Nigel Slater's Sweet & Hot Plum Chutney

I love the red plums at my local farm stand. After reading Nigel's book, I was inspired to try one of his lovely chutney recipes. This is a loose adaptation.

 He says the character of a chutney changes over time. Thus the reason they must be heat sealed after you make them.

 I think they would make a great holiday gift. Chutney is great over cheese and to accompany meat dishes. The following recipe makes a couple of small jelly size jars.

1 1/2 pounds of plums seed removed and quartered
12 ounces of onion diced large
3/4 of a cup of raisins,
I mixed half currants with half golden raisins
1 cup of light muscovado sugar
1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
zest of one orange
1 star anise
2/3 cup cider vinegar
2/3 cup of champagne vinegar
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon of candied ginger
2 teaspoons of yellow mustard seeds



Put all the ingredients into a stainless steel pot and bring to a boil. Once it is at a boil, turn down the heat and simmer for one hour. Spoon into sterilized jars and process with a heat seal for 10 minutes.         

Note if your chutney is not very thick, you can add 1 teaspoon of pectin to thicken it up.

Gateau Aux Amandes

This is a very unassuming cake, but let me tell you that this can be placed in any Parisian bakery!


1 1/3 cups sugar
8 ounces almond paste
1 cup AP flour
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup Crisco
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon fresh nutmeg
6 large eggs
1/2 cup 60% cacao chocolate chips-must be 60%!

 Preheat the oven to 325º.  Grease a 9- or 10-inch cake or spring form pan with butter, dust it with flour and tap out any excess. In the bowl of a food processor, grind the sugar, almond paste, and 1/4 cup of flour until the almond paste is finely ground and the mixture resembles sand.

 In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 3/4 cup of flour, baking powder, and salt.
 Once the almond paste is completely broken up, add the cubes of butter, Crisco, nutmeg and the vanilla and almond extracts, then process until the batter is very smooth and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, processing a bit before the next addition.

 Add half the flour mixture and pulse the machine a few times, then add the rest, pulsing the machine until the dry ingredients are just incorporated, but do not over mix.

Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan. Then sprinkle the chocolate chips on top of the cake. Bake the cake for 65 minutes, or until the top is deep brown and feels set when you press in the center. Invert cake to cool on rack and serve.

French Tarragon Chicken Salad

This is a light chicken salad for summer. If you want you can serve it as a main course with cheese and crusty bread. Take a look at one of my earlier posts for a great Italian bread recipe.

2 chicken breasts roasted until they reach 160 degrees
1 1/2 cups of homemade chicken stock
1/3 of a cup of champagne vinegar
3 tablespoons of fresh tarragon minced
1/4 cup of olive oil
3 tablespoons of honey
1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon of grated lemon peel
2 tablespoons of fresh orange juice
 1 teaspoon of grated orange peel
1 teaspoon of soy sauce
1 clove of garlic grated
3 level tablespoons of whole grain mustard
1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon of ground fresh nutmeg


1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger
1 teaspoon of green Tabasco
1 teaspoon of black pepper
1/2 a teaspoon of kosher salt
1/2 pound of broccoli in small pieces
1/2 red onion diced
1/4 cup of smoked green olives-see previous post for source
1/2 pound of diced fresh carrots


Reduce homemade chicken stock by half or more. Set aside to cool. Dice chicken in cubes. Then add to the vegetables in a bowl. Now place all the dressing ingredients in a bowl and whisk. The reduced chicken stock is add to the dressing. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and chicken.

St. Germain Potage

Traditionally, St.Germain Potage is made with dried marrow fat peas. Marrow fat peas are green mature peas that have been allowed to dry out in the field, rather than be harvested right away. One of the classic French preparations is the combination of fresh peas, soft lettuce, and onions to make Potage St. Germain, named for a count in the court of Louis XV. Over the past few years potager gardens have become extremely popular in the garden design world.

