Gnocchi di Polenta with Sage Browned Butter

Originally a failed recipe from Elizabeth Davis' book French Country Cooking, Gnocchi à la Romaine with sage brown butter sauce. I misread and used cornmeal instead of wheat semolina, therefore I feel like it has become it's own thing. A bit stodgy on its own, I've included a few suggestions for what could go well with it at the end of the recipe.

Number of portions: 6

Serving size: ~300 g per portion 

Calories per serving: ~520 kcal 

Speed: Slow Food 

Experienced cook (active time): ~45–60 minutes 

Novice cook (active time): ~75–90 minutes 

Total elapsed time: ~4–5 hours 

LHSS Score: 8.0 / 10

6 cups milk (1485g)

1½ tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

¾ tsp nutmeg

3 Tbsp minced chives

12 oz (340g) cornmeal, fine or medium grind

⅓ cup and 1 rounded Tbsp (3oz/85g) butter + 2 oz butter + extra

⅓ cup and 1 rounded Tbsp (3oz/85g) + ⅓ cup and 1 rounded Tbsp grated Asiago or Gruyère

3 eggs, whisked

8 fresh sage leaves

1. This dish takes a long time since the cornmeal paste needs to cool completely, so make the paste in the morning for an evening meal. 
2. Cornmeal paste
1. Put the milk in a medium saucepan and slowly bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
2. As the milk warms, add the:
1. salt and pepper
2. nutmeg
3. chives
4. cornmeal and 
5. 3oz of butter. 
3. Stir constantly.
4. When it starts to gently boil, turn down the heat. Use a long-handled wooden spoon and stir stir vigorously to avoid getting burned by the bubbles popping in the thick paste. 
5. Stir until it stiffens to a consistency where a wooden spoon can stand in it. Remove from the heat.
6. Mix in 3oz of the cheese and stir until the batter is smooth.
7. Whisk in the egg until completely incorporated.
8. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper and evenly spread the paste to a thickness of 1⁄4" to 1⁄2" and set aside allow plenty of time for it to get cold in the refrigerator, until very stiff.
3. Baking
1. Once the cornmeal filling is cooled, preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Grease a gratin dish or a lasagna dish. Cut the lump of paste into 1½" diameter rounds or 1½" squares and arrange them in an overlapping pattern like fish scales.
3. Sprinkle the remaining 3oz cheese on top.
4. Put in the oven for 45 minutes to one hour, or until the dish is bubbling nicely all over.
4. Now, turn on the broiler and cook this way until the cheese starts to brown in spots.
5. Browned Butter with Sage
1. Meanwhile, put the remaining butter in a small saucepan and melt at medium-high heat. 
2. The butter will start to froth and making crackling sounds. 
3. When the frothing stops and the crackling slows, look to the bottom of the pot and you will see the milk solids, which have separated and settled there.
4. When the milk solids start to turn golden brown, remove immediately from the heat source - this stage is quite quick when it comes, and left any longer the butter will be in danger of burning.
5. Add the sage leaves and leave for at least 5 minutes for the sage to infuse.
6. When the dish is ready, remove from the oven and pour the browned sage butter over it.
7. Serve immediately as a side or with something a bit tart or vinegary, such as a crunchy salad like Salade de Carrottes, or a selection of pickled vegetables like onions, beets and carrots or Pâtissons Gratinée (summer squash au gratin).

Potato Quiche

It sounds boring. It sounds plain. It's nothing short of surprisingly delicious! So few ingredients, and so simple, yet it makes a lovely, surprisingly light quiche.

1 blind baked pie crust, completely cooled
2 Tbsps (1oz/28gr) butter (or ham fat for a bit of a smoked flavor)
8 to 10 oz potatoes, skin-on, grated
1 bunch chives, chopped fine (about 1 oz or 40 to 50 grams)
8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated (optional, substitute 1.5 oz of the cheddar for parmesan for an added kick)
3 large eggs

1 cup coffee cream OR ½ cup heavy cream + ½ cup milk
1 tsp Dijon mustard

1. Blind bake the pie crust if it isn't already.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 375°F.
3. In a non-stick pan melt the butter and fry the grated potato over medium heat until just al dente. VARIATIONS - you can gently cook the potato and avoid browning it which will make for a very light quiche, OR cook the potato at a higher temperature to whichever degree of browning you want for a deeper flavour, a little like hash-browns.
4. Add the chives and turn off the heat, only slightly cooking the chives. Set aside.
5. In a bowl, whisk the eggs then add the cream, milk and mustards. Mix well.
6. Put the potato at the bottom of the crust. Make sure the potato is in small pieces so that the custard can seep into it; it may have glommed together into masses while pre-cooking. 
7. Following the potato is a layer of the grated cheese, and finally pour the egg mixture over all.
8. Bake in the oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the center is set, the custard is puffed up and browned.
9. To keep the quiche warm, cover it with aluminum foil and bake it in a preheated oven at 200-250F.

