Marinated Tamarillo salad

Marinated Tamarillo salad 
Always learning is my favourite saying when it comes to cooking and it’s funny where that inspiration can come from.
This idea came from a little old lady at the farmers market. A good chef buddy Lance was randomly asking people what they where intending to do with there fresh tamarillo. The little old lady in reply said she likes to peel them, slice thinly and cover in her favourite vinaigrette. So here’s my marinated tamarillo recipe, which I turned into a salad but would do really well as a side dish to cold meats poultry or pork. If you aren’t a fan of the fruit, this dish might change your mind and it’s a nice change if you have only had them as a sweet.

Tamarillo
4                      tamarillo
.5                     red onion
1.5 Tlb             brown sugar
1                      bay leaf
2 Tlb                balsamic vinegar
Salad
Rocket
Goats cheese
Crispy bacon
Roasted almond
Roasted capsicum
Olive oil
S and P
Method
Peel and slice the tamarillo, thinly slice the red onion. Combine sugar, balsamic and bay with the onion and tamarillo. Marinate for 1 hr minimum, 2hrs max.
I served them through the above salad. They go really well with the goats cheese, bacon and crunchy nuts. Once again, feel free to mix it up with what you have on hand.

Baked stuffed Apples

Baked stuffed Apples

I saw a picture of a similar dish the other day that in turn got me inspired to create my own.
The late season apples are still lovely. In this recipe I used pacific rose as they where on hand but would prefer a slightly more tart apple i.e. granny smith. Any apple will do the job so just use what you have.
I have used a sweet pastry but a short pastry would also work.
Filling
4                      granny smith apples
6 Tlb                desiccated coconut
4 Tlb                currants or raisins
4 Tlb                softened Manuka honey
1 Tlb                softened butter
1-2 shots            Rum or brandy                       
1 tsp                cinnamon
.5 tsp               nutmeg
Pastry
250g                butter
200g               Icing sugar
1                      pinch salt
500g                flour
1                      lemon zest
1                      tsp pure vanilla essence
4                      egg yolks
2 – 4 Tlb          cold water

Method
Pastry: 
Cream the butter, sugar, salt, vanilla & zest. Add egg yolks. Gently mix in the flour until the mix comes together, add the coldwater and mix to form dough. Use as little movement as possible to form the Dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hr. Remove from the fridge and let warm slightly (room temp). Roll the pastry out to about 3 – 5 mm on a well-floured surface, cut it into quarters (four pieces roughly round in shape). Place an apple in the centre of each peace off pastry. Cut the pastry into a cross shape i.e. X. Each strip of the pastry crosses needs to be about 6cm wide with a small round in the centre that the apple is sitting on. Fold each strip over the apple press the pastry together on top of the apple, sealing the sides together like a seem. You should have four seems in total. Remove any excess pastry. Chill again for 30 min (freeze for 15 if hurried)
Egg wash with 1 egg and a little milk mixed.




Filling:
Combined all ingredients to form a paste.
Assembly:
Core the apples and leave a generous cavity to fill. Press the filling in to completely fill the cavity.
Cooking:
Place on an oven tray and bake at 180c for 30-40 min or until the apple is tender when a skewer or small knife is inserted.
Serve with custard or ice cream etc.

Stuffed Baked Peppers

Stuffed Baked Peppers
Three nights ago we had a lamb leg roast with all the trimmings.
Since then the left overs have turned into a healthy tasty rice salad with a mix of cooked and raw vegetables. That left over salad was today stuffed into some fresh peppers that where a gift from the boys at East coast heat, chilli growers.
There is no recipe for this dish it’s a free style sort of thing but I’ll list what I used to give you an idea. I think a rice base is best but lentils or beans will work really well and add extra protein is your go down a vegetarian route.
 
Cooked Rice                                 
Cubed cooked pumpkin
Chopped lamb (left over roast)
Ginger
Garlic
Cumin seeds
Cinnamon
Preserved lemons chopped
Bay leaves
Raw broccoli chopped
Raw carrots chopped
Raw Peppers chopped
Watercress chopped
Herbs
Salt & pepper
Balsamic dressing
 
Cut the tops of your peppers and scrape most of the seeds out. Fill with your filling of choice then place the top back on. Splash with olive oil and bake at 180 for 15-20 min.

