French Villages: TOURNUS

From time to time, I want to feature some of my favorite villages of France.  First up is TOURNUS, a village in Southern Burgundy just north of Lyon not far from Macon.  Why this one, you say?  Well, on our treks north to Lorraine and on to Belgium, this is always our first stop.  It is one of the few locations off the auto route where there are gas stations at the exit. Plus fuel is 10-11 centimes cheaper per liter than at the auto route service areas.  And as you will see, it is a beautiful place to take a break.  Let's go.

Street into the village  leads to the 11th century church  

St. Philibert.

Crypt (upper left) is one of the most beautiful I have seen.

Below:  the cloister

Our jaunt through the village always takes us past beautifully restored places....

..... and finally to a stop at the artisanal boucherie where we can purchase a hard to find Saucisse de Morteau, a smoked sausage not from this area but from the Franche-Comté region...

Great saucisses et saucissons but look at the nice Bresse chicken in the upper right photo (first one on the left)....

In the end, we find ourselves on the Saone River....time for lunch...

I know, I know....lunch looks kinda meager, but we still have a long drive ahead of us......However, we have usually made a stop at the patisserie during our walk .. no yummy desserts this day....it was exceptionally closed ....c'est dommage!

Apricots, Apricots, Apricots

We have one apricot tree on the property and for the past 3 years it has not given us any fruit....the weather worked against us.  Xavier even threatened to send this tree to tree heaven...I don't think he was really serious, but, nevertheless, I protested loudly.  It has such a beautiful shape that I didn't care if it gave us fruit.  Well, at least not until this year.  Oh my......I now call it the giving tree.  I think everyone of these blossoms survived to give us fruit.

As you can see, it even made the bees happy.

And then the fruit began to come....

The tree is loaded...

The fruit is ripening....

And then the work began....First..

APRICOT CONFITURE

1 KILO FRESH APRICOTS,  QUARTERED (or halved in small)

700 GRAMS SUGAR

JUICE OF ½ LEMON

In a large pot, combine apricots, and 1/2 cup water and 2 pinches salt.  Bring to a simmer.  Slowly cook down the apricots. They will melt down and skins will soften. This takes about 15-20 minutes.  Add sugar.  Increase heat to fast boil. Cook 20 minutes stirring occasionally but constantly near the end of the cooking time to prevent scorching. About 5 minutes before end, add juice of ½ lemon.   

Remove from heat.  Continue to stir to dissipate heat….about 3-4 minutes. Fill jars to top. Screw on lids.  If reusing old jars, invert jars for 10 minutes and then set upright until cool.

By the way, I stopped counting how many jars at 160!

And then next comes my favorite way to cook fresh fruit...a tatin.  I use the same pastry for any kind of fruit.....

APRICOT TART TATIN

PASTRY:

1 ¼ CUPS ALL PURPOSE FLOUR

½ TEASPOON SALT

6 TABLESPOONS UNSALTED BUTTER, DICED

¼ CUP GROUND ALMONDS

2 TEASPOONS SUGAR

1 EGG YOLK

2-3 TABLESPOONS COLD WATER

CRÈME FRAICHE

Pastry:  In a medium bowl, combine flour and salt and rub in butter until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.  Stir in almonds and sugar, then work in the egg yolk and 2 TBS cold water to form a soft dough.  Add remaining water if dough is too firm.  Press into a disk, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425F.

Apricots:   Heat butter in a 9-10-inch skillet (preferably cast iron).  Stir in brown sugar and cook just to melt. Remove from heat and stand apricots up as seen in photo.

Finish by arranging a layer of apricot halves flat on top, skin side up. Return to heat and cook gently until apricots are caramelized and juices are reduced ....can take up to 30 minutes....

Finish: Remove pastry from refrigerator and roll out to a circle a little larger than the skillet.  Place over the apricots to cover them completely, pressing the edges up the sides of the pan.  Work fast to avoid the dough softening too much.

Transfer skillet to oven and bake until pastry is golden, about 20 minutes.  Remove and let rest for 5 minutes before inverting onto a serving platter large enough to contain the pan juices. 

Serve warm or cold….garnish with a dollop of crème fraiche.

