The Hopla Square

Posted By Valerie on April 1, 2010

Although I don’t know why the fish is associated with April 1 in France, I remember when I was an innocent kid to sneakingly stick a paper cutout fish on the back of my parents, sister or friends. When the paper fish was discovered, I shouted “Poisson d’Avril:” the victim was declared the April Fish. This is the common, and I realize now, the curious way kids in France prank friends and family on April Fools’ Day.

Today, I celebrate this fishy day by proposing a great appetizer for the coming Easter celebration (yes, it is early this year): Smoked Salmon with a creamy dill/horseradish sauce in Pastry Choux.  It is always a hit with my guests.

Savory Salmon Pastry Choux (make about 12 large puffs)

Ingredients for the puffs:

• 1 cup of water
• 2.75 oz. of diced butter
• 1 ¼ cups of (unbleached) flour sifted and containing 1 pinch of baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 1 pinch of salt

Ingredients for the filling:

• Smoked salmon (thinly sliced)
• Sour cream or crème fraiche
• Horseradish, capers (optional)
• 1 or 2 teaspoons of lemon juice
• Chopped dill
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Preparation:

Preheat the oven at 375°F. Heat the water, butter and salt over medium heat in a pan until the butter has melted. Increase the heat and bring to a rolling boil. Remove the pan from the heat and quickly add all the flour at once and beat it vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together and forms a dough. Return the pan to a low heat and stir consistently until the dough leave the sides of the pan. This takes about one to two minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and allow cooling for 2-3 minutes. Add the beaten eggs a little at a time and stir between each addition until you have a shinny smooth paste (you may not have to add all the eggs). Spoon the pastry (size of a walnut shell) onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and space well apart. Place in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes until golden.

Cool on a rack. Combine cream, horseradish, capers, dill and lemon juice in a bowl. Cut a hat of the puff and fill with the cream mixture. Add stripes of salmon over the cream and cover with the puff hat. Refrigerate until ready to be served. Happy Easter.

Category: Recipes - Appetizers, The Kitchen Corner | Comments Off
Tags: choux pastry, dill, salmon, sour cream

Posted By Valerie on March 21, 2010

One last winter dish before the new spring vegetables are available at the  farmers markets.  This dish is served in the eastern region of France during fall and winter and the apples make it refreshing and crisp. Enjoy!

Serve 4 persons - Easy

Ingredients:

• 1/2 head of red cabbage, thinly sliced & core removed
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 cup of organic chicken broth
• 2 apples, cored and sliced
• 4 bratwursts
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 2 Bay leaves

Preparation:

Heat oil in a pressure cooker/heavy bottom pan over medium heat and saute the onion for 2-3 minutes.  Add cabbage and season to taste and continue to saute about 5 minutes.  Reduce heat, pour the chicken broth and cook until most of the liquid is absorbed and cabbage is tender (about 15 minutes).  Lay the apples on top of the cabbages five minutes before the end of cooking time.

Meanwhile, heat an oily pan or grill and cook the bratwursts until golden browned on all sides.  Serve bratwurst on top of the cabbage.

Category: Recipes - Beef/Veal, Recipes - Chicken/Poultry, Recipes - Desserts, The Kitchen Corner | Comments Off
Tags: apples, bratwurst, red cabbage

Posted By Valerie on January 30, 2010

Love is in the air… Valentine’s Day is around the corner.  My favorite part of cooking is cooking desserts, and my love of chocolate dictates many of my dessert choices.  To really enjoy the flavor of chocolate, I like to keep it simple. Chocolate mousse is a dessert, which is not only very easy and quick to make (no baking involved),  it also retains the intensive taste of the “chocolat.”  Did you know that the botanical name of the cocoa tree means “food of the goods”?  No wounder I like it…So, since the taste of the mousse deeply depends on its primary ingredient: dark chocolate, I recommends strongly to buy a good brand (I like Nestle if it is available in your area, I bring mine every time I go back to France to visit my family).  And don’t be afraid about your diet, dark chocolate is known to have healthy benefits.

Serves 2 - Easy

Ingredients:

• 2.5 oz. of superior-quality bittersweet dark chocolate, broken in small pieces
• 2 eggs, separate the egg yolk and white
• 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp. of Grand Marnier, brandy or Rhum

Preparation:

Place the broken-up chocolate and liquor in a heatproof bowl sitting over a saucepan of barely simmering water, making sure the bottom doesn’t touch the water (double boiler/bain-marie technique). When melted, remove from the heat and stir with a wooden spoon until smooth and glossy. Let cool for 5 minutes. Beat the egg yolks and vanilla extract and stir in the melted chocolate. Set aside. Beat the egg whites and salt with an electric mixer until the whites are glossy and form stiff peaks. With a plastic spatula, gently fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to loosen it, then carefully fold in the rest. Divide the mousse into individual serving dishes (glasses or decorated earthenware like the clay cups shown in the photograph and available at www.claybourg.com) and chill for at least 6 hours, covered with clingfilm. Serve with chocolate shavings, cocoa powder or whipped cream.

Bon Appetit.

Category: Recipes - Desserts | No Comments »
Tags: chocolat, dessert, mousse

Posted By Valerie on January 24, 2010

By greening your home or office with indoor plants, you will not only make it more friendly and attractive, but if you choose the right plants you can also improve the indoor air quality, especially in winter when we barely open the windows. Some houseplants have the ability to reduce toxins, as well as common volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted during home cleaning or improvement activities or simply from furniture, carpeting, building materials, printers and photocopiers. Based on a study conducted by NASA and the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) in the late 1980s, common tropical indoor houseplants, such as bamboo palms and spider plants, have been found to provide an attractive low-cost solution to reducing certain VOCs found in indoor environments. Here’s a list of commonly store-available air-filtering plants:

• English ivy, gerbera daisies, pot mums, peace lilies, bamboo palms and mother-in-law’s tongue lower benzene levels, a common solvent found in oils and paints.
• Peace lilies, gerbera daisies and bamboo palms reduce levels of trichloroethylene, a chemical used in paints, adhesives, inks and varnishes.
  
