Tarte Tatin

Bought some cooking apples to make a pie but then decided to try this Tarte Tatin recipe which I normally use as the base for my "Ginger Plum Square". It was quite a huge success.

Recipe says: serves 8. It is very rich.

Pastry:
115 gr (4oz) butter, chilled
225 gr (8oz) plain flour
salt
1/2 tsp vanilla essence (I don't skimp on vanilla!)
3x15 ml/Tbs fromage frais (my Tbs are generous)

Filling:
5-6 large dessert apples (I used 2 cooking apples + 1 eating apple, because that's what I had) = 900gr
lemon juice
75 gr unsalted butter, softened (I used banking marge)
115 gr (4 oz) caster sugar (the finer one for in your tea!)

• Make the pastry. Now, they have all kinds of instructions but I just throw it all in the Magimix 'til it forms a ball and then wrap it in cling film.
• Refrigerate for an hour (or 30 mins if you're in a hurry!)

• pre-heat the oven to 220ºC/425ºF/ gas mark 7

• for the filling: peel, core and quarter apples, toss with lemon juice.
• Spread your butter over the base of a flame-proof pan and "pack" the sugar on top.
• Put the apples rounded side down into the dish.
• Then place over a moderate heat for about 10 mins, until the sugar and butter begin to caramelise (or not, in my case!)
• Roll out the pastry and place over the apples. I find this pastry collapses when I try to lift it because of the fromage frais but it doesn't matter because it will end up on the bottom anyway, so I patch it together and tuck the ends under.
• Bake for about 20 mins. The apples should be crispy (!) and the tart crisp. Serve hot, with cream if desired.
• Enjoy!!!

A proper key lime pie

By Meredith Steele | October 6, 2014 | In Baking, Comfort Food, Recipes
Read more at http://www.jamieoliver.com/news-and-features/features/proper-key-lime-pie/#LOolzrTDHKGPDBHH.9

image: http://www.jamieoliver.com/news-and-features/features/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/10/feature-header4.jpg

Key lime pie has an interesting story, supposedly beginning in the early 

20th century when refrigeration was scarce. Sweetened condensed 

milk was used a lot in cooking, especially on fishing boats. Legend 

has it that the famous pie was created with what the Florida sponge 

fisherman had on hand: sweetened condensed milk, limes and 

crackers. Even at sea, there’s time for comfort food. 

Today, it’s beloved by many and is even the official state pie of Florida. 

There are many tried and true recipes out there, but I like to make 

mine with quality ingredients (organic if possible),extra lime juice and 

a pinch of zest for that added depth of flavour, and fresh whipped 

cream with a kiss of raw honey to balance the sourness. Delightfully 

sweet with the perfect amount of tartness, this creamy bright pie is 

indulgent comfort in every bite.

Recipe

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

•    10 graham crackers/digestive biscuits or, in our case, gingernuts

•    6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 2 oz/50gr butter

•    5 tablespoons raw honey 2 oz/50gr castor sugar

•    1/4 teaspoon sea salt

•    1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk 4 dl

•    4 large egg yolks

•    1/2 cup fresh lime juice (juice of 5 small limes)

•    1 teaspoon key lime zest, grated (zest of 5 sm limes, zest limes 

before juicing)

•    2 cups heavy/double cream (1 pkg Dream Topping)

Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Finely crush your crackers or 

biscuits and, in a bowl, stir to combine with the butter, 2 tablespoons 

of honey and salt. Grease a 9-inch pie dish with additional butter. 

Pour the crumb mixture into the pie plate and evenly press to form a 

crust on the bottom and the sides. Place in the oven and bake for

15 minutes. Remove and allow to cool. 

Note: we didn’t pre-bake, but allowed the crust to set and baked after 

adding the filling.

Meanwhile, add the condensed milk, egg yolks, lime juice and zest to 

a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Pour into the prepared pie crust then

bake for 15 minutes, or until set. 

Allow to cool then refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but preferably over-

night.

When ready to serve, beat the cream and remaining 3 tablespoons of 

honey together until it holds stiff peaks. (or make up Dream Topping as 

per instructions).

Using a spatula, evenly spread the whipped cream on top of the pie and 

garnish with additional lime zest and a thin slice or two of lime, if 

desired. 

Slice and serve!

Vegetable Quiche

I made this for a little New Year's/Three King's Day get-together with Iris and Johanna this week. Johanna made cheese fondue and arugula salad, and Iris brought the bread, dips and mango salsa. Most quiche recipes consist of several steps, starting with making and then blind-baking the crust, then adding the filling, and baking again. I didn't have time for that, and I also prefer a softer, not crunchy, bottom, so I combined several recipes based on Impossible Quiche. Most recipes for Impossible Quiche use Bisquick, but I didn't have that in the house, so I made substitutions and it worked out fine. I didn't remember to take a photo but I'm making this again soon and will try to remember to take a picture to add!

