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Creme Caramel from Bouchon
By way of The Los Angeles Times
Well, this is getting to be a habit around here – making recipes from the Los Angeles Times Food Section. Last week the Times ran a recipe for Creme Caramel from Thomas Keller’s Bouchon restaurant. I just had to try it – I am a sucker for custard desserts and creme caramel is my fave. I can never resist the combination of caramel and creamy custard. But this one is different; it is by far and away the finest, most sophisticated rendition of this dessert I have ever eaten. Not too sweet and made with only milk, you’ll find no ½ & ½ or heavy cream here, it has an utterly seductive texture that is silky and light. Just the right ratio of eggs and egg yolks to milk and a low cooking temperature ensure a most elegant set, a custard that jiggles just a bit on the plate and melts on your tongue. I have five words for you: Do try this at home.
Click here for the LA Times recipe.
I have no affiliation with any product, manufacturer, or site mentioned in this article.
Nancy Silverton’s Bittersweet Chocolate Cake
The Signature Chocolate Dessert from Osteria Mozza
Give Americans a menu, and most will order the chocolate dessert. Last Thursday’s Los Angeles Times Food section showcased a chocolate dessert dressed to the nines, just in time for the holidays. From Los Angeles area chef Nancy Silverton of Osteria Mozza, comes a bittersweet chocolate fantasia – dense chocolate cake napped with voluptuous fudge sauce presented with a trio of chocolate confections – candied almonds dipped and rolled in cocoa, chocolate coated candied hazelnut clusters and chocolate dipped honeycomb. I simply can not conjure up a more spectacularly elegant dessert for New Year’s Eve.
The success of this dessert will rest on the quality of your ingredients. With one pound of chocolate in the cake alone, you will not want to skimp, especially not when you are going to invest this much effort. Be sure to use fine quality: my favorite is Callebaut (available from Amazon). However, brands such as Valrhona and Scharffen Berger are also marvelous. The same holds true for the fudge sauce – use high quality cocoa. Go for Pernigotti, or Penzeys high fat (24%) natural cocoa from Penzeys.com.
Okay, I know it looks like a lot – this is fine dining in the home, senza dubito. Don’t be daunted; you can do this. Just do not make the mistake of thinking you can do it all in one day. Each of the five components can be made ahead, some as far as a week, and in the case of the fudge sauce, several weeks. The recipe and directions available at the LA Times website are meticulous in their detail, and Ms. Silverton and the editors have generously included a video.
Buone feste!
Note: You can click on any picture for a larger image, and to see a slide show!
I have no affiliation with any product, manufacturer, or site mentioned in this article.
LA Times Gravenstein Thin-Crusted Apple Tart
When you have really nice apples you don’t need anything else. Well, except for some butter and flour to make a tart. When I saw the article in the August 11 edition of the Los Angeles Times about the endangered Gravenstein apple and the accompanying recipe, I just had to give it try. I had forgotten about Gravensteins. They were one of my mother’s favorites for baking, along with Jonathans. The Gravenstein apple, once a large crop in California is now in danger of disappearing. There are several reasons, foremost among them, the apples are difficult to harvest, perishable and quite simply, farmers can make more money growing other crops. However the Gravenstein is not without friends. Read the remainder of this entry »
The LA County Fair
Home Arts Building c. 1980
“Calling all chefs, bakers, and food lovers… join your fellow culinary artists in one of the many contests and competitions offered this year at the L.A. County Fair!” That’s what it says on the L.A. County Fair website Culinary Styles Contests and Competitions page. I read the article about the Fair in Thursday’s Los Angeles Times and the memories came flooding back. Years ago I was an avid L.A. County Fair Home Arts competitor with lots of laughs, photographs and Winner’s Ribbons of all stripe to show for it. I entered jams, jellies, preserves, candy, breads, specialty bread… you name it. I even entered a Cheesecake Contest. And who could forget the Baker’s Chocolate Brownie Contest? It was a ton of fun. Back in the day the food contests were held under the auspices of the Home Arts Section. In early Spring all contestants registered by mail with the Home Arts Division to enter the contests of their choosing, and the reward far outweighed the minimal entry fee. While some contests are judged live at the Fair, most are judged prior to the Opening Day. Contestants deliver their entries to the Pomona Fairplex several weeks prior to the opening of the Fair for closed judging. Let me tell you, it is hard to leave those babies and wonder what folks will think of them. I always wanted to tell the ladies something about them. I always wondered on the drive home what would become of my creations. Opening Day arrived, and it was time to go.