harengs saurs

700 gr potatoes 

2 or 3 hard boiled eggs 

2 carrots 

1 small red pepper

1 medium onion

1 paquet of hareng, so like 3 filets

Vinigar

Mustard

Olive oil

A little milk

Scrub and boil the potatoes. Put the eggs to boil.  then stand the hareng filets in a glass of water. In a large bowl prepare the dressing oil vinegar mustard salt and pepper, then slice onion very fine and add to the dressing. Slice red pepper, carrots, and add. Eggs should be done so cool them down under cold water and cut them up. It's nice not to put in the shell which isn't quite as nice as the inside parts... 

Take out the hareng and chop them up roughly and mix. 

When the potatoes are done, but before they're soft. Peel them, and slice them not too thick not too fine either. 

Take a cup of milk and add a good dash of lemon or vinigar. Mix well with a fork until you feel it has curdled. And throw it violently on the dish. Let rest for a few years et voilà 

Riz au lait de Joan

 3 or 4 table spoons of round rice (rince it)

1 liter of milk

3 table spoons of sugar

1 egg 

Cinnamon 

1 or 2 bananas 

A little butter 

Cook the rice in the milk, very low heat, for 40 mn or so. Add the sugar when it's cooked. 

When it has cooled a little, add the egg, pour the rice on the banana, add the cinamon on top.  Et voilà.

Put it in the fridge. 

THE EXQUISITE MARMELADE

 INGREDIENTS

1.2kg sevilla oranges

1, 5 unwaxed lemons, (so one and a half lemons, not one kilo and a half ok?!)

2kg granulated sugar, half dark and half lightish. but by all means quality sugar!

2.2 litres of water

so, 

put the water in the pot, 
halve the oranges and lemons, squeeze the juice into a jug and pour into the water in the pot.
take the pips and pith (that the stuff that's not juice that results from juicing the fruit) and put into a muslin (not muslim duh!) bag or a muslin square tied up with string and throw it in the pot.
cut up as thin as you like the orange and lemon peel and add it all to the pot. 

bring the whole pot to boil and reduce to a low simmer for two to three hours. we save an hour by actually starting the boiling process WHILE still cutting up the peels, because that takes forever and is not extremely pleasant or interesting and will not give you any kind of climax or feeling of accomplishment; well maybe that last point isn't quite true. 

once the peel is soft, after those two to three hours, remove the muslim bag and put it on the side until it is cool enough to hold in your hand. now if you're some kind of masochistic challenging person, this might be earlier than for a normal person, so I'm not sure I can take that into account. 

anyway, while its cooling add the sugar to the pot that is still simmering softly, stirring all the time until the sugar is dissolved. then the squeeze the bag of pips over the pot and extract as much of the squishy, slimy stuff from the bag as you possibly can. you might finally at this point, feel some kind of guilty pleasure doing this, so feel free to close your eyes while doing so, but still paying enough attention to remaining above the pot. 

stir it well, and turn up the heat to bring it back to a volcanic boil for about 20mn while testing every few minutes for achieving the right setting consistency. you'll need about 8 normal sized jarrrrrs for this recipe. you'll need to sterilize them first, adding to the panic of these last moments. its good to take a wide milk jug to put it into the pots. 

MATCHA CAKE

250 flour
250 various types of sugar; dark brown, castor and confectionary so roughly a third of each
1.5 rounded tea spoon of matcha tea

250 butter
pinch of salt
nice tea spoonful of baking powder
4 eggs

put the oven on

take a rectangular tin, melt a little butter in it bu sticking it into the oven for 5mn, then throw a spoonful of flour into it and shake the tin until the flour has spread evenly all over the sides. stick it into the freezer

melt butter and sugars together, add the matcha tea, mix very well until sugar has dissolved
mix flour with baking powder, salt
add gradually melted butter sugar mix and egg yokes
mix very well until all flour is absorbed
beat egg white to solid
incorporate them into the rest evenly until there's only little bubbles left

take tin out from freezer and pour in the mix, put it in oven at 160C or a little more, it needs cooking for while, until some sharp tool comes out just dry. I wish i knew how to use one of those thermometers, like the one I just bought, but I've no idea what the temperature should be inside and if as I guess, that temperature in the center means it's actually cooked. hmm...

Brioche Vendéenne

1 kg flour
230 gr white sugar
150 butter
50 fresh yeast
3 eggs (plus one for the end)
25cl milk
1.5 tea spoon of salt
3 table spoons of sour cream
2 table spns brandy or rhum
2 table spns orange flour water
Vanilla

bring to boil almost all the milk with a nice amount of vanilla in whichever form you want; basically I'm assuming you're kind of grown up and that you are able and willing to make some crucial choices for yourself.
once that's done, take it off the flame and through in, well maybe put it the butter to melt as well as the sugar.
put the last little amount of milk in a container with the fresh yeast and help it dissolve little by little mixing with a spoon or your fingers if you like that slimy feeling, it might turn you on or something.
once the butter and sugar are dissolved you can also put in the orange flower water and the brandy.
In another large bowl, put the flour, salt and then add the milk mix as well as the the three eggs and the cream. mix in the yeast mix as well. mix it all well until all the flour is incorporated. then take it out from the bowl and start needing it passionately for 15mn or so. you might at this point get carried away and yes, that's kind of normal and predictable. These things happen. let the dough rest for a while and then take out the gas and fold it in a few times. It should rest for 6 hours, but I end up letting all night in the fridge. watch out because it might really inflate a lot. Then you're supposed to roll iit out in 3 long thingies that you'll do your best at making plaits with. Let it rest another hour then stick it in the oven (that you'll have previously heated at 180 c. oh, no, before the oven, you must cover the outside of your brioche with the last egg using some kind of a brush. You should also cover it then with little sugar cristals, not sure how you'd call that. anyway, you can make them by putting some sugar in a pan on the flame, just before the sugar actually melts remove it from the pan and put it on a wooden surface kind of all together, it should form little lumps that you can cut up using one of those sharp japanese pretentious knifes.

you can use a rectangle tin to stop it from expanding too much but in that case you'll have to butter and flour that tin first of course. cook it for 45mn or so, just make sure the inside is actually cooked but be sure not to over cook it either. 

