FOOD

 Here are several recipes for food which I hope you will enjoy.

                                          MEDITERRANEAN CASSOULET

A delightful vegetarian dish.  You can obviously serve it with meat or sausages 

4 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, peeled and chopped

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1 large red bell pepper, trimmed, deseeded and diced

1 large yellow pepper, trimmed, deseeded and diced

1 aubergine, trimmed and cut into dice

2 courgettes, trimmed and cut to dice

1 tbsp tomato paste

4 tomatoes, peeled, deseeded and chopped

½ tbsp brown sugar

125 ml (½ cup) dry white wine

900 ml (3.8 cups) vegetable stock

110 g (4 oz) haricot beans, soaked overnight and drained

110 g (4 oz) lentils, soaked overnight and drained

1 tbsp rosemary, chopped

1 bay leaf

¼ tsp fennel seeds

 

 Sauté the onion and garlic in half the olive oil until soft.  Add the two peppers, the courgettes and the aubergine and cook, stirring for about 5 minutes more.  Add the remaining olive oil the tomato paste, the tomato and simmer for 3 minutes more.  Add the brown sugar, pulses, herbs and pour in the wine and vegetable stock and season with salt and pepper to taste, cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until the pulses are tender and set aside to cool and discard the bay leaf.

 

Spoon the mixture into a shallow Pyrex dish and serve with a green salad.

 

                                          

                                                   QUICHE LORRAINE  

Ages ago, when I was newly married, I read this recipe in Vogue magazine.  I promptly prepared it and to my great joy, my husband and my parents found the crust exceptionally crisp and the custard creamy and luscious.

Pastry:

240 g (8 oz) plain flour

1 tsp salt

120 g (4 oz) iced butter, cubed

1 egg

2 tsp iced water

Filling:

8 rashers of bacon, cut into pieces, sauteed and drained on kitchen paper

90 g (3 oz) grated Gruyere or Cheddar

2 whole eggs

2 egg yolks

275 ml (1  cup + 2 tbsp) double cream

Salt and white pepper to taste

A knob of butter for the top.

Mix flour with salt and rub with butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.  Add the egg and mix well together.  Shape into a ball, flatten out, cover with cling film and refrigerate for1 hour.

Roll out the dough between two pieces of baking parchment to form a circle and line a buttered 20 cm (8 inch) flan dish with pastry and gently press it into the base and sides of the tin and prick all over with a fork and chill for one hour.

Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F). Cover the pastry with crumpled foil and bake for 15 minutes, then discard to foil, bake for 10 minutes more and set aside to cool.

Sprinkle the tart, evenly, with bacon and cheese. Whip the eggs and egg yolks with cream, season with salt and pepper, and pour over the pastry. Dot with butter and bake until the filling is puffed and golden.

  

                        A PUREE OF PARSNIPS WITH ROCKET AND CHEESE

1 loaf of bread cut into 12 slices, toasted for 2 minutes each side, on a hot griddle pan and rubbed with

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and cut in half

 

3 large parsnips, quartered, cored and cut into 1 cm cubes

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp truffle oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Parmesan or San Mihalis shavings

Rocket leaves for garnish

 

Sauté the parsnips in butter, over medium heat.  Season with salt and freshly ground pepper and shake frequently until golden and soft, adding a little hot water, if necessary.

 

Remove from the heat and blend into a smooth purée with both the oils.  Taste and season accordingly and set aside to cool.

 

When ready to serve, spread the hot toasts with the parsnip mixture, scatter the shaved cheese evenly oven, drizzle with a little olive oil and garnish with rocket leaves.

 

 

          LEG OF PORK COOKED WITH HONEY, ORANGE MUSTARD AND HERBS

A delicious main dish.

 

3 kg leg of pork, skin scored into diamond shapes

4 tbsp of honey dissolved in the juice of

1 lemon

2 tbsp mustard

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

3 tbsp olive oil

The juice of 1 orange

2 kg (4 lbs) baby potatoes

Salt and pepper to taste

Thyme leaves

Olive oil

Butter.

 

Preheat oven to 200 C (400 F).

Place the pork in a baking tin and sprinkle with the honey and lemon juice mixture, salt and freshly ground pepper to taste and the mustard and massage the meat all over. Drizzle with olive oil and pour the orange juice around the meat.  Cover the tin with baking parchment and foil and bake for about 2 hours until the meat is tender, and the skin is crisp.  Transfer the leg of pork to a dish and keep warm.

 

Add the unpeeled baby potatoes to the roasting tin, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste drizzle with lemon and orange juice and bake for about 1 hour or until soft.  Return the meat to the tin, brush with extra honey and mustard and bake for 10 minutes more. 

