Finding time

In the hustle and bustle of my everyday life, I fuss enormously about not having enough time.  Time to take long walks with my BFF. Time to try a new recipe.  Time to blog more often.  Time to read. Don't get me wrong.  I can burn daylight, fritter away time, pass the time, dillydally, piddle, dawdle, while away the time, lollygag, and goof off with the best of them if left to my own devices. Checking in with friends and family on Facebook. Reading Sean Dietrich every morning as I wait for the coffee to brew. Thumbing through magazines. Playing Word Welder or 7 Mots on my iPad. Watching Hallmark movies.  Googling whatever or whomever. You get the picture. I am not yet ready to count the days until the final school bell of the year rings, but I am getting close. (If any of my students are reading this-- oui, we teachers do that, too. Quelle surprise, n'est-ce pas?  Pas vraiment?) 

And when I am in the mood to daydream, I wonder what it would be like to live in Paris and while away the hours. Roam around the city. Visit little or lesser known museums. Sit on a bench in every park and green space. Taste the treats in the best bakeries and ask for recipes or tips. Sip wine and write at a table, inside or out, in a café, Report back to the world on what I am up to on any given day. I would walk on every street in the city eventually. Taste every flavor of macaron that Pierre Hermé offers up. Then move on to every flavor of Berthillon ice cream on the Ile Saint Louis. Find out where the best café crème and croissants are served. Stroll through every little passage couvert tucked away between the busy boulevards. Take photos in the early morning light and at dusk of every single bridge, all 37 of them, that spans the Seine. Check out the houseboats and barges docked at l'Arsenal. Rummage through the treasures found in the bouquiniste stalls. Walk through la Ville Lumière in the warm summer rain not caring if my hair gets wet. Light a candle in the memory of Mme Buchanan, my high school French teacher, in every church found within the périphérique. Get off at every métro station mentioned in Métronome and see if I too can find a scrap of forgotten history. Get to know the best vendor or two at each outdoor food market. Get lost in every arrondissement and stop to have lunch at a café in order to try the menu du jour. Stumble over the same paving stones as Napoléon and Joséphine, Louis XIV, Marie Antoinette, Victor Hugo, Vincent and Théo Van Gogh, Camille Claudel, Auguste Rodin, Gustave Eiffel, Josephine Baker, Edith Piaf, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Marie Curie, Charles de Gaulle, Cole Porter, Coco Chanel.  You get the picture.

Is there a book deal out there for The Sabbatical Chef?  Anyone want to listen to my pitch?  The Sabbatical Chef Does Paris. Or how about Lollygagging in Paris with The Sabbatical Chef. Maybe Burning Daylight in The City of Light. Time Well-Wasted ? Recipes, photos, and addresses included.

Carol Gillott of Paris Breakfasts lives a life similar to my dream life only she is an artist.  I've lived vicariously through her for a while now. She is celebrating her blog's 10th anniversary this week. I received my first Paris Maps from her on Saturday. Just opening my mailbox and seeing a Paris postmark on the envelope makes my heart beat faster. The first one features macarons and Pierre Hermé.  Carol even stuck in a cute little original macaron watercolor. A true treasure.

And speaking of macarons, while in Paris with the kiddies in March, we took a macaron-making class with Audrey at L'Atelier des Gâteaux near Bon Marché department store.  Thirteen of us had so much fun beating eggs whites, macaronner-ing (yes, there is a verb for this action!), mixing, piping, filling, sandwiching, and tasting these beautiful treats. 
(photos taken by I. Strauss using my iPhone 6) 

The chocolate one was made by moi!

The ingredients are listed in grams. The measurements are more exact this way.  I have a small scale that measures either in ounces or grams. Not expensive and very useful when baking.

