Author: Natalie Hanson

I am a software industry executive, most recently in life sciences management consulting. I build and lead teams who design, develop, and sell software and services. I lead and deliver with a human-centered lens. As an anthropologist, my research has focused on work practices and work environments. I am interested in interdisciplinary collaboration, as well as how institutions' response to macro trends affects the lives of employees. You can learn more about me at http://www.nataliehanson.com.

Crème St. Honoré

Natalie Hanson

This is a crème patissiere with almonds.

1-2/3 cups milk
1 tsp of vanilla extract
4 large egg yolks
1/4 cup of granulated sugar
1/3 cup of flour
1 cup of whipping cream & 2 Tbsp of sugar

  • Scald the milk, add vanilla
  • Meanwhile stir egg yolks and gradually add sugar until the mixture turns pale yellow.
  • Add the flour.
  • Slowly add the hot milk, stirring constantly.
  • Pour in a saucepan and bring slowly to boiling.
  • Work very fast to avoid lumps.

Crème patissière

Natalie Hanson

Assemble and measure all ingredients before starting.  Work quickly.

For one cup (about 40 puffs)

1-1/2 Tbsp of all purpose flour
1-1/2 Tbsp of cornstarch
1/3 cup of sugar
2 large egg yolks
2 Tbsp of butter
1 cup of milk
1 Tbsp of rum or Cognac

For 4 cups (160 puffs)

6 Tbsp of all purpose flour
6 Tbsp of cornstarch
1-1/3 cup of sugar
8 large egg yolks
8 Tbsp of butter
4 cups of milk
4 Tbsp of rum or Cognac 

  • Sift flour in 2 quart mixing bowl.
  • Add sugar and mix well.
  • In a small bowl, beat the egg yolk slightly with a fork.
  • Knead 2 Tbsp of butter with the heel of your hand and reserve.
  • In a 2 1/2 quart saucepan bring the milk to a boil.
  • Pour half the milk in the flour bowl and beat quickly until smooth.
  • Add the egg and blend well.
  • Pour this mixture into the remaining milk.
  • Bring back to the boil if necessary.
  • Cook for 30 seconds or until thick.
  • Cool by putting bottom of pan in cold water, continue beating.
  • When just warm, add rum.
  • Whisk in the butter and mix until incorporated.
  • Cover and refrigerate.

Crème anglaise

Natalie Hanson

1 1/2 cup of milk
1 tsp of vanilla
4 egg yolks
3 Tbsp of sugar

  • Warm the milk in a small pan and add the vanilla.
  • Put the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and mix until lemon colored.
  • Add the milk gradually while mixing well.
  • Pour back into the pan and cook gently, stirring all the time until the crème anglaise coats the spoon.
  • Remove from the heat.
  • Cover and refrigerate.

Béarnaise sauce

Natalie Hanson

The béarnaise sauce is similar to the hollandaise sauce but is enhanced with shallots, tarragon, and vinegar. These two are the most celebrated of emulsified sauces and consist of a stable mixture of two liquids – vinegar or lemon and butter – that normally separate from each other. To keep them together they need an emulsifying agent that occurs naturally in many animal substances such as egg yolks (lecithin), milk (casein) and blood. In fact, a small quantity of casein in regular butter does, to a slight degree, help emulsify your hollandaise sauce. These agents work in three different ways: they coat the oil droplets, reduce water’s surface tension and give the oil droplets identical electrical charges.

So, the stability of an emulsion is threatened if:

  • temperatures are too extreme (separates when frozen, curdles when heat reached 190°F)
  • there is excess agitation – overbeating destabilizes the emulsion.
  • a nasty thunderstorm strikes!

