La Recette du Jour

This is a wonderfully refreshing summer punch, to be drunk chilled outdoors on a hot day, as an aperitif. Prepare it in a very large earthenware bowl and ladle into wine glasses. Warning, it doesn’t taste at all alcoholic!

Recipe for Marquise du Midi »

Perfect for an apricot tart … or any other sort of fruit tart. Bake blind, add a layer of crème patissière if you want, and then top with fruit of your choice, arranged in a nice pattern and glazed with redcurrant jelly or sieved apricot jam.

Recipe for Almond pastry »

I’m always looking for ways of using up home-made yoghurt so it doesn’t linger in the fridge too long. This cake is a well-known one in France, especially as something that’s easy for children to make (no weighing involved). You measure everything in a yoghurt pot; unfortunately the recipe didn’t specify what size a yoghurt pot is, and since I make my own I didn’t have any to hand. However, I decided it was about 100 ml, used a small jar of that capacity, and the recipe came out OK.

Recipe for Yoghurt cake »

We are fortunate enough to know someone with an organically cultivated apricot orchard, and at this time of year we take delivery of a 10kg crate of golden, red-tinged apricots. Unlike the under-ripe, tasteless apricots you get in shops, these are actually a pleasure to eat raw. Still, we can’t eat 10kg of apricots in a weekend, so time to get the preserving pan out.

Last year I made the best apricot jam I’ve ever made with these apricots, but I made so much we still have some jars left, so this time I “only” used 2kg of apricots for that. Another excellent and very easy way of keeping apricots is to preserve them raw in a mixture of syrup and alcohol. The resulting apricots are delicious in any cooked apricot dessert, or just as they are with cream or ice cream. And of course the preserving liquid makes a very nice digestif.

Recipe for Preserving apricots »

I felt very virtuous doing this, because after squeezing my oranges for juice, I used the empty shells to make these little candied nibbles. The recipe I used suggested removing the peel in quarters, then using the oranges for something else, but I needed the juice so I did the opposite. After squeezing, I cut each half-shell in half again, and then used a small sharp knife to remove the remaining pulp/membrane, a bit like skinning fish; once you get the tip of the knife under the membrane, you can grip one end of the peel firmly, skin-side against the cutting board, and push the rest off with the knife quite easily.

Once made, these can be kept in an airtight tin. An elegant garnish for citrus or chocolate desserts; and for after-dinner treats you can dip them in melted chocolate and serve with coffee.

Having said all that, while not difficult it is time-consuming, and you can’t go very far away while they are cooking.

Recipe for Candied orange peel »

While I’m on the subject of petits pots, this is a ridiculously simple and delicious idea from Nigel Slater. An excellent opportunity to use up some home-made yogurt and lemon curd.

Recipe for Lemon amaretti cream pots »

These make a delicate and elegant starter and are easy to make too.

Recipe for Spinach & lemon mousselines with avocado »

This is a wonderfully old-fashioned and comforting dish, from one of my favourite cookbooks, Plats du Jour by Patience Gray and Pimrose Boyd (published 1957). I can’t recommend this book too highly; it’s so old-fashioned that words like pizza and courgettes are printed in italics, and the recipes owe absolutely nothing to fashion and everything to love of good, simple food.

Anyway, you would normally use a boiling chicken for this, difficult to find nowadays, so just use a nice free-range chicken and reduce the poaching time.

Recipe for Poule au riz au safran »

I’m mainly recording this for the biscuits, which are light and crumbly and would make a nice base for other desserts. The dough must either be left in the fridge for several hours or put in the freezer for a couple of hours once made, because it’s too sticky to work with otherwise.

Recipe for Strawberry shortcake »

A typically simple dish from the Roux brothers, one where the ingredients “ont le gout de ce qu’ils sont”, as Curnonsky said. You need proper ripe tomatoes for this, and the best olive oil you can lay your hands on (I used the last of our designer Tuscan oil). It requires no last-minute attention and can be served hot or at room temperature, so it’s good for entertaining.

Serve with grilled or roast meat, or just on their own, with good bread to mop up the juice. Keep any left-over juice to add to salad dressings or sauces.

Source: the Roux brothers’ French Country Cooking.

Recipe for Tomatoes stewed in olive oil »