For the past several days we've had an Italian cooking in my Kitchen, so today I thought I would run with the European Theme,  and show you something that is quite typically French. The French and English share a somewhat tenuous love/hate relationship I think . . . we've come to love their cafe culture and flock over the channel in hordes to partake of their lovely foods and cheeses . . . and yet at the same time . . . we're not quite ready to embrace them as a people . . . nor are they ready to embrace us I don't think.  I think perhaps they will always see us a little bit as intruders . . . and more than a little bit crazy.

 

They think we work too hard . . . we eat too fast . . . we don't know how to relax .  .  .  our cheeses are boring (NOT) and the only thing we know how to cook properly  is Roast Beef.  We think they have a tendency to be a bit laisser faire about life . . . they take too long to eat . . . they eat far too much garlic, and they are missing cheddar in their cheese shops (only the best cheese in the world, lol) . . . not to mention, they eat some pretty strange things like escargots and frogs legs . . .  oh, and all  the men have mistresses . . .
(Note . . . these are only random generalizations . . . and not the way I really think.  I am merely taking a fun poke at things.  My father is French.)

 

In reality, I love French food and patisserie . . . I always have done . . . especially the rustic country fare . . . and who does bread better than the French???   I don't think anyone can beat their bread . . . the first thing I do when we go across to Calais on the Ferry is to indulge in a fresh Almond Croissant . . . and don't get me started on their Macarons . . . I just adore them.  I could quite happily spend a week in a French Patisserie, indulging all of my whims and pastry fantasies.

 

This cake here today is a recipe which I gleaned from one of my favourite cookery books "Under the Walnut Tree, great recipes from our kitchen" by mother and daughter,  Anna and Fanny Bergenstrom.  No, they are not French.  They're Swedish, but their cooking is a happy mix of all things European, including this lovely cake, entitled "Granny's French Pear and Almond Cake."

 

It's a lovely cake, gluten free . . . loaded with beautiful ripe pears . . . ground almonds  . . . and I added a touch of ground cardamom as pears and cardamom are such a quintessentially beautiful partnership and marriage of flavours.

 

The end result is a cake that is a beautiful light . . .  almost ethereal . . . creation.  Simple and yet divine.  Feel free to make this in individual dishes if you wish.  That would be so sweet upon the table I think . . . for today though, I just baked it in one 8 by 10 porcelain baking dish . . . and it looked every bit as lovely as it tasted.

 

Enjoy.



*French Pear, Almond and Cardamom Cake*
Serves 4 to 5
Printable Recipe

A light cake, stogged full of lovely sweet pears, ground almonds and just the merest hint of cardamom, which goes so very well with the pear.  Serve warm with some pouring cream.  If I am not mistaken this is also gluten free.

100g of ground almonds (19 TBS)
2 TBS butter, softened for buttering the dish
4 large firm, ripe pears
100g of butter, at room temperature (7 TBS)
100g of golden caster sugar (8 1/2 TBS)
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
pinch salt
2 medium free range eggs
2 TBS fresh lemon juice
icing sugar to dust
pouring cream or vanilla ice cream to serve

Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6.  Butter an oven proof dish with the soft butter.

Peel your pears, core them and then cut them into thick wedges.  Arrange the wedges in the prepared baking dish and then pop them into the heated oven for 10 to 15 minutes, while you mix together the batter.

Cream together the butter and caster sugar until light.  Stir in the ground almonds, cardamom and salt.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time.  Stir in the lemon juice until the mixture is smooth and combined.  Remove the baking dish from the oven and spread the almond batter over top of the pear wedges.

Return to the oven and bake for a further 15 minutes. 

Dust the warm cake with some icing sugar and serve either  on it's own, or with some pouring cream or vanilla bean ice cream.

Since I am away at the Turkey Awards in London, I have another  lovely guest post here for you today from my friend Giuseppe of the blog Il Paladino del Gusto.


(I hope that he doesn't mind me sharing his photo with you.)

Giuseppe is a handsome Italian Chef who cooks and works in Parma, Italy and has very kindly offered to step into my place while I am away.   He has a degree in Gastronomic Sciences, and is a trained Pasta Chef, and works as a manager/trainer in the Food and Beverage Industry in Italy.  I hope you will give him a very warm welcome and go and visit his page in return.  Remember that English is not his first language, nor is Italian mine!  I think together we have done very well with this presentation,  so for now here is the dessert that he wishes to share with us.

