independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/pancake-day-2014-five-simple-tips-to-make-the-perfect-pancakes-this-shrove-tuesday-9166218.html
10g/4oz plain flour, sifted
Pinch of salt
2 eggs
200ml/7fl oz milk mixed with 75ml/3fl oz water
50g/2oz butter (for pan)
In pictures: Pancake recipe ideas
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Tip Two: Use the right pan
A good pan will do most of the work for you, preventing the pancakes from sticking while maintaining a consistent level of heat.
If you are tempted to buy a cheap, thin non-stick pan for purpose then be prepared for it to be just that – they tend not to last (usefully) from one year to the next.
A good solid pan with a rounded join between the rim and base is probably best – and read the advice from the food writer and critic Xanthe Clay here on how to “season” it so it never needs washing up again.
MPs batter journalists in race
Tip three: Don’t use too much butter
Basic, unsalted butter is the best thing to use when lubricating your pan – but bear in mind that it will quickly brown in the heat if you use too much. Try brushing a thin layer on quickly with kitchen paper – you could use a pastry brush with bristles, but it will take a battering (pun intended – don’t actually batter the brush itself).
Tip four: Embrace flipping failure
You will drop a pancake. At least one, probably more. But once you get into the swing of things flipping the things is infinitely quicker, more likely to produce good pancakes and makes you look fantastic.
If necessary, try to get any guests or family members to be elsewhere when you do the first few, and clean the floor thoroughly beforehand.
Friday, March 4, 2016
Thursday, March 3, 2016
Vegan Parmesan Casserole
http://markbittman.com/recipes/
thepurplecarrot.com
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 45 to 50 minutes
Inactive prep time: 10 minutes
Lance Booth/TODAY
Sauce
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 1/2 cups whole milk, at room temperature
Zest of 2 large lemons
To assemble
Butter for greasing
1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 large zucchini cut into 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick slices
2 medium red onion, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch thick pieces
1 red bell pepper, cut into thirds
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into thirds
1 orange bell pepper, cut into thirds
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup plain breadcrumbs
For the sauce: In a 2-quart saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until smooth, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the milk, whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Add the lemon zest. Simmer over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the sauce thickens, about 10 minutes.
Place a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter an 13-by-9-inch glass baking dish.
Toss the zucchini slices, onion slices and peppers with the 1/4 cup of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Grill the vegetables for 3 to 4 minutes each side until softened. (Cook's Note: The vegetables can also be baked in a 375 degrees F oven for 15 to 20 minutes until softened.)
Lance Booth/TODAY
Spoon 3/4 cup of the cream sauce over the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Arrange the zucchini slices on top. Sprinkle with 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese. Arrange the peppers in a single layer on top. Spoon 3/4 cup of cream sauce sauce over the peppers. Sprinkle with 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese. Place the onion on top and cover with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle the remaining cheeses on top. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the cheese and drizzle liberally with oil. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the top is golden and forms a crust.
Lance Booth/TODAY
Cool for 10 minutes before serving.
thepurplecarrot.com
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 45 to 50 minutes
Inactive prep time: 10 minutes
Lance Booth/TODAY
Sauce
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 1/2 cups whole milk, at room temperature
Zest of 2 large lemons
To assemble
Butter for greasing
1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 large zucchini cut into 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick slices
2 medium red onion, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch thick pieces
1 red bell pepper, cut into thirds
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into thirds
1 orange bell pepper, cut into thirds
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup plain breadcrumbs
For the sauce: In a 2-quart saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until smooth, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the milk, whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Add the lemon zest. Simmer over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the sauce thickens, about 10 minutes.
Place a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter an 13-by-9-inch glass baking dish.
Toss the zucchini slices, onion slices and peppers with the 1/4 cup of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Grill the vegetables for 3 to 4 minutes each side until softened. (Cook's Note: The vegetables can also be baked in a 375 degrees F oven for 15 to 20 minutes until softened.)
Lance Booth/TODAY
Spoon 3/4 cup of the cream sauce over the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Arrange the zucchini slices on top. Sprinkle with 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese. Arrange the peppers in a single layer on top. Spoon 3/4 cup of cream sauce sauce over the peppers. Sprinkle with 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese. Place the onion on top and cover with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle the remaining cheeses on top. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the cheese and drizzle liberally with oil. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the top is golden and forms a crust.
