#126 - Croissants at Home (Part II)

The morning after the night before (aka final proof, baking, tasting and judgement)

Last night we left it where I went home, dubious about the results of my croissant rolling and shaping.  The theory is that things went awry because the counter and the kitchen were so hot last night.  I'd like to say that is to blame for my croissants but I think it was user error after all.  LM's croissants came out well, she said, and they were very pretty.  I have forgotten how to roll the croissants and they came out big, fat and kind of misshapen.  It has become clear that a second attempt will be required to redeem myself.

What went wrong besides hot hands and hot kitchen?

Luckily for me, I had an appreciative group of family and friends who were gratifyingly happy to taste and say how delicious they thought the croissants were.  Which only makes me more unhappy with the problematic croissants - where to start after the shaping disaster of 2014?

1.  Hmmm...for the first batch, I failed to drop the temperature from 430F to 400F (ok, I can't be bothered to do an accurate conversion - if you want the formula, it's [X (degrees F) - 32]/5/8 = Y (degrees C).  Or you can use the internet.

2.  Too much egg wash which also sealed some of the layers (and part of the reason why they didn't puff up), as well as some of the dough sticking when I transferred it to a smaller baking sheet (essentially I cooked these in a large toaster oven instead of the single large oven - and I'm glad I did!).  I'm not sure how much of the butter on the parchment paper were from ripped croissant layers and how much just oozed out and leaked everywhere from the other cuts in the pastry.

3.  I forgot to check if it was proved enough to bake (I suspect not).

4.  Overworked the dough - possibly - which would explain why the top layer seemed to be particularly breadcrust-like.

Interlude (aka Saturday morning breakfast)

Since the croissant batches took about 20-ish minutes to bake, I made breakfast.  We've been trying to use up leftovers and I thought of a fun Saturday morning breakfast idea.  We don't do egg soldiers or whatever they're called (where you dip your toast in a soft boiled egg) but Lil Sis did have a cookie cutter so I did what anyone with bread, eggs and a cookie cutter would do - see photos above.  Apparently the cut out hearts (also fried in butter, along with the bread and egg thing) were a hit.

Back to Baking

Batch 1 (?)

Batch 1 - baked at 430F

Then it was time to take the first batch out of the oven.  A little doughy...

Batch 2

Batch 2 - baked at 400F

A little better - more flaky but undercooked because I didn't allow for the size of the croissants.  Must remember to stretch the base much more during rolling so that they end up longer, stretched out and able to be bent to a crescent shape which will cook evenly on the next try.  I tried a little bit with lilikoi (passionfruit) butter.  I found it a bit sweet and the extra richness unnecessary.  Did I mention there was probably close to half a pound of butter in this recipe?

Batches 1, 2 & 3

Batch 3 - baked at 400F, then up to 430F, then back down to 400F (I couldn't decide because the croissants were so fat...)

Anyway - we couldn't taste any more so I had to leave it up to my other taste testers.

Fridge Takeover

I was also able to put my sister's fridge back the way it was supposed to be - this is what it looked like after I moved things around and made people eat leftovers yesterday and the day before.  She has a thing where she always has lots of food in the fridge so this made her nervous until I put everything back.  Of course roasting two chickens for dinner tonight resulted in enough leftover chicken that the fridge is full once again and you have to hunt (a little) to find space to put things. Must remember not to buy any more groceries until we have executed the next planned snacks / meals.

No Hobbits (but Demons and Gargoyles and dogs, oh my!)

Then it was time to have a girlie date.  I had arranged to see the Hobbit with a friend ages ago and we finally got ourselves organized.  Kind of...we met at 3.15pm for a 3.30 movie - except the movie was actually at 4.20.  So we went to see I, Frankenstein instead.  We didn't know anything about the movie except that Aaron Eckhart and Bill Nighy (not the Science Guy) were in it.  Any ideas about it resembling Mary Shelley's book in its actual plot were dispelled within the first 5 minutes or so.  Even better, we didn't have to buy the enormous movie snacks.  We wanted snacks because what's a movie without them?  We just didn't want the ones that were bigger than our laps - so we got the kiddie packs.  Quite a fun time, actually and we found out afterwards that the people behind us had a little dog with them the whole time - apparently he loves movies and he had been so quiet we never knew he was there.

Roast dinner

Then home for a roast chicken dinner by Lil Sis - even better than last time.  Better gravy as well - this time she cooked the onions in the same pan as the chicken and it really added something to the flavor of the gravy - good enough that even she was happy with it.  The skin was nice and crispy, the meat tender, the squash soft and sweet and the carving getting better with each attempt.  All I can say is, I am a very spoiled girl and I like it!