Macaron Recipe
L'Atelier des Gâteaux
23 rue de l'abbé Grégoire
75006 Paris
Tel: 01.42.84.19.05

Ingrédients for cookies:

- 125 gr almond powder
- 225 gr confectioner sugar
- 20g cocoa powder (optional- only if you want chocolate cookies) 
- 3 egg whites
- 30 gr sugar
- powdered food coloring (this works better than liquid)

Pulse confectioners' sugar and almond flour in a food processor until combined. Sift mixture 2 times.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Whisk whites with a mixer on medium speed until foamy. Add sugar and whisk until soft peaks form.
With a spatula add the almond powder and the confectioner sugar in 3 or 4 increments.
Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain round tip, and pipe 3/4-inch rounds 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets, dragging pastry tip to the side of rounds rather than forming peaks. Tap bottom of each sheet on work surface to release trapped air. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake 1 sheet at a time, rotating halfway through, until macarons are crisp and firm, about 15 minutes.
Let macarons cool on sheets for 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. (If macarons stick, spray water underneath parchment on hot sheet. The steam will help release macarons.)
Vous pouvez garnir les macarons avec un petit peu de ganache, de confiture ou appareil citron. Les parfums des macarons sont infinis.  
You can garnish the macarons with a little bit of ganache, jam, or lemon curd.  The flavors are limitless.

Suggested fillings

Chocolat ganache

250g chocolat 
250g heavy cream, heated but not quite boiling

Pour cream over chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Let stand for 2 minutes. Whisk mixture until smooth. Let cool, stirring often.

Mascarpone cream

200g whipping cream
100g mascarpone
30g sugar
Quelques gouttes d’arôme, de la pâte de spéculoos, de la confiture... 
Several drops of flavoring, Speculoos, jam...

In a mixer, place the cream, the mascarpone and the sugar and whisk until peaks form. Place in the refrigerator until use.

Sauce au caramel beurre salé

80 g sugar
40 g salted butter 
10 cl heavy cream

In a medium saucepan, bring the sugar to a boil. Using a wet pastry brush, wash down any crystals on the side of the pan. Boil over high heat until a deep amber caramel color forms, about 6 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and carefully whisk in the cream and butter. Let the caramel cool to room temperature. 

Bon appétit to all dreamers out there!  Dream on.

8th Grade Great Macaron Throwdown

Happy Garçons Paris 2015

Tomorrow is the big day.  Our Macaron Throwdown.  Two of the young ladies in my B period class have organized a macaron competition.  It is strictly voluntary participation.  I think ten of us are competing.  Well, I am not really competing.  Everyone in the class will sample the macarons and vote for the best one.  There will also be a contest for figuring out flavors.  The girlies are putting it together and they will tally up all of the votes.  I will supply the prizes.

Many of my students love to bake.  We sample goodies all the time.  I love that they want to learn to cook and that they want to try French recipes.  They can earn some extra credit points doing this. They put together presentations on the school iPads of their efforts and show them to their classmates.  We then get to sample.  Some of them put me to shame.

Especially this weekend.  I HAVE made macarons before, several times, en fait.  Lemon, chocolate, vanilla.  I have photos to prove it.

This weekend, however, was one of epic flops.  Not once, but twice.

Attempt #1 (making Italian meringue)--

Batter too runny, but I baked them anyway just to see... I was expecting a miracle, peut-être?  Well, I didn't get one.  There was sticky, gooey macaron batter everywhere.  I finally got it all cleaned up (or so I thought until the next morning) and went to bed, after setting the alarm to get up at 6:00 am to run to Harris Teeter to get more eggs.

Attempt #2 (French meringue this time)

They looked great on the baking sheet.  I was certain success was mine.  Until I opened the oven door and saw that they had cracked, had gaping holes, the insides had spread out, etc.  I used cold egg whites.  Bad decision.

I decided to give it one last try.  I set out the egg whites to come to room temperature (they are supposed to "age" but the threshold for time wasn't going to allow for that this time).  The Ex-Ex and I headed to have lunch with his parents in Washington, NC.  While riding along, I realized that I did not want to try lemon ones again.  No more lime zest.  Sick of yellow.  And I found out that one of the girlies is bringing in lemon macaron.  I took that as a sign to try something new.

"If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again." -- Thomas H. Palmer
"Never, never, never give up."  --Winston Churchill
"After all, tomorrow is another day."  Scarlett O'Hara

I googled macarons and found a recipe for coffee ones.  Filled with Nutella.  A winning combination if I've even heard of one.  So, I dragged Mildred the Mixer out one last time, weighed and measured all the ingredients, fitted the pastry bag with the nozzle once again, and ripped off some parchment paper.

