Croque en Bouche

Courtesy of Bea's of Bloomsbury, which just so happens to be the best teahouse in London. That isn't hyperbole.




Now that the hubbub of the Royal Wedding has died down and they are no longer Kate and Wills but the Duke and Duchess we can reflect on the best part of a wedding - the food, and more precisely, the cake. I think most of the country would agree with William's
choice of chocolate biscuit cake but it seems to me that when it comes to wedding cakes, it's the French who have the right idea. Piles of profiteroles covered in crunchy caramel - winning wedding cake if you ask me. To give it full ceremonial status they must be towered into a large conical shape and decorated with various bits of nougatine, sugared almonds and royal icing, or anything you wish really.



In my first attempt at this 'cake' I had to assemble it in between courses for lunch so didn't quite brave the full stature that would have made it a Piece Montee. Filled with the holy grail of the pastry world (creme patissiere) and decorated with pastel coloured sugared almonds, this is a wedding - and general celebration cake - cake not to be missed! Be warned, those who do not have a sweet tooth, may be better off with Catherine's choice of wedding cake.



For the Choux Pastry:


Makes about 40 profiteroles
100g plain flour
Pinch Salt
150ml water
75g butter
3 eggs, beaten


Sift together the flour and salt into a large bowl. Place the water and butter in a large saucepan with high sides set over a medium-high heat, stirring, until the butter melts. Let the butter melt completely and come to a boil then remove from the heat. Add the flour and salt all in one go and beat very well with a medium spoon.


Reduce the heat and replace the saucepan, stirring for 1 minute until the mixture becomes sticky. Remove from the heat again. Pour about 1/4 of the beaten egg into the pan and beat very well. Add a little more egg and beat well again until the mixture comes back together. Continue to add the egg, beating vigorously all the time, until the mixture has softened, is shiny and had a dropping consistency. You may not need to add all the egg so keep an eye on it as you go.


Take two spoons and with a cup of cold water as well as two lined baking sheets. Wet the spoons and spoon the dough into walnut sized balls, giving enough space for expansion. Wet the spoons every time as the cold water will help create a crunchy shell. Place in a preheated oven at 220C (425F) and cook for about 20-25 minutes until puffed up and golden.


Take the profiteroles out and pierce a hole in the bottom of each profiterole, returning them to the baking sheets and placing them hole-side up. Return to the oven for another five minutes to allow the steam to escape. Allow the profiteroles to cool on a wire rack.


For the Creme Patissiere - make this when the profiteroles go in the oven so the cream if cold when it comes to filling the profiteroles:


7 medium free-range egg yolks
75g/3oz caster sugar
25g/1oz plain flour
4 tsp corn flour
500ml/18fl oz whole milk
1 tsp vanilla paste


In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until they turn a pale blonde colour. Whisk in the flour and cornflour and set aside.


Place the milk and vanilla paste in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring to a boil and simmer for about five minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool for 30 seconds. Pour the hot milk onto the egg mixture, whisking all the time, then return the mixture to the pan. It is important to pour the hot milk onto the cold eggs before you return the mixture to the pan to prevent the eggs from scrambling. Bring the mixture back to the boil and simmer for one minute, whisking continuously, or until smooth. To check that it is the thickness you require, make sure that it coats the back of a cold spoon evenly. Pour the cream into a clean bowl and cover with cling film but ensure that the plastic is directly touching the cream. Place in the fridge to cool.


To assemble:
When the profiteroles are cool and the pastry cream is chilled, fill a piping bag fitted with a small piping nozzle. Pipe the pastry cream into the profiterole through the hole made by the skewer to release the steam. Make sure you don't over-fill or cause it to crack.


Make the caramel - place 375g caster sugar and 150ml of water in a saucepan, stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Do not stir after this point. Allow the sugar syrup to cook until it starts to develop a caramel colour. You can swirl the pan to even out the caramel colouring. It should be no darker than the colour of whisky when you remove it. Place the pan over a bowl of boiling water. Use tongs to dip the profiteroles into the caramel and assemble. This is when you can dip some sugared almonds as well to stick onto your Croque en Bouche, whether they are individual portions or large golden towers.

