Summer Fest Part 2 with a clafoutis

Today, we are celebrating two events :

- I am happy to announce that the "baby sister" of this blog is created! As I told you, this new blog is not at all about culinary experiences. I've often regretted not to know the city I live in better. So I'm going to visit Paris, take pictures, and every day, photo by photo, you'll be able to visit with me. During the week-ends, it will be more relaxing with beautiful sceneries of the French countryside, that my friend Claire will be sharing with you. The blog's name is Country and the City, and I hope you'll visit regularly. Tell us if you like it!

- Back to the kitchen, and this is the second week of the Summer Fest 2009. This event is "a four-week celebration of fresh-from-the-garden food: recipes, growing tips, even tricks for storing and preserving summer’s best".
The co-creators of this event are : Maragret from A Way to Garden, Matt Armendariz of Mattbites, Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen, and Todd and Diane of White on Rice Couple, with guest appearances from Shauna and Daniel Ahern of Gluten-Free Girl, Simmer Till Done’s Marilyn Pollack Naron, and Paige Smith Orloff of The Sister Project.

This week is (almost was, as, once again, I'm waiting for the last days to finally post these!!)dedicated to stone fruit.

Now, I'm not sure cherries are considered as stone fruits... I've never heard of a "stone fruit" category in France, but they have stone, they are in trees, so I hope it's right... At least there are some peaches in the recipe too.

In our garden, we have had difficulties with stone fruits. I love spring time, when the apricot tree and the cherry tree are blossoming. They have these small pale pink and white flowers, and when the wind blows, it looks like it's snowing. Just for that, it is worth having them. But, as you can see, our cherry tree is not very prolific. The roses climbing in the tree is much more!

Fortunately, our local producer has lots of cherries, including Montmorency cherries, which are more on the sour side than the regular ones. They are perfect to include in this almond clafoutis.

Summer fruit clafoutis
For 4 individual clafoutis

1 pound summer fruits (cherries, apricots, peaches...)
2 eggs
3 Tbsp butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar + 2 Tbsp
3 Tbsp flour or cornstarch
1/3 cup almond flour
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Grease the 4 ramekins with butter and sprinkle with a tablespoon sugar. Arrange the fruits inside.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a bowl, mix together the eggs with the sugar and the vanilla extract. Add eggs and butter. Add and mix in half flour, then cream. Add remaining flour and milk. Make sure there are no lump.
Pour on the fruits and bake for 40 minutes. Five minutes before the ending, sprinkle with the remaining tablespoon sugar.
Serve warm or at room temperature.

Clafoutis aux fruits d'été
Pour 4 clafoutis

500g de fruits (cerises, abricots, prunes, pêches)
2 oeufs
35g de beurre fondu
13 cl de lait
13 cl de crème liquide
50g de sucre + 2 cuillères à soupe
20g de farine ou de maizena
60g d'amandes en poudre
1/2 cuillère d'extrait naturel de vanille

Beurrez 4 ramequins et saupoudrez avec une cuillère de sucre. Disposez les fruits dans ces 4 plats.
Préchauffez le four à 180°.
Dans une jatte, fouettez les oeufs avec le sucre et la vanille. Ajoutez les amandes en poudre et le beurre, puis alternez avec la farine, le lait et la crème en mélangeant à chaque fois pour éviter la formation de grumeaux.
Versez cet appareil sur les fruits et faites cuire 40 minutes. Cinq minutes avant la fin de la cuisson, saupoudrez d'une dernière cuillère de sucre.
Servez tiède ou à température ambiante.

La suite, please

Mint & Strawberries in the simplest apparel

This second recipe is a little late for the summer fest week. We're now talking about stone fruits, so I'm off subject here. But maybe you have a prolific mint like me & my mother do. Or maybe you bought a bunch for a recipe and you're left with a handful of leaves, no knowing what to do next. Well, here I am with the solution!
Ain't I nice?

you'd better say yes, have you seen this rolling pin?

