Posted on by Myfrenchkitchen

Quince compote and spices

I simply adore quince. As a child I ate it raw with a pinch of salt. A fond memory. I like to bake it in the oven, as in here, or on pan fried on the stove like here or a crumble like here. Today I made a simple compote that is delicious with a scoop of créme fraiche or even ice cream. It can be served with duck or chicken or how about pork, giving you that sweet sour taste. It is so easy to make, a proper seasonal fruit and along with some spices, falls right into perfection for autumn. I give relative quantities. The best way is to find your own path, taste and adjust and add as you go along.

Small wild quince.

Recipe:

  • 2 large quinces
  • 2 lemons
  • 2 star anis
  • tsp red peppercorns (optional)
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • grated nutmeg
  • a pinch of fleur de sel
  • 500 ml water
  • 350 ml sugar
  1. Peel the quinces, cut off the ends and cut into pieces along with the core and seeds.
  2. Add to a bowl and drizzle liberally with lemon juice.
  3. Sprinkle with the spices and fleur de sel and add to a casserole, along with the lemon juice.
  4. Add the water and sugar and simmer gently for about 45 minute or until the water has dissolved and the quince are tender. Dont stir too much if you dont want a puree.
  5. Remove the cinnamon stick and the star anis after 15 minutes of cooking.
  6. Sterilize 2 canfruit bottles and pour in the hot quince. Let it cool and store in the fridge.

Pinch of salt.

  • Tplace the spices with a vanilla pod, seeds scraped out and pod and seeds addd to the quince.
  • If you dont like the seedsand core of th quince, add them to a little bouquet garni muslin pouch and remove at the end of cooking.
  • The seeds and core are important for the red coloring of the quince and they are full of gelatin which helps to thicken the syrup.
  • Replace the lemon juice with orange juice.
  • Dont worry about the coloration of the quince when you peel it. It is normal. Add some lemon juice, but it wont stop the coloration completely.
  • Add some apple pieces to the quince mixture for variation.
Posted on by Myfrenchkitchen

Semi oven dried tomatoes.

I prefer semi dried tomatoes to fully dried ones. They are much more flavorful than the often leathery and chewy dried tomatoes. In a salad they are unbeatable, with pasta unforgettable and as a crostini for apero with a glass of wine , just delightful. I don’t give quantities in this recipe, it depends on how many tomatoes you have on hand. I used tomatoes from our potager which is bountiful at the moment. So come on, make your summer linger a bit longer and dry some seasonal tomatoes, from your own vegetable patch or from the market!

Recipe:

  • plum or roma tomatoes
  • salt and pepper
  • olive oil and sunflower oil
  • dried provencal herbs
  1. Preheat the oven to 130 degrees C.
  2. Line baking trays with baking paper.
  3. Wash and dry the tomatoes, cut in half and remove the seeds.
  4. Place the tomatoes in rows, cut side up on to the baking trays.
  5. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
  6. Bake for about 2 hours or until the tomatoes start to curl up at the sides. Turn the heat down to 100 degr C and bake for another hour. Keep an eye on the tomatoes from now on so they don’t burn.
  7. Remove from the oven, leave to cool and add tightly packed to glass jars with lids and fill with olive oil or a mix of olive oil and sunflower oil, Store in fridge. ( Will keep for about 2 weeks) Use the oil for cooking or vinaigrette.

In the potager.

Tomatoes from the potager.

Wash and dry the tomatoes.

Cut the tomatoes in half lengthwise and remove the seeds.

Place cut side up onto baking tray.