e cooks :: cherry clafoutis

If you've been around for a while, you might remember the Strawberry Clafoutis that I made last year.  I mentioned back then that E was asking me to make the classic cherry version next time... and here we are, one year later, and he's had to make it himself. Oops.

This is a much richer, more authentic Clafoutis, and I have to admit - better than the one I made! For E, this is a dessert that takes him back to his childhood in sunny South of France. To me, it's one that simply goes perfectly well with coffee, and the kind of dessert that I generally prefer over a classic sponge cake.

Bake it in a beautiful dish like this one (an Anthropologie gift from a friend, it's gorgeous), enjoy it in the sunshine (London is getting a good dose of that lately!), and you'll feel positively Provençal. 

I love how food can transport you back in time, and gives the term "comfort food" its true meaning. Do you have a dessert that takes you back and reminds you of happy memories?

Cherry Clafoutis

Ingredients:

350g cherries (de-stoned)
170g sugar
120ml whole milk
120ml double cream
4 eggs
30g plain flour
30g ground almonds, sieved
40g butter cut into little pieces & some extra for buttering the dish

icing sugar (optional)

To make:

1) Preheat oven to 190C. Heat milk and cream in a pan on low heat. 

2) Break the eggs into a bowl with 150g of the sugar, whisk together but not too much (just enough to combine). 3) Add flour and ground almonds and whisk together. When cream/milk comes to a boil, pour a little into egg mixture and whisk well. Then carry on pouring the rest gradually. Set aside to cool and stir every so often. 

4) Butter the tart dish. Dust the rest of sugar (20g) over the base of buttered tart dish, and place the cherries. 

5) Pour the clafoutis batter carefully, and bake in the oven for 40 minutes. After the first 10min, put the little pieces of butter over the top. Put back in the oven. Lower the setting to 180c after 20 mins.

6) Once cooked, set aside to cool slightly. Dust with icing sugar and serve when still warm (but leftovers are delicious too!).

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sweet potato, chorizo & kale hash

I mentioned in my post about Kopapa that I wanted to try and recreate the dish I chose - the chorizo hash. Well, often these intentions get put on the back-burner, but I actually managed to make this happen in a timely manner!

This is honestly one of the simplest, yet nutritious (2 superfoods!) & delicious meals that I've made, and it takes about 20 minutes in total. It would make a great packed lunch, an easy yet filling brunch, or even a quick weekday dinner. Am I selling it to you yet?

I'm not a huge fan of potatoes (except when they're in the form of fries, because of course.), so I always dismissed sweet potatoes as something I wouldn't be keen on - but being bombarded constantly with information about all the health benefits of these things, I finally got round to including them in my shopping from time to time. And now I'm a convert! Using them in savoury dishes means I enjoy that sweet/salty combination that I love, and they are very versatile and extremely filling. Plus, I think the colour is beautiful, which is always a bonus.

Are there any sweet potato recipes you can share with me to expand my repertoire?

Sweet Potato, Chorizo & Kale Hash

Ingredients: {for 2-3 servings}

1 large sweet potato, cubed

70g chorizo, sliced

half a bag of kale (about 100g)

half a red onion, sliced

2-3 cloves garlic, sliced

2 eggs (optional)

smoked paprika

olive oil

salt & pepper

To make:

1) Boil the cubed sweet potato for about 5-7 minutes, until tender.

2) Steam the kale in the microwave for 1 minute.

3) Heat a little olive oil in a large frying pan, cook the red onion, garlic & chorizo until a little browned.

4) Add the sweet potato, and a generous sprinkle of smoked paprika. Shake it around and let the flavours mix together. 

5) Add the kale and shake around some more. Season to taste.

6) Remove from heat, and quickly fry a couple of eggs to your liking.

7) Bon apetit! 

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e cooks :: classic carbonara

One of the first dishes that E made for me during our early dating days, was this carbonara. He knows the way to this carb-loving girl's heart. 

As often shown on the blog, he loves to make his own pasta, but for this casual dinner he went with dried linguine. In a way, I think dried pasta nearly goes better with carbonara, as fresh would make an already rich dish even richer. E would disagree, of course - he tries to ban me from the kitchen when he cooks, to hide the amount of butter he uses. The French will always be French.

This is a great, simple recipe that will no doubt wow whoever you're trying to impress - or, just plonk it on your lap, put Netflix on and go to town with a large glass of wine. That's what I call heaven.

Classic Carbonara {for 4 generous portions}

Ingredients:

500g pasta of choice

1 onion, sliced

a few cloves garlic, crushed

2 handfuls pancetta

white wine

60ml double cream

2 egg yolks

parmesan

olive oil
fresh parsley, chopped

black pepper

To make:

1) Caramelise the onions in olive oil with the crushed garlic, season to taste.

2) Remove from pan, fry the pancetta in the same pan.

3) Deglaze the bottom of the pan with a splash of white wine. Let it reduce until a syrupy consistency.

4) Add the 60ml double cream.

5) Cook the pasta in generously salted water, until it's 3/4 cooked. 

6) Drain (reserving some of the cooking water), and add to the cream/pancetta mixture in the pan. Add the caramelised onions/garlic, and a splash of the pasta water.

7) Cook on medium/high until the sauce is the right consistency and the pasta is fully cooked.

