Toad-in-the-Hole

Though I try to keep the holiday craziness to a minimum, I do undertake some serious culinary preparation for having a wonderful celebration.   Therefore it's nice to be able to whip up something fast and simple during this rushed time.  The Calm One having grown up in Yorkshire appreciates as well as I do, a simple but satisfying British classic, Toad-in-the-Hole--an enticing soufflé-like Yorkshire pudding studded with succulent sausages.  It's a homey dish that helps one appreciate being cosily ensconced at home while gazing through frosted windows at the sleeping garden. 

Ingredients (Count 'em.  Only five. That's simple!)
Two generous servings or 4 skimpier ones

• Flour, all purpose, 150 grams
• Salt, 1/4 tsp
• Milk, 450 ml
• Eggs, large, 3
• Sausages, either British bangers, Toulouse, or Italian Sweet, 4

Bangers, a smooth-textured British sausage, filled with meat and breadcrumbs/rusk, are traditionally used.  However, chez nous, we add a French touch by using Toulouse sausage, made with pork, garlic, and red wine.

Turn on oven to 400 degrees F/205 degrees C.  Put a small, metal roasting pan (18 cm by 25 cm by 4 cm deep) in the preheating oven. Sift flour and salt from up high--this increases baked puffiness--and make a well.

Crack the eggs into the well.  Slowly incorporate the flour into the eggs by beating them in a circular motion with a fork, encroaching gradually onto the flour until mixture is smooth and sticky.

Gradually add milk, incorporating it first with a fork.  Then continue blending with a whisk. Beat until airy and full of bubbles.

Reserve the batter while occasionally whisking it as you saute the sausages.  The main purpose of this step is not to cook the sausages, but to get them to release some of their fat.  Add a tablespoon of oil, then the sausages, pricking them on all sides as they lightly brown over medium flame.  When about 4 to 5 tablespoons of fat has collected in the pan--I tip the pan to the side, roughly approximating the amount--turn off the heat.

Take out carefully the hot roasting pan and place on open oven door.  Empty the contents of the fry pan into the roasting pan. Make sure you get all the fat to follow the sausages!

Pour batter over the sausages, arranging them evenly spaced via tongs.  Put back into oven.

Bake for about 40 minutes, turning after 20 minutes, till very puffy and deeply browned.  The pudding's top should be fairly hard and inflexible to the touch.  Deeper down there will be some soft but firm spots.  Loosen the edges and bottom of the pudding from the pan with a narrow spatula.  Cut into four squares and serve immediately as it will lose height quickly.

Though brown gravy is traditionally served, we enjoy a side of stewed tomatoes made with our potager's Romas.

Bon appétit!

In the potager, the carrots sowed in August are beginning to be harvested in all their earthy, golden goodness.  I carefully dig with a trowel all around the carrot and gently heave it out of the soil.  If the soil is lightly moist, pulling them out is easier with less chance of leaving carrot pieces in the soil.

With diminished daylight, the roots will not fill out much more, but will resume their growth in early spring.  As light frosts are possible not only at night but also during the day, I leave horticultural fleece tucked around the carrot bed which turns it into a storage area.  Keep in mind carrot tops are wonderful additions to the soup stock pot as they are not bitter as I once thought as long as just a few are used.

In the wicker basket, are some fixings for chicken stock

The broccoli plants need to be dug up and put on the compost pile as their harvest is finished.

In the background, there's a yellow flowering broccoli!

The Brussels sprouts will keep producing into the new year so we should be able to have fresh ones for roasting with our holiday dinners.  Yay!  There are already quite a lot frozen.

Dayo thrives on the fresh, cold air and gets very perky and playful.  He will jump up at my hands while I take some close-ups as he intermittently swats the camera.

What's that object in your hand?  Can I nom it?

Besides a few intrepid rose buds, pink heather, and white and purple alyssum, the flower garden has a low profile presently.  Though I am a zealous proponent of dead heading flowers, I do make some notable exceptions as in sparing these silver skeletons of Hydrangea flowers as they are lovely in a lacy, ghostly way. 

And these hips on the Rugosa roses warm up the garden with their hot crimson.

What are your plans for holiday eating chez vous?  Is there something new you would like to give a try?  Something you would love not to prepare comme d'habitude (as usual)?  Or perhaps, just not doing much except going to friends/family/restaurants?  Regardless, leave time for yourself to unwind and turn inward, for a break from all the external distractions. Refreshed and in tune with yourself, you will be able to enjoy more fully all the agreeable aspects of this season! 

