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Spelt yule log (bûche de Noel) and an unidentified thigh thief
I can’t believe I’m admitting to this, but our Christmas lunch was stolen by an unidentified creature. We had put the guinea fowl, which had been slaughtered, plucked and frozen by our neighbour in November, to defrost on top of a very tall fridge in the grange. At the time, it was the proud owner of two wings and two thighs. Anyway, bad plan because when I went to get it the next morning it was minus a thigh. As we don’t have a cat, I can’t imagine what sort of animal could have climbed a slippery surface that high; it definitely wasn’t Hugo because he suffers from vertigo. My money’s on a carnivorous giraffe. Admittedly there aren’t many in Southwestern France, but it’s the only thing that makes sense. Luc, my husband, was all for cooking and serving it as an amputee delicacy, claiming that the cooking process would kill any lingering giraffe germs, but I put my foot down and we located a beautifully intact capon in a shop in the village, conveniently open on the 25th December no doubt in case of such incidents.
This ‘bûche de Noel’, which is similar to a roulade, is the traditional French Christmas dessert. It should be kept under lock and key IN THE HOUSE until you’re ready to eat it!
For the sponge:
Ingredients
4 free-range eggs
180g cane sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
160g spelt flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Raspberry jam to fill
Preheat the oven to 200°C and prepare a Swiss roll tin by lightly greasing and lining the base and sides with a large sheet of greaseproof paper, pushing it into the corners. Beat the eggs, vanilla extract and sugar together until thick and creamy and then add the spelt flour and baking powder, incorporating well. Spoon the mixture into the tin and bake in the preheated oven for nine minutes. Once baked, remove from the oven and immediately roll into a spiral on a floured-surface. Unroll and spread generously with raspberry jam. Roll again and set aside.
For the butterceam icing:
Ingredients
125g butter, softened
60g cane sugar
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons of coffee powder, diluted in two teaspoons of water
Pour the sugar into a saucepan, lightly moisten with a few drops of water and cook for about six minutes, stirring constantly. Stop just before the mixture caramelises. Beat the egg yolks and add the hot sugar little by little until the mixture whitens. Beat the butter well and gradually add the egg yolk/sugar mixture. Finally, add the coffee, incorporating well. Cover the rolled cake with the buttercream, spreading with a spatula, decorate with walnuts and glazed cherries and leave to cool for at least an hour in the fridge before serving. -
Petits pots au chocolat (chocolate pots), abject terror and an egg dearth
Hugo’s in a bit of a bad place at the moment. He frequently wakes to the resonance of hunting rifles (beyond unsettling for a dog of his delicate mental constitution) and will only deign to go outside if accompanied. On Sunday morning, no doubt in his eternal quest for reassurance, I found him in bed with Léo. Needless to say, he had not been greeted with open arms.
Since the hens, although of sound mind, are enjoying a long sabbatical, I had to concoct an egg-free chocolate mousse solution. This is it:
Ingredients (makes 6 small pots)
150g organic dark chocolate (min 70% cocoa solids)
200ml coconut cream, chilled
20g salted butter
1 teaspoon rum (optional)
2 tablespoons agave syrup
5g agar agar
Whip the coconut cream well until it becomes fluffy. Break the chocolate into small pieces and melt it and the butter in a bain marie with the rum and agave syrup. Meanwhile, dissolve the agar agar in a small quantity of hot water (4 tablespoons), bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes. Combine the whipped cream and chocolate mixture thoroughly. Then add the agar agar, mixing well. Transfer to small pots (or cups) and chill in the fridge for at least three hours before eating. -
Plum honey cake and one-way city
We went to San Sebastian (Donostia) during the recent school holidays. San Sebastian, just over the border from France in Spain’s Basque country, is home to the first University of Gastronomy and boasts an exceptionally high concentration of Michelin-starred restaurants, as well as some of the best tapas — or pintxos — bars to be found.
