Beer Brioche

Brioche is sliced, toasted and dipped in a sweetened beer batter then fried in butter until golden and crispy. The not so simple gourmet dessert is served with beer ice cream and caramelized pears for a rare and unique gourmet dessert that beer lovers are sure to adore. This recipe by Chef Antoine Westermann is an excellent balance of bitterness and sweetness that make an adventurous dish for a splendid culinary experience.

Brioche is a uniquely French treat pastry that is rich and dense with a heavy crumb and golden flaky crust. It is made with egg, butter, and cream and has a yeasty flavor that pairs excellently with beer. You can get brioche in the bakery or the French pastry shop. Select freshly baked brioche if possible for a better quality and more delicious dessert. In this recipe, the toasted brioche is covered in a batter of beer, eggs, and sugar and then fried in melted butter until crunchy and golden. The rich sweet bread develops a nice crispy crust that is creamy and tender inside and wonderfully melts in the mouth. Eaten with the glazed pears and the beer ice cream, the dish is absolutely divine.

There are a wide variety of beers and some are better for making dessert than others. For this recipe, it is best to use dark or stout beer, which tends to have more malt and tastes like caramel, complementing the pastry, peaches, and the cream. You can also choose sweeter varieties of beer since it only makes sense to use it for dessert. Complex, full-flavored rich beer is perfect for making ice cream. The bitterness of the beer is tempered with the sweetness of the sugar and the luscious cream. Other kinds of beer that work well for his recipe are Belgian style Tripel, which is creamy and smooth, or fruity lambics, which is sweet and pairs well with the peaches.

Ingredients

14 tablespoons flour

5 ¼ teaspoons granulated sugar

01/2 tablespoon baking powder

YEAST?

1 cup beer

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 tablespoon milk

5 ½ tablespoons butter

For the beer ice cream:

4 egg yolks

1 cup cream

For the termination:

3/4 cup beer

1 ½ tablespoons brown sugar

2 eggs

For the pears with syrup:

2 fresh pears

2 cups water

1 vanilla pod

juice from 1/2 lemon

juice from ½ an orange

1 ½ tablespoons butter

5 ½ tablespoons + 1 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar

1. The beer ice cream should be prepared in advance to give it time to freeze. In a mixing bowl, place the yolks, add sugar and whip them together until smooth and creamy. In a saucepan, put 50% beer and 50% cream and heat on the stove. Pour the beer and cream mixture in with the yolk and sugar mixture beating constantly and mixing it all together well.

2. Pour mixture in the saucepan and heat on the stove at low temperatures, stirring gently with a spatula. Make sure that it does not boil to prevent the egg yolks and cream from curdling. To check if the cream is ready, lift the spatula and blow on the surface and if the cream scatters like a rose blooming then it is good to go. Cool and place in the ice cream maker. Freeze.

3. Peel and slice pears in two and soak them in ice water mixed with lemon slices, orange slices, cinnamon sticks, and vanilla pods. Soak for at least 20 minutes. Cut the soaked pears into thin fan-shape slices. Melt butter in pan and place the pears back side up. Sprinkle with brown sugar to caramelize.

4. Slice brioche and toast. In a bowl, beat eggs and add sugar. Add beer and mix it up well with a fork. In a saucepan, melt some butter. Dip the toasted brioche in the egg and beer mixture until fully coated. Place the soaked brioche in the saucepan and sprinkle some sugar on top of the bread. Pour on a little bit more of the egg and beer mixture. Heat until nicely browned and turn to the other side to get the same nice color.

5. Arrange the brioche on the plate. Place the glazed pears beside it. Put a bit of the brown sugar in the bottom of the plate and place a scoop of beer ice cream on top.

Creme Brulee With Ginger And Basil

The crème brulee is a quintessential French dessert made of delicate, creamy flan with a golden brown crust of caramelized sugar on the top. But in this recipe, Chef Mario d’Orio of Le Mahatma Restaurant takes it a step further by adding ginger and basil leaves for a more exciting and sophisticated take on the dessert. At times fragrant and therapeutic, the ginger and basil provide a contrast to the creamy sweetness of the traditional custard.

