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Category Archives: Dessert
We love quinoa. It is kind of like the “wonder grain”. It is somewhat like a grain, but not really. In fact, it is not even related to a grain. I should not even be putting it in the same family, to be honest. Rather, it is related to the species of beets, spinach, and tumbleweeds. The Incas held the quinoa sacred, and it was the emperor who would sow the first planting. The history is fascinating; but, the nutritional values, are amazing.
Quinoa has an amazing amount of protein; 12% – 18% of it is protein. Unlike traditional grains, that we are use to eating, such as wheat or rice, quinoa has a balanced amount of amino acids, a huge amount of fiber, and it is high in iron. If, I had picky eaters at home, I would definitely incorporate it into their diets.
Working with quinoa is very easy. Simply rinse, cover with cold water or stock, and then cook for 15 minutes. I love watching it grow as it cooks, from small little pebbles, to little sprouts popping out. The texture is really great as well; with each little bite, there is a sort of “pop” between your teeth. Reminds me of Pop-Rocks. I usually use quinoa as a side dish, simply by itself, or seasoned with shallots, spices, pieces of nuts or dried fruit; it goes nicely with roasted meat. It also makes a wonderful vegetarian dish, when made into a salad, with fresh cherry tomatoes, chicken peas, silvers of green onion, and a tahini dressing.
 
I have never thought of using it as a dessert. Flipping through the February issue of Gourmet Traveller I saw a lovely dessert, the colors really caught my eye. As I read it, I thought, “genius idea, it is like tapioca; but healthier”. I used the same ingredients (almost) as the recipe lists, but I did cut back on the sugar amounts. It came out creamy, crunchy, and very tropical; thanks to mango, coconut, and lime flavors. This little pudding is not only pretty to look at, but it is refreshing, and perfect as a light sweet after dinner, or even as breakfast; don’t judge, after all, it is loaded with protein!
my food stylist: Maggie
What is your favorite way to eat Quinoa? Do you feed it to your picky-eaters?
Recipe: Quinoa Pudding with Mango
What you need:
*serves 6
- 200 grams black quinoa
- 50 grams sugar
- 300 ml coconut milk
- 1 mango, diced
Recipe: Lime Syrup
- 100 grams sugar
- 200 ml water
- 2 limes, zested
What you need to do:
Rinse quinoa under cold running water, place in a saucepan, cover with cold water. Over medium heat, bring to a boil, and cook until tender; about 15 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water, and let set in a colander until well drained. While the quinoa is cooking make the lime syrup. In a saucepan, add the sugar, water, and lime zest. Over medium low heat, simmer until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, and let cool. Once the quinoa is drained well, put it back into a saucepan with the sugar, and coconut milk; over medium low heat, cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, and let cool. To serve, put some quinoa into a bowl, top with pieces of mango, and drizzle with some of the lime syrup. Serve. Eat.
If you like this recipe, check these out:
Quinoa with Rose and Pomegrante
Quinoa Pudding
Quinoa Pudding
It was my birthday two weeks ago. I was unusually quiet about it. You see something happened when I turned 40; I became quiet, somewhat reserved about my age. I use to go all out, reminding everyone, wanting to do something epic; blah, blah, blah. Now, I sit back, enjoy my time with the ones I love. I prefer a quiet and intimate setting; nice dinner, good wine, family and/or friends and my love. Instead of the let’s rush out to a fancy, schmancy place and spend oodles of cash. Don’t get my wrong, I still feel strongly about birthdays, after all, it is “my day” and I can do anything I want, like eat gooey chocolate cake.
Chocolate is the one thing I cannot live without. Really! When people ask me, what is the one food, I honestly love, it always comes back to chocolate. It does have to be deep, dark and rich chocolate. Not fluffy semi or milk; BORING. I like the chocolate to melt on my tongue, slide down my throat and get into my belly; I want every last bite to linger, like a first kiss. Perfection really.
Last weekend I decided to experiment with a favorite recipe of mine, the flourless chocolate cake. This particular recipe is my go-to dessert when heading over to friend’s house for dinner. It is fool-proof, delicious, and gluten-free. I wanted to transform the recipe, take it to new limits, make it sexy. I had some chocolate tucked away, from our trip to France, a 68% Le Noir, which promised to be complex, bitter and refined. I tossed around the idea of adding different essence to the chocolate base, orange, lime, bergamot, even espresso. Then I spied out of the corner of my little eye, the package of sea salts, that Jackie gave me for Christmas. They have been sitting quietly on the shelve in my kitchen, just waiting for me to play with them. Jackie surprised me with two of Virginia Willis’s seasonings from My Southern Pantry, the French Quarter Spice Rub and Pecan Smoked Sea Salt. It was a hard decision on which one to pick for this recipe as I thought both would hold hands perfectly with the sinful chocolate; but, in the end, I picked the Pecan Smoked Sea Salt. I thought the slightly nutty, somewhat smokey and salty bite, would be perfect with the already complex chocolate.
