Mmmmmmonday Morning brunch

Monday mornings! most people hate them… I certainly did until recently when i have decided to take some time off work and spend time cooking and crafting for a little while. its been pretty bleak weather here but the sun decided to shine this morning and so we decided to have a little family brunch.

French toast
Bacon
Scrambled Eggs
Berries and locally farmed honey! Yum!

French toast is made in so many ways but here is my family recipe.

4 eggs beaten in a bowl with two heaped tablespoons of icing sugar and a splash of milk.
Soak the bread but not until its too soggy then fry it on a gentle heat until browned each side.

Serve!

Eggs For Breakfast

Well, its december now and I am starting to get into the Christmas spirit! A little too early to put up the tree but I figured I would do something nice for my little one today.

Above are my festive eggs! No culinary skill needed!

My non-stick cookie cutters however.. were a let down and a nightmare to wash off afterwards no next time they will be greased prior

Very simple… heat a pan, crack in the eggs and viola! Fini! 

Evie loved them!

Fishy BBQ

Last nights dinner was a fishy feast! Its so hot here at the moment and so going out during the daytime is really quite difficult. For that reason goig out in the evening is the only real way to enjoy the sunshine without it being too uncomfortable. 

We have been eating out in the garden every night and last night I was inspired to go for fish. The mackerel recipe I use is one of jamie olives and couldn't be more simple.

• After preparing and cleaning the fish, pat dry with kitchen towel and rub salt into the skin and cavity.
• Then stuff the cavity with fresh rosemary sprigs
• Place into a grill trap and cook over coals for 3 minutes each side

The little fish above are sardines fresh from the market. There is no recipe here just put then into a grilling trap and cook until done... not long at all. My french family then eat them whole but I am a little funny about bones so I try my best to get the tiny fillets off :)

Im a fan of the evening drink and as it was a special occasion as one of my closest friends had use arrived from New Zealand to see me we prepared italian bellinis. There are many versions on how to make this drink ad having travelled so much of Italy and the world, together we decided on how we liked it best

• Skin and mash some white peaches and mix with a little sugar
• add this to the bottom of a glass, about 2cms
• crush ice and fill the glass to the top
• Then fill again with cold prosecco or champagne and garnish with mint

yum :)

Preserved Lemons

We have plenty of citrus trees here on the property, most of the time we have more oranges than we know what to do with. One nice thing about living here is that when we invite people for dinner, they come with gifts. A friend came over last week with a whole basket of lemons from his garden!! I use a lot of lemons in cooking and drink a lot with tea but a whole basket... I think using them all is out of the question.
So I searched out some preserving recipes.

Preserved Lemons

Sterilized jars
Sea salt
Cloves
Peppercorns
Boiled water that has cooled
Lemons

Cut the lemons top to bottom but not going all the way through, then again into quarts. Stuff lots of the salt into the opening you have created and then place into your jar. Try to fit as many as you can into the jar, add the peppercorns and cloves and then fill to the top with the cooled boiled water and seal.

You will need to wait a month before using them. Try in Moroccan dishes, they use lots of preserved lemons in their cooking and they add a really refreshing twang to any meal :)

Cookies

Started doing some spring cleaning today and found that no one is finishing off the christmas chocolates. Entirely my fault as it was me who filled the house with chocolate coins etc. So instead of throwing then out i baked some cookies... Heres the recipe 

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 3/4 cups (12 oz) all-purpose flour *If at all possible, please weigh the flour
• 3/4 tsp. smallcoarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 1/4 cups  chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 360 degrees. 
2. Cream butter and the sugars until it is nice and fluffy. Add both eggs and vanilla and beat for an additional 2 minutes. Add baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flour until cookie batter is fully mixed into a dough. Finally add chocolate chips until well distributed. The cookie dough should be somewhat thick. Drop about 2 tablespoons of dough or use a medium cookie scoop and plop the batter onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Bake for 12-14 minutes until the edges are nice and golden brown. Remove from heat and allow the cookies to stay on the cookie sheet for an additional 2 minutes. Pick up the baking paper with the cookies still on top and transfer to a cool non-porous surface. Allow the cookies to cool on the paper for at least 3 minutes before serving :)

Fig Chutney

As an english woman in france, Ive had to work quite hard to get rid the pre conceived ideas of English cooking that the French think that we do. Being the center of the culinary world (so thy think) they are very skeptical about eating foreign foods and of course.. how can an english girl cook something they might like?

