Easter eggs: Rhubarb clafoutis

I'd always fancied making a clafoutis, indeed was just looking at this recipe the other day and thinking it sounded nice and do-able. But definitely something to be filed away until I have good eggs and dairy (rare) - it really needs the eggs for consistency, and with such a simple recipe much of the flavour is coming from them so they ought to be good.

This weekend is Easter, and all of a sudden I had half a dozen beautiful Brattleboro eggs. Four became shakshuka for lunch, the remaining two I earmarked to try a clafoutis. As luck would have it our visitors last weekend had left behind some milk (which I turned into yoghurt) - so I was all set, ingredients-wise, for clafoutis to happen...

Again, I felt that clafoutis was something that would really show off the eggs - couldn't make it without them. I'd bought some rhubarb in Brattleboro as well - first time I'd seen it this season. So rather than the traditional cherries I thought I'd make a rhubarb clafoutis, spiking it with a little vanilla and using yoghurt in place of some of the milk, in the hope of ending up with kind of a fancy rhubarb and custard in cakier form. I tweaked this recipe (second recipe down).

(makes about 10 slices, I used 21 x 21 cm square Pyrex dish)

133 g flour
80 g sugar
little pinch of salt
2 eggs
53 g (fake) butter, melted
266 g milk (used a mixture of almond milk and yoghurt)
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
333 g rhubarb, washed, trimmed and chopped into ~2 cm chunks
1 tbsp demerara sugar

Heat the oven to 400F/200C and generously butter a tart dish (see above). Mix the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl with a fork. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. When the batter is smooth, mix in the melted butter. Then gradually add the milk (followed by the vanilla), mixing well so no lumps form. If there are lumps, strain through a sieve. Toss the rhubarb with the demerara sugar, then scatter rhubarb and demerara mixture into the buttered dish and gently pour the batter over (the rhubarb floats!). Bake until golden and quite firm (FZ said this would take 30 min, in my hands it took more like 75 - perhaps the Pyrex, perhaps my oven is on the cool side, perhaps I could have taken it out sooner...). It can be slightly wobbly but a skewer inserted in the middle of the clafoutis should come out clean. Allow to cool (best eaten slightly warm or at room temp), and serve in thick wedges (with more yoghurt, if you like).


I don't know why it took so long to cook, but anyway, the finished article is not pretty (well, maybe in a rustic sort of way it is...), but it is delicious. The batter puffed up in the oven and then sank right down to make a really smooth base for the fruit, almost like a super thick custard. The rhubarb floated so it sits pinkly on top, beckoning you in among the golden custard. It sliced well once cooled, and pieces stayed together nicely. Lovely, and not too sweet. S ate three pieces in rapid succession so that's a good sign! 

Note: Apparently a true clafoutis is only with cherries so this is more like a flaugnarde. But such an ugly word!

Easter eggs: Shakshuka with fennel

Yesterday we made a trip to Brattleboro. It's a little town just over the border in Vermont, and we first went there on a rainy weekend during our first Spring here. That time we pretty much just picked our destination by closing our eyes and poking the map - it was in Vermont and we'd never been there, but was close enough for a day trip (two hours drive). We found a pretty little place next to the wide Connecticut River, with a smaller river running energetically over rocks right through town (reminds me of the Lynn in East Linton). It's nestled among the beginnings of the Green Mountains, and full of interesting secondhand clothes shops, outdoor gear purveyors, a striking Art Deco hotel (Latchis), a great coffee stop (Mocha Joe's - grinds just down the street), and hippies. We love it, and can happily potter around there for hours. But the dealbreaker that really blew our minds the first time, and keeps calling us back again and again, is the Brattleboro Co-op. It is hands-down the best supermarket I've ever been to, especially its gigantic dried stuff by weight section.

Since it was Easter weekend and we were out in farm country, in the best supermarket ever, it seemed very appropriate to buy a half dozen happy, local eggs. Since eggs are such a rare occurrence in my kitchen these days I was more excited about those eggs than about any chocolate ones - just right for Easter. I spent some time today doing justice to those beautiful eggs - first for lunch (brunch?), shakshuka (nb second, clafoutis).

I wanted to make something kind of special but very egg-centric (no pun intended...). Shakshuka had popped up a few times recently - on brunch menus, at dinner at N+G's the other night... Time to make one myself. I used Yotam Ottolenghi's recipe, with a few modifications (like fennel).

(makes enough for a meal for two fairly hungry people, with bread)

½ tsp cumin seeds
2-3 tbsp grapeseed oil
1 large onion, peeled and sliced
1/2 a bulb of fennel, washed, trimmed and sliced to similar dimensions as the onion
3 1/2 tsp demerara sugar plus 1/2 tsp molasses
2 bay leaves
2-3 tsp dried thyme
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
1 bunch fresh coriander, chopped
1 tin chopped tomatoes plus 1 tbsp tomato puree
½ tsp saffron strands
pinch of cayenne pepper
salt and pepper
up to 250ml water
4 eggs

In a large, wide saucepan, dry fry the cumin on high heat for a minute, until fragrant. Add the oil and sauté the onion for two minutes. Add the fennel, sugar, molasses, bay, thyme, parsley and two tbsp chopped coriander, and cook on high heat for a few more minutes until light golden. Add the tomatoes, tomato puree, saffron, cayenne, salt and pepper. Cook on low heat for 15 minutes, adding enough water to keep it the consistency of a pasta sauce. Season to taste. You can prepare this mix in advance. Turn the heat down to very low, then make four evenly-spaced hollows in the mixture in the pan*. Break the eggs one at a time into a small mug (try not to break the yolk), then pour each egg into one of the hollows in the mixture. Sprinkle with salt, cover and cook very gently until the egg just sets (this took at least half an hour although YO said it would be more like 10 min). To eat, sprinkle with coriander and have some bread on the side.