Chocolate quatre quarts

250gr flour
250 sugar (dark and light mixed best)
4 eggs
250gr butter
pinch salt
cinnamon
vanilla
juice of one arange
little cognac or something
1 tea sppon baking powder
ten drops orange water eau de fleur d'oranger

melt butter and chocolate in bain marie, then add the suagr and make sure it's all perfectly mixed and sugar well dissolved
mix flour with vanilla, salt baking powder, mix very well

separate egg yokes from whites

incorporate in melted butter mix one egg yoke at a time with two large spoons of flour mix and mix very well; keep on adding one egg with two spoons of flour until all is mixed.
mix in the cognac

turn on oven 180c°
prepare rectangular tin; paste butter all around (but inside ok...) then sprinkle flour and dust off, then place in freezer.
beat egg white to firm and incorporate them in cake mix gently but well.

put in oven, you can make a long slit on top if you like, I like.
after 20 mn or so lower heat and cook until it's almost dry inside.
once out of oven, make little wholes and pour in the orange juice carefully
only when all cool remove from tin

Biscotti

220g plain flour (add if needed)pinch of salt
150gr golden sugar
2 rounded teaspoon baking powder (if it doesn't rise enough its not great)
50g powdered almonds
50gr whole almonds
50gr unsalted pistachios (or more almonds, its fine)
3 large egg
2 tea spoon of almond extract
2 tea spoon vanilla extract1/2 lemon or orange zest and depending on size of egg, maybe add some lemon or orange juice.
1/2 tea spoon of anis seeds or
1/2 tea spoon anis étoilé powder

heat oven to 165C°
Mix flour with salt and baking powder. Then add powdered and whole almonds and sugar. mix well. then add the eggs and various other ingredients until it has a sticky consistency. spread it on a floured surface and try and make a 25 to 30 cm roll best is to use some parchment floured paper to do so because it's really sticky. cook for 30mntake out from oven,  let cool a little then cut up in 1.5 slices diagonally. To do so, I use a sharp Japanese style knife and cut the dough as if I was a yakuza cutting off my little finger.. Put in back in oven on the sides, for 15mn a little lower: 150C°, then turn around to bake the other sides for another 15mn
watch out not to overcook them as they get much harder once cooled down! they could easily go from biscotti to stonetti..

RYE SOURDOUGH BREAD

mix 500 gr of rye flour with 2 tea spoons of salt, 350 rye sourdough and 360 of warm water, but watch out not to put too much water.

kneed it as well as possible witj fingers rather than hands for 10mn or so 

let it rest for 2.5 hours

knock it down/fold and put in shape in something not too big covered with oil and rice flour. Let rest overnight. 

in the morning, warm up oven and throw bread in dutch oven (or straight on the floured baking sheet and with some water in the oven) for 45mn then again without lid for another 45mn 

it should really be very well cooked. Let rest all day before eating it. 

Sourdough bread

mix 100 sourdough starter with 100gr both water a flour

in another bowl mix 

300/450 warm water

with 

450/600 flour (T80) and

2 tea spoons of noirmoutier salt

let rest for four hours or so. the sourdough mix is ready when a drop of sourdough mix goes back to the surface of a glass of water

Add the sourdough mix to the other mix and let rest for another 30mn

then knead 20mn or so

fold into a ball

let rise until doubled in size put into warm area for up to four hours

then fold it in and let rest for another 30mn

now fold it again while adding tension when forming a nice ball now place it into a bowl to proof it into shape, the bowl should be covered with flour or even better, rice flour. 

rest overnight in fridge.

And either put directly in oven or...

fold into a ball again for 2 hours or so.

place into something that will restrain it from spreading or a sheet or parchment paper. 

heat up oven with pot 250C°

place dough with parchment into pot

cook into pot 230 C° for 30mn

remove pot top and cook for another 30mn

so basically it was 

four hours or so for making the sourdough

then kneading for 20mn

then let rest in warm place for four hours

then fold and rest for 30mn

then fold again in put it shape before

letting rest overnight and ready to go for the oven

The loaf

Wholemeal bread

450gr wholemeal flour - in french farine complete T110
5gr dried yeast (2 flat tea spoons)
1, 5 tea spoons of salt
35ml rather hot water

mix flour with salt and yeast.
pour in the water, mix well until everything has been absorbed.
let rest 10mn or so.
then transfer to flat floured surface.
stretch out and fold back in two or three times, then turn vaguely into the shape of your rectangular tin. (you need to oil and flour it first)
put your dough into your tin, press down gently.

put some aluminium foil on top and let rest until its nice and rounded above the top of your tin.  this should take 2 hours or so.
throw quite a lot of flour on the top of it. it's so much prettier that way..

heat the oven to around 200c (for me that's 210 because my oven seems to be low)
put the tin in the oven and bake for 40mn

then remove from tin and put it back in the oven upside down for another 15mn.

Now, you can also make a sourdough version of this bread, to do so
first take 150 gr of sourdough and mix it to 150gr of your water and 150 gr of  your flour. in another bowl, mix the remaining flour and water and salt. that should be something like 220 gr of four for 130 gr of water, but adjust so that it's not too liquid but can hold itself in a nice firm ball. after a few hours, like 4 or 5, the sourdough mix should be ready, you can test it by dropping a very small amount of it in some water, if it floats then it's done.
mix then the sourdough mix to the flour and water mix and kneed it until it's unsticks from the surface you're kneading it on. (and a little more) then you can transfer to your floured tin and wait (and wait and wait) until it has risen slightly above the level of your tin, it wont rise much more in the oven.
cook it for 1 hour, relatively hot, then remove from the tin, put it back in the oven upside down and cook for another 25mn or so. 

Soda bread

3 1/2 cups flour (2 cups plain flour and 1 1/2 T80 flour for instance) 1 cup : 128gr
1 good tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cup buttermilk or rather lait caillé (we're in france here) you can replace buttermilk or lait caillé by adding one spoon of lemon juice to one cup of milk, or even 1 pot of yoghurt for one cup of milk, so basically for this recipe replacing the 1 1/2 lait caillé with 1 cup of milk and one yoghurt.

turn oven on at 220c
oil and flour a bread loaf tin
just mix everything in that order, making sure you don't make it too liquid,
pour it in your tin
cover more or less with flour
cook for 40mn then lower a little and cook for another 20 or so.
anyway, it should get a nice color and when you remove it from tin, the bottom should sound hollow and feel cooked. I always get it wrong but that's my karma. can't change it, but I might be able to twist it a little.
anyway, here's the result:

Japanese Milk Bread

This is a good one, meaning I've attempted it twice successfully. I mean like wow, right? twice.. amazing, yeah I'm kind of amazing.

so anyway

bechamel:
100ml milk
25 gr flour

dough:

• 330g flour
• the bechamel you just made
• 80ml milk
• 50gr butter (I didn't have enough so I did half butter half oil)
• 1 packet yeast (I think 5gr)
• 1 tsp salt
• 50gr sugar but no more
• 1 egg beaten

you'll first need to make a kind of bechamel:

put 100ml of milk in a saucepan and add gradually the 25 gr flour (yeah doesn't need to be too precise you know) - everytime you add the flour, it's best if you remove it from the flame. put on low flame while mixing constantly until you get something relatively thick. take off flame let it cool down someplace, but cover is so something is in contact with milky thing stuff.

