Welsh Griddle Cakes

These little cakes make a lovely snack with a cup of tea. Both my children loved them. My older child loved them so much that they were the first thing he made all my himself. I saved the original recipe from a very old issue of Sunset Magazine. It was at least 30 years ago. Over time, I tweaked the recipe a bit to make it a little less sweet and dropped the salted butter/margarine for unsalted butter. Sunset suggested serving them with butter and jam but I like them plain.

1/3 cup sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

6 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into small pieces

1/2 cup raisons or currants

1 large egg white

2 tablespoons milk

Mix the dry ingredients. Add the butter and then rub it with your fingers until you have fine crumbs. Add the raisins, egg white, and the milk. Stir just until the dough holds together. Roll the dough until it is 14" thick on a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough into rounds using a 2 1/2" cookie cutter. Roll the scraps and cut more griddle cakes. Cook on a griddle set at 350º or use a well seasoned cast iron skillet over medium heat placing the cakes slightly apart. Cook untie the bottoms are medium brown, about 3 or 4 minutes. Turn the cakes with a spatula and cook about another 3 minutes, until the other side is medium brown.

Makes about 10 griddle cakes

Vin de Noix

                                                                         Vin de Noix    

Vin de Noix is an aperitif made from green walnuts and red wine. It is popular in the Dordogne region of France where lots of walnuts are grown. The hardest part of making it is finding the green walnuts. You can find them on walnut trees in the middle of June. The nuts must be immature so that you can easily cut them into quarters. Then you toss them into inexpensive red wine and flavorings and let the magic happen.

4 pounds of green walnuts, about 35-40, quartered

5 liters (7 bottles) inexpensive red wine

1 kg (2 lbs) sugar

1 liter vodka, brandy, or eau de vie

2 cinnamon sticks, broken

2 split vanilla beans

zest of 2 oranges

Optional-7 whole cloves

Place all ingredients into a non-reactive container with a lid and store in a cool dark place for 6 to 8 weeks, shaking occasionally. Strain through cheesecloth. Taste and adjust the sugar if you want the vin de noix sweeter. Bottle it and store it in a cool dark place until at least early winter. The longer you age the vin de noix the better. If you can make yourself wait a year the flavor is better but waiting that long can be hard.

Gougères (tasty, light, cheese puffs)

                                                                            Gougères

Gougères are a traditional finger food in Burgundy, France, to eat as an appetizer or light snack. They pair wonderfully with wine and are very easy to make. This recipe is for the common cheese version but they can also be made with anchovies instead. They are similar to cream puffs but are not normally filled. You can use your imagination if you decide to fill them. When I was researching gougère recipe I ended up with a riff off one from Alice Waters in her Book "The Art of Simple Food" and one I found on the Kitchn website.

1 cup (8 ounces, 237 grams) water 

8 tablespoons (4 ounces), 227 grams)  butter cut in chunks

3/4 teaspoon (4.5 grams) salt

1 cup (4.25 ounces, 120 grams) flour

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cups (6 ounces, 170 grams) grated gruyère or similar cheese.

Combine the water, butter, and salt in a 2-4 quart saucepan. When the butter is melted add the flour all at once. Stir vigorously until the mixture comes together and looks like mashed potatoes. Continue to stir the mixture over medium low heat for 3 to 5 minutes to dry out the dough. The dough will be ready when it glistens and is thick enough to hold the spoon upright. 

Transfer the dough to a stand mixer and stir until it has cooled so that it is just warm to the touch. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg using the paddle attachment. Now add the grated cheese. You could also do this by hand with a wooden spoon or a stiff spatula.

Preheat the oven to 400º F (204ºC). Line baking sheets with baking parchment or silicone mats. Spoon rounded spoonfuls of the dough onto the baking sheets. They can be 1 or 2 inches in diameter depending on the size you want. They should be 1 1/2 inches apart. If you prefer you could pipe them from a pastry bag with a plain 1/2 inch tip. Bake the gougères, one sheet at a time, for 10 minutes and then turn the oven temperature down to 375ºF (190ºC) and bake for another 15 minutes. The gougères should be golden brown and crisp on the outside. Pierce each one with a sharp pointed knife, making a small slit to let out the steam. This helps them to stay crisp. If you are not serving them right away, place them on a cooling rack. They can be reheated and re-crisped in a 375ºF ((190ºC) oven for 3 minutes. They also can be frozen to be served later. If your freezer is large enough to hold a baking sheet, you can freeze unbaked gougères to bake later. Once frozen you can move them into a ziplock bag. You can make them any size you wish, tiny to large. Large ones could be used as sandwiches.

Variation: You can replace the cheese with 4-6 salt-packed anchovies, soaked, filleted, and chopped. This recommendation is from the Alice Waters recipe.

Roasted Garlic and Lemon Chicken

This recipe was inspired by a recipe from Nigella Lawson but it takes much less time than her recipe. It is easy and very good. I like to serve it with couscous.

                                                       Roasted Garlic and Lemon Chicken

6 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

1 small head garlic, separated into unpeeled cloves   

2 lemons, cut into eighths. I use Meyer lemons because that is what grows in my yard

Small handful fresh thyme

3 tablespoons olive oil

2/3 cup white wine

Salt and black pepper

Preheat the oven to 425º. Salt and pepper the chicken thighs and put them in a roasting pan. Add the garlic, lemon, and thyme. Add the oil and mix everything together, then spread the mixture out in the pan leaving the thighs skin side up. Sprinkle the wine over the chicken. Roast the chicken for 35 to 40 minutes.