Vanilla bean is the primary flavoring of the classic crème brulee and the chefs recipes still includes it. The addition of the ginger, grated or minced finely, is done at the same time as the vanilla bean so that the flavors are cooked into the custard. The basil leaves, which does its best when fresh and with the least amount of cooking, are added during the last stages of the preparation. It is chopped finely, which releases its sweet, herby fragrance. The crème brulee is one of the easiest desserts to prepare if you look at the directions but care must be exercised when cooking the milk and cream into a custard lest it curdles or overcooks. You will have to know when it’s time to take the dessert out of the fire. The egg yolks are added and whisked to make the custard. This recipe can be a stepping stone for further experimentations with flavoring the crème brulee beyond basil and ginger. Should you wish, you can add coffee, chocolate, green tea, liqueur, lemon, pistachio, and orange zest later on to the basic custard.

While crème brulee means “burnt cream,” it is the brown sugar layer which is actually “burnt.” Using a blowtorch, the sugar is caramelized until it forms a crust on top to seal in the rich, creamy and silky custard base. With the basil and ginger, this luxurious dessert becomes invigorating and refreshing to the senses. Serve with a glass of Sauterne.

Ingredients

1 cup milk

1 ¾ tablespoons ginger

1 vanilla pod

¼ lb. sugar

10 egg yolks

1 pint heavy cream

10 basil leaves

brown sugar

1. Peel and cut ginger into thin and small pieces. In a medium saucepan, cook the milk over medium heat. Add the ginger and sugar then stir. Scrape vanilla bean and place the pulp and bean in saucepan. Stir then bring to a boil. Set aside to cool.

2. In a bowl, separate the eggs. Set aside the egg whites for other uses. Whisk egg yolks until rich and smooth. Strain the cream and add to the egg yolks a little at a time, stirring continually until blended. Finely chop the basil and stir into the mixture.

3. Pour in shallow bowls or casserole dish and place in a preheated 100 degree oven for 40 to 50 minutes or just until the cream is set and trembling in the center.

4. Allow the dish to cool then refrigerate for two hours and up to three days. Before serving, sprinkle sugar and caramelize using a blowtorch. Garnish with thin spirals of ginger.

Similar Dish to Italian Polenta

Escaoutoun landais is a dish similar to the Italian polenta, blended with ewe’s-milk cheese and topped with chanterelle mushrooms lightly sautéed in some duck fat. This delectable recipe is an old, traditional dish from the French region called Landes, where Chef Helene Darroze comes from. This regional dish is based on corn flour, which replaced bread a long time ago in the Landes region, a region where there were more cornfields than vines. 

Like polenta, escaoutoun is traditionally a peasant staple food. It was a lot more affordable than bread since corn was more readily available and cheaper than wheat, as in many parts of Europe during that time. Normally, the corn flour is cooked only with water. But in her restaurant, chef Darroze uses chicken or poultry stock to give the dish more flavor. Whether its stock or water you use, the important thing is that the liquid should be cold when it is mixed in with the corn flour so that the mixture does not turn into glue. When it is well cooked, the texture should be like pâte à choux or choux pastry dough, which is a light paste used to make cream puffs. The ideal consistency is similar to stiffed mashed potato. 

This version by Chef Darroze is a bit lighter. She often serves it with wild mushrooms. At times she serves it with black truffles and hazelnut butter, depending on the season. For this recipe, chanterelle mushrooms were used. But other types of mushrooms may also be used such as cepes, oysters, trompettes de mort, porcini or hedgehogs. Peasants often serve this dish with a neck of pig. Other possible toppings include roasted asparagus, grilled sardines, and even fresh chocolates. Whatever the topping, the escaoutoun has to taste good enough to eat plain. Sprinkling a good amount of shredded Basque sheep’s milk cheese will often do the trick. 

Ingredients 

3 tablespoons corn flour 

1 ¼ cups fowl bouillon 

2 tablespoons mascarpone 

8.8 oz. mushrooms 

8.8 oz. Basque sheep cheese 

duck grease 

13 ½ tablespoons fowl gravy 

salt, pepper 

bunch of parsley 

1. Use a saucepan to mix the cool poultry broth and the corn flour and whisk together until fully incorporated. Cook on the stove for about five minutes to get rid of the excess water. Add mascarpone and a little bit of the white sauce base to give it the right texture. Add the grated basque cheese. 

2. With some duck fat fry the chanterelle mushrooms for three or four minutes. The mushrooms should be cooked by then. Season with salt and pepper and sprigs of parsley. 

