Posts tagged spelt
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.
Shrimps in a green blanket – Spinach Farrotto with garlic oyster mushrooms, leek-wrapped shrimps and basil jus
Jun 4th
Crevettes en couverture verte – Epeautre vert facon risotto aux gambas enrobés de poireaux, pleurottes et jus de basilic
Gamberi in coperta verde – “Farrotto” verde, con gamberi ai porri, funghi e sugo di basilico
I always remember “Riso verde” green risotto I used to eat in Italy anytime I went there to spend the summer. It’s basically risotto with spinach, parmesan and panna (panna is the Italian cream but unavailable in the US) – spinach are so thinnly blended that the rice has a beautiful green color.
I wanted to make something similar with farro but less heavy, so I didn’t add any cream. The basil jus (what is jus in English anyway? juice?) enhances the whole dish without adding too many flavors. The leek wrapping the shrimps gives a perfect touch and wholesome little dinner meal.
Farrotto is farro that has been prepared and cooked like risotto, can be orzotto, or whatever grain you want to use. I think barley would work as well.
I love this dish, and will certainly make it more often. What I love the most is its delicate and wonderful flavors blending all together, its lightness and hearty beautiful green colors. I love everything about it.
Ingredients for 4
- 2 cups farro (spelt)
- 1 large shallot, chopped
- 1/2 lb spinach (fresh or frozen)
- 1/2 cup whit wine
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth
- 1 lbs oyster mushrooms
- 2 garlic cloves
- 10 large uncooked shrimps
- 2 large leeks
- 1 bunch basil
- 3 tbs parmiggiano reggiano, freshly grated
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
Preparation
Start making the farro risotto (I call it farrotto). Heat olive oil in a pot, brown shallots, add farro, stir and coat farro with oil. Add a little wine and a little broth and cook always stirring to not let it stick to the bottom of the pot. Add salt and pepper.
Cook spinach in boiling water for about 5 minutes. Drain and squeeze excess water. Chop very finely to make it into a purée.
When the farro is cooked, add spinach, stir well, and add parmesan cheese.
Saute oyster mushrooms in olive oil, add salt and pepper, let water evaporate. Add crushed garlic at the end. Stir for another 5 minutes to make garlic flavor come out.
For the basil jus, bring 1/2 cup of broth to a boil, add basil and cook for 30 seconds, remove from the pot and pat dry. In a blender, mix basil with broth to make it into a very fine mixture. Remove from blender into a bowl, add 1 tbs olive oil, 1 tsp lemon juice, salt and pepper if needed.
For the shrimps, cut the top hard part of the leeks. Separate carefully each leave from one another and cut in half, you should get about a piece that is 1 1/2 inch wide and 4 or 5 inches long. Bring water to a boil and cook leeks in water for about 1 minute. Drain and pat dry. Add salt and pepper to shrimps and wrap them in each piece of leek.
Saute shrimps in olive oil at medium heat until they’re cooked, brown the outside.
Set the plate. First place a nice quantity of farrotto in the middle of the plate making a timballe (a round little cone) . Add some mushrooms around the farro. Place two shrimps on top and place 2 at the bottom. Sprinkle shrimps and mushrooms with basil jus.