 

After 20 minutes slice the meat and the crackling and serve with the baby potatoes and a green salad of your choice.

 

Here is another delicious dish.

 

                                PUMPKIN FILLED WITH CRACKED WHEAT

One 3 kg (6 lb) pumpkin, baked until soft, seeds discarded, flesh and shell reserved

½ kg (1 lb) cubed meat, trimmed from extra fat and sauteed in

2 tsp olive oil and sprinkled with

Salt and pepper to taste

6 rashers of bacon, sautéed until crisp

1 onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 garlic, peeled and minced

2 leeks, trimmed sliced lengthwise, thoroughly washed and finely sliced

2 celery stalks, threaded and finely sliced

2 cups of cracked wheat

½ kg (1 lb) chestnuts, boiled in salted water

1 cup raisins

250 ml (1 cup) white wine

1 litre (4 cups) tasty chicken stock

1 bay leaf

Snipped chives

4 heaped tbsp grated graviera from Crete of Parmesan, separated

 

Brush the inside of the pumpkin shell with butter and sprinkle with ½ the grated cheese.  Sauté the onion, leeks and bacon in olive oil, in a large saucepan, add the cracked wheat and sauté for 3-4 minutes more, add the garlic and pour in the wine and cook stirring for 2-3 minutes until the alcohol evaporates.  Pour in the chicken stock, add the bay leaf and simmer gently until the cracked wheat is almost done.  Stir in the meat cubes and part of the cubed pumpkin flesh, and taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly, if necessary. Discard the bay leaf.

 

Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F).  Stuff the pumpkin, but not to the top, sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Place in a baking tin and pour 4 cups of hot water around it and bake for 15 minutes more until the cracked wheat is thoroughly cooked.

 

Serve from the shell, sprinkled with snipped chives, and chopped fresh thyme, accompanied by sliced turkey and a green salad of your choice.

  

 

                           POTATOES AND MUSHROOMS AU GRATIN

 

 

62½ (¼ cup) olive oil

3 large leeks, white parts only, finely chopped

1½ kg (3 lb) mushrooms, finely sliced

3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

1½ kg (3 lb) potatoes, peeled and sliced and paced in cold water

500 ml (2 cups) thick cream

1 tsp salt and

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 cup Gruyere cheese, thickly grated

 

Sauté the leeks in olive oil, over medium heat, until soft and dry.  Add the mushrooms, sprinkle with salt and pepper and sauté for 7-8 minutes until soft and dry.   Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.  This part of the cooking could be done 4 

 

Preheat oven to 190 C (375 F).  Pat the potatoes slices dry with a kitchen towel.   Combine Cream, salt and pepper in a large saucepan, add the potatoes and bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

 

Lower the heat and continue cooking very gently until the cream has been reduced by half and the potatoes are partially cooked. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

 

Place half the potato mixture in a buttered Pyrex dish and even the surface.   Spoon the mushrooms evenly over, cover with the remaining potatoes and sprinkle with cheese.   Cover loosely with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes.   Uncover and bake for 10-12 minutes more, until the potatoes are tender and the top is golden brown.

                                                      PEACH PICKLE

3.5 kg (7 lb) peaches

21 whole cloves

2 kg (4 lb) sugar

        (      )  vinegar

Cinnamon  sticks

Peel, stone and thickly slice the peaches and stick  1 or two cloves into each one.  Place peaches into a stone jar.  Boil vinegar and sugar to a thick syrup.  Pour over peaches and wight down and let stand overnight.  

The first morning,  pour off juice, add cinnamon and bring to the boil.  Pour hot syrup back over the peaches,  The second morning, pour off juice and bring to the boil and pour over the peaches.  The third morning, heat syrup add the peaches, a few at a time,  Cook slowly until tender but o not overcook.  Place the peaches into sterilized jars.  Boil the syrup until thick and pour over the peaches and seal the jars.

 

        

                                            CHESTNUT ICE CREAM

A delicious iced dessert.

323 ml (1 1/3 cup) cream

323 ml (1 1/3 cup) milk

4 yolks

½ cup of sugar

¼ cup rum

500 g (1 lb) sweetened chestnut puree

Garnish: Chocolate sauce

 

Bring the milk and cream to the boil and whip the yolks and sugar until pale and fluffy and carefully pour some milk mixture into the whipped yolks, whipping constantly.  Pour back into the cream and continue whisking until it thickens into a custard and allow to cool. Add the chestnut puree and beat well into the custard and flavour with rum.  Cover and freeze for 2 hours at least. 

 

Serve garnished chocolate sauce.