Laduree lemon macarons

So, yes I baked macarons last week as a leaving gift for my old colleagues. Well, it’s exciting times in the Gipsy Toast household as Gipsy Spread is also starting a new job. So, this of course meant that he wanted to take macarons in as a farewell treat for his colleagues. So I offered to make them for him.

Anyway, in terms of expanding my repertoire and the ongoing search for the perfect macaroon recipe, I typed, hit ‘enter’, flicked through pages of baking books and historical editions of Olive magazine; the latter of which put me at serious risk of paper cuts. I also wanted to make lemon macaroons and I was not sure how to make these. I was concerned that adding lemon juice and/or zest to the previous recipe I used would affect its precision to mal-effect. Then I hit proverbial gold.

I came across the Laduree cookbook ‘Sucre’. Now the Parisian tea room, famous for its macarons was sharing its recipe for lemon macarons with me. This was definitely worth a go. It also did not require the making of sugar syrup and adding to egg whites a la Lorraine Pascale. I was about to attempt my Everest.

The proportions below are very precise because they are half that outlined in the recipe as I didn't need (although who needs?) to make 50 macarons and I was unwilling to round up. Also, I used shop bought lemon curd and did not make my own.

What you will need
137.5g ground almond flour
125g icing sugar
3 egg whites + a quarter egg white.
105g granulated sugar
Yellow food colouring
Lemon curd

Mix the almond flour and icing sugar in a food processor then sieve.

Whisk three egg whites until they foam then add the sugar slowly to the whites. They should stiffen, but do not need to form stiff peaks. You should however, still be able to hold them over your head. I whisked mine in my Magimix for about 5 minutes.

Fold the sifted almond flour and icing sugar into the egg whites. Add the food colouring. Beat 1/4 egg white and add to the mixture. Mix everything well, to remove all the air that is captured in the mix. This is counter-intuitive to meringue bakers, but necessary for macaroons. It is ready when the mix tumbles from the spoon in ribbons and the surface should flatten out to leave no peaks.

I don't have a piping bag, so filled a food bag with the mix. I pushed this into a corner and twisted the top to tighten. Cut a 1cm hole and pipe small rounds (3-4cm) of the mixture onto baking parchment. A small circular motion works well. Once piped, lift the tray and drop to the work surface 2-3 times to remove any air bubbles that might be left in the mix.

Now the most important bit, leave the macaroons for at least 30 minutes to enable a skin to form on their surface.

Preheat the oven to 150°C fan, then bake for 12-15 minutes. I once again kept an eye on these and opened and closed the door at 4 and 8 minutes to release any steam.

Remove baking tray from the oven. You can apparently pour a tiny amount of water in between the tray and the parchment paper, so the macaroons peel off easily. I gave it a whirl and it did seem to work.

When cool, place half the macaroon shells upside down on a plate. Pipe a coin of lemon curd onto the macaroon shells and top with another shell.

So, eat your heart out Kirsty and Phil. The two macaron recipes that I have perfected will now enable me to have my own 'hand-made christmas'. Watch out anyone who knows me, as you will be receiving macarons for christmas this year. In fact, I think I will now go and purchase my own piping bag and nozzle!

Wickle chai chocolate

Sister in law Spread lives in Lewes where the small boutique of Wickle is located. She bought a birthday gift for Gipsy Spread from here, which was a bar of the Wickle's own blend chai chocolate.

The packaging states that it is made for Wickle in the English countryside by artisinal chocolatiers Rowdy and Fancys'.

The chocolate is very smooth and creamy and not overly sweet, with the scent of vanilla coming through. The chai tea flavour is spiced, as it should be with black pepper, cardoman, cinnamon, clove and ginger. Pockets of these flavours come through the chocolate and black tea in waves. In fact I was actually crunching down on black pepper as I was eating it. This was a nice surprise, in an unusual chocolate blend.

Other flavours that they make include Earl Grey, Fig and Mace and Ginger and Black pepper. If you are not in Lewes any time soon however, you can purchase their hand selected and distinctive wares on line here.

Lemon sabayon with fresh raspberrys

I had 2 egg yolks left from the macaron making that I wanted to do something magical with. No simple egg custard for me, but rather the slightly fancier would we say?, French sabayon. A dessert, which is itself based on the Italian zabaglione. Sister in law Spread had this as her dessert on her birthday and was lovely over fresh raspberries, some of which mother in law Spread also had.