 
 

Jerusalem artichokes

Jerusalem artichokes                                         
Not something you see ever day around NZ but a great root veg that I personally love.
I’ve used them a lot over seas but not so much back home. I was stoked to see freshly dough organic Jerusalem artichokes at the little veg market I go to.
They look a little like root ginger but slightly greyer in colour. The flavour and texture is like a cross between parsnips and potato.
On seeing such fantastic specimens, I questioned the owner on her supplier etc. So the story goes; her father was growing them as a stock feed 20 years ago. They then spread out to the side of the road and continued to grow there until now. She has since replanted them back into the farm and begun selling them in her shop. Funny that something so good was grown for the pigs. Here's a basic no fuss way to prepare them.
Jerusalem artichokes
Sea salt
Cracked black pepper
Olive oil
Rosemary
Simple wash a and scrub the artichokes. Cut into similar size pieces, coat in oil and seasons. Roast at 200c for 15 Min's add some rosemary leaves and continue cooking until tender. Serve them as a starch with any dish or put them through a salad.

Smoked Gem fish on Vogels

After a bit of a night out in Mt Maunganui we returning home with the munchies, this was our late night feast.

The combination was a real winner and I want to pass the recipe on to you. We had limited ingredients but what we had was really good thanks to the local farmers market.

If you haven't tried gem fish it is super good! especially smoked. It's a deep sea fish that hangs out with blue nose and hapuka.

Yes the curd is a little sweet but the one we had was full of zest and had a nice balance that worked well the the creamy cheese.

The smoked salt was the icing on the cake so to speak, what a tasty product.

Smoked Gem Fish with Brie and lime curd on vogels:

Smoked Gem fish

Brie

Lime curd

Vogel's toast

Smoked salt

Cracked black pepper

Crispy skinned confit wild duck recipe

Here in New Zealand it is duck shooting season and everybody is looking for the best recipes for there duck.
This is a very tasty way to eat duck and even the tough parts will become moist and tender.
The key to cooking duck especially wild stuff is to use a moist slow method of cookery.
If you are game literally, confit the legs as below but keep the breasts separate. Rub some salt and ground juniper berries into the scored fat. Sear the breasts in a hot pan fat side down for 5min then finish them in a hot oven for another 5min. They should be med rare/ med, rest and slice thinly. It’s nice to enjoy two different cuts of meat from the same bird and two different methods of cookery. A good option for a dinner party as the confit can be done well in advance.

Crispy skinned confit duck with orange jus:
6  duck legs or one whole duck cut in half and flattened
500ml duck fat or goose fat or chicken fat
4  Bay leaves
1  orange, zest and 1/2 juice
5  slices fresh ginger
2  cinnamon quills
5 Pepper corns
1  tsp sichuan pepper
Method:
The duck can be done 1-5 days ahead of time if stored in the fat.
Trim the duck legs keeping all the trim to add to the duck fat.
Or cut the duck down the center between the breasts, open it up and firmly press it flat. You should here some bone crunching sounds.
Rub the Sichuan pepper into the duck then add all the ingredients to a tray
that just fits the duck, cook at 160 c for 2.5 hrs, cool in the fat.
Then gently remove the duck.
Strain the fat and juices, set the fat in the fridge then scoop off the fat when
set (saving it) to access the juices under the fat for the sauce.
The left over fat is great to use when cooking i.e. roasted potatoes.
To finish the duck place it on a wire rack in a tray, season well with salt then
into a hot oven 200-220 c roast until the skin is crispy about 10min.
Jus:
Cooking juices from duck
2  shallots
1  clove garlic
200ml red vere juice
200ml fresh orange juice
1  bay leaf
50g butter
Gently sweet the shallots and garlic (no coloured they should be glossy and
transparent) place all other ingredients in the pan, Reduce by 2/3 or until the
sauce has thickened. Take off the heat and strain, taste season with salt and
pepper, then whisk in the cold butter to give the sauce some body and shine.