So until next time, may your loved ones spoil you as much as mine have been spoiling me.

#125 - How NOT to make croissants

In which I remember why I don't make puff pastry or croissants at home
We had a couple of weeks when it was freezing here.  Mind you, it's all relative - it's not the same kind of freezing as it has been on the East Coast and other areas of the US, but I could have used a little bit of that tonight.

After thawing out my dough from yesterday, I rolled it out and shaped it tonight.  That is to say, I attempted to do so.  The kitchen was a bit on the warm side but who cares, I was in a long sleeved shirt.  Until it got warm trying to roll out the dough.  I had to let it rest several times during the rolling out and it kept sticking to the (I guess warm) marble and...my hands.  You can actually see all the tears in the pastry and in some places I could actually see the butter either through the pastry or oozing out through the tears (see photo above right).  All I can do now is hope and pray that it will come out ok tomorrow morning.

Hot hands are bad for pastry
I forgot about the fact that my hands tend to run warm which is why my pastries and breads tend to have problems when I have to handle them.  The only thing I didn't do was put them in an ice bath because I wanted to be able to feel the knife when I had to cut the croissants.  Blood is not a standard ingredient and I like to have my hands as intact as possible, given the abuse they have been taking.  (Yes, just boiled water and a metal pan that has been on the stove is a little warm.  Not as warm as melted sugar but still warm...)

User error?  Most likely!

Yes, that is flour - from leaning against the bench while rolling

This is a slightly smaller recipe than the one we did at school so there is a little less dough but I have a feeling I should have gotten 3 more croissants out of the batch (I have 9 ok ones and 1 weird one).  They are all shaped a bit funny and the end of the croissant got twisted on some of them so only the baking will show how they turn out.  Oh well, not all experiments can end successfully and in this case, I suspect it's user error since LM rolled and baked her croissants today - apparently they turned out well.

So until next time, if at first you don't succeed, try again.  (And if that fails, blame the materials!  Just kidding - try again until you get it right.  Now I will have to follow my own advice...)  Enjoy your repetitions!

#124 - Les croissants, les croissants, how I love les croissants!

In which LM and I test out / experiment with some butter (aka play in the kitchen)
LM had a slight issue with croissant dough lately and the only thing we could think of was that the butter didn't have enough fat content.  So we decided to give several brands a whirl.  Personally, I didn't feel the need to experiment with Lurpak (Danish butter, approximately 85% or so fat content) because it's what I use to bake in Australia.  The US doesn't label the fat content of their butter and unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of the Italian one (83% fat content).  There's one called Plugra (US - I think it's about 83% fat content) but I accidentally bought the salted one because the red Plugra is the salted one whereas the red Lurpak is the unsalted butter.  So much for being detail oriented yesterday, when I was in a bit of a whirlwind mode at the grocery store (and a bit distracted by being unable to reach that pack of butter at the very back, thank you very much, Mr Tall Man who got me the last pack of unsalted Lurpak butter).

Planning ahead (photo above)
There's always some down time while the dough is resting and since we had arranged to meet up at just after lunch time, I took some lunch / snack supplies:  9 different cheeses, a fig and nut bar and family bread from St Germain bakery - soft, white bread (thin slices) which is full of refined flour and who knows what else but is absolutely delicious.

Interlude

I also took some supplies so that we could make a bechamel sauce.  For some reason, people seem to get a little intimidated by it, maybe because often it doesn't seem to turn out quite right.  The two main culprits I have identified (so far) appear to be that the flour hasn't been cooked out sufficiently in the roux so that it still tastes floury and/or the seasoning isn't quite right.  It seems the traditional cheese to use in the sauce is Gruyere - but since I love cheese and I'm me, I like to add taleggio, if it's available.  It tends to be on the salty side and it melts really well so you get a nice, punchy flavor.  LM wanted to make a Croque Madame (the Croque Monsieur was, as I understood it, a melted ham and cheese sandwich.  This one was ham, a fried egg and topped with the bechamel sauce) - so we split one after our Raclette grilled cheese sandwiches.

[SKIP TO SUNSET DRIVE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ THE TECHNICAL CHEAT AND MISTAKE]

Cheat Stage 1:  Begin play (Dough, inclusion, first turn, rest)
Most of the recipes seem to call for an overnight stage.  LM and I didn't have that kind of time so we took a shortcut - we cheated and did it the school way - mix the dough, rest for an hour, butter inclusion and book turn, rest for 1/2 hour and second book turn.

