Episode 88: Dairy

Coeurs a la Creme
Creme Caramel
Meringue Roulade
Rice Pudding with Apricots

COEURS A LA CRÈME
Preparation is easy

8 ounces unsalted cream cheese (250 grams)
10 ounces sour cream (310 millilitres)
2 tablespoons caster sugar (30 grams)
2 large egg whites

For the sauce:
1 cup ripe raspberries (200 grams)
1 cup redcurrants (200 grams)
2 tablespoons sugar (30 millilitres)
4 tablespoons double cream (60 millilitres)

Preparation time is 15 minutes, 12 hours draining

Combine the cream cheese, soured cream and sugar thoroughly with a hand blender in a mixing bowl. Then whisk the egg whites with your hand blender (make sure the blades are squeaky clean first) until they are stiff. Fold them carefully into the cream mixture. The whole lot now needs to be drained overnight in a cool place.

Place the mixture in a suitably-sized square of muslin, and placing this in a sieve over a bowl. Liquid should accumulate in the bottom of the bowl.

The following day, an hour at least before you want to serve the coeurs, pile the mixture into individual molds (traditionally heart-shaped) and allow to sit in the fridge to set.

Save a few of the best-looking raspberries and red currants. Make a fruit puree by putting the raspberries in a food processor and whizzing until liquid. Remove the redcurrants from their stems with a fork and add them to the raspberries. Add the sugar to taste as redcurrants can sometimes be rather tart. Push the mixture through a fine-meshed sieve into a bowl.

Serve the coeurs a la crème by turning them out onto a plate decorated with the fruit puree and double cream. Pile the whole berries on top.

Yield: 4 servings
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CREME CARAMEL
Preparation is easy

1 litre of scalded milk
Flavour to infuse such as rum, vanilla, orange rinds, or coffee.
200 grams of sugar (6 ½ ounces)
4 eggs
8 eggs yolk
1 cup sugar (200 grams)
2 tablespoons water (30 millilitres)
8 x 4 inch ramekins

Preparation time is 20 minutes, cooking 30 minutes
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Put the eggs and the sugar in a stainless steel bowl and mix them. Put the milk in a small saucepan and add your flavouring of choice. Over a medium-high heat, bring the milk to just below a boil. Remove it from the heat. Pour the milk over the egg mixture stirring while you do so. Mix well. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve. Let the mixture cool.

Meanwhile, make your caramel. Put the sugar and the water in a small non-stick pan over a high heat. Wait until the sugar caramelizes and turns a nut-brown colour. Remove the pan from the heat and pour a small amount of the caramel into the bottom of each ramekin. Allow it to set.

Pour the custard mix over the caramel in the small ramekin. Cook in a bain-marie filled half way with water. When cooked let the crème caramel rest in the refrigerator over night, then unmold them by running a knife around the edge and serve with the caramel drizzled over the top.

Garnish the creme caramel with orange segments, candied coffee grains and fresh mint.

Yield: 8 servings.
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MERINGUE ROULADE
Preparation is difficult

1 teaspoon cornflour (5 millilitres)
1 teaspoon natural vanilla essence (5millilitres)
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar (5 millilitres)
6 egg whites
8 ounces fine sugar (250 grams)
1 ounce toasted flaked almonds (30 grams)

For the filling:
5 fluid ounces 35% cream (150 millilitres)
200 millilitres thick Greek Yoghurt (6 ½ fluid ounces)
1 tablespoon icing sugar (15 millilitres)
8 ounces fresh blueberries (250 grams)
8 ounces fresh strawberries (250 grams)

Preparation time is 2 hours
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit

Line a large rectangular baking tray with parchment paper and sprinkle with icing sugar. In a small bowl mix together the cornstarch, vinegar and vanilla essence.

In a separate, clean bowl beat the egg whites with a hand beater until stiff peaks form. Whisk in the sugar a tablespoon at a time. Once the sugar is added, slowly add the cornflour mixture and beat until the mixture is glossy and stiff. Pour the meringue mixture onto the parchment paper and spread it around evenly. Sprinkle the toasted almonds over the top. Bake the meringue in the oven for 40 to 50 minutes until it is crisp on the outside but still soft in the middle. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile beat the cream until stiff. Add the yoghurt and the icing sugar and fold them together. Cut the strawberries into halves or quarters if large and fold half of them into the cream. Fold in half of the blueberries.

Lay out a clean tea towel and dust it with icing sugar. Turn out the meringue on to the cloth. Carefully peel off the parchment paper. Close to one end of the meringue and then down its length lay a generous quantity of cream and fruit across it, leaving half an inch at either side so that the filling does not squeeze out.

Using the tea towel, roll the meringue into a roulade and put it on a serving plate. Decorate with any extra cream and fruit and the remaining fruit. Serve with a fruit coulis.

Yield: 12 servings
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RICE PUDDING WITH APRICOTS
Preparation is easy

125 grams fast-cooking rice (4 ounces)
250 millilitres of boiling water (1 cup)
375 millilitres of whole milk (1 ½ cups)
125 grams of sugar (4 ounces)
30 grams of sugar for the meringue (1 ounce)
15 millilitres of butter (1 tablespoon)
2 egg whites
2 egg yolks
100 grams of dried, diced apricots (3 ¼ ounces)

Preparation time is 20 minutes
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

In a medium saucepan over a medium heat bring the water to a boil. Add the rice and cook it until al dente, still slight firm in the middle and certainly not soggy.

In a separate medium pan over a medium-high heat, scald the milk and add the diced apricots. Remove the pan from the heat. Drain the rice. Pour the milk over the rice, add the sugar and the butter. Add the egg yolks. Mix continually until the eggs are well incorporated. Pour the rice mixture into a buttered baking dish and cook it in the oven at for about 20 minutes.

In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites with the sugar to make meringue. Once the pudding is cooked, put the meringue on top and caramelize it under the broiler.

Garnish the pudding with maple syrup or a caramel sauce and apricot coulis.

Yield: 6 servings.
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Recipe courtesy of Chef Georges Laurier, Executive Chef & owner of Laurier Sur Montcalm in Hull, Quebec.