Author: Chef M
In France, these small, elegant, sweet crunchy bites are served after dessert with champagne. They are nothing more than rectangles of puff pastry painted with royal icing. As they bake, the top layer of dough with the icing on it lifts away from the rest of the dough, resulting in two different textures and a lovely duotone appearance. The effect is magical. Freeze the dough before spreading a thin, even layer of icing over it, then freeze again until the icing is very cold, so you can make precise, clean cuts when you slice the dough into rectangles. I love…
Flan is a custard with a caramel sauce that is popular throughout Latin America. Flan de coco is made with coconut milk, but is usually mixed with whole milk or condensed milk. Luckily, it tastes just as rich and wonderful when made with all coconut milk—including condensed coconut milk, which you can make at home or purchase in cans.
We were intrigued by original recipes for fairy gingerbread, a cookie popular in the 19th century; with no eggs, no leavener, and batter spread paper-thin on an inverted baking sheet, these cookies were unlike ordinary gingerbread. The cookies we tried melted in our mouths—but they were also bland, so we tackled the flavor issue first. A bit of vanilla extract and salt helped boost the warm ginger notes, but these cookies were still lacking in spice. Doubling the ground ginger called for in most recipes added a much-needed kick, but it made the cookies taste like a dusty spice cupboard.…
Most of us eat more red meat than we need to, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a great source of protein and nutrients, including hard-to-get vitamin B12. We like flank steak because it’s lean, tender, and quick-cooking, and we opted for grass-fed meat, which is especially lean (and has a fat makeup that is higher in omega-3 fatty acids). For a perfectly grilled steak, we used a modified two-level fire, a high-heat grilling method that charred the beef and gave it plenty of grill flavor, but kept the inside medium-rare and juicy. For a topping, we assembled a quick…
This could be sashimi of almost any fish. It just happened that blue-eye was the freshest fish available on the day and for sashimi that’s what you need. This combination of umeboshi (the Japanese salty sour plum) with a little vino cotto came from an amazing meal I had years ago at Southern Ocean Lodge, presented by Tim Bourke, their chef at the time when I was taking part in their ‘Food Safari’. It’s a combination I’ve used again and again in different guises and I’m so grateful for it. Thanks Tim!
This is a very old-fashioned dessert. The combination of coffee, vanilla and chocolate is always a winner. Classics are timeless, but I did use less gelatine leaves than is traditionally used in this kind of dessert.
This is a perfect summer dinner salad because it doesn’t require turning on the oven, heating up the kitchen, and driving the AC bill up. The steak and beets are grilled, and then tossed with a sweet and crunchy dressing that helps tame the bitterness of the greens. Gild the lily—whisk any steak juices that accumulate from resting into the dressing.
Want to know the secret to light and airy popovers? Room temperature batter. I’ve made plenty of popovers in my day with cold milk, which turned them into custardy muffins, not cloud-like shells. If this happens to you, it’s not the end of the world. (My mom happens to like the muffin version.) But to really nail that light, beautiful inside, make sure that the batter feels warm to the touch. These savory popovers are fantastic with soup. You’ll need a large popover pan.