What you will need
3 egg yolks
50g caster sugar
2 table spoons of water
Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
Fresh raspberrys


In a heatproof bowl whisk the egg yolks, sugar and the water together over a pan of simmering water until thickened and frothy. It will expand to 4-5 times its volume. I timed myself and it took about 8 minutes to thicken to the texture of double cream.

Remove from the heat and whisk in the lemon zest and juice (add more if you fancy). Whisk until cool.

I served this over raspberries.

Cavolo nero, caramelised onion and goats cheese trofie

The neighbours downstairs were having a party last night and Gipsy Spread was working today doing preparation for his new role. He wanted a decent nights sleep, so we whisked ourselves off to the home counties to stay the night with mother in law Spread. She of course, revelled in her ability to heartily feed us both. Gipsy Spread received a giant rump steak with roasted potatoes, whilst she and I (and in the end Gipsy Spread also had some on the side of his steak and potatoes) had some lovely fresh cavelo nero, caramelised onion and goats cheese trofie.

What you will need
2 onions
1 cavolo nero
Trofie pasta shapes
2-3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon of sugar
300g of mature goats cheese in log form
Tarragon

Firstly slice the cavolo nero ready for steaming. Then slice the onions and cook these in some olive oile for 5-10 minutes until softened and browned. Add the balsamic vinegar and sugar and cook for a few more minutes until the liquid has evaporated and the onions have caramelised and become sticky.

Cook enough pasta for four in salted water as per instructions and steam the cavolo nero until cooked.

Slice the goats cheese and top with the fresh tarragon and grill for 5 minutes until warmed through and browned.

Drain the pasta and mix in the cavolo nero and the caramelised onions, season well with salt and black pepper and add an extra drizzle of olive oil.

Serve on a plate topped with 3 rounds of goats cheese.

The Cinnamon Club pt II

This is my second posting on the Cinnamon Club. Like New York New York, it's so great that I've featured it twice. I also can't gurantee that it might not feature again.

It was leaving day from work. My last day, with my handover notes completed, the main focus of the day was my long leaving lunch, to be followed by my leaving drinks. My boss made a reservation for the Cinnamon Club, which is just across the road from my office and which now sadly I will not be working as closely to. I had also had my previous works leaving drinks (I moved within the same building) in the Club's cocktail bar. On the plus side, I will now be working a stone's throw from Borough market.

The menu is constantly changing at the Cinnamon Club, so I was able to sample a different selection of dishes to last month. The canape (courtesy of the chef of course) was a crispy spiced potato ball on a yoghurt sauce.

 

My apetizer was stir fry of baby corn with mint and molasses, curried yoghurt. My boss went for a meat feast over lunch and started with the pan seared Cumbrian pink veal escalope with pineapple raita.

My main of Hyderabadi style root vegetable biryani, ground vegetable cake and boorani raita was a spicy delight with a building heat coming from the rice. It also slowly released jewels of roasted root vegetables which were engulfed by the lentils.

 
One of the carniverous offerings from the lunch menu was the tandoori lamb fillet with nutmeg, rich onion sauce and pilau rice. The menu also included seafood and chicken.

We drank a perfectly crisp and dry rose wine which I picked from the extensive wine list. Where else would it be from than provence!? I was temporarily distracted by the Jeroboam of Champagne at £346. We did discuss that this seemed good value when we thought this equated to 8 bottles. One google search later we realised it only holds 4 bottles. However, still not bad value?

It was a celebratory occasion and the desserts were very tempting, so I opted for the dark chocolate praline cake with coffee ice cream, whilst my boss had the Culkand brulee with plum and pine nut crumble.

Oh Cinnamon Club, how I will miss you and I hope to visit again soon. This might be easier if you were open on a Sunday!

French macarons (macaroons)

Inspired by my latest culinary journey through France and the need to provide some fine treats to my current colleagues on my departure to pastures new, I decided to take on the daunting task of making macaroons. This was also partly due to guilt from having forgotten to bring them any treats back from France, which is my office’s convention (I did purchase some locally produced treats!). I thought these dainty little gems of a petit four would ensure my forgiveness.


