Recipes And Stories Unblogged

Me, holding the papers and my pen: Are you in? Things are about to get a little weird-er.
Him, looking over the contract one last time: Yes, I am in.
Me: allright...there I sign...
Him: ugh...does this mean you are going to be baking even more desserts? Will I still get to eat them?
Me: yes, but now there might be a scoring card attached to them!!

The picture above sort of speaks for itself and I admit that I already told a hand full of you because 1/ I could not hold it anymore and 2/ if you write me the "what are you up to?" email, I can't possibly say "nothing" and post that a couple of weeks ago I signed my name at the bottom of a publishing contract for a cookbook.

Yep...100 recipes, 100 stories and 100 reasons to get you baking! 100 recipes (metric and US) never blogged about, well, except for a hand full that I have already posted but wanted to work on, specials created for work, desserts I came up with while working on others for the blog, wonderful recipes inherited from my grandmother,.etc...All have are rooted in my French background but most had to be adapted to what I found when I settled in the States, whether it be ingredients, methods or traditions. I am baking, styling the food, taking the pictures and telling you a story along the way. I hope you understand if the updates here slow down here and there and why I might be commenting a little less then before, just know that I am reading, salivating, laughing and crying along with you.

How did this all come to be? Well, I did not wake up one morning to find a "we want to publish you" email. It was rater a combination of events and relationships formed that finally brought that "you are our priority" email in my mailbox one morning....I first started this blog as a place to write about my passion for desserts and to have my family and friends read to keep me accountable. To say that I never thought of what cool things could come out of writing Tartelette (another happening I'll share in a couple of weeks) would be insulting your intelligence. But writing my own cookbook? I would have probably checked my temperature first. Like a craft or a child, the blog grew, and all because of you. By your visits, your comments and your emails, you implicitly also said "I am in" and one of the results stands in front of you today. I owe a lot of this to your support and your readership. I also know that if you want something in life, you have got to make it happen. So before I become even more absent or the best ghost commenter out there, at least you know why. I am baking you a whole of good things!

When my friend Hannah was about to release her own book, her publisher emailed me wanting to know if I wanted an advance copy for review. I like Alisa from the very first emails we exchanged. I liked her tone, her sensibility and I was very very impressed with the way she was handling Hannah's book release. I thought "Wow! If I were writing a book, I sure would want her to be my publisher". Then I realised that I had tons of questions about book and recipe writing and we started to talk about them and a few weeks later, she encouraged me to write a proposal and she would look it over and if not their publishing house, at least she could give me a couple of pointers. Well, I guess I did an ok job because after many months (that's another thing folks....unless you hook up a typewriter to your brain, whisk away 24/7, and take pictures like a mad one, it takes a lot of time and energy), they did send that "We are in" email....and the next 8 months are going to be bu-sy, bu-sy!!

The book is strongly related to the pictures of my grandparents above. I grew up with a spatula in one hand and an egg in the other, sitting on the kitchen counter by my grandmother, whisking and folding under her guidance. She distilled her love for desserts one recipe at a time, always careful to make me smell and taste, never afraid to let me destroy a cake because I would learn something no matter what. A couple of years after her death, my grandfather handed me her recipe boxes, all our family favorites, right there. I picked one of my favorites, set a stool by the counter top for my niece Lea, and that afternoon we made Grandma's Madeleines. I repeated the steps she taught me with Lea, I let her stir and fold, I let her butter the molds and spill the batter. It filled me up with such sadness and love at the same time. We proudly served them to my grandfather who exclaimed "I always told her she should organize them in some sort of book....but she always did what she wanted anyways..."

I flew home with the boxes in my carry on. I read them over and over on the plane, closing my eyes at each one. I could hear her voice, I could see my mom sitting at the table with her tea while I would emerge from the kitchen carrying a freshly baked flourless cake or a batch of cream puffs. Grandma would make me wait, she'd set up the table with freshly cleaned linens, a pretty plate and then she would go pick a spoon from her collection and hand it to me "go on, go ahead, you can have it now". Baking does not end in the kitchen, it starts in your mind, carries down through your fingertips and passes on to your nose, your eyes and ends at the table....in your mouth.

