Thomas Keller's "Bouchon" Cookbook

[Marc Olson]

Related question...

I cooked some 'front pigs feet' that I had in the freezer for another dish and it didn't seem like there was much meat to them. Is there a cut besides pigs feet that's more like the lower leg/hock that has more meat?

I've seen pork osso buco offered at Niman ranch (where I got the trotters) that looks like it would end up with more meat.

[FoodMan]

Related question...

I cooked some 'front pigs feet' that I had in the freezer for another dish and it didn't seem like there was much meat to them.  Is there a cut besides pigs feet that's more like the lower leg/hock that has more meat?

I've seen pork osso buco offered at Niman ranch (where I got the trotters) that looks like it would end up with more meat.

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For this recipe in the Bouchon book, you use large pieces of fresh ham hocks, not the trotters. These are pretty meaty and have a lot of nice gelatin.

[Mallet]

We did the leek and roquefort quiche last week. I am in love with this cookbook! Not a single recipe yet has failed to impress.

[Marlene]

I made the tarte tatin from the Bouchon book today. As I had made his pastry on the weekend for a raspberry pie and it makes enough for two tarts, I figured it was a good time to learn how to make this:

Put the sugar and butter in the tartin pan:

And the apples on top. (I realized about half way through carmelizing that I'd put them in upside down so I turned them over. Except I failed to notice that the ones in the middle were already the right way around):

As the apples cook down a bit, add more apples to the pan, to ensure a snug fit

Pastry over the apples and bake:

I let it sit for 20 minutes rather than Keller's recommended 30 minutes, and I still had trouble getting it out of the pan. The pastry sides stuck to the pan, but that was likely because I forgot the cardinal rule about running a knife around the edges first.

In any event, the taste was outstanding. I'll be making this one again, correcting, hopefully my mistakes the first time around:

[FoodMan]

Lovely Tart!

I also made a quiche this weekend, the quiche recipe alone is worth the price of this book (well, the trotters too) (..and the steak with shallots ). I made a hybrid quiche this time filled with leeks, smoked ham and spinach. The best part is that We slice a wedge of two from it for breakfast or lunch at work and keep the rest. It takes us a good week to get through the whole thing.

[Joni]

Does the"pine nut crust" make this tart..or could I do an almond crust? And...is this tart better the day it is made or could I make it the night before? Thanks!

[Patrick S]

It will be just fine with an almond crust, and you can make it a day in advance, no problem.

[cookman]

Does the"pine nut crust" make this tart..or could I do an almond crust?  And...is this tart better the day it is made or could I make it the night before?  Thanks!

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You could use any tart crust that you like, although I really enjoyed the unique taste of Keller's pine nut crust.

[rlummis]

I think you should at least try the pine nut crust once. It's no real additional trouble over an almond crust, and you apparently trust Keller's taste enough to choose his recipe. After all, it's frequently the little things that elevate a recipe from "pretty good" to sublime.

[382]

I love tarte tatin. Fell in love with it the first time I had it. I have made it in a 10" cast iron frying pan (makes a BIG tart) and now with a proper Tatin pan. I have followed Keller's and others recipes for sugar to butter ratio and number of apples, etc. They are all delicious. With that said I have two tips I have to offer.

1. Run the knife around the crust prior to flipping over of course, but flip the tarte over earlier rather than later. The only time I have ever had all of the apples come out of the pan is when I waited like 5 minutes. Now it all depends on how cool your kitchen is, how caramelized your sugar is and how heat conductive the pan is. I have had nothing come out and had to gently reheat on the stove at one time, so as they say, your mileage may vary.

2. One of the best tarte tatins I ever had was in a little bistro in Paris (yeah, yeah, everything is better in a "little bistro in Paris"). In a kitchen about the size of an average American refrigerator I watched the chef prepare his tarte tatin. He cooked the tarte in what appeared to be an aluminum pan about the size of a 10" CI frying pan. The tarte was filled with sliced green apples the way you would load up the traditional American apple pie. There was no careful placement of nice neat apple halves or quarters, just slices - I even spied some skin.

As the tarte begins to cook down the chef added more apples until the tarte was heaped a good 3 inches above the pan. As the tarte cooked down, the apple slices were pushed down to make a dense filling. The tarte was finished off in the oven and served with a nice tart crème fraiche.

I continue to experiment with both ways of making the tart and enjoy every one. Along with the crème fraiche one of the best accompaniments I have enjoyed is an apple ice wine, delicious.

Jason

[Marlene]

Thanks for the tips! I really like the idea of using slices as well. It seems to me that it would also make for a prettier presentation. I must try that next!

[FoodMan]

didn't we already have this discussion...or am I imagining things?

Anyways, almond will probably work ok, but like rlummis said, yolu should try the pine nut at least once. Pretty awsome tart.

[Anna N]

didn't we already have this discussion...or am I imagining things?

Anyways, almond will probably work ok, but like rlummis said, yolu should try the pine nut at least once. Pretty awsome tart.

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Yes, we did have this discussion before and someone pointed me to a reasonable source of pine nuts (Costco). I made the crust and it really was easy and interesting BUT you do need to like pine nuts to enjoy the crust fully and I am still on the fence on that one.

[Swisskaese]

You do not need the pine nuts. I made the tart using my grandmother's butter crust recipe and it was delicious.

I made it during my blog in December and it was a huge hit with my guests.