*The elegant way to do this would be to use one pan per person; I didn't feel like making that much washing up; perhaps the eggs would have cooked quicker in a smaller pan though?


This was really good - kind of a perfect combination: eggs, tomatoes, herbs, fennel, bread, plenty of salt and pepper. Great for any time of day. Other additions I was tempted to make include chives, olives, capers, fennel seed, sumac, chilli, oregano, peppers...

Making yoghurt

I've tried a few kinds of ferments or cultures, but none have been as successful for me as yoghurt making. When we first moved into this apartment the pilot light in the oven confused me, but I soon realised it creates a perfect incubator for stuff like yoghurt. So I started making yoghurt, using a plain old supermarket yoghurt as a starter culture and any whole milk. I kept it going for about six months before deciding to quit eggs and dairy.

Yoghurt is definitely the thing I miss most (followed by eggs). We had visitors last weekend from Germany (T+C), along with their 18 month old (she shares my name!) who needs milk to sleep at night and loves yoghurt. They left some of both behind in the fridge and I had a field day - the yoghurt didn't last long, but before it was all eaten I used some to make the milk into yoghurt (I've never cared much for milk).

 (do this in the evening and the yoghurt will be made by morning and ready to eat (although I prefer it chilled))

1 quart (~1 litre) whole milk
2 tbsp yoghurt (this time it was Greek; any live, plain yoghurt seems to work; this is the starter culture)

Put the milk in a large saucepan and heat. Bring it almost to the boil, so it just starts to froth (aiming for 85C). Then switch off the heat. Fill the sink with cold water (iced ideally) and bathe the base of the pan in it to speed cooling. Bring it down to 37C (body temperature - test with inside of wrist). Take out of the sink and whisk the yoghurt thoroughly through the milk. Pour the milk mixture into clean plastic tubs with lids (I use old yoghurt tubs), then put the lids on and put the tubs in the switched-off oven*. Leave for about 8 hours or overnight.

In the morning, open and check - it should have thickened and soured so it is recognisably yoghurt. Stir and then put the lid back on and keep in the fridge. I found it keeps well for up to two weeks. When it starts getting low you can use the homemade yoghurt as starter culture for a new batch with fresh milk - you will never have to buy yoghurt again!

*Must be an oven with pilot light so always warm. If you don't have this you need another way of maintaining 37C - airing cupboard, hot water bottles and towels wrapped around the tub... If you use the oven leave yourself a note so you don't forget it's in there.


This works really well. In those six months it worked every time (texture and taste varied a bit but it was always unequivocably yoghurt, and always tasty). It does tend to come out a little thinner than commercial yoghurt but that doesn't really bother me - you can strain it or try adding powdered milk if you'd like it thicker. I wondered if using Greek yoghurt culture might help with thickness, but I suspect this wouldn't last beyond the first few goes around as the proportions of bacteria probably shift. I have tried this yoghurt making protocol with non-dairy milks but never had any success.

Roasted baby artichokes

We have been trying to make weekend days when we have to work and do other unexciting things feel more like holidays. Mostly, this seems to entail a short circular walk in the morning, perhaps via a coffee shop to have a fancy coffee and a little snack, then up the hill to Whole Foods to pick up a few fancy (and quick to prepare) ingredients for lunch and later meals. Then back down the other side of the hill, with one of the best Boston cityscapes around in view. And home.

Today is a beautiful day - perfect temperature and sunshine. We bought a box of baby artichokes. They got roasted for lunch, as below.

~10-12 baby artichokes
half a large lemon 
2 cloves garlic, peeled
salt
pepper
olive oil

Heat oven to 400F / 200C. Prepare the artichokes: remove outer leaves, then trim off the outer, fibrous part of the stem. Cut off about an inch of the top to remove the tougher parts of the leaves and the sharp points at their tips. Cut in half lengthways. If there is any thistle-seed-fluff in the middle of the artichoke cut it out carefully without removing much surrounding tissue. Right away, rub all the cut surfaces with lemon (to stop them going brown). Put the halves in an oven tin.

Crush the garlic in a pestle and mortar with about half a teaspoon of coarse salt. Transfer to a small bowl and add the remaining juice from the lemon, about 2 tbsp of olive oil and a good grinding (~1/4 tsp?) of black pepper. Mix well and then pour over the artichoke halves. Toss them well to coat with oil mixture, then rearrange them so all have the cut side up. Put in the oven and roast for ~20 min until tender.