 

 *Sformatino al Ciccolato*
Chocolate Souffle cakes with custard
makes about 5-6 servings
Printable Recipe

This dessert is the most popular on the menu at the restaurant where I work.  It is very delicate and very delicious!
(Note:  The recipe was originally to serve 50 people.  I (Marie) have adapted it to serve only 5 or 6.)

For the little souffle cakes:
100g plain chocolate
100g of unsalted butter
100g of plain flour
80g of caster sugar
2 large fresh free range eggs
1 tsp baking powder

For the Custard:
250ml of whole milk
250ml of double cream
7 large free range egg yolks
125g of caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla
15g of cornflour (cornstarch)

 

Method:
For the Custard:
Mix the milk and double cream together in the top part of a double boiler.

Beat the egg yolks and sugar together and whisk this into the milk mixture. 

Whisk together the cornflour with some cold water to make a paste.  Whisk this into the milk mixture.  Place the saucepan over the bottom pot of the double boiler, over simmering water, over medium heat.  Cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture reaches 82*C.  Remove from the heat, whisk in the vanilla,  and allow to cool, stirring occasionally.  Cover the surface with some plastic cling film to keep a skin from forming.

For the souffle cakes:

Melt the chocolate and butter together in the top of a double boiler over simmering water.

Break the eggs into a bowl and beat them together with the sugar.  Sift together the flour and baking powder.  Fold this into the egg mixture, then add the melted chocolate butter mixture and beat thoroughly.

Butter 5 to 6 ramekins and dust lightly with some caster sugar.  Divide the chocolate mixture between them.  Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6.  Bake the souffle cakes for 10 minutes without opening the door.

Ladle some of the custard sauce into the bottom of 5 to 6 dessert plates.  Top each with a chocolate souffle cake, turned out.  If desired dust with some icing sugar to serve.  These cakes are best served warm so that the middle is soft.  It will solidify as it cools, so these are best served warm to hot.
 Do NOT over bake!

Many thanks Giuseppe!

I'll be back tomorrow with something delectable from our shared neighbour France.  (We're being very European this weekend!)

Since I am away at the Turkey Awards in London, I have a lovely guest post here for you today from my friend Giuseppe of the blog Il Paladino del Gusto.




(I hope that he doesn't mind me sharing his photo with you.)

Giuseppe is a handsome Italian Chef who cooks and works in Parma, Italy and has very kindly offered to step into my place while I am away.   He has a degree in Gastronomic Sciences, and is a trained Pasta Chef, and works as a manager/trainer in the Food and Beverage Industry in Italy.  I hope you will give him a very warm welcome and go and visit his page in return.  Remember that English is not his first language, nor is Italian mine!  I think together we have done very well with this presentation,  so for now here is the first dish he wishes to share with us.

This is a dish he cooked for a Michelin Starred Restaurant in 2004.  A delicious looking dish of pasta with vegetables and shellfish.  Shellfish is not something you find very often on here as both the Toddster and I are allergic, so do enjoy a rare treat!

 

Pork is not something we eat a lot of in our house . . . It's not that we don't like it.  We both really love it . . . it's just not something we have very often.  When we do have it, I find myself wondering why we don't have it more often than we do!!  It's so very yummy!

When I was a child, we used to have pork chops about once a week.  In the olden days, way back then, people used to think that you had to cook pork to death . . . and so my mother's pork chops always closely resembled boomerangs.  It  never failed.  They always ended up dry and hard, except that you didn't want them to come back!  Sorry mom!


Mom would sometimes cook roast pork . . . but my dad only liked it served cold, so we never had hot roast pork for dinner.  It was always served  a day old and cold . . . thinly sliced, and  with some French's mustard on the side.  I used to long for a hot roast pork dinner . . . with lots of gravy and mashed spuds, and perhaps some applesauce and stuffing.  (Oh and let's not forget the brussels sprouts and carrots!)

We never ever had anything like pork tenderloin.  I am not sure I even knew pork tenderloin existed when I was growing up!  (Not in our house anyways!)  Once I became an adult, however, and began cooking for myself, I made up for lost time with lots of hot roast pork dinners, tender pork chops and tasty pork tenderloin . . .  One of my favourite ways to do a Pork loin involves making deep cuts into it every couple of inches of the surface and inserting thin slices of garlic and herbs into the pockets.  It's also fabulous stuffed with fruit . . . especially prunes and apricots . . .




I love pork tenderloin, as long as it's cooked properly. It is like the filet steak of porkdom!  Nice and tender and full of flavour . . .