Edited March 30, 2006 by Swisskaese (log)

[Kim Shook]

I made the lamb jus yesterday and am going to use it today to make gravy for my Easter lamb. I posted on the cooking board about wanting to make a rich gravy for my lamb and that seemed to be the consensus. I have some leftover red wine jus in the freezer that I can use also, if I think I need it.

For Valentine's day, I made the skirt steak and I took pictures of the entire process. If I can ever figure out how, I am going to post the photos. I printed out the directions and still can't make it work ! Going to get Mr. Kim to look at them for me.

Wish me luck on my gravy, y'all!

[FoodMan]

You do not need the pine nuts. I made the tart using my grandmother's butter crust recipe and it was delicious.

I made it during my blog in December and it was a huge hit with my guests.

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Well, sure you do not "need" to. Any good butter crust will work fine. I still think, unless someone has an aversion to pinenuts, they need to try it with the crust in the book. It's different and makes for an awsome texture and taste. After all, the details, expecially in a Keller recipe, do matter.

[dockhl]

Gonna make the trotters this weekend along with the Cauliflower Gratin and perhaps the Lemon Tart. probably start with the Salmon Tartare.....

Any suggestions on what else to serve with the trotters? Gosh, maybe the roasted Beet/goat cheese salad............

[Patrick S]

Has anyone tried the chocolate bouchons? If so, what did you think?

[Kim Shook]

Well, I made the lamb jus and used it to make gravy for Easter dinner. Worked great. It made a really rich, tasty gravy that stood up well to the lamb, but didn't overpower it! I am dying to make that tarte tatin, Marlene - I have to wait until Mr. Kim will be home to do it, because I can't turn the pan over by myself. I am newly impaired and keep starting to do things and suddenly remember that I can't anymore ! It looked wonderful!

[kitwilliams]

Has anyone tried the chocolate bouchons? If so, what did you think?

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Nancy Silverton's Bouchon (they are called "Crotin de Chocolate" in her pastry book although the recipe was published in the LA Times and called "Bouchon"), are hands-down much better than Keller's. Don't be put off by the fact that they are leavened with yeast: they're really quite simple to make and are so dense and amazingly chocolatey and not too sweet. I've been making these for years but felt compelled to try the Bouchon Bouchon which I found weak in comparison to Silverton's.

I'd be curious to hear your comparison of the two versions!

[Marlene]

Well, I made the lamb jus and used it to make gravy for Easter dinner.  Worked great.  It made a really rich, tasty gravy that stood up well to the lamb, but didn't overpower it!  I am dying to make that tarte tatin, Marlene - I have to wait until Mr. Kim will be home to do it, because I can't turn the pan over by myself.  I am newly impaired and keep starting to do things and suddenly remember that I can't anymore  !  It looked wonderful!

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The tart is great. Keller's pastry recipe is so easy, even I can make it! The last time I made it though, I used sliced apples, and kept adding some as they cooked down. I was much happier with the presentation:

[snowangel]

I am making the quiche. I sure hope it's worth it. This thing has taken forever to make, and is an unbelievable task.

Let's see. I have 1/2 hour into the crust. Let's add cutting up and rendering the lardons. I left out the confit onions becuase Heidi whould refuse it.

ROlling out the crust. Blind baking, which took about 15 minutes longer than the recipe, and his 20 minutes after removing the blind baking stuff (let's not forget to mention that I didn't have enough blind baking beans so had to use rice too, and a kid bumped me as I was putting it in the oven so I had raw rice all over the oven floor which has filled my house with smoke).

Whew. I had the lardons done this afternooon as well as the crust rolled and in the pan this afternoon. At 7:00 pm I started with the baking process, and I have another 45 minutes before I start checking the thing, pull it and cool it before I stick it in the fridge.

My family is looking at me and thinking any quiche that takes this much time sure as hell better be worth it.

Report on the finished product tomorrow night.

But, in the meantime, a question on the reheating. Since we are likely to devour the whole thing tomorrow night (or almost all of it), any advice as to reheating an entire quiche? Or, should I just serve it room temp?

[russ parsons]

hmmm, i did a piece on the quiche last year and it didn't strike me as being a big deal ... for a quiche, that is (blind baking, etc., is pretty much the norm). i found the tart crust really amazing to work with, but you absolutely MUST resist the urge to roll it thin. this is a very custardy quiche and if y ou roll it thin, it will leak like a ... well, you get the picture.

as for re-heating, either room temp or warm is good. if you're going to reheat, follow the instructions and do it in the oven, not in a microwave, which will sog the crust.

[snowangel]

We had the quiche tonight, with a salad and a ton of roasted veg. I reheated the quiche in the oven, as per instructions.

Comments. It was a good quiche. One child complained that it was too creamy. There was way too much bacon, which sort of sank. And, careful as I was not to roll the crust too thin, I did have a tear, which I patched, but which still leaked.

I made this in my 9" x 2" springform. At least the sheet pan contained what leaked out, which I estimated to only to be only about 1/2 cup.

I fought this thing the whole way, starting with blind baking the crust and getting bumped and almost starting a fire in the ove.

I did not add the onions, and I'm glad. My family prefers a quiche that is lighter on the add-ins!

Oh, and let's not mention that this thing (Peter, age 10, is taking a nutrition thing in his health class) calls for 8 oz of butter, 2 cups each of cream and milk, 6 eggs, cheese and a pound of bacon.

But, I might do this one again!

[Michael Ruhlman]

susan, it doesn't work in a springform pan, always leaks, don't know why. Imperative to use a ringmold.