Tag Archives: french

Honey Creme Brulee with Raspberries

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This is a variation of the classic Crème Brulee. Instead of heavy cream, this recipe calls for milk and powdered milk. Honey also adds a nice flavor. Serve with raspberries or other seasonal berries.

honey creme brulee and raspberries blog (2)honey creme brulee and raspberries blog (1)

Ingredients

  • 2 cups milk
  • 3/4 cup dry milk
  • 1 Tbsp sugar
  • 2 Tbsp honey
  • 5 large egg yolks
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • Topping: 3 Tbsp sugar and fresh raspberries

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 300
  • Combine first 4 ingredients in large saucepan and heat until tiny bubbles form around the edge (do not let boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
  • Whisk egg yolks
  • Gradually add hot milk mixture to egg mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk
  • Whisk in the vanilla
  • Divide the milk mixture evenly among 6 shallow (6-oz) custard dishes
  • Place in 13×9 inch baking pan, add hot water to pan to a depth of 1 inch around the custard dishes
  • Bake at 300 for 1 hour or until center barely moves when dish is touched (like jello)
  • Remove dishes from pan, cool completely on a wire rack
  • Cover and chill at least 4 hours or overnight
  • Make the hard sugar topping just before you serve by sifting the 3 Tbsp sugar evenly over custards. Use a kitchen blow torch held about 2″ from top of each custard to heat, melt, and caramelize sugar (about 1 minute each).
  • Top with raspberries and serve

A wonderful spring or summer dessert! Enjoy!

dit-elle-Esther

Winter Squash and Apple Galette

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This week I’m featuring two recipes using winter squash and apples! Today a Galette (French for a flat round pastry or bread) and on Thursday, check back for Winter Squash and Apple Soup. These dishes are excellent served together as a meal or as separate dishes! I made these for lunch recently when we were having one of the first damp, cold and rainy days here in Seattle. It was a wonderful meal to cheer up the day. 🙂

This is a great recipe for leftover roasted squash since you do need to cook it before putting into the shell here, but it is otherwise quick and easy to assemble!

winter squash and apple pie (2) winter squash and apple pie (1)

Ingredients

  • 1 pound winter squash – peeled, seeded and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • Salt and black pepper, to taste
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1/2 cup thinly sliced sweet onion
  • 1/2 apple – halved, cored and cut into thin wedges
  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
  • 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese (or parmesan works great as well)
  • 1 prepared pie crust (I use a gluten free version)
  • 1 egg yolk plus 1 tablespoon water (for egg wash)

Preparation

  • Preheat oven to 400° F.
  • Toss squash with oil, salt and pepper. Roast in oven until tender, about 20 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Cook onions until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add apples and thyme and season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat; toss with squash and blue cheese.
  • Place pie crust flat on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Mound squash mixture in the middle of crust, leaving a 2-inch border. Fold border over filling, pleating the edge (the center will be open). Brush edges with egg wash.
  • Bake until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Cut into wedges before serving.

Super Mom Tip: 1) Use leftover baked squash and save a step! 2) Don’t have time to work on the pleating and egg washing the crust? I didn’t either. I just tossed the filling and baked it in the crust and voila! I’m sure it tastes just as good!

Thanks to and inspired by the recipe on PCC Natural Markets!

dit-elle-Esther

Crème Brulee

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Crème Brulee! This is one of my all time favorite desserts. Chilled creamy custard is topped by a hard crunchy sugar crust. Serve with some fresh berries and garnish with mint. Yes – there are a lot of steps, but it’s SO worth it. I’ve made this three times now, and this recipe has not failed me yet!

Blog creme brulee (1)

Blog creme brulee (4)

Ingredients

  • 4 cups chilled heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • pinch salt
  • 1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise and seeds scraped out
  • 12 large egg yolks
  • 8-12 tsps turbinado or demerara sugar (these are coarser sugars, but you can certainly use regular granulated sugar)

Directions

  • Set oven to 300 degrees and set a pot of water to boil over high heat.
  • Combine 2 cups of the cream, sugar and salt in saucepan
  • Add vanilla seeds including the pod and bring mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently to ensure sugar dissolves
  • Remove from heat and let steep for 15 minutes to infuse flavors
  • Place kitchen towel in bottom of large baking dish or roasting pan and arrange eight 4 or 5 oz ramekins on towel.
  • After vanilla has steeped, stir in remaining 2 cups cream to cool mixture.
  • Whisk egg yolks in a large bowl and whisk in about 1 cup of the cream mixture, repeat with cups of the cream mixture until all evenly combined
  • Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a pitcher or clean bowl (discard solids from strainer)
  • Pour or ladle mixture into ramekins
  • Now pour the boiling water into the dish holding the ramekins – taking care not to splash water into the ramekins and cream mixture – until water is about 2/3 of the way up the outside of ramekins
  • Bake about 30-35 until the centers of custards are just barely set – an instant read thermometer should register 170-175 degrees at this point
  • Transfer to a wire rack and cool at room temperature for 2 hours
  • Once cool, cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold, 4 hours or up to 4 days.
  • Uncover when ready to serve – remove any condensation that may have formed with a paper towel – and sprinkle each dish with 1 tsp sugar. Shake a little to distribute sugar evenly on top of custard.
  • Ignite torch and caramelize the sugar.
  • Ready to serve or return to refrigerator for no more than 45 minutes
  • Garnish with fresh berries

