Seafood everywhere

What a fishy day! Today I made the prawn and asparagus blancmange for tomorrows Christmas lunch entreé and made my first fish stock and a seafood broth for dinner.

Bouillabaisse (Provençal fish stew)

This was one of the most fragrant broths I have ever produced or consumed before, it was just delightful. The only let down was it could of had more seafood.

 

White (unroasted) fish stock

I can now tick this off my bucket list, I have never made my own stock before but now I have successfully achieved a beautiful well seasoned stock. I used fish bones and prawns shells and it made for a very tasty stock that just took my Bouillabaisse to a whole new and exciting level.

17 recipes down 103 to go!

4 more to add

Its been crazy with Christmas creeping up so very quickly so I haven’t had time to blog, but here are 4 new recipes I have completed over the last couple of days!

Gratin au poisson fumé (Smoky fish bake) – 22/12/13

This beautiful creamy bake certainly didn’t lack flavour but it was lacking in quantity of ingredients. In my family we like a decent plate of food for dinner and this recipe only had 200g of smoked cod which is half a fillet for four people! So in order to satisfy the family I decided to double the fish quantify which luckily didn’t effect the dish at all.

Riz rouge au lait d’amande (Red rice pudding with almond milk) -22/12/13

What a surprising dessert, I have never heard of anything quite like this at all. The dish without the chantilly cream was quite nutty and lacked flavour but when they came together the two textures complimented each other, the smooth thickness of the cream and the slight chewiness of the rice worked terrifically together. This was a simple recipe and rather healthy (apart from the cream).

Boeuf bourguignon avec des quenelles des baguettes (Burgundy beef with baguette dumplings)

Tonight was the famous Boeuf Bourguignon but instead of mopping up the rich rouge sauce with a crusty baguette I turned it into dumplings. I was not expecting the dumplings to be so incredibly soft and flavoursome, I thoroughly enjoyed this edition to a french classic! I was unable to source a whole beef shin or slab of stewing steak so I instead I used cubes of stewing steak which is used in a traditional Boeuf Bourguignon. As I cooked the stew for 3 hours in the oven the meat fell apart so the stew wasn’t as liquidly as Rachels. This didn’t faze my family as we love a sloppy stew and the intensity of flavour just overruled the whole dish.

Crème Caramel (Vanilla cream with caramel sauce)

I have made two or three Crème Caramels before and I have never before made it anything like Rachels recipe. Rachel melts her sugar then adds the water after, normally I put the water and sugar together in the pan until it forms a caramel. It took me three attempts to master Rachels method but it resulted in the most beautifully coloured caramel. The next few strange differences between the recipes were; where I would of cooked my caramels at 160C, Rachel cooks hers at 110C and also in a cold bay-marie whereas mine is hot. This method did not work at all, the custards didn’t set in such a low oven so I  had to crank it up. In the end the custards set and the caramel was devine but in the future I am going to stick to my original method.

16 recipes down 104 to go!

Three new dishes!

Today I was busy in the kitchen! I made three dishes some of the prep I did yesterday but now I am very tired.

Quiche Lorraine (Bacon and egg tart)

Now I don’t normally enjoy a quiche lorraine as I prefer a quiche thats not creamy, but this quiche lorraine was devine. The pastry was crisp and short but the filling wasn’t too overwhelmingly creamy yet smooth and rich. I also asked my butcher to cut the bacon in thick slabs so I could cut lardons of bacon as the recipe called for. The thick chunks of bacon really took the quiche to the next level. I made this quiche along with the next recipe for my mother and some girlfriends she had invited over for lunch.

Cake au saucisson sec avec pistaches et prunes (cured sausage, pistachio and prune cake)

All of my favorite things in a smooth savoury batter, delicious!! If you have never made a savoury cake before(as I had never done)  I recommend you do, because they are oh so yummy. Its a wired concept but just sensational.

Brochettes au coq au vin (Coq au vin on skewers)

This recipe I have mixed feelings about. I love traditional coq au vin and unfortunately this recipe hasn’t changed my mind about that. The marinade for the chicken/lardons and the dipping sauce was wonderful as it tasted exactly like coq au vin. The only downfall was the whole concept of the dish being on skewers as it caused  difficulty with uneven cooking and they just seemed unnecessary. Despite this still a good dish.

12 recipes down 108 to go!

