Many years ago, our lovely Belgian Au Pair, arrived in Texas, along with a recipe book for me created by her family. Despite having lived in France and Belgium, this was the first I had heard of Clafoutis!

At the time, it was something I cooked on numerous occasions, but desserts are not something I make very often. When the kids were small, the inevitable question during dinner was ” What’s for dessert?” The reply was always the same ( and it infuriated them) a WAS ( wait and see) or a UFO ( You’ll Find Out) most of the time, it was nothing exciting, a yoghurt or if it had been cooking class day ( I gave 5 a month) then there would be, maybe some left over dessert from the class. Only at weekends would I make something special.

I had acquired a cook book back then , of which I now have two copies ( one for the UK, and one for France). I made a point of cooking something new from this book every weekend, (Simca’s cuisine, by Simone Beck, she who collaborated with Julia Child) and naturally enough there is also a recipe for Clafoutis in this book.

On reading the newspaper the other morning, I came across the recipe of the day and yes, it was Clafoutis, but however upon reading it, I realised it was nothing like the one I used to make. But, being inspired, I dug out Simcas cuisine and decided to make this dessert for dinner.

The recipe actually calls for Plums or Cherries, of which I had neither, however I had frozen raspberries and Why Not ? And funnily enough I have just found another version, which is Boozy Prune Clafoutis, so I guess anything goes !

I used

1. 600 grams of frozen raspberries

1. 250 grams full fat cream cheese ( Philadelphia or generic will do, at room temperature
2. 125 mls double cream
3. 3eggs
4. 8 oz plain flour
5. Here you can add some kirsch or other liquor but not necessary.
6. 90 grams unsalted butter at room temperature

Butter a dish, pie type dish, put all of the ingredients except the raspberries into a food processor and beat until well mixed.

Put half of the batter into the bottom of the dish, add the fruit, in an even layer, then add the remainder of the batter. Bake at 440 F 205 C for about 35 mins. It should be just set and a light golden brown. Allow to cool somewhat before serving. Serve tepid with some powdered ( icing sugar) sprinkled on top.

Of course using fresh fruit is always an option, apples, plums, cherries, peaches, or anything that is in season, but stew the fruit first and if necessary add sugar to taste. For mine I did not add any sugar, and the comment from one of my younger guests was that it was a bit sour, but the young Mexicans ate it readily.

The other day, Himself was dispatched to Geneva Airport to collect Baby Amelia and her parents. The three “Mexicans ” and I set to in the kitchen.

I had found a recipe the other day, which said, No Churn Ice Cream, good idea thought I , especially as Horror of Horrors, I do not have an ice cream machine, here in the mountains. Interestingly, it was made with condensed milk, double cream and honey. It also said that meringue, rum soaked raisins and chunks of chocolate would work well, and salted almonds. My problem here was that my 10 year old visitor, doesn’t like chocolate, ( who has heard of a 10 year old not liking chocolate? Well he doesn’t but he told me he has taught himself to eat chocolate cake at birthday parties, otherwise he always missed out on the cake!) And to boot has a nut allergy. We decided to make this ice cream with caramelised sugar ( brittle toffee) microwave meringues, boiled condensed milk ( think caramel, think Banoffee Pie) and double cream. We skipped the honey.

The night before I had boiled the can of condensed milk so that it was thick, caramelised and cold. We mixed one slightly beaten egg white with enough icing sugar to make a very thick mixture, that could be rolled onto Golf Ball size balls, and so made our meringues, cooked quickly in the microwave and therefore cooled very quickly ( see blogs from July, August 2017).

We made the toffee brittle, simply by pouring sugar into a pan and gently heating it until it melts and caramelises, remove from the heat as soon as it turns colour as it will very quickly burn, pour onto a greased baking tray and it will solidify very quickly, BEWARE it is hot!

Bash the caramel with a rolling pin or hammer. Beat the cream ( I used a litre of cream) , , stir in the boiled condensed milk, add the broken caramel pieces, crush the meringues, and add them. Put into a box and freeze.

The result was an amazing, sweet, sugar overload ice Cream! And I can honestly say that there was No Added Sugar! Whatever that means in reality ! The taste was wonderful, but only have a small scoop at a time and the kids? They could be bouncing off the walls in no time at all, but making that, more Ice Lollies and some Lemon Drizzle Cup cakes, kept them busy all morning!

