APPLE DREAM

 

I just read Kevin West's post on his wonderful home canning blog "Saving the Season" about his road trip to the apple-growing community Oak Glen in the San Bernardino Mountains. His bountiful apple harvest brought back memories of the "Crème aux Pommes" - a dessert made with apples - my mom would make. I loved this light, fruity dessert so much that I would eat the whole bowl that was intended to feed our family of four all by myself. Needless to say that they were not amused...Here's the recipe!

2 pounds aromatic apples

1/2 cup water

3 tablespoons sugar

2 eggs

1/2 vanilla bean

1 teaspoon confectioner’s sugar

1 teaspoon corn starch

zest of one lemon

Peel, core and slice apples approximately 1/4 “ thick. Toss apples in a pan add water and sugar. Cook until tender. Drain water. Purée apples with mixer. Add some drops of lemon juice to prevent browning.

Separate eggs. Put egg whites aside.

Put egg yolks in a bowl. Slice the vanilla bean open and scratch out the seeds (you can use vanilla extract if you prefer), add to egg yolks together with confectioner’s sugar, corn starch, lemon zest and whisk everything together until the egg yolks are frothy. 

Incorporate egg yolk mix to puréed apples.

Beat the egg withes until they form peaks, and carefully add beaten egg whites to the apple mix. Volià!

Now you can serve the “Crème aux Pommes” in cups or glasses and add a dollop of whipped cream.

A BREAD STORY

It always seemed a mystery to me, why American bread often tastes like chemically treated paper mache, leaving me longing for those wonderful breads I grew up with in Europe. Now, I might have found an explanation: As Abby Franke from Stone Ground Breads in Agoura Hills explains in a piece recently published in the LA Times, freshly milled flour is known in the milling industry as green or "unaged" flour (a reference not to the color but to undeveloped gluten in freshly milled flour). And flour must be "aged" for several days or even weeks to strengthen the gluten that comes from the flour so that breads proof properly. "If you use flour you just milled, the bread will be dense, and not the best flavor," he says. "But a lot of commercial flour you buy is aged unnaturally with chemicals that don't taste good either." It's those damn chemicals!

PAPPARDELLE!

After my better half has been complaining about the fact that I never use our pasta machine (a Marcato Atlas), I carried with me from Europe, I took the chrome plated, antique looking pasta maker out of one of my kitchen cabinets, and gave it a try. After all, nothing beats fresh, hand made pasta! I fiddled around with different flours (bread, all-purpose, Italian 00, semolina) to create the best dough possible, and came up with the following recipe:

3 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup of semolina flour

5 large eggs

1 generous teaspoon salt

I mixed the two flours and the salt together, poured it on a working surface, and made a large hole with a spoon right in the middle. I broke the eggs into a a bowl, whisked them together with a fork, and then poured the eggs into the hole. Then I slowly added flour from the edges onto the egg mix  and carefully started kneading, then continued to knead more forcefully, until the dough was smooth and elastic, which should take about 10 minutes. Of course, you can use a food processor, but I love the sensuality of working with my hands.

I formed a ball, wrapped it into plastic and let it rest for at least 30 minutes. Then I cut the ball of dough in 1/4, covered and reserved the pieces I wasn't immediately using to prevent them from drying out. I dusted the counter and dough with a little flour, pressed the dough into a rectangle and rolled it through the pasta machine, starting at the widest setting, that would be No. 1 on the Marcato Atlas, reduced the setting to No 2 and cranked the dough through again. I repeated the procedure up to paper thin No. 8 (you can go up to No 9 if you like your dough super, super thin). I dusted the sheets of dough with flour as needed. Since I love pappardelle, large, broad, almost an inch wide, fettuccine, I first cut the edges of the dough sheets straight and then into pappardelle stripes. That's really easy to do. 

Now, what's really IMPORTANT is that you have a pasta drier rack ready (see picture above) to be able to hang your pappardelle to dry. This is really crucial, because that way you prevent your freshly made pasta from sticking together, and trust me, once they stick together, you won't be able to separate them, and all your hard work would be in vain.

Once properly dried I toss them into salted boiling water for a minute or two, until al dente, and serve them with a simple home made heirloom tomato sauce or with olive oil, shaved truffles (or truffle oil) and Parmiggiano!

C(H)OCKAIGNE

Since 2004? Six years? I cannot believe that artisan chocolatier Valerie Confections has been around that long, and I haven't known about it. I lived in total oblivion, not having a clue about the existence of outstanding chocolate creations only fifteen minutes away from my house. Valerie Confections is by far the best chocolatier I have come across in Los Angeles. 


When I visited their store/shop last week, they were extremely gracious, letting me sample generously. I was convinced of the outstanding quality of the chocolates at first bite. Rounded flavors, beautiful aromas, sooth texture and lovely compositions like rose petal passionfruit truffle or peanut toffee with sea salt. At Valerie's they also understands that a rich, intense product like chocolate confections, only is a pleasure when made small.


At Valerie's it's all about high-end chocolate and its layered aromas, and I went crazy for their toffee creations. I am now extremely curious about their cakes. But since you have to pre-order them 24 hours ahead, I left the shop with unfinished business, and I will have to plan the whole cake-tasting thing accordingly.


I'll keep you posted, promised!

Valerie Confections

3360 W First St

Los Angeles, CA 90004