Elana's South Sea Chicken Salad

I normally cannot stand chicken salad, tuna salad, or anything of a wet salad nature. Elana's recipe for her curry chicken salad is the one exception. It is light, tangy, and a perfect lunch for those on a diet. You can also make it ahead and enjoy all week. Seriously yum...

Ingredients:

• 3 cups cooked chicken breast, shredded
• 2 mangoes, cubed
  
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 3 scallions, minced
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 1 head romaine lettuce, shredded
• 1/4 cup cashews, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 cup plain nonfat yogurt
• 1/2 cup nonfat mayo
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• S & P

Directions:

• In a small bowl mix together the yogurt, mayo, olive oil curry powder, cumin and s&p
• In a big mixing bowl combine rest of ingredients.
  
• Pour dressing over and stir.
• Serve over salad or in sandwich form.
  

Vietnamese Phở

Phở (pronounced "fa") is the first thing that comes to mind when talking about Vietnamese cuisine. For those who are unfamiliar, it is a hearty noodle soup normally with chicken or beef that has a load of delicious extras to pile on (think bean sprouts, mint leaves, lime, chili, etc).

We were in Ho Chi Minh City last week for work and got a good dose of all things Phở. There are the fast food chains carrying the soupy treat (notably Phở 24 and Phở 20) and the mom and pop shops serving it up out of a big cauldron. Now I know eating off the street is generally not advisable but if you happen to be in the area go visit the famous Phở Le sidewalk eatery for the best in town... just make sure not to look at the mass pile of questionable meat in the corner. Just take a couple of Pepto on the way in.. you will be fine. It's worth it!

For those who want to make this at home I have included a basic Vietnamese recipe for phở gà (with chicken). Of course, it always tastes best if you have a stock pot on the go but for those who live real lives just use the best stock you can get a hold of.

Phở Gà
serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2 Litres of high quality chicken broth.
• 1 inch knob of ginger, grated very finely
• 1 Tbsp fish sauce
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
  
• 1 lb thin rice noodles, fresh or dried
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped finely
• 1 Tbsp rock sugar
  
• 3 scallions, green part only, chopped

to garnish (optional):

• beansprouts
• mint leaves
  
• fresh cilantro, chopped
• lime wedges
• fresh chopped chilis or chili paste to mix in.
  

Instructions:

• Cook rice noodles according to instructions. Set aside.
  
• Heat the broth, ginger, onions, fish sauce, and sugar over the stove.
• Simmer away until onions are tender.. should be about 15 min.
• Add the shredded chicken, scallions, and rice noodles and heat through.
• Add salt if necessary.
  
• Serve with whatever extras you like on top!
  

Books for Cooks

I'm fortunate enough to work in the publishing industry. It's a pretty small world, but luckily it is a gateway for so many other things. I don't think there are many people I've met whose great passion in life is books. What I've found is that people have other passions that are explored and accessed through books. Today I spent the day at the London Book Fair. Thanks to the nice folks at the Gourmand stand there is a cookbook corner. This is an area where there is a kitchen in front of a seating area where people (me) can sit in the front row and yell for more chillies in the Thai curry (I have a cold, such excesses are necessary when you can't even breathe). It is through publishing that I get to explore what I like in life.
I like cooking: I like reading about cooking. I like watching other people cook. I like browsing book shops for hours until I have found the next book that I would like to add to my already overwhelming collection. There are some which are astronomically priced and others which are small and beautiful. I would like to share with you my favourite books that I have, perhaps they can lead to further inspiration. As Raymond Blanc says - in a ridiculously strong French accent - "Cooking is about curiosity, and if I can inspire you to be curious, I will be a very happy man." Incidentally, he has a very good book out at the moment called Kitchen Secrets volume II...
So here are my favourite cookbooks that have helped me along the way:

1. Jamie's Italy is wonderful. I have never made something from this that wasn't delicious, my culinary failings have attempted to thwart the recipes but even a botched rice tart went down a treat as rice pudding. Not all of it is very easy, but it turns things like making soups and pizza from scratch exciting and altogether a whole lot more interesting. 2. The Pooh Cook Book. What can I say? The bear likes honey, I like honey, there is a lot to love in this one. 3. Pasta is something that I rarely go a week without in my house, hence carbs featuring heavily in my favourite book selection. This brings it back to basics and shows you how to make it all by hand. It's the kind of cooking we should be doing more but is currently practiced by a select few. 4. Fergus Henderson is a genius and pig's trotters are delicious - who knew! Well, probably Mr. Henderson, along with everyone that has worked for him or eaten at his restaurant or bar.

