Galette des rois MMXVI

After the holidays, right when I thought I consumed enough foie gras to shut down the State of California, it is on to January’s flavor of the month. The galette des rois, or king’s cake, is as ubiquitous in France as New Year’s resolutions. There’s another French paradox for the list. Nonetheless, two layers of buttery puff pastry hide a rich layer of almond paste or apple compote. Buried in the cake is a teeny tiny charm. In the spirit of Epiphany, whoever wins it is crowned king or queen for the day. Although galettes are found in abundance at any boulangerie and social event in the month of January, they are a cinch to make at home. Mine includes an apple compote with a Yankee Doodle dose of cinnamon and plenty of vanilla bean. So hold onto your teeth. You may be king or queen today!

For much more coloring fun, please preorder my forthcoming book Amazon.com: Edible Paradise: A Coloring Book of Seasonal Fruits & Vegetables (Rizzoli’s Universe Imprint), March 15th, 2016. It sets its readers on an enchanting journey, discovering the seasonal delicacies and creatures found in forests, fields, gardens, and urban farmer’s markets. This charming, elegantly designed volume of freehand illustrations is a treat for the senses, guaranteed to inspire food lovers, nature enthusiasts, gardeners, and parents wanting to encourage their children to appreciate the wonders of nature’s edible bounty. Preorder here.

Hazelnut & Nutella Thumbprints

Ask any French person what “cookie” means to them. It is nothing other than a round, chewy, chocolate chip-studded package of Pepperidge Farm. I know for a fact. That was my cookbook editor’s reference point for a “real cookie”. Thanks again globalization! Whatever may count as a Christmas cookie, I still hang onto my tradition of giving something sweet and homemade to my nearest. The latest to make its way onto my roster is my Hazelnut & Nutella thumbprint cookies. Their form is classically American, but the flavor is heavy on hazlenuts with the added allure of Nutella. I know it’s the devil, but for me it still represents the matinal promise of European indulgence. So whether they get the French pass as being a cookie or not, they will add a little euro appeal to any cookie plate. Happy baking!

Hazelnut & Nutella thumbprints

for 20 à 22 cookies

Preheat oven to 350°F. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the flour, hazelnut powder, hazlenuts, baking powder and salt until the hazelnuts are finely chopped. In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar 5 minutes until light and pale in color. Add the egg, vanilla and mix until combined. Add the flour mixture little by little, mixing until just incorporated. Form the dough into 4 cm balls and roll in the canne sugar until completely coated. Place the balls on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper. Push a thumb into the cookies to create a hole. Bake the cookies 14-18 minutes until firm and lightly golden brown. Cool completely on a wire rack. Fill each cookie with a teaspoon of Nutella^®.

Ingrédients

190 g all-purpose flour

125 g hazelnut flour

100 g toasted hazlenuts

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

220 g unsalted butter, room temperature

70 g sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

60 g coarse canne sugar

200 g de Nutella^®

Noisettes & Nutella^® thumbprints

pour 20 à 22 cookies

Préchauffez le four à 175 °C. Dans le bol d’un robot, mixez la farine, la poudre de noisettes, les noisettes, la levure et le sel en un mélange homogène avec de petits éclats de noisette. Dans un saladier, battez le beurre et le sucre 5 minutes en un mélange mousseux. Ajoutez l’œuf et la vanille. Incorporez la farine aux noisettes puis mélangez jusqu’à l’obtention d’une pâte homogène. Formez des boulettes de pâte de 4 cm de diamètre puis roulez-les dans la cassonade. Déposez-les sur une plaque recouverte de papier sulfurisé. À l’aide du pouce, faites un trou profond dans chaque boulette. Faites cuire 14 à 18 minutes jusqu’à ce que les cookies soient fermes et légèrement dorés. Laissez-les refroidir sur une grille. À l’aide d’une petite cuillère, remplissez chaque cookie avec le Nutella^®.