then make dough

add the flower in a large bowl, then sugar, yeast, salt, mix well, add the milk, then the egg, and finally incorporate the butter. You're supposed to stuff it inside the dough and go on kneading it, I added half and half oil/butter, worked out perfect. anyway, keep on kneading as well as you can for a good 15/20 minutes. it should detach from surface now, and be very ellastic or elastic rather.
make a nice ball, put it to rest for a while, like 2 hours or even all night if you prefer. it should be covered of course.

then, take out the farts, the gas should I say, make a hole in the center, open upto create a long tube. cut it up in four equal parts. let it rest a little, covered.
then role them nicely and use a, damn what is it called? yes, a rolling pin to ellongate each ball into a kind of rectangle. fold in each side (lenghtwise) and then roll from one end, it should kind of resemble that little face thing they give you on japanese flights or hotels to wash you face, or hands I'm not sure...
anyway, let it rest for 10mn or so, and then do it again. second time, you can now place each little rolled flannel into your tin (a rectangular bread loaf one) it needs to be buttered and floured previously.
let this grow for a  couple of hours (covered) put in the oven 200 c for I think 25mn (my oven sucks) then cover it with aluminium foil and cook for another 20mn or less if your oven is better than mine.

Fruit Cake Royal

90 gr flour (type 65)
80 gr melted butter
50 dark brown sugar
50 icing sugar
2 eggs
20gr powdered almonds
1 tea spoon raising powder
15mn milk

then

30 gr currants
30 gr blond raisins
50 mixed candied fruit (orange lemon etc)
30 gr candied cherries
30 gr candied ginger
a few dried figs
vanilla

then

syrup
50 gr dark sugar (yeah again)
a little water/orange juice
some rhum

a rectangular tin, some aluminium foil

soak currants and raisins in a little water and bring to boil, then turn off and sieve.
Mix melted butter with the 50gr brown sugar and the icing sugar. mix very very well until it makes a delicious thick cream. Add the two eggs then the milk, and mix very well again.

in another bowl, mix raising powder to flour. add the vanilla, the almond powder, the cut up fruit, cut very thinly the ginger. a little less thinly the figs, for the rest, well do as you wish. well actually, only cut up the cherries in two or three. then incorporate this this fruit flour mix into the butter sugar one.

put aluminium foil all inside the tin, then pour in the mind blowing mixture and stick into the oven for an hour or so, maybe a little less, and rather low.

prepare the syrup.
boil the water (30gr) or water and orange juice with 50gr sugar. let it cool down, add a little rhum, then make a few small and deepish holes in the cooked cake and pour syrup into the holes (like 15 of them or so) and then pour the rest on top of the cake. Best is actually to leave the cake in the tin so that all the moisture stays in. Only take out when cool.

ìt's really important to use good quality tasty sugar and butter. 

Lemon Marmalade (de Marseille)

Makes four pots and a little more for next day breakfast

1.3 kg organic lemons
1kg organic cane sugar
1 flat tea spoon all spice (piment de Jamaique)
Vanila

Remove both ends of lemons then cut up lemons rather fine. Make up however you want to do that, it's your life.
put them in a large pan, then add the sugar, allspice and some vanilla (that's only if you feel like it)
mix it up nicely and bring to boil while mixing rather often, especially the bottom of the pan. Once it's boiled for a while, take a spoon or two of jam and place it on a small plate that you'll put in the freezer for 5mn in order to verify when and if the marmalade is almost ready. Do this often. As soon as it's almost ready, turn off gas and pour into sterilized pots that you'll have boiled in a pot for a few minutes.

It's very good and the recipe comes from Xavier le Marseillais. But it's my pride to believe that the addition of allspice is my influence from my recipe of Christmas pudding that we discussed extensively. It replaces quite conveniently Sevilla marmalade, which I missed again this year being a little slow in the cabeza.

Welsh cakes

These cakes are truly delicious, for the time being I haven't yet quite mastered their cooking. but they're still quite remarquable.

225gr self raising flour. Or normal flour with 1,5 spoons of baking powder
1 flat teaspoon mixed spices + a little extra cinamon
pinch of salt
80 gr very fine sugar
80 gr currants
1 lemon zest (or half lemon juice)
1 beaten egg
touch of milk if necessary
100gr butter

mix flour with spice and salt with sugar.
add the cut up butter and finger it in until sandy texture.
add the fruit and zest. then the egg. work on it a little until good easy texture. add the milk if necessary.
roll out to the thickness of your little finger or so.
then shape into rounds and...
so here's the little problem. It's said to fry them in a thick saucepan; medium heat. but watch out not to burn them. you can also do it in the oven, but it's not quite as good in theory. the main thing is they should be crispy outside and still a little on the soft side inside.
sprinkle with a little extra fine sugar.
they're really good toasted.

Corfidat

A delicious corn bread with dates figues and currants
180 gr flour
120 gr corn flour
50 gr honey(melted)
60 gr figues
60 dates
40 gr currants or other raisins
1 paquet of raising powder (1 good teaspoon)
10 cl liquid cream
20cl milk
salt

cut up dried fruit then, heat up oven to 180°C
Butter a rectangular tin - I actually put aluminium foil that worked nice for me)
so mix the flour(s) and raising powder, add in the fruit, then the melted honey, salt, milk and cream. so real easy stuff. stick in the tin and bake for a while. can't say how long since my oven seems a little odd. anyway, didn't change temperature and it went rather well.
I think it's best toasted with a little butter. it's actually real good.

Banana chocolate chip bread

400 gr flour
3 bananas
120 gr walnuts
2 eggs
1 yoghurt
140 gr sugar
1 packet or 1 teaspoon artificial baking powder
10 gr butter
vanilla
A few squares of dark chocolate

cut up walnuts then turn on oven to 180°C
grease and flour long rectangular pan.
squish bananas - I use a thing to make potato purée.

in large bowl, mix flour with baking powder and pinch of salt.
In the banana bowl, mix in the sugar the walnuts the vanilla and the 2 eggs.
Cut up small pieces of chocolate and mix it in as well.
add the flour mix to the banana mix, gradually and mixing very well.
pour it in the pan. Must cook for a while at 180° when it's doing well, you can lower it to 120° to make sure it's cooked enough inside.
Take it out from pan as soon as done and let it rest on a grilled surface.

