St Agur and Parsley Sauce

I first arrived in London roughly at the same time as Raymond Blanc emigrated to England. I grant it to you, emigrating the same year is a tenuous connection. However, when I was asked to write about one of Chef Blanc's St Agur Blue recipes I couldn't resist. On reflection, it might have been the opportunity to cook with St Agur which made me come out of blog-posting retirement. Whichever of the two, I am glad I did.

St Agur looks a little like Roquefort with its coloured mould veins, though the end product is far less salty and much creamier. It comes from the same area, L' Auvergne, the Velay mountains to be precise. But, if Roquefort goes back to 1411, cheese lovers had to wait for a little over 550 years to enjoy St Agur. This relatively new cheese was developed in 1988 a little after Raymond and I moved to England.

Cooking with blue cheese is not easy, one has to judge perfectly how much to add to the dish or the cheese will quickly overcome the other flavours. I thought a versatile Parsley Sauce would be a good bet for those who would like to jazz up their menu. Sorry, Raymond, your recipe was a tat too strong for our taste but it's easy to tweak.

For the vegetarian version think endives, as the slightly bitter taste will be mellowed by the strong flavour of the cheese

Here we go, and as a treat, I have added some of Chef Raymond Blanc's other suggestions

St Agur and Parsley sauce

Ingredients:

25g butter, unsalted

25g plain flour

250ml whole milk

100g St Agur Blue Cheese (personally I would go for 70g and add more if necessary)

1 bunch parsley chopped finely

Method:

Melt the butter in a saucepan, 

Remove from the heat and stir in the flour, add the milk and whisk until the butter and flour have evenly dispersed.

Back on the heat and bring to boil, stirring all the time

Simmer for 2 minutes 

Take off the heat, whisk in the St Agur blue cheese and chopped parsley and place in a sauceboat ready to serve with ham.

More recipes on Pebble Soup with Blue Cheese
Pork Burger with Blue Cheese 

Disclaimer: I was contacted by St Agur's PR to review the recipes. I received samples for the trial, no money was exchanged, views are my own.

Savoury Palmiers with Parma Ham 'n Parmesan

First comes the year retrospective in pictures. Then, the predictions for the new year, followed closely by the trends. For people, like me who like lists, the start of any year, is the equivalent of a fortnight in heaven. Time to reflect and to get a frisson of excitement for things to come.

Reading across the board from consumers magazines to trade newspapers, I picked up a few recurring words: Retro-dishes, Home-smoking, Gourmet... 2016 should see us cure our own bacon, fish etc.... which by the way, I did last year with fantastic results; and we should see the word gourmet appearing more and more, gourmet cans will be stacked on supermarket shelves and gourmet doughnuts are on the cards.

A supermarket-magazine went as far as asking, "Will Gourmet Doughnut be the new Cupcake?" probably not a riveting question neither was, "Will savoury doughnut cross the Altlantic."

I am less concerned by the arrival of parsnip doughnuts than by the fact that savoury dessert have long been part of our repertoires therefore why call savoury biscuits, vegetable cakes, muffins and scone, "New Trend?

One recipe which fit in the "savoury dessert" category though technically is a starter or a canapé is  Savoury Palmiers. Found in Jane Lovett "Make it easy", I couldn't resist.

As a kid, I was not a great fan of Palmiers. They always seemed like a lesser choice, something to get out of a packet for a snack but not in a Boulangerie where Meringues-en-chemise and mille-feuilles were so much more enticing. If these elegant sweet and buttery puff pastries aren't still my favourites, It's another matter when it comes to their savoury counterparts.

Savoury Palmiers with Parma Ham 'n Parmesan

Ingredients                                  

• Dijon mustard
• 1 packet of ready roll puff pastry             
• 2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese, plus a little extra
• 6 slices of Parma ham
• 1 egg, beaten with a pinch of salt

Method

I would advise you to have a look at the folding techniques on You Tube before starting but basically

1- Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6

2- Unroll the puff pastry with the long edge near you. cut into two. Give it a quarter turn so that the long edge still faces you.

