Baked Alaska

I decided this week to join Photo Hunt. To participate, a weekly subject is posted, and you look through your photos and post something that you think represents the subject. You can be as creative in that interpretation as you would like. This is going to be a challenge for me, as I've only had my camera since last year. So that doesn't give me a huge stock to choose from. I enjoy photos and think that by joining Photo Hunt I will now spend more time in learning about the art of photography.

My first attempt is with the subject of STRING. I couldn't find any photos that had string in them, but decided that the line in my shrimp pots would suffice.

For those of you who read my blog last month, you might remember that I joined a group called The Daring Bakers. This is on on-line group, who each month all bake a challenging recipe chosen by one of the members. They give you the recipe, and then state what modifications can be made. I thought this month might be a savory choice, but no, it was CHOCOLATE ECLAIRS. I have made pate a choux dough before (I made small puffs filled with shrimp salad and curried chicken salad as an appetizer once), but had never made eclairs. When they posted the recipe, they noted that it was from the cookbook Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme. I thought that sounded familiar, and after begining to look through all of the chocolate cookbooks I have, there it was! I had only made one thing from the book, and that was the Apricot and Ginger Chocolate Loaf Cake. I remember it being very good, but that was probably 5 years ago. So I was only happy to try the eclairs. This recipe has the regular pate a choux dough, a chocolate pastry cream filling, and a chocolate glaze on top. You were allowed to change either the cream filling or the glaze, but one had to stay the same. I decided to honor Pierre and make the recipe exactly as stated.

I began with the chocolate pastry cream. This consisted of bringing milk to a boil, then whisking in a mixture of egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch. This is cooked for several minutes at a boil, then melted chocolate is stirred in. This mixture is then cooled in a ice bath. Once the mixture is cooled to a specific temperature, butter is stirred in. That completes the pastry cream. And let me tell you, it was delicious. It was hard to not keep sneaking spoonfuls out of the bowl.

Here is a photo of the pastry cream being made:

And here is a photo of the completed chocolate pastry cream:

Next, I made a chocolate sauce, which was one of the components in the chocolate glaze. This was made by heating bittersweet chocolate, water, heavy cream, and sugar together, bringing to a boil, then reducing the heat and cooking until thickened.

The next component was the pate a choux. When I made this in the past, every part of the mixing was done by hand, so I was glad to see a mixer played a part in this. You bring milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to a boil, and then all at once you add flour, and stir, stir, and stir. The dough comes together, and you continue stirring, cooking over medium heat for another 2 to 3 minutes. Your arm feels like it will fall off (at least mine did-maybe I need to lift more weights). Then you get to move it to a mixer (yea!) and mix in 5 eggs, one at a time, until all is incorporated.

Here's a photo of the dough before the eggs are added:

And here's what it looks like after the eggs have been added:

While the dough is still warm, you put it in a pastry bag, and pipe out "chubby fingers" to make the eclair shape. Some I made 4" long, as called for, and some I made more miniature. Then they bake for about 20 minutes. I somehow mistakenly turned the oven off when setting my timer, so while these were supposed to be baking at 375 degrees, I noticed my oven temperature was down to 270. I was afraid they wouldn't turn out, but I left them in the oven while I turned it back up, and cooked for the called for 20 mintues, then I reduced the heat to 350 degrees, and continued to bake until they seemed done. I did have problems with some of them deflating upon cooling, but it sounds like many who made this recipe had the same issue, and it didn't really affect the outcome.

Here's what they look like after being piped out (I didn't remember to take a photo until they were in the oven, so not the best photo):

And here's what they looked like after baking:

After they were baked, I made the Chocolate Glaze. For this, you bring cream to a boil, then slowly stir in chocolate until melted. Then when it has reached a specific temperature, you stir in butter, and the chocolate sauce that was made earlier. When this is at 95-104 degrees, the glaze is at its best for pourability and has a beautiful sheen.

I then cut the pastry dough in half, and filled then with the chocolate pastry cream:

The tops were then spread with the chocolate glaze, and then placed on the filled bottoms.