We stayed in a hotel on one of the hills dominating the bay. The views from the balcony were absolutely stunning and this was, as I later found out, the best way to appreciate the town. I am no wimp when it comes to challenging city driving: I learned to drive in London and then for many years enjoyed regular and complicated tangos around the insane Arc de Triomphe ‘Etoile‘ roundabout with 70 other highly strung Parisians. But, after a number of near misses, San Sebastian’s complex one-way system got the better of me and I ended up conceding defeat. Léo took great delight in keeping a tally (with a rather abrasive running commentary) of my hugely illegal manoeuvres, details of which I would rather forget. And then, as if the stress at the idea of never ever being allowed to turn left again as long as I lived wasn’t enough, I got a call from home to say that Hugo had run away. More on that next time – my nerves are still in shreds! 😉
This cake is another little gem from Amber Rose’s book, ‘Love, Bake, Nourish’. The honey makes it deliciously, fragrantly soothing and I recommend you never drive anywhere without a large slice for arduous traffic situations.
Ingredients (serves 8)
180g spelt flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
130g ground almonds
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cardamon
5 large free-range eggs
120g butter
120g organic coconut oil
180g honey
400g plums, stoned and quartered
Preheat the oven to 180°C and prepare a 22cm loose-bottomed cake tin. Mix the dry ingredients and set aside. In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks, softened butter and coconut oil and honey until thick and smooth. Gently fold into the dry ingredients. Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until stiff and then fold into the mix making sure they are fully incorporated. Finally stir in the plums and transfer the mixture to the greased tin. Bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer poked into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool before serving.
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French lentil salad with egg and Feta and big noisy puddles
by Hugo, Canine Correspondent
Yesterday we went to visit a huge, noisy puddle. I don’t totally understand how the puddle came about as it hasn’t rained very much recently. Still, I’m only a dog – I can’t be expected to understand everything. They sometimes visit the puddle without me after the first time when I refused to get out of the car. Obviously I wasn’t frightened or anything (I’m a big black scary dog after all), but I didn’t see what there was to get excited about and I’m not a fan of loud noises.
Here is a photo of me in front of the puddle (if I look a bit sad it’s because I had just been told off for spraying sand into their lunch). I wanted to swim but, unlike the puddles near the house, this one moves too much and I find that annoying – it should decide where it wants to be and stick to it. I had great fun chasing away all the noisy white hens though (I assume they were hens – they made an awful racket)…
Everyone seemed to find this lentil salad delicious, although it’s not my bag at all. If dogs were meant to eat lentils they’d be born with big floppy ears and a fluffy tail.
Ingredients (serves 4)
250g Puy lentils, cooked according to instructions
2 tablespoon virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 red onion, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
8 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 stalk celery, finely diced
2 tablespoons of diced cucumber
100g feta cheese, crumbled
4 free-range organic eggs, softly boiled
4 anchovies
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon paprika
Place the cooked, drained lentils into a salad bowl with the onion, carrot, tomatoes, celery and cucumber. Add the olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper and toss well. Crumble the Feta cheese over the top, followed by the halved eggs and anchovies. Sprinkle with paprika and serve. -
Sardine and tomato tart and terribly vain dogs
We recently bought Hugo a new collar and since, he has become more conscious of his appearance than might normally be expected of a dog. He keeps creeping upstairs, which is not really allowed. At first I thought he was coming to remind me to take him for a walk, but quickly realised that he wasn’t looking for me at all; he was looking for the big handsome dog in the mirror at the end of the upstairs hallway. Who knew that a new collar and a mirror could provide so much entertainment? I must hide my camera from him or he’ll be doing ‘selfies’ next! 😉
We still have a steady supply of tomatoes and this was a delicious way to use some up.
