Pasta salad

Summer holidays have now started and I've arrived in Bordeaux ! 

The train was delayed and didn't start for an hour and a half and then it stopped along the way so all in all the ride took 5 hours and a half, plus i was stupidly wearing jeans and a jumper, so as soon as i got out of the train i almost suffocated from the heat ! However after a change of clothes and a glass of water,  it finally felt like the holidays ! I love Bordeaux and the sun so it's been great. 

We didn't have time to do any shopping, we could only buy a brocoli on the way to the house, so I made a salad from leftovers in the cupboard and it actually was delicious, I looooved it ! 

Here's what I put inside :

- 1 steamed broccoli 

- Cold pasta

- 1 tin of tuna

- 1 jar of roasted peppers

- 6 diced prunes ( it added a nice sweetness in the background that went really well with the salty tuna )

- Chopped mint and parsley

- Olive oil and salt & pepper.

Boeuf Bourguignon

     Yesterday was french Mother's day, and since I'm not crawling under bills or even coins, I thought I would cook her something special as a present. 

Now I need to start by telling you about this amazing polenta from Tenuta Castello in Italy, it's called rustic polenta and it's a bit like the corn has just been mashed up in a pestle and mortar. It has a lovely texture, creamy but chunky, and the taste is amazing ! They were serving it at the restaurant, but I loved it so much I searched the internet for a place to buy it and finally got some from www.bienmanger.com .

So my mother asked me to cook her a boeuf bourguignon to go with this polenta, and it was delicious  even if I do say so myself ! Lovely tender, fall apart, beef, with soft and sweet carrots, little mushrooms, and that deep, thick, delicious sauce...it's always a winner ! 

Ingredients :

- Beef chuck (or other pieces you would slow-cook) : about 1 kg for 4 people.

- 2 onions

- 5 carrots

- Button mushrooms

- A few cloves of garlic

- A bay leaf

- 1 Tbsp of flour

- Veal stock

- 1L of red wine (maybe slightly more)

- 250 g polenta

- 1L milk

- 30cL creme

- 70g butter

Recipe:

1) Sear the beef in a deep saucepan ( this method is similar to the one used in boeuf strogonoff).

2) Cut an onion and a carrot into a mirepoix (same sized ruff cubes) and smash the garlic with the blade of your knife.

3) Put the beef away on a plate and sweat the vegetables in the same pan deglazing with water if necessary (you don't want any coloration on the vegetables).

4) Then add the garlic and the beef, sprinkle the flour on top and then stir for about a minute.

5) Add a cube of veal stock, the bottle of wine and some water until all the meat is covered.

6) Bring it to a boil then let it cook with a lid on a very low heat for 4 hours. (Skim the fat and impurities of the top with a spoon while it's cooking).

7) Turn off the heat and let it rest over night.

8) Take the cubes of meat out of the sauce, and put the sauce through a sieve.

9) Cut the rest of onions and carrots into bug chunks and sweat them out in butter. Then add the meat, and the sauce, top up with more wine and veal stock to cover the beef entirely.

10) Let it simmer for 2 hours, then add some peeled and halved mushrooms, and let it simmer for an other hour.

11) In the mean time cook the polenta : Bring the butter, creme and milk to a boil, then add the polenta and whisk until it's thickened, put it to the side to rest until you need it. Before serving just warm it through with extra milk if needed.

12) When you are ready to serve, brink the beef bourguignon to a boil to reduce the sauce until it coats the back of a spoon. 

 And voilà it's done, you can also serve it with a few greens, i had cooked some wild asparagus ( just 5 minutes in boiling salted water. )

P.S. : If you are in a bit of a rush, forget the first stage, just start off with the big chunks of vegetables (but don't forget to add the flour) and cook it for 4 hours instead of 3 ( adding the mushrooms an hour before serving), the flavors won't be as deep but it will still be delicious. 

Boeuf strogonoff

     Okay, so this dish doesn't look like much, but believe me, it's AMAZING! Definitely one of my favorite comfort food dishes alongside famous mr lasagna ! 

It's one of those things that doesn't take much effort, just a few ingredients and a long simmering time, but becomes this wonderful warm and flavorsome meal that fills your insides with happiness, so I would recommend you try this at one, either to please your friends and family (and impress them with a traditional recipe) or in a bowl on the sofa in front of a good movie!

Ingredients:

- Cut of beef (either filet if you like to eat meat rare or medium rare, if you like it more cooked than go for a cut like beef chuck or other braising cuts)

- Tomatoes ( 5 or 6)

- Onion

- A few cloves of garlic

- A bay leaf

- Parsley stems

- White wine

- Tomato concentrate

- Veal stock

- Paprika

- Cream

- Rice

- Courgettes (1 or 2 )

- A carrot 

Recipe : 

1) Start off by searing the beaf in a saucepan, you want to color both sides in hot oil, than put it away on a plate.

2) In the same pan, sweat out some diced onion, than add about half a glass of white wine. Add some chopped garlic and let the wine reduce.

3) add a table spoon of tomato concentrate and the same amount of flour, than cook it for a bit still stirring.

3) Add the peeled and chopped tomatoes (if you put the tomato in boiling water for a few seconds, they'll be easier to peel), one cube of veal stock, the bay leaf, parsley stems and cover with water.

4) Cover the pot and let it simmer until you have a tomato sauce consistency. 

P.S. : This is when you would add your braising beef if you like it well cooked and let it simmer until the meat is tender and delicious.

5) In the mean time dice the courgette and carrot (or you could make tiny carrot balls using a small melon baller) and cook them in some salted boiling water.

6) Cook the rice according to the instructions on the packet ;) ! 