3- Cover each half with a thin layer of mustard, then comes the parmesan, then the parma ham.

4- Work with one half at the time. Fold the long sides by 2.5 cms. brush with the beaten egg. Fold again so that the two halves meet. Brush again with egg and fold one last time.

5- Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for an hour

6- Cut the ends and cut 0.5cm slices and spread them on a tray covered with greased paper. Grate a little parmesan on the top.

7- Cook for 10 minutes. Leave them to cool.

Palmiers can be frozen

Make it Easy - Cook Book Review - with Roast Butternut Squash, Blue Cheese, Parma Ham, Walnuts Recipe

It's said that we cook on average no more than 5 recipes out of any cookbook. Therefore when I received Make it Easy by Jane Lovett for review my jaw dropped: This book contains over 3/4 of the recipes, I cook regularly.

 

This is a cookbook from a home cook for home cooks. The photography is beautiful, the recipes have a "solid feel" to them. Fool-proof, simple, not frightening are the words, on the cover used to describe this collection of 100 recipes.

 

Jane works with fresh products from her kitchen garden and with local producers, a common thread with Pebble Soup HQ, though my kitchen garden is slightly grander as I rely on The Queen Orchard's in Greenwich Park where I volunteer.

In the fullness of each season, she confronts the gluts conundrum: what to do with.... all this basil, for example : pesto. Her influences are cosmopolite leaning on Asian and Italian/French recipes. She talks about Tartiflette, readers may remember the Tommiflette.

 

Made it Easy emphasizes getting much of the work done ahead of time which is a plus in the festive season. I am considering making her savoury Palmiers for Christmas evening do but to start with I tried my hand at Roast Butternut Squash with Blue Cheese, Parma Ham and Walnuts.

 

 

 Click here to watch the recipe explained step-by-step by the author herself.

 

Disclaimer: words are my own, I was sent a complimentary copy of Make it Easy for review. RRP £12.99

 

Croissant Crown : Brunch Fit for a Queen

Inspiration comes from many quarters. But it's one thing to see something and another to make it at home without instructions. I once struggled with a Melon de Dinde but the results were definitely worth it, succulent meat made really moist by the fat simmering inside. 

Starting from the reckless principle: if they can do it, I can do it too. When I came across a picture of une couronne de croissants fourrés, there was no doubt in my mind. This beautiful thing was to be the next brunch.

For once, it was dead easy. Start with a tin of uncooked dough for croissants,  sold in shops for £1.50. The stuffing is left entirely up to the imagination. I would think that cheddar will be high on the list however here, I made used of the mozzarella which was languishing in the fridge and left-over ham shreds.

The trick, if ever there is one in this case is the place all the triangles with their small side touching one another in a circle on the work-top, place the fillings on the top and roll the croissant as normal. there will be gaps and therefore a little spillage but that doesn't matter. Cook according to the instructions. Et voila

A tear and share - happy meal.

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I entered My Croissant Crown in the Baking Explorer and Cakeyboi's

From the Great British Menu: Abel & Cole's Pork Pie

You might be forgiven to think that lately Pebble Soup may be sponsored by Abel & Cole. It is not. But I am very impressed by the quality of their service, and I am not the only one.

The other day I was in the pub or rather since summer is here, Yipppeee, outside the local pub, where a woman was singing Abel & Cole delivery service's praises.

It can be usual for an organic food delivery service to be organised. In my experience most of them are rather shambolic, but not at Abel & Cole, they deliver on time, the driver tells you about the products and their customer sevice has won the National Customer Service Team of the Year Award, as well as the International Customer Service Team of the Year award for the third year in a row.

I tried and tasted a few of their products lately, starting with Picnic pork pie Brocklebys.

One thing I like is that I am told where the ingredients are from, for example the flour is from the working windmill in Whissendine, Leicestershire.

The case melts in the mouth, the pastry crust is crispy and thin and the meat, a mixture of coarse and soft texture is delicious, not fatty at all, the jelly is light and lovely, seasoned to perfection. There is only one draw back at £2.35 for 190g pie, the price ranks at the top end, still great as a treat, and it is delivered!