Vanilla apple tart

What a crazy day we had yesterday! Snow in the morning, sun in the afternoon... Autumn and winter at their best, all in one day! The streets were crawling with hungry little trick or treaters, decked out in their Halloween costumes. This apple tart in by no means an antidote for their inevitable sugar rush, but it was the perfect Halloween desert for me. Lately I've been playing around with different types of fillings for sweet tarts and while I love almonds, frangipan filling (at leat the ones I've tried so far) somehow always turns out a bit on the dry side. With this apple tart I wanted something creamy, smooth, with a dash of sourness. The simple combination of full fat sour cream, eggs, sugar and vanilla really fits the bill here. Next time though I will double the amount of filling, maybe add some cardamom or lime oil and use black plums or pears. Oh, the possibilities!

Ingredients:

For the tart shell:

120 gr all purpose flour
120 gr softened butter
120 gr creamy cottage cheese
pich of salt

For the filling:

2 whole eggs
50 gr powedered sugar
200 ml full fat sour cream
1 tsp vanilla essence

4 medium apples, peeled and cut into small wedges
juice of half a lemon
2 tbsp thin apricot jam
1 tbsp pine nuts

Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly butter a 10 inch tart pan.
Mix together all tart shell ingredients until smooth. Do not overwork the dough. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
For the filling, mix eggs, sugar and vanilla until well blended and creamy. Add sour cream. Mix well.
Mix apples with lemon juice.
Roll out dough to fit tart pan. Pour in sour cream mixture and place apples over top.
Bake for about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush with apricot jam. Sprinkle with pine nuts and bake for 20 more minutes or until golden. Please check frequently, oven temperatures may vary.

Honey-baked nectarines with labne

Here's the thing: I am very hungry, very busy and very excited in no particular order. So here's a quick recipe for your Sunday morning. Or any morning of the week. I've had baked fruit before, but this one towers above all others. I'm planning on devouring every delicious, silky spoon of it every single weekend till the cows come home, or until nectarine season draws to an end. Whichever comes first.

Honey-baked nectarines with labne

Ingredients:

25 gr unsalted butter, coarsely chopped
6 nectarines, pitted, halved
100 gr honey
a few bruised cardamom pods
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
juice of 1 orange
500 gr Greek yogurt for labne

Drain the yogurt over a muslin lined sieve over night. Next morning you can call it labne.
Preheat oven to 375F. Scatter butter pieces in a baking dish. Place all nectarines, cut side up over the butter. Scatter all spices on top of the nectarines, drizzle with honey and pour over orange juice. Bake for about 20 minutes or until your kitchen smells so good, you just can't take it any more. Serve warm with a generous dollop of labne. Add some home made granola and you can call it a meal.
Recipe from GT magazine.

Breakfast for a rainy day

I have a thing for rainy mornings in general and this one in particular. Waking up early just agrees with me somehow. We had a lovely breakfast of baked pears with hazelnut crumble served with greek yogurt and whipped cottage cheese, followed by a healthy dose of Bugs Bunny. Never mind the rain, the sweet smell of cinnamon makes everything better. This is shaping up to be a wonderful day. For you see, this is not a usual Saturday for me. On every other Saturday but this one, you'd find me studying Spanish grammar, running errands, having long conversations with my favourite vendors at the farmer's market, cooking up a storm in the kitchen, and cleaning out my nest. You know, getting ready for a relaxing Sunday. But today is different. I have no intention of studying, cleaning or cooking as I already finished my cooking for the weekend last night. The theme is the Iberian Peninsula, that means braised squid with chorizo and sherry in a roasted garlic and sweet tomato sauce, followed by some Pasteis de Nata, picked up from the bakery.
Right now I'm off for some Dim Sum, this documentary, and later a guitar class.
Have a wonderful weekend my friends!

