 |
 |
|||||
 |
||||||
|
|
Homemade with Love (Part Un): Foi Gras Wrapped in Porcini Mushrooms  If you live in Abu Dhabi, you probably have heard of Jones the Grocer opening its first branch (old news? peut-etre, but wait..) Aside from their fingerlickin' Wagyu beef burger (I give it a rating of 8/10 - only preceded by Five Guys burgers in the US) the up scale grocery stocks all sorts of gourmands' treasures: black truffles, white truffle oils, peanut sauce, foi gras foam, and french cheese to name but a few. One of my favorite things is to search the stacks of neatly lined jars and packs on their shelves for the inspiration to my next gourmet experiment, it's a fun experience, kind of like putting together a jigsaw puzzle - only without knowing what the final picture would look like. This time my compelling curiosity goaded me to buy a pack of Porcini Mushrooms (Oooh! pronouncing the name already makes me feel like an über italian 5-michelin star chef! Por-cini.. Porrrrr-ciiini) I had no idea what I'd do with it, but I remembered a conversation I had with Nermine Hanno a couple of months back on how to treat dried mushrooms, and the bulb of inspiration was instantly lit Foi gras tenderly wrapped in porcini mushrooms for dinner, s'il te plaîtSo, if you're someone who likes having foi gras this recipe is for you (& if you're an animal rights enthusiast, please don't over flood my comments box, I can't do anything to stop force-feeding of geese) Ingredients: - 1 200gm pack of dried porcini muchrooms - 2 cups of boiling water - 1/2 pack of foi gras - 4 table spoons of fresh cream - Salt to taste How to: 1) In a bowl, pour the hot water on the dried Porcini mushrooms and let soak for 10 minutes. Make sure you do not stir and let the water as is. 2) Carefully, and without causing too much motion in the water, take out re-hydrated mushrooms and place them on a side dish. You'll notice now that the water turned brownish with a residue at the bottom of the bowl 3) Slowly pour the mushroom hydration water into a casserole making sure NOT to include the residue ...at this point, preheat the oven to 175 degrees... 4) Turn on the heat on high, add the mushrooms and a pinch of salt (to taste) & let boil till water is reduced into a thick mushroomy-sauce, quickly add 3 spoons of fresh cream and take off heat 5) Line a small souffle bowl with a 1cm layer of mushrooms 6) On top of the mushrooms, add a layer of foi gras (1/2cm slices) 7) Cover with another 1cm of mushrooms, and press the top with the back of a tablespoon or gourmet pusher to flatten and hold in place 8) Add 1/2 of tbsp of fresh cream on top of the souffle bowl, and put into the oven. Let cook for 15 minutes, and serve with great traditional baguette (good luck finding that) or alternatively, a good piece of brown bun Bon apetite ♥ Labels: Cookingfessional, Domestic Goddess, Recipes $6 in my moola box | link | email this post More French Cuisine: Onion Soup This one is going to be easy to explain, because I did not invent it and got the recipe here, with some modifications.         Ingredients: Soup 1.5 tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into 3 pieces 3 large yellow onions, halved and cut pole to pole into 1/4-inch-thick slices (Make sure you get Yellow), available at Spinny's in Abu Dhabi Table salt 1 cup water, plus extra for deglazing 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth -- make this at home if possible, if not, use chicken stock and dilute it in hot water 1 cup beef broth -- Also make this at home, best beef broth is made with bones 3 sprigs fresh thyme , tied with kitchen twine -- In Abu Dhabi, fresh thyme is often found at LuLu Hypermarket in pots, or in packs at Spinny's 1 bay leaf Ground black pepper Cheese Croutons -- Optional 1 small baguette , cut into 1/2-inch slices 8 ounces shredded Gruyère cheese (about 2 1/2 cups) Directions: For the soup: Nº 1. Adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 400 degrees. Nº 2. Generously spray the inside of a heavy-bottomed large cocotte with a nonstick cooking spray. Place the butter in the pot and add the onions and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook, covered, for 1 hour (the onions will be moist and slightly reduced in volume). Nº 3. Remove the pot from the oven and stir the onions, scraping the bottom and sides of the pot. Return the pot to the oven with the lid slightly ajar and continue to cook until the onions are very soft and golden brown, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours longer, stirring the onions and scraping bottom and sides of pot after 1 hour. Nº 4. Carefully remove pot from oven and place over medium-high heat. Using oven mitts to handle pot, cook onions, stirring frequently and scraping bottom and sides of pot, until the liquid evaporates and the onions brown, 15 to 20 minutes, reducing the heat to medium if the onions are browning too quickly. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the pot bottom is coated with a dark crust, roughly 6 to 8 minutes, adjusting the heat as necessary. (Scrape any fond that collects on spoon back into onions.) Nº 5. Stir in 1/4 cup water, scraping the pot bottom to loosen crust, and cook until water evaporates and pot bottom has formed another dark crust, 6 to 8 minutes. Repeat process of deglazing 2 or 3 more times, until onions are very dark brown. Nº 6. Stir in the broths, 1 cups of water, thyme, bay leaf, and 1/4 teaspoon salt, scraping up any final bits of browned crust on bottom and sides of pot. Nº 7. Increase heat to high and bring to simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove and discard herbs, then season with salt and pepper. For the croutons: Nº 8. While the soup simmers, arrange the baguette slices in single layer on baking sheet and bake in a 400-degree oven until the bread is dry, crisp, and golden at edges, about 10 minutes. Set aside. To serve: Nº 1. Adjust oven rack 6 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Nº 2. Set individual broiler-safe crocks on baking sheet and fill each with about 1 cup of soup. Nº 3. Top each bowl with 1-3 baguette slices (do not overlap slices) and sprinkle evenly and generously with Gruyère. Nº 4. Broil until cheese is melted and bubbly around edges, 3 to 5 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving. Labels: Cookingfessional, Recipes $3 in my moola box | link | email this post |
|||||
 |
 |
 |
||||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