This week, we have a friend from New Zealand staying ( via way of the UK and Belgium ) and I have to admit that she is a big fan of “Himself”. No criticism of Himself is allowed when she is around! So working on boosting his already high image, he declared he would make Dinner. Me? I was off to the golf course, whilst House guest was off to Cambridge. I gave Himself, three options:-Stuffed chicken breast, cooked Sous Vide ( he has become quiet a dab hand with the Sous Vide machine) , problem is, it is connected via my phone! Bang Bang Chicken, which I love and have not had it in years, used to be one of my favourites in Houston, in a restaurant strangely called Houston’s, and also in The Ivy in London. Or Singapore noodles! He chose the latter!Not sure if it really is a recipe from Singapore, Singapore is the Manhattan of the East. It’s cuisine is such a mixture, with influences from Malaysia, China, India, Indonesian and don’t forget the British. All of these have influenced Singaporean cuisine. And one cuisine, that is a complete mish mash of these is Nyonya cuisine which comes from the Peranakans who were the descendants of the early Chinese settlers, who married local Malays and combines,the various cuisines.The majority of Singapore’s Chinese population is Hokkien, and this a version of their all time favourite noodle dish, Singapore noodles with pork and prawns.

1. 2tsp sesame oil ( or olive oil)
2. 300grams pork mince
3. 1tsp Chinese five spice powder
4. 3 tsp curry powder
5. 200grams large prawns peeled and deveined
6. 200 grams carrots, finely sliced
7. 3-4 red chillies de seeded and chopped
8. 400 Grams egg noodles ( preferably ready cooked or straight to wok type.
9. 3-4 chopped Pak Choi ( spinach as Substitute )
10. 6 Spring onions sliced
11. 2 tbs soya sauce
12. 1/2 cup water or stock as needed

It is summer time which means we are in the French Alps along with some little ones, ( getting bigger each time they come ) ! Have only been here a couple of days, but so far have been to the local Lake, where they tried out the new Blow Up Kayak, a big success but would help if Himself read the instructions first! Where was the seat? And the rope to pull it! But never mind, he didn’t tip them out ( they had been forewarned). Life jackets on, they were safe! Rubber rings, buckets and spades, hats and sun cream to the fore! And the waterfall waterslide is always good fun, even though the smallest is way too small, he was happy looking for tadpoles and pottering in the ice cold Mountain water.

Back home it was cooking time, well not exact cooking, but freezing. Ice lollies, more to the point.

We used 200 grams frozen raspberries, a quarter of a small watermelon and some apple juice, though orange juice could be used or better still frozen concentrated Orange juice would be even better, but as yet to find this useful commodity in the UK, but readily available in the USA.

The tedious bit of this recipe is removing the pips from the watermelon, I wonder are seedless ones available? However Miss Tess was the Queen of pip removal, then it is really easy. Just throw the lot into a food processor or Blender and wiz the lot around and then pour into lollipop mounds, which of course I just happened to have!

Wait for them to freeze and then let the neighbourhood kids come round and help eat/suck them! They were declared an overwhelming success and we are about to make some more!

I find Markets and Supermarkets fascinating, though I am the first to admit that our local one here in the mountains is not my favourite. We are only just over an hours drive from Geneva, so not really in the “back of beyond ” but the quality of fruit and vegetables tends to be rubbish but none the less I always find it intriguing.

On yesterday’s visit, I was amused by the absolute love of all things Chocolate, yoghurts with Smarties or M&M’s in, or the rows and rows of various dessert pots, all chocolate ! Or the biscuits, again with Smarties/M&M’s or the ones coated in Chocolate rice crispies! And the British Government is concerned about childhood obesity, I wonder if there is such concern here in France, if not, there should be!

And finally my absolute favourite (not) is the tube of condensed milk , already sickly sweet but here it is with added chocolate, also available in caramel, just waiting to be spread on your breakfast croissant.Quelle Horreur!

This week saw 8 of us meeting here, for lunch. We all lived in Brussels in the ’80’s and 90’s, had kids the same ages, who went maybe to the same schools, maybe played on the same soccer teams, baseball teams, and certainly all went to the same Orthodontist. I mention this because, out of all of us ( and there were many many more ex Brussels girls out there) the Orthodontist ( and one other, maybe) is the only one who is still there, after all these years! And yes! She came over for the day for lunch!

