Burnt Sugar Ice Cream

I have now realized that I cannot follow cooking groups. I feel really guilty calling myself a French Fridays with Dorie member since I participated for only the first two weeks! It's hard for me to make something that is chosen for me, especially when it involves cooking and not baking.

The good thing about cooking/baking groups is that you get to see everyone else's results who followed the recipes from the books. I had read a lot of good reviews about Dorie's Burnt Sugar ice cream from her book Baking: From My Home to Yours, so I had no doubt that this was going to be a successful one!

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Burnt Sugar Ice Cream

Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

Makes about 1-1/2 pints

1 cup sugar

3 tbsp water

2 cups whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

4 large egg yolks

Pinch of salt

1-1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Stir the sugar and water together in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Place the pan over medium-low heat and cook until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat and boil, without stirring, until the syrup turns a deep amber color (be careful not to burn it!). Swirl the saucepan from time to time.

Lower the heat and add the milk and cream. Everything will bubble and seethe and the mixture will have some hardened caramel. Keep stirring and it will calm down and smooth. When the mixture is completely smooth, remove the pan from the heat.

In a medium heatproof bowl, whisk the egg yolks and salt together until slightly thickened. Still whisking (and never stop) drizzle some hot liquid inside slowly to temper (or warm) the yolks. Keep whisking and slowly pour the remaining hot liquid into the yolks. Pour the custard back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon until the custard thickens and reaches between 170 and 180 degrees F on a thermometer. Remove the pan from the heat and strain into a clean heatproof bowl. Stir in the vanilla extract and cool over an ice bath.

Refrigerate the custard overnight (or until chilled, the more the better) and churn it in ice cream machine according to manufacturer's directions.

Cran-Apple Crisps

It's cranberry season! We drink plenty of cranberry juice and dried cranberries can be found in our granola bars and cereals, but have any of you tried fresh cranberries? I just recently tried them for the first time and I have to say that... they're very sour! I stopped after one! But when combined with apples, dried cranberries, sugar and flour to make the filling, they taste sweet!

With all the members of TWD raving about this crisp and how easy it is to put together, it didn't take me long to decide to make it. I topped it with a scoop of Goat Cheese Ice Cream I made following David Lebovitz's book, The Perfect Scoop, and... Mmmm!

The Repressed Pastry Chef hosted that week's TWD so the recipe for the Cran-Apple Crisps can be found on her blog!

FFwD : Spicy Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup

I made it! I was really debating if I should skip this week's FFwD since it's midterm time and all I've been doing is finance and accounting for the past week and a half... but no! It does feel good to take a break and cook up this delicious vietnamese soup! It reminded me very much of the one my boyfriend and I love having in Chinatown (except I don't think that one has any coconut milk).

I read some reviews this morning on the Dorie's group site and a couple had written that it wasn't very flavorful or spicy. I found it was a bit spicy, so I just added a bit of Sriracha (love that stuff!) and lots of lime juice and it was great! It wasn't very hard to make either... I think it took me longer to look for all the ingredients!

FFwD: Gerard's Mustard Tart

When I was younger, I hated mustard! I was more of a ketchup fan. I would put ketchup on everything and anything! But as time is passing, my taste in food is changing and I now find myself eating things like Gerard's Mustard Tart!

The filling was easy to make: whip the eggs with the cream, add the mustards, whip and season with salt and pepper. It was the crust that I found a bit challenging.

The first time I made the pâte brisée by hand, the dough was very crumbly, I could hardly form a disk with it! It was impossible for me to roll it out, so I decided to remake it. The second time, I used the food processor method, that took me at most 5 minutes. The dough turned out soft and workable... Success!

This tart is something I would never had tried on my own, but I'm glad I gave it a try! It smells delicious out of the oven and I had to hold myself from cutting a slice right away. If you like mustard, you're sure to love this!

FFwD: Gougères

October 1rst has arrived and so has the first post for the French Fridays with Dorie! I am so happy that it has finally begun! Dorie Greenspan chose the recipes for the month of October from her new book Around My French Table and all members of the FFwD must post about the weekly recipe!

Before I talk about this week's recipe, Gougères, I must confess that I was debating if I should join this group mainly because I never cook anything! I've always done the baking at my house, never prepared anything that had to do with meat or fish (except that one time when I made an Italian Wedding Soup... yum!!). But then this is the perfect opportunity for me to learn! I mean, I have to learn how to cook someday, and why not start with some delicious French meals!?

Making Gougères is similar to making profiteroles except that you mix in some grated Gruyère cheese (or Cheddar) before piping/spooning the dough. This was the first time I made pâte à choux and it was a lot easier than I expected!

I decided to top the mounds of dough with the remaining Gruyère I had left so they ended up with a nice golden color. In the past, I found Gruyère to be a very strong cheese but when baked, it is unbelievably good (plus your kitchen will have a delicious aroma)!

The Gougères are best eaten warm out of the oven because they are crispy on the outside. I found that they got soft after being stored in a container, but they get crispy again when warmed up!

I am one of those weird people who don't like wine or Champagne, but I can assume that these ''cheese puffs'' would pair well with a nice glass...?