Eat Boutique

I had a great time in Provincetown a few weeks ago, a visit that always includes a long visit with the goodies on display at Connie’s Bakery. This cupcake was loaded with meringue and quite tempting. I’m now kicking myself for keeping my dollars in my pocket. There’s always next trip.

I did a very risky thing. I made what I thought would be a very beautiful, delicious French dessert for a beautiful, modern French girl. I figured, “There’s no way she’ll be familiar with this dessert. It’s so old-fashioned!”

As it turns out, this modern French girl’s grandmother used to make Pears Belle Helene often when she was a child. She conveyed that little tidbit of information to me while I began steeping the pears in the hot sugar-vanilla water. I had no idea I was making her favorite childhood sweet. I freaked. Who is silly enough to attempt a favorite recipe that your guest’s grandmother lovingly prepared often, very often? Me, that’s who. I freaked, moved on and focused on doing at least a touch of justice to this infamous dessert.

This very beautiful, delicious French dessert actually turned out to indeed be very delicious. It may not have tasted exactly like that of her grand-mere, but it at least resurrected good childhood thoughts. We talked about her grandmother, all the different ways her grandmother prepped this dish and vowed to do it again. Next time, with loads of vanilla bean seeds in the pear broth and roasted hazelnuts on top.

Pears Belle Helene

Ingredients

For the pears:

• 4 to 6 firm Bartlett pears or other dessert variety
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 cup superfine sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the chocolate sauce:

• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
• 1/2 cup superfine sugar
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Chopped pistachios, optional

Nigella’s recipe is fairly involved; mine is not. Peel, core and slice the pears in half. Place them in a shallow pan with the water, lemon juice, sugar and vanilla extract. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the pears are soft and firm (not soft and mushy). Pull the pears out of the juice and let them cool on a pretty plate.

In a separate small saucier pan, melt the chocolate and sugar on low heat. Once melted, add the heavy cream while stirring. After the pears have cooled, pour the chocolate sauce all over them, and then sprinkle the pistachios on top.

Place the plate in the center of the dinner table with four forks. If your company is not so inclined to share, serve two pears per person with a short glass of champagne. French, of course!

This recipe belongs to Nigella Lawson, but I like to now refer to it as My Own Personal Secret Dessert Weapon. It’s amazing to think that 20 minutes in the stove, with blissful scents wafting throughout the house, can produce such a warming, fulfilling taste experience reminiscent of old cottages, roaring fireplaces and snuggling up under warm, vintage quilts.

We ended last night’s meal of beef short ribs on tagliatelle with some of this yummy dessert and a little limoncello. We were stuffed, literally could barely move from room to room. The thick dessert is full of sugar, cream, milk and eggs, and touched with bourbon and vanilla bean seeds (my addition, Nigella doesn’t use it in hers). I always serve this dessert warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, preferably Brigham’s ice cream. It’s also very portable! On several occasions, I’ve cooled the caramel custard sauce and transported it separately from the croissants. Just pour over the stale croissants and bake for 20 minutes upon arrival at your destination.

One of my favorite variations on this recipe involved stale pandoro (panettone, without all the dried fruit). It was divine. That said, don’t go too far with variations. I’ve tried adding chocolate chips or nutella or bananas and, it’s just not the same. Keep it simple.

Caramel Croissant Pudding

Ingredients:

• 2 stale croissants
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons bourbon
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 knife slide of vanilla bean seeds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Tear the croissants into pieces and put in a small gratin dish. I often double this recipe for 4-6 people, using a larger baking dish.

Put the sugar and water into a saucepan, and swirl around to help dissolve the sugar before putting the saucepan on the hob over medium to high heat. Caramelize the sugar and water mixture by letting it bubble away until it all turns a deep amber color; this will take 3 to 5 minutes.

Take the pan off the heat and add the cream - ignoring all spluttering - followed by the bourbon and milk. Whisk to mix, then still whisking add the beaten eggs, and the vanilla bean seeds. Pour this quickly over the croissants and leave to steep for 10 minutes.

Place in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. I cook it for slightly longer, about 30 minutes, when doubling the recipe.