My dear friend, who now lives in New Zealand was visiting and so I thought maybe, just maybe, some of us could get together for old times sake, and so we did.

A beautiful sunny day in London, and the question was , what to eat. Something which did not require me being in the kitchen, and certainly not to have the oven on. I decided on the following:-

1. A Super food type Salad, of enormous proportions
2. my favourite french cheese tart
3. a salmon mouse
4. a vegetable frittata
5. Japanese cheesecake
6. Eton Mess.

The french cheese tart has been written about before ( Tart au Fromage d’Abondance…… January 15, 2016) as has the cheesecake ( March 29, 2016 and November 22, 2015) The super food salad is new as is the salmon mousse.

With apologies to Yotam Ottolenghi, whose recipe inspired mine. The quantities used are completely, hit and miss, add what you  want and as much or as little as you want. I used a mixture of all of the following

1. 200 grms cooked quinoa
2. 200 grms cooked puy lentils
3. 100 grms Fregola pasta
4. 2 grapefruit segmented and cut into chunks
5. 2 cups pomegranates seeds, ( too much of a pain? Waitrose sells them already seeded)
6. bunch spring onions chopped
7. 200 grams soft apricots chopped
8. 100 grms cooked asparagus cut into chunks
9. 100 grms cooked green beans cut into chunks
10. some baby gem lettuce shredded
11. some rocket leaves
12. 100 grms chopped nuts preferably pistachios
13. a couple or red chillies , de-seeded and chopped

other ingredients could be, red rice, brown rice,  sun-dried tomatoes, mustard and cress type sprouts, chopped parsley, chopped coriander, can of chick peas.

The dressing I served on the side, and it was very simple, dijon mustard, with lemon juice and olive oil.

The cooking of the various ingredients is a little time-consuming, but worthwhile, especially as they all need to be done ahead of time, cooled and refrigerated. Just before serving, literally chuck them all into a large bowl, mix well ( using your hands is by far the best way) and serve !

This week, we have a friend from New Zealand staying ( via way of the UK and Belgium ) and I have to admit that she is a big fan of “Himself”. No criticism of Himself is allowed when she is around! So working on boosting his already high ego, he declared he would make Dinner.

Me? I was off to the golf course, whilst House guest was off to Cambridge.

I gave Himself, three options:-Stuffed chicken breast, cooked Sous Vide ( he has become quiet a dab hand with the Sous Vide machine) , problem is, it is connected via my phone! Bang Bang Chicken, which I love and have not had it in years, used to be one of my favourites in Houston, in a restaurant strangely called Houston’s, and also in The Ivy in London. Or Singapore noodles! He chose the latter!

Not sure if it really is a recipe from Singapore, Singapore is the Manhattan of the East. Its cuisine is such a mixture, with influences from Malaysia, China, India, Indonesian and don’t forget the British. All of these have influenced Singaporean cuisine. And one cuisine, that is a complete mish mash of these is Nyonya cuisine which comes from the Peranakans who were the descendants of the early Chinese settlers, who married local Malays and therefore combine, the various cuisines. The majority of Singapore’s Chinese population is Hokkien, and this a version of their all time favourite noodle dish, Singapore noodles with pork and prawns.

1. 2tsp sesame oil ( or olive oil)
2. 300 grams pork mince
3. 1tsp Chinese five spice powder
4. 3 tsp curry powder
5. 200 grams large prawns peeled and deveined
6. 200 grams carrots, finely sliced
7. 3-4 red chillies de seeded and chopped
8. 400 Grams egg noodles ( preferably ready cooked or straight to wok type.
9. 
3-4 chopped Pak Choi ( spinach as Substitute )
10. 6 Spring onions sliced
11. 2 tbs soya sauce
12. 1/2 cup water or stock as needed
13. Maybe some peanuts or cashew nuts ( unsalted) might be a nice addition.
14. Maybe also some chopped coriander leaves.

Heat the oil in a wok or deep-frying pan, over a fairly high heat, fry the prawns for about 3 mins, until they turn pink, be careful not to over cook as they will become tough. Remove from the pan and put to one side. Add a little more oil and fry the mince for about 4 mins, breaking it up as it cooks. Add the carrots and the chillies.

