MISCELLANEOUS

Right- so as my post title clearly indicates, today I feel like sharing visual snippets of randomness that has been happening in my kitchen lately.

One involves an appetizer-ish idea that I actually came up with while driving back home (for some reason, I always get all my ideas while driving or sleeping, hmm...) and the other is an absolutely fantastic mushroom Gordon Ramsay sauce- absolutely DIVINE.

Do you happen to have some olives, cheese (feta ideally) and a roll of puff pastry (yes, I admit- puff pastry is one of the few things I don't make from scratch!) at your disposal? Make some tall chunky crunchy appetizer sticks to nibble on with a good glass of wine.


They don't have to look perfect- that's the whole point of making these at home rather then giving into industrial ready-made puff pastry sticks!


Admire the layers of crunch! mmm


And now moving onto something totally different: the magical Mushroom, sherry & grain sauce concocted by the very talented (and furiously hot blooded chef!) Gordon Ramsay.

Definately not the most photogenic sauce... but it was absolutely delicious!


I served it with beef filet, but I cleaned the leftovers away with bread! Definately a versatile sauce that would go just as well with beef, chicken, or pasta.


Have a great start of the week everyone!
x
Marianna

TARTE FIGUE - VIOLETTE

I've realized that a lot of my recent posts have been recollections of my culinary travelling experiences, but I will be back on track with recipes, recipes and more recipes! So I am taking a break from travel-blogging (because I have just one more destination to write about!! bear with me!) with this easy to make sweet treat using the last figs before they are out of season.
Figs are so beautiful- one of the most beautiful fruits in my opinion. From their colour, odour and taste... it's nature's divinity!

On sunny days (and there are not many left here in Paris!), I love making fruit tarts- generously rich in fruit on a crunchy base (I prefer puff pastry over shortcut pastry to be honest with you) and always with a little twist. The twist this time was a floral dimension to the tart- usually I love matching up figs with rose, but for a change I thought it would be great to give violet a try. I find that figs & violet complement each other in a very elegant way and adds a bit of a surprise effect to each bite.

Before going into the oven.... and after, with fragrant sizzling juices coming out of the figs...mmm

Would you like a slice? Or maybe try making it on your own? It takes less then 20 minutes to make!

Recipe for Tarte Figue - Violette

Figs

Violet (whatever form you can find, I used a syrup from the Monin range)

Ground almonds

Puff pastry

Butter (optional)

Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Wash figs, dry and slice. Prepare puff pastry into desired form, poke with a fork and brush over the violet syrup (if you are using another form then introduce as appropriate). Sprinkle a thin layer of ground almonds, and arrange fig slices on top. If you wish, you can add some diced butter on top of the figs. I didn't add sugar as well, but you might want to! Bake for 15mins.

Of course there are always other "interesting" options that go well with figs: rose, violet, red tea, etc...