Feijoa tart

Feijoa Tarte Tatin:
A classic. Traditionally made with apples but I think the Feijoas work really well here. The main point is to use seasonal fruit, just be careful of the fruits water content. To wet is not good for this dish. Some slice apple can be added to give a little more structure.
Pastry:
240g   flour
1Tlbs  sugar
1tsp     baking powder
180g   butter, cold cubed
Pinch  of salt
20 Feijoas not over ripe, firm is best
Caramel:
2cups caster sugar
100ml + 1Tlbs water
100g   butter
1          cinnamon stick
1          vanilla pod
Method:
Pastry:
Pre heat over to 220c.
Mix all dry ingredients together in a cake mixer with a whisk attachment, add the butter and whisk until crumb like. Remove the bowl and tip the mix onto a clean bench. Make a well and pour in the water, gently mix into soft dough. Wrap the dough and chill.
Caramel:
Place sugar and water in a thick-bottomed pan (it need’s to be oven proof, I like cast iron) turn to high and boil until the sugar turns a caramel colour. At this stage remove it from the heat quickly add the butter and tablespoon of water. Be careful, as it is very hot and will spit and bubble when the liquid is added. Whisk until smooth then add the split scrapped vanilla pod and seeds plus the cinnamon stick, cool.
Assembly:
Cut the feijoas in half and carefully scoop out the flesh, make sure to cut around the fruit as close to the outer skin as possible; it’s fine if the caramel has set up just place the Feijoa on top of it with the cut side facing down. Spread them around the pan, tightly squeezing them in.
Roll the pastry out keeping in quiet thick about 5mm. Cut in into a round slightly bigger than the pan top. Roll the pastry over your rolling pin and then roll in over the fruit. Press the edges in with a crimping motion.
Place the pan into the oven, turn it down to 200c cook for 15 min or until the pastry is golden.
To Serve:
The tart can then be flipped upside down by placing a lipped tray over the pan and then flipping the tart and tray over making sure to catch any syrup. Then using two large fish slices transfer the tart to a serving tray, pour over any extra syrup.
Alternately using a large spoon scoop individual portions into bowls, turning them pastry side down as you go.
Serve with vanilla ice cream and enjoy the comfort of this awesome upside down tart.
This tart should easily feed 8-12 people.

Feijoa Crumble recipe

I’ve had a lot of requests for more feijoa recipes so I thought I’d start off with a really easy yummy recipe and a kiwi favourite.
As Tamarillo are also in season and work really well in this recipe I’ve included an option for them also. I like to add the apples as they provide more structure and mellow the stronger flavours of the other fruit.

    
Feijoa or Tamarillo and Apple Crumble:
4 granny smith apples
12 Feijoas or 6 tamarillo
1/2-3/4 c sugar the tamarillo will need more sugar as they are tart tasting
1/2 tsp pure vanilla essence
1 cinnamon quill for Feijoas
Or
1 star anise for Tamarillo
2/3 c soft brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 – 2/3 c rolled oats
1/2 c flour
1/2 c very soft butter
Pinch salt
 
Method:
Peel and core the apples, slice into quarters then slice the quarters into 1-2 cm slices.
Place the apple sugar and cinnamon or anise in a saucepan cover and cook on med for 4-5 min, stirring occasionally until the apple starts to soften but is still firm in the centre.
At this stage add the peeled and thickly sliced feijoas or tamarillo to the apples and cook for a further 2 min uncovered.
Spoon the fruit mix into a bake proof ceramic or glass dish or individual ramekins.
Crumble:
Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix until a desired crumbly consistence is reached. It needs to be moist enough that if squeezed in your hand the crumble will hold together in a clump. But dry enough that it can be crumbled into smaller clusters. Add more oats if to wet and more butter if to dry.
Crumble the mix over the fruit and bake for 10-12 min on 200c.
Serve with custard or ice cream.

Izzy's 10th Birthday cake

I'm by no means a cake decorating expert but I'm up for it. This is by lovely daughters Izzy's 10th Bday cake, it's club penguin themed. No recipe included for this one it's just classic vanilla sponge and butter frosting made with creamed butter and icing sugar.

BBQ Trout (or salmon), feijoa, herb and pine nut sandwich with wasabi mayo recipe:

BBQ Trout (or salmon), feijoa, herb and pine nut sandwich with wasabi mayo recipe:

It's feijoa time again and I'm loving it! What a iconic New Zealand fruit it is. Obviously not a native of NZ but still a favourite that is embraced by all.  A quick trip around the block in early winter and you should be able to find these little darlings under a tree on the edge of someones property. Hunt and gather people. If you haven't made or tasted feijoa crumble yet then you are missing out. 

This is one of my signature dishes; the strong flavour of the feijoa and its great acid balance mixed with the slightly muddy trout taste, smokey flavours from the BBQ and the aromatic kaffier lime leaves makes this recipe a real winner.

Trout:

1 whole trout, scaled and gutted

2-4 feijoas depending on size

1 bunch of mint

1 bunch flat leaf parsley

3 ripe limes

100g pine nuts

1 Tlb soft brown sugar or Manuka honey

Sea salt

Cracked black pepper

Olive oil

3 pieces of flax

4 kaffier lime leaves

Wasabi mayo:

1 small jar fresh grated wasabi – Coopers brand

Or

1 fresh root wasabi, grated

4 Free Range egg yolks

1tsp Dijon Mustard

5 limes juice

600ml grape seed oil

2 cloves of garlic

1 small bunch parsley

1 small bunch Mint

Method:

Trout:

Fillet the trout removing the head, using boning tweezers pin bone the fillets

(Remove the line of bones running down each fillet)

Lay the sides skin down, season, pour a little olive oil on and squeeze over the

lime juice.