Spiced honey baked pears with hazelnut crumble



Ingredients:

For the baked pears:

4 ripe, but firm pears, peeled, cored and cut into wedges
pinch of ground cinnamon
pinch of ground cardamom
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1/3 cup orange juice
2 tbsp honey

For the crumble:

3o g rolled oats
20 g chopped hazelnuts
15 g brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
40 g butter, melted
Yogurt or cottage cheese to serve

Preheat oven to 325 F.
For the pear mixture, simmer all ingredients in a pan until pears are soft, but not mushy and the liquid has almost evaporated. Pour mixture into a buttered oven proof dish.
For the crumble mix all ingredients by hand making sure to coat all dry ingredients with melted butter. Scatter crumble over pear mixture, bake until golden about 15 minutes.
Serve warm with yogurt.
Recipe adapted from GT magazine.

Lemon curd

This one is for one of those mornings when you feel like starting the day on the right note. And by that I mean with dessert. Kinda.
Until a few years ago, in my lil' book of big bad munchies lemon curd fell in the vaguely familiar category. Nowadays it's become a staple in my fridge, right along with Moroccan lemons, Harissa paste and Gianduja spread.
This recipe will yield about 250 grams of luscious curd. Now be warned, this amount has more than 1 stick of butter and can be eaten right out of the jar in one sitting, if you're like me. ( Look for my forthcoming autobiography,entitled How I clogged my arteries in stores everywhere.) But jokes aside, pace yourself, and spread it thinly on toast or use it in a lovely pot de yaourt with some fresh kiwis, pomegranate seeds and passion fruit. And maybe ad some nuts and granola.

Lemon curd

Ingredients:

4 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
2 lemons, juice and zest
125 gr butter, chopped

Whisk egg yolks and sugar until pale. Add lemon juice and rind and finally the chopped butter. Place over simmering water(low heat), cook until mixture has thickened (8 to 10 minutes), whisking continuously, bien sur.
Enjoy responsibly!

The One

Have you ever had a perfect food moment, when everything is just flawless: the food, the moment, the place and the people you're sharing everything with? Mine involves a snowy winter day, a sleigh ride, two people who are unfortunately no longer in my life and sitting in the windowsill in my favourite little country house, savouring every little bite of these beautiful plum dumplings. That day must have been one of the most perfect days of my life. It was many many moons ago, but every time I make these little treasures, it all comes back to me.
We all have an absolute, hands down, all time favourite food, right? You know, the food you would ask for for your last meal on this planet. Mine are plum dumplings. They're like sweet gnocchi filled with fresh plums, loadsa cinnamon sugar and rolled in toasted breadcrumbs. Some people like to serve them with sweetened double cream, but I prefer a generous dusting of powdered sugar.

I don't like a very potatoey flavour, so I use a little bit more flour than most recipes ask for. This will make them perfect when freshly made and served warm. The amount of flour you need also depends on the potatoes you're using. The dough must be soft, not too sticky so it can be rolled out easily.

Plum dumplings



Ingredients:

400 g cooked, peeled potatoes
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tbsp semolina
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
16 to 18 small prune plums
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
powdered sugar and toasted breadcrumbs for serving

Deseed your plums. Mix caster sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Take each plum and fill them with the sugar mixture. Set aside. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Push potatoes through a potato ricer in a large bowl. Add salt, egg, oil, semolina. Stir mixture with a wooden spoon. Now add your flour, in three parts and mix together with your hands. Work dough into a smooth ball. Add more flour if necessary.
Using a well floured working surface, roll out dough to make it 5mm thick. Cut dough using a sharp knife into about 18 little squares. Place a cinnamon sugar filled plum onto center of each square. Now shape them into small dumplings, using more flour if necessary. Cook them for about 15 to 20 minutes. Gently take them out into a sieve, letting excess water drip of. Place dumplings into the warm toasted breadcrumbs. Dust with cinnamon sugar and serve.

