Has it really been 11 days since I last posted something on this blog of mine? Really??
The weeks are just flying by and before we know it December will be upon us and that means Christmas, winter and snow and cold and before I get carried away I should probably get on with the fact that we’re loving Autumn! So what have we been up to?
We went to our little farm down the road to pick up some pumpkins and chestnuts…
We went for a little stroll in Meyrin…
Then we had a few little dinner parties at our place and thus begins the cooking tales of the past few weeks.
Even before I started planning the menu for this particular dinner party I knew I wanted to have an “Autumn” sort of theme.
Switzerland is so very unlike Australia when it comes to food shopping. Australia is such a large country with space and varying climates to grow just about anything all year round and you can therefore buy most fruits and vegetable from the supermarket all year round. Switzerland on the other hand is a tiny country which imports a lot of its fruit and vegetables and as a result only stocks those that are currently in season.
My husband and I have discussed this often and agree that eating according to the seasons is much more exciting. It’s Autumn now and we’re excited about the new Apple varieties coming in, pears, pumpkins, root vegetables… Oh what fun!
Anyway, back to my little autumn dinner. The menu I finally settled on consisted of a Polenta toast starter with Olive Tapenade and Sun-Dried Tomatoes, followed by a Mustard and Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts wrapped in Proscuitto and a Pear and Almond Tart for dessert. I have made this tart three times now and it never fails to impress and never fails to taste 100% delicious!! So I’m going to share this recipe with you.
Pear and Almond Tart
Courtesy of Donna Hay
- 90g butter, softened
- ½ cup (90g) brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup (120g) almond meal
- ¼ cup (40g) plain flour (or gluten-free flour for a gluten-free dessert)
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder (or gluten-free powder for a gluten-free dessert)
- 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind
- 2 pears, peeled, cored and quartered
- ½ cup (90g) brown sugar, extra
- raw sugar, for sprinkling
- double (thick) cream, to serve
Preheat oven to 160°C (320°F). Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a food processor and process until just combined. Add the eggs, almond meal, flour, baking powder and lemon rind and process until just combined. Spoon the mixture into a lightly greased 9.5cm x 33cm loose-bottom fluted tart tin. Place the pears and extra brown sugar in a bowl and toss to coat. Press the pears into the tart mixture and bake for 35–40 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Sprinkle with raw sugar and allow to cool in the tin. Serve with double cream.
Note: I used a 23cm round tart tin and required 1.5 times the quantity of the recipe for this size tin.
I also made a Green Tomato Chutney with all the tomatoes off our little tomato plant that didn’t ripen and started off the pumpkin recipes of the season with a Pumpkin Spice Loaf so stay tuned for those recipe later this week!!
Cheese & Vegemite 