Cheat Stage 2:  Continue play (Second turn and rest over night)
There were some small errors but I won't know until I cook the croissants whether the errors are tragic or not - my dough ripped and some of the butter leaked.  Normally in puff pastry that can be a big problem but I am hoping the croissants will be more forgiving.

I had to go home so we wrapped my dough up really well - and then I think I did something stupid.  My dough had expanded so much in the refrigerator that I stuck it in the freezer - I read somewhere that the freezer retards the yeast, but I'm afraid that might be wrong, in which case my dough will be flat and the croissants will not rise when I shape them tomorrow and bake them on Saturday morning.  Only time will tell but you may see a sad photo of croissants - in which case I will have to do another batch just to redeem myself sometime in the near-ish future.

Sunset drive

Sunset drive home

In any event, more photos to follow of the croissants shortly.  Making them at home is so different from having equipment you would find in a commercial kitchen.  If I had a dream kitchen, it would have a blast chiller, a commercial grade oven, a separate fridge....oh my, the list is endless.  But the whole point of dreams / fantasies is that they don't have to bear any resemblance to realism.

So until next time, dream away - and may your dreams come true.

#112 - Ia Orana / Bienvenue / Maeva - Island hopping!

Previously I mentioned that I had been invited to a wedding in Tahiti.  Been there, done that, and now I am recovering from jetlag and a very busy week.

A whole new meaning to being laid back

Had several moments of entertainment when I arrived in Auckland (no direct flights to Papeete, unfortunately) and I had to find my connecting gate.  It wasn't up yet and it took a little while for the status of the board to sink in.



I don't think we're in Kansas any more, Toto
I arrived in Papeete almost completely incoherent from sleep deprivation and jetlag - sleep deprivation from 2 nights of waking up around 3:30am preceding my departure and jetlag Tahiti is 4 hours earlier the day before.

Arrived on the first night in Tahiti just in time to check into the hotel, have a quick dinner and fall into bed after emailing very important people (parents, friends, etc to let them know I got in safely).  There was a show going on at the hotel when I arrived but it felt like the actual travelling had taken days so I chickened out and went to bed instead of back to the lobby.  (View from my room.)  Too bad I was only going to be there for one night but I enjoyed it for the 90 minutes before I passed out.  

I had no idea when the ferries were for Moorea on Thursday but after speaking to the front desk when I checked in, I set a wake up call for 9am local time.  Or was it 7am?  Regardless, I remember picking up the phone and hearing it speak French before I hung up on the wake up call.  The next time I jerked up in bed was sometime around...10am.  Or a little after, it's a little hard to remember.  This was the morning view from my little lanai.  And what I initially thought was "Vahine Tahitienne" but actually "Vanille Tahitienne".

There was a mad scramble to reorganize my bags, re-pack and get to the lobby to book the ferry and taxis on both islands and then a quick peek to see what the hotel actually looked like.  So - a quick peek at the lobby view.  Wow.  I'm not sure there are sufficient words in my tired brain to describe what this was, but the water was an unbelievably blue-y / green-y / turquoise -y (insert a variation of blue or green here) and there were bungalows over them.  But I was actually on a mission:  the vanilla beans.

Scents to make anyone with a sweet tooth drool (or anyone who likes patisserie)
French vanilla is, apparently, the best vanilla in the world.  When I was at Le Cordon Bleu in London, I remember the chefs rhapsodizing over it (I have a feeling it was Chef Nicholas because his is the face I see in my mind when I think of French vanilla).  I had 15 minutes to saunter back to just outside my former room, get a lesson in vanilla and maybe, just maybe, purchase a few beans.  There was no waiting until next week because this was only on for 2 days and the next day was the last day.

You could smell the beans drying in the sun.  I had a quick run through around the entire little exhibit (so sorry I missed the coffee, I heard one of the people tell someone else that it was "exceptionnel" (I have no idea how to spell that in French).  I have no idea what this man on the right is doing.  Nor the woman, actually.  These beans have been in the drying / fermentation stage for about 2 months, with another 2 months to go before they are ready (for sale?).

After they have been in the sun for about 1 - 2 hours (on a day like this) the beans are wrapped up in the fabric and put into a cooler like this.  Jean (the very nice man who was explaining to me very slowly in French because he didn't speak English and my French is no longer very good) said that this is part of the process and the insulation of the cooler keeps in the heat of the beans.  They also give off some heat (I'm not sure if it's retained from being in the sun or because of the fermentation process) but if you stick your nose by the cooler, you can actually smell vanilla and fermentation.  And see the condensation and some flecks of vanilla on the lid.  (Of course I stuck my nose in there - wouldn't you, if you had the chance???)

