I have always been interested in how to turn a simply delicious dish into a truly magnificent, festive one. It is clear that decoration, serving and presentation are needed. However, even restaurant chefs who know how to cook delicious, delicious dishes, not all can boast of the art of decorating them. What can we say about family feasts? All these roses cut from vegetables, olives and sprigs of herbs... All this is already morally outdated and at times even brings melancholy.

Therefore, while attending chef master classes in the best restaurants in Moscow, we chose one where every dish is a real masterpiece. The inventor and real artist, sous-chef of the Grand European Express restaurant James Reduta, agreed to teach MIR 24 readers how to turn dishes into works of art.

The main thing here is not to be lazy and prepare the decor separately,” says James. - We use carrot breading, sun-dried tomatoes, crispy rice paper fried in oil, which can be tinted at the cooking stage with beetroot juice or turmeric, and chips made from the thinnest slices of bread, potatoes or sweet potatoes, and combinations of products, and the finest vegetable slices, and drops of sauces.

According to him, it is very important what the color scheme of the dishes will be: for some dishes warm tones in the design are appropriate, for others a cool color palette is good. As we watched, James decorated several dishes, along the way explaining what he used in the decor.

Grilled squid with Kenyan beans, sun-dried tomatoes and thick yellow pepper sauce

Boil the mini-potatoes in their skins, then cut each potato into halves and fry them in oil with a little garlic. Separately, fry the Kenyan beans. We cook the squid rings on the grill, season everything with pepper and add some salt.

Prepare a thick yellow pepper sauce. Heat olive oil in a frying pan, add onions and spices, fry them. Add the baked bell pepper cut into strips and cook for 5 minutes. Then add white wine, chicken broth and cook for another 10 minutes until the peppers are completely soft. Add the cream, remove from the heat, cool slightly and grind warm in a blender until it becomes a slightly runny, homogeneous puree. Salt and pepper, mix.

Now let's start assembling the dish. Place the yellow pepper sauce in a deep bowl. We put potatoes, bean pods and squid rings on it, which should drown in the sauce by a third. Then we decorate the dish with sun-dried tomatoes. You can buy them ready-made, or prepare them yourself. James cures them for 6 hours in the oven at low temperatures, sprinkled with lemon zest and dry aromatic herbs.

Another spectacular move is a cap of milk foam, which is obtained by whipping milk with a small amount of sugar and edible lecithin. The last ingredient ensures the persistence of the cloud of airy foam. It doesn't settle for quite a long time.

Then the thinnest slices of radishes and small petals of spinach and chard (leaf), which as if accidentally fell on the edges of the dish, are added to the dish. They don't carry any flavor, they're just decor!

The final touch: James sweeps a stroke of orange carrot breading onto the dish along with the plate, and the milk foam doesn't sag - it holds it. The breading brings all parts of the dish together, makes it complete and matches the rosy color of the sauce.

Danish Halibut with Sweet Potatoes and Mushroom Anise Sauce

Fry the halibut fillet in a frying pan, add salt and pepper.

Fry the mushrooms a little, add some salt and pepper, and then add cream, anise and boil slightly. The result is a thick mushroom sauce. Then we prepare the baked sweet potato puree. It turns out dazzling orange and sweet in taste.

Now let's start assembling the dish: put the puree on a plate. James, with a decisive stroke, “draws” a sweeping orange drop for them. Place some mushrooms in sauce on it, place the fish on top so that the mushrooms peek out slightly from under it. Place mushrooms on top of the fish again. So that she is all wrapped up in a shiny, delicious sauce.

Around this composition are laid out several sun-dried tomatoes and sliced ​​radishes, a couple of leaves of mini-spinach and chard.

The final touch is a cap of milk foam whipped with lecithin (hello molecular cooking!).

All! Serve the dish hot until the puree, mushrooms and fish have cooled.

Duck leg “Confit” with polenta and crispy rice

First, let's prepare the duck leg: salt and pepper it and simmer it in a frying pan over low heat until the meat is soft and all the fat has been rendered.

When the duck is almost ready, cook soft, non-steep polenta (this is a porridge made from finely ground corn grits, a denser version of which in Moldova is called mamaliga).