So, I gee-d myself up, remembered Lorraine Pascale telling me that macaroon-making was simple in ‘Baking Made Easy’ and did some online research to find a recipe with enough technical guidance to fill me with confidence to take on the challenge and hopefully conquer. Strangely, I did not opt for the Lorraine Pascale method; something about the pouring sugar syrup into egg whites concerned me. I found the one below which I have adapted and I hope will prove successful. So here goes nothing. There’s also, always Waitrose if this all goes pear shaped – literally!


What you will need
110g icing sugar
60g ground almonds
2 medium egg whites
40g caster sugar
Red food colouring
Good quality strawberry or raspberry jam


Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper. In a food processor grind together the icing sugar and ground almonds until there are no lumps.


In a large bowl whisk your egg whites and caster sugar. I used my trusty Magimix. It might take a while, but they will eventually become filled with air and stiffen, although it doesn’t matter if you don’t quite reach stiff peaks.

 

Add about half the sugary almond mix and a teaspoon or two of food colouring to the egg whites and very, very carefully fold together with a large metal spoon. This just involves gently mixing, making sure you scoop from the bottom in order to keep the air in.


Add the rest of the powder. This is apparently where making macarons is different to normal meringue recipes - mix everything well. You want to force most of that air you’ve captured out, so that the mixture tumbles from your spoon in ribbons - the surface should slowly flatten out to leave no visible peak.

I don’t own a piping bag, so used the amateur’s prop of a plastic food bag. I scooped the mixture into the bag and twisted to tighten mixture into a corner. Cut the corner off using scissors, leaving a hole about 1cm wide. Use this to squeeze little circles onto the prepared baking sheet. A snaking circular motion works well.

 

There was an ongoing comedy scene when I filled up my first baking tray and Gipsy spread scrambled around for another (it was small and deep), then another (it was narrow and oval) and then another (it was a round glass quiche dish)!.

You want the circles anything between 1-2 inches in diameter. Leave plenty of space between each one.


Once the macaroons are piped, lift the baking tray about a foot or two above the work surface and drop the tray to flatten out the macaroons. Repeat 2-3 times – to remove any big bubbles that might be left in the mixture.


Now, I have been advised that this is the most important step. Leave the piped macaroons uncovered and at room temperature for, at the very least, 30 minutes. I left mine for 45 minutes. The surface needs to dry out and form a skin.


Preheat the oven (properly) to 160C fan. This is a precise science, so it’s apparently 180C for a non fan oven. I heated the oven for 20 minutes just to be sure of the temperature.


Bake the macaroons for between 10 and 12 minutes, depending on the size. You must take them out before they begin to go brown. A good tip is to open the oven fully, then quickly close it again, at least twice during cooking. This will remove excess steam. I did this at 4 and 8 minutes. I might try Lorraine’s not closing the oven door fully next time to see which method is better.

 

Once baked and cooled, remove from the tray, spread the underside of half of one with jam and sandwich together with the other half.

Apparently these are best enjoyed at least one day after assembly, as they soften and absorb the flavours of the filling. These however, were already brilliant!


Now, as previously mentioned, the French are so clever with their ‘ile flottante’ as they use the egg whites for the island and the egg yolks to make the crème upon which it floats. So, I have saved up my egg yolks and wish to try to make a deliciously light sabayon. I have suggested to mother in law Spread, I bring this for dessert to hers on Saturday. Watch this space.

Domaine de Méaulx Vineyard

A trip to France and particularly the South is not complete without a visit to a vineyard. We were spoilt for choice whilst staying in Seillans. As previously mentioned we sampled the local wines when we had dinner at Chez Hugo and La Gloire de mon Pere.


We had the Chateau des Selves in red and rose and the Chateau de Jasson. The former vineyard could be visited and was only down the road from the Chateau we were staying at.

 

There were however, also other vineyards that could be visitied. We decided on the small house of domaine de Meaulx (http://www.meaulx.com/). We approached this from Seillans up the scenic route ancienne, going both under and across some beautiful Roman viaducts. The route was in fact so 'ancient' that the road itself was very uneven and scattered with flint. We managed to get a flat tire in the hire car on the way there, which Gipsy Spread had to change whilst mother in law Spread and I watched on.