Lance Booth/TODAY
Cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Saturday, February 13, 2016
BREAKFAST BURRITO ROLL-UPS
This recipe comes from “Breakfast, Brunch & More: Serious Comfort Food From New Jersey’s best Bed & Breakfasts” by Angela Williams and Lynne Kaplan. Check out Chef Kaplan’s B&B at victoriahouse.net.
INGREDIENTS
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup sliced bell pepper
• 8 (8-inch) flour tortillas
• 16 pre-cooked asparagus spears
• 2 ½ cups shredded mozzarella
• 1 cup sliced black olives
• 8 eggs, beaten
• 3 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons flour
• Half teaspoon garlic powder
• Few drops hot pepper sauce
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Coat a 13 x 9-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. In a small microwave-proof bowl microwave the onions and peppers on high for three minutes or until slightly softened. In the center of one tortilla place two asparagus spears, about a ¼ cup of the onion-pepper mixture, ¼ cup of mozzarella, and some of the olives. Roll up the tortilla to form a burrito and place it seem side down in the baking dish. Repeat with the remaining tortillas. In a large bowl, mix the eggs, milk, flour, garlic powder and hot pepper sauce. Pour the mixture over the burritos. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until set. Remove from the oven, let stand for ten minutes and serve.
Meatloaf
http://www.thekitchn.com/5-common-mistakes-to-avoid-when-making-meatloaf-tips-from-the-kitchn-213508
http://ronsapartment.blogspot.com/2014/12/turkey-meatloaf-with-avocado.html
Turkey meatloaf with avocado
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup onions
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 large egg
Salt and pepper
1 lb ground turkey breast
1-2 ripe avocados
8 oz tomato sauce
Mix the ketchup, breadcrumbs, onions, garlic, and basil. Add turkey and egg. Salt and pepper to taste.
Put 1/2 of the meat mixture into a bread pan (we use a disposable aluminum one), making a well down the middle.
Cut avocados into pieces and put into the well you made.
Top with the rest of the meat mixture and shape into loaf.
Pour tomato sauce over loaf.
Cover and cook in slow cooker on high for 3 hours. The meatloaf is done when the internal temp reaches 165F. (We usually let it go all day while at work.)
Allow meatloaf to rest for 10 minutes before cutting.
http://ronsapartment.blogspot.com/2014/12/turkey-meatloaf-with-avocado.html
Turkey meatloaf with avocado
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup onions
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 large egg
Salt and pepper
1 lb ground turkey breast
1-2 ripe avocados
8 oz tomato sauce
Mix the ketchup, breadcrumbs, onions, garlic, and basil. Add turkey and egg. Salt and pepper to taste.
Put 1/2 of the meat mixture into a bread pan (we use a disposable aluminum one), making a well down the middle.
Cut avocados into pieces and put into the well you made.
Top with the rest of the meat mixture and shape into loaf.
Pour tomato sauce over loaf.
Cover and cook in slow cooker on high for 3 hours. The meatloaf is done when the internal temp reaches 165F. (We usually let it go all day while at work.)
Allow meatloaf to rest for 10 minutes before cutting.
Friday, February 12, 2016
Carnívoro
“Carnivorous, adj. Addicted to the cruelty of devouring the timorous vegetarian, his heirs and assigns.”
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)
'The Devil's Dictionary' (1911)
Thinkers about vegetarians
“Caesar's armies marched on vegetarian foods.”
Will Durant, American writer, historian. (1885-1981)
“I was a vegetarian until I started leaning toward the sunlight.”
Rita Rudner (Comedian)
“I am oppressed with a dread of living forever. That is the only disadvantage of vegetarianism.”
George Bernard Shaw (1940)
“Now I can look at you in peace; I don't eat you any more.”
Franz Kafka (1883-1924)
“You can't possibly ask me to go without having some dinner. It's absurd. I never go without my dinner. No one ever does, except vegetarians and people like that.”
Oscar Wilde, 'The Importance of Being Earnest' (1895)
"The thought of two thousand people crunching celery at the same time horrified me."
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950).
Explaining why he had turned down an invitation to a vegetarian gala dinner.
'The Greatest Laughs of All Time', G. Lieberman.
"Vegetarians have wicked, shifty eyes, and laugh in a cold calculating manner. They pinch little children, steal stamps, drink water, favor beards."
