My first Keller creation..

Parmesan crisps with goat cheese mousse

For me, buying a cookbook is at times a difficult endeavour. I can spend hours at a book store flipping through pages, looking for that perfect one. I don't have the same trouble with fiction, but maybe it's because buying a cookbook feels like a lifetime investment. I expect it to feed me for years to come, to provide me with recipes that will wow and nourish all at the same time. If I ever buy a cookbook that disappoints, I still can't bear to get rid of it. It stays with me forever, waiting for that moment when I will give it another chance to redeem itself.

It was over a month ago that I first asked G to get me a copy of the French Laundry cookbook on one of his business trips to Scotland. Why did I want this one? I'd never seen it, I'd only heard about it. It's not even a new release. But the name always appealed to me. It stuck in my head and made me want it. I knew Thomas Keller was a celebrity of sorts and I wanted to cook like he does. Well, last month G lugged that big book home for me.

Since then, I've read it and re-read it, savouring each word and picture contained within. But I must confess that I have so far attempted but one lone recipe from the book. Although there are many that I would like to try, the Parmesan Crisps with Goat Cheese Mousse seemed like a good place to start. It was relatively easy, but not lacking for glamour. Easy and glamourous? And made of just cheese? I know. What more could a girl want.

I had never made my own parmesan crisps before, although the idea has always been in the back of my mind since I first saw it on a cooking show years ago, just waiting for me to finally get my act together and just make them already. Sometimes I have no idea why I carry these things around in my head for so long without actually doing them.

The ones made for this recipe are fairly small. They are made by first grating parmesan cheese and spreading it into a several small circle shapes on a silpat or parchment covered baking sheet. They are baked for 8 to 10 minutes, then removed from the oven and shaped by placing them gently into an egg carton to get the shape you see in the picture above. I've seen them made on a larger scale, and yes, Tara, I was impressed.
The rest followed fairly easily. Some soft goat cheese mixed in a food processor with a bit of cream until it becomes somewhat moussey, and piped into the parmesan crisps, and finally sprinkled with chopped Italian parsley.

The only trick to this recipe is in getting the parmesan into the egg cartons before they harden. And, as I soon discovered, this happens much quicker than I expected. This is often the part of a recipe that can make me nervous, and turn me into a clumsy, and injury-prone person. The book recommends that you bake only a few at a time so that when you remove them from the oven you can get them into the egg carton quickly. I did have one or two that didn't make the cut, and I was forced, yes forced, to eat the failures as is. It's tough to always have to make such sacrifices.


random parsley picture for visual effect

What I think I liked most about this recipe was that I actually completed it somewhat successfully. I, Michele, actually completed a Keller creation. Somehow I felt redeemed. It looked nice and tasted good, although I know in future attempts it will probably taste better with what I have learned.

The parmesan I used was a well aged parmesan and at times I found it too rich in combination with the goat cheese. Its flavour was somewhat overpowering in bite and in saltiness. I will, in future, use a younger parmesan.
I also made the mistake of making my crisps just a little too big. They should be kept to a small size so that they can be eaten in one bite. As it's a bit tricky to bite into a parmesan crisp without it breaking up into your hands.

As you can see, my goat cheese is nothing more than a haphazard blob in the crisp. The recipe recommends piping it into the crisp, which looks much more put together and tidy. But lacking proper piping tools, and having no guests to impress, I settled on the blob. The goat cheese I used was a soft Picandou, which I was happy with, but I would be interested to experiment with other goat cheeses. And if you know me, you'll know that I'm always looking for a reason to buy yet another kind of cheese.

It has been a few weeks now since I made these. It's definitely time to get back on track and open up that book again. But life (namely eggplant, taste Canada, and Scotland) always seems to get in the way. The book contains many recipes for flavoured oils and tips on making a great balsamic glaze which I am looking forward to trying. Sam also recommended I try making the Cranberry and Apple Kuchen, which indicates it can also be made with blueberries instead of cranberries. This is another recipe that seems well within my reach. And it may be just the thing I need to impress some relatives I will be visiting this weekend in Belgium. They haven't seen me in a while, so I have a lot of impressing to do...