The potager kitchen garden (pronounced poe-ta-zhay), initially developed by French monks, became popular in the 16th century in France. The potager was quite widespread, from large chateaus to the common farmyard. Strictly speaking, the potager is really just a garden, but it now often means a decorative vegetable garden. The traditional potager garden contains symmetrical, geometrical garden beds, with the vegetables planted in patterns or groups rather than in rows, often with herbs and fruit intermingled.

Here is the recipe for my soup.

1 1/2 pounds of fresh peas
1 leek sliced thin
1 head of butter lettuce, chopped
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
4 oz of potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
4 1/2 cups of homemade chicken stock
1/4 cup of heavy cream
4 small sprigs of fresh mint

Shell the peas and drop them into boiling water for a minute or two. Then drain them and set a few aside to add to the soup later. In a sauce pan add the butter and leeks. Saute until the leeks are clear. Now add the remaining peas. Then add the potatoes, lettuce and stock. Cook for about 15 minutes and then process for a minutes in a blender. Season the soup with salt, pepper and reserved peas. Stir in the cream and ladle into bowls. Garnish with fresh mint.

Blueberries with Oats and Ground Almond

The english love their puddings and I think this one is my favorite. It is a twick from Nigel Slater's book "Ripe". His recipe calls for fresh black currants. But blueberries are equally delicious.

 In the evenings, when you are tired and want to relax, I suggest reading his book. It center's around his garden and includes stories about damsen and his ducks.

 He has written for The Observer for years and has films adapted into BBC film.

1 pound of fresh blueberries
3 tablespoons of sugar
1 tablespoon of cornstarch
1 lemon zested
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon of mixed spice

Place the above ingredients in a large pie tin.

For the crumble

1 stick of butter finely diced
1 1/4 cups of flour
2/3 cup of finely ground almonds
1/4 cup of demerara sugar
3/4 cup of rolled oats

Mix the above ingredients and place on top of the fruit. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. The fruit should bubble through the crust.

Fried zucchini blossoms and elderflower jelly aside, this is a book about the virtues of cooking!

Tangerine Madeleines

10 tablespoons farmstead fresh butter, melted
1 cup cake flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon finely grated tangerine zest
1 teaspoon of orange flavored brandy
3 tablespoons of chopped roasted hazelnuts
3 tablespoons cream
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons fresh tangerine juice

Whisk 1 cup flour and baking powder in bowl. Whisk eggs, sugar, brandy and tangerine zest in a bowl and add the cream. Mix the batter until smooth. Whisk in flour mixture to fully blend. Add the melted butter and whisk until the batter is thick and shiny. Cover and chill batter overnight.

Preheat oven to 450°. Spray Madeleine molds with non stick baking spray.  Add chopped roasted hazel nuts to batter. Divide batter among molds, filling each to the top. Bake until Madeleines rise and are a deep golden brown. This will be about eight minutes.

 Next whisk powdered sugar and
tangerine
 juice in a bowl.


Set a wire rack inside
 a rimmed baking sheet.

Unmold the Madeleines onto the rack. Let them cool and dip the tops of the Madeleines into the glaze. Let them sit at room temperature until glaze has set.

Fresh Asparagus Pesto

This recipe is a twinking of Fine Cooking Magazine's Pesto. I changed it up a bit. It is similar to Fava Bean Pesto and a great new idea for using fresh asparagus. The pesto keeps for one week and they suggest using it up by tossing it in hot pasta.

In a food processor place 1 large clove of garlic, 1/3 cup of toasted pine nuts, 1/2 cup of best quality Parmesan Reggiano, 4 sprigs of fresh chives, 12 ounces of chopped fresh asparagus, 1/3 cup of olive oil, zest of 1/2 a lemon, few drops of lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon of Pimento De La Vera, kosher salt and pepper to taste. Puree until thick and the consistency of pesto.

I placed the fresh pesto on crostini, ham, tomatoes and hard goat cheese. Yum!