J. B. Morton
"My hearse will be followed not by mourning coaches but by herds of oxen, sheep, swine, flocks of poultry and a small traveling aquarium of live fish, all wearing white scarves in honor of the man who perished rather than eat his fellow creatures."
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish playwright and pleader of the invention of a human way to kill handycaped people...(and then came Zyklon B!)
"I have no doubt that it is part of the destiny of the human race, in its gradual improvement, to leave off eating animals, as surely as the savage tribes have left off eating each other when they came in contact with each other."
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
"There is no disease, bodily or mental, which adoption of vegetable diet, and pure water has not infallibly mitigated, wherever the experiment has been fairly tried."
Percy Bysshe Shelley, English poet (1792-1822)
"Vegetarianism is harmless enough, though it is apt to fill a man with wind and self-righteousness."
Sir Robert Hutchinson
"The parlour cars and Pullmans are packed also with scented assassins, salad-eaters who murder on milk."
W.H. Auden, ‘Age of Anxiety’ (1947)
"Everybody's a pacifist between wars. It's like being a vegetarian between meals."
Colman McCarthy, Columnist, ‘The Washington Post’
"I am not a vegetarian because I love animals; I am a vegetarian because I hate plants."
A. Whitney Brown, former Saturday Night Live news anchor
"Nothing more strongly arouses our disgust than cannibalism, yet we make the same impression on Buddhists and vegetarians, for we feed on babies, though not our own."
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)
“I have always eaten animal flesh with a somewhat guilty conscience.”
Albert Einstein
“I didn't fight my way to the top of the food chain to be a vegetarian.”
Unknow, as bumper sticker
“A man of my spiritual intensity does not eat corpses.”
George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright and critic (1856-1950)
“Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.”
Albert Einstein
“A vegetarian is a person who won't eat anything that can have children.”
David Brenner, Comedian
“A human can be healthy without killing animals for food. Therefore if he eats meat he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite.”
Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy, Russian author (1828-1910)
“I've been a vegetarian for years and years. I'm not judgemental about others who aren't, I just feel I cannot eat or wear living creatures.”
Drew Barrymore, American actress
“Vegetarian: A person who eats only side dishes.”
Gerald Lieberman
“Persons living entirely on vegetables are seldom of a plump and succulent habit.”
William Cullen (1710-1790), Scottish physician & professor.
Thursday, February 11, 2016
La madeleine mordida de Marcel Proust
http://www.foodreference.com/html/untitled2605.html
https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeleine_Paulmier
https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeleine_(cuisine)
Une madeleine est un petit gâteau traditionnel lorrain aux œufs en forme de coquillage, allongée ou ronde.
Recette
Ingrédients
2 œufs
1 jaune d'œuf
100 g de sucre en poudre
125 g de farine
1/2 sachet de levure chimique 1 sachet = 14 grammes pour 500 grammes de farine
90 g de beurre
un peu de beurre et de farine pour les moules
Préparation
Mélangez au fouet que le blanc des œufs, le jaune d'œuf et le sucre. Le mélange doit être mousseux sans être trop ferme.
(optionnel : mettre un arôme, voir les conseils)
Ajoutez la farine tamisée et la levure chimique. Mélangez et ajoutez le beurre fondu.
(optionnel : Laissez reposer au réfrigérateur pendant 2 heures minimum.)
Beurrez et farinez les moules.
(À la sortie du réfrigérateur,) garnissez les moules aux 3/4 à l'aide d'une cuillère à soupe ou mieux si vous avez un bol à bec verseur.
Enfournez 8 à 10 min environ à 200°C pour les moules en métaux ou papier, 12 a 15 min environ à 190°C pour les moules en silicones.
Démoulez aussitôt.
Conseils
Avant d'ajouter la farine et la levure, vous pouvez ajouter des ingrédients comme :
le zeste d'une orange
de l'eau de fleur d'oranger
des arômes pâtissiers
de l'extrait de citron
de la noix de coco râpée
ou encore de la poudre d'amande
de la bergamote
Un menú básico del gran Escoffier
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2004/04/28/dining/at-my-table-a-marriage-of-simplicity-and-sophistication.html
The meal here is a simple one, but it takes time and some thought. It certainly requires no skill or expertise. To me, this food -- a winey, flavorful mushroom soup followed by crepes stuffed with pears and vanilla ice cream and swathed in hot chocolate sauce -- is both elegant and cozy. It's the sort of meal you might find in a restaurant in the French countryside or the sort of lunch you might want for a relaxed Saturday at home with friends.
