Louis Gachet, the highly talented Michelin-starred chef of the Couvent des Minimes in Mane, Meilleur Ouvrier de France 2023, is the new ambassador for Ephrem. He has created for us, and above all for you, a special Christmas menu, in which each dish is passed through the flames of his Flambeur Pro 90.
We met up at his place on a Saturday, the food full of promise, the touch generous, creative and brilliant. And really, it was excellent.
We thought this menu should be accessible to all wood-fired oven enthusiasts. It’s a real Christmas menu, full of gourmet goodness and the rhythm of the oven’s flame and heat, with choice ingredients that promise to shine at the table.
Here are the different recipes on the menu, which we’ll let you discover: for those of you who are just getting started, don’t hesitate to share your images here.
Louis Gachet’s wood-fired Christmas menu
The time of the wood-fired oven
First we savor the moment of the flame and the heating the wood-fired oven It’s a pleasure to devote your time to it, and above all, it’s a special moment. Fans of wood-fired baking will tell you that this step is like getting your hands back on the dough of an ancestral know-how. You build your fire and that’s all there is to it.
Start in the morning, to take advantage of slow cooking: this is the case for poultry and vegetables. You can also light your oven the day before, depending on how you intend to use it, and the time of the meal: for dinner or lunch. Starters can be made at the last minute, by rekindling the flames with a few logs. As for dessert, take advantage of the falling heat of the oven to rise your brioche dough. Learn to master the temperature cycle of a real Ephrem mass-produced wood-fired oven, to benefit from its baking versatility.
Beautiful slices of raw foie gras, pan-fried over a flame
The recipe is simple, and the flame of the oven and the heat of its hearth will enhance the cooking. For this recipe, you’ll need a cast-iron skillet: we recommend brands such as Le Creuset or Staub.
Ingredients for 4 people :
- 2 raw duck foie gras cutlets, preferably free-range
- Fleur de sel de Guérande and freshly ground pepper
- One tablespoon truffle-flavoured honey
- A cast-iron skillet
Preparation:
Cut nice thick slices of raw foie gras, and arrange them in your pan.
Place the pan close to the heat and keep an eye on the cooking time, which should only take a few minutes, depending on the intensity chosen.
Brown the slices of foie gras on both sides, close to the flames. Keep an eye on the cooking time, then remove from the pan.
When they’re cooked to your liking, it’s almost ready. Season your foie gras slices with Guérande salt, freshly ground pepper and a tablespoon of truffle honey.
Enjoy the slices of pan-fried foie gras warm, or a little warmer, which is also very tasty.
Oysters au gratin with sabayon: a gustatory surprise
Oysters are often eaten raw. Here, they offer a surprising array of flavors. And even more so when gratinated in a wood-fired oven. Get some nice big oysters to accommodate the ingredients.
Ingredients for 4 people :
- 4 Large Oysters
- 2 egg yolks
- 50g butter
- 2 tablespoons Champagne
- 60g fresh spinach, stemmed and washed
- 1 lemon
Preparing the oysters :
Open the oysters and keep the lower shell. Remove the oysters from their shells over a saucepan to remove the water.
Heat this water slightly, adding 1 or 2 tablespoons of champagne. Then add the oysters and heat for 10-20 seconds, just long enough for them to stiffen a little.
Remove the oysters and cut into 3 or 4 pieces each. Reserve and filter the water for your sabayon.
Preparing the spinach :
Cut your spinach into small pieces. Then sauté for 5 minutes with a little butter and lemon zest.
Place on absorbent paper to remove all moisture.
Sabayon sauce :
Return your filtered water to the heat to reduce it slightly to a broth. While it’s still cooking, add the egg yolks and champagne, stir, then whip it into a sabayon (until it forms a small mousse). Remove from the heat, then add the cubed butter and lemon juice.
Dressing oysters :
Divide the spinach among the 4 oyster shells. Place the oyster pieces on top and cover with the sabayon.
Cooking oysters :
Place the oysters in the same pan as the slices of foie gras and place in the oven. Close to the heat, but not too close: the sabayon should scorch just enough, and the oysters should gratinate just right.
Count 30 seconds to 1 minute. Season with fleur de sel, and enjoy quickly, hot from the wood-fired oven.