This recipe is, once again, very simple to assemble. This is all about summer, and the last thing we want is to spend a whole sunny day inside, cooking... It's time to rest, to go to the beach or to discover the parks of your city. It's also time to enjoy the bright simplicity of fruits. Just a sablée crust and mint will make the sweet flavors of ripe strawberries stand out. There's no need for cream. No, I said no pastry cream. No whipped cream. Don't insist. I had doubts too. Then I tasted it. No doubts anymore. You can do it.

About the tart crust : this is the fourth recipe on my blog. Whatever the recipe, please make it yourself and don't use a store-bought one. It's really easy, there's no reason to be afraid. Don't hesitate to put a lot of flour on your kitchen counter before rolling it. And if it breaks, it ok, just press it together in your pie form. There is NO comparaison between a store-bought crust and a homemade...

Strawberry and mint tart

For the sugar crust
1 egg
1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 cup flour
1 stick butter
1 pinch salt

For the tart
1 1/2 pound strawberries
15 mint leaves
2 Tbsp currant jelly

First mix sugar, flour, salt and the butter for a few seconds. Mix in the egg and, with your hand palm, press the dough about 3 times, just until it forms a ball that holds together. Flatten into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.
Preheat oven to 340°F.
Roll out dough into a on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Delicately fold the rolled dough in 4, to lift it easily, and unfold in the tart form. Prick bottoms all over with a fork and bake 15 minutes.

Once the crust cooled, arrange diced strawberries on top, in a concentric form.
In a small saucepan, heat the jelly with 1 Tbps water until liquid. Brush the strawberries with the jelly.
Slice thinly the mint leaves, and sprinkle over the pie.


Tarte aux fraises et à la menthe

Pour la pâte sucrée
1 oeuf
100g de beurre
200g de farine
80g de sucre
1 pincée de sel

Pour la tarte
700g de fraises
2 cuillères à soupe de gelée de groseilles
une quinzaine de feuilles de menthe

Mélangez quelques secondes le sucre, la farine, le sel et le beurre, le temps de former une pâte grumeleuse. Incorporez l'œuf. Fraisez (c’est l’action de travailler avec la paume de la main) rapidement et formez 1 boule de pâte. Aplatissez et enveloppez ce disque dans un film plastique pour reposer au frais pendant au moins 1 heures.
Préchauffez le four à 170°.
Farinez abondamment le plan de travail ainsi que le rouleau à pâtisserie, puis étalez la pâte sur 2 à 3 mm d'épaisseur. Pliez délicatement la pate en 4 pour la soulever plus facilement et depliez là dans le moule à tarte. Mettez à cuire 15 minutes.

Une fois le fond de tarte refroidi, arrangez les fraises coupées en lamelles de manière concentrique.
Dans une petite casserole, faites fondre la gelée avec un peu d'eau, et appliquez ce nappage sur les fraises.
Emincez finement la menthe, et disposez la sur la tarte.

La suite, please

Last call for summer fest

You know this feeling, when you're rushing through the airport, running and hoping you'll get in time before the plane takes off? The adrenaline is pumping, but deep down you know that you can make it, that, no matter how tired you are, it's going to be alright. You won't give up.
Well, that exactly how I feel right now. It's 2 a.m. in Paris and I want to post this recipe before the end of the day (US time. no, it's not cheating). To my regret, I have not participated to a lot of blog events (one, actually), but when I saw that Todd and Diane, of White on Rice Couple, collaborated to the Summer Fest 2009, I knew I wanted to be part of this.

This event is "a four-week celebration of fresh-from-the-garden food: recipes, growing tips, even tricks for storing and preserving summer’s best". Some people may think that they are not concerned because they live in an apartment. But if you have even a windowsill, you can have some fresh aromatic herbs at home.

Because I grew up in a house with a garden, filled with stone fruits trees (apricots, peaches, cherries), berries, tomatoes, zucchini, and herbs (and LOTS of flowers...), this is something I really missed when moving to Paris.
Fortunately, I have now a balcony, and my first plantation was for a little corner of kitchen delights : rosemary, thyme, basil, etc...

