Quince Essentials

 

Quince trees abound in my part of France- and a windy October day brought the ripe yellow fruit tumbling down.

I was lucky enough to be given a big bag full from my generous neighbour- but if you can't find them where you are then most of the recipes in this month's blog work well with pears, apples or plums.

Now, lovely though they are, the heady perfumed skin is not to everyone's taste ( or more particularly their sense of smell) so it was a good idea to use these up quickly as the scent can quickly overpower a room.

My neighbour recommended eating them just simply baked in the oven so I tried this first.

Wash the fruit well, cut in half and scoop out the black seeds with a sharp knife:

Prepare your fruit

Place in a baking tray with a filling of your choice- I used sultanas and golden syrup but you could use anything you like ( for example sherry or port, butter and brown sugar as illustrated by my friend Michelle's Pommes au Porto)

My version with syrup and sultanas

Michelle's apple version with port, butter and sugar

Bake in a moderate oven for 35-45 minutes until tender, then serve with cream or mascapone.

Baked stuffed quince

You can also bake them into a Tarte Tatin- simmer the peeled quince for 15 minutes or so to soften them ( they will turn a slightly pink colour) and then make some caramel by melting 2-3 tablespoons of sugar in a frying pan, placing the quince into the hot liquid caramel and then topping with a circle of puff pastry. Bake at 185 degrees for about 25-30 minutes until the pastry is risen and golden, then whip it out of the oven ( wearing your thickest oven gloves) and invert it onto a plate.

Quince Tatin

Or try a Crumble. Blitz together 125g plain flour, 50g sugar, 70g butter and a sachet of vanilla sugar. 

Blitz up your crumble topping

Simmer your peeled and prepared quince for 10-15 minutes or so to soften them, mix with other fruit if you want ( I used blackberries ) and top with the crumble. Bake at 170 degrees until bubbling and golden. Serve with ice cream.

Quince and Blackberry Crumble

I also used up a leftover buttery croissant to make a Quince Bread and Butter Pudding. 

Prepare the quince as for a crumble ( above ) but top with a sliced croissant. Make a custard from 1 egg, 150 ml milk and 2 tsps vanilla essence.

Pour over the croissant and quince and leave for half an hour or so to soak in.

Sprinkle on a sachet of vanilla sugar.

Leave the fruit, sugar and croissant to soak in the custard

Bake at 150 degrees until the custard is set and firm.

Quince Bread and Butter Pudding

And finally, I made Quince Membrillo ( paste or jelly served with cheese in Spain for tapas)

Apparently this recipe works equally well with plums, if you haven't got quince.

For 1 kg of quince, you will need the juice of 2 lemons and 400g of preserving sugar.

Place the chopped quince in a heavy bottomed saucepan with a little water. Simmer for 30-40 minutes until the fruit is very tender, then add the lemon juice and sugar. Cook, stirring all the time until the sugar is dissolved.

Then either sieve or blitz the fruit to make a purée.

Cook the purée down for another twenty minutes, until it is reduced by about a third. Keep stirring as it becomes very thick and can catch.

Then you can either pot it up in sterilized jars (as I did) or pour into a baking tray lined with silicone paper and leave to cool before slicing to serve with cheese.

And there I will stop. I hope this inspires you to dine on quince ( with or without mince)!

 

And not a runcible spoon in sight!

Perfect Pairings

  

This has been a good year in the potager for most of my fruit and veg. Especially cherry tomatoes, butternut squash, potatoes, apples and pears.

The latter are the last to ripen, and are just starting to turn yellow and soften slightly at the base. Just right for making into jams, chutneys, compotes, puddings -and good for eating fresh too.

So, in addition to my usual dishes, I'm teaming the pears up with some other flavours to showcase them this year.

Just as the pears begin to ripen, so the walnuts start to fall from the trees.  

Serendipity indeed as the two go beautifully together. Especially in a Salade Auvergnate.

Walnuts and pears- a marriage made in heaven

Begin by shelling the walnuts and removing any brittle core inside.

Shelled walnuts

Then mix them with some melted butter and either honey, or maple syrup. 

