Blue Cheese in French Bleu - Gorgonzola & Walnut Souffle

As shown in the previous recipe, regarding the Bell Pepper Tart, though French White/Bisque/Bleu and Classic Black are AWESOME in the oven, sometimes it just takes a Cornflower to bring it all together.

This time, however, it's not just the P-2 1/2-B saucepan assisting in the quest for deliciousness, but a P-35-B Broil and Bake Tray with a couple of Grab-Its (P-150-B) thrown in for good measure.  Though this may seem like a Dream Team of CorningWare, one more player must be added.   There are still 7 egg whites that need to be whipped to stiff peaks, so a rather large bowl is necessary...  Copper aside, I can think of no better Egg White whipping receptacle than a 444 or 404 Pyrex 4 quart Opal Bowl.

Sometimes you just gotta get by with a little help from your friends.

Gorgonzola and Walnut Souffle

3 TB unsalted Butter, plus a little more for the souffle dish
1/4 cup All-Purpose Flour, plus more for the souffle dish
4 large Eggs, Separated
3 large Egg Whites, in addition to the 4 above (Save the yolks for making Lemon Curd)
1 cups Whole Milk
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
5 oz Gorgonzola, crumbled
1/4 cup finely chopped Walnuts

Corning Ware 1.5 liter (1 1/2 quart) French White/Bisque/Bleu or Classic Black Souffle Dish (F-5-B)
Corning Ware 2 1/2 quart Saucepan (P-2 1/2-B) or 3 quart (A-3-B)
Pyrex 4 quart Opal Bowl (444 or 404)
optional - 2 Grab-it Bowls (P-150-B)
optional - 1 Corningware 4 oz Ramekin (no model number) or F-16-B Ramekin (though a little big)
optional - Corning Ware Broil and Bake Tray (P-35-B)

Begin by buttering the Souffle dish and coating it with flour, then place in the refrigerator while you prepare the actual souffle.

Separate the first 4 Eggs, placing the Yolks in one of the Grab-its (P-150-B) and the Whites in another (P-150-B), then separate the remaining 3 Eggs, placing the Yolks in a separate 4 oz Ramekin for later use, and adding the 3 Whites to the 4 Whites already in the P-150-B Grab-it Bowl (you should have 4 Yolks and 7 Whites)

Cover the Whites and set them aside for later and cover the 3 Egg Yolks in the 4 oz Ramekin with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for later use. (There is Lemon Curd in the future)

Lightly beat the 4 Egg Yolks in the P-150-B with a fork and set aside.

Place the P-2 1/2-B Saucepan over medium flame and add the 3 TB unsalted Butter.

Once it has melted and begun to foam, add the Flour and begin whisking, cooking for 1 minute.

Whisk in the Whole Milk.

Bring to a boil, whisking constantly, then continue cooking for 1 minute.

Remove the P-2 1/2-B from the flame and stir in the Salt and Pepper.

Take a spoonful of the sauce and whisk it into the Yolks to condition them.

Add the conditioned Yolks to the sauce and whisk to combine.

Add the crumbled Gorgonzola and the chopped Walnuts, stirring to combine, then set aside.

Pour the Egg Whites into a clean 4 quart Pyrex Bowl (444 or 404) and add the Cream of Tarter.

Whisk the Egg Whites until they form stiff peaks.

Add 1/3 of the Whites to the sauce mixture in the P-2 1/2-B and stir them in to lighten the sauce.

Pour the lightened sauce mixture into the Pyrex Bowl (444 or 404) containing the remaining whipped Whites.

Fold everything together until homogeneous and no streaks of Egg White are left.

Remove the prepared Souffle dish (F-5-B) from the refrigerator and pour the "Batter" into the dish.

optional - Place the Souffle dish (F-5-B) on a Broil and Bake Tray (P-35-B) just to make sure there are no spills and to prevent the bottom from over browning.

Place the P-35-B in the preheated oven on the bottom rack and bake for 30-35 minutes.