But the easiest herb to grow is mint. It's almost like weeds, appearing in every corner of my jardinière. If you don't want this, you should plant it in a separate part. I don't mind though, because i really enjoy its fresh and peppery flavor during the summer. It will make a huge difference in a simple fruit salad, but really, when it's hot outside, you can just add it to anything!
I'm going to post a few (and sooo easy) recipes with mint to give you some ideas... There was the strawberry and watermelon smoothie.
This is a chilled cucumber soup, perfect as an appetizer, with some friends on a warm evening.

Chilled mint and cucumber soup with shrimps
For 4 appetizers

1 large cucumber
1 yogurt or 1/2 cup buttermilk
10 mint leaves, washed
1 teaspoon salt
12 shrimps, cooked

In a blender purée cucumber and mint with buttermilk and salt until smooth (I start with one third of the cucumber and all the buttermilk, and then I add gradually the rest, so that the cucumber doesn't get stuck in my blender). Keep in refrigerator. Before serving, add 3 shrimps in each bowl.
Served chilled.

Soupe froide de concombre à la menthe
Pour 4 entrées

1 concombre
1 yaourt brassé
10 feuilles de menthe, lavées
1 large pincée de sel
12 crevettes cuites

Réduisez le concombre, la menthe, le sel et le yaourt en purée dans votre blender / mixeur (je commencer toujours par hacher 1/3 du concombre avant d'ajouter le reste, sinon tout se coince entre les lames du robot). Gardez au réfrigerateur.
Avant de servir, ajoutez 3 crevettes dans chaque bol.
Servez bien froid.

La suite, please

One year! and a Raspberry tart to celebrate

One year ago, I started this blog. Like for a baby, this first year was mainly about learning. I needed understand about how to write, about the importance of plating and composing, about CSS (still not great!!), etc...

Even though I have still so much room to improve, I feel there has been some progress. I have enrolled in photoshop classes. I've discovered RSS feeds. I now know how to change the blog layout. I pay much more attention to the light in my photography. I've become familiar with new cooking techniques. I've even sewed a tablecloth (and learned how not to show the twisted hem in picture ;-)

I am happy I had the occasion to learn all of this. And I'm very excited about the future steps! One of them is the blog remodeling, and I wished I had finished it today. I did try, but, boy, am I slow when it comes to "!-- #.a hover@ dd: exp }". Do this looks like swears words to you too?

However, I have one big news. I'm glad to announce that this blog is going to have a baby sister. It's due for this summer. I'm still thinking about names... There's going to be much less talking. No food. But a lot more to see. Can't wait!

For this occasion, I want to share with you a special treat, the quintessence of this blog. It represents everything I love in a dessert. It's not too sweet, got plenty of fruits in it, their flavors brightened up by the almonds. This simple tart captures the summer mood.

The gorgeous raspberries are so fresh that it feels like sunshine in your mouth. Their acidity is partialy offset by the rich almond cream, which is layered over a sablée crust. Now do you really wonder why this has always been one of my favorite dessert? I thought I was the only one, but the number of "second"-servings proves me wrong! Although you can find it in almost any bakery in France, I had never prepared one myself. What a better time than a first year anniversary for this?

Almond and Raspberry Tart

1 sablée tart shell
2/3 stick butter
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
12 oz. raspberries
6 oz. mixed berries (whatever you have)
5 teaspoons sugar
1/2 sheet (1/2 teaspoon) gelatin

For the sablée tart shell, you can use one of these recipe :
- From J. Robuchon, my favorite, the one that has been used in my family for years. It's a little bit more difficult, sticky and has to be rolled thinly (because there is not so much dough). However, once you'll taste it, you'll forget the difficulties.
- From S. Glacier, easier, and tasty enough to compete with the one from Joel Robuchon. But be careful, there's a lot of dough, so it will be enough for a tart + 1 or 2 tartlets.
- The sugar pie crust from P. Hermé. Yields 3 tart shells, so you can freeze 2 and have it ready for another time.