Here's another finished photo, this time of the mini eclairs:

These eclairs were very good. Both the pastry cream and the glaze used bittersweet chocolate, so they weren't overly sweet. Eclairs are not my favorite sweet, so I probably wouldn't make them again unless someone requested them, but I now know another pastry I can add to my repertoire. And the leftover chocolate sauce makes a great hot chocolate (I'm having a cup as I type!)

This week our selection from David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop was Lavender-Honey Ice Cream. I thought that sounded like a very nice choice, since I love honey in ice cream. The recipe calls for fresh or dried lavender, which is heated with the honey and then steeped. I didn't have any lavender, and didn't want to spend hours trying to find it. But I did have a jar of a favorite honey, which happens to be lavender flavored. So that is what I used. The recipe below modifies David's recipe so that you just use the lavender honey instead of using fresh or dried lavender. That is the only variation from the recipe.

This ice cream was very good if you like the flavor of honey. It is very sweet, so probably not the best choice for those who don't like a very sweet ice cream. The lavender flavor was very subtle, and might be stronger if you used the actual lavender. This ice cream mellows out after a day or two in the freezer. I wasn't sure if chocolate would pair well with it, but I had leftover chocolate ganache in the fridge, and I heated that up and poured it over the ice cream, and the flavors really complemented each other.

Lavender-Honey Ice Cream Makes about 1 quart
1/2 cup lavender-flavored honey
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
5 large egg yolks

Warm the honey, milk, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. Pour the cream into a large bowl and set a mesh stainer on top; set aside.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream. Cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture overnight in the refrigerator, or until completely chilled. Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions.

I created a recipe for fish soup several years ago to use the odds and ends pieces of halibut, ling cod, and rock fish that we end up with after cutting the fish we catch into nice fillets. I wanted a healthy tomato based soup that was fast to make. I usually have all of the ingredients to make this on hand, except for the fennel, which my local Safeway supermarket always has. You can modify this soup in many ways, but here is basically what I do:

Cindy's Fish Soup
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 head fennel, chopped (this is in your produce section at the market, and might be labeled anise)
1/4 cup wine (can be white or red, whatever you have open)
2 tsp fish seasoning (can use Herbs de Provence if you can't find it-I use Dean & Deluca's)
1 15.5 oz can diced tomatoes
2 5.5 oz cans spicy V-8 juice
1 pound firm white fish, such as halibut, cod, or rock fish, cut into 1" cubes
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion, fennel, and garlic, and saute until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the wine, and cook for a minute or two. Add the V-8, tomatoes, and fish seasoning. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and add the chopped fish. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until the fish is cooked through and flavors blended, about 15 minutes. Serve with slices of crusty bread that have been toasted in the oven and rubbed with a garlic clove. Variations: If you would like a spicy soup, you can add a chopped jalapeno to the onions when sauteing, or add some red pepper flakes. I've also made this with the addition of pototoes, or with chopped zucchini or yellow squash added if I want to have more veggies in it.

Last year, at the end of September/first of October, my husband and I had a wonderful trip to Italy. I am missing the beauty and culture of that country (and the food!), and am looking forward to our next visit. We were able to spend 3 weeks visiting Venice, Florence, Rome, and Southern Tuscany. I couldn't begin to say what my favorite area was-they were all unique and special in their own ways. I thought I would share some of my favorite memories.

The canal in front of our Bed & Breakfast in Venice:

The view from the top of the Campanile in Venice:

Closeup of the Duomo details in Florence:

Michelangelo's Pieta in Florence:

Sant Antimo Abbey:

Stained Glass in a Church in Montepulciano:

The Mosaic Floors in the Duomo in Sienna (we were lucky enough to be there when they were uncovered):

The Swiss Guard at the Vatican:

The Colosseo in Rome:

The Fountains at Piazza Navona:

The Market at Piazza Campo Fiori:

The Ceiling of Sistine Chapel:

What a wonderful trip we had, and I'm dreaming of the next...