We ate these on slices of toasted sourdough, some with squashed avocado, some with shavings of hard cheese (e.g. parmesan), some with a scraping of hummus. Delicious any which way, or just on their own. We ate them all between two of us, but I bet they'd be yum as a cold antipasto type thing the next day as well. Artichokes are so much work and so much waste for so little food (I like to think of them as the vegetable lobster equivalent), but they are so worth it.

Chocolate and cinnamon biscuits (gluten free)

First community garden workday tomorrow. Some gluten-free baking in order. Tried a new recipe. This one.

(makes ~22)

2 tsp demerara sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2/3 cup / 130g brown sugar
1 cup / 100g fine brown rice flour (used 125g TJ's GF flour mix instead of brown rice flour and cornstarch)
1/4 cup / 25g cornstarch
1/2 cup / 60g cocoa powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup / 60ml fake milk
1/3 cup / 80ml veg oil (used grapeseed)
1 tsp vanilla essence
50g chocolate, chopped

Heat oven to 180C / 350F. Grease and/or line a baking tray with baking paper.

Mix demerara sugar and 1/4 tsp cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside.

Mix brown sugar, rice flour, cornstarch, cocoa, bicarb, 1 tsp cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl with a fork. Make a well in the middle and put in fake milk, oil and vanilla. Mix to a firm dough. Add the chopped chocolate and mix.

Take small lumps of dough (~2 tsp), roll into balls and flatten slightly, then place on the prepared baking tray, leaving a little space for spreading. Sprinkle with the cinnamon-demerara sugar mixture, then put in the oven and bake for 10-12 min. Let cool on the tray for a couple of minutes before transferring to a rack to finish cooling.


I wasn't sure about these at first: think they improved after sitting in a box overnight. Pleasant, soft texture; held together pretty well for GF; very chocolate-y / cocoa-y; all disappeared @ lunchtime so I guess that was a good sign.

Oven-baked polenta chips

This recipe uses cold polenta, ie leftovers. Usually, we don't have leftovers when it comes to polenta. But I had some polenta with bean stew for lunch when working at home the other day, and there were leftovers! So I put them in a loaf pan in the fridge until Friday, when I tested oven chip-making, using a method similar to that for panisse. I'd found the panisse stuck to the tin really easily, so thought it might be smart to use a coating here to try and prevent sticking.

For the polenta:
1 cup cornmeal
1 tsp salt
3 cups water

For coating / baking:
grapeseed oil 
~1 tbsp cornmeal
~2 tsp paprika
~1/4 tsp salt

To make the polenta, mix cornmeal and salt in a bowl. Heat the water until just boiling in a small saucepan. Add the cornmeal mixture, gradually, while whisking constantly. Keep whisking until it thickens. Turn heat really low, cover and let cook for a minute or two. Pour into a greased, straight-sided tin, let cool and either make chips immediately or refrigerate the tin until needed.

To make the chips, heat the oven to 400F. Grease a baking tray with grapeseed oil. Turn the polenta out of its tin onto a board (it will hold its shape). Cut into chunky chip shapes (~2 cm thick). Mix the paprika, cornmeal and salt in a small bowl. Roll each polenta chip in the paprika-cornmeal mixture so that all sides are coated, then transfer to the greased baking tray. Put in the oven for about 20 min, turning halfway through. The outside should be lightly browned and crispy. Take out and eat immediately, dipped in whatever sauce you fancy.


We ate with the last of the bean stuff and some liquorice ketchup. The polenta chips were pretty delicious, and the coating really made them.

Beetroot and orange salad

A said she found beetroot inspiration (beetspiration?) on here the other day, which in turn inspired me to make something with the candycane beetroots festering in my fridge.

Of course they keep pretty much forever so no rush (same with the oranges), but I've been on a bit of a using-up kick so it felt good to eat them up.

I have been down on candycane beetroot of late - you just cannot cook them as they lose their pattern and colour and their flavour isn't as intense as the fully-pink ones either. But if you keep them raw they are lovely, so if you have candycane (Chioggia) beetroot this salad is the right sort of thing to do.

juice and zest of 1 orange (ended up with zest of normal orange and juice of Seville orange)
1/4 clove garlic, crushed with salt
1 tsp pomegranate molasses (or honey - if using honey and normal orange juice add a squeeze of lemon as well)
1 tsp white miso
2 tbsp olive oil
4 small beetroot (mine were candycane and very pretty but normal would be fine too), peeled and cut into matchsticks
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks
1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
handful of chopped coriander
Put the orange juice and zest in a small bowl and mix in the crushed garlic. Add pomegranate molasses, miso and olive oil and whisk together to make the dressing. Set aside. 

Prepare the beetroot and carrot and put the matchsticks in a serving bowl. Add the sesame seeds and coriander, then tip the dressing in and mix well. Good immediately or after being in the fridge overnight (perhaps keep the sesame seeds and coriander separately if overnight is the plan).


This was nice. The Seville oranges contain masses of juice so it ended up quite juicy and sharp - think this would be softened if normal orange was used, probably no bad thing. Very pretty - striped beetroot, orange, green and seeds; just enough crunch.