5. This book is the most underrated book on the market. Fact. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of fruit and vegetables. If I had been given a book solely on this section of the food pyramid that was particularly splendid, it would be in my top five. This book made me love fish as well as teaching me that burgers are in fact a Russian invention (you need to go pretty far back though).

I have plenty of other wonderful tomes that people have been kind enough to give me, "I Know How to Cook" is an indispensable reference guide as well as a very pretty book to own. There are also several folders full of cuttings and recipe cards that I have collected over the years but a list has to start somewhere, so I started with the above.

If you want to get better at cooking then I suggest you start reading.

Filo Parcels

These are so light and equally good hot or cold - making them a perfect take to work snack or lunch if you throw in some salad and vegetables of choice. I can happily eat them straight out of the oven with nothing else but a big smile. There is something about crispy filo pastry which is just so hard to beat. It is another low effort one, but you just need to be sure you don't man handle the pastry and it is very delicate.

1 packet of filo pastry

50g butter

Plain flour for dusting

200g spinach

250g ricotta cheese

50g pine nuts

2 tbsp finely chopped basil

1 tbsp finely chopped mint

small handful of finely grated parmesan

sea salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 180C and add the pine nuts whilst it's heating up to toast lightly. Meanwhile steam the spinach for two minutes of so or until wilted. Remove from steamer and squeeze out water. In a large enough mixing bowl, add the spinach, ricotta, chopped herbs, parmesan, toasted pine nuts. Mix throughly to break up the spinach and evenly distribute everything. Taste before you season as the parmesan will provide a natural saltiness.

Melt the butter in a saucepan and turn off the heat. Lay your filo pastry sheets out on a floured surface and one by one (taking each sheet at a time) cut the sheet in half to provide the longest length possible. Brush the sheet with some melted butter and lay the other half on top of it. Take a large spoonful of the filling and put it in the top of the left hand side. Brush the rest of the pastry with some melted butter and fold over in right angles forming a triangle as you go along. Brush with a small amount of butter, a sprinkling of sea salt and place on a baking tray.

Repeat enough times as the filling will allow. Depending on how much you fill each parcel you should have 10 or so. Bake for 25 minutes and eat when you feel like it. Straight away is pretty rewarding though.

Sweet Chicken Pie

Roast chicken and sweet potato; who can argue with that combination? Now put them in a pie and make the top nice and fancy and you've just made that combination even better. I happen to use chicken thighs on the bone and roast them at the same time as the sweet potato, it means that the chicken stays more flavourful and that the potato soaks up anything that might escape from the chicken whilst cooking. If you have already roasted a chicken and you are looking for something to do with the leftovers then this is a good use of them too, it just means roasting the sweet potato separately. The puff pastry top gives a little bit of excitement as well as having a wonderful flavour. You can experiment with the nuts and herbs that go in the top (if using rosemary be sure not to go over board and make sure it is finely chopped). I have broken it down into three components: white sauce, filling and pastry, just to make the method clearer. Serve with some cabbage or tender stem broccoli.

White Sauce:

30 g butter

1 1/2 tbsp plain flour

375 ml whole milk

2 bay leaves

Add the bay leaves to the milk and heat through so it is just about simmering. Turn the heat off and let the bay steep into the milk. When the rest of the filling ingredients are ready, transfer the milk to a jug and remove the bay leaves. Melt the butter in a sauce pan, when it is bubbling add the flour and whisk vigorously until it forms a paste. Very slowly, and at first, bit by bit, add the milk whisking constantly until thickened, about 10 minutes. Add some salt and pepper for seasoning then pour over the chicken and potato in the pie dish.

