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!

Week 15- Greek Chic

Alright, I'm exaggerating a bit here!

It's been a funny old week- after a brief glimpse of summer over the Bank Holiday weekend, the weather has moved on to autumn with gales and rain. The sea has been roaring outside my window all last night.

It's hard to know whether to go for a seasonal spring menu or autumnal comfort food.
Also I was on the water (kayaking) most of the weekend- being buffeted by the wind- and unable to plan menus or shop. So it was very much a case of 'What's left over in the fridge or languishing in the freezer?'
I had frozen halloumi cheese (leftover from a couple of weeks ago), a breast of lamb in the freezer, olives, some yoghurt,  a bulb of fennel and some fresh fruit to use up in the fruit bowl.

Time to go Greek, methinks.

So today's menu is : halloumi bites with olives and balsamic vinaigrette to start, followed by slow roasted breast of lamb on a bed of braised fennel with orange- and fresh fruit with fudge fondue and greek yoghurt for dessert.

The starter is simple enough - cube the halloumi cheese and fry it in a little vegetable oil until brown and crispy. Put it in a bowl, next to a bowl of olives and a dipping sauce of vinaigrette made from 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp Dijon mustard and some salt and pepper. I make it in a screw top jar, shake it up and then pour into the serving bowl. You can pour leftovers back in afterwards and keep in the fridge.
If you have other meze type nibbles eg. a tin of stuffed vine leaves, some grilled peppers in oil, cubes of ham etc then add them in to make the starter more substantial- or indeed into a main meal.

Halloumi Bites with vinaigrette dip

For the breast of lamb, I used the slow cooker. First, seal the meat all over in a dry frying pan until it is brown and some fat starts to run. Place it in the slow cooker with a glass of red wine and a glass of water ( or two glasses of stock), season with herbes de provence, salt and pepper and leave to cook on low for 4-5 hours. When it is tender, remove from the cooker and put in a hot oven (200 degrees) for 35-45 minutes to crisp up the skin.
 Meanwhile, slice the fennel thinly (keep back the stalks and feathery fronds). Soften 1 small white onion in some butter or oil in a saucepan and add the sliced fennel. Pour on 1/2 glass of orange juice and a good pinch of salt and pepper (some extra chopped olives go well too). Cover with a piece of baking paper and a lid - this way the fennel braises without drying out. Turn the heat right down and leave to braise.

Take the lamb out of the oven and leave to rest for 5-10 minutes, then slice into rounds and lay these on a bed of fennel. Decorate with the feathery fronds. (The stalks are for lunch tomorrow.)

Slow Roasted Lamb Breast with Fennel

For dessert, slice up whatever fresh fruit you have in the bowl- I had an orange, a kiwi and some grapes. Pineapple or banana would be good too- or melon.
Make the sauce by melting together 1 tbsp of muscavado sugar, 1 tbsp of golden syrup and 30 g of butter. Bring to the boil. Take off the heat and stir in 1 tsp vanilla essence and 2 tbsp of double cream. Pour into individual dipping pots and serve immediately- so you can dunk your fruit in whilst the sauce is still hot and runny.

Fruit with Fudge Fondue

The lamb leftovers were chopped up and made into 'Cornish' (or rather Sussex) pasties. (As they are made with lamb, they can't be called true Cornish pasties.) Soften 1 small white onion in a little oil, add the chopped lamb, 1 small potato diced and 1 small diced turnip or swede.( I blanched the potato and turnip in boiling water for 2 minutes first).Cook for a few minutes, but it doesn't need to be cooked through as it is going into the oven. Moisten with some of the leftover gravy from the lamb (but don't make it too sloppy).  Season really well with a tsp of salt and 1 tsp ground black pepper.Roll out some shortcrust pastry until thin, and then cut out rounds using a dinner plate (for a Pasty-zillah), or side plates for smaller versions. Lay your meat mixture along one half of the pastry, about 1 cm in from the side.

 Brush the edges with water,  fold the top half over, and crimp the edges tightly shut using a fork

Perfection in Pasties

. Lay on a greased baking sheet. Brush with milk or beaten egg and bake at 190 degrees for 20-25 minutes until golden brown all over.




Pasties are a brilliant way to use up leftovers- either, like here, with all the leftover bits from a roast dinner or with whatever you have to use up. I like vegetarian ones best- with potato, cheese and onion or with leftover stir fry veg for a fusion East meets West. Or you could continue the Greek theme with spinach and cream cheese.

The leftover fennel stalks were sliced into batons, added to cucumber and carrot sticks and had with hummus for my lunch.

Leftover lunch

Any leftover fudge sauce can go with ice cream or drizzle over fruit. I didn't have any left though.