Always bakes cakes for kids’ birthdays
rick mcginnis/metro toronto files
Jamie Kennedy, at Jamie Kennedy At The Gardiner.
Jamie Kennedy, owner/executive chef of two of Toronto’s top restaurants. Kennedy first came to the attention of Torontonians as the owner/chef of the French restaurant Scaramouche. Kennedy’s latest venture is a restaurant at the Gardiner Museum.
Q: What is your fondest memory from your family kitchen?
A: The moment I discovered I was interested in food beyond the normal stuff that my mom cooked. Also, the time when I realized eating mushrooms wasn’t going to kill me.
Q: What aromas bring back memories?
A: My mom baking fresh bread. The butter and the sugar cooking, there’s a special smell that comes off of that.
Q: Who is your favourite cook?
A: Michael Stadtlander. We go back a long way. We have a friendship. I have the most respect for him as a chef. He is brilliant!
Q: How did the first meal you prepared turn out?
A: I watched the famous Julia Child and then made an omelette for my mother. It was the start of cooking for others.
Q: What kitchen gadget can’t you live without?
A: A little nutmeg grater.
Q: What rituals involving food do you partake in?
A: I always make a birthday cake for my kids. It is my way of letting them know that they are special.
Q: What dish do you prepare that you take to friends or family gatherings?
A: People love my mash potatoes. I always prepare the dish for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter.
entertainment@metronews.ca
| Cream Puff with Vanilla Mousse and Chocolate Sauce
(Yields aprox. 2 lb.) |
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CREAM PUFFS INGREDIENTS:
- 1 recipe choux pastry
- 1-1/4 cups of skim milk
- 2/3 cup of unsalted butter
- 3 cups of sifted pastry flour
- 2-1/2 tsp of salt
- 2 tbsp of sugar
- 1/4 cup light rum
- 6 whole eggs
METHOD:
- Place milk and butter in saucepan and bring to a boil. Add flour and remove from heat.
- Add salt and sugar, blend with a wooden spoon. Return pan to heat until dough forms a mass that pulls away from bottom and sides of pan.
- Place dough in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer on slow speed, adding egg yolks one at a time and waiting until each one is fully absorbed before adding the next.
- Beat in rum.
- Cover dough and store in frig until ready to use. (Will keep one week.)
VANILLA MOUSSE INGREDIENTS:
- 1 vanilla bean
- 3 egg yolks
- 6 tbsp of sugar
- 2 gelatin leaves soaked in cold water
- 1-1/2 cups 35 per cent whipping cream
- CHOCOLATE SAUCE INGREDIENTS:
- 6 tbsp grated semi sweet chocolate (SOMA chocolate in Toronto)
- 6 tsp homogenized milk
METHOD:
- Preheat oven to 350. Place a large star tip in a large piping bag.
- Fill the bag with the choux pastry. Line a baking sheet with silicone paper. Pipe 18 rosettes measuring one inch wide by 1 inch high onto the baking sheet.
- Bake until golden brown. Remove the tray from the oven to cool. Split the vanilla bean in half and scrape out the resinous gum.
- Mix the egg yolks in a stainless-steel bowl with the vanilla and add the sugar. Whisk continuously in the same bowl over a simmering pan of water until the sabayon has lightened in texture and colour.
- Squeeze the excess water from the gelatin leaves and add the gelatin to the warm sabayon.
- Mix well to melt the gelatin. Whip the cream into stiff peaks and fold into the vanilla sabayon.
- Transfer the mousse to a piping bag fitted with a large plain tip. Poke a hole in the bottom of each cream puff. Using the piping bag, fill the cream puffs with vanilla mousse.
- Place the grated chocolate in a stainless-steel bowl. Melt the chocolate over a pan of simmering water. When the chocolate has melted, add the milk and stir to a sauce consistency.
PRESENTATION:
- Place 3 filled cream puffs on each of the 6 plates. Drizzle chocolate liberally over the cream puffs. Serve at once.
Courtesy of Jamie Kennedy
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