Mont Blanc

It may be surprising to know that chestnuts have been a staple food in continental Europe much longer than the potato. It's taken us British a bit longer to embrace it's goodness, but I think we can safely say that it has become well ensconced in our diets and favour. Indeed you can find delicious recipes using this very versatile and flavourful ingredient scattered amongst cookery books from the 19th century onwards . . . puddings, soups, sauces and savoury stuffings . . .

Chestnuts differ a great deal from other nuts in that they have a high starch and water content, yet are low in protein and fats, which makes them ideal for storage. Dried and ground, they can be easily incorporated into breads, cereals, soups and batters.

In Britain wild sweet chestnuts are generally not available until they fall from off the trees in late October, and in a good year a lucky harvester can come away easily with a carrier bag or two! Plump, smooth and shiny, be sure to avoid any that are wrinkly or dried looking, and don't confuse the nuts from the horse chestnut tree with edible sweet chestnuts. They are completely un-related in the edible sense and the horse chestnuts are only really good for conkers! Edible sweet chestnuts are encased in a shell of long sharp spikes and inside there will be anywhere's from two to four nuts.

If you are lucky enough to have a bag of them and want to prepare them for roasting and eating I would suggest that you soak them in some water for a good 30 minutes before scoring them with a sharp knife on their rounded side and then roasting them in a hot oven for 25 to 30 minutes . . . and there is no tastier treat than to buy a fresh bag of hot roasted chestnuts from a street vendor in the depths of a cold December's day . . .




I recently purchased some delicious sweetened vanilla flavoured chestnut puree and was able to create a delicious dessert for some guests we had here at the cottage a few nights ago. I am sure most of you have heard of Mont Blanc, which is essentially a dessert composed of tasty meringues, sweetened chestnut puree and chantilly cream. (sweetened whipped cream)



The chestnut puree was so delicious, I could have just stood there and eaten it by the spoonful, right out of the tin . . . but . . .

that would have been quite greedy, don't you think??? And . . . I do like to share . . .



Not only was this incredibly easy to put together, but it was most impressive to look at and had our dinner guests ooohing and ahhing all over the place . . . especially the ladies.

Every spoonful was bliss . . . total . . . and utterly . . . bliss. But don't take my word for it. Try it out for yourselves. I think you'll quite . . . quite . . . like it.

A lot!




*Mont Blanc*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

This has to be one of the easiest and the tastiest desserts around. Your guests will think you have slaved all day.

4 glasses with stems
8 to 12 small plain meringues
250ml of double cream, chilled
2 TBs icing sugar
400g sweet vanilla flavoured chestnut puree
chocolate sprinkles (optional)



Crumble the meringues and divide them equally amongst the stemmed glasses. Put the chilled double cream into a large bowl and whip with an eletric whisk until it forms soft peaks, but is not stiff. (if perchance you have whipped it a bit much, gently stir some unwhipped cream into it to loosen it up a bit. It works a charm) Fold in the icing sugar. Cover the layer of meringue in the glasses with chestnut puree and then cover that with the sweetened whipped cream. Sprinkle with sprinkles if desired.





 

Orchard Fruit Crumble

It's no secret that I love grocery shopping, and I reckon I spend roughly twice as much time in grocery stores than most people, because of my job . . . so it's a pretty good thing that I do love it! I work as a personal chef in a big manor house and so, if I am not cooking and shopping for myself . . . I am cooking and shopping for work!



I regularly see things that I think to myself . . . I could do that and for less than half the price, and it would probably taste a lot better too.



I happened to see what looked like a delicious crumble in the frozen food section of my local Waitrose the other day . . . Orchard Fruit Crumble. What a tasty idea!!



I took a look at the ingredients and then dashed my trolly over to the produce section to pick up some apples, pears and plums.



Easy peasy . . . lemon squeasy. Of course, lashings of custard are a given . . .



And oh so very delish!!



*Orchard Fruit Crumble*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

This is delicious and heartwarming. The perfect pud for a chilly autumn evening.