Remove from the oven and serve immediately. (Souffle always begin to sink after the first 3 minutes out of the oven so speed of serving is crucial)

Where is your CorningWare??
~~

Bell Pepper Bliss in French Bisque - Tarte de Poivron (With the Help of a P-16-B)

I have made no bones about the fact that French White/Bisque/Bleu & Classic Black are near and dear to my heart, because they were the first pieces of Corning Ware that I bought in the early 90's.  But, French White items are pretty much strictly for baking.  Thus, one must still have "regular" vintage Corning Ware in ones kitchen to pick up the slack.

Thus it is with this recipe.  For while I might be tempted, I would never actually bake a tart or quiche in a square pan, simply because the corners would burn before the center is cooked through.  This is why pie plates, tart pans and quiche dishes are round.  Still, you need a good skillet to partially cook the filling before the tart is finished off in the oven.

Enter the P-16-B in classic Cornflower.  The perfect pan for such a delicious filling.

A note on ingredients....  I use Gruyere for this, because I like flavor a little more, however, if you would prefer a more Pizza-esque tart, feel free to use Parmigiano-Reggiano, Pecorino Romano or Asiago instead of the Gruyere.

I am not going to cover "Pate Brise" crust for this tart as I have already covered my favorite tart/quiche dough a couple of times already in Quiche Lorraine and Bacon and Clam Quiche.  Feel free to use any family recipe you have that will fit the bottom of a 10 inch pie plate or quiche/tart dish.  Leave out the sugar, if your recipe contains it, and use at least 3/4 tsp salt for a savory crust.

Tarte de Poivron

1 Sour Cream Crust recipe or 1/2 recipe of Standard Pate Brisee (minus the sugar)
1 Shallot, diced
1 Leek, split and sliced (white and light green parts only)
1 Red Bell Pepper, seeded and chopped
1 Yellow Bell Pepper, seeded and chopped
2 Orange Bell Peppers, seeded and chopped
4 Roma Tomatoes, seeded and chopped (you need to keep the liquid low or the crust will be soggy)
1/2 cup (1.25 oz) Sun Dried Tomatoes (Not the oil packed kind) snipped or chopped
4 TB Olive Oil
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
just a pinch of Cinnamon
1/2 cup (2 oz) Gruyere, shredded

Corning Ware French White/Bisque/Bleu or Classic Black F-3-B Quiche/Tart Baker (24cm/10 inch)
Corning Ware 11 inch Skillet (P-16-B) or Electromatic Skillet Dish (SK-10)

Begin by seeding and chopping all the vegetables, keeping the shallots and leeks separate as they will be cooking first.

Mix, roll out and line your F-3-B with the Pate Brisee or Sour Cream Pastry crust and place in the refrigerator to relax.

Place the P-16-B over medium flame and add 4 TB Olive Oil.

When the Oil is hot, add the Shallot and Leek, sauteing until they become soft.

Add the Bell Peppers, Tomatoes and Sun Dried Tomatoes and cook for 20 minutes, stirring frequently.

Remove the P-16-B from the flame and stir in the Oregano, Salt and Black Pepper.

Though it may seem a little odd, add just a tiny pinch of Cinnamon (about 1/16th tsp)

Stir everything to combine then pour off any "liquid" from the pan (mine came out fairly dry this time).

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and allow the filling to cool while the oven is heating.
Once the oven is up to temperature and the filling has cooled slightly, remove the F-3-B from the refrigerator and pour the filling into the shell.

Place the F-3-B on the bottom rack of your preheated oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the crust is lightly browned.

Remove the F-3-B Tart Dish from the oven and sprinkle with the shredded Gruyere.

Allow the cheese to melt from the residual heat for 5 minutes before serving.

Deliciousness especially when accompanied by a Spicy Mango & Jalapeño Sausage and some sauteed Snow Peas.

Where is your CorningWare??
~~

Cradle Your French White/Bisque/Bleu & Classic Black in Comfort

I promised that I would write up a post on the French White Cradles, so that people would know what to look for the next time they are out questing for Corningware.   To date, the only ones I have mentioned are the Platinum Cradles simply because those are my favorite and what I have the most of.  The Platinum Cradles were not the first, nor would they be the last.  For today, though, I think I will just stick with the French White/Bleu/Bisque & Classic Black cradles.

