Niçoise Zucchini Frittata - Untested

1 - I'm adapting Madhur Jaffrey's Parsi Omlate to more Provencal flavours.

1 lb zucchini, grated

3⁄4 + 1 tsp salt

1 medium onion, finely chopped (170 g)

1 medium potato, diced 1/4 inch pieces (8 oz)

¼ tsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed (omit if using basil)

2 + 1 Tbsps. olive oil

1 large tomato, chopped (8–9 oz)

2–3 garlic cloves, minced

1⁄4 tsp ground black pepper

9 eggs

Herb options, finely chopped:

• 3 Tbsps. fresh basil + 3 Tbsps. fresh parsley

• 4 Tbsp fresh parsley, 1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves

• 4 Tbsp fresh parsley, 1 Tbsp fresh oregano

120–150 g chèvre, crumbled

1⁄4 tsp baking powder

1. Grate the zucchini and mix with 3/4 tsp of the salt. Leave in a colander for 30 minutes, then squeeze all the liquid out.
2. Meanwhile, chop and measure out the remaining ingredients - it makes the rest much easier: prepare the onion and potato; lightly crush the fennel seeds; chop the tomato; mince the garlic; measure out the herbs; crumble the chèvre; break the eggs into a bowl; and measure out the salt and baking powder.
3. Heat 2 Tbsps. of the olive oil in a 10-inch frying pan over medium heat.
4. Fry the onion and potato until the onion is completely soft and the potatoes become just tender.
5. Partway through, add the fennel seeds to toast in the hot oil.
6. Add the squeezed zucchini, tomato, garlic, and black pepper. Stir until the tomato becomes soft and most of its liquid has cooked away. Set aside.
7. Whisk the eggs until frothy, then add the cooled vegetables, basil, parsley, and half the chèvre.
8. Sprinkle in the baking powder, making sure it dissolves completely.
9. Wipe the frying pan clean and add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. When the oil is hot, reduce the temperature to medium-low and pour in the egg mixture. Cover the pan and cook for 15–20 minutes, or until the centre is firm but maybe still a bit slithery.
10. Meanwhile, lightly grease a dinner plate with a bit of butter for the next step.
11. When the bottom of the pancake is brown, make sure it's loose from the pan. Upturn the plate on top of the pancake, hold the plate firmly in place with your hand, grab the handle of the pan and flip the pancake onto the plate, and remove the pan. It should just drop onto the plate. Set aside for a moment.
12. Set the pan back on the stove-top, add the remaining Tbsp of oil and slide the pancake back into the pan. Cook the second side for about 5 minutes to get another nice brown crust. 
13. Crumble the remaining chèvre over the top before serving. Can be served warm or at room temperature.

Norman Zucchini Frittata — Testing

1 - I'm adapting the Parsi Omlate to French flavours because it's such a lovely and frankly impressive dish that, heck, why not?!? And what a way to use up zucchini. The courgettes seem to create a Zucchini-Loaf-like effect without any flour.

2 - This is the first time I actually make it, and it was good. The gray shallots continue to be a bitch to prepare, but now I have a better idea of how to do it more easily - soak them in boiling water to peel. It takes forever though because they're small but I think the flavour is good. As for the actual dish, it's very flavourful but I feel like there is no star. The chèvre is good in it but it melts into the surrounding flavours instead of standing out for bright pops. It either needs a star ingredient or needs to be accompanied with something. Think think think my sweet little pooh bear. OH, I just realized I grated the apple, I didn't dice it!!! And a tart apple might just do the trick.