Then James takes a drop of balsamic cream on a wide, stiff brush and decisively draws a line across the entire plate from edge to edge. He places the palenta in the middle, making a “pillow” out of it, on which he places a delicious duck leg.

Now comes the turn of the color and taste nuance: he uses a spoonful of tomato confiture, giving it a neat shape. To do this, James, using two tablespoons, “conjures” the confiture, transferring it from spoon to spoon five times.

Making this exotic ingredient is not at all difficult, and it gives an interesting effect. To make jam, tomatoes need to be immersed in boiling water for a few minutes, cooled, peeled, cut into quarters, seeds removed, and the pulp placed in a saucepan and boiled slowly with the addition of lemon juice. Then turn the mass into puree using a blender and add sugar at the rate of 300 g of sugar per 500 g of tomato pulp. Boil to desired consistency, cool.

And now comes the turn of the main decoration: a huge exotic “flower”, which is not even clear what it is made of. This is rice paper: James makes real miracles out of it. And all because this is not purchased, but homemade rice paper, which means it can be tinted at the production stage by adding turmeric to the dough for yellow color, or beet juice for bright pink.

He used the same kind of rice paper decorations for the duck with palenta. The dough for rice paper must be rolled out, placed on a greased sheet of parchment and dried at very low temperatures until the paper hardens, and then cut into squares. To give the tinted rice paper the shape of an exotic flower, James dips the square into the deep fryer for a few seconds, where it instantly shrinks, bends, and takes on an intricate three-dimensional shape.

We place this “flower” on top, add a spinach leaf and serve until all this splendor has cooled down and breathes the aromas of duck and palenta.

Lamb chops with lightly salted cheese cream, tomato confiture and crispy flatbread

The name of this dish speaks for itself and includes almost all the ingredients included in it.

We prepare the meatballs from lamb pulp: only minced meat, salt and pepper, nothing more! Fry them in a small amount of vegetable oil on both sides, having previously lined the frying pan with parchment.

Lightly salted cheese should be crumbled and ground, adding a little cream, until smooth and creamy (not too liquid, because the cream should hold its shape!).

Dry half of the unleavened flatbread in a dry frying pan on both sides (a little bit so that it becomes crispy and acquires a slightly rosy color). First boil the mini-potatoes with their skins on, and then fry them in oil with the addition of finely chopped garlic.

Prepare tomato confiture in the same way as in the previous recipe.

Let's start assembling the dish. James paints a stripe of balsamic cream on the plate with a wide brush, lays out one small piece, rests the flatbread on it, pressing its edge with the second small piece. As a result, the cake is fixed at an angle.

The sous chef puts the cheese cream into a pastry bag with a shaped nozzle and squeezes out beautiful “roses” in the corners of the composition.

Fried, deliciously crunchy potatoes and spinach petals complement the composition, arranged on the plate in artistic disorder.

And the last thing: close to the top bit, partly overlapping it, James places an oblong mound of tomato confiture. It not only gives the dish a bright color accent, but also complements the taste of the lamb meatball.

The main thing is to do everything quickly so as not to let the meatballs cool down and serve the dish hot!

Arugula and shrimp salad with balsamic dressing and crispy sweet potatoes

For this salad, quickly fry peeled shrimp and champignons in vegetable oil, to which we add a little chopped garlic.

Arrange the arugula in an appetizing mound, “shade” the greens with a thin stream of balsamic cream, then “shade” the same stream of vinaigrette sauce on top (here is its composition: vegetable oil, soy sauce, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, garlic).

Place cherry tomato halves, shrimp and mushrooms in a circle. The composition is completed with sweet potato chips and thin slices of black bread. Both are cut very thin on a slicer and deep-fried for a few seconds. A secret from James: in order to cut the brown bread so thin, he first freezes it.

Caesar salad"

James makes the classic Caesar salad very simply, and it still turns out very beautiful.

He fries the chicken fillet pieces very quickly on both sides so that they remain juicy. Iceberg lettuce is torn into pieces and placed in a mound; cherry tomatoes cut in half and canned capers are placed around this mound. Drizzle the leaves with classic Caesar dressing and place still warm pieces of chicken on top. Finally, grated Parmesan is sprinkled on top. And he places two deep-fried rice chips, tinted yellow with turmeric, at an angle to each other.