7) When the sauce is ready, add cream and paprika to taste, and put the meat back in (if you've gone for the rare option).

8) Mix the rice and the vegetables together in butter.

And voilà ! 

Chocolate tartlets

       I just started working at the hot section in the restaurant which is great since it means a lot more responsibilities and excitement, but it also means a lot more work and stress. I've found that chocolate is the ultimate remedy and have been indulging in quite a few chocolate items, well i say few…

       Anyway, a while ago i was given a small bag of patisserie chocolate and was wondering what to do with it, when it hit me : Chocolate tartlets ! They are just the ultimate comfort food, with a nice thin crispy base, filled with lovely decadent chocolate ganache. 

       This recipe was also a trip down memory lane because it came from a restaurant i used to go to all the time with my dad, and i must share it with all the other chocolate lovers out there !

• Pastry : 

- 1 egg

- 50g flour

- 15g ground almonds

- 1 teaspoon of cocoa powder

- 40g butter (I use salted butter, it goes wonderfully with the chocolate)

- 10g sugar

1) Cream together the butter and sugar.

2) Add the dry ingredients and rub together with your hands.

3) Add the egg and mix with a spoon.

4) Add more flour if necessary in order to form a ball, don't worry about the consistency, it's meant to be quite runny. Flatten the ball and put in the fridge until hard.

4) Roll out thinly, this dough can be worked again without any consequences. Put in cases and bake for 6 minutes at 180°C

• Ganache :

- 375g chocolate (any mixture you want, i went for dark patisserie chocolate and some milk chocolate they was lying around)

- 3 egg yolks

- 25cL milk

- 25cL creme

- 80g caster sugar

1) Whisk together the egg yolks and the sugar until the color is more pale.

2) Boil the milk and the creme, pour over the eggs and stir, then put it back in the pan and stir over a medium heat until it thickens. 

3) Pour the hot custard over the chocolate and let it sit for 10 seconds, then stir.

4) Pour the chocolaty custard ganache mixture in the tartlets and leave it in the fridge until it sets.

And voilà ! I must say, even if I do say so myself, they are soooooooooooo good, you HAVE to try these !

Update

Wow, I can't believe how time flies, and how long it's been since i posted anything ! For that i am sorry to whoever might have been reading my posts before, if there even was anyone. But i'm back, I got my diploma from the Cordon Bleu, what a wonderful experience that was. I learned so many new techniques and met a lot of marvelous people from all around the world, i definitely recommend the Base semester to anyone who wishes to learn the basic techniques of french cuisine and get a proper knife kit, i thought it was worth it !
So anyway, I have now started an internship in a restaurant, which i won't name so i'm free to say what i really think :p !
It's a nice restaurant with one Michelin star so i feel very lucky, the kitchen is small, there are only 3 payed members of staff, and 3 interns including me, one has been there for a few months already and she's very nice and talented, she works on all the hot dishes and is doing very well. I work on cold starters and patisserie and i'm learning a lot, especially about organizing one's time and what's really important. I'm trying to work faster but it's hard, really hard ! Also, I'm only working for evening shifts at the moment, so 17H00-23H00, which i prefer since i like to sleep late and that way i see more of the à la carte menu then you do at lunch, i did one full day and it was EXHAUSTING !

The cold autumn air is a great excuse to stay in and eat !

I went back to Bordeaux last friday for my first full week-end since september. I love going there in the fall, it always reminds me of christmas ! We had some guests over so I decided to try out my new cooking skills and made a 3 course meal : porcini mushrooms with chestnuts, parsley and a white wine sabayon, then a roasted canette ith glazed carrots and turnips, and finally for desert a fruit salad.
I enjoyed being creative and using all the skills I've learned. My first semester is over, I have my exams this saturday, which is stressing me out a little bit but hopefully it will all go well.
Anyway here's how I made the dessert :

- I cut the suprêmes (skinless slices) of grapefruit and oranges, and i peeled the clementines and simply sliced them. For the figures, i just cut a cross on the top to open them.
- I also made some orange blossom madeleines : you mix in a bowl 150 g of sugar and 150 g of melted butter, then add 3 eggs, and 150 g of self-raising flour, and a table spoon of orange blossom water.
- I candied orange and lemon peel : you put julienne zests in water and bring it to boil, since out and repeat a second time. Then cook the peel in water and sugar until you have a syrup, take the peel out and cover them with caster sugar.
- I also made a syrup to put on top of the fruit by cooking orange and grapefruit juice with brown sugar.
- I zested a lime on top, and added mint leaves for decoration.

And voilà !
I love citrus, they feel like christmas to me, when clementines are in season I could easily eat 3 kg of them everyday ! This dessert is truly one of my favorite that I've made and it's super simple ! I truly recommend it :) !

My life has changed for the better !

It's high time I confessed something to you all !
I haven't written a blog post in a while and there is a reason, I have started my school year. You might be thinking that I have started the second year of prepa torture, learning all about biology and agriculture, however that is not the case, I quit. That's right I put my foot down and decided never to go back to that hell hole !
What am I going to do with my life now ? Well I'm still not sure about that, still I do know what I'll be doing till next year : I'm learning about cooking !
I started classes at The Ecole Cordon Bleu Paris on the first of september and it was the best decision I've ever made, I'm loving it.
I'm not allowed to show you pictures of the school or what food we make there but I'm still going to tell you all about it !
Up to now, we've cut learned how to cut vegetables, and I had to practice :

A lot...

So much it made me cry...

We also learned how to make stocks, sauces, pastries and today I'm going to make a puff pastry from scratch, how exciting !
I'm living the Julia Child dream !