Zucchini, bacon and cheese clafoutis

Those of you around here for a while know that the other habitant of my house used to be a very picky eater until he spent (precious) days in China - one of the things he did not eat back then was heavy cream (!).

That has luckily changed and many times in the warmer months, when we wanted something light but still delicious I made savory clafoutis for lunch and served with a big salad. Joao’s favorite mix of flavors is the one I bring you today: the salty bits of bacon pair wonderfully well with the cheese and the zucchini. My favorite clafoutis is the one made exactly like this, however swapping the zucchini for a handlful of button mushrooms that get browned in a drizzle of the leftover bacon fat before being added to the batter. If you ever try any of the versions I will love to hear your comments about it.

Zucchini, bacon and cheese clafoutis
own creation

2 slices of bacon, chopped
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup (80ml) heavy cream
1/3 cup (80ml) whole milk, room temperature
½ cup (70g) all purpose flour
1/3 cup gruyere cheese, coarsely grated
1 medium zucchini (about 200g/7oz), in small dice
2 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves only
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F. Set aside a 1-liter capacity heatproof baking dish – the one on the photo is 20cm (8in) wide and 3.5cm (1 1/3in) deep.

Heat a small nonstick frying pan over high heat and cook the bacon, stirring occasionally so the pieces brown evenly. As soon as they are crispy, remove them from the saucepan using a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate lined with paper towels. Use some of the rendered fat to grease the insides of the baking dish.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, cream and milk until smooth. Add the flour and whisk until smooth again. Stir in the cheese, zucchini and thyme leaves, then season with salt and pepper. Pour into the prepared baking dish and sprinkle with the bacon bits.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until puffed and golden. Serve immediately.

Serves 2-3 (depending on what is served with it)

Caramelized onion and gruyere focaccia and the excellent "Bloodline"

Now that I have brought my husband to the dark side – the side of the addicted to TV series – he keeps asking me what we’ll watch next: I find it both funny and lovely and I hope he stays this way for good. :)

We finished watching the first season of The Americans and while Netflix doesn’t bring us more episodes – I cannot wait! – I suggested we watched Bloodline, for its great cast and because Ben Mendelsohn had impressed me very much in the great Animal Kingdom. One of my readers had told me it was a wonderful show and she was right: it is well written, well directed and definitely spot on in acting – my husband loved it, too, and as we moved on through the episodes things got more and more interesting, to the point my husband said that he hoped there would be a second season (good news: there will be).

If you like dramas like the ones I usually write about here on the blog I can’t recommend Bloodline enough, and if you like baking bread and having something tasty to nibble on with a glass of sparkling wine or beer go to the kitchen and make this focaccia: it is not complicated to make and it tastes absolutely fantastic.

Caramelized onion and gruyere focaccia
slightly adapted from the delicious Home Baked Comfort (Williams-Sonoma) (revised): Featuring Mouthwatering Recipes and Tales of the Sweet Life with Favorites from Bakers Across the Country

Dough:
2 ¼ teaspoons (7g/1 sachet) active dry yeast
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 cup (240ml) warm water
3 1/3 cups (465g) all-purpose flour
¼ cup (60ml) olive oil
1 scant teaspoon table salt
150g (5oz) Gruyere cheese, shredded

Topping:
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 yellow onions, halved and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
salt

In the bowl of a stand mixer, dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add the flour, oil, salt and cheese. Attach the dough hook and knead on medium-low speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Form the dough into a ball, put it back in a lightly oiled large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free spot until it doubles, about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, in a large frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil medium-low heat. Add the onions and sauté over medium-low heat until they start to wilt, about 3 minutes. Stir in the sugar and a good pinch of salt and continue to cook until the onions are golden brown and caramelized, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool.

Oil a rimmed baking sheet with 1 ½ tablespoons of the olive oil. Dump the dough onto the prepared pan and press it into a rough rectangle. Using your fingers, stretch the dough into a rectangle about 20x30cm (8x12in). Cover the dough loosely with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until puffy, about 1 hour.

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 220°C (425°F). Dimple the surface of the dough with your fingertips. Gently brush the remaining oil, then sprinkle evenly with the onion. Bake until gorgeously golden, about 20 minutes. Cut into squares and serve while warm.

Makes 1 flatbread (serves 6-8)

One fantastic rye pastry, two tarts: leek and cheese galette and plum and blackberry galette

One of the things I find most magical and fascinating about cooking is that even if you’ve been doing it for a long time – in my case, nearly 25 years – there always something new to try, or a new way to try something you already love: food is dynamic.

After making those delicious jam bars with rye flour, I began searching for other ways to incorporate the beloved ingredient in my baking and saw these beautiful apricot galettes in one of my favorite books (and one of the most beautiful I own, too). I like Amber Rose’s approach to food and everything I had made from her cookbook had turned out great until then, so I was really looking forward to trying her rye pastry.

It was a revelation.

As I ate pieces of the galettes, first the savory, then the sweet, I was mesmerized: how could that be so delicious?

Making the pastry was easy using a food processor, and as I rolled and folded it I kept thinking that the result would be a very flaky pastry, which is something I love – it indeed turned out flaky, and so tasty. Divine, actually.

