december – Page 12 – Myfrenchkitchen

Why do Decembers ignite this uncontrollable desire for all things dessert? Just to have the hips show every inch of this desire flagrantly off in January.

It is a crisis. But in some crises the best thing to do is…have some dessert. Some apple tartlets. They are truly quick and easy and utterly delicious and very homey. They’re not fancy, rather rustic and no one will be offended if you pick one up by hand. They are meant to be enjoyed with a friend or someone you care about. And leave the plate with tartlets in the middle for a second helping. One won’t be enough. Oh, and leave one secretly for yourself for tonight, when all is quiet and asleep.

So the hips in January will be even rounder. But that is OK. At least it will give us something to talk and write about in January!

…ingredients for tarte fine aux pommes…

*Suggestions:

Choose an apple with a bit of sourness like a Granny smith.
The puff pastry can be replaced with another pastry of your choice.
Other fruit like pears, figs, peaches, apricots can be used.
It you find the top isn’t caramelized enough after baking, then sprinkle with a little brown sugar and caramelize quickly under a hot grill and keep your eye on it.
You can make the size of the tartlets as big or small as you like or even a single big tart.
Sage leaves are a good substitute for thyme.
Try sprinkling a tiny bit of fleur de sel with vanilla over the top just before baking.
Can be enjoyed as dessert with an accompanying scoop of ice cream or créme frâiche, or as a late afternoon snack with tea, a goûter, as we call it in France.

…joanne’s home in Tours…

My friend Joanne, allowed me into her home with my camera a while ago. She lives in the centre of Tours, where it takes a few minutes and you can serve up a fresh baguette and croissant for breakfast. With a basket and some walking shoes, you can browse the market just around the corner from her to have fresh veggies on the table at dinnertime. Just down the road from her lives a musician whose melancholic saxophone melodies vagabond down the quiet street. Life is tranquil and beautiful in her home. It reflects the stillness of her character, yet reveals the brilliant colours of her spirited and optimistic nature. Always trying to see the bright side, always ready for a new project, enthusiastic about life with a strong belief that every minute counts. She loves good food and it is just a pleasure inviting her over for a meal and seeing her obvious joy in appreciating what is put in front of her.

* astuce de grand-mére:

* Boil some vinegar on the stove for a few minutes to eliminate unpleasant kitchen odours.

It is time to start baking cookies for Christmas. Time to think about the menu and order your meats. time to think about some aperitif to toast with your champagne. And time to dig up the old memories.

Salmon and créme frâiche with blinis and topped with some caviar is an old favourite for high occasions. And loved by all. By changing and adapting it a little, we can still enjoy tradition ; bringing in some new without throwing out the old. Spark it up a bit, freshen it up.

Suggestions:

Serve the aperitif with some blinis on the side.
It can be made in bigger portions and served as a starter.
Créme frâiche can be added to the mayonnaise to make it creamier…add to your taste.
Before topping the glasses with the mayonnaise/créme frâiche mixture, leave for about an hour in the fridge to become a bit more firm, or else it will be too runny.
Instead of the smoked salmon a tartare of good raw salmon can be used.
Use tomatoes instead of salmon if you are a vegetarian.
Don’t use an expensive caviar for the topping..a lumpfish caviar works fine.
To make a quenelle of lumpfish caviar: use two spoons and slide a dollop of lumpfish caviar alternatively between the two spoons until you have an olive shaped quenelle. Slide the one spoon from front to back on the second spoon under the quenelle. Repeat once or twice until you are happy with the shape. See photos above.

…shaping a quenelle…

During Decembers I have a habit of digging up all old things and remembering. That is what I think winter is for after all. Reflection. Reminiscence. I reorganize drawers and closets, throw out old magazines, go pick them back up an hour later…Browse until early morning hours through old photo albums, discover old letters….like my own and those of my parents. The ones we dug up in our cave in the garden. Photos and letters are stories. They make us cry. They take us back on distant roads and make us laugh. They make us glance in the mirror to see the traces time had left.

…good wishes and happy writings…

…an old brown suitcase for embracing old memories…

How will we be remembered and looked upon one day? Will someone have an old filled suitcase somewhere where our picture dwells? Or will our picture appear in a virtual realm in a hyper contemporary room…or not at all. Will someone also look at us and cry and laugh at once upon a time…

…once upon a time…

Somewhere old becomes mingled with the new and we wonder…when is old really old. Memories have no sense of time. Yesterday can be long ago and tomorrow can still be far away.

…a mix of old and not so old…

May I never forget. May my brown suitcases never be empty.

Do you have an old brown suitcase?

*Truc et astuces de grand-mére:

If your vinaigrette is too salty, place a cube of sugar on a teaspoon and rest it in the vinaigrette for about 10 seconds to absorb the salt and then remove the teaspoon with sugar cube.