Seriously...what is going on?

I know that I am not the warmest blooded person going around and that I suffer from an absurd sensitivity to the cold but seriously, I am sitting in a down jacket, beanie and polar fleece while writing this post and it is the 24th June in France.  The only thing keeping my blood pumping this evening is the idea of Greece this Friday and a long range weather forecast of low to mid 30s.

Maybe my lack of blood circulation also relates to the ridiculous study regime I have imposed upon myself.  I am starting to question the wisdom of undertaking maths classes while on holiday - it certainly kills the mood a little and is nowhere near as leisurely as baking tarts.  Fortunately, my Bosnian teacher is off on holiday tomorrow afternoon - I have one class with her in the morning and then one with some other maths genius on Thursday. After that I am done!

Who wants to make croissants? Not me!

Final products

I have finally learned the fine art of making croissants and pains au chocolat and have come to the conclusion: why bother?  When you combine all the different steps, they take about 48 hours to make yet they only cost 1 euro at the bakery and about 30 seconds to eat.  The opportunity cost of making them is simply not in your favour.  In fact, you could probably have them flown from France to Australia more quickly than making them yourself.  In any case, if you are interested, I have included the recipe below. Enjoy wasting those hours of your life because you are not getting them back! 

While I don't intend to make them again, I did thoroughly enjoy my class on Saturday.  It was a three hour class at La Cuisine Paris.  It was a bit of a cheat's way to learn how to make croissants but I didn't mind.  We cheated because it takes so long to prepare the dough - so we were given pre-made dough to prepare our croissants and while they were rising, we prepared our own dough.  

The key to croissants is not to muck up the dough and this is most easily done when you are rolling in your massive clump of butter. When rolling a 250g block of butter into the mix, you need to make sure that the butter stays cool otherwise it will burst through while preparing your layers.  That means, with every simple and complex turn (yes, there are simple and complex turns with dough) you have to put the dough back in the fridge for about 20 minutes. For good dough you should do this about 8 times.  How boring! After you have rolled your layers, you should really leave it in the fridge overnight.  If you leave it out, you will activate your yeast and then it won't rise when you need it to rise later on.

Anyway, the class was fun and I enjoyed it but I was starving by the end and a croissant, pain au chocolat and a cup of tea really didn't cut the mustard.  

Hot tip: For a real croissant experience in France, it is important to order a croissant au beurre.  A croissant au beurre must be made with butter.  All other croissants are made with margarine and are nowhere near as nice.  When made with margarine they also tend to be straight as opposed to crescent-shaped.

Preparing the dough:
Flour, salt, butter, water, yeast

Worked into a ball and ready
to be rolled.  Cut a cross into the top,
place your fingers in the middle and
peel outwards to make a square.
Not particularly clear, I know...sorry.

Now roll into a rectangle.  Btw: that is
a special croissant brush

This has 250g block of butter
hidden in it.  Needs to be rolled AGAIN.

Cut dough into rectangles for
pain au chocolat and triangles
for croissants.

Obligatory photo chez 'Olly

Crème Caramel

Being in a moderately hungover state today has prompted me to update a few of my recipes for you all to enjoy.

This recipe is from the cream class I did just before heading to Croatia.  It was really very yummy.  My photos didn't turn out too well so I have decided not to post them.

Preparation:  40 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

Caramel

400g caster sugar

100g water

Lemon juice

Crème Caramel

1 litre full cream milk

250g caster sugar

2 vanilla beans

480g eggs

160g egg yolks

Method

Pre heat oven to 160 degrees celsius

Caramel

Mix water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil.  Add about two tablespoons of lemon juice - this helps to slightly clean the caramel and give it a good colour.

Once cooked, pour caramel on to two silicon mats or two baking trays with baking paper.  Allow to cool.

#Tip: always place water into a saucepan before adding sugar as it is easier for the sugar to dissolve.  

Crème Caramel

Bring milk, vanilla seeds, pod and half of the sugar to the boil. Remove pod. In a separate bowl, mix eggs and the rest of the sugar.  Incorporate the egg mixture with milk/sugar mixture.  Strain - this is a must if you would like a smooth end product. 