Ingredients (serves 6)
Pastry
80g spelt flour
50g chickpea flour
50g butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
Pinch of sea salt
Roughly 6 tablespoons of cold water
Filling
150ml fresh tomato sauce (recipe here)
1 onion (sweet if possible), peeled and sliced
2 tomatoes, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
6 sardine filets
6 anchovy filets
Freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
15g parmesan, grated
Fresh rosemary to garnish
To make the pastry, begin by cutting the butter into small cubes. Sift the flours and a pinch of salt together into in a mixing bowl, also adding the cubes of butter. Rub in and blend by hand until the mixture becomes crumbly. Add the olive oil, combining well and then add the cold water, mixing rapidly with a spoon. Remove the mixture from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until you obtain a ball of pastry (if the mixture isn’t ‘sticky’ enough to form a ball, you may need a drop more water). Wrap in a clean cotton tea towel or some cling film and leave to ‘rest’ in the fridge for about two hours. This relaxes the dough and makes it easier to use.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Roll out the pastry and line a tart tin . The pastry will be quite crumbly so you’ll need to be gentle and patch up the holes. Blind bake the pastry for 12 minutes and then fill with the fresh tomato sauce, onions and sliced tomatoes. Add the sardine filets and anchovies on top. Finally sprinkle with the parmesan, black pepper and paprika and and bake for about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and add a little fresh rosemary. Serve hot. -
Cream of cauliflower and walnut soup and karmic boomerangs
Hugo has fallen victim to the karmic boomerang and he’s not a happy bunny. His great pleasure in September is to run wild in the corn fields lifting pheasant (and anything else that might be in his wake; he’s not fussy). Of course pheasant and big black monster dogs appearing out of nowhere terrify the horses who carelessly deposit their cargo on the ground and make a run for it, but Hugo doesn’t let this bother him. His latest lifting episode was frenetic enough to cause him what I can only describe as groin strain (I’m assuming that dogs have groins?), poor thing. The good news though is that he’s now housebound for the time being and banned from ‘lifting’, which increases our chances of staying in the saddle for at least the next week or so.
Ingredients
10g butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium cauliflower, trimed and broken into pieces
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
3 tablespoons walnuts, broken into pieces
500ml organic vegetable stock
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon paprika
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
30g cream cheese (such as Boursin)
Parsley and chopped walnuts to garnish
Fry the onions in butter and olive oil in a medium casserole. Add the cauliflower, carrots and walnuts and fry gently for a few more minutes. Add the stock and seasoning and simmer for about 25 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Add the cream cheese and then purée until smooth. -
Reasonably healthy birthday cake and potentially fluorescent animals
Léo was 11 at the end of August and had been meticulously planning a paint-ball party for several months. He had trawled the internet for supplies and equipment until it dawned on me that half a dozen little boys in the possession of paintball guns ‘chez nous’ was bound to mean multi-coloured, possibly even fluorescent, highly traumatised animals. As if our animals don’t have problems enough. So it was decided that the paint-balling be done at a safe distance (about 30 kms away – I wasn’t taking any chances). They came back here afterwards (multicoloured and very grubby) to relieve the pool of over 1000 litres of water before sitting down to eat hamburgers and birthday cake. I had also planned to serve hotdogs, but Hugo polished them off before they made it to the table. The less said about that the better I think.
I really can’t claim that this cake is 100% healthy, but it’s just about as healthy as it can be, it couldn’t be easier to make and it goes down a charm. What’s not to like?
Ingredients
200g spelt flour
140g cane sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 organic eggs, beaten
1 plain yoghurt
150ml organic virgin coconut oil, melted
Organic hazelnut spread and plain chocolate (65% coco solids) M&Ms to decorate
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Add the eggs, yoghurt and coconut oil, mixing well. Pour the mixture into a greased medium cake tin and cook for 30 minutes. Remove from tin and leave to cool before covering with the hazelnut spread ‘icing’ and M&Ms. -
Blackberry and apple crumble (gf) and hideouts for dogs
by Hugo, Canine Correspondent
I’m really not a complaining sort of dog, but there are a few things that have been bothering me recently. The Bossy One invited lots of friends to stay this Summer, which is fine because it means that I can have fun knocking them over and sitting on their laps. But it also means that she has less time to devote to me. And that is not fun, in fact it’s hurtful because I feel neglected. Admittedly she still takes me for walks, but frankly her mind is elsewhere when she’s jabbering away or picking blackberries. Usually she spends her time worrying about where I am while I’m off chasing deer and rabbits. Sometimes I hide to watch her look for me; it’s quite amusing to watch her unspool. Anyway, to get away from it all, I made myself a little camp under the hydrangea bushes in front of the house. Only the hens know where I am; at least they still remember I exist.