3. Put the warm escaoutoun on the plate. Top the dish with the sautéed chanterelle mushrooms. Finish off with a drop or two of poultry broth. 

A Flaky Dessert

With a crunchy-sounding name, the mille-feuille really has that delicate little crunch in this recipe by chef Francoise Depee of the Les Templiers. Traditionally, this French pastry consists of layers of thin flaky pastry and custard cream. It is then garnished with fresh fruits and luscious raspberry sauce. If you follow the recipe and serve the dessert as your grand finale after a fine dinner, it is a guaranteed impressive finish to a splendid evening.

Because of its structure and presentation, the mille-feuille looks complicated and difficult to prepare. But if you approach it layer by layer (and with the help of prepared or store-bought puff pastry), you’ll be surprised at how relatively easy if can be. You can purchase the frozen puff pastry in most groceries and supermarkets. Just remember to thaw the frozen dough for about thirty minutes before you can roll it out to the desired thickness.

The mille-feuille, also known as napoleons, directly translates to a “thousand leaves.” It is a classic French dessert made of rectangular sheets of puff pastry layered with crème patissiere or pastry cream. It is then sprinkled with powdered sugar. There are many versions of mille-feuille with different kinds of fillings alternated with the pastry cream. Some of the more popular fillings include whipped cream, pureed fruit, preserves, jams, nuts, and custard. Depending on how grand you want the mille-feuille to be, the number of layers can be as little as 2 to as many as 7 or more.

For savory versions, omit the pastry cream and fruits and use cheese, vegetables or meats instead. For this recipe, keep the puff pastry from rising unevenly or too much by poking holes on the dough with a fork. You can also place a grill on top of the baking pastry. The pastry dough should cook in about 20 minutes in a 420 degrees F oven but check part way through if they puff too high. Serve these crunchy pastries with a glass of refreshing Loupiac.

Ingredients
1/2 lb. puff pastry
3 1/2 oz. powdered sugar
1/2 lb. pastry cream
1/2 lb. whipped cream
1 vanilla pod
3 1/2 oz. granulated sugar
0.44 lbs. raspberries
1 pint water

Fruits for the decoration:
Strawberries
raspberries
pineapples

1. Prepare the filo pastry. Preheat the oven to 420 degrees F. Thaw the pastry according to package directions then place the pastry in a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes 20 or until crunchy. Watch it so it does not burn.

2. After baking, cut the dough into 4 equal rectangles of 3 1/2 in length and about 1 1/2 inches in width - one for each person. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

3. Vanilla cream: Mix 1/2 lbs. creme patissiere with the vanilla pod. Stir until well blended and creamy. Beat 1/2 lb. heavy cream and incorporate it to the previous mixture, along with 1/2 tablespoon powdered sugar. Stir gently with a wooden spoon.

4. Raspberry sauce: Mix the raspberries with water. Strain to remove the seeds. Add sugar to this raspberry juice. Mix well. Chill.

5. Place a sheet of pastry then spread vanilla cream and top with raspberry sauce and cover with a pastry sheet on top. Make another layer until you make four.

6. Cut the fruits into thin slices and top it on the mille-feuille. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve chilled.

Chicken Fricassee Special

A classic French dish, chicken fricassee is a kind of stew where the chicken is simmered and slowly cooked in white wine and cream. In this recipe, the chicken pieces are browned in butter and cooked in cream and white wine, and enhanced with onions, garlic, mushrooms, thyme, laurel leaf, salt and pepper. This recipe by Chef Georges Blanc is served at his gastronomic restaurant and made with the famous Bresse chicken or Poulet de Bresse.

Poulet de Bresse is a special breed of chicken from the Rhone-Alps in France and is considered to be one of the best quality chickens in the world. It is highly prized for its tender meat, clean and delicious fat, and distinctive depth of flavor. It has a very high demand in France and thus it is rarely found outside of the country. In France, they take food labels very seriously and for chicken, they have five levels of categorization, according to the method of production. The five categories include standard boiler, certified, label rouge, organic, and Bresse. Of the five, the Bresse chicken is considered to be the most superior in quality. It is grown free-range, and fed exclusively with milk and grain, producing very tender and flavorful meat.