Once home, I put them in the front of my other recipe binders and once or twice a week I would work through them, edit the quantities, the ingredients, to work with the time, the economy, what I had available here, enhance, reduce, balance. For me a recipe is never final , it always a work in progress. I don't pretend to reinvent the pastry wheel, I like to work with things that most everybody can find and that will make you head to the kitchen without thinking twice whether you can do it. Of course you can! It's not rocket science...otherwise I would not be here today! I am always trying to bring a little extra, to give you as many tips and tricks as possible (so far Tanna liked them!) so there is more than grandma's tried and true going in the book. Because of her teachings and passion for food, I ended up doing this as a profession, and a hobby, and a favor, and teaching others....so much so that as I grew into this craft the more I found myself coming up with other recipes. I dare not say they will turn your world upside down, but I think they will nudge novices into tying on that apron a little tighter and try and seasoned bakers to come relax with me with a recipe, a story and a cup of tea. Title?

C'est Sweet: A baked narrative...

Oh gosh...is somebody still reading? There will be cake this weekend...Promise!

DMBLGIT June 2008 - And The Winners Are....

166 entries! Yep...ya'll now how to make my head spin and my mailbox go wild!! Only one entry lost into the depths of this vast galaxy in early June and just added to the gallery....I'd say it was a success.

Before I give you the results of this June Edition I want to thank Andrew for trusting me with hosting DMBLGIT. When I started blogging I would have never thought I would win some of these coveted badges, let alone host this super cool and super popular event...but I did we did: Jen, Graeme, Nadia and Alyson and I would like to thank all the participants and congratulate the winners!

Allright....So...Humhum...

Overall Winners: They have the highest scores in all three categories combined.

First Place: Wrightfood - Halibut, saffron-mussel liquor velouté, fava beans, watercress and fresh peas.

Second Place: Cookbook Catchall - Tapioca pudding


Third Place: 1x umruehren bitte aka kochtopf - Pain abricot pistache


Each picture was scored in three categories: edibility, originality, and aesthetics. The photo receiving the highest total score in each of those categories, excluding the three overall winners, is the specific category winner.

Winner Edibility Category: Gloubiblog - Bouchées Mogador


Winner Originality Category: Live, Love, and Eat desserts - Apple pie treat


Winner Aesthetics Category: Baking Obsession - White Chocolate and Grapefruit l'Opéra


Congratulations to all! July DMBLGIT will hosted by Scott from Real Epicurean.

Nutella or Blackberry or Quince or Loquat Danish Braid With The Daring Bakers?

You know by the title of this post that there is a story coming up don't you? Well, this time I have got to thank Kelly and Ben, our Daring Bakers' hosts this month for our house producing and eating danish braids and various other danishes all month long....for real. Not that I made a big batch of it and ate it throughout the month. No...to easy....I sat down yesterday actually counting the times I had made the recipe they provided for June: 1 full batch and 3 half batches. Hmmm...how did that happen?

Quickly after they posted the recipe inspired by Sherry Yard, The Secrets Of Baking, my mother-in-law was hosting her garden club and since I usually provide these ladies with some sort of baked goods, I thought of doing a half batch of the braid. Then a few days later, my Bakenistas and I met on Skype on Sunday morning and made a full batch. I had worked an overnight at the restaurant and I had started the dough there on my break. I arrived right on time to meet up with Lisa, Ivonne, Mary, Kelly, Ben, Chris and John. Same rowdy bunch, same coffee spillage laughing out loud. That batch was distributed around the neighborhood and B's students. The weekend after that, he gave me a pity party for not having any left so I agreed to make another half batch. The last one? Yesterday...of all days...when I could not retrieve my Danish Braid picture folder and sent a screeching help email to whomever could help. Thank you John for the programs because they obviously work....and I can write this post eating a slice of Danish without freaking out or melting down.

Summary? Well, we have one Nutella filled Danish Braid, one Blackberry Cream Cheese Braid with Almond Streudel Topping, a few Quince Danishes (thanks to Marcela who brought me a huge can of quince paste from Argentina, 2 pounds of it!), a few Loquat Jam filled Danishes.

Basically, I'd be lying if I told you that we did not enjoy it or that I did not find it a breeze to work with...even in the heat we are having and all the humidity. I do admit that I have a secret (well, not anymore) weapon when it comes to rolling laminated dough like danishes or puff pastry in the summer in South Carolina: a pastry board with ice pack inserts, which you can see see here.

For the filings I spooned Nutella right from the jar and the loquat jam was spread the same way, from the jar. For the blackberry filled braid, I simply cooked some berries with sugar and spooned 4 oz of cream cheese mixed with 2 Tb of sugar on the dough before the blackberries. For the quince paste, I did put a small spoonfull of mascarpone before the paste in the danish. No real recipes, just trying what I have on hand.Kelly and Ben provided a wonderful apple filling recipe for the braid but I had to make room in the fridge and not very much time to do it, but I have it bookmarked for this winter. One other thing: I skipped the egg wash and just sprayed the braids and danishes with some water before baking, to keep the layers light and crispy during baking.