Mushroom soup has been so debased by the canned versions that it is a cheering relief to eat the real thing. In the recipe here, dried porcini mushrooms permeate the soup with almost meaty flavor.
The potatoes are cooked not in water but in white wine, which elevates them considerably from simple filler.
Even a small amount of dried porcini in the soup makes a huge difference. Most fresh mushrooms, except for portobellos, don't have an awful lot of flavor, and if you use too many of those the soup will be unattractively murky.
Although the recipe calls for specific mushroom varieties, you can use whatever mushrooms you find when shopping. If there are no portobellos, relax. Even pearly button mushrooms, those little pretty things that taste of not much other than bouncy plastic, begin to have a little depth and resonance when cooked with dried porcini.
I cannot be as permissive, however, about the wine. You should not use any wine in the soup that you would not want to drink at the table.
This is a rule that always holds in cooking, but here especially the taste of the wine comes through distinctively. Anything too sharp or vinegary will make the chopping of mushrooms and peeling of potatoes an utter waste of time.
If you want, you can make this soup in advance, adding the final shot of wine and cups of milk when you reheat. If you are having dessert immediately afterward, you do not need anything with the soup other than fabulous bread, and lots of it.
The dessert itself is a glorious assembly of lacy crepes, pears, ice cream and sauce. It reminds me of the great Escoffier invention poires Belle-Hélène (the same dish, without the crepes), which I always asked for at my grandmother's house.
She used canned pears, and so can you. Poaching pears in vanilla and lemon syrup makes for wonderful flavor, but canned pears are certainly not a shameful substitute: just make sure you buy pears in juice, not syrup.
Crepes can be made and then reheated in a microwave or low oven. In some places you can even buy them, but there is a huge difference between homemade and store-bought crepes: many of the premade ones are not of high quality.
The chocolate sauce is patently easy, and can be left to cook itself while you eat the soup. If you have some Poire William or other pear liqueur, do add it to the sauce, but it isn't crucial.
Poires Belle-Hélène are traditionally sprinkled with crystallized violets on serving, and violets look beautiful over the dark, glossy chocolate sauce here, too. But if you do not have them, you do not have to rush out to buy some.
This is truly a menu that shows the alchemy of cooking. Modest ingredients -- potatoes, mushrooms, flour, egg, milk and pears -- are elevated by the addition of wine and chocolate and by careful, loving preparation into a restrained but elegant meal.
MUSHROOM SOUP WITH WINE
Time: 1 hour
3/8 ounce ( 1/2 cup) dried porcini mushrooms
1 pound (about 2 medium) baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
2 cups good white wine
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon kosher salt or 1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 large clove garlic, minced
8 ounces portobello mushroom caps, coarsely chopped
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, finely sliced
4 ounces button mushrooms, finely sliced
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
2 cups milk
Heavy cream, for garnish
Finely chopped parsley, for garnish.
1. Place dried porcini in a 1-cup measuring cup, and fill with hot water. Set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine potatoes, 1 3/4 cups wine, bay leaf and salt. Place over high heat to bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and allow to simmer until potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, place a large soup pot over medium heat, and add oil. When hot, add onion and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, and stir for about 30 seconds. Drain porcini, reserving liquid.
4. Chop porcini and add to onion mixture. Add portobello mushrooms, cremini mushrooms, button mushrooms, butter and thyme. Stir until mushrooms begin to give off liquid and look less dry, about 10 minutes. When potatoes are tender, add them and their cooking liquid to pan of mushrooms. Add porcini soaking liquid and 1 cup water. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook gently for 20 minutes.
5. Allow soup to cool slightly. Working in batches, use a blender to purée soup. Return soup to a pan on medium-low heat, and add remaining 1/4 cup wine and the milk. Reheat just until soup is steaming; do not boil. To serve, place portions in bowls and garnish each with a squiggle of heavy cream and a sprinkling of parsley.
Yield: 4 to 6 servings.
CREPES BELLE-HÉLÈNE
Time: 30 minutes
For the pears:
1 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
2 strips lemon zest, each about 2 1/2 inches by 1/2 inch
3 large Bartlett pears or other pears suitable for poaching, peeled, cut in two lengthwise and cored
For the crepes:
1 cup flour
1 1/3 cups milk
1 large egg
2 tablespoons butter, melted and slightly cooled
For the chocolate sauce:
8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup strong black coffee or 1 teaspoon instant coffee dissolved in 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon Poire William liqueur, optional
6 scoops high-quality vanilla ice cream
Crystallized violets, optional.