Well, this is one of the recipes that have wowed them. I eat chutneys and sauces withe every thing. Mint sauce with lamb, red current with chicken. They think Im mad. So when I made this fig chutney they were very cautious to try but now my in laws have finished the last of the jars from last season and are desperate for me to make more. I even had to translate the recipe for a friend of theirs as she told me after trying mine she went out to buy some and couldn't find anything that compared. So here it is. Great with cheese, cold meats and pates.

Ingredients
13 fresh figs (mine from garden)
150ml balsamic vinegar
100 red wine vinegar
300g soft brown sugar
zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 red onions
2 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tbs olive oil

Method
peel and thinly slice the red onion and quarter the figs.
sweat the onions in the oil and then brown until slightly caramelized
Add all ingredients except the figs and season with a little salt and pepper, bring to the boil and then reduce heat to a simmer and leave simmering for 30 minutes
Once the liquid looks like a syrup consistency add the figs and cook for a further 15-20 minutes storing occasionally.
then simply pour while hot into sterilized jars, turn upside down to seal and then leave to cool.

Very was recipe that doesn't fail to impress. Can be kept for upto six months.

:)

Dries Herbs

Something I love is cooking. Especially from scratch and using some of my own home grown ingredients. 

Herbs and plants can only be used at certain times of the year but one great cheat is to dry them so that you can have them all year round. The method is much cheaper than buying pre dried packets from the supermarket. 

Its easy too. Just choose what you want to lay out onto baking paper. Either leave somewhere warm to dry for a week or do which I prefer which is to place in an oven on a very low heat. 

Put into jars and there you have it. Garden herbs all year round :)

Bitter Orange Marmalade

Ive been getting busy this week starting all kinds of new projects. I went up to the pool area in the garden last week which doesn't get used much because of the cold and noticed an abundance of fruit on the citrus trees. There are not a great deal of things you can use bitter oranges for but marmalade is one of them.


Here is the recipe I have used.

Ingredients

•   4 to 5 medium sized oranges

•   1 lemon, zest finely grated and juiced

•   6 cups water

•   3 pounds plus 12 ounces sugar

•   Special Equipment: 10 (8-ounce) canning jars with rings and lids, funnel, tongs, ladle, and 12-quart pot

Directions

Wash the oranges and lemon thoroughly. Cut the oranges into 1/8-inch slices using a mandolin, removing the seeds as you go. Stack the orange slices and cut them into quarters. Place the oranges into an 8-quart stainless steel pot. Add the lemon zest and juice and the water to the pot, set over high heat and bring to a boil, approximately 10 minutes. Once boiling, reduce the heat to maintain a rapid simmer and cook, stirring frequently, for 40 minutes or until the fruit is very soft.

While the fruit is cooking, fill a large pot (at least 12-quart) 3/4 full with water, set over high heat and bring to a boil. Place 10 (8-ounce) jars and rings, canning funnel, ladle, and tongs into the boiling water and make sure the water covers the jars by at least an inch. Boil for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat, add the lids and leave everything in the pot until the marmalade is ready.

Meanwhile, place a small plate in the freezer. Increase the heat under the orange mixture to return to full boil. Add the sugar and stir the mixture continually, until it reaches 222 to 223 degrees F on a sugar thermometer, and darkens in color, approximately 15 to 20 minutes. You may need to adjust the heat in order to prevent boil over. Test the readiness of the marmalade by placing a teaspoon of the mixture onto the chilled plate and allowing it to sit for 30 seconds. Tilt the plate. The mixture should be a soft gel that moves slightly. If mixture is thin and runs easily, it is not ready.

Remove jars from the water and drain on a clean towel. Place a funnel onto the top of 1 of the jars and ladle in the marmalade just to below the bottom of the threads of the jar. Repeat until all of the mixture has been used. The amount of marmalade may vary by 1 to 2 jars. Wipe the rims and threads of the jars with a moist paper towel and top each with a lid. Place a ring on each jar and tighten.

Return the jars to the pot with boiling water, being certain that they don't touch the bottom of the pot or each other. (If you don't have a jar rack, try a round rack, or metal mesh basket. Even a folded kitchen towel on the pot bottom will do in a pinch.) Add additional water if necessary to cover the jars by at least an inch. Boil for 10 minutes. Using canning tongs, carefully remove the jars from the water, place in a cool dry place and allow to sit at room temperature for at least 24 hours before opening. Once open, store in the refrigerator. Unopened marmalade will last for up to 6 months.

:)

Pancake Day!!

Pancake day is today here in France! I love them! I personally prefer the american thick pancakes but as we are in europe and the tradition is the thin crepe style ones Im going to give you a recipe for those.