Caprese

This appetizer is inspired by the classic caprese salad, but how different it is from its prototype!

James peeled the tomatoes, cut them into quarters and, before placing them on a dish, sprinkled them with powdered sugar and caramelized them using a gas torch.

Basil in the salad is actually present in the form of an airy mousse. Green basil should be chopped very finely, or better yet, chopped in a blender and added to the liquid biscuit dough. After pouring the dough into cups, put them in the microwave and after a few minutes you get a porous bright green “sponge” with the taste and smell of basil. Carefully cut it out of the cup with a knife, tear it into pieces and place it on a plate. Between the pieces of airy mousse we place mozzarella, which we also tear with our hands.

Then comes the turn of the tomatoes with a caramel crust around the edge. He places them in geometric order, slightly resting them on the cheese, and sprinkles everything with a little aromatic olive oil.

James decorates the rest of the plate with drops of balsamic cream. He does it this way: first, he squeezes out the balsamic cream in small drops-circles, dotting the plate with them in a checkerboard pattern. And then he takes a wooden skewer and, dipping it into each circle, draws a stroke.

But what about the famous pesto sauce, which is indispensable for caprese? James squeezes a few drops on either side of each piece of mozzarella. At the end, the geometric pattern of the dish is slightly diluted with slices of radish and spinach leaves, which the cook arranges over the appetizer with tweezers in artistic disorder. Agree that the result is simply fantastic beauty!

Tatiana Rubleva

April 14, 2017 No comments

A banquet is a festive dinner held in honor of an important event. The table for the special occasion is filled with a variety of dishes, and guests will be able to make a choice according to their taste.
Accordingly, banquet dishes from chefs can be varied: from cold appetizers, salads, to hot dishes and desserts. The chefs make sure to prepare several complex side dishes to choose from, and also serve at least four types of bread.

Organizing a banquet on your own and without turning to specialists is a difficult task. Of course, it’s not easy to prepare them at home, but if you learn how to prepare banquet dishes, you can pleasantly surprise your guests.
Recipes for banquet dishes by chefs combine punctuality of preparation and sophistication of decoration. This article with banquet dishes with photos will help not only with cooking step by step, but also with the correct serving and decoration of banquet dishes. With the proper perseverance and dexterity, you will soon be able to prepare banquet dishes yourself, no worse than any famous chef.

If there will be a lot of people at the festive banquet, he advises you to opt for cold appetizers and salads; in addition, the option of canapés is a good choice. Various types of canapés are laid out on several dishes and placed on the table. You can also prepare banquet dishes in the form of salads. Hot dishes at a banquet are often presented to choose from, for example, meat, fish or poultry. However, no matter what the main menu is, it is best to end the festive banquet with desserts. It is not recommended to use large cakes or pies for a banquet; it is much preferable to opt for fruit salads, mousses, jellies, etc.


lightly salted salmon 800 g
dill – 2 medium bunches
cream cheese (or ricotta) - 300 g
cream (fat 22%) - 2 tbsp. l.
ground white pepper

Take a very sharp knife with a wide blade and cut the salmon fillet into small thin slices along the grain so that the salmon does not fall apart.

Chop the dill, chop the stems especially finely. Beat cheese with cream.

Place a large sheet of film on a Japanese roll mat or simply on a wide board. Place the sliced ​​salmon slices on it so that each one overlaps the next piece by about 1-1.5 cm. Sprinkle the fish with an even layer of dill. Top with whipped cream cheese mixture. Gently spread the mixture over the entire surface of the salmon and level it with a heated, damp table knife, then sprinkle with white pepper.

Roll everything into a roll. Wrap the film tightly at the sides and place in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. Then remove the film from the roll. Cut the roll into portions, for which it is recommended to take a fillet knife, and each time before cutting the roll, dip it in a bowl of hot water. Serve immediately, adding lemon slices.

Chef's tip:

If you think that you won’t be able to cut the fish well, then you can buy ready-made slices, but this will make the roll lose a little taste. By the way, the roll can be made from other varieties of lightly salted fish, even white. In this case, you will need to add finely chopped radish peel to the cheese, this is required to give the appetizer a red color.