In the midst of one of the busiest weeks ever, I’ve found solace in a recipe that tastes as gorgeous as it looks. These Butternut Squash Muffins were a last minute addition to a huge party I hosted this past weekend. I prefer to serve dishes I have made over and over again, so you know what you get. But Jamie Oliver is gorgeous and his luscious moves as he whipped this together begged me to give it a quick try before the party started. Thank goodness! They were well-received by all; and, I’ve had three in the last 18 hours. They’re adorable and charming and totally imperfect, which is why I love them. And how can you resist those vanilla bean seeds speckled throughout the citrus glaze?

While Jamie Oliver is finally securing his footing in the U.S. as a celebrity chef, I have always found him to be very “boutique” in spirit. He eats local, prefers organic and buddies up with boutique chefs all over Europe. At the same time, he’s very modern with his lovely podcasts over at his very cute website/online diary. My favorite TV series chronicles his travels eating and cooking all over Italy.

I served these muffins as dessert, and my non-dairy guests loved them. (I nixed the glaze for them.) Definitely taste the glaze before you top the muffins; I loved the sweet tartness, but it was too tangy for some.

Butternut Squash Muffins with a Frosty Top

Ingredients:

• 14 ounces butternut squash, skin on, de-seeded and roughly chopped
• 2 1/4 cups light soft brown sugar
• 4 large free-range or organic eggs
• Sea salt
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, unsifted
• 2 heaping teaspoons baking powder
• Handful of walnuts, chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

For the Frosted Cream Topping:

• 1 clementine, zested
• 1 lemon, zested
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 heaping tablespoons icing sugar, sifted
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped out

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line your muffin tins with paper cups.Whiz the squash in a food processor until finely chopped. Add the sugar, and crack in the eggs. Add a pinch of salt, the flour, baking powder, walnuts, cinnamon and olive oil and whiz together until well beaten. Don’t overdo it with the mixing - you want to just combine everything and no more.

Fill the paper cups with the muffin mixture. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Check to see whether they are cooked properly by sticking a wooden skewer or a knife right into one of the muffins - if it comes out clean, they’re done. Remove from the oven and leave the muffins to cool on a wire rack.

As soon as the muffins are in the oven, make your runny frosted topping. Place most of the clementine zest, all the lemon zest and the lemon juice in a bowl. Add the sour cream, icing sugar and vanilla seeds and mix well. Taste and have a think about it - adjust the amount of lemon juice or icing sugar to balance the sweet and sour. Put into the fridge until your muffins have cooled down, then spoon the topping onto the muffins.

Serve on a lovely plate, with the rest of the clementine zest sprinkled over. For an interesting flavor and look, a few dried lavender flowers or rose petals are fantastic.

I’ve had a glorious six months at home. During this down time, I’ve built my dream kitchen, started this web site and gotten back into the habit of writing daily. I’ve also cooked hundreds of meals and eaten very well, both in my own home and at local boutique restaurants.

My husband has been incredibly supportive during this time as I figure out my life, explore my passions and get excited about work again. I’ll be heading back to work shortly and may end up posting far less than daily, and cooking far less as well. So this morning, I wanted to thank my husband for being my partner, a partner who understands when ‘not working’ is the only cure to whatever ails you. (I know some of you know exactly what I mean.)

We had loads of very tart local cranberries from the farm. With cranberry sauce a thing of holiday’s past, I was wondering what to do with these perfect little specimens. The Boston Globe featured an Ina Garten recipe a few weeks ago, and being that I had some time today, I set to make these Cranberry Scones the moment I popped out of bed, even before my coffee.

I opted to nix the glaze. I also wanted to show the love for the hubbie, making these a true little ‘thank you’ using my heart-shaped cookie cutter. My convection oven cooked these up pretty quickly, in less than 20 minutes. And we dug in fairly quickly, smothering them with different combinations of salty butter, unfiltered honey, Celie’s blackberry jelly (made by our best friend’s 3-yr old daughter) and cranberry confiture. The husband preferred the blackberry jelly, and I loved them with pats of butter and swooshes of honey.

So just a warm little ‘thank you’ to my favorite person on this blustery, snowy New England day. Enjoy these little devils while you can. Once I get back to the grind, these little Monday morning treats will be a thing of the past… or simply specialties reserved for the weekends.