Ms. Glaze's Pommes d'Amour

Poule au Pot Façon 'Asiatique'

Thank Heavens for the French language. It sure makes "Chicken In A Pot" sound like something worthy of serving to a king.

My Poule au Pot is a homemade whole chicken soup with asian herbs and spices thrown in to elevate it from sick-people soup to let's-invite-people-over soup. Or better yet: let's eat-it-all-ourselves soup.

Whatever, it's Chicken In a Pot and it's good.

The great thing about this Chicken in a Pot is that it's: easy, nourishing, colorful, and it makes tasty leftovers. Nothing is canned or pre-fab. All you need is a chicken, some water, some vegetables, some herbs – et voilà! – you have Chicken in a Pot. Or rather, Poule au Pot.

Now, I'm lucky because I live right next to a Vietnamese grocery store that sells cool things like: won ton wrappers, kaffir limes, lemon grass, thai basil, thai chives, galanga, steamed pork buns, and a bunch of other long leaf herbs I haven't gotten around to exploring yet. I just buy stuff and toss stuff it into my poule au pot and see what happens.

Galanga (pictured left), you might be familiar with now that Whole Foods carries it regularly, is a wonderful form of ginger. To me and my overactive tastebuds, it tastes of eucalyptus, ginger, and cedar. I like to slice it and toss it in the broth to simmer. I wouldn't try eating it whole. Very woody.

Kaffir lime (picutred right) looks like a small bumpy hand grenade and its zest is even more explosive – sort of lime tasting with a strong furniture polish overtone. Lemon Pledge to be exact. The fruit is also powerful, but I normally stick to the zest. Just a sprinkle over top the before serving.

Thai chives (pictured center) are fatter and stronger in flavor than their normal counter part and I use them in place of green onion. Be careful when storing these in the refrigerator because everything will take on their flavor; butter and eggs included. This is not necessarily a bad thing unless you were hoping for buttered toast and jam in the morning sans onions.

I simmer my Chicken in a Pot and then when I'm minutes away from serving toss in bok choy, baby corns, mushrooms, or whatever else makes my soup pretty and nutritious.

There's another more personal reason why I'm really in love with this recipe and it's not just because I don't have an oven at home...

I eat two staff meals at the restaurant I cook at and sometimes I go for weeks without eating lean protein or green vegetables. Sounds crazy right? I mean, I cook at a world renowned restaurant. I bet you thought I munch on caviar and truffles all day.

Well, not exactly.

The other day, I turned to a cook I work with and I asked him when was the last time he ate something green. He couldn't remember. Neither could I. We vowed to eat nothing but fruits and vegetables over the weekend.

Staff meals consist of the 4 "other" French food groups: starch, protein, fat, and salt.

I'll give you some examples: mashed potatoes (with a pound of butter) and Toulouse sausage. Or buttered pasta with tripe stew. Or cerveaux (brains) with creamy potatoes au gratin. Or canned cabbage (is this a vegetable?) with poitrine de porc.

Here's what my California body prefers: lean protein, herbs with anti-oxidants, steamed greens, fresh vegetables, NO FAT.

So while your enjoying the most amazing 3-star meal on earth in the dining room, I'm eating farm hand food in the kitchen. Ah well, that's the breaks. I'll tell you, the young French cooks eat it up like it was going out of style.

Cailfornia dreamin', my French/Asian Poule au Pot really hits the spot. TRY IT!

Technorati Tags: chicken, galanga, kaffir lime, lemon grass, pot au poule, poule au pot, soup

Easter Dinner: Filet d'Agneau Du Boulanger

Lamb, lamb, lamb...

Flipping through old cookbooks to find something different to serve for Easter dinner I came upon a recipe I made at Le Cordon Bleu during my Superior Cuisine course: Lamb Rib Roast Baked in a Bread Crust served with Jus and an Artichoke Hazlenut Oil infused Purée.

The lamb is baked in yeast bread crust with a vegetable stuffing surrounding it and served with a purée of artichoke blended with hazlenut oil and a teensy bit of cream. Globe artichokes are in season now, and of course, Spring lamb is always symbolic of Easter. The addition of hazlenut oil adds extra warmth and comfort to the purée.

The tricky part of this recipe is getting the cooking time right. Since there is no way to check for done-ness of the lamb through the bread. I find that by the time the bread is browned the lamb is cooked perfectly. Be careful not to over sear the lamb in the pre-cooking steps. It needs to be rare.

The fun part of this recicpe is decorating the top of the lamb loaf. Why not make an Easter basket or give it some bunny ears?

Happy Easter!

Technorati Tags: agneau, bread, Easter, lamb

Oysters Beignet

I am lovin' this beignet batter. It's really just beer batter but, it sure makes everything taste goooood.

After I finished deep frying my oysters, I then when onto to experiment with other ingredients: tangerine slices, frozen chocolate truffles, and spoonfuls of the batter dropped in like doughnuts. No complaints here!

This video is a continuation from "How To Shuck 'Em" so I do not give a detailed explanation again on how to pry apart oysters. However, I felt it only appropriate to stick in another Britney Spears song (Gimme More) just to carry along the previous theme.

I'm kinda vibing with ol' Britney Spears lately, maybe because she always seems to be in situations where she has to prove herself.

Not all beignet batter uses yeast or beer. If you want a batter that is more bread-like, compressed fresh yeast or active dry yeast will give it that texture and a nutty flavor. (I used active dry yeast in video).

