Rice, Salad, Aubergine Pilaf

Even though the weather is quite cold now and we need to wrap up warm, I still fancy fresh and colourful food. The recipe I want to share with you today is a version of the classic pilau rice with extra bits added, to achieve more colourful and wholesome dish. It is filled with baked aubergine cubes, sweet apricots, nuts, spinach, avocado, mint, three different types of rice and lentils. The flavour combination is awesome, and its packed fool of goodness. I have cooked rice and green lentils together to save time and simplify the recipe. 

Les Moules Marinières

I just spend severals days in « Bretagne » and I love the seafood, especially mussels, or as the French call them, “moules”. Mussels steamed in white wine and served in a sauce made from the cooking liquid with shallots is a classic French way of preparing mussels, « moules mariniere ». This is one of the easiest and loveliest ways to eat them. It is wonderful for an appetizer or a light lunch, and excellent with a glass of white wine and some crusty bread.

BEEF SHIN RAGU

Autumn is in full swing and even though we had such lovely weather so far, the days are getting colder and the nights are longer. This calls for comfort cooking. The kind of cooking that takes long, but its worth the wait. I'm talking stews, casseroles and hearty soups.
My flatmate overheard me that I wished for a pressure cooker. She kindly bought me one for my birthday last year. It has been sitting on the shelf ever since as I was too scared to use it. I don't have much experience with it, only the horror stories how it explodes! Also I remember that my mum used it a lot and produced most delicious meals in it.  I gave it a go and cooked this amazingly tasty beef ragu. It was supposed to be from beef shin but since i didn't find this cut last minute, I used braising steak which worked well too.

Plums in frangipane

Aren't little tarts so pretty? And also, when I make individual tarts like these, everyone gets their own. I had some plums that I needed to use and inspired by tarts I have seen on other blogs, I decided to try and make them extra pretty. Frangipane seemed the perfect partner, flavoured with some rum.

Simple sweetcrust pastry, rolled very thin is lining the tart cases. This needs to chill in the fridge at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile prepare your frangipan. Ground almonds, sugar, eggs and butter mixed together to quite a solid paste. I added a handfull of ground wallnuts too and a splash of rum. Once the cases are chilled, fill them with your frangipan. Layer the sliced plums, then bake in preheated oven. I have preheated a baking sheet, placed the tarts on it to make sure the bases cook through.

To make these, just follow the recipe below. Instead of plums you can also use pears, blackberries or anything that goes with almonds. If you want to make it super simple, use shop bought pastry, just don't tell anyone...