A simple taste of Keller: garlic chips

I saw an interview with Thomas Keller in which he said that he believes most of the people who buy his cookbooks do so more for the desire to feel like they have experienced one of his restaurants in some way than because they actually intend to use the recipes. I am sure that’s true because as much as I love to cook and am often up for a “project” – the recipes in the The French Laundry Cookbook in particular are a little too intimidating. I do love gazing longingly at the beautiful photographs, however, and as I was doing so recently, I discovered that there are quite a few quick recipes for garnishes, powders and chips that, although really just a footnote to the main recipes, are nevertheless interesting and quite doable.

One such recipe that piqued my curiosity is for garlic chips. In the cookbook, it is served as a garnish to a parsley salad served on top of fish. The recipe calls for boiling thin slices of garlic in milk several times to mellow out their flavor, and then frying them to a light golden brown. I’ve made them a couple times, intending to use them as a garnish on top of soup, but neither time did they made it that long without getting eaten! They are really wonderful sprinkled with salt and eaten just like that. It’s a clever and unexpected idea. I still hope to get them on top of soup soon. Luckily they are quick to make and can be created in ~20 minutes when needed. Photographing the chips put me in a black and gray frame of mind. I’ll share with you a few recent photos in that spirit.

Garlic chips (adapted from the The French Laundry Cookbook)

Garlic cloves, peeled
Cold milk
Canola oil for deep frying

Slice the garlic cloves thinly on a mandoline (1/8 inch or thinner). Place the slices in a small saucepan and cover with cold milk. Bring the milk to a boil, then drain the garlic slices in a strainer, discarding the milk. Rinse them under cold water. Return the slices to the pan and repeat the process three times, using fresh milk each time. Pat the garlic slices dry on paper towels.

Heat the oil in a saucepan to 300˚F (an inch or so of oil is sufficient). Fry for 12 to 15 minutes or until chips are a light golden brown (keep in mind they will continue to cook once out of the pan – don’t allow them to get too brown). Drain the garlic chips on paper towels. Can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 to 2 days. Use as a garnish or sprinkle with sea salt and snack!

Beef bourguignon

Happy new year all!

We rang in the new year with a quiet dinner. I decided it was time to attack Bouchon's beef bourguignon (patiently waiting on my “to cook” list). We’ve both been under the weather and huddling in but the local grocery store will shop and deliver so I figured if all the ingredients walked in the door I’d be up for slowly and lazily cooking everything. I called in the ingredients and they showed up an hour later. I started cooking the day before to break the recipe up into manageable steps.

The whole process was similar to coq au vin in that it involved making a red wine reduction out of wine seasoned with leeks, onions, carrots, bay leaves, black peppercorns, thyme, parsley, celery and garlic, browning the meat and then braising it in the reduction and beef broth, and then cooking a series of “garnishes” (red and white pearl onions, mushrooms, carrots, lardons and fingerling potatoes) seasoned in the same way as the wine, and combining them with the beef at the last minute. On my first, cursory read nothing seemed too complicated; just a lot of steps and attention to cooking each individual item to the right level. As I got partway through I realized that the braised beef needed to steep in its cooking liquid for at least a day and up to 3 days (argh!) so it was lucky I started early. The great thing about Keller’s version is that it uses luxurious beef short rib for the meat and because the braising liquid is continuously seasoned and clarified the broth develops into a rich, aromatic, almost silky liquid. Since the garnishes are not added until the end, each retain its own distinct color, texture and flavor and the whole dish becomes a cornucopia of wonderful, hearty flavors without becoming overly stew-y and heavy.

I’m not going to post the recipe because it was pages long; but if anyone would like it, I’m happy to bite the bullet and send it along.

"Real" quiche

I have tagged several classic French recipes in my Bouchon cookbook that I want to try. One of them is Beef Bourguignon, which looks so complicated and time-consuming that I've delayed tackling it for the past six months. Now that it’s August, I have an excuse to prolong the delay since it’s not exactly hearty stew weather. Another of the recipes is for a classic French quiche. Well quiche isn’t too hard, right?

That's what I thought as I pulled ingredients together for quiche. I started making it in the early afternoon thinking that, served with a great green salad, it would make the perfect light summer dinner. I did not bother to read the entire recipe carefully before I started. I mean, it’s quiche -- how hard can it be? Wrong! This was the most time-consuming and scientifically precise recipe for quiche that I have ever seen. The process involved many steps of forming, blind-baking and cooling the shell, cooking, rendering and whipping the various fillings, and slow-cooking the quiche to create a creamy texture.

There are apparently a few keys to making the perfect, creamy quiche:

1) Using a 9-inch wide by 2-inch high ring mold and parchment paper vs. a classic pan to cook the quiche so that the bottom crust remains crusty and not soggy;

2) Whipping the custard mixture so that it’s frothy both to create a light texture and help suspend the fillings within the quiche;

3) Making sure the custard and all of the ingredients go into the oven warm so that the custard starts cooking as soon as it’s in the oven; and

4) Cooking it in an oven heated to no higher and no lower than 325 degrees so that the quiche is hot enough to prevent the custard from saturating the crust and making it soggy, and cool enough so that it cooks slowly, producing a creamy texture

Phew! Suffice it to say, dinner ended up being 24 hours later due to all of the steps involved, but boy was it worth it! The result was a true French quiche with a creamy texture and full flavor. I made Quiche Lorraine which was sumptuous given the slab bacon, comté cheese and “onion confit” (onions cooked for several hours with butter and a bouquet garni of thyme, parsley, bay leaves and black peppercorns). I’ll post the recipe for a basic quiche since it’s considerably shorter. If you’d like the specifics for the Quiche Lorraine, feel free to post a comment and I’ll pass on the (substantial) information.

