Tag: quenelle

Quenelles…

That’s something I haven’t cooked for 4 years!!! Can you believe that??? The last time I made some was for that post back in 2016!!! And then… nothing… strange enough because (1) I like quenelle very much, (2) it’s not difficult to make, (3) it requires only simple ingredients I always have in the pantry… So with the weather getting chillier it was a good time for turning the oven on more than usual.

I used the recipe from my previous post and slightly adjusted it, it is for regular quenelles, they don’t become very fluffy… I still don’t know how to make them fluffier, I need to work on it. But even not fluffy it tastes great. This time also I used fresh cream, but I realized once again (I rarely use cream so I have a tendency to forget) that Japanese fresh cream sold in supermarkets is not very good for oven cooking, it dries out and only the fat remains, which looks buttery and not creamy anymore… Milk to cook the quenelles first and adding the cream later is probably a better solution…

Still here is the recipe adjusted.

Quenelles (2-3 servings)

For the quenelles

  • 150 flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 50g of butter
  • a pinch of salt and nutmeg

For the sauce

  • 6 large shiitake or the equivalent of other simple mushrooms
  • 4tsp of fresh cream (if you like it) or olive oil can work…
  • 1 cup of milk
  • salt and pepper

In a pan the butter. Heat until the butter has melted. Add the flour, and cook at low heat for 8min. If you have a hard time mixing in all the flour add a few drops of water.

The final dough after cooking and smoothing

Cool down a bit and add the eggs, the salt, the nutmeg, and stir well. You should obtain a smooth dought that doesn’t stick. If it sticks add a little more flour, if too dry add a bit of water. Cut the dough in 8 pieces and form the quenelles as shown in the picture below. Boil a large amount of water and poach the quenelles until they float.

Set in an oven dish, add the milk. Wash and slice the mushrooms, add to the whole. If you use fresh cream (not Japanese) add it now. Add salt and generously add pepper. Pre heat the oven at 200 degrees. And bake for 30min. At 20min add the cream (if you use Japanese cream). They get golden brownish on the top when ready. Serve and eat immediately.

Quenelles sequel

So once you have made some oven grilled quenelles, the next thing you can do is a green soup.  for that green soup, as I mentioned yesterday it is very simple, green leaves of any kind work perfectly: spinach, radish tops, turnip tops, salad… and since I found beautiful radishes with perfect green and yound tops, I simply used that. After washing thoroughly the leaves to remove soil I boil them in a 3/4L of salted water. Once well boiled I blend them thinely and add some cream (vegetal or not), some pepper. I slice the quenelles add them to the soup and cook for 10min. Then serve. The dish, because of the quenelles is quite rich and is a full dinner for me if you count one quenelle per person.

Quenelles

Quenelles are a French traditional recipe that comes from Lyon. Though I am not usually a big fan or connaisseur of the cuisine from that area (usually too meaty for me). Quenelles are one of the rare preparations from that region I love. It’s usually vegetarian, except for chicken or fish quenelles, it’s versatile and super easy to prepare. In France most peole would buy already prepared quenelles in supermarkets, but it’s really simple to make them at home. You only need 150 flour, 2 eggs, 50g of butter, a bit of water, a bit of milk, salt and nutmeg. You can add mushroom, white fish, chicken breast etc… but personally I like them plain.  In a pan set the water and the butter. Heat until the butter has melted. Add the milk and then the flour, and cook at low heat for 8min. Cool down a bit and add the eggs, the salt, the nutmeg, and stir well. You should obtain a smooth dought that doesn’t stick. If it sticks add a little more flour. Cut the dough in 8 pieces and form the quenelles as shown in the picture bel ow. Boil a large amount of water and poach the quenelles until they float. Now they are ready for any preparation you want! My favorite are the following: (1) oven grilled with vegetables: mushroom and cream, tomato sauce, this time I tried super moisted butternut squash slightly spicy purée…  for the oven grill you need some moisture.

(2) slice and grilled in a frypan with a bit of kosher salt. 

(3) in a soup of green leaves vegetables: lettuce, spinach, radish tops…  more details in my next post!!!

Oven grilled quenelles covered in butternut squash purée  
Oven grilled quenelles covered in butternut squash purée  

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