plum and almond galette

plums are back in season and, having just received a couple of bags of them from food4, i’m a happy girl. my usual choice for cooking with them is nigel slater’s moist plum cake but when i saw deb’s nectarine galette i decided to try something different.

the resulting galette (a french word which can be used to describe this sort of free-form tart) was delicious, especially the edges of the plum pieces which caramelised as it cooked.

i loosely followed deb’s recipe, which is in turn based on an alice waters recipe, but doubled the pastry quantities as i had over a dozen plums which i wanted use up. as suggested, i cooked the tart on a pizza stone. however, assembling the tart on a board and then shimmying it onto the hot stone was definitely a two-man job so, if you’re home-alone when you try this out, think about assembling and cooking it on a baking sheet.

i ate mine with double cream and david had his with vanilla and blackberry ice-cream. yum!

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daring bakers: bakewell tart...er...pudding

 

having signed up to the daring cooks and made both ricotta gnocchi and potstickers, i thought i had better get back on track with the daring bakers challenges, having missed a few.

the june daring bakers' challenge was hosted by jasmine of confessions of a cardamom addict and annemarie of ambrosia and nectar. they chose a traditional (uk) bakewell tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in england.

the reason for the “tart... er... pudding” is down to the rich heritage of this dish and the two main types which exist - the “pudding” where a layer of jam is covered by an almondy pastry cream and baked in puff pastry and the “tart” where a rich shortcrust pastry holds the jam and frangipane, an almondy sponge cake-like filling.

the version we were dared to make was a combination of the two: a sweet shortcrust pastry with a frangipane and jam filling.

so, how did i get on?

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green tart

for many people weekends seem to be a time to think about what exciting, exotic and time-consuming dishes they can create in the extra hours that they have. i do this too, especially if we have friends coming over as i always see guests as an opportunity to try new things.

however, things have been a little different recently – my weekend cooking currently seems to focus around the various vegetables which i have sitting in my kitchen and which need to be used up before they are past their best and beyond redemption.

later in the week i’ll fill you in on how i managed to use up the final half of a savoy cabbage which was only a few days away from the bin (exciting stuff eh?), but first a green tart which created a magnificent home for wilting spinach, yellowing leeks and softening courgettes. sorry if that sounds horrid, my intention is to reassure you that this recipe is fine for vegetables which are a little past their best!

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saturday supper

well, i say saturday, it was actually saturday and monday. the stars of the show were the individual venison and mushroom pies.

i bought the venison at borough market as part of a vague new years’s resolution type thought about choosing things i’ve not cooked before and an awareness that game is something i rarely buy. it was quite pricey – c£6 for 500g – but wonderfully lean and full of flavour.

paired with mushrooms – a mix of chestnut mushrooms, porcini and shitake – and both marinated and braised in red wine, the venison had a flavour that reminded me of kidney (from the steak and kidney pies of my childhood which i adored). the flavours balanced wonderfully and, as i ate this, i kept thinking that this is the sort of dish that makes home-cooking so worthwhile.

we ate this with roasted pumpkin wedges and garlicky courgettes. the courgettes deserve a word of praise too – slowly cooked in a lidded pan with garlicky butter they were meltingly soft and very delicious.

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beef, onion, rosemary and pine nut parcels

 

finding tasty options for packed lunches is always in the back of my mind when i’m flicking through recipes and these meaty puff pastry parcels looked like they had potential when i spotted them in a recent copy of delicious magazine. they were an absolute success, both as an easy supper, served with a big pile of salad, or eaten cold the next day as a packed lunch.

the recipe below makes 8 large parcels. i made 12 smaller ones and found that this was a good size – two for supper with salad or one for a lighter lunch option. the onion marmalade which i used was a gift from my lovely friend kirsty, and was from the bay tree food company. this worked incredibly well as it had a spicy depth of flavour which really complemented the other ingredients, but if you want to make your own, skye gyngell’s method for slow roasted red onions* would be a great alternative.

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