Poultry casserole with yellow wine sauce and winter vegetables
Ingredients for 4 people :
For cooking poultry :
- 4 free-range chicken legs
- 1 large onion
- 3/4 large button mushroom
- 1 head garlic
- thyme
- 50g butter
For the yellow wine sauce :
- 20cl vin jaune (Jura wine)
- 50cl full cream
For the winter vegetable tian :
- 250g oyster mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms
- 300g crosnes (a delicious forgotten vegetable)
- 6 Jerusalem artichokes
- 6 small shallots
- lemon zest
- 50g butter
- a few baby spinach shoots
Choose your favorite poultry: a good size if there are lots of guests. Cut it up, or ask your butcher to do it for you.
Place the pieces in a casserole dish and brown them skin-side down in foaming butter. Let the pieces brown in the heat of the wood-fired oven, then remove them from the casserole and set aside.
Add the chopped button mushrooms, chopped onion, halved head of garlic and thyme to the casserole. Sauté until lightly browned.
Return the bird to the pot, then pour in the yellow wine and full-fat cream. Cover and cook for 3 hours in your Ephrem wood-fired oven. The heat should be gentle, around 150°C. Remember to stir occasionally.
At the end of cooking, remove the chicken pieces, collect the sauce and blend it. Place the bird with the sauce in the casserole dish, cover and place by the fire to keep warm and bind the sauce with the bird.
Winter vegetable tian :
Wash your vegetables. Cut Jerusalem artichokes in half lengthwise. Place in a casserole or covered dish, with lemon zest, butter and salt. Cover and cook for 1 hour at around 150° in your wood-fired oven. Set aside.
Halfway through cooking, and if the size of your wood-fired oven allows it, add a casserole dish with the shallots, which will cook for the remaining 30 minutes. Once cooked, cut the shallots in half lengthwise.
Fan a few coals, then place the shiitake mushrooms and oyster mushrooms in a cast-iron frying pan with the butter. Fry for a few minutes, then set aside.
Again, depending on the size of your wood-fired ovenYou can sauté the shallots and Jerusalem artichokes in 25g of butter at the same time as the mushrooms.
Blanch the crosnes in boiling water for 5 minutes. You can place a cast-iron pan in the oven and cook them at the same time as the mushrooms. Set aside.
Take a nice earthenware dish that’s suitable for a wood-fired oven. Lay out the crosnes first, and cut small cubes of the remaining butter on top. Next, arrange the mushrooms, Jerusalem artichokes and shallots. Garnish with a few spinach leaves in the center. Return to the wood-fired oven over low heat for a few minutes, to finish browning and caramelizing.
Brioche tart with pink pralines, caramelized in a wood-fired oven: the recipe that makes all 13 desserts blush.
Gluttony is not a sin at Christmas, so let’s make the most of it. Especially with this recipe for pink praline tart from Louis Gachet, which still makes your mouth water, even after a king’s meal.
Remember to prepare it in the morning and eat it in the afternoon, giving the pastry time to rest.
Ingredients for 4 people :
80g semi-skimmed milk
20g fresh baker’s yeast
250g flour T45
80g butter, kneaded into cubes
30g sugar
2 eggs
20cl heavy cream
150-200g crushed pink pralines
Preparing the brioche dough :
Mix the milk with the fresh yeast and heat gently for five minutes, at around 37°C. Then add the flour, eggs, sugar and diced butter, with a pinch of salt.
Knead the dough for 5/6 minutes (it should remain liquid), then leave it to rest for an hour and a half at room temperature in a small bowl with a tea towel over it.
Once the rising time is over, take a baking sheet, put some butter on it and roll out the dough, leaving the edges slightly thicker. Remember to degas the dough a little as you press it down.
Heat your oven to 40-50° and place in the oven for 30 minutes, just long enough for the dough to rise. Prepare your dough in the morning, when the oven is on low heat. If necessary, open the oven door to lower the temperature.
Dressing the pink praline tart :
Spread the thick cream over the pastry, then arrange the crushed pink pistachios on top.
Bake in your wood-fired oven at about 180°C for 25 minutes.
The brioche dough will drink the praline, soaking up its sugar and flavors.
At Louis Gachet’s that day, just before the tasting, there was a feast for the eyes: the pink praline tart, flambéing in Le Flambeur Pro 90a sand/terracotta color. A harmony of colors, fragrances and flavors, a fitting end to a star-studded Christmas meal.