To prepare you will need:

200 g chicken thigh fillet
100 g chanterelles
200 ml cream 10% fat
20 g butter
50 g cheese
julienne mixture
bunch of greenery

Cut the chicken fillet and mushrooms, lightly fry. Add fried onions from a small bag.
Mix the cream with the contents of the 2nd bag (which contains the sauce mixture).
Pour the resulting mixture over the chicken and chanterelles.
Simmer over low heat for a couple of minutes.
Place the resulting mass into small cocotte bowls. Sprinkle with grated cheese.
Place in a preheated oven (temperature -180 degrees) for 6-7 minutes.

A great idea for a holiday appetizer is to make a version of a banquet dish based on the theme of everyone's favorite Caesar salad.

To prepare you will need:
toasted white bread without crust – 6 pieces
butter – 100 g
large chicken eggs - 10 pcs.

To submit:
romaine lettuce leaves
grated hard cheese (such as Parmesan)

For refueling:
anchovy – 2 fillets
garlic - 1 clove
mayonnaise - 5 tbsp. l.
Dijon mustard - 1 tsp.

Grind white toast bread in a blender into coarse crumbs. Melt the butter in a deep frying pan, add a little salt and mix with the crumbs, the butter should cover them evenly. Fry until crisp and cool.

Boil water in a saucepan, add plenty of salt. Then place the eggs straight from the refrigerator into boiling water. Bring to a boil, cook for 1 minute, remove from heat and keep in water for about 10 minutes. Then cool under ice water, carefully peel, and cut lengthwise into two parts.

While the eggs are boiling, make the dressing. Grind the anchovy fillet with a clove of garlic in a mortar, mix with mayonnaise and Dijon mustard.

Mash the egg yolks and mix them with the dressing, salt and pepper if required. Divide the yolk mixture into the egg white halves. Place the eggs on a plate lined with large romaine lettuce leaves, top with crispy crumbs and grated cheese, and serve immediately.

To prepare you will need:
flatbreads – 3 pcs.
50g beef
50g red bell pepper
50g yellow bell pepper
3g cilantro
1-2 drops Tabasco
5g sugar
20 ml vegetable oil
50g red onion
½ lime
40 ml guacomole
40g sour cream
40 ml tomato salsa
paprika
salt
Trim and julienne the beef tenderloin.
Cut the red onion and red bell pepper into strips.
In a preheated frying pan, fry the cooked beef, vegetables, add paprika, a teaspoon of sugar, a pinch of salt, Tabasco sauce, black pepper, and tomato sauce.
Form the flatbreads into a “boat” shape and fry them in a salamander. Place the prepared mixture into tortillas, garnish with cilantro, a small slice of lime and also serve additional sour cream, guacomole and tomato salsa.

To prepare you will need:

Duck breasts – 4 pcs.
foie gras pate – 200 g
pears (preferably Duchess variety) – 4 pcs.
butter – 2 tbsp.
thyme – 4 sprigs
rosemary – 4 sprigs
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
powdered sugar – 1 tbsp.
salt, pepper to taste

Remove skin and excess fat from duck breasts (they will not be needed in this dish). Cut the duck breasts in half lengthwise so that they “open up” like a book. Cover the breasts with a double layer of cling film and pound to a thickness of about 0.5 cm. Season with salt, black pepper, finely chopped rosemary and thyme leaves.

Place foie gras inside each breast and roll very tightly. Wrap in film, then in foil and refrigerate for 2 hours until completely set.

Peel and core the pears, cut into small cubes, place on paper towels and dry.

Melt the butter in a frying pan, add the pears, sprinkle with a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar, sprinkle with powdered sugar and fry over moderate heat for one minute. Remove from heat, remove pears using a slotted spoon and cool.

Make a dressing from the liquid that remains in the pan: add half a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar, oil, a pinch of salt and ground pepper to taste.

Cut the roll with a very sharp wide knife into slices about 3 mm thick. Drizzle a little olive oil onto plates and place the carpaccio on them, drizzle the dressing on top. Serve with prepared pear garnish.

Chef's tip:
For this banquet dish, it is better to use unfrozen duck fillet because before cutting the carpaccio, and it must be cut very thin, it is necessary to cool the duck breasts in the freezer. And freezing fillets twice is not very good.

