Posts from — December 2011
Game Time!
Neither Dave nor I have been home together since last week, so there has been no cooking of any sort occurring in my kitchen all week long! On top of that, not much progress has been made on the Christmas decorating front. I think I am in denial that Christmas is less than 3 weeks away. The cart by the pool and this cute vintage toy bin, that I recently found, are the ONLY two decorations I have up so far. Seriously, no tree, no nothing yet!
December 8, 2011 9 Comments
Crafts 101 – Part 3
In the top photo, you are feasting your eyes upon Peggy’s scrumptious “Feliz Navidad” wreath. And below is my “Joyeux Noel” banner, not yet attached to a wreath. I still need to get to Trader Joe’s to pick up my fresh wreath… I’ll get there…
December 7, 2011 2 Comments
individual sweetness
I made these luxurious little toffee cakes for the last class of my three-week series at Les Gourmettes Cooking School last Wednesday night and then served them again for a dinner party at a friend’s home last night. They are a true Christmas treat. Make, share, and enjoy!
December 5, 2011 No Comments
lovely crème fraîche
Weekly Tip #9
According to the “source of all knowledge” – Wikipedia – “Crème fraîche originates from Normandy in France, where the crème fraîche from a defined area around the town of Isigny-Sur-Mer in the Calvados department of Normandy is highly regarded and is the only cream to have AOC (‘Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée’) status, which was awarded in 1986.”
Crème fraîche is a matured thickened cream with a slightly tangy, nutty flavor and a velvety rich texture, thicker and richer than sour cream. Crème fraîche is particularly useful in finishing sauces in French cooking because it does not curdle.
Although you can find it at Trader Joe’s and many other grocery stores today, that was not the case only a few short years ago. What’s a French-loving person to do? Make your own, of course! And I often still choose to do so. It is easy and less expensive, and with the holidays on the doorstep, I am sure to be using plenty of it. And what a wonderful hostess gift to give to a cook! I love the packaging in that top photo… I just may have to do this! GO HERE to order the labels and HERE for the tags, if you would like.
December 4, 2011 No Comments
festive duck
First things first – Happy Birthday to my BBF, Jennifer Markett, who lives in Illinois! I LOVE YOU! And if you were here with me, I would be serving you this wonderful duck strudel! xoxo
Pictured above is my collection of authentic vintage French confit pots. Pretty, aren’t they? Duck confit has been a preservation method, for cooking and keeping duck in its rendered fat in France, for centuries. It results in supremely tender, moist, and extremely flavorful duck. You can then sear the duck legs in a hot skillet and serve them as is, shred the meat and add it to salads, or into the delicious and festive strudel recipe, I have for you below.
One of the great things about this strudel is that you can assemble the entire thing a month in advance and freeze it. Pop it in the oven for your Christmas celebrations and impress your guests! It is out of this world glorious!
A sealed glass jar of confit may be kept in the refrigerator for up to six months, or several weeks if kept in a reusable plastic container. To maximize preservation, the fat should top the meat by at least one inch. As the fat turns solid and prevents any air from reaching the meat, so basically the confit technique is a way of hermetically sealing the meat. The cooking fat acts as both a seal and preservative and results in a very rich taste.
I have been collecting authentic confit pots from France for a while now. Before refrigerators, the pots were used to “refrigerate” the confit. The entire inside of the pot is glazed and the glaze drips decoratively down the outside rim of the pot. The rest of the outside of the pot is left unglazed. The pot was filled with the duck and sealed with the fat. The pot was then buried in the cold mud and the unglazed outside of the pot would soak up that coldness and keep the duck confit perfectly chilled until ready to dig out and use.
The amount of duck confit used in this recipe is small, only 4 ounces. So instead of going to the trouble to make my own confit, I purchased a leg quarter from Chef Vincent Guerithault of the famed Vincent’s on Camelback. Call ahead, and Chef Guerithault will happily sell you some too. Or you can make your own duck confit, I’ve included a recipe from Epicurious.com at the bottom of this post. It is not difficult, just time-consuming. You will need to salt the duck for at least 24 hours before beginning and you have to render duck fat from the duck skin, which I have posted about before. The link on how to do that is there in the recipe too. But if you just purchase the confit, you can get going on the strudel recipe…. right now!
December 3, 2011 1 Comment
pink and green…
… is kinda of red and green, which makes this very pretty appetizer or brunch pizza perfect for Christmas.
Naan can be found on the bread aisle at most grocery stores, at Trader Joe’s, or at Costco. And smoked mozzarella with other specialty cheeses. But if you can’t find the mozzarella, substitute smoked Gouda.
December 2, 2011 1 Comment
baby girl
Happy 24th Birthday to my gorgeous, talented, loving, conscientious, kind, beautiful, wonderful daughter, Marissa!
I’m hoping you won’t mind all these pictures I’m going to post here. From this top one taken during the last months of your senior year at the University of Arizona… to this one when you were the only ballerina in black tights – when you were just over four years old.
Then there is this next picture, taken on your fourth birthday. You were obviously NOT happy that there was snow on the saguaros on December 1st in Arizona! Some things don’t change – you’re still always saying it’s too cold.
December 1, 2011 6 Comments