Back to the basics

I worry a lot. Usually about things that are beyond my control, which makes the whole thing pointless. So why worry?
Just try to stay on the positive side, right? Sure, easier said that done. I'm always in a roadrunner mood. Go, get it, now, fast typeathing. I get overly excited about the most trivial things. And when I have a cloud over my head, the last thing on my mind would be food. I cannot touch food, for the life of me. That may very well be the reason I haven't spent much time in the kitchen lately. That, and also the abundance of fresh local apples, that I have been devouring by the buckets (left no room for anything else). They're so incredibly crisp when freshly picked! I'd always go for a freshly picked apple over any apple dessert.
On my last trip to the farmers' market however I bought so many different types, that I just didn't know where to keep them.
So I made the simplest, most delicious apple squares I could think of. I've been enjoying these since I was a toddler. Never thought of them as dessert. They're a meal in their own right. Make them in the evening. Take the whole pan with you, go to your dark oak library, (I don't have one, but you go ahead and do it), close the door behind you, choose a leather-bound mystery, plant yourself comfortably in your reading chair and devour them while still warm. Don't expect a lot of leftovers.

Apple cinnamon squares

Dough:

300 g all purpose flour
pinch of salt
1 large egg
125 g sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
125 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
100 ml sour cream
1/2 tbsp vanilla

Filling:

3,5 to 4 lb of your favourite apples
1 tbsp cinnamon
Juice of half a lemon

Preheat oven to 375F.
Butter and flour a medium sized baking pan, knocking out excess flour.
For dough: mix all ingredients to form a smooth dough. Divide in two. Cover with a tea towel, chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
For filling: peel and grate all the apples. Squeeze them by the hand fulls to get rid of the excess juice. You should get about two cups of apple juice, depending on the apple. Put juice aside for later use.
Mix in cinnamon and lemon juice.
Roll out half of your dough, to fit your pan. Dough will be thin. Pour apple mixture evenly over dough in pan, cover with second rolled out dough. Prick dough all over with a fork and bake for about 35 minutes or until golden.

Strawberries. For the last time.

Since I'm not a fan of those imported rubbery monsters we can all "enjoy" during the winter. Go out and grab the very last, late Ontario strawberries. Now. Run. Serve them macerated, with some whipped cream, or alongside your favourite brownie.
I still have a handful of them. They deserve a regal treatment, even if they're not exactly freshly picked. I'll bake them. Gently, for a few minutes to soften and release those juices. Then knock them over with homemade custard. Real vanilla, please!!!

Red currant vanilla squares and a farewell to summer

Summer is officially over. Loved it, as usual but it was about time. This summer was very different for me for several reasons, which I won't get into right now. The seasonal fruits and veggies, long, quite walks and warm summer rain will definitely be missed but now it's time for something new: my favourite time of the year, FALL. Fall with its gorgeous colours, candle lit evenings with friends and great comfort food, lots of crisp apples and juicy blackberries. For me it has always felt like a new beginning. I still have that back to school thrill running through me. Love the smell of new books, new leather shoes and the prospect of new wonders and adventures.
But since I'm not one for leaving any loose ends, here's my farewell to summer: deliciously juicy, sweet and tart red currant vanilla squares, that scream summery goodness. Made these last week with the last red currants of the season.

Red currant vanilla squares

Ingredients:

350 g all purpose flour
200 g sugar
150 g butter, at room temperature
500 g red currants, cleaned
4 eggs
pinch of salt
1 tbsp vanilla extract
zest of 1 lemon
150 ml sour cream

Preheat oven to 375F. Mix 250 g flour with 50 g sugar.Add butter and mix with your hands to obtain a soft dough.
Knead for about a minute. Cover and refrigerate for an hour. Grate dough into a medium sized square cake pan, lined with baking paper. Push on grated dough with the back of a spoon to even it out. Scatter over red currants.
Beat the egg yolks with the rest of the sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in salt, lemon zest and vanilla. Add sour cream and the rest of the flour and mix until combined. Beat egg whites until stiff, add to batter in two additions, gently folding it in. Pour mixture over red currants. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden. Cut into large squares and dust with icing sugar.
Enjoy!



And now here's my wish list for my new "school" year:


Cradle of flavour by James Oseland. The author spent two decades exploring the foods of the spice islands. Need I say more?


Cook in Boots by Ravinder Bhogal. Coffee table/ kitchen shelf perfection from a girl who loves food and shoes even more than I do.


Turquoise by Greg Malouf. The most beautiful book ever from the executive chef of MoMo (Melbourne), author of Saha and one of Australia's best chefs.


