[A midsummer night's dream - What to do with sour cherries?]
For the first time in many months, it’s been sunny for more than two days in a row. And when I say sunny it’s a definite understatement – it’s actually been damn hot, like ice-cream hot (more about ice-cream to come later this week).
But well, you see, my immune system decided not to cooperate. There was no way it would have allowed me to enjoy those beautiful days. Hence the strep throat as a result.
After two days spent in bed, I found the courage to hit the farmer’s market this morning. Since I was already awake by seven am, the place felt quiet and relaxing; and I took the time to have a chat with each producer I bought things from. So very nice.
I got courgettes and courgette flowers – ten of them for less than a euro; definitely one of the best surprises ever. Gorgeous little cantaloupe melons; didn’t you know you can tell when a melon is ripe from its peduncle? And more accurately, by the detachment of the peduncle. When the melon is ready for harvest, you can see little cracks around its peduncle.
I also picked lovely white peaches, which got crushed at the bottom of my basket; fresh pasta; organic home-cured ham; fragrant butter; young onions and the first tomatoes.
As well as the last cherries of the year. Gines, I’m told they’re called. To be honest I had never heard about such a variety before; they seem to be very close to griottes [sour cherries] – only slightly sweeter since it’s the end of the season.
I never really make anything special from cherries. Just eat them – or yes, make clafoutis –, but with those, I do feel like making something unique.
Do you have any great recipe using sour cherries that you’d like to share?
Pretty pretty please.
Je ne fais jamais rien de spécial à base de cerises. Je me contente de les manger – ou si, je l’admets, de faire des clafoutis. Mais avec ces griottes, j’ai envie de faire quelque chose d’unique.
Est-ce que vous avez des recettes à me faire découvrir?
Pretty pretty please.
And by the way, happy midsummer to you and your loved ones!
[Hoping for happy accidents - My grand-mother's clafoutis]
It all happens on purpose. A few months ago, I came across a couple of old notebooks. Notebooks I once valued as precious. Notebooks I wouldn’t go anywhere without. Notebooks I recorded my food-related ideas into. Notebooks that I thought would turn into a book.
Then, I suddenly realised how unrealistic all this was. By then, I was only nineteen and seriously believed I could publish my very own cookbook in a matter of seconds and if not seconds, minutes. So I eventually forgot about those notebooks, assuming the recipes I had created were meaningless.
And now, almost exactly four years later, as I opened the notebooks and decoded the writing, I couldn’t help but have this weird feeling that those words weren’t mine. They were better than mine.
Apparently, what I considered pointless a couple of years ago didn’t seem that bad. Although my way of cooking and more importantly, my penchant for la pâtisserie, have changed dramatically, this episode had a huge impact on my cookbook craving.
And then, I found that great self-publishing website, which sounded nice. So there I am, busiest than ever, wanting to write a cookbook for the people I love.
Oh I certainly know I’m supposedly opening an Etsy shop and adjusting the biscuit recipes of the company I’m an intern at and actively trying to be a daring baker and struggling to post regularly on foodbeam.
Does it seem reasonable then?
It definitely does not, but well, although I wish I actually had the time to do all those things, I’m just too excited about them not to try my best at making them come real.
While I always happen not to have as much time as necessary, I’m lucky enough to be able to take a breather now and then. This past week end at my grand-parents’ house just was the bol d’air I needed.
Some utterly vital hours spent indulging myself with all things beautiful, hoping for happy accidents and, as you may have guessed, baking. Just so I can feel reposed and inspired again.
Le clafoutis de ma grand-mère
I can’t talk about this without an unsubtle hint of delight in my voice. This, people, is one of my favourite recipes ever. The kind of recipes I wrote down on a post-it back when I could barely write my name right and have since kept in a secret notebook.
This recipe, as you must have guessed from its name, comes from my grand-mother – who happens to be one of the people I love the most – and is flawless. An incredibly smooth batter enfolds pieces of soft and sweet cherries. Here I made it using cherries my grand-mother canned back in 2004, hence their dark colour. But you can obviously, and I highly recommend so, use fresh cherries, which you pit. Or not: there is a great debate in France whether the cherries used in a clafoutis should be pitted or not, I go for the easy way, and pit them.
You could also use other fruits according to the season. And if you want to know one of my best kept secrets: finely sliced apples work like a charm in autumn
I like to eat clafoutis at any time of the day, even fridge-cold for breakfast. But it does actually make a nice dinner dessert when served with some sharp yoghurt ice-cream, or failing that, a dollop of sour cream.
Le clafoutis de ma grand-mère
serves 10
200g flour
120g sugar
a pinch of salt
3 eggs
80g butter, melted
250ml full fat milk (semi skimmed is okay though)
500g cherries, pitted
Preheat the oven to 200°C and generously butter a 30cm tart dish.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Incorporate the eggs, one at the time, beating well after each addition. When the batter is smooth, mix in the melted butter. Then, working slowly, gradually add the milk, mixing well, so no lumps form. If you’re not fully confident, you can strain the batter through a sieve to ensure maximum smoothness.
Using your hands, scatter the pitted cherries into the prepared tin and gently pour the batter over. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden and quite firm (it can be slightly wobbly in the centre; a skewer inserted in the middle of the clafoutis should come out clean though).
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