Pastry Of The Week 8th October: Fondant au Chocolat

Welcome to another Pastry Of The Week Whenever-I-Get-Around-To-It. Don't even ask.
Fondant au Chocolat has nothing to do with icing fondant, as some of my (imaginary) American readers might think, but is a soft, moist chocolate cake, usually with a chocolate glaze on top.  If The Daughter ever recovers the camera cable from the hellmouth that is her bedroom i will show you a picture of it in all its chocolatey glory.
The cake is somehow moist and rich without being too heavy, or tasting underdone.  For the glaze, the boulanger was unable to tell me what the ingredients were as he doesn't make it from scratch.  Unfortunately it is hard to get hold of quite a number of ingredients for breads and patisseries here because it's a 'trade' thing and they are not known or available in shops. Arse.
I have seen numerous recipes for Fondant au Chocolat, so I am going to have a poke around and try one or two out and see if I can come up with a glaze that fits.  Wish me luck, my imaginary friends.

Bob's Cookies

Ingredients:

• 300g plain flour


• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda


• 1 tsp salt


• 170g butter


• 215g light brown sugar


• 120g white caster sugar


• 1 sachet of vanilla sugar, or a little vanilla essence


• 1 whole egg and 1 extra yolk


• Chocolate chips, Smarties, nuts or other 'filling' of choice

• Prep time: 10 mins


• Chill time: 30 mins


• Oven time: Around 12-15 mins at 190° C

Instructions:

• Thoroughly mix together all the dry ingredients


• Melt the butter and add, with the eggs, to dry mix


• Mix together thoroughly, making sure there are no dry pockets of mix


• Mix in chocolate chips or other according to taste


• Cover with clingfilm and place in fridge for 30 mins (important)


• Form disks with the dough, about 1.5 - 2cm deep, and about 4cm across


• Place evenly on baking tray, allowing plenty of room for them to expand


• Bake for around 12 - 15 minutes (according to your oven)


• Allow to cool and 'set'

Accept cookies?

I have been using the same cookie recipe for years now, refined from one I found online back around ought five (which I have long since lost the link to - apologies to the originator).  This week The Husband requested a batch to keep his students' spirits up on a technical course he is delivering, and The Daughter likes to take my baked goods to lycée to share with friends, so I have been spreading joy and diabetes throughout.
I find that the trick is to remove them from the oven whilst they are still moist enough not to go too hard upon cooling, but not so moist that they fall apart on the cooling rack.  This will inevitably vary according to your cooker, so just keep an eye on them from about 10 mins onwards.
The recipe is very heavy on sugar, so I only make them as a special treat or as a bribe/thank you to someone doing me a favour. Cookies: acceptable currency in my world.

Hot Cheesy Balls Are Nicer Than They Sound

Are you bored with your balls? Do you wish for more variety, more excitement when it comes to your balls? Do you.......OK I'll stop there.
Meatballs. Sometimes I make them with ground beef, sometimes with pork.  I wanted to change things up from the norm so this weekend I decided to to stuff my balls with buffalo mozzarella.  Take small mounds of the seasoned meat of your choice (in this case ground pork with fresh basil, salt, pepper and a touch of mustard powder) and wrap it around diced buffallo mozzarella to form balls.  The mozz needs to be diced fairly small so that it melts during cooking, without the meat needing to be overcooked.
Sear your balls in olive oil-ed frying pan, then add in tomatoes, red wine etc - according to your own taste - to make the sauce.  For your balls.
When you cut into your balls the mozzarella should ooze out runnily and make a delicious contrast to the rich red sauce.  I never understood the fuss about buffallo mozz as opposed to the cheaper stuff until I tried it. So. Freakin. Worth it.  We now eat half as much mozzarella but, having tasted the good stuff, we'd rather have quality over quantity any day.
Nice balls.

When The Cat's Away The Mice Will Eat Chicken Pizza

The Husband is away this week,so last night it was me, The Daughter, 'Heathers' on dvd and a big ol' homemade pizza with chicken on.  There are many things I won't eat on pizza but chicken ain't one of 'em.  Unfortunately, The Husband is not a fan so we only have chicken pizza in his absence.  I made a standard pizza dough, and topped it with pesto sauce, garlic, strips of chicken breast and red peppers, and buffalo mozzarella. It was goooood.  Hardly worth posting a full recipe, though, so for your gastronomic pleasure today, dear Internet, I have written up my Poulet Sauce Estragon, which is a chicken dish The Husband certainly will eat.  It's worth taking the time to reduce the liquids properly at each stage of the sauce as this builds the flavour beautifully.  It's pretty straight forward and simple to make, but it tastes complicated and a bit of effort with the presentation makes it quite impressive indeed.

Poulet Sauce Estragon/ Chicken with Tarragon Sauce

Serves 4:

• 4 whole chicken breasts


• 30g butter


• 1 tbsp olive oil


• Salt & pepper

For the sauce:

• 2 tbsp (30ml) white vinegar


• 250ml chicken stock


• 90ml dry white wine


• 300ml crème fraîche


• 4 springs of fresh tarragon


• 2 tbsp chopped, fresh tarragon

• Time: approx 45mins


• Oven: 190

Instructions:

• Season the chicken breasts and sauté for 3-5 minutes in the butter and oil


• Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes untikl the juices run clear


• Place on a platter and cover with tin foil (shiny side in) and set aside


• Take the juices from the roasting tin and skim off the fat, then place over a medium heat


• Add vinegar and wine and bring to the boil until liquid is reduced by half


• Stir in the stock and the tarragon sprigs then allow liquid to reduce by half agin


• Stir in the créme fraîche and, once again, cook until reduced by half


• Discard the tarragon sprigs and stir in the chopped tarragon, holding back a little for presentation


• Partially slice the chicken breasts and fan them out a little


• Pour sauce over each breast and sprinkle with tarragon


• Serve with fondant potatoes (or perhaps mashed) and haricots vert

 

Ginger Snaps

Ingredients: 

Makes about 24:

• 170 g plain flour


• 1 tsp baking powder


• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda


• 100g caster sugar


• 2 tsp ground ginger


• Pinch of salt


• 60g unsalted butter


• 40g golden syrup


• 1 medium egg

 

• Prep time: 15 mins


• Oven time: 15 - 20mins at 180

Instructions: 

• Sift together the dry ingredients


• Melt the syrup and butter in a bain marie


• Add this into the dry ingredients and mix well


• Add egg and work into dough


• Divide into approx 24 balls and space evenly on a lined or silicone baking sheet


• Bake for around 15 minutes, monitoring the colour until a warm brown


• Allow to cool and harden slightly


• Hide them from husband