• Bamboo palm, mother-in-law’s tongue, Dracaena ‘Warneckei’, Dracaena ‘Marginata’, peace lilies, golden pothos and green spider plants filter formaldehyde exposure, a chemical used in building materials such as particle board and foam insulations, as well as in many cleaning products.

Of note, for an average home of less than 2,000 square feet, the study recommended using at least a variety of at least 15 of these common houseplants to help clear the air of environmental toxins.

To increase even more indoor air quality, which can be in certain conditions more harmful than outdoor air, I recommend opening windows to encourage air circulation, install extractor fans in bathrooms and kitchen and avoid using chemically-manufactured air fresheners, cleaning products or aerosol spray.

Category: The Green & Healthy Living Corner | No Comments »
Tags: air quality, houseplant

Posted By Valerie on December 12, 2009

Ingredients:

• 1 bulb of fennel, cleaned and diced
• 1 tbsp. of chopped fennel leaves
• 1 tbsp. of fresh chopped parsley
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 tbsp. of tomato paste
  
• 4 slices of Canadian bacon
• 4 slices of bread
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Grated mozzarella or Swiss cheese

Preparation: Heat olive oil in a large pot on medium to high heat and sauté the onion and fennel bulb dices until softened and translucent. Stir in the tomato paste and continue to sauté for 5 minutes. Pour in the stock, bring to boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Meanwhile in a hot frying pan, stir-fry the bacon until slightly browned. Add the fennel leaves and parsley to the large pot of soup, season to taste and continue to cook 10 minutes. Prepare the bread toasts, by preheatng the oven to 400°F and placing the slices of bread on a baking sheet, drizzle with good-quality olive oil, and toast for a few minutes. Place a slice of the cooked bacon and some of the cheese on each toast and continue to grill until the cheese is melted. Ladle the soup into a tureen, layer on top the slices of bread and serve sprinkled with any remaining chopped parsley and fennel leaves and cheese.

You can purchase decorated clay tureens handmade in France that are ovenproof and perfect to keep the soup warm if you prepare the dish in advance.  Check www.claybourg.com for a selection of round and oval tureens, which are also ideal for slow-cooking recipes in the oven.  These clay culinary potteries allows the food to retain moisture (tender meat), distribute heat evenly and develop delightful flavors.

Category: Recipes - Salads/Soups, The Kitchen Corner | No Comments »
Tags: fennel, soup, tureen

Posted By Valerie on December 8, 2009

This is a typical soup from the eastern region of France. It is a hardy soup perfect after enjoying a snowy day outdoors.

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup of brown lentils, rinsed and soaked for 30 minutes or more
• 6 cups of beef broth/stock
• 2 or 4 smoked sausages, depending on size.
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 shallot, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 potatoes, diced
• 2 tbsp. of fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 clove
• 1 bay leaf
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• Extra virgin olive oil

Preparation: Heat olive oil in a large pot on medium to high heat and sauté the onion and shallot until softened and translucent. Add the carrots and potatoes and continue to sauté for 5 minutes. Add the beef stock, 1 tbsp. of parsley, clove and bay leaf, and season to taste. Drain the lentils and add in the pot. Bring to boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 25-30 minutes, until the lentils are tender. Remove from heat and blend half of the soup until smooth (make sure to remove the bay leaf and clove). Pour it back into the soup with the remaining soup and add the sausages cut into four or eight pieces. Reheat for about 5-10 minutes and serve sprinkled with the remaining parsley.

Category: Recipes - Salads/Soups, The Kitchen Corner | No Comments »
Tags: lentil, soup

Posted By Valerie on November 30, 2009

Ingredients:

• 2.5 pounds of beef shoulder or chunk
• 1 pound of onions, sliced
• 2-3 carrots, cut in thick slices
• 1 celery stack, sliced
• 4 tablespoons of butter
• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons of wine vinegar
• 2 ounces of flour
• 16 fl. oz of Weiss beer
• 16 fl. oz of beef broth
• Salt (sea salt) and freshly ground black pepper
• Herbs: bouquet garni of fresh thyme, oregano, parsley

Preparation: Cut the beef into equal pieces (approx. 2 ounces each). Heat the butter and a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan and sizzle the pieces of beef on all sides. Add salt and pepper, and remove from heat. Repeat until all the beef is browned. In the same pan, cook the onions until golden and add the sugar to caramelize and then deglaze with the vinegar. Remove from heat and reserve on a plate. Add the second tablespoon of olive oil in the pan and add the flour. Stir and cook a minute. Add slowly the beer and the beef broth and stir to dissolve the flour. Add the herbs, salt and pepper to taste and simmer (low heat) during 15 minutes. During that time, prepare bread dough by mixing flour and water and roll the dough in a band long and wide enough to seal the lid to the body of the tureen. In the tureen, alternate layers of beef and onions and add the bouquet garni. Cover with the beer/broth sauce. Place the lid on the tureen and seal with the dough. Glaze the dough with a whisked egg to adhere the dough to the lid. Place in a pre-heated oven and cook at 325-350°F for three hours. Bring the tureen directly to the table and break the dough around the lid (be careful it is hot). Serve with red wine (such as Cotes-du-Rhone) and egg noodles. Bon Appetit.

To buy the tureen shown in the photograph, go to www. Claybourg.com

Category: Recipes - Beef/Veal, The Kitchen Corner | No Comments »
Tags: Beef, beer, claybourg, onion, slow cooking, tureen