French Vinegar Chicken-Poulet saute au Vinaigre

I have never been silent about my love of the french. Clothing, style, decor, food, and of course, the people. Every time I eat french food it strikes me at the simplicity of the ingredients and the surprisingly exquisite taste. They have the art of blending complimentary flavours down pat, with so little fuss. Except for macarons-now there's a bit of fuss for you!
I used to live with a darling French girl. The chicken she brought home from her sister's house is forever imprinted in my mind. It looked like butter chicken, with thick, creamy, tomatoey sauce running down it, but it tasted so very different from the Indian curry I was so familiar with. To my surprise it was tangy and sweet all at once, explosive on the taste buds, smooth and creamy, and the chicken moist-delicious! My mouth literally waters just thinking about it.
So I had to try my hand at it, and it was simple, and the end result fabulous. I wondered how my children (4, 2 and 1 years old) would go with the tangy flavour and a new dish, and even the baby went crazy for it. We served it with cous cous, but I hear it's great over mashed potato, and I imagine it would also go well with rice and a side of beans. Don't be put off by the unappetising name! I imagine it sounds better in French- Poulet saute au Vinaigre.

FRENCH VINEGAR CHICKEN(Poulet saute au Vinaigre)

2 large chicken breasts, cut into 8 pieces (or 5-6 chicken thighs)
1 tsp butter
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup red onion, chopped finely
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 cup white wine (I used Rose Moscato)
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar (or red-wine vinegar)
1 cup boiling water
2 chicken stock cubes
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp corn flour
2 heaped tbsp sour cream
1 tbsp fresh parsley chopped

 Melt the butter in a fry pan. Add the chicken and fry for 5 minutes on one side, then turn over and cook the other side until the colour of both sides match. Season the chicken, then remove the chicken from heat and set aside.
Add the onion and garlic to the fry pan and fry on high heat for one minute. Deglaze with the wine, scraping any sticking residue from the bottom of the pan. Add the vinegar. In a small bowl, combine the boiling water and the stock cubes, and stir until well combined. Add this to the saucepan, along with the honey and tomato paste.
Whisk until combined, then return the chicken back to the pan. Place heat on low-medium. Cook with the lid on for 20 minutes. Take 4 tbsp of the sauce from the pan and place in a small bowl with the corn flour. Combine until it forms a smooth paste. Add to the pan and stir through thoroughly. Keep the pan on the heat until the sauce reaches desired thickness.
Stir through the sour cream.
Serve garnished with fresh parsley, over mashed potato, cous cous or rice.

Serves 4

 

Cinnamon French Toast with Berries, Cream and Maple Syrup

Cinnamon french toast with berries, cream and maple syrup is the perfect Sunday breakfast, and also great served as brunch when entertaining. It's also a fantastic way to clear out aging or crusty bread, and staleness increases the absorbability of the egg used in this recipe. It looks and tastes decadent, and probably isn't too unhealthy for you-which is more than one can say for most recipes on this blog!

CINNAMON FRENCH TOAST WITH BERRIES, CREAM AND MAPLE SYRUP (adapted from Just A Taste)

8 slices bread (thick cut is the best-day old bread or bread that is turning stale is also good as it absorbs more liquid)
4 large eggs
1 cup thickened or heavy cream
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp vanilla essence
butter to cook
maple syrup, berries and cream to serve

Cut each slice of bread into four even fingers.
Whisk the eggs in a large bowl until broken down. Then add the cream, cinnamon, sugar and vanilla and whisk again to incorporate. Dip each of the bread fingers into this egg mixture, until it is well coated on all sides and saturated. Place these drenched bread sticks on a large plate and continue until all are processed.
Heat the butter in a fry pan and cook each of the bread sticks until golden brown. Serve with maple syrup, berries and cream if desired.

