A Cactus in the Middle of Paris?

I've been asked by several people what I miss most from the USA when living in Paris.  Convenience is number one, but food items that I can only find in the USA are a very close second. I love spicy foods and find myself missing them the most.  A trip to a Thai or Asian restaurant, and a bottle of Sriracha on my shelf occasionally fill the cravings for something spicy.  But what I really miss is a great burrito, Taqueria style.  Boston has several little chains, and over the past year I lived within a very short walk of my favorite: Anna's.   My last week in Boston, I had a farewell lunch at the Anna's in Davis Square with my friend Amanda.  It was more of Adieu then an Au revoir, knowing my chances of visiting Anna's would be slim on visits back to the US.  Chipotle will most likely be the substitute on visits to Ohio. 

Arriving in Paris, I had already started to plot on how I was going to deal with my lack of pick-your-own-fillings, quick burritos.  Maybe I could create my own recipe for Carnitas at home and have visitors bring me jars of spicy salsas to top them with.  I could easily grow cilantro in my windowbox, and thankfully there is no lack of Avocados in the French supermarkets.  And then something amazing happened! 

I was on my way to the Richelieu Drouot Metro stop, not 5 mins from my apartment, and like a miraculous apparition I saw this:

 And this:

 How do you say Burrito in French?

It was suspiciously remeniscent of a Chipotle menu.....but in FRENCH!
I snapped a few photos and hurried on to my destination making mental notes to come back and try this soon!

As I met with my friends that evening, the subject of food came up naturally, and then the subject of good burritos.  I was so excited to show them my find.  My friends being American expats who have lived here a bit longer seemed intrigued, but warned me not to set my expectations high, but of course to let them know if I tried it.

This is why I shouldn't get too excited.  I feel like Ethnic cuisine in France is sorta dumbed down for French taste.  This past summer I went to a Korean restaurant one evening (looking for my spicy food fix, it never disappointed me in Boston).  The food at the Korean restaurant was not bad, quite delicious and the service was excellent. However I felt the dishes I had were nowhere near the spice level they would have in the US? Or do I have to backwards?  Are you all spice addicts and the food is amped up in the US for us?  I think not.

Back to the Cactus.  I convinced myself not to expect much.  Finally today I decided it was time to go and try it.  I stepped inside the doors and was instantly greeted by a young smiling lady behind the counter. I decided to go with the burrito.  She started to explain to me how this place was like places in the US, where you choose your fillings.  I surveyed my options: Beef, Chicken, Pork or Veggies. Only one type of beans, looked like Kidney beans in a chili-esque sauce.  The veggies had visibly more red peppers then green; I prefer red over green, so that was good.  They had a "sour cream" 2 types of Hot sauce, cheese (most likely emmental), corn, fresh chopped tomatoes, iceberg lettuce and guacamole.  I went with Pork (little chunks, not shredded carnitas like I'm used to), the beans, the mild sauce, cheese, tomatoes and guacamole.  It definitely looked like an American burrito by the size alone. I was trying to remain calm.....and hoping it was at least edible.

 That's on a dinner plate.....

I wanted to run home, but paced myself.  I did run up the stairs a bit because there was a scary looking man in the courtyard when I arrived and I didn't want him to harm me or my lunch.  I then very ceremoniously placed it on a plate and sliced it in half with a Lagouile knife, of course!

Got to admit that looks pretty damn tasty!

I'm going to cut to the chase.  It was pretty good!  The meat was not excellent, the rice was a little dry and heavy, but the beans had a nice chili flavor to them, the guacamole was well made and the 'mild' sauce left a nice little after burn in my mouth.  It completely satisfied my burrito craving!  I, alone, may keep this place in business!

If you're in the mood for some Mexican try Cactus at 48 rue Laffitte near Metro Notre Dame de Lorette or Metro Peletier.

Next post is on pastry......I swear :-)

Paris is a Little Bit Different This Time

 Cold Day in Paris

It the first time I've been in Paris at this time of year, and it's cold!  People are bundled up in their winter coats, scarves and hats. The sky is often cloudy and gray, and we have even had a few snow showers.   There are Christmas lights and decorations all over the city.  The Avenue de Champs-Elysees has been transformed into Santa's village including little huts for artisans to sell their goods.  You can also buy a cup of Vin Chaud to warm you up as you stroll.

Lights on the Champs-Elysees

 

I think the biggest difference is personal this time.  I look at Paris a little differently now that I know I am staying here, no more leaving in 3 months.  I now have a husband and my name may be changing soon as well.  People have already been calling me "Madame Lepoutre".

A Very Important Day with Much Celebration to Follow

 

I feel it is time to make some changes to my blog.  I'm looking for a new focus and possibly a new name.  It won't change completely, just looking to make some improvements.  I'm open to suggestions; what would you like to see/read more of?  I definitely plan to keep it food centered of course, and mostly pastry. 

Wishing you warm holidays ahead!

A New Chapter

 Chocolate Truffle Cake

After many sad goodbyes, 2 Iceland Air flights, 3 very heavy suitcases up four flights of stairs, and now 6 hours ahead of the USA, I am in Paris. It is good to be here finally and not feel the uncertainty of when I will be back.  This time I am here for good.  Paris, are you ready?

It is not an easy task of leaving one's country even when knowing where you are headed is as exciting as the city of love, food and lights.  Even though I had only lived in Boston just over 6 years, they were some very fundamental years in my life.  In a recent conversation with my sister, I told her, I feel I grew up in Boston.  Yes, I know I physically grew up in Ohio, but I really figured out who I was and what I wanted to do in Boston.  I've always been interested in Food, but I really became the foodie I am in Boston.  When I left Ohio for Boston, I had hopes of finding my true passion and life's work, and amazingly I did.  Now I am wondering how is Paris going to shape me?  Of course my hope is to keep growing and learning as always. 

The Chocolate Truffle cake was made on Saturday, the day after I arrived.  So officially my first cake made here in Paris this time around.  It was taken to a wine dinner that evening and enjoyed along with an Apple Tart.  There will be more desserts to come, but for now I have unpacking and preparing to do.  My first official visitors in Paris arrive on Thanksgiving morning and then more guest for a special event this weekend.  :-)

A tres bientot!

Making Cakes & Moving Continents

 Le Metro

Coming home from Paris was tough.  Once again I had gotten adjusted to a certain lifestyle.  Walking everywhere, pretty efficient public transportation (except when there is a strike) delicious food, fabulous pastries, fun experiences.  However, this time was different because instead of saying goodbye, it was see you soon.