A year in my kitchen and My favourite ingredients by Skye Gyngell, expat Australian, now running the kitchen at Petersham Nurseries.
Do you have a cook book wish list?

Black currant sorbet

I'm a sorbet girl. While I would never shun a bowl of salted caramel ice-cream on my summer party dessert table, if I have a choice I almost always go for the sorbet. After having more than my fair share of gelato in Italy,in France I made a conscious effort to forgo anything in the ice cream family in favour of all time favourite baked goods like almond croissant, brioche au sucre the occasional ham and cheese quiche. Than one night in Paris, after scouring an entire neighbourhood for an Isabel Marant store, I came across a small shop that claimed to be selling only the very best Berthillon ice-cream. Well, that I had to try. I've read so much about it on the uber popular blog of David Lebovitz, skipping it would have made my trip incomplete. So I bought two scoops of cassis sorbet. Happy to say, it was amazing. So much so, that I've been wanting to replicate it ever since I've returned home. As black currants aren't so easy to find around here, I only got around it this past week.
This black currant sorbet is rich, sweet, tart and silky all at the same time. Enjoy, along with a few of our photos from all around France, one of my favourite countries in the entire world.


Black currant sorbet

Ingredients:

3 cups granulated sugar
2 3/4 cups fresh black currants
1 tbsp cassis liqueur

Bring sugar and 3 cups of water to a boil. Let sugar dissolve, remove from heat.
Place currants and 2 cups sugar syrup in a saucepan. Simmer for 12 minutes. Puree in a blender. Strain through a fine mesh sieve. Discard solids. Cool completely. Add 1/2 cup water, 3/4 cup sugar syrup and cassis to black currant mixture. Refrigerate until very cold. Freeze in an ice cream maker.




Photos: L.N.

Apricot-red currant summer tart

I just had to make this tart. But then again this time of year there's always something I "just" have to make. Every day there's something new. Don't you just love August? We already have peaches and apricots, still have red currants and strawberries and I even found some of the last sour cherries( my absolute favourite) of the season. So many recipes, so little time...
Because the season of these wonderful summer fruits is so short, I tend to over bake and over eat all month long. And I'm loving every moment of it!
This apricot red currant tart is best served warm. Think sunny weekday afternoon, tall glasses of homemade lemonade, iced coffee and a few girlfriends popping by unexpectedly. Let the good times begin...


Apricot-red currant summer tart


Ingredients:

300 g all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
200 g diced, unsalted butter at room temperature
2 eggs
150 g sugar
about 8 medium sized halved, pitted apricots
250 g red currants, picked over
1 cup sour cream
powdered sugar to serve

Preheat oven to 375F.
Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Add butter, 1 egg, 100 g sugar and mix to form a dough. Knead several times until smooth. Form into a ball and refrigerate covered with plastic wrap for at least 1 hour. Line a medium sized baking tray with baking paper. Mix sour cream with the egg and remaining sugar until sugar dissolves.
Roll out dough on a floured surface to fit baking tray. Place apricots, cut side up on top of dough. Scatter red currants on and around apricots. Pour sour cream mixture around fruit and bake until golden around edges, about 35 to 40 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar. Cut while still warm in large rectangles.

Tutti Frutti Jam

Finally, I can make all the jams and preserves I've been craving so much. Well, not all of them as I I don't have much space to store them for the bleak winter days ahead. When I grow up ( at this rate that will never happen!), I'll have a special pantry just for jams and preserves. A special little nook for concoctions like green tomato and fig jam, chili-vanilla red currant jam and the like.
You know, for the cave woman in me, just to evoke those primeval feelings of self sufficiency and survival.
Until then, I'll keep it simple. I made this tutti frutti jam from leftover fruit. Jam making is easy if you stick to some basic rules. It's just fruit+sugar (a concentration of over 60 % of sugar will create a hostile environment for those nasty micro-organisms),+ some lemon juice for some added pectin. I made this jam using equal amounts of cherries, strawberries, raspberries, red currants and apricots. Mixing low pectin fruits(cherries, strawberries) with high pectin ones( raspberries, red currants) will make for a not overly sweet or overcooked jam, as the jam will set faster, giving you a real fruity taste.
Make sure you use sterilized jars. You wouldn't want those previously mentioned micro-organisms taking up residence in your jam, now would you?