Bagels

400gr flour
15gr yeast
20 cl milk
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 table spoons melted butter
poppy seeds, sesame seeds

put yeast in warm milk
separate white from egg yoke, beat up white a little

in a bowl mix flour with salt, in center of flour add yeast mix, salt, sugar, melted butter and beaten egg white. mix and then knead for around 10mn until it's nice and elastic. let it rest for three hours under something, and in a warmish place.

kead again a little, then cut in two, make two longish rolls that you can cut up in ten slices (altogether, not 20...) make a little hole in the center, you can be cool and make it turn around your finger and then two fingers. anyway, it's supposed to look like a bagel, not a ball or a rubik's cube. let it rest 45mn again.

heat up the oven to 200 °C
plunge the bagels three by three (or four) in boiling water for 30 seconds.
then place them on your oven pan thing. '(that's been oiled)
put the egg yoke (diluted with a little water) on the bagels.
then the various seeds.
stick in oven for 20 mn or so.
I had to broil them a little to get a nicish colour.

Pate brisée sucrée

250gr flour type 55
125 butter
1 egg
5 cl water
pinch of salt

mix flour with salt and sugar, then add the soft butter and mix well. Then add the egg and mix more. Finally add the water, but watch out not to add too much of it.  you just need to be able to form a big blob that you'll wrap up and put in the fridge for 30mn or so.  If you have no egg you can also add more water.

before spreading out the pastry let it warm up at room temperature. spread it out and preferably put it back in the fridge for a little while once you've placed it in your tart tin or whatever its called. you can make little holes with a fork.

if you wanted to make a savory one, just remove the sugar. 

Scones

330 gr self raising flour (or 330 gr of ordinary flour and then 4 tea spoons of baking powder instead of one and a little more salt but self raising flour tastes better to me than large amounts of baking powder)
1 tspn baking powder
100gr soft butter
pinch of salt
1/4 tspn cinnamon
a little nutmeg
2 eggs beaten
4 table spns milk
75 gr currants
75 gr golden brown sugar
one orange - or lemon zest (optional)

heat the oven to 200 C

mix flour with baking powder in large bowl. Add the cut up butter and mix with the tip of your fingers for a while, until getting a kind of sand texture.
add in the sugar, the spices, the currants, the beaten eggs and then the milk. mix it all, first with a knife, then, make an even ball, if it's too liquid, add flour, if crumbs remain on the bowl add a touch of milk.

spread out with a rolling pin, lightly, in order to get it down to 3cm thick. Use some kind of cutter you can put your hands on and cut up the scones that you'll place on the cooking tin of your oven on which you placed some cooking paper (can't remember what it's called..)

stick in the oven for around 20 mn on the very top of the oven. might want to check if it's not burning after 12/15 if so, lower heat to 180 or something.  depending on your oven, you could also try 220 for 10mn and 190 for another 10, just don't over cook them...

best cut in two, served with either butter or clotted cream and some home made jam.

Fruit Cake

125 gr currants
125 gr blond raisins
50 gr raisins
50 gr cranberries
125 gr mixed candied fruit
50 gr black candied cherries
50 gr skinless almonds, cut up or sliced
a few sliced dates
a few sliced dried figs
1 lemon zest
150 gr flour
1 tea spoon raising powder
1/2 level tea spoon nutmeg
less than 1/2 level tea spoon mixed spice
1/2 spoon cinnamon
150 gr butter
150 gr dark brown sugar
3 large eggs
pinch of salt
a small glass of cognac

take 2 table spoons of flour and mix in all the dried fruit.
in different bowl mix rest of flour with baking powder, all spices and salt.
in different bowl, mix butter with sugar and lemon zest, mix very well then add one at a time the eggs and mix more.
fold in mixed fruit dried fruit and butter mix,

take two rectangular cake tins and butter them in order to stick in it the baking paper.
place in the middle of the oven and bake medium low (160 max) for one hour or so, perhaps a little more. it should be cooked through.

Bianca's choco cake

300gr dark chocolate
375gr Butter
350 flour
420gr sugar
4 eggs
1/2 coffee spn baking powder
3 table spns cocoa.
1 dose vanilla
1small glass Frangellico liquor or cognac

Melt choc with butter.
In other bowl beat eggs with sugar then incorporate all the with flour and baking powder last.
Mix in the butter chocolate mix and put in oven for 40mn at 160ºc

Ttifle

One sponge cake ' genoise'
Cut in half
Put as much fruit as you have. Strawberries, apples, cut up hazelnuts, peaches, raisins, bananas etc...
Put the top back on. Add more fruit on top. Cherry or rhum.
Then make a nice English custard, Bird's english custard powder. And pour the custard on the trifle and add blobs of thick cream in a decorative way. Stick it in the fridge.

Almorange cake

250 gr ground almonds
Handful sliced alùonds
250 butter
2 oranges zests
50 gr flour
1 large spoon baking powder
4 eggs
80ml fresh orange juice
60gr brown sugar
225 sugar
a little marmalade.

Put on oven
butter tin (20cm)

mix flour with baking powder and the 225 gr of sugar

in a different bowl, whisk the butter with orange zests. until pale orange smooth stuff. through in the eggs one by one. mix and mix more.
little by little add in the flour/sugar mix.
stick it all in the oven.
20/25 mn 180°, and then another 30 or so much lower, like 150. Check it's cooked with the usual method.
take out from the oven.
let it cool

take the brown sugar and orange juice, bring it to a boil and until it becomes kind of sirupy.
make loads of little holes until the bottom of cake with a spike. Pour in the orange sirup.
cover the top with thin layer of warmed up malmalade (with a touch of water) then through on the sliced almonds.

serve with slices of oranges dipped in whiskey and a little brown sugar.

Far britton

200 gr flour
150 sugar
5 or 6 eggs
20 pruneaux of agen
125 gr good butter
Little vanilla
Touch cinnamon
75ml milk

Melt butter with sugar and milk in large pan. Use a whisk to smowly incorporate the flower, mix very well making surz there are unfortunate blobs that you might later regret.
Sorry at first you have taken the pips from the prunes and dipped them in a mix of tea and rhum. Then tou've also pit the oven on.
Ok so now you hace your beautiful mix ready and the prunes have inflated. So you pour tour mix on a heavily buttered roundish thing to stick it in the oven for a while ag medium. Check wirh a skewer it's kust dry when you remove it. Ok of course you didnt forget to throw in the vanilla and cinnamon with the flour.

rhubard, fig, lemon jam

3 pounds rhubarb
1 pound dried figs
3.5 pounds sugar
1 big soft lemon

Cut lemon in thin shreds. remove pips. put pips in cup with a little water.
Put shredded lemon in basin and cover with water.
But rhubard in very small pieces. put them in preserving pan with sugar. let it rest overnight.

next day,
chop figs finely or put them through processor to get fine bits, or use scissors.
add them to the rhubarb. add also the lemon and water. Strain in the water from the lemon pips.
stirr over gentle heat until boil. let cook just enough until it settles in the usual way when putting a little mount in freezer for 5 minutes.

