These little orange and almond sticky cakes and me go back.
Way back. Back to my time in Paris working in and out of a kitchen that I think two people could maybe stand in… if one of those people was a child at least. I’m going to have to dig out some pics of that adorable little kitchen that served me and my two kids well for two years- and quite a few others for whom I catered.
So this is far from Irish… but I’m not so on top of the calendar:)
Spring is so near I can practically touch it. The sun and cold do their dance like a strip tease that excites and taunts. You don’t know what’s coming next. I picked delicate new spinach and arugula leaves from plants in the greenhouse creating a bed for my baked salmon lunch today. This first minimal picking sparked a little excitement for the coming growing season. What I realize too, is I don’t mind the winter break and it almost takes a strong nudge to get me in the growing mood. Fresh garden food does not arrive without somebody’s hard work. My first little seeds, planted last weekend will become the seedlings for the first of spring planting. Brassica’s, lettuces, peas… the tomatoes and peppers will grow longer in the glass house.
What we relied on this winter besides store bought veggies was our fermented foods.
Here’s a little sweet treat you can make ahead for New Year’s Eve
Chocolate Mousse* in all it’s divinity
It’s really a simple feat that can be done in less than an hour. Continue reading
As much as I love to eat chicken and believe in the values of farm life and homesteading, I could not eat these little guys we picked up May 11th from our one boothed post office in Olga. With only the loss of two, we have a brood of fourteen. Of course, I told O it would only be about eight but it was barely economical to buy the small amount of fifteen (plus my our free exotic… who kicked it within 16 hours). And now I think I have found a new home for 4-6 of the girls, but how on earth could I choose? The first year we moved to Orcas, in 1993, I bought fifty with not a clue of how to raise poultry.
For those of you who have had chicks and love them, you’ll probably enjoy the next thirty or so photos. And those who don’t, well I’ve got an excellent roast chicken with Sumac to share on FB- but I couldn’t bare to put it here.
Ok… did you leave a little room for dessert? These posts are short on story and long on taste. The third course for our dinner for two will be a Coffee and Kahlua Pots de Creme featuring Nielson Massey’s coffee extract, yet another treasure hidden in the black cotton goodie bags at Plate to Page. I can only imagine what it’s like to partake at the Emmy’s!
I’ve been on a pots de creme kick as they are just too easy and their flexibility in taste is exponential. Basically, this little dessert will take on the personality of your choice. Here we’ve got a grown up combination that doesn’t even require any infusion.
{Print Recipe} for Coffee and Kahlua Pots de Creme
Ingredients:
You will heat your milk and cream and whisk in the chocolate. Beat your yolks, sugar and salt till a little lighter in color. Then add coffee, Kahlua, and vanilla. Slowly pour heated cream and chocolate into yolk mixture, tempering the yolks, not scrambling. Gently whisk together. Pour into ramekins and skim the foam off the tops or go all out and use a sieve.
These ramekins are a little on the small size at 4oz. They are recycled pudding cups from the grocery store. I love that. I have a collection of lovely terra cotta yogurt pots from France too! Europe still sees their fair share of paper and plastic containers, but I prefer to purchase glass when possible.
You can see here a bit of foam here that I didn’t skim.
The only downside, which is really minor, is a little sponginess on top. NO BIGGIE! But if you want extra smooth. SKIM.
And there you have it…. Short and sweet. In real life these got ate up quick. Not a lot of hanging around for a photo shoot!
You’ve got now a fabulous three course dinner that is perfect for summer, garners a sense of sophistication, and is ‘doable’!
Goat cheese Salad with Candied Pistachios and Citrus vinaigrette followed by Seared Scallops and creamy goat cheese polenta with a light citrus sauce, ending with a coffee & Kahlua pots de creme. And don’t forget the honey pots de creme might also be a nice fit in here. Enjoy.
On Saturday we head to the states for our summer US of A fix, spending a majority of time on Orcas Island, a little time in Seattle and a visit to Atlanta where I’ll have a little real time visit with Jodi from Biscuits and Bobbins. In the meantime, stay tuned for a blueberry treat from Jodi in a few days time.
Tschüß for now,
P.S…..Here’s a couple photos I took flying into the San Juan Islands…
Walking through my local market yesterday, iPhone in hand, Epicurious on my screen, I struggled to flip through recipes while pushing my cart at an unacceptably slow pace. Searching for a good recipe that featured honey, I perused options …
There are many versions of baked eggs. One of my favorite cookbooks containing all egg based recipes is Michel Roux ‘Eggs’
As much as I love a light quiche, this is a denser, eggy version of quiche if you don’t want to use as much cream (or you don’t have any on hand). I started with my pie crust in the morning. See below for crust recipe.
This is a tried and true savory crust recipe from cooking school and in the crust bible:
The filling is on the collage. Except I forgot green pepper, zucchini, salt to taste and maybe a grate or 2 from a fresh nutmeg…. and since what I wanted to say is it took me as long to figure out how to do the collage as it did to make this quiche (including the crust making and resting, pre-baking, cooking the filling and cooking the quiche itself), I just thought I’d add it on here. Did I mention the app was free?
And you can be completely creative with this….. Quiches are the perfect place to use your last scraps of things including veggies, meats, cheeses.
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