Red Owl

I've never seen a cut one in a supermarket bakery, etc.- only photos on the net. New to me, that's why I asked.

If you look at the photos on the net, there are a lot of Eclairs cut in half- usually (I think) to put in more filling. BUT, until I got interested in this, I always thought they were Not cut in half. They are (without scooping out) somewhat hollow inside but there is a little bit of soft dough inside. In any event, I used vanilla puddling and chocolate cake frosting on my first two attempts. Now I'll try to improve on that.

This assumes you have baked a fine éclair and what to do now. My French book cook said to make a cut on the side to let air escape, turn off the oven and then return to the oven another 10 minutes. Did that. Next, cut in half lengthwise. Up until now I never eclairs were filled but never though how to fill them. Okay. Cut in half lengthwise so there was a top and bottom and then I scooped out all the interior soft dough. Then let fully cool, filled with vanilla pudding, put the top back on then chocolate frosting/glaze on top. Tasted fine but if you use a knife and fork to eat them, they sort of fall apart. I then checked the internet. Well they had you make a small hole on the bottom, one at either end, let cool, then use a pastry tube to fill. This method doesn't "scoop out the soft interior dough and when I tried to fill- the pudding would not go into the éclair. I ended up having to cut them lengthwise. Now I'm thinking in cutting lengthwise, have it higher up to hold more filling. In any event, how do the rest of you finish and fill eclairs? Thanks. Another insight. The first batch, I dropped an egg shape on the baking sheet and then used a butter knife to stretch out into an éclair shape They didn't look ideal but when they baked they filled out fine. On the second batch, I used a zip lock bag with the corner cut off- they looked great but once baked- were not more different from those I formed with the butter knife. All help appreciated.

So, I'll have to sharpen my butcher knife, On the tenderloin of beef, the large end is chateaubriand, then the middle cuts are the filet mignon, and the small tip the tournedos?

What is the difference between Tournedos and Filet Mignon?

For me, it is better than egg nog at Christmas. Heavy whipping cream and Amaretto. About equal amounts, maybe 60% Amaretto, 40 % heavy cream.

What does Lobster Newburg have to do with pastry and baking? I think the original recipe called for a pop over. Well I tried my first ever pop over, came out okay but on a couple, there wasn't any bottom at all, sort of a hollow void. I figure I can trim off the top and put the top down inside to plug up the hole and then fill with the Newburg. Any one make pop overs to serve as a shell for a savory filling, Lobster Newburg or Creamed chicken, etc.?

I agree. If I have a nice boneless filet, I would never cut it up for a quenelle. I think the quenelle got started as a way to use those species of fish with a lot of small bones that are difficult to filet out. As such, it is a good option. I myslf l9ke to sport fish and sometimes end up with small fish or those with bones and I could never quite figure out what to do with them. Hence my interest in making quenelles. I'm glad I did it, an interesting venture.

Final Follow up. I don't know if anyone is interested but on the second casserole dish, it was overnight in the frig. I bought some crawfish and made a sauce and put that over the refrig'd dish and baked 15 minute. Came out very good. The lobster (crawfish) sauce is a definite plus. In any event you can keep cooked quenelles in the refrig a day or day and they are fine.

Okay- I promised to post the results. I cut the flour in half, so, brought 1 cup of milk, 3 TB butter, salt, pepper, dash all spice to a boil and put in a half cup flour. This brought about more of a heavy batter than a ball of dough. Stirred/cooked about 2-3 minutes. Then, leaving it in the pot- put pot into a bowl of water to cool. Then 2 eggs, one at a time, beat in smooth, then 1/2 pound of fish. Mea Culpa- I am hung up on eating undercooked fish so the fish was poached 20 minutes and then mashed up with a fork. Okay, so fish into batter, then the refrigerator (covered pot with plastic wrap- for 3 hours). This did not stiffen up the consistency and in the future I'd skip it. Brought large pot to a boil and took off burner and spooned Quenelle shaped dough balls into water. They sink and as they cook they will float. Did 5 at a time and needed 2 batches, the batter made 10 tablespoon sized quenelles. Used 2 baking casserole dishes, 5 per dish, covered half way with heavy cream, One slice of swiss cheese on each dish, cut into strips, a dash of parmigiana on top. 25 minutes in a 375 degree preheated oven. Well, they puffed up, big improvement over the first effort. They were a lot better. Am I now a big fan of quenelles? So-so. They are good, a good thing to do with little bits and pieces of fish that don't lend themselves to other recipes. The above yields enough for two hungry people or 3 normal portions. It is one of those recipes that makes a small amount of fish go a long way. If I ever get to Lyons, France I'll have some just to know how they should taste.

Yes, I must admit a shore lunch is very good and if the fillets are large enough, that would be my go to choice. I really got focused on the Quenelles as something to do with smaller fish. That post on the amount of eggg must vary with the species of fish is helpful, so an art rather than a science. A salmon fishing trip around Cape Breton, etc. is on my bucket list.

Well, that's why I asked the question. I am going to make attempt number two tomorrow. I've seen a few recipes on the net where there is very little flour. So...I am thinking here: the poaching, I think that is to set the shape of the quenelle and not much more, then the baking (with egg, egg white) puffs up the quenelle similar to quiche or an éclair. What I'll try: puree the fish and mix in 3 whole eggs. Add one cup of milk, salt, pepper. If the mix is too thin, add just a teaspoon of flour at a time until a quenelle shape can be made and dropped right away into 170 degree water to set. As soon as it floats, remove to a casserole dish, add the sauce, and bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes. You don't cover quiche or eclairs and they puff so I wouldn't cover the quenelles as they bake. SINCE I never have had any in a restaurant, that's why I wanted to know if they were supposed to be heavy and solid or light such as quiche or a soufflé. What I made, with so much flour, the fish taste wasn't that much. Well I'll report on how my next effort goes. WHY AM I DOING THIS? I like to fish and a lot of fish have those little Y bones. You can fillet them out but you are left with small sections of fish. I needed a way to cook these and when I found out about quenelles I thought that may work out well.

I tried some for the first time. 1 cup water, 3 tb butter. salt- bring to boil. Dump in one cup flour and stir. Problem number one, there was so much flour that it could be moved around but not really stirred. "Cooked" 5 minutes. Then removed from heat and let cool, then add one egg at a time, total 3 eggs. Did that, then add 1/2 pound mashed up pike, or white fish. Did that. The result was a very sticky dough. I formed into ovals or footballs with two table spoons. Chilled in refrigerator 2 hours, poached 15 minutes in 170 degree water. After about 3=4 minutes they floated to top. Put in casserole dish, added a cup of heavy cream, light sprinkle of all spice, shredded swiss on top- 3 slices. Baked 325 for 20 minutes. Uncovered. They were okay but didn't puff up double in size. So, rather heavy "dumplings". Next time I'm thinking only a half cup of flour and milk instead of water and maybe a 4th egg or additional egg white. And bake covered. I have seen one You Tube where the quenelles are not chilled in a refrigerator, they have a softer, almost batter consistency and the formed quenelle is smooth and immediately submerged into hot water until the quenelle separates from the spoon. Any suggestions on how to "puff" the quenelles appreciated. I've never had them in a restaurant so I don't know what consistency they should have. Are they like a regular dumpling, that is, light and fluffy?