Clafoutis avec Mémé

When my parents flew back to the US for the summer, they stopped off in Paris to visit my French grandmother Suzanne. We call her Mémé and she is known- above all else- for her cooking. She is the only woman who could get my 12 year old self to eat fish. How? By whipping up one of those famously French, sinfully delicious white butter-laden sauces .

But I'm here to talk about her clafoutis which is a sort of cake made with black cherries. If you haven't already tried one, you should. As I've mentioned before, I don't really even like cherries, but this takes the cake. (ha!)


It's not even that difficult to make- Mémé doesn't even have a set recipe. So if cherries are still in season near you, I'd suggest giving this a try before it's too late.

My mom had the ingenious idea of taking pictures of the process while she was visiting and so whitout her permission, I have posted them here for our mutual enjoyment. See how much I care?

Et voila ma Mémé Suzanne:

Step one- Butter a baking dish. All good French recipe require butter. fact of life.

Now here we have some pitted cherries. Some say that you MUST keep the pits in as they infuse the cake with their nutty almost almond like flavour- but others are more practical. My Mémé falls into the later category.

Mixing up the batter. Do I spot some yogurt or creme fraiche on the lip of the bowl?

Adding the obligatory milk.

And a bit of flour tooNext are the cherries. And try not to lose any, ok?

Mix it all up
And pour into your buttered pan

Into the oven for 34-40 minutes.

Et voila! Un delicieux clafoutis aux cerises!

Clafoutis
From the Larousse Gastronomique
A desert from the Limousin region of France , clafoutis consists of black cherries arranged in a buttered dish, covered with fairly thick batter and baked. It is served lukewarm, dusted with sugar. As a rule, the cherries are not stoned (pitted) but simply washed and stalked (stemmed), since the kernel add their flavor to the batter during cooking.

• 500g black cherries
• 100g caster sugar, seperated
  
• butter for greasing
• 125g flour
• pinch of salt
• 3 eggs
• 300ml milk
• icing sugar, for dusting

Remove the stalks from 500g (18 oz) washed black cherries, dust them with 50g (2oz) caster sugar and leave for at least 30 minutes. Butter a baking tin and fill it with cherries. Put 125g (4 1/2 oz) plain flour in a mixing bowl and add a pinch of salt, 50g (2oz) caster sugar and 3 well-beaten eggs; mix well; then add 300ml (1/2 pint) milk and mix thoroughly again. Pour the mixture over the cherries and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C (350 degrees F) for 35-40 minutes. When it is lukewarm dust with icing sugar.

miam!

The Roadhouse

A couple weeks ago my brother and my boyfriend became a little obsessed with a website called Cheese & Burger which seems to have been set up by the Wisconsin Cheese Company. It's a very flashy website which proudly promotes 30 different cheeseburgers, most of which one person cannot eat alone. A very manly-man's voice announces each burger as you click through the pages and drool over the completely over-the-top creations.

Boyfriend and brother spent most of a work day deciding which one they wanted and would ultimately make that very night. I did manage to get a word in and we ended up going for Number 13: The Roadhouse.


Featuring Gruyere, garlic mayonnaise, bacon, caramelized onions AND onion rings, this is a monster burger you better be eating alone or with friends who won't soon smell your breath.

I think we did a pretty god job re-creating it. Kris could barely wait for me to take a picture of the darn thing, practically shouting: "OHMYGOD ITS GETTING COLD!" Yes. Kris takes his burgers very seriously- as would anyone who would attempt to make such an overloaded but tasty burger.

The Roadhouse
The Toppings & Fixings

• Gruyere cheese
• Beef patty
• Caramelized onions
• Bacon
• Onion rings
• Garlic mayonnaise
• Toasted onion roll

Preheat oven to 375

Start out making your onion rings. Just dredge your slices onions into some flour which you've seasoned with powdered mustard, salt and pepper. Fry in oil until golden and crispy. Drain on paper towel.

Meanwhile you can caramelize your sliced onions in another pan by slowly sauteing them with some butter.

Throw your buns in the oven to toast them for a bit

Cook up your beef patty in the same pan you used to saute the onions.