Danish Braid, inspired by Sherry Yard, The Secrets of Baking:

Makes 2-1/2 pounds dough

For the dough (Detrempe)
1 ounce fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 large eggs, chilled
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

For the butter block (Beurrage)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Dough:Combine yeast and milk in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed. Slowly add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice. Mix well. Change to the dough hook and add the salt with the flour, 1 cup at a time, increasing speed to medium as the flour is incorporated. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. You may need to add a little more flour if it is sticky. Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Without a standing mixer: Combine yeast and milk in a bowl with a hand mixer on low speed or a whisk. Add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice and mix well. Sift flour and salt on your working surface and make a fountain. Make sure that the “walls” of your fountain are thick and even. Pour the liquid in the middle of the fountain. With your fingertips, mix the liquid and the flour starting from the middle of the fountain, slowly working towards the edges. When the ingredients have been incorporated start kneading the dough with the heel of your hands until it becomes smooth and easy to work with, around 5 to 7 minutes. You might need to add more flour if the dough is sticky.

Butter block: Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free. Set aside at room temperature.
- After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and ¼ inch thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour. Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough. Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. - Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface. The open ends should be to your right and left. Roll the dough into another approximately 13 x 18 inch, ¼-inch-thick rectangle. Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
- Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns. Make sure you are keeping track of your turns. Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. The Danish dough is now ready to be used. If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Danish Braid:
Makes enough for 2 large braids
1 recipe Danish Dough
filling of your choice

- Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the Danish Dough into a 15 x 20-inch rectangle, ¼ inch thick. If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on the baking sheet.
- Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5-inch-long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 1 inch apart. Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.
- Spoon the filling you’ve chosen to fill your braid down the center of the rectangle. Starting with the top and bottom “flaps”, fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling. This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.

Proofing and Baking
- Spray cooking oil (Pam…) onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid. Proof at room temperature or, if possible, in a controlled 90 degree F environment for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch.
- Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature. The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.

Check out all the other Daring Bakers' wonderful creations this month by heading over to the blogroll. Thank you all for visiting during these busy coming days and I will try my best to do the same. Scoring DMBLGIT is not a quick task so bear with me for the DB and the contest results which I plan on posting by Wednesday.

Mascarpone Raspberry Gratins

I always seem to have a story don't I? Well, bloggers are like that...they like stories: to read, to tell, to share and to write about. Somehow there is always a story behind the desserts I make , sometimes it is a long drawn explanation and sometimes something that popped in my head while experiencing one of those stories. Today is no exception...these gratins almost did not happen. Glad they did in the end though because they were mighty good.

Let's see...it all started last night when B's mom called and asked if I wanted to go blueberry picking with her in the morning...at the crack of dawn to avoid the heat. Yes, yes, yes....provided there are a few coffee stops along the way please....Then she threw raspberries in the mix so I jumped fell out of bed! There are a few things that make my heart skip on a hot June morning (well, B. is one of them, of course) and among my favorites are berries, stone fruits and spending a few hours with my mother in law and her stories of my husband when he was wee high. I am about to digress again so I'd better get right on to the rest of the day...

After our little berry picking frenzy (I basically needed her to keep some of my stash in her extra freezer), I pulled in the driveway with a huge basket of raspberries just in time to see one of the twins holding a puppy and walking towards me. Now for those new here (Hello, hello!), we do not have children, we jokingly say that all we have to do is walk next door and borrow C's twins for the day...or they borrow us, there are days one can't tell...Anyways... Her husband had sent her to get new tires and she came back with the wrong tires and a "free" puppy (read no shots or tags and probably younger). Her husband was red as a poppy, the kids were beaming and in her usual Southern nonchalance she just walked up to me and said "help us give him a bath"

I spent a good part of the day taking work breaks to go play with the puppy which we finally named Sullivan. At some point we got distracted by the rest of the brood, a cat, another dog and a turtle (yep, they needed another dog like I need another bill) and did not pay much attention to Sully until we heard is whimpering. We turned around and burst out laughing. He had found a way to climb up the crate full of raspberries and was barely holding his balance not to fall off the tiny ledge and take a dive into it. I guess he got a little too impressed with his Cirque du Soleil capacities and fell head first into the raspberries! I ran over and picked him up, all red and happy licking his paws, face and tail. Once back on the ground he ran back to the crate and tried to climb it again! He surely enjoyed his first baptism by raspberries and was ready for a little more!

