French Classics Made Easy (45 page)

Authors: Richard Grausman

BOOK: French Classics Made Easy

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NOTE

The liver can be left out, but if you like liver and you are serving squabs, ducks, or game birds, use their livers in the recipe. If you are serving this dish with game birds, in addition to using the liver from the bird in place of the chicken livers, also add ¼ teaspoon thyme to the mushrooms while they are cooking. You can also sprinkle the rice with a tablespoon or two of Madeira when reheating it.

CHAPTER FOUR
PASTRIES & DESSERTS

PASTRIES

DESSERTS

In my view, a meal is never complete without a dessert, be it cake, fruit, ice cream, or pastry. When serving a meal, try to pace the courses so your guests will be satisfied after finishing the entrée, yet will still be looking forward to dessert. Children seem to do this naturally, and in our home, no matter what the main course has been, my girls—even though they are now grown women—always ask, “What’s for dessert?”

In the following chapter, I have included most of my favorites, omitting only those that take an excessive amount of time to make. Most of these pastries and desserts can be made either completely or partially in advance, while others need only a quick, final assembly before serving. Since the final course often determines the success of a meal, knowing that you already have a marvelous dessert ready allows you to relax and prepare the rest of the meal with confidence.

PASTRIES

Before the early ’70s, French restaurants offered chocolate mousse, crème caramel, poached fruit, and the like for dessert, but rarely offered pastry. The average restaurant chef in France prepared only those desserts known as entremets. Pastry chefs did their work in pastry shops and large hotels. Today no top restaurant can reach a high standing or maintain it without a superb pastry chef.

The recipes and techniques I have developed can make home cooks comfortable in an area once the sole domain of the pastry chef.

Successful pastry-making requires accuracy in measuring ingredients. Hence, the use of gram measurements in this chapter (see also “The Metric System in Cooking and Pastry Making,”
page 360
).

TART PASTRY

[PÂTE BRISÉE]

French tart pastry is designed to be self-supporting when baked, and is firmer and crunchier than American pie crust—qualities that come in part from a more thorough incorporation of fat and flour in a blending/kneading process called
fraisage
(see illustration,
page 214
).

Although
pâte brisée
is traditionally made by hand, the food processor method included below makes an excellent tart pastry and takes much of the risk out of the procedure for the novice (inexperienced bakers tend to overwork the pastry, causing it to be tough and to shrink when baked).

Both
pâte brisée,
which is unsweetened, and
pâte sucrée
(a sweetened version, which follows) call for a whole egg (although many recipes for tart pastry call for no egg or the yolk only). The egg white acts as a sealant, preventing liquids baked in the tart from being absorbed or from seeping through the crust. The yolk enriches the pastry and adds color.

MAKES ENOUGH FOR A 10- TO 11-INCH TART

FOOD PROCESSOR METHOD

1⅓ cups (190g) all-purpose flour

8 tablespoons (1 stick; 115g) cold, unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces

1 egg

⅛ teaspoon salt

1½ tablespoons cold water

HAND METHOD

1⅓ cups (190g) all-purpose flour

8 tablespoons (1 stick; 115g) cold, unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes

1 egg

⅛ teaspoon salt

2 to 3 tablespoons cold water

1.
Food processor method: Place all of the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade and process until the mixture blends together to form a mass, about 20 seconds. If it doesn’t form a mass after 25 seconds, add another teaspoon of water.

Hand method: Place the flour on a work surface, or in a large bowl, and form a well in the center. Add the butter, egg, salt, and 1 tablespoon of the water to the well and mix with a pastry blender. The pastry should have a coarse, granular texture and be moist enough to begin to stick together. If it is too dry, add up to 2 tablespoons more water, 1 teaspoon at a time.

2.
Turn the pastry out onto a lightly floured work surface, dust the pastry lightly with flour, and begin the blending or kneading process (see Note) known as
fraisage:
With the heel of your hand, push the pastry down and away from you a little at a time and repeat this process three or four times or until the pastry is smooth and does not stick to the work surface.

3.
Lightly dust the pastry with flour and shape it into a flat round, much like a thick hamburger.
The pastry can be used immediately unless it is too warm and soft, in which case wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 10 to 20 minutes.

NOTE

The processor does such a good job of blending that most cooks do not see the purpose of kneading at this point. However, if not kneaded the pastry will be too fragile and will break either while you are lining the pan or later after baking.

VARIATION

S
WEET
T
ART
P
ASTRY

[PÂTE SUCRÉE]

The techniques for making and handling
pâte sucrée
are identical to those for
pâte brisée.
The only changes are in the ingredients: ¼ cup (50g) sugar is added and the salt is omitted. If you have never made
pâte sucrée,
start by using only 1 tablespoon (15g) of sugar. The more sugar you add (you can use up to 5 tablespoons or 75g), the more fragile the pastry will be.

