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With this hot weather we have been experiencing for the past 2 months the raspberry bushes are full of fruits, so I made my liquor again (pictured) and tried a new by product of the wonderful raspberries:
Raspberry vinegar
Ingredients
600 gr fruits
600 ml white wine vinegar
600 ml cider vinegar
6 Tbsp sugar
A couple of big clean jars
Method
Crush the berries in a food mill or with a fork, pour the vinegars and sugar over, mix all and fill the jars.
Let the jars rest in a dark place shaking them occasionally for minimum a week or until you decide the taste is good enough.
Filter the mixture through a fine mesh sieve and fill a few bottles.
Enjoy with a nice summer salad or all year round to remind you of the summer flavours.
Lucky shot of a tree frog
For the past couple of month with the good weather I have spent so much time outside that my inspiration for cooking has taken a back seat, yesterday we finally had substantial rain fall (which is great for my garden and for my creativity in the kitchen) so we spent a few hours at the Seattle center for the Bastille day celebration and when we returned home I wanted to have a nice but easy dinner and after looking in the fridge inspiration finally struck me and I created this very nice and super quick meal.
Roasted chicken with mango sauce
For 2
Ingredients
2 skinless chicken breasts
1 ripe mango
1/2 lemon (zest and juice)
2 Tbsp honey
1 rosemary twig
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 390 F / 200 C
Place the chicken breast in an oven proof dish.
Peel the mango, reserve a few strips for serving and using a knife scrape all the "flesh" and juice surrounding the pit, cover the chicken with it.
Zest and juice the lemon over the chicken & mango.
Pour 1/2 Tbsp honey over each chicken breast and the remaining 1 Tbsp in the dish, add a little water (approx. 1/2 to 1 cup - 125 to 250 ml), sprinkle salt and pepper to taste, keep in mind that pepper gets stronger as it cooks/bakes. Cut rosemary twig in half and place each piece on the chicken.
Place dish in pre-heated oven and bake for 30 to 40 minutes untill juices run transparent.
You want the top of the chicken to be a little browned and the mango/honey/lemon to be slightly caramelised. By that time the water should have partially evaporated and form a sauce.
Tip
I served this with quinoa, it is a very versatile gluten free grain that I have been using recently. A nice alternative to rice, cooks in 15mns.
It is the season again, the lovely fruity strawberries are back in full force.
I recently made this simple and tasty version of strawberry tart.
Have fun making it and sharing it.
Strawberry tart –Tarte aux fraises
For 1 x 10 ½ inch tart pan
Ingredients
Half the recipe of short dough/pâte sablée (see separate post)
½ pound Fresh clean strawberries
Bavarian cream (see separate post – Pastry cream + whipped cream)
Confectioners sugar for dusting
Method
Roll out the dough thinly enough (1/8 inch) and line the tart pan, blind bake in pre-heated oven 375 F for 20 to 25 mn depending on your oven, it will be baked when the colour is golden brown, beware not to over bake it.
When baked and cooled down cover the bottom of the tart with Bavarian Cream and arrange the sliced strawberries around the tart.
Tip
Assemble the tart as close as possible to the serving time. Sprinkle a dusting of confectioners sugar before serving. Tart shell and cream can be made a day ahead, store shell in an air tight container.
Bavarian cream
Pastry cream/crème pâtissière
Ingredients
½ pint / 240 ml Whole milk
½ oz / 1 ½ Tbsp / 15 gr Cornstarch
2 oz / 4 ½ Tbsp / 57 gr Sugar
1 pinch of Salt
1 Egg
¼ tsp Vanilla extract
2 oz / 2 Tbsp / 27 gr Butter (can be omitted for a lighter cream)
Method
Bring milk to a boil.
In a separate bowl hand whisk the cornstarch, sugar, salt and egg until you obtain a smooth texture. Pour 1/3 of the hot milk over the mixture while whisking rapidly, then pour this mix back into the pan of hot milk over medium heat and whisk constantly until it thickens and looses it’s starchy taste. Add the vanilla extract.
At this point you can add the butter and stir until it has completely dissolved.
Pour the pastry cream in a bowl and let cool before refrigerating.
Whipped cream
Ingredient
3 fl oz / 6 Tbsp / 90 ml Heavy whipping cream
1/8 tsp Vanilla extract
Method
Whip the cream and vanilla to stiff peaks.
To obtain the Bavarian cream simply fold the whipped cream into the chilled pastry cream.
Short dough – Pâte sablée
For 2 x 10 ½ inch tart pan
Ingredients
1 ¾ cup / 250 gr All Purpose Flour
1 stick + 1 Tbsp / 125 gr Butter
1 Egg
½ cup + 1 Tbsp / 125 gr Sugar
½ tsp Vanilla extract
Method
Combine flour and butter in a mixing bowl and pulse until you obtain a crumble.
Add egg, sugar and vanilla and pulse until well mixed, but do not overwork the dough, otherwise it will be very difficult to handle.
Form into a ball in a plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.
For reference
Baking time is 25 to 30mn at 375 F / 190 C depending on your oven. The baked colour is golden brown.
Another month has gone by and not much writing has happened! That is not to say I haven't been busy, in fact very busy, with the warm weather settling in so are the weeds and we have a big garden that means a lot of weeding to do!
And planting and seeding, so another month of not much cooking but a lot of gardening, see for yourself...
"The Jungle"
Before
After
Vegetable beds fencing doubled up with chicken wire
(potato "field" in the background)
Bleeding heart & Fushia
Strawberries
Spring is upon us again which means I have spent a lot of time in the garden rather than in the kitchen this month of April.
If you remember, last year a mountain beaver chopped my newly planted leeks. So this year I completely surrounded my vegetable garden beds with fencing hoping this would detter the little creature.
So what a surprise when one morning I looked over and saw this little guy hopping into my garden beds and then running for dear life upon seeing me! 
At first I thought, here is my mountain beaver, these little rodents are very specific to this area of the US, and can make a lot of damage, you can find more info here.
But after investigation it turned out my visitor was a Norway rat, I say was as my faithfull knight (aka Jewel the dog) rid me of this pest in one bite of her powerful jaw.
So long little rat, RIP.
With this hot weather we have been experiencing for the past 2 months the raspberry bushes are full of fruits, so I made my liquor again (pictured) and tried a new by product of the wonderful raspberries: 
Lucky shot of a tree frog
