Clafoutis aux cerises (Classic French dessert with black cherries and flan batter)

It's summer time!!! And that means cherries are in season right now! Color me happy, because cherries are one of my absolute favorite fruits :)

For my first post of July, I decided to treat you guys (and myself at the same time!) with a delicious classic French dessert: Clafoutis aux cerises. It is a simple flan batter poured over juicy, plump black cherries and baked to golden custardy perfection.

Sounds good? It is! Try it and let me know how you liked it.



INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):
- about 1/2 lb of pitted fresh black cherries (my advice: invest in a cherry pitter. I did this with chopsticks and it was a bloody mess!)
Note: the traditional recipe calls for unpitted cherries, as they give an almond flavor to the cake. But I like my teeth, thank you very much, so pitted cherries it is!
- 1 tbsp AP flour
- 4 to 5 tbsp granulated sugar, depending on how sweet your cherries are
- 1 cup of milk
- 2 eggs
- a little bit of cold butter, for the pan


RECIPE:
- preheat your oven at 400F
- using a paper towel, thoroughly grease an 8" pan with the cold butter

Note: I used a 9" pan and it ended up being a little big for the amount of batter
- mix all the ingredients, except the cherries, until smooth like a very thin pancake batter

- place the cherries in the bottom of the pan and pour the batter on top of the fruits

- lower the oven to 300F and bake for 1 hour until golden at the corners

- enjoy lukewarm or cold with a nice glass of cold milk, or a steaming cup of black tea

Ratatouille

Long before being the title to (let's admit it) one of the awesomest Disney/Pixar productions of all time, Ratatouille was a delicious French dish.

Made with sun-gorged vegetables like eggplants, zucchini, bell peppers and tomatoes, it is traditionally served in the South of France or Provence. Not unlike curry, chili or lasagna, there are as many recipes for it as there are cooks.

My favorite way to have it is with buttery, creamy scrambled eggs or cold on a piece of sourdough toast. Delicious!

Here's my recipe.



INGREDIENTS (for 4 people as a side dish):
- 1 large eggplant
- 1 zucchini
- 1 bell pepper (any color)
- 1 bucket of cherry tomatoes (or 3 medium tomatoes)
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 onion
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 sprig of thyme
- 1/4 cup of olive oil, reserve 1 tbsp on the side
- salt and pepper to taste


RECIPE:
- dice the eggplant (about 1/2 inch), salt lightly to draw water out and pat dry with paper towels

- dice the zucchini, pepper, onion and garlic and halve the cherry tomatoes (if using medium tomatoes, cut in eight)

- in a hot pan over medium heat, fry the dried eggplant in the olive oil until golden and reserve in a bowl

- in the remaining tbsp of olive oil, fry the onion and garlic over medium heat until translucent and fragrant, then add the zucchini and pepper and fry for 2-3 minutes over medium heat

- add the cooked eggplants, tomatoes, thyme and bay leaf, cover and let simmer over low heat for 30 minutes

- after 30 minutes, uncover and let simmer for another 15-20 minutes over low heat, stirring often

- serve warm alongside eggs, fish or any meat (goes really well with chicken and pork), room temperature or cold, as a salad or on toast. Ratatouille is delicious any way you eat it!
- enjoy!!

Roasted chestnuts

Roasted chestnuts are a very typical Parisian street food. I have such fond memories of getting out of the metro on cold winter days and smelling the aroma wafting from those warm little nuggets of deliciousness, wrapped in newspaper cones.

Provided you can get your hands on fresh chestnuts in the shell, these are extremely easy to make! You don't even need to grill them on an open fire, you can just use a pan (although they will taste much better if you prepare them on a barbecue grill or in the fireplace). I do recommend a cast iron skillet if you have one, but any skillet will do.

Try them, you won't regret it!


INGREDIENTS:
- fresh chestnuts, still in their shells


RECIPE:
- rinse and dry the chestnuts
- with a sharp paring knife, score the chestnuts in an arched line

Note: this will allow the chestnut to expand with the heat without exploding
- place the chestnuts in a dry hot skillet and cook for about 20-25 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring often so that they don't burn

Note: a little char is okay though! They will develop a lovely smoky flavor.
- the chestnuts are ready when you can smell them and they have cracked a little along the scored line; they will be soft to the chew

- serve unpeeled, in a newspaper cone and enjoy them while you stroll down the streets. Or in front of a cozy fireplace ;)

Crêpes (French pancakes)

Even though February is in the middle of winter and it's downright depressing that spring is still so far away, you will not find a French person who doesn't LOVE this month!

And that's because we celebrate La Chandeleur (or Candlemas), otherwise known as Crepe Day. In this day of celebration (February 2nd), it is tradition to stuff your face with as many Crepes as humanly possible.

Now this year Crepe day fell on the same day as the lunar New Year, and because I made Pho last week to celebrate, I had to wait a week before I made my crepes. But here they are now:) And you should make some too!

Enjoy!


INGREDIENTS (for about 30-40 crepes, depending on the size of your pan):
- 8 large eggs
- 4 cups of milk (1 liter)
- 1lb AP flour (500g)
- 4 tbsp melted butter (not pictured)
- 1/4 cup sugar
- a pinch of salt
- optional: 1 tbsp of rum (this is a classic flavor, but you can use any other flavoring you like such as orange blossom water, lemon zest, orange zest, vanilla extract, coconut extract, coffee, etc...)


RECIPE:
- in a large bowl, mix the flour and salt, add the eggs and milk all at the same time and whisk until smooth

- if there are lumps, you can pass it through a fine sieve before adding the melted butter and blending with a whisk

- let the batter rest at least 1 hour in the fridge
- preheat a flat pan on medium-high heat and add a little drizzle of melted butter in the pan before you pour in a ladleful of batter and immediately swirl the pan around so that the batter coats the entire bottom of the pan in a thin layer

- just like for pancakes, you want to start seeing small bubbles on the uncooked surface of the crepe and browning of the edges before you carefully flip it over with a spatula

Note: if the first crepe is a fail, don't despair! The first one is always messed up! And you get to nibble on it while you cook the rest ;)
- the subsequent crepes do not even need melted butter in the pan (that's why there is so much melted butter in the batter itself!), but feel free to add some in between crepes if you feel like the crepes stick to the bottom
- serve warm with any sweet toppings you like! Classics include Nutella with or without banana slices, strawberry preserves, plain sugar and my favorite: a light sprinkle of plain sugar and a few drops of freshly squeezed lemon juice. De-li-cious!
- Happy Crepe day!