photography: Edward Pond
retouching / animation: Neil Wysocki
styling / eating: David Grenier
recipe: http://davidgrenierfoodstyling.com/blog/posts/330/plum+walnut+galette
photography: Edward Pond
retouching / animation: Neil Wysocki
styling / eating: David Grenier
recipe: http://davidgrenierfoodstyling.com/blog/posts/330/plum+walnut+galette
preheat the oven to 450F. using a utility knife, score the skin of the pork belly.
rub kosher salt into the the skin and in between the cuts. place in a roasting pan and pop it into the hot oven for 30 minutes or until the skin starts to puff and turns to crackling.
reduce temperature to 350F and roast for 1 hour.
remove pan from oven, transfer pork to a cutting board and add 2 larger carrots cut lengthwise, 2 celery ribs cut into large chunks, 2 red onions cut into quarters, 1 head of garlic broken into cloves and a small bunch of thyme. baste vegetables with rendered pork fat and place pork on top.roast for another hour.
or until meat is fork tender, crackling is super crispy and vegetables are soft and caramelized. you can use the roasted veg to make a gravy but primarily they are used as an aromatic and a rack to elevate the pork so it is not sitting and boiling in its fat.
let it rest in the pan for 5 minutes. cut or slice the belly as desired. this can be messy.
and devour (a little goes a long way--this stuff is rich and decadent and habit forming).
you can use a blend of herbs and spices or dry rubs instead of straight salt.
photography: Edward Pond
styling: David Grenier
This rustic tart is my favourite dessert. Ever!
photography: David Grenier
plum + walnut galette
serves 8 - 10
pastry:
1 2/3 c. all purpose flour, spooned into measuring cups and levelled
1 1/2 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
10 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into bits (1 1/4 sticks)
4 - 5 tbsp ice water
filling:
8 plums, each sliced into 12 wedges
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted
3 tbsp all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar, divided
Put first 4 ingredients into the bowl of a food processor and process briefly until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Sprinkle water and pulse just until the pastry comes together—only a few seconds. Remove pastry and form into a ball, roll it out on a sheet of parchment paper to a circle of 13-15 inches and transfer to a baking sheet. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400F. Put walnuts, flour and 1/4 cup of the sugar into processor and process into a fine meal.Remove pastry from refrigerator and spread walnut mixture evenly, leaving a 2 inch border all the way around. Arrange plums over walnuts in a concentric pattern and gently fold the edges over the fruit leaving centre exposed. If the pastry is too cold it will crack; simply wait until it has warmed up and pliable. Sprinkle the remaining sugar over the fruit and pastry border.
Bake the galette in the bottom half of a hot oven for about 1 hour, cover with foil if it is browning too quickly. Remove from oven and cool. Serve at room temperature.
Other great fruit and nut combinations:
Apricots + Almonds
Peaches + Pistachio
Nectarines + Pecans
This gorgeously flavoured and textured cake mixes in one bowl and requires little effort.
photo: David Grenier
Orange Cornmeal Cake
1/2 cup olive oil (not virgin), plus more for pan
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar, divided
finely grated zest of 2 oranges
1/2 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup coarse-ground yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush bottom and sides of an 8-inch springform pan with oil, line bottom with a round of parchment paper.
In a large bowl whisk together oil, eggs, 3/4 cup of the sugar and orange juice until smooth. Add flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and orange zest; fold gently to combine.
Pour batter into prepared pan and sprinkle top evenly with remaining 1/4 cup sugar.
Bake until cake begins to pull away from sides of pan and a tester inserted in centre comes out clean, about 35 to 40 minutes.
Cool in pan 20 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake, remove sides from cake and discard parchment paper. Let cake cool completely on a rack.
Serve with whipped cream.
Can be made in an 8" round cake pan: gently invert cake after 20 minutes of cooling in the pan, and re-invert it on a rack to cool.
food styling: David Grenier
Roast Turkey
Recipe: Claire Tansey, Food Editor, Chatelaine Magazine
Preparation time 25 minutes
Cooking time 3 hours35 minutes
Makes 12 Servings
Brining is a chef's trick for improving flavour and texture, and this dry method is easier than the wet method. It's essential to use kosher salt and to rinse all traces of the sugar-salt mixture from the bird before roasting. Another way to get a perfect roast turkey is to buy a fresh bird. Naturally raised or organic turkeys can be even more juicy and flavourful.
a super yummy, super easy, early fall cake.
plum cake with compote
1 1/2 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup greek yogurt
1 tsp grated lemon rind
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup chopped plum, about 3-4 plums
compote
1 cup plum jam
1/4 cup cranberry
1/4 cup port
6 plums, pitted, cut into eights
for cake, preheat oven to 350F. butter a loaf pan and line base with parchment paper.
in a large bowl, combine all cake ingredients except plums and beat with an electric mixer until well combined, about 3 minutes (batter will be quite thick). stir in plums.
spoon batter into prepared pan and bake until tester comes out clean, about 60 minutes. transfer cake to a rack to cool for 30 minutes, remove from pan, discard parchment paper and let cool completely.
for the compote, place all ingredients except plums in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. reduce heat to medium low, add plums and poach in liquid until slightly softened, about 5-7 minutes. remove plums, raise heat and boil sauce down until slightly thickened, about 5-10 minutes. return plums and let cool.
serve cake sliced with compote and whipped cream or creme fraiche.
or, skip the compote and whipped cream completely and eat as is.
(adapted from: lucy waverman, globe and mail)