French Week

In high school, we would dedicate a week to French culture, which unfortunately involved singing "La Marseillaise" out of tune and reading so-called interesting facts. Now, my "French Week" is a little bit different and considerably tastier, starting with Brioche Monday. Brioche is one of my favorite breads, and I love its versatility - you can have brioche à tête (stout men are said to resemble this method), brioche Nanterre (many brioches à tête baked into a little bouquet), or a straightforward loaf. I opted for the latter and decided to make and knead the dough by hand. Sure, you can use your sleek mixer with its shining chrome parts and hook attachments, but there is nothing like feeling the dough between your fingers as you work it, letting the smell of butter and yeast rise up to meet you. Even better is peeking underneath the towel to smell and watch the dough rise.



You are looking at an Ugly Duckling Loaf. The recipe called for baking the brioche at a surprisingly high temperature and lowering it later, which I think resulted in the very dark crust. This, coupled with the fact that I slathered on egg wash, made for a tougher, darker loaf - at least on the outside. The inside was soft and light as it should but lacked sugar and salt.



It is hard to admit that your baked goods, like your children, are ugly and bland. So today, I decided to dress it up as French toast, stuffed with mascarpone and strawberry jam. I grated a little orange zest into the batter, which added a lovely sparkle to the flavor. French toast is simple, but I had no idea how difficult it is to stuff a piece of bread. How on earth can you pump enough filling through a tiny slit in the crust? Any stuffed French toast fairy godmothers out there? At any rate, I finally managed to force-feed my brioche the cheese and jam for the perfect morning pick-me-up.



My second Tuesday experiment was Ina Garten's palmiers. I have loved palmiers (also known as elephant ear cookies) ever since I saw them shimmering in a bakery case in Austin. Their heart shape is adorable, and I love the crunch combined with the complexity of the different layers unfolding in your mouth. When I found out how simple they are to make (Ina's recipe calls for only three ingredients: frozen puff pastry, sugar, and salt), I had to give it a shot. However, if you happen to pick up a copy of Barefoot in Paris and give the recipe a go yourself, I definitely suggest lowering the temperature of the oven - at 450 degrees, some of my cookies burnt within three minutes. Palmiers are great as a tea cookie or served with vanilla ice cream. I've plated two here with Fage and a raspberry. Can you tell I just love using raspberries for garnish?



In the immortal words of our favorite American in Paris, bon appétit!