Monthly Archives: December 2022

Gougères

Gougères. The perfect appetizer for the holidays.

So impressive, so fancy, so French. And yet, they are so easy to make. Even better, they can be made ahead and frozen, then simply reheated in the oven when your guests arrive, as they are best served warm.

Gougere are simply a savory cream puff. I first learned to make cream puffs in college, when I spent my summers in the dessert kitchen of a sleep away camp in New Hampshire. My boss, whose late husband had been a French-trained chef, brought his recipes into the camp kitchen and ran the place like it was the French Laundry. She taught me how NOT to put the knives in the sink (after she cut her hand on a knife I had left there, I still feel terrible about that), how to bleach and scrub a wooden counter, how to ice a cake (a first thin layer tamps down the crumbs…) , and most importantly, how to make cream puffs. I still remember boiling the water and butter in the big pot on the stove, then mixing in the flour till it held together and formed a skin on the bottom of the pan. Next we dumped the dough into the big standing mixer, let it cool and added the eggs one at a time. Finally, we piped them onto industrial sized cookie sheets and popped them into the oven. The most fun part was filling the cooled puffs with cream using this industrial sized metal bucket with a pump handle and nozzle – I have no idea what that thing was called, but it was so much fun!

Anyway, gougère are not cream puffs per se, but a cheese puff made without sugar and filling.

Don’t be intimidated by the gougère’s fancy shape, which I messily accomplished using a pastry tube and star tip. You can make something equally impressive (and with much less of a mess) using a small scoop. Which, by the way, is also a great size scoop to use for making chocolate chip cookies.

Pastry bag/Tube vs scoop

Before learning to make gougères, however, you must learn to pronounce their name. Fortunately, I have guy who can help you with this…

Now you’re all set. Happy gougères making!

Print Recipe

Gougères

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
  • 1 large pinch kosher salt
  • 4 large eggs
  • 3 1/2 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated, plus more for dusting
  • 1 pinch freshly ground pepper
  • 1 pinch freshly ground nutmeg

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 400°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium saucepan, combine the water, milk, butter and salt and bring to a boil. Add the flour and stir it in with a wooden spoon till smooth dough forms; stir over low heat until it dries out and pulls away from the pan and a film develops on the bottom of the pan, or when temp reaches 175 Farenheit on an instant read thermometer – about 2 minutes.
  • Transfer dough to a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat at medium speed until dough is 145°F (63°C) on instant-read thermometer (you don;t want the dough to cook the eggs when adding them). Beat the eggs into the dough, 1 at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Add the cheese and the pepper and nutmeg
  • Transfer the dough to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round tip . At this point, the gougères batter can be held in the sealed pastry bag at room temperature for up to 2 hours. Pipe tablespoon-size mounds onto the lined baking sheets, 2 inches apart. (Alternatively drop mounds using a small scoop onto the lined baking sheets.) Sprinkle with cheese and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown. Serve hot, or let cool and refrigerate or freeze. Reheat in a 350° oven until piping hot.

Gougères media links

Moroccan Baked Beans àla Mourad

In my continued quest to cook as much as possible from my pantry, I honed in on two cans of Great Northern Beans, originally bought to stock our summer cottage larder, but never used. I suspect that they were several years old, and had made the trip up and back from NYC to Pennsylvania at least twice, if not more. (We empty the larder at the cottage when we shut things down for the season.) Canned beans have a shelf life of 2-5 years, so I knew I was on safe ground using them, and I was determined they were not going to be traveling anymore, unless it was to my kitchen table. Also calling to me was a jar of homemade toasted bread crumbs, which had been languishing in the freezer for almost a year now. Putting the two together, it seemed like a casserole of some kind would be in order.

I also have a new quest to cook more from my cookbook collection. (I know, I have many quests, just call me Don Quixote…) In this case, I found the perfect recipe in Mourad – New Moroccan. This gorgeous tome was gifted to me by my foodie brother Joe, who became acquainted with the author, Mourad Lahlou, in San Rafael, where Lahlou had opened Kasbah, his first US restaurant. Since then, Lahlou has become renowned across America for his modern take on his native Moroccan food, epitomized at his Michelin-star restaurant Mourad in San Francisco. Also, he is really cool looking, check out those arm tats… His current chef de cuisine at Mourad, Rasika Venkatesa, also has an arm tat – she looks adorable as well as hip.

Mourad is more than just a collection of recipes – it’s a great read. In the first 100 pages, Lahlou delves into memories of food, family and life in Morocco, followed by a primer on tools and ingredients, and then the seven things that “really matter to me about Moroccan cooking and my cooking”. These he gives us as seven separate chapters – spices, preserving lemons (“Dude. Preserved Lemons”. I told you he was hip.), couscous (“Here’s how I roll” ), warqua, harissa, charmoula and “the ingenious tagine”. The chapter on spices alone is pure gold. Then follows the recipes. More gold. A chapter on Moroccan Tea. Recipes for basics – pickled fruits and vegetables, stock, sauces, flavored butters and oils, granolas, and finally a list of sources. This book is a journey.

