Amuse bouche – Page 4 – Myfrenchkitchen

In the spirit of the fraise season and it being the fruit of our region, I trumped up these little strawberry helpings. Very versatile, they can be served as part of a buffet, or an ending to a meal as dessert, or with a cheese platter, or even an apéritif for an al fresco dinner. Won’t hurt to try them, non?

Basil stuffed strawberries

Recette:

Rinse and dry a handful of large strawberries.
Cut the stem side off each strawberry to form a lid and keep aside. Cut the tip off to make the strawberry stand up straight.
Use a small melon scoop and hollow out the inside to form a little cup.
Cut the remove strawberry flesh into small pieces.
Add to the chopped strawberry flesh: Some chopped berries of your choice(blueberries, blackberries, mulberries…), a few drops of balsamic vinegar, a few drops of a fruit coulis of your choice, a few shredded fresh basil leaves. Mix together gently and spoon into the empty strawberry cups.
Sprinkle some chopped pistachio nuts over the tops and replace the strawberry lids.
Serve individually on a plate or on a large platter for a buffet and accompany with fruit coulis(which you have used in the strawberry cups)
Decorate with berries and sifted icing sugar, basil leaves..

Pincée de fleur de sel:

I used blueberries and raspberries with a raspberry coulis.
If the berries aren’t in season yet, combine with another fruit like kiwi, which will also see to a nice filling.
Remember that the bigger the strawberries, the less flavor and sweetness they have, So choose youraccompanying fruit accordingly.
Pomegranate can make for a nice crunchy filling.
For an sweet/salty apéro(amuse bouche), try a filling of quinoa, chopped spring onion and chervil with a drizzling of lemon juice, olive oi, and serve on some salad leaves..mmm, superb! Serve with a cold rosé wine by the barbeque fire..
Don’t serve directly from the fridge..too cold temperatures kill the strawberry taste..in facet, I never serve anything, except ice cream and the likes, directly from the fridge. The fridge kills all flavours.
Serve as part of a cheese platter..fill with a small cube of feta cheese, a shredding of dill and add a little piment d’espelette jelly(or another piquant jelly) and a drop of olive oil.
Play around with your own preferences.

This year’s fête de la fraise happened in the rain. Although the number of visitors were lower than previous years, there were still many brave ones..like mon chéri and me. The fraises were as usually in abundance, but I missed the taste of sunshine..it is clear that our fruit and vegetables aren’t what they usually are. All the rains and grey and rainy days are taking its toll. But nonetheless, going to la fête de la fraise is what we just do and we strolled the streets and nibbled on strawberries all day long.

..a cool fête de la fraise

..This was my attraction all day long..

..Strawberries, smoothies, meringues, crèpes..it was all there..

..just a few names under so many varieties..

..and the traditional giant tarte aux fraises, a combined effort by the patissiers of Beaulieu..

..I was as as fascinated by the bubbles as the kiddies were..

..How I wish we could hang on to that uninhibited spontaneity..

..just like the strawberries, bubbles of all sizes and shapes..

..and this is where the bubbles originated from..a complicated vintage machine..

..As usual, mon chéri had to discuss the engineering principles behind the bubbles with Monsieur bubble machine..

..And..forgive me..more bubbles!..

..such a pity I have no more daughters; musicians and bands galore throughout the day…

..and with this last image I want to say:

“Gros bisous à toutes les mamans et à ceux et celles qui les entourent..

bonne fête des mamans!!”

**Note: the washing day post is postponed to later date due to loss of images(total computer clumsiness on my part!!)..I have to await a sunny day to redo it all…my apologies!

à la prochaine fois,

Ronelle

The entrée (starter) for this menu is A topinambour (Jerusalem artichokes) and chestnut velouté with wild mushroom croûtons. It has a wonderful woodsy flavor and finished off with a shaving of black truffle on the chanterelles mushrooms, it transports you into a winter forest.

Recipe:

Clean 1 onion and cut in slices. Fry the onion in a little olive oil until translucent.
Clean 5 large Jerusalem artichokes, cut into small, even chunks and add to the the onion.
Add a tin of peeled chestnuts (210g) to the mixture.
Add a bouguet garni and 350 ml water or stock (vegetable) to the vegetables and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer gently for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
Remove the bouquet garni and remove the soup from the heat. Add a handful of washed parsley and mix with an electrical hand mixer until the soup is creamy. If you want the soupy perfectly creamy, you can push it through a sieve.
Add some cream, or stock, or milk to bring it to the right consistency (like thick cream). Season with salt and freshly milled pepper and a few drops of lemon juice.
Serve warm with some freshly grated nutmeg and a mushroom croûton.
Mushroom croûton: Toast three thick slices of bread. cut into fingers and brush with truffle oil on all sides. Clean some some mushrooms of your choice with a brush and fry quickly in olive oil. Add some chopped parsley , season and place on top of the toast fingers. Finish off by placing two shavings of black truffle on the mushrooms and serve immediately with the soup.
This soup can also be served as an amuse bouche, served in small glasses, with small fingers of toast.

Serves 4 people as a starter.

Une pincée de fleur de sel:

Don’t add too much liquid in the beginning..you can always thin with some milk, or stock or water towards the end to the thickness you prefer.
Replace the mushrooms with plain button mushrooms or with crispy Spanish ham.
Replace the Jerusalem artichokes with pumpkin.
Toast the croutons in a toaster or dry toast in a pan to keep it light.
Finish the soup with a twirl of truffle oil.
Never wash mushrooms with water, clean them with a brush.
Fry mushrooms in a hot pan ..I prefer to fry mushrooms in duckfat(a little) which can be heated to very high heat without becoming toxic. Afterwards I drizzle a little Olive oil. In a hot pan, you don’t need much fat, because the mushrooms fry very quickly.
I don’t push the soup through a sieve, because I like the tiny pieces of parsley which gives a nice 3speckly” effect to the soup.
Enjoy.

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The Christmas market in Meyssac was very quaint and I especially loved the lovely church with its display of nativity scenes in all the alcoves. Each nativity scene depicted a country…Brazil was there, France of course, Italy, Africa. Even Peru was there, each little figurine dressed in typical clothing. I adored it and planned on going back to Meyssac to take pictures of all the scenes. When I finally went back, it was gone! Of course, it made sense..it was on display only for the weekend of the market..all those precious figurines couldn’t be left unattended for the whole season. I can kick myself! So I lost out on the lovely nativity scenes..you will have to wait until next year.

But the little église of Meyssac is still adorable and here are some photos…

…The exterior of l’église de Meyssac…

..the interior towards the altar with Chrismas lights hanging above the aisle…

..the altar from close up..

..and the only nativity scene left for the season..

..un lustre lighting up one of the many figurines the Catholics so love..

Tomorrow will see the plat principal (main meal): Beef tournedos with bone marrow in a wine sauce and steamed vegetables.
A nice DVD to get you in a French vintage mood…La plus belle histoire des femmes.

.. alors, à demain!..

Ronelle