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French Fridays with Dorie: Cauliflower-Bacon Gratin
The last French Fridays with Dorie recipe for 2011 was a clear winner at our house: Cauliflower-Bacon Gratin. I got a new oven earlier this week, and this was the inaugural dish baked in the oven.
I struggle to like both cauliflower and broccoli, but I’m getting there. This dish definitely paves the way. What’s not to like about anything cooked with bacon and custard and cheese?
The gratin is sort of like a crustless quiche, but a little more substantial.
The cauliflower is meltingly tender.
The bacon is smoky.
The custard that holds it all together is creamy, and I love Gruyere cheese.
Dorie suggested the gratin could be served as a main dish or a side. I opted to serve it as an entrée with a green salad on the side. It warmed our insides and filled our bellies. I agree it would be a nice complement to a simple preparation of meat or chicken. Leftovers held up well too.
When I was making this, I was a little frustrated because it called for a cauliflower, but there was no guidance about its recommended weight. Also, it called for the cauliflower to be broken into florets, but not their size. I had two different cauliflowers in the refrigerator, one twice as big as the other. I used the bigger one, but some of the florets were huge. I ended up quartering the giant ones. In the end, I realized that none of my anxiety mattered. I know it would have worked out fine with a bigger or smaller cauliflower and a bigger or smaller florets. The gratin is quite forgiving.
I can’t wait to read about the other Dorista’s gratins. That’s what I’ll spend the rest of the evening doing, while I enjoy the last crème brulée from last week — now successfully torched with turbinado sugar, rather than brownulated, on top. (Thanks Elaine!)
You can read about their gratins too by following the links on the FFwD site. We are asked not to post the recipes, but I found it posted here on Leite’s Culinaria. That doesn’t mean that if you find Dorie’s recipes appealing, you shouldn’t get yourself a copy of Around My French Table.
Happy New Year 2012 to all my cooking friends! It’s been a great year getting to know you all and sharing a passion for the kitchen with you.
French Fridays with Dorie: Crème Brulée
Crème brulée is one of my favorite desserts to order in a restaurant. It had never occurred to me that I could make it at home. Crème brulée was this week’s assignment for French Fridays with Dorie, and, so, the challenge was on.
I’d never made custard before. First, you heat the cream and milk. I chose to do this in the microwave, but lacking experience, I think I should have done it on top of the stove. I didn’t want the milk to boil over, but I wasn’t sure how long it would take. It was hard to see through the glass of the microwave, so I would have been better off just using a pot on the stovetop — much easier to watch.
Then, you whisk together egg yolks and sugar, and gradually add the hot milk until it’s all combined. My custard was overly foamy, even after a lot of rapping the container on the counter, so I skimmed off the layer of foam.
For a new twist on crème brulée, Dorie has you spread a spoonful of jam on the bottom of each dish. I had both raspberry and strawberry jams that I made this summer, so I made 3 with each flavor.
I didn’t have the exactly right-sized dishes for the crème brulée, but used what I had. None of my dishes were quite as wide as the 4 inches suggested, so my custards took longer to cook. Rather than spending an hour in a low oven, my custards needed more like 90 minutes to set. Then, after cooling, the crèmes spent the night in the refrigerator.
The final step, the bruléeing, called for family fun. For some reason, Howard had a butane torch in the basement, so I called on him to conduct the caramelization step. I don’t know whether I layered the sugar on too thick. Initially, the sugar flamed up like roasted marshmallows do, leaving little burnt spots on top. The sugar wasn’t really melting. We watched a couple of YouTube videos to see how it’s done. It worked better when he held the flame closer and moved the flame around faster.
Howard the Torcher
I have to let you in on a secret though. I’m actually the only one at our house that likes custard, so we only tried out one so far. This step will require more practice. The sugar wasn’t quite as crusty as I’ve had at restaurants, but there are 5 more dishes to try this on.
Overall, I liked my home-rendition of crème brulée. I liked the hint of fruit in the bottom of the dish. This would definitely be fun to serve to company, but no one was coming over before Friday. I’ll see if I can share some of the other 5 dishes in the fridge.
I’m looking forward to reading about what my fellow FFwD bloggers thought about this week’s recipe. Check out their links at French Fridays with Dorie. We don’t post the recipes, but consider getting your own copy of Dorie Greenspan’s book, Around My French Table.
Merry Christmas to all, and, to all, a good night!
A Plateful of Happiness 