Huge Apple Pie

This pie is best eaten when completely cooled to room temperature. It smells so good while baking, but when we've indulged in eating it warm from the oven, we notice that the fullness of flavour from the spices doesn't come through. I came up with the pie recipe because I found a beautiful used deep dish pie plate that I just had to have. This was about the same time that our Granny Smith apple tree started to drop its fruit in our first year on the farm. Being one of the classic apple pie fruits, it was a perfect fit.

Part 1 - the crust

1½ cups flour
2 Tbsps sugar
¼ tsp salt
¾ cups (6oz/172gr) very cold butter cut into 1⁄2 inch pieces
½ cup (2 oz) sharp cheddar, grated
1 egg yolk
4 Tbsps (more or less) ice water

NOTE: The pastry needs time to cool in the refrigerator not once but twice for 15 minutes each time, and then at least another 15 minutes before baking.
NOTE: The secret to a flaky crust is to keep everything cold. If you work the dough with your hands, be sure they are cool - my hands tend to be hot, so I dunk them in an ice bath before making pie dough.

1. Put the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter pieces and pinch with your fingers to create a crumb texture (it's like playing with sand) with bits that are pea-sized and no smaller. The goal is not to completely combine the butter into the flour, but to break it up into the flour so that there are tiny globule of butter that, when the dough is baking, will create pockets as they melt, giving you that lovely pie flake.
2. Stir in the cheddar.
3. Make a well in the middle and pour in the egg yolk and 3 Tbsps of water (add the 4th and more until you get the classic pie dough texture). Quickly work in the liquids into the flour until you can form it into a ball; don't overmix or you'll have tough dough.
4. Pat into a thick disk, seal in plastic and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
5. Roll out the dough, line a deep dish pie plate with it (or divide into 2 pies) and chill at least for another 15 minutes.

Part 2 - the filling

The Cream:

2 cups heavy cream

1 whole star anise

1" piece fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely grated

4 whole cloves

2 cinnamon sticks (14 to 20 cm total)

pinch ground nutmeg

The Apples:

9 cups (2 to 3lbs when peeled and cored, or 10-11 fruits) of sliced apples

⅔ cup sugar

The Custard:

6 Tbsps (or ¼ cup+2Tbsps) flour

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Position the oven rack in the bottom third of the oven (to make sure the bottom of the crust bakes properly) and preheat to 400°F.
2. Bring the cream to a simmer in a small saucepan with the star anise, ginger, cloves, cinnamon sticks and nutmeg. 
3. Remove from the heat and let the spices steep for at least 20 minutes. 
4. After 20 minutes, strain the mixture into a bowl and allow it to cool while you complete the following steps.
5. Combine the apple and sugar in a large pan and cook until the apple starts to soften. The apples won't cook much in the oven, so get them to stay whole as much as possible but get them to soften.
6. Remove from the heat, add the flour, toss to coat evenly and set aside.
7. When the cream is cool enough, whisk in the eggs and the vanilla.
8. Fold the egg and cream mixture into the apples, being careful not to break up the apple pieces any further.
9. Take the crust out of the refrigerator and pour the apple mixture into it. Pop in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
10. Meanwhile, combine all the streusel ingredients until well blended, in preparation for the final stage of baking.

