Purse Crêpes (Aumônières de Crêpes)

Purse Crêpes (Aumônières de Crêpes)

by | Health and Food Culture, Le Blog

Purse Crêpes (Aumônières de Crêpes)

Beggar’s Purse Crêpes Aumônières

Purse Crêpes

Purse Crêpes (sometimes called a Beggar’s purse) are an ironic description for a crêpe-based dish given that these elegant, plump flavor packages allow for an extra cha-ching to that restaurant bill. For the home cooks, this food bling bling upgrades your status as a chef de maison and offers fun ways to showcase what is truly a “fast-slow food”. Purse crêpes are versatile and can be stuffed with savory or sweet ingredients.

Crêpe batter is easy to prepare (5 ingredients in 5 minutes)

After learning a couple simple tricks, crêpes are easy to make—see my take on crêpes.

Aumônières de Crêpes

My chefs in Paris had me adding some chopped chervil into the batter and calling the recipe Crêpes Celestine without any mention of the “purse” food styling. Celestine refers to in the style of and often includes green, leafy herbs. Typically the French version is called aumônières de crêpes where aumônière means purse in French.

The tasty morsel above is from Amarosa vineyard and restaurant in Tuscany, Italy. The herbed version below I made in Paris where the chefs had us stuffing them with a creamy scallop filling.

Beggar’s Purse Crêpes Aumônières

 “extravagant, flashy—bling on a plate. .  . No matter their price, the purses were always hot sellers”

Cuisinesolutions.com

    About Me

    The pleasure of food, good health and well-being through simple habits for eating well and flexitarian low-key cooking.
    Michele Redmond

    Michele Redmond

    French-trained Chef, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist & Food Enjoyment Activist

    It's about Making Food First

    Get Eat Well Academy periodic updates on easy ways to choose and cook foods that satisfy your appetite, nurture your body and make eating well a pleasure.

    Galettes de Bretagne or Buckwheat Crêpes

    Galettes de Bretagne or Buckwheat Crêpes

    by | Health and Food Culture, Le Blog

    Galettes de Bretagne or Buckwheat Crêpes

    When I ask other Americans about a French food they are most familiar with, crêpes are at the top of the list. In cooking classes, we often make crêpes because they are the easiest fancy food ever.

    “Crêpes have a gourmet mystique

    yet fold into on-the-go street food and with a few tricks are easy to make.”

     

    My favorite types are galettes de Bretagne or buckwheat crêpes which originated from Brittany in Northwest France. Buckwheat (Sarrasin in French) crêpes don’t look or taste like most crêpes served in the U.S. From a sensory perspective, the color, when cooked is a toasty brown, the texture is crispy around the edges and are made thicker than all-purpose flour crepes.

    This first crêpe from Crêperie Josselin in Paris is filled spinach and goat cheese and served with the required alcoholic cider beverage.

    Buckwheat crêpes: healthy, happy eating

    Nutritionally, for people who must eat gluten-free, buckwheat crêpes can expand their food options. But for eaters without restrictions, these are a fun addition to your meal time for both savory and sweet dishes. I will be posting some recipes and nutritional details in upcoming posts.

    Crepe Brittany Josselin ed

    My egg and “lardon” crêpe may cause some hesitation by those avoiding dietary cholesterol but I was hungry after four hours of walking about Paris running errands.

    “I didn’t hesitate because dietary cholesterol doesn’t have a significant impact on blood serum cholesterol levels.”*

    Also, because I don’t eat based on the amount of exercise I do, rather I eat when I feel hungry and what appeals to me per my no-food-rules life.

    I confess to only eating half this crêpe and sadly leaving the rest behind as it was too filling. Next time, I bring a friend to split with me so I can have a salted caramel dessert crêpe!

    Crêperie Josselin https://plus.google.com/104826267487524352578/about?gl=us&hl=en Buckwheat Crêpes josselin

     

     

    *The 2015 Dietary Guidelines and decades of research! This applies to the majority of people even those with high cholesterol blood serum levels; however, there’s always exceptions as everyone is unique.

