Tag Archives: cherries

Clafoutis or Migourin?

06 Monday Jun 2011

Posted by in Desserts

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I made a clafoutis the other evening with some of the cherries I brought back from France.  It’s a very simple dessert to make and is pretty healthy as there’s no sugar or butter.

What you will need:

Cherries (enough to cover the bottom of your oven dish)
1 cup of flour
1 cup of milk or red wine
2 eggs
1 tsp of baking powder 

Place the cherries at the bottom of a buttered baking dish. As there’s no sugar in this dessert the  more cherries the better in my opinion.

Pre-heat the oven to 180C. In a large bowl whisk the flour, milk, eggs and baking powder. Pour the mixture over the cherries and place the dish in the oven for about 45mins or until golden.

For something a little different:

My French grandmother always replaces the milk with some red wine to make a migourin, a speciality from the Loire region in France.  

Now get cooking, it’s cherry season!

Mel

Cherry jam

05 Sunday Jun 2011

Posted by in Jams and chutneys

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Cherry jam

I went to my parent’s home in France for a long weekend with a few friends. We had a fantastic time enjoying the sun, swimming in the pool and best of all picking cherries in the garden. This year they came early and if we’d arrived any later they would have been too ripe. The tree was covered in cherries and in just 15 minutes we had a big basket full of them, yum! The only problem was that they were so ripe we couldn’t have eaten all of them before they started to rot, so we made jam.

It feels so satisfying to pick fruit and then make something from them.

What you will need:

1kg of cherries
1kg of sugar
Empty jars

Cooking time – 1 hour

You can either de-stone the cherries before making the jam or after (it will not change the flavour). I didn’t remove them before as they were so ripe and used that weight to measure the sugar.

Put the cherries in a big pan with the sugar and mix so that the sugar covers the cherries. Put on a medium heat and stir occasionally until the sugar has completely melted and then turn the heat to low, cover the pan and leave to simmer. Stir the jam from time to time for about an hour. A white foam will create on the top of the jam, remove as much as possible.

Just before the jam is ready, get some empty jars, boil water and pour into the jars, this will disinfect them. Once the jam is ready, empty the water and pour in the jam – using a ladle or a jug can make this easier. Immediately seal the jar with the lid. Leave to cool and then refrigerate.

To make jam the rule I always use is the same weight in sugar as fruit, or a little less sugar if the fruit is nice and ripe.

Jams and chutneys can make great presents, all you need is some nice material, some beads and a label for it to look that bit special.

Mel

A French Picnic…

01 Friday Apr 2011

Posted by in Salads

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Melanie is off to France for a long weekend…aahhhh!
Cherries

Home picked cherries

I miss France so much right now that if I were allowed to fly, I would tag along!
 

A sunny day in France

Mel’s trip makes me think of a picnic we had in France when we were there, in the countryside, last May.
We had a delicious spread of wine, salad, pates, cheese and cherries – that were picked from her grandmother’s tree. It seems when most people think of food in France desserts, baguettes and champagne come to mind. But I think of the lettuce. The leaves are large but they have a soft texture and taste sweet. Boston/Bibb lettuce is the only kind of lettuce I can find in Chicago that reminds me of the lettuce in France.

Whenever Mel and I make a meal together, I know that we will have a salad with her famous mustard vinaigrette. The French always eat a salad with their meal because it helps digestion. Before meeting Mel, I had never heard of this but eat the same way now. When I make salad dressing I like to measure it all out, but not Melanie. The salad below is what I make to take me back to that lovely picnic. It has a tangy cheese, a tart fruit, buttery walnuts and the famous pungent mustard vinaigrette!

What you need:
Butter/Bibb lettuce

1 green apple (cored and cut)
1/2 cup of toasted walnuts
3 ounces of Roquefort cheese

Vinaigrette
1 teaspoon sherry vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup of olive oil
Sea Salt & Black Pepper