Filling:

Four chicken thighs (bone in and skin on)

Four large sweet potatoes - peeled and diced into 1 in cubes

Preheat the oven to 180C. Prep your potato whilst you're waiting and scatter them into the bottom of a baking dish. Season the chicken thighs well, on the top as well as the bottom and snuggle them in with the potato. Roast everything for 40-45 minutes (cooking times will vary depending on the size of your chicken thighs as well as your oven). After 20 minutes give everything a stir to keep things browning evenly. When you take it out, let the chicken sit for about 5 or 6 minutes. When ready to use, take the skin off and remove the bone. Shred into bite sized pieces and put in a pie dish along with the potato.

Pastry:

Half a packet of puff pastry

2 tbsp fresh thyme, picked from woody stalks or finely chopped if soft stemmed

50 g toasted hazelnuts, chopped

1 medium egg, whisked

Roll the pastry out so it is very thin. Roll it out so it is double the width of the pie dish you are using. Scatter the chopped hazelnuts and the thyme on half of the pastry. Brush the egg wash in a square around the nuts and herbs and fold the pastry over on itself. Press down on the edges to make sure they are sealed, I also pass a rolling pin back and forth to make sure it is thoroughly compressed. This may lead to a few holes so try and be careful to keep these to a minimum (size wise at least). Once you have all of the filling in the pie dish, brush more of the egg wash around the rim and press the pastry lid on top, you may need to gather any excess pastry bunched on the side. Take the rest of the egg and brush over the top of the pastry to give it a lovely crisp as well as a beautiful sheen. This needs to bake for 25-30 minutes.

Classic Boeuf Bourguignon with Crispy Potatoes

The couple Elana and I are staying with/torturing requested boeuf bourguignon as their Sunday supper, claiming it is their favorite dish of all time. When people say "favorite" I instantly get heart palpitations as this means they had this orgasmic bourguignon experience while visiting the French countryside with their first love and their life has never been the same since. Oh mon Dieu! It is; however, unlike me to step down from a challenge and I stepped into kitchen (which do not normally include air conditioning in Singapore) and cooked this baby for 3 delicious hours.

I have to say my final product turned out lovely. They were highly complimentary and, whether true or not, this makes me feel instantly better. How many years did I spend learning the language of love? Eleven. Do I still sound like redneck? Yes. This, I have accepted, will never change but my culinary skills redeem my horrible linguistic slaughter. N'est-ce pas?

BOEUF BOURGUIGNON with Crispy Potatoes
serves 4

Ingredients:

• 3 large potatoes ( i used maris piper but you can use whatever you like)
• 25 small pearl onions, peeled
• 10 slice large button mushrooms
• 4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 large sprig of fresh thyme, dried is fine too
• 2 bay leaves
  
• 1 bottle cheap red wine
• 2 cups beef stock
• lots of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 pat of butter
• salt and pepper
  

Directions:

• Roll the beef in seasoned flour
• Brown beef on all sides in oil (with a little butter). Make sure they are good and brown so the meat doesn't lose its moisture during cooking. When done, remove from heat.
• In the same pan, cook pearl onions until they have a light brown exterior. Remove from heat.
• Repeat with mushrooms. This should not take very long at all (we don't want them to go mushy).
• Add meat back into the pan.
  
• Add the bottle of wine, chicken stock, garlic, thyme, bay leaves to the meat.
• Simmer on a VERY low heat for at least 1.5 hours
• When you are nearly ready to serve, toss in the onions and mushrooms and cook for 25 more minutes. You are done!

for the potatoes:

• While the stew is bubbling away, set your oven to 425F/220C and make your potatoes.
  
• peel and slice the potatoes VERY thin. You can use a mandolin if you have one.
• Par boil your slices in a pot over the stove for about 5 minutes so they are a bit softer.
• Drain and let them dry a little bit
• Arrange on a sheet so they overlap and sprinkle with olive oil.
• Bake until brown and crunchy.. sprinkle with rock salt.