Tag Archives: gourmet

Le Praline Ou Pralin

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Filed under What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

photo 2What is Pralin? It is like a peanut butter but made with sugar and hazelnut. Pralin is normally used to make the filling of many chocolate truffles and the layers of some European cakes. Pralin is really easy to use. You basically add it to other ingredients to make either layers of cakes or chocolate truffles. You add to chocolate to make the filling of chocolate truffles and you mix it with various other ingredients such as hazelnut oil, feuillantine and chocolate to make a delicious crusty cake layer.

In France, pralin can be bought in all the grocery stores. But if you are leaving in the US, it is basically impossible to find it unless you buy it from Professional websites and it can be very expensive.

Well, the busy person that I am did not think to look at the ingredients for Lisa’s birthday cake so i was in  a bit of jam when I realized that I needed some pralin for the recipe.

After googling how to make it, this is what i found. It is perfect and can be made in large batch and kept frozen for later usages.

photo 1

Ingredients:

  • 200 gr. of hazelnuts, or almonds or a mixture of both
  • 200 gr. of sugar
  1. Place the almond and halzelnuts on a deep flexipan and roast them 15 minutes in a warm oven of 400.photo 2
  2. Let them cool completly.
  3. Place them into a plastic bag and rub plastic bags in between your hands to make the skin fall off the hazelbuts.photo 3
  4. Empty the bag of all the nuts carefully so as to keep the “skin” still in the bag. Set aside.
  5. In a small saucepan, cook 200 gr. of sugar over medium temperature until the sugar on the edges of the pan start to turn a golden brown. Then with a wooden spoon or a heat resistant spoon, start turning until the mixture is an amber color.photo 4
  6. Add the roastd nuts to it and pour the mixture onto the deep flexipat or the silpat to cool.photo 5
  7. When it is completly cool, place it into a chopper and chop until the mixture is looking like a peanut butter texture. Stop. Use it for your recipe.photo 3Keep the rest in a ziploc container in the freezer. It will keep for a long time.

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Maple Glazed Salmon with Vanilla Emulsion

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Filed under entree, Recipe with Demarle Cookware, seafood, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

I always stay busy. But when I finally find a minute to relax, I love to read culinary magazines, and flip through the pages of various cookbooks in search of inspiring recipes. Yesterday, I had seen a recipe of fish served with a vanilla sauce. It sparked my interest so much that today it was all I thought of. I imagined the type of fish I could use, and the vegetables to accompany it. So as soon as I got out of work, I went to the Fresh Market, and bought fresh corn on the cob and salmon. I was determined to cook that recipe. I actually followed the recipe to the letter even though some of the ingredients were somewhat surprising: vanilla, fresh garlic, fresh ginger, bourbon, broth and cream. I was a little sceptic, but the picture was really appetizing so I decided to go ahead.

What a disaster. That was awful! So much for a yummy dinner. I was not beaten though. I was determined to fix my fish with a vanilla sauce. And so I improvised.

Whoah… that combination of flavor was amazing!  I was almost in heaven. I totally loved the mixture of tastes. You need to try!!!

Ingredients for 2 persons:

  • 1 salmon filet of about 3-4 inches.
  • maple syrup
  • salt
  • pepper

Ingredients for the cream of corn:

  • 1 tbsp of butter,
  • 1/4 sweet onion diced,
  • 4 corn husks,
  • 1/4 heavy cream
  • salt
  • and pepper to taste,
  • (1 tsp of vanilla extract if wanted)
  • 1/3 cup of water.

Ingredients for the sauce:

  • 1/4 cup of heavy cream
  • 1/3 of a vanilla bean 

A. Salmon:

  1. Place the salmon on the flexipan.
  2. Pour some maple syrup in a little container, and with a brush, glaze the filet.
  3. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  4. Bake in a warm oven at 350 for 8 minutes.
  5. While the salmon is cooking, place the corn on the cob ( 4)  in a large round mold, cover it with the octogonal silpat, and cook in microwave for 5 minutes or for 10 minutes in the oven.
  6. Remove the corn from the husk with a knife. You may season with salt and pepper or not ( I did not).

You may also fix a cream of corn instead: 1 tbsp of butter, 1/4 sweet onion diced, 4 corn husks, 1/4 heavy cream. salt and pepper to taste, (1 tsp of vanilla extract if wanted). 1/3 cup of water.

  1.  Melt the butter in a small saucepan and saute the onions until they become translucent and golden.
  2. Throw in the corn kernels that you would have previously removed from the cob with a knife.
  3. Add 1/3 cup of water. Bring to boil and cook for 10 minutes.
  4. Add the 1/4 cup of heavy cream and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes. Set aside.
  5. For the sauce, Pour 1/4 cup of heavy cream in a saucepan and place 1/3 of a vanilla bean that you would have previously cut in half and remove the seeds.
  6. Bring to boil, and let it simmer until the cream has reduced to half and has become thicker.

To serve, spoon the corn on the plate, place the filet on top of the corn, and drizzle the vanilla sauce over it.

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!!