Custard Apple Soufflé...Worth the Sweat!

Mark Twain called it "the most delicious fruit known to men". The Custard Apple, also known as, Cherimoya in the Andes is a fruit that is often mistaken as an artichoke because of its scaled green skin. Many 'Tweeple', have guessed correctly about the fruit, giving it numerous names used in their culture, and others thought it was Durian fruit! As you can see, this exotic fruit is not yet well known to everyone, but it remains one that continues to be discovered because of its sweet and delectable taste. It's great in drinks, gelatos and cakes. They can be purchased at any local Asian grocery store or any fruit and vegetable market. I haven't seen them in regular supermarkets. You can ask for custard apples, sugar apples or Cherimoyas. They are seasonal and available between the Fall and early Winter.

The fruit is fleshy and soft, sweet, white in color, with a sherbet-like texture, which gives it its secondary name, custard apple. Some characterize the flavor as a blend of banana, pineapple, papaya, peach, and strawberry. I would compare it more closely to a very ripe pear with a creamy texture.

I also enjoy eating it on its own with a spoon.

For the pleasure of it, I made these fabulous soufflés and this time they turned out really phenomenal! Since the custard apples have a similar texture as that of a very ripe pear, I lined the ramequins with grated chocolated. Divine....
The house smelled heavenly as these little gems were baking and rising in the oven.

And here they are again, hangin' in there but still standin' after 2 full minutes!!

Preparation : 30 minutes (45 minutes first time around), Cooking time : 15-20 minutesRecipe « au pif » (GR recipe with a twist) :
1 Custard apple
1 ripe banana (peeled and cut in huge pieces)
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
150 ml milk
100 ml cream
3 fresh eggs (separate yolk from egg white – put aside)
3 tbps granulated sugar (1/2 the amount if using raw cane sugar)
1 tbsp flour
½ tbsp corn starch

Preheat oven at 370F

Making the custard :Heat sauce pan on medium-high and pour in the milk and cream. Wait about 2-3 minutes for the milk and cream to boil.

In a mixing bowl, whisk vigorously 3 egg yolks and the sugar until you’ve reached a smooth mixture.

Whisk in the flour and corn starch into the egg and sugar mix. This is to thicken the pastry cream, giving it body.

Take the hot milk and cream and add only a splash into the egg mixture (so as not to cook the eggs). Whisk vigorously until you reach a nice and smooth texture. Then, add the rest of milk and cream mixture and continue whisking for about 30 seconds. Put the pan back on the heat and pour the egg and milk/cream mixture to the pan to cook it out. Whisk vigorously, making sure you get all the corners in the pan so that your custard doesn’t become lumpy. You should obtain a nice, thick and creamy custard.

Soufflé filling:
Cut the apple custard in half and scoop out all the flesh, seeds and juices, putting them into a sieve to get all the juice off the seed.

Blend the apple custard, banana and squeeze of lemon juice.

Add in the apple custard/banana mix to the pastry cream and mix until well incorporated.

The nice thing about this soufflé recipe is that the flavoured custard can be prepared and refrigerated 2-3 days before preparing the final mix and baking it for yourself or your guests.

Preparing the ramequins (4 large or 6 small):
* important tip : make sure that your soufflé does not stick to the ramequins so as to allow it to rise evenly, nice and high*
Grease the ramequins with softened butter with a pastry brush.
Line the ramequins with either sugar or granulated chocolate.

Refrigerate the greased and lined ramequins in the fridge for about 10-15 minutes so as to let the butter solidify and set.

In a mixing bowl, add a drop of lemon juice to the egg white and whisk with electric mixer.
Add ½ the amount of sugar, then gradually add the rest of the sugar to the egg white until you reached a meringue texture.

Add 1/3 of the meringue to the pastry cream and whisk vigorously for a few seconds to remove any lumps.
Add the remaining 2/3 of the meringue to the pastry cream and gently fold the meringue and evenly mix the meringue until you’ve reached a silky and smooth texture.


*Important tips for filling the ramequins successfully*
Fill the ramequins only half-full with a ladle. Bang the ramequins on a kitchen cloth (folded in four), on the counter, so that the mixture hits the bottom of the ramequins and the soufflé mixture hits all the corners of the ramequins. This will allow the soufflé to rise evenly. Repeat with all ramequins.

