Nomming Soon..........

In the autumn I shall be adding another item to the (site) menu: PASTRY OF THE WEEK!

Yes indeedy.  Purely for the education and edification of The Internet I shall drag myself to the Boulangerie Quissac every week and buy a pastry or cake.  I shall photograph it, taste it, then attempt to reproduce it.  Opinion will be sought from friends and family as to the level of my success/failure and the best recipes posted.

At Christmas I took a plate of my mince pies (will post my mincemeat recipe nearer the season) to the boulangerie and the whole staff loved them.  I am hoping that with enough bribes like that I may be able to charm my way into shadowing the boulanger for a shift or two :)

There. Now The Internet has something to look forward to over the summer.

Tiramisu

Ingredients: 

• 3 large free-range eggs


• 100 g brown cane sugar


• 1 sachet of vanilla sugar


• 250 g of mascarpone


• 24 sponge fingers


• 500ml of black coffee, not too strong or it will overpower the dish


• Cocoa


• Shavings of dark chocolate (optional)

• Prep time: 25 mins


• Chill time: minimum 4 hours

Instructions:

• Separate the egg yolks from the whites


• Mix the egg yolks, brown sugar and vanilla sugar


• Add the mascarpone, whisking it all together until even


• Whisk the egg whites until stiff, then fold gently into the mascarpone mixture


• Dip enough sponge fingers in the coffee to cover the bottom of your dessert dish


• Once the bottom is covered, add a layer of the mascarpone mix then sprinkle with cocoa


• Alternate layers of coffee-dipped sponge fingers, mix and cocoa


• Sprinkle on shavings of dark (70% cocoa) chocolate (optional, but we are chocolatey people in this house)


• Refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours


• Remember to take a picture of it

A Bit Hit And Tira-miss-u

Until recently I was dependent on my phone to take pictures for this site, as my horribly-expensive Nikon had fallen victim to the horribly-damp apartment we had to live in for a while.  I finally caved and bought a modestly-priced compact camera as the photos up til now do not come close to doing justice to the food. Whilst there is an improvement, I still failed to take a picture of the coffee-soaked sponge fingers in the Tiramisu that looked like anything other than poo.  Poo in a dish.  This would not be so much of a problem if i hadn't forgotten to take a picture of the finished dessert.  So there it is.  Try not to let it ruin your appetite.

Simple Fruit Pastry

Ingredients: 

To make 4:

• 1 pack of ready-rolled puff pastry


• Couple of handfuls of cherries, or fruit of choice e.g. 3 medium peaches


• 20g unsalted butter


• Caster sugar

Prep time: 5 mins, depending on choice of fruit

Oven: 20 mins at 180

Instructions: 

• Cut out four rectangles of pastry, about 10cm by 6cm


• Evenly cover with pieces of fruit (in this case stoned, halved cherries), leaving a small border around the edges


• Sprinkle caster sugar evenly over the surface


• Dice the butter and distribute among the pastries


• Bake for 20 minutes at 180, then allow to cool


• Serve with the ice cream of your choice

Time To Chop Your Cherry

Fruity desserts: they somehow make me feel less guilty than chocolatey ones.  Never mind how much butter and sugar might go into one - it's got fruit in so it must be quite good for you.  In the same way that cheesecake has lots of calcium. Practically a health food.

An article came through on one of my 'foody' feeds for a light, sweet peach pastry.  Didn't have any peaches in (and figured nectarine was possible the wrong texture) so I replaced the peach slices with chopped cherries.  It takes only a couple of minutes to prepare and is served cold, so can be made a few hours in advance (any more than that and the pastry would get soggy).  The result is a fruity, sweet-but-not-too-sweet dessert that is perfectly complimented by vanilla ice cream (calcium!).

I plan to try it next with pear (which I shall pre-cook) and brown sugar.  That's got to count as one of my 'five a day', surely?

Baked Cheese

Ingredients:

• Round of cheese, such as Camembert, that comes in a wooden case


• Clove of garlic, thinly sliced


• Dribble of white wine


• Fresh, crusty bread

• Prep time: 2 minutes


• Oven: 20 minutes at 200

Instructions: 

• Remove any plastic or paper packaging from the cheese, place back in wooden box


• Pierce the top of the cheese and insert thin slices of garlic according to taste


• Drizzle the surface with dry, white wine


• Leaving the lid off the box, wrap the whole thing in tin foil, shiny side in


• Place in preheated oven for 20 mins


• Remove foil and serve with chunks of bread

Getting Baked

When I was a teenager, I thought myself very sophisticated when invited to friends' houses for fondu (gasp!). And all that lovely, melty cheese and crispy baguette (or 'French bread'  as we called it) is not to be sniffed at.  However, these days I have a few issues with fondu:

Cost: Even here in France where we have cheese out the wazoo, if there are maybe six of you at table, enough decent-quality cheese for uninhibited dipping will set you back a fair bit.

