Chickpea & Chocolate Italian Christmas Cookie Filling
Cookie Filling
- 1 small jar of grape jelly
- 2 cans of chick peas
- 1/2 quart of wine
- 1 lb. of walnuts chopped
- 1 orange grated
- 1 large Hershey bar
- 3 cups of sugar
wednesdays at welbeck: autumn has sprouted
special delivery
Back to school clothes. Blustery bright weather. A turn in the garden.
Arriving this week with a suitcase of sweater/jumpers for the beginning of a year of practical butchery & charcuterie classes at the School of Artisan Food was like taking a peek into the past. Nervous/excited students joined nervous/excited teachers, all eager to get their hands into the daily work that will occupy them for the next 10 months. Back to school. Autumn. A new year begins.
As a cook, I look to the garden to help reset my calendar, to reboot my year so that when October & November arrive, I am ready for the longer nights, the colder days, and the work at hand. when I asked a student who was heading over to the farm shop to pick up some vegetables for me for dinner (we already had the makings of a pork tenderloin from today’s class), they arrived fresh on the stalk… by special delivery.
It didn’t take long for a bike load of Brussel sprouts to become a tasty companion to our freshly butchered pork. Recipe? Just half a sliced onion and the sprouts sauteed in some Devon butter and olive oil with fresh thyme, salt and pepper finished with a squeeze of lime.
With the school year starting like this, I look forward to more velo-driven rewards from Welbeck’s Farmshop to accompany the talented Mr. Viv Harvey’s teaching results…
harvest tarte in few words…
Two tartes.
One with goat’s cheese; one without.
A gathering of fruit from Camont- half a dozen last figs, handful of grapes from the arbor, several walnuts fresh from the trees.
A buttery crust bound with an egg cradles a base of fresh goat’s cheese, egg and sugar; or just half a jar of quince/orange preserves.
Popped in a hot oven 200′C/425′F for 25 minutes. Don’t forget a sprinkle of sugar across the top. Perfect for a sunny fall lunch.
This is another version of the tarte that Mrs. Wheelbarrow wrote about here. It’s that time of season here.
Result: One happy Camp Cassoulet Camper at Camont!
Hurricane Soup- don’t forget your duck confit!
I was just going to call this Workday Soup- a 20-minute solution to feeding a small crew at Camont. I’ve been working on my homework for SAF (actually, my homework will be your homework, you lucky Butchery & Charcuterie students who begin next month!). I hate to get interrupted when working on tables and calendars. When the Noon siren blew from the nearby village spire, I just started shouting cooking advice into the kitchen. Cut up some potatoes! Chop up that Ventreche into lardons! Throw it in a pan with the duck fat!
Twenty minutes or so later, the potatoes were creamy and tender, the duck fat broth was golden rich, and a jar containing an solitary confited duck breast was popped in a pan to warm through, crisp up and garnish the steamy thyme and bay infused broth. Eh Voila!
This is the sort of nourishing and soothing meal that might help in a hurricane ravaged moment- grab a sack of potatoes, a jar of duck confit and your sterno stove. To all my dear friends and family in Irene’s path, I dub this soup for you!
ps- don’t have any duck confit in the larder? I still have one place open on the October 3 Confit Course -http://kitchen-at-camont.com/programs/cookery/dig-in/cassoulet-confit-coq-au-vin/.
M’aidez! c’est May Day! Sirop des Roses…
From paté de foie to canalés and farçoux to tarte au fromage, the kitchen at Camont was hoppin’ this weekend with good food, new friends like Olwyn & John Fleming and beautiful Spring weather. But what topped the Weekend of Tasting Gascony after a trip to Nerac’s fabulous Saturday market and three days of cooking cooking cooking, was a May Day inspired afternoon of ‘foraging’ Camont’s shaggy spring garden. Drooping off the garden shed, my old heavily-blossomed and heavenly-scented Chrysler Imperial roses made easy pickings to create a sirop des roses for summer garden kirs. A sweet souvenir of this most beautiful Spring of 2011.
Rose-scented Sirop mixes with sparkling water, cava, champagne,or pour over strawberries, raspberries and peaches. Mix it with Rosé!
This weekend we’ll use it to make a Rose/Rosé Sangria for a Cinco de Mayo Rose fete with friends… here at Camont! We’ll be wearing roses in our hair, on our hats, doux-rags and everywhere. If you’re in the Gascon neighborhood drop by!
la recette: Sirop des Roses de Camont
- one large basket full of deeply scented red roses- organic, of course!
- 500 gr sugar
- 1 liter water
- 1 fresh lemon squeezed
Bring all ingredients to a boil, stirring until all sugar is dissolved.
Simmer gently about 10 minutes until rose petals are pale- they will have given their color and scent to the syrup.
Let cool, then strain and decant the sirop into lovely old armagnac bottles. Top with a slug of alcohol and cork or seal.
Next, make nice labels from old gardening magazines.
We made about 4 small bottles of rosy magic.
It’s a nice gift to offer when you come to the Gascon table…
Strawberries drunk on Rosé & Roses by TC.