Break the cooled caramel and generously place in the bottom of your mould.  Pour crème caramel mixture on top and cook in a bain-marie at 160 degrees celsius for about 12-15 minutes.  You don't want to overcook the cream so make sure you keep an eye on it.  

You can either serve in the mould or turn upside down and serve on a plate. Enjoy!  

Crème Brûlée

This is dead set easy and delicious.

Preparation:  10 minutes

Cooking time: 20-25 minutes

Ingredients

70g egg yolks
1 vanilla bean
75g caster sugar
125g full cream milk
375g liquid cream (fat content: 35%)

Method

Pre heat oven to 130 degrees celsius

Lightly whisk sugar and egg yolks and place to the side.  Bring milk to the boil. Remove from heat and add vanilla bean seeds and pod and allow to infuse for about 5 minutes.  Cover with cling film during this time.  Remove vanilla pod and stir in cream.  Add a small amount of egg mix and stir - this lowers the temperature and prevents the rest of the egg mixture from cooking in the hot milk.  Then add the rest of the egg mix.  Pour into small ramequins and cook in a bain-marie for about 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.  Top with a small amount of raw sugar and caramelise with a flame.  

Horses beware - I know what happens to you when you lose.

Take a close look at the photo on the right.  I know the quality is a little dodgy but I am positive you can see the things dangling down.  That my friends is a horse hair covered handbag. They range in size but the blonde one is just over 1m long.

I was wandering around the 11th yesterday afternoon after my first maths tute with Ines, my Bosnian maths teacher, and came across this store RAW.  I was taken aback by the weird window display so went a little closer to look at the objects hanging in the window and to read the sign.  I was horrified.

I don't care if it is entirely made by hand, the thought of hauling that over my shoulder and walking down the street is really just not cool.

Horses, Hats, Hot Baker and Bond... James Bond

Sunday was an opportunity to rest the spatula and doll myself up for a day at the races.  Prix de Longines at Chantilly Racecourse was beckoning and 'Olly and I were ready for a day of fine champagne, sunshine and fun times.

Some of 'Olly's friends had organised the day and after meeting at Gard du Nord mid morning we boarded the train with several thousand other people and headed out of the city.  Actually we boarded two trains.  After getting comfortable in our first train, we were kicked off and moved to another one.  I am not quite sure what had happened but given the number of people on the platform, I am guessing the allocated train had insufficient capacity.  Credit is definitely due to Pete for pushing through the crowds and securing us seats in the second train. Very impressive.

After a quick journey we arrived at Chantilly train station which is just a few steps from a forest. After following a small track through the lush greenery, we found ourselves on the boundary of one of the most spectacular racecourses in the world.  The majestic Chateau de Chantilly and the Great Stables overlook the Chantilly Racecourse and immediately set the tone for the day to come.

According to legend, Louis Henri, Duc de Bourbon, Prince of Conde believed that he would be reincarnated as a horse after his death.  In 1719, he asked the architect, Jean Aubert to build stables suitable to his rank.  These 186m long stables are considered by some as the most beautiful in the world. Of greater interest to me however, and to one other passionate Bond fan was that the Chateau and the Great Stables were featured prominently in the Bond movie A View to a Kill (1985), as the estate of evil Max Zorin (played by Christopher Walken).  I had hoped that Roger would make a brief appearance but he must have mucked up his diary.

The race programme offered
no help

Keen to engross myself in the race day activities, I studied the race guide for about an hour in a bid to master enough racing terms to confidently place a bet.  I thought I had them down pat but I was wrong and unfortunately spent twice the amount I had intended and on a combination that I hadn't really wanted.  Fortunately this didn't hit the pocket too hard...then again the Aussie dollar has gone down and the NAB exchange rate is woeful.  After my first loss I decided it was probably better not to place any more bets - I don't know how to pick a winner in Australia, let alone France.  I did however fair better than 'Olly - she thought it appropriate to rock up to the bookie's window and place a bet of each and every race. She did everything on gut feel and hadn't even looked at the form guide until she handed over the money.  She did manage one place out of her selection which pocketed her a massive 4.50 euros.  I won't divulge how much she outlaid.  

We could not have asked for more glorious weather for a picnic race day.  'Olly, as per usual, was using the opportunity to bronze herself to the max...apparently she doesn't burn...unlike a few of the other members in the entourage who by the end of play were rather rouge.

