Then and Now ...(3)

 The lower staircase, probably around the end of 2023. Actually, I can see this must be some time after work had already begun, since the columns are there, looking somewhat rootless, but they've not yet been knitted into the walls. 

And, now:

And the view from the stairwell hallway, out through the Ingresso to the Courtyard. Three years ago:

 And now:

Tonight's dinner:

Tomato confit, on baked polenta

Fish curry, with Basmati Rice

Sultana puddings, with Vanilla Sauce

Recipe: Almond and Prune Frittata

 The theory of a sweet frittata has always made sense - just as a savoury clafouti does, which also works well - but this is the first, and only, recipe for one that I've actually come across. I found it first as given by Lindsay Bareham, who said she was quoting Paul Gaylor (whose version is slightly different, and slightly better); in my adaptation, I've taken out the step where the prunes are soaked in tea (when was the last time you needed to pre-soak dried fruit? These days the fruit always comes perfectly succulent straight from the packet...) and although I still add the brandy, I don't really see the point in flambeeing it, as Gaylor does, so I don't.

This is quick, and simple, and very delicious. Another one for the I-forgot-to-plan-dessert list, where you need to come up with something quickly, and based on stuff you probably already have to-hand.

For four servings (or two, if feeling self-indulgent).

Ingredients: 1 cup soft prunes, roughly cut up; 1 tbs butter; 1 tbs brandy; 6 medium eggs; 4 tbs ground almonds; 4 tbs sugar; flaked almonds, to scatter.

Method:

1. Pre-heat the grill to high.

2. In a non-stick frying pan, melt the butter, and heat the prunes over medium heat for a couple of minutes. Add the brandy, and continue to heat for another minute or so.

3. Beat the eggs, along with the ground almonds and sugar, and add this mixture tothe prunes in the pan. Continue to heat over medium heat for five minutes or so, until the base looks to be fairly firm when you shake the pan.

4. Scatter the flaked almonds over the top, and put the pan under the grill for three or four minutes, until the frittata is browned and puffed. Slide it onto a serving platter, and cut in four quadrants, to serve

Then and Now...(2)

 Then...

And now:

With a detail:

And now:

And, to finish off, looking down from the first landing:

then...

And now:

There's some work still to be done on the floorboards, but for the most part, we're just about done. It's been a bit of a journey!

Tonight's dinner:

Ham & (ambrosial!) Melon 

Fegato alla Venezia

Zabaglione

Recipe: Apple Crumble Tart

 I first came across this within the pages of Alan Davidson's personal recipe collection which was handed out to the members of the congregation at AD's funeral in 2003. And I'm including it here, because it is simply the best crumble recipe I know of - and I have searched, high and low, for the acme of all crumbles; amongst the nursery foods of which I'm most fond, crumble ranks highly. Recipes for crumble abound, but to my taste, too many of them end up being too dry, or too claggy, too heavy, or just a bunch of dispiriting lumps. This one, however, is light, and crisp, and perfect. TD particularly likes it in the form of a tart, as given here, but in the interests of time I frequently fore-swear the pastry shell, and just make a fruit crumble tout-court. It's allowed.

I was sceptical about AD's claimed provenance for the dish as the hotel Au Bon Acceuil, at Yport near Fecamp, since crumble seems to me to be a distinctly un-French type of thing; but, I was wrong. Davidson himself quotes a provenence from Simone Morand's 'Gastronomie Normande',  which I don't have, but when I searched in the pages of Ray Compas's 'Le Grand Livre de la Cuisine Normande', there it was. And actually with the name of Tarte d'Yport, which triangulates very neatly with the story about the Hotel Au Bon Acceuil. All very satisfying...

For one eight inch tart:

Ingredients:

8" shortcrust pastry shell, chilled; approx 5 eating apples (enough that when peeled, cored and roughly chopped they will generously fill the tart shell); 100 gm sugar; 100 gm ground almonds; 100 gm butter; 100 gm flour; 1 tsp vanilla essence; quarter tsp cinnamon; generous pinch salt.

Method: 

1. Heat the oven to 190 degrees C.

2. Fill the pastry shell with the chunks of apple, heaping them in the centre as they will settle during cooking.

3. Combine all the remaining ingredients (food processor is fine for this) and scatter evenly over the fruit.

4. Bake for about 35 minutes; serve, warm or cold, with thick cream or mascarpone.

Then and Now...

 Two and a half years can make quite a difference.

Just add water...

Plus, a certain amount of hard labour...

And a following wind!

Tonight's dinner:

Individual Quiches Lorraine

Spanish chicken (with garlic, and sherry vinegar); sweet and sour courgettes

Fresh pineapple and mascarpone. (The pineapples and melon I can get in Guamo have suddenly reached that peak of perfection which means don't faff with what nature manages to produce unprompted. With luck, they'll now be available, this good, through August.)

Recipe: Quiche Lorraine

It's hard to think of a dish which has had more of a bum-rap over time than this one! To have been taken up as it was - presumably, at some point post-war - its true merits must once have been recognised...and then, having been taken up, it suffered the indignities of mass-production and inept handling, to become the soggy-bottomed stalwart of a million church fetes, and wedding buffets, and home counties' social events, until all of its fundamental charms had been entirely beaten out of it. Which is so unfair. Because, properly made, it is crisp, and light and meltingly delicious. And, so simple to make...

 Ingredients: 

2 individual 10 cm shortcrust pastry shells*; 3 tablespoons diced pancetta (or bacon); 1 egg; 75 ml cream; 3 tablespoons grated parmesan (or any hard, strong flavoured cheese that you have to hand); seasoning, to taste. 

 Method: 

 1. Blind-bake the two shells, at 180 degrees C, until they are distinctly coloured (ten minutes with the baking beans inside the shells, and a further ten minutes after the beans have been removed). 

2. Meanwhile, finely dice the pancetta and fry it briefly over high heat, for three or four minutes. Set aside. 

3. Beat together the egg and cream, and season to taste. 

 4. Once the shells are ready, divide the diced pancetta between the shells, then sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the grated cheese over each tart, and then divide the egg and cream mixture over the top; sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top of the two tarts and bake for fifteen minutes. 

In the final stage of baking the mixture will swell agreeably into perfect domes, and at this stage you'll know that they're done. 

 * For shortcrust pastry: using a food processor, grate 250 gm butter, which has previously been frozen; add to this 240 gm plain flour, and about a quarter teaspoon of salt; process briefly together, until it looks like claggy sand, and then add 50 ml of cold water. If you respect these quantities exactly, the mixture will resolve itself into one homogenous mass, which you should then remove from the processor and push together once with the palm of your hand, before wrapping in plastic. Refrigerate for at least a couple of hours before using, but it can be left for several days. This quantity of pastry is sufficient for about eight small tarts, or three 8" shells, or for one 8" shell as well as a lattice-topped tart, or whatever combination of the above you prefer. I always make this quantity, and then roll out the shells I think I'm going to use in the short term, and then freeze all of the shells once rolled out, and I bake them as wanted directly from the freezer.