Pork goes so  very well with fruit.  More often than not we have it with apples and cider . . .  but occasionally you come across a little gem like this fantastic recipe that I found in Cooking Light.  (Which also means it is low in fat and calories!  Always a bonus!) I adapted it slightly, of course!  The original didn't call for flouring the meat, but I felt that it would give it a lovely crispy crust.


I was right.  This is fabulous!  The meat nice and tender and moist, but with a rich outside crust, and that sauce . . . it's a wonderful combination of fruit and tang . . . in short . . . to die for!  A most wonderful combination!

What's even better is that it comes  together lickety split!!  You can have it on the table quicker than you can say Jack Robin!!  This will have them licking their chops for sure!  I would serve this to company!!



*Pork Cutlets with a Port and Cherry Pan Sauce*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Delicious pork tenderoin cutlets sauteed until golden brown and served with a scrumptious Port and Dried Cherry pan sauce.

250ml of ruby port (1 cup)
a generous handful of dried cherries
4 tsp seedless raspberry jam
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 TBS sunflower oil
1 1/2 pound piece of pork tenderloin, trimmed
2 dessert spoons of plain flour
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 TBS butter



Whisk together the port, cherries, jam and mustard.  Set aside to allow the cherries to macerate and plump up a bit.

Cut  the pork tenderloin crosswise into 16 even pieces.  Season well with  some salt and black pepper.  Dust lightly with flour, shaking off any  excess.

Heat the oil in a skillet until hot.  Add the pork and  cook approximately 4 minutes on each side until golden brown and cooked  through.  Remove from the pan and set aside, keeping it warm.

Stir  the wine mixture into the pan, scraping to loosen any browned bits up from  the bottom of the pan.  Allow to bubble up and reduce until about half  the volume.  Remove from the heat.  Whisk in the butter.  Divide the  pork between heated dinner plates, spooning an equal amount of cherry  sauce over each portion.

 

  

Hooray for autumn and all those lovely apples that are now being offered at road stands and in the produce departments of the local shops.  Not French Apples either, but beautiful, sweet delicious fresh British Apples.  Perfect for eating out of hand, cooking into sauces and chutnies . . .  and for baking into lovely pies, tarts, muffins and cakes.  Cakes like this beautiful one I am showcasing here today.

This is a deliciously different cake, baked from an old traditional  recipe which is Irish in origin.  What makes it different you ask???  Well . . . this is a cake that is  a cross between a cake and a scone . . .



The method used to make the cake batter is very similar to the same method you would use when making traditional scones . . . rubbing the butter into the flour with your fingertips until crumbly. Stirring in the wet ingredients with a round bladed knife to make a soft dough . . . but that is where the similarity ends.  It bakes up into a deliciously moist cake . . . not a sturdy scone.



I guess you could say that is is also similar to a pie, because you have both a top and a bottom crust, with a delicious apple filling sandwiched in the middle . . . the top and bottom crusts melting together at the edges, and then baking in and around the apples, to form one of  the tastiest cakes ever!!



At one time this cake would have been placed into an iron pot oven, with burning coals topping the pot . . . the pot situated close to the open fire on a rustic Irish cottage hearth . . .



Oh what a romantic image that inspires . . .  I can almost  see it now . . . the flames from the open fire licking up and down the walls . . . the light flickering on the dark cottage walls . . . the smell of smoke mingled with that beautiful smell of baking cakes . . . apples . . .  and spice . . .



Alas, we have no open hearth . . . simply an electric oven and a deep flan tin but nevermind . . . it still tastes pretty darn good!!!

Served warm with lashings of warm custard . . . this was the perfect rainy day teatime treat.



*Irish Apple Cake*
Serves 6 to 8
 Printable Recipe

A delicous version of an apple cake, baked with tasty apple slices sandwiched in the centre. Serve warm with or without custard.

225g self raising flour (generous 2 cups)
(You may need extra
so don't put the flour away just yet)
115g  butter (1/2 cup)
1 large free range egg, lightly beaten
115g caster sugar (9 1/2 TBS)
3 fluid ounces milk

Filling:
2 cooking apples, peeled and sliced
1/2 tsp cinnamon
57g soft light brown sugar (4 1/2 TBS)

Topping:
a little beaten egg
1 level TBS of caster sugar

Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Butter a deep flan tin, with a loose bottom, roughly 9 inches in diameter. set aside.