Assemble from bottom to top: onion roll bottom, caramalized onions, onion rings, beef patty, Gruyere, bacon, garlic mayonnaise, onion roll top

Try not to devour it in one bite. It's no joke.

Breakfast Burritos or Not

Again inspired by the Pioneer Woman, last weekend we actually made an effort for breakfast. As much as I love the super-easy Egg in the Hole from last week, this is a great breakfast when you're starving and need your stomach to be appeased for the next several hours. Plus, the effort involved is indirectly proportional to the tastiness yielded. I hope we're all on the same page because we're getting started now!

Start by washing and scrubbing a few potatoes- we went with some red potatoes.

Once they are soft when poked with a fork, drain them, let them cool and then chop them up.

Meanwhile start sauteing some chopped onions and peppers. You could even throw in a jalapeno if you felt like it (or have some leftover).

Then add in your chopped potatoes.

Let it all cook together for a while until the potatoes develop a nice golden crunch.

Next we add some shopped spicy sausage which was already cooked (if starting with raw sausage, I would probably throw them into your pan first.)

Next add in your egg mixture. Here we have 4 eggs mixed with about 1 cup of pepperjack cheese and chopped chives.

Slowly fold the mixture over so that you don't end with scrambled eggs or an omelet but something in between. Once the egg has settled, we're reading to plate it!

Just plop some of the mixture into a burrito and fold! OR if you're like us and got "brown rice tortilla" which tasted funky, just put it in a bowl and top it with sour cream and salsa

Tasty!

Breakfast Burritos or Not
Adapted from this recipe on The Pioneer Woman Cooks!

• 1 pound red potatoes, washed and scrubbed
• 2 tbls butter (or if you're a fatty like me, bacon fat)
  
• 1 bell pepper or a couple sweet peppers chopped
• 1 half onion chopped
• 2 pre-cooked spicy sausages
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup pepperjack cheese
• 2 tbls chopped chives
• salt and pepper
• Tortillas and/or sour cream and salsa
  

Put your potatoes in a saucepan of cold water and bring to a boil. Cook until potatoes are tender when poked with a fork. Drain and when cool coarsely chop.

A large skillet melt butter and saute onions and peppers until soft. Add chopped potatoes and let cook together for a couple minutes, letting the potatoes develop a nice crust.

Add in chopped sausage and let cook for another few minutes. Let the ingredients get to know each other.

In a small bowl whisk up your eggs and add shredded cheese, chopped chives and salt & vinegar. Add mixture to skillet and gently fold everything together. When eggs are settled, you are ready for deliciousness! Either plop some into a tortilla for a burrito or eat out of bowl topped with sour cream and salsa. Can't really go wrong here, folks.

And How to Stay Hot

I've seen the Pioneer Woman make these jalapeno poppers for just about every big even she's hosted- Christmas, people visiting the ranch, maybe even Easter but most importantly 4th of July. I can see how these would become a 4th of July tradition. You can cook them up on the grill, they're easy to make, don't fall apart once they're cooked and are nice on a burger. I wasn't head over heals for them, but the boyfriend and brother looooooved them.

So if you wanna impress a bunch of 20 something guys with a taste for spicy foods, this is your recipe.

To start, why don't we just wash those peppers. Next, I would advise putting on some gloves- no seriously. I did not listen to this advice and for the rest of the evening my fingers were... tingly? felt like they had ants running through them maybe? or even a slight burning sensation- particularly around the cuticles and any scratches I already had. but all of this to say- it's no joke! These peppers will burn you- so be warned.

Next, cut each pepper in half (look at my glove-less poor hands not realizing what they will be going through soon!)

And scoop out the membranes- see? Peppers on one side- membranes on the other

Then you wanna fill each half with cream cheese.

Wrap a slice of bacon around each pepper and secure with a toothpick.

See? Lots of peppers, filled with cream cheese, wrapped in bacon and ready for the GRILL!

And voila! A couple minutes on the grill under the watchful eye of my father yielded some rather burnt looking but apparently delicious poppers. Which I would say means the recipe is pretty forgiving.

