Humble Poire Belle-Hélène meets Flamboyant Gelato

We are all familiar with images of poached pears, fragrant with winter spices and standing proud on a sweet reduction of red wine, such as the one pictured in The Guardian by the talented Felicity Cloake.

Picture by Felicity Cloake

The name 'Poire Belle-Hélène' is intriguing enough, one could imagine that the creator of this glistening dessert was an admirer of a beautiful lady called Hélène but, this is far from being the case. The reality is far more prosaic: renowned restaurateur and recipe developer, Auguste Escoffier, 19th century, was commissioned a dessert for Jacques Offenbach's satirical operetta La Belle-Hélène which premiered in Paris in 1864. The dish was simply named to promote the operetta that told the story of Helen of Troy. No secret love affair, but a job to do and a job well done as this dessert looks opulent, taste delicious, and can be made easily...and cheaply, as I found out.

Not always inclined to use red wine in cooking because cheap wine tastes...well...cheap, even when reduced to the maximum. I decided to replace it with a fruit syrup leftover from cooking apples, but a light sugar syrup will do nicely. To give it its colour, I used the juice of half a pomegranate. In spite of looking like a pear recently run over by a train at high speed, the result tasted delicious.... partly due to the gelato.

To complement this dish, I used two Hackney Gelato flavours: Mince Pie and Chocolate (the latter for the less adventurous member of Pebble Soup HQ). The brand was created six years ago by a couple of chefs who met at the Michelin-starred Locanda Locatelli. They make everything in their East London kitchen and won 22 Great Taste Stars in the last three years. Their beginnings were a little bumpy but they now provide gelati and sorbets to restaurants and supermarkets. Consumers can be found tubs of Hackney Gelato, in Tesco and Waitrose. In my opinion, this is a brand to watch.

Poire Belle-Hélène in Sugar Syrup

How to make a sugar syrup for this recipe?

Dissolve 80g caster sugar in 350ml water over low heat. 

Add cinnamon, cloves, vanilla, peppercorn, pick one or any combo, personally, I like cinnamon and peppercorn. 

If you want to get the colour closer to wine replace the water with pomegranate juice.

Once dissolved, peel the pears and cut them in half, then add them to the syrup and simmer until the fruits are tender, it could take up to 30 minutes.

Serve cooled with a topping of your choice.

The traditional method using red wine requires 700ml of wine for 125 gr sugar

Almond Cherry Muffins

In the UK, the cherry season is renowned to be short, from June till August, so grab a pound or two when you can and make these indulgent, moist, yogurt muffins filled with sweet cherries and topped with slivers of almonds.

Last year when we took hold of our allotment, there was very little but mature- trees, vines and grass, lots of overgrown grass. Among the trees, there was a pitiful cherry tree, producing maggots riddled fruits. After a lot of TLC, this year we harvested 2 kilos. Not leaving anything thing to chance or the birds, the harvest was done in one single go.

Then came the nice conundrum, what do we do with so many cherries:
1: preserve...in vodka
2: jam
3: compote
4: pick and eat from the fruit-bowl
Eventually a little pile was left. It's when I remembered a Lemon Yogurt Muffin recipe which I recreated when I reviewed Lighten Up By Jill Dupleix Almond. Wouldn't Cherry Muffins be a good idea, then? And so it was 6 large muffins, Breakfast sorted.
                                          Almond Cherry Muffins
Ingredients

• 250 grams plain flour
•  2 teaspoons baking powder
•  150 grams granulated sugar
•  A pinch of salt
•  1 large egg , slightly beaten
•  250gr of yogurt
•  5 Tbs/80ml vegetable oil
•  1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
•  1 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
•  300 grams/11 ounces cherries pitted and halved
• a couple of handful of toasted almond slivered plus extra non-toasted to sprinkle on top
• Ingredients

1. Preheat oven to 425F/220C. oil 6 muffin cups or line with liner papers.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl first, leave the almond and the cherries out for now
3. Do the same with the yogurt, egg, oil, almond and vanilla extract. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry one. The batter is ready and it is smooth, no lumps please, add the cherries and the non-toasted almond.
4. Divide the mixture in the muffin cups, making sure that you fill them half way as thei are going to rise. Sprinkle with the toasted almonds
5. Bake in preheated oven (220C for 4 minutes) then reduce to 190C for 12-17 minutes. As usual ready when the knife inserted come out clean.
6. These muffins can be frozen for up to 2 months, so if you prefer smaller portions, this recipe will make 12 standard-size muffins.

Worthy of a Restaurant

The great thing about food writing is that you are taken on little adventures all the time. As I wrote a review of Feast Bazaar, a page about Argan oil caught my imagination. Forest of Argan trees cover large areas in the Essouira region (Morocco), where the Berber community and my maternal ancestors settled.
The fruit which is a hard nut, the size of a plum contains one to three kernels, 100kg of seed yield 1 to 2 kg of oil, which make it the caviar of oils.
Though this oil has a plethora of benefits being rich in polyunsaturated fatty acid, see below for full composition, it reduces cholesterol & containing large amounts of vitamin E, what impressed me most was the production which is done entirely by hand mostly by the community of women.

After some research, I obtain a bottle from Belazu, a company which seems to have its heart at the right place, reinvesting money in good causes such as building a school in a village they work with. They import North-African / Mediterranean top quality products, have hit "fame" with their rose harissa. Argan oil has a deep golden tint to it, as soon as you open the bottle the aroma jumps out like the Genie tickling your nostrils with nuttiness and "spiciness" Anxious to try straight away I chose to a simple recipe, the result was heavenly, the nutty flavour of the oil really makes it gold. I am so taken that I am considering a visit to the land of my ancestors.

CHICKEN and MANGO SALAD WITH ARGAN OIL VINAIGRETTE

here is the recipe, The secret of a good vinaigrette is "use a fork"

In a bowl beat a tablespoon full of mustard, salt and pepper, season well with salt and pepper keep stirring, add a couple of dashes of vinegar, here you will need a non-obstructive kind, wine vinegar, for example, add 2 tbs of Argan oil, one of vegetable oil, one spoon at the time, stirring the entire time. The consistency remains thick if it gets too thin top up the mustard.

For the salad: in a bowl mix 1 cooked and cubed chicken breast without the skin, 1/2 mango cubed, as much green salad as you can fit in the bowl, toss all this add the vinaigrette, serve

recipe adapted from "the sauna club" below is the fatty composition of argan oil
Saturated fatty acids 16-20 %
Palmitic acid 12 %
Stearic acid 6 %
Monounsaturated fatty acids 45-50 %
Oleic acid 42.8 %
Polyunstaturated fatty acids 32-40 %
Linoleic acid 36.8 %
Alpha linolenic acid