Voilà!  Success.  "Third time's the charm." (I tried to find the origins of this one but ran out of patience.  Sorry.)

Coffee Macarons with Nutella Filling
from Allie at bakingamoment.com

Makes about 36 macarons (I came out with 24- probably because I piped them larger)

Ingredients:

120 grams almond flour
200 grams powdered sugar
1 tablespoon instant espresso granules
100 grams egg whites (about 3 large), room temperature
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
Pinch of kosher salt
30 grams granulated sugar
Nutella spread (about 1/3 cup)

Instructions:

1. Measure the almond flour, powdered sugar, and espresso powder into the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse the mixture to a fine powder, and sift.  Re-process any large bits that remain, and sift again.  Discard any large bits that still remain.
2. Whip the egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt on medium speed until frothy.  Slowly add the granulated sugar (about a teaspoon at a time), while continuing to whip.  Once all the sugar has been incorporated, turn the speed up to high and whip until the meringue look glossy and holds stiff peaks.
3. Dump all the almond flour mixture into the meringue at once.  Fold together until the batter falls from the spoon in one long, continuous ribbon.
4. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip, and pipe rounds about 1-inch in diameter onto parchment-lined baking sheets.  Slam the baking sheet on the counter to force out any large air bubbles, and allow to dry for 30-45 minutes.
5. Preheat the oven to 325˚F and bake for 15-16 minutes.  (I baked mine for 14 minutes.) Cool completely on the baking sheet, then peel off and sandwich with Nutella.

My little hints and confessions:

I also used the macarondiaries.tumblr.com for advice. 

I have a small scale that measures in grams.  It is more accurate than cup measures and I am glad I use it.

I made a template for my macaron-piping by tracing the bottom of a spice container onto parchment paper with a Sharpie.  I then placed another sheet of parchment on top of the template and piped, saving my template for the next time (after I've recovered from this weekend).

I am lazy.  I did not sift as much as I should have.  By round 3, I didn't sift at all.  Shame on me.  I was just worn out.  I did use the food processor to eliminate some of the little lumps, though.

After filling the macarons, put them in the freezer.  This will help bring out the flavors and meld them.  Take them out an hour or so before serving, though, and let them come to room temperature.  If you don't have room in the freezer, put them in the refrigerator.

Bonne chance, bon courage and bon appétit to all macaron makers out there.  They are worth the effort.  Merci to Pierre Hermé and his fabulous little cookies for inspiration.  Je t'aime, Pierre!

Pierre Hermé et moi

When I was in Paris last month (Don't you just love the way that rolls off my keyboard?  As if I am a big shot?  Actually, I am still in awe of the fact that I get to go to Paris at all, let alone two times in the space of two months-- but back to today's story...), I went into FNAC, kind of the French version of Barnes and Noble-- books, music, movies- but on a larger scale.  There is one right around the corner from the hotel my students and I will stay at next week.  This is the first book that caught my eye.  It is a delightful cookbook put together by Soledad Bravi, a cartoonist who wanted to learn some tricks for making better cakes, and Pierre Hermé, my macaron idol.  I couldn't resist it, even at 19.90 euros.  The drawings alone are enough to buy the book, but to have simplified recipes from M. Hermé?  Oui!  Here is one of Soledad's quotes:  "Je fais un livre avec Pierre Hermé, oui je sais, il a trop de chance."  "I am making a book with Pierre Hermé, yes I know, he is very lucky."

I decided to start with Riz au lait vanillé.  Vanilla rice pudding.  It is one of my favorites.  I wanted to see how Pierre would make it.

Infuse the milk with vanilla bean-- my kitchen smelled heavenly.  Will someone get to work on the camera that records smells as well as photos, please?

Cook the rice in the vanilla milk

Cover with plastic wrap and allow it to "rest"

Add in mascarpone

Experiment... add in some frozen cherries (fresh would be better, but not the season, alas)

Taste three versions- without mascarpone, with, with cherries

How would I eat it?  Which did I like best?  Truthfully, warm before it went into the refrigerator, no cheese or cherries mixed it.  (Yes, of course, I sampled it then, too!)  But all versions are good, and all are different.