Laduree Pastries

You heard me right, see you soon!  Shortly after my arrival in Boston, I paid a visit to the French Consulate to apply for my visa.  I am moving to Paris in November!  So once again, I am in a fury of packing.  You would think that by now, I wouldn't have much left to pack, or I'd be better at this......except I may have a small addiction to kitchen utensils and things that tie me to my past.  I'm starting to consider renaming this blog, Jenni Does Desserts on the Go.  However, once I settle in Paris, I plan to stay put for a while. 

I seem to be making a lot of cakes since I got back.  Mostly birthday cakes, and my first Wedding cake!  

As an homage to Laduree, I made a lovely Fraisier cake for my Mom and sister who both celebrated birthdays in September.  I was a little late for their actual birthdays, but the cake was most appreciated.  My Mom has always loved Pistachios, so I knew the Laduree Fraisier with the Pistachio Mousseline was sure to be a hit. 

This cake was almost as challenging as the wedding cake, because I was using my sister's limited kitchen utensils.  I did not have an offset icing spatula or a torch to release the cake ring.   I did my best and my family was still amazed.  But isn't that what family is for?   I'll tell you more about the Wedding cake adventure in another post. It really deserves it's own post.

And now with the news of my leaving Boston, my friends are in a panic and asking for tasty treats that can be frozen and eaten long after I have left.  I might consider hosting a little bake sale again before I leave. Otherwise if you want a taste, you will just have to come to Paris. 

 

Full Circle

St. Honore Frais-Pistache

Remember this little guy from a few months ago, when I excitedly announced my internship at Laduree?  I remember standing in line at the boutique on the Champs-Elysees admiring all the beautiful pastries, trying to decide which one to pick.  My head was swirling with happy thoughts of being back in Paris, imaging all the things I was going to learn, all the good food I was going to eat, and getting to spend days with that one special person.  

I have finished my stage at Laduree and am now back in the USA. During my last week while working in tour, I started to reflect on all I had done in the past 2 1/2 months.  This little St. Honore popped into my head, and it occured to me how he is the perfect representative of my time at Laduree.  See in order to make this lovely little dessert, you need to pass through all* of the kitchens in the pastry laboratory at Laduree, in almost the exact opposite order of how I went through them.  So I am going to walk you through the creation of St. Honore a Chez Laduree.

It starts early in the morning, in the Tour Kitchen.  Feuilletage, or the dough for the base of the St. Honore, is made by encasing dough into butter and rolling and folding till there are many thin layers of dough and butter. Then little circles of that dough are cut out and placed in the freezer to wait for their time in the Four.

I spent just a few minutes of a few days helping out in the Four (the oven room)  One guy, and sometimes one assistant, man 4 large ovens and does all the baking for the entire laboratory.  He takes the little frozen circles of Feuilletage, tops them with a ring of frozen pate a choux, places a grill over top of the baking sheet to control the rise of the puff, and bakes them off. 

Once the little bases of the St. Honore have cooled, they travel down the hallway to the Bandes kitchen.  In Bandes the rings are dipped in the corresponding fondant: Pink for the Rose, Red for the Fraise, and the tiny creme filled puffs are quickly pressed on to the ring and set to dry.  Then the second dipping to cover the tops of the puffs occurs. Then the bases are set into the frigos to wait for the Entremet Nuit teams turn with them. Meanwhile over in the Entremet kitchen, Pastry creme and coulis are made, that are used to fill the middle of the St. Honores. 

Entremet Nuit kitchen is the final step for the St. Honore and all the pastries produced by Laduree.  The Fondant covered bases are retrieved from the frigo and flavored pastry creme and/or a fruity coulis are piped into the middle.  One of the chefs gracefully pipes light and fluffy Creme Chantilly ontop with a star tip.  The final touches are the garnishes of berries, rose petals or nougat, depending on the flavor of the St. Honore.  Last but not least, the tiny gold etiquette is carefully placed onto the Creme Chantilly, and Voila!

I've been back in the US for just one month now, and I really miss the pastries of Laduree (however my waist line hasn't missed them).  I've been doing some baking since I got back and will be posting more soon.

Trying on the Chefs Hat

*Decor is the one kitchen that is not involved with the production of this pastry, unless a full size pastry is requested with a chocolate plaque bearing the words: Bon or Joyeux Anniversaire, or the likes.

A little bit of This, A little bit of That

 Laduree Shop on the Champs-Elysees

It's August! Almost the end in fact.  Where has my summer gone?  Once again as my time in Paris winds down and my departure to the US approaches, I start to reflect on the events of the past few weeks.  This Friday I will be saying goodbye to my new friends at Laduree.  Many of them will be saying goodbye to Laduree as well.  The kitchen is moving to another location and many people have taken this as an oppurtunity to move on to other places as well. I'm saying goodbye to a lot of new friends already.

Last I had written I was working in the Bandes kitchen, filling the round Pate a Choux for the Religeuse, dipping finger-like Eclairs in fondant, and assembling the bases for the St. Honore's.   I fell into the routine quickly and felt at home.  This was after two weeks in the craziness of the Morning Entremet team.  Entremet does everything, and everything in large quantities.  I've made and measured coulis, pouring them into various shapped flexi-molds, piped fluffly meringue dacqouise in to spirals, I've seen the Laduree cupcakes through the entire production process and taken part in each step.  I've frozen my finger tips from removing coulis from the molds directly out of the blast freezer, I've stacked and arranged multiple compents of all the Laduree pastries.  I've learned short cuts and quick tips, and most importantly how to use both hands at all times!

Last Thursday I switched to my final post of my stage: Tour.  Tour is the kitchen where everything croissant or bread is made, and then some.  We are the earliest starting team of the day, beginning at 6:30 am.  On my first day I rolled many croissants and found out that Laduree has two types of croissant: the Laduree and the Ancienne.  The Ancienne has slightly more butter and an different turning process then the Laduree, giving it a flakier texture, where the Laduree has been described as being a bit more doughy.  I plan to do a side by side comparison soon.

In Tour we also make a components of other desserts as well.  The bases for the St. Honores and Tarte Tatins, Quiche crusts and little sales petit fours for the restaurant kitchen, Coconut Sables that are packaged and sold, and Tart shells that are filled later by the night team.  This post is probably the most physically demanding. There is lots of lifting and turning of large patons of Croissant and Feuilletage.  Overall the department is calm, things run pretty smoothly and there is a bit of a rhythm. Roll the Croissants, fold the Pain au Chocolat, set aside the pastries that need to baked off for the night crew, turn the patons, cut out various doughs, measure ingredients for the next day's batch of dough, clean, rinse, repeat.  And thankfully in this department I work with a native English speaker.  Its nice to have someone who can translate when I just can't figure out what they are saying, but it's also nice to have someone to share a little conversation with while working as well. 