Not bad at all

Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Thingies

From the PioneerWomanCooks.com

Ingredients

• Fresh Jalapenos 2-3 inches in size
• Cream cheese, softened
• Thin, regular bacon, sliced into thirds

Cut jalapenos in half, length-wise. With a spoon, remove the seeds and white membrane (the source of the heat; leave a little if you like things HOT). Smear softened cream cheese into each jalapeno half. Wrap jalapeno with bacon piece (1/3 slice). Secure by sticking toothpick through the middle (at this point you can freeze them, uncooked in a ziploc bag for later use.)

Bake on a pan with a rack in a 375 degree oven for 20-25 minutes. You don't want the bacon to shrink so much it starts to squeeze the jalapeno. If, after 20 minutes the bacon doesn't look brown enough, just turn on the broiler for a couple of minutes to finish it off. These are best when the jalapeno still has a bit of bite to it.

Serve immediately if you want 'em hot, or they're great at room temperature.

How to Keep Cool

Yes, I know it hasn't been oppressively hot lately, at least not in New York- but it's hot enough that I sure don't want to turn on the stove. Mark Bittman wrote this article for the New York Times a couple weeks ago and I because I couldn't stop thinking about it, I just printed off a copy to hang on my fridge until the weather cools. Who knew there were this many easy salads to make? Hope you find something you like!


The Minimalist- Recipes for 101 Simple Salads for the Season
Some highlights from the article that I will be sure to try:

10. Cook whole grape tomatoes in olive oil over high heat until they brown lightly, sprinkling with curry powder. Cool a bit, then toss with chopped arugula, loads of chopped mint and lime juice.

15. Cut cherry or grape tomatoes in half; toss with soy sauce, a bit of dark sesame oil and basil or cilantro. I love this — the tomato juice-soy thing is incredible.

30. Fast, grown-up potato salad: Boil bite-size red potatoes. While still warm, dress them with olive oil, lemon juice, whole grain mustard, capers and parsley. Chopped shallots, bell peppers, etc., all welcome, too.

44. Make a crisp grilled cheese sandwich, with good bread and not too much good cheese. Let it cool, then cut into croutons. Put them on anything, but especially tomato and basil salad. This you will do forever.

49. Toss greens with walnuts, blue cheese and raspberries; drizzle with a simple vinaigrette. Sell for $14 a serving.

75. The Little Italy salad: Chop or julienne salami and prosciutto, then toss with cubed mozzarella, chopped tomato, pepperoncini, oil and wine vinegar.

87. Cold not-sesame noodles: Combine about a half-cup peanut butter with a tablespoon soy sauce and enough coconut milk to make the mixture creamy (about a half cup), along with garlic and chili flakes in a blender or food processor. Toss sauce with cooked and cooled noodles, a load of mint, Thai basil, and/or cilantro, and lime juice. Shredded cucumber and carrots optional.

95. Mix cooked couscous or quinoa with orange zest and juice, olive oil, maybe honey, sliced oranges, raisins or dried cranberries, chopped red onion and chopped almonds. Serve over greens, or not.

Egg in the Hole

Just wanted to post this in case you woke up tomorrow morning wanting brunch and realizing you have an empty fridge. With just 3 ingredients and a pan you can make something so darn satisfying that you might not even need lunch. So I hope you're reading this my little brother Tristan, because even you can make this!!

Egg in the Hole has quickly become our go-to breakfast on weekends when we want something hearty, easy and delicious. And I don't even like eggs- although this dish is slowly making me come around.

Start off by melting a couple tablespoons of butter in a skillet

Next add in your toast with a hole already cut out- Some use a biscuit cutter, i use a knife :P

After a couple minutes crack an egg right into the hole (this is oddly satisfying)

Wait for the egg to be almost opaque before flipping

Peeeeeerfect. But you know what just throws this over the edge?

Hello cheddar! Everything is better with cheese. Can I get an "Amen"!

There is no better breakfast/brunch/hungover-cure than an Egg in the Hole. So try it today- I promise you won't regret it.

Egg in the Hole

• 2 tblsp butter
• 1 piece of bread
• 1 egg
• cheese (optional)

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Cut a hole out of the middle of your bread and add both pieces to your skillet. Next crack the egg into the hole and let sit. When the egg is almost opaque flip the toast over. Cook a few more minutes and add cheese, tomatoes, salsa, or whatever else strikes your fancy!