serves 4-6

Choc Mint Vacherin

The french have it sorted. Fine dining with simplicity-good, uncomplicated flavours, impressive without pretense. So it was at Boucher in Graceville where I celebrated my birthday on Sunday with some beloveds, after tucking away succulent rib eye beef with chive and sour cream roasted potatoes, roasted beetroot, picked onions, a salad of lightly dressed rocket and a side of bread, butter and the airiest, lightest, Yorkshire puddings you've ever passed between your lips. The dessert was incredible, and I only managed to fit it in due to having one of those dessert stomachs many women in particular find they have after a large dinner (presumably a separate organ from the stomach we all carry around our middle region.) It consisted of a lofty, rectangular slice of sponge cake, thinly layered with dark chocolate ganache and was accompanied by orange and a most exquisite ice cream flavoured with fennel seeds. It was heaven on a plate, and so gorgeously presented.
Going to Boucher reminded me of all the hot spots in Queensland we're yet to hit, and when my husband found this list of 50 meals you should have eaten if you live in Brisbane, I knew we had to make this a more frequent expedition.  It can rack up a bit of a bill though if you're out fine dining every weekend though so we keep an eye out for great food coupon deals where you can get the gourmet experiences for less. That always makes the experience more enjoyable. Fine dining for less. Bring it on.
But if you're stuck at home as I am this weekend, and you can't make it out to any nice restaurants, you might like to try making this Mint Vacherin at home for dessert. It's a show stopper and makes you look like a pro in front of your friends, but it's simple and elegant and easy (it's french, once again!)
So what's it like to sink your teeth into it? There are three layers of chocolate speckled meringue, wedged with a filling of whipped, mint infused cream and the richness of dark chocolate, topped with mint leaves and lashings of more of that dark chocolatey goodness and cream.
Irrésistible!

CHOC MINT VACHERIN (adapted from Today's Nest)

Meringue:

3 egg whites
3/4 cup caster sugar (or superfine sugar)
1 tsp corn flour (or corn starch)
45g dark chocolate, finely grated

Filling:

140g dark chocolate
1 1/2 cups thickened cream (or heavy cream)
1 tbsp. mint leaves, finely chopped
2 tbsp caster sugar (or superfine sugar)

Garnish:

Extra chocolate to grate or drizzle
fresh mint leaves to decorate

Preheat the oven to 135C.
Take a pencil and one sheet of baking paper and place draw out three identical rectangles approximately 4 inches wide by 10 inches long. Place this paper into the baking sheet. Set aside.
To make the meringue, beat the egg whites in a clean dry bowl. When you have achieved soft peaks, gradually add 1/2 a cup of the sugar. Whip into stiff, glossy peaks. Fold in the remaining sugar, the corn flour and the grated chocolate shavings until only just incorporated. (Over folding will deflate your egg whites.)
Fill a piping bag fitted with a 1/2 inch round tipped nozzle. Pipe horizontal lines of the mixture across each drawn rectangle on the baking tray, making sure that each line of meringue mixture touches the next slightly. (This ensures the meringue rectangle is one solid piece once cooked.) Bake for 45 minutes, then rotate the tray. Continue to bake for a further 45 minutes.
Turn the oven off and leave the meringue to cool in the oven.
When cooled, remove the tray and gently take the three rectangles off the baking sheet. You may need an egg flip to assist you.
To make the filling, carefully melt the chocolate in a heat proof bowl in the microwave, stopping at 20 second intervals to stir until smooth. While the chocolate is still warm, spread it on to two of the meringue rectangles. Set aside.
With a mortar and pestle, muddle the mint with the sugar. Add this to the cream in a medium sized bowl, and whip into soft peaks.
Place one of the chocolate covered meringues onto your serving dish. Pipe one third of the cream over the chocolate. Add the other chocolate coated meringue on top of this cream, and repeat with another third of the cream. Top this with the final layer of meringue, and pipe the remaining cream down the centre. Decorate with the extra chocolate and remaining mint leaves.

NOTES: heat a very sharp knife under hot water before cutting, using a sawing motion. This helps to cut through the hardened chocolate layers without breaking and ruining the look of the delicate dessert.