In addition to playing with the flavors of this cake, I also wanted to play with the texture. Instead of the usual dense chocolate cake, I wanted it to be a little lighter, somewhat fluffy and warm and gooey. I wanted the complexity to change throughout the dessert course. Normally when I make this cake I use a paddle attachment with my mixer, this time I opted for the whisk. As well I let half of the chocolate chill in the fridge until it was almost crumbly. I whisked in a lot of air, after each addition of egg. Once the batter was light in color and slightly fluffy, I poured in the melted half of the chocolate, it was still slightly warm. I continued whisking until the batter doubled in size. At this point, I added the chocolate crumbles. After pouring the heavily whisked batter into a buttered tart pan, I generously sprinkled the top with the Pecan Smoked Sea Salt. Upon removing the cake from the oven, I let it cool for only 10 minutes, then removed the sides. The texture of the finished cake was slightly firm but still had a light, almost souffle feel to it to it. The top slightly cracked, which I think, gives the cake a rustic appearance. When I cut into the cake, it was a little gooey but not raw. The smokey, nutty salt married exceptionally well with the sultry chocolate. The flavors were perfect together and did not really need anything else; but, I served a lightly sweetened sour cream along side the cake.
Now, this my friends, is the ultimate birthday celebration.
Do you have a favorite flour-less cake recipe?
Recipe: Chocolate Flour-less Cake with Smokey Pecan Sea Salt
* It is really important that the ingredients are of good quality for this recipe; otherwise, it will be a flop
12 oz. good quality bittersweet chocolate, melted
8 oz. good quality unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
4 eggs
sprinkle of pecan smoked sea salt (http://www.virginiawillis.com/smoked-salt.html)
1/2 cup sour cream, full fat, don’t be wimpy
brown sugar, to taste
Preheat oven to 350. Melt the chocolate. Put half of the melted chocolate into a small bowl in the fridge; cool, until slightly crumbly. Keep the other half in the pan you melted it in; this will keep it slightly warm. Using your whisk attachment for your mixer, creme the butter until light and fluffy; about 7 minutes. Add the sugar and whisk until light in color and fluffy; about 10 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking until light. Mix in the warm melted chocolate and whisk until doubled in size; about 7 minutes. Whisk in the cooled chocolate, for about 3 minutes. The batter will be very fluffy and doubled in size. Pour into a lightly buttered pan, I like to use a tart pan. Sprinkle with pecan smoked sea salt. Bake for 25 minutes. Let cool for about 10 minutes before removing from pan; very important, do not remove the sides before 10 minutes and don’t wait long after. Serve. Eat.
While cake is baking, mix the sour cream and brown sugar together. Let sit in the fridge until time to serve with the cake.
If you liked this post, check these out:
Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake
Flourless Chocolate Cake
Flourless Chocolate Torte
Dear Valentine,
How do I love thee? Let me count the chocolatey ways …….
I thought of serving you a traditional chocolately dessert for Valentines. You know the one with whipped cream and red ripe berries tossed in to make the dish picture perfect. Then I paused. Is this really symbolic of the way I feel for you? I mean, do I consider my love for you to be ordinary. The same love as everyone else around me, the ones standing on the street corner, with a bouquet of red roses, they just picked up from the market, because they “had to”. NO! My love for you is exciting, breathless and adventurous. It is anything but ordinary. I longed for my creation for you to be sultry, sinful and sexy. I want to feed you something by the spoonful that would leave you panting for more, while feeling all a little too spicy. I do not want ordinary or the usual token meal of affection; instead I wanted to find something new, something that not everyone would be sharing on Valentine’s Day, something exciting.