For the dough:

Use the basic chilled pâte brisée recipe from the rustic fig tart post (doubled in quantity).

For the shell:

Roll the dough into a circle 14 inches in diameter and 3/16 inch thick. Re-chill the dough if it has become soft after rolling out.

Lightly brush the inside of a 9-inch wide by 2-inch high ring mold with canola oil and place it onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Carefully lift the dough into the ring (you can fold the dough over twice and then unfold it on top of the ring or use a rolling pin to roll-up, lift and then unroll onto the ring), center it on the ring and then lower the dough into the ring, pressing it gently against the sides and into the bottom corners of the ring. Trim any dough that extends more than an inch over the sides of the mold and reserve the scraps. Fold the excess dough over against the outside of the ring (to prevent it from shrinking down the sides as it bakes – the excess dough will be removed after the quiche is baked). Carefully check for any cracks or holes in the dough, and patch with the reserved dough as necessary. Place in the refrigerator or freezer for at least 20 minutes to resolidify the butter. Reserve the remaining dough scraps.

Put a rack set in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 375.

Line the quiche shell with a 16-inch round of parchment. Fill the shell with pie weights or dried beans, gently guiding the weights into the corners of the shell and filling the shell completely.

Bake the shell for 35 to 45 minutes or until the edges of the dough are lightly browned but the bottom is still light in color.

Carefully remove the parchment and weights. Check the dough for any new cracks for holes and patch with the thin pieces of reserved dough if necessary. Return the shell to the oven for another 15 to 20 minutes, or until the bottom is a rich golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow the shell to cool completely on the baking sheet. Once again, check the dough for any cracks or holes or and patch if necessary before filling the quiche batter. Turn the oven down to 325 degrees.

For the batter:

2 cups milk
2 cups heavy cream
6 large eggs
1 tablespoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoons freshly ground white pepper
6 gratings fresh nutmeg

Combine the milk and cream in a large saucepan and heat over medium heat until scalded (meaning a skin begins to form on the surface). Remove from the heat and let cool for 15 minutes before continuing.

Put 3 eggs, half the milk and cream mixture, 1 ½ teaspoons salt, 1/8 teaspoon white pepper, and 3 gratings of nutmeg in a blender and blend on low speed for a few seconds to combine the ingredients. Increase the speed to high and blend for 30 seconds to a minute, or until the batter is light and foamy. This is the first layer of the quiche: once you have assembled it, add the remaining ingredients to the blender and repeat the process to complete the quiche.

There may be a little excess batter depending on how much air is incorporated into the batter as it is blended. The quiche may sink slightly as it bakes. So check it after about 20 minutes and if there is room, add a bit more of the batter to the top.

Bake at 325 for approximately 1 ½ to 1 ¾ hours, or until the top of the quiche is browned and the custard is set when the pan is jiggled. The custard should jiggle uniformly throughout vs. jiggle more quickly in the center. Be aware that the quiche will continue to cook once out of the oven, and do not overcook.

The quiche needs to be thoroughly chilled before it’s cut, so make your quiche at least a day and up to three days before serving it. Trim any excess crust that extends above the custard using a serrated knife. Cut individual slices using a serrated knife for the side crust and a slicing knife through the custard and bottom crust and reheat in a 375 degree oven (for 15 minutes or until hot throughout) on a parchment-lined baking sheet before serving.

Bibb lettuce salad from Thomas Keller's Bouchon

This is my new favorite salad. The recipe in the cookbook call for individually assembled salads which are quite beautiful but a little fussy. I've also done it with hand-shredded bib lettuce in a large bowl sprinkled with herbs in the same proportion noted below. The dressing recipe makes more than double what you would need for a week's worth of dressing so consider halving or even quartering the recipe.

For the salad

4 heads Bibb lettuce
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons minced shallots
2 tablespoons minced chives
1/4 cup Italian parsley leaves
1/4 cup tarragon leaves
1/4 cup chervil leaves
1/2 cup House Vinagrette (see below)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Carefully cut out the core from each head of lettuce and separate the leaves, but keep each head of lettuce together; discard any tough outer leaves. Because each head of lettuce will be reassembled, the easiest way to work is with one head at a time. First, place the leaves in a bowl of cold water to refresh them and remove any dirt, then lift out and spin-dry in a salad spinner.

Place the leaves from a single head of lettuce in a bowl. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt, a few grinds of pepper, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the shallots and chives, and 1 tablespoon each of the parsley, tarragon and chervil. Then toss gently with 2 tablespoons of the vinaigrette and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice. Repeat with the remaining heads.

For each serving, arrange the outer lettuce leaves as a base on the plate and rebuild each head of lettuce, ending with the smallest, most tender leaves.

For the vinaigrette

1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 1/2 cups canola oil

Combine the mustard and vinegar in a blender and blend at medium speed for about 15 seconds. With the machine running, slowly drizzle in 1/2 cup of the oil. Don't be tempted to add all the oil to the blender or the vinaigrette will become too thick. It should be very creamy.

Transfer the vinaigrette to a small bowl and, whisking constantly, slowly stream in the remaining 1 cup oil. (The dressing can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. Should the vinaigrette separate, use a blender or immersion blender to re-emulsify it.)