Clementine Clafoutis Recipes

CLEMENTINE CLAFOUTI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Grease a gratin dish with a 1 or 2 teaspoons of butter (size suggestions: 9x5x2 gratin dish or 10" round deep pie plate or porcelain dish.
• Dust dish with flour, rotating pan so flour sticks to all the butter.
• Invert the dish to remove excess flour.
• Remove any thick white strands and the fine webbing that comes off easily from the clementines.
• In a large bowl, whisk eggs until frothy.
• Add granulated sugar and salt. Whisk until combined.
• Add cream and milk. Whisk until smooth.
• Add 1/2 cup flour and stir until just combined.
• Layer clementine sections in dish (they should come to almost the top of the dish).
• Pour batter over fruit until it's as close to the top of the dish as reasonably possible (there may be leftover batter).
• Bake for about 40 minutes or until nicely browned on top and a knife inserted into it comes out clean.
• Sift some powdered sugar over dessert and serve warm or at room temperature.
• Note: Must be served within a couple of hours of making it.
• Note: You could add 1 little vanilla, anise or 1 rose water if desired though it certainly isn't necessary.
• Makes at least 6 servings.

CLEMENTINE CLAFOUTIS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a gratin dish, about 9 by 5 by 2 inches, or a 10-inch round deep pie plate or porcelain dish, by smearing it with butter, just a teaspoon or so. Dust it with flour, rotating pan so flour sticks to all the butter; invert dish to get rid of excess.
• In a large bowl, whisk eggs until frothy. Add granulated sugar and salt and whisk until combined. Add cream and milk and whisk until smooth. Add 1/2 cup flour and stir just to combine.
• Layer clementine sections in dish; they should come just about to the top. Pour batter over fruit to as close to top of dish as you dare; you may have a little leftover batter, depending on size of your dish. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until clafoutis is nicely browned on top and a knife inserted into it comes out clean. Sift some powdered sugar over it and serve warm or at room temperature. Clafoutis does not keep; serve within a couple of hours of making it.

GAZPACHO

Steps:

• Peel 1 small watermelon (about 3 pounds), and cut the flesh into large chunks. Put them in a food processor along with 2 ripe tomatoes, chopped, 1 minced garlic clove, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, salt and pepper. Pulse the mixture, adding a few ice cubes, one at a time, if necessary,to get the machine going. Chill in the fridge. Garnish: Fresh basil and a drizzle of olive oil.

STUFFED FLANK STEAK (MATAMBRE)

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Use a boning knife to butterfly flank steak: Working across the grain, make a cut down the center, but only halfway through meat. At the top of that cut, make perpendicular cuts, one in each direction, this time with the grain. Again, cut only halfway into steak. Repeat perpendicular cuts at the other end of the center cut. Cuts should resemble the letter H.
• At the top of the original center cut, hold the knife parallel to the meat and insert knife. Slice toward you, making a pocket. This cut should almost reach the outer edge, halfway through the meat's thickness. Repeat on other side. Open the flaps.
• Season meat liberally on both sides with salt and pepper, then place it cut side up, wide side facing you. Season with marjoram, cumin and garlic and cover it with a fairly even layer of parsley-cilantro mix. Then arrange carrots, olives and onions horizontally over the full width of the meat. Scatter a relatively even layer of watercress over all.
• Roll meat up from the bottom like a jellyroll; grain of steak should run length of roll. Tie in three or four places with butcher's twine.
• Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven or roasting pan large enough to accommodate rolled steak. Deeply brown it on all sides, about 15 minutes total, then transfer pan to oven and roast for about 30 minutes, until meat is cooked through. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest for 30 minutes before serving. Or, put meat in a clean baking dish, weight it with a plate with something heavy on it and chill overnight. Take matambre from refrigerator and slice it into 1/2-inch to 1-inch pieces about an hour before serving at room temperature.

BASIC CLAFOUTIS

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and butter until the sugar is dissolved. Add the flour and whisk until smooth. Pour the batter into a cast iron skillet or pie pan.
• 2. Now add your favorite fruit or flavoring (see below). Bake until the clafoutis is beautifully puffed and golden, 35-40 minutes. Serve immediately.
• Clafoutis Variations: Concord Grape Clafoutis: Once the batter is in the skillet, scatter 2 cups slightly crushed Concord or other black or red grapes on top. Cherry Clafoutis: Scatter 2 cups pitted cherries onto the batter once it's poured into pie plates. Pear Clafoutis with Pear Eau de Vie: Core 1 ripe pear and cut into pieces. Pour the batter into the skillet and top with the pear pieces. Bake. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons eau de vie and serve immediately. Milk Chocolate and Hazelnut Clafoutis: Melt 1 cup chopped milk chocolate in a large mixing bowl set above a simmering pot of water. Fold in the clafoutis batter until smooth and fully incorporated. Pour into a skillet or pie plate, sprinkle with 1/4 cup coarsely chopped hazelnuts, and bake.

OCTOPUS, GALICIAN STYLE

Steps:

• Thaw octopus if necessary, either for 24 hours in refrigerator, or for a few hours in a couple of changes of cold water. With a scissors, remove skinny tips of tentacles and, cutting through webbing that connects them, separate the 8 tentacles and discard head. (Alternatively, you can cook the octopus whole and cut it up after cooking.)
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it well. Put octopus in water and, when it returns to boil, cover and adjust heat so water simmers gently. Cook an hour or so, until octopus is tender. Meanwhile peel potatoes and cut into 2-inch slices. Lower them into water and cook until tender, about a half hour. Remove if they're done before octopus, and keep warm.
• When octopus is tender, remove it and drain. Put potatoes on a platter and cut octopus into pieces (again, a scissors is easiest); top potatoes with it. Drizzle all liberally with pimentón, olive oil and coarse salt, and serve hot or warm.