AMUSE BOUCHE

An amuse bouche is an appetiser served before a meal usually with a drink or apéritif.  Usually it would be  blinis, dips or toasts, but sometimes something in a small glass called a verrine.  These are often layered up with  cream cheese, chopped veg or salad, chilled soup or even a mini prawn cocktail.

Some friends served a delicious amuse bouche a while ago (in little plastic pots) that she had bought locally and ever since I have been on the lookout for the right kind of glass or verrine.  When I spotted these glass espresso cups on a stall at a brocante it occurred to me that they would be perfect for an amuse bouche.  With a full set of ten for 3€ they were a bargain.  They could even be used for actual espressos if I was entertaining quite a crowd!  You can of course use any kind of glass of the right size but preferably glass not china so that you can see all the layers.  Mismatched glasses look very pretty too.

My first experiment was layers of whipped goat's cheese with crème fraîche, topped with chopped cooked green asparagus and finally chopped dice of smoked salmon mixed with a little lime juice, decorated with some snipped chives and an asparagus tip. For the second attempt I swapped the asparagus for chopped cucumber and decorated with a slice of cherry tomato.  

They were not quite as refined as the shop bought alternatives - a little more rustic or homely looking - but delicious!

I think I could improve the look by whipping the cheese and crème fraîche to give it more volume and  make it lighter in texture.  Piping it into the glass would make it a bit tidier.  But there was nothing wrong with the taste.  The friends I used as guinea pigs were very "amused"!

Ingredients 

2 tblsp whipped goat's cheese or other cream cheese

2 tblsp crème fraîche

1 tbslp chopped cooked asparagus stems (or chopped cucumber)

1 tblsp chopped smoked salmon

1 tsp lime juice

snipped chives

asparagus tips or cherry tomato slices to decorate

Method

Beat together the whipped goat's cheese and crème fraîche and divide between the glasses.  Mix the smoked salmon and lime juice together.  Layer the asparagus and smoked salmon on top of the cheese mixture, snip some fresh chives over, add the decoration and chill in the fridge until ready to serve.

Serves 4.  Serve with a small teaspoon or coffee spoon alongside, small enough to get to the bottom of the glass!

SAUCY LEMON PUDDING

Don't be put off by the rather uninspiring photo! This pudding is delicious!

There are plenty of recipes on the internet for it and this one comes from the Olive Magazine website.  It popped up in my news feed at the right time when I needed a pudding and although easy is a little vague.  The instructions tell you to mix the batter in a food processor, to whisk the egg whites until firm but not stiff and fold the two mixtures.  You can (at the time of writing) see the recipe here.

I dutifully processed the batter in my Magimix, whisked the egg whites separately and…..then what?  I thought tipping the egg whites into the food processor would beat all of the air out of them so I spooned the batter mixture into the egg whites instead.  That seemed like use of a food processor for its own sake and it would have made more sense to mix the batter in a bowl by hand or with an electric whisk then fold in the egg whites.  Then , when I went back and looked at the videoclip in the recipe ……. that's exactly what was shown! 😁 The written recipe did not match the video instructions which made a lot more sense!

If you serve the pudding more or less straight from the oven you get a sponge with a runny custard underneath it.  If you serve it a bit later the custard sets the way custard does but it’s no less delicious for that and perfect with a little cream (or ice cream).  The next time I make it I would use a different dish and take a better photo.  Watch this space!

Ingredients

200g golden caster sugar (or white)

50g butter

zest of 1 lemon

juice of 1 lemon plus extra to make up to 100ml

50g plain flour

3 eggs, separated

250ml milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Butter a baking dish or soufflé dish.  Preheat the oven to 180C / 160 fan / gas mk 4.

Put the egg whites into a medium bowl and beat with an electric hand held whisk until firm but not completely stiff.

Put the butter, sugar and lemon zest into a large bowl.  Beat with the whisk until paler and creamy.   Add all the other ingredients and beat until you have a smooth batter.

Gently fold in the egg whites with a metal spoon until well combined then pour the mixture into your baking dish. 

Sit the dish in an oven tray half filled with hot water and bake for 40-50 minutes until set and a light golden brown.  

Dust with icing sugar and serve hot so that the sauce underneath is runny.  It will set as the pudding cools but is equally delicious.

Serves 4.

VEG DRAWER SOUP and the death of a soup maker

This very basic vegetable soup has always been one of my favourites.  It uses all the bits and pieces in the veg drawer that could very easily be destined for the compost heap but instead you get a very tasty virtually free lunch.  You can use more or less any veg you have as long as it has something that will thicken the soup such as potatoes or any root veg.  My selection is influenced by the very first vegetable soup I ever made, years ago, to a recipe by Nigella Lawson.

Unfortunately during the cooking programme my soup maker seems to have died.  When it got to the blending stage there was just a weak humming noise.  😞

I bought both of my soup makers in 2021, firstly a Morphy Richards in the UK just after Christmas then one in France a few months later, almost identical but quite a bit cheaper in a sale.  The French one has been used a lot over the years so I suppose for what it cost I've had my money's worth.