3 Bramley apples, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
3 pears, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
3 ripe plums, pitted and cut into chunks
2 oz butter
a pinch of cinnamon (optional)
8 oz of rolled organic oats
4 oz of soft butter
3 oz soft brown sugar

Melt the 2oz butter in a pan and then add the apples, pears and plums, coating them with the butter. Leave them to simmer on a gentle heat for about 5 to 6 mins or until just beginning to soften. Taste. If it seems a bit too tart, add a heaped dessertspoon of caster sugar. Pour this mixture into a buttered shallow baking dish.

Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F.

Place 6 ounces of the oats in a blender. Blitz until they are the consistency of flour. Tip out into a bowl. Add the remaining oats, cinnamon, butter and sugar. Rub it all together until crumbly with your fingertips. Sprinkle evenly over the fruit in the baking dish.

Place into the heated oven and bake, uncovered, for 15 to 20 minutes, until the topping is nicely browned. The fruit should be completely soft as well. Remove from the oven and let sit for about 10 minutes, before spooning out into individual serving dishes.

Serve with lashings of custard or scoops of good quality vanilla ice cream.

Upside Down Apricot and Pistachio Cake

Having only discovered apricots late in life, I confess . . . I am carrying on a love affair with them. Happily it's a love affair that I share with my husband . . . for he loves them too.

Call it a Culinary Menage a Trois . . .



I discovered this tasty little cake the other day in one of my newer cookbooks, Feed Me Now, by Bill Granger. I just love Bill's books and recipes. They're really down to earth and delicious. Not an ounce of pretention in the lot.

Imagine brown sugar and vanilla glazed apricots, sprinkled with some chopped pistachio nuts and topped with a cinnamony sour cream cake batter . . . and then baked until golden . . .



Turn it out onto a plate and let the syrupy sweet juices flow . . . top it with some creme fraiche and gobble it up while it's still warm.



No . . . it is not pretty. It will not be winning any beauty contests for sure . . .
But whilst it is lacking in attractiveness . . . it more than makes up for that lack in taste.

He called it a tart . . . it looks and tastes like cake to me. I added the pistachios . . . well . . . coz I happen to like nuts as much as I like apricots and, I had some that needed using up.



if you like apricots, you're going to really love this one.

We did . . . in the Rayner household, it got two sets of two thumbs up!!




*Upside Down Apricot and Pistachio Cake*
Serves 4 to 6
Printable Recipe

Deliciously glazed apricots mixed with the crunch of pistachios and topped with a wonderfully spicey and rich sour cream cake. Make sure you turn this out of the pan as soon as you remove it from the oven so that it doesn't stick. You'll want to serve this with lashings of creme fraiche or whipped cream.

100g of butter, divided
12 apricots, halved and pitted
25g raw pistachio nuts, coarsley chopped
90g soft light brown sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
125g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
115g caster sugar
130ml of sour cream



Pre-heat the oven to 200*C/400*F. Place a 24cm diameter round baking tin on top of a low flame and add 25g of the butter. Melt and then stir in the sugar and vanilla. Cook and stir until the sugar melts. Turn off the burner. Place the apricots, cut side down on top of this mixture. Sprinkle with the chopped pistachios.

Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and sugar into a bowl. Rub in the remaining 75g of butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sour cream. Dollop this mixture over the apricots and spread it out with dampened fingers to cover.

Bake in the pre-heated oven for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and immediately invert onto a large plate. Cut into slices and serve warm with some creme fraiche spooned on top or whipped cream.

Mincemeat Jalousie

One of the things that I really like over here in the UK, is the mincemeat. You can buy it ready-made all year long, not just at Christmas. Or you can make your own. It's really quite easy.



Back home the mincemeat is really quite different. There's actually minced meat in it. I was never all that fond of it. My Aunt and Uncle used to make Deer Mincemeat. Interesting . . . to say the least.



Over here the mincemeat is a delicious mixture of chopped fruits and spices . . . raisins, currents, sultanas,lemon and orange peel . . . cinnamon, nutmeg, mixed spice . . . soft light brown sugar . . . suet. You can get it with brandy, or port and some varieties even have cherries in it. I love it all.



Mincemeat is not just for Christmas you know.



