Sunday, July 26, 2009

Quick Dessert ooh-la-la

The days just prior to my departure scoot by so quickly and haphazardly that I couldn't grab onto one if I ran in circles. On the Paris end, it appears I may have an apartment; on this end, I work at a snail's pace against my four-page, single-spaced list of things to do.
Get fire insurance for the house, as my homeowners insurance will not cover a dwelling with a renter. Cancel my auto insurance. Get tenant's insurance for Paris, or no one will rent to me. Change my address, not only at the Post Office but with the state, whose recent driver's license renewal reminded me that I was violating the law if I didn't do so within 10 days of moving. Ten days??? Have they ever experienced the chaos of moving?
The weeds in my garden are as tall as I am. How will the tenants, with their two active preschoolers and full-time job schedules, keep up the garden? My friend offers to drop by and pull weeds; another, still weak from her quadruple heart bypass two years ago, slaves with me eight hours in the basement as we pack, discard and get grimy from head to toe. Others offer space for things I don't want to store in my basement. I am pathetically grateful.
In the midst of this, J comes over to clean the bathroom ceiling. I burned candle in the bathroom years ago, and it smoked. But my extremely sensitive neck means I can't bend my head back and scrub it or I'll surely get a migraine.
Dinner -- and my gratitude -- were her reward. I needed something quick and easy. So we had salmon in raspberry beurre blanc, a green salad from the last arugula in the garden and some store-brought lettuce, a Macrina bakery bread I bought at the fish market --- and clafouti.
This is a life-saving dessert, so easy you can do the preparation in less than 10 minutes, so French that it'll impress your friends! But it's a modest thing, a glorified pancake with fruit, with as many variations as there are fruits and liquers. My Parisian friend, C, served it the other night when I had dinner there, made with a handful of red grapes. Delicious!
White Nectarine Clafouti
2 T flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 T créme fraiche, sour cream or yogurt
1 T bourbon, cognac or any liquer you like
1 tsp butter or oil
1 c nectarine, thinly sliced and cut in 1-inch pieces
frying pan about 7 inches in diameter

Put all ingredients except butter and nectarine in the blender and mix on high speed for a minute or so. Put butter in the pan, melt it over medium heat and swirl it around to coat. Add about one-third of the batter and wait a minute or so while it more or less sets; scatter the fruit over, then pour in the rest of the batter, covering all fruit. Bake at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes, until it is golden brown in spots. Serve in wedges, with créme fraiche.
Serve with crème fraiche or with powdered sugar sprinkled all over.

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