Mix with melted butter and some honey

Spread out on a piece of baking parchment and either bake at 150 degrees for 10 minutes ( watching closely to check they sizzle but don't burn) or leave them in a cooling oven ( switched off after baking something else) until they are toasted.

Toast on baking paper in medium oven

Now - make your salad. Peel and core the pears, slice and dip in lemon juice. Cube some blue cheese like Bleu d'Auvergne (or any cheese you like if you are not a fan of blue). Sizzle some smoked bacon lardons in a pan. Mix together salad leaves, tomatoes, pears, bacon, cheese and walnuts and serve with a dressing of your choice.

Salade Auvergnate

Another flavour that goes well with pears is star anise. I often use it when poaching pears for a dessert or to add to a trifle.

Pears poached with star anise

This time I used it to make a Spiced Pear Jam.

Begin by macerating 2 kilos of peeled and chopped pears in 1 kilo of  sugar and the zest and juice of 3 lemons. Leave overnight.

Mix together pears, sugar and lemon juice

The next day, drain the juice into a preserving pan and bring to the boil with 3-4 star anise.

When all the sugar is dissolved, add the fruit pieces and bring back to the boil. Remove the star anise and any scum which forms, and continue to boil until the mixture reaches a jam set ( 104 degrees) or a spoonful sets easily on a cold saucer. Quickly stir in a sachet of agar agar dissolved in a spoonful of cold water.

Pot up the hot liquid into hot sterilized jars.

Pour into hot jars

The next day the jam will have cooled and set nicely, ready for labelling and storing.

Spiced Pear Jam

Plenty of pears still left over for a Pear Tatin ( easiest pud in the world if you have some readymade puff pastry)

Pear Tatin

Or a Chocolate and Pear Tart ( just a pastry case, poached pears and some chocolate sponge mix)

Chocolate and Pear Tart

However you eat them- enjoy the best of the Autumn harvest. And hope to see you at Christmas!

Socially Distanced Suppers

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They say that she who sups with the Devil should have a long spoon- and in these devilishly difficult times, that's sound advice.

But it's summer! We want to entertain and be entertained, to eat, drink and be merry with friends, to share suppers together..

And it can be done- with a little care, a lot of hygiene and a dash of creative catering.

Oh.. and a set of 1970's fondue forks.

I bought these retro classics in 1978 in France- and they remain amongst my treasured possessions.

My beloved fondue forks

Now I know the idea of a fondue pot, where everyone dips in their forks again and again- is pretty abhorrent these days. But a sharing platter can be enjoyed without the perils of the spoon sharers, double-dippers and sauce slurpers.

Take, for example, my Friday Night Aiöli:

Friday Night Aiöli

Give everybody a long fork, an individual dish of Aiöli sauce and a large sharing platter of vegetables, prawns, fish or hard boiled eggs. Guests can spear their choices and load their plates, then dip them as much as they like into their personal dish of creamy, garlicky sauce.

The simplest way to make Aiöli sauce is in the food processor:

Soak a pinch of saffron strands in 1 tbsp of boiling water and 3 tsps of lemon juice
Put 3 crushed fat garlic cloves ( or more if you like), 3 tsps Dijon mustard, 1 tsp salt, good grind of black pepper and 3 egg yolks into the goblet of your food processor and blitz to a creamy paste.
Gradually pour in 300ml of olive oil through the feed tube and keep blitzing until the mixture emulsifies. Finally add the saffron, water and lemon juice and blitz a little more.

Or you can whisk it up by hand if you need the exercise!

Aiöli the hard way!

Spoon the sauce into individual bowls.

Use the same idea ( individual dipping pots, long forks ) to make chocolate fondue for fruit:

Strawberry and Chocolate Fondue

Just put 100g dark chocolate, 1 tsp each of kirsch and icing sugar and a knob of butter in a pretty cup or bowl and microwave for 1 minute.

Or make Toffee Fudge Fondue:

Toffee Fudge Fondue

Melt together 1 tbsp muscovado sugar, 1 tbsp golden syrup and 30 g butter. Stir in 1 tsp vanilla essence and 2 tbsp double cream and serve in indivual pots

Or Ban-iteroles with Fudge Sauce:

Ban-iteroles with Fudge Sauce

(Choux buns filled with cream and sliced banana, threaded on to forks or skewers with individual sauce jugs.)