My lack of fluency in the French language has been the cause of most of my frustration and humor during this stage.  Thankfully, I've forgotten most of the low moments already and the funny ones I'll never forget.  I hope my coworkers have gotten as many laughs at my mispronounced words as I have of there's.  This stage has been the most physically, mentally and emoitionally challenging thing I have done so far in my life, and I've so thankful for this oppurtunity.

Tomorrow is my last day in the Kitchen on the Champs-Elysees.  I'm a little sad.  Over the past few weeks as people have been slowly leaving, I've learned the custom is to bring in a bottle of Champagne on your last day to share with your coworkers.  Everyone gathers around and makes a little toast and has a little drink to wish the departee well.  Tomorrow is also the last day for several regular employees.  I'm leaving the Champagne up to them.  3 months in France may have increased my understanding of French, but I still have to leave a nice American impression for them (as if I haven't left enough of one already).  So in lieu of Champagne, I'm taking Chocolate Chip cookies.  I'm sure they will go great with the others' Champagne.

 It's Quite the Busy Place

Oooops!

This is Why I Wear an Apron

Mistakes happen; even in professional kitchens.  And when bad luck, miscalculations, loss of balance or other acts of God occur, the laughter is faint and restrained- because we're all thanking God it wasn't us, but know that next time it could be.  It's almost a kind of kitchen respect.  Make fun of your coworkers for their personal lives, but don't rub in big mistakes in the kitchen (or at least I haven't seen it yet any place I have worked).  

I am now working in the Bandes post of Laduree.  I don't know what Bandes really translates to in English, have not bothered to look it up or ask.  However at Laduree, Bandes is the little kitchen where the Pate a Choux pastries are filled and finished, and large slabs of lovely Plaisir Sucre and Carre Chocolat are cut into the individual portions and finished as well.  It's not exciting work; it's more routine like it was in Decor.  But I do love referring to the tiny choux puffs as La Tete (the head for the reglieusse) and laughed when I saw the etiquette on the plaque that said, "corps de religeusse".....am I at Laduree or the catacombs?  

My first task this morning was to mix the various flavors of Creme Patissier for the filling of the choux.  Cafe, Pistache, Rose, Violette and Chocolate.  I take 2 large tubs of creme patissier from the Entremets Kitchen and scoop all of the creme into a very large mixing bowl (Cuve in French).  I whip up the pastry creme and then tote it back to the Bandes kitchen for weighing and mixing with the flavors.  Most of the cremes are flavored with very extracts and sirops.  The Chocolate is mixed with, you got it, Chocolate.  Mixing chocolate into Pastry Cream is not an easy task.  You have to melt the chocolate and then temper it into the cold pastry cream in order to get it to mix completely.  At Laduree very hot milk is involved in melting the chocolate....and this is where today's ooops! happened. (Thankfully I was not involved, except that I was waiting for the milk.)

One patissiere is working dilligently cutting the Carre Chocolat into the perfect sized squares.  Just above his head is the Micro-ondes (microwave).  Things are coming and going in and out of the microwave like clockwork.  He is doing a little dance to the tune of, "Pardon, excuse-moi" while performing his cutting task.  He gets a brief 4 minute break while the milk is heated to tres chaud in the microwave.  Other patissieres come in and out of the kitchen looking for keys or ingredients they couldn't find else where.  A third patissier, trying to be helpful (he is taller than me) goes to retreive the very hot milk from the microwave.  We now have three dance partners.  Someone missed a step and the rest is a blur of white. Afterwards there is hot milk streaming from microwave, onto the counter, over the blocks of Carre Chocolat and spilling onto the floor.  The kitchen is quiet, we exchange nervous glances and NO ONE dares to laugh.  

I say a silent THANK YOU GOD IT WASN'T ME.  

Composure is quickly regained, the mess is promptly clean up and the tasks are restarted, and I think everyone is a little more careful in their movements as the day's work continues. 

It's not the first big mess I've seen, nor will it be the last.  During the my two weeks on the night shift, one of the patissiers drops a large bucket of pistachio paste (not cheap!) directly upside down on the floor, creating a dark muddy green looking puddle.  Just last week, a fellow stagiare realized after pushing frozen coulis pieces into the rose cupcakes, that they were using Strawberry instead of the Raspberry that is supposed to be in there.  I quickly helped remove the Strawberry flavored ones and then helped redo the Raspberry.  

As you can see from the photo above, I have made my own messes as well.  Back when I was working on my cupcakes for cupcake camp I had a little mishap with my handheld mixer.  The container I was mixing in was not heavy enough to stay in one place as I mixed.  I had to keep one hand on the container and use the other hand to hold the mixer.  In a momentary lapse of concentration, my hand holding the container released it while I had the mixer on high speed.  The container spun wildly around, sending Chocolate cake batter in a 360 degree splatter pattern- on the floor, the door, the cabinets, the wall, the stove, the clean dishes, and me!  I'm still amazed none got on my shirt, my apron protected me well, but I felt like such an idiot.

This is why I am not a doctor.  I loved how one of my instructors at school always said, "there is no open heart on the table, it's just pastry".  The chef at Crema had another great saying, "you're allowed to make mistakes, just don't repeat the same one over and over".  This is another reason why I love what I do.  The stress is really only the stress you put on yourself. Yes, I want to produce beautiful and flawless pastries all the time, but it's nice to know I can still be human.  And in this business, sometimes you get to eat your mistakes and they can be quite delicious!

Laduree Week 4&5- Decor

After finishing my 2 weeks on the night shift, I had just one weekend to try to flip my sleeping schedule to accommodate a 7am start time.  On the first Monday of my new post, after much tossing and turning and difficulty trying to sleep, I got up and headed off to the Champs-Elysees once again.  It was strange walking into the kitchen bleary eyed and meeting with my coworkers of the past two weeks just as they were finishing work, and I was now just starting.

