Well, its been a little while since I've updated my blog. I've had plenty of things going on and just haven't had the time (I'm making up excuses) to sit down and do my food write ups.
Last Sunday I had a great bunch of friends over to sample my French cooking. I had tried out all of the recipes at least once and so was confident of pulling it all off without any problems. The first dish was a French Onion soup which I have to say was better than the one I had previously done. I was working off two recipes which felt rather strange but worked out well. The first recipe was a little vague on instructions but the quantities seemed right and the second recipe had clear instructions but the quantities were for 12 people. I used 8 onions which seems like quite a lot but they do shrink down quite a bit over time. I think the key was getting the onions brown and tender. On top of the soup I placed some croutons and my favourite gruyere cheese.
For the main I made a duck confit cassoulet. The cassoulet has its origins in the south of France and dates back as far as 1355. I think that makes it one of the oldest recipes I've used. The first attempt at the cassoulet was a bit of a failure. I used smoked bacon but just added too much and the smoky flavour of the bacon drowned out all the other flavours. So it was just as well I had a practice run otherwise it would have been disastrous. So for my second attempt I basically stewed onions, carrots, celery, haricot beans and salted pork belly in a thyme, bay leaves, tomato paste, garlic and wine broth. After about 1:45 I added toulouse sausages which had been browned and potatoes. I then added the duck and sprinkled bread crumbs over the top and backed for a further 25 mins. The potatoes could have gone in a little earlier as some of them were a little hard but all in all it turned out really well.
There was only going to be one option for dessert and that was a creme brulee. I know there are plenty of other fabulous French desserts but when else do I get the opportunity to use a blow torch. The first attempt was fantastic except for the caramelisation of the suger. I used plain brown suger and so it just wasn't crispy enough. Sunday nights attempt was a bit of a reversal. The filling didn't quite set as well as it should have and didn't have the same intensity of vanilla flavour which I really like. On the other hand the caramelisation of the sugar was great. I used Demerara sugar the second time around and that made all the difference.
And so that was my French dinner feast. Thanks to all that were present for a very enjoyable evening. It was one of the more rewarding feasts I've done.
For my next feast I will be doing Indian. Stay tuned and check out the photos below.
Last Sunday I had a great bunch of friends over to sample my French cooking. I had tried out all of the recipes at least once and so was confident of pulling it all off without any problems. The first dish was a French Onion soup which I have to say was better than the one I had previously done. I was working off two recipes which felt rather strange but worked out well. The first recipe was a little vague on instructions but the quantities seemed right and the second recipe had clear instructions but the quantities were for 12 people. I used 8 onions which seems like quite a lot but they do shrink down quite a bit over time. I think the key was getting the onions brown and tender. On top of the soup I placed some croutons and my favourite gruyere cheese.
For the main I made a duck confit cassoulet. The cassoulet has its origins in the south of France and dates back as far as 1355. I think that makes it one of the oldest recipes I've used. The first attempt at the cassoulet was a bit of a failure. I used smoked bacon but just added too much and the smoky flavour of the bacon drowned out all the other flavours. So it was just as well I had a practice run otherwise it would have been disastrous. So for my second attempt I basically stewed onions, carrots, celery, haricot beans and salted pork belly in a thyme, bay leaves, tomato paste, garlic and wine broth. After about 1:45 I added toulouse sausages which had been browned and potatoes. I then added the duck and sprinkled bread crumbs over the top and backed for a further 25 mins. The potatoes could have gone in a little earlier as some of them were a little hard but all in all it turned out really well.
There was only going to be one option for dessert and that was a creme brulee. I know there are plenty of other fabulous French desserts but when else do I get the opportunity to use a blow torch. The first attempt was fantastic except for the caramelisation of the suger. I used plain brown suger and so it just wasn't crispy enough. Sunday nights attempt was a bit of a reversal. The filling didn't quite set as well as it should have and didn't have the same intensity of vanilla flavour which I really like. On the other hand the caramelisation of the sugar was great. I used Demerara sugar the second time around and that made all the difference.
And so that was my French dinner feast. Thanks to all that were present for a very enjoyable evening. It was one of the more rewarding feasts I've done.
For my next feast I will be doing Indian. Stay tuned and check out the photos below.