Ingredients
300g apples, peeled, cored and sliced
2 tablespoons maple syrup
80ml orange juice
150g blackberries, rinced
80g chickpea flour
40g ground almonds
2 tablespoons almond flakes
pinch of ground sea salt
40g butter, cut into cubes
40g organic virgin coconut oil, at room temperature and cut into small cubes
30g cane sugar
Preheat the oven to 170°C. Gently simmer the sliced apples and maple syrup for a couple of minutes in about 80ml of orange juice (or apple juice or water). Add the blackberries and transfer to an ovenproof baking dish. To make the crumble, put the butter, coconut oil, chickpea flour, ground almonds and salt into a bowl and rub in with your fingertips. Add the almond flakes, mixing well. Sprinkle the mixture over the fruit, adding the cane sugar to the top of the mixture. Bake for about 35 minutes and serve hot with vanilla ice cream. -
Caramelised peach and buckwheat pudding cake (gf) and tired chicken legs
Hugo and I were nearly a kilometre from the house yesterday evening when we realised that we were not alone — all three hens had followed us. (The only other time I have seen chicken legs move as fast was at a rugby club barbecue). It goes without saying that Hugo was not best pleased. He tried to explain, rather tendentiously I felt, that they should return home, but to no avail; they were absolutely determined that they needed some exercise. As a result, for the moment at least, we have three hens too knackered to lay eggs.
This pudding cake is another adaptation from my Book of the Moment: Love, Bake, Nourish by Amber Rose. Luckily for me, it is fairly egg-light, but no less delicious for it.
Ingredients
For the peach topping:
3 peaches, peeled and cut into slices
2 cardamon pods
25g salted butter
2 tablespoons maple syrup
For the pudding base:
75g butter
75g organic virgin coconut oil
75g organic buckwheat flour
2 large free-range eggs (preferably from hens that don’t partake in cross-country events)
75g ground almonds
1 teaspoon cinnamon
50g maple syrup
50g agave syrup
Preheat the oven to 170°C. Caramelise the peaches and ground cardamon pods in the butter and maple syrup. Set aside. Cut the butter and coconut oil into small cubes and cream with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add a tiny bit of the flour, then the eggs one at a time. Continue to beat the mixture until fluffy. Fold in the remaining flour, ground almonds, cinnamon and syrups.
Transfer the mixture into a greased cake tin, levelling well with the back of a spoon. Place the caramelised peaches on top of the cake mixture, drizzling any remaining juice over the top. Bake for about 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool. Delicious served with vanilla ice-cream. -
Quatre-quarts (pound cake) and irritatingly untidy hens
Things are dodgy here in the canine mental health department — Hugo’s OCD is back with a vengeance. He has decided that the three hens should be together AT ALL TIMES. Apparently stray hens are just too untidy to contemplate. Luckily, the white hen and older red one do seem to stick together (whether through choice or fear of Hugo is unclear). The younger red hen though is a bit of a rebel and seems to enjoy teasing neat-freak dogs. I’ve given up yelling at him for grabbing her by the wings and depositing her in her rightful place next to the others as he doesn’t seem to harm her (beyond making her soggy) and she’s obviously anything but traumatised. He makes the most of having her in his mouth to lick her clean; In Hugo’s world, cleanliness is next to godliness.
Although pound cake (quatre-quarts as it’s called in France) really contains too much sugar to be considered healthy, I’ve tried to make it as unhealthy as possible by using ‘whole’ ingredients. The result is rich, delicious and versatile: a great vehicle for all sorts of toppings or accompaniments.
Ingredients
250g spelt flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
125g butter
125g extra virgin organic coconut oil
200g cane sugar
4 large organic eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
1 tablespoon rum
Sift the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda together and set aside. Cut the butter and coconut oil into cubes and leave to soften at room temperature for a few minutes. Beat with an electric mixer for about ten minutes until fluffy and then gradually add the sugar, continuing to beat. Add the eggs one at a time and whisk for another few minutes. Lastly, add the rum and vanilla essence and gently fold in the flour. Transfer the mixture to a buttered loaf tin and cook in a non-preheated oven at 160°C for an hour, or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin.
