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Angela’s EASY Almond Madeleines

The plain (lemon) recipe is here.

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Angela's Easy Almond Madeleines

Yes! Madeleines are actually very easy. Julia Child's recipe seems daunting, but after making these several times and streamlining the recipe, I've found that Madeleines are actually pretty simple to make. I love them! Below is my Almond recipe, there is also a lemon (plain) recipe.
THIS recipe is also EXCELLENT as a chocolate madeleine! SEE NOTES!
Course Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine French
Keyword almond madeleines, easy madeleines, madeleines
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Servings 36 MINI Madeleines
Author misangela

Equipment

  • MINI Madeleine pans, two (if you have regular sized pans, this recipe will make about half as many AND the time will change, SEE NOTES.)
  • Gallon ziplock or pastry bag if you've got one.
  • Cooling rack.
  • Wire strainer to sift confectioners sugar.

Ingredients

  • 2 lg eggs, beaten
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1 cup A/P flour
  • 2/3 cup Almond flour OR grind up one 2.25oz bag blanched slivered almonds
  • 4 oz butter (one stick, cut up) I use salted, if you don't, add 1/4 tsp Kosher Salt to this recipe.
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract use the real thing please
  • 1/2 tsp almond extract
  • confectioners sugar to coat after baking

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375°F.
  • Whisk together sugar, A/P flour and Almond flour.
  • Put butter in microwave dish and melt - do not boil, use half power. When mostly melted, whisk briskly to ensure it's all melted and it will cool properly. It takes about 1-2 minutes.
  • Beat eggs.
  • Using a strong spoonula, stir together flour and eggs. Stir for a couple of minutes. Add extracts and stir again.
  • Make sure butter is just WARM (if not, whisk it a bit and it'll cool down) and stir into batter. Stir thoroughly until batter is fully smooth and integrated.
  • Put batter in freezer for about 10 minutes to cool. Remove, stir again, put back in freezer for about 5 more minutes.
  • Thoroughly spray Madeleine pans with food release OR brush with butter.
  • Put batter into a gallon ziplock (or pastry bag with plain large tip) for easy dispensing into the madeleine pan. Fill madeleine cups about 3/4 - about 2 tsp for a MINI pan or about a Tablespoon for regular sized pan.
  • Make sure oven racks are in the center two. Put one pan on each rack. Set timer for 10 minutes for MINIs and 15 minutes for regular sized. Rotate pans at halfway point for even cooking.
  • When madeleines are browned to your liking, put on a cooling rack and cover with confectioners sugar. (Use a wire strainer to shake sugar through.)

Notes

If you have regular sized Madeleine pans, this recipe will make about half as many (~18 or so).  The cook time will be at least 15 minutes, perhaps more if you like them medium brown like I do. 
There is another recipe on this site for plain (lemon) Madeleines. 
If you like chocolate, just add 3 Tbl of baking cocoa powder to the dry ingredients. SO tasty! They are just a little firmer than the almond, but still cook up perfectly! 
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Trinidadian Chicken Stew

This warm and inviting stew has a nice balance of sweet, savoury and umami. It is easy to make and it can be made in a crockpot – SEE NOTES.

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Trinidadian Chicken Stew

What makes this stew unique is sautéeing the chicken with brown sugar. It has a sweet flavour, yet the lime and fish sauce give it excellent umami.
Course Main Course, Soup
Cuisine Caribbean, Trinidad
Keyword chicken, southern caribbean cuisine, trinidad stew
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings 6 servings
Author misangela

Ingredients

  • 4 Chicken thighs, boneless/skinless, cut into 1.5" dice
  • 1 Tbl olive oil
  • 2 Tbl brown sugar
  • 1 Tbl molasses to help the brown sugar cook better
  • 2 Tbl butter
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 small white onion, diced about 2/3 cup
  • 1 Tbl ginger paste or 1" of fresh ginger, grated
  • 1 tsp thyme fresh or dry
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flake
  • 2 Tbl ketchup
  • 1 cup carrots, sliced
  • 1 cup potatoes, 1/2" dice
  • 1 small can coconut cream sometimes called milk, NOT water
  • 1 14oz can diced tomatoes, drained
  • 1 cup chicken stock +/- to your preference
  • 1 Tbl fish sauce optional, but I like the umami it gives to the dish
  • S/P to taste
  • 1 lime, zest and juice you can serve wedges as garnish
  • scallions, thinly sliced on bias garnish
  • fresh cilantro, rough chop garnish

