terrific trifle

One of my favorite episodes of "Friends" is the one when Rachel attempts to make a holiday trifle. She spends all day on it (though her perfect hair and makeup show nary a smudge), and proudly describes each layer to anyone who will listen. There are ladyfingers, and cream, and jam, and of course, "beef sauteed with peas and onions," thus exemplifying the perils of cookbook pages stuck together.

My trifle is woefully lacking in savory ingredients, but it was certainly a labor of love spawned by my husband. He saw about 2 seconds of Paula Deen making a fruit trifle on the Food Network and earnestly, adorably "suggested" I make one for our annual Christmas party.

Of course, I had to go completely overboard and make the pound cake and cream from scratch, so the recipe is definitively my own at this point. I believe Paula used raspberry liqueur for hers, but I couldn't resist use creme de cassis to add a geniunely French twist. Plus I have plenty leftover for Kir Royales!!

Christmas Trifle

1/2 recipe whipping cream pound cake*
Double recipe pastry cream
1 pint blueberries
1 pint raspberries
1 cup creme de cassis

Layer ingredients in the following order: cake, liqueur, fruit, cream. Divide ingredients so you have enough for at least two layers, then add a dollop of cream and a few berries to the top.

*Whipping Cream Pound Cake

2 sticks soft butter
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour
1 cup whipping cream

Cream butter and sugar, then add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and flour, mixing well, then slowly drizzle in cream. Bake in a greased, floured Bundt pan at 325 for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

birthday tart

Twas my precious mom's birthday the day after Thanksgiving, and though the fridge was packed and our bellies rotund, I had to make something sweet and fresh to celebrate. Cake-from-a-box simply wouldn't cut it for my own mother, so I set out to make a strawberry tart worthy of a patisserie.

I used my tried-and-true crust recipe, bought sliced strawberries, then hunted for a solid recipe for pastry cream... that tongue-coating, lip-smacking divinity that is the necessary middle note between the tartness of the berries and the blandness of the crust. This one comes from allrecipes.com, and it's perfectly easy and delicious.

So delicious, in fact, that it'd make a wonderful summer dessert all by itself, or topped with a couple peach slices.

Pastry Cream

2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 egg yolks
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons butter
1 pinch salt

Place the milk, half the sugar and the vanilla in a saucepan over medium heat. Combine the yolks and the remaining sugar in a bowl and whisk until light in color. Add in the flour and the salt, mix to combine.

When the milk just begins to boil, remove from heat. Very slowly dribble the hot milk into the yolk mixture, stirring all the time. When about half of the milk has been added, place all of the yolk mixture into the saucepan over medium heat. Using a spatula or a whisk, mix the pastry cream as it heats, making sure to reach all of the corners of the pan when you stir. Bring the mixture to a boil. Let boil for about 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and add the butter. Strain for a smooth cream. Pour into a bowl and chill.

hairy coat bears

(That's haricot verts in TexFrench...)



Our Thanksgiving dinner this year was quintessentially Randall - there was poetry, there was film discussion, and there was French food. Each chef in the family contributes one dish, and my two sides were an homage to La Rochelle, where my tiny mother was born. I made my favorite mushroom dish EVER (a la bordelaise... for a later post) and marinated haricots verts.

That disgustingly pretentious phrase simply means tiny whole green beans, but, as my dad would say, it is so much more decadently EUROPEAN to stick to the French term! I mashed two recipes together to create this dish, and it's mild, fresh and lightly sweet.. a perfect treatment of an otherwise dull, salty T-day side.

And do not even THINK about dousing them with canned fried onions. Bouef!!

Haricots Verts

1 package frozen tiny whole green beans
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon white wine or tarragon vinegar
Sea salt and pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup toasted almonds

Bring water to a boil and cook the beans for 4 minutes, until crisp but cooked. Meanwhile, whisk together the mustard, wine and spices. Slowly drizzle in the oil, whisking constantly, to create a smooth emulsion. Strain beans and cool, then toss with marinade. Refrigerate for a few hours, then serve with toasted almonds on top.