Daring Bakers August Éclairs

When this month's Daring Bakers' recipe was posted to the forum, I think I could actually hear the collective sighs of anticipation from many of the 1000+ members. My reaction was the same. Éclairs=happy day indeed.

This month's challenge was Chocolate Éclairs from the book Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé and was hosted by Meeta and Tony from What's For Lunch Honey and Tony Tahhan. While the recipe itself seemed like a pretty basic cream puff recipe, it was the amazing chocolate glaze and the fabulous pastry cream that made these taste like the professional bakery version. Our rules this time were that the dough needed to be a pâte à choux and we were to keep chocolate in one of the elements--either in the pastry cream or in the glaze. I'm not going to argue with that. Beyond those two things we were free to choose our flavors.

Pierre Hermé’s Cream Puff Dough RecipeAll recipes from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
• ½ cup (125g) whole milk
• ½ cup (125g) water
• 1 stick (4 ounces; 115g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature
1) In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to boil.
2) Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to medium and start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough comes together very quickly. Do not worry if a slight crust forms at the bottom of the pan, it’s supposed to. You need to carry on stirring for a further 2-3 minutes to dry the dough. After this time the dough will be very soft and smooth.

3) Transfer the dough into a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using yourhandmixer or if you still have the energy, continue by hand. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough. You will notice that after you have added the first egg, the dough will separate, once again donot worry. As you keep working the dough, it will come back all together again by the time you have added the third egg. In the end the dough should be thick and shiny and when lifted it should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon.

4) The dough should be still warm. It is now ready to be used for the éclairs.


1) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Divide the oven into thirds by positioning the racks in the upper and lower half of the oven. Line two baking sheets withwaxed or parchment paper.
2) Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a 2/3 (2cm) plain tip nozzle with the warm cream puff dough. Pipe the dough onto the baking sheets in long, 4 to 41/2 inches (about 11 cm) chubby fingers.Leave about 2 inches (5 cm) space in between each dough strip to allow them room to puff.The dough should give you enough to pipe 20-24 éclairs.
3) Slide both the baking sheets into the oven and bake for 7 minutes. After the 7 minutes, slip thehandle of a wooden spoon into the door to keep in ajar. When the éclairs have been in theoven for a total of 12 minutes, rotate the sheets top to bottom and front to back. Continuebaking for a further 8 minutes or until the éclairs are puffed, golden and firm. The total baking time should be approximately 20 minutes.


Chocolate Pastry Cream
• 2 cups (500g) whole milk
• 4 large egg yolks
• 6 tbsp (75g) sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted
• 7 oz (200g) bittersweet chocolate, preferably Velrhona Guanaja, melted
• 2½ tbsp (1¼ oz: 40g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1) In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. In the meantime, combine the yolks, sugar and cornstarch together and whisk in a heavy‐bottomed saucepan.
2) Once the milk has reached a boil, temper the yolks by whisking a couple spoonfuls of the hot milk into the yolk mixture.Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the milk into the tempered yolk mixture.
3) Strain the mixture back into the saucepan to remove any egg that may have scrambled. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously (without stop) until the mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 more minutes (still over medium heat).Stir in the melted chocolate and then remove the pan from the heat.
4) Scrape the pastry cream into a small bowl and set it in an ice‐water bath to stop the cooking process. Make sure to continue stirring the mixture at this point so that it remains smooth.
5) Once the cream has reached a temperature of 140 F remove from the ice‐water bath and stir in the butter in three or four installments. Return the cream to the ice‐water bath to continue cooling, stirring occasionally, until it has completely cooled. The cream is now ready to use or store in the fridge.

Chocolate Glaze
• 1/3 cup (80g) heavy cream
• 3½ oz (100g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 4 tsp (20 g) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature
• 7 tbsp (110 g) Chocolate Sauce (recipe below), warm or at room temperature

1)In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and slowly begin to add the chocolate, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula.
2) Stirring gently, stir in the butter, piece by piece followed by the chocolate sauce.

Chocolate Sauce
• 4½ oz (130 g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup (250 g) water
• ½ cup (125 g) crème fraîche, or heavy cream
• 1/3 cup (70 g) sugar

1) Place all the ingredients into a heavy‐bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil, making sure to stir constantly. Then reduce the heat to low and continue stirring with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens.
2) It may take 10‐15 minutes for the sauce to thicken, but you will know when it is done when it coats the back of your spoon.

