Oui, Chef

Beef Bourguignon

This is a dish that I’ve been making for years, in fact, it is one of the first recipes I learned when I started to get into cooking, and certainly played a part in drawing me to want to study French cuisine more seriously.  It has become a staple of our winter recipe rotation, and each year when we make it we always make a double batch (sometimes a triple) so that we have plenty to freeze, and I would encourage you to do the same.

Few things in life give me greater joy than to see the bottom pull-out drawer of our freezer packed with nice, flat vacuum-sealed bags of this bourguignon, some chili, a bolognese, and a variety of soups.  I love knowing that a delicious meal is ours for the making with nothing more than reheating required, or can be tossed into a cooler and brought north to feed us after a long day on the slopes. All this joy can be yours too with hardly any additional work on your part.  If you have the freezer space, you’d be crazy not to double this recipe and put aside some for a rainy (or snowy) day.

Homemade Marshmallows

I first learned how to make marshmallows when at Le Cordon Bleu, and I have a few fond memories of the experience.  The first, was that I couldn't believe how easy they were to make.  I mean, I thought there had to be some sort of magic involved in making such delicate little confections.  I had heard for years of the challenges of making soufflés (all lies I tell you, they are really easy), and I guess I thought that making similarly light and airy "candy" would prove equally difficult.  Nope.

The second thing I remember about making them in France was how funny it sounded to hear the chef talk about them.  The French term for marshmallow is Guimauve, which itself is nothing to laugh at, in fact, I find it a rather sexy word to say. 

Go ahead, try it yourself....Guimauve....see what I mean? 

Chicken Pot Pie "Provencal"

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had holidays filled with lots of love, laughter and great food!  We here at "Oui, Chef" are just starting to get back into the swing of things after our holiday travel.  We're warming up the stove, cleaning the cobwebs from the pantry, and re-stocking the fridge so that we can share more fun, family friendly recipes with you as we launch into 2010.  Today we're sharing a chicken pot pie recipe that I came up with earlier in the Fall, and I have to say that I'm really proud of this creation....it ROCKS! 

The recipe calls for doing EVERYTHING from scratch, and as such, it is not a recipe that you will be whipping up for a weeknight dinner, it is more of a Saturday or Sunday cooking project.  That said, there are a number of shortcuts (I list them at the end of the post) that you could take when making this that would make it much less time intensive, and if you wanted to serve the filling "chicken ala king" style over some rice or pasta, you could easily pull this together during the week.

I have always been a big fan of pot pies, and I dare say, this was one of the best I've ever had, I do hope you give it a try.

Profiteroles

In my humble opinion, profiteroles , these lovely ice cream filled and chocolate topped pastry puffs, are one of the French's finest contributions to the dessert course.  That is saying something, I know, given the number of delicious pastries, mousses, tarts, and cakes that grace the annals of French gastronomy.  To me, profiteroles are the French equivalent of our "brownie sundae", something that is so simple, pure and delectable, that you can't imagine ever tiring of them.  They are easy to make, and seem equally at home being served after a Friday night pizza fest, or a formal dinner party.

We've made them a couple of times recently.  First, a few weeks ago, when we were blessed to have a few guest chefs join us in the "Oui, Chef" kitchen, and then again today as fodder for a cooking demonstration that Grid shot for a film production class he is taking. 

Our guest chefs were the delightful 5th grade twin daughters of friends who were joining us for dinner, we shall call them Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.  One of the girls (can't remember whether it was Dee or Dum) has already expressed interest in being a chef, and so was excited to join our "Oui, Chef" crew on temporary assignment.  While Mom and Dad enjoyed a pre-dinner nibble and a glass of wine, Dee and Dum donned their aprons, rolled up their sleeves and whipped up our dessert for the evening.

Bouchon's Quiche Lorraine

OK. 

This is not a recipe for the casual, "I just like to throw it together" kind of cook, and certainly not one you will be whipping up in a rush on a weeknight, but if you have any interest at all in making what is likely the best quiche on the planet, I urge you to stop clicking on your mouse and hang with me here for a while.

It also is not a recipe that you can give your kids free reign over, but it does have plenty of elements that the kids can help with, and I encourage you to make them part of the process.  Not only will most kids LOVE this quiche, but I think it important that we make the effort to train our next generation in the fine art of quiche making, an art that is still alive and well in Europe, but sadly died here in the States in the "real men don't eat quiche" days of the early 80's.  Americanized quiches baked in factory-made, soggy pie shells, with over-cooked, curdled custards make me want to scream....our kids deserve better, don't you think?

This dish is actually not difficult to make, but as with every recipe Chef Thomas Keller creates, it IS exacting, and therein lies its brilliance.  Keller is not one of those chefs who lives on the bleeding edge of culinary adventure, like Heston Blumenthal, Feran Adria, or Grant Achats.  These guys make their livings pushing the edge of the envelope with regard to cooking technology and high tech ingredients, that allow them to reconstruct food in ways that leave diners giddily questioning what exactly it was they just ate. 

