Larousse At Home

While reading Larousse I’ve found many interesting recipes. With a few ideas I decided to do a three course dinner for my parents last week. The first course was all me but the last two were from Larousse Gastronomique. The menu:

First Course

Prosciutto di San Daniele with Blue Montagnolo; Truffle Honey, Baguette Bread

Second Course

Beefsteaks à l’ andalouse; Pan Jus with Sherry, Tomato, Parsley

Third Course

Le jeu de pommes; Organic Honey, Calvados, Lemon Juice

Larousse Gastronomique Recipes

Beefsteaks à l’ andalouse

Soften 50 g (2 oz) chopped onion and a chopped garlic clove in butter. Add salt and pepper. Mix with 400 g (14 oz, 2 cups) minced (ground) beef and form into 4 rounds. Coat these with flour and cook in oil. Sauté 4 large tomato halves in oil and place a cooked steak on each. Arrange them on a plate with a rice pilaf in the centre (optional). Deglaze the cooking juices of the steaks with ½ dl (2-3 tablespoons) sherry. Reduce, add some butter, and pour the sauce over the steaks.

Le jeu de pommes

Make a fine pastry by mixing in the blender 200 g (7 oz, generous 1 ½ cups) flour, 140 g (5 oz, 2/3 cup) rather firm butter, a pinch of salt, 8 g (1/4 oz, 1 teaspoon) sugar, and a little olive oil. Incorporate 1 dl (6 tablespoons, scant ½ cup) water and rotate a few times in the food processer (the particles of butter should still be visible). Remove the dough and roll it out finely; cut out 16 circles approximately 12 cm (5 in) in diameter using a pastry (cookie) cutter. Place them on nonstick baking sheets, cover them with very thin slices of apple, brush with 50 g (2 oz, ¼ cup) melted butter, and sprinkle lightly with caster (superfine) sugar. Bake in a hot oven at 220 C (425 F, gas 7) for 15 minutes.

Turn each tartlet over on the baking sheet using a spatula and dust the reverse side with icing (confectioners’) sugar. Put the tartlets under the grill (broiler). As it caramelizes, the sugar forms a glossy crackly film. Leave to cool for 15 minutes. Take 4 dessert plates and place 4 tartlets on top of each other on each plate (apples upwards). Just before serving, cover each jeu de pommes with 1 tablespoon warmed honey and sprinkle with a little calvados and a few drops of lemon juice. This dessert may be accompanied by a lemon sorbet.

Prosciutto di San Daniele with Blue Montagnolo

























Truffle Honey, Baguette Bread

Beefsteaks à l’ andalouse














Pan Jus with Sherry, Tomato, Parsley

Le jeu de pommes














Organic Honey, Calvados, Lemon Juice, Ice Cream

Cod

I began reading Larousse Gastronomique last week. A few pages in I found an interesting recipe, Acras de Morue. An acra is a savory fritter associated with salted cod. So, I went to Dean and DeLuca and picked up the 1 lb. of salted cod.

I prepared two recipes the original Acras de Morue and Thomas Keller’s Bouchon version with potatoes know as Beignets de Brandade de Morue.

Brandade de Morue began in Nîmes, but is commonly associated with Provence. Originally it was called branlade, which means “something that is pummeled.” The dish made it to Paris after the French Revolution and has never left. Once salt cod became more expensive, potatoes were incorporated to cheapen the dish, as with Thomas Keller’s recipe. The original Brandade though had no potatoes.

Larousse Gastronomique Recipe

Place about 500g (1 lb) salt cod in cold water for 24 hours to remove the salt, changing the water several times. Make a fritter batter with 200g (7 oz, 1 ½ cups) flour, a pinch of salt, and enough water to obtain a thick batter, and leave it to stand for 1 hour. Place the desalted cod with a little cold water and a bay leaf in a saucepan; cook gently for 10 minutes. Drain and flake the fish the mix it with 4 teaspoons olive oil, salt, and cayenne. Finely chop 2 shallots and 4 or 5 chives, add these to the cod, and mix evenly with the batter. Stiffly whisk 2 or 3 egg whites and fold gently into the mixture. Slowly drop spoonfuls of the mixture into hot oil and fry until crisp and golden, turning once. Drain and serve hot.

Larousse Gastronomique recipes are vague in some areas so inferring may have to be done. If you’d like to find the Bouchon recipe, you can buy the Bouchon cookbook which I highly recommend.


Salted Cod Fish
















1 lb. salt cod


Acras de Morue



























Tomato confit, roasted red pepper garlic oil, baby chives


Beignets de Brandade de Morue

























Tomato confit, roasted red pepper garlic oil, baby chives

Larousse Gastronomique

Recently I began reading Larousse Gastronomique. It is a classic French cookbook with approximately 1200 pages. The whole cookbook is a list of food, recipes and French cooking terms. One might ask why read such a book? I think it’s a very important book to read so one has a further knowledge of food. Cooking is all about knowledge and creativity, so why not help yourself out. I’m only on page 10 and have already found two recipes I’m going to try in the coming weeks. The first is a vegetable achar with lemon and the second is a salt cod acras. I’m very excited to read this book in the coming months to further my food knowledge.