Pate de Campagne - Kristine Kawi

Piperade with Parma Ham by Kristine Kawi

Roast two different coloured bell peppers in the oven: first, cut them into quarters removing the white bits. Lay them skin side down on 210c fan for 15 min or when charred. Remove from the oven and cover with cling film until cool. The skin should peel away easily.

Beat eggs (allow 3 per person) and season. Sweat the onions in olive oil, then add the diced roasted and peeled peppers. Add minced garlic and diced tomatoes. Cover and cook for max of 7 min on low heat.

Put 10 g butter in a pan, add the eggs and stir as in scrambled eggs, taking the pan on and off the heat. Add 2 T of the pepper mixture into the eggs. Whilst the eggs are still runny, dish it on to a plate forming a circle. Put the pepper mixture inside the circe. Add slices of parma ham on the side.

(Recipe taken from Michel and Albert Roux) Kristine Kawi

Honey and Orange Madeleines by Kristine Kawi

makes about 20 madeleines

Ing:

4 med sized (60-70g) eggs
180 g flour
160 g melted butter, cooled
90 g caster sugar
15 g dark soft brown sugar or demerara
5 g baking powder
15 g runny and clear honey
grated rind of one orange
juice of a quarter of an orange
pinch of salt
1 tsp of vanilla extract

Combine the eggs, both sugar, and salt in a bowl and work lightly with a spatula until the mixture begins to turn light in colour. Sift together the flour and baking powder and fold them gently into the mixture, together with the vanilla. Add the orange rind and the orange juice.
Pour in the colled melted butter and the honey and mix thoroughly. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave to rest for about 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 190c/170c fan
Grease the madeleine tray with melted butter if necessary.
Scoop the batter into each of the madeleine cavity. Bake for 10-12 min. Do not overbake.

Eggs Mimosa with Tuna

Pancakes Filled with Cheesy Spinach

those melted grated cheddar cheese look like chinese writing, lol. should have used gruyere...seriously though, this tastes better than it looks.

French Meringue

2 egg whites
75mg caster sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Bake in the oven at 110c / 90c fan for 1 1/2 hour. Without opening the door, leave in the oven for another 2 or more hours. For a nicer presentation, you can pipe the meringue; but I don't usually bother, instead I form shapes using two spoons.

Palmier- Kristine Kawi

An impromptu bake using the left-over puff pastry from the galette des rois. Ingredients are threefold:
puff pastry
sprinkling of caster sugar
melted butter
egg wash (optional)

bake at 200c/180c fan for 20 min turning halfway.

Homemade Galette Des Rois

Pain Perdu with Bananas in Light Caramel Sauce

Fruit Tarts

Fruit Tarts

(for 25 cm tart tin)

Make the Pate Sucree and bake blind with baking bean for 10 min on a 200 c/ 180c fan. Remove the baking beans and foil, and bake the pastry for another 10-15 min.

Make the Creme Patissiere

Fill with fruits on top the cream patissiere and glaze with apricot nappage or dredge with icing sugar.

* A fruit tart is only as good as the fruit filling. So the fruit has to be fresh and excellent quality.

Peach Tart

Kiwi, Grapes, and Strawberries Tart

Blueberries Tart

Gratin Dauphinois

Ingredients (Serves 4-6)

4 med Desiree or Belle de Fontenay, weighing about 450 g in total
300 ml full fat milk
100 ml double cream
Lots of nutmeg
100 g Gruyere
2 garlic cloves, peeled
S&P (preferably white pepper)

Preheat the oven to 120 C/100C fan/250 F

Prepare the potatoes:

Peel the potatoes and slice them with a mandolin. Do not wash the potato slices, as you need to keep the starch in them to help thicken the cream.

On a medium heat, in a medium saucepan, bring the milk and cream to the boil. Add the sliced potatoes and stir to coat them with the cream. Season with lots of nutmeg, 5 pinches of salt, and 2 pinches of pepper.

Lower the heat and simmer for 8-10 min, stirring every 2 min to prevent the mixture sticking to the base of the pan and to distribute the heat throughout the potatoes. Stir in the grated cheese and then remove the pan from the heat.