Everyone in our group thoroughly enjoyed commentating on the fashion wins and a number of fashion faux pas.  My favourite number was a poor lady positioned just behind us - her dress reminded me of toilet paper soaked in blue duck toilet cleaner. She was happy with it which I suppose is all that counts.  

A hat guaranteed free entry for ladies and I need to thank my old host mum for her contribution to my outfit.  I had been in Normandy the day before and after informing her that I was off to the races the next day but didn't have a hat, she insisted that we make a last minute dash to Printemps.  I was very impressed with our last minute purchase especially given I had no intention of spending more than the ticket price on a hat.  I will say however that I didn't take up the shop assistant's recommendation of pinning the front part of my hat up.  She thought it would be terribly fashionable.  My host sister and I on the other hand did not.

Blue Lagoon! Do you still intend to 

buy this hat? It is on sale for 2,500 euros

Admiring the hats on display was a lot of fun and around mid afternoon, a group of us went for a wander around the grounds to see what else we could find.  We came across a milliner who was allowing a few people to try on his creations.  Blue Lagoon - who was in fine form - thought if he sounded as if he was keen to buy me a hat he would be able to score us all a free glass of champagne.  We had been to the champagne tent a few minutes earlier and decided not to part with our cashola. Blue Lagoon's negotiating tactics worked and they opened a new bottle of champagne for the four of us.  The hats were amazing (some a little random). Not surprisingly they all came with an equally amazing price tag.   

In addition to some wonderful displays of millinery craftsmanship there were a few who didn't quite have the style down pat. One girl looked like she had stolen someone's blonde locks and wrapped it around an Asterix helmet and another looked like she had branches coming off her head.  Given she was also pushing a pram, I thought the hat must have been dual purpose as it worked quite nicely as a baby's mobile.  I wish I had some photos because they were truly magnificent in their own special way.

A random selection found during our walk.

Seriously...

Another entertaining encounter during our wander around the course was finding a lady face planting the lawn.  I could not believe my eyes and started to think maybe face planting was the latest craze taking over from planking. Just as I did with 'Olly, I prioritised a photo opportunity over determining whether this person had a pulse. 

One of the highlights of the day was spotting the handsome Mr Simon Baker.  As the face of Longines, hot Baker graced us with his presence and certainly caused a few hot flushes amongst the youngins.  I was heading towards the stands and was nearly bowled over by a huge flock of women running after some - at this stage - unknown man.  The benefit of being tall kicked in and I worked out quite quickly that it was none other than Mr Mentalist.  He really is rather gorgeous.

Weary after a whole day in the sun we headed home shortly after the final race around 7:30pm.  'Olly and I went home after arriving back in Paris but a few others decided to have a few beers while trying to work out where they actually lived...

Baker goodness

Random selection of photos:

...the afternoon

Pont de l'Archevêché

Much to my delight, the sun came out early this evening.  I was so excited about the glimpses of blue sky and sunshine that I decided to walk home from the 5th - a trip according to google of nearly 14km.  It would have been shorter had I gone direct but I wanted to go via a few baking stores to pick up a few more goodies...again.  Not quite sure how I am going to get all of this stuff home but I will cross that bridge later.  In any case, I did walk over a bridge today, a very pretty one too as it was all covered in 'love' locks.  

View of Notre Dame from the bridge

Pont de l'Archevêché

(courtesy of Wiki)

The Pont de l'Archevêché is the narrowest road bridge in Paris. It was built in 1828, by the engineer Plouard, for the society Pont des Invalides after the demolition of the suspension bridge at Les Invalides.

The bridge is 68 meters long and 11 meters high. It is composed of three arches of stone carrying heights of 15, 17, and 15 meters, respectively. The low clearance of the arches do cause an impediment to river traffic; however, in spite of a municipal decision in 1910 to rebuild it, the bridge was never replaced.

The bridge commonly seen in the background of the set on Highlander when the show was set in Paris. After the Pont des Arts was cleared of its display of padlocks in 2010, and similarly the Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor, lovers started to place their 'love padlocks' on this bridge. The original two bridges for this were footbridges, but this one, albeit narrow, is a road bridge.

Not the best photo but bring on the sunshine!