For the streusel

1 cup flour

½ cup (4oz/114gr) melted butter

½ cup firmly packed brown sugar

½ tsp ground cinnamons 

1. Squeeze the streusel ingredients between your fingers and palms to make clumps ranging in size from small to large grapes. Once the first 15 minutes of pie baking has elapsed, reduce the oven temperature to 375°F, remove the pie from the oven and scatter the streusel all over the top of the pie. There is a lot of streusel; use it all, gently mounding it in the centre (if you are making two smaller pies instead of one giant pie, you may choose to make a double recipe of the streusel, or just divide this one. It's whatever ratio you prefer of filling-to-streusel).
2. Return the pie to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes, then turn the oven temperature down again, this time to 350°F, and continue baking for an additional 20 to 30 minutes, or until the streusel is evenly browned and the pie feels firm when the top is gently prodded. If you can see any filling bubbling around the edges, that is a good sign of doneness, but also a sign that the streusel could have been spread more evenly in those areas.
3. Remove the pie from the oven and allow the filling to thicken and set. Feel the bottom of the pan to make sure there is no more warmth and that it is completely at room temperature before even thinking of serving it.
4. This pie is best when completely cooled.

Crème pâtissière - Pastry Cream

I've seen other pastry cream recipes call for whipped cream instead of liquid cream. I've tried this, and it is a tasty variation but it also changes the texture, making it much lighter. In most of the recipes I use this for, a thicker, more unctuous texture is preferable.

1 cup milk
2 tsps. vanilla extract
3 egg yolks
¼ cup (50g) sugar
2 Tbsps. (16g) flour
¼ cup heavy cream (option: whipped cream)

1. Put the milk in a saucepan. Heat to a simmer, remove from heat, add vanilla, cover, and set aside to cool about 10 minutes. 
2. Whisk the yolks with the sugar until pale, then whisk in the flour. 
3. Gradually whisk the milk into the sweet egg mixture. 
4. Pour this back into the saucepan and, whisking constantly, bring to a boil, turn off the heat and cook, whisking, one minute. Remove from the heat. 
5. Strain into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside to cool. 
6. When chilled, stream the cream in and mix with whisk until smooth.
7. OR, if you want a lighter cream, first whip the cream then gently fold in.

Pear or Apple Cake

We juiced some pears to make cocktails with, using some really lovely whiskey. What was left in the juicer was this wonderful frothy slurry which I strained to get more juice out of, then saved the rest to make a cake with. With this same recipe I've used sliced apple, apple butter, and a mixture of apple butter and apple diced small. All have worked nicely. In short, it's a pretty versatile recipe to use all sorts of fruit as the filling.

2 eggs
⅓ cup milk
¼ cup grape seed oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
¾ cup (105g) flour

½ cup (105g) sugar

¼ tsp salt
2 tsps baking powder
1½ cups crushed pears, apple sauce or butter or fresh fruit etc.
3 Tbsps whiskey

Part 2: The Topping
3oz (80gr) of butter (about ⅓ cup)
¼ cup (35g) icing sugar
1 egg

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Lightly butter a spring form pan.
3. Thoroughly beat the egg separately, and add the milk, oil, vanilla. Set aside.
4. In another bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. 
5. NOTE: Work the batter as little as possible.
6. Create a well in the centre and add the beaten egg, milk, oil and vanilla, folding gently until the batter is uniform.
7. Mix together the whiskey and fruit.
8. Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan, about 235g. Pour the fruit as a ribbon in the middle, to make a ring. Pour the remains of the batter over this, and put in the oven for 15 minutes or until the surface is starting to set.
9. While this is baking melt the butter and whisk in the sugar, then set aside to allow it to cool.
10. Just before the timer rings, add the egg and whisk until it's all uniform.
11. Pour the butter mixture on top of the cake, to even it out, and bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, or until the top is uniformly golden (you may have to turn the dish after about 10 to 15 minutes for even browning).
12. Allow to cool and serve while still warm or at room temperature.

Cinnamon Hot Chocolate Tart

I seem to be on a bit of a Mexican flavouring kick recently. Not that I'm complaining! Spicy, rich, complex flavours are just fine by me. This makes such a lovely, smooth filling, with just a suggestion of chilli heat. And I like distinct foods that complement each other when eaten together, which is why I put the cinnamon in the crust.
NOTE: try replacing the heavy cream with crème fraîche; it makes for an almost mousse-like consistency.

Crust - must be completely cooled before using
1 cup (4oz/120g) flour
¼ tsp salt
1 Tbsp. (25g) sugar
¾ tsp cinnamon
½ cup (4oz/114gr) butter, cut into pieces
½ tsp vanilla
2 Tbsps + cold water

NOTE: The pastry needs time to cool in the refrigerator not once, but twice, for about 15 minutes each time, and then another 15 minutes to pre-bake in the oven, a total of about 45 minutes.