Boulettes de viande avec une sauce piquante et des pâtes d’Alsace (Meatballs in spicy sauce with Alsatian pasta

For tonights dinner I produced a rich robust sauce with meatballs served with some al dente pasta. The sauce was smooth and had a lovely nutty flavor as the rue was cooked until it was a coca-cola colour. The pancetta I used in the sauce along with other ingredients to flavor , before passing it through a sieve really enhanced the overall flavor of the sauce and the capers and cornichons supplied the saltiness. Yet again another beautiful dish.

9 recipes down 111 to go

It Begins!

Welcome to Louise’s Little French Kitchen,

As part of my secondary education at Mater Christi College I am required to complete a Personal Project in which I am able to create anything I wish. I have decided to tackle something rather outrageous and cook my way through Rachel Khoo’s Little Paris Kitchen cookbook  wich contains 120 recipes I have to complete before May when the assignment it due for submission.

I have decided to attempt this as I have aspirations to attend the Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris when I complete year my 12 certificate as Rachel Khoo the author of the book has done. This dream has stemmed from my grandfathers love for fine food and dinning especially french cuisine and unfortunately he passed away this year and I want to carry on his passion for food! When I hopefully graduated from Le Cordon Bleu and in memory of my gorgeous grandfather I want to open my own french patisserie/ café.

My area of Interaction for my personal Project is Human ingenuity as I am gaining skills for my future culinary aspirations. This will be a difficult journey but one in which I can gain so many skills and develop my love and passionate relationship with fine food.

So far I have completed the following recipies,

Soufflé au fromage (Cheese soufflé) – 1/12/13

This was rich, creamy and absolutely delicious! I served it with boiled potatoes in thyme butter and a garden salad with a simple vingerette for dinner. The soufflés took much longer in the oven then suggested but still rose, were the right consistency in the middles and were golden brown on top.

Truite en papillote avec fenouil, citron et Créme Fraîche (Trout in a pacel with lemon, fennel and créme Fraîche) – 6/12/13

A simple yet gorgeous recipe for dinner in which I served with some steamed greens.

Terrine Forestiére (Wild mushroom terrine) – 6/12/13

I made this for my mother, father and family friend to take to a concert at a winery. It was incredibly rich as its just mushrooms fried in butter and baked in eggs and Créme Fraîche. My Poppie and Grandma also enjoyed it for a pre dinner later on in the week!

Quatre-quarts aux agrumes (Citrus fruit cake) – 6/12/13

I also made this for the concert but unfortunately as I was going to place it in the oven it feel to the ground but I managed to save most of the batter with the help of my mother. This resulted in a slightly denser cake as some of the air bubbles escaped in the tragic fall. Regardless it was sill a stunning citrusy cake!

Vacherin ‘hotdog’ avec rhubarbe au romarin (Vacherin ‘hotdog’ with rosemary rhubarb) – 10/12/13

This has been the most impressive recipe so far and easier than I expected to execute. I caramelised the rhubarb in sugar and rosemary and left to infuse and intensify the flavors for the day.  That night I assembled my hand piped meringues that were in the oven for 2 hours, whipped cream and rhubarb. I served it for my family and Poppie and it was a complete success! The only justification I could of made would be cutting the rhubarb as it was slightly difficult to eat in small bites.

Steak et frites de légumes racines (Steak and root-vegetable fries) – 11/12/13

This was the first recipe I have been disappointed in as the fries were rubbed in an oil and ground almond mix to then be baked in the oven but they didn’t get the crisp and crunch I was after. I think this was due to the lack of oil in the recipe. In saying this the resting of the steak and rubbing it in salt and pepper really enhanced the flavors of the eye fillet I used!

Poulet aux champignons avec une sauce au vin blanc (Chicken and mushroom in a white wine sauce) – 12/12/13

YUM! This was what I would call comfort food at its finest. I used swiss brown mushrooms instead of button mushrooms as I find they have much more flavor which adds depth, colour and richness to any dish. The tarragon garnish gave it these wicked aniseed hits and the lemon juice gave the dish the zing! I served it with steamed rice and was a winner for the family!

Soupe au pistou (Pistou soup)

This flavoursome soup was tonight dinner. It was the right level of saltiness and it had that hit from the garlicky pesto. When I was cooking off the carrots and zucchini with the bay leaf, thyme, onion and garlic in the tomato paste it was almost caramelising and this gave the soup its intense flavour. This soup had no stock just 2L of boiling water but at the end I added a tbls of salt, pinch of sugar and pepper to give the soup the perfect seasoning.

8 recipes down 112 to go!