I remember when I learned how to make pastry cream (or crème pâtissière in French). I was in the process of making a triple decker chocolate cake for Fourth of July and I was so intimidated by the process that I swore I’d screw it up. There were so many steps to make this stuff, and each appeared to require such precision and timing that I thought I would surely break the sauce, scrambled the eggs, or end up with a burnt mass that I’d spend a week soaking out of the bottom on my $50 saucepan.

When I finally took the plunge, my hands were shaking and I broke a broke a sweat while I gathered the ingredients. I carefully pre-read my recipe again for good measure, and then dutifully followed the steps, adding sugar to egg, and then egg to hot cream. In the end I had a beautifully smooth pastry cream, perfectly sweet with a nice, buttery body.

The thoughtful simplicity of pastry cream

I looked at what I’d just created and laughed. It was actually a very simple process! I didn’t break the initial sauce, and the eggs and cream came together without a hitch. I looked back over my anxiety and sighed, wishing I could recover the days I’d shaved off my life sweating the process before I’d even given it a try. (don’t even mention how funny it is that I live in a world where I have the luxury of freaking out over dessert.)

With a sense of confidence and a bit of inflated ego, I decided to make the same pastry cream recipe a few weeks later. I followed the same steps, did what I was supposed to do, and guess what? The sauce broke and I had a huge mess on my hands. Dammit.

Turns out that preparing a pastry cream recipe is all about being careful and attentive. Like most recipes, pastry cream knows when you’re being cocky. “Ho, ho!” It will laugh as you thoughtlessly dump your hot cream into your egg yolks, scrambling the whole mixture into cottage cheese. Not unlike someone sticking their foot out to trip you, pastry cream will throw compassion to the wind and seize into a curled mass if it even thinks you’re not paying attention.

Pay attention to the recipe!

Ok, so I like to anthropomorphize my food experiences. What I’m trying to say is this: if you pay attention to what you’re doing and offer up a little respect to the process, your pastry cream recipe will turn out a velvety smooth magma from heaven. If, on the other hand, you’re careless and expect the ingredients to compensate for your thoughlessness, you’ll end up with nothing but glop.

In the end, learning how to make pastry cream is very simple. As long as you don’t get lazy or try to rush the process, you’re about 30 minutes away from patissiere bliss.

What can you use this pastry cream recipe for?

Crème pâtissière is one of those lovely things that is so versatile that you can’t afford to not have this recipe in your culinary arsenal. Use it to fill fruit tarts, profiteroles, cream puffs, éclair… you name it. Or, scoop it into a bowl and top it with chopped fruit, layer a cake with it, add another cup of butter to make butter cream frosting. Really, if you know how to make pastry cream, you’ll instantly have about a billion lusciously decadent dessert recipes at your fingertips. You’ll be able to curl the toes of your dinner guests with ease.

If you liked this pastry cream recipe, here are some other baking posts you might like:

• How to Make Vanilla Sugar -Wasabimon
• Vanilla Agave Whipped Cream – Wasabimon
• Ricotta Stuffed Asian Pears with Cinnamon Recipe – Wasabimon
• Making Great Pastry Cream – The Kitchn
• Making Pastry Cream – Brown Eyed Baker

If there’s one thing that I miss from my pre-gluten free days, it’s being able to enjoy fresh, tender baked goods. I miss morning walks to the coffee shop, where I’d stand before counter and gaze out over the fresh buns and rolls as they steamed up the glass display case. What should I have today? The chocolate croissant? The cream cheese danish? You know, I think I’ll take the strawberry crème fraiche scone.

Yup, those day are gone. Sigh.

To add insult to injury, I recently moved to a new neighborhood, within walking (and smelling) distance of Arizmendi Bakery, purveyor of some of the Bay Area’s most delectable – and very not gluten free – baked goodies. Every damn morning I have to wake up and smell their cheese horns and blueberry coffee cakes. Their chocolate buns and cinnamon rolls. This weekend I sat in my office chair, awash in early morning bakery aromas, and thought to myself, ENOUGH!

How much temptation can one girl take?!

So I set out to make use of all my built up bread-angst: I made something at home.

Arizmendi has one particular treat that taunts me – something called the “chocolate thing.” Their vague-sounding thing is actually a very specific brioche roll that’s specked with thick chunks of dark chocolate. Armed with this recipe for gluten free brioche, I set to work creating my own version of this, well, thing.

The resulting gluten free recipe is absolutely wonderful. While there’s no substitute for real brioche, but this recipe – compliments of Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Zoë François and Jeff Hertzberg – is a lovely stand in. Light and airy, these gluten free brioche rolls make for a breakfast to remember, and guests will have a tough time noticing that they’re sans gluten.