I left out one egg as a high altitude adjustment (in hopes of preventing it from rising so incredibly fast only to fall--it seemed to work). I stuck with the chocolate glaze for both and mixed up the fillings a bit. For the first, I substituted 1 cup of coconut milk for the regular and added fresh coconut to the cream. Topped with toasted coconut it was pretty fabulous, even if not traditionally french.
The second filling I made a little more french--in general flavor if not necessarily a traditionally french eclair flavor. On one trip to France I discovered the flavor of violets...as in the little purple flower. It's probably an aquired taste. It was very often paired with chocolate in desserts and I loved it, so much so that I started purchasing violet flavored drinks, jams, desserts and little pastilles everytime I could find them. Someone once asked my why my breath smelled like his grandmother's perfume. I added a bit of the violet syrup "perfume" to the pastry cream and absolutely loved it. Others did not but luckily, there was an abundance of coconut eclairs to be had.

Cookbook #22 Biba's Italy

The abundance of outdoor markets is one of summer's greatest gifts. The piles of fresh fruits and veggies can make almost any foodie giddy with produce high. Finding something that you were convinced was merely an urban legend in the US, that's an entirely different high.

Is it a flower, or is it food? Apparently it's both. When I first spied these beauties today I dropped the piece of cactus fruit I was sampling and made a dash over to the blossoms. The gentleman began telling me all the fabulous things I could make with them. I felt bad that after his long and very detailed suggestions and instructions, I still had one major question... habla inglés? Luckily he said quesadillas...si, quesadillas chiquita. After verifying that these were indeed the highly elusive zucchini blossoms, I immediately bought a bunch and dreamt of culinary transportation to Italy.

Cookbook #22 in my overly ambitious plan to cook through all my cookbooks in one year is Biba's Italy. This is not one of the cookbooks you see at the store and purchase for its visual impact. It is completely devoid of photos and yet, none the less spectacular because of it. Few cookbooks can claim that. This cookbook is printed on matte pages with ragged edges and has a feeling of being aged, as if it's been handed down for over generations. It's somewhat of a food memoir, armchair travel and cookbook in one. It dedicates chapters to Rome, Florence, Bologna, Milan, and Venice and within each city are recipes for appetizers, main courses, pasta and desserts. It's a mini trip into the regional differences in food through the country.
Despite my aversion to the smell of frying, I knew that possession of zucchini blossoms mandated an attempt at making fried blossoms. I only had to go to the third recipe in Biba's Italy to find the recipe I was longing for--stuffed zucchini blossoms...fiori di zucchine ripieni. They were fabulous, delightful, and worth the fried fast food restaurant smell that now pervades my place. I wish I had bought one more bunch to try the quesadillas, especially since it may be another year until I see them again.



Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms
Adapted from Biba's Italy

2 ounces goat cheese
3 ounces ricotta
2 tbsp chopped basil
pinch of salt

Mix together filling ingredients and put into small pastry bag. Carefully open flowers and remove pistils. Pipe filling into flowers and twist the petals very lightly to close.

For the batter:
2 eggs separated
1 cup beer
1 cup flour
pinch of salt
Whip eggs whites until soft peaks form. In another blowl lightly beat the yolks and whisk in beer. Gradually add flour, whisking completely. Season with salt and fold in egg whites.

Heat vegetable oil over high heat. When oil is hot but not smoking, dip blossoms one at a time into batter and slip into oil. Fry until golden on one side and turn (3-4 mins total) Remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt and serve immediately.

Simple But Good

I once knew a young gentleman who thanked a friend for dinner by telling her it was "Good. Simple, but good." Bless his heart.

Despite the bit of cluelessness , there's validity to the "simple but good" thought. If the food is fabulous and fresh, minimal preparation is often better.

Take for instance these beauties...it is that time of the year again. Palisades peaches--they are enormous, juicy enough to require that you eat them over a sink, and sweeter than sugar.

These are the kind of peaches that have many a Denverite hopping in their car and making the 4 hour drive to the western slopes to grab a couple of boxes. It's a bit like a social status really..."Did you get your box of Palisades peaches this year yet?" Prepare to be shunned if you didn't. I would never be caught without my box when they come in season. Not while I have breaf in this body. Btw--it's way better if someone drives up to Palisades and gets them for you...I'm just saying is all.

So with what is probably just my first shipment of peaches , I was eager to find a different way to eat them that didn't involve drenching another shirt. I turned to my boyfriend Tyler, and he did not disappoint.

Mr. Florence said throw some balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh rosemary in a bowl and toss peach halves in the mixture. Then just toss them on the grill for about 5 minutes on each side. I know it sounds odd, and I'm not even a rosemary kind of person--but these were phenomenal. That's exactly why I crush on Tyler.

One more time in case you didn't catch it the first time...phenomenal.

