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It happened in a famous French bistro. A new apprentice to the chef de cuisine was always getting carried away by the musicians playing in the front of the house. She loved those tunes, she’d say, straining to hear the magic of Gershwin, Porter, Fats Waller and singing along as best she could. Chef was getting pretty annoyed with all this music and no attention to the work, on top of which this girl kept saying she wanted to work in the sweet, not the savory. In fact, she announced, she wanted to become a chocolatier. Acidly Chef informed her she was lucky to be in a kitchen at all.
On one particularly busy night, the apprentice was prepping near the sweet station, distracted as always by the music, this time a wonderful Fats tune she’d never heard before. Intent on getting the sounds and spirit, she swung her arm wide, knocking the open bottles of Irish cream, hazelnut and raspberry liquor right into the simmering chocolate sauce. Chef had had enough. “This is foolishness,” he shouted. “No, no,” she said, “It’s Frim Fram Sauce!” “Frim Fram Sauce, indeed!” Chef snorted. But when he tasted the bubbling chocolate, it was delicious. And the name stuck.
9 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1oz. Irish cream
1oz. raspberry liquor
1oz. hazelnut liquor |
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Place the chocolate into a medium bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat. Just as the cream comes to a boil, pour it over the chopped chocolate and whisk until smooth. Hum any Fats Waller tune softly as you stir in the Irish Cream and hazelnut and raspberry liquors. Allow the Frim Fram to cool (fool) slightly before tasting.
“Well,” Chef said, “we’ll just have to have something to serve under MY wonderful Frim Fram Sauce. “It has to be ausenfay, completely ausenfay.” And it was. |
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1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs separated
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 pound almonds ground fine
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder |
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Cream butter and sugar well. Blend in egg yolks, ground almonds, vanilla extract, lemon juice and zest. Sift flour and baking powder, and add to butter-sugar mixture. Beat egg whites to stiff peaks and fold into creamed mixture. Chill the dough, divide into 6 equal parts. Roll each piece of dough into a circle that fits a greased 6” tart pan. Bake at 350° until golden brown. Let cool, then pour warm Frim Fram Sauce onto baked tart, garnish with fresh raspberries, and chill until set.
“But, Chef,” said our intrepid apprentice. “Don’t we need a final touch?” “You’re right,” he agreed. “It needs some Cha Fa Fa on the side!” |
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3 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves minced
1 ancho chili pepper with two teaspoons adobo sauce, chopped
1 cup golden raisins
2 cups chopped roma tomatoes
3 tbsp almond butter (smooth)
2 cups roasted chicken stock
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1-1/2 ounce unsweetened chocolate
1 roasted chicken, meat removed and shredded
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1 lime, zested
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
1 avocado, pitted seeded and sliced
Blue corn tortillas for serving
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Place a pot over medium heat and add oil, onions, garlic, and cook until aroma is apparent. Add chilies, with adobo, raisins, roma tomatoes, and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, cook for 15 minutes and let cool.
Add mixture to blender. Add almond butter, chicken broth, chili powder and cinnamon. Puree mixture until smooth, and season with salt and pepper.
Return mixture to sauce pan over medium heat, cook 15 minutes stirring frequently. Add chocolate, stir until totally incorporated. Add shredded chicken and heat through.
Transfer to serving dish and garnish with slivered toasted almonds and lime zest. Serve with avocado, cilantro and blue corn tortillas.
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1/4 cup olive oil
4 blue corn tortillas
2 ancho chilies seeded and stemmed
2 chipotle seeded and stemmed
1/2 medium red onion chopped
1/4 cup garlic confit 1 cup slivered raw almonds
4 cups roasted chicken stock
4 roma tomatoes concasse
1/4 cup golden raisins
3/4 ounce ibarra chocolate
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground clove
1 lime juiced
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In a large sauté pan over medium heat, fry tortillas and chilies until crisp. Remove and add to food processor. Add onion, garlic, oil and sauté until lightly caramelized, about 4 minutes. Add to processor; reserve all but 2 tbsp oil. Add almonds to pan and toast until golden brown, then add to processor. Add 1 cup stock. Process the tortillas, chilies, onions, garlic and almonds to a puree. Pour puree into medium saucepan and add remaining stock, tomatoes and raisins. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer 1 hour stirring frequently. Add the chocolate, maple syrup, cinnamon, clove and lime juice. Season to taste, and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat.
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| This CD is no longer available |
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