Agnolotti

Recipe used for agnolotti:  https://www.eataly.com/us_en/magazine/eataly-recipes/agnolotti-del-plin/

December 14, 2016

Agnes Sorel Timbales

Need dariole molds

3/4 cup of chopped ham

First make Chicken Mousseline

12 ounces of boneless chicken thighs

pinch of white pepper and salt

1 egg white

5 oz heavy cream

Trim any fat or sinewy parts off the thighs. Place them in a food processor and purée. Add one egg white and a pinch of white pepper and salt. Blend to combine. Press the purée through a fine sieve. I used a pestle to push it through and a knife to scrape the chicken that comes through the sieve. I yielded 3.5 ounces of chicken after this process.

Use a spatula to stir the whipping cream into the chicken. Add the whipping cream one tablespoon at a time. (The amount of cream added should be approximately 75% of the weight of the chicken yielded post sieve.) The resulting mix should be thick enough to hold its form.

Soubise Sauce

3 Tablespoons of butter (split usage)

2 tablespoons of flour

1 cup of whole milk

salt and pepper

1/4 of a large onion

Make a bechamel sauce with 2 T. of butter, 2 T. of flour, and the milk. Make a roux with the butter and the flour, constantly stirring over moderate heat for 3 minutes. Slowly add the milk to the roux to make a thick sauce. (This is a bechamel sauce.) Add salt and pepper to taste.

Slice the onion. Melt the leftover 1 T. of butter and add the onion. Cook until the onion is translucent. Puree the onion in a food processor.  Mix 1/2 cup of the béchamel with the pureed onion. This combination is Soubise Sauce.

Mix the chicken mousseline with the soubise sauce. (There will be béchamel sauce leftover.)

Poach Chicken

Place 3 chicken thighs in simmering salted water. Cover. Cook for approximately 10 minutes. Then, chop the chicken up.

Madeira Sauce

1 tablespoon of butter

1 tablespoon of flour

1/2 cup of madeira or other red wine

1/2 beef broth

1/4 of a large onion, diced

Melt butter. Add onion and cook for 3 minutes. Add the flour. Stir for 2 minutes. Slowly add the wine and the broth, making a semi thick sauce. Salt and pepper.

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Toss the 1/2 of the Madeira Sauce with the diced poached chicken.

Butter the inside of 4 dariole molds.

Place one layer of the chopped ham in the bottom of each of the molds.

Spoon the mousseline into the bottom of the mold and up the sides of the mold, leaving room in the center to put the chopped chicken. Spoon in the chopped chicken. Put a layer of mousseline on top of the chopped chicken, just filling the mold. Repeat 3 more times.

Boil a kettle of water. Preheat oven to 400.

Place the molds in a 2 to 3 inch deep pan and add boiling water to the pan so that the 3/4 of the molds are immersed. Cover the pan with foil. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes.

Unmold by turning the molds over onto a plate. Spoon leftover madeira sauce on top of each.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September 24, 2016

Agnes Sorel

A garnish of cooked button mushrooms, chicken breast, and pickled beef tongue. Agnes Sorel was a mistress of French King Charles VII and she is credited for the following two recipes.

Agnes Sorel tartlets

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts on the bone

1 chicken breast off the bone

8 medium size mushrooms

1 thin slice of truffle minced (optional)

puff pastry (buy shells by pepperidge farm or sheets of puffed pastry)

2 cups of heavy cream

1/8 cup of all purpose flour

1 stick of butter

2 T. sherry

salt and pepper to taste

few stems of fresh thyme

court bouillon (recipe to follow)

Oven at 425. Cook the puff pastry shells as directed or cut rolled puff pastry into rounds to fit individual tart pans or ramekins and cook per directions on box.  Put aside when cooked.

Salt and pepper the chicken on the bone and then roast at 375.  About 30 minutes. Cool until able to easily handle and remove meat from bone and chop finely. Simmer the boneless chicken breast in court bouillon for 10 minutes (or until cooked through). Put aside. Remove the tops of the mushrooms and simmer in the court bouillon with lid on for 20 minutes.

Court Bouillon is 4 cups water, 2 cups dry white wine,  and bouquet garni.

Make a cream sauce by melting the stick of butter in a medium size sauce pan. Add the flour and whisk until combined. Continue whisking for 1 minute and slowly add cream. Cook until thickened. Add sherry and salt and pepper and the optional truffles.

Mix enough cream sauce with the chopped chicken breast to make a thick stew. Slice the poached chicken into discs.

To compose the tartlets: Fill the tartlets with the creamed chicken. Put a “disc” of poached chicken on each tartlet. Put a mushroom cap on top of each tartlet. Heat the tartlets in a 375 oven for 8 minutes. While in the oven, reheat the left over cream sauce over low heat. Remove the tartlets from oven and put a couple of tablespoons of cream sauce on top of the mushroom caps. Garnish with a little fresh thyme.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 13, 2016

a la africaine

A la africaine is used to describe an accompaniment of potato,browned in butter, and two other vegetables, including eggplant, zucchini. Supposed to be served with mutton joint. Being all out of mutton joint, I made a lamb chop with fingerling potatoes, accompanied by sautéed zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, and onions. You are never going to see this on a menu—-I couldn’t find one mention of it on the internet other than the reference in this book.

 

 

March 22, 2016

advocaat – a Dutch appertif

Apparently, you can buy advocaat can be purchased commercially but what’s the fun in that? Instead, I made it. Alas, making this Dutch eggnog-like treat coincided with the death of a friend’s father who was Dutch. Thus, I could pass off this 80% treat to someone for a good cause. I didn’t take a photo but I’ll say the result is bright yellow, like hollandaise, until you add the vanilla when it becomes more mustardy looking.

