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FRENCH LAIT DE POULE

"Here is a drink which almost makes me regret the attack of influenza, when I discovered that lait de poule is a most efficacious medicine." - Edouard de Pomiance

1 teacup milk
1 yolk of egg
2 teaspoons caster sugar
nutmeg
2 teaspoons cognac

Mix the egg yolk and caster suagr in a small bowl. Boil a cupful of milk with a pinch or two of grated nutmeg. Pour these slowly into the bowl, beating as you do so with a wire whisk. The mixture is ready. Add the cognac, stir and drink immediately while it is still very hot.

Source: "COOKING WITH POMIANE" by Edouard de Pomiane from the 1930's

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FRENCH CLAFOUTIS

Cherries are full of gaiety, full of Springtime. When the cherry trees are in flower they seem to be covered with snow. In fruit, they seem to be splashed with brilliant blood. Here are some lines of poetry which, in French, are full of the spirit of spring and the cherry trees. Translated, they would lose their charm, so for those who can enjoy them, I give them just as they are:

Quand nous chanterons le temps des cerises,
Et gai rossignol et merle moqueur
Seront tous en fete!
Les belles auront la folie en tete,
Et les amoureux du soleil au coeur.

Quand nous chanterons le temps des cerises,
Sifflera bien mieux le merle moqueur.

Now I shall tell you how to make CLAFOUTIS, a dish which comes from the center of France. 
It consists of cherries plunged into a sort of thick cream and baked in the oven in an earthenware dish.

1 1/2 lbs cherries
3 eggs
2 ozs flour
4 ozs caster sugar
4 ozs thick cream
2 1/2 glasses milk
a small glass Kirsch

Strip the stalks from the cherries, but leave the stones. Put the fruit into a big fireproof earthenware dish. You will have two or three layers. Using a wire whisk, beat the eggs and sugar together in a bowl. When they become white and slightly frothy add the flour and a large pinch of salt. Continue to beat briskly, adding the cream and the Kirsch. Now, little by little, stir in the milk. You will have a thin cream which you pour over the cherries. Put the dish in a fairly hot oven {about 370F/Gas 5} and wait for half an hour. The cream thickens. Raise the heat a little. The surface of the Clafoutis begins to color. Test it with the tip of a knife. If the knife come sout clean it is ready. Take the dish from the oven and let it cool. Serve it just as it is for pudding. I should even like to eat it at teatime. But remember that you left the stones in the cherries, and be careful not to break your teeth.

Source: "COOKING WITH POMIANE" by Edouard de Pomiane from the 1930's

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MALAY FRIED ANCHOVIES WITH PEANUTS

A delicious crisp nibble served with drinks, the salt, fish, hot and sweet flavours competing for attention.

Peanut oil for deep frying
90g/3ozs/1 cup dried small anchovies {ikan bilis}
150g/5ozs/1 cup raw peanuts
1 teaspoon caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder

Heat oil in a wok and fry anchovies over medium heat until pale brown. Remember they will continue to darken even after being removed from the heat. Lift out on a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Fry the peanuts in the oil until golden brown, lift out and drain. Mix sugar, salt and chilli powder and sprinkle over the combined fish and peanuts, tossing well. Cool and serve. Can be stored airtight for a day or two.

Source: "Charmaine Solomon's Encyclopedia of Asian Food"

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PARISIAN CHERRY TART
Tarte Parisienne

7ozs flour
3 1/2 ozs butter
1 egg
1oz caster sugar
1 1/2 lbs morello cherries
Half a small pot of gooseberry jelly

