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This is the lightest and flakiest of all the layered pastries and well worth mastering, as good homemade puff pastry is far superior to even the best bought puff pastries.
When choosing green beans, whether fine or runner, select those that snap easily and are crisp and juicy. Mangetout and sugar snaps should also be crisp and firm.
This technique involves boning out a chicken to leave only the breast meat to be stuffed. An extra couple of chicken breasts are required.
A savoury soufflé is a thick white sauce, enriched with egg yolks, with flavourings added and whisked egg whites folded in to provide lift. Once mastered, soufflés become straightforward to make.
A correctly cooked omelette is pale, with a very small amount of underdone egg through the centre. This is known as ‘baveuse’.
How To Prepare Raw Prawns for Cooking with the Shell On
Meringues are universally popular and they form the basis of many desserts, from pavlova to Îles flottantes (poached meringues floating in a pool of custard). There are three basic types of meringue: the Swiss meringue, the meringue cuite and Italian meringue.
Suet pastry is most often used for steamed puddings. The raising agent in the flour helps to give the pastry a lighter texture. Unlike most other pastries, suet pastry should not be rested before use because the raising agent starts working as soon as the liquid is added.
Steamed puddings are simple to make, although this gentle method of indirect steaming does take longer than baking in a conventional oven.
