Croque-monsieur, frangourou style

The croque-monsieur (literally 'munch-Mister'!) is one of those quintessential French snacks, which you see on café menus in France very often. It's traditional fast food, a simple and delicious rib-sticker, with its satisfying crunch of golden-fried bread mingled with melted cheese and ham. But it can be a bit heavy too, especially in summer, so the other day, when we really fancied one, we made a simple version of this classic snack, grilling the bread instead of frying it, using pancetta instead of ham, and adding fresh garden tomatoes as well as cheese and a bit of garlic--a kind of cross between a croque-monsieur and a toasted sandwich--and hey presto, croque-frangourou!
Goes well with a nice salad, or, in winter, with soup.

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Raw Double Layer Chocolate Fudge with Cacao Nibs

A few weeks ago I was invited to a picnic and decided to take along some raw fudge. I finished making it and then realised that I thought was a bit of cocoa powder in the cocoa oil was actually mould after I tasted it. I'm not one to give up on a recipe though so I decided to make it again for another gathering.

This is crazy rich, so cut into tiny bits. But everyone seemed to enjoy it. I'm warning you though its not a cheap recipe to make but quite easy with a food processor. Also is maple sugar not raw???

Raw Double Layer Chocolate Fudge with Cacao Nibs by Gourmante in the kitchen

Ingredients
2 cups/ 224g raw organic cashews
2 cups/ 240g unsweetened organic shredded coconut
240g (about10 large) very soft medjool dates, pitted
1 cup/ 100g raw organic cacao powder
½ cup/ 120ml organic maple syrup
Pinch of fine sea salt
1/2 cup/120ml organic maple syrup
1/4 cup/60g extra virgin unrefined coconut oil
1/2 cup/50g raw organic cacao powder
Pinch of fine sea salt
¼ cup/30g of raw cacao nibs for topping (I used only a small sprinkle)
Instructions
1. Place cashews in the bowl of food processor and grind until very finely ground (be careful to not
over process the nuts into butter)
2. Add the shredded coconut and process until well combined and fine in texture. Add the pitted dates
and process until a soft paste forms. Add the cacao powder process again.
3. Finally add the maple syrup and a pinch of salt and process to combine until a creamy texture is
achieved scraping down the sides as needed.
4. Press firmly into a parchment lined square or rectangular pan or mold.
5. Place in fridge while making the ganache topping.
6. In the food processor, blend together maple syrup and coconut oil until well combined.
7. Add in cacao powder and a pinch of salt and process until smooth scraping down the sides as
needed.
8. Pour over fudge base and spread out evenly over the top. Sprinkle with cacao nibs and return pan
to fridge to set and firm for at least one hour.
9. Cut into squares and serve the fudge cold. Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge

I failed at getting a picture but here is a picture afterwards: Go check out the original post for pictures. Its  quite pretty in its original state.

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Classic mussels

If I had to choose between oysters and mussels, I'd choose mussels, every time. Though I enjoy oysters, I find them sickening after about half a dozen, whereas I could eat heaps of mussels without a problem in the world! Not keen on the big fat New Zealand greenlip mussels--but love the small Tasmanian Blue ones or the small black Sydney mussel--much tastier, seems to me, than the NZ variety--though perhaps in their place of origin they're much nicer.  The small ones are also closer in taste to the delicious mussels of coastal France and Belgium.
There are so many ways you can cook them too, but my favourite is the classic moules marinière, but playing around with ingredients.
First, fry up some chopped onion in olive oil, add garlic, then add the unopened mussels. Toss. Add splash of white wine, chopped herbs--I like tarragon, thyme, oregano with them--then add some water, pepper and a little salt(if they've come in one of those vacuum-packed bags, add the liquid they come in instead, but do not add salt as it's already salty, being seawater).
Cook for only about 4-5 minutes, then serve. Great on its own, or with a bowl of the cooking liquid as soup on the side,  or fabulous too teamed with plain Basmati rice, with some of the liquid stirred through. 
You can also add tomatoes, chilli, etc, to the basic mix if you want, also cream and brandy--in fact all sorts of things can work with these little beauties!

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Peachy dessert

Our peach trees are laden at the moment with sweet little white and yellow-skinned peaches. Now we're eating most of them fresh, in rather large quantities, but even though they're small, there are so many of them there's no way we can eat them all fresh. Some of them will of course be bottled for winter; but it's good too to vary the summer dessert menu so that it's not just fresh peaches every single day(I know--hardly something to complain about. Reminds me of my daughter's comment, once, when she was small and we had strawberries galore in the garden: 'Oh dear!--big sigh--'the trouble with living here, Mum, is there are just too many strawberries!'  )
So--when you really have too many peaches and desperately want to find another way of serving them, here's a great, quick, delicious dessert that can be just as good for a family dinner as a dinner party with friends.
Take one peach per person(if regular size, I used two of our littlies). Place each in a greased ramekin. Beat up three egg yolks with sugar over a pan of simmering water until the mixture is frothy and pale yellow(the amount of sugar varies according to taste, it should be sweet but not overly so.) Pour the 'sabayon' mix (which is what the yolk mixture is called) over the peaches to cover completely. Bake in a 180 degree oven for 10 or so minutes, until the top has crusted a little--but the inside is still creamy. The peaches will have softened too. Delicious serve hot or warm with whipped cream or icecream. A nice variation can be done with apricots.

