friederike's Reviews
3 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 3Sort by: Title 
| Date | Rating
Le Cordon Bleu Complete Cookery Techniques: With over 200 Basic Recipes from the World's Most Famous Culinary School
By Jeni Wright, Eric Treuille, Julia Alcock, David Murray
Cassell Illustrated - 2002
If you’ve never boned a quail (or any other bird, in fact), reckon with several hours of preparation for this one. Unfortunately, we didn’t, and ended up having our Christmas Dinner at midnight. What was worse was that we had screwed up these delicate birds so much that we had to stitch them up with needle and thread to keep the filling where it should be – not something described in the recipe. Luckily, it didn’t impair the taste at all – it was heavenly!
useful (0)
Italian Merengue : page 272
Hard to rate. I overlooked the reference to which stadium the sugar should reach, and, as nothing continued to happen and I was eager to get on with my cooking, I used the sugar in an apparently semi-dissolved state - once I took it from the stove it slowly began to harden again. That wouldn't have been a problem if I hadn't insisted on scaping out even the last bits of sugar as these then formed indissoluble lumps in the merengue. Well, even thad wouldn't have been a problem (I haven't found one yet!) except that at the very end a small lump blocked the piping bag, producing nothing than blots.
I thing I learned, in any case, is that small pieces dry better and produce a nicer texture than those huge, Ottolenghi-style merengues (not that I'd ever dare to imitate them).
useful (0)
Pâte Brisée / French Shortcrust Pastry : page 294
The authors explain that the typical English shortcurst pastry normally contains equal amounts of butter and lard. They do not (explicitly) explain, though, that English shortcrust pastry usually doesn't contain eggs - at least that is what I have read somewhere. This one does.
I had the idea that the addition of the egg made it more difficult to spread the dough in the baking dish; the result however, was very delicious. I think that a typical English shortcrust pastry is slightly more crumbly, other than that it is difficult to tell.
useful (0)