To prepare you will need:
carrots – 3 pcs.
long cucumbers – 2 pcs.
celery – 3 stalks
cheese sauce

Cut the carrots lengthwise into 2 parts, and cut each half lengthwise into three parts (if the carrots are large, into 4 parts). It is better to cut out the core of the carrot if it is too tough. Place carrots in very cold water.

Peel three celery stalks from coarse fibers and cut into small cubes equal in length to carrots. In the same way, cut the cucumber and remove the seeds.

Fill glasses with cheese sauce. Dry the carrots and place the vegetables in our cups with the sauce.

To prepare you will need:

Baguette – 8 pieces
pork fillet – 350 g
brie cheese – 200 g
green sweet peppers – 2 pcs.
olive oil
ground black pepper
salt

Peel the green pepper, remove the core and seeds and roughly cut into slices (you should get about 10 pieces). Heat olive oil in a frying pan and fry the peppers for 5 minutes. Add salt.

Rub the pork fillet with a little salt and pepper and fry in olive oil until browned on both sides. Transfer to a baking sheet and place in the oven, preheating it to 200 degrees, for 8 minutes. Leave the fillets for 5 minutes, then cut into ten portions.

Place the fillet on a piece of baguette, cover with a slice of pepper, and place a medium-thick slice of cheese on top. Place the canapés on a wide baking sheet and place in the oven for one minute until the cheese becomes soft. Serve immediately hot.

To prepare you will need:

Beets – 1 pc.
medium potatoes - 2 pcs.
carrots – 2 pcs.
herring (fillet) – 300 g
Borodino bread – 5 pieces
chives - bunch

Open and cool the vegetables, then peel them.

Cut beets, carrots and potatoes into small slices. Cut the herring fillet into medium pieces.

Take 5 pieces of Borodino bread and cut each into four parts. Chop the chives quite finely.

Place beets on each quarter of black bread, then a piece of potato, then carrots and herring. Secure everything with a skewer. Before serving, garnish with chives.

To prepare you will need:

Salt
hot red pepper – 1 pc.
lemon juice - 1 tbsp. l.
bunch of parsley
3 cloves garlic
80 ml olive oil
champignons – 400 g

Wash the champignons, dry and cut into small pieces. Peel the garlic and crush it. Wash the pepper, remove the membrane and seeds, cut into thin circles. Wash a bunch of parsley, dry and chop.
Heat olive oil in a frying pan. Sauté the garlic and pepper for 1 minute. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring, 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Add lemon juice, a little parsley and salt. Stir.
Transfer to a salad bowl and serve immediately.

To prepare you will need:

300 g hard cheese, fat. more than 50% – 300 g
vegetable oil
800 g veal pulp for baking
salt
ground black pepper
4 large potatoes.
4 onions

Preheat the oven to 180-200°C. Grease a large baking dish with vegetable oil.

Wash the potatoes thoroughly with a brush or sponge. Dry, grease the potatoes with vegetable oil, wrap tightly in foil (maybe in two layers).

Cut the meat into wide pieces about 1.5 cm thick. Place the pieces of meat on a board, cover with cling film and beat with a hammer to even out the thickness. Place the pieces of meat into the pan in one layer, leaving a small space between them. Season the meat well with ground black pepper, but do not salt it, because otherwise the meat will release excess juice.

Peel the onion and cut into very thin half rings. Spread the onion evenly over the meat and season with salt. Grate the cheese on a fine or medium grater and sprinkle on top of the onion.

Place the baking dish in the preheated oven, preferably closer to the bottom of the oven. Place potatoes wrapped in foil along the edges of the pan. Bake for about half an hour.

Before serving, place a portion of baked meat on a plate. Serve the potatoes with the meat, open the foil and make a deep cut in the potato with a knife, add salt and carefully sprinkle with green onions or other dill - to your taste.

