sábado, 14 de abril de 2012

A night to remember





It was a clear night.. One could hear from the deck,the laughter of the passengers enjoying a quiet evening, music was in the air. Many already slept. It was 11:40 and the name of the ship was about to become eternal and world famous. On the fifth night of its maiden voyage the Titanic ceased to be just a ship and became immortal.

What is it about Titanic that gets so much fascination? Maybe for the fact that her first trip became the last, or because of all the souls that went down with her, or because of the many legends, like the orchestra playing in one of the decks as passengers ran from one side to another trying to find a place in the few lifeboats, the courage of many, the cowardice of a few, and the ladies with their hats and dresses in the fashion of the early twentieth century, leaving their husbands behind, many were already widows without knowing it. It was a clear night, and it was the end of Titanic.

On the night of April 14th 1912, the dinner in the first class dining room consisted of a ten-course menu. Oysters, soup, vegetables, fillet mignon, lamb, carrots, asparagus vinaigrette, salmon, duck, veal, chicken, pigeon and several desserts. This post t recreates some of the menu, my version of two of the dishes last night of the Titanic:

Chicken lyonnaise with vegetables

Chocolate and vanilla eclairs
Waldorf pudding



Chicken Lyonnaise

Ingredients for two:
A boneless chicken breast with skin
Four tablespoons of fresh thyme
Two onions finely chopped
A clove of garlic
One tablespoon of tomato puree
100 g flour
Salt and pepper
Two tablespoons of olive oil
A cup of chicken stock
Half cup of white wine
A pinch of sugar

Fry the onion in a frying pan with olive oil, until it begins to brown, then add garlic, a little thyme, cook a few minutes over a high heat and add wine, stirring with a wooden spoon to prevent paste, reduce for a minute and add tomato puree, stock and sugar, cook for two minutes or until the sauce begins to thicken. At this point you can add the sliced ​​chicken or plate it with the sauce all over.

Method:
Spread chicken skin on a board and open the breast so that it covers the skin, spread the meat, if necessary flatten it a bit, season the meat and sprinkle half the thyme. Roll up and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate half an hour .. In a bowl mix the flour with more thyme, salt and pepper, remove chicken from refrigerator and cut into slices. Roll in flour and fry in oil. Leave in the oven at medium-low heat while preparing the sauce.



The vegetables:
Carrots
Cumin
Fennel
Butter
Salt and pepper
Preparation:
Place the fennel in a saucepan and cover with water, season and boil until the water begins to evaporate, at this point add a tablespoon of butter and cook until browned. Keep aside.
For the carrots, follow the same procedure as with the fennel, but adding the cumin together with the butter.


Waldorf pudding

Ingredients:
A golden apple, peeled and diced
200g sponge crumbs
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup milk
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

In a saucepan mix the apple, lemon, and butter and 2 tablespoons of sugar and cook until the apples begin to caramelize.
In another saucepan combine the milk with the remaining sugar and vanilla, when it starts to bubble,in another bowl mix four or five tablespoons of the milk with the yolks, then add this mixture to the milk and vanilla and stir constantly with a spoon stick until it begins to thicken slightly.




At this point, you can do two things:

Spread the apple mixture in a oven safe bowl or in individual ramekins and cover with the cream, top with the crums and bake at 180 degrees on a Bain Marie for 30 to 40 minutes or until the custard is set. Cool 5 minutes, run a knife around the edges, invert on a serving plate and serve.

In individual ramekins alternate layers of apple, cream and the crumbs. Refrigerate.


Chocolate and vanilla eclairs

Ingredients:
Choux pastry:
1/4 litre of water
100g butter
150 g sifted plain flour
5 eggs
15 g sugar
3 g salt



For the pastry cream:
1/2 litre of milk
4 egg yolks
45g cornflour
100g sugar
A vanilla pod split open
the rind of half a lemon
For the ganache:
200 g dark chocolate
Single cream 50 dl
For the vanilla glace:
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 or 3 tablespoons water


Method for the eclairs:
Put water, butter, salt and sugar in a pan and bring to the boil. Remove from heat and add the flour stirring, cook for a few minutes. Remove from heat and add eggs, one by one. Form eclairs with a piping bag in a greased baking tray. Cookfor about 15 minutes at 180, then another 5 with the oven door ajar. Cool on wire rack.


The pastry cream:
Mix the cornstarch with half a cup of the milk and the egg yolks in a separate bowl. Bring the remaining milk to a boil with the sugar, lemon peel and vanilla .. When it boils, mix the egg yolk mixture and cornstarch,place back in the saucepan and keep stirring with a wooden spoon .. Remove from heat when it begins to thicken , remove the skin of the lemon and vanilla. (vanilla is washed under running water and dried, and can be used to make vanilla sugar). Cover with plastic film to prevent the formation of the skin layer. Once at room temperature, refrigerate.
For the ganache:
In a saucepan heat the cream and mix the chocolate until is completely melted. Cool.
For the vanilla frosting:
Sift the icing sugar and mix with the vanilla extract and water until it forms a paste ..
Filling and icing:
Once the custard is cooled, fill the eclairs using a pastry bag, and coat them with the warm ganache.
Fill the chocolate eclairs with the cold ganache and coat with the vanilla glaze.





1 comentario:

  1. A beautiful menu and way of remembering that event! I really love that chickem Lyonnaise.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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