I did manage to save quite a bit of the berries after the puppy dive (thank God, they don't weigh much at 8 weeks) and proceeded to make these little Mascarpone Raspberry Gratins. They made me think of Sully: light as feathers, wickedly cute and they really put a smile on my face! The fresh raspberries retain their fresh factor and the cream is rich and smooth without leaving that buttery coating on your tongue.

For the nut topping I have to thank one of my faithful readers, Bina, who sends me the most thoughtful gifts. Last winter, she had sent me an Indian specialty called Chikki, close to a toffee but this almonds, pistachios and cardamom. She emailed saying that her mom had made some more and brought it to the States and she would love to send me some more. Yes please!! So before the stash disappeared completely I did hide a few pieces and crushed them to top the gratins with. She also stitched me the cutest little kitchen towels but I am afraid to get the dirty! To top it all, her packaging is as precious as the gifts.... and since she only lives in the next state over I really hope e get to meet one day soon. Thank you and stop being shy, you are among friends!

Allright, allright, I am done....on to the recipe!

Mascarpone Raspberry Gratins:

Serves 4-6 depending on the size of your ramequins.

1/2 cup (4 oz) mascarpone, at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste or 1 tsp vanilla extract or 1/2 vanilla bean, seeded
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup fresh raspberries

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the mascarpone with the sugar until smooth. Add the vanilla, the egg and the egg yolk. Whisk until fully incorporated and add the heavy cream. Make sure everything is well combined and divide between your ramequins, not filling them all the way to the top, about 3/4 full. Divide the raspberries among the gratins and set the dishes in a deep roasting pan. Fill the pan with water, half way up the sides of the dishes and bake at 340 for about 20-25 minutes or until they seem to be barely set: still giggling a little when you move the pan but not completely wobbly. They will continue to bake and set as they cool. Let cool and serve either chilled or at room temperature.

Butterhorn Garlic Knots

Last month I posted about a Gruyere stuffed loaf that I had baked during a live Skype baking session with a bunch of flour obsessed gals and gents. We did not intend to make it a monthly thing, we are not even a baking group, Lord knows we are all super busy with, work, life, blogging, etc...We just decided to take one morning here and there to bake in our comfies and just let our mouths get a little loose and our minds in the gutter and I somehow get blamed for this each time (wink wink I also teach them how to type in Helenese but that is for another post). Ok, I'll admit that last time I did say out loud that the loaves looked like female genitals or breasts implants gone wrong. This time I am glad to report that I passed on the baton to Kelly who formed little turdy things with little funny things sticking out.

We had not really planned to get together again so soon but then Lisa started to email us with visions of garlic rolls she recently had at a restaurant and you know that if you mention rolls and yeast, I lift an eyebrow and Mary sends you the recipe within 12 hours so after a little scheduling we were on for this past Sunday. We decided to pick between two different recipes and although I plan to do the King Arthur one soon, it just was not going to happen that weekend for various reason I will get to another time. I got to give it to Mary though for elaborating blindly on a Bon Appetit recipe based on Lisa's description, the end product may not have been exactly what she remembered but the rolls were inhaled eaten in three days, no neighbor involved.

I don't often post about breads unless it is a Daring Baker challenge or another event but Sunday is bread baking day at the house so B. did not find anything unusual in my baking behaviour that day execpt for running back and forth to the laptop and giggling and laughing every other minute. A couple of times he came wondering why I was staring at the screen, with my arms crossed holding my ribs. "They're writing too fast, I have a missing wobbly w, a missing h, and a wandering m..." When you bake bread, there is some downtime (dough rising) and some fun time (dough shaping, which proved me that I can't have Lisa on the phone and make a bread knot at the same time!) so bread, cooking, laundry, grocery shopping were also accomplished by some or all while we left the chat window opened.

Beside the three ladies mentionned above, Tanna, Chris, Marcela, Sara, and John, joined in the fun to make the garlic knots.


The rolls? Good...no, very good! A little too sweet but since I had made a half batch that day, I made another half batch with my correction later Monday evening and those worked better for our taste. European yeast rolls are not as sweet as they are here so B. was happy with the first batch as I was with the second. The shaping was fun if not strange, I did some just fine and dandy and some had me think I had glued fingers and a stalling brain but it's dough....gather your mess into a ball and do it again, no biggie. I have to say that the more I was looking at the post on the KA blog, the more confused I was getting...step away from the computer and just knot.

