Cinnamon and Cardamom Knots (Kanelsnurrer)

Dough-

240 grams whole milk

10 grams dry yeast or 21 g fresh

1 egg

1 yolk

475 grams wheat flour

105 grams granulated sugar

3 grams ground cardamom

6 grams salt

84 grams unsalted butter

Heat milk to warm and add yeast.  105F/40C.  Let rest for 10 minutes.  Add the egg, egg yolk, flour, sugar, cardamom and salt.  Mix together until well combined then knead for 15 minutes.  Add butter a little at a time.  When all the butter is incorporated continue to knead until smooth and shiny (10-15 min).  Store dough in a buttered bowl with film and towel.  Let proof until doubled 1-1.5 hours.  Punch down, cover slightly and chill overnight.

Filling-

684 grams unsalted butter

24 grams ground cinnamon

150 grams brown sugar

Mix the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon in a mixing bowl until it is very smooth.

Syrup-

150 grams brown sugar

100 grams water

Heat the water in a small pot and when it starts to steam, add the sugar. Stir until dissolved, bring to a simmer then set aside to cool to room temperature.

Keep the dough chilled.  Turn out the dough on floured parchment.  Roll out into a ¼ inch thick rectangle.  Cover with plastic and chill for 60 minutes.  Spread butter/sugar mixture over ⅔s of the dough.  Fold the plain side over the middle.  Fold opposite ⅓ over that.  Roll out to a ½ inch thick rectangle.  Slice lengthwise into eight 1 inch thick strips.  Twist and fold strips to create a knot.  Place on sheet pan, in a baking dish or in a muffin pan and cover with film and proof until doubled in size.  Bake at 325°F/162°C for 25/30 minutes.  When finished baking, brush the dough with the syrup. Wait 5 minutes and brush again.  

 

Root Vegetable Potato Cake

Making potato cake is something that many people learned to do as they grew up. Because it is something cheap and easy to make, it is also something easy to modify and add your own flavors.

-5oo grams of mixed grated root vegetables (potatoes, parsnips, carrots, raw beets)

-100 grams grated yellow onions

-2 eggs

-5 grams cornstarch

-5 grams flour

-2 grams baking powder

-2 grams sea salt

-1 gram fresh black pepper

-1/2 bunch cilantro chopped

-1 gram ground cumin

-1 gram ground coriander

-1 gram ground chili powder

-Mix the grated vegetables and onions and squeeze out all the extra liquid.

-Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well until completely incorporated.

-Form the mixture into a potato cake and pan fry in olive oil over low heat until golden brown on both sides.

I like to add corned beef brisket with fresh goat cheese, roasted butternut squash and chili powder.

 

Strawberry “Salad”

I am working on the new menu and trying to enhance the natural flavors to keep it simple.

This dessert consists of fresh French BIO strawberries macerated with a little brown sugar and lime juice. After about 20 minutes I crush the mixture with a fork then place it in a bowl followed by topping with fresh sliced strawberries, lime zest, toasted pistachio and micro shiso leaves. Delicious and light. Keep it simple and enjoy!

 

Avocado Toast

We recently decided to restart breakfast service at the restaurant so we did a couple of tastings to see what exactly we would put on the menu.  Over the past few years we have seen the rise of the avocado toast everywhere from restaurants to hipster coffee shops.  The trick is to find your own unique version and run with it.  Because we are a California brasserie, I decided to use a kale pesto.  For the bread, we chose to use brioche toasted and seasoned with the pesto.  Then topped with a fresh ripe avocado, sliced and seasoned simply with sea salt, pepper and lime juice.  Next, a perfectly poached egg with a beautiful rich liquid gold center.  The whole thing is finished off with a roasted chili oil and pumpkin seeds.  The only challenge now is to go to work everyday and try not to make this my daily breakfast.  The avocado makes it healthy, right?

 

Root Vegetable Gratin

For this week’s lunch menu we did a root vegetable gratin using carrots and parsnips. You can use any vegetables you like. We cleaned the vegetables, seasoned with salt, pepper, olive oil and rosemary then roasted them in the oven until just tender. While they were roasting we made a bechamel sauce and added forum d’ambert blue cheese. After the vegetables were cooked we topped them with a little blue cheese sauce, bruleed it then finished with bread crumbs toasted with sesame seeds and a little melted butter. This dish can be made with any vegetable or cheese combination.

 

Octopus Carpaccio with Red Wine Poached Pineapple

 

This dish has a great mix of flavors, from sweet and tangy to spicy and salty.  The prep for the dish is surprisingly easy and you do not need a lot of ingredients.

Start the dish by washing your raw octopus and then placing it in a large pot of salted water with rosemary, bay leaves, peppercorns and 2 wine corks.  Cover and simmer for 1 hour then take off the heat and let it cook to room temperature.  When the octopus is cooled remove from the pot and cut off the head and legs.  Take half of the octopus and arrange the legs in opposite directions on plastic wrap and roll several times into a log.  Cool in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

When you are ready, remove the plastic. The octopus should hold together firmly, and slice with a sharp knife or on a meat slicer.

For the pineapple, peel and cut into quarters lengthwise.  Poach in a mixture of red wine with a cinnamon stick, star anise and a pinch of salt for 30 minutes.  Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature in the liquid.  Remove one piece and slice into 1/8 inch strips.