When we next go to the UK by car I will probably bring the Morphy Richards one back to France as it doesn't get used very often, only a handful of times per year.  In the meantime, I can use the broken French one on the "chunky" function, mainly used for soups like minestrone, which cooks the soup just the same but doesn't finish it off by blending.  On this occasion I just fished my stick blender out of the depths of the kitchen drawer and used that to finish the soup.  The deep shape of the machine made the blending very easy, probably easier than in a saucepan which would be wider, and much easier than transferring to a separate blender or food processor.  Just one extra piece of washing up, the stick blender wand, so it will do for now.

I notice that I can get a very similar new one for about 50€ on Amazon but would rather not spend the extra money as long as the heating element is still working and cooking the soup.

Update  I made a red pepper and tomato soup yesterday on chunky, got my stick blender ready, and thought I would try the "blender only" function on the soup maker, just in case.  It worked!  Maybe it just needed a rest!

Ingredients

4 small carrots

2 small potatoes

1 leek

a handful of radishes

1 large tomato

1 stick celery

1 chunk of cauliflower

3 broccoli stalks, woody outer layer removed

dry sherry and grated nutmeg (optional)

cream or crème fraîche for serving (optional)

Method

Wash, trim and roughly chop enough veg to fill the soup maker to the bottom line.

Add 1 vegetable stock pot and water to the top line.  Cook on smooth (or cook on chunky and finish with a stick blender).

Stir in a splash of dry sherry and a sprinkle of nutmeg before serving, and a swirl of cream in the bowl.

Makes 4 generous bowls of soup.

BANANA CAKE with walnuts

Using up fruit and veg so as not to waste any is a challenge.  This includes bananas and I'm not always ready to make a cake so lately I have been freezing them at the point where they are just over but still firm enough to peel easily.  I just peel them and pop them in a plastic bag, two at a time, draining off any excess liquid when thawed.  Hence this cake came about because I needed freezer space, we were on a mission to use up frozen food and friends were coming round for apéros.  Why not give them cake as well as savoury nibbles?!

I have made a lot of different banana cakes over the years and there have been some really stunning ones.  In fact the only failure was a recipe using Trex which was, truthfully, grim!  (See here.)  However, I've had my eye on this recipe for a while and decided to give it a go.  The only issue was that it required "4 tablespoons of melted butter" and I wasn't quite sure how to do that - melt some butter and measure out 4 tablespoons - what would you do if there wasn't enough or too much?  Or soften some butter and scoop out 4 tablespoons before melting it?  My butter was quite hard so I googled it and the consensus was that 4 tablespoons was 60 grams so that's what I weighed out and melted and it produced exactly the right amount!

This was an excellent banana cake with a lovely texture and a glossy top.  Very easy to make and definitely a winner. At the time of writing you can see the recipe here and I decorated mine with some walnut halves and banana chips.

Ingredients 

350g peeled ripe bananas, thawed if frozen

180g plain flour

2½ tsp baking powder

60g butter, melted (4 tblsp)

160g soft light brown sugar

2 eggs, beaten

50g walnuts, roughly chopped

walnut halves and banana chips to decorate (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 190°C / 170° fan / gas mk 5.  Butter a 2lb (900g) loaf tin or use a paper liner.

Mash 2/3 of the bananas to a pulp in a bowl, add the remaining bananas and mash roughly so that you have a few lumps.

Put the eggs, melted butter and sugar into a large bowl and beat with a hand held electric whisk, or a wooden spoon, until pale and creamy.  Sift in the flour and baking powder, add the bananas and fold in until well combined.  Stir in the chopped walnuts evenly.

Spoon into the prepared tin and bake for about an hour.  Cover loosely with foil after 30 minutes to prevent scorching.

Cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

Cuts into 10 slices.

ASPARAGUS, CHEESE AND LEEK QUICHE

A change in the weather here in the middle of France has seen us cooking less wintry food; barbecues, quiche and salads.  It makes a welcome change from soups and stews.  We had a whole week of nice warm days and well appreciated it was.

This is a version of a recipe that popped up in my news feed, an extract from a recent Hairy Bikers cookbook.  We don't buy the white asparagus that is piled high in supermarkets and on market stalls, preferring the green stuff which is sold in bundles and always a joy to cook.  This recipe uses just a few stems, so about half a bundle.

I used a pack of pastry which had been brought to France from the UK at Christmas and then frozen.  This might seem a bizarre thing to do, especially as there is no shortage of pastry in the shops here (and I could always make my own).  In my defence, the oblong packs of pastry fit my large English oblong quiche tin, which feeds quite a crowd, perfectly, and shortcrust is only available in circles here, which means a lot of trimming and patching with a strong risk of leakage, unless I do have the time to make my own.  Consequently I took the opportunity to stock up on oblong pastry when travelling to and from the UK by car, which is only at Christmas nowadays.

Mind you, I usually give the pastry an extra roll to increase the size a bit.  This allows it to be draped over the edge of the tin and prevents it from shrinking back during the blind baking.

It was a very tasty quiche and we served it with small potatoes and a large salad, followed by a lemon pudding.  Spring food at last.

Ingredients 

A pack of ready made, ready rolled shortcrust pastry.