2 Tbsp of finely chopped shallots
1 Tbsp of red vinegar
1 Tbsp of water
1 Tbsp of fresh tarragon
3 large egg yolks at room temperature
1/4 tsp of salt and a pinch of cayenne pepper
1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter at room temperature and cut up in small pieces

  • In a thick-bottomed saucepan mix the vinegar and the shallots.
  • Cook on low heat until vinegar is evaporated.
  • Add the water, the yolks, the tarragon, the salt and the cayenne.
  • Beat with a whisk until just blended.
  • Improvise a double boiler with 1/2 inch of water brought to a simmer in a large pan.
  • Set the saucepan with the egg mixture in it.
  • Cook for 1 or 2 minutes until yolks thicken.
  • Beating constantly, gradually add increasing quantities of butter.

Tâtre des allymes

Natalie Hanson

The tâtre is like a large pizza covered with onions and fromage blanc, which is a no fat fresh cheese. A substitute can be made by combining 1/2 cup of yogurt with 1/2 cup of ricotta cheese then allowing the mixture to rest in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

For pie crust instructions, please see the Pâte brisée recipe.

Filling

5 to 6 large onions, sliced
2 Tbsp oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup of fromage blanc (see above)
1/2 cup of heavy cream
salt, pepper and fresh nutmeg

  • Cook the onions slowly in the oil in a large skillet until softened.
  • Reheat oven to 350°F
  • Beat the eggs thoroughly into the fromage blanc and the cream.
  • Season with salt, pepper and the nutmeg.
  • Pour into the cooled dough (it works best to put most of the onions first then slowly add the liquid part of the filling as the pizza starts cooking).
  • Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until the crust is browned.
  • Eat while hot.

Tarte de tomates à la moutarde

Natalie Hanson

A 10-1/2 inch pan with removable bottom can be used. This pie is almost as flat as a pizza, with low borders, since there is only one layer of tomatoes for the filling.

1 prebaked pâte brisée
3 or 4 tomatoes, sliced (or enough to cover the bottom of the pie crust
A strong country mustard
1 Tbsp of herbes de Provence
Mozzarella cheese

  • Preheat oven to 400°F.
  • Brush the bottom part of the piecrust with the country mustard.
  • Layer the sliced tomatoes on top of the mustard.
  • Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the Herbes de Provence all over the tomatoes.
  • Cover with the mozzarella cheese.
  • Bake in 400°F oven for about 20 minutes or until the cheese starts to change color.
  • Serve immediately.

Tarte aux courgettes

Natalie Hanson

3 Tbsp of butter
4 cups of zucchini, sliced
1 cup of onions
1/2 cup of chopped parsley, 2 cloves of garlic (optional)
salt, pepper
1/2 Tbsp sweet basil leaves
2 eggs
2 cups of mozzarella cheese and swiss cheese
1 pie crust, e.g. pâte brisée
dijon mustard (optional)

  • Heat oven to 375°F
  • In a skillet cook onions until slightly brown, add the zucchini and cook until tender.
  • Stir in parsley and seasonings.
  • In a bowl, blend eggs and cheeses.
  • Stir into the vegetable mixture.
  • Put in a precooked 10 or 11 inch pie crust (for extra flavor spread a strong mustard on the bottom of the crust).
  • Bake at 375°F for 18 to 20 minutes.

Tarte au fromage blanc

Natalie Hanson

Serves 10, with a coulis of strawberries (below).

Fromage blanc

The day before the tarte is to be served, combine:

2 cups of small-curd cottage cheese
2 cups of whole milk yogurt (I use Stonyfield Farm)

  • Put the mixture in the food processor and purée until smooth.
  • Line a sieve with cheesecloth, transfer the mixture into it and set over a bowl for 8 to 12 hours at room temperature. It should render at least a cup of liquid.
  • Gently transfer to a bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.