Vegetable Ingredients:
1 finely chopped small onion (½ medium)
1 small leek, white and green parts (sliced lengthwise to wash then cut into thin half-rings)
½ container mushrooms, sliced (or chopped depending on how much you have to hide them!)
black pepper
1 tbsp fresh or 1 tsp dried parsley
1 tbsp fresh or 1 tsp fresh or dried basil
½ cup frozen spinach
chives from the garden (optional)
¼ cup grated cheese (any kind you like, I used mozzarella) or more if you want it very cheesy
sliced tomatoes for the top (optional)

Wet Ingredients:
1 ½ cups milk
½ cup flour
3 large eggs
1 tsp baking powder
salt

Preheat oven 350 degrees F

Sauté onion, leek and mushrooms in olive oil with a little salt until wilted and slightly browned. Add black pepper, parsley and basil.  Add frozen spinach and stir until softened and heated through. Take off heat and set aside. 

In blender, combine milk, flour, eggs, baking powder and a little salt and blend on low for 1 minute. 

Butter a baking dish (I used an 8 inch square aluminum pan). Transfer vegetable mixture to baking dish. Sprinkle half the grated cheese over. Carefully pour milk and egg mixture over it. Lay thinly sliced tomatoes and the rest of the grated cheese. 

Bake 35-45 mins in the lower to middle part of the oven until golden and a little puffy. Check it after 35 mins, test it with a toothpick (should come out mostly dry). Cool slightly before cutting and serving so it sets up.

Poffertjes

This is the best recipe I have tried so far, so for the record here it is! 

Actually I think I actually put in 2 tsp of bakpoeder (accidentally) but that turned out very well, they were nice and poofy so that is the only change to the recipe I'd recommend. 

http://www.brendakookt.nl/2013/05/18/poffertjes/ 

Julie's Witlof Tatin

based on a recipe by Phillippe Exertiec

(Will add photo next time Julie or I make one!)

For 4 people – Preparation time: 30 min – Cooking time: 30-40 min at 200ºC

4 Belgian endives; 4 rounds of Chavignol/goat’s cheese; 8 walnuts*; olive oil; caster sugar [Julie used brown]; salt; pepper; 1 rol of puff pastry

* Julie used toasted whole pine nuts which were even nicer.

1. Remove leaves of the endive one by one to leave the centre core for another use
2. Colour the leaves in a pan of olive oil and a pinch of sugar on each side
3. Set aside whilst buttering the tart forms then add the leaves one by one with the tips of the leaves pointing to the centre in a star form. We found two layers of endives more effective.
4. Add crumbled goat’s cheese and chopped nuts.
5. Salt and pepper
6. Cut puff pastry in rounds to cover forms [or use a single form – easier!]  and prick with a fork
7. Bake at 200ºC for 30-40 mins and turn over on to a platter to serve.

 You may find one not enough!

Braised lettuce with peas

Braised lettuce with peas

Ingredients

small knob butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
4 Little Gem lettuces
200ml fresh chicken stock
4 tbsp single cream or crème fraîche
500g bag frozen petits pois

Method

Melt the butter in a large sauté pan with a lid. Fry the onion gently for about 5 mins, until softened.
Meanwhile, pull any damaged or coarse outer leaves from the lettuces and trim the bases. Cut the lettuces in half lengthways, through the base. Place the lettuce cut-side up on top of the onions and cook for half a minute, then turn over and cook for another 30 secs. Pour over the stock and lightly season. Put the lid on the pan, reduce the heat to the minimum and cook for 10 mins. With a slotted spoon, lift the lettuces out and put into a sieve over a bowl. Raise the heat under the pan and boil the juices until reduced by half. Add the cream or crème fraîche and petits pois and boil for 1 min until heated through. Arrange lettuces in a serving dish and pour over the pea-and-cream sauce.

I just felt like having braised lettuce for dinner and found this recipe on the BBC Food website. Apart from substituting skimmed milk (!) for the cream, I actually (more or less) followed the recipe and it was dee-licious! We had 1/2 a gem lettuce each as I wanted to see what it was like first. Shall definitely be making it again - especially for friends!

Bon appétit!

Ultimate carrot cake

This carrot cake is so good, I had to put the link here so I would be able to find it again. It is not difficult but does have a few extra steps compared to usual cake making, which you should do. I didn't have grated coconut but substituted half a box of coconut milk I had leftover, and supplemented that with the oil (i.e. instead of 200 grams of oil, I combined probably 125 ml coconut milk and 75 gr oil). These two ingredients make (and keep) the cake more moist than butter-based cake - I actually often bake cakes with coconut milk and it always works out delicious. You can actually also use very mild olive oil instead of sunflower to make it less unhealthy.

Enjoy :)