F
RAISAGE

To thoroughly incorporate the fat and flour in tart pastry dough, use the heel of your hand to push the pastry down and away from you a little at a time. Repeat this process three or four times or until the pastry is smooth and does not stick to the work surface.

BLUEBERRY TART

[TARTE AUX MYRTILLES]

In France, where blueberries in a fresh fruit tart are usually uncooked, I have always missed the wonderful, juicy cooked-berry taste of an American blueberry pie. For the best of both worlds, my
tarte aux myrtilles
consists of cooked blueberries in a traditional French tart pastry, and unlike American blueberry pie, is not too sweet. The natural flavors and sweetness of the fruit are complemented by a currant jelly glaze (
glaçage à la gellée de groseille
).

SERVES 6 TO 8

Butter, for tart pan Sweet Tart Pastry (facing page)

2 tablespoons (20g) cornstarch

2 pints fresh blueberries

2 to 3 tablespoons (30g to 45g) sugar (optional; see Note)

Currant Jelly Glaze (
page 354
), hot

1.
Preheat the oven to 475°F with the oven rack in the lowest position. Lightly butter a 9½- to 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Line the pan with the tart pastry (see “How to Line a Tart Pan,”
page 65
). Prick the bottom of the pastry several times with the point of a sharp knife to prevent it from puffing during baking. Refrigerate or freeze the shell until you are ready to fill and bake it.

2.
Sprinkle the cornstarch over the bottom of the tart shell and fill with the blueberries. At this point the blueberries will mound slightly above the rim of the tart. Sprinkle with the sugar (if using).

3.
Bake the tart for 10 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 425°F and continue baking until the berries are gently boiling and the rim of the tart is dark brown, an additional 30 to 35 minutes.

4.
Unmold the tart as soon as possible and allow to cool on a wire rack (see “Unmolding a Tart or Quiche,”
page 218
).

5.
To serve: When the tart has cooled, dab the hot currant jelly glaze over the surface of the tart with a pastry brush. Slide the tart off the rack and onto a serving platter. (When you cut into the tart, the berry juice should run very slowly. If the juice does not run at all, use a little less cornstarch when next making the tart. Similarly, should the juice be too liquid, use more cornstarch.)

NOTE

If your berries are sour, you may want to sprinkle them with 2 to 3 tablespoons of sugar before baking, although I usually opt for the tartness.

VARIATIONS

P
EACH AND
R
ASPBERRY
T
ART

[TARTE AUX PÊCHES ET AUX FRAMBOISES]

In place of the blueberries, use about 2½ pounds of peaches, peeled and cut into large, 1-inch-thick slices, and ½ pint raspberries. Starting at the outer edge of the tart, overlap the peach slices in concentric circles and place the raspberries in the center. Sprinkle the fruit with 1 to 2 tablespoons of sugar, depending on the sweetness of the fruit. After it’s baked, glaze the peaches with hot Apricot Jelly Glaze (
page 354
) and the raspberries with hot Currant Jelly Glaze (
page 354
).

I
TALIAN
P
RUNE
P
LUM
T
ART

[TARTE AUX QUETSCHES]

Replace the blueberries with 2½ pounds of washed, pitted, and halved Italian prune plums. Use only 1½ tablespoons of cornstarch. Starting at the outer edge of the tart, overlap the plums, flesh side up, in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction, covering the entire surface of the tart. Sprinkle the plums with 1 to 2 tablespoons of sugar, depending on the sweetness of the fruit, and bake for a total of 40 minutes. Glaze with hot Currant Jelly Glaze (
page 354
).

ALSATIAN FRUIT TART

[TARTE ALSACIENNE AUX FRUITS]

Alsace is an area of France that produces a great variety of fruit. Fruit tarts from this area include a custard made with flour, eggs, and heavy cream—they are sort of a fruit quiche. The custard holds the fruit in place when cut, which makes serving this tart very easy. I have generally found these tarts to be a bit too heavy and rich for my taste, and rather rustic looking. In the recipe that follows, I have lightened the texture of the custard by using powdered almonds in place of some of the flour, egg yolks instead of whole eggs, and milk rather than heavy cream. I also glaze this tart, something usually not done, because I think it both improves the flavor of the tart and enhances its appearance.

You can use any of the fruits grown in Alsace—apples, apricots, cherries, pears, peaches, and plums—and the only thing that will change in the recipe will be the glaze: currant jelly glaze for dark fruits (such as plums and cherries) and apricot glaze for light fruits. I sometimes make this tart with raspberries, and when doing so, I omit the glaze, finding the flavor better. My favorite Alsatian tart is made with fresh sour cherries. If you are fortunate enough to find sour cherries in the market, or if you or a neighbor has a tree in the backyard, I encourage you to make one. Frozen unsweetened sour cherries are almost as good, but the canned are not.

SERVES 6 TO 8