6 instead of the 8 the recipe states you’ll get from the recipe.

The biscuits fill your house with an amazing and rich aroma as they bake.  It’s so delicious that you can’t help but take a bite of one of these as soon as they’re cool enough to eat.  And that, of course, is they best time to eat them, when they’re nice and warm.  If you make these ahead of time, you can warm them in a low oven before eating.  You can also cut the rounds of dough, place them on the cookie sheet, then cover them and refrigerate for up to 2 hours before baking.

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Enjoy these with butter and jam, the simpler the better in my opinion.  However, I do plan to use some of the leftover biscuits to make breakfast sandwiches this weekend.

Basic Cream Biscuits

From America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

Makes 6-8 biscuits, depending on the cutter

Ingredients

  • 2 cups flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Directions

  1.  Preheat oven to 450°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
  3. Make a well in the center and add the cream.  Mix gently with a wooden spoon until just combined.
  4. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead just until dough comes together.
  5. Pat into a round about 3/4 to 1 inch thick.  Using a 2 or 2 1/2 inch cutter, press straight down without twisting to cut each biscuit.  Place on the baking sheet and continue cutting.
  6. Gather scraps together and cut as many more as you can.
  7. Bake for 12-15 minutes until tops are golden.

Caramel Pot de Creme

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I know.  I just posted a pot de creme recipe.  But this one is different.  And more simple.  And just as delicious.   I just couldn’t help but share this one with you as well.

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This pot de creme is called “butterscotch” on Epicurious, where I found this recipe, but it’s more caramel in flavor in my opinion.  Which is fine by me.  It’s less rich than the other pot de creme, making it much easier to enjoy.  It’s delicious and creamy and a snap to prepare.  It’s a great make ahead dessert, and one that would be wonderful for Valentine’s Day for those of you who love sweets but aren’t in to chocolate.

In the original recipe are two sugars, Muscovado and Demerara, that I’ve heard of but couldn’t find at the grocery store, so I simply used light and dark brown sugar.  If you can find the others, go right ahead and use them, but the combination of sugars I used was perfect (and probably less expensive).

I did not have the same problem with these pots de creme as I had with the last ones.  Each pot de creme was smooth and creamy on top.  You do still bake them in a water bath, but there is no need to cover them.  Which is nice for absent minded people like me who tend to forget stuff like that.

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Top these with sweetened whipped cream, grated chocolate, berries or enjoy them on their own.  Enjoy!

Caramel Pot de Creme

From Epicurious

Makes 6 4-ounce custards

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
  • 6 tablespoons dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 6 tablespoons water
  • 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • sweetened whipped cream, berries, grated chocolate for topping

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 300°F.
  2. Bring a teapot of water to a simmer to use for the water bath.
  3. Combine dark brown sugar, cream and salt in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve sugar completely.  Do not let the mixture boil.  Remove from the heat and pour into a heatproof bowl.
  4. In another saucepan, bring water and light brown sugar to a boil over medium high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.  Continue cooking until the mixture begins to brown and bubble, stirring constantly.  This should take about 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat and slowly pour caramel into the cream mixture, whisking to combine.  Mixture may bubble and steam.
  5. In a large bowl whisk egg yolks and vanilla, then add hot cream mixture in small amounts, whisking constantly to avoid scrambling the egg yolks.  One you’ve added 1/3 of the mixture, stream in the rest and whisk well.
  6. Pour custard through a sieve (to remove any cooked egg lumps) into the bowl that originally contained the cream.
  7. Set 6 ramekins in baking dish then divide custard evenly among them.  Place in the oven, then fill pan with hot water, about halfway up the sides of the ramekins.  Try to keep water from splashing into the custards.
  8. Bake, uncovered for 40-45 minutes, until custards are set but centers are still wobbly.
  9. Remove ramekins to a cooling rack and cool slightly.  You can enjoy these at room temperature, or refrigerate them for a few hours.
  10. Top with whipped cream, chocolate and/or berries.

Lemon Cream Pie

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There is absolutely nothing wrong with this lemon cream pie.  Nothing at all.  Simple flavors, creamy filling, slightly tart and slightly sweet with a crunchy, buttery crust.  There is one lone slice left in the fridge and I am tempted to eat it for breakfast.  It can’t be any worse than a donut, right?

This came about at the last minute the other night when some sweet friends brought dinner for us after I’d been out of town all week.  Since they were bringing everything, I said I’d make something for dessert.  It was 5 o’clock.  As fate would have it, I had everything I needed for this pie, including a box of Mi-Del graham crackers that, in my opinion, took this pie to a place it would never have gone with a box of Honey Maid.  They’re more substantial in texture and flavor and provided a great base for the pie.

I started this pie at 5 and we ate it at 8.  With 2 hours of that being chilling time this pie is pretty quick and easy.  And there isn’t really an hour of active time since cooling time for the crust and pie is factored into the hour.  What I’m saying is that if you’re in a time crunch and want to give something more impressive than a box of Oreos to dinner guests, make this pie.

