May 2007 archives

Lara’s Olive Oil and Lemon Ice Cream with Rosemary Cornmeal Shortbreads is as pretty as a picture.

Heidi churns up a batch of frozen yogurt that rivals Pinkberry’s.
(Hey…what’s a ‘pinkberry’?)

The Food Geek ain’t such a geek when it comes to churning up batch after batch.

Michael Ruhlman finds my Malted Milk Ice Cream makes him feel like a kid again.
(Then I wonder how his kids must feel?)

Instant happiness and notoriety (on page 73 of the book, to be exact) for the Amateur Gourmet.

Amy’s in cool pursuit of scoop-endous perfection.

Molly makes herself a minty summer refresher.
Which matches her new wedding shoes to boot!

Eat and Be Happy ascends to ‘heaven in a bowl’ with her nutty version of Nutella Ice Cream.

Expat Tanya in Zurich braves overseas mail and makes Butterscotch-Pecan Ice Cream…and more!

And Elise goes off on her own (fly my little bird…fly!…) to concoct a vibrant Lime Mango Sorbet.

The best Madeleines in the world are right here in Paris.

Well…duh. You don’t need to visit my blog to know that, do you? I’ve never been one of those people who waxed poetically about Madeleines, invoking Proust’s name whenever I can.
(As if I’ve even read Proust.)

So although I don’t have nostalgic ties to Madeleines, I do like the idea of something a bit buttery, with a gilded crust, relatively portable, and not too-sweet for my afternoon gouter, or le snack, as it’s often referred to around town.

But most of the time I’m disappointed. The Madeleine I buy is either too dry, too floury, or worse, has the acrid taste of baking powder. But then the skies parted one day when I was at a new bakery in Paris, blé sucré, in the vastly pleasant, but out-of-the-way Square Trousseau. This new boulangerie and pastry shop is owned by Fabrice Le Bourdat, who worked with Gilles Marchal, the pastry chef at the esteemed Bristol.

Madeleines are the proverbial ‘little something’ that goes well with tea. But to be honest, there’s nothing that makes me cringe more than when I read in the headnote of a recipe in a cookbook, “This goes well with tea in the afternoon.”

I mean, what little sweet thing doesn’t?
And if that’s the most exciting thing you can say about your recipe, then what the hell’s it doing in your cookbook?

Continue Reading Ble Sucré: The Best Madeleines in Paris…

Sorry to see all the long faces out there.
And I’m not talking about all the Celine Dion billboards around town promoting her upcoming concert.

Which I am sorry to have to see.
(The billboards, I mean…not the concert.)

Anyhow, to cheer you up about me not coming to your town, or to prepare you if I am, here’s a post from my archives that gave me a good chuckle when I re-read it last weekend. I was at a friend’s house who made killer carnitas and guacamole, along with a copious blenderload of mind-bending margaritas. She’d printed this out and taped it to her fridge when I posted it a while back when I had pondered some of the curious and profound cultural peculiarities around here, which occasionally prompts the necessitude for hi-test margaritas, when all the red wine just isn’t quite enough…

What They Say vs What They Mean

When they say,“Non”, they mean, “Convince me.”

When they say,“We do not take returns”, they mean,“Convince me.”

When they say,“It’s not broken“, they mean,“Convince me.”

When they say, “You need a prescription for that”, they mean,“Convince me.”

When they say,“The restaurant is completely full”, they mean,“Please come up with a better story.”

When they say,“The restaurant is completely full”, they mean,“We already have enough Americans in here.”

Continue Reading What They Say vs What They Mean…

Ok, here they are!

I’ve finalized the dates for my US book tour in June, including lots of demonstrations and cooking classes where I’ll be baking up everything from Parisian chocolate desserts like Chocolate Chip Choquettes and refeshingly-icy Mocha Sorbet to my favorite summertime ice cream recipes including ice cream sandwiches with Peppermint Patty Ice Cream (with homemade peppermint patties) and Profiteroles with Roasted Banana Ice Cream and Hot Fudge Sauce.

To sign up for classes, you can follow the links listed below. For classes at Central Market in Texas, which tend to fill up quickly, it’s best to call the school to reserve your space. I’m looking forward to meeting as many of you as possible, and I hope to see you all at one of the events!

