Bon Appetit!

Julia and Paul Child

Did you just say that in your best Julia Child voice? Today was Julia Child’s 100 birthday, to celebrate I thought I would try to make something out of her first cookbook. I know Julia’s gotten quite a bit of play over the last few years, largely in part to the movie, Julie and Julia. I did like the movie, and I had previously read both books that inspired the movie. Did you know it is based on two books? The first is, My Life in France by Julia Child and Alex Prud’Homme,  is a wonderful story detailing much of Julia and Paul Child’s life overseas and in France. Basically all the Julia parts in the movie were based on this book. I highly recommend reading it! The other book is, Julie and Julia by Julie Powell, detailing Julie’s year cooking every recipe in Julia Child’s cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking and blogging about it. An o.k. book, but I think I’m just cheesed off that I didn’t think of it first. For me I found Julie Powell a little unsavory as a person, thus I didn’t like her book as much. Then they have Amy Adams play her character in the movie and she’s adorable so it’s hard to not like her. I did read Julie Powell’s second book, Cleaving, and I’m a little ashamed to say that I wrote such a scathing review on Goodreads about it, I feel just a little guilty. Then again, I had to waste my time reading the book.

I digress, I’m here to celebrate Julia, so I used her pate choux recipe and made cream puffs. I used a filling recipe from Flour by Joanne Chang, what she uses in her eclairs and cream puffs. Then I topped it with a simple chocolate ganache, 1 part cream to 2 parts chocolate. The whole project left me a little harried because I decided to bake on the same day I had to clean the whole house and it was 100 degrees outside. Yikes, but I really shouldn’t complain, I got to eat a cream puff.

The things I do for you Julia!

Making the custard base for the filling.

I have to be honest here, I have made this filling before, but this time I found that it turned out very gummy. It tasted good and it wasn’t grainy. It was very firm after it chilled, so I ended up throwing it in my mixer and adding some cream to loosen it up a bit. It had to be soft enough to fold in with whipped cream. Luckily the fix worked.

Making the pate choux. Easier than you think!

The puffs, before and after baking. Success!

This is the filling, the custard mixed with whipped cream, then piped in the into the puffs.

Bon appetit and happy birthday to a wonderful lady!

One of my girls, licking her plate clean.

In my last post I may have mentioned that I was going to attempt to have a garage sale with only 3 days to prep. I have since seen reason and decided to have it in September. I’m not totally crazy! Next post I’m sharing a chili recipe with you that has finally gotten my husband’s approval. It only took ten years to find it!

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Cauliflower pizza goodness.

You might have seen cauliflower pizza crust recipes online or on Pinterest a lot lately. Originally I found this recipe on Pinterest and have been fiddling with it ever since. A cauliflower crust is a wonderful gluten free, low carbohydrate option and is so subtle in cauliflower flavor that it will please any picky eater. Like my three year old twins! Any toppings you normally like to put on your pizza will work on this one.  I do have to admit that the preparation can be a bit messy. If you opt to grate your cauliflower, it kind of goes everywhere, I had bits of cauliflower sprinkled on the floor, much to Chloe, the dacshund’s pleasure. I opted for a double recipe this time and used the entire head of cauliflower. I made a round pizza for myself and I used the Demarle goldfish tray for special fish shaped pizzas for the girls.

See, waiting for more.

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

Makes one 9″ pizza, I usually double the recipe and make one big rectangular pizza or one round and cute shaped mini pizzas for the kids.

CRUST:

• 1/2 LARGE head cauliflower (or 2+ cups shredded cauliflower)
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup finely shredded cheese of your choice. I like the a blend of Mexican cheeses or cheddar. (or try another kind!)
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
• 1-2 cloves fresh garlic
• salt and pepper

Top with your favorite toppings. I’ve tried Hawaiian and turkey pepperoni , both were super yummy.

Directions:

1. Shred the cauliflower into small crumbles. You can use a food processor if you’d like, but I think grating is the way to go.You’ll need a total of about 2 cups or so of cauliflower crumbles (which is about half a large head of cauliflower. If you have a Demarle round mold and an octagonal Silpat, place the crumbles in round mold, cover and microwave for 4-5 minutes. If using a conventional bowl, place the cauliflower crumbles in a large bowl and microwave them (dry) for 8 minutes. If you do not have a microwave, you can steam the whole florets and then grate them after they cool. This will change the texture, making it more of a puree. It will still taste yummy! Give the cauliflower a chance to cool.

2. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Prepare you cookie sheet with nonstick spray. I like to use a Silpat or a Demarle flexipan, neither need cooking spray. In a medium bowl, mix the cauliflower and the remaining crust ingredients. Pat the “crust” into a 9 to 12-inch round on your prepared pan or into your Demarle mold/flexipan of choice.  You can spray the top of your crust with cooking spray, it will help it get more brown, but I usually skip this. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown and remove from the oven. If you’re using a flexipan or mold, unmold, place on a Silpat then add toppings. This will give you a crispier crust.

Baked and ready to top!

3: Top your pizza with your sauce and toppings of your choice! Be creative! Put it back in the oven for 5 more minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly. 

The kiddos dinner!

I hope you give it a try!