Hassle:  After you've fiddled about with the fuel etc etc, someone needs to monitor the heat and cheese levels almost constantly, as the cheese at the bottom of the pan can scorch quite easily.  This gets harder and harder as the wine goes down.

Mess: We, as a family, are definitely not the kind of people that trip off to bed after a dinner party with the dishwasher humming and the worktops gleaming.  Greasy, crusty (possibly burnt) fondu pot is not nice to wake up to.

This is where the northern French favourite of Baked Cheese comes in.  Whilst the cheeses used are stronger than fondu tends to be, and therefore not to everyone's taste, it is a lot less hassle than fondu whilst still as convivial. Rounds of Camembert or similar are wrapped in foil with a little garlic and white wine and baked in the oven for about 20 minutes.  When you open them up, you can tear the 'skin' open and there is nothing but liquid cheese inside for everyone to dip their chunks of bread in.  And when it's over, the foil, cheese box etc all goes straight in the bin. Easy peasy.  Makes a brilliant starter, snack, or part of a buffet-style casual meal amongst good friends.

Sticky Lemon Chickie

Ingredients: 

For 2 or 3 people:

• 2 large chicken breasts, cut into small chunks or strips


• Either olive oil sesame seed oil, depending on whether you are a fan of the extra flavour of sesames.


• Couple of decent-sized lemons, or a small bottle of lemon juice


• Sploosh of dry, white wine


• Handful of caster sugar


• A little salt and pepper

Instructions: 

• Heat the oil in a frying pan


• Bung in the chicken and toss in the oil until it has seared all over


• Sprinkle the sugar over the chicken then drench in lemon juice and wine


• Season lightly and cook over medium-to-low heat until the chickie becomes lightly browned and sticky!


• Serve immediately whilst still hot and sticky!

Fast, Hot, and Sticky

Just a quick one today. (That's what she said).

On Mondays I often don't feel like spending hours in the kitchen, as we usually have 3-course meals on Friday, Saturday, Sunday. My Sticky Lemon Chickie is almost zero prep and only 10 mins or so (depending on how small you cut the chicken breasts) on the stove.  It goes really well with rice or jacket potato.

Happy Monday.

Harry Nilsson Cake

Ingredients: 

• 250g butter


• 250g caster sugar


• 300g flour


• 3 medium free range eggs


• 1 sachet (approx 11g) of baking powder (or use self-raising flour)


• 75g desiccated coconut, plus extra for topping


• 2 small limes


• Couple of large spoonfuls of Rose's Lime Marmalade

Prep time: 10 mins, if using an electric whisk like me!

Oven temp: 180 (fan-assisted)

Cook time:  Depends on cake mould/tin.  Listen to the cake, and if it's no longer making noise, it's cooked.  If it's making smoke, it's overcooked. ;)

Instructions: 

• Cream together the butter and sugar


• Add the eggs, mixing thoroughly


• Sift in the flour and baking powder, but hold off on mixing


• Add the coconut and the zest and juice of the limes


• Mix thoroughly, adding a little milk if necessary, until smooth and even.


• Pop into lined, greased tin or (I prefer) a silicone mould and bake.


• Once the cake has cooled, smear the top with the marmalade and coat in coconut.

Basic Cake Mix

Ingredients: 

• 250g butter


• 250g caster sugar


• 300g sifted flour


• 2 medium eggs (preferably free range)


• 1 sachet (11g) baking powder


• Milk as necessary

• Prep time: 5 mins if using an electric whisk


• Oven temp: 180 in a fan-assisted oven


• Time: depends on cake tin/mould used

Instructions: 

• Thoroughly cream together butter and sugar


• Mix in eggs


• Sift in flour and baking powder


• Add milk a dribble at a time, whilst mixing to an even texture (I like to use an electric whisk)

Put da Lime In de Coconut

Cake. Love it.

I have a basic cake mix that I use for everyday cakes for lunch boxes and snacks; I simply change the flavouring/additional ingredient, such as vanilla, banana, cocoa etc.  Sometimes, however, to make the best of a flavour, it needs to be changed-up a little.  With my Harry Nilsson Cake (here's the song/brainworm.  You're welcome.) I added extra egg to counteract the dryness of the coconut.  The layer of Rose's Lime Marmalade between the sponge and the coconut topping also contributes to the moistness of the cake, as well as strengthening the lime flavour without making it too tart.

Respect is due to Mr Harry Nilsson and his most excellent song for the inspiration for this recipe.