You can make lovely loaf cakes with it and pies of course . . . any time at all.

or you can make this tasty Jalousie.



Served warm and cut into squares, it's deliciously moreish with a tangy dollop of creme fraiche on top to counteract the sweetness.

It's lovely, really lovely . . . and so very . . . very . . . easy to make.

Sweet . . . spicy . . . and flake, flake, flakey . . . I think Todd said it best of all . . . "Nice . . . very nice" . . . as he reached for a second helping . . .



*Mincemeat and Apple Jalousie*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

Light and crisp puff pastry filled with delicious bottled mincemeat and sliced apple. Served warm with a tasty dollop of creme fraiche. Yum!

1 350g package of frozen all butter puff pastry
1 4 to 6 ounce jar of mincemeat
1 large eating apple, peeled and thinly sliced
1 TBS caster sugar
milk and demerara sugar
Icing sugar to dust
Creme fraiche to serve



Pre-heat the oven to 220*C/425*F.

Roll the pastry to a thin oblong, 6 inches wide and 18 inches long. Cut in half crosswise to give you 2 9-inch long strips. Flour one strip lightly and fold in half from both edges to the centre. Make a series of cuts through the folded edges to within one inch of the trimmed edge on both sides.

Lightly butter a sheet of parchment paper and place it on a baking tray. Lay the plain piece of puff pastry on top. Spread with the mincemeat to within 3/4 inch of the edge all around. Place the thinly sliced apple on top and then sprinkle with the caster sugar. Dampen the free edge all around with some water. Open out the slashed piece of pastry and lay on top. Seal the edges all around and crimp them together. Brush with some milk and sprinkle with some demerara sugar.



Place in the centre of the heated oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until well risen and nicely browned. If you think it is browning too quickly you may reduce the oven temperature for the last 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven. Dredge with icing sugar, cut into squares and serve warm with some creme fraiche.

Apple, Blackberry and Cheese Torte

So, this is the season of apples and blackberries and the two placed together create the most wonderful marriage of flavours. It's classic.

The hedgerows that surround our cottage are just drooping with blackberries, likewise the apple trees are full of apples that are being picked daily. We are lucky that we can help ourselves to the drops. Back home they would have used the drops to make apple juice . . .



The air rings with the sound of Polish as that is where most of the pickers come from and is filled with the smell of fermenting apples . . . there are tons laying beneath the trees, far too many to use and a lot are decaying now, hence the smell. Back home the deer would be snuffling them up.



Apples and cheese are a pretty formidable combination as well. My mom always served up her homemade apple pies with a tasty slab of cheddar on the side. What happens when you combine the lovely flavours of apples, blackberries and cheese??? Why . . .

You get a fabulously tasty autumnal torte!! You can use Raspberry preserves if you can't get the blackberry. Apricot goes very well also.



Who wouldn't love a sweet cake-like crust, spread with jam and encasing a delicious cheesecake filling topped with sweetly spiced and sliced apples . . .

It's pretty hard to resist!



*Apple and Cheese Torte*
Serves 8
Printable Recipe

This so good and is delicious warm or cold. It's a great brunch item as well as a fabulous coffee break treat, not to mention dessert!
Base:4 ounces butter, softened
1/3 cup caster sugar
1 cup flour
1/3 cup of blackberry jam
Filling:
1 - 250g package of cream cheese
1/4 cup caster sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla paste
Topping:
3 cups peeled and thinly sliced apples
1/3 cup caster sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon



Pre-heat the oven to 230*C/450*F. Cream the butter and sugar for the base together thoroughly. Blend in the flour. Press the mixture evenly onto the bottom and 1 1/2 inch up the sides of an 8 1/2 inch wide spring form pan.

Warm the blackberry jam a bit and then spread it over the base of the tart.

Beat the cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla paste together until smooth and fluffy. Spoon this over top of the jam in the crust.

Toss the apples, sugar and cinnamon for the topping together and arrange on top of the cream cheese mixture.Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 200*C/400*F. and bake for a further 25 to 30 minutes, until the filling is set and the apples are tender.