I started my search by looking for ancient recipes using aphrodisiacs created by the Greeks. After all, back in the day, the Greeks were known to be the world’s wisest lovers. Of course they indulged in the same everyday aphrodisiacs that we are all so familiar with: oysters, red wine, chocolate, figs, honey, truffles ….. What about the unforgotten aphrodisiacs? Pineapple, rosemary, mustard, carrots and mint; the step-children of aphrodisiacs. Yes, mint! Alexander the Great forbid his soldiers from drinking mint tea before battle, as he wanted them to make war, not love. Persephone, the wife of Pluto, turned the innocent and dainty nymph Mente into greenery as Pluto found her scent to be too irresistible. They say the secret to passion is to combine two aphrodisiacs; for you I have made this sultry chocolate mousse that has been tainted with slightly floral but sweet mint. The perfect Valentine indulgence for you.
xx oo
Recipe: Minty Chocolate Mousse
Chocolate Mouse Components
Whipped Cream Base
1 cup heavy cream
Swiss Meringue
3 egg whites
1/2 water
12 large mint leaves
1/2 cup sugar
Chocolate Base
1/2 cup warm water
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips
Egg Yolk Base
3 egg yolks
3 tablespoons simple syrup
Whipped Cream Ingredients – optional
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons brown sugar
- Whip 240 ml of heavy cream for the mousse to stiff peaks and set aside in the fridge.
- Combine the second listing of heavy cream, vanilla extract and brown sugar and whip to stiff peaks, cover and set aside in the fridge until serving – this is optional and only for serving
- Make Swiss Meringue. Combine water with the mint leaves. Bring to a boil. Turn off heat and let steep for 30 minutes. Strain. Return minty water to saucepan and add sugar. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until slighly thickened. Remove 3 tablespoons of the mixture and set aside. Put egg whites into a mixing bowl. Whisk until foamy. On medium to high speed of your mixer, continue whisking the egg whites, while slowly pouring in the hot sugar mixture. Continue whisky until light, fluffy and stiff peaks form. Put the mixture into another large bowl and set aside.
- Make chocolate base. Melt dark chocolate in a bowl over the simmering water until melted. It will be very thick, slowly had water water to loosen it up. Whisk until very smooth. Set aside and keep warm, I kept it on the stove top, away from heat.
- Make egg yolk base. Whisk egg yolks in your mixer until broken up and light yellow. Heat simple syrup to a boil. Slowly add to the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Whisk until thick and fluffy.
- Fold chocolate base into egg yolk base and gently fold until incorporated. Next, fold in the plain whipped cream until incorporated. Fold in Swiss meringue until incorporated. Store chocolate mousse in fridge until ready to serve.
- Serve.
- Eat.
MEM has been asking begging me to make either homemade ice cream or cupcakes, after their favorite Mitchell ice cream flavor, Grasshopper. What is Grasshopper? Minty ice cream with crushed cookies, and chocolate swirls. I admit, it is pretty rocking.
I love the Scharffen Berger chocolate baking contest as it really pushes me out of my comfort zone; to try adding new and exciting ingredients to my otherwise, not boring but basic chocolate recipes. Last year I made a chili powder scented flourless cake; we didn’t win but the cake was delicious. This year some of the exotic ingredients to chose from are: stout beer, buttermilk, coconut butter, saffron, fresh beet, bee pollen, condensed milk and the list goes on and on. I went with, coconut butter, buttermilk, and condensed milk.
Normally Grasshopper ice cream is a deep green but keeping with the chocolate theme, I opted for a deep dark chocolate cupcake using Scharffen Berger’s unsweetened cocoa powder and strived for not only flavor but moisture and texture; I wanted this cupcake to be dense, moist and flavorful. I made a batter using the coconut butter, chocolate powder and buttermilk and I added crushed Oreo cookies and peppermint oil instead of vanilla extract for the extra flavor. The oil is intense and you only need a small amount to make an impact on the flavor. My frosting was made with more chocolate, sugar, creamy butter and condensed milk. I was afraid the milk may make the end result too sweet, instead it was rich and creamy.
This was the ultimate “grasshopper” cupcake and it got a 6 thumbs up from MEM!