2 medium leeks, white part only

Half a bundle, about eight stalks, of asparagus

4 eggs

250 ml double cream

2 tblsp crème fraîche or milk

A large chunk of gruyère cheese (or cheddar)

A few halved cherry tomatoes for decoration (optional)

Method 

Allow the pastry to reach room temperature before unrolling to avoid it developing small cracks.

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 160° fan / gas mk 4.  Grease a suitable tart/quiche/flan tin or dish.

Line the tin with the pastry, allowing a little excess to drape over the edges to avoid shrinkage.  Prick the pastry, line with baking paper, fill with baking beans and blind bake for 15 minutes.  If using a loose based tin, standing it on a baking sheet makes it easier to lift in and out of the oven without the risk of accidentally pushing up the loose base and damaging the pastry case. 

While the pastry is cooking, wipe, wash and trim the leeks and cut into slim rounds.  Fry gently in a little butter until softened but not browned.

Trim and wash the asparagus stalks.  Cut into short lengths, say 5cm, and cook in boiling water for a few minutes until just tender.

Remove the paper and beans from the tart and return to the oven for a couple of minutes to dry the pastry.

Arrange the leeks and asparagus over the pastry and cover with a good sprinkling of grated cheese.

Whisk the eggs and cream together in a measuring jug and make up to 450ml with extra cream, crème fraîche or milk.  Pour this gently over the filling but don't overfill; stop just short of the top.  Dot with cherry tomatoes if using.

Reduce the oven temperature to 160° C / 140° fan / gas mk3 and return the quiche to bake for around 30 minutes or until it is nicely browned with a slight wobble.  Don’t leave it in there until it's solid. Leave to cool a bit to allow for setting before removing from a loose based tin. Trim off the overhanging pastry with a sharp knife.

Serve warm or cool with potatoes and salad.

Makes 6 generous portions.

PROSCIUTTO, PEAR AND BRIE TARTS

These tarts came about after a lucky find at the local déchetterie.  Three apparently brand new Yorkshire pudding tins on the table where people leave good useable items for others to help themselves to.  I don't think I have seen tins like this for sale in France so suspect they came from an English household.  We will never know!

I spotted them and swooped before anyone else did - the table is, I suspect, a good source of items for people to increase their own stock for sale at brocantes!

Thinking they would be great for making not Yorkshire puddings but small tarts for a starter or lunch, I took them home.  Not long afterwards I stumbled upon a recipe for Prosciutto, pear and Brie aperitif sized tartlets, that could be adapted for larger versions.

They worked really well, looked slightly rustic but were tasty and the perfect size for a light starter.  The only tricky part was finding the right object to use as a template to cut circles of pastry exactly the right size.  It needed to be about 1cm larger in diameter than the holes in the tin so that there was not too much overlap or shrinkage. I tried various saucers, jars and plates but eventually found a terracotta dish at the back of the cupboard that was just right.  It later occurred to me that we have a selection of new plant pot saucers that I could have tried!

One pack of pastry will make four tarts of this size with trimmings which can be made into something else, such as sausage rolls, mince pies, jam tarts or cut up and frozen to be used as the topping for a jumblefruit pie.  I imagine that the recipe would work well with other fillings too, such as smoked salmon, mushrooms, lardons, and many other cheeses.

Ingredients 

A pack of ready made, ready rolled puff pastry

8 rashers of prosciutto (or similar)

1 pear

8 slices of Brie

1 egg, beaten

A few sprigs of fresh thyme (optional)

Method 

Remove the pack of pastry from the fridge about 15 minutes before you intend to use it, otherwise it can crack when you unroll it.

Grease the four holes of a Yorkshire pudding tin, or similar tart tins.  Preheat the oven to 200°C / 180° fan / gas mk 6.

Unroll the pastry and cut out 4 circles using a cutter, template, dish or clean plant pot saucer about 1 cm larger in diameter than the holes in the tin.  Press gently into the holes, avoiding leaving a bubble underneath the pastry.  Crinkle 2 slices of prosciutto into each tart.

Peel the pear and cut in half vertically.  Remove the core using a melon baller or teaspoon and slice thinly.  Divide the slices between the tarts and arrange on top of the prosciutto.  

Lay two slices of Brie on top of the pear.  Brush the edges of the pastry with the beaten egg.  Sprinkle thyme leaves over the top.

Bake for 20 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and the cheese has melted.

Serve warm.  Can be made ahead and reheated from cold in a hot oven for a few minutes.

MAY DAY SALAD

We were invited out to lunch to a friend's house for a May Day celebration.

It was a beautiful day.  Dress code was relaxed and floral.

I offered to take a salad contribution and decided to make that also relaxed and floral.  

Ingredients 

2 types of lettuce leaves

Lamb's lettuce (maché)

Peeled and sliced cucumber 

2 types of radish, one mild, the other peppery

Cherry tomatoes, halved

Vine tomatoes, quartered

Spring onions, halved lengthways

A few walnut halves

Edible flowers (violas from our planters)

A dressing made with olive oil, lemon juice, balsamic, mustard, salt and pepper

Serves up to 12 people, depending on how much you prepare, determined by the size of your dish.