Croissants, Consommé and Olive Oil
Ever since I saw the movie “It’s Complicated”, where the character played by Meryl Streep, a successful bakery owner, makes chocolate croissants for her potential boyfriend I have yearned to make them. I always thought they must be terribly complicated, but she made them so effortlessly, rolling up little triangles of pastry, curving them around and then baking them. And let’s face it, who doesn’t love a warm, freshly baked croissant.
Luckily enough croissants were on the list of recipes we made this week at the Ballymaloe Cookery School! J Darina Allen says the first recipe she tried came from Julia Child’s book Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and the croissant recipe covered 10 pages! She persevered (as is her wont) and came up with a less complicated recipe, although I must warn you that they are made over two days, so this is not a quick exercise.
You start with a flour, milk, sugar, yeast and water dough, which is mixed, kneaded and then left to rest for a few hours, after which butter is added to the dough. It’s then all about creating layers by folding, rolling and resting the dough several times, after which it should be left in the fridge overnight. The croissants should be rolled and shaped the next day and then baked after proving.
It is not particularly complicated to make croissants, but it does take time (as does all pastry), and the result is fabulous – buttery, crisp and utterly delicious. You can make Pain au Chocolate from the same dough, just shaping it in a different way. Having never thought I would make a croissant in my life, it really did feel like something of an achievement to produce one that was not only edible but actually tasted pretty good.
Once the euphoria of the croissant making had subsided, it was time to make beef consommé. Many in the cooking world speak of beef consommé with great reverence in hushed tones, which I never understood as I thought it to be little more than glorified beef stock. But on my first attempt, it was clear that there is some real technique involved in ensuring that the consommé is crystal clear and sparkling. It all comes down to the egg whites that are a clarifying agent for the soup by helping to lift all the veggies to the top and create a sort of mesh on the top – what they call a “clarifying raft”, if you want to be fancy pants. You have to stir it consistently in the beginning and then not at all for ages. It is seriously delicious and is incredibly nutritious as you are getting all the goodness from the stock as well as the veggies and meat. While it is not my favourite thing in the world to make, I am pleased that I managed to do it relatively well.
Whenever I am at a restaurant, my two favourite things to order for dessert are either ice-cream with hot chocolate sauce (the real stuff) or crème brulee. This is another dish that has always seemed somewhat daunting to make, but is actually incredibly simple. It is also made over two days – you make the custard on the first day and let it rest overnight in the fridge and then make the caramel for the topping or put sugar on the top and blowtorch it until it becomes hard. The caramel will last much longer as the blowtorched sugar will start to soften after a while. The only tip in making the custard is to be really careful once you have poured it into a serving ramekin not to break the skin on the custard. It needs to remain intact if it is to hold. Divine!
Every week, we have a lecture or two on a different issue, and this week it was on olive oil. Many people are aware how good it is for us, being a mono-unsaturated fatty acid and high in Omega 9, but I had always thought it was not great for frying or sautéing at high temperatures as it degrades. Not so, it seems – olive oil has the highest cooking temperature of any oil, although it’s better to deep fry, for example, with ordinary olive oil rather than virgin or extra virgin.
It’s important to buy from reputable producers as there are a lot of fraudulent olive oils out there – in fact, Darina pronounced that there was more money made from selling fraudulent olive oil than from cocaine trafficking. Who knew? And there are a number of guidelines about how to best store it, but the bottom line is that it should be stored in a dark cupboard or if this is not possible, then in a dark bottle. Those little bottles of olive oil in clear bottles on tables at restaurants (often outside in the sun) are a big no-no – they will not last nearly as long if kept that way.
Just as with wine, there are many different types of olive oil and many countries produce excellent oils, including Italy, France, Spain, Greece and many others. The only producer in South Africa mentioned by Ballymaloe Cookery School is Morgenster, where owner Giulio Bertrand took plants from Italy and grew them under the advice of some of Italy’s foremost experts on olive growing. Darina reckons this is arguably the best New World olive oil with a sweet and buttery flavour and a hint of avocado and pepper. We tasted about 15 of the best olive oils the school recommends and perhaps no surprise, but it was my favourite!
My Top 5 Recipes of the week:
1. Beef consommé
2. Rack of lamb
3. Rustic potatoes with rosemary
4. Croissants
5. Crème brulee
Cheers all, until next time!