Recipe: Grasshopper Cupcakes
Cupcakes
8 oz coconut butter
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup coco powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon peppermint oil
3/4 cup buttermilk
Frosting
4 cups powdered sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 sticks unsalted butter
14oz condensed milk
1 teaspoon peppermint
1 tablespoon whipping cream
Preheat oven to 350. Line a cupcake pan with liners. Soft dry ingredients together, into a large bowl, set aside. In a mixing bowl beat the coconut butter until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the sugar and beat until light in color, about 5 minutes. Add the egg, beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Alternating buttermilk and flour mixture, continue adding to butter mixture, on lowest setting of mixer, until incorporated; about 5 minutes. Add the peppermint oil, and mix for about 1 minute. Add the crushed oreo cookies; only give a quick whirl of the mixer, to lightly crush the cookies and slightly mix. Turn off mixer. Using a spatula, gently fold the cookies into the batter. Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake for 25 minutes. Top will be lightly springy and when you insert a toothpick in the middle it should come out clean. If not, bake a couple minutes and test again; until the toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven, let cool slightly. Remove cupcakes from pan and let cool on a cooling rack. Frost. Serve. Eat.
Frosting
The end of August found me in Seattle for IFBC. I was not going to go. To be honest, I had my fair share of food conferences last year and had decided to sit back in the shadows to enjoy them this year.
Upon returning from France, we had to high tail it to Seattle for business. I always love when I can combine a little business with foodie pleasure. During this trip I was able to squeeze in an over-due coffee with Jackie and Lenny and I both got a chance to have a wonderful evening out with Dana. Well, Jackie planted a small seed during coffee, about IFBC; but, I buried it deep. Then over cocktails, Dana decided to shower that buried seed with a little water. By the end of dinner, Dana, had showered that seed with sunshine – come back for IFBC, as well a girl’s weekend at her home with 5 amazing women (Dana, Joy, Cheryl, Tracy and Kristina). By the time I boarded the plane the next morning, that seed was blooming and it was not long before I was pinging Dana and accepting her generous offer.
I felt amazingly blessed that weekend. A much needed girl’s weekend, tossed together with great food, lip quenching cocktails and stimulating conversation with a brilliant group of women, who I now consider “friends”. We all came together, some of us knew each other from past events and others where new to each of us. Regardless, from the moment we meet up in baggage claim, I felt like I was with a long lost group of friends; conversations flowed freely, creativity was stoked and there was an amazing warmth around us the entire weekend. I thank each of them!
IFBC did not fail me either. I was pleasantly surprised by three particular speakers who, made me step back, think and then more forward. The first was James Oseland, the editor of Saveur. His speech oozed his love of food and travel, all wrapped up neatly together. My mind was provoked by every word. My fantasies were racing all around the world. He even made me want to keep blogging. I often consider giving it up but he re-lite the fire and made me want to pursue my passions even more. I could not get enough, I wanted more; I wanted to sit with him at a cafe, drink coffee and learn more!
The next speaker who brought me in was Penny de la Santos. Now, I know Penny (I say that loosely as I have only taken a photography workshop with her) from a time before and I respect her. When I talk about Penny, I always say the same thing, “I love her story and how she got where she was”. You see, I love it when people succeed doing what they are internally passionate about and that is Penny. She captures every moment and presents it in a way, that makes me feel it, taste it and completely experience it all visually. She is my “girl-crush”.
The third speaker who really drew me in was Shauna James Ahern. Shauna is the Gluten Free Girl. I knew of Shauna as our paths have crossed in the past but I did not really know her. As soon as Shauna started sharing her journey and her deep struggles with gluten at IFBC, I was intrigued. I hung on her every word, waiting for the next detail, wanting more. I felt her pain and I wanted to know more. Before, I even left Seattle, I ordered her book Gluten Free Girl. I highly recommend this book, even if you do not have a gluten issue. Shauna’s writing is witty, warm and very passionate. I related to so many of her stories, of growing up a child of the 70’s – I loved the TV dinners and remember them “fondly”. Not only does she share her journey but there are delicious gluten free recipes throughout.
We are lucky, we can eat anything; but, I still felt her pain. Having to rethink your way of shopping, cooking and eating. I could not imagine having to go through this radical of a change at this point in my life. As I read her book and shared my thoughts, with Lenny, we decided we wanted to do more. Why, because she had gone through this. As well, Lenny’s family is always complaining of stomach issues. We are always saying it is “your diet”, but it is a conversation that gets dusted under a rug. WE could hardly preach without having done it ourselves. After a few conversations, we decided we would challenge ourselves by eating gluten free for a month. We are very aware of where our food comes from and how it is made. But this challenge, will make us even more completely aware of what we were putting into our mouths, down to every last ingredient.
A couple weeks back, Shauna announced that she was looking for volunteers to bake gluten free. This was perfect timing for our own personal quest. I immediately sent an email, saying we were in and that we were challenging ourselves to a gluten free month. When I decided to accept this baking challenge, I had no idea of what I was doing. I was completely blind. Sure I had just finished Shauna’s book and was pretty confident that I could “cook” gluten free; but, baking, is another thing.