RELATED POSTS

Sowing Carrots & Making Velouté de carottes
Harvesting, freezing, roasting Brussels Sprouts
Preparation for fall/winter harvests
How to Make Roasted Broccoli Parmesan Béchamel Soup

Elegant Profiteroles: a Superb Holiday Dessert

The French have a charming expression, on profite, as in on profite du soleil (The sun is out? Drink it up!) to signify an existing situation of which one must take advantage.  I regard the upcoming holidays as such an occasion.  Profiteroles are one of those wonderful desserts that look much more difficult to do than in reality--as long as you have solid instructions to follow.  They are simply cream puffs filled with ice cream, usually vanilla and topped with a dark chocolate sauce.  They can be regarded as ice cream sandwiches taken to lofty heights.

Caramel-laced pecan vanilla ice-cream on the left and two coffee ice-creams on the right

I used Stephanie Jaworski's tested recipe (please read her recipe completely before making profiteroles), because it stood out from all the others I researched on the web by being thorough, clear, and eminently doable.  These profiteroles were the best I ever had, including the ones I enjoyed in Paris, Lyon, Grenoble, or in our favourite French restaurant in Greenwich Village.  And better than the ones I used to bake.  The pâte à choux is perfectly thin, crisp, with a slight inside moisture while the warm, dark-chocolate ganache is beyond dreamy, loaded with butter and cream.  In case you are wondering, we eat ours with a spoon!

If I had this recipe years ago, I am sure my first attempt at making cream puffs would not have come out as flat cookies.  Cream puffs can be stuffed with either sweet or savoury fillings--creamed chicken or seafood is good--and be made as tiny or as substantial as the occasion calls for.  Go ahead and make some this holiday season and on profite!

Piled into a pyramid, they make a stunning presentation

Profiteroles
Makes 12 medium (approx. 2" in diameter) profiteroles

• Flour, all purpose, 1/2 cup*/65 grams
• Sugar, white, granulated, 1/2 tsp
• Salt, 1/4 tsp
• Water, 1/2 cup*/120 ml
• Butter, sweet, 4 tablespoons/57 grams
• Eggs, large, 2, lightly beaten
• 1/8 tsp salt and 1 large beaten egg for glaze.
• Chocolate, dark, cocoa content 64% or higher, 4 oz/115 grams, broken into pieces
• Cream, heavy, 1/2 cup*/120 ml
• Butter, sweet, 1 tablespoon/14 grams, for the ganache
• Ice cream, homemade or an excellent brand, vanilla or coffee are popular, but most flavours would work.

*American size, that is, 8 oz cups.

Make the choux pastry as follows:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F/205 degrees C. Have close by water, butter, sifted flour/salt/sugar, and beaten eggs.

Bring the butter and water to a boil in a medium saucepan.

Take the pot off the heat and stir in the flour.

Put pot back on low heat and mix for a few minutes until dough pulls away from the sides of the pot.

Beat dough off the heat until it is lukewarm.

Beat in eggs. I first use a whisk.

Then switch to a wooden spoon to get a smooth batter.

Spoon or pipe on parchment-lined baking pans.  When spooning, it is best to layer smaller amounts so as to increase the height of each puff--first put one slightly rounded teaspoonful of the batter for each of the twelve profiteroles, then put a second teaspoon of it on top. Distribute any remaining batter over the twelve profiteroles as evenly as possible via a final layer.  With a pastry brush or with a fingertip, lightly paint each one with beaten egg.

Choux pastry needs to be baked twice--initially at 400 degrees F/205 degrees C for fifteen minutes, then at 350 degrees/177 degrees C for an additional 30-40 minutes.  Test one by splitting it--the insides need to be mostly dry and the outside crisp and a deep golden brown.  Then the oven heat is turned off, and they are left inside with the oven door cracked open for about five to ten minutes.  Just as importantly they need to be cooled on a wire rack.  An old oven rack can be called into duty. 

The puffs can be baked ahead of time, but the longer they stand before they are assembled, the softer they become.  The puffs can be frozen. Defrost the puffs and then reheat in a 350 degree F/177 degree C oven for 5 to 10 minutes or until crisp. Cool before filling with ice cream.

Make the ganache.  Break up the chocolate into smaller pieces and put them in a small metal mixing bowl.

