FRENCH CROISSANTS

the dough...


after rising...


fall it down and put in the fridge...


preparing the butter for the puff pastry (butter + flour)...

done...

make a square with it and put in the fridge...

the butter and the dough must have the same texture...

starting the puff pastry...

rolling out...

folding in three...

make 3 simple turns...

put in the fridge between each turn...

last roll out...

shaping the croissant dough...

shaping...

shaping...

put them down on a oven tray...

left them rise... and put in the preheated oven for 20 minutes...

done !

NEW RECORD !!!!!!!!!!

credit photo : maniacmiler18

Let's talk about sport... at last !!!

Don't think I've been only cooking these last times, no no I do workout more than ever ! Today, instead of my interval training workout I decided to test my M.A.S. (maximum aerobic speed) It's a reference speed for long distance runners. The percentage of it determine the different runners' paces. Paces which have to be sustained during races or during workouts depending the distance (80% of it for a marathon, 90% for a 10 km race).
Since few months I've been training my maximum aerobic capacities at a pace of 15km/h which is kind of good to my modest claims. But I never really determined it, I only estimated it with some scores I made on personal races. Then, today I wanted to make it accurate in order to sharpen my future workouts.
After a due warmup I ran around a 400 meters track during 6 minutes at my maximum pace. The process of this test requires that the pace has to be the more regular as possible and we have to finish completely exhausted and the heart rate at its maximum. The difficulty of this test is obviously to sustain a regular high effort during these 6 minutes. But why do we choose 6 minutes and not 5 or 7 ? Because it's proved by scientists that most of people is able to sustain a maximal aerobic effort during a maximum of 6 minutes. Beyond this time, the performance decreases a lot because the organism suffers the consequences of the anaerobic metabolism. The athlete can't continue the same effort because of his inner limitation of oxygen transportation and absorption. That's why the anaerobic metabolism increases in order to maintain the initial effort but only for a short moment until the effects of lactic acid stop the athlete (fatigue, burn sensation in muscles, tetany...)

So, in the end of the 6 minutes, we stop running and figure out the run distance. And now... ladies and gentlemen, I have the honour and privilege of informing that... this morning... I ran... a bit more than... 4 laps... that is... 1640 meters !!!! Héhé ! It means my M.A.S. is : 16,4 km/h (3'40"/km) which is, always to my modest claims, very very good ! Honestly I didn't expect that value ! I'm really happy ! It's 1,4 km/h more than my old M.A.S.

It's really really cool, finally I am a runner lol !! But it also means my future workouts will be more difficult ! lol

You can see below, the graph of my M.A.S test (the red line shows a pace of 15 km/h but it's because it isn't accurate in high speeds)

MILLE FEUILLES DE POMME DE TERRE...

...and cream of pois cassé.

Layers of potatoes with a subtle cream of pois cassé (split pea) and crispy potatoe chips on top.

MUFFINS

I made muffins and obviously I burnt them on the sides ! :(
Damned oven !

The recipe is quite good, I used buttermilk I made myself but my fucking oven is definitely not my friend !

- 350 gr flour
- 150 gr sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 180 ml buttermilk (mix the milk with one tablespoon white vinegar and let stand for 10 or 15 minutes, then use it)
- 160 ml oil
- vanilla flavour
- chocolate

Mix all the ingredients, pour in muffin cups and place in the oven for 20 minutes.

FISH TERRINE IN FEUILLE DE CHOU*

Ok, another try...
I just tried to create a cross between a stuffed cabbage and a fish terrine...
I'm kind of satisfied with the visual and the texture but on the other hand the taste is good but nothing special (and too much garlic :s). So I have to change the recipe, maybe change the sort of fish. This time I used cod fillet (and shrimps for the middle layer). Next time why don't use spinach instead of the cabbage ?! I'll give it a try and then I'll post you the recipe.

Meanwhile, enjoy the pictures ;)







*feuille de chou = cabbage leaf

BETTER THIS TIME (DONUTS)

Finally I managed to make them quite well ! ;) 

Recipe for 12 donuts :

300 gr all purpose flour
30 gr butter (or margarine)
1 package vanilla sugar (or cinnamon)
130 ml milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
30 gr sugar
20 ml warm water
and 1/2 package dry yeast (or 15 gr classic yeast)

Dissolve the dry yeast in the warm water (not too hot), and leave it for 10 minutes.
In a bowl place the flour, the sugars, the salt and mix well. Then make a hole in the flour and put in the yeast, the egg and the milk. Stir and then add the melted butter, now knead until getting a smooth dough. Now let it rise for about 1 hour (or more).
After 1 hour, punch down the dough and roll it out 1,5 cm thick and use a glass (diameter 7-8 cm) to shape the donuts, use a little glass to make the little hole in the middle. Let them rise once again for about 15 minutes and then deep fry them for about 2 minutes each side (into oil not too hot)

For glaze : mix powdered sugar with 2 or 3 tablespoon hot water and a bit of butter. Add cocoa powder if you want or a food dye to get a coloured glazed.

Enjoy !