8) Remove from heat, add the 2 egg yolks. 

9) Once plated, grate the fresh parmesan, drizzle extra virgin olive oil, add the parsley and add lots and lots of black pepper - the namesake of this pasta dish!

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red velvet truffles

I know that Valentine's day is supposed to be a Marmite-type thing and you either love it or loathe it, but I've always been fairly indifferent to the whole hoopla. I remember a couple of times nearer the beginning of our relationship when E and I did something special for the occasion, but for the most part it's been a date that's just a date. Oh, except last year was the most exciting, because the new season of House of Cards came out that day. Only a couple of weeks to go until Season 3!
Back to the topic at hand.
This year, the only outing on the agenda is brunch with 2 of my favourite girls (in fact, I seem to have a tradition of always seeing friends on V day) - I'll spend the rest of the day doing some work, my husband will cook us a delicious dinner, and we'll have the quiet, relaxing evening I've been craving all week. So really, nothing fancy at all.
However, I did make a little something that I thought would be appropriate for those who like to celebrate this heart-shaped day, and equally for those who do not but want to make a treat for themselves or for others. Yes, red food colouring is involved, but don't write me off as a V day cliché just yet! Because red velvet cake is a beauty all year round, isn't it?
These are far from being an original idea - google it and it'll give you tons of different recipes. I thought it looked fun, quite easy, and something different, so I gave it ago and I'm pleased with the results.
How can I not be, though? It's cake & icing, smushed together and covered in chocolate. Surely you can't go too wrong? 

Red velvet truffles (makes about 40 small truffles) (based on this recipe)
Ingredients: {for the cake} 2/3 cup plus 2 tbsp plain flour 1/4 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/4 cup buttermilk 2 egg whites 2 tsp red food colouring 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1/4 tsp white wine vinegar {for the icing} 180g full fat cream cheese 1 cup icing sugar {for covering} 300g dark, milk or white chocolate  sprinkles for decoration, optional
To make: 1) Preheat the oven to 170 degrees celsius.  2) Sieve and combine the dry ingredients for the cake. 3) Beat together the wet ingredients with an electric whisk. 4) Gently fold the dry mixture into the wet mixture, and pour into a greased cake pan (small-medium size). 5) Bake for 30-40 minutes, depending on your oven, until a toothpick comes out clean. 6) Mix the cream cheese and icing sugar to form an icing. 7) Once the cake is baked and cooled, crumble the mixture into the icing and mix with your hands until everything is combined. 8) Roll the mixture into small truffle-sized balls, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour. 9) Heat the chocolate in the microwave for a couple of minutes or until it's melted. Roll each truffle in the melted chocolate, and place them on baking paper. Add any sprinkles whilst the chocolate is still melted. 10) Place the whole lot in the freezer for 10-15 minutes or the fridge for a little longer, for the chocolate to become solid again. 11) Give them to people you love (or at least really, really like), or eat them yourself in PJs, watching Netflix. 

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a double birthday gourmet dinner

As luck would have it, one of our closest friends has the same birthday as E, so it always makes it a little more fun to celebrate them both around the same time. This year, E wanted to cook up an extravagant dinner for 6 of us, which was definitely an idea we could get behind! And it bodes well when things like these are being popped out of the kitchen prior to the event...

Those would be salted caramel & raspberry macarons. It was his first time making raspberry ones, and they turned out utterly delicious.

But let's rewind...

For a bit of tongue-in-cheek fun, we printed out obnoxiously elaborate menus, which actually are now coming in handy as I know the exact menu without pestering E for the details! Here was what we were treated to:

:: Vacherin Mont d'Or cheese, baked in the oven with garlic, rosemary & white wine, with Prosciutto & Parma ham

:: Homemade taramasalata with smoked salmon & a dill & lemon vinaigrette

:: Langoustine soufflé with poached quail egg & shellfish coulis

:: Roasted Gressingham duck breast with honey glazed baby onions & salsify, minted peas, pommes dauphine, celeriac purée and morel sauce

:: Tarte au Citron with raspberry coulis

You're probably feeling full just reading this... but it was worth getting very full for! 

Now, it would take an age or two to write out the recipes for each dish (and couldn't in any case for copyright reasons), but I thought it might be interesting and useful to share E's current favourite cookbooks. Cooking is a passionate hobby of his, so when he has the time he likes to really go all out and experiment in the kitchen - if you know someone like this, or you want to try some of these dishes yourself, these are where he gets the inspiration from:

Bouchon by Thomas Keller

Gordon Ramsay 3 Star Chef by Gordon Ramsay

Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller

Michel Roux: The Collection by Michel Roux

And a couple that he received for his birthday from C&J and my sister, which are on his to-use list:

The Essence of French Cooking by Michel Roux

Flour + Water by Thomas McNaughton

As much as we are lucky to be able to eat the stuff he cooks, he's also lucky to have lovely friends who are willing to wait between courses and are so appreciate of his cooking - it's his "love language", so I know it makes him very happy. You know what's also making him happy? Your support & love on his new Instagram! He's fast becoming an Insta-addict.

After a great evening, we sent our friends home with boxes of macarons - not too shabby for a goody bag. 

Although really, the highlight of the whole dinner was E's apron that I got him - don't you agree?!

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