Using a small saucepan, bring the cream and butter to a boil.  Pour the hot cream and butter over the broken-up chocolate in the metal bowl.  Cover and set stand for ten minutes.

Then whisk smooth the the butter, cream, and chocolate.  The ganache can be flavoured, as with brandy or cognac for an extra glow.  The warm sauce serves as a wonderful foil for the cold ice cream.

Assemble the profiteroles.  Cut them in halves.

Place nice, rounded scoops (approx. two rounded tablespoons) of ice cream.

Put on tops.

Dribble the ganache over the profiteroles.

If there is excess ganache, you can easily make sublime chocolate truffles.  How sublime?  Truffles are edible velvet.  Working with very cold ganache, scoop out little balls and dust in cocoa powder or crushed nuts.  And yes, if you want, you can just make the truffles and skip the cream puffs!  I won't tell anyone.  Bon appétit!

An unadorned truffle which I can assure you tastes scrumptious by itself.

Back in the garden, a rose bud hesitates to bloom.

In the potager, the fall/winter crops are doing well--broccoli, Brussels sprouts, leeks, carrots, and peas. 

Broccoli and Brussels sprouts beds in the background

I love topping up bowls of Velouté de Carottes with chopped, roasted broccoli which is added to the soup along with French bread chunks and bacon pieces.

Hearty, golden goodness!

Dayo enjoys climbing the bare trees as the days are still mostly mild.

He loves the Fig tree as it borders on three different yards.

Our short winter should begin in a week or so as the cranes have have left for North Africa.  They were not seen this season, but their wonderful honking was heard--at least by Monsieur M--as they migrated at night.

À bientôt

Chicken Pot Pie...and the goodness of a basic pastry crust

Though a chicken pot pie is some serious comfort food, it also has culinary flair by dint of a tender, flaky crust and a Suprême Sauce binding the filling.  Regard making it as a delicious means of learning some basic culinary techniques!

Ingredients
Makes one 9 inch pie and one 4 inch ramekin

See here for instructions to make the broth and the cooked chicken for this recipe.

• Flour, white, 1.5 cups*/215 grams
• lard, 1/2 cup*/108 grams
• Salt, 1/4 tsp
• Water, iced, a few Tbls
• Chicken, cooked, chopped, 3 cups*
• Peas, fresh or frozen, cooked, 1.5 cups*
• Carrots, cooked, chopped, 1 large
• Cream, 3/4 cup*
• Broth, 1.25 cups*
• Nutmeg, freshly grated, a large pinch or two
• Butter, 4 T
• Flour for the roux, 5 T

*American cup size, 8 oz.

Equipment

Pastry board or smooth work surface
Rolling pin
Spatula, long, thin, metal, flat or offset
Parchment paper
9 inch pie plate (2)
Ramekin (2), 1 1/2 cup* size, oven proof
Wire whisk 

Instructions

The night before, reserve about an half of cup of water in the fridge.  Keep the lard cold but not frozen.  Though I heard that lard gives the best results, when I lived in America shortening ruled and lard was hard to come by.  Delightfully, that is not the case in France.  However, it seems lard is making a come back in the States.  See Related Links below to find substitutions for lard.

The next day start the filling followed by the pastry crust.  Chop the carrots into approximately 1/2 inch mince and toss into a small pot of boiling water for about 2-3 minutes.  Add the peas and simmer for about another 5-8 minutes, testing for tenderness.  Drain and reserve.

Melt the butter and add the flour gradually, stirring all the while.  Cook over low heat for a minute or two to get out the raw taste of the flour.  Traditionally the proportion in a roux is one to one for flour to butter, but I find that I can get away with less butter, hence 5 T flour to 4 T butter.

Pour into the pot as gradually as possible the chicken broth all the while stirring until smooth.  Use a wire whisk to get out any lumps. The substitution of chicken broth instead of milk makes the sauce at this stage a Velouté instead of the basic white sauce, Béchamel. 

Then stir in the cream.  With the addition of cream, the sauce now is a Suprême Sauce.  (One could say French sauces are a bit inbred.)  Add a touch of freshly grated nutmeg.

Simmer until nicely thick.

Then add in the peas, carrots, and chopped, cooked chicken. Salt per taste. Reserve covered in the pot off the heat.