1. Put the flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Add the butter pieces and pinch with your fingers to create a crumb texture (it's like playing in sand).
2. Make a well in the middle, and pour in the vanilla and water. Quickly work in the flour to create dough. Do not over-mix. 
3. Pat into a thick disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate 15 minutes.
4. Roll out the dough, line the tart shell, and chill another 15 minutes.
5. Pre-heat the oven to 400°F.
6. Put baking weights in the shell and bake for about 15 minutes or until the crust is ever-so-lightly browned.
7. Cool completely before using to allow the crust to set.

Filling
6 oz (170g) 70% chocolate, chopped fine
1 cup (250g) heavy cream
½ cup (120g) milk
1 tsp vanilla
¼ cup (50g) sugar
⅛ tsp cayenne
3 egg yolks

1. Heat the oven to 325°F.
2. Bring the cream and milk to a very slow boil in a saucepan.
3. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla and the chopped chocolate, stirring to melt the chocolate completely.
4. In a bowl, whisk together the yolk, sugar and cayenne until yolk turns a pale yellow.
5. Very slowly whisk in the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture. Do this slowly; this is to gradually increase the temperature of the egg and avoid making scrambled eggs with the hot liquid.
6. Strain the mixture into the baked tart shell.
7. Bake about 35 to 40 minutes or until set. The pie will puff up a bit when it is cooked, and will settle again as it cools.
8. Let it cool completely, which can take a few hours.
9. Only once it is completely cooled, dust with cocoa powder. If you dust it before this, the surface will still be hot and damp and the powder will just get wet.
10. Delicious accompanied by a fresh sprig of currants or other tart fruit.

Torta di pere e crema pasticcera (Pear Cake with Custard)

This is a cake Carole mentioned several times, having read it in Donna Leon's Commissario Brunetti detective novels. This recipe figured in the recently released cookbook based on those novels. I decided to make it for her retirement party. Well I tried to make the darned thing four times, and it wasn't until, the night before the event, despairing of ever making a version that was good enough for Carole, that I gave up and just put it together any old how. And to my surprise, it turned out! Although I had some better and worse versions of it in my experimentations, I always found the cake part was too dry, until, in that last moment, while working on my final version (re-created below), I decided to use all the cooking liquid from the pears and completely saturate the cake with it. This last element was all that was really needed to make it work. I admit that I've snuck in my own pastry cream recipe, and I simplified the sponge cake recipe, but it really was the darned potato flour that I found so hard to work with!

NOTE : There are two kinds of potato flour - one isn't really a flour but is sometimes passed as a flour; it is potato starch, which is very fine and almost totally white. Real potato flour is a pale yellow and a bit grainy.

For the sponge cake
4 eggs
¾ cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp baking powder
1¼ cup potato flour

1. Before juicing the lemon, cut away a ribbon of the lemon zest for the pastry cream, leaving no white pith on the ribbon (which is bitter).
2. Whip egg and sugar and vanilla together in a mixer for about 5 minutes, no less! It will increase in volume and become pale and sort of frothy. Add the lemon juice and beat for another 5 minutes.
3. Turn mixer down to slowest setting and sprinkle in very slowly the flour and baking powder until combined, then whip on high for 20 to 30 seconds. Pour into a buttered and floured spring-form pan and bake at 325°F for 25 to 30 minutes (the usual toothpick test works to find out if it's done).

For the pears
2⅓ cups Bosc (also known as Kaiser) pears, peeled, cored and sliced lengthwise into eighths
½ cup + 2 Tbsp sugar

1. Meanwhile, place the pears, sugar and ½ cup water in a non-stick pan and cook over moderate heat for about 30 minutes or more. The pears should be sort of transparent and the sauce a syrup.

For the pastry cream
1 cup milk
1 long ribbon of lemon zest (remove all white pith)
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 egg yolks
¼ cup sugar
2 Tbsps flour
2 Tbsps Cointreau

1. Put the milk in a saucepan with the ribbon of lemon zest and heat to a simmer, then remove from heat. Cover, and let infuse 10 minutes. When cool, add vanilla extract.
2. Meanwhile, in a mixer bowl, beat the yolks with the sugar until nice and pale. Beat in the flour. Then gradually whisk the milk into the egg mixture. Pour the lot back into the saucepan, bring to a boil, and cook one minute. Remove from the heat, and stir in the Cointreau. Strain into a bowl (this helps avoid any lumps), cover with a plastic wrap, and set aside to cool (make sure the plastic wrap touches the surface of the pastry cream, or a 'skin' will form on top). 