Then there was the covered tent where people were grading the vanilla (left).  I'm not sure if you can actually see what the writing is on the grading stick (right) - I can't see it and I no longer remember (no coffee, jet lag and different time zone - I'm allowed not to remember).  But the end result is that you have piles of vanilla beans which are roughly the same length.

Yes, size does matter
So the grades of vanilla were:  Extra, Grade 1 and Grade 2.  Extra (bottom, closes to my hand) is premium - the longest, best quality (oily, plump, etc. etc.) and is about XPF 25,000 per kilo (approximately USD$275) give or take.  Grade 1 is a bit smaller.  Grade 2 is for all the broken or otherwise unacceptable pods - they get made into things like vanilla sugar or possibly paste or extract (I've forgotten some other important things).  Anyway, there was very little time and I had some shopping to do.  Unfortunately I left my credit card with the front desk so I had to use cash - all well and good but since access to ATMs are limited on Mo`orea, this definitely limits my shopping if I want to keep enough cash on hand for tips and taxis.  (Apparently the ATM doesn't always work!)

Given Australia's strict quarantine laws, I had to ask.  And they answered - hence the yellow sticker which will let me take my vanilla into Sydney and not have it confiscated.  There are smaller beans on sale at the deli downstairs - AUD$7 per vanilla bean.  How could I possibly pass up an opportunity like this when you can store them for several years (depending on correct storage) and I got them (almost) from the source?  500g (1 lb) of vanilla beans later, I had to run for my taxi.  They smelled so good the other passengers forgave me for making them wait for half a minute.

Goodbye, Faa`a, see you next week!
Like I said, very much like home.  Similar cliffs / mountains.

Similar views of people in outrigger canoes (although we don't use them as much for transportation anymore, I don't think).

 Similar views of the canoes on the beach, ready to go.

Approach to Cloud and Mist Shrouded Moorea

It was very nice to arrive at the hotel and be greeted with a cool scented towel and fresh juice while they got the paperwork together for check-in.




Not all my ideas are good ones...
You know how sometimes you think that you won't bring something because you can buy it at the other end?  That depends on how much it's worth to you.  There aren't any shops near my hotel so I went to get some sunscreen.  The most expensive sunscreen I have ever seen...this one is approximately $36 (USD or AUD, take your pick).  It's also too big to take home - the whole reason I didn't pack my own was because I didn't check any bags.

Only in Tahiti (also known as playing tourist to the hilt)
I had one full day before the wedding festivities started so I had to pack in as much as I could.  The choices landed on things I wouldn't do at home or couldn't do.  It began with an excursion to feed the rays and see some sharks.  The pictures showed shallow water and no sharks so despite my trepidation, I went.  Well, the water was actually chest deep - deep enough for the sharks to cruise around.  Holy crap - and yet, eventually I calmed down enough not to completely freak out every time something brushed against my leg.  Like a giant ray.  Or in one case, a toddler's leg (his mom was carrying him).  Luckily I wasn't the only one who screamed when something unexpectedly came up to us in the water and it was cold enough that no one stayed in for very long.  Tanemanu (pronounced Ta-neh-ma-nu) said that normally people stay in the water about 40 minutes but it's their winter and it was windy so we all got out relatively quickly.

Poisson cru
The next stop was a motu (small island) where we could go snorkelling.  It seems each hotel seems to have a small island assigned to it or maybe they own it.  In any case, they are private and you can't go on them unless you are a guest at a hotel.  There were drinks and fruit set out for morning snack and for those who booked a lunch package, preparations were underway for lunch and some traditional cooking / food demonstrations.  Basic ingredients:  white tuna (hamachi / yellowfin?) cucumber, carrot, onion, salt and coconut milk.

Hina and Lokahi
The afternoon was spent with some dolphins.  No one else had signed up for my session so I actually got to spend time with them on my own, including several rides.  Initial meet 'n greet was with Hina (their Goddess of the Moon), then several rides on Lokahi.  Of course the wardrobe malfunction occurred while he zipped through the water - several major adjustments later, I got to have another couple of rides.  Completely exhilarating and here we are, saying "nana" which is "goodbye".

Being in the cold water and all the swimming absolutely wiped me out.  I ended up ordering dinner in my room and getting ready for bed when -

In which music makes the world go around - also known as What a wonderful (small) world!

