French Dinner

Had my French dinner last week and it was probably the most successful night I've ever had. All the dishes were actually cooked and looked as I had imagined and tasted just as good. Time management was still an issue but I'll get the hang of that eventually.

Entree was a caramelised onion puff pastry tart and a witlof and apple salad (pictured). Original plan was a witlof gratin but I couldn't buy enough for one per person so I figured I had to change. Caramelised onion is one of my favourite flavours and I never hesitate to involve it. Doing a puff pastry tart also gave me an opportunity to try out using some different puff pastry. Short story is Pampas puff (what you get from Coles) is rubbish compared to just about anything. I can't remember the exact brand name but it came in a yellow box. It puffed up brilliantly and tasted great too (but not too buttery which was also nice). Never having had witlof before, I was a little bit worried about the taste. It was bitter, as it should be. And not a little bitter, it was quite a strong taste, but not unpleasantly so. By itself it can get a bit too much to quickly, but paired with other ingredients and flavours it can be a hero. The sweetness and crispness of the apple went well with it in the salad, as well as the lemon and orange vinaigrette.

Main was sous-vide steak with roasted carrots (pictured) and pomme frites (or chips). For the steak I used a bolar roast. For sous-vide, I read you're able to use secondary cuts, or at least not primary, because the slow cooking results in a more tender product. I'm not sure if I found this. Cut into smaller pieces the steak was tender but large chunks were far from melting. Regardless, the flavour was great and getting to use the blowtorch was fun. Heston's triple cooked chips were a pain to make as I had to do them in batches but result was also very acceptable.

Rather than dealing with dessert myself, I let Lily do it. She made a salted caramel and chocolate tart. Sadly it didn't work out so well for her. The pastry was thick (once again), the caramel wasn't cooked far enough (inexperience) and too salty (recipe's fault), and her peanut nougatine was too thick and again caramel cooked enough.

Seeing her attempt made me want to dust off the pastry chef's hat and have a go. More on that next time though.