Chanterelles!

I bought these lovely chanterelles from the market last week and decided to cook them simply....lots of good butter (I use unsalted cultured butter), shallots, garlic and some dry thyme from last summer's garden. I like to use dried thyme instead of fresh, I find it has a more intense flavour. Then I grated some Pecorino Romano cheese over top and popped them in the oven for a few minutes until bubbly. Mmmmmmm!

Golden Beet gaspacho

This soup is really easy and tasty on a hot summer day.

Here's what I did....

Roast a bunch of golden beets in a 400 degree oven with salt, pepper and olive oil until tender. Cool a bit and then peel the beets (the skin should come satisfyingly off in thin pieces).

Put the beets in the blender along with some water (just enough so that the blender is happy), a few generous spoonfuls of sour cream, some chives and a god amount of freshly ground black pepper. Give it a whizz and then taste for salt. Chill in the fridge for a while.

To serve, dollop with more sour cream and a few sprigs of chives.

Here is a photo of the Rose Petal Jelly. I made it without strawberries, found a great recipe on a really good french food blog toquetoques.com

To make it, I used Rose Bud Tea that Dave brought me from China last year. It turned out beautiful as you can see, but I haven't tasted it yet....

Using the tea got me to thinking that a Jasmine Jelly may be a lovely idea.

Strawberry Season

We went strawberry picking the other day, my Mom and I, as has become our summertime tradition. So for the last few days I have been making all things strawberry! Strawberry jam, strawberry wine spritzers, strawberry sorbet, and today I'm going to try a strawberry rose petal jam. I'll post it as soon as I'm done....if it's any good.

Tarte a la Moutarde

Here's an easy little recipe, actually more of a suggestion, for a Tarte a la Moutarde. In my opinion the tomato is really the star here, but the French call it a mustard tart....

All you need to do is thaw and roll out a sheet of good puff pastry (try to find one that uses real butter) onto a parchment lined baking sheet, spread it with a thin layer of dijon mustard (regular or grainy), slice up a ripe tomato and lay it out on the mustard slicked pastry, chop up a bit of fresh basil if you have some and sprinkle it over top, lightly sprinkle some good, coarse sea salt, and grate a bit of parmesan cheese over top. Fold the edges over to create a nice, thick edge and pop it into a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes or until golden.

Cut into squares so that each square has a round of tomato and serve as an appetizer.

Le Temps des Lilas

It's my favourite time of year again! All the lilacs, apple and cherry trees are in bloom and are so fragrant and pretty! I wish it could last forever! My tulips are still blooming and the ferns have just finished unfurling. The grass is green and the new tender leaves are bright green on the trees. Mmmmm, spring!

Pizza Dough for Geege

Here is my pizza dough recipe. It is pretty loose, you just have to get to know the consistency and add more water or flour as you go....

Pizza Dough

500 g plain white flour

1 sachet traditional yeast (or about 1 tbsp.)

1 1/2 cups warm tap water

2 glugs olive oil

1 tsp salt

Pour a little bit of warm water over the yeast in a small dish and let sit until frothy. Stir the salt into the flour. Mix the water and olive oil together. 

Pour the yeast over the flour and then the water/oil mixture little by little, stirring with a wooden spoon. When it seems to be moistened enough to form a ball, turn the dough out onto the counter and knead until you have a smooth, elastic ball (about 5 minutes) adding flour or water as needed. Put the ball into an oiled bowl and cover with a damp tea towel for a couple of hours (in a warmish spot) or until doubled in size. Punch down, roll or stretch onto pizza pan, top with whatever and bake at a fairly high temp (375-425 depending on your oven) until golden and bubbly. Mmmmmmmm.