Looking at the photos I’d taken over the past week during my Paris Chocolate Exploration Tour, I noticed something odd…there weren’t too many pictures of chocolate.
(Where did it all go?…)

I don’t know why, since we seemed to have sampled every chocolate that we possibly could have here in Paris. And although I thought I’d never say this—I think I’ve had enough chocolate for a while.

So aside from all the chocolate, here’s what else we ate and drank…

Since the weather was decidedly decent, we opted for outdoor dining as much as possible. Of course that involved plenty of rosé for cooling down. Leading the pack myself, I found that most Americans get over their aversion to rosé when they realize most of the stuff here in France is quite different than the syrupy-sweet blush-colored wines found elsewhere.

After a visit to my local market, where everyone swooned over Régis the salt guy (and the potato guy too) we stopped in the Place des Vosges and had lunch, and a few bottles of rosé, at the well-situated Ma Bourgogne restaurant, drinking and dining under the dramatic arches of this historic square.

Continue Reading Paris Chocolate Week…

Here’s my response to Sam’s query about giving her a peek into my unedited fridge. Since I’ve got plans to dine out all week for lunch and dinner, which means my refrigerator’s never been cleaner or emptier—I’m up to the challenge!

Starting from the top (in no particular order):

Presure: Liquid rennet from when I made my own cottage cheese. Which was pretty cool to make.
Cantal: Photo of the fromager, coming soon dude.
Jean-Yves Bordier Salted Butter: You must come to France if, for no other reason, than to taste his extraordinary butter.
Lemon Curd with li hing mui: Hawaiian lemon curd with salted dried plum powder, a gift from his island, to mine.
Maple syrup: To make my Spicy Glazed Nut Mix.

Middle Shelf

Whole milk yogurt with bifidus.
Demi-écrémé milk.
Andros orange juice: That, yes…I bought for 15% off.
Tapenade
Comté: Aged 18 months.
An almost-empty jar of Dulce de Leche.
Orzo from Slitti: Roasted ground barley&mdashan Italian coffee substitute that seemed like a good idea at the time but gradually made its way to the back of the fridge and now seems to live there permanently.

Lower Shelf

Harissa: Moroccan hot sauce.
Concombres Assaisonees: Pickled cucumbers that I got to go with the soba noodles, British beer and dashi that Keiko brought me last year.

Bottom Shelf

Half a bulb of raw fennel: I don’t like fennel unless it’s raw, sliced super-thin, and tossed in a salad.
Caramel-Buerre-Salé: From Henri Leroux from Quiberon. The one Brittany that’s welcome to hit me with a jar of this one more time.
Poha Jam: Part of the prize package I got for winning a blog award.
Bitter Orange Marmalade: I got carried away and made about 12 jars this winter.
Homemade pickled red onions (from The Zuni Cookbook) and pickled chiles.
Tahini

Door
(In no particular order)

Lillet Blanc: Just in case Daniel Craig stops by.
Edmond Fallot Dijon mustard: J’adore.
Pocket Coffee: Normally I don’t refrigerate chocolate(s) but last year I lost my stash to the heatwave and no way am I going to let that happen again.
Anchovies from Pim’s last trip to Spain.
Iced tea
Crème de Cassis: Delicious tossed with some strawberries, or for an emergency kir.
Squid-Brand (!) fish sauce: The only tentacles allowed in my fridge.
Three tiny bottles of Boyajian orange, mint, and lemon oils that I brought from the US.
Homemade nocino: Green walnut liquor that I made from a friend’s walnuts.
One-third of a bottle of leftover Saumur, red wine from the Loire.
Sriracha Chili Sauce
SAF levure: Powdered yeast that’s leftover from some dumb-ass no-knead bread experiments. I keep meaning to make pizza here but never get around to it.
Better Than Bouillon®…busted!

I’m in the middle of leading a week-long Paris chocolate tour with Mort Rosenblum.

So far, we’ve been enjoying…

…the buttery-smooth caramels of Jacques Genin, studded with exotic Iranian pistachio nuts…

…fluffy, bittersweet chocolate-covered marshmallows from Pierre Marcolini…

…a delicious grande aïoli at Susan Loomis’ country home…

…almond-rich, tender financiers from Eric Kayser…

…briny oysters and cool rosé at La Coupole…

…and Patrick Roger’s luscious chocolates filled with salted butter caramel.

But you know what’s gotten some folks the most excited?

The roast chicken-flavored potato chips I found at the autoroute rest stop boutique.

Go figure.

In honor of Sunday’s French presidential election…

(Warning: PG-13)