Apple-Pay

The crypto-currency of the Auvergne!




Sorry to go on about my glut of fruit and veg this year- but in addition to everything else, it has proved to have a surprisingly good exchange rate. Certainly a lot better than poor old sterling!

So far, I have exchanged my trays of excess fruit with friends and neighbours for : marrows, tomatoes, courgettes, blackberry cordial,  3 dozen eggs, two boxes of jam jars, eau de vie, more tomatoes and 5 tubs of donkey manure. Not to mention bringing a smile to the faces of our wood supplier, boiler service engineer and electrician when presented with gifts of jam.

Thanks for the poo Josephine!

Only a week left before we return to the UK so I will be looking for profitable transactions on my pears, cabbages, chard and potimarrons before I go.

However, I am still using up the fruit that wouldn't fit in the freezer- spreading it over the top of cheesecakes, baking cakes and clafoutis and making chutney.
Here are a few recipes to take you into October.

Apple Clafoutis

2 apples
100g flour
50g sugar
400ml milk
20g butter
1 sachet of vanilla sugar
pinch salt

1. Separate the eggs and beat the whites until they form soft peaks

Beat the egg whites to soft peaks

2. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar, milk and melted butter
3. Beat in the flour until you have a smooth batter
4. Pour half the mixture into a buttered oven dish
5. Add slices of peeled apple
6. Gently fold in the whites into the remaining batter and pile on top of the apple mixture

Mix the egg whites into the remaining batter

7. Bake at 180 degrees until risen and golden.

Apple Clafoutis

Chestnut and Cherry Bars

125g unsalted butter

175g sugar

1 egg

250 g crème de marron

1 tsp vanilla essence

375g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch salt

200ml  cherry jam 

150g roasted peanuts or hazelnuts, chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees

2. Cream together the butter and sugar, then mix in the vanilla essence , egg and chestnut cream and beat with an electric mixer for 2 minutes

Cream the butter, sugar, eggs etc with an electric mixer

 3.Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt and mix until combined
4.Grease and line a baking tray or gratin dish and spread 2/3 of the dough along the bottom

Spread two thirds of the dough over the base of the lined dish

5. Spread the jam evenly over the dough
6. Drop blobs of the remaining dough randomly over the top

Spread with jam and the remaining dough in blobs

7. Sprinkle with the chopped peanuts and bake for 45 minutes until golden on top and cooked underneath.

8. Cut into slices when cool.

Chestnut and Cherry Bars

Jam Duffins

We made these little buns at Cookery Workshop this time. I have made them again at home using rice and cornflour mixed to make a gluten free version and they were just as good.
They are a cross between a doughnut and a muffin. What's not to like?

To make a dozen:

150g of flour
2 heaped tsp baking powder
1 pot natural yoghurt or milk
1 egg
40-50g sugar
75g melted butter
2 tsp vanilla essence
jam of choice

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
2. Beat the egg and the sugar together

Beat the egg and sugar together

3. Add the yoghurt/milk, butter, flour and baking powder and beat well

Beat in the other ingredients

4. Add the vanilla
5. Butter the insides of a muffin tray and half fill the cups with the mixture

Half-fill the muffin cups with batter

6. Add 1 spoon of jam to each cup

Add 1 spoonful of jam

7. Cover  with the remainder of the mixture and bake for 15 minutes until (you guessed it) risen and golden.

Cover with the remainder of the mixture

8. Leave to cool before unmoulding so the jam can soak well into the cakes.

Jam Duffins

And so, if you are looking for a safe investment I can thoroughly recommend Auvergne Apple-Pay. It looks like the best bet at the moment!

Poor old Pound!

Plum Crazy

After the fruitless summer of 2017- when the late frosts of the Saints de Glace laid waste to all the blossom- this year the fruit trees in my Auvergne garden have gone, well...crazy.

My greengage tree, which in the 3 years we have been living here has only produced 4 little fruits, is suddenly and bough-breakingly laden.
What's more, they are all ripe and need to be dealt with right away.




Ho-hum, never mind about unpacking. Time to get preserving.



In addition to all the usual crumbles, pies and cakes I made pots and pots of plum relish and chutney.

Relish/Chutney

There were also Clafoutis

Plum Clafoutis

and Tatins to be made.

Plum Tarte Tatin

And, just as an experiment, I decided to make an Oriental Plum Sauce for dipping and stir fries.

I put 2 kilos of plums ( or greengages to be more precise) in the slow cooker ( stones removed),

Plums in the slow cooker

along with 750g of white onions ( chopped), 6 fat garlic cloves, 4 heaped tsp of ground ginger, 6 heaped tsp of Chinese 5 Spice powder, 250 ml of soy sauce, 2 tbsp black treacle and  650ml of cider vinegar.

Onions and oriental flavours added

I left it to cook ( and smell delicious) for 6 hours. (You could achieve the same effect in a large pan, simmered for an hour.)

I then tipped it all into said large pan and blitzed it to a smooth mixture using a stick blender. I added 400g of dark brown sugar and 400g of white granulated and heated until all dissolved. A quick boil and then pour the hot mixture into hot sterilised bottles or jars and seal.

Oriental Plum Sauce

Summer Stir Fry

I have used this on stir fries (yum), also with bacon and eggs like HP sauce and last night added a dash to some sauteed Swiss Chard. It was delish.

Just as we were eating the last of the plum/greengages in a fruit salad- my neighbour called round.