Cool slightly before removing the pan rim. Serve warm or cold.

Stuffed Baked Apples . . .

Long about this time of year, when the days start to get shorter and the nights start drawing in . . . and the air is filled with the smell of ripe apples and falling leaves, my heart starts to covet the comforts of home and simple things . . .




Things like warm sweaters and rubber wellies . . .



Sloes and hips and berries . . .



Long walks across the fields . . . with fallen acorns crunching underfoot, and Jess, our much beloved Border Collie, leading the way . . .



Purple sunsets, with a harvest moon hung low in the sky . . .



Bonfires and toasted fingers . . .



Baked apples . . . and cream . . .



*Stuffed Baked Apples*
Makes 6
Printable Recipe

This is the perfect autumn dessert. Impressive, tasty and oh so very easy to do.

6 Granny Smith Apples
2/3 cup cup of flaked toasted almonds
2 TBS soft light brown sugar, packed
2 TBS plain flour
1 ounce of softened butter
pinch of cinnamon
6 cinnamon sticks



Pre-heat the oven to 160*C/325*F. Lightly grease a shallow baking dish large enough to hold all the apples. Set aside.

Using a sharp knife cut out the stem end of the apple. Take a melon baller and hollow out the inside a bit, removing the seeds and core and making a small pocket without going all the way through to the bottom. Make a light score all the way around the apples, horizontally. Place the apples in the baking dish.

Combine the almonds, flour, sugar, butter and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Divide this mixture equally amongst the apples, stuffing it down inside. Stick a cinnamon stick into the centre of each. Bake for 25 minutes or so, until the apples are as soft as you would like them to be for eating. Serve warm with custard or spooning cream. Delicious!

Caramelized Pears with Mascarpone Cream

I just love pears. Like plums, apricots, nectarines, apples, berries, figs . . . they are one of my absolute favourite fruits.

hmm . . . I am thinking that perhaps I just love fruits? Who knew!




I came across some beautiful little forelle pears in the grocery store on Friday and I knew right away what I wanted to make.



This is my absolutely favouritest of all favouritest desserts. Simple and yet . . .



very scrummy and moreish . . . and yet at the same time, elegant enough to serve at a special dinner party or celebration.

I could eat the whole recipe by myself, but I'm not a greedy person. I do share from time to time.



Perfect desserts are meant to be shared . . . don't you think?? (And I know just the perfect person to share these with!)




*Caramelized Pears with Mascarpone Cream*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

This is one of my favourite desserts. I love the subtle flavour of the spices with the sweet creaminess of the pears. I like this much better than any alcohol based recipe. Mascarpone cheese goes with them so perfectly. If this doesn't become one of your favourites, I'll eat my hat!

4 forella pears
(can use larger ones, but they will take a bit longer to cook)
2 TBS butter
2 TBS runny Italian honey
1/2 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise
1 star anise, broken in half
2 bruised cardamom pods
1/2 cinnamon stick, broken in half
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
2 TBS brown sugar
the juice of one lemon
To serve:
1/2 cup double cream
1/2 cup of full fat mascarpone cheese
the grated zest of one lemon
2 TBS caster sugar



Peel the pears and then cut them in half, leaving the stems on if possible. Scoop out the centre seeds with a melon baller.

Place the butter and the honey into a large deep and heavy skillet. Melt together and then add the vanilla bean, scraping out the seeds into the mixture. Add the star anise, cardamom pods, and the cinnamon stick. Grate the nutmeg over top. Bring to a boil and once the mixture starts to foam, add the pears, cut side down. Reduce the heat to medium low. Cook until the pears are golden brown on the underside and tender when tested with the tip of a sharp knife. Remove to a serving bowl. Stir the lemon juice and the brown sugar into the pan drippings. Bring to the boil and cook until the mixture is syrupy. Pour over the pears. You can remove the spices if you wish, but I think they look lovely. Just warn your guests not to eat them.

Whisk the mascarpone cheese and double cream together with the sugar until soft peaks form. Fold in the lemon zest.

Serve the pears warm with a drizzle of syrup over top and a dollop of the mascarpone cream.