A flaky, tender short-crust pastry is not something most will do fairly well at first go.  My first attempt decades ago resulted in a crust resembling cardboard in texture.  I then went into the opposite direction--it was so crumbly that the finished pie looked more like a patchwork quilt.  Eventually I got it right, but I must confess each time I make a pastry crust, I wonder if the quality will be OK.  But, it always is.  The nicest compliment I have received regarding my baking is when a friend whispered to me over the table that my pie crust is better than her grandmother's.  You too will be able consistently to turn out both savoury and sweet pies/turnovers that will delight your friends, family, and guests.

For something that needs just a few ingredients--flour, fat, water, and salt--the difficulty lies solely in the technique along with the understanding that since the age of flours differ, the older will be more absorbent, the younger less so.  Therefore, the addition of the right amount of water becomes challenging.

Mix flour and salt into a bowl.  Quickly cut the cold lard into small pieces and add.  Delia Smith goes against the consensus of using fat that is cold--check out her approach in Related Links at the end of this post.

Using your fingers, work the lard into the flour till there is a coarse mixture of mostly pea-sized pieces.  This should take no more than a few minutes--work fast and lightly.  A food processor can be used for this step by pulsing it several times.

Tablespoon by tablespoon add the ice water.

Immediately after each tablespoon, get those fingers underneath the mixture to make sure that no water is pooling there.  Your fingers need to search out any soggy bits which is a warning sign that you are adding too much water.  It usually takes 2.5 to 4 tablespoons when I make pastry dough which is quite a variation.  Right in the bowl, press the dough into a ball like mass from time to time to see if there is enough cohesion without the need to add any additional water.  Sometimes all that is needed to get that final bit of moisture is to wet your fingertips, and then touch any remaining dry bits.

When properly moistened, dump the contents onto a pastry board.

Knead lightly--no more than five times--into a ball.  Put in the fridge for at least 10 minutes; 30 minutes may be better to encourage elasticity. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F/220 degrees C

While the dough is chilling in the fridge, pour the filling into one 9 inch pie plate and one ramekin.  Have an empty pie plate and ramekin handy for cutting templates.

Remove the dough from the fridge and put it on a moderately floured board.  Flatten and flour it lightly.

Using a light and quick touch, roll it out which should take about a minute or so.  Starting with a back and forth motion, I then work from the centre, rolling it out all around the perimeter. Lightly dust the rolling pin and dough to prevent sticking.  The more flour is used, the less tender the crust will be, so lightly is the word.  It is entirely permissible to lop off non-needed dough and attach it to the places where it is needed.  Place another pie plate on the circle as a template and cut all around about an inch from the template.  Gather the scraps into a small ball and reserve in the fridge for latter rolling out for the ramekin's pastry top.

A long, narrow spatula (looks like a long, thin knife with a blunted end) is then used to loosen carefully the dough circle from the board.  Some roll the dough out on waxed paper which I have never used so I can't vouch for its effectiveness in ease of transferring the circle off the board.

Fold in half and slide on the pie plate with the filling, placing the folded edge right smack in the middle of the pie plate as you will not be able to adjust placement once it is unfolded.  Unfold. 

Tuck under dough so it does not overhang the plate.  Then make a decorative, fluted edge by using your left thumb and index finger on the inside perimeter to support the dough via indenting with the right index finger on the outside perimeter.  Slash to allow the escaping of steam during baking--start with the longest one in the centre and then work out to the sides with graduated smaller slashes.  Roll out the smaller circle to top the ramekin, using the spare ramekin as a template.  Any remaining scraps can be shaped into a small round and place on top of the ramekin.  Slash the ramekin pastry.

Put the finished pie and ramekin on a shallow baking pan lined with parchment paper to catch spills and make cleaning easier.  Put in oven for about 30 minutes, rotating it half way for even baking.  I need to do this though I use a convection setting which supposedly ensures even browning.

Remove when nicely browned, and let stand for about ten minutes before cutting so as to let the filling solidify a bit.

Bon appétit!

RELATED POSTS

Roasted Broccoli Parmesan Bechamel Broccoli soup
Velouté de Carottes
Making Chicken Stock with Whole Chickens

RELATED LINKS

Delia Smith short crust pastry instructions 
(How to roll out circles, squares, and oblongs, sifting flour and mixing from up high technique to increase lightness, not to mention the heresy of using room temperature lard/butter!)
Rose Levy Berenbaum’s fabled recipe for perfect short crust pastry at Joe Pastry
(All butter dough with additional cream cheese and a more complicated technique resulting in a superb pastry)
Joe Pastry's Standard short crust pastry
(Similar to mine but calls either for vegetable shortening or lard)