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Wild meat and garden vegies

I've always enjoyed rabbit and in the past it was easy enough to get, either farmed, as my parents used to buy it from those Blacktown farmers many years ago, or shot in the wild by hunters and sold by the brace to butchers' shops. I don't know why but it seems easier to buy rabbit in Sydney these days than in the country, despite the fact there are still plenty of rabbits out here. Very few on our place for some reason it's hares that predominate. Anyway the other day I took myself off to the butcher to buy one of those rare rabbits--frozen, but locally hunted and shot.
Rabbits have lean meat, but wild rabbits even more so. They are pretty tough generally as they do so much running, so it's no point trying to grill it or roast it as you might with a farmed rabbit, it'd be stringy as all hell. Instead, David pressure-cooked it, sauteeing it first in olive oil, a splash of wine, garlic, herbs(tarragon goes nicely with it)salt and pepper, then adding a little stock and pressure-cooking for about 25 minutes. After that, he simmered it for another then minutes or so, with prunes(home grown preserves from last year)and onions. Served with simple fresh vegs--potatoes and green beans--it was absolutely delicious!

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Cold soup for hot days

When the mercury's rising, the last thing you feel like is soup, right? Not so, at least, not when the soup's cold and refreshing, like a good gazpacho, say, or the one I made the other day, 'summer soup,' a recipe derived from Polish tradition. Basically a cold beetroot and cucumber soup, it tastes wonderful, looks great and slips down a treat on those hot summer's evenings like we've been having recently. What was really nice too for us was that just about every ingredient came fresh out of the garden. And it's easy to make. Here's my variation on the classic recipe. Serves four. Best made the day before it's served and left to rest in the fridge overnight so flavours intensify.
Take two small beets, together with their leaves. Peel and chop the beets, wash and chop the leaves. Chop half a red onion, and two garlic cloves. Fry these in some butter or oil, add the beets and their leaves, stir, add salt, pepper, stock(I used chicken stock but vegetable stock is good too.) Simmer till beet is soft, mash vegies a little(but not too much, I think the soup is nicer with chunkier bits in it.) Take off stove and let cool. Meanwhile, chop a small cucumber(or half a big one) in small chunks. Chop some dill. In a bowl combine some sour cream and yoghurt(more sour cream than yoghurt), about 2/3 of a cup in all. Add the cucumber and dill. When soup is completely cold, add the sour cream/cucumber mix, stir well, put in fridge and leave overnight.
Fantastic as an entree for a light summer dinner, or as a lunch dish.

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Colourful summer vegetarian meal

The garden's so full of nice things at the moment and the other day when we came back in the later afternoon from several days away in Sydney, and couldn't be bothered going shopping, I made a lovely vegetarian meal out of things from the garden. It started with a plate of different kinds of tomatoes, sprinkled with olive oil and white balsamic vinegar, with fresh basil and olives(okay, so we didn't have any home grown olives left and had to get them out of a jar!) Next was the main course, home grown Tasmanian pink eye potatoes and new zucchini, stir-fried in a wok with a lot of chopped  different fresh herbs--basil, garlic chives, spearmint and Vietnamese mint--and spices: coriander seed, cumin, and turmeric. A touch of salt pepper, and a little chilli, and then at the end I added some lightly-cooked kankung(see earlier post)which I'd stir-fried separately with a little oil and a little shrimp paste. It was delicious!
The whole thing was finished off with some sweet fat black cherries we'd bought from Parklea Markets in Sydney--the cherries are really delicious this year, and our little cherry tree only produces the sour Morello cherries, we've never had any luck with growing the sweet ones. A really nice meal--and a nice change from all the Christmas meat!

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Le nouveau bulletin 2013 vient de paraitre.
Surveillez votre boite aux lettres !
Vous pouvez déjà payer vos cotisations 2013 à l'ordre de PALCF à:
PALCF
6 bis rue des Mouettes
33970 Lège Cap Ferret

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Shark's Tail Fish and Chippery, Sunshine West

I used to love potato cakes, even slightly dodgy ones from food courts that had been sitting there for hours. This love may have started in my first part time job as a teenager in a fish and chip shop. When I first was diagnosed coeliac I started craving them even more. I did indulge once when a friend made some gf ones for a potluck but aside from that have kept craving them. Unfortunately we don't deep fry at home so that wasn't an option. Thankfully there is a fish and chip shop which makes gluten free potato cakes and they use vegetable oil and a seperate fryer for gf items.  They have been offering gluten free options for about 4 years.,

I went today and got two gluten free potato cakes. The batter was super crunchy and oh so perfect. I doubt anyone would ever guess they were gluten free. I also got some minimal chips which was a generous serve and had the perfect ratio of crunchy and soft chips. I had two colleagues help me finish the chips who gave them a thumbs up.

Everything with an asterisk can be made gluten free, plus lots of fish of course. I will be trying their onion rings and pineapple or banana fritters in the near future. I'm thinking a quick visit her before or after the beach on hot summer days.



They are located close to a ring road exit but doubt they are close to public transport.

Shark's Tail Fish & Chippery
shop 1/136 the avenue
West Sunshine
Open 7 days
9360 5522

For more possible gf options at fish and chip shops check out Gluten Schmooten's list.

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Summer goodies

Lovely stuff around in both the garden and the greenhouse at the moment. Just a small selection here: Morello cherries on the tree, just ripe and ready to be made into beautiful deep red cherry sauce to go with pork and chicken and indeed just about any meat, as well as going really well with falafel; herbs such as basil and tarragon; tomatoes of all sorts; kankung, as it's known in south-east Asia(entsai in China, water spinach sometimes). All most colourful and most toothsome! And more to come--zucchini taking off, sweet corn to come eventually--peaches blushing up, beans running riot! It's the fertile time of the year.

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