Rescu. spoke to Executive Chef and owner of The Bather’s Pavilion restaurant, Serge Dansereau, about adding French flavour to a meal. See his top 5 tips and a delicious recipe from his French Kitchen cookbook below.
RESCU: What are your top 5 tips for adding French flavour to a meal?
Serge Dansereau:
– Use only fresh seasonal ingredients, plenty of fresh herbs and make you own stock ahead of time.
– Use reliable recipes from good cookbooks and plan your meals ahead so you are able to shop for the best ingredients.
– Do not be overly precious in using butter; a little more will normally make a big difference to you dish.
– Have good professional knives; you only need two good ones to do most jobs; a 20cm chef knife and a 30cm serrated knife.
– French people take their time to eat, it is a social occasion as much as a chance to eat a meal, slow down and enjoy.
French Apple Tart
This is one of the simplest desserts to make and one of my personal favourites, although I rarely come across it in restaurants in Australia. I like to add a thin base of almond frangipane under the apples to make this tart truly stunning. You will need to prepare the almond frangipane ahead of time so that I can rest overnight, otherwise it will just run off the pastry when you bake it.
Serves 4
100 grams butter, plus 2 tablespoons extra, melted
100 grams icing sugar
2 free range eggs
100 grams (1 cup) ground almonds
40 grams plain flour
4 sheets butter puff pastry
5 Granny Smith apples
2 tablespoons butter, melted
4 tablespoons caster sugar
To make the frangipane, put the butter and icing sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, until well combined, and then add the ground almonds and flour, mixing well. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or preferably overnight.
Cut the pastry sheet sheets to make four 20cm rounds and sit on baking trays lined with baking paper. Dock the pastry with the tines of a fork. Spread a couple of tablespoons of the frangipane over each pastry round, spreading almost to the edges, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Peel the apples, cut into quarters and remove the cores. Slice thinly and arrange them neatly over the pastry so they slightly overlap and cover the frangipane; leave a 1cm border around the edges. Brush the melted butter over the top and sprinkle on the sugar. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the apples and pastry are cooked.
Remove from the oven and serve on warm plates topped with a scoop of your favourite ice cream.
More Food And Wine:
1. How To Include French Flavour In Everyday Meals
2. The 2011 National Champagne Master Class Series
3. Clicquot In The Snow At Thredbo