I ate some for dessert when I was in Senlis in January.  We had dinner at Le Scaramouche.  The riz au lait was served with little bits of candied fruit.  Isn't it beautiful?

I am translating from the French recipe.

Riz au lait vanillé
Prepare the evening before

125 g of round grain rice (Arborio-- the same kind as for risotto-- this is about 3/4 cup)
600 g of whole milk (about 2 2/3 cup)
2 vanilla beans with the grains
1 pinch of fleur de sel salt (use sea salt, if you have it-- I just happen to have fleur de sel thanks to La Brune)
30 g of sugar (about 1/8 cup-- the French do not make their desserts as sweet as we Americans do... I guess you can add more sugar, if you wish, but don't overpower the dish by making it too sweet- you can serve it with fruit to sweeten- see Pierre's suggestions at the end of the recipe)
400 g of mascarpone (I found it in containers of 225 g each)

I cut the vanilla beans in two, longwise, I scrap the interior with a knife in order to get all the seeds.

I bring the milk, with the vanilla seeds and the pods, to a boil.  I take it off the heat and I cover the top of the pot with plastic wrap in order to let the vanilla infuse the milk for 30 minutes.

I strain the milk with a sieve (I used cheesecloth because I do not have a sieve that fine) in order to catch the fibers of the vanilla bean, I crush the pods in order not to lose any of the flavor and I leave the seeds.  I put the vanilla milk back into the pot.  I add the rice, the salt, and the sugar, I mix it all before bringing it to a boil.  As soon as it begins to boil, I lower the heat and gently cook it for about 20 minutes, stirring it regularly because it sticks quickly.  The rice should be "al dente."

I pour the mixture into a dish (it calls for a 20 cm one-- I have no clue what size that is!  I just chose one that looked like it would all fit into, leaving room for the addition of the mascarpone later.).  I put plastic film over it, making sure the film touches the surface of the rice mixture, and let it cool for 2 hours before placing it in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day

I put the mascarpone in a bowl and stir it in order to make it smooth.  I add it to the rice (or add the rice to it) and I stir.  It's ready!

A little extra from Pierre Hermé

The rice pudding is not very sweet on purpose because this way one can add honey, raspberries, strawberries, kiwi, cooked fruit or dates cooked in tea and lemon.  (I didn't try the dates but am including the recipe below. Afterwards, I thought that fruit preserves from Bonne Maman- maybe blueberries, would be delicious.)

Dates in tea
Prepare the evening before

200 g of dates
100 g of water
12 g of Earl Grey tea
5 g of sugar
10 g of lemon juice
1 drop of Tabasco

I heat the water to 80˚C.  I add the tea and allow it to infuse for 3 minutes, but no longer because that would make it too strong and bad; I filter it without pressing on the tea bag or leaves.

I put the whole dates (with pits) in a pot and cover them with the hot tea.  I add the sugar, the lemon juice and the Tabasco.

I put it on very low heat and let it cook for 15 minutes.  I pour it into a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap and allow it to soak overnight at room temperature.

The next day

I drain the dates, remove the pits, and cut them into 6-8 pieces lengthwise.  I put them in the refrigerator.

I can eat them with rice pudding or with plain yogurt.

Bon appétit and merci, Pierre Hermé and Soledad Bravi!  I love your book!

