Tuesday 9 July 2013

B is for Bastille Day

Next Sunday is Bastille Day and the day that the French celebrate all things linked to Liberté, Égalité et Fraternité (brotherhood).  The day commemorates the storming of the Bastille prison in 1789, the freeing of many political figures, the start of the French revolution and the beginning of the road to becoming a republic.

And in planning my own celebrations for the weekend, I came across a post on one of my favourite blogs, Creature Comforts, for a French style picnic (i.e. pique-nique) featuring a savoury and sweet clafoutis. Or should that just be 'picnic' since the word comes from the French, with the verb piquer meaning to pick/peck/nabe and the nique referring to a thing of little importance/bagatelle/trifle.


The pictures (as usual) are beautiful and the post also links to some very cute printables courtesy of the publishers (Chronicle) of The Little Paris Kitchen, the recipe book published by Rachel Khoo to accompany the eponymous BBC series.


Now the picnic with the weather we're expecting is a little optimistic, but I do love a good savoury clafoutis and so thought this was the perfect occasion to dig out my Marie Claire Ideés recipe for a favourite cherry tomato/goat cheese version.

Gather:
  • 4 large eggs
  • 300 mls of whipping cream
  • 250 mls of whole milk
  • 4 heaped soup spoons of corn flour
  • 150 grams fresh goats cheese
  • 350 grams of ripe cherry tomatoes
  • 1 bag of basil
  • 20 grams of butter
  • S&P

Then...
  1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC
  2. Beat the eggs and then incorporate in the corn flour spoon by spoon, before adding in the cream and milk
  3. Cut up the basil into strips, reserving a floret for decoration at the end
  4. Add to the creamy mix and season to taste
  5. Butter an oven proof ceramic dish that is big enough to take all the liquid
  6. Arrange the tomatoes in a single layer and tear the goats cheese into lumps and arrange evenly
  7. Pour over the creamy mix and put the dish in the oven until it's cooked (approx. 40 mins) but still has a slight wobble
  8. Serve warm or cold with the garnish of basil (set aside earlier), some crusty bread (baguette works best) and a salad

You can also add pitted, chopped black olives to this, meat (lardons work well) or replace the goats cheese with another soft one.

For more Bastille day ideas, check out my Pinterest board on the celebration.

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