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.
Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin into a 12-inch round.
Slide bottom of tart pan (separate from rim) under dough and set into rim of tart pan. Cut off excess dough, leaving 1/2-inch overhang, and fold overhang inward. Press dough against side of pan, pushing dough 1/4 inch above rim. Lightly prick bottom of shell all over with a fork and chill until firm, 10 to 15 minutes.
Bake until side is set and edge is pale golden, about 12 minutes.

During that time, prepare the almond cream. Mix together sugar, almond flour and butter. Beat in the eggs.
Pour into the par-baked shell and bake 20 more minutes.
Let cool.

Arrange raspberries over the cooled pie.


In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the water, and let it sit.
Put remaining berries and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat until cooked (about 5 minutes). Puree with a fork or in your blender. Pass through a sieve to keep only the juice and mix with gelatin while it's still warm.
Pour over the raspberry tart.

You can decorate with confectioner sugar and mixed berries.


Tarte amandine aux framboises

1 fond de tarte en pâte sablée
70g de beurre à température ambiante
110g de poudre d'amande
90g de sucre
2 oeufs
350g de framboises
170g de fruits rouges (framboises et/ou cassis, groseilles...)
20g de sucre
1/2 feuille de gélatine

Pour la pâte sablée, vous pouvez utiliser une des trois recettes suivantes
- Celle de J. Robuchon, ma préférée, mais la plus difficile à travailler. Elle est fragile et la quantité correspond à un fond de tarte de 24cm, il faut donc l'étaler finement (donc plus de risques de la casser). Ces difficultés sont vite oubliées dès qu'on la goûte.
- Celle de S. Glacier, que j'utilise aussi depuis un an. Elle est tout de même assez bonne pour faire de la concurrence à celle de Joel Robuchon! La quantité n'est pas très pratique, elle correspond à 1 tarte + 1 ou 2 tartelettes...
- Celle de P. Hermé. Il s'agit en fait d'une pâte sucrée. L'avantage est qu'elle correspond à 3 fonds de tarte, vous pouvez donc en congeler 2 et les avoir prêts pour un autre jour.

Préchauffez le four à 180°.

Etalez le disque de pâte en un cercle légèrement plus grand que votre moule à tarte, sur une épaisseur de 2-3 mm. Garnissez votre moule (beurré et fariné) avec la pâte et faites la pré-cuire 12 minutes au four.

Pendant ce temps, préparez la crème amandine :
Dans le bol de votre robot, mélangez le sucre et la poudre d'amande, puis le beurre en morceaux. Incorporez ensuite les oeufs.
Versez l'appareil sur le fond de tarte pré-cuit et enfournez pour 20 minutes.
Laissez refroidir à température ambiante.

Disposez les 350g de framboises sur la tarte.

Faites tremper la demi-feuille de gélatine dans de l'eau froide.
Dans une petite casserole, faites chauffer à feu moyen les fruits rouges avec le sucre pendant environ 5 minutes. Ecrasez-les avec une fourchette ou dans un hachoir, et passez-les à travers un chinois pour ne garder que le jus.
Mélangez le jus avec la gélatine essorée, et versez ce coulis sur les framboises.

Décorez avec du sucre glace et des fruits rouges.
La suite, please

Blog Under Construction

I suddently felt the need for more light and space in my layout, and started to make modifications. Until I'm finished, the blog may look a little weird, sorry.
It is going to take some time, because :
- I suck at codes,
- I'm very obstinate, and I won't give up until I succeed (or spent 10h searching without finding a clue, for a little detail nobody will notice.)
So I first have to learn a lot, and I love that!

Hopefully I'll be back soon with a new and good looking design. If you have any suggestion for a more user-friendly site, don't hesitate to post a comment. La suite, please

Fireworks

No recipe today. Just wanted to share our garden fireworks on "Bastille Day" while waiting for the real one on the Eiffel Tower tonight.
Happy 14th of July!

La suite, please

Pictures

The first pictures from the wedding cake are here, if you want to check it out! La suite, please