Of course, you can still make this dish using free-range organic chicken raised in your local farm, which is a better quality than commercially raised chickens. When cooking chicken fricassee, use a large and heavy-bottomed pot for even heat distribution and to prevent the cream from burning. The whole chicken is chopped into pieces before they are added to the pot. They are browned in butter to seal in their juices before the liquid is added to simmer the chicken and cook them through. You can also add the chicken liver in the dish near the end of the cooking if you want a subtly bitter bite or you can leave them out and use for another recipe. Check out some new recipes at Gourmandia.ca

Ingredients

1 chicken (about 4.4 lbs.)
14 ½ tablespoons butter
2 cup double cream (40-45% fat content)
12 baby onions (cut into 4 – 5 chunks each)
3 garlic cloves, mushrooms
1 1/4 cups white wine, thyme
1 laurel leaf
pepper, salt

1. Cut chicken into eight pieces. Place pieces in a pot with melted butter and season with salt and pepper. Add chopped onions, four or five garlic cloves, and some mushrooms. Add bay leaf and thyme. Cook until it turns a golden brown color, then sprinkle with white wine. Add cream. Cover and leave to cook for forty minutes.

2. Take the chicken out and place in a saucepan. Add some water to the cream. Strain the liquid to take out the herb garnishing and then pour into the chicken and heat for a little bit more. Season according to taste. Arrange on a dish and serve.

Aumonieres Filled with Strawberries

A French term for “purse,” particularly one that has been embroidered elaborately, aumonieres is the inspiration of this rich and elegant dessert made with fresh strawberries tossed in mint alcohol and mint leaves and placed inside a fritter pastry and browned in the oven. Red fruit sauce made with assorted red fruits like strawberries, raspberries, currants, cranberries, and sweetened with sugar is poured over the dessert for a sweet and tangy dessert dish. Serve this yummy dish with a bottle of Muscat wine for an unforgettable end to a romantic dinner or lunch.

The crunchy pastry fritter or pastry leaves are a scrumptious contrast to the soft and juicy strawberries. The sweet, minty and tangy dessert recipe is a perfect balance of flavors and texture and makes an impressive dish to cap off an evening. You can purchase pastry fritters or pastry leaves from the grocery, which is usually chilled in the refrigerated section of the market. This dessert is similar to dimsum or wanton but instead of wrapped meat or vegetables, fresh fruits are wrapped and cooked in the oven.

Aumonieres with strawberries are a great idea for fancy dinner parties or cocktails. You can serve each guest with one pouch each of the aumonieres, creating a beautiful presentation on the table. The sweet strawberries enclosed in the fritter leaves have the appearance of a gift or present. You can let your guests open the fritter leaves their selves for a wonderful surprise.

Red fruit sauce can be prepared by making syrup out of fresh fruit juice or from juice concentrate. You can mix different kinds of red fruit juices or concentrate and add them all together in the saucepan. Add sugar to thicken the sauce and simmer on low heat. If the fruits are sour or tart, you can adjust the sugar accordingly or add some honey instead.

Ingredients

0.88 lbs. strawberries
8 mint leaves
4 fritter leaves
mint alcohol (27)
1 2/3 cups red fruit sauce

1. Wash and dry the strawberries then take out the stems. Cut fruits in quarters and marinade in mint alcohol and minced mint leafs for 15 minutes.

2. Coat baking dish with batter. Spread the fritter leaves and place the strawberries in the middle. Close the leaves with a string.

3. Glaze the pastry with a paintbrush, soaked in egg yolk. Place aumonieres in the hot oven and heat until the pastry turns golden brown.

4. Spread a smooth layer of red fruit sauce over the serving dish.

5. Cut the string to open the fritter leaves and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Enjoy!

Special Chocolate Ganache

A black-and-white dessert made with rich chocolate and vanilla cream, chocolate ganache with vanilla cream is simple yet undeniably elegant. Topped with a mint leaf, it can be served at even the most fancy dinner party. Chocolate ganache is a French technique that consists of dark chocolate, often used as a topping or decoration. It is very versatile and has many uses. It can be whipped as an icing or a filling and can be poured over cakes, cupcakes, and pastries. It is especially delicious with moist sponge cakes. Chocolate ganache makes a gorgeous glaze or decorative piping.

In this simple recipe, vanilla cream is poured in tiny bowls and simply topped with chocolate ganache and garnished with mint leaves. You can serve this decadent dessert chilled or warm. It is a more stylish version of the more common chocolate mousse.