Mallows

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

Summer has been slipping by me and this was another "last minute" challenge- I was very lucky that it didn't turn out to be that challenging and let me tick off "Home Marshmallows" from my list of things to learn to do in the kitchen! So let's get started:


For ONCE I remembered to take two eggs out of the fridge in time to get them to room temperature!

Rolling out the cold dough- with a curious kitty nearby

I didn't want to pipe the marshmallow onto the cookies, so I needed to find a cutter that would be the same size as whatever mold I chose for the marshmallows. This shot glass did the trick-

Shot glass footprints in my dough

As mentioned, I didn't want to pipe the marshmallows onto the cookies, so i needed to find a mold. Some helpful bakers suggested spreading an inch or so of flour onto a cookie sheet and creating molds into the flour and I thought I would be a freaking genius and just use a mini cupcake pan as a mold instead. Once i filled the pan up I realized that the marshmallows probably won't just fall out of their molds... and they didn't- but it wasn't a complete failure- a spoon easily extracted the little buggers. Next time, I think some flour thrown into the molds first, would be perfect.
These didn't come out perfectly, but nothing a lot of chocolate glaze can't help!

And voila! The boyfriend was worried that they would be too small since the shot glass was cutting such small cookies, but i like my mallows with a whole lot of marshmallow so it worked out perfectly. Tasty stuff for sure!

Mallows (Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies)

by Gale Gand

• 3 cups (375g) all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (115g) white sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/8 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 12 tbsps (170g) unsalted butter
• 3 eggs, whisked together
• homemade marshmallows, recipe follows
• chocolate glaze, recipe follows

In a mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients. On low speed, add the butter and mix until sandy. Add the eggs and mix until combine. Form the dough into a disk, wrap with clingfilm or parchment and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.

When ready to bake, grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a silicon mat.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, on a lightly floured surface. Use a 2-inch cookie cutter to cut out small rounds of dough. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.

Pipe a “kiss” of marshmallow onto each cookie. Let set at room temperature for 2 hours. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicon mat.

One at a time, gently drop the marshmallow-topped cookies into the hot chocolate glaze. Lift out with a fork and let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl. Place on the prepared pan and let set at room temperature until the coating is firm, about 1 to 2 hours. If you want to decorate the mallows, sprinkle a topping on the glaze while it is still wet.

Makes about 4 dozen (using 2-inch cutter).

Homemade Marshmallows

• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup (85g)
• light corn syrup
• 3/4 cup (170g) sugar
• 1 tbsp powdered gelatin
• 2 tbsps cold water
• 2 egg whites , room temperature
• 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

In a saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup, and sugar, bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage - 235°F on a candy thermometer (218°F at 8500 ft. above sea level). Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix.

Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites. Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff. Transfer to a pastry bag.

Chocolate Glaze

• 12 oz. (340g) semisweet chocolate
• 2 oz. (55g) cocoa butter or vegetable oil

Melt the 2 ingredients together in the top of a double boiler or a bowl set over barely simmering water.

September 20th 2005

The train ride on the other hand, was quite an experience. I still think back on it as if it were a dream because it lasted from 9pm to 9am and I was half asleep most of the time anyway.
Six out of the seven of us were in one compartment that meant that we each had a bench on either the bottom, middle or top (my area) in a room the size of a closet. And although the filth was concerning, the fact that we got to lay down was amazing and make me like the train much more than the plane.

Just a blur of people

Most of the crew: Chris, Elise, Mallory, Me and Jen

September 20th 2005
Varanasi


Varanasi blows. It’s 87 degrees at night (as in right now). The power goes out for hours on end all the time (as in RIGHT NOW) and they have really loud generators that don’t generate any electricity (also going on right now). I am SO NOT HAPPY RIGHT NOW.

September 21st 2005
6:45am- All of my toiletries fell down the fucking crapper –everything- My toothpaste, my acedopholous- my hair brush- my toothbrush- and whatever else was in there that I can’t think of right now.