Assembling

When the sponge cake, pears and custard are completely cooled, assemble the cake. Using a very long knife, cut the sponge cake into 2 discs, and place one on a round cake plate (it will be messy when you pour the pear syrup over the cake, so make sure the plate has a lip). Measure out the cooked syrup left over from simmering the pears, and use exactly half of this juice to pour evenly over the bottom round of sponge cake so that it infuses. Then, spread the pastry cream, and place the second disc on top.
With a skewer, poke lots of holes all over the top of the cake so that when you slowly and carefully pour the remaining pear syrup over it, it will seep into the cake and not over the sides! This can take time, and if you want to poke more holes in go ahead - the pears will completely cover the top if you've made a mess of it. Once all the liquid has been poured and absorbed, garnish it with the pears in whatever design you like - a simple rose pattern does for me; you can pile on the pear slices until they're all used up. Put the cake in the refrigerator and let sit from a couple of hours to 24 hours. Serve slightly chilled (if it's been in the refrigerator for a long time, let it sit at room temperature for about an hour).
ANOTHER NOTE: This is a cake that doesn't seem to keep well, so try to eat it up as soon as you can.

Pannakoeken (Dutch pancakes)

As a kid in a French household we rarely had fluffy pancakes. Instead, we quite regularly had flat 'crepes', which were essentially a cup flour, a beaten egg, a cup milk, a tsp. vanilla. This was slathered, or more aptly put, drowned in the maple syrup we made from our maple grove. So many fond memories of that. However, being the curious George that I am, I started experimenting with more milk or more egg etc. Then I discovered that this experimentation had already been done, apparently by generations of Dutch people. There are far more complex and labour intensive recipes which I may explore at some point, but this is a simple and delicious version.
NOTE: I don't know what the chemical reaction is, but cow's milk makes for a much thicker batter and a different texture than non-dairy milk does. If you use cow's milk, I'd recommend experimenting by adding more water to lighten the batter.

1½ cups (225g/8oz) flour
2 tsps. sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3 eggs
A splash of vanilla (1 tsp up to 1 Tbsp, to taste)
1 Tbsp oil
2½ cups milk (any kind) (640g)

IMPORTANT: They cook quickly and can burn very quickly. Much of the flavour comes from perfect browning - not brown enough and they're bland, leave them too long and they take on a burnt taste. Use moderate heat and keep a sharp lookout. I'm putting this here because I have a tendency of not reading instructions thoroughly once I've made something a few times and forget important bits.

1. Mix the dry ingredients together. Add the oil, eggs, vanilla, milk and water until you get a very thin consistency (add more water until it feels right). Whisk this well until smooth.
2. Fry about ½ cup at a time in a large, hot frying pan - no need for oil or butter if it's a non-stick pan. Spread thinly in the hot pan by tipping the pan in a circular motion; the thinner the pancake the better. Fry them till the top of the pancake appears dry then flip over until it is quite brown on the bottom.
3. Troubleshooting: If your batter is too thick and doesn't spread on your pan, add a few tablespoons to a quarter cup of water. Conversely, if it's hard to get a round pancake, it may be that your batter is too liquid.
4. Keep in a warming oven or at 150-200°F (or lowest setting on your oven) until ready to serve

Asparagus and Brie Quiche

How many delicious ways can one make egg pie? Yes, egg pie. This is essentially what quiche is. I've heard tell a wife who had (or has?) a husband who wouldn't eat quiche (because real men don't), told him one night that she made egg pie. Of course, he ate it and loved it.