For the pan roasted potato, remove the peel and cut off all the edges of the potato to form a rectangle.  Slice long ways into about a 1/4 inch and season with salt.  In a saute pan add a spoon of butter and melt over medium heat.  Add the sliced potatoes and cook slowly until golden brown on both sides.  Remove from the pan and pat dry to remove the extra butter.

To assemble the dish place your sliced octopus on the plate, you can arrange however you want.  Place one piece of the potato in the center and top with four slices of the pineapple and lastly with a second piece of potato.  Circle the plate with your favorite brand of sriracha sauce then season with a bit of black pepper and olive oil.  I top mine with a little bit of fresh herbs and mustard greens.  It is also nice with a bit of crushed wasabi peas.

 

 

Galette des Rois

For the last few years we have adopted the tradition of Galette des Rois and subsequently have hosted a few parties at our petit apartment.  In the beginning, we chose to purchase the galette from a local boulangerie which usually comes with a crown and a bottle of cider (a nice package deal).  However, this year I decided that I wanted make the galette myself and thus started my research.  This is the hybrid recipe I came up with:

Pate Feuilletée

500 grams of flour

325 grams of butter

50 grams of butter

250 grams of water

10 grams of salt

Melt 50 grams of butter then cool.  Mix the flour and salt in a bowl then make a well in the center and add the water and melted butter.  Mix with a spatula until it forms a smooth ball then smash and wrap in plastic.  Rest for 30 minutes.

Form the butter into a square using two sheets of plastic film.  Remove the dough from the plastic and score with an X.  Gently pull each of the four sides of the X and roll each with a rolling pin to make a +.

Place the butter in the middle then fold each flap over the butter brushing off the flour on the bottom so that the dough seals.  Roll the dough long then fold in 3 times to make a rectangle, brushing off the flour each time and then repeat the rolling & folding process once more.

Mark the dough with two finger indentions, wrap with film and rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour.  Repeat the rolling and folding two more times and mark the dough with 4 finger indentions.  Rewrap and rest for 1 hour in the refrigerator.  Roll two last times and rewrap and rest for 30 minutes.  Now time to make the crème d’amandes.

Crème d’Amandes

150 grams of butter

75 grams of praline

75 grams of toasted ground hazelnuts

150 grams of sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 teaspoon of whisky

1 fève (small object, usually ceramic/porcelain to hide in the galette filling)

Syrup

50 grams of sugar

50 grams of water

1 teaspoon whisky

Mash the butter with a spatula until smooth then mix in the butter.  Mix in the eggs one by one until completely incorporated and finish by adding the whisky.  Roll the dough out and cut out two circles, size depends on how big of a galette you want to make (with this recipe, plan on having dough and filling leftover – you could use it to make another galette or something else of your choosing for example mini savory or sweet tarts).  Place the first ring of dough onto your baking pan and pipe the crème d’amandes into the center of the dough in a couple layers then drape the second piece over the filling.  With the back of a knife mark the edges of the galette then mark your desired design on the top.  Puncture with a couple holds and refrigerate overnight for at least 6 hours.

To bake, brush the top of the galette with an egg wash and bake at 200 degrees Celsius/392 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes then another 30 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius/355 degrees Fahrenheit.  If the galette begins to brown too much place a piece of aluminum over the top and finish the baking time.  Once finished, remove from the oven and brush with the syrup and rest to cool before cutting and serving.  This galette can be eaten cold, but it is best served warm in my opinion. Bon appetite!

 

 

Whipped White Chocolate Mousse

Whipped chocolate ganache has been something that I have been using for a while, but it has always been a very thick and decadent product.  I have been working on making it lighter and to not taste as rich so as to be able to increase its versatility.

For my brunch I have been doing a whipped panna cotta which reminded me of my whipped chocolate ganache and so I started working on mixing the two.  I ended up taking the milk from the panna cotta, reduced the amount of gelatin, and then added that hot mixture to white chocolate.  Then I added my flavorings to the cream and whipped it to stiff peaks and then folded that into the cooled chocolate panna cotta.

From here you could use it immediately or let it cool and mix later.  For my Bûche de Noël I added matcha and orange flower water and the aerated texture that is created after it sets in the fridge worked great to imitate the bark of a tree.

 

Light White Chocolate Mousse

500 grams milk

15 grams of gelatin

900 grams white chocolate

1 liter of cream

Vanilla and flavors to taste

 

 

Mango Lassi Popsicles

My new favorite desserts this summer are popsicles.  They are so easy to make and there are no limits to the flavor combinations.  It seems that they are popping up everywhere this year, even the franprix across the street has their own line.

For this recipe I make a puree of mango and a little sugar if it is not sweeet enough. Then I mix equal parts of coconut milk and cream.  Layer these in a mold and place in the freezer for 1 hour.  After it has started to freeze, place the sticks in the middle of each popsicle then return to the freezer until completely frozen.

I serve mine with a spicy chocolate sauce and some fresh raspberries from the garden.

Take the time and experiment with your favorite summer flavors.

Have fun and enjoy taking a break from the heat of the summer!

 

Sushi Donut

 

Everyone loves donuts. The main question is usually cream filled or glazed? My answer is sushi. The new trend this year is the sushi donut which is made of sushi rice, topped with fresh, marinated or smoked fish and whatever else you think sounds good.

I like to use a type of rice called calrose. It is a medium grain rice that was developed in California in 1948 and gained popularity all around the world.  For toppings, I love to use pickled ginger, wakame salad, thinly sliced scallops, tuna and avocado.  Sauces can range from teriyaki to a spiced aioli, or even as simple as sriracha.