Behold... The French White Cradle.  (Also available, contrary to book publications, with selected pieces of Classic Black)

They are really a fairly simple design, being a single piece of wire, bent ingeniously and then welded where the ends meet underneath so your dish will conveniently hide said weld at the table.

So far, I have only seen 5 different cradles...  One for each of the main pieces in the French White (and Bisque) collection.   F-1, F-2, F-4, F-5 and F-6.  (The F-3 quiche doesn't have a cradle)

They seem to be made of Chromed Stainless Steele.

When they were originally sold, the boxes were supposedly marked with an LE prefix and an R suffix.... as in LE-F1-R being a 2.5 liter Souffle.  Personally, all I have ever seen is an entire set of the 3 pieces mentioned above being sold as a set under F-360.

They are not marked in any way shape or form, so you have to kind of wing it, when trying to decide which ones you need vs which ones you already have... Thus, I have several duplicates.  But that's OK... Cause I have A LOT of French White/Bleu/Bisque & Classic Black that needs to be cradled in comfort when setting on a hard table.  (it might get bruised otherwise)  However, in the interest of those reading this blog, I have decided to take measurements of all 5 of the ones I have found so far.  That way you don't have to keep purchasing the same sized cradles over and over and over... did I mention over?

That is what happened with these 3... The 3 most common...  The F-1, F-2 and F-4 cradle seem to be the most prolific.

Let me state that I am using Bisque here for demo, because it's readily accessible and the other "colors", aside from French White itself, are missing pieces...   French Bleu has no F-4 and Classic Black has no F-1..  Aside from French White, French Bisque is the most complete of the Frenches.  LOL

Here are the 2 souffle cradles... the LE-F1-R (right) and the LE-F5-R (left).

Note, the LE-F5-R cradle is small enough to fit "inside" the LE-F1-R Cradle.

The LE-F1-R is 4 7/8 inches deep across the bottom, 6 3/4 inches wide in the "front", 12 3/4 inches from handle to handle, and 4 1/4 inches high at the handle.

The LE-F5-R is 4 3/8 inches deep across the bottom, 6 inches wide in the "front", 10 3/4 inches from handle to handle, and 3 7/8 inches high at the handle.

We aren't done.... There are 3 more...

The F-2 Casserole (back), the F-6 small Open Roaster (middle) and the large F-4 Open Roaster (front)......

The LE-F2-R (Back) is 4 7/8 inches deep across the bottom, 9 3/8 inches wide in the "front", 15 inches from handle to handle and 3 3/8 inches high at the handle

The LE-F6-R (Front) is 5 inches deep across the bottom, 9 1/2 inches wide in the "front", 14 3/8 inches from handle to handle and 2 5/8 inches high at the handle

The LE-F4-R is 5 3/4 inches deep across the bottom, 11 inches wide in the "front", 16 1/2 inches from handle to handle and 2 3/4 inches high at the handle

Hopefully that will help at least a little bit... Just remember to have a tape measure handy the next time you are out thrifting....

Where is your Corningware??
~~

About Town with Corningware - Vengeance Served Cold, but in Stylish Bakeware

I figured that it was time that I expounded on one of the patterns that I collect.  French White.  After all, it is this pattern/design that is ultimately responsible for this whole blog.   Let me recap from the opening post of this blog.

In 2006, I was making a casserole for a Potluck at work.  Realizing that I did not have a baking dish that was big enough, I ran to the store and purchased a piece of, what I thought was, Corningware French White.  When I got home and took it out of the box, it seemed awfully heavy.  I began examining the piece and discovered that it had a firing on the bottom where it sat in the kiln.  This was weird.  So I dug out my quiche dish (purchased back in 1991 or so) and looked at the bottom... It was all nice and smooth, no ring.  I checked my Souffle dish as well, it was smooth on the bottom too.  So, I found "World Kitchen" on the Internet and started reading through their web site.  This is the excerpt from their "History of Corningware"

History of CorningWare®

The original CorningWare® bakeware which was first introduced in 1958, was made of a glass-ceramic material that could be used on the stove, in the oven and under the broiler. After World Kitchen acquired the brand in the late 1990’s, CorningWare products were switched to ceramic stoneware production.  Introduced later that year was the French White collection, which has been an all-time best seller among brides-to-be.