We eventually got back on the road and approached the drive up to the vineyard five minutes later. This was set with very established olive trees either side, with rows and rows of vines leading into the horizon.

We parked the car and went in search of the 'boutique' where the wines could be purchased and sampled. This turned out to be a tiny little farmhouse where the wines and olive oil were displayed.

There was some seating artfully arranged in the serene landscape for clients to sit and sample their degustation selection of wines. In fact, if we had had more time, we would have come back with a picnic and brother and sister in law Spread for a blissful afternoon sojourn.

A bottle of the rose was 7 Euros to purchase. This was a delightfully crisp and dry citrus flavoured offering. Gipsy Spread stated he actually thought it was better than the 2011 Sancere rose we purchased on our last visit.


Also, best of all of the degustation was that it was at no cost. I'm unsure whether this was because we chose to purchase the wine, however the vintner had topped our glasses up before we even mentioned buying anything.

I highly recommend visiting this bijous vineyard. However, pack a picnic, bring your friends and family and plan to spend the afternoon in the sunshine and beauty of this gorgeous landscape. The vitner also has a dog to make the experience even more pleasurable.

Goats cheese and sundried tomato stuffed courgette flowers

It was our last day in Provence and we were flying back from Nice airport. We therefore headed to the capital of the Cote d'Azur for one final potter around town before heading back to England. Luckily Saturday is also the day of the 'marche paysan' and there was beautiful French produce for the sampling. Sadly though, not enough space in my suitcase for bringing it all back. What I did spot and did bring back though, were some wonderfully vibrant and fresh courgette flowers.

 

I had also purchased some more sundried tomatoes as well as some goats cheese. I therefore had all the necessary ingredients to make stuffed courgette flowers for dinner tonight. I have eaten this sublime delicacy before, but have never before attempted to cook it. I don't know why these flowers are so hard to find in England, or so expensive to buy when you do (they were 12 for 1.50 Euros in the marche!). It was therefore with great anticipation that I set about making these.

What you will need

8-12 courgette flowers

150g goats cheese

Fresh chives

Fresh mint

4-5 sundried tomatoes

2 dried red chillies

Zest of 1/2 lemon juice

 

For the batter

4 heaped table spoons plain flour

1 heaped table spoon cornflour

½ tea spoon baking powder

½ tea spoon sea salt

200ml sparkling mineral water

 

Firstly make the batter. Add all the dry ingredients to a bowl and slowly whisk in the sparkling water until you have a medium-thick batter.

 

Next, wash the courgette flowers and dry thoroughly. Gently remove the stamen from inside the flowers with some small scissors.

 

Chop the sundried tomatoes, chillies, mint and chives and add to the goats cheese. Mix all the ingredients together and season with salt and pepper.

 

Delicately place 2 tea spoons of the mix inside the courgette flowers and twist the ends together to close up. These flowers are very delicate so don't fret if they do tear, just try and bring the ends together as best as possible. The batter really does work wonders in keeping the filling in.

 

 

When you have prepared all the stuffed courgette flowers, place enough oil (I used rapeseed) in a pan as necessary to fry the flowers.

 

Once the oil is up to temperature (you can test with a drop of the batter), dip each flower gently into the batter and add to the oil.

 

It is best to cook 2-3 at a time. They will take about 1-2 minutes to brown and crisp up, at which point, remove them from the oil and dry on kitchen paper. Serve these immediately whilst piping hot.

 

I served these with a baby leaf and rocket salad drizzled with balsamic vinegar. Gipsy Spread had his with some new potatoes tossed in olive tapenade. We were definitely still dining on the mediteranean tonight.

This meal meant my day ended a lot better than it had started. Think, double locking the house so the cleaner couldn't get in and realising when almost at work; turning back home to remedy and then boarding the wrong train back to work!

 

It was nice to end the day with this delicious dinner. The flowers were delicate and fragrent. The goats cheese, herbs and sundried tomatoes danced a waltz with the dried chillies in my mouth, complemented perfectly with the texture and flavour of peppery rocket and baby salad leaves. I just wish I had access to courgette flowers more often.