Cook for a further 3-4 mins, before adding the Pak Choi or Spinach. Add the noodles and then the water or stock, scrape the bottom of the pan. return the prawns to the pan, make sure the vegetables and noodles are cooked and serve immediately, garnished with the spring onions and soy sauce on the side.

If using nuts add them just before serving.

Not maybe the prettiest of dishes, but taste wise, excellent.

 

It’s that time of year, again and Himself has been barred from buying me presents, ( he can buy as many as he likes but not for birthdays or Christmas) and so it means having to put on the thinking cap for some originality. And so, as food is my thing, for Christmas we went to a superb restaurant in the City and on Christmas Eve, to boot and last week saw us off to Nottingham. This is our 3 rd visit, to this restaurant with rooms on the outskirts of Nottingham , on the edges of a trading estate, underneath the Electric pylons, but enter the gates of this former farm , peace and tranquility reign. The garden is beautiful and very practical, growing many of the specialist herbs themselves.

Sat (Satwant) Himself is a very interesting person, one of 6 children, second generation Sikh Punjabi immigrants, grew up in Derby, had a work ethic installed in him at an early age, but more or less fell into cooking by happenstance ( the cooking class, had more girls in it !)

He went to work for Raymond Blanc at the first Petit Blanc and in 1997 won the Roux Scholarship. Finally he went to work at Hotel des Clos in Nottingham, which when it went under he bought and along with his wife transformed it into a Restaurant with rooms. It has I think only 8 rooms, and on our previous visit, we stayed but be warned early booking is very much required. When staying you have the choice of the 7 or 10 course menu. The main restaurant has only 40 covers with 10 extra at the chef’s table and now 6 more on what was ( and still is ) the development kitchen whichm is called Nucleus.

Our first visit was for me to have a one on one morning in the kitchens with the chefs, which was an amazing experience and we had lunch at the chefs table. The second visit , we stayed over and ate the 7 course menu and now this our third visit was in Nucleus, where there are just 3 tables for 2 people each.

So, here we were able to watch the young Chef and Sous Chef create our lunch. Of course all of the prep marinades and sauces had been previously prepared, but the quiet calm in the kitchen has such good vibes! None of the screaming of Gordon Ramsey fame, even if that is for show!

Our meal consisted of the following:-

As far as I can remember this is, Chocolate Jelly with Shitake mushrooms, braised red cabbage ice cream with raspberry, Tapioca cake with matcha, Chinese type bun with xoxo sauce and carrots braised in liquorice, dehydrated with ground almonds!

Our first course was a scallop on ponzu squid ink jelly, with pigs trotters, wild garlic emulsion, tapioca and wild garlic emulsion and dusted with matcha.

This dish is in homage to Amish Kapoor and is made with beetroot.

Jelly beetroot, vinegar, potatoes, nasturtium leaves with braised oxtail.

And on to the third course

Baby new potatoes smoked on a barbecue with cream cheese and chives, farmed caviar from China.

For the fourth course we had pigeon leg and breast parfait on sourdough toast. I was marginally outside of my comfort zone here, and although I eat pretty much anything, I’m not sure about pigeon! However I assume this is because I currently have a vendetta against them as many have decided that my terrace is now their home !

This was followed by caramelised miso fudge with passion fruit gel

Next in line was the chocolate and yoghurt ice cream with balsamic and oil

The seventh course was macerated strawberries with two types of granita, lemon and earl grey with basil leaves

And finally, and for me this was the piece de resistance , candy floss with a surprise in the middle! Thai green curry ice cream! I can’t wait to buy my candy floss machine and try this one!

A quote from A.A. Milne. This reminds me of my friend from Belgium ( now New Zealand) ( and also himself). Whenever we stayed with each other, this is more or less what she would say!

“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,” said Piglet at last, “what’s the first thing you say to yourself?”

“What’s for breakfast?” said Pooh. “What do you say, Piglet?”

“I say, I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today?” said Piglet.

Pooh nodded thoughtfully. “It’s the same thing,” he said.”

And so that leads me to the Magic Porridge Pot. If you do not know the story, it is very simple, the cooking pot makes porridge until you tell it to stop, BUT if you forget to tell it, porridge will soon swamp the town.