Last Thursday, I decided to challenge myself with two different gluten free recipes, an apple pie and pecan tart. The overachiever in me wanted to do it all. I had a hard time finding all of the ingredients I needed for the pie crust that Shauna shares on her site, so I decided I would “wing it” by using my favorite recipe. I picked up a gluten free AP flour, a brown rice flour, pecans, nuts, almond flour and tapico flour … all gluten free. I was eager and over confident.
My favorite pie crust recipe is a Dorie Greenspan recipe. I used equal portions of GF AP flour and the brown rice flour and attempted the recipe. It came together nicely, great texture; but, the taste reminded me of “sugared favas”. I was not happy. So I headed back to the market and picked up another brand of gluten free AP flour. This time the dough came together much better and the taste was really nice. When it came time to rolling it out, it completely fell apart. TRASH! At this point I was happy with just making a pecan tart.
Again, I pulled out a Dorie recipe for a sweet tart dough. I used almond flour, brown rice flour and ground up pecans as my base. It was perfect. It blind-baked perfectly. It smelled amazing. I was so happy. Then I decided I did not want corn syrup in my pecan pie and I substituted it with pomegranate molasses. Huge mistake. Overly sweet. I could not stomach how sweet it was. TRASH!
Sunday, I went into desperate mode. I had to come up with a baked gluten free something. I was in no position to retry my hand at the pie crust as well I was not in the mood for pecan pie. What I did have was a beautiful bowl of honey crisp apples, some left over pecans, almond flour as well as the gluten free AP flour – apple crisp. I tossed the apples with lemon zest, lemon juice, tapioca flour, brown sugar and fresh ground nutmeg. The crisp was made of a blend of pecans, almond flour, gluten free AP flour, sugar and butter. The crisp came out perfect – the apples were still a bit crispy, a little sweet and the buttery and crunchy topping went perfectly. I served it with some left over vanilla bean ice cream we made a couple weeks ago – it was delicious together.
A couple tips before I tell you about some fun things that are all gluten free. If you decide to try your hand at gluten free baking: 1) plan ahead, some of the ingredients may be hard to find. Dig through Shauna’s site, she was a wealth of information to guide you. 2) don’t give up, if your first attempt does not work, keep trying; it eventually will. 3) find a gluten free recipe and use it; try it out a few times before attempting to make it your own. 4) have fun; gluten free is delicious. 5) be sure to follow us on our own personal gluten free journey, it started with this apple crisp.
Keep reading, our delicious apple crisp recipe is at the bottom of this long post …..
As well you MUST head over to Shauna’s site Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef, not only for their gluten free tips and recipes; but, there is a wonderful list of food bloggers who have taken part in this challenge; everything is beautiful. As well they have a huge give away happening and are giving away the following items:
3 copies of our cookbook.
a collection of gluten-free flours, including all the flours needed to bake from our cookbook
a care package of spices and ingredients you might need to make some of the recipes in our cookbook.
a collection of useful baking tools, such as a Silpat, jelly roll pans, a peltex spatula, and a tart pan to make the tarts from our cookbook.
and… wait for it:
a Kitchen Aid stand mixer.
If you cannot wait to win one of the GF books, click on the photo to purchase a copy. Have not read the second one; but, I am positive it is as good as the first one!
Recipe: Gluten Free Apple Crisp
8 apples, peeled and cut into thick pieces
½ cup sugar
¼ cup tapioca flour, sifted
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 teaspoon nutmeg
¼ cup gluten free AP flour – we liked the kings arthur brand
½ cup pecans, chopped
¾ cup almond flour
¼ cup brown sugar
5 tabelspoons butter
Heat oven to 350. In a large mixing bowl, mix the apples with sugar, tapioca flour, lemon zest and juice and nutmeg. Lightly toss just to mix all of the ingredients. Put into a baking dish. In the same mixing bowl combine the ap flour, pecans, almond flour and sugar; break in the butter using your hands, until the butter is pea sized. Pat the mixture onto the apples. Bake for 40 minutes, until the topping is golden and the apples are soft but still a little crisp.
This is overdue. Summer is half over and I am just getting this to you. I had all intentions of sharing this while we were traveling but then I kept it a secret. How could I do that during peak strawberry season??!!