Cheese Cake

for the cake:

250gr digestive buiscuits
100 gr butter
vanilla
600 gr soft cheese
280 ml thick cream
100 gr icing sugar
1 lime
poppy seeds

for the top:

400 gr strawberries
100 gr red currants
a little more icing sugar
mint leaves

in a plastic bag crush the biscuits with a rolling pin, put them in a bowl, pour on it the 100gr melted putter, mix thoroughly, place on the bottom of a large tin in which you'll have carefully placed buttered parchment paper. put in fridge for one hour.
mix the cheese with the cream and icing sugar, add the lime juice and the vanilla, oh and yes, the poppy seeds, just put quite a bit, that you'll have crushed first in order to release the taste. when nice and smooth add the mix to the crust (the one that you've just taken out from the fridge) put it back there for the night (not the day)
next morning, after coffee, crush your strawberries and 25gr icing sugar or so, with a little machine, if you don't the machine, then you can't do the recipe, it makes a beautiful juice kind of stuff, you can then apply or pour this strawberry mix on the cake.
finally place in a artistic and inspired way, the currants, using chopsticks makes it easier. you can also decorate with a few mint leaves.

Brioche parisienne

500 gr flour (type 55)

7 eggs

6 ml milk

30gr sugar

15gr yeast

350 butter

break 6 eggs into the flour

6 ml warm milk, with 15 gr salt, 15 gr yeast, all together

through it into the flour/egg mix

mix throughly 10 mn (preferably with a machine)

when the dow is mixed, elastic and sticky 

mix in the 350 gr butter and 30gr sugar

then mix more for another 10 minutes

let in a warm place, 20/22 degree covered with a cloth for two hours.

knock it down a little reform it and let rest again in the fridge for at least 6h but no more than 24.

cut in two thirds for the body and one third for the head.

make one ball witht he bigger part, place it in the tin.

make a whole in the middle with 2 wet fingers.

make an oblong rounded tube that you insert in the whole, it should hardly be higher than the rest.

use csissors to cut hte sides of the brioche deeply allowing the brioche to rise better. 

using a brush, but some egg wash, then again just before plaing winto the oven.

180 degrees for 35 minutes.

Happy biscuits

250gr flour
125gr butter
125gr sugar
1 lemon
1 table spoon milk
vanilla essence
icing sugar
ginger
aniseed
currants


put the flour in a bowl. Add the sugar, quite a bit of ginger, some aniseeds, the zest of the lemon and the butter in little cubes.
turn the oven on, low.
with the tip of the fingers, mix it all up until it all becomes like sand. Then add the juice of half the lemon and the table spoon of milk. Mix again, and press it gradually to a nice even ball. Flatten out with a rolling pin to somethng like half a centimeter or less.
cut out shapes.
place on tin with cooking paper.
cook low for 20 minutes or so. turn off before they're hard as they will harden when cooling down.
add icing sugar

chocolate cake

150 gr sugar
2 eggs
200gr chocolate
100 gr butter
3 table spoons flour

beat the eggs with the sugar
melt the chocolate with the butter and a little water
add it to the egg/sugar mix
add the flour and mix well

cook for half an hour

SPICY CAT

spicy quatre quarts

- 250 g butter

- 8 heaped table spoons flour

- 150 sugar

- 4 table spoons golden syrup (or honey)

- touch of whiskey or rum

- 4 eggs

- 30 walnuts (chopped)

- 150 g currants

- 1 lemon

- 50g candied lemon

- cinnamon

- allspice

- coriander

- ginger

- anis étoilé - star anis

- nutmeg

- clove (little)

- white pepper (very little)

- poppy seeds (crushed)

- 2/3 of a tea spoon of baking powder

cut up the walnuts

cut up the candied lemon

zest the lemon

melt the butter with the sugar while mixing it well. take off from gas.

add the golden syrup (or honey).

the juice from the lemon.

turn the oven on.

in a bowl mix walnuts, currants, candied lemon.

put the flour in another bowl and mix in the spices and the baking powder.

take one spoon of this flour mix and add it to the mixed fruit/walnut/

mix well.

now add two spoons of flour mix to the butter/sugar mix and one egg yoke (keep whites aside for later)

mix well and then proceed to add another two spoons of flour mix to the butter mix and again another egg yoke. and again until all flour and egg yokes are nicely mixed in.

add in the fruit mix.

now, beat the egg white to firm, and add it to the mix.

place in a rectangular buttered and foiled tin. put in oven rather low for one hour, check with a spike until it comes out just clean.

Banana Bread

Banana Bread
Pre heat oven to 325
3 mashed bananas
3/4 C. sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 C. flour
4 Tbl. melted butter or margarine
1 tea. salt
1/2 tea. baking soda
Crushed poppy seeds
Walnuts
mash bananas, and stir in the rest of the ingredients until blended..do not over mix. Pour into a greased and floured pan and Bake 1 hour.

peanut butter cookies

4 ounces / 125gr butter
4 ounces peanut butter (equivalent butter)
4 ounces brown sugar (4 rounded table spoons)
4 ounces ordinary sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla
8 ounces flour (8 well rounded table spoons)
1/2 tea spoon salt (or less)
1/2 tea spoon baking powder

mix the butter and sugar well, watch out it tends to fly around.
add flour, put it last table spoon with the baking powder.
salt, vanilla and finally the egg.
mix well.

oil the tin.

make little balls into 12 balls.
flatten with a wetted fork.

leave a good little space in between.

cook medium/low around 15 minutes.

lemon quatre-quarts

250 gr flour
250 butter
250 sugar
2 lemons
baking powder
(a little orange water if you like)
4 eggs
icing sugar (for the icing)







So, you melt the butter slowly in a saucepan and add the sugar, mix well until creamy. Then add the four egg yokes one by one, (so separate them from the whites) ,  alternating with two large spoons of flour (so at the end 8 large spoons of flour should add up to 250 gr) don't forget to add the baking powder into the flour.
Then add one lemon juice with the zest. this is when you can add the orange water but don't over do it.
turn the oven on.
beat the egg whites nice and firm with a pinch of salt.
add them delicately to the cake mix.
place the mix some buttered tin.
cook first relatively hot, then lower. check with something pointed to see if it's cocked. it should come out just dry but still greasy.

once it's out, you can make the icing:
quite a bit of icing sugar mixed with the juice and zest of a lemon and a little butter. it should be quite thick, mix it very well until creamy. then place over the fire and bring it to boil, it'll start foaming, stop just before it starts getting dark. it should be transparent and will get quite thick when drying.

even better if you add slightly roasted poppy seeds with chopped pistachio and pine nuts over the icing.