To prepare you will need:

230 g frozen berries
700 g natural yogurt
3 tbsp. gelatin powder
3 tbsp. l. Sahara

Boil the berries, without defrosting them, in half a glass of water for 5 minutes.
Dissolve 2 tablespoons of gelatin in 70 ml of warm water. Place over low heat and heat, stirring, but do not bring to a boil. Let cool. Mix melted gelatin with natural yogurt, add sugar, mix.
Divide into six glasses and refrigerate for half an hour. Soak the remaining gelatin powder in 50 ml of water. After it swells, mix it with the prepared berries. Place on top of all glasses and return to refrigerator until set.

To prepare you will need:

2 tbsp. l powdered sugar
20 g butter
1 ripe pineapple
50 g light rum, brandy or cognac
ice cream or ice cream

Peel the pineapple and cut into circles. Cut out the hard core.
Sprinkle the circles with powdered sugar and fry on both sides with butter. Sprinkle with alcohol.
Place a scoop of ice cream or ice cream on top of the pineapple. Serve immediately.

Not the most famous, but the richest chef included in the Forbes list - his fortune is estimated at one and a half billion dollars! Wong is the owner of only three restaurants: two establishments in the United States and one in Japan. But a queue of people wishing to get into them forms within a few months. This is not surprising, since Alan is Barack Obama’s favorite chef, and his gastronomic fiesta, a luau, was held at the White House. Young Wong studied culinary arts in college, immediately realizing that the kitchen was his calling. From Honolulu, where Alan was from, he went to New York, where he learned his craft under the guidance of Andre Soltner. Then the future billionaire returned to his homeland, intending to become a teacher at his alma mater, but he was immediately invited to work in a large restaurant. The fame of culinary talents quickly spread among local residents, people went not to the restaurant, but to the chef, and Alan decided to open his own establishment. And you were right!

Wong has a lot of secrets, many of them are kept cleaner than the password to a bank safe. But the public still knows something. For example, the “five components” rule, which Alan religiously adheres to: a dish should not have more than five main ingredients. The chef's style is a combination of French cuisine and ethnic Hawaiian nuances. For example, he adds wasabi to the classic French sauce of berries and wine. And the seemingly routine guacamole sauce - what can you invent here? You can, argues Alan Wong. Let's share the recipe!

Preparation:

Finely chop the avocado (under no circumstances use a blender, you need to chop it, not puree it), finely chop the white onions, green onions, tomatoes, chili peppers, ginger and garlic, grate them on a fine grater. Mix all ingredients. As a result, the guacamole is more reminiscent of Hawaiian salsa. And thanks to sake, lime and chili pepper, the snack will last for about two days! Alan Wong serves his guacamole with grilled king prawns. Yummy!

Gordon Ramsay

Who doesn’t know Gordon Ramsay, the world famous chef who has been awarded three Michelin stars! “Hell's Kitchen”, “Top Chef America”, other shows, an entire chain of restaurants around the world and $118 million in annual income - that's all about him. In addition, Ramsay is also a happy husband and father of many children - he is raising two daughters and a son. Ramsay is famous for his sharp tongue; his caustic comments have long been dismantled into quotes. “My job as a chef is to learn as much as possible. You know, it’s hard for me to eat something that’s burnt and under-salted. So with an open heart I'm willing to eat anything from jelly eels to beans on toast. I'll eat anything as long as it's properly salted.", says Gordon.

What do you think the Ramsay family eats for dinner? Truffles, gourmet desserts, lobster? But no. We tell you what the world's most popular chef loves.

Spaghetti with tuna

You will need:

  • Spaghetti – 200 g
  • Canned tuna – 1 can
  • Shallot – 100 g
  • Garlic – 2 cloves
  • Chili pepper – 0.5 pcs.
  • Capers, parsley, lemon - to taste

Preparation:

Boil spaghetti until al dente. Chop the shallots, garlic and chili peppers and lightly fry in olive oil. Place spaghetti on a plate, top with fried vegetables, pieces of tuna, garnish with fresh capers, parsley and a slice of lemon.

Jamie Oliver

Celebrity British chef and restaurateur Jamie Oliver earns more than $250 million a year. Charismatic and witty, he became practically the face of big cooking and, we can note, popularized the profession of a cook. Besides everything else (and everything else is a lot of TV shows, books written by himself, charity), he is an exemplary family man: together with his wife Juliet (with whom he has been together for more than 20 years), he is raising five children! We wonder when he manages to do everything?

