Coconut Custards with Spiced Red-Wine Plum Compote - Untested

Makes 6 ramekins

Coconut custards

600 750g light coconut milk 

1½ tsp vanilla

Pinch of salt

150 mL water (150 g)

6 egg yolks

60 g sugar

1. Heat the coconut milk, water, vanilla, and salt until steaming but not boiling.
2. Whisk the yolks with the sugar until smooth.
3. Slowly whisk in the hot coconut mixture, 
4. Strain through a fine sieve.
5. Divide among 6 ramekins (about 125 g custard mixture per ramekin).
6. Place the ramekins in a baking dish and pour in hot water until it comes halfway up their sides.
7. Bake at 325°F/160°C for 1hour, until the edges are set and the centres still wobble slightly.
8. Cool completely, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

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Spiced plum compote

750 g ripe plums, halved and pitted

180 mL red wine (about 180 g)

45 g brown sugar

1 bay leaf

1 small star anise

1 cinnamon stick

3 cardamom pods, lightly crushed

3 whole cloves

Toasted Walnuts - To Serve

1. Combine the wine, sugar, and spices in a saucepan and bring just to a simmer until the sugar dissolves.
2. Arrange the plums in a small covered baking dish.
3. Pour the wine mixture over them.
4. Cover and bake at 350°F / 175°C for 25–35 minutes, until the plums are tender but still hold their shape.
5. Let cool in the liquid.
6. Remove the whole spices.
7. Chop the plums into large pieces and simmer the poaching liquid for 3–5 minutes to reduce it slightly.

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To serve

1. Spoon 30–45 g plum compote over each chilled custard and drizzle with 5–10 g reduced wine syrup.
2. If you have them, a few toasted walnuts scattered on top would be wonderful.

June Drop Italian Prune Plum Jam - Untested

1 - We got a bunch of the little Italian Prune plums that fell off in the natural pruning of fruit the trees do, and discovered they have the delightful name of June Drops. This is very experimental. A detail which may be important is that it is now August and they have been sitting on the ground all this time, and so have purpled. Apparently that means that their flavor will have changed and the pectin lowered, but still not as flavorful as fruit ripened on the tree.

1,437 g whole ripe wrinkled Italian prune plums

750 g sugar

30 g lemon juice (2 Tbsp)

75 g water

1. Put the whole plums, water, and lemon juice into a heavy pot.

2. Cover and cook gently for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the fruit collapses completely.

3. Add the sugar and stir until it is dissolved.

4. Simmer, uncovered, for 25–35 minutes, stirring frequently and crushing the fruit with a potato masher as it softens.

5. When the mixture is thick, glossy, and beginning to mound slightly on the spoon—but is still a little looser than finished jam—remove it from the heat.

6. Pass everything through a sieve. The pits and any coarse skin fragments will remain behind.

7. Return the milled pulp to the pot and boil for 3–8 minutes, stirring constantly, until it reaches 104–105°C (219–221°F) or wrinkles on a chilled plate.

8. Let it rest for 5 minutes, stir once, and ladle into hot sterilized jars.

OPTIONAL

During the long simmer, add 1 small cinnamon stick and remove it before milling. With prune plums, a whole stick gives a subtle warm background note without making the jam taste overtly spiced or “Christmas-like.”

Greek Yogurt Souffle - Untested

https://julesfood.blogspot.com/2012/10/greek-yogurt-souffle.html

GREEK YOGURT SOUFFLE

many thanks for the original found at Baking Bites...

1 cup plain greek yogurt...i use 0% Fage

3 large egg yolks

3 large egg whites

3 Tbsp AP flour

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract...(per Grandma...i always spill a little extra in the mix) or a 1/2 vanilla pod would look nice with the black specks.

1/8 tsp cream of tarter

1/4 cup sugar

butter and "real" sugar for ramekins

get creative with your accessories... fresh berries, a blueberry coulis,  ginger syrup, or warm and syrupy homemade jam

preheat oven to 375 F degrees, non convection...bottom heating element only if possible.  i read this somewhere and it seems to work well with any souffle.

butter six 6oz ramekins.  coat inside ramekin with sugar and knock out excess.  set on baking sheet.

in a large mixing bowl whisk together yogurt, egg yolks, flour, salt and vanilla.  in a medium bowl or in your stand mixture, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy...then gradually pour in the sugar and whisk until firm, but soft peaks form...just don't whip so hard you break the whites.

add 1/3 of egg white mixture to the yogurt mixture and incorporate well.  then carefully fold in another 1/3...then the remaining.  you want to keep as much volume as possible, of course.

divide evenly into ramekins...i think i filled mine to the line just below the rim because when they fall you still want to have volume in the ramekin.

bake on tray for about 15 minutes, until evenly risen and lightly browned around the edges.

DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR TO PEEK.

serve IMMEDIATELY for the full effect.

BUT...these are still fabulous after they fall  as you can see in some of the photos.

they are also delicious the next day.  they retain their fluff and they taste like a very delicate cheesecake.  i'd have this for breakfast every morning if i could...full of protein, calcium and quite a healthy start for the day. 