I've been meaning to write this post since I started my two week stint in the Decor department.  In my mind as the two weeks progressed my idea for this post changed, and now I am glad I waited to write it.  This is what Decor is:  If you go to the Laduree website the first thing you see as the page loads is what looks like a Christmas tree that has flying macarons attaching themselves to it.  When the animation finishes, it morphs into a photo of the famous Laduree Macaron pyramid.  Decor is the dept at Laduree responsible for making these, The whole thing (except the macarons, more on that later).  I remember my first day, just a few weeks ago, I walked past one of the smaller labs and caught a glimpse of one over 3 feet tall, covered in multitude of macarons, with a beautiful Etiquette made of White Chocolate place on it, and then another White Chocolate plaque with elegant looking writing saying "Catherine & Francois" and a date- it was going to be someone's wedding cake.  I stared wide-eyed and wide mouthed for a minute.  It was another one of those, oh my, I AM working at Laduree moments. Decor also makes several other Piece Montees (name for the large cake, macaron and cream puff creations) and as I was soon to find out, display pieces for the windows of the all the stores, including the ones outside of Paris.

If I hadn't known better, when I first started Decor, I would have thought I was being punished for bad behavior/performance.  It seemed like the place were you would send employees who you didn't trust to touch the real pastries yet.  I found the work tedious and boring from the start, but I was working with a staff of just 3 so, it was nice to be part of a small and much better organized group, then the seeming craziness of the larger kitchens.

My biggest problem with Decor, was really an issue with myself.  On the first day I was handed a bag of Glace Royal (Royal icing) and instructed to take a styrofoam form and practice piping a border for the base of the pyramids.  Ever wonder why you don't see elaborate hand-decorated cakes on my blog?  Because its not my strong point, and I have little patience with myself when trying to do these things.  I've never been good at playing video games, I can't draw a straight line to save my life, and if I were an artist, well my work would be of the abstract kind.

Decor quickly became my hell.  Piping the border is one thing, but then after I had emptied a bag of icing and told maybe tomorrow I could actually pipe on a base that we would keep, I was given another bag with a smaller tip and then it got worse.  Now I had to do stringwork. (this page here will show you the items I was working on in decor).  I had to pipe 3 little thing lines of icing,one at a time, letting them hang just so, and then attach them to the cake to look like a pretty little swag.  AND they have to be evenly spaced.  I wanted to cry.  They wouldn't let me quit.  I kept piping and wiping away the icing, and then doing it again.  Then finally my punishment for one day was fulfilled and I was given other less intricate tasks to do.

In Decor communication was a little easier working with the same 2-3 people each day and I learned the routine very quickly.  Going to the storage space to get the styrofoam cones and circles, making the Glace Royal, the process of covering the cones and circles quickly and then making sure the coating was not to thick and then setting them to dry.  Finally on Thursday of my first week, I got to start making the macaron pyramids.  On Friday when I arrived, I notice a familar set-up of two heat lamps over a silpat and a large pot boiling sugar syrup on a portable induction cook top.  The head chef of the dept was going to do sugarwork. 

I've mentioned before that I work with a lot of young men, practically boys to me.  It is because most of them start working in the pastry field as apprentices at the young age of 14.  Guilliame, the head chef of Decor, is only 18.  On my first day of working with him, I found it odd that someone so young was in charge of a dept already and so serious.  By later on in the week he had relaxed and stopped being so serious and started joking with me.  When I watched him move quickly with the sugar and pull perfect sugar ribbons (which I cannot do), I started to understand why he was the chef.  At the end of my two weeks I saw him complete all the decorating and the string work on a 6 tier wedding cake.  It was practically flawless.

My sleep schedule finally adjusted back to nights and I started to enjoy getting out of work by 4pm and having a good amount of time afterwork to do stuff.  My string work improved and by the end of my time in Decor I was allowed to pipe on the actual bases, but I still feel I need some work on it.  I think my counting in French improved during these two weeks as well.  I also learned a new word, "Factice" or artificial in English.  In Decor we made many Factice display pieces that were used in the window displays at the store and sent to other stores as well.  I made an entire pyramid of Factice pistachio macarons for a display.  A week later I discovered it in the Printemps window display on Rue Lafayette.

 Look closely behind my left shoulder

Factice macarons use the same meringue shell as the edible ones, but they are filled with Royal icing colored to make the normal filling so that they do not go bad.  You could technically eat one, but I wouldn't recommend it.

I have now passed another two weeks with the Entremets morning team, and will be starting in Bandes tomorrow morning. Time is flying by. I'll be playing catch up on my blog here soon.  Stay tuned!

Apricots

Fresh Apricots

 

My first taste of Apricots as a child was dried Apricots.  My mom would often buy them through a food co-op. We didn’t have them all the time, so they became a special treat.  I loved them.  Secretly I would pick through the bag, selecting the softer, slightly plump ones that gave way to a bit of a squeeze between my fingers. This meant that they were not too chewy and often times a little sweeter than the others.  I remember getting a cake from a church fair one time that had bits of Apricot in it.  It was so delicious and it was the first time it occurred to me that you could put the Apricots in things.  I was in college, I think, the first time I ate a fresh Apricot and a new love was born. 

The Apricot is another popular fruit here in France.  Almost every patisserie has a Tarte au abricot.  Laduree is now making a mini tart with Apricot and Pistachio, another flavor combination I like.  I also tasted an Apricot Pistachio macaron from Dallyaou when I visited in April and it was amazing.  Last summer I bought a few fresh Apricots from my favorite fruit stand on the rue de Commerce and used them to make my own Apricot tart with browned butter filling.

Praline bar: Chocolate with Hazelnut paste

The other day while buying groceries, Apricots were on sale, but I had to buy a 1 kg carton.  Pas du problem, I would just have to make a dessert.  At home I had a nice Praline Chocolate bar I had bought previously and I had been wanting to make a Hazelnut Dacqouise, inspired by one of my favorite treats at Laduree.  The plan started to come together.  I cooked most of the apricots down and pureed them.  I baked the Dacqouise, I melted the Praline bar and mixed it with crushed Gavottes biscuits and made a small layer to go on top of the Dacqouise.  Then I chopped a few Apricots into small pieces and scattered them across the top of the Praline layer.  Next I made a nice sweet-tart Apricot Mousse (the Apricots I bought were more tart then sweet).  I poured the mouse into the cake ring and then placed it in the freezer to set up.

Apricot Puree and Mousse base, 

 Pieces of Apricot on top of the Praline layer

 Finished Cake

Romain and I were invited to dinner at a friends house that night, so I took the cake with us for dessert.  When I presented the cake, everyone oooh and ahhhhed.  Then Romain thought it funny to say I had just bought it at a shop around the corner.  Good thing I had my camera with the photos I took along the way, or they might have believed him.  There were 6 of us, and we easily finished the entire cake.  I definitely plan to make this one again.  I saw that the Apricots are still on special in the grocery and are overflowing the bins in many of the fruit stands around me, so maybe there will be some other Apricot inspired desserts in the near future.

