Tarte aux Pommes - French Apple Pie

I love homemade apple pie, especially the French way, as it is aesthetically pleasing and tastes great.  For this recipe, I've also made the pie crust from scratch.  It's actually quite easy and I can boast that everything in this recipe is truly homemade from start to finish. By the way, this tart can be eaten hot or cold. 

Ingredients:
-6 apples
-250 grams of flour
-125 grams of butter
-1/4 cup of water
-1 tablespoon of sugar

Instructions:

-For the pie crust, with your fingers, mix together the flour and butter (otherwise use a mixer).  Once the flour and butter is well mixed, start adding the water a little at a time until it forms a nice pie dough.

-Line the pie dish with parchment paper.

-Roll the pastry dough and place on top of the parchment paper in the pie dish.  Stick in the refrigerator. 

-Peel 3 apples, cut out the seeds and cut into small pieces.

-Place apples in a sauce pan over medium to high heat with enough water to cover the apples.

-Boil and stir occasionally for about 20 minutes until you get a nice apple sauce.

-Taste and if needed, sprinkle in a bit of sugar.

 

-Peel 3 apples, cut into quarters, cut out the seeds and cut into thin slices.

-Take the pie crust out of the refrigerator and pour in the apple sauce. 

-From the outside, start placing the apple slices clockwise.  For the next layer, place them counter clockwise and for the inner layer, place them clockwise.  Sprinkle some sugar on top of the pie and bake for 40 minutes at 200 degrees C.

Optional:

-If you don't have much time, skip the apple sauce and just layer the apple slices in the pie crust.

-Sprinkle some cinnamon on top of the apples before baking.

-Goes great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream - tarte aux pommes a la mode!

Baked Gambas with Garlic and Parsley

I never cared for seafood in the past, however when I moved to France, my husband introduced me to the world of seafood and I now love fish, shrimp, mussels, crab, etc.  This particular shrimp recipe has a lot of garlic and parsley, so you will have garlic breath and watch out for those parsley bits in between your teeth.



My cat also loves shrimp,
so I gave her the shrimp heads. 
Spoiled cat!



Ingredients:
-800 grams of giant shrimp
-50 grams of butter
-1/4 cup of olive oil
-1/4 cup of fresh parsley
-3 cloves of garlic
-1 teaspoon of chilli flakes
-Juice of half a lemon

Instructions:

-Combine and mix together the melted butter, olive oil, lemon juice, chopped parsely, chopped garlic and chilli flakes. 

-Follow the photo instructions below to cut up the shrimp.

-Once the shrimp has been cut up, spoon the butter mixture over the shrimp.

-Bake in the oven at 220 degrees C for 4 minutes or until the skin and tail of the shrimp becomes red.

Off with their heads!

Cut off the legs.

Cut the back (opposite the leg side)
from the tail down.

Open up the shrimp and take out any
veins that may appear.




Bake in the oven for 4 minutes and
serve immediately.

 

Spoon the butter mixture over
the shrimp





Chilli

Chilli is a great one pot dish.  It's simple, tasty and does not make a huge mess in the kitchen.  It's also pure comfort food for rainy days like today.  This recipe is inspired from Jamie Oliver's "Good Old Chilli Con Carne" from his book Ministry of Food, a fantastic collection of recipes from a great chef!  Highly recommended!

Ingredients:
-2 onions                                             -2 cloves of garlic
-2 carrots                                            -2 sticks of celery
-Olive oil                                              -1 can of red kidney beans (400g)
-2 cans of chopped tomatoes (800g)       -500g of ground beef
-bunch of fresh coriander                       -2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
-1 teaspoon of cumin                            -1 teaspoon of chilli powder or chilli paste
-1 teaspoon of cinnamon                       -Salt & pepper

Instructions:

-Chop up the onions, garlic, carrots and celery.

-In a large pot, on medium heat, add the olive oil and all the chopped veggies.  Saute and eventually add all the spices (chilli powder, cumin, cinnamon, salt and pepper).

-Once the veggies are cooked through, add the ground beef and cook until browned.

-Add the kidney beans, 2 tins of chopped tomatoes and 1 tin of water. 

-Pick off the coriander leaves.  Wash and chop the coriander stems and add to the pot along with the balsamic vinegar. 