1-1/2 cups of Graham crackers (ground in food processor)
4 Tbsp of sweet butter (softened)
1/4 cup of sugar
3 cups of fromage blanc
3 large eggs
1/2 cup of sugar
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1/4 tsp of almond extract

  • Preheat oven to 375°F
  • With a fork, mix the graham crackers, butter and sugar until all combined.
  • Line a springform pan with the mixture, spreading it evenly. Pat it down gently.
  • In the large bowl of an electric mixer, with a pastry dough attachment (not the whip) blend together the drained cheese mixture and the sugar.
  • Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
  • Add the vanilla and almond extracts.
  • Pour the mixture into the prepared springform pan.
  • Turn the oven down to 350°F after a few minutes and cook until firm in the center, about 35 to 40 minutes.

Coulis of strawberries

16 oz package of frozen strawberries
½ cup of instant disolving sugar
2 Tbs of lemon juice or Cognac

  • Purée the unfrozen strawberries in a food processor.
  • Pass through a fine sieve to remove the seeds.
  • Whisk in sugar and lemon juice or Cognac.

Spinach pie

Natalie Hanson

Serves 6 to 8 people.

A 10½ inches pie pan with 1 inch side and removable bottom can be used. But any other cake pan with less diameter and more depth also works well. The removable bottom is not essential since the pie unmolds easily.

3 eggs
1 pound of cottage cheese
1/4 lb Swiss cheese, grated
2 tablespoons of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons of melted butter
1 large onion, sliced thin
1/4 cup of parsley, chopped
1 package of fresh spinach, lightly cooked & drained
1 teaspoon each of pepper & salt
1 partly baked pie shell (pâte brisée)  

  • Beat eggs and cheeses together.
  • Melt butter in a frying pan and brown the onion. Add the spinach, parsley, salt and pepper.
  • Add to the egg and cheese mixture.
  • Pour into pie shell.
  • Bake at 375°F  for about 30 minutes or until slightly brown on top.

Pâte brisée

Natalie Hanson4 Comments

This dough can be made with 1-1/2 cups of regular flour rather than the cake flour, but it might require a few more drops of water to hold together. Don’t be discouraged when the dough does not seem to stick together at first and be tempted to add water too quickly.  However, it should stay together when gathering it by hand to form a ball. Also remember that the gluten will do its job of bonding while you let the dough rest for a few hours in the refrigerator.

It is important to not overwork the dough: tiny pieces of butter should still be visible for the crust to be light and flaky.

Finally, the golden rule it to keep the dough refrigerated between all steps. A warm dough becomes elastic and does not respond well to rolling. Furthermore it will shrink while cooking if it is not very firm and cold before going in the oven.

This dough can be used for dessert as well as appetizer. Only the amount of salt and sugar will change.

1 cup of bleached flour
1/2 cup of cake flour
1 stick & 3 Tbsps of soft butter cut into pieces (use frozen butter for food processor)
1/2 tsp. of salt, pinch of sugar in 1/3 cup of iced water
(for sweet dough: 1 tsp of sugar, pinch of salt) 

  • Place flour and butter in a large mixing bowl.
  • Rub flour and butter together until it resembles coarse meal.
  • Pour water in and blend lightly.  (All the steps above can be done at once in a food processor, just pulse the flour and butter 8 to 10 times then add the cold water and pulse a few more time.
  • Put on a board or counter, then do a final blending with the scraper if needed.
  • Press into a small ball, sprinkle with flour and let rest for at least two hours.
  • Divide the dough in half if you want to do two 10½ inch pies, reserve the other half in the refrigerator for later use. For a much larger pie roll the whole dough and save the left over for individual pies.
  • Roll the dough.  Gently press it in the pie pan to avoid air bubbles.
  • While it cools back in the refrigerator, preheat oven to 450°F.
  • After 10 minutes or more, take the pie out of the refrigerator and cover with foil pressing tightly in the corner between bottom and side. Spread some weight on on top of the foil (I use some small stones).
  • Precook for 8 to 10 minutes at 450°F.
  • After 8 minutes you may lift the foil and weight and let the pie bottom cook 1 or 2 more minutes. If it bubbles up push back down gently.
  • Let cool and freeze or use right away.