Tutti Frutti Jam

1400 g of cherries, red currants, strawberries, raspberries, and apricots (equal amounts)
850 g sugar
juice of one lemon

Wash and clean all fruits, halve and stone your cherries and apricots.
Add all fruits to a medium sized pan and cook over medium heat until they release some of their juices. Add sugar and lemon juice. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium high and cook until setting point is reached. A simple method to check the setting point is to put a saucer in the freezer when you start making the jam.Then, when your jam has somewhat thickened drop a little jam on the cold saucer and let it cool for a minute or two. Push with your finger. If the jam crinkles, setting point has been reached. If it looks too runny, boil for a few more minutes then test again. Remember this will be a soft set jam, unlike the store bought hard or jelly like varieties.
When setting point has been reached, remove jam from heat and pour into hot sterilized jars.
Have a regal Sunday breakfast by serving this fruity goodness on some toasted apricot bread, slathered with ricotta cheese.

Lemons, lemons, lemons

I dreamt of Italy last night. Again. What is it about this country that gets you hooked? Sure they have all that glorious nature, wonderful, exuberant people, pizza, gelato, opera, unforgettable sunsets over the Colosseum, etc... but I have traveled to lots of exotic, remote corners of the world (getting almost crippled by the weight of my backpack, a.k.a. my best friend), saw incredibly beautiful things, met all kinds of people, and ate my way across several continents and none of these places trigger as many nostalgic emotions as Italy does. And things ought to get better, as far as my daydreams are concerned anyway. Memories get better with age. They get wrapped in this strange fog like filter. You know, like the ones they use to make new photos look old. You look at them, immediately see a story there, and in your mind it all plays out in slow motion. But I digest, as Joey Tribiani so eloquently put it.( If you don't know who Joey Tribiani is, you should probably stop reading this blog). What I wanted to talk about here are lemons. Amalfi lemons, to be precise. These ubiquitous little gems that litterally fall on your shoulders when you take a stroll on the notoriously narrow roads of the Amalfi. You can't escape the scent of lemons here, they're everywhere. In the air, in your pasta, in your salad, in baba al limone or that hornlike little thang Italians call sfogliatelle. What surprised me the most was that it's mostly the zest of lemon that is used, rather than the juice.
So in keeping with tradition, I made this lemony panna cotta today. Not a traditional one, as this version is made with buttermilk and lots of lemon zest, making it lighter and tangier than the usual panna cotta made with cream. And because strawberries are in season, why not serve your panna cotta with some honey-lemon strawberry salad?
Finally, if you're ever in the Amalfi region please, oh please have some lemon granita for me. And maybe a shot of Limoncello. Or two.Thank you.



Buttermilk panna cotta with honey-lemon strawberry salad






Ingredients:

750 ml buttermilk
100 g sugar
zest of one organic lemon
3 1/2 gelatin leaves, softened in cold water

salad:
1 cup sliced strawberries
1/2 tsp mild honey
juice of half a lemon

In a medium saucepan combine buttermilk with sugar and lemon zest. Bring to a slow simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Do not boil. Squeeze out excess water from gelatin and add to buttermilk mixture. Stir to dissolve completely. Strain into 4 cups and refrigerate at least 6 hours.
For the salad combine all ingredients and spoon atop panna cottas.
Serves 4 of you or 1 of me.

Bella Italia and a recipe

I've already done this countless times in my head. Create this post, I mean. Create, recreate and so on...Considered the many things I should write about. The good, the great, the unexpected, the magic of it all. Just trying to share all the incredible experiences I've had, complete with the sounds, smells and yes even the soundtrack of the whole trip, as all good stories need a soundtrack. Try Gianna Nannini , Madonna's Miles Away or Open Road by Grace. I've had these tunes in my head for months now, playing over and over again...And every single time they take me back to the long, scenic drives in the south of Italy and the poppy fields of France. The lemon scent in the air in Amalfi; savouring every bite of the world's BEST pistachio gelato in Polignano-al-Mare, while the rough waves hit the rocks so hard your feet start trembling; gazing for hours at wild horses in the south of France, need I say more??
It all started in March, when we shuttered our humble abode and set off on a pilgrimage to the culinary motherlands of France and Italy. Being quite aware of the fact that not much can be done to temper the self-indulgence of this story's premise I will rely on just a few of the pictures to give you a taste of what it was like. For me.
