      About Me

      The pleasure of food, good health and well-being through simple habits for eating well and flexitarian low-key cooking.
      Michele Redmond

      Michele Redmond

      French-trained Chef, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist & Food Enjoyment Activist

      It's about Making Food First

      Get Eat Well Academy periodic updates on easy ways to choose and cook foods that satisfy your appetite, nurture your body and make eating well a pleasure.

      I love Paris in the cheese time | French Cheese

      I love Paris in the cheese time | French Cheese

      by | Health and Food Culture, Le Blog

      I love Paris in the cheese time | French Cheese

      In a country that brags about 1,600 types of raw milk cheeses plus pasteurized options, shopping in a French cheese store (Fromagerie) stimulates or anesthetizes your senses depending on your tolerance for an overwhelming variety of options and the unique sensory aroma experience. One of my favorite French cow milk cheeses is Langres from the region of Champagne Ardenne on the Langres plateau. From a sensory experience, the barn-yardy odor hits you first and visually it looks like a tiny orange cake with powdered sugar—the orange color is from annatto seed. The concave cap is sometimes filled with a splash of champagne before eating, but I just dig in to enjoy its bready, earthy, sour-cream, mildly salty, sometimes fruity finish creamy experience. When I visit or work in France, it’s one of my first go-to cheeses. So far, I haven’t found a U.S. equivalent nor an imported version that survives the travel distance or the U.S. pasteurization requirements. If anyone has tried these or knows of any American cheeses with similar characteristics, please share your experiences or send me some cheese please.

      French Cheese Langres | thetasteworkshop.com
      French Cheese Langres | thetasteworkshop.com

      French Cheese Please

      The French get a lot of grief for their high cheese consumption. That they eat so much of it, so often, and without weight or health concerns. They even have verifiable better health outcomes than us Americans who may worry about frequently eating French cheese or any cheese. I explore these French eating paradoxes in other posts, but for now I propose that cheese can be a healthy part of a diet, presuming you’re not, sadly, lactose intolerant.

      The biggest cheese challenge I have in France is which of the 1,000+ officially designated types of cheese to buy and not whether it’s “healthy”.

        About Me

        The pleasure of food, good health and well-being through simple habits for eating well and flexitarian low-key cooking.
        Michele Redmond

        Michele Redmond

        French-trained Chef, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist & Food Enjoyment Activist

        It's about Making Food First

        Get Eat Well Academy periodic updates on easy ways to choose and cook foods that satisfy your appetite, nurture your body and make eating well a pleasure.

        Culinary Nutrition & Fats: Le Cordon Bleu, Paris

        Culinary Nutrition & Fats: Le Cordon Bleu, Paris

        by | Le Blog, New Events, Taste Literacy

        Culinary Nutrition & Fats: Le Cordon Bleu, Paris

        Culinary Nutrition in Paris: Fats that Give Back

        We launched this culinary nutrition fats class by discussing dietary fat myths and questions such as:

        • Can cooking oils become less healthy upon heating?Culinary nutrition fats LCB coconut oil
        • Does coconut oil stimulate weight loss?
        • Is coconut oil an all-purpose oil?
        • Is olive oil really the better oil for health?
        • What’s the latest on saturated fats and butter in healthy diets?
        • What happens when you eat higher carb foods with fattier foods?

        Culinary Nutrition: “Fat” Techniques

        We explored further questions during the class culinary techniques and tips such as:

        • Why do smoke points matter for food quality and taste?
        • How smoke points relate to culinary techniques & health?
        • What are the best tricks for non-stick sauté & tasty results?

          Culinary nutrition questions and answers

          Culinary technique questions in my favorite demo room

        • Which techniques pair with different oils?
        • What happens when you mix a low and high smoke point fat?
        • Clarified butter uses and can you overheat it? (we did a live test of this thanks to a curious student!)
        • How does Culinary Nutrition relate to cooking great tasting food and health?