Instructions

  • Season the chicken with S/P after you dice it up.
  • In a heavy pot or dutch oven, cook the butter, brown sugar, molasses and oil over med hi heat until the sugar dissolves into a syrup. Then add chicken and sauté until nicely browned.
  • Add garlic, onion, ginger, thyme, pepper flakes, ketchup, lime zest, fish sauce, carrots and potatoes and cook for about 5 minutes until the onion is softened. If it starts to stick or get too brown, add a little stock.
  • Once the onions are soft, add tomatoes, coconut cream and as much stock as you like. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for about half an hour, until the potatoes and carrots are cooked through.
  • When done, take off the heat and add the lime juice. Adjust S/P.
  • Serve with scallions and cilantro on top and a lime wedge.

Notes

You can serve this with rice if you want it to be a heartier meal. 
Tostones (fried ripe plantains) would be great with this as well. 
To make in a crockpot: simply sauté the chicken in the syrup (first five ingredients), then add all the rest (except lime juice and garnish) to a crockpot and cook on HI for 4-5 hrs until the potatoes and carrots are done. Add lime juice at the end to avoid bitterness.
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Chantal Cookware

UPDATE October 2012: And almost 2 years later, the Martha Stewart cast iron enameled dutch oven is still in perfect condition. You get what you pay for.

Man, just when you think you’ve had the worst customer service, along comes some jackwagon to remind you that, NO, it can ALWAYS be worse!

So, I bought a $60 6 qt enamel on cast iron dutch oven from Marshalls in December. It was from a company I’ve never heard of, Chantal, but I figured, it’s a pot! How hard can it be?

Apparently, VERY hard. After three uses, the enamel starts to pop off the inside of the pot. NOT good. So, I took a moment to look up the corporate site and send in an email advising them about the pot.

It all started off nicely enough, with the first email, unsigned (but from Bob Galvan’s email addy):

We apologize for the inconvenience and will be happy to replace the pot for you.
The 2 colors we have available are red and garden green.
Please forward your address for replacement.
Thank you.

But then, a couple of hours later, this email shows up (from our hero, Bob Galvan):

Hi Ms. Pratt!
We will be happy to replace your cast iron for you.
However I was just asked if you could return yours to Chantal. We need to show it to our representative when he arrives for a meeting on Wednesday morning so I will need it by Tuesday, January 11th.

What I need for you to do is take it to a UPS station to ship 2nday to Chantal, but has to be done today. You will need to use Chantal’s UPS account number authorized by Randy Tickle.

[edited: address, blah blah blah]

Thank you!
Bobby Galvan
Chantal Cookware Corp.

Continue reading “Chantal Cookware”

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Creamy Wild Mushroom Soup

The creaminess of this soup belies the intensity of the wild mushroom flavour that fills your mouth! With each spoonful, you get the up front flavours of wild mushrooms and sherry then a smooth mouthfeel and a soft creamy finish. This is NOT your Mama’s cream of mushroom soup!

