Cinnamon Swirls / Palmiers à la cannelle

What to do with the left-over pull pastry from my Galette des Rois? Make these delicious cinnamon swirls of course!

Roll all leftover pastry scraps into a ball and use a rolling pin to form a large thin rectangle. Sprinkle with a mix of cinnamon and sugar then roll the two longest edges towards the middle so that they meet halfway. Cut into 1cm pieces and lay on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Pop in a warm oven until golden brown.

Simples!

Baked fennel / Gratin de fenouil

Before going in the oven

This quick and easy oven baked fennel dish is perfect for keeping warm on the not too far off cold winter nights. The delicate, slightly sweet taste of the baked fennel goes very well with the salty melted cheese, and while I am not a huge fan of raw fennel as it has quite a strong liquorice taste, I find that once cooked it is simply greedylicious! 

All you need to do is cook the fennel bulbs until soft, cut into slices, layer them in an ovenproof dish, cover with melted cheese and grill until the cheese is bubbling. I used a pressure cooker as this methods allows you to keep the maximum of nutrients in the fennel and also saves time but if you don't have a pressure cooker you can steam or boil the bulbs.

Any grated cheese will do: I used Emmenthal as that was what we had left-over in the fridge but parmesan, cheddar, crumbled stilton or even some smoked mozzarella would do the job nicely. 

Try with marinated pork chops, steamed fish or a roast chicken leg for a speedy and delicious winter supper.

Ready to eat

Stuffed garden tomatoes / Tomates farcies du jardin

While Chéri and I don't have the luck of having a garden at the minute (admittedly quite rare for a second story appartement), our generous country-living friends have kept us in fresh produce from their vegetable patch all throughout summer.

The most recent basketful contained some enormous corgettes that I've chopped up and frozen, as well as some tasty little peppers that Chéri and I roasted and chopped into fresh pasta with a bit of chorizo, and last but not least some small but sweet and juicy melons. 

The best surprises, however, were definitely the huge garden tomatoes. One of the French dishes I love the most are stuffed tomatoes, not stuffed with rice as is often the English tradition, but with sausagemeat. Slow cooking in the oven means that the meat and tomatoes become tender and deliciously salty and this is a dish that can be enjoyed all year round. Try these stuffed tomatoes with a salad in summer and with rice in winter. 

To make room for the sausagemeat, I needed to scoop out the majority of the tomato flesh and seeds. This often ends up in the bin but I don't like wasting what can be used up, especially as these were some amazing tomatoes. 

After hesitating over what to do with my leftovers, I decided to make my own tasty pasta sauce, much fresher and cheaper than supermarket bought ones. 

Pop all of the tomato flesh and seeds into a large pan and add salt and pepper as well as a bit of water. Mix well to get rid of any large lumps and leave to simmer for at least 1 hour on a low heat. Stir from time to time so the mixture doesn't stick to the pan.

Once the liquid has reduced (as you can see by looking at the level of the mixture on the side of the pan), adjust the seasoning and leave to cool. 

The result is a sweet and tasty pasta sauce that you can then spice up with whatever takes your fancy: fresh basil, parmesan, garlic, chillies. 

However, as there are no additives in the sauce you will need to eat it up within the week. A great excuse to make yourself a big bowl of pasta!

Leftovers / Les restes

End of the month sadly means less money in the piggy bank for food shopping. For Chéri and I it often means eating up what's left in the fridge. 

On the menu this month: sliced coppa, creamy scrambled eggs and a pear, walnut and rocket salad.

With a bit of imagination and by mixing different flavours and ingredients that you might not always put together, leftovers can become a delicious meal in their own right. I quite like the picnic feel to these kinds of meals too, where you can pick at bits of everything. 

Bon appétit!