Clafoutis

Found this recipe online:

http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/apricot-almond-clafouti-recipe-9990

And now I'm off to the kitchen, knowing full well i have none of the proper ingredients... But I must try!

Details to come.

Okay, initial reaction: this was incredible. Now next time I want to follow the directions because that would be mind-blowing.

What I made:

Ingredients:
- one large can pear halves, drained (seven halves)
- one apple, peeled and sliced
- 1/4 cup triple sec
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup milk (I used unsweetened soy)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 egg white
- 1 pinch salt
- 2/3 cup unbleached flour

In large bowl, mix fruit, alcohol and lemon juice. Soak for at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 350. Take deep dish 10-inch pie plate and butter liberally. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the sugar.

Arrange fruit on bottom of pie plate. Reserve liquid.

Take eggs and egg white and cream with the remaining sugar. Add remaining ingredients, including the reserved alcohol from the fruit. It will be runny, as this is more of a custard than a cake.

Bake about 50 minutes until the clafouti puffs and turns golden. It will deflate some once cooled.

Cool 20 minutes before serving. Best served warm.

"Pork with Peaches"

I thawed out the two boneless pork chops I had left from the pork with apples last month and planned to make "pork with peaches" or Cashew Pork with Pea Pods. It's a recipe I got from my college roommate. 

Cashew Pork with

 Pea Pods

1 pound pork, lean and boneless

1/2 cup orange juice

1/4 cup orange marmalade

2 tablespoons soy sauce 

1 tablespoon corn starch

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 tablespoon oil

2 cups pea pods

1 can peaches chopped

1/2 cup cashews or peanuts

1. Slice pork.

2. Make the sauce: Mix

 the juice, soy sauce, marmalade, corn starch and ginger. Set aside.

3. Cook the pork with the tablespoon oil. When cooked, add pea pods and peaches. Cook long enough to warm the center of the peaches. Add sauce. Cook until bubbly and thicker. Add nuts.

 

4. Serve with rice.

Now, as usual, I deviated from the recipe. I doubled the sauce, used a quarter of the meat, and used Hong Kong Stir Fry veggies (frozen) instead of pea pods. I didn't use marmalade but substituted applesauce. And I skipped the nuts. Oh, and I used apricots instead of peaches.

Then, I made gourmet Asian noodles and stir-fried them so they were a mix of crispy and soft and served them instead of rice.

Fruit Salad

We have a pet tortoise. Tortoises eat a lot of leafy greens, fruit and the occasional protein source. They also loves peas and will usually devour tomatoes and bananas. My tortoise is picky. She loves meat and cheese, which is not typical for a tortoise; spring mix, bananas and peas. But she gets moody (and picky) and turns her nose up at even her favorite foods. Today I decided to make something different, both for my daughter and the tortoise. I sliced bananas, added maraschino cherries and canned apricot halves (packed in their own juice not syrup). I served some to both the child and the pet.

The tortoise walked away leaving the meal untouched. The child ate hers.