meals – St GEORGIA & Boo

rustic apple and sour cherry pie

I lie abstracted and hear beautiful tales of things and the reasons of things,They are so beautiful I nudge myself to listen.

I cannot say to any person what I hear… I cannot say it to myself… It is very wonderful.

-Walt Whitman, leaves of grass

Rustic apple and sour cherry pie

for the sweet pastry

ingredients: 125g butter softened, 1egg, 90g icing sugar,30g almond meal,250g plain flour

method: place butter,sugar,almond meal,egg in an electric mixer with a paddle attachment and beat until well combined, Add the flour on a low-speed until just combined. transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and bring together into a disk, wrap in plastic film and refrigerate for 1/2 an hour. Pre heat oven to 180°C. Remove pastry from the fridge, on a lightly floured surface roll out to 4mm thick and gently line a greased pie tin, can leave the edges for a homely look.Put the remaining pastry aside. Bake the shell for ten minutes in the oven before removing and setting aside to cool.

Pie Filling

ingredients: 1tin of pie apples,1 cup of sour cherries drained,1table spoon brown sugar

method: combine all the ingredients and pour into the tart shell, roll out remaining pastry and cover over the pie. With a sharp knife make indents in the lid, and sprinkle a little brown sugar over the top.

Bake for 25 minutes, serve hot with thickened cream.

Slow roasted chicken with silky potatoes green beans and veloutè sauce

we ate well and cheaply and drank well and cheaply and slept well and warm together and loved each other

Earnest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

Restaurant Polidor 41 rue monsieur Le prince 75006 ParisPolidor restaurant featured in Woody Allen’s, Midnight in Paris 2011

We dined here three time during our four night stay, at this wonderfully humble restruant famous for Hemingway. I ordered the same meal twice not for any other reason than to simply indulge my senses once more in the simplicity of this succulent dish, suprême de poulet veloutè de morilles,purèe. ‘superbe’

Slow roasted chicken with silky potatoes and green beans with veloutè sauce

Ingredients for the chicken: 4 large pieces of free-range Maryland chicken,1 litre chicken stock, 3 continental parsley stalks, 2 cloves of garlic, cracked pepper

Method: place all the chicken into a deep baking dish, they can rest on top of each other. lay the parsley over the chicken, add the garlic whole to the baking dish, lightly season with the cracked pepper and then pour in the stock. Cover tightly with foil the entire top of the baking dish to keep all the steam contained. Set the oven at 180°C and slow roast for 2 hours. Check the chicken after approximately an hour and ladle the stock over the chicken sitting out of the stock, recover with the foil and continue roasting. Meanwhile prepare the veloutè.

ingredients for the veloutè sauce: 100grams butter,100grams flour,1litre chicken stock

Method:In a saucepan gently melt the butter without letting it colour. Remove from the heat and add the flour all at once and stir to combine. Place the pan back on the heat and cook over a gentle heat to a lightly fawn colour. Allow to cool. Bring the stock to the boil. Add the stock to the roux (flour mix) slowly over the heat, beating in well and allow to thicken before adding the next ladle. Bring to the boil, adjust heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes.

ingredients for the potatoes: 6 large desiree potatoes peeled and chopped,50grams butter, 250mls cream, salt to taste

method: In a pot of boiling water add the peeled and chopped potatos, boil on a rapid heat until cooked through then strain and return to the pot, mash well until there are no lumps . In another saucepan gently heat the butter until melted and add the cream cook until warmed through then add the mix to the potatoes. With a cake spatula and over a gentle heat work the cream through the potatoes until silky smooth.

Next, boil the string beans for a few minutes, ladle the veloutè into wide bowls add a large scoop of the potato and place a piece of the chicken on top finally drain the beans lightly drizzle in olive oil and season then place a few onto the chicken. Serve.

rice paper rolls

RICE PAPER ROLLS

Filling;1 packet rice paper,salad mix,carrot,avocado,cucumber,spring onions,dried shallots,light soy sauce,sweet chilli sauce

Method; prepare rice paper as packet directions,grate carrot,Julienne cucumber and slice avocado,gently pile ingredients into the centre of the rice paper being careful not to overfill or the rice paper will tear, add a teaspoon of sweet chilli sauce, fold in the ends, then fold over one side and roll up. Rolls can be eaten straight away or kept in the fridge for later. Dip in the soy sauce and enjoy.

roasted pumpkin and pearl barley salad

ROAST PUMPKIN AND PEARL BARLEY SALAD

ingredients

1cup pearl barley pre soaked,1/4 kent pumpkin,4 cloves garlic,olive oil,mix of baby spinach and wild rocket, handful of cherry tomatoes,1/2 sliced spanish onion,1/4tsp turmeric powder,1/2tsp Dijon mustard,1 tsp mustard seeds,4Tbl natural yoghurt,2tsp honey,sea salt and cracked pepper

method

Pre soak the pearl barley for a few hours or over night. preheat the oven to 200°C. In a baking tray add the chopped pumpkin, a splash of olive oil, generously salt and drizzle over one of the teaspoons of honey. Roast for 1/2 hour or until soft and aromatic. When pumpkin is cooked, drain the barley and heat a pan with another splash of olive oil. on a medium heat gently sauté the barley and add the garlic cloves keep stirring to avoid the barley from sticking for 10 minutes, then add the pumpkin.Lower the heat and start to prepare the dressing. In true Jamie style i like using a small jar with a lid to mix the dressing and if there happens to be left overs it can be easily stored in the fridge for later use. Add the yoghurt,2tablespoons of olive oil,turmeric,mustard and honey then replace the lid on the jar and shake, open and lightly season to taste. Then a large bowl roughly toss the salad greens together then add the pumpkin, barley mix and finish with the dressing.