Ingrédients

190 g de farine

125 g de poudre de noisettes

100 g de noisettes entières, torréfiées

1 cuillerée à café de levure chimique

½ cuillerée à café de sel

220 g de beurre à température ambiante

70 g de sucre

1 œuf

1 cuillerée à café de vanille

60 g de cassonade

200 g de Nutella^®

Looking for a detoxifying gift to yourself to ring in a healthier and less stressful New Year? Preorder my forthcoming book Edible Paradise: A Coloring Book of Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables (Rizzoli’s Universe Imprint).

MOUSSAKA to color & cook

Whenever I have a lull in my work, my first response is a backbreaking downward spiral of questioning my life choice of being a professional zucchini illustrator. My second is considering going back to school. Why wouldn’t I need a pastry certificate from Le Corden Bleu ? Sticker shock. Nevermind. Once the panic wears off, I am always reminded that slow moments have often been my most fruitful times. And probably some of my happiest. I have a free moment to impulsively hop on a silly illustration idea I have in the back of my head. Persimmons ? Pencils ? Get it ? Ok neither do I, but it has me thinking about abc books of fruits, vegetables and inanimate objects. Don’t steal that one, ok ?

On my to-do list has been creating an illustrated recipe for They Draw & Cook, a vast collection of illustrated recipes from all around the World. From a distance, it has been an encouraging presence on my Instagram feed seeing what other professional zucchini illustrators have their hands on. Nevertheless, I gave it a shot with my favorite moussaka recipe (from a previous post about an unbelievable, international flea market discovery). But I challenged myself to do it in the style of my forthcoming coloring book Edible Paradise : A Coloring Book of Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables (Universe)…

Preorder Edible Paradise here.

MOUSSAKA adapted from Greek Cooking for the Gods by Eva Zane

Ingredients

3 eggplants

2 pounds ground lamb or beef

2 onions, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

2 tablespoons parsley, chopped

1 can tomato sauce (8-ounce)

1/2 cup red wine

olive oil

salt and pepper

4 cups bechamel sauce

grated parmesan cheese

Peel and cut the eggplant lengthwise into 1/2-inch slices; sprinkle with salt and set aside on paper towers to absorb the moisture. Meanwhile prepare the meat sauce. Saute the ground meat in butter with salt, and pepper, onions and garlic, crumbling the meat with a fork. When the meat is evenly browned, add 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, parsley and tomato sauce; stir, mix well, add wine, and simmer for 20 minutes. Wipe the salted eggplant; lightly oil a skillet with pastry brush and quick fry the eggplant over high heat; lay on paper towels to drain. In a greased 9×13×2” baking pan, place a layer of eggplant, top with meat mixture, sprinkle with grated cheese, cover with the remaining eggplant, sprinkle with grated cheese, and cover with bechamel sauce. (Add 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg to the bechamel, and for an exceedingly rich sauce, add 3 egg yolks to the sauce after it is cooked.) Top moussaka lavishly with grated cheese and bake at 350° F for 1 hour. Allow to cool, and then cut into 3-inch squares. Variations: Substitute 2 pounds zucchini, sliced lengthwise and fried, for the eggplant. Or, substitute 2 pounds potatoes, peeled, cut in 1/4-inch slices and fried, for the eggplant.

For 12 servings

Gingerbread!

I just turned in my manuscript for a very exciting book coming out in May chez Marabout! But more on that soon. Nevertheless, I’ve been knee-deep in powdered sugar since September, testing recipes and reinterpreting my research into watercolor. Although I could make fortune investing in butter, I promised myself I would swear off baking until the New Year. But an impulse buy Christmas tree and a string of (very French) strobe LED Christmas lights led little to the imagination. Like any normal human being, I had to make gingerbread ornaments. Here’s my recipe for a spicy gingerbread cookie open to any royal icing self-expression…

Ingredients:

2 sticks softened butter / 225 g de beurre à temperature ambiante

1 cup packed brown sugar / 180 g de sucre vergeoise

1 cup molasses / 300 g de melasse

3 oeufs

1 teaspoon clementine zest / 1 cuillère à café de zeste de clementine

5 ½ cups all-purpose flour/ 760 g de farine type 65

1 teaspoon baking soda/ 1 cuillère à café de bicarbonate de soude

1/2 teaspoon salt / 1 cuillère à café de sel

4 teaspoons cinnamon / 4 cuillère à café de cannelle moulu

4 teaspoons ground ginger / 4 cuillère à café de gingembre moulu

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg / 1 cuillère à café de noix muscade moulu

½ teaspoon ground pepper / ½ cuillère à café de poivre moulu

Beat the butter and brown sugar 3 minutes until light and fluffy. / Dans un saladier, battre le beurre et le sucre 3 minutes en un mélange mousseux.

Add the eggs one by one and beat until combined. Add the molasses and clementine zest and beat until well incorporated. / Ajouter les oeufs puis la mélasse et le zeste de clementine. Mélanger bien.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and pepper. Add little by little in the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined. / Tamiser ensemble la farine, le bicarbonate de soude, le sel, la cannelle, le gingembre, le noix muscade et le poivre. Ajouter en pluie dans le saladier. Mélanger jusqu’à l’obtention d’une pâte homogène.

Divide the dough into three balls. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 2 days. / Diviser la pâte dans 3 boules. Couvrir avec le filme plastique. Mettre au frais 1 heure ou jusqu’à 2 jours.

Roll out the dough to 1/2 centimetre in height. / Rouler la pâte 1/2 centimetre en hauteur.

Preheat oven to 350° F. Cut out shapes using cookie cutters. Place on a cookie sheet covered with parchement paper. If making ornaments, cut a hole on the top of each cookie using a skewer. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes. / Préchauffer le four à 180°C. Couper la pâte à l’aide d’emporte-pièce. Placer les gateaux sur un plaque de cuisson couvrir avec une feuille de papier sulfurisé. Mettre au congelateur 15 minutes.

Bake cookies 12-14 minutes until the cookies are firm and lightly colored around the edges. Cool cookies on a wire rack. / Enfourner et cuire 12-14 minutes. Laisser refroidir.

To make the icing, beat 1 cup of powdered sugar with 1 egg white until a thick icing forms. Add more powdered sugar for a thicker consistency. Pour icing in piping bag with 2 millimeter round nozzle. / Pour la glacage, battre 125 g de sucre glace avec 1 blanc d’oeuf jusqu’a l’obtention d’un glacage homogène. Verser la préparation dans une poche douille avec une douille ronde de 2 millimetres.

Decorate cookies with the icing and colorful sprinkles. Let the icing set 1 hour before serving. / Décorer les gâteaux avec la glaçage et le sucre coloré. Attendre 1 heure avant servir.

kitchen iv

Renewal

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How to roast a pumpkin!

Mon carnet, page 94-1 — © Jessie Kanelos Weiner

I have relished in the fact that Halloween is thankfully optional in France here. Now, what to do with all that pumpkin? Although living in France has all its discoveries and indulgences, it takes a trip across town for a mere can of overpriced American pumpkin. Although I have made the recent discovery of pumpkin puree at Picard, the lifesaving frozen food emporium, it is a cinch to master at home. Bonne baking!

*A spooky after effect of Halloween and a new I-PAD, excuse my serial killer handwriting.

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maquereaux marinés, or so I recall

“La Cigale!” was the very first thing out of everyone’s mouths when I was compiling a Nantes to-do list. Everyone mentioned the celebrated brasserie with sparkles in their eyes. And I was instantly enamored by this powerhouse, Art Nouveau brasserie : the warm woodwork, the mosaic lobsters on the walls, the uniformed garçons and the overall theatrics of fine dining. I was easily tempted by the complete prix fixe menu at a cool 17 euros (cold zucchini and mascarpone soup, onglet, et crème brûlée). But my dining companion, also known as mon mari, ordered maquereaux marinés, marinated mackerel, off the menu. And I have been thinking of it ever since. And it looked a little something like this…

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