We offer you a very unusual recipe from Jamie Oliver. Yes, it will take a lot of time, but the result is worth it! Prepare this “Christmas tree” for the holiday - you are guaranteed to delight your grateful guests.

Croquembouche

You will need:

Cream Patissiere:

  • Milk – 1.5 l
  • Vanillin – 0.5 teaspoons
  • Egg yolks – 12 pcs.
  • Sugar – 250 g
  • Corn flour – 100 g
  • Butter – 125 g
  • Shu cakes:
  • Butter -200 g
  • Sugar – 2 teaspoons
  • Eggs – 8 pcs.
    For caramel:
  • Sugar – 600 g
  • Glucose – 400 ml

Preparation:

Making the cream: pour milk into a saucepan, add vanillin, as soon as the milk starts to boil, remove from heat. Beat the yolks with sugar and corn flour until white. Gradually add hot milk, stirring vigorously so that the yolks do not curdle. Return the mixture to the heat, cook, stirring, until thickened. Then stir in the butter and let cool.

Preheat oven to 200°C. Grease two baking sheets with oil. Combine the butter, sugar, 650ml water and a pinch of salt in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, remove from heat and add flour. Add the eggs one at a time, kneading the dough vigorously until it becomes thick and smooth. Transfer the dough into a piping bag and form into walnut-sized balls on the baking sheet. Flatten the tails slightly with your fingers dipped in water. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. The profiteroles should rise and become hollow inside. They should not be too pale, otherwise the cooled dough will sag. Cool the profiteroles completely on a wire rack.

Place the cream in a pastry bag, make small cuts at the base of the cakes and fill them with cream. Place again on the wire rack. Take a conical croquembouche mold (if you don’t have one, roll a regular sheet of Whatman paper into a cone), grease it with butter and place it on a sheet of parchment. Next, prepare caramel for decoration. To do this, we need to pour sugar into a container and fill it with water. Put it all on the fire and bring to a boil and cook the syrup so that it curls into a ball when it gets into cold water.
Remove from heat and immediately place the saucepan on a marble or metal surface to stop the boil. Dip the profiteroles into the caramel and place them in the mold until you form a pyramid out of them. Leave to harden.
Carefully remove the pan and transfer the croquembouche to a serving platter.

Wolfgang Puck

The darling of Hollywood is about him. It is 67-year-old Wolfgang Puck who prepares buffets and festive feasts for the Oscars after-party. We suspect that celebrities want to attend the ceremony not so much because of the coveted statuette, but in order to taste the chef’s signature dishes! Chicken pot pie, mini-burgers with cheddar cheese, canapés with smoked salmon, Oscar figurines made of chocolate in gold glaze... They say that Adele and John Travolta are crazy about pasta with cheese, which Puck masterfully performs. We invite you to join the haute cuisine and prepare crostini with goat cheese - it’s delicious!

Crostini with black and green olive tapenade and goat cheese

You will need:

  • Pitted olives – 1 cup
  • Pitted green olives – 1 cup
  • Baked tomatoes – ¼ cup
  • Garlic – 1 clove
  • Anchovy fillet – 1 piece (did not add)
  • Capers – 1 tbsp. (did not add)
  • Basil – ½ tbsp. chopped leaves
  • Parsley – ½ tbsp. chopped leaves
  • Thyme – ½ tbsp. chopped leaves
  • Oregano – ½ tbsp. chopped leaves
  • Olive oil – ¼ cup

Crostini

  • 1 French baguette, cut into slices
  • goat cheese

Place all tapenade ingredients except olive oil in a food processor.

Grind using the pulse button until all ingredients are chopped into large pieces.

Continuing grinding, gradually pour in olive oil. Transfer to a container with a lid and refrigerate. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Place the baguette pieces on a baking sheet and place in the oven for five minutes (they will toast slightly). You can cook them in a toaster or lightly toast them in a dry grill pan.

Optimistic Julia Child, ironic William Pokhlebkin and aristocratic Thomas Keller with their recipes on WomanJournal.ru.

Chef's Recipes: High Art in a Simple Way

Who said that famous chefs, Michelin star holders and culinary geniuses have complex recipes?