1 batch blind-baked pie crust, completely cooled
3 eggs
3 to 4 spring onions
2 Tbsps (1oz/28gr) butter
5 to 8 oz brie cheese
1 cup coffee cream OR ½ cup heavy cream + ½ cup milk
3 to 4 oz blanched asparagus
1 tsp English mustard powder
1 pinch nutmeg
salt and pepper

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Blind bake the crust. Allow to cool completely before using to allow the crust to set.
2. Blanch asparagus about 90 seconds in boiling water. Cool in ice bath.
3. Fry onions in the butter until tender, set aside.
4. Remove the rind from the brie and cut into small cubes.
5. Beat eggs, add cream, milk and cheese and mix together. Add mustard, nutmeg, salt and pepper.
6. Scatter the onions on the bottom of the shell; pour in the egg mix; pattern asparagus as you like on top. (I'll often measure the asparagus spears and cut the bottoms to create a wheel effect, which means I put the cooked and cut ends in first and submerge them in the egg mix, then arrange the asparagus tips on top)
7. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until the custard sets and is slightly brown.
8. To keep the quiche warm, cover it with aluminum foil and bake it in a preheated oven at 200-250F.

Bacon and Onion Quiche

November 2010 - Bacon, my Jewish friends tell me bacon is the one pork product that has either caused or could cause them to break with kosher. Pork, for my part, is part of my nutritional heritage as a descendent to the Gauls (I base this on the historically accurate documents about a small village that resisted the Romans, chronicled in the works titled "Astérix le Gaulois"). In spite of this, it is also one of the meats that, in my current financially precarious state, I will only buy free range or organic, and have waited with bated breath for the time the happy porker farmers come to the local farmer's market so that I can purchase a few choice packets. As luck would have it, happy pigs are more readily available that I thought, for the local Capers-slash-Whole Foods market carries bacon from happy, outdoor pigs from a local producer. As happy as I am to have discovered this bacon, I nevertheless use it judiciously - its flavour is so strong that it tends to overpower anything else in the dish, which is why I use it primarily as 'lardons' when making hearty winter stews. But for some reason I wanted to make a quiche with bacon and gruyère. After looking around at other recipes, I decided to throw in some onion and dijon mustard as well. And I'm quite pleased with the result - a nice balance of flavours for a warming winter dish where the bacon plays a part in the society of flavours instead of being a corporate raider.

1 blind baked pie crust, completely cooled

3 slices bacon (thick slices, if thin adjust the quantity accordingly)

1 large onion, sliced into rounds

1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 garlic clove, minced

Salt

Fresh ground black pepper

3 large eggs

1 cup coffee cream OR ½ cup heavy cream + ½ cup milk

2 tsps Dijon mustard

¾ cup Gruyère cheese, grated

1. Prepare the blind-baked pie crust. Allow to cool completely before using to allow the crust to set.
2. Preheat oven to 375°F.
3. Chop bacon into lardons (cut bacon into paper-clip sized pieces). Cook the lardons in a big skillet until semi crisp.
4. Remove all but 1 Tbsp. of the bacon fat (to save in use in other recipes) from the skillet and heat over medium heat. Add the sliced onion and cook until the onions are soft and start to brown. At this point, add the parsley and garlic, and cook 1 more minute.
5. Once the bacon has cooled a bit, chop into smaller pieces, and combine with the onion mixture.
6. In a bowl, whisk the eggs until light. Stir in dairy and mustard and whisk again to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
7. In the pre-baked pie shell, sprinkle the cheese on the bottom, then the onion and bacon mixture, and finally smother it all with the egg mixture.
8. Bake the quiche until it's all puffed and golden brown and joyful, about 35 minutes.
9. Serve warm or at room temperature.
10. To keep the quiche warm, cover it with aluminum foil and bake it in a preheated oven at 200-250F.

Leeky Goat Quiche - Chèvre and Leek Quiche

One of my standard quiche recipes, I made this as a side-dish to my parent's catered 50th wedding anniversary, and was quite chuffed when it became the focus of the meal. I love it when people ask me for the recipe!

1 blind-baked pie crust, completely cooled

2 Tbsps (1oz/28gr) melted butter

2 to 3 scallions (45 to 60g)

1 (6oz/170gr) leek

3 eggs

1 cup crème fraîche
pinch nutmeg

4 to 5 oz chèvre cheese

½ tsp salt

1⁄4 tsp pepper
Optional: 1 Tbsp tarragon

1. Pre-heat oven to 400°F and blind-bake the pie crust. Allow it to cool completely before using to allow the crust to set.
2. While crust is baking, fry leek in butter until soft. Add the scallions and cook with the leeks for another 2 to 3 minutes, to wilt. Set aside.
3. Whisk together egg, crème fraiche, nutmeg, salt and pepper (and tarragon, if using).
4. Spread cheese in bottom of pie shell. Sprinkle fried leeks on top.
5. Pour egg mix into shell; sprinkle fried scallions on top.
6. Turn down the oven temperature to 350°F and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until the custard is just set.
7. To keep the quiche warm, cover it with aluminum foil and bake it in a preheated oven at 200-250F.

