Sweet Thea » apple

Gingerbread with Fennel and Wildflower Honey Parfait

laurie — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:15:10 +0000

Gingerbread with a fennel, wildflower honey frozen parfait, blackberry foam, apple California bay leaf sorbet and cranberry rhubarb puree.

Served at Sooke Harbour house Tuesday April 13 2004.

Molasses Ginger Cake with Caramelized Apple

laurie — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:11:45 +0000

Molasses ginger cake with warm pineapple sage caramelized apples, Late Harvest Riesling and lemon thyme sabayon, toasted pumpkin seed crème anglais, and a sugar twist.

Served at Sooke Harbour house Friday September 26 2003.

The Flavor Bible

laurie — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 09:00:00 +0000

‘How do you know what goes with what?’

Lucille had asked me several times over the Christmas break, as we chatted happily and celebrated Christmas together at my Dad’s place in Ontario. Lucille is Joanna’s brilliant best friend, a multi-lingual vivacious Italian New Yorker, now living in Montreal. She is a super foody – she loves to talk and she loves great food – we were having fun, and I could she was seriously interested.

I thought of Lucille immediately when I spotted ‘The Flavor Bible’ at a bookstore in Vancouver, several days later. I was amazed and delighted when I started flipping through it – I knew immediately I had to have this book. I bought two copies, one for me and one to send to Lucille.

This book is brilliant! Flavors are arranged alphabetically, and each flavor is examined in delicious detail.

Say you want to do something with Apples, for example. Flip to the section on Apples, and you get such facts as season, taste, function, weight, and volume; a list of cooking techniques, a lengthy list of flavors and ingredients that combine well with apple, Next you get tips and dishes from famous chefs (such as Emily Luchitti of Farallon, or Michael Laiskonic, from Le Bernardin). Finally you get my favorite part, the Flavor Affinities, a deliciously-detailed list (apples + almonds + caramel or apples + cinnamon + dark chocolate + yams, for example). It’s so cool! I love it!

Ok, let’s try something else, something savory. Foie Gras. Again, a nice list of complementary ingredients – including allspice, Armagnac, cherries, figs, grapes, rhubarb! Dishes like Carrie Nahabedian’s Foie Gras with Roasted Plums. Bob Iacovone from the Cuvee in New Orleans, talking about stuffing Twinkies with foie gras (hmm) And of course the Flavor Affinities, including foie gras + strawberries + black pepper. Yum.

And there is more. You can also find these detailed flavor guides listed by regions, with sections such as Portuguese, Spanish, Cajun, or Thai cuisine, including of course those wonderful Flavor Affinities. Being from a German background, I took a look at the 10 different listed Flavor Affinities for German Cuisine. The list – including such favorites as ginger & sauerbraten; dill + cucumbers; cream + paprika + poppy seeds – is quite accurate, definitely convincing me the Flavor Bible knows its way around a kitchen.

Needless to say, Lucille was thrilled with the book, and has been using it daily. I have a standing invitation to stay with her and husband Valmont in Montreal. I must take them up on that!

For a chef, this book will open up cooking opportunities that may have been forgotten, and offer some new viewpoints. For a committed or curious foodie it is an exciting guide to ingredient combination and flavor opportunities. This is a great book, and I am sure you will love it as much as I do!

Apple Cider Glazed Ginger Pound Cake

laurie — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 01:36:26 +0000

Apple Cider Glazed Apple Ginger Pound Cake with yogurt sorbet, blueberry, fruit sage compote, and blackcurrant, Grand Fir syrup.

Served at Sooke Harbour house Thursday April 8 2004.

4 Tarts and a Mousse Cake

thea — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 02:54:26 +0000

Today I created 5 desserts for the Club’s regular dessert tray – this is how they looked in the kitchen, before they were plated. This is my first try at photoing pastries in a commercial kitchen under bad lighting – sorry about the quality, I am sure a little practice will improve my photos!

MAPLE PECAN TART
with the flakiest crust you can imagine! What makes them especially delicious is using maple syrup, instead of corn syrup, for the tart – yum!!! Maple syrup, pecans, brown sugar, eggs and butter.

APPLE ALMOND STREUSEL TART
Melt-in-your-mouth! A delicious crumble topping (without oats), with finely ground almonds, butter, flour and sugar..

ESPRESSO-LACED MILK CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE
The milk chocolate mousse is layered with a rich marzipan chocolate cake, thin thin layers finished with a silky chocolate glaze

FRUIT TARTS with VANILLA PASTRY CREAM
Raspberries or Blackberries (fresh, from Mexico). The pastry shells are painted with chocolate, so the moisture of the cream doesn’t make the pastry soggy. Delicious. (Some bakeries call these tarts ‘flan’, but they really aren’t, as there is no frangipan used). The berries are coated in an apricot glaze, to preserve their freshness and give that nice shine, then decorated with gold flakes.

LEMON TARTS with SILVERED PISTACHIOS
Classic dessert! No need to get fancy with this recipe – nothing to improve!