Mix everything but cherries and jelly into a smooth paste using the tips of your fingers and roll it out 1/8-inch thick, on a floured board. Butter a flan case, lay pastry on it and firm it gently in place with your fingertips. Prick the bottom of the tart with a fork and cut off the ring. Lay a piece of crumpled greaseproof paper in the bottom and cover it with haricot beans. Heat oven to 400F {Gas 6} and put the tart to bake for 15 minutes. The edges are now golden-brown but when you lift the greaseproof paper you see that the bottom is not cooked. Remove paper and beans, and return tart to the oven for a good 10 minutes more. Meanwhile, stone the cherries, using a new metal hairpin, and put them into a saucepan with a tablespoon of caster sugar and 1 tablespoon of water. Bring to the boil and let cook for 5 minutes. Strain off juice and fill tart with the half-cooked fruit. Boil the cherry juice until the water has nearly all evaporated, then mix it with the gooseberry jelly, heating until this melts and mixes with the cherry juice. Pour melted jelly over the cherries. As it cools it will set. [...] Serve with whipped cream.

Source: "COOKING WITH POMIANE" by Edouard de Pomiane

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ORANGE TART
Tarte A L'Orange 'Baumaniere'

Serves 4-6

FOR THE FILLING:
60g/2oz/4 tablespoons unsalted butter
grated zest of 1 orange
100ml/3.5floz/1/2 cup orange juice
6 eggs
200g/7oz/1 cup sugar

FOR THE PATE SABLEE:
150g/5oz/2.5 cups unsalted butter
250g/9oz/1 1/4 cups plain all-purpose flour
30g/1oz/1/3 cup ground almonds
90g/3oz/6 tablespoons caster {superfine} sugar
1 egg

Preheat oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.

TO MAKE THE FILLING: Melt butter with the orange zest and juice over a low heat. Beat egg and sugar together in a bowl with quick, light movements until light and fluffy. When butter has melted, bring mixture to the boil. Remove from heat and fold in the egg and sugar mix. Blend together well with a whisk, then return to the heat. Bring to the boil over a medium flame, taking care that it does not stick. As soon as mixture begins to boil {when the first big bubbles appear}, remove from heat. Pour into a bowl and leave to cool completely.

TO MAKE THE PASTRY CASE: Heat butter until soft. Rub together butter, flour, ground almonds and 30g/1oz/1/3 cup of the sugar, working quickly and lightly. Add remaining sugar and mix together lightly, just until the ingredients form a paste. If the rubbing or mixing is too heavy-handed, the pastry will not have the right consistency. Roll out pastry, preferably on a cool marble slab and use to line a 20cm/8 inch flan ring on a baking sheet or a springform loose-bottomed tart tin. Bake until pastry begins to brown. Take out of the oven. Remove pastry case from ring or tin and leave to cool on a wire rack, so that the bottom dries out and becomes crispy. When both filling and case are quite cool, fill the pastry case with the orange cream.

Source: "Bouquet De Provence - Seasonal Recipes from L'Oustau de Baumaniere" by Jean-Andre Charial-Thuilier

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AUSTRALIAN PASSIONFRUIT SPONGE CAKE

Australian cooks are rightly proud of their feather-light sponge cakes. None is more typical than passionfruit sponge.

4 eggs at room temperature
185g/6oz/3/4 cup caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
125g/4oz/1 cup self-raising flour
1 tablespoon cornflour {cornstarch}
90ml/3floz very hot water
15g/1/2oz butter
Whipped cream
2 passionfruits
Caster sugar
150g/5oz/1 cup icing sugar, sifted

Brush two 20cm/8inch layer cake tins with melted butter and line bases with nonstick baking paper. Preheat oven to 190C/375F. In electric mixer whip eggs until light, add sugar gradually while beating. Add vanilla and continue beating for about 10 minutes, or until mixture is light and thick. Sift flour and cornflour together twice, then gradually fold into egg mixture, using a large metal spoon. Pour hot water onto butter, stir into mixture and divide batter between the prepared pans. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until cakes shrink slightly and spring back when lightly touched. Remove to wire rack to cool. Sandwich together with whipped cream and spread with half the passionfruit pulp sweetened with caster sugar. Mix remaining passionfruit pulp with icing sugar, beat until smooth and with a palette knife dipped in hot water, spread over top of sponge.

Source: "Charmaine Solomon's Encyclopedia of Asian Food"