QUEEN OF PUDDINGS

- 1 inch thick slice, cut from a large white loaf of bread (brioche is good too)
- 1/2 pint milk (3 dl)
- 1/4 once butter (1 teaspoon)
- 1 level table spoon sugar
- rind form 1 lemon
- 2 egg yokes
- 2 table spoons red jam

meringue:
- 2 egg whites
- 3 onces sugar

cut crust off the bread and cut into large cubes (50gr altogether)
put mile and butter in saucepan, bring to boil, take off from heat. Add the bread, sugar and grated lemon. Cover with lid and allow to stand for 15 mn.
When the bread is quite soft, whisk to a purée, then stir in egg yokes.
Poor contense into a small buttered dish. Place in center of moderate oven (4) for 20 mn. Until firm. spread jam (warm) whisk until stiff, prinkle half sugar (1,5 table spoons) and whisk again until thick and glossy. Then using a metal spoon, lightly fold in the remainder of the sugar (1,5 table spoons).
Spoon the meringue over the pudding swirling the surface roughly.
Return to oven until brown meringue (10mn)
Serve hot with cream.

White peach soup

1 cup dry white wine

1/5 cup brandy / eau de vie

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon chopped fresh mint leaves

slice of ginger

ground cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, saffron, white pepper : NOT TOO MUCH

1 cups cream

1 cup milk

large dollop greek yoghurt

1/2 squeezed lime

10 fresh ripe white peaches, sliced

Place everything except cream, yogurt, milk together in a bowl, and stir until well blended and sugar is dissolved. Add cream yoghurt milk, and transfer to a saucepan.

Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring frequently and reducing heat if necessary to prevent scorching cream. Remove from heat when peaches are tender. Cool to a safe temperature for blending. Process in a blender or food processor until completely smooth. Cover, and refrigerate until ready to serve. (Serve chilled).

Hungarian cheese cake

4oz butter,5oz flour,1egg yolk,1.teaspoon rhum,1tableoon cream.Filling,2 egg whites,1egg yolk,8 to10 oz curd,4 tablespoons icing sugar,a little vanilla sugar,1tableoon flour,2tablespoons jam,2 tablespoons sultanas. Make the pastry from butter,flour,egg yolk,rum and cream.Work all the ingredients together as quickly as possible,so that the butter does not melt from the heat of your hands.Divide thisastry into 2 parts andput it aside in a cool place torest for about a  half  an hour.Thenrolloutone half of the pastry as big as your baking tin,grease the tin and place the pastry in it.Preheat the oven for 10 minutes,regulo 8,and bake the pastry for 8 minutes to a lignt goldn colour.Let the pastry cool and when quite cold spread jam on itandprepare the filling in the following way.Beat the curd with a fork to make it creamy then add 2 tablespoofuls of sugar and the sultanas.Put this aside and beat the whites of eggs till stiff,then add the rest of the sugar and the egg yolk. Go on beating the mixture for,a little while.fold half of this mixture carefully into the curd. The curd now should be spread evenly on top of the jam in your pastry tin.To the other half of your egg mixture add the flour,folding it in gently.This should now be pourd evenly on top of the curd in the baking tin.Roll out therest of the pastry and place,it on top and prixk it all over with a fork.Preheat the oven for10 minutes,regulo 8,and then bake the pie for 30 minutes.When done sprinkle the top withici g sugar and let it cool before cutting it'..Love Joan.

shortbread

half pound mc dougall's self rising flour (8 heaped table spoons) or basic flour is fine

2 onces ground rice (2 rounded table spoons)

1/4 tea spoon salt

190 gr butter

4 ounces white sugar (caster sugar is best) (4 table spoons)

sift the flour salt and ground rice into a basin

add the butter, rub it in with the finger tips

then add the sugar and work the mixture into a dough

until it is soft and pliable without being oily and crumbly

(it's a little bit delicate...)

no liquid is used

you need to get it into a ball

shape into either biscuits

roll out about quarter of an inch on a flowered board

cut it out in little circles (for instance)

cook on an ungreased tin

for fifteen to twenty minutes

in a moderate oven (4) 

cake aux pistaches

Cake à la pistache

pour un moule rectangulaire de 25cm

pour la gateau

250 beurre ramoli

225 sucre en poudre

zest rapé d'un citron

1 cuillerée d'eau de rose (attention pas trop)

1 cuillerée d'eau de fleur d'oranger (attention pas trop)

un peu d'extrait de vanille

4 oeufs

100 gr amande en poudre

100 gr pistache en poudre

50 gr farine

1 cuillerée à café de levure chimique (ou baking power)

1 pincée de sel

pour le nappage:

50 gr pistache hachée (pas en poudre donc)

50 gr de sucre en poudre

le zest et le jus d'un citron

préchauffer le four a 180 degré (4)

beurrer et chemiser de papier sufurisé le moule

battre le beurre et le sucre très bien.

incorporer le zest du citron, l'eau de rose, oranger et vanille

coninuer de battre

ajouter les oeufs un a un en battant a chaque fois.

incorporer les amandes, pistaches, farine, levure et sel.

verser le tout dans le moule et enfourner 40 mn environ.

vérifier la cuisson avec un couteau jusqu'au centre du gâteau. la lame doit ressortir sèche.

sortir le moule du four et attendre que le cake ait refroidi pour démouler.

préparer le nappage: chauffer a feu doux dans une casserole, les pistaches, le sucre et le zest et le jus du citron.

verser sur le cake.

trifle

TRIFLE

- 1 genoise  - sponge cake - ou 15 biscuits a charlotte (the soft ones)
- raisins secs
- noisettes ou noix
- 1/2 litre de crème anglaise (bird’s custart)
- un petit pot de crème fraiche
- un peu de rhum
- trois peches, ou fruits au choix
- un peu de confiture rouge

Faire 1/2 litre de crème anglaise (bird’s custard)

Diluer avec un peu d’eau deux cuillère a soupe de confiture rouge, et faire chauffer. Y rajouter deux cuillèrées a café de rhum.
Placer un tiers des biscuits, ou couper la genoise en deux. (dans le sens de l’épaisseur)

Couper les fruits en petits morceaux et les placer sur la genoise.
Arroser pour mouiller avec un peu du mélange confiture/eau/rhum.

Mettre un tier de cette creme anglaise sur la première couche, Puis repéter jusqu’a épuisement des ingrédients.

à la fin, terminer avec une couche de crème anglaise, puis mettre des petits blobs de crème fraiche. Enfin, décorer avec des noisettes ou des noix.