Mozzarella and pesto tortelloni in tomato sauce

It's always sad to be coming back from holiday. Although, I do also love that moment when you open the front door to your own home after a long absence. All your own home comforts back with you once again and that dream of moving to the South of France a distant memory. 

So we disembarked the plane from Nice to Gatwick about 5.30pm our time. How to continue that holiday feeling? Why, thank you Misters Marks and Spencer, yes we will purchase some French Merlot for the Gatwick Express home. A bottle of wine and two glasses on the commute, tres francais. 

When we arrived home an hour later, we were conscious of dinner time looming and suitcases needing to be unpacked. Thankfully I had picked up a packet of mozzarella and (basically) pesto tortelloni before our holiday and I set about making a quick tomato sauce to serve with it for a truly tasty, simple and satisfying meal. Everything doesn't always have to be cooked from scratch, sometimes cheating is ok.

What you will need
Basil and pine nut tortelloni (or any other)
1 jar of passata
3 cloves garlic
1 tea spoon chilli flakes
125ml red wine
1 table spoon balsamic vinegar
1 table spoon tomato puree

Simply chop the cloves of garlic and chilli flakes. Add to some olive oil and fry gently just for a minute. Add the small jar of passata, the red wine, the balsamic vinegar, tomato puree and salt and pepper. Cook at a medium heat for 15-20 minutes until reduced and thickened.

Next, take the tortelloni, which ever you have chosen and cook as per instructions. Mine was the Sainsbury's  taste the difference 'basil and pine nut margherite'.

Serve the tortelloni with the deliciously tangy tomato sauce and some grated fresh parmesan and lashings of ground black pepper.



Cheating and being just good enough (because I didn't make the tortelloni), can sometimes actually taste great. After many many french meals and a long journey home, I thoroughly enjoyed this simple cheats meal, made with very little effort.

Chez Hugo, Seillans

I had done my research and decided on a birthday lunch venue for Gipsy Spread in the tiny Town of Seillans in which we were staying along the Cote d'Azur. Unfortunately we couldn't eat here on his actual birthday as they are closed on Mondays (very French, deciding own opening hours). We all trotted along then with high expectations on the Tuesday. I had also emailed ahead to ensure that there would be a vegetarian option for me; a necessary pre-requisite in France, although the availability of a vegetarian option has improved in the last 10 years.

The restaurant menu is decided based on the ingredients found in the market. This means they are fresh, local and seasonal. The best of the mediteranean. The menu is therefore decided daily and written on a board for diners to choose from. When I asked what the vegetarian option was, I was offered a plate of assorted vegetables cooked in different ways. I'm sure this would have been excellent, but I could not picture it. I therefore opted for a mains portion of the 'salade panache de tomates du pottager au basilic'. This was very large when it arrived, but light with intense tomato flavours. It also came with some sort of cream (fromage blanc?) which was the perfect accompaniment. I might go so far as to say the best tomato salad I have ever had.

Gipsy Spread's birthday meal was majorly carnivorous. Of course he opted for the 'filet de boeuf'. "When in France...". Mother, Sister and brother in law Spread all opted for the 'Sole Meuniere'.

Yes, it was lunchtime, but there's always room for dessert, and y'know, I had only had a salad. The other consideration was that the classic french dessert of 'ile flottante' was on offer. So clever these French, using the egg whites for the 'ile' and the egg yolks for what it is that it is 'flottante' on.

So, ile flottante it was for me. It came out and was huge. Much larger than any other I have come across. The meringue of the 'ile' is usually a much smaller quinelle. Gipsy Spread's cousin who now lives near Marseilles also stated that he thought it was the best ile flottante he has ever had. A ringing endorsement.

Others in the party opted for the pannacota with a raspberry coulis and the moelleux au chocolat; which always reminds me of Greg Wallis saying "the road to Masterchef is lined with failed chocolate fondants". This would have passed the Masterchef challenge. Rich dark chocolate with a hot, soft, molten gooey centre.

Chez Hugo was very bijous inside, but had more than enough space at lunch time for it's customers. There was also plenty of outdoor seating. Stefan, one of the owners speaks very good English, even though the majority of us spoke French and was excellent at translating the menu for us. The food was of very high quality, fresh and seasonal from the market. This restaurant is definitely worth a visit when in and around Seillans.