Of course, they can spend the whole day preparing a dish with ingredients unimaginable to us. But sometimes they don’t want to! And they come up with the simplest recipes that anyone can use to create a delicious lunch in a short time.

“Naked” James Oliver and optimistic Julia Child, ironic William Pokhlebkin and aristocratic Thomas Keller, vegetarianism promoter Delia Smith and sushi genius Nobuki Matsushima with their signature recipes on WomanJournal.ru.

Curd vanilla pudding from James Oliver

What do you need:

110 g softened butter

220 g powdered sugar

2 vanilla pods

270 ml milk

How to make James Oliver's Vanilla Curd Pudding:

  1. Cut the vanilla pods lengthwise, remove the beans, and place the vanilla in a bowl.
  2. Grate the zest from the lemons, add butter and powdered sugar, beat everything together. Add egg yolks to the mixture and beat again.
  3. Pour room temperature milk into it, squeeze out lemon juice, and add flour. Mix.
  4. Place the dough in a greased baking dish and bake in a water bath for 45 minutes at 280 degrees. Serve with strawberries and cream or sour cream.
  5. James Oliver's curd pudding is ready.

Bon appetit!

Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon

250 g bacon

1 kg beef tenderloin

1 carrot

1 onion

2 tbsp. spoons of flour

750 ml dry red wine

1 tbsp. spoon of olive oil

1 tbsp. spoon of tomato paste

500 ml broth

Salt, black pepper to taste

How to Cook Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon:

  1. Cut the beef into cubes and dry with a paper towel. Thinly slice and fry the bacon, place in a baking dish.
  2. In the same frying pan, fry the beef, then finely chopped onions and carrots.
  3. Place all prepared ingredients into the mold. Salt, pepper, add flour, mix. Place in the oven, preheated to 200 degrees, for 4 minutes, stir again. Pour in wine and broth, add tomato paste. Stir again and place in the oven. Simmer for 2.5 hours at 160 degrees.
  4. Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon is ready.

Bon appetit!

Ratatouille by Thomas Keller

3 halves of red, orange and yellow pepper

5 tbsp. spoons of olive oil

3 cloves garlic

1 onion

4 cherry tomatoes

1 sprig thyme

1 sprig of parsley

1 eggplant

Salt, black pepper to taste

How to make ratatouille from Thomas Keller:

  1. Bake the peppers in the oven, placing them on a baking sheet, crust side up. Cool, remove the skin. Slice.
  2. Finely chop the onion and garlic and sauté in olive oil. Add chopped tomatoes and spices.
  3. Cut zucchini, eggplant, cherry tomatoes into thin slices and place in a spiral in a baking dish. Add garlic mixture on top.
  4. Cover the pan with foil and bake for 2 hours at 180 degrees. Then remove the foil and bake for another 30 minutes.
  5. Ratatouille from Thomas Keller is ready.

Bon appetit!

Yellow soup from William Pokhlebkin

1.25 l meat broth

7 egg yolks

50 g butter

1–1.5 tbsp. spoons of wheat flour

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon 6% apple cider vinegar

A pinch of saffron

How to cook yellow soup from William Pokhlebkin:

  1. Beat the egg yolks, add vinegar and dissolve in warm meat broth.
  2. Melt the butter over low heat in a saucepan, lightly simmer the flour in it until light yellow. Cool.
  3. Pour the entire broth with the yolks diluted in it into the saucepan with the toasted flour and, stirring continuously, bring the entire contents to a boil. Before boiling, in the middle of cooking, add ginger, saffron, salt and 25 g of oil.
  4. Yellow soup from William Pokhlebkin is ready.

Bon appetit!

Paula Deen's Chicken and Rice Casserole

400 g green beans

500 g chicken fillet

1 onion

225 g hazelnuts

300 g celery paste

1 cup mayonnaise

170 g cooked rice

1 cup grated Cheddar cheese

A pinch of salt

How to Make Paula Deen's Chicken and Rice Casserole:

  1. Chop the onion and nuts. Boil the rice. Cut the chicken fillet into pieces.
  2. Mix all ingredients and place in a greased baking dish. Bake for 25 minutes at 170 degrees until done.
  3. Paula Deen's Chicken and Rice Casserole is ready.

Bon appetit!