Posts tagged orange blossom water
New variation – Verrine of mango and vanilla-pistachio couscous
Apr 12th
Nouvelle variante – Verrine de mangue à la semoule vanillée et pistaches
For people suffering from allergies, like me, it’s been a terrible spring in the Bay Area. Last year was mild compare to this one. I think I tried every drug over-the counter at the local Walgreens, from antihistamines, to expectorant to anti-inflammatory drugs… Nothing seems to help with my rhinitis, not even antibiotics or steroids the doctor prescribed. I am just counting the days until it goes away. Yes patience is a virtue in this case. In the meantime, my huge red nose and I, are trying to make quick meals in between a few sneezes.
I had in mind to find semoule for a while, and make semoule cake (gateau à la semoule); one of those thoughts that come and goes but even when it ‘s gone, it’s not really gone and still in the back of your mind. …basically semoule is a kind of semolina, that is used in France to make desserts. Since I have been unable to find it, because I don’t know how to call this. I ended up buying couscous which in France we call semoule de couscous. Regular semoule if finer that the couscous grain and thicker than semolina. This little fruity dessert is great for those days you feel like something sweet but not necessarily just a fruit, and no time to cook. Couscous can be accommodated in sweet preparations too, and is very quick to prepare. Just use milk and sugar instead of salt and water, and the trick is done.
You can use regular or wholewheat couscous, I think regular would have a softer and more subtle flavor with mangoes and in general in sweet preparations, and that’s what I’ll use next time.
Ingredients for 4
- 2 mangoes well riped, cubed
- 1 tsp orange blossom water
- 6 tbs wholewheat couscous (or regular)
- milk enough to cover the couscous
- 1 tbs sugar
- 1 vanilla bean cut in half
- 1 tbs pistachios, chopped
Preparation
Place mangoes in a recipient and add orange blossom water. Cover and refrigerate for about one hour. If the mangoes are not very ripe, you might want to add some sugar.
In another recipient, add couscous. Bring milk, split vanilla bean (with scraped beans) and sugar to a boil. Pour on top of the couscous. Cover and let couscous absorb milk. Add pistachios and fluff up couscous.
In a glass, add mangoes, top it with warm couscous and add extra pistachios.
Now it's the goose's turn – Farro brioche with goose egg and orange blossom water
Nov 21st
C’est au tour de l’oie de pondre – Brioche d’épeautre à l’oeuf d’oie et eau de fleur d’oranger
I went to whole Foods again this morning, and I decided to buy a goose egg after the last week experiment with duck eggs. Instead of another omelette, I wanted to try and bake with them since I heard so many wonderful things about how delicious pastry you can get with the use of goose eggs. They’re larger and even richer than duck’s eggs, and more expensive, since one costs $5. I know my mom used to make pasta with those, my uncle in Italy has geese and always gives her some of his eggs, and I don’t think there’s anything that can please her more that that.
So going back to my Whole Foods story, I arrived at the cash register and the cashier had no idea how much they were, so I told him $5 each and he did not believe me, so he proudly decided to give it to me for free. He said there is no price, so it’s free. I like that principle. Oh well, I rarely get free stuff, so I for once I left happily holding carefully my egg in my hand since it was so big, it didn’t fit anywhere and I certainly did not want to break it.
I had made brioches a while ago that turned out really well, so I took that recipe, making some changes to quantities and ingredients but still using the same technique of letting it rest overnight in the refrigerator, and adding some flavors to the dough. Et voilà ma belle brioche!
I think I will have to get used to baking more since this neighborhood I moved into, there are absolutely NO bakeries, and that is a big bummer. There is one a couple of blocks down but I looked at the bread and pastries and they don’t look very appetizing at all, so I will have to either drive miles to get bread or do it myself. I am no baker, and it takes time to make good bread so not sure how that will work. Call me crazy but the other thing I do when I go into a bakery, is look at the cleanliness of the windows. If the windows are dirty, it’s not a good sign of cleanliness of the overall bakery and I walk away.
Goose eggs can very a lot in size, and they’re about the equivalent of 3 regular eggs. Mine was very big and the yolk amazingly huge, so my brioche quite rich. I added half farro flour that I am in love with. I also used Écorce d’orange en poudre, (orange peel powder) I bought in France. I’m sure you can find something similar in the US, probably in some health food stores. The brioche is deliciously perfumed with orange blossom water and rich while being light at the same time. So yes, goose eggs make great pastries and brioches.
Ingredients for 2 brioches
- 1/2 lb (or 250 g) white flour
- 1/2 lb (or 250 g) farro flour
- 1 large goose egg
- 1 cup (or 250 ml) milk
- 1 regular egg yolk for topping
- 2.82 oz (or 80 g) butter, soft and diced
- 2.82 oz (or 80 g) sugar
- 1 tbs orange blossom water
- 1 tsp orange peel powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp beer yeast dissolved in 4 tbs lukewarm water (or dry yeast)
Preparation
In a large mixing container, mix both flours, add sugar and salt. Make a whole in the center and add egg, orange blossom water and orange peel powder. Mix well and gradually add milk, vanilla extract and yeast. At this point, you will obtain an elastic dough. If the dough is too liquid and sticky, add flour. Knead well. Add butter incorporating it carefully to the dough but do not over knead or “heat” the dough. Let it rise for about 2 hours.
Knead again and place in in the refrigerator overnight. Knead the dough again, then cut dough in two equal pieces, then cut again each piece in three . You should have six little dough balls. Grease two loave pans and place three pieces of dough in each pan, and let it rise for another additional 2 hours.
Baste top of each loaf with egg yolk, and cook in a pre-heated oven at 370F for about 30 minutes. Check once in a while to see the top didn’t burn. Remove from the oven and eat lukewarm with jam or as is.