Creamy Wild Mushroom Soup
Creamy Wild Mushroom Soup

1/4 sample bag of Marx Foods dried Wild Black Trumpet Mushrooms (approx .5 oz)
1/4 sample bag of Marx Foods dried Wild Lobster Mushrooms (approx. .5 oz)
1/2 sample bag of Marx Foods dried Wild Morel Mushrooms (approx. 1 oz)
1/2 sample bag of Marx Foods dried Wild Porcini Mushrooms (approx. 1 oz)
1/2 sample bag of Marx Foods dried Wild Matsutake Mushrooms (approx. 1 oz)
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup water
pinch salt
1 med shallot, cut in halves and sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
3 Tbl butter
1 Tbl plain flour
3 Tbl sherry (NOT cooking sherry, plain drinking sherry)
1 Tbl mirin
1.25 C chicken broth
1/2 C (+/-) dry white wine
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves (1/2 tsp if dried)
3/4 C heavy cream
2.5 Tbl crème fraiche
1/4 tsp sugar
salt and pepper

Put first eight ingredients in a microwave on high until liquid is simmering. Remove and set aside for at least 15 to 30 mins for the mushrooms to cool and absorb the wine liquid. When they are cool, strain out the mushrooms and retain the liquid.

Put butter in a heavy soup pot on low heat and add shallot and garlic to sweat. Chop mushrooms coarsely and add when shallots are translucent. Add in the thyme leaves. Turn up to med high and stir in the flour to create a roux to thicken the soup. Cook for about 3 mins to ensure the flour will not be detectable. Add in sherry, mirin and about 1/2 cup of the reserved mushroom liquid. Stir for a couple of minutes. Add in white pepper and chicken broth. Taste and add in wine to taste. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Turn off heat and blend with stick blender until the mushrooms are in very small pieces. Since they are dried, they are very toothsome and need to be thoroughly chopped. You don’t want chewy pieces of mushroom in a cream soup! You can use a regular blender if you don’t have a stick blender.

When mushrooms are thoroughly chopped, return to simmer and turn off heat. Add in crème fraiche and sugar (if needed). Add up to 3/4 C of heavy cream to reach desired consistency. Check salt levels. Reheat gently if needed.

Serve a small portion as a first or second course. Its rich intensity would be perfect with a steak or lamb chop dinner. This soup would hold up nicely to a red wine such as a rioja.

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Trumpet and Lobster Mushroom Sauce

This is sauce was prepared for duck breasts, but you could certainly use it with chicken or veal. I served it with a simple vegetable mélange. Mirassou Pinot Noir was the wine pair (also used for the soak). This is a simple sauce that features the intensity of the dried mushrooms.

Wild Mushroom sauce w/ Duck
Wild Mushroom sauce w/ Duck Breast

2/3 sample bag of Marx Foods dried Wild Black Trumpet mushrooms (approx. 1.25oz)
2/3 sample bag of Marx Foods dried Wild Lobster mushrooms (approx. 1.25oz)
1/2 c (+/-) pinot noir
1/2 c (+/-) water
1 lg or 2 small shallot, halved and sliced thin
3 cloves of garlic, sliced thin
1/2tsp dried basil
1 Tblsp butter
1 Tblsp mirin
1 tsp cornstarch
1.5 Tblsp crème fraiche
duck fat (or olive oil if you’re using chicken or veal)
salt and pepper

Put the mushrooms, wine and water in a microwave safe bowl. Liquid should just cover the mushrooms. Microwave on high until the liquid is at a simmer. Remove from microwave and set aside.

Render the fat from the duck breasts (skin side down) over med heat for 15 mins. When the skin is crispy and the fat rendered, turn over the breast and cook for another 3-5 mins. Med Rare is perfectly acceptable for duck. Remove duck and keep warm in the oven. Pour off and save all the duck fat except 1Tblsp. Duck fat is liquid gold!

Add shallots and garlic to the pan over low heat so as not to burn them. Salt and pepper the aromatics. Strain out the mushrooms (saving the liquid!) and chop. When garlic and shallots are translucent, add in the soaked/chopped mushrooms. Add 1 Tblsp butter and 1/2 tsp dry basil. Turn heat up to med high and add in about half the mushroom soaking liquid. When the liquid is boiling, add in 1Tblsp mirin and 1tsp cornstarch dissolved into some mushroom liquid. Adjust the liquid so it’s not too thick nor too thin; check salt and pepper. Turn off heat and add in 1.5 Tblsp crème fraiche. Stir until creamy and check the salt and pepper one last time.

Spoon over duck breasts and serve.