1. Prepare the pears: In a wide saucepan, mix together 1 cup sugar, vanilla bean, lemon zest and 3 cups water. Place over low heat and stir until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes. Add pear halves and simmer until pears are tender but still keep their shape, about 30 minutes. Transfer pears to a bowl, and set aside. (Vanilla bean may be rinsed, dried and placed in a jar of sugar to make vanilla-scented sugar.)
2. While pears poach, prepare crepes: heat oven to 200 degrees. Mix together the flour, milk and egg until smooth. Transfer to a bowl, and stir in melted butter. Place a nonstick or well-seasoned crepe pan or 8-inch skillet over medium-low heat.
3. Pour a scant 1/4 cup batter into center of pan; lift pan and swirl it so batter covers bottom thinly and evenly. Return pan to heat, and allow it to sit until bottom of crepe is lightly browned, about 1 minute. Flip crepe, and cook other side for 30 to 60 seconds. Transfer to a parchment-paper lined baking sheet, and place in oven to keep warm. (Alternatively, crepes may be allowed to cool for reheating later.) Continue with remaining batter, to make a total of at least 6 crepes.
4. Prepare the chocolate sauce: In a small saucepan, combine chocolate, coffee and 1/2 cup sugar. Place over low heat, stirring occasionally, until chocolate melts. Add cream, return to a bare simmer, and stir until smooth. Stir in liqueur, if using. Pour into a pitcher, and keep warm.
5. To serve: Cut pear halves into thin slices. Arrange crepes on a clean work surface, and cover half of each crepe with pear slices. Fold crepes over to make six semicircles. Use a spatula to transfer crepes to individual serving plates or one large platter. At one side of each semicircle place a scoop of ice cream. Fold other side over to make a fat quarter. Top each quarter with hot chocolate sauce, and garnish with crystallized violets.
Yield: 6 servings.
The meal here is a simple one, but it takes time and some thought. It certainly requires no skill or expertise. To me, this food -- a winey, flavorful mushroom soup followed by crepes stuffed with pears and vanilla ice cream and swathed in hot chocolate sauce -- is both elegant and cozy. It's the sort of meal you might find in a restaurant in the French countryside or the sort of lunch you might want for a relaxed Saturday at home with friends.
Mushroom soup has been so debased by the canned versions that it is a cheering relief to eat the real thing. In the recipe here, dried porcini mushrooms permeate the soup with almost meaty flavor.
The potatoes are cooked not in water but in white wine, which elevates them considerably from simple filler.
Even a small amount of dried porcini in the soup makes a huge difference. Most fresh mushrooms, except for portobellos, don't have an awful lot of flavor, and if you use too many of those the soup will be unattractively murky.
Although the recipe calls for specific mushroom varieties, you can use whatever mushrooms you find when shopping. If there are no portobellos, relax. Even pearly button mushrooms, those little pretty things that taste of not much other than bouncy plastic, begin to have a little depth and resonance when cooked with dried porcini.
I cannot be as permissive, however, about the wine. You should not use any wine in the soup that you would not want to drink at the table.
This is a rule that always holds in cooking, but here especially the taste of the wine comes through distinctively. Anything too sharp or vinegary will make the chopping of mushrooms and peeling of potatoes an utter waste of time.
If you want, you can make this soup in advance, adding the final shot of wine and cups of milk when you reheat. If you are having dessert immediately afterward, you do not need anything with the soup other than fabulous bread, and lots of it.
The dessert itself is a glorious assembly of lacy crepes, pears, ice cream and sauce. It reminds me of the great Escoffier invention poires Belle-Hélène (the same dish, without the crepes), which I always asked for at my grandmother's house.
She used canned pears, and so can you. Poaching pears in vanilla and lemon syrup makes for wonderful flavor, but canned pears are certainly not a shameful substitute: just make sure you buy pears in juice, not syrup.
Crepes can be made and then reheated in a microwave or low oven. In some places you can even buy them, but there is a huge difference between homemade and store-bought crepes: many of the premade ones are not of high quality.
The chocolate sauce is patently easy, and can be left to cook itself while you eat the soup. If you have some Poire William or other pear liqueur, do add it to the sauce, but it isn't crucial.