5 egg yolks in a saucepan with 2/3 of a cup of sugar and a pinch of salt. Whisk constantly over low heat, adding 3/4 cup of brandy or cognac. Key is to keep stirring until the brandy has been incorporated and the eggs have thickened. Do not boil or you’ll burn off the alcohol. Add 1 tsp of vanilla and stir. Ready to serve. Hot or cold. Apparently, it can used in a cocktail called a snowball. See Nigella.

 

March 19, 2016

Salt-Cod Acras

Recipe:

1 lb of salt cod

1 1/2 cups flour

pinch of salt

3/4 cup of water

4 tsps olive oil

pinch of cayenne

3 chopped finely shallots

3 eggs

several cups of vegetable oil

Soak the cod in cold water for 24 hours. Change water several times. Make fritter batter by mixing the flour, salt, and water. Place the desalted cod in cold water and cook for 10 minutes or until you are able to flake the fish. Drain the fish. Flake the cod and add the olive oil, cayenne, and shallots to the fish. Separate 3 eggs. Whip egg whites until stiff peaks. Mix the fish into the fritter batter and add the egg yolks. Then fold in eggs whites.

Heat the oil in a large pan to 375. Drop generous tablespoons of batter into the oil. Cook until golden and crisp—-turn them over once.

 

 

 

 

February 18, 2016

Achar –  There is a recipe in Larousse for this “strongly spiced pickle (usually saffron colored) relished throughout the Indian subcontinent.” However, the recipe gives no amounts of the ingredients. Here’s what I did for “vegetable achar with lemon.” I like the results.

5 lemons

1/2 of English cucumber

1/4 head of regular cabbage

1/4 head of cauliflower

6 medium carrots

3 peppers in multiple colors

3 cups of sea salt

tsp of saffron

4 tablespoons of ginger

1/2 of a small onion

1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1 1/2 cups of olive oil

 

Cut the lemons into quarters. Deseed the best you can. Cover the lemons in a bowl with sea salt. Steep the lemons in the salt for 12 hours in the refrigerator. Then wash off the salt and soak the lemons in water for at least 24 hours, changing the water a couple of times. Then boil the lemons in water to cover for about 20 minutes until they are soft. Drain well.

Meanwhile, cut the vegetables into small uniform pieces. Matchsticks if you like and the cauliflower into very small florets. Put the vegetables into a bowl and cover with sea salt, making sure all the vegetables are well salted. Steep for 36 hours then wash the salt off. Soak the vegetables for another 24 hours, changing the water a couple of times. Drain well.

Put ginger root and onion into a Cuisinart. Chop finely. Mix lemons, vegetables, ginger root and onion in a bowl. Add the saffron and the cayenne. Then mix in the vinegar and about half of the olive oil. Mix well.

Put the mixture into a storage container or storage containers. Top the mixture with the rest of the olive oil. (Most of it just soaked right into the mixture, not laying on top as the recipe seemed to indicate it would.) Leave in refrigerator for 3 days and then it’s ready to be used as a relish, removing the lemons as you go. I don’t know how long it is good for but it should be for “a while” because the salt, the vinegar, and the lemons act as preservatives.

February 12, 2016

Aboukir –  a dessert made of a sponge cake cooked in a charlotte mould, then cut horizontally in slices which are sandwiched with chestnut cream and topped with mocha fondant and decorated with pistachios.

OK. That’s one detailed recipe. I found a charlotte mould at Sur la Table. I found a vanilla sponge cake recipe on the internet. I ordered Clement Faugier Gourmet Chestnut Spread from some gourmet site. Bought the mocha fondant from another site.  Baked the cake in the mould, sliced it into thirds, mixed the chestnut spread with whipped cream, heavily “iced” the cake, and put mocha fondant on top. Fondant was a little problematic. Too hard then too soft. Final result below.

January 31, 2016

Aboukir Almonds

3 oz. of almond paste

2 drops of green food coloring

20 blanched almonds

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 Karo syrup

1/2 water

Put almond paste and food coloring in microwave for 30 seconds so that paste is soft enough to mix in the food coloring. Make 1/2″ balls with the almond paste. Take 1 almond and put it on one side of the ball and another almond on the other. Press almonds into ball and smooth the paste around them into an almond shape. Lightly butter a plate. Heat the sugar, Karo, and water to 300 F. Turn off the mixture and, using wooden skewers, quickly put the covered almonds into the pan and pull them immediately out in order to give them a glazed shiny candy finish.

My result: I AM NOT a candy maker. I have no idea what kind of contraption you need to dip the almonds into hot sugar in order for them not to get completely gunked up but wooden skewers ain’t going to cut it. On the other hand, these things are tasty as all get out. If you’re an almond fan, these will hit the spot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

February 5, 2016

Aboukir – Okay. Waiting for chestnut cream and coffee fondant to come in the mail. This endeavor could be expensive.

abricot pays – some fruit you’ll never see

absinthe – bought some. Will have a drink with a friend when I find one that will drink a licorice flavored alcohol. The Gastronomique shows a Degas painting called Absinthe. If I look anything like the woman in the picture after drinking the stuff, I’m a little concerned about its strength. Or maybe not.

accolade en – apparently, this is presenting food by leaning it against one another.

accomoder – french for preparing food

acetabulum – related to vinegar

acetomel – ditto

achar – another recipe!