Chestnut and chocolate, a sweet consonance - Fondants Chocolat Marron

My favourite recipes are the simple ones that give the impression of great luxury. This is one of them. The cake is so moist and thick with dark chocolaty gooey goodness, it's a miracle they're not sold at McDonald's. It's a recipe from the Limousin region in France, and I've adapted it from the Recoins de France Web site.

1 can sweetened chestnut paste

100g 70% chocolate (usually 1 bar)

3.5 oz (100g) butter 

3 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Melt together chocolate and butter in a bain marie.
3. Whisk in the chestnut paste until the mixture is uniform, then add eggs one-at-a-time.
4. Pour into a single cake tin or smaller containers such as ramekins.
5. Bake 25 minutes or until centre is firm.
6. Let cool completely before removing from containers and serving
7. Recommended with crème anglaise, raspberry coulis or caramel sauce.

Fireworks Raspberry Tart

I made this for the Festival of Lights fireworks on English Bay. It was a resounding hit. A bit of a challenge to carry since it is a bit delicate - I baked it in a spring form pan with the edges cut half-way down the pan's lip, and that seemed to work fine. This is made with pastry cream - the difference between pastry cream and custard is that the former uses flour to thicken. 

1 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 egg yolks

¼ cup sugar

2 Tbsps. flour

¼ cup heavy cream

1 lb fresh raspberries

1 9"/23 cm cookie crust, baked

1. Put the milk in a saucepan. Split the vanilla bean, scraping the seeds into the milk, then drop in the pot. Heat to a simmer, remove from heat, cover, and set to infuse 10 minutes. (If using extract, just bring milk and vanilla just to a boil and set aside to cool.)
2. Beat the yolks with the sugar until pale. Beat in the flour. Pull the vanilla bean from the milk and whisk the milk gradually into the egg mixture. Pour back into the saucepan, bring to a boil, and cook one minute. Remove from the heat (optional: stir in 1 tablespoon framboise liqueur). Strain into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside to cool. 
3. When chilled, stream the cream in and mix with whisk until smooth.
4. Spread the pastry cream evenly in the base of the tart. Arrange the berries neatly over top.

Italian Sausage Pie or, What to eat when you're bumed

Yesterday we came home from a beautiful spring day to find that our kitchen window had been forced open and our computers stolen (I'm uploading this post on an ancient laptop that has already crashed three times, won't work if you put in the battery, and needs its belly rubbed before going the sleep!) There's the inconvenience of losing computers and the danger of personal information on them falling into the wrong hands, but what is even more disturbing to me is that they entered through the kitchen - my sanctuary, the space from where I make my home... homey. And on top of that, my entire repertoire of recipes that I'd altered to my liking are gone. Gone!
Ah, well, I don't want to stay with these feelings, so a little comfort food will help, not just to eat, but to make, to fill my desecrated sacred space with warm, appetising aromas, to welcome light back into our home. I now have the opportunity to rebuild, rediscover and re-invent.
An old favourite is Italian Sausage Pie, a recipe I found on Recipezaar that is both delicious and comforting.

1 pie shell, blind baked, completely cooled
3/4 lb Italian sausage, sweet or hot
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 small onion
3 eggs
1/2 cup crème fraîche, cream or milk
1 cup shredded mozzarella or Gruyère
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Before turning on the heat under a skillet, add the oil and the onion. Remove the casing from the sausage and break up into crumbles in the skillet.
2. Turn on the heat  and cook until the onions are soft and the sausage starts to brown. This is usually when most of the moisture from the sausage has evaporated. Drain any excess fat and  and spoon this mixture into the blind baked pie shell.
3. Meanwhile, in a bowl, beat together the eggs and the cream, then mix in the cheese, salt and pepper; pour this over the sausage mixture.
4. Bake at 350F for 35 minutes, or until the custard sets and it tests clean with a knife.
5. Allow the pie to cool a few minutes before serving.
6. To keep the quiche warm, cover it with aluminum foil and bake it in a preheated oven at 200-250F.