However, if yeast intimates you, using a mixture of baking powder, cornstarch, and flour can be substituted. It will not have the exact same bread-like flavor or texture, but it provides a nice tempura-like crunch with a quick bread taste and it is much faster to prepare. (works extremely well for vegetables, shrimp, and oysters). I've included both recipes at the end.

When it comes to deep frying I always use peanut oil because it is neutral in taste and has a high smoke point. You can turn up the heat under your oil without billowing black noxious smoke taking over your house (or flames for that matter).

It's important to maintain a temperature of 180˚C or 360˚F. This insures that the surface of the food you're frying, will quickly form a protective barrier preventing the oil from soaking into the main ingredient and making it greasy and inedible. Inversely, if the oil is too hot, then the batter will burn before the inner ingredients gets a chance to cook indirectly. Always monitor the temperature if not using a professional deep fryer or one with a built in thermometer.

Britney fan or not, this batter is versatile for sweet and savory dishes. Whether you want to make plain beignets coated with sugar or turn seafood and vegetables into something unrecognizable yet delicious, it's a safe bet.

Turn up the music and have some fun!

Technorati Tags: beer batter, beignet, oysters

Laverie Automatique Part IV

Why do I have such bad laundry karma? Is there a God I can pray to that will take away my washing problems? Is it symbolic of my life? Is the world trying to tell me something?

If you have followed my laverie automatique stories from the past (aka: As The World Spins) you will remember that my experiences are often plagued with kids who smear dog doo around the floors, coin machines that eat twenty euro bills, French housewives who snap up all the dryers with their wet house-washed laundry, and random drunk cooks who hang out on their midday breaks.

But I moved from the bourgeois 17th arrondissement to the boisterous 5th arrondissement and I thought things would be different.

Things were different the first couple of times.

Okay, so I have to walk five blocks to my laundromat because the two in my hood are closed (Why? Wouldn't you think an area filled with tourists and Sorbonne students would warrant an array of places to wash clothes?) But still, my new laverie automatique is clean, has a plethora of dryers, and never eats my change.

Today the bubble burst. I took my laundry over to my sparkling clean laundromat, popped my clothes in, and left to do some shopping. When I came back one machine had finished and the other was overflowing with suds everywhere. My machine had turned into Mount Everest with a large white snow peak that bubbled up from the soap dispenser on the top.

Why me?

Both my machines were the same type and on the same cycle and they were started within seconds of each other. I asked a nice man (and the only other person in the place) what I could do, because the doors of the machines lock and you can't get your stuff out unless the caretaker comes to physically unlock them with a key. Furthermore you can't even stop the cycle. There's no emergency breaks.

He told me to switch the cycle button, which I did. Immediately all the suds and Mount Everst evacuated.

Much relief.

As my other load of laundry was drying I noticed that my wash machine was still stuck on one cycle. It was supposed to be a rinse cycle, but there was no water. So my chef's jackets were just flopping around endlessly from top to bottom, white arms waving around for rescue.

I asked the man again what I could do and if he could call the help number for me. But then he told me, the problem is that the water had been cut.

Why had I not noticed the men right outside working down in the manhole? He then pointed out to a paper on the door that said the water would be off until 6PM at night.

"But how long has your machine been running?"

"Une heure. Mais je pense que elle travaille bien. Elle est presque finie" (One hour, But I think she works well, she's almost finished)

"Normalement le cycle prend 45 minutes." (But normally the cycle is 45 minutes.)

He looked to his watch and then back at his machine.

I asked him when the paper on the door had gone up and he replied that they had posted it twenty minutes ago. Great, so while I was out enjoying my ONLY day off this week, the Parisian water department snuck in and posted their little incognito sign and dropped into the bowels of France to check out the drainage problems.

I only hoped that l'eau de toliette had not been washing my clothes all day.

We called the help number on the wall and they informed us that they had no workers available to help today. So then my new friend came up with an ingenious plan. He told me that maybe if I went outside and smiled and talked with the head water dude, that they might have our water back on.

"Plaisantez-vous?" (you joke?) I asked.

"Non." He replied and gave a helpless shrug.

So I did, I went outside and smiled and apologized for my bad French and asked what the situation was with our water. The head water dude told me that they were working on it. And, indeed they were. I peered down to see three men suspended with ropes and little headlights attached to their hard helmets.

I then lied and told him (in French):

"I have a problem, I'm a cook, and I have all my jackets in the washing machine and it won't stop and I can't unlock the door. I think without the water the cycle won't stop and I cook in two hours and I have nothing to wear."

He came in to the laverie automatique to examine the situation and look at my sad jackets waving endlessly for mercy. My new friend and the water boss had a quiet serious man conversation for five minutes and then the boss left to shout down into the manhole.

Twenty minutes later our water was back on and all the guys in the manhole came up to say "bonjour". We graciously thanked them over and over again. They packed up and moved on to the next water problem.

So all that's wrong is right again. And before you go thinking that I'm terrible for using female persausion in such a contrived way, think about working for 12-14 hours a day, six days a week, and then having to spend six hours at the laundromat on your one day off.

Not only that, but all the bistros and cafe's on the street could re-open with water, so really I was helping out the whole area. (My halo and wings are glowing can you tell?)

In fact, aside from being perturbed about my laundry taking three hours, the chivalry of the French water department truly made my day. They were so sweet and helpful and I will always have a special place in my heart for the water depatment of Paris.

Oh, and just as my second load of laundry was finished drying and my new friend's laundry too, the caretaker called back to say they would send some one over to stop the washing machines.

Too late, but at least they made the effort.