It's Hot

I don't know if it's just that I've been cooped up inside a lot this summer, or if it really hasn't been all that summery hot this year but I'm having a hard time believing that end of summer is coming. I'm not going to pretend though--I am not shedding any tears. Though I love some aspects of summer, like the markets, fairs, and all the fabulous produce, when it comes down to it, I'm just not a summer girl. I am so incredibly heat intolerant--nothing is more miserable to me than being hot. Grouchy and mean words come out of my mouth uncontrollably--it's like I have some sort of heat induced Tourette's. Do you think that's a real thing maybe?

I'd take a snowstorm over 95 degrees ANY day. I think England, even with cold rain coming down, is preferable to Mexico or the Caribbean. In fact, there's only a brief one month period around February, where tropical vactions even appeal to me.

All this to say that I really wanted to throw something in the dutch oven and let it simmer all day long, but the weather did not cooperate. Nothing was going to be simmering for very long in this kitchen. Luckily, simple syrup takes about 5 minutes tops.

I love cucumber slices in my water--it's just so fresh tasting. I also love this new trend of cucumber cocktails. While I could take or leave alcohol, I wondered if the same ingredients, minus the gin, would be as refreshing. It was...it was better actually.

I made a basic simple syrup (1 cup sugar, 1 cup water, boiled until sugar dissolves), cooled it to room temp and threw it in the blender with one chopped up english cuke. I refrigerated it until cold, and strained out the cucumber pieces.

Add some of the cucumber syrup to a glass with the juice of half a lime and a bit of seltzer and who needs soda? Add some schmance, frivolous diamond ice cubes, and the heat is almost tolerable. Almost.

Lemon Yogurt Cake, Barefoot Contessa Style

If Barefoot Contessa was british, she'd probably be the queen. But alas, as a yank, whe'll have to settle for queen of the Food Network.

As much as I adore her, let's not kid ourselves. Girlfriend is not about cutting back on the fat. Some might even give her the title of queen of butter. She loves the stuff...and sometimes, I'm right there with her. Her shortbread recipe makes an appearance in my kitchen every christmas. But in order to love butter sometimes, you have to love it less other times. So when she took her oh so divine Lemon Cake recipe from her Barefoot Contessa Parties cookbook, and revamped it in her Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook by replacing the half pound of butter with yogurt, I wasn't complaining. In fact, I was intrigued...

This recipe still has 1/2 a cup of oil--stirred in at the end of the mixing cycle. I wonder about this technique. Was it the amount or the technique that caused the bread to have that texture and taste so similar to if it had been full of butter and oil? In fact, the bread was so moist and almost oily, I might even attempt it again with a bit less oil.

I also used lowfat plain yogurt because it's what I eat for brekkie. I think it worked perfectly--but note that Ina's recipe calls for whole milk yogurt.

This recipe is not one of those compromises that you make because it's better for you than the fully fatted version. It's just as good. Why wouldn't you use yogurt in that case? Oh, and it's way better the second day after the grated lemon rind has seeped into every molecule of the bread. I took it into my test team at work as a thank you and it was actually all gone within the hour. They love Barefoot Contess too.

Lemon Yogurt Cake

Adapted from Barefoot Contessa at Home

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plain low fat yogurt

1 1/3 cups sugar, divided

3 large eggs
3 teaspoons grated lemon zest (2-3 lemons)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

For the glaze:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pan.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it's all incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.

When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool.

For the glaze, combine the confectioners' sugar and lemon juice and pour over the cake.

Bruschetta

Another produce post? Shocking indeed...but check out these heirloom beauties...

Tomatoes, how I love thee. And after seeing a Julie and Julia this past weekend, I've been fixating on a certain scene from the movie that looked a little like this...

Tomatoes, garlic, basil, salt, pepper and olive oil. So simple and yet so perfect. It could rival some of the most gourmet meals if you ask me.

Real Food?

A coworker asked me last week if I ever ate "real food." Not sure how to take that--"something other than produce" I believe were his next words. What else is there? Take these gems from yesterday's farmers market in Golden...

A drizzle of olive oil, some salt and pepper and a bit of goat cheese and it's the perfect Sunday light lunch. Who needs cookbooks? Fresh produce = happiness.

Greek Yogurt and Cherries, Two Ways

With my cherry purchasing gone mad over the past couple of months, I needed to up the eating quotient from merely one pound per day to at least two. There's always some greek yogurt to be found in my fridge as well. Two fabulous ingredients and two fabulously different ways to serve them....

The first recipe using these two ingredients was courtesy of my BFFs over at Food Network. This magazine just brings so much joy to this house.

