'Le Cake' Aux Olives Et Au Reblochon

I've been reading this book by Orlando Murrin all about how he and his partner quit London, bought an old manor house in South-west France and turned it into a super-luxurious B&B. It all looks incredibly idyllic and the recipes are lovely - I am sure we could never afford to stay there so I made this easy loaf from the book instead and it was just delicious. Reblochon is available from the East Dulwich Deli and Ocado.

Makes 3 small loaves or 1 large
In the past three years French cooks have been swept by a craze for ‘les cakes’. I am not sure how the misunderstanding occurred, but by cake they do not mean something round and sweet, but something loaf-shaped and usually savoury.
We serve the Raynaudes ‘cake’ in slices with aperitifs – it is especially elegant when baked in a dainty cocktail size. You can vary the flavouring as you choose – fried mushrooms, diced ham, herbs or other tasty morsels.
75g lardoons
handful of black olives, roughly chopped
85g Parmesan, coarsely grated
500g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt and plenty of ground black pepper
110g cubes Reblochon or other semi-soft cheese
2 tbsp freshly chopped herbs
225ml milk
40g melted butter
1 large egg
175ml crème fraiche

Fry the lardons still just beginning to go brown. Leave to cool and mix in the olives.

Grease a 13 x 24cm loaf tin or three 6 x 18cm tins and sprinkle half the Parmesan evenly around the base. Whisk the flour, baking powder and seasoning in a large bowl (easier than sifting). Mix in the Reblochon, herbs, lardoons and olives.

In a large jug or bowl, whosk the milk, butter, egg and crème fraiche. Using a large rubber spatula, fold the wet into the dry until just mixed.

Turn into the tin(s), sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan and bakes for 30 mins (small) or 45 – 50 (large) till a skewer comes out clean, though be aware that if it hits some oozy cheese it will come out sticky regardless. Cool in the tin for 10 – 15 minutes then turn out and serve warm.

Breton galettes

We celebrated pancake day this morning with some French-inspired pancakes. Galettes are the very thin lacy, savoury crepes made from buckwheat flour (usually have it in SMBS). Every recipe says to leave the batter for 2 hours but as we wanted ours for breakfast my batter only got 15 minutes of resting which may be why they weren’t quite as delicate as I’d hoped for. And is why I’m showing this nice picture instead of mine.

If you don’t have buckwheat flour, and want to make classic pancakes, use plain flour and switch half of the water for milk. Serve with a squeeze of orange juice and a sprinkling of sugar

Anyway, Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras is the day before Ash Wednesday which is when some people give up things for Lent. As Lent means that Easter is coming, it is now no longer too early to buy those little net bags of white chocolate chicks from M&S. Unless of course, you are a giving up chocolate for Lent. It is also traditional for women to have pancake races today. I’ve got my pan and pancake ready but have not yet been invited to any races :(

100g buckwheat flour
pinch of salt
1 egg
250ml cold water
knob of butter, melted
sunflower oil

Whisk together the flour, salt, egg and water to maker a smooth, thin batter.

Heat a tiny splash of oil in a large, non-stick frying pan. When the pan is hot ladle in a little batter. Swirl the pan to spread the batter thinly.

Cook for a moment then turn and top with your fillings (we had cheese and ham). Fold over the corners of the galette so it forms a square.

Pommes Dauphinoise (sort of)

I think creamy potatoes go really nicely with roast pork and crackling. This isn’t a real Pommes Dauphinoise which is very finely sliced and has Gruyere cheese in it but it is fairly similar. I think it works better if you boil the potatoes first and cut them a bit thicker.

Serves 8
2 kg white potatoes
4 garlic cloves
75g – 100g Parmesan
12 leaves fresh sage, finely chopped
300ml milk
300ml double cream

Peel the potatoes and cut into 1 cm slices. Put into a large pan of cold water and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for about 5 minutes until just tender.

Meanwhile, peel the garlic cloves and finely grate. Next, grate the Parmesan on the same spot, it will pick up all of the garlic that has stuck to the underside of grater. Mix together the garlic, Parmesan and sage.

Mix together the milk, cream and some salt and pepper.

Drain the potatoes and layer into a large baking dish with the Parmesan mixture and the cream. Bake at 180C for an hour until bubbly and golden - cover with foil if top starts to get too dark..

Crème Caramels

We’ve got friends over for Sunday lunch tomorrow and seven-months-pregnant Jackie is currently wheat-free and Alannah is seriously allergic to nuts. It makes choosing a pudding more tricky than I’d thought.

What I really want to make is rhubarb crumble with oats in it but I’ve settled for crème caramel. It lost the popularity battle to crème brulee and panacotta years ago but it still wins for me. Rob and Scrap have gone to the cinema's kids club to see Chicken Little so I’m making a start now because creme caramel really likes a night in the fridge.

Makes 8
250g caster sugar
225ml whole milk
450ml single cream
6 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to gas 2 / 150C. Place the sugar in a pan set over a fairly high heat. Leave the sugar to melt, stirring and swirling occasionally until it dissolves into a dark golden liquid.

Take off the heat and add three tablespoons of water – take care as the caramel splutters up noisily. If it forms any lumps, put it back on the heat and warm gently until smooth again.

Divide about two thirds of the caramel between 8 individual ramekins, rolling them so the caramel goes up the sides too.

Add the milk and cream to the caramel to the pan and heat gently until the caramel melts again but make sure you don’t let it get too hot. This stage takes a while as the caramel has set hard to the bottom of the pan but it will dissolve into the milk with a little bit of warmth.

Beat the eggs in a bowl or large jug and whisk in the warm milk mixture and the vanilla extract.

Sit the ramekins in a roasting tin. Pour some of the custard into each one. Fill the roasting tin with a kettle of boiling water so it goes three quarters of the way up the outsides of the ramekins. Bake for 45 minutes until the custards are just set. Leave to cool then chill overnight.

La Fromagerie

I had the best dinner out I've had in a long, long time last night. I cannot recommend La Fromagerie highly enough, especially if, as we were last night, you're having a small, celebratory gathering. The place itself is magical, the seating area is at the back of the shop so you're surrounded by pretty packages and ribboned jars and of course, the scent of cheese.


The team there were truly charming and seconds after stepping through the door, my coat was off, I was drinking Prosecco and eating a cheesey choux bun. It was just great. Candles were lit, the food was fantastic, the wine was wonderful. I cannot wait to go there again - hopefully for tea and cake one afternoon soon. Anyway, Happy Birthday James!

Vacherin Mont-d'Or

Detox not going too well, no thanks to the spectacular Vacherin we ate this weekend. Still, it is the best winter cheese in the world so it was worth blowing a few calories on.