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Tag: entertaining at home

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Apple tarte fine

Apple tarte fine

Apple tarte fine, is the simplest recipe ever! It's perfect at this time of year, especially if you have a glut of apples. You can also easily adapt it and use plums instead of apples or even jazz it up by adding a few blueberries or blackberries for example. So what's not to like? Here you have it "apple tarte fine"

Image of an apple pie on a wooden table, the recipe can be found on the blog of cooking school Gourmandises Academie

Ingredients:

A roll of puff pastry

Muscovado or demerara sugar (you can use caster sugar but you won’t get that indulgent caramel flavour)

70 g salted butter

3 to 4  apples depending how big they are (you can use any type of apples for this)

A baking tray big enough to hold your pastry (lined with baking paper, I personally keep the paper the pastry comes with) 

Pre-heat your oven at 180º C

Method:

First thing first, slice your apples thinly, about 3 to 5 mm thick. Then prepare your pastry, with a knife I draw a rectangle close to the edges of my pastry to create a border. Then I lay my apples in rows until they have completely covered my puff pastry.  At that point, sprinkle your apples with a generous amount of muscovado sugar, and add nuggets of butter on top of your apples. To add a bit of colour I also added a few blueberries, you could use blackberries also at this time of year. Pop your tart in the oven, for 20 minutes or until the edges and bottom of the tart are cooked. This is a dessert that can be eaten warm or cold, the choice is yours.  

Bon appetit!

Corinne

You can watch the step by step method of this recipe on YouTube

As it is apple season, you might also want to check out my mince meat recipe

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recipe

Chicken parcels cooked in vermouth with carrots, leek and fennel

Chicken parcels cooked in vermouth with carrots, leek and fennel

Chicken parcels are beautiful pieces of chicken breast wrapped in bacon and filled with sausage meat, in France they are called "paupiettes" and are traditionally filled with veal. You should be able to get them from your local butcher. They are really delicious, and at this time of year I think they would make the perfect party dish to share with friends. The stuffing makes the chicken really juicy, so here you have it my chicken parcels cooked in vermouth with carrots, leek and fennel.

image of a terracotta pot on a wooden table containing four meat parcels in a tomato sauce. You can find the recipe on the blog of cookery school Gourmandises Academie in Cottenham, Cambridge

Ingredients:

4 chicken parcels ( I get mine from my local butcher)

One leek chopped

One carrot chopped

One fennel chopped

3 cloves of garlic

Fresh thyme

Fresh parsley

80 ml of vermouth

600 ml of boiling water

2 TBSP of tomato puree

Method:

In a pan, add 2 TBSP of olive oil and start by gently browning your parcels on both sides, once they are brown take them out of the pan and add your leek and the thyme, once the leek has softened add the garlic, the carrot and the fennel, stir for 2 minutes. Then add your vermouth, let the alcohol evaporate and then add 2 TBSP of tomato puree and 600 ml of boiling water, stir. Put your parcels back in the pan, reduce the heat and let it simmer for 2 hours on your stove. Add freshly chopped parsley before serving. I have mine with polenta, but mashed potatoes works just as well. Et voilà,

If you live in Cambridge, you can get your chicken parcels from Longhorn farmshop or Leech and Sons

Bon appétit!⠀

Corrine x

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recipe

Mum’s chicken chasseur

Mum's chicken chasseur

Although I come from a very tropical part of the world, I have come to enjoy autumn and its slow motion, the beautiful colours and of course, comforting and hearty food. One dish that smells autumn to me is my Mum's chicken chasseur. She always used to make it at this time of year, I can even remember the smell of the white wine as soon as I stepped through the door after school. But coming from Reunion Island and living in the South of France, her chicken chasseur is not quite the one you would normally see in a traditional French household. So yes, she actually added a little bit of turmeric to her chasseur's sauce, not even a 1/4 of a tsp, she also added some green olives. Although it sounds weird and almost like "this is not gonna work kind of sentiment", trust me it just does. The turmeric adds earthiness to the dish and the sharpness of the olives just works well against the smoky lardons. Just give it a go, it's delicious.

image with a dish containing pieces of chicken, mushrooms and a bit of parsley on top, you can find the recipe on the blog of Gourmandises Academie

Ingredients:

4 chicken legs

One onion (chopped)

2 cloves of garlic (crushed and chopped)

Thyme

Bay leaves (2 leaves is enough)

Parsley (chopped)

80 g of green pitted olives

150 g Lardons

A bottle of dry white wine

300 g closed cup mushrooms (sliced)

Turmeric

You will need a heavy based pan with a lid for this dish

Method:

Start by browning your chicken legs in two TBSP of vegetable oil. Once brown, take the chicken out of the pan and add your lardons and your mushrooms and stir them around constantly in your pan until all the water has gone. Then add your chopped onion and stir again until they’re soft, add the garlic, thyme and bay leaves and stir for a minute. Then put your chicken back in the pan, season with salt and pepper, but not too much salt as you already have some from your lardons. At that point add your olives and a bit of turmeric (less than a 1/4 of tsp) and stir, pour your wine. Bring it to the boil, then turn the heat right down, lid on and let your chicken cook for an hour. The sauce should have reduced and be velvety by then, if it’s still runny, live it to cook a little longer. Before serving add the fresh parsley on top. Et voilà!