Now fill all ramequins right at the very top with the remaining mixture. Remove any excess of the mixture with a knife and wiping it off with one clean sweep so that you have a nice even and straigh top.

Create a little ridge. Run the tip of your thumb around the edges of the ramequin. Repat with all ramequins. The ridge stops the soufflé from hanging over the side as it starts to rise.

Pop the ramequins into the oven for about 15-20 minutes. Watch them rise!

After 15-20 minutes, your soufflés must have ‘love handles’ which is a sign of a perfect soufflé.

Sprinkle a little bit of icing sugar over the soufflés. Soufflés won’t stay up very long, so serve them immediately, nice and warm.

Serves 6.

Share and enjoy!

Ginger Spiced Cauliflower Gratin

Let's talk about relationships.   I don't mean human relationships since it's somewhat of a complex domain (we'll leave that to the shrinks), but no more so than trying to figure out which spices would make a perfect marriage with whichever vegetables, meats or seafood.   For a while now, I've been experimenting with a few recipes including fresh and even ground dry ginger.  It is by far the spice I use the most in the kitchen : in savoury dishes, soups, desserts and hot drinks.  In fact, it's so versatile that it's become a commodity in most households around the world.  Its medicinal properties is known to help cleanse our bodies and improve digestion, and its hot fragrance and taste is culinarily used to enhance flavour to food.

Getting back to the topic of marriage or relationships, I think you'd agree that there's an inevitable harmony between ginger and vegetables.   For starters, most vegetables are bland and often require seasoning to bring out their true flavour.   Ginger does just that.   Using a bouquet of cauliflower, from which  I cut out its stalk and surrounding thick green leaves, I blanched and seasoned the flower heads with salt, pepper and paprika and sprinkled with finely chopped coriander and grated fresh ginger.  Cream and cheese were then poured over the flower buds for baking to give the dish a creamy texture.  The entire process takes 30 minutes at the most.  Doesn't it just hit the spot on a chilly Fall day?

Preparation : 15 minute, Baking : 15 minutes

Recipe "au pif":
1 large cauliflower, stalk and leaves removed, cut into separate flower buds, rinsed, blanched in boiling water for 5 minutes
1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp ground paprika
1/4 grated fresh ginger
1 tbsp fresh coriander
3/4 cup heavy cream  (I used 5% thickened cooking cream, or simpy use the good 35% stuff)
handful of shredded cheese (emmental, swiss, your choice)
butter (optional)


Preheat oven at 350F

Blanch the cauliflower in boiling water for about 5 minutes.  Discard water

Display the flower buds into a large baking dish and season with salt, pepper and paprika.

Sprinkle with grated fresh ginger (tip: freeze the ginger first, it'll be easier to grate, won't be stringy) and coriander.

Pour cream evenly over the cauliflower and sprinkle the cheese.

Add small nuts of butter for richer flavour and aroma. (that's optional)

Bake for about 15 minutes or until the top is slightly golden.


Serves about 2 people if served as a main dish, or 4 people if served as a side dish.

Share and enjoy!

Making a Great French Omelette Takes A Bit of Practice First Time Around

QlinArt's French Country Style Omelet vs Chef Jacques Pépin's French Country Style Omelet

Ok, right off the bat, my omelet obviously doesn't look esthetically appealing compared to Chef Jacques Pépin's perfect oval and creamy omelet on the right side of the picture.   However, since I like my omelet to be a little wet and creamy inside, just like Monsieur Pépin likes his, my omelet turned out amazingly rich and delicious with all the butter and fragrance from the chives.   As far as working on the presentation, I can fix that with continuous practice.   I haven't mastered the technique just yet, but I'm convinced that I will soon.  Chef Pépin was not joking when he said at the beginning of his video that making an omelet is quite difficult and that a simple dish like this one is not all it's cracked up to be.

