Sanctuary from The Mad World
Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what's for lunch. - Orson Welles

Servings: 12 pieces

The intention was to make Spring Vegetable Soup from Bouchon as it is spring and the ingredients for the soup are abundant. However, the soup itself - tasty, fresh, and light - is unremarkable in terms of technique. I mean, soup is basically stir-fried vegetables in fat of choice (olive, butter, etc) simmered in stock, right?  Variations are endless.

The Tomato Confit, though, is something else. I endured the long cooking time - by doing other things, I might add - and was rewarded favourably: my apartment smelled amazing from the mixture of olive oil, tomatoes, and basil. Taste-wise, it’s intensely tomato with all the sour-sweet-savoury of sun-dried tomatoes but ones which still retain their freshness.

It’s basically tomato preserves and, in this time and age, can appear to be indulgent due to the energy consumed to make such things. However, the article suggests that it is a good way to add flavours of summers into winter dishes.

As per the recipe, I used the confit as a topping in the vegetable soup to provide the tomato flavour without muddying the delicate taste of the soup. I wonder what else can I use it for.

Ingredients: (continue…)

Servings: six

Bouchon from Thomas Keller turns out to be a book I consult quite often for my weekly menu. This time, I tried Bouchon. I’m sure you’re dizzy now. Allow me.

Bouchon is the name of Thomas Keller’s bistro (of which the cookbook is named after). It can also refer to a cake, the cork (in French) and a type of restaurant found in Lyon, serving those delectable, hard-core Lyonnaise specialties (quenelles, andouillette, boudin, etc). Did I miss anything?

The cake, named after the cork, is very chocolaty. Hot, they’re moist and soft (but not spongy) in the middle, chewy and slightly crusty on the outside. They’re great cure for chocolate craving as they’re easy and quick to make. I personally think that one small one is the perfect dose as they’re very rich.  Cold, they’re more suitable for wolfing down and do resemble very fine (ie. not the coarse, chunky) brownies.

I use the small (5-cm diameter, 3-cm tall) muffin cups to yield six because I want smaller portions. Unfortunately, they didn’t exactly turn out shaped like little corks. But that’s OK as the squat muffin moulds make the cakes look impressive for entertaining: all French and elegant dusted with white powder (sugar, not coke!).

Modified to scale from Bouchon.


Ingredients: (continue…)

Coinciding with Bittman’s visit to a Parisian market, I too did my own Cuisine du Marché.  It is never a good idea to visit farmers’ market in spring as I often let my eyes do the shopping particularly when faced with fresh and colourful vegetables.

Fresh morel! Never seen that before. Must buy. Arrgh, breakfast radish. They’re out now. Oh no… such tiny daikon. I bought one already but that’s OK. Let’s get it while it’s there. Maybe I can sautee the tops with garlic and ham? (I did). Purple carrots?! I wonder how they taste. Fresh fava!!! (continue…)

I was restless one Sunday and craving for something chocolatey and sweet to go with my afternoon coffee. So I made this easy chocolate loaf cake, a suggested modification from Maidera Loaf Cake in Coffee & Bites. Interestingly textured due to the ground almond, the cake is is excellent with strong espresso.

Ingredients: (continue…)

Servings: about 40 pieces.

My first encounter of Gougère was in a restaurant in Dijon. Sure I’d had Choux Pastry in the form of eclairs and Indonesian Kue Sus (choux pastry filled with vanilla cream) but I’d not tasted the savoury ones before and I was blown away.

Little did I know that it was so easy to make. This is my first attempt using the fool-proof recipe from French Laundry (Modified). I ate a few of them for lunch with parsley omelette. Very complimentary.

Step-by-step instruction can be viewed here.

Ingredients: (continue…)