Paris Patisseries

I found an amazing new website/blog today.  I think if I couldn't work as a pastry chef anymore, I would want this woman's job.  Though I'd need to consider a serious fitness regime, unless she is vigilant and doesn't eat the whole dessert, but how can you resist?  Although now that I think about it, hardly a day goes by for me without dessert or something sweet....hmmmm

Anyway, check it out here: http://www.parispatisseries.com/ and I'll also be adding it to my blogroll and definitely be visiting some of these places as well. 

a tout a l'heure,
Jenni

Sugar OVERLOAD

Yes, I am quite aware of what I do for a living involves large amounts of sugar (amongst other delicious things).  However I generally try to exercise some self-discipline and not over indulge.  Well, Sunday was an exception, maybe even the whole weekend.  I spent most of Saturday in my kitchen preping my two cupcake flavors for my Cupcake Camp entry and of course this involved plenty of taste testing.  Fortunately Romain was a very willing (although slightly biased) taster, so I didn't have to do it all myself. It was also fortunate that the 90+ heat that had settled on Paris on Friday disappated and Saturday was a nice comfortable day, not too bad for cooking in a tiny, non-AC kitchen.

Here are my two cupcakes:

S'mores Cupcake

A Speculoos (cookie sort of like a graham cracker but more cinnamon flavored here in France) flavored cake with bits of broken Speculoos cookies, a Milk Chocolate ganache filling and topped with home made Marshmallow topping and Speculoos crumbles.  

Almond Joy

Chocolate cake filled with creamy Coconut filling and an Almond, topped with Milk Chocolate and a Coconut buttercream and Almond Flower. 

Yay, I made it to the judges!

I was quite pleased with both cupcakes, but the S'mores appeared to be the most popular.  As I fought to get through the crowd at Bistro Vivienne to deliver my cupcakes to the judges upstairs, I had several hands sneak cupcakes of my tray before I could object.  I feared none would make it to the judges.  After finally getting my cupcakes settled in upstairs, it was time to start sugar feast.  Thankfully I had several friends show up to help me taste cupcakes.  We made our rounds gathering the cupcakes we wanted to try and then gathered in the courtyard to share and critique. There were lots of pretty designs, and flavors ranging from traditional to exotic. 

 Flavors from top left to top right:

Dulce De Leche, unknown, Lemon Meringue

 Flavors from top left to right:

Rosewater Poppyseed,

something Chocolate,

Watermelon Wasabi

Some cupcakes we definitely liked better than others. I think the best one I tasted was the Dulce de Leche.  The cake was almost Angel Food like, if was filled with a lucious and creamy Ducle de Leche filling and topped with a nice light Caramel buttercream.  This one I could have eaten all by myself, but I shared. 

I think one of the reason my cupcakes went so fast (other than their great taste and appearance) was that they were minis- much easier to get a taste but not be too full to try the other tasty delights as well. 

Most interesting flavor was a Chocolate Fennel. I'm sure it was quite good, but if there is one flavor I don't like, it's Fennel, Anise or Licorice.  I tasted it by accident because Romain passed it to me after he tasted it. He said what it was, but all I heard was the Chocolate part, Fennel (in French) was lost in the noise of the crowd.  Apparently some other people either were unpleasantly surprised by the flavors they tasted, didn't have friends to share with, or had finally reached their sugar limit because half eaten cupcakes were left in discreet and more conspicous places. 

Poor half-eaten cupcake left in the stairwell.  Thankfully it wasn't one of mine.

At then end of the evening we couldn't look at another cupcake.  When we arrived home to find 5 extra S'mores cupcakes I had forgotten about in the kitchen still, Romain suggested we put them in the fridge.  Good idea, I may take them to my coworkers tomorrow.  Normally at lunch time at work I'd take a dessert, but when offered a macaron to try first thing Monday morning, I quickly turned it down without even thinking. 

I guess I'm going through detox. Hope it ends soon, I have a nice barquette of Apricots bought on sale and I'm itching to get back into the kitchen and make something.  

It is also time for me to start seriously job searching in Paris.  If anyone has any tips or advice, please send it my way, it would be greatly appreciated- I have no idea where to start, I just know I want to stay here.

Cupcake Camp Paris!

 Test Subject #1 for My Cupcake Camp Entry

In the midst of working La Nuit at Laduree and trying to catch up on sleep during the day, I've been quite busy in my petite cuisine.  My friend Lindsay of Lost in Cheeseland informed me of a cool event taking place (quite appropriately) on July 4th here in Paris.  It's called "Cupcake Camp".  I believe one was held in Boston shortly before I left for Paris, but I did not know enough about it in advance to participate.  Once I heard about Cupcake Camp Paris I had to join in on the fun. 

Now as many of you know, cupcakes have become quite the rage across the US.  What's not to love about individual sized yummy cakes in almost any flavor and decoration you can imagine?  Honestly I can't say I have the cupcake fever like so many, but I do like them.  Our cake decorator at Whole Foods created many great combinations for our store.  My favorite might have been the Banana Split Sundae cupcake- Vanilla cupcake filled with Chocolate ganache and Strawberry jam, topped with a scoop of Banana flavored buttercream, and sprinkled with chopped nuts.  Looked just like a Sundae.  I always enjoyed the days at WF when I got to help decorate the cupcakes, it was fun and a nice change of pace from finishing my mini pastries.

The event planners for Cupcake Camp Paris have been blown away by the response of people who want to make cupcakes and by people who want to come and eat cupcakes.  I'm excited to go and see what flavors and decor my fellow bakers have come up with, and I'm hoping to network and make some new Parisian friends as well.  If you are in Paris, its only 10 euros to get in and have a drink and eat all the cupcakes you want!  All the proceeds go to Rebuilding Haiti.  Find more information about the event here, including a list of bakers participating: http://cupcakecampparis.blogspot.com

In other news....
Tonight is my last night on the night shift at Laduree.  It's been a fun and challenging two weeks.  I'm going to miss that crazy group of boys, but I will see them in passing as I shift back to working days. I've got lots of fun memories, and lets just say don't let boys with lighters play with alcohol based sanitizer.......oh kitchens!

In the Night Kitchen - Week 2

"The Bakers who bake till Dawn, so we can have cake in the morn......"  
                          -In the Night Kitchen, Maurice Sendak

Who Wouldn't Like to Wake Up to This Every Morning?

It was my first job out of high school at a local bakery, where I  learned to love coffee.  No, scratch that, not love, started to need it's power punch of caffeine early in the morning.  I would often start work at 5am and first chore on the list was brew the coffee.  All the donuts and pastries were already made by a night shift that had started at midnight and finished some time before I arrived (it was a very small shop).  Once I got to fill in on the donut making shift.  I came to work at Midnight and Finished around 4am.  In my young mind, at first I couldn't understand why the donuts had to be made at night.  Then it occurred to me, how else would they be ready for those first customers at 6am?

