The Preacher's Kitchen

A weekend of cooking!

2009-09-27T14:47:00.000-07:00

It's been a great cooking weekend. Saturday night, I made sole meunière -- a wonderful buttery dish that you don't see much anymore. It's really pretty simple: sole filets (very thin, very subtle flavor), with a light dusting of flour. The filets are cooked quickly in hot clarified butter, then plated with a good dose of lemon juice. Once the fish is removed from the pan, you add four tablespoons (yes!!!) of good butter. After the butter finishes foaming, you pour the butter over the fish and serve immediately. We ate the fish with brown rice and Melissa D'Arabian's roasted broccoli with parmesan.

Today, we had grilled pork chops and my American adaptation of pommes sarladaise. Again, pretty simple. I sliced potatoes on the mandoline then tossed them into a pan of hot clarified butter (yes!!!!!!) and four whole cloves of garlic. Keep the pan hot and let the potatoes begin to brown. Then, the trick is to cover the pan and let the potatoes steam for 15-20 minutes. Remove the cover, turn up the heat, and let those taters brown until crispy. Fantastic!

Finally, Rachel decided to take quiche Lorraine to her Bible study tonight, so we made two -- one for her, one for me! An authentic quiche Lorraine has no cheese, so it's really very easy. We made a crust, then pre-baked it for ten minutes with "lardons" of bacon scattered on the bottom. After the bacon has begun to cook, add a mixture of four eggs and 20cl of sour cream (sorry, French friends, no crème fraiche) that has been whisked together with some salt and pepper. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes until done. Serve with a green salad, and you've got a lovely Sunday evening dinner!

Sorry, no pictures. Nothing lasted long enough to photograph...

Clarified Butter

2009-09-26T13:42:00.001-07:00

For years, I've read about clarified butter. It's better to cook with, as it does not burn as easily as whole butter. But I've never tried it. Well, today's the day. On the menu this evening is sole meuniere (think Julie & Julia, early on, when Julia and Paul are eating at a restaurant in Rouen. Julia looks at a dish and says passionately, "Butter...").

Clarifying butter is easy. Take a pound of unsalted butter (or any amount), and melt in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. It will bubble and boil, and bubble and boil some more. Skim off the foam as it cooks. After several minutes, you will be able to tell that the butter is thickening and becoming clearer. Watch carefully, as the milk solids will go to the bottom. When they barely begin to brown, put your pan in a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking. Voila! Clarified butter. Pour it off in another container, leaving the solids in the pan.

Clarified butter will keep in the refrigerator for weeks.

The Fried Twinkie

2009-09-10T08:20:00.000-07:00

Over Labor Day weekend, we traveled to Memphis to visit my Mom and Dad. While there, all the kids, Gramps, and I went to the Delta Fair -- something new since my day, but fun nonetheless. When I was a kid, everyone went to the Mid-South Fair, where you rode dangerous rides, watched people make sculptures out of butter, saw Jerry Lawler and Dutch Mantell wrestle, and ate. I even saw Waylon Jennings in concert one year.

Classic fair fare, of course: corn dogs, gyros, Memphis BBQ, popcorn, corn on the cob, funnel cakes. I loved the fair.

As I mentioned in my last post, though, I mentioned that I've been watching Food Network this summer and have seen several shows about fried fair food. Apparently, they've been frying everything from corn to Oreos to Snickers bars. Oh my.

And Twinkies.

When we got to the fair, I started scouting out the food. Sure enough, every stand had lists of deep fried wonders. I even saw one place where the adventurous could try "fried dough." Not for me.

I did try a Twinkie, though. I couldn't help it. I walked up to the trailer and placed my order. The lady inside took a real Twinkie, put it on a stick, battered it with funnel cake batter, and dropped it into hot oil. Doesn't get much easier than that. After a moment, the delicacy was golden brown and, with a generous sprinkling of powdered sugar, ready to go.

And it wasn't bad. It was pretty good, really, as long as you only take one or two bites. I shared the delectable morsel with everyone else, and everyone was happy.

Until we rode the "Fire Ball..."

Good diet food

2009-09-04T07:25:00.000-07:00

Well, I started a food blog. Then, I went on a diet.

Here's the problem: I have gained about twenty-five pounds since we moved by to the US from France. All kinds of reasons for that, but now I'm 41 and in desperate need of better habits. Doesn't mean I'm completely leaving my beloved cheeses or meat or pie. Just being more careful.

Last weekend, we made a Moroccan-inspired chicken dish with couscous. Wasn't quite perfect, so I'll wait to post the recipe. It involved chicken thighs, fire-roasted tomatoes, lemons, olives, zucchini, squash, onions -- oh my! I'll keep working on it and let you know...