Strawberry Mozzarella salad with Prosciutto di Parma






After having mozzarella and prosciutto for lunch almost every day while in Italy, I felt (at the time) that I needed a break from both. Clearly this so called break did not last long. I found some gorgeous local strawberries at the market and just couldn't resist. On my way home I dropped by my local Salumeria for some fresh mozzarella and a few slices of prosciutto and hey presto lunch!

For the dressing mix some extravirgin olive oil with grainy mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Toss some sliced strawberries and mixed Italian greens with the dressing. Serve with torn mozzarella pieces and a few slices of prosciutto.Enjoy!
More on Italy and France coming soon...

Almond custard and mixed fruit gratins

There are three types of people in this world. Those who know how to appreciate what they already have, those who don't, and those who are seriously working on it. I proudly consider myself a member of group #3. But let's not go too deep here, I'm just talking about fruit. When at home, I tend to overlook them. If I want something sweet I just reach for some chocolaty concoction or a tall glass of fizzy apple lemongrass cordial on ice. Not even my shiny brand new fruit basket loaded with all sorts of tropical goodness and local apples and pears( always eat seasonal, right?) will make me throw a glance towards the healthy option. But all that is about to change. As I traveled a lot in the last few years, I realized that what I missed the most in my daily diet were fruits and soup. Not that you can't buy fruit anywhere, it's just that when I'm in a different country I want to eat as much local specialities as I can. These are usually cooked or baked, and that my friends means that there's no room for "boring" fruit like apples and oranges or chicken noodle soup for that matter. Now I try to eat all my fruit when they are still fresh, or use them in desserts, such as these delicious almond custard gratins. You can use any combination of fresh fruit. If you make this for guests, they will swoon first. Next they will ask weather they're easy to prepare. And immediately after your affirmative answer, they will ask for the recipe. I promise.


Ingredients:


2 large eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup almond meal
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
pinch of salt
1 large mango, peeled, cubed
2 kiwis, peeled, cubed
1 cup blueberries
3/4 cup slivered almonds
1/4 stick unsalted butter, cubed
creme fraiche, for serving


Preheat oven to 350F. Butter 4 gratin dishes.
Mix all the fruit in a bowl, then divide among gratin dishes.
Whisk eggs, cream, sugar,almond meal, vanilla, almond extract and salt until combined. Pour custard over fruit. Sprinkle with almonds and dot with butter. Bake for 35 minutes.
Cool to room temperature. Serve with creme fraiche.
Recipe adapted from Gourmet magazine.

Vanilla rice pudding with poppy seeds and mango

What do you do when without any reason whatsoever you keep forgetting things? Things like you have a class at 3pm, not 4 pm or meeting up with a friend you haven't seen for a long time or more importantly a doctor's appointment that you had to wait almost a year for??? I blame it on the weather (but then again I tend to blame everyhting on the cruel Canadian winter:)). What else could it be?! And of course we all know what to do to make things better when the weather is at fault: turn to some ultra soothing comfort food. This time I chose rice pudding with a twist. The milk, rice and some flavourings combination really works for me. Having tried other versions with cream, egg yolks, folded in at the end of cooking, or even coconut milk (all of which added unnecessary calories and made the pud taste waaaaay too rich) I can honestly say that this simple version is the best one. For me, at least.

Ingredients:

600 ml whole milk
4 1/4 oz caster sugar
pinch of salt
4 1/4 oz arborio or carnaroli rice
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp poppy seeds
1/2 tsp lime oil
1 mango


Heat the milk with the sugar and salt. Bring to a boil, add the rice. Reduce heat to low, and cook until thick and rice is tender, stirring occasionally (20 to 25 min). Remove from heat. Add poppy seeds, vanilla and lime oil. Garnish with cubed or sliced fresh mango.