Place the flour and butter into a large bowl. Rub the butter in with your fingertips to form a breadcrumb texture. Stir in the sugar. Add the beaten egg and milk and mix together with a round bladed knife. If the dough seems a bit too sticky add a bit more flour. You want a soft dough, but not a sticky one. Turn out onto a floured board and cut the dough in half. Place half of the dough into the flan tin, pressing it in with floured fingers to evenly cover the bottom of the dish. Spread the apple slices evenly over the base, leaving a bit of an edge all the way around. Sprinkle with the soft light brown sugar and the cinnamon. Carefully roll out the remaining half of the dough into a circle roughly the same size as the dish. Place on top of the apples, pressing the edges together with the bottom crust. Cut several slits in the top of the cake for ventilation.

Brush with a little beaten egg and sprinkle the TBS of caster sugar evenly over top. Bake for 35 minutes, until well risen and golden brown.

Place the tin on top of a jar and push the sides of the pan down and remove. Place the cake on a wire rack to cool to warm before cutting into wedges to serve.



If there's anything else that goes very well on a rainy day with a cake such as this, it is a nice hot cup of herbal tea.  Today we were supping on beautiful cups of Fruit Medley Tea which was sent to us from Adagio Teas.  A delicious herbal blend of rose hips, hibiscus, apple pieces, natural strawberry flavour and strawberries, orange peel and natural wild cherry . . . soooo good, almost addictive and soooo good for you!  A wonderfully aromatic and flavourful blend which contains nothing artificial, no sweeteners, and totally caffeine free.

Adagio Teas recently sent me a lovely assortment of their herbal tea range . . . all lovely. We've really been enjoying these lovely blends . . .

Lemon Grass . . . with a delicate Meyer lemon taste, as well as a slight hint of sweet ginger, and very aromatic floral fragrance. Smooth and fragrant. It felt very soft in the mouth, not astringent at all with a lovely clean finish. Very Thai . . . an uplifting, yet naturally caffeine free tea.

Blood Orange . . . another favourite with a deep vibrant colour and sweet tangy flavour . . . and yet without sugar.  It's a combination of orange peels, hibiscus flowers, rose hips and natural orange flavour.  Very, very rich and tangy . . . just lovely.  (I used to love Constant Comment tea when I drank black teas . . . and this really reminded me of that.)

Rooibos Vanilla . . . this lovely rooibos tea combines that beautiful and rich  sugary scent of vanilla, combined with the fruity juiciness from the rooibos, altogether almost dessert-like . . . but without the calories.  A cookie you can drink, and not gain an ounce on your hips.

White Blueberry . . . you know how much I love Blueberries . . . a premium white tea, combined with the taste of juicy blueberries.  The Canuck in me loved this both warm as a hot drink . . . but also cold as an iced tea.  It had a clean refreshing taste . . . most delectable.



You would think that all those lovely herbal blends would be enough . . . but no, they also sent me a beautiful little gift  set of "Love Petals." This is a sweetly presented set of three delicious sounding teas in gorgeously romantic looking  rose printed tins . . . Ripe for Romance (a mix of black tea, cocoa nibs, raspberry leaves, raspberry pieces, and natural chocolate and raspberry flavours.  Sounds nummy.)  Sweet Nothings (a mix of white tea, sunflower petals, lavender buds, apricot bits, and natural peach flavour) Hugs and Kisses (A mix or rooibos, rose petals, cornflowers, and natural vanilla, almond, cream and caramel flavours.)  I have not tried these yet, but they do sound delicious and those tins are just beautiful.  I think these would be a lovely gift for someone special.

Wow, nice . . . I can hear you thinking that.  But that is not all . . .



They also sent me this really neat little tea steeper!  The ingenuiTEA is a really nice looking piece of kit which promises to be the  most convenient tea pot you will ever find anywhere.

From their page:  The most convenient teapot you will find anywhere - we guarantee it. When tea is ready, simply place it atop your cup. This will cause a valve at the bottom to release: crystal-clear tea flows down, while the mesh filter retains all the leaves with one of the best infusers on the market. Super easy to clean and dishwasher safe - perfect for the office or the road. You will wonder how you got along without one. 

Can it live up to it's promise??



Very simple, easy to read and great instructions on it's use clearly printed on the side
of the box.



Boiled water added to the tea.



Steep for the required time.



Placed over the cup, it empties itself into the cup.  Just make sure your cup is large enough to take the amount of liquid in the teapot . . . or else it will over flow!  (That happened to me the first time I used it!  DUH!)



A beautiful, well steeped, delicious flavoured cup, of hot, warming, comforting tea.

What more could you want??

Many thanks to Stepas and Adagio Teas for affording me this lovely chance.
What can I say . . . I'm hooked.  These herbal blends are quite, quite fabulous!