And so it seems that this week, which for whatever reason, seems to have been incredibly busy, we have developed a Magic Egg Fried Rice Wok. What with International Cricket, International Rugby, golf, golf and more golf, cooking plans came and then went. I had defrosted baby crabs and some shell off large shrimp ( all bought from the Chinese supermarket) . So I quickly made the sauce for the Shrimp/crabs and put to one side. Sautéed the shrimp/ crabs and some vegetables, again put to one side, cooked some rice, chopped some vegetables for the rice, quickly made scrambled egg Chinese style and when cool put all into the refrigerator, before charging out to one of the above events.

Therefore it was very easy to assemble all upon our return. The only slight problem was, too much rice. ! I find it very difficult to gauge exactly how much I need , for plain and simple rice, not a problem, but for fried rice, oh so different. I rummage in the refrigerator, oh, there are some peppers, red and green, and look some celery, some spring onions, and what about some green beans chopped up, and the frozen peas, and of course the eggs. Consequently there is always too much, even when himself has persuaded himself that he should have seconds! Hence the extra is cooled and refrigerated. Until the next night, when running short of time, and there is ample Shrimp/crab combo left and don’t forget the rice, But, oops. not enough Rice. Consequently more plain rice is cooked, not too much, but then more vegetables are needed and of course more eggs. And so it continues. So just like the magic porridge pot!

I first had Chilli Crab in Singapore many years ago. It is rated at number 35 in the worlds list of iconic foods. And I could not agree more. There are many many restaurants in Singapore that make this dish, eat it outside and the scene is set. Singapore is a complete mish mash of cultures, Chinese, Malay, Indonesian, Thai, Indian and don’t forget British, they are all there. Hua Yu Wee Seafood restaurant is in the garden along the east coast. Hawker stands also serve Chilli Crab, don’t turn your nose up at sitting on a plastic stool and eating in the street, it is the best way, and be prepared to get messy ( plastic aprons are usually provided.) For the longest time, one of my families favourite quick dinner was Oyster Omelette, this we first had again in Singapore at one of the hawker stands. Um Yummy. I am beginning to drool just thinking about Singaporean food.

Onto my version, traditionally it is just Chilli Crab or Chilli Shrimp, not the two combined, but as needs must I had not enough of one or the other.

All amounts are approximate.

1. 500 grms each of Shrimp, de-veined and shelled, and of baby crabs ( both can be bought frozen in a chinese super market)
2. 6 cloves of garlic, smashed and chopped
3. 4 ” fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
4. 3-5 fresh red chillies, de-seeded and chopped
5. 1/2 cup chilli sauce
6. small can tomato paste
7. 1 tablespoon of honey
8. 2 tablespoons soy sauce
9. 1 tablespoon cornflour mixed to a smooth paste with some water
10. 1 cup, stock either chicken, fish or vegetable stock.
11. oil for frying preferably sesame.
12. Salt and pepper to taste.

Fry the crabs, in some hot oil until they turn pink all over. repeat with the shrimp. drain both on some paper towel. Put 1/4 cup of fresh oil into the wok add the garlic, ginger and chillies, then add the chilli sauce, the tomato paste, honey, soy sauce. Add the stock and cook for about three minutes. Stir thoroughly and then add the cornflour water mix. Taste, add salt and pepper, AND if not spicy enough for your taste, add some chilli paste. Garnish with some spring onions and serve with rice ( plain or fried).

 

A word of warning about cooked rice. I first heard about this when my mother was in a nursing home. She told me that they would no longer serve rice. In fact it was a little bit of Health and Safety gone mad. There is nothing to say that Rice can not be served to the sick and elderly. In the USA, when you have an upset stomach the cure is the BRAT diet. Brat = Bananas, Rice, Apples and Toast!

What can be bad is the following

• The NHS says that leftover rice can be bad for you.
• Uncooked rice can contain spores that can survive when the rice is cooked.
• If the rice stands at room temperature for too long, those spores turn into bacteria.
• That in turn can cause food poisoning.
• Store your rice as quickly as possible once you’re done eating it. Clet it cool and then refrigerate until ready to reheat. Make sure that it is throughly reheated and not just warmed. Covered in cling film and the Microwave is a good way and then again, use a wok, with very hot oil and cook well.