Once the knots were formed, the instructions were to brush them with melted butter and crushed garlic. I had planned to use some fermented black garlic that I had received as a gift but I had a foggy brain that morning and just chopped regular garlic before I remembered. Another reason to do these again. They got brushed before, during and after baking and all that butter soaking in the rolls gave them a really moist texture without making them greasy. I did add fresh chopped basil and rosemary to the dough. The house smelled like a pizza parlor the whole day, and with the neighborhood males gathered in the garage "watching" the thunderstorms and drinking beers, I guess it did feel like one!

Butterhorn Garlic Knots (originally from Bon Appetit, worked on by Mary and reworked by me)

Makes 18
1/2 cup whole milk
6 Tb unsalted butter cut into pieces
1/4 cup warm water
1/2 tsp plus 1Tb sugar, divided
1 Tb dry instant yeast
1 large egg, room temp
3 to 3 1/2 cups, AP flour
1tsp salt
1/2 Tbsp melted butter
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
3 cloves garlic, minced finely

In heavy medium sized sauce pan over low heat, heat milk and 6 Tb of butter until the butter is melted. Do not let it boil. Let cool to 115F degrees. Combine warm water, 1/2 tsp sugar, and yeast in small bowl and let stand for 5 minutes (this is for flavor not to proof yeast, unless you are using active yeast in which case you are proofing and getting flavor)
In large bowl of stand mixer using the whisk attachment, beat egg and remaining sugar at low speed until blended. Beat in milk mixture. Gradually add 2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup at a time until blended smooth. Replace the whisk with dough hook. Add yeast mixture, salt, and 1 cup of flour (1/2 cup at a time), beat at medium low speed. You will have a very wet and loose dough that climbs the dough hook but falls back down the bowl by this time. One Tb at a time, add enough remaining flour to form a firm but sticky dough ball. The dough balls will pull away from the sides of the bowl and not flop back to the sides.

Pour 1/2 Tbsp melted butter in large bowl that can be fitted with a lid or that plastic wrap clings to well. On very lightly flour covered counter and with lightly floured hands, give dough 3 - 5 quick hand kneads to form good dough ball and then put in buttered bowl, turning dough over to coat with butter. Cover bowl with lid or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft free place (I like the oven turned off with the pilot light light on...or the laundry room when the dryer is on!) until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours. Punch down dough, fold dough over in half and then half again, and brush with melted butter. Cover bowl again and let rise again in same warm draft free place until doubled (about 1 hour).
From here follow the directions for making the knots as shown on the KA website . Just don't tuck the ends in to get the shape you want.
Cover and let rise until double, brush with melted butter and garlic and bake in 350F preheated oven for 15 -20 minutes.

Plum And Rosemary Sugar Tartelettes

Dodging the thunderstorms...that is all we have been doing this weekend. No, this is all we have been doing this past week and looking at the forecast, it looks like it will be our activity this week. Yeah!! Why does that make me happy? Free water ya'll, free water!

See, when my uncle and aunt were visiting, we got into talking about solar electricity, recycling water, growing more foods and herbs ourselves etc... They were you adults in the 60s and 70s and so was my husband...me? still in diapers but as one who uses water a lot (lots of dishes to wash!), waters herbs and greens on a daily basis, I really took to their conversations. A couple of days after they left, B. stumbled upon a huge empty container on a construction site and after a thorough washing, gutter diversion and pump installation, we can now recycle the rain to water our yard and our little herb and veggie garden!

Why water the yard if we get rained on as much? Well, it is still very hot and sunny during the day and one blasting shower does not do much in the end. It's mostly lightning and thunder, and as I was saying: free water. No more of that paying the city ridiculous amounts to water the grass, wash the car, the dog and fill the neighbor's kiddie pool....not to mention keeping my herbs happy and growing. They are so happy these days that the mint is taking over its own little corner, I am making pesto with Thai basil faster than I can wash the bowl and the rosemary, is wild and crazy. After so many savory dishes with it, I was starting to be at a loss to use it creatively. Until those plum tarts.

I went on my routine of cutting some herbs for dinner and grabbed a plum on my way downstairs. I don't know about you but opening the door to the yard also means, letting the dog out, checking the mail, all little things that require a snack for this perilous and long journey...I digress sorry... I just love plums. The scent of the rosemary lingered on my fingertips as I went to bite into the plum and the combination of the two caught me off guard. I loved it! Sweet and fragrant all at once without being overpowering. It was not a combination that made B. say "yeah! I want it now!" but interesting enough that he said he'd try it if it were sweet enough.