Lemon Cream Pie

From Real Simple

Serves 8-10

Ingredients

  • 9 ounces graham crackers
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest
  • 1/2 cup lemon juice (I didn’t get quite this much from the lemons I had, so no worries if you have the same problem)
  • 1 1/2 cups whipped cream
  • 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Directions
  1.  Heat oven to 350° F.
  2.  In a food processor, process the graham crackers until fine crumbs form. Add the butter, granulated sugar, and ½ teaspoon of the salt and pulse until moistened.
  3. Press the mixture firmly into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate, using a straight-sided dry measuring cup to help.
  4. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until the edges are dry and set, 16 to 18 minutes.  Let cool.
  5. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, condensed milk, lemon zest and juice, and the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt.
  6.  Pour the mixture into the crust and bake until set in the center, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool and then refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.
  7. Using an electric mixer, whip the cream, confectioners’ sugar and extracts on medium until soft peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Spread on the pie, sprinkle with the additional zest, and serve immediately.

Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with Fresh Berries

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In my quest for a patriotic dessert to make in honor of the Fourth of July, I came across many that utilize summer’s bounty of red and blue berries.  It just wasn’t the Fourth as a kid without a flag cake!  This red, white and blue dessert is a bit fancier than flag cake, and is really much easier.  No fruity stars and stripes here.  Just classically beautiful and incredibly good.

Panna cotta is Italian for cooked cream.  It has always seemed a little daunting to me, but this is truly one of the easiest desserts I have ever made.  The ability to make this days in advance is appealing to me…as someone who tends to stress before having guests.  Make these early and that’s one less thing to worry about the day of your party.

You can probably tell by the ingredient list that this is not a dessert you would enjoy every night of the week.  It is so very rich, so wonderfully creamy and perfectly smooth.  If you don’t have vanilla beans, then you can use a teaspoon of vanilla extract or ,better yet, vanilla bean paste which would give you the nice specks in this otherwise pure white dessert.  Enjoy!

Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with Fresh Berries

From Everyday Italian by Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin
  • 3 cups whipping cream
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 2 vanilla beans, split
  • pinch of salt
  • Assorted fresh berries

Directions

  1. Place the milk in a heavy, small saucepan.  Sprinkle gelatin over the top and let sit for 5 minutes.
  2. Stir over medium heat until gelatin dissolves, but milk does not boil, about 5 minutes.
  3. Add the cream, honey, sugar, vanilla beans and salt.  Stir over heat until sugar dissolves.  Remove vanilla beans and scrape out seeds into the mixture.  Stir to distribute.
  4. Remove from the heat and divide the cream mixture into 6-8 cups (wine glasses are pretty, but dessert cups or ramekins are fine).
  5. Cover and refrigerate until set, at least 6 hours and up to 2 days.
  6. Garnish with berries and a sprig of mint.

Tarragon Chicken Fricassée

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My attempts in writing the title to this post resulted in many misspellings of the word “fricassée”.  I will not tell you the number of times I tried and failed to spell it…and do not ask Ben, because he will probably tell you and I will be embarrassed.

Despite the difficulty involved in spelling this French word, this tarragon chicken fricassée was quite easy to prepare and very delicious.

Fricassée is, by definition, meat, usually chicken or veal, browned lightly, stewed, and served in a sauce made with its own stock.  The origin of the word itself is French, but there are many regional variations of a fricassée.  Greek and Cuban fricassée are a few that I saw while searching for recipes.

The meal I made was, if I had to ascribe it to a region, French.  I love the flavor of the fresh tarragon.  It gives this dish an incredibly fresh flavor and perfectly slight sweetness.  Tarragon is a classic herb used in French cooking, and is considered to be one of the four fine herbs of Mediterranean cooking.  The other three are parsley, chives and chervil.

Some fricassée recipes use a variety of vegetables along with the chicken.  Quite a few recipes included mushrooms and onions.  A few had vegetables like peas, beans or peppers.  One recipe I saw had apples.  This recipe is simple in that the only vegetables to be found are shallots and tarragon.  Is garlic a vegetable?  Is tarragon a vegetable?  Anyway.  This is a simple chicken fricassée which allows for the flavors of the tarragon, chicken, white wine and cream to really shine and not be covered or overshadowed by a bunch of other stuff.

Everything in the recipe below is just as it was originally, except I used 4 chicken breasts and added more tarragon.  You can find the original recipe here.  I served this with green beans with toasted walnuts and egg noodles.  I will definitely be making this again.  I used the leftovers in a really special meal the following evening…more on that later.

Tarragon Chicken Fricassée

From Epicurious.com

Ingredients
  • 4 bone-in chicken breasts (skin on or off)
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • ½ cup finely chopped shallots
  • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • ½  cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 ½ – 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh tarragon
  • ¼ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Directions
  1. Pat chicken dry and sprinkle all over with salt and pepper.
  2. Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté chicken in 2 batches, skin side down first, turning over once, until browned, 10 to 12 minutes total per batch. Transfer to a plate.
  3. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons oil from skillet, then cook shallots, garlic, and bay leaf over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until shallots are softened, about 2 minutes. Add wine and bring to a boil. Stir in cream, broth, and 1 tablespoon tarragon, then add chicken, skin side up, and simmer, covered, until just cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer chicken with tongs to a platter and keep warm, loosely covered. If necessary, boil sauce until thickened slightly.
  4. Stir in lemon juice, remaining 1/2 tablespoon tarragon, and salt and pepper to taste. Discard bay leaf; pour sauce over chicken.
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