When I placed the two little packages of pastry in the fridge for their final rest, I saw the leeks I’d bought for soup and had a sudden urge: instead of making two plum tarts, why not make one sweet and one savory? Dinner and dessert with one pastry recipe = perfection. :)

I cooked the leeks with some white wine (me and my love for booze) and paired it with cheese for the savory galette – it turned out amazing. The plum tart was really good, too. The rye pastry, besides being flavorsome and flaky, was great paired with both savory and sweet fillings. The recipe is a keeper and I hope you give it a go – I cannot wait to make it again with different fillings: tomatoes, goat’s cheese and thyme is a combo I would love to try with this pastry, and I bet that apples and pears would be lovely with it, too.

Rye pastry (enough to make both tarts)
slightly adapted from the beautiful and delicious beyond words Love, Bake, Nourish: Healthier cakes and desserts full of fruit and flavor

120g rye flour
120g all purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon table salt
175g unsalted butter, cold and in small cubes
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
7-8 tablespoons ice-cold water
1 egg, lightly beaten with a fork, for brushing

Plum and blackberry filling
adapted from the same cookbook

4 plums, each cut in eighths
½ tablespoon honey
pinch ground cinnamon
8 frozen blackberries
demerara sugar, for sprinkling

Leek and cheese filling
own creation

1 large leek, white part only, sliced
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ tablespoons white wine
60g gruyere, grated
1 tablespoon finely grated pecorino or parmesan, for sprinkling

Start by making the pastry: place the flours, salt and sugar in a food processor and blitz to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the vinegar and half the water and pulse until a dough starts to form – add more water if necessary, but do it gradually. Form a ball with the dough, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Unwrap the dough, place on a lightly floured surface, and roll into an oblong shape about 20x28cm (8x11in) - don't worry if the dough is still a little crumbly; it will come together with the rolling.
Fold the dough into thirds (as if you were folding a letter), roll out to its original oblong shape, and then fold into thirds again. Repeat the process, then divide the dough in half, wrap each in plastic wrap and return to the fridge for at least 1 hour or overnight.

When ready to make the tarts, place each piece of dough onto large piece of baking paper and roll into a rough 25cm (10in) circle. Transfer each to a baking sheet.

Fruit tart: put the plums in a bowl with the honey and the cinnamon and toss to combine. Arrange the fruit on the center of the dough, top with the blackberries and drizzle with the juices left in the bowl (if there’s too much, use only half to avoid a soggy crust). Carefully fold one edge in towards the center of the fruit and continue folding all the way round, bringing the edge of the pastry towards and over the filling. Place the sheet in the freezer for 30 minutes – in the meantime, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.

Savory tart: heat the butter and oil in a large nonstick frying pan. Add the leeks and cook until fragrant and beginning to turn golden, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper, add the wine and cook until it evaporates, 2-3 minutes. Cool.
Arrange the gruyere on the center of the dough, top with the cooled leeks, then fold one edge in towards the center of the filling and continue folding all the way round, bringing the edge of the pastry towards and over the filling. Place the sheet in the freezer for 30 minutes – in the meantime, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.

Brush the tarts with the egg wash (only the pastry). For the sweet one, sprinkle with demerara sugar. For the savory one, sprinkle with the pecorino.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Both tarts are delicious both warm and at room temperature.

Serves 4 (each)

Umbrian cheese bread and ignoring one instruction on the recipe

When it comes to cooking or baking one thing I have learned over the years is to read the entire recipe before actually making it – that has saved me a lot of trouble in the kitchen and a lot of frustration, too, and it’s a habit I highly recommend you to acquire.

Days ago I decided to put the cheeses in my fridge to some good use by baking Nick Malgieri’s wonderful bread – I sat down and carefully read the entire recipe, top to bottom. Off to the kitchen I went and a while later the bread perfumed my house while in the oven: it turned out delicious, crusty on the outside and tender on the inside, with an amazing cheese flavor. After placing the bread onto the wire rack I remembered Malgieri’s instructions to cool the bread completely before serving it and I had a big laugh: that was never going to happen. :D

Umbrian cheese bread
slightly adapted from Nick Malgieri's Bread: Over 60 Breads, Rolls and Cakes plus Delicious Recipes Using Them

3 teaspoons dried yeast
¼ cup (60ml) slightly warm water
400g all purpose flour
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, chopped
5 large eggs
80g parmesan cheese, finely grated
40g pecorino Romano, finely grated
80g gruyère, cut into 5mm dice
½ teaspoon table salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

In a small bowl, whisk together the yeast and water. Set aside until bubbly.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flour and butter and beat on medium-low speed until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs and no large portions of butter are visible. Switch to the dough hook. Add the eggs and the yeast mixture to the bowl and mix on low for 1 minute to combine, then add the cheeses, salt and pepper. Mix on low-medium until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough ferment until it starts to puff, 15-20 minutes (mine needed 35 minutes). In the meantime, butter a 20cm (8in) deep round cake pan, line the bottom with a circle of baking paper and butter the paper as well.
Scrape the dough into the prepared pan and cover with slightly oiled plastic wrap. Let it rise until it reaches the top of the pan, about 45 minutes – while that happens, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.
Bake the bread until deeply golden and well risen, about 30 minutes. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then carefully unmold and remove the paper. Transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm (this bread also reheats well at a 180°C/350°F oven for a few minutes).

Serves 8-10