Je me présente

Allow me to introduce myself.  (Meet my fingers, pictured above.)  I am a French teacher.  I just finished my 34th year of teaching middle school.  Truthfully speaking, though, what I really do is brainwash 11-14 year olds. It is not a secret.  I am pretty honest and open about it.  I warn the parents on Parent Night each fall.  I am lucky enough to be at a great school.  My students choose to take French in 5th grade.  Taking a second language is mandatory and is part of our core curriculum.  A few years back, we started making 6th graders new to our school take French if they aren't able to place into our Spanish classes or if they want to try a different language.  I usually get to teach that class.  I really brainwash them and most of them stay with French and I teach them for three years.  Tears are shed at the end of 8th grade when I have to tell them good-bye and send them off to high school.  Waterproof mascara is a must.  Anyway, back to the purpose of today's blog.  I have to find ways to interest middle schoolers in conjugating verbs and learning how to use object pronouns in a language other than their mother tongue.  Some of them buy my speech about language learning being like putting together a puzzle, some of them look meaningfully at me and nod their heads while they are wondering what is in their lunchbox or thinking about who danced with whom at the last middle school dance, and some of them just stare.  I call this the "The lights are on but no one's home" syndrome.  Once in a while, I get a slap in the face glimpse into how their little minds work.  Three years ago, in the 6th grade class, I was in front of the little darlings enlightening them on some fine grammar point, I'm sure, and one boy's hand went up in the air.  Ah bon, une question!  I thought.  The question... Why do you always wear black, madame?  One of the girls didn't miss a beat and answered for me... Black is very slimming. Not what I would have said to a class of 6th graders, but I decided just to go with it.
In case you are new to this blog and don't know me, cooking is one of my passions and I share that with my students.  Food is a huge part of French culture and we have several vocabulary lessons centered around it.  Eating is their passion.  Each quarter, my kids can do an extra credit project worth a 15 point quiz score.   Books, movies, researching artists, these are some of the ideas I throw out, but cooking, baking in particular, is the most popular project.  Most of the time, the kids bring in samples for their classmates.  We sample madeleines, chocolate mousse, palmiers, and chocolate truffles, but the most popular treat is macarons.   The beautiful little sandwich cookies made from almond flour.  I have several cookbooks that friends and students have given me and I lend them to the kids to find recipes (or to just drool over the photos).

A few years ago, one young man would bring me a macaron or two on a weekly basis from A Southern Season, a wonderful store in Chapel Hill.

They are such pretty colors and so much fun to photograph.
I spent an hour or so going through the 33,890 digital photos on this computer to find my best macaron shots, going back to 2008.  I have quite a few shots of Parisian Pierre Hermé's creations.  I have a crush on him.  He sent me an autographed picture a couple of years ago in response to thank you letters written to him by some of my 8th graders.  (As part of their final exam, they have to write a 20-sentence thank you letter in French.)  Okay, he sent a picture to each of the kids, too, not just moi...

Oui, that says Pour Teresa.

I love the artwork on his cute little boxes.

During our spring break trip,we always either stroll by a shop or visit his section in Galeries Lafayette so the kids can get their fix and taste the real thing.

Sometimes, while we are on our spring break trip one of the students will actually share one of theirs with me.  If you insist...  I would never be rude and refuse such a gift.  This one was savored on the TGV from Paris to Avignon.

I've also admired the displays at Fauchon.

Arles Betty would argue that Ladurée's macarons are best.  Oh yes, they are good.  Taste tests had to be done.  Unfortunately, I never had the two side by side to test.  Maybe next trip.

They have a kiosk at Charles de Gaulle airport, as well as little tea room and shop in the new Air France terminal.  Très chic.  While in NYC last summer, we walked up to the shop that had just opened on Madison Avenue.

 Arles Lucy and I had macarons at Angelina's once.  With hot chocolate.  Yum.

We also were very civilized and had macarons and tea in our hotel in Nice a couple of years ago.  

Those macarons came from the Arles market, I believe.  And they were really, really good.

Up close.

Even McDonald's in Paris sells macarons.  I snuck in to take a photo, but I didn't buy one to taste.

Arizona Tammy took a macaron-making class while the rest of us roamed the streets of Paris in the summer of 2012.  She even shared with us.

One day, I chose one from a bakery on Rue Cler.  A work of art.

I found these in Villeneuve-lez-Avignon.

Just a couple more window shots--

Up close again.

Girlies enjoying their first Paris macarons.

Several students have attempted to make them.  They aren't easy because of the egg whites, folding, piping, hoping they puff up while baking...  This chocolate one, made by an 8th grade boy, was really good.  His classmates were very pleased.

This year's 4th quarter brought out several bakers in one of my 7th grade classes.

When one of the girlies got home from this year's trip to France, she discovered that her dad had experimented with macaron-making.  Très bien fait, papa!  (She did roll her eyes when she gave them to me.  I chastised her properly.)  Délicieux.