Chef’s tip: this meal is actually best enjoyed the next day.

 Good quality farm shops to get your chicken from: Longhorn or Leech and Sons

Bon appétit!⠀

Corrine x

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recipe

Financiers filled with chocolate and hazelnut

Financiers filled with chocolate and hazelnut

January is never a month I look forward to in general, lockdown has not helped and I'm sure many of you are dying to see the back of it. Plenty of tea or a good cup of cocoa always help, with a little treat or two preferably for me. So I have the perfect recipe to help you with the January blues, and it is super easy to make. So here you have it my "financiers filled with chocolate and hazelnut".

Financiers filled with chocolate and hazelnut

Ingredients:

I used a financier mould for mine, but no need to buy one, just use a muffin or cupcake tray, it will work just as well.

260 g of icing sugar

300 g butter

180 g egg whites (the equivalent of 6 eggs)

160 g ground almonds

100 g plain flour

2 TBSP of chopped hazelnuts

100 g of dark chocolate, no need for an expensive chocolate for this.

Pre-heat your oven to 180° C

Method:

Melt your butter in a pan until it becomes brown butter, it is important to get it brown as it will enhance the nutty flavour of the financiers. Let it cool.

In a bowl, mix all the dry ingredients, sugar, almond, flour and hazelnut, then add the egg whites. Once the butter is cool add it to your dry mix. Pour your mix in your tray, not all the way to the top only half way, then add a square of chocolate on top and pop in your oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until brown on top. Et voilà, as simple as this!

Other suggestions: you could replace the chocolate with raspberry or even bits of bananas or even pineapple

If you enjoy baking do check out my latest online baking classes

Bon appétit!⠀

Corrine x

Categories
recipe

Padrón peppers, chorizo and poached eggs

Padrón peppers, chorizo and poached eggs

This is a recipe you could easily have at lunch time or even as part of a brunch: padrón peppers, chorizo and poached eggs. As some of you may know, I spent my childhood in the South of France. My dad used to have an allotment. He grew all kinds of peppers, padrón, being his favourite. I remember spending a lot of time with him, picking them. My mum used to make this at lunch time quite a lot. She didn't actually use chorizo but anchovies instead. I didn't have any in my cupboard, so went for chorizo and it tasted great. It's super easy to do. So what's not to like?

Ingredients:

Padrón peppers (about 4 to 6 per person)

Chorizo ( you don’t need a lot, about 50 g or so cut into cubes)

1 or 2 poached eggs per person

Your favourite slice of bread

A non stick pan

One tbsp of olive oil

Method:

Start by poaching your eggs. While they are poaching, in a pan, fry the padrón peppers until they become soft and a bit char on top. Then, add your chorizo and lightly fry for a minute or so.

For this recipe I like to use either a piece of sourdough or a chunky piece of multi-seed loaf that I toast.

I don’t butter my toast, that’s just me but please feel free to do so. Place your padrón peppers on top first then the poached eggs and the pieces of chorizo.

P.S: you can replace the chorizo with cottage cheese or even a beautiful goat cheese, if you are vegetarian. Also, if you don’t have padrón, you can use normal peppers sliced in quarters.

Bakeries: Cambridge is lucky to have a good variety of bakeries, here are some that I use, Balzano’s, Stir and Burwash Larder.

Bon appétit!⠀

Corrine x

Categories
recipe

Perfect comfort food: my mediterranean style chicken

Perfect comfort food: my mediterranean style chicken

This week has been pretty cold. I don't know about you, but personally when it's like that I need to feed my soul with good, comforting food. I have the perfect comfort food: my mediterranean chicken, to share with you.

Ingredients:

4 chicken thighs with the skin

100 g of chorizo sliced

100 g of black olives

300 g of green beans sliced, either fresh or frozen

One TBSP of tomatoe puree

Parsley

1 onion, sliced finely

4 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 TBSP of olive oil

1 tsp of oregano

Method:

In a non stick pan with one TBSP of olive oil, start frying your chicken, the skin side first then turn them around until nice and brown. Chicken thighs tend to release quite a bit of fat, so once your pieces of chicken are brown, take them out of the pan and then get rid of the excess fat. Put the pan back on the stove. Then, add your onion, let them cook 2 to 3 minutes until soft. Then add your chorizo slices, fry them for a minute. Add garlic and stir for 40 to 50 seconds, add your chicken thighs, beans, tomatoe puree, olives and a tsp of oregano, give everything a good stir. Pour some boiling water to cover the chicken, turn the heat down, and let all this cook for 30 to 40 minutes until your chicken is completely cooked and your sauce has thickened. Add some parsley before serving.

Serving suggestion: with mash potatoes or rice

Bon appétit!⠀

Corrine x