If you are unlucky enough not to have a set of fondue forks, of course long bamboo skewers would do as well.

Just remember to share with care!

Strawberry Fields

Well..more small Strawberry Patch than Field-  but abundant this year nevertheless.

The season was short (pretty much finished now), but enough strawberries for jam and puds galore.

I know I posted up various strawberry ideas this time last year- so this time I have come up with some new recipes.

I'm starting with a Strawberry and Rosé Jelly, making some easy Strawberry Jam, a simple Strawberry Pavlova and finishing with a Strawberry Fool.





The idea of having leftover rosé might seem strange- but I bought some from the local supermarket and after a glass each we all developed headaches. Not a good sign. This wine wasn't a good choice for quaffing- so it's being used up for pot roasting chicken, marinading and boiling up for syrup as used in this jelly recipe.

Wash and trim 400 g of strawberries:

Strawberries prepped

Measure out 500ml of wine and add 100g of vanilla sugar.

Wine ready for boiling

Boil in a saucepan until the sugar is dissolved and for a further 6 minutes to reduce and boil away the alcohol.

Add 1-2  sachets of agar agar, dissolved according to the packet instructions and stir until well incorporated:

Add the agar agar

Put the strawberries in a suitable mould ( a metal loaf tin is good) and pour over the liquid:

Jelly ready for chilling

Chill overnight and then turn out onto a plate just before serving. (Hold the mould in very hot water for 30 seconds and it should turn out easily):

Strawberry and Rosé Jelly

I had 3 leftover egg whites in the freezer ( from making a Spaghetti Carbonara I think) and so defrosted them ready to whip up for an easy Pavlova.

Whisk them with 100g caster sugar, added gradually, 1 tsp cornflour, 1 tsp white wine vinegar and 1 tsp vanilla extract until they form stiff glossy peaks.

Glossy egg whites

Mark out a dinner plate sized circle on baking paper and spoon the mixture into it. Make some smaller spoonfuls too ( for 'nests' to go on top).

Spoon onto marked baking paper

Bake in a cool oven (150 degrees) until golden and firm ( about an hour). Switch off oven and allow the meringues to cool along with it.

Baked Meringues

Once cool, simply pile high with strawberries, whipped cream, a teaspoon of crème de cassis if you fancy, chopped pistachios ( if you want) , whatever you fancy.

Strawberry Pavlova

Whilst the meringues are cooking in the oven, it's just about the right amount of time to make some easy Strawberry Jam ( and to sterilize some jars in the oven at the same time too):

Sterilize jars whilst meringues cook

Wash and prepare a kilo of strawberries. Place half of them plus 200g out of a prepared kilo of jam sugar into a saucepan. Heat until the sugar begins to dissolve and then mash with a potato masher.

Mash half the strawberries over the heat

Then add the rest of the strawberries, the rest of the jam sugar and 2 tbsp of lemon juice and bring to a rolling boil.

Boil until you achieve a set

Once the jam has reached a temperature of 104 degrees ( and stays there for a while), you are ready to test for a set. Put a teaspoon of jam onto a very cold saucer and check it wrinkles when pushed, and a (clean) finger pushed through it leaves a clear trail.

It is ready for potting up in your sterilized jars:

Easy Strawberry Jam

And finally...if you didn't have leftover egg whites for the Pavlova, and instead you separated out some eggs...here is an idea of what to do with the egg yolks.

Make a custard by mixing the egg yolks with a little cornflour and 2 tbsp sugar in a glass bowl. Heat 350 ml of milk ( or coconut milk or almond milk would be delicious too) and gently pour into the egg mixture, stirring all the time.

Whisk the coconut/ almond milk into the eggs

Whip the mixture in the glass bowl over a pan of simmering water until it thickens and forms a custard.

Blitz 300g of ripe strawberries into the mix, add a little whipped cream if you want, pour into dishes and chill. Et voilà- Strawberry Fool.

Strawberry Fool

And so ends this year's strawberry ideas. If you want to look at some others- here's the link.

http://lizsleftovers.blogspot.com/search/label/strawberries

Enjoy your strawberries responsibly and do keep safe!