It's now 6:30 am Paris time, do you know where your favorite Pastry Chef is???  I'm just finishing my 8 hour night shift at Laduree.  All the lovely little pastries have been decorated, garnished with fresh berries, and the tiny little Etiquettes (little gold oval pieces of paper with Laduree Paris on them) have been properly placed.  I see carts of fresh-from-the-oven Croissants, Pain au Chocolat, Brioche Sucre and Canneles ready to be sent up to the store front for Petit Dejuener of many Parisians.   I can't decided if I'm more hungry or more tired, but I'm happy!


So I have survived my second week at Laduree (first on the night shift).  I hasn't been as difficult as I imagined.  I am almost nocturnal now, working all night and sleeping away most of the day.  It helps that Redbull is available in France. The night time staff is mostly young men (younger than me).  Everyone has been nice.  I feel I had a better start with them.  Maxim is the head chef on my first night.  He asks (in French) if I speak French.  Oui, I speak just a little, but I explain that if  he speaks slowly and simply, I can mostly understand.  He seems to take this into consideration, as does most of the staff.  I find myself understanding them better than some of the day staff. 

I am told to work with Bastien.  We start with assembling the Isphan.  Rosey rounds of biscuit meringue, topped with a dab of Rose Buttercream, fresh Raspberries and Litchis and topped with another round, so it almost looks like a fancy round Raspberry sandwich.  It is explained to me to turn all the tops so that the end where the spiral of meringue was finished being piped is in the back.  I sigh a happy sigh, this is the level of precision and detail in pastry that makes me giddy, I get it!  Then 2 dabs of buttercream are added to the top; one to anchor another fresh Raspberry, and the other to anchor the Rose petal.  It's midnight and I'm tearing petals off of gorgeous, deep red roses.  Instead of chanting, he loves me, he loves me not, I wonder how many customers (American tourists in particular) try to eat the Rose petal, or a try to ask if it is edible?  The Etiquette is rested against the Raspberry.  The final touch is little dots of gelatin-like mixture piped from a frosting bag onto the Rose petals so they look as if they have been kissed by the morning dew.  After 2 nights of doing this, I"m over the novelty, but I think if I could take a picture of it and send it to my mother, she would sigh. 

The Laduree Etiquette

Next we start the Harmonie.  Much like the Fraisier cake, it combines the flavors of Pistachio and Strawberry.  I love it.  We take the pistachio green meringue rounds from the freezer and fill them with a little Pistachio mousseline.  Then we thinly slice Fresh Strawberries and place them on top of the mousseline. Then another layer of mousseline.  Halved Strawberries have been sprayed with a vanilla glaze, and are arranged just so on top of the mousseline.  One night I am shown by Bastien to arrange 2 in the back, 1 in the middle, and 2 laying sideways in the front.  Three nights later, Fabian observes me doing this and says, no no no, comme ca..... I stop and just shake my head.  I can't even begin in my little French to tell him, that it was how I was shown before.  I just say Bastien, and point.  We laugh. I think he gets it, but I do it his way with the Strawberries pointing up in front.  I think it looks better anyway.

After finishing the Harmonies, if we are doing well on time, we take a short break. Sometimes Maxim finds some food for us, probably left overs from the Laduree kitchen.  I now carry a fork in my pocket because of this.  Otherwise I have to eat with my fingers, it's like camping.  When the break is over, I usually get sent to another kitchen to help with finishing the tarts and this is where I end my long night.

In tarts I fill small pate sucree crusts with a Rhubarb compote and then carefully arrange tiny Frais de Bois strawberrys on top.  I don't understand the Frais de bois.  I don't think they are pretty, the coloring is never consistent, and they are often very mushy.  I ask Damien if they taste good. He doesn't think so.  I finally taste one and it's not bad.  Sweet, and almost kind of floral tasting.  I try to imagine it with the Rhubarb. Once the tiny Frais are all placed perfectly, I pipe a spiral of Strawberry gelee on top and of course, don't forget the etiquette!

About 5am the early morning staff starts to trickle in.  One by one, coming in to say Bonjour and give a kiss, or grasp your wrist for a shake if you are busy working.  Damiem tells me to go ask for the Cuit Sucre, or cooked sugar.  I am given several plaques of hardened caramel colored sugar that I then break into pieces to be melted down.  Several kilos of butter and a small amount of pectin is added, we are making the caramel for the Tart Tatins.  I tried one the other day and it was good, but way too buttery for my tastes.   I'd prefer to taste more of the apples.  I find it clever the way they make the individual Tart Tatins.  Large silicon flexi-molds.  A laddle full of the caramel goes in each round mold.  Then 1 and 1/2 apples are pushed in on top of the caramel.  Someone, probably in the oven room places the butter rounds of dough on top before baking them in the oven.  Then the following night I may have to take them out of the flexi-molds before starting the process over.

I am now bleary eyed and thinking of my bed.  We clean the kitchens, mopping the floors and washing the marble counters.  Make sure things are put away.  Our aprons are collected to be washed and I make my rounds saying goodbye to the staff before I go change out of my uniform. Then its up the stairs and into the day light on the Champs-Elysees.  I walk to my metro stop, passing the fruite and vegetable vendors setting up there stalls, deliveries are being made to the restaurants along the street and everyone is getting ready for the day.  At Laduree there are lots of fresh buttery Croissants, Brioche and other delights waiting for the first of the day's customers. 

So next time you are up early and visiting your local bakery or pastry shop, enjoy the first cup of coffee or tea, keep in mind all the work that went into making sure that pastry was fresh and waiting for you that morning.

In steaming on into Week 3 at Laduree with the night team.  Lots of other exciting things happening as well, that I will share after I catch up on a little more sleep.

Laduree Week 1

It's currently 1:15 am on  Saturday morning in Paris.  I'd like to say I am just getting home from having dinner and drinks at some fabulous restaurant in Paris, but I'm sitting on the couch trying to stay awake for a few more hours even thought I spent all last week in the south of France trying to fast forward my internal clock.  Now I'm  trying to turn it back.  No, it hasn't been so bad that I am returning to the US immediately, but I'll explain shortly.  First I'm going to continue to write in my struggle to stay awake after another busy day on my feet in the underground Kitchen of Laduree at 75 rue de Champs-Elysees.