Then the highlight of my evening - I was actually all set to go to bed but I heard music from the lobby.  There was that moment of indecision when the bed with its crisp sheets beckoned but the distant melodies prompted the question, "will I wish I had gone when I wake up in the morning?"  So I changed out of my pyjamas and wandered back to the lobby bar where Woody and Frankie were rocking out their songs.  They saw me filming them on my camera and we got to chatting - Woody is a local boy.  That is, he's a local boy from Kailua.

Music truly does make the world go 'round - and as I mentioned that their music sounded a bit like home (small wonder, given Woody's Kailua roots), they then proceeded to play a couple of Hawaiian songs.

Checking out / checking in

The religious portion of the wedding was in accordance with the more traditional ceremony which apparently only became recognized as valid a few years ago.  The civil ceremony was on Tahiti but I missed it as I had to check out of my hotel and check into the one where I would be staying for the next 3 nights.  I got there early so had time for some breakfast while the hotel got the villa ready.  And of course, it was a beautiful day with a spectacular view for the wedding.

And the main event

I did manage to get the behind-the-scenes preparation for the wedding as the flowers and decorations arrived while I was checking in.  They rocked up in a pickup truck and piles of greenery was transported into the lobby area.

I also saw what looked like haku lei in someone's hand, disappearing around the corner so I snuck around to take photos.  All the smells were so familiar that I could almost believe I was home.  The biggest difference, of course, was the language.  My French is no longer fluent so there was a lot of "um"ing on my part while I looked for words.  They were very nice and patient about it though, unlike some of the Parisians who pretend they don't understand you.

There was the ceremony which was in Tahitian and French.  They tied the plant bracelets on the bridal couple and after all vows had been spoken they were wrapped in a tapa (traditional patterned and dyed fabric made from pounded bark).  Then a blessing and congratulations followed by dancing by Tahitian dancers during cocktails and photos.

Cocktails and canapes:

And dancers danced

The reception was at the hotel's restaurant down the hill, going on into the wee hours of the morning.  I think the last of us to leave got to sleep around 3am - and then we had to wake up because there was a Maa'a Tahiti (a traditional meal) by the beach.

Maa'a Tahiti
Preparing Poisson Cru

              Porc a chou                       Poulet fafa

             Tuna heads                         My plate (2nds...)

 Then more music and dancing...

My last day on Mo`orea was spent on a motu - across from the one I had been to with the Intercontinental.  It was too cold to get in the water - yes, I'm a wuss - but it was still a beautiful day. We all continued to get to know each other better as there were people who had come from quite a few different places.  Luckily almost everyone spoke really good English since my French was still very limited.

Leaving Tahiti
My last night was in Papeete as my flight back home left at 7:30am and there was no ferry back from Mo`orea in time to make the flight.  There was an extremely rough crossing between the islands - only 30 minutes but enough to make me not want to eat until the day was mostly over.

I went to the big markets but unfortunately the shopping wasn't really exciting - it was too much like all the touristy things we see at various tourist shops in Honolulu.  I actually liked the market part much better - the butchers, the fishmongers, the fruits, vegetables and stands which would juice / squeeze fresh coconuts.  Souvenir shopping I did in stores because my ATM card didn't work in the Tahitian banks, which limited options somewhat.  There was a lesson in how to tell good pearls (colors and thing) although I'm not sure if I could tell for anything other than Tahitian pearls and a visit to the Pearl History museum.

Late lunch at the hotel's restaurant (the not-fancy one) - good drink, good bread, BAD food - bad enough that they took it off my bill after the chef and the restaurant manager checked.  (Chicken fafa was cold, then still not hot when rewarmed in the microwave - I saw the chef - the chicken was so gristly that I had a pile of cartilage at the side of my plate and the taro / plantains / something whose name I don't know were hard enough to injure someone if you hit them with them - and yes, I was speaking French.)

Eventually recovered from being seasick so I met a friend I made on the plane for a drink and dinner.  We went to the hotel's Lotus Restaurant which was absolutely stunning - it was over the water and lit so you could see how clear it was.  And of course the food was amazing - I was sorry I didn't have my phone to take photos and unfortunately I don't think I can recreate it without a lot of work.

The light in Tahiti was amazing - hence so many landscape shots but it seemed that the view would change within a matter of 5 minutes or so.  This is the view from the hotel lobby as I was checking out and waiting for the taxi to the airport.  I got to try the coffee which was indeed "exceptionnel".

No troubles through Australian customs - the man laughed at me when I told him I bought Tahitian vanilla and waved me through.  Much faster than having nothing to declare!

Until next time, may you share memorable and happy moments with your friends and loved ones.