We visited the grand Marnier creperie a week ago while on holiday and ate ours washed down with cider which is also tradition in France, Yummm :)

Method

First of all sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl with the sieve held high above the bowl so the flour gets an airing. Now make a well in the centre of the flour and break the eggs into it. Then begin whisking the eggs – any sort of whisk or even a fork will do – incorporating any bits of flour from around the edge of the bowl as you do so.

Next, gradually add small quantities of the milk and water mixture, still whisking (don't worry about any lumps as they will eventually disappear as you whisk). When all the liquid has been added, use a rubber spatula to scrape any elusive bits of flour from around the edge into the centre, then whisk once more until the batter is smooth, with the consistency of thin cream. Now melt the butter in the pan. Spoon 2 tablespoons of it into the batter and whisk it in, then pour the rest into a bowl and use it when needed to lubricate the pan, using a wodge of kitchen paper to smear it round.

Now get the pan really hot, then turn the heat down to medium and, to start with, do a test pancake to see if you're using the correct amount of batter. I find 2 tablespoons about right for a 7 inch (18 cm) pan and 3 tablespoons for an 8 inch (20 cm) pan. It's also helpful if you spoon the batter into a ladle so it can be poured into the hot pan in one go. As soon as the batter hits the hot pan, tip it around from side to side to get the base evenly coated with batter. It should take only half a minute or so to cook; you can lift the edge with a palette knife to see if it's tinged gold as it should be. Flip the pancake over with a pan slice or palette knife – the other side will need a few seconds only – then simply slide it out of the pan on to a plate.

Stack the pancakes as you make them between sheets of greaseproof paper on a plate fitted over simmering water, to keep them warm while you make the rest.

Lemon tea

I wouldn't really call this a tutorial as its not really much work but here we go.

Im a massive tea fan! My tea collection would rival Tetley and day! However, one thing I really love is lemon tea. Especially in the colder month. Im lucky here in France as the lemons are all ready for the picking right now. Hot water and slices of lemon. Job done. 

However, I also dry my own lemon zest so that I can add it to loose leaf infusions. 

Simply slice off the lemon skin with a sharp knife or peeler, being sure not to get to much of the bitter pith.

lay it out loosely onto some baking paper and leave somewhere like the airing cupboard until dry which should only be two to three days. 

then keep it in a jar and whenever you feel like a bit of extra zing in your tea, add it to the infusion 

:)

The Most amazing Tarte Tatine Recipe

Ok so Ive been at it again, trying to perfect another french recipe. This time its my mother-in-laws Tarte Tatin recipe. Don't get me wrong, hers is perfectly Delicious but Ive always found it a little lacking in something. So I set out about making my own. Ive only done this a few times before and needed to impress as I had told everyone what I was going to do. Thankfully, my plan succeeded. Here's the recipe.

Ingredients
8 cooking apples (the ugly brown skinned ones are the best)
50 grams butter
Sugar to taste
Pastry (I used ready made this time as I wanted to concentrate on the apples.

Over a very low heat melt the butter and 5 tablespoons of sugar in a deep cake dish.
Peel and slice the apples into quarters and place into the dish. Taste the butter sugar mix to see if its sweet enough for your liking. If not add as you want.

Spoon over some of the butter sugar mix onto the top of the apples and then place a heavy pan lid on the top and cook for 40mins very very slowly, every now and again spooning some of the mix over the top and lightly pressing down on the lid to 'flatten' the apples.

At this point the apples should be soft but still keeping their form.

Take off the heat and roll out your pastry to half a cm thickness. place over the dish and cut off the excess pastry. Now press the edge of the pastry down to curve around the apples slightly.

Bake in the oven at 180 for 20 mins.

Serve as it is or the way I like it with vanilla icecream.

Enjoy...

French Onion Soup

My French mother in laws delicious recipe

Ingredients (serves 4)
5 large white onions
25 grams butter
olive oil
Chicken stock cube
Plain flour
Baguette
Grated cheese

Slice the onions into rings and place into a heave bottomed bowl with the butter and a generous glug of olive oil. Cook until the onion is translucent. Now add 6 tablespoons of flour, chicken stock cube and a litre or water. Bring to the boil and then reduce the temperature leaving the mixture to simmer until thickened.

Slice and grill some baguette and put into a deep oven dish. Pour over the soup and sprinkle the cheese. Emmantal is my favorite but cheddar will also work well.

Leave to bake in the oven until the cheese has formed a nice crispy top.

Enjoy