Servir bien frais. FRIGO!

christmas pudding

4 oz (110 g) shredded suet or 250gr butter

 4 oz (110 g) self-raising flour,  (up to 150gr)

sifted 4 oz (110 g) white breadcrumbs 

 1 level teaspoon ground mixed spice 

 ¼ level teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 

 good pinch ground cinnamon 

 8 oz (225 g) soft dark brown sugar 

 4 oz (110 g) sultanas 

 4 oz (110 g) raisins 

 10 oz (275 g) currants 

 1 oz (25 g) mixed candied peel, finely chopped (buy whole peel if possible, then chop it yourself) 

 1 oz (25 g) almonds, skinned and chopped 

 2 cooking apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped 

 grated zest ½ large orange grated zest

 ½ large lemon 

 2 tablespoons rum 

 2½ fl oz (75 ml) barley wine 

 2½ fl oz (75 ml) stout 

 3 large eggs 

 Begin the day before you want to steam the pudding. Take your largest, roomiest mixing bowl and start by putting in the suet, sifted flour and breadcrumbs, spices and sugar. Mix these ingredients very thoroughly together, then gradually mix in all the dried fruit, mixed peel and nuts followed by the apple and the grated orange and lemon zests. Don't forget to tick everything off so as not to leave anything out. Now in a smaller basin measure out the rum, barley wine and stout, then add the eggs and beat these thoroughly together. Next pour this over all the other ingredients, and begin to mix very thoroughly. It's now traditional to gather all the family round, especially the children, and invite everyone to have a really good stir and make a wish! The mixture should have a fairly sloppy consistency – that is, it should fall instantly from the spoon when this is tapped on the side of the bowl. If you think it needs a bit more liquid add a spot more stout. Cover the bowl and leave overnight. Next day pack the mixture into the lightly greased basin, cover it with a double sheet of silicone paper (baking parchment) and a sheet of foil and tie it securely with string (you really need to borrow someone's finger for this!). It's also a good idea to tie a piece of string across the top to make a handle. Place the pudding in a steamer set over a saucepan of simmering water and steam the pudding for 8 hours. Do make sure you keep a regular eye on the water underneath and top it up with boiling water from the kettle from time to time. When the pudding is steamed let it get quite cold, then remove the steam papers and foil and replace them with some fresh ones, again making a string handle for easier manoeuvring. Now your Christmas pudding is all ready for Christmas Day. Keep it in a cool place away from the light. Under the bed in an unheated bedroom is an ideal place. To cook, fill a saucepan quite full with boiling water, put it on the heat and, when it comes back to the boil, place a steamer on top of the pan and turn it down to a gentle simmer. Put the Christmas pudding in the steamer, cover and leave to steam away for 2¼ hours. You'll need to check the water from time to time and maybe top it up a bit. To serve, remove the pudding from the steamer and take off the wrapping. Slide a palette knife all round the pudding, then turn it out on to a warmed plate. Place a suitably sized sprig of holly on top. Now warm a ladleful of brandy over direct heat, and as soon as the brandy is hot ask someone to set light to it. Place the ladle, now gently flaming, on top of the pudding

CONCERNING THE BRANDY SAUCE

50 gr butter

50 gr flour

50 gr sugar

450 gr milk

pinch of salt

5 table spoons of rhum (or whiskey)

melt butter in saucepan on low flame, slowly incorporate the flower, always mixing throughly. let cook while mixing for a couple minutes more. then very gradually add the milk while always paying attention at getting rid of any blobs that could form. after a little while, you'll get a perfectly smooth paste, in which you can then add the sugar and and the pinch of salt. 

take off the flame.

finally add the alcohol and mix well. should be ready.

Briam

- 3 large aubergines
- a fair amount of salt
- 2 cans of tomato (400gr each)
- 1 very large onion, or two medium ones
- a few bay lieves, (laurier)
- 4 garlics
- a little paprika
- olive oil

slice up the aubergines in thin slices and salt one side.
while the salt is doing it's thing on one side of the aubergines, prepare some tomato sauce:


chop onions very fine, open the cans of tomato, just cut garlic in halves.
put the frying pan on, add the olive oil, throw in the onions and bay lieves until onions become glassy (so medium heat) throw in the garlic, watch out not to burn them, add tomato sauce and a tea spoon of paprika and a little salt. simmer for ten minutes max.
while simmering, turn over the aubergines and salt the other sides.
turn the oven on.
rince off all the salt from the aubergines.
take tomato sauce off the heat, mix in pepper (and any herbs you might want to add)
gently layer the aubergines and tomato in the pan going into the oven.
sart the bottom layer with the aubergines that have their skin.
you might want to add a little water to the tomato sauce on the frying pan before spooning it onto the aubergines.
spoon on tomato sauce evenly.
add a little more olive oil and salt.
put in the oven for 45mm or so medium heat. until they're nice and soft.
serve when they're a little cooled down.

TURKEY IN THE OVEN

TURKEY IN THE OVEN (christmas or thanksgiving)

for a 12 pounds turkey.

500gr chesstnut purée
500gr apples
200gr chair a saussisses
1/4 L milk
2 échalottes
persil
1 egg

warm oven 10 minutes before putting in. Medium low. Cooks around 3 hours depending on size.

Cook the chesstnut in a little milf until it's nice and soft.
Cook chair a saussisses for 10mn in a little water.
Peel and core the apples, stew them in a very litle water until purée. Mix with the porc and chessnuts, salt and pepper, add finely chopped echalottes and parsly with a beaten egg.

Stuff it in. Keep a little for extras.
Then sew it closed.

Liberally rub with butter (or oil) cook it perhaps on its side, covered with aluminum foil.

For the sauce, a little white wine can be added and boiled up in the pan once you've removed the turkey. If you have the giblets, cut them up finely and cook them in a little water, when they're soft add them to the pan. Add a little flour and add little by little some water while over a flame.