1 lb zucchini, grated

3⁄4 + 1 tsp salt

150 g Griselle shallots, finely chopped

1 medium potato, diced 1/4 inch pieces (8 oz)

OPTIONAL 100 g firm tart apple, diced 1/4 inch pieces (TO TRY grated and added with zucchini)

30 g butter + more for greasing the plate

1 + 1 Tbsp light oil

1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped

9 eggs

50–60 g crème fraîche, optional

1⁄4 tsp ground nutmeg

ground black pepper

1⁄4 tsp baking powder

120–150 g chèvre, crumbled

1. Grate the zucchini and mix with 3/4 tsp of the salt. Leave in a colander for 30 minutes, then squeeze all the liquid out.
2. Meanwhile, chop and measure out the remaining ingredients - it makes the rest much easier: prepare the shallots, potato and optional apple; measure out the thyme and nutmeg; crumble the chèvre; break the eggs into a bowl; and measure out the salt and baking powder.
3. Heat the butter and oil in a 10-inch frying pan over medium-low heat.
4. Fry the shallots and potato until the shallots are soft and the potatoes become just tender. 
5. If using the apple, add it for the last 3–4 minutes of cooking. Do not brown heavily.
6. Add the squeezed zucchini and thyme. Cook until the zucchini is hot and any remaining moisture has cooked away. 
7. Season with the remaining salt, nutmeg, and a generous amount of black pepper. Set aside.
8. Whisk the eggs until frothy. 
9. Whisk in the crème fraîche, if using. 
10. Add the cooled vegetables and half the chèvre.
11. Wipe the frying pan clean and add a little oil. When hot, reduce the temperature to medium-low and pour in the egg mixture. 
12. The cake is very thick and will cook from the edges in, so it's important to cover the pan and cook at a low temperature for a minimum of 15–20 minutes, or until the centre becomes semi-solid.
13. Meanwhile, lightly grease a dinner plate with a bit of butter for the next step.
14. When the bottom of the pancake is brown, make sure it's loose from the pan. The centre should be soft but not pure liquid. 
15. Upturn the plate on top of the pancake, hold the plate firmly in place with your hand, grab the handle of the pan and flip the pancake onto the plate. It should just drop onto the plate. Remove the pan. Set aside for a moment.
16. Set the pan back on the stove-top, add the remaining Tbsp of oil and slide the pancake back into the pan. Cook the second side for about 5 minutes to get another nice brown crust and finish cooking the middle. 
17. Crumble the remaining chèvre over the top before serving. Can be served warm or at room temperature.

Coconut Custards with Spiced baked Red Wine Plums - Testing

Makes 6 ramekins

1 - The custards didn't set. The recipe says about 25 to 30 minutes, I had them in there for an hour, and even at the end of an hour turned off the oven and left them in the cooling oven, and they still didn't set. Looking at my other Coconut Custard recipe, the notes are that it also took much longer than 20 minutes. Looking at my Custard Pie and my Hot Chocolate Pie recipes, the pies take about 40 minutes of direct heat to set. Even custard-free versions I found online indicate 45 to 50 minutes. I know that the timing is wrong, so I have two options - 1: just use direct heat, and 2: add whole egg.

The baked plums worked a treat, though, especially with going lighter with the spicing.

Coconut custards

750g light coconut milk 

1½ tsp vanilla

Pinch of salt

6 egg yolks (OR try 2 eggs and 3 yolks)

60 g sugar

1. Heat the coconut milk, 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. (OR try without the bain marie)
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

About 750 g ripe plums (depending on size), 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. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Halve the plums and remove the stones. Place in a single layer in a lidded ovenproof dish (foil on top is fine) just large enough to hold them, cut sides down. Combine the wine, spices and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Pour over the plums.
3. Cover and bake. Depending on the ripeness of the plums, this can take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour - the softer the plum, the faster the cooking time. Test with a skewer for doneness. 
4. Let cool in the liquid.
5. If you want a thicker poaching liquid, remove the liquid to a saucepan and bring to a rapid simmer to reduce until the desired viscosity is achieved.
6. To serve warm, add the plums at this point and gently cook another 2 minutes.
7. If to serve at room temperature or chilled, let the liquid cool to the same temperature as the plums before serving.

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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.”