So, I present to you my new favorite gluten free breakfast bun recipe. This is cause for celebration! Pack them up for meetings, conferences and road trips, and you’ll never again feel that tug of longing for a a table full of gluten-y baked treat again. You’ll have something infinitely more special, thankyouverymuch.

Note: gluten free bread doughs are notoriously sticky, so when the recipe says to dust with cornstarch, save yourself a lot of trouble and just layer it on; otherwise you’ll end up with dough everywhere but in your breakfast rolls.

Other posts you might like:

• Zoë & Jeff’s Gluten Free Brioche Recipe
• Prosciutto, Havarti and Tomato Gluten Free Panini Sandwich Recipe
• A Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Recipe Collection
• Gluten-Free Baguettes
• Buckwheat Brioche – Gluten Free
• Gluten-Free Brioche Poached Egg Salad and Praline Crunch Panini

It’s almost St Patrick’s Day – do you have your corned beef recipe ready? Please don’t tell me that you’re going to head out to your local box-type grocery store and buy some cryovaced mass of artificial coloring and flavoring. No, no, no. You’re going to find some high quality beef and brine your own at home, right? Ok, good.

Always the curious type, I decided to brine my own corned beef for Saint Patrick’s Day a few years ago. Before then I had never brined/cured/charcuterized anything, so this was a big step for me. Meat is such a volatile thing when it comes to letting it sit out, and as someone who already has a few digestive issues, let’s just say I’m a bit paranoid. Actually, let’s say I’m A LOT paranoid.

A while back, I did a review of the River Cottage Meat Book. It’s no secret that I love this book, so Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall was the first person I consulted about how to go about making my own corned beef at home. An always patient guide, he didn’t let me down – and my adoration for his book runs even deeper after this project.

After a fair amount of panic that I’d screwed up the whole process (as anyone who saw my frantic Chow forum posts over that week can attest), the corned beef was amazing. I blushed while my guests gushed, and all the while I was writing a love letter to Hugh in my head. Now it’s a yearly tradition in my house. I hope you’ll consider doing the same.

What’s the best way to cook corned beef?

Below is the original recipe for corned beef that appears in both the River Cottage Cookbook and the River Cottage Meat Book. Ten Speed Press has graciously posted a PDF of the recipe online as well.

Give yourself about two weeks before the big day to allow your brisket enough time to properly brine and rinse. Once it’s done, you can store it in the fridge for a week or two. After all, it’s already been cured.

This corned beef recipe was so easy, you probably couldn’t screw it up if you tried. Why settle for the crappy store-bought corned beef and cabbage when you can make something tastier and more natural at home?

What’s stopping you?

Here are a few other recipes you might like:

• Colcannon Mashed Potatoes
• Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
• Pan to Oven Baked Pork Chops

3/17/09

When I created this pan to oven baked pork chop recipe, I was celebrating something special. Here in the Bay Area we’re lucky enough to have dozens of farm-fresh CSA boxes to choose from, but recently a group of pork ranchers and foodie organizations banded together to bring us a bi-monthly pork CSA program. The CSA provides some of the best meat I’ve ever eaten – organic, free-range, locally-raised pork from a handful of different heritage breeds (Berkshires, Ossabaws, and Mangalitsas, in case you’re interested).

And in case you’re wondering how long you should cook your pork chops for, here’s a great post on pork chop cooking times.

More pork chop recipes from other food blogs:

• Mom’s Perfect Pork Chops Recipe – Simply Recipes
• Vietnamese Chops – The Food Section
• Chops Simmered in Milk – Meathenge

*Sometimes the word “thingie” just works best.

For the next Food Blogger Spotlight, I’ve got a special treat for you. In keeping with the macaron theme this week, I’m going to interview uber-pâtissier David Lebovitz about – what else? – macarons. You probably already know David from his [now ridiculously popular] blog, David DavidLebovitz.com. His site has been voted “best blog” countless times by countless sources, so let’s just say that the world thinks the guy knows what he’s talking about when it comes to making desserts.

David has written several books, including Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments, and his most recent, The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World’s Most Glorious – and Perplexing – City. Since he is quickly becoming the authority on all things sweet, I asked him to answer a few of my pressing macaron questions.

So here you go. Please welcome David!

Americans are falling in love with the macaron. Many folks see them as a tiny, perfect gourmet package, a gift straight from France. How do the French view these little cookies? Are they as enamored with them as we are?

Macarons are really a Parisian thing; you’d be hard-pressed to find many of them outside Paris. (Except in cities like Lyon and maybe Bordeaux.)

They do like them, and I’d say half the bakeries in Paris make and sell their own version. You can even buy them frozen in the supermarket and at the frozen food chain, Picard, who changes their selection seasonally.

Are there any French traditions that revolve around the macaron?