So much to tell!  First I'm sorry that there will be no photos of the kitchen and what I am doing at Laduree.  As much I would love to share, there is a time and place for everything, and this kitchen is not the place for taking photos and looking even more like an American Tourist.  I wouldn't even have the time to take photos, so I will try my best to convey all the mental images in my mind.  Really though, after just 4 days my head is over flowing with images of lovely pastries, industrial size portions of Creme patisserie, and the boys piping chartreuse strands of meringue into dizzying spirals over and over and over again onto plaques before sending them off to the oven.

I'm struggling to organize my thoughts because it really is overwhelming to be working in such a space.  There are at least 40+ young and energetic patissiers working in these kitchens (that seemed like a maze on my first day, but I've finally got it mapped out in my mind, I think).   I arrived at 8am on Tuesday morning and presented my convention de stage. Someone was summoned from the kitchens to direct me and I was led down the back winding staircase from the main offices to the basement kitchens.  I was introduced to several people, asked if I had a uniform and then shown the changing room and given a locker.  After changing, Raphaele (female) gave me a quick tour of the kitchens and brief explanations of each station, introducing me to the team members as well, all in rapid fire French.  What have I gotten myself into?  My head was already spinning.

I was then left to work with Desiree, a young lady from Venezuela.  When she started to speak English to me, I felt a guilty sense of relief.  I know I am in a French kitchen.....but they talk so fast, and I still know too little. Desiree is in charge of preparing the Verrines for Le Bar.  They are beautiful short, tumbler like glasses filled with yummy stuff.  Chocolate Intensement, Mont Blanc, A Rose and Framboise mini St Honore and another with Framboise and puff pastry as well.  I helped with these and then we prepared the Fraisier cake.  This is similar to the Poem cake I made in school, and a very popular pastry here in France.  It usually consists of a two layers of thin genoise cake with Kirsch creme and fresh Strawberries in between and it cut so that you see the strawberries facing out on the sides.  Laduree's uses Creme Pistache (a pistachio flavored creme) instead.  This is a flavor combination you find in several of their other pastries as well.

My Poem Cake from School

After finishing the Fraisier, Desiree and I moved into the other kitchen and helped with pouring a liquid citrus coulis into flex molds with candied citrus rind to make filling layers for the citron meringue cake.  I filled enough molds to fill an entire rolling bakers rack and then rolled it into the large refrigerator.  Then it was time for lunch.

Lunch, like in most kitchens, is provided for you and you eat with your team.  Laduree is no exception.  The food is good and basic, but always very French; baguette, lots of cheese and the occasional saucisson or pate.  However, the one thing I wish was not pointed out to me is the refrigerator in the corner of the of the lunch room.  It really is an evil thing.  Inside are poor little pastries that did not sell and are still consumable, but not sellable, and they are free for the eating during lunch time.  I tried to tell myself on my first day, I would only indulge once a week.  For instance; Mondays, it would be a good way to start off the week.  But then I reasoned today that I had worked hard and it was Friday, I deserved a little treat for the start of my weekend.  I'm so in trouble (and Romain is very jealous).

After lunch it was back to the kitchen where the pace picked up considerably.  Everyone wanted to finish and get out on time.  I frosted a gazillion Rose cupcakes and helped with a few other tasks before 5:30-6pm when the cleaning madness began.  I arrived home around 7pm, I think, and actually felt pretty energized for having worked all day.

My coworkers seem nice.  There are people from everywhere: Venezuela, Turkey, Martinique, different areas of France, and one gal who was born in Peru but has lived just about everywhere else.  Some speak English well, others none.  I appreciate the ones who do speak English and jump in to explain things to me when I'm lost, but I also enjoy the challenge of trying to communicate with the ones who don't speak English at all.  The lead chef in the kitchen told me straight away he was only going to speak French with me (he knows a little English) explaining I am in a French Kitchen, in France, blah, blah.  Oui, I understand, but everyone talks so fast!  My biggest fear, especially after having a harder day today, is that people will get frustrated with the language barrier and not want to have me working under them.  I know I get a little frustrated.  I just want them to know, I am here to work, here to learn, just because I may not always understand every word they say, I understand what they are doing.  If anyone knows of a faster way to learn French then working in a kitchen and living in Paris, please tell me.  Thanks!

On Tuesday I was lucky to have Ingrid (the citizen of the world) give me another tour of the kitchens in English, and explain my schedule to me.  The kitchens are divided into several stations: Entremets, Verrines, Tour, Bandes, and Decor.  Over the next 2 1/2 months I will work my way through each area in about 2 week stints.  This week I was working in Entremets.  Entremets prepares a lot of the bits and pieces for the larger pastries, cakes and some individuals.  I piped meringues, made cremes and coulis, and prepped cupcakes with them.  I spent the first half of today working in Bandes.  I helped fill the choux puffs for the Religieuse (like a double cream puff, that is supposed to look like a nun).  The Bandes team also prepares the individual desserts that involve mousses and chocolate, ect. 

The different departments have different start times.  This week I started work at 9am and finished at 6 with the Entremets team.  Now the explanation for why I am staying up so late.  I am leaving the Entremets team for now and will return to them later, well the morning team that is.  Starting Sunday evening at 10:30pm I join the Entremets Nuit Team for 2 weeks.  I will be working 10:30pm to 6:30am (though Desiree says the often finish later than 6:30....).  I can't say I'm really looking forward to it, but it is part of the training and thankfully for only 2 weeks (hopefully not more later).  It is the reality of this business.  But on the other hand, thanks to a nifty law in France, I cannot be scheduled to work weekends since I am an "intern".  That was a luxury I didn't even have in the US!

It's now 2:20am Paris time.  I'm really trying to make it till 3am.  Thank goodness Redbull is available in France, otherwise I'm not sure how I am going to make it the next 2 weeks.  It's not likely you will hear much from me during those 2 weeks.  They say what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.  I'm hoping for the later, and that I'm not too tired to still practice my French, a la Rosetta stone.

Here I Go Again.

Hello from Paris.  Time has flown by again and here I am back in the city of Food, and most particularly PASTRY!.   I was quite busy leading up to my departure from the US.  Packing for 3 months abroad is not easy.  My cookware and other belongings that could not come with me had to be sent off to storage or loaned out to eager friends. 

Before packing everything up, I did a fair amount of baking.  I made a lovely Lemon Raspberry Charlotte for my good friend Chef Chudy.  It was a surprise birthday cake for his girlfriend.  I've made this cake on a few other occassions for him, and he is quite a fan.  I'm really loving making my own Lady Fingers (or Biscuit a cuillere as the French call them) and my love affair with the Charlotte continues...