In contrast, what Keller does better than anyone else is rip classic dishes down to their most basic elements, and then reconstruct them using only the finest ingredients, and with such a finely honed and thoughtful technique, that the end result is a dish that is instantly recognizable for what it is, but is of a quality that has been elevated almost beyond measure.  When finished, you will immediately recognize this dish as a quiche, but what you will have created will make every other quiche you have tasted seem like a cheap, plastic imitation.  Successfully creating this dish will not require technical wizardry on your part, but it will require a tight eye on a few key details.  The rewards for your vigilance will be ample, I assure you.  You game?.....Then let's go.

Cider Brined Pork with Calvados, Mustard and Thyme

This dish is an easy mid-week meal, and was inspired by a treat we had while traveling through Brittany a few years ago. The sugar from the cider brine causes a deliciously sweet caramelized crust on the chops, and the brining process renders the inside of the meat perfectly seasoned and moist. I like the dish with a nice thick chop, but it would also work well with a cutlet, or pork tenderloin. The bite of the mustard, the sweetness of the cider, and the silkiness of the cream make for a well rounded sauce to complement the meat.

Boris helped me in the kitchen for this meal, though to be honest, most of his work this night was in prepping a special appetizer for his brother Gridley,  who had requested Nobu Matsuhisa's "Shrimp Tempura with Creamy Spicy Sauce" as a special 17th birthday treat.  Details of that fabulous dish, and Boris' excellent spicy mayonnaise will follow in a later post.

Fig and Anise Clafoutis

 

I've been visiting a new website over the past few weeks, it is called Food 52.  It is the brain-child of Amanda Hesser (NY Times food writer) and her partner, Merrill Stubbs.  The purpose of the site is to hold recipe competitions among member "home cooks" every week for a year, with each winning recipe being featured in a cookbook that will be published by Harper Studio sometime in 2010.

My recipe for a Fig and Almond Clafoutis has been chosen as a weekly finalist....kinda cool, huh?  Users of the site have a week to vote on which recipe will win, AND THE VOTING DEADLINE IS TONIGHT, TUESDAY OCTOBER 20TH AT MIDNIGHT!

I suspect that the Fig showdown will be a close race, so I would REALLY appreciate your VOTE should you deem my recipe worthy.  CLICK HERE to register on the site and place your VOTE for my "FIG AND ANISE CLAFOUTIS".  Below, you can watch a video of Amanda and Merrill making the two finalist fig dishes, which is way fun.

Your Best Fig Recipe from Food52 on Vimeo.

I am so pleased with the way this recipe turned out, and am thrilled just to have been chosen as a finalist in the competition.  I encourage all of you fig lovers to try this recipe while fresh figs are still in season, it really is special!

Cheers and Thanks - Steve

Recipe:

Fig and Anise Clafoutis       

(Print Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients:

20 Black Mission Figs
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon anise seeds, toasted
1 plump vanilla bean pod
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1 tablespoon Calvados
3 large eggs at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
6 tablespoons of AP flour, sifted
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup whole milk
Zest of one lemon, finely minced, about 1 packed teaspoon
Kosher salt


Method:

• Preheat the oven to 400 F
• Butter and sugar a 10 1/2 inch round baking dish
• Cut the stems off the figs, and quarter them lengthwise
• Spread the almond pieces of a sheet tray and toast in the oven for 6-8 minutes, until nicely golden, remove from the oven and set aside.
• Slice the vanilla bean in half lengthwise, and using a sharp knife, scrape the seeds out of the pod and onto a small plate.
• Place the anise seeds in a small, dry saute pan over low heat and toast gently till fragrant.  Remove from heat and let cool.
• Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat, and when ready, add the butter, honey, 1/2 of the vanilla seeds, and the vanilla pod, stir well.  Add the figs, a pinch of salt, the anise seeds, and cook, tossing occasionally, 2-3 minutes, until the figs are starting to soften, and are well coated with the honey butter.
• Pour the figs into the prepared baking dish, and spread evenly across the bottom.  Remove the vanilla pod, and sprinkle with the toasted almond pieces.
• Zest the lemon with a fine toothed micro-plane, reserve.
• In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, blend the eggs until frothy, add the balance of the vanilla seeds, the lemon zest, the sugar, cream, and milk, and Calvados, and mix well.  Add the flour and a pinch of salt, and mix until well incorporated, 1-2 minutes.  Let rest 15 minutes.
• Pour the batter over the figs, and place the dish in the center of the preheated oven.  Bake until the center puffs and turns a deep golden color, and the clafoutis feels firm and set, about 30-40 minutes.  
• Transfer to a cooling rack.  Serve slightly warm, or at room temperature, dusting with confectioner’s sugar, and with a dollop of freshly whipped cream if desired.