I knew this wasn't right.  There was no possible way that French White was introduced in the late 90's, because I purchased my souffle and quiche dish in the early 90's and it most definitely wasn't made of stoneware.  Something was amiss.

I called World Kitchen and asked if there was any place I could buy original Pyroceram Corningware in French White.  The Customer Service representative told me exactly what the web site said... French White was introduced AFTER World Kitchen purchased the Corning Consumer division in 1999 and it had always been made of stoneware and never from Pyroceram.

When I informed them that I had Souffle and Quiche dishes in my kitchen that were made of Pyroceram from 1991, the representative called me a liar.  TO MY FACE, or at least as "To your face" as you can get over the phone. They even had the sheer gall to argue with me after I gave them the "F-3-B" number off the bottom of the quiche dish.  Then I suddenly got disconnected.. (I still think they just hung up on me)  I was going to call them back and give then another "F" something, but decided against it.  There ARE other ways after all.  I am a very patient person, when I have to be.   

Now I will be the first to admit that I am not a big fan of change, but I understand that they changed the product because it was longer conducive to the way the majority of the population cooks in this day and age.  I get it.  What I do NOT like, is a corporation banking on a name that is associated with premium quality to sell an inferior product at a premium price.  That piece of stoneware was an absolute joke.  It crazed in less than a year.  It wasn't from the automatic dishwasher either, cause the apartment I was living in at the time didn't have an automatic dishwasher. Just a manual one; Me.

What I dislike even more than sneaky corporations, is when said sneaky corporation tells me I'M lying or crazy, when I am, in fact, quite correct and they are the ones lying through their teeth.

But it's all water under the bridge now, kind of.  As I posted earlier, REAL Corningware is back.  Though they still aren't producing my beloved French White, I am happy that it is available to the public, even if only Online.

Oh, and so, to prove my point...   I swear, after this blog post, I will let it go forever....

Vengeance is mine World Kitchen!!!!  Muah ha ha ha ha!!!!!!

Your Customer Service department (and the falsified history on your web site) can Eat Crow!!!!!!

Behold!  A box for pyroceram French White, BWK (Before World Kitchen)

Behold!  The date on said box and the producer... Corning Consumer Products.... (not World Kitchen)

After 6 years, I finally feel 100% vindicated.  All this information is out on the Internet for everyone to see.  Now, World Kitchen cannot pull the same shenanigans on other innocent unsuspecting customers.  The truth is out here.  (queue music from X-Files)

Vive la Pyroceram !

The Real French White

(1978-1998)

Corningware didn't stop at just French White, though.  It's true.  Eventually they began printing patterns on the French White as well, as evident with English Meadow, Callaway, Oceanview, My Garden and Delicious (which I have never been able to find); just to name a few.  But "patterns" were not the only way they altered French White over the years.

At one point a Blue trim was available.....

Then there was the Gold trim.  This was a special metallic trim that could be used in the microwave. (who'd a thunk it?)

But that wasn't good enough.....

There was French Bisque (1982-1985)

Then French Bleu; though it didn't last very long (1983-1984)

These colors were both sprayed upon the entire outside surface of the French White pieces.  The inside of these pieces was not painted.

Eventually culminating in 1990 with "Classic Black". (which went perfectly with the black and brass furniture of the late 80's & early 90's and prints by Patrick Nagel hanging on walls because of Duran Duran's Rio album) Please note, that although this is lovingly referred to as "French Black" the actual design name was "Classic Black" (1990-1993?)

The most interesting thing about Classic Black, is that it really isn't black at all... It's dark red.  Evidently, this has been a common practice with coloring glass.  The pieces are either so deep a purple or intensely red that they appear black to the naked eye.  Other examples would be Black Amethyst & Black Ruby Glass.

Just shine a super bright light through the glass and you will see the awesomeness that is Classic Black Corningware. (this is a halogen bulb shining through the bottom of a 10 inch quiche dish)

Cool party trick, huh? 

Where is your Corningware??
~~