No, but they tend to like the ordinary flavors, such as lemon, chocolate, coffee, and pistachio. And dark coffee is obligatory. The latest craze is salted butter caramel, which is showing up in everything, including macarons. Thankfully.

One theory is that the macaron came to France through Italy. Can you shed a little light on macaron history?

It’s said that a cousin of the founder of Ladurée was Italian, and he brought macarons to France.

What particularly creative macaron varieties have you found? Which were the most interesting? Have any of them just not worked in the flavor department?

Pierre Hermé is doing the most creative macarons. The white truffle one surprised me. I didn’t think I would like it, but with a tiny, well-toasted hazelnut in the middle, the flavors worked perfectly.

His chocolate-foie gras one I couldn’t bring myself to try. I love chocolate, and I love foie gras, but the two together in a sweet cookie didn’t appeal to me. I did try his ketchup macarons, and posted the results on my blog. They weren’t bad, but his “Arabesque,” apricot macarons with praline and pistachio, are amazing.

Where have you had the best macaron of your life?

I’m a pretty big fan of the dark chocolate macarons at Ladurée, although that Arabesque at Hermé is pretty close.

I’ve heard that it’s inherently difficult to make macarons in America. Can you elaborate on this? Do you have any inklings as to why this?

The short answer is that they just take a lot of practice, and just like Americans can’t quite make a French baguette the same as in France, ditto for macarons. There is no rational explanation; it just is. I’ve stopped trying to figure it out. I think people should just come to Paris and eat their macarons here. Same with hamburgers. It’s hard to find a decent one in Paris, so it’s best to go to America to get your burger fix.

How did your first macaron-baking experience go? Can you tell us about a particularly tragic macaron flop, either yours or someone else’s, if you’ve never personally had the process go awry?

I learned to make them when I was in school at Ecole Lenôtre, outside of Paris, years ago. This was before the craze hit. I learned a few secrets, but I was sworn by the chef not to tell. So I can’t.

If a macaron-obsessed individual was looking for the best cookbook to learn how to make these cookies, which book(s) would you recommend?

The book by Pierre Hermé, called (appropriately) Macarons. It’s in French, but there is a multi-page photo essay on the basic technique that really shows the whole process and is pretty easy to understand for anyone with a basic knowledge of French (or a French dictionary.)

If you could share one little pastry chef secret about making macarons, what would it be?

Don’t over mix the batter, don’t under mix the batter. Get it just to the point where it looks like molten lava, then get your pastry bag ready…

Thanks for stopping in and sharing your expertise, David!

Click here for more Food Bloggers Spotlight interviews.

Here are some of my favorite posts from David’s blog, Living the Sweet Life in Paris:

• The Perfect (New) Macaron
• French Chocolate Macaron Recipe
• Pierre Hermé’s Ketchup Macarons (Ketchup Cookies)
• Sweet ‘N Stinky: White Truffle Macarons
• A list of blog posts about how to make macarons

As someone who has to avoid gluten, panini sandwich recipes are something I’d tried to forget about. It was depressing to think about these lovely little sandwiches when I knew I couldn’t eat them! This happens a lot when people have to change their diet – it’s really easy to fall into a trap of depression and self pity because you can’t eat what everyone else is having. While you might feel better physically, there is usually an emotional toll to be paid – at least for a while.

After some time passes and you learn how to eat differently, the world brightens a little bit. Your health starts to improve. You learn more about your diet. You figure out that there’s a whole world of food out there that won’t hurt your body. Maybe you never knew how to cook, and your diet change was the catalyst for learning. Or maybe you were already skilled in the kitchen, and you decide to completely reinvent your culinary self so that your tummy is always full of the best delectables imaginable.

Regardless of how it happens, most people who discover they have a dietary sensitivity eventually come around to enjoying their new way of life. A big part of this is finding stand ins for old favorites, whether they’re would-be analogues or something completely different that fills the role of “favorite comfort food” or “go-to dinner staple.” These days, we’re lucky to have an army of accomplished cooks and bakers who are busy creating recipes for those of us who have to avoid common, everyday household ingredients. These folks are improving our lives, one dish at a time.

Here is one such dish: last week I posted a recipe for Zoë & Jeff’s Gluten Free Brioche Recipe, which makes for a killer panini bread. Seriously. I no longer have to live without my paninis, and that’s HUGE for me! Can I tell you how satisfying it is to sink my teeth into a hot, melty sandwich? It’s one of those moments when you sit back and think to yourself, “Wow. You really don’t have to live without just because of a food allergy.” It’s especially gratifying when made on a panini press so that you can get those cute little grill marks.

I hope you enjoy this gluten free panini sandwich recipe as much as I did. Leave a note in the comments with your favorite panini recipe and we’ll start a running list of combinations to try!