Chocolate couilles

200gr chocolate
2 egg yokes
4 table spoons of peanut butter
rhum
coffee
cocoa

brake chocolate in little piece and melt in a little water in a medium sized pan.
Turn off the heat, add egg yokes, a little coffee and the peanut butter, mix with a mixer.
Put in the freezer for a little while, then spread out some cocoa and roll the paste in little balls on the cocoa.

tarte au chocolat

400G de chocolat
300G de creme liquide
100G de lait
2 oeuf
40G de beurre
600g de pate sucree brisee
beurrer un plat a tarte
etaler la pate
laisser reposer au frigo une demi heure
prechauffez le four a 200 (+7)
cuire le fond de tarte seul 10mn
couper le chocolat
faire bouillir le lait + creme
ajouter le chocolat
retirer du feu et melanger au fouet pour obtenir une mousse bien lisse
ajouter ensuite deux oeufs entiers battu
bien melanger
verser la preparation sur le fond de tarte
faire cuire entre 15mn et +18MN dans le four prechauffe(+5)

FIG JAM

fig jam

a little grated ginger
cinamon
4 pounds sugar
4 pounds figs.
2 or 3 lemons.
a stick of vanilla

put the figs nicely sliced with the sugar and a glass of water.
the zest of two lemons and the juice and interior or the three lemons.
bring to boil, and then cook slowly for maximum 45mn

tarte aux noix

TARTE AUX NOIX

pour 8 personnes
faire une pate brisée, la laisser reposer couverte d'un peu de farine, emballer dans un sac plastic et réfriger. pendant ce temps:

préparer la pate aux noix:

250 su re roux
55 gr beurre fondu
1 cuillère a café d'xtrait de vanille
2 cuillère a soupe de farine
300 gr cernaux de noix
4 oeufs.

mélanger les oeufs avec le sucre, le beurre fondu et la farine.
hacher grossièrement la moitiés des noix.
repartir les noix au fond de la tarte, verser le mélange sur les noix.
parsemer les cernaux de noix non hachés sur le dessus.
faire cuire la tarte d'abord sur le fondu four durant une dizaine de minutes puis disposer au milieu du four et faire cuir encore une petite vingtaine de minutes. mais jeter un oeil bien avant.

Russian Mafia (carrot cake)

1,5 cup of oil
2 cups sugar
3 whole eggs and one egg white, well beaten (you can forget the extra egg..)
2 cups flour
a little salt
a fair a;ount of cinamon
2 table spoons of baking powder ( i think we put less)
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup golden raisins
3 cups of grated carrots

preheat oven relatively hot.
in a large bowlm mix oil and sugarm beat well. (beater)
add the eggs.
add the flour gradually with baking powder.
nuts, raisins.
grated carrots very gradually.
beat well.
bake for one hour.

ICING:
100 gr butter
200 gr cream cheese ( saint moret works but mascarpone might be better)
2 cups of icing sugar (I put less)
vanilla extract
a little alcohol
mix the butter to cheese, add the sugar and the rest. beat. put a little in the fridge before cuting the cake in two, i filling with icing both inside and on top.

Barm brack

selection of dried fruit for instance: (dosage is approximate)
2,5 cups of mixed dried fruit, raisins, figs, prunes, cranberries.
1 cup boiling strong black tea.
2,5 cup self raising flour
3/4 cup mixed brown/white sugar (quantity depending on sweetness of fruit)
1 egg slightly beaten
4 tea spoons of orange marmelade

1 heaped tea spoon mixed spice (allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger powder, star anis, black pepper, clove, coriander)
1 heaped tea spoon crushed poppy seed

buttered rectangular tin

the night before pour strongly brewed tea over the fruit and let soak all night.
next day, pre-heat oven to 190°c
add rest of ingredients to the soaked fruit
mix well
pour into prepared pan and bake for 1,5 hours
let it cool in the pan
slice and serve buttered with a cup of tea

apple crumble

- 8 table spoons flour
- 125gr butter
- brown sugar
- 7 apples
- cinnamon
- clove
- raisins
- chopped almonds (not powder)
- pinch of salt
- half lemon

peel and cut up the apples in thinnish slices and kind of cube them also
add the raisins, two table spoons of sugar, half a lemon juice. cinnamon, a little ground up clove. also add a table spoon of flour to the mix and any other fruit you feel like adding.

put on the oven, rather hot.

mix the 8 table spoons of sifted flour with the butter and a pinch of salt using the tip of your fingers in order to try and achieve the consistency of a kind of thick sand. gently mix in one table spoon of sugar and mix gently.

butter or oil the pan, put in the mix, pour a half a cup of water on the mix. then cover with the crumble, pat in down gently, sprinkle with one table spoon of brown sugar.
put in the over for forty minutes to one hour. the mix should be well cooked.

gâteau aux noix et au café

pour le gâteau
250gr beurre
250 sucre
250 farine
1 citron
1/4 cuillerée poudre levante
4 oeufs
des noix

allumer le four - chaud.
faire fondre le beurre avec le sucre, bien mélanger.
retirer du feu.
ajouter la farine et les jaunes d'oeufs, en alternant farine et oeufs
puis le jus de citron (éventuellement le zeste aussi)

ponter les blancs en neige puis les incorporer au reste du mélange.
y ajouter les noix concassées. en garder pour la déco...
mettre au four assez chaud, puis 10 minutes apres baisser un peu. surveiller après 20 minutes que ça devienne pas sec en plantant un truc pointu au milieu. il doit juste ressortir sans pate humide.

pour la crème:
100gr beurre
du sucre glace
un café (déca?) bien fort et très serré.

mélanger le beurre avec le sucre glace pour que ce soit pas trop dégeu. rajouter le petit café, il faut pas que ce soit liquide quand même, battre avec un truc eletrique que ça fasse une crème très épaisse avec un goum prononcé de café.
mettre au frigo s'il fait chaud, sinon, laisser dans un coin.

retirer le gâteau du four, le couper en deux dans l'épaisseur et y mettre la crème au café.
recouvrir de cerneaux de noix qu'on fait coller avec le reste de crème au café.
saupoudrer de sucre glace - peut être avant que de mettre les noix?

poulet au miel

1 poulet
riz
un verre de vin blanc ou rouge
ail
3 oignons
gingembre frais
cannelle en bâton
clou de girofle
poivron (optionnel)
noisettes, noix, un peu au pif ou même noix du Brésil
paprika doux
beurre (une noix)
une bonne cuillerée à soupe de miel.

Découper le poulet au niveau des jointures. en gros huit/dix morceaux. Les jeter au fur et a mesure de la découpe, dans un faitout à feu doux. Retourner les morceaux régulièrement jusqu'à ce qu'ils soient tous un peu dorés.
commencer à éplucher et découper les oignons. jeter les progressivement dans le faitout large et en fonte plutot que dans une cocotte large et en hauteur. en retournant à chaque fois les morceaux de poulet. Puis y mettre le poivron, l'ail. raper le gingembre directement dans le faitout, l'équivalent d'un ou deux doigts. y jeter les noisettes, coupés ou pas.. Donc en gros, tout jeter d'dans progressivement. Poser le miel en haut du mélange et le laisser fondre. Remuer. Couvrir et laisser mijoter à feu doux une heure et demie, deux heures en remuant de temps en temps. Découvrir légèrement si le poulet semble donner trop de jus ou bouillir trop fort. A chaque fois les morceaux doivent être retournés très délicatement afin d'éviter leurs désagragation progressive.
Servir avec un riz thai.