The original recipe, Corona Beans with Tomato Sauce and Feta, was a popular starter at Lahlou’s other SF restaurant, Aziza, where it was served with a feta foam topping and starts with dried corona beans. Because I used canned instead of dried beans, I missed the opportunity to flavor my beans while cooking them and before adding them to the tomato sauce, as in the original recipe. So I made a mirepoix from the veggies used in cooking the dried beans, then cooked the canned beans with them and a little water and brown sugar. I also added the bread crumbs before baking, rather than when serving. The original recipe called for a firm dry feta, but it got a little chewier than I’d like as it cooked. Next time, I’ll use a wetter feta. I’ve included all these modifications in the recipe below.

I was extremely pleased with how this dish turned out. Though served at Aziza as a starter, we served it as a main dish, with a single sausage and some spinach as sides. Next time I make it, I’ll use dried beans as in the original recipe. I’ll let you know how that goes.

In the meantime, I have to admit I’m wondering now – should I get an arm tattoo?…

Print Recipe

Moroccan Baked Beans ala’ Mourad

Ingredients

Beans

  • 2 15.5 oz cans Great Northern White Beans
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large carrot, minced
  • 1 celery stalk, minced
  • 1 garlic clove minced
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cup water

Tomato Sauce

  • 1 1/2 cups canned diced tomatoes (San Marzano preferred) 375 g
  • 3/4 cup tomato puree (San Marzano preferred) 213 grams
  • 2 1/4 cup water 527 grams
  • 1/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro 17 grams
  • 1/4 cup coarsely chopped flat leaf parsley 17 grams
  • 1 tbsp granulated sugar 12.5 grams
  • 1 tbsp minced garlic 12 grams
  • 2 tsp kosher salt 6 grams
  • 1 1/2 tsp sweet paprika 4 grams
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin 3.8 grams
  • 1 tsp dried oregano 2.6 grams
  • 3/4 tsp ground coriander 1.3 grams
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper 0.5 grams
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne 0.3 grqms

Onions

  • 1 tbsp canola oil 13 grams
  • 1 3/4 cups thinly sliced onions 185 grams
  • 1 pinch kosher salt
  • 1 tsp balsamic vinegar 5 grams

To FInish

  • 4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled 112 grams
  • 1 cup dried bread crumbs 41 grams
  • 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano 2 grams
  • 3 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil 40 grams

Instructions

For the Sauce

  • Combine all the sauce ingredients, along with 2 cups of water, in a large saucepan. Place the pan over medium heat and simmer until the sauce is thick and reduced to about 2½ cups, for about 50 minutes to 1 hour.

To Make the Beans

  • Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large saute pan over medium high heat. Saute Carrot, celery and garlic till soft. Add beans, 1 cup water and brown sugar. Heat over medium high heat, stirring gently and occasionally, till liquid is gone. Set aside.

For the Onions

  • Heat a thin layer of olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the onions and saute, stirring very often, for about 10 minutes until they are slightly caramelized, with a light golden brown color. Add the salt and continue to cook another 12 minutes, or until the onions are richly caramelized to a deep golden brown. Add the balsamic vinegar and scrape the bottom of the pan to de-glaze. Add the onions to the tomato sauce.

To Finish the Beans

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Gently stir the beans into the tomato-onion sauce. Spread the beans and sauce in a 6-cup gratin dish or 6 individual oven proof ramekins. Sprinkle the cheese in an even layer over the beans. Mix bread crumbs with dried oregano and sprinkle atop the cheese. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the beans are bubbling and the cheese is melted. Let the beans rest at room temperature for a couple of minutes before serving. Drizzle with olive oil before serving.

TBTAM DIGEST – Nov 30, 2022

Cross-publishing here for those without a substack subscription (Which is free)…

Happy almost December! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving and are enjoying the in-between holiday time. Here’s what’s been going on in my neck of the woods….