        Slurping Fats for Flavor

        Palates were challenged with an olive oil tasting. Participants tasted two mystery French (Oils A & B) and one mystery Italian olive oil (Oil C).Culinary nutrition fats olive oil tasting

        How do you taste oils? Briefly follow the steps below but for more detailed info, email me for a handout.

        • Sniff
        • Slurp (rudely works best)
        • Feel
        • Swallow
        • Breathe out

        Participants discussed what aromas and flavors they perceived, rated the oils and guessed their sources and types.

        Olive oil

        Many students guessed the Italian versus the French versions.
        The Italian version was from Umbria and had complex notes of grass, artichoke, spice and a creamy finish with hints of pepper.

        This pricey oil (29 euros) limits it to finishing techniques and vinaigrettes. This can be found at http://www.oliviersandco.com/il-tempio-dell-oro-olive-oil.html

        Another olive oil was Puget which has made oils in France since 1857. It had high acidity and a pungent and peppery finish–a good all-purpose affordable oil. This can be found at any grocery in France.Olive oil puget

        Food Tastings and Recipes

        Tastings are designed to illustrate key differences in flavor components of cooking oils and fats and how techniques affect flavor. Key culinary techniques such as key tips for “non-stick” saute and knowing the four signs that a cooking oil is ready relate to flavor in several ways.

        Recipes are developed to be straight forward with quick prep but maximize flavors, textures and balance or highlight the five tastants. Recipes developed by the Taste Workshop for this class and tastings included:Lemon olive oil sorbet edcpfav

         

            • Salmon rillettes with hint of spice & citrus
            • Besan shrimp fritters w/ catsup chutney
            • Crispy chicken with sherry-vinegar mustard pan sauce
            • Meen Molee (Fish with coconut, lime and spices)
            • Citrusy almond and cornmeal olive oil cake with tangerine and Grand Marnier glaze
            • Lemon olive oil sorbet

         

        Thanks to LCB Paris and WICE for amazing support and for the interesting and engaged participants for this class. For more info visit:Le Cordon Bleu, Paris and WICE Culinary events

        Download Guide to Cooking Oil Smoke Points
        Download 3 Top Cooking Oils for the Kitchen

          About Me

          The pleasure of food, good health and well-being through simple habits for eating well and flexitarian low-key cooking.
          Michele Redmond

          Michele Redmond

          French-trained Chef, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist & Food Enjoyment Activist

          It's about Making Food First

          Get Eat Well Academy periodic updates on easy ways to choose and cook foods that satisfy your appetite, nurture your body and make eating well a pleasure.

          Le Cordon Bleu Spice Taste Workshop

          Le Cordon Bleu Spice Taste Workshop

          by | Le Blog, New Events, Taste Literacy

          Le Cordon Bleu Spice Taste Workshop

          Le Cordon Bleu WICE Paris FB MR_MO jpeg

          I’m in Paris teaching some cooking classes and taste workshops.

          One workshop was at Le Cordon Bleu and was a special Spice Taste Workshop for members of WICE but also includes students from the school and the general public.

          A big thanks to WICE cooking Director Mary O’leary and Sandra Messier, Marketing and communications Manager at Le Cordon Bleu for organizing a sold-out event.

          I also appreciated the excellent participants from WICE who came with great questions, a willingness to taste all sorts of spices and foods and have fun with food.

          http://www.wice-paris.org/event-1763638

            About Me

            The pleasure of food, good health and well-being through simple habits for eating well and flexitarian low-key cooking.
            Michele Redmond

            Michele Redmond

            French-trained Chef, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist & Food Enjoyment Activist

            It's about Making Food First

            Get Eat Well Academy periodic updates on easy ways to choose and cook foods that satisfy your appetite, nurture your body and make eating well a pleasure.

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