"Cela vous intéresse, les prunes?" he asked hopefully, holding out a sack of 5 kilos of golden Mirabelles. Smiling gamely, I accepted ..retaliating an hour later with 3 kilos of apples surreptitiously hung over his fence as a gift.

So, it's back to the preserving pan to make Mirabelle Jelly..

Mirabelle Jelly all made

just don't talk to me yet about the groaning peach trees. Give me a week.

One of three peach trees!

A Sandwich Short of a Picnic

What a summer it's been so far for eating al fresco. Whether it's been barbecuing in the back yard, soaking up the sun in Saugues or brunching at Bewl Water, this has definitely been the year when we ate outdoors!

But my first picnic challenge of the year was an interesting one- a picnic guest who was cutting down on gluten and wanted to go breadless.
No more sandwiches, quiches and pizzas- time to get creative with the cool box.



So, on today's picnic menu we have Tortilla, Flourless Mushroom Muffins and Seeded Shards ( for dipping in hummus or guacamole)

The Tortilla is simple- and uses up any leftover cooked vegetables or garden glut you might have. This recipe is for a classic potato and onion tortilla.

Ingredients:
2 large white onions
2 medium sized potatoes
6 eggs and a splash of milk
pinch each of salt, pepper and sugar

1. Finely slice the onions and potatoes

Finely sliced veg ready

2. Put the onions to fry gently in a little vegetable oil- in a large non-stick frying pan.
3. Blanch the potato slices (if you are using raw rather than leftover boiled potatoes) for 5-8 minutes in boiling salted water until tender.
4. Add the sugar to the onions and continue to fry until golden brown
5. Add the blanched potato and continue to fry gently until the potato also starts to brown
6. Beat the eggs with the milk, salt and pepper
7. Pour over the potato/onion mix and continue to heat gently until the tortilla is set underneath
8. Place a plate over the pan and invert the tortilla onto it.

Invert onto a plate

9. Slide the tortilla back into the pan and continue to cook on the second side.
10. Cool, slice and serve.

Potato and Onion Tortilla

Flourless Mushroom Muffins

A bit like tortillas, these little om-cakes are cooked in the oven in muffin cases.

I've used mushrooms and spring onions as the flavouring as that is what I had to hand- but  again you can use any veg you choose (peas, spinach, leeks...)

Ingredients:

4 eggs separated
125g of veg- eg. sliced mushrooms, sliced spring onions
40 g of  grated mature cheddar
25ml milk

1. Line a muffin tin with paper or silicone cases (the latter work best) and pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees
2. Beat the egg whites until stiff
3. Gently fry the mushrooms and onions until just cooked

Fry your filling choice

4. Beat the eggs and milk together
5. Add the  chopped fried vegetables and the cheese
6. Gently fold in the egg whites and spoon into the cases

Fold in the egg whites

Spoon into muffin cases

7. Bake until risen and golden.

Risen and golden!

Flourless Mushroom Muffins

Seeded Shards

50g porridge oats
100g mixed savoury seeds
1 tbsp honey or maple syrup
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp approx of water to mix

1. Mix all the ingredients together with enough water to make the mixture soft

Mix all the ingredients together

2. Allow the oats to soak up the moisture
3. Line a baking tin with greaseproof paper and spread out the mixture, pressing down with a spoon

Press into a baking tin

4. Bake at 170 degrees until browned (approx 25-30 minutes)
5. Allow to cool completely and then break into shards
6. Store in an airtight container.

Seeded Shards

Now pack up some salad, some dips and crisps and crunchy veg sticks and plenty to drink.

You should have a picnic that will please the pickiest of picknickers- so what are you waiting for?

Service!

Le Temps des Cerises

Who would have thought that one cherry tree could yield so much?
Every day I pick buckets of fruit- and still there is 100 times that left on the tree!

So many cherries..so little time!

What to do with them all?

Well, I've made batch after batch of cherry jam of course. Then cherry jellies-

Cherry jelly

Cherry juice for morning breakfast (reputedly good for gout!)-

Cherry juice

Cherrry compote (slow cooked with red wine and a tablespoon of icing sugar) for swirling onto ice cream..

Cherry compote ready for slow cooking

or layering onto chocolate cake with a dollop of chocolate mousse to make a Black Forest Express

All aboard the Black Forest Express

Spiced boozy cherries (with cinnamon and sugar, bottled in eau de vie)

Simmered with cinnamon and icing sugar

Boozy bottled cherries

I've floated them in jugs of Pimms..

Cherry o'clock

I've given them away to friends, neighbours and strangers alike.

Ouf! I'm running out of ideas. 

One last one though...Tarte Aux Cerises

You will need:

1 quantity of sweet pastry made by blitzing 225g of plain flour with 110g soft butter and 80g of icing sugar with 1 large egg in the food processor.

Cherries 

200 ml of either chocolate mousse, vanilla frosting or crème patissière

Jam to glaze

1. Make the pastry as above and press into a flan dish.

Ready for baking blind

2. Bake at 170 degrees until lightly golden all over.

3. Allow to cool completely then spread on your filling of choice.

4. De-stone the cherries and soften them a little by microwaving ( or simmering) for a very short time with a little icing sugar. (Microwaving helps preserve the colour).

5. Arrange the fruit on your flan base.

6. Melt some jam ( I used cherry of course, but strawberry or bramble or other red fruit would be fine) and glaze the surface of the fruit usng a pastry brush.

Glaze with red jam

Et voilà!

Tarte aux Cerises

And by the way- I'm sure you've all guessed what you're getting for Christmas this year!