What I’ve been cooking on the blog

Where I Ate

  • Valley Green Inn in the Wissahickon Valley.  The perfect location for a lovely Thanksgiving luncheon, capped off with a walk on Forbidden Drive, one of my favorite places in the whole world.
  • White Dog Cafe in West Philly. Founded in 1983 by social activist Judy Wicks, and still going strong today, with several locations around the Philly area. The White Dog was among the very first farm-to-table restaurants in America, and continues to support local farmers, food artisans and brewers with a focus on sustainability and ethical, chemical and pesticide-free practices. Located in three connected Victorian townhouses, the original White Dog is as quirky and charming as ever, though this old timer misses the attached shop, which has been replaced by more dining space. We thoroughly enjoyed our Kennett Square mushroom omelets and Pork Belly Benedict made with Pork Belly from Ironstone Creamery in Pottstown, as well as the uninterrupted, prolonged sit our waitperson allowed us with our dear friends Amy and Noel.
  • Trattoria Moma in Mount Airy, Philly. Well, technically, we ordered in with my dear friend and hairdresser Wendy at her awesomely remodeled apartment after she cut and colored my hair at her salon.  Moma made us delicious pasta, which we washed down with a surprisingly good and affordable red called The Banished from 19 Crimes Wines (great marketing…) and followed with two long and rousing game of Rummikub. Always love seeing Wendy (and beating her at Rumikub…)
  • Charles Pan-Fried Chicken.  Charles Gabriel, famous for his pan-fried, old-school method of frying chicken at his Harlem-based restaurant, has morphed his business post-pandemic to carry-out only and graced us with his presence (and his chicken) here on the Upper West Side. The chicken is delicious, crispy on the outside and incredibly moist inside. The mac and cheese is among the best I’ve tasted. Sadly, the coleslaw was off the menu the night we ordered. We’ll be getting carry-out again, I’m sure!

What I’m Learning

  • Mostly everything on Amazon is now an ad. It’s true. Ads now comprise most of what your search results retrieve on Amazon. Personalized recommendations, sections showing what other have bought who searched for your item or what customers who viewed this item also viewed – Gone. It’s a new income strategy for retailers. But it does not drive sales of products, it just brings in revenue from ad sales. And worse – other online retailers are copying Amazon. Buyer (and Shopper) beware!

What I Saw

  • Matisse in the 1930s – At the Phila Museum of Art. Saw it with my dear artist friend Amy Cohen – I highly recommend bringing an artist along when viewing art! The exhibit was beautiful. Especially interesting were the studies and preliminary work to the mural Matisee painted at the Barnes Estate, and which now lives just across the Parkway.
  • Frank Gehry’s renovation of the Phila Museum of Art is quietly spectacular. One (major) complaint. They moved Jacob Epsteins sculpture “Social Consciousness”, from the back steps of the museum to the U of Penn campus. The statues were the starting point of “Only Connect”, Amy’s performance piece that showed at the Museum (and for which I was proud to provide a voice over for one of the segments). We’ve vowed to go visit the piece at Penn in the near future

  • Photo from Association for Public Art

What I’m Craving

What I’ve been watching, listening to and reading

  • Irene Cara Acapella – Can’t stop listening to this bare vocal version of What a Feeling from Voceaux , who creates acapella versions of iconic live musical performances.  RIP Irene..
  • Somebody Feed Phil visits Philadelphia! A fabulous episode that starts off (where else?) at the Reading Terminal and ends up at Zahav, hitting hot spots new and old in South Philly, Fishtown, Roxborough (Go Dellessandro’s!), the Northeast and Olde City in between. Phil’s wife is from Philly’s suburbs (with an accent to match), so he’s got an insider’s take on the city. Here’s a list of where Phil went. I’ve been to a few. Looks like I’ve got a project when we move to Philly…
  • NPR How I Built This Podcast – Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company. OMG this guy is gonna’ actually rein in the outlandishly over-priced pharmaceutical market. Just shows you what good things can happen when billionaires use their wealth for good. Now if Cuban can just fend off those who will try to stop him… A must listen for everyone. And while you’re at it, check out Mark’s site Cost Plus to see if there are cost savings to be had for your prescriptions.
  • The Best Chef in the World. A brief documentary about Sally Schmitt, original owner and chef at the French Laundry, long before there was Thomas Keller.  She and her husband Don raised 5 kids while starting the iconic farm to table restaurant long before that phrase was even coined, cooking simply, locally and ethically, complemented by local wines. Sally recently left us, but fortunately left behind her memoir, Six California Kitchens, complete with recipes and sage cooking advice. In future blog posts, I’ll be sharing some of it what I’ve learned from reading it.

A SONNET FOR THE BOSS
I thought he would never age.
He seemed a different breed,
Gliding effortlessly, tirelessly across the stage.
Born to run, indeed.

A bard whose biceps and pectoralis strained
The seams of a sweat-soaked, clinging black T-Shirt,
He pulled across a low-slung electric guitar again and again,
Stirring heart, mind and groin in concert.

Now he stands alone on bare stage straining
To pull memories from an acoustic held high against a softened gut,
Black T shirt hung loose, creped skin draped o’er biceps waning
His voice a gravel road bumping ‘oer long worn ruts.

Sans drum and sax and bass, the words, like new, emerge again
He stirs us now with poetry, rewrit with wisdom’s pen

-Margaret Polaneczky

That’s it, folks! Have a great last day of November !