I made this a couple days before we left for France after I stumbled upon a few baskets of our favorite Blue Moon Organic strawberries at the market. Normally we just eat the berries alone as they speak for themselves. This time I decided change things by making an all time favorite summer dessert – the shortcake. Since the berries really are wonderful and don’t need any sweetness, I kept it simple. I used my everyday biscuit recipe but tweaked it with a little sugar, vanilla bean paste and buttermilk. The sweet flaky biscuits went so well with the juicy strawberries and a little fresh cream slightly sweetened with brown sugar.
So what are you waiting for? Hurry up, you still have time to enjoy those summer strawberries!!
What is your favorite way to use a big bowl of summer strawberries?
Recipe: Strawberry Shortcake with Buttermilk Vanilla Bean Biscuits (*I will go back to printable recipes after I figure out a bug w/my google docs)
2 cups ap flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
Preheat oven to 450. Sift together dry ingredients into a large bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter or your fingers until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Combine egg and buttermilk with a whisk, then add all at once to flour mixture. Stir with a fork until dough comes together.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board. Knead gently about 5 times. Pat or roll to 3/4″ thickness. Cut into circles using a 2″ biscuit butter. Dipping the cutter into flour keeps it from sticking. Place on an ungreased baking sheet about 1/2″ apart.
Make an egg wash out of one egg and a couple tablespoons of water. Brush over the tops of the biscuits and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake for 10 – 12 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool. Cut in half and spoon strawberries over the top and finish with a dollop of cream.
Strawberries
Fresh strawberries, washed and hulled, cut in half
sprinkling of sugar, to taste
Toss strawberries with sugar in a large bowl and let sit about an hour before serving. This will let the natural juices come out.
Brown Sugar Whipped Cream
1 pint whipping cream
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Whip cream until soft peaks form. Gently sprinkle in the sugar as you are whipping the cream. Do not over beat or you will have sweet butter.
There is something magical about Camont. I had a feeling when I first met Kate over dinner with Pim. Pim had a sparkle in her eyes when she talked about Kate’s little haven in Gascony.
We had no idea what to expect as we boarded the train to Agen. The ride was picturesque , rolling green hills, dotted with vineyards and castles tucked away. Like a fairy tale actually. Once we arrive into Agen, we grabbed a cab, which we found out later …. no one does when they come to Camont. The drive was short but our anticipation was heightened as we turned the corner, saw the rustic sign Camont and recognized the farmhouse from Kate’s site.
The welcome was warm, like family we have not seen in a long time. Bacon, Kate’s fearless companion gave us a sniff and a bark. Kate’s sister, Stephanie was visiting and greeted us with open arms. As well there was Betsy who is an old friend of Kate’s from Boulder and Erika and Chris, who are there in Camont until November. The only person missing was Kate. And our friend, Dominique. This is when we found out, no one ever takes a cab to Camont.
We spent a glorious week bonding with Kate, Erika and Chris. As well as many other’s who were in and out for the week (more to come on that). One of the many things we loved about Camont was the laughter that was enjoyed everyday. Everyone really came together as one and enjoyed each other’s company. It was nice. It was comforting. Most of all, it was loving.
(Want to learn to take a delicious photos like this tart? Details can be found here on how where to take a workshop w/Tim Clinch & Kate Hill)
One rainy day, Kate came home with a crate of fresh apricots. The first summer apricots. I have fond memories of apricots being eaten, ripe, warmed by the sun and just plucked from my grandmother’s tree. This was the next best thing … perfectly picked and ready to be devoured.
That same rainy afternoon, as the clouds were slightly parting and the sun was just peeking through, Ericka and I decided to bake apricot tarts to photograph (more on that later) as well as for that nights dessert. Erika worked her magic on the pastry crust, which was outstanding and I took over the apricots. I wanted to keep the tart simple by using what we had right there. I seasoned the apricots with a little sugar, fresh lemon juice and thyme from the herb garden outside the kitchen door. We had enough dough to make one large tart and two small ones. The larger one had a slight layer of frangipani under the apricots. The second one had a layer of fresh creamy goat cheese under the apricots with a generous drizzle of honey over the top and the third had a layer of creamy goodness made out of a deep dark brown sugar that was mixed with the left over goat cheese and frangipani, covered with apricots and more honey. Each was baked until golden brown and then finished with a sprinkling of fresh thyme. Easy. Delicious. Very Gascony!
Recipe: Apricot and Thyme Tart
Gascony Photos
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