- THIS IS ALREADY A BAD DAY-

Yoga on the rooftop was pretty cool


Update- My new little friend Sonny, who is all of 4 years old, just cleared out the toilet ☹
Here is a letter that Mallory wrote to herself while sitting alone in a café for an hour and a half- Some of this are my thoughts as well:

“ To: Me
If you are reading this then you defy all odds & you actually finished asshole! As a check-in.. it is your 3rd day in Varanassi… your leaders do not like you- The Chris kid is a maybe- Girls hate (not Claire) you, you walk too slow. It is too fucking hot to function, you have no clean clothes and smell like a foot and you really want to go home and you would if you wouldn’t have to spend years living it down to your family and friends. Oh & you think you dreads.. yes 100% because-you-don’t-brush-your-hair-dreads. I could pun up this paper about how you “dread” the next day but- I won’t . You’re currently sitting alone in a cafe, writing this because you have NO friends (except Vibhu but he’s most likely playing soduku) you didn’t go home. You deserve- what would be the biggest reward right now? A hug? A haircut? Clean clothes? Shower
Congratulations
Love, yourself. "

_____________________
From: Claire
Subject: Email from a dirty river

Hello again!
Let me just tell everyone how much i love getting your emails, it makes me feel like I didnt just drop off the side of the world (even though it may be the case).
I arrived in Varanasi yesterday morning after a 12 hour train ride which was something out of a book. I dont even know where to begin explaining it and I dont think i could ever really do it justice through email. Let just say that I spent a lot of time with my head near a 60 year old HORRIBLY dirty ceiling. And it was still better than the plane, if only because you can at least close your eyes and pretend to be home. One of my fellow travellers was accosted by 4 indian transvestites who decided to flash him while everyone else was sleeping. He was not a happy camper.

Varanasi is a lot better than Delhi was. It feels more like a smaller town. If Delhi is New York, than Varanasi might be... Vienna. We are going to be here for 2 weeks and we started our internships today. I had signed up for jewelry making, which already sounded cool, but I quickly discovered that I'm actually going to be doing silverworking. I GET TO USE A SOLDERING IRON AGAIN!!!! Needless to say; i'm a bit excited. This morning we had our first Yoga class on the roof of the guest house and that was pretty cool too - and believe it or not : Im above average flexible : ) !!! And then we had a hindi class which just blew me away. Learning to write in sanskrit is like learning to write in code. It is so cool. I'm just having a really hard time hearing the difference between 'dah,' 'da' and 'da' with an accent.... every letter here has it's 'h' equivalent: they have ga and then gha, bah and bha... its a little confusing.

BUt the real fun was this morning. Let me begin this story by explaining that every toilet we have encountered since leaving delhi has been a turkish toilet. this means that its a hole in the ground that you sqwat over. Well, this morning, after brushing my teeth over the turkish toilet with my bottled water (please pause and try to imagine doing this as it is very odd already) I put my toiletry bag on the ledge and ran out to wake up the others. As I reached the door I heard something fall and then make a "splash noise". I go back to the "bathroom" to find my toiletry bag in the crapper. And I OBVIOUSLY hadnt zipped it up, so when it fell, all the contents fell in first. Which meant that my toothbrush, toothpaste, brush and other things were now floating in shit. All i managed to save was my deodorant. I was a sad panda.

Well, its about 4:30 pm and I meet my homestay family at 5, so I need to run to pack up all my stuff (minus my toiletry bag)

Once I settle into my new home, I will have more time and will be able to write personal emails instead of these mass ones.
UNtil then,
Much Love,
Claire
______________________
From: Claire
To: Brother

My camera has been on the fritz lately, but Im hoping to get some pictures from my buddy's digital camera and send that to you before I leave for Bodghaya on Tuesday

And just one quick note:
They bicycle rickshaw here and they nicer ones usually have a cool design on the back, usually a lotus flower, with two hands reaching for it, sometimes two elephants or peacocks- well on our way here I saw one that had two llamas on the back and freaked out! i tried to get my camera out but it was gone too quickly. Anyway,. this was a week ago and Ive been looking for it ever since abnd yesterday I saw FOUR!!! I took as a sign that you were saying hello.

Love you,
Claire

Say hello to Julienne Fries for me :)