In fact, the 'omelette with chives' that I made this morning was incredibly succulent that I couldn't help myself but to savour it all and not able to leave one bite for any of my loved ones.  How selfish of me, but, hey, when the others aren't present and there's a warm plate of good food waiting around, I ain't wasting it.  You can't eat an omelet after it's been refrigerated.   It needs to be eaten fresh!  Oh, and a little change I made to this omelet was to add a dash of fish sauce instead of salt.  Only Vietnameses would understand the reason of my doing so.  For most who have grown up with Vietnamese families, fish sauce in eggs is exquisite and it is very hard to go back to regular salt when it comes to cooking eggs.

I've included Chef Jacques Pépin's omelet making technique video just below in this post and the simple recipe for you to try out.  Let me know how yours turns out, I would love to hear from you!

Recipe of French Country-Style omelet by Jacques Pépin "au pif":

4 eggs beaten vigorously

pinch of salt

pinch of freshly ground pepper

chopped chives

butter

Follow the technique from the video! Would love to read your comments!

Bon appétit!

Long Weekend Brunch Prepared by Little Chef Serena

QlinArt is pleased to present talented little Chef Serena who was more than happy to prepare fluffy pancakes for this weekend's brunch. How could I say no to a little cook who wears her Chef's hat so well?

Thanksgiving weekend in Canada meant long days to feast and to enjoy the time off.  What better way to spend it than diving into life's simple pleasures ; eating great food with wonderful company.   The sun was shining, temperatures hitting the 20s celcius in October, and 3 days of indulgence in recreational sleep and cooking.

Eating fresh-from-the-oven croissants, fresh fruit and pancakes on a late Saturday morning was a good way to kick-start the well-deserved long weekend.   These lighter-than-air pancakes, also referred to as 'soufflé American-style pancakes' by renowned Chef Gordon Ramsay are so easy to make, that any 3 year old can prepare the batter from scratch and watch each ladle of it brown slowly on the griddle.     Watch little Serena, my friend Farah's daughter, prepare the batter nonchalantly as she was distracted by our happy 13 year old dog wagging his tail, 2 sleeping cats, and the movie Ratatouille all just a few feet away from her.

The recipe of the soufflé pancakes can be found here by just clicking on the picture below.

Enjoy the video and bon appétit!

LUNCH AT WORK

I'd like to welcome guest writer Antonio Marra who contributed to QlinArt with this funny article on Lunch at Work.

For those of you with young children be advised that this article may cause irreversible side effects to their state of mind. Why you ask? Well it’s about a taboo subject only adults should talk about. Kind of like talking about who’s going to get dressed as Santa this year or how you managed to sneak a dollar under your daughter’s pillow to get to the tooth without waking her up.

We’re going to talk about lunch, the dreaded meal you have while at work. Are you one of those that go to work with a brown bag everyday or do you follow the herd and go somewhere that does it for you? Are considered a scrooge that never spends a dime or are you considered a shrewd investor that knows how to save a buck? Are you concerned about your health and are careful with what you eat?
Whatever the answers to these questions, what factors do you consider when preparing your feast for the next day? I’ve taken some of these factors and used them as a recipe for success (no pun intended):
Health factor: Are we following the recommended portions and getting something from each of the food groups?

Effort: How much time and effort is required to prepare it. Can we simply use leftovers (double wammy on the cheapo concept BTW) or is it made from scratch with fresh ingredients?

Risk factor: The last thing you wanna do is get a stain from your lunch while at work (ranks right up there with a tear in your pants or getting caught leaving flatulence in the elevator). Things like spaghetti or stir fry are big no-no’s.

Stink factor: How concerned are you about the odor that is emitted when you open the Tupperware? If you’re in a closed office, it’s not a concern but if you’re located in a sea of cubicles, do you really want everyone to know you’re having tuna?

Embarrassment factor: When we were kids, our moms would prepare some of the best lunches in the world but presentation was never a factor (especially if you’re Italian). Now that you’re having your lunch at the office, how concerned should you be about presentation? Does it have to look pretty and organized or can it look like dog food? If you are concerned about presentation ask yourself a simple question; would I give this to my boss if he/she didn’t have time for lunch and I wanted to score some brownie points?

So if you were thinking that taking your lunch to work was a good idea and that you want to give it a go, use these tips to help you get started. If you’re an old pro and are the envy of the office at lunch time, share some thoughts, recipes or other tidbits that others will appreciate.