Tips:  I usually do the tatins in stages....make the pastry...maybe even the day before, or better yet, always keep one in the freezer.  You can cook the fruit (do the caramelization part) early in the day and add pastry later and finish.  Just warm up the pan a bit before you add the pastry.

And we are not finished yet....There are still lots and lots of apricots. 

Next up is the apricot chutney.  I love to use this on toasts with the duck rillettes from Hyper U... ... oui, they are great from the jar with  this tangy topping.  And if you don't have duck rillettes, buy some barbecue....that would be North Carolina style barbecue.

APRICOT CHUTNEY

1500 GRAMS FRESH APRICOTS

250 GRAMS DRIED CRANBERRIES ( OR A COMBO OF RAISINS & DRIED CRANS)

3 MEDIUM ONIONS, CHOPPED

5 LARGE CLOVES GARLIC

¼ CUP FRESH GINGER, MINCED

2 TBS. TOMATO PASTE

2 CUPS DARK BROWN SUGAR

2 CUPS RAW SUGAR

1 TSP. SALT

2 CINNAMON STICKS

2 DRIED CHILIES

50 CL CIDER VINEGAR

 ....the ingredients

Pit apricots and cut into small pieces.  Combine with remaining ingredients in large heavy bottomed pot such as Le Creuset .  Bring to a simmer and cook gently for  about one hour.  Stir occasionally .  Toward the end of the cooking time, stir almost continuously to prevent burning.

Transfer to sterilized jars and seal.  Yields about 6 jars (1 ½ cup ….380 gms each)

Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of the finished product....and you can't tell anything from the jar.....

Now, did you think we were finished.....non, non, non

This is going to be an apricot aperitif.  Put the fruit in the jars with sugar and place them on their side in the sun.  Rotate several times a day for 3 days then add good quality grain alcohol....This is an experiment with the apricots....we always do it with cherries.

I haven't mentioned the apricot halves (rondeles) in syrup for winter tarts.....or the containers of coulis for sorbets.....or the stewed apricots.   

And the piece de resistance?????  You have to guess what I am going to do with these pits.  They have been washed, boiled and dried in the sun....What do you think?

And there are still apricots on the tree...got any ideas....???

ROQUEFORT CRISPBREAD

This is one of the quickest, easiest appetizers you can make.  I saw the original recipe on one of my favorite blogs, the Cowgirl Chef.  And she had adapted it from a recipe in Saveur that used feta instead of roquefort.....I have tried both and the roquefort is by far the best.  Ease of preparation comes from the fact that the crust is a batter, not a dough......

ROQUEFORT CRISPBREAD

Batter:

2 TBS. OLIVE OIL

2 TSP. VODKA*

1 EGG

1 CUP WATER

1 1/4 CUPS FLOUR

1/4 TSP. SALT 

1/8 TSP. BAKING POWDER

Final Prep:

2 TBS. OLIVE OIL

5 OZ. ROQUEFORT CHEESE, CRUMBLED

Preheat oven to 500F.  Place an 11x17 half sheet pan (it has sides) in preheated oven while preparing the batter...about 5 minutes.

In a medium bowl, whisk together olive oil, vodka, egg, and water.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder.  Pour the wet mixture over the dry and whisk until smooth.

Remove hot pan from oven and pour 2 TBS. olive oil over pan.  Using a heatproof silicone brush, spread quickly over bottom of pan. Add batter and evenly distribute across the bottom of the pan. Pan should still be hot enough that the mixture sizzles and begins to set immediately.   Sprinkle roquefort pieces over all. Return to oven for about 20 minutes (or a little less if using convection). 
 
Allow to cool slightly.  Cut with kitchen shears and serve.

MJ Dishes it out .....Notes:

• Can be frozen but reheats best if placed on hot pizza stone.
• Do Ahead Notes:  For entertaining, measure dry ingredients, set aside.  Measure wet ingredients into a jar and refrigerate until ready to use.  Complete recipe just before, or after, guests arrive.  
• I have done the recipe with blue cheese but the flavor was not as good and the cheese was not as 'melty'.  Might just need more if using the blue cheese.
• *If anyone has any idea what the vodka does for the batter, let me know.....I am always tempted to leave it out but then don't want to waste a good recipe if it doesn't work as well.