The French counterpart of the American fudge frosting, chocolate ganache is a bit more luxurious and indulgent with a rich dark chocolate texture. It is made with pure chocolate and heavy cream. If you wish to whip your chocolate ganache for a fluff and light texture, simply whip it with a whisk the same way that you would whip heavy cream. The mixing bowl and beater should be nice and cold. It is also a good idea to chill the ganache for a bit before whipping. For the best food recipes in the world you visit them here.

Do not freeze the ganache, however, since it will curdle and will not whip at all. If you want a truffle like texture, or a thick frosting for a decorative piping, the chocolate ganache should be cool before it is whipped. The longer that you let the ganache cool, the thicker it will set. You know that the ganache is ready for piping if you spoon it and it holds its structure and texture well without falling.

Ingredients

½ lb. dark bitter chocolate
1/4 lbs. fleurette cream (heavy cream)
1.8 oz. butter
4 mint leaves
English cream:
8 egg yolks
½ lb. sugar
2 pints milk
1 vanilla pod

1. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl using a bain-marie. Over medium heat, gently bring cream to a boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and let it stand for 2 minutes. Add the melted butter and blend with a whisk until smooth.

2. To make the English cream, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until the eggs are almost white. Gradually add the hot milk stirring constantly. Add the vanilla grains and place on a very low heat, stirring until the mixture thickens. Take off the heat.

3. Pour English cream on each serving dish or bowl and place a scoop of the chocolate ganache on top.

4. Decorate with a mint leaf.

Royal Shrimp Green Salad

If you’re tired of the commonly available Nicoise salad, you can try other salad recipes from Nice such as this shrimp and mesclun salad by French Chef Arthur Dorshner. For this recipe, French Dorshner makes use of Royal red shrimp. Unlike regular shrimp which is pale when raw, royal shrimp is already pinkish in color even if uncooked. It has a flavor and texture similar to lobster and cook faster than normal shrimp.

Mesclun is a term used for a mixture of young salad greens. It includes different kinds of lettuce such as Romaine, Chicory, Escarole, Arugula, Iceberg, and Lola Rosa. Other leafy vegetables can also be added in the mix as long as they can be eaten raw, such as mustard, watercress, and spinach. Others even add edible flowers. In this recipe, Chef Dorshner mixes arugula, chervil, and endive, which are abundantly grown in Nice. Besides salad greens, you can also add herbs to the mix to make the salad more dynamic. Different textures and shapes can be quite appealing to the eyes and will make the dish all the more appetizing. Tons of easy cooking videos are made available within the link, so feel free to drop by.

Basically, this cooking recipe can be broken down into three parts: making the mesclun by mixing the greens together, making the dressing, and cooking the shrimps. You can start with peeling and gutting the shrimps and making the dressing. Mix the greens while the shrimps are being cooked. The contrast of the warm shrimp and the cool salad produces an appealing experience in the mouth.

Ingredients

28 oz. of royal shrimp
10 12 oz. of mesclun (young chervil, arugula, leafy lettuce, and endive leaves)
1 oz. royal caviar (optional)
2 green onions
minced
herbs (basil, chervil, dill)
aromatic vinaigrette (1 1/2 oz. vinegar balsamic, 1 ½ oz. cl extra virgin olive oil, 1 ½ oz. hazelnut oil, ½ oz. white wine, a spoonful of mustard, salt, freshly ground pepper, truffle juice)

1. Remove the shells of the shrimps by first pulling out the heads and the legs and then peeling off the remaining shell. With a small paring knife, gut the shrimps by cutting a quarter of an inch deep along the edge of the back of the shrimps and remove the dark vein just under the surface. You can leave the shrimp tails intact for a better presentation.

2. Sautee the shrimps in a pan with a little olive oil and chopped onions until they turn a nice rosy color. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with some fresh thyme. In a salad bowl, mix all the salad greens together.

3. To make the dressing, whip together the rest of the ingredients: olive oil, hazelnut oil, balsamic vinegar, white wine, mustard, truffle juice, minced herbs of basil, chervil, and dill, and season with salt and pepper.

4. Arrange the bed of mesclun on the center of the plate and place the shrimps around the greens. Put some caviar (optional) on the side, decorate with thyme, drizzle with some dressing, and serve.