Bake the gratin:

Rub a 20 cm (8 in) gratin dish with the garlic. With a spatula, spread the potato mixture out evenly in the dish. Place in the oven and bake for 35 min; there should be tiny bubbles on the surface of the dish.

Preheat the grill about 10 min before the gratin is cooked.

The gratin is cooked when the tip of a sharp knife cuts into it with little resistance (you shouldn't feel the layers).

To brown the top, place under a hot grill for 2-3 min. (Optional)

Leave to rest for 5 min before serving.

Spinach and Parmesan Souffle

Ingredients (Serves 4)

For infusing the milk:
150 milk
Half a small onion with about 4 cloves pinned to it
About 4 peppercorns
¼ bay leaf

40g of butter plus some for greasing
Around 235 g of spinach
4 med eggs (3 large) separated
2tsp flour
50 g parmesan
½ lemon (optional)
nutmeg

1 Infuse the milk

- bring to a gentle boil the following: milk, half a small onion with cloves, peppercorns, and bay leaf
- remove from heat and infuse for at least 10 min
- strain into a jug and keep warm

2 Cook and strain the Spinach

- wash spinach thoroughly
- in a saucepan, sweat a big bag of spinach (around 235g) with 15 g butter.
- Cover for 30 sec
- open lid, stir, and replace lid and time for another 30 sec.
- remove from heat and strain the spinach and squeeze out as much water.

3 Preheat oven to 190c/170 fan, butter very well four ramekins, chill, and butter again

4 Cook the white sauce

- melt 25 g butter over medium heat and stir in 2 tsp of plain flour
- lower the heat to minimum and add the milk gradually, stirring all the time.
- when all the milk is in, you should have a thick glossy paste.
- set aside

5 Blend/Process the Spinach with eggs

-separate the eggs.
- blend/process the drained spinach, juice of half a lemon (optional), egg yolks, grated parmesan, and plenty of nutmeg.
- transfer this mixture in a large bowl and mix in the white sauce. Mix thoroughly. Season.

6 The egg whites

- whisk the egg whites in another mixing bowl that's thoroughly clean and free of grease. Whisk until medium peaks.*

*beat to soft peak (i.e. if you lift the whisk, a peak of foam forms with a little curl on top). Then whisk further for about 5 sec or so. If the peak holds itself straight and pointed up (i.e. stiff peak), you went a bit far.

7 Incorporate and bake

- spoon in a third of the egg whites to the spinach/yolk mixture and stir. Then gently fold in the remaining whites.
- spoon in the mixture into the ramekins, filling them about 1/3 cm to the top. Level off with a spatula. Sprinkle the middle with grated parmesan and nutmeg. then run your thumb around the very edge of each ramekin to make a groove.
-put the ramekins onto a baking tray and bake for 18-22 min until risen and golden.
- Serve immediately

Cod Paupiette stuffed with soft cheese parsley and cheese sauce

French Macarons- Chocolate

Quiche Lorraine

Ingredients:

Pate Brisee good for 25 cm quiche tin
5 eggs
1 egg yolk
250 ml full fat milk
250 ml double cream
200 g gruyere cheese
250 g rindless smoked bacon, roughly chopped
Black pepper

Preheat the oven to 200c/180c fan

The Pate Brisee

Roll out the Pate Brisee over a lightly floured surface. Cut out a circle large enough to line a 25 cm quiche tin. Use the rolling pin to lift the pastry into the tin, pushing down the sides. Trim off any excess.

Bake Blind

Line the pastry case with baking paper and fill with baking beans. Bake blind for 10-15 min or until just about golden brown. Remove the baking beans and baking paper.

Reduce the oven to 180c/160cfan

Make the filling

In a bowl, mix together the eggs, the egg yolk, milk, and cream, and stir in the grated cheese. Scatter the bacon over the base of the tart then pour the egg mixture over the bacon and grind over some black pepper. Check the seasoning.

Bake

Bake the quiche for 20 min or until the filling is set and golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Tarte Tatin

Boeuf Bourgignon

A classic French beef dish that's slow-cooked in red wine sauce. Here, I garnished it with thyme and served with crusty bread. You can also serve it with Charlotte potatoes.