A Good Place to Gather

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Today I was inspired by my Rifle Paper calendar. We baked these tarts every morning when we had Nook Eatery. Everyone loved these tarts. And everyone wanted the recipe.

This recipe makes 8 individual tarts, or 1 large tart. The addition of pastry creme is not entirely necessary as the frangipane alone will make a delicious filling. The creme however makes the result a little lighter and less cake-like.

These tarts are not quick to make. The pears have to be poached. The pastry needs to rest and chilled once rolled into the tins. The pastry creme must be made in advance. But the crisp buttery pastry with the soft marzipany filling and the sweet rose tinged pears on top is well worth the effort.

INGREDIENTS: 

1/2 quantity sweet shortcrust pastry recipe here
1/2 quantity pastry creme recipe here
4 poached pears recipe here
110g caster sugar
110g unsalted butter
2 eggs
180g ground almonds
40ml Grand Marnier (no entirely necessary)

METHOD:

To make the frangipane, put the sugar and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitter with a paddle attachment. Mix on a low speed until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, until well combined. Add the ground almonds and mix on low speed until combined, then add the liqueur until completely incorporated. Set aside until needed.

Follow the instructions for shortcrust pastry – how to roll out and line tart tins. Set the pastry cases aside in the freezer for at least 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Blind bake the tart cases for 20 minutes, until golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Lower the oven to 180°C.

To assemble the tarts, fold the frangipane and 250ml pastry creme together until completely combined, then spoon 2 tablespoons into each of the pastry cases. Slice the poached pears in halve, and then slice the halves to make a fan. Arrange these on top of the tarts and bake for 20 minutes, or until golden.

The same can be done with peaches and plums when they are in season. You can also replace the vanilla with whole spices – I have made these with the addition of cinnamon stick, star anise, and cardamom pods.

INGREDIENTS: 

1 vanilla bean, split lengthways
1kg caster sugar
2 litres water
2 lemons, cut into halves
10 pears, peeled and cored

METHOD:

Add the vanilla bean, sugar, lemon and water to a saucepan. Bring to the boil over a high heat, stirring well to dissolve the sugar, then reduce the heat to a very slow simmer.

Add the pears to the syrup and cook for about 30 minutes, or until easily pierced with a skewer. The poaching time will vary depending on the ripeness of the fruit – for plums and peaches this time may be greatly reduced!

Remove from the heat, allow to cool, and store in the syrup in an airtight container. Refrigerate until needed.

Sticky chicken wings that will make you dance. They are that good.

This recipe serves two, so increase for a crowd.

INGREDIENTS: 

12 chicken wingettes
1 tbsp vegetable or nut oil
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp rice vinegar
chopped chilies to taste

METHOD:

Combine all the ingredients for the sauce in a large bowl. Add the chicken wingettes and toss until well coated. You can leave them in the marinade for a couple hours, or you can cook immediately.

Preheat the oven to 220 C°. Place the chicken on a well oiled baking tray, skin side up. Place in the hot oven and bake for 15  minutes. Turn the pieces over and coat with any reserved marinade from the bowl. Return to the oven for another 15 minutes or until cooked through. Make sure that they are browning – you may need to switch on the grill element for a few minutes. Remove from the oven and give the tray a final shake to gather up all the sticky goodness.

Serve on a platter, scattered with chopped spring onions and toasted sesame seeds.

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Luke and I love roast chicken. We love garlic. We had never tried chicken with forty cloves of garlic, and boy have we been missing out.  We had a Farmer Angus chicken (only the best will do) and about three heads of garlic to make up the forty cloves needed. A large heavy casserole and good quality olive oil completed the picture.

I consulted the recipe in Nigel Slater’s Real Food. His suggestion is that this dish be made with fresh summer bulbs, otherwise known as spring or wet garlic. You can identify them by their skin which can be anything from a faint pink to a deep mauve. Those of you who have an established vegetable garden may be in luck. I had to settle for roasting garlic, which after an hour in the oven become caramelised, sweet and soft enough to squash to a puree.

Now if I had stuck with Nigel Slater’s recipe then I would have served the garlic cloves, once roasted, on the side. Instead I mashed them up, in the casserole, with all the herbs and chicken juices. I then added a little chicken stock to create an incredibly tasty gravy.

This dish is roast chicken heaven.

INGREDIENTS: 

a large lemon, halved
a 2kg chicken
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
40 cloves of garlic
1 spring of fresh rosemary
1 sprig of fresh thyme
a bay leaf or two
a little chicken stock

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 240 C°. Put the lemon halves inside the chicken. Using your hands, rub the bird with the oil and then season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Put into your casserole, uncovered, in the oven for about twenty minutes until golden brown.

Prepare the garlic by separating the heads into cloves. Take off the skin if you like, but it’s not necessary. Take the chicken out of the oven and scatter the garlic cloves and herbs around the chicken. This time put the lid on the casserole and return to the oven for about 45 minutes to an hour.

When the chicken is cooked, remove it from the casserole and put it on a serving plate to rest. Drain any juices that have come from the chicken back into the casserole. Remove the lemon halves from the chicken and carefully press with a fork to get all their juice into the casserole. Take a potato masher or fork, and squash all the garlic cloves with all the juices and herbs in the casserole. Add a little bit of chicken stock or water to create a gravy.