Laura Florand had a book reading at the Regulator Bookshop here in Durham and she had a chocolate-tasting to go along with it.  A macaron made it into the mix. 

After tasting that little yellow one, I went to Miel Bon Bons and bought some lavender ones.

Macaron mixes can be found at the supermarché in France.

I made some Chez Fanny for one of our dinner parties.

I've tried my hand at them several times.  Some were colossal failures and either stuck to the pan or the silicone mat that I bought at Galeries Lafayette, didn't rise and have the nice "legs" they are supposed to have or were just horribly piped and misshapen.  Some turned out nicely.

Well, the cookies turned out nicely but the salted caramel filling didn't work out so well.  It became topping for ice cream and I made a quick chocolate ganache filling.

My most recent attempt was a lime zest-lemon curd concoction.  Pretty, I thought.

My piping skills are improving and parchment paper works better than my silicone mats.

As weird as this may seem, macarons remind me of the galets or small stones that fill some of the vineyards in the south of France.  This shot was taken in Tavel.  I love these stones and have a collection of them.  (I love Picpoul wine, too!)

This past Christmas, the BFF gave me a watercolor done by Paris Breakfast's Carol Gillott.  Isn't it beautiful?

This is one of Carol's works, too.  I do not own this.  I just "borrowed" the photo from her blog.  She has a thing for macarons, too.

You may not live where you can just run out and buy one (or six) and sample the different flavors, but you can give macaron-making a try if you are patient.  Bon courage and bonne chance!

I have a small kitchen scale that measures in ounces and grams.  I bought it at Bed, Bath and Beyond. I think that it is much better to weigh the ingredients with a scale.  It is more accurate.

Lemon Curd Macarons

Cookies/Shells:

110 g almond flour

200 g confectioner's sugar

90 g liquified egg whites (placed in a bowl and put in the refrigerator for 2-3 days)

200 g granulated sugar

Yellow food coloring

Grated lime or lemon zest, optional

Lemon curd: (I cheated and bought mine at Harris Teeter)

3 large egg yolks

1/2 c. confectioner's sugar

1/4 c. fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 tsp lemon zest

4 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces

To make the cookies:

Sift the almond flour and confectioner's sugar together.  Set aside

Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until they begin to foam, about 1 minute.   Slowly add the granulated sugar, a tablespoon at a time, with the mixer set to medium speed.  Beat until the egg whites form stiff peaks.  They should be thick and glossy.

Gently fold the sifted almond meal-confectioner's sugar mixture, the zest, if desired, and the food coloring to the whipped egg whites using a spatula.  It should take about 50-60 strokes for the batter to reach the right consistency. (or you can sprinkle the zest on the top of the cookies after you pipe them)

Transfer the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip and pipe into small rounds onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  The rounds should be no larger than 2-inches in diameter. Pipe them at least 1/2 inch apart.  (You can draw circles onto parchment paper and use as a template underneath the sheet of parchment paper you are piping onto, if this will help.)  Try to make them the same size since you will be matching them up when you put them together.

Gently tap the bottom of each baking sheet on the counter to release trapped air, then let the macarons dry for 30-45 minutes until a skin is formed on the surface.

Place the macarons in a 350˚F oven and bake for about 10-12 minutes until the shells harden.

Let the macarons cool completely on the baking sheets and then gently peel them off the parchment paper.

To make the lemon curd:

In the top of a double boiler filled with about 2 inches of simmering water, combine the egg yolks, confectioner's sugar, lemon juice and zest.  Cook over medium low heat, whisking constantly, until thickened, about 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and whisk in the butter.  Strain the curd into a heatproof bowl.  Press a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the surface and refrigerate until chilled.

To assemble, match the macaron shells in pairs.  Pipe a small round of lemon curd, about half a teaspoon, on the flat side of a shell and sandwich together with a matching shell.  Repeat with the remaining macarons.

I found this quote attributed to Marilyn Monroe.  It has nothing to do with macarons, but I like it.

Bon appétit to all French teachers, French students and macaron-makers!  Bonnes vacances!