dit-elle-Esther

Bouillabaisse

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We were in lovely Walla Walla this summer and thanks to the Grandparents, Adam and I got a rare night out while on a trip! We had dinner at Brasserie Four, a fabulous little French restaurant on main street.. Everything on the menu looked excellent and everything we sampled was excellent! I had Bouillabaisse for dinner – fresh seafood in golden saffron, orange, fennel and wine broth – amazing! After some searching and testing I found a recipe from Steamy Kitchen that was a close match. And here it is! Enjoy! 🙂

Blog bouillabaisse (1) Blog bouillabaisse (2)

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 leek, white part only, chopped
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • peel of 1 orange, orange part only (use vegetable peeler)
  • 3 tomatoes, chopped
  • 1/3 cup chopped fennel fronds
  • fresh herbs (in any combination): thyme, parsley, oregano (I used 1 tsp each of dry herbs, as I did not have fresh ones at hand)
  • 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed
  • 3-4 pounds of fish trimmings (heads, bones, tail), shrimp shells (I skipped this as did not have – worked out fine, but the broth was probably less ‘seafoody’ than it could have been)
  • 10 cups water
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • sea salt to taste
  • 3 pounds of assorted fish and shellfish (clams and mussels should be scrubbed clean)

Directions

  • In a large stockpot, heat the olive oil on medium heat. When hot, add in the leek, onion and garlic. Sauté for 5 minutes until softened but not brown.
  • Add in the orange peel, tomatoes, fennel, fresh herbs, saffron, fish trimmings, water, wine, salt turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Then turn the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain the soup into another large pot.
  • Bring the strained soup to a boil over medium high heat. Taste and adjust with additional salt if needed. The soup should be slightly salty (remember we still have unseasoned seafood to add into the soup). Now we’ll cook the seafood, adding in the items that require the most cooking time first. If you have whole lobster tails or large crab claws, add them in first and give them a 2-minute head start. Clams next, then the mussels and extra-large shrimp, lastly the fish, scallops and any smaller shrimp. You want to be careful not to overcook the seafood, so 4-5 minutes max then turn off the heat.
  • Ladle bouillabaisse into each bowl with the seafood and garnish with fresh fennel fronds.

Thanks Steamy Kitchen!

dit-elle-Esther

Carmelized Onion Tart

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This is a delicious onion tart. Not quite paleo with the dairy, but great for breakfast, lunch or dinner!

Blog oniontart1 Blog oniontart2

Ingredients

  • 3 onions
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 5 eggs
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream, half’n’half, milk or plain Greek yogurt
  • 1 cup Swiss or cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions

  • Melt butter in large frying pan
  • Thinly slice onions by running them through the food processor on the slicer blade (takes <60 seconds)
  • Saute onions in butter for 30 mins on medium heat, stirring once in a while, until onions are translucent, soft, and started to brown and caramelize
  • If they have not started to brown, turn up heat and caramelize them a bit, stirring so as not to let them burn
  • While onions are cooking, whisk eggs and milk or yogurt
  • Cover glass pie pan with cooking spray, add onions, cheese, and pour egg/milk mixture evenly over it
  • Bake for 30 minutes on 350* or until golden brown around edges, bubbly and hot
  • Serve warm, great paired with soup and salad!

dit-elle-Esther

French Onion Soup

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French Onion Soup.. mmm, a classic, hearty fall soup. Dress it up with some protein or serve as is. Of course some toasted baguette and melted cheese would be amazing!

Blog frenchonionsoup

blog frenchonionsoup_venison

Add some protein to make this an even heartier meal (shown here with grilled and sliced venison).

Ingredients

  • 8-10 onions
  • Butter or other fat
  • One quart of beef stock
  • Splash of sherry (optional)
  • Sprigs of fresh thyme
  • Garnish with gruyere or cheddar cheese (if not paleo)

Directions

  1. Melt butter in large soup pot
  2. Thinly slice the onions (using the slicer blade on a food processor works well!) and add to pot
  3. Let onions sauté over low-medium heat until they start to sweat
  4. Cover the pan with a lid and saute for about an hour, stirring every 10-15 minutes
  5. The onions will turn golden brown and while the bottom of the pan may be a dark caramel, make sure it doesn’t burn
  6. Add some sherry or stock if you are skipping the sherry and use this to deglaze the pan
  7. Add rest of stock and bring to a boil
  8. Let cool a bit and ladle soup into bowls, topping with cheese and some fresh thyme

dit-elle-Esther