For now, though, it's more veggies, less sugar, and as few processed foods as possible.

Free the Cheese!

2009-08-28T13:15:00.000-07:00

One of the terrible things about America is that we don't allow the import of raw milk French cheeses.

OK, so that's not really the end of the world.

Anyway, raw milk cheese really is better than the bland, rubbery, pasteurized stuff we get here. At some point this week, some blog or tweet pointed me to this cool magazine, Gastronomica, with an article titled, "Illegal Cheese." Go check it out.

State Fair Prize Cake

2009-08-26T05:36:00.000-07:00

I like a challenge in the kitchen, and it looks like this prize-winning cake might be one. I'm thinking about trying it out for a weekend treat.

Neapolitan Cake

A Louisville find

2009-08-23T17:07:00.000-07:00

For Louisvillians, there is a treasure in Middletown. Highland Fish Market on Shelbyville Road (next to Paul's Produce) has a wonderful selection of fresh fish and shellfish along with a helpful and knowledgeable staff. Had poached cod last night that was great (cooked for eight minutes just below boiling in a court bouillion of water, carrots, onions, fresh thyme, fresh parsley, bay leaf, and peppercorns).

The real find is house smoked salmon that is out of this world. Had just a bite tonight on a green salad with my vinaigrette and homemade croutons.

Check out Highland Fish. They have an email list with weekly internet specials, too. You'll like it.

Gougères

2009-08-23T11:11:00.000-07:00

One of the things we miss most about Paris is the small Bible study group we helped to launch. We gathered to pray, sing, study the Scriptures, and, yes, eat together. Jacqueline, who was one of the group's first participants, used to bring a tupperware bowl full of the most wonderful, airy, cheese puff pastries called gougères (pronounced goo-zher). I was always pretty intimidated by these little delights, but have since discovered how easy they are to prepare.

My recipe is a combination from several sources but leans heavily on James Peterson's Glorious French Food - one of my favorite cookbooks.

Here's what you'll need:

1 c. all-purpose flour (if you measure by weight, 125 grams)
1 stick (1/4 lb or 115 g) butter
4 eggs
2 tsp dijon mustard
1-2 teaspoons salt (see below)
1 c. grated cheese (Jacqueline used Gruyère or Emmental. Gruyère is expensive in the US, and American swiss is too bland. Peterson uses a strong hard cheese like Parmigiano Reggiano. This time, I used Kroger sharp cheddar and it worked great).

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees and prepare a baking sheet (or two) either by buttering it well or with parchment paper. Buttering will give the gougères a nice brown and crispy base.

Put one stick of butter (REAL butter will always be the norm on this blog...) in a cup of water over medium heat. Once the mixture has come to light boil and the butter has melted, add one cup all-purpose flour all at once. Stir vigorously (Peterson recommends a wooden spoon, so I followed) until the mixture comes together and pulls away from the sides of the pot. This should take a minute or less.

Work quickly and transfer the mixture into a mixing bowl. Add four eggs one at a time, not adding another egg until the first is fully incorporated into the batter. The batter will be thick, forming a "soft peak" when you lift the spoon.

Stir in one two teaspoons mustard, a cup of grated cheese, and 1-2 teaspoons salt, depending on the saltiness of the cheese.

Drop the batter by teaspoons onto the cookie sheet, making dollops about one inch in diameter.

Finish the gougères with either a wash made up of one egg and a teaspoon of salt or by sprinkling a little of the reserved cheese on each gougère. I prefer the latter but haven't tried doing both.

Bake the gougères for 20-25 minutes, watching that they brown evenly. Try not to open the oven during the cooking or to take the sheets out too soon. If anything, reduce the heat if the gougères are browning too quickly, but only for the last few minutes.

--special thanks to my "food stylist," Rachel, for the photo!!

Bon appétit!

A new blog for an old love

2009-08-22T13:19:00.000-07:00

Well, perhaps it's the inspiration of Julie & Julia, or perhaps it's just because I love cooking. It could be because I've tried unsuccesfully at blogging deep theological topics (though I'm relaunching my other blog soon). Whatever the reason, I'm launching this blog because I love to cook.

I'll be blogging little bits of information about my own cooking, my discoveries, and the joy of la cuisine francaise. Even now, a batch of gougères are turning golden brown in the oven...

There's not much that makes me happier than for my family to look at me and say, "oh, that's good." Except for the joy of sharing the gospel, that's the best.

Bon appetit!