-Season everything with salt and pepper, according to your taste.

-Bring everything to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for an hour, with the lid on, stirring occasionally.
-Serve hot and top off with coriander.

Optional:
-Goes great with a crusty baguette, nacho chips or on a bed of rice.

Leek, Ham and Mushroom Quiche

Living in France, I should know how to make a basic quiche.  I like this recipe, because it's versatile and allows me to put in any of my favourite ingredients.  For this particular quiche, I have settled on using leek, ham and mushroom, a delicious combination in my opinion.  PS: the French mouse in the photo is mischievously looking at my quiche!  Fait attention petite souris, le quiche est pour nous!

Ingredients:
-1 package of puff pastry
-1 1/4 cup of emmental cheese
-1 1/4 cup of milk
-4 eggs
-Salt & pepper
-2 leeks
-3 slices of ham
-1 can of chopped mushrooms
-1 tablespoons of olive oil

Instructions:

-Grate the cheese, beat the eggs, drain the mushrooms, chop the leeks and ham into small pieces.

-Under medium heat, add the olive oil and sauté the leeks, ham and mushroom. 

-Add salt and pepper (amount according to your preference).

-In a bowl, combine and mix the milk and eggs.

-Line the pie shell with parchment paper and add the pastry.

-Place the cooked leek, ham and mushroom mixture into the pastry along with the eggs and milk.

-Top off with the cheese.

-Bake in the oven at 200 degrees C for 35 minutes.

Optional:

-Put any of your favourite ingredients into a quiche, such as onions, tomatoes, asparagus, etc.

-Goes great with a side salad.

Roasted Tomato Crostini

These small bite size toasts are fantastic for an aperitif.  I like to drink it with a tequila sunrise and my husband's choice of drink is a glass of Pastis (a French liqueur that tastes like black licorice).    This makes for a very nice and relaxing summer afternoon.  These crostinis can be eaten hot or cold.

Ingredients:
-400 grams of cherry tomatoes, chopped in half, lengthwise
-3 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley
-3 cloves of garlic, minced
-3 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese
-1 baguette, cut into diagonal slices
-1 tablespoon of olive oil

Instructions:
-Combine the garlic and parmesan cheese.
-Place the tomatoes on a baking sheet, cut side up and drizzle with olive oil. 
-Sprinkle the cheese mixture on top and bake for 20 minutes at 200 degrees C.  Add the parsley once finished.
-Toast baguette slices in the toaster.
-Spread the tomato mixture on the baguette slices and serve.

Optional:
-Parsley can be replaced by fresh basil.

Tuna Samosa

This recipe is my dear friend's signature dish.  I used to think of tuna as cat food, but in this recipe it is absolutely delicious.  I adore cats, and since I have 4 furry felines of my own, I suppose it was natural for me to take a liking to tuna.  The only tricky part of this recipe is the folding of the triangle shaped samosa.  It took me about 3 tries before I got it right.  Thank goodness my friend taught me well.

 Ingredients:

-1 package of filo pastry (feuilles de brick)
-2 cans of tuna (400 grams in total)
-1 small carrot, shredded
-1 small zucchini, shredded
-75 grams of canned soy bean sprout, chopped into very small pieces.
-1 small onion, chopped into very small pieces
-2 teaspoons of soy sauce


Instructions:
-Combine and mix the tuna, carrot, zucchini, soy bean sprout, onion and soy sauce. Do not put the liquid of the tuna and soy bean sprout into the mixture.

-Cut each round pastry in half.

-To make the samosas, follow the photo instructions below.

-Once the samosas are made, pan fry on high heat, with vegetable oil until golden and crispy on each side.

1.  Cut in half.

2.  Place the round edge of the pastry down.

4.  Take the bottom of the pastry and
fold up towards the tuna mixture.

3.  Place tuna mixture near the
top corner.

6.  Take the bottom right corner and fold up
to the top line, making a big triangle.

5.  Take the top right corner and fold
down. This makes a mini-triangle.

7.  Take the top right corner and fold to the

bottom line, keeping the triangle shape.

8.  Take the bottom right corner and fold to
the top line, keeping the triangle shape.

9.  With the leftover pastry bit,
tuck into the fold.