I wanted to keep the fruit and the herb as close to the original experience I had just had so I thought that a simple fruit tartelette in which the fruit is just sprinkled with sugar rubbed with rosemary would work. If all else failed, he could always eat the shortbread crust! Rosemary has a tendency to turn bitter in dishes but if you rub it in sugar you prevent this from happening and by using fresh you really do not need a whole lot to work as a complement to the plum. Not to mention that your house will smell like a villa in Tuscany!

Plum And Rosemary Sugar Tartelettes:

Makes 8 (3.5 inch round) tarts
Printable recipe

For the tart shells:
1 stick butter, cut in small pieces
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 egg yolk

In a food processor, combine the flour and butter and pulse until you get a mixture that has the texture of cornmeal. Add the egg yolk and pulse until the mixture comes together in a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate while you prepare the filling. Roll between sheets of plastic wrap and cut out circles larger than your tart shells, fit the dough into the molds and cut out the excess. Prick with a fork, cover with a sheet of parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake at 350 for about 10-15 minutes.

For the plums:
8 plums (you might need more if you use the smaller Italian plums)
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tb finely chopped fresh rosemary

Cut the plums in thin slices. In a non reactive bowl, combine the sugar and the rosemary and rub in between your fingertips to release the rosemary essence. Reserve one Tb of the sugar and set aside. Add the plums to the bowl and toss them in with the sugar. Arrange the plum slices on top of the cooled tart shells. Sprinkle with the sugar that had been set aside and bake for 20 minutes at 350F. Let cool and serve at room temperature.

Mojito Jelly-O

Him: what are you making?
Me: Gelee de Mojito
Him: translation?
Me: I don't know, kind of like Mojito jello but not the packet thingie
Him: then why don't you call it that ?
Me: be glad I did not call it "aspic"
Him: sounds like it could hurt
Me: not funny, I did not write the culinary language of my country, allright?!
Him: so what is this...really...?
Me: how about Mojito Jelly-O ?!

Almost every weekend we gather with the neighbors outside by the creek. Rain or shine, hot or cold. Same backyard all those years...don't know how that happened, it just did. One Saturday evening three years ago, we were all chatting outside when I said "I'd better go check on my cake", C. said "I'd better go check on the chili" and J. said "I think the boy is bringing oysters"....and the rest is history: the men set out a long wood plank on saw horses outside and we all brought down what was in the oven or on the stove that evening and shared, grown up beverages and good laughs included.

We can't always get together on the weekends because of holidays and guests, etc...Foods vary with the season and the sea but when we do you can be sure of one constant: C's jello-shooters....don't ask me why, but she made it her duty to provide a different one each time. Except that this weekend she passed the baton on to me when I said that we should have Mojitos instead for cocktails given the massive quantity of mint I have growing. I am not a big jello shooter fan (heck! Ask any fellow expat if they know the packet brand and unless they have been here before, they will probably look at you funny), but I know it's her thing so I tried to come up with a Mojito Jelly-O instead of just a cocktail.

Obviously, if you do not like gelatin based dessert you will not like this one and if you do not like Mojitos or alcohol, you will probably have to pass too, but if you do.....for all of you ready for the weekend, these will make you very very happy! I had to take a few bites for the pictures and I got very relaxed at eleven in the morning which makes me think that tonight is going to be very good!

For the jelly, I'll let you pick your own brand of white rum and you can replace the gelatin with agar agar or vegetarian gelatin if available. I am not an expert on the agar but from what I have found prior to posting this, it seems that the same quantity would work instead of the gelatin, but don't take my word for it.

Mojito Jelly-O

Serve 4
Printable Recipe

5 limes (1/2 cup juice)
1/2 cup mint (3-4 twigs)
1 Tb gelatin
1/2 cup water divided
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white rum
1 1/4 cups lemonade

Pour the gelatin in a small ramequin and sprinkle 1/4 cup of water over it. Allow it to dissolve, set aside.
Zest one of the limes, set the zest aside, juice all the limes to obtain about 1/2 cup. Squeeze another one if necessary to obtain 1/2 cup. Set aside. Chop the mint finely and set aside.
In a medium saucepan set over medium high heat, combine the remaining 1/4 cup of water and sugar bring to a boil just until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the gelatin, stirring until it is completely dissolved. Add the rum, lime juice, lemonade and the mint.
Pour in 4 glasses or ramequins and let set in the refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight. Decorate with mint and lime slices if desired.