While not the most difficult recipe out there, the combination of tangy greek yogurt with sweet black cherries is perfect for hot summer days. The best part is that while this feels decadent, it's pretty much the same thing I eat for breakfast half the time--just in frozen form.

For this cherry frozen yogurt, you just take 2 cups of greek yogurt (or regular yogurt strained in a cheesecloth overnight) add a bit of vanilla extract and honey to taste and process per your ice cream maker's instructions. In the last couple of minutes, add one cup pitted and chopped cherries and churn until mixed in. Freeze for additional 2 hours.

The second recipe had an almost identical ingredient list, with the addition of some red wine. Take two cups of pitted cherries, throw in one cup of red or white wine, add a drizzle of honey and a splash of vanilla and cook it all for about 20 minutes or until the wine cooks down to a syrup. Ta-da--you have a cherry compote. Perfect for drizzling on a bit of greek yogurt.

Picnic at Red Rocks

Last week, some of us headed out to Red Rocks for Film on the Rocks. The normal and sane person would probably pack a sandwich, grab some chips and call it good. Far be it from me to make something as simple as a picnic dinner after work easy. I found myself attempting to make pesto at 11:00pm the night before.

Of course, last minute pesto only works if you have a magic garden and well stocked fridge. I had spinach which is technically green like basil...good to go in my eyes. I toasted some walnuts and grabbed the mortar and pestle.

I often watch Rick Steves and think he's the luckiest man ever. In the episode where he was in Genoa, he visited a restuarant where they made pesto in a mortar and pestle. I can say that this is absolutely the most fun way ever to make pesto. For my neighbor's sake though, all future efforts will be before 7 pm.


The "recipe" is just 1 garlic clove pounded with some salt. After that, you just start adding some spinach, nuts, parmesan and olive oil to taste. I used about 1/3 a cup of walnuts, 1/3 cup olive oil, 1/2 cup of parmesan and about 3 cups of spinach.

Red Rocks is the coolest venue for movies. The view is amazing, the atmosphere is fun and really, what could be better than being snug under a blanket while watching the best 80s cult favorites? Last week we watched Mr. Indiana Jones doing some archeological stuff somewhere and somehow. That's just the small stuff leading up to the piece de resistance. August 18th, Red Rocks, the best 80s movie of all time...(cue music)...On March 3, 1969 the United States Navy established an elite school for the top one percent of its pilots. Its purpose was to teach the lost art of aerial combat and to insure that the handful of men who graduated were the best fighter pilots in the world. They succeeded. Today, the Navy calls it Fighter Weapons School. The flyers call it: TOP GUN.

I Wasn't Lying

I do love Bobby Flay's Grill It! cookbook. So much so, that I made another couple of recipes, (an entire meal actually) straight from this book. In a world where I've tried to spread the love amongst all of my cookbooks, that's saying a lot.

When you head to the farmer's market and walk away with freshly picked corn, how do you not dream of a fabulous corn salsa? Though not really that unique of a recipe, I trust Bobby to make it perfect. He didn't disappoint. As a topping for grilled fish, it was Throwdown worthy.

The recipe that did seem rather unique to me was his potato and chevre napolean. I have a Costco addiction to goat cheese that I can't explain. I had a roommate once who would buy avocados like crazy every single time she went to the grocery store. She would come home with these perfect new avocados and place them right next to the last avocados she'd purchased, and never eaten. I used to give her grief for it until she pointed out I did the same thing with goat cheese at Costco. Though I tried to protest, she went to the refrigerator and pulled out many packages, and then opened the freezer and pointed out a couple more. What can I say except I adore goat cheese?

As always, I've adapted the recipe slightly. I substituted a sweet potato and will say that this may be one of my new favorite side dishes. The dressing and goat cheese are tangy, the grilling of the potatoes imparts a bit of smoky flavor and the basil adds that perfect sweetness.

Grilled Sweet Potato and Chevre Napolean

adapted from Grill It!

2 large sweet potatoes

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1 clove garlic

2 tsp dijon mustard

1/3 cup fresh basil plus additional leaves for garnish

1/2 cup olive oil

salt

freshly ground pepper

goat cheese

1. Microwave potatoes until mostly tender; let cool slightly

2. Combine vinegar, garlic, dijon, basil and olive oil in mini processor and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

3. Slice potatoes into 1/2 inch round slices. Brush with olive oil.

4. Grill on medium grill for about 2 minutes each side.

5. Make stacks by layering potato slice, 1 tbsp goat cheese, and another potato slice.

6. Drizzle with vinaigrette and sprinkle with basil garnish.