I spent the last few months living with a lovely lady and her 7 year old son as a kind of live-in babysitter and all around helper.  There was no keeping a secret of what my day job was from her friends, and so it was requested that we have a dessert party.  I gladly agreed; it would give me a chance to practice a few desserts I hadn't made in a while before I departed for Paris.  I went all out and with inspiration from JJ, I hand rolled all the apples for the Brown Butter Apple Tart to look like little roses.  I thought it turned out looking a little like worms instead, but everyone seemed impressed. 

The menu for the evening also included: Tarte au Citron, Rum Pastry Creme filled Cream Puffs, Moelleux au Chocolat, Chocolate Chip Cookies, and my favorite savory tart of Tomatoes, Olives, Brie and fresh herbes.   There were not many leftovers, and I was feeling very over sugared, but very pleased with my execution of the desserts and delivery. 

After the party, I hosted a small bake sale to raise some extra money for my plane ticket to Paris.  I made over 100 Buckeyes, 100 Whiskey Truffles, 12 dozen Chocolate Chip Cookies and 3 Dozen Madeleines.  I think I may have a calling for the mail order business.  Or next time if I have more time, I'll open the sale up to more people.  With one week left in Boston, I took a break from cooking and focused on my summer.

I arrived in Paris last Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning Romain and I headed to the south of France for a little vacation.  A few days to help me adjust to the 6 hour time change and prepare myself for my exciting internship. We drank Rose, ate lots of fresh seafood and lots of specialties of Provence, (some really yummy Olive Tapenade) and I got to see the Mediterannean Sea for the first time and dip my toes in too.

So after about two weeks break from the kitchen, I'm ready to dive in.  Tomorrow morning I start my internship at Laduree.  I have my uniform, my shoes, my notebook, sharpie and my French Dictionary.....am I forgetting anything?   Wish me luck!

Grown Up Tastes

Fresh Rhubarb

I may have mentioned it before and I will mention again, and some of you may be surprised: I was quite the picky eater as a child.  Ask my mother and she will confirm it.  I can name on long list of items that probably many young kids are not big fans of: Lima beans, Brussel Sprouts, Spinach (maybe it had to do with the color green?).  It almost seems the better it was for me, the more I rejected it.  The idea of eating asparagus was appalling to me; Mushrooms, meh!  Then my mother tried to sneak Tofu into stirfrys, and Swiss chard into fritters.  I remember more than one night sitting at the kitchen table staring into a plate of long since gone cold veggies, wishing I had laser vision and could magically transport them to the trash or make them disappear while my parents weren't looking. 

My how things have changed.  It started slowly, probably when I was in college.  One day the idea of a spinach quiche sounded amazingly alluring.  Pizza arrived with Mushrooms and it was too much a bother to pick them off, and well they kinda tasted good.  Somehow Tofu, Asparagus and Brussel Sprouts have sneaked into my diet as well, along with Sushi and some other things I swore I'd never eat as a child. As I get older, I become more and more of an adventurous eater, but there are no worries that I'll be putting that guy (Andrew Zimmerm?) on the travel channel out of business anytime soon.

It's a shame looking back on my childhood that I turned my nose up at so many great veggies, some of them even grown by my mother on our own land; a luxury in this day and age.  There were some veggies procured from our garden that I adored: fresh juicy tomatoes, Sweet corn, Zuchinni and Yellow Squash.  My mother also grew Rhubarb.  However I always kinda of thought of the Rhubarb as an accident plant.  It wasn't really in the garden; it grew in an old location closer to the driveway, next to the propane take for the house.  Since my mother once had me collect Dandelion heads to put in fritters, I thought maybe this poor plant had just grown up there and my mother decided to use it.  Rhubarb Cobbler or Crisp seemed to be the main use of this strange, reddish celery looking plant (and I didn't like celery either).  Sometimes it would be mixed with other fruits like Strawberries.  I would eat it because, well it was a dessert, but was never really sure if I liked it or not.  It was odd to me, sweet and yet sour.

 Rhubarb and Tea Tart from Mariage Freres

Last March when visiting Paris, I saw Rhubarb being used a lot, including Rhubarb yogurt in the grocery store.  Its seems to be quite a popular flavor in France.  Romain and I had brunch at the Tea Salon, Mariage Freres, during my visit.  Our brunch included our choice of dessert from the dessert display.  Our waiter had us walk over to the display and he went through describing each item.  One dessert choice was a tart with Rhubarb and Tea. It had a nice crumbly topping and flecks of little dried blue flowers from the tea. Romain immediately chose this dessert.  I took a slice of tart with caramelized pastry creme and fresh berries.  I asked Romain about the Rhubarb, he said it was something he really liked, and especially in a crumble.  I tried a bite of the tart and it was really good. 

 Rhubarb Crumble made for Le Cafe du Commerce

Last summer we made a Rhubarb crumble as the dessert du jour one day.  I love the rosy shade of pink the Rhubarb becomes when it is baked.  The crumble looked fantastic and I'm sure it was a hit at Le Cafe du Commerce, but I didn't try any of it that day.  I kept seeing Rhubarb in the markets and meaning to buy some to make a crumble at home....  Last week on a trip to Russo's in Watertown, I finally bought some Rhubarb.  The vibrant red stalks are hard to miss or ignore.  I brought them home and a few days later I made my crumble.  

 Crumble Ready for the Oven

Here is how I made it.  First I cut the stalks into small bite size pieces and tossed them with a few tablespoons of sugar.  I then set them aside.  I prepared a crumble topping with equal portions of Flour, Sugar and butter and then added some old fashioned oats.  (meanwhile thinking I should take measurements so I can recreate this later....).  I then divided the Rhubarb up into two oven proof ramekins. I had only bought a few stalks, so I had just enough for two.  I used my hands to break the butter up into the flour and sugar till it looked like coarse crumbs and then stirred in the oats, and then generously spread it over the top of the ramekins.  The crumbles baked at 350 for about 25 mins till the Rhubarb was soft and bubbly.  I barely let them cool before I dug into to one.  It amazes me how something so simple can be so good and comforting, and I immediately regretted not buying more Rhubarb.   The stalks often catch my eye in the produce section at work now, and all I can  think about is crumble.

Mmmmmmm, Delicious

I'm very happy for Rhubarb to join the ranks of Spinach and Tofu in the list of things I now like to eat as a grown up, I'm sorry I shunned it in the past.  Today I found a great recipe in the Boston Globe today for a savory use of Rhubarb I am eager to try.  However until I find a good recipe for poor Lima beans, they are  staying put in the dislike catagory, sorry.