Poires Belle-Hélène are traditionally sprinkled with crystallized violets on serving, and violets look beautiful over the dark, glossy chocolate sauce here, too. But if you do not have them, you do not have to rush out to buy some.
This is truly a menu that shows the alchemy of cooking. Modest ingredients -- potatoes, mushrooms, flour, egg, milk and pears -- are elevated by the addition of wine and chocolate and by careful, loving preparation into a restrained but elegant meal.
MUSHROOM SOUP WITH WINE
Time: 1 hour
3/8 ounce ( 1/2 cup) dried porcini mushrooms
1 pound (about 2 medium) baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
2 cups good white wine
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon kosher salt or 1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 large clove garlic, minced
8 ounces portobello mushroom caps, coarsely chopped
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, finely sliced
4 ounces button mushrooms, finely sliced
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
2 cups milk
Heavy cream, for garnish
Finely chopped parsley, for garnish.
1. Place dried porcini in a 1-cup measuring cup, and fill with hot water. Set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine potatoes, 1 3/4 cups wine, bay leaf and salt. Place over high heat to bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and allow to simmer until potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, place a large soup pot over medium heat, and add oil. When hot, add onion and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, and stir for about 30 seconds. Drain porcini, reserving liquid.
4. Chop porcini and add to onion mixture. Add portobello mushrooms, cremini mushrooms, button mushrooms, butter and thyme. Stir until mushrooms begin to give off liquid and look less dry, about 10 minutes. When potatoes are tender, add them and their cooking liquid to pan of mushrooms. Add porcini soaking liquid and 1 cup water. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook gently for 20 minutes.
5. Allow soup to cool slightly. Working in batches, use a blender to purée soup. Return soup to a pan on medium-low heat, and add remaining 1/4 cup wine and the milk. Reheat just until soup is steaming; do not boil. To serve, place portions in bowls and garnish each with a squiggle of heavy cream and a sprinkling of parsley.
Yield: 4 to 6 servings.
CREPES BELLE-HÉLÈNE
Time: 30 minutes
For the pears:
1 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
2 strips lemon zest, each about 2 1/2 inches by 1/2 inch
3 large Bartlett pears or other pears suitable for poaching, peeled, cut in two lengthwise and cored
For the crepes:
1 cup flour
1 1/3 cups milk
1 large egg
2 tablespoons butter, melted and slightly cooled
For the chocolate sauce:
8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup strong black coffee or 1 teaspoon instant coffee dissolved in 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon Poire William liqueur, optional
6 scoops high-quality vanilla ice cream
Crystallized violets, optional.
1. Prepare the pears: In a wide saucepan, mix together 1 cup sugar, vanilla bean, lemon zest and 3 cups water. Place over low heat and stir until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes. Add pear halves and simmer until pears are tender but still keep their shape, about 30 minutes. Transfer pears to a bowl, and set aside. (Vanilla bean may be rinsed, dried and placed in a jar of sugar to make vanilla-scented sugar.)
2. While pears poach, prepare crepes: heat oven to 200 degrees. Mix together the flour, milk and egg until smooth. Transfer to a bowl, and stir in melted butter. Place a nonstick or well-seasoned crepe pan or 8-inch skillet over medium-low heat.
3. Pour a scant 1/4 cup batter into center of pan; lift pan and swirl it so batter covers bottom thinly and evenly. Return pan to heat, and allow it to sit until bottom of crepe is lightly browned, about 1 minute. Flip crepe, and cook other side for 30 to 60 seconds. Transfer to a parchment-paper lined baking sheet, and place in oven to keep warm. (Alternatively, crepes may be allowed to cool for reheating later.) Continue with remaining batter, to make a total of at least 6 crepes.
4. Prepare the chocolate sauce: In a small saucepan, combine chocolate, coffee and 1/2 cup sugar. Place over low heat, stirring occasionally, until chocolate melts. Add cream, return to a bare simmer, and stir until smooth. Stir in liqueur, if using. Pour into a pitcher, and keep warm.
5. To serve: Cut pear halves into thin slices. Arrange crepes on a clean work surface, and cover half of each crepe with pear slices. Fold crepes over to make six semicircles. Use a spatula to transfer crepes to individual serving plates or one large platter. At one side of each semicircle place a scoop of ice cream. Fold other side over to make a fat quarter. Top each quarter with hot chocolate sauce, and garnish with crystallized violets.
Yield: 6 servings.
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