Steak Soup - Untested

https://www.yourhomebasedmom.com/steak-soup/

2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp canola oil

2 lbs top sirloin steak cut into cubes

1/2 cup onion chopped

3 Tbsp flour

1/2 Tbsp paprika

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 Tbsp parsley

1 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp marjoram

4 cups beef broth

2 cups water

2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

1 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes

3 Tbsp tomato paste

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1 15 ounce can corn drained

1 1/2 cups carrots diced

1 cup celery diced

1 1/2 cups yukon potatoes diced I left the peel on

1. Melt butter in pan and add oil. Heat over medium heat. Add in steak. Cook until meat is browned. About 10 minutes.
2. Mix together flour, paprika, salt and pepper.
3. Sprinkle over browned meat and stir to coat.
4. In a pot add together steak, beef broth, water, Worcestershire sauce, diced tomatoes,onions and seasonings.
5. Bring to a boil and then simmer until meat is tender. About 30-45 minutes
6. Add in potatoes, carrots, corn, celery and tomato paste and brown sugar.
7. Cook uncovered until vegetables are fork tender. About 15-20 minutes

Tips & Notes:

You can use precut stew meat or you can cut up a sirloin or round steak even sized pieces.

If you don’t have the parsley, oregano and marjoram, substitute them with  two teaspoons of Italian seasoning,

Use a waxy potato such as a red or Yukon Gold. A russett potato will disintegrate after simmering for any length of time. Cut potatoes into even bite size pieces.

Be sure your vegetables are cut into even size pieces so they cook evenly.

Gouère — Bourbonnaise Cheese Tart - Untested

https://www.marmiton.org/recettes/recette_gouere-la-tarte-au-fromage-bourbonnaise_166396.aspx

**The pastry**

250g (2 cups) flour

100g (7 Tbsps) neutral oil (vegetable or sunflower)

100g (7 Tbsps) hot water

**The filling**

500g potatoes, peeled and cut for boiling

500g fromage blanc, well drained (or drained full-fat yogurt or quark)

4 eggs, beaten

Salt and pepper to taste

1. The pastry: Put the flour, oil and hot water together in a bowl with a tight-fitting lid. Close the lid and shake vigorously until the dough comes together. That's it.
2. Peel the potatoes and boil them until completely tender, as you would for mashed potatoes. Drain well and mash thoroughly.
3. Mix the warm mashed potato into the fromage blanc until well combined, then add the beaten eggs. Season generously with salt and pepper.
4. Roll out the pastry and line a deep tart tin.
5. Pour the filling over the pastry and bake in a hot oven *(375F/190C)* for 50 minutes, or until the filling is set and holds together.
6. Serve warm with a green salad. Any leftovers are excellent cold, cut into cubes and served as an appetizer.

Tomato Zucchini Goat Cheese Clafoutis - Untested

https://www.canadianliving.com/food/recipe/tomato-zucchini-and-goat-cheese-clafoutis

Tomato , Zucchini and Goat Cheese Clafoutis

Portion size

4 servings

2 tsps. butter softened

1 cup grated zucchini

2 green onions minced

3 Tbsps. chopped fresh basil

3 eggs

1/2 cup whipping cream (35%)

3 Tbsps. flour

1 tsp maple syrup

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp hot pepper sauce

1 pinch nutmeg

1 pkg (140 g) soft goat cheese crumbled

12 cherry tomatoes halved

Brush four 1-cup (250 mL) ramekins with butter; set aside.

Wrap zucchini in clean tea towel; twist and squeeze to release excess liquid. Transfer to bowl. Stir in green onions and basil; set aside.

In separate bowl, beat together eggs, whipping cream, flour, maple syrup, salt, hot pepper sauce and nutmeg.

Divide goat cheese evenly among ramekins; top each with one-quarter of the zucchini mixture and one-quarter of the egg mixture. Top each with 6 cherry tomato halves.

Arrange ramekins on baking sheet; bake in 325ºF (160ºC) oven until puffed and eggs are set, 18 to 20 minutes. Broil until tops are bubbly and golden, 1 to 2 minutes.

Cheesecake de Francine - Untested

Base :

3/4 cup flour

1/3 cup ground almonds (almond meal)

1/4 cup caster sugar

90 g of butter, chopped up

1. Put all the ingredients in a bowl. 
2. Rub it through with your fingers so butter it is not melted. 
3. When done it should look like fine bread crumbs.
4. Line the bottom of a 20cm spring form pan with parchment paper. 
5. Level the mixture in the bottom and press down with a soup spoon until it is even and flat.  
6. Heat the oven to 150C/300F and cook for 15 minutes. Allow to cool completely.

Mixture : 

475g fresh ricotta 

355g cream cheese, cubed 

1 and 1/3 cups caster sugar

4 eggs

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 Tbsp of finely grated lemon rind

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 and 1/2 Tbsp water mixed with 1 and 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch

1. Preheat the oven to 150C/300F.
2. Process everything together.  It should be the consistency of thick cream. A food processor is good for this. 
3. After it has cooled, lightly butter the sides of the spring form pan.  
4. Pour the mixture into the pan.  
5. Lightly tap pan on counter to remove bubbles.  Remove remaining bubbles by gently rubbing spoon over top of mixture.  
6. Bake for 1 hour.  Turn oven off and leave the cake in for another hour.
7. Put in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before removing from the pan.
8. You can serve with berries on the side or make a coulis to sprinkle around or over fruits on top.