Soup au Pistou

This is a dish that may not be a home-run with very young kids because its absolutely packed with veggies (YUK, what are you trying to do, poison me?), but its easy, flavorful, and can provide plenty of room for creativity for your budding teenage cooks.  Soup au Pistou is a traditional Provencal dish that is made in as many different ways as there are cooks who make it.  Loosely speaking, it is a summer vegetable soup served with a blast of fresh pesto, and many serve it, as I do, with a pesto topped crouton floating on top as well.

This is a great soup to make on your local Farmer's Market day.  If you can, bring the kids with you to meet the farmers who grow your local veggies, and let them choose some of the bounty that will find its way into the soup.  There are no hard and fast rules as to what to include, and in fact, every time I make it, I end up with a distinctly different soup in the end.  As long as you buy the freshest veggies you can get your hands on, and work to include a variety of color and texture in your choices, you'll have a beautiful, fresh and satisfying soup in the end.  If you use a store bought chicken stock, make sure it is a low sodium brand, and if you have the time, allow an hour at the start to infuse it with some aromatics to add a little more interest and depth to your soup.

Peyton missed the trip to the Farmer's market this time around, but was fully up to the task of practicing her knife skills (which are really coming along) by prepping our mise of chopped, sliced, and diced veggies.  While she was busy doing her ginsu thing, I crafted a little sachet that included, white peppercorns, anise seed, fresh thyme, and fresh rosemary, and set it steeping in our barely simmering store bought stock.  The finished soup is delicious hot or cold, with a crusty bread as accompaniment. 

Recipe:

Soup au Pistou

By: Steve Dunn

(Print Friendly Version)

Ingredients:

1 16 ounce can of cannelini beans, drained and rinsed

1 medium onion, finely diced

1 large carrot, cut into 1/4 inch dice

1 small zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch dice

1/4 pound green beans, cut into 1 inch lengths

10 leaves of swiss chard or kale, sliced into 1/2" thick ribbons

1/2 cup of shelled peas

2 cups of tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced

2 ears of corn, kernels cut from the cob

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced into rounds (on a  Kyocera Adjustable Mandoline Slicer, Red , if you have one)

4 cups low sodium chicken broth

2 cups water

EVOO

Salt and Pepper

Basil Pesto

aromatics - 1 stem fresh rosemary, 3 stems fresh thyme, 1 teaspoon peppercorns, 1 teaspoon anise seeds

Method:

Place chicken stock and water in a sauce pan over low-medium heat.  Add the aromatics tied in a cheese cloth bundle, and simmer for 1 hour.  Remove the bundle and reserve the stock.

Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy bottomed soup pot over low-medium heat.  Add the onion and carrot and saute 15 minutes to soften.  Raise the heat to medium, and add the green beans, zucchini, cannelini beans, tomatoes, and chicken stock to the pan, and cook 10-15 minutes.  You want the soup at a simmer, not a rolling boil.  Add the corn, peas, and swiss chard and cook for another 5 minutes.  Check seasoning, adding salt and pepper to taste.  Ladle into warm bowls and top with a spoonful of fresh pesto.  You can also make a crouton by taking a slice of baguette, topping it with some gruyere cheese, and toasting it under the broiler.  Spoon some pesto onto the crouton and float it on top of your soup.  Oh, la, la.

Serves 6

Madeleines

"The fastest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach".  I think on this point, most of us would agree. 

But did you know that the same can be said for young girls? 

Well, I’m here to tell you that this strategy is equally effective when attempting to vie for a young chica’s affections, especially if what you’re offering to put in her stomach is something, that warm out of the oven, is as delicate and delicious as a homemade madeleine.

It was to this simple recipe that I turned shortly after I started dating my second wife, when I felt a little “sweetener” would help to warm the hearts of her two young daughters.  To be fair, Muppet and Peyton seemed OK with me dating their mom from the get-go, but I must say that the introduction of madeleines to their world certainly helped to grease the path of my acceptance into their lives.

Chicken Paillards with Lemon Caper Sauce

I think that many people struggle with cooking at home because they get bored.  Most people don't have the time, or the inclination to pull out a cookbook each night and push themselves to try a NEW recipe.  Instead, they rely on a handful of old favorites that they can make from memory, and cook them again, and again, and again, until everyone in the family finally cries UNCLE!

When kids are part of the mix, the challenges to more creative cooking are often multiplied.  When the kids are young, many families feel held hostage to their immature palates, and their unwillingness to eat anything but hot dogs, peas, and mac and cheese (yes, this was me as an ankle-biter).  As the kids get older, the fates unfurl a cruel joke on most families.  On one hand, the kids' are more accepting of experimentation, and they become eager to try new foods. On the other, the family's schedule becomes such that most people can only find time to slam together the quickest and most routine dishes for dinner.  In addition to the time constraints imposed by a busy family life, the pinch on the budget caused by the food intake demands of growing teens, has folks reaching for the mac and cheese and hot dogs all over again!