Place one side of trout on 3 3cm wide, 30cm long strips of flax with a lime leaf in

the centre of each strip of flax

Peel and thinly slice the feijoas into strips, place them on top of the trout that’s on

the flax.

Rough chop the herbs and add.

Sprinkle with roasted nuts.

Place the other side on top.

Pull the flax around the trout fillets (sandwich together) tightly tie.

Slip another 3 lime leaves under the tied side of the trout.

Season heavily with sea salt and olive oil.

Fry in a med hot pan or bbq until crispy on the out side and moist in the middle

(about 10 min). Always rest your meat for at least 5-10 min.

Mayo:

Place eggs, wasabi, mustard, 1/2 lime juice and garlic in a blender and blend until

smooth. Add herbs and re-blend.

Gentle pour in the oil.

Season, check acidity and add more lime if needed.

Serve on a large platter with wasabi mayo and fresh limes.

Make this classic red wine beef casserole recipe

So winters almost here, cold, wet and dark early. But this gloom can by replaced by the warmth and joy of a good honest casserole gently simmering in your oven. 
Such was the day I made this one, cold southerlies and rain pouring down perfect conditions specially as I had time to hang around the kitchen for the afternoon.
Any red meat can be used for this recipe I actually prefer venison instead of the beef with the adition of a few juniper berries.
It's hard to beat a creamy mashed potato with this dish and I like some roasted brussel sprouts on the side.

Beef Casserole:
1.5 Kg   Blade or Chuck steak
              Flour
1            Carrot
2            Onions
1-2         Celery sticks
1            Bulb of garlic
5            Fresh bay leaves
6            Sprigs of thyme
2 Tlb      Tomato paste
.5           Bottle of red wine
500ml    Beef stock
1            tsp of honey or sugar
              Salt and pepper
              Italian parsley


Method:
Cut the meat into 4cm cubes and dust well with season flour.
In a hot pan with a little grape seed oil brown the meat off in 2-3 batches.
Cut the vegetables into quarters  and fry for a couple minutes with the tomato paste add them and the  meat to a casserole dish or a deep oven tray.
De glaze the meat and veg pan with the red wine by heating the liquid up to a boil then pour it into the casserole dish.
Lastly add the herbs, cover the dish and cook at 160c for 4hrs or until the meat is tender.
I remove the veg and herbs at this stage and reduce the sauce if it's a little thin. Season with salt and pepper, a little honey or sugar may be helpful to balance the sauce. sometimes tomato paste can be a little tart tasting.
Add the meat back to the sauce and serve over whipped potato and brussel sprouts sprinkled with chopped parsley.


Brussel sprouts:
Brussel sprouts
Sea salt
Cracked pepper
Butter
Olive oil
Bay leaves

Method:
Boil or steam the sprouts for 5min, strain, dry.
Place them in an oven tray with a couple knobs of butter a dash of olive oil, some sea salt and bay leaves.
Roast or grill in a hot oven until the outer leaves start to colour and crisp up around 5-10 min.

Great baked Hapuka recipe

The joy of having a buddy who is a fisherman! Last week I was asked what species of fish I wanted as he was heading out to sea. Tough choice but I decided on Hapuku, as it is one of my favourites with its dense moist flesh and large fillets. A few days later three massive super fresh puka fillets where delivered.

The weather is a little colder now so I wanted to do something more comforting and warming plus it was a Sunday after a fairly big Saturday night. This is a great no fuss recipe and is perfect for entertaining, guests or just a family feast.

Baked Hapuku:

2 fillets Hapuku

1 bunch Parsley

1 bunch Mint

1 bunch Basil

2 TLB Cappers

1-2 tsp Mustard

1-4 Anchovies

4 Lemons

Olive oil

Butter

S & P

Method: 
Straight forward here, what we are making is a basic salsa verde (green sauce).

Finely chop or blend the herbs, capers, mustard, anchovies, juice of two lemons and 100-200ml olive oil to form a pesto like consistence.

Lay the fish down on a drizzle of olive oil and a little salt and pepper in an oven tray, tuck the thinner tail ends under so the fish is a relatively even thickness.

Pour over the verde; add some knobs of butter and a couple of lemon slices or wedges.

Bake at 180c for about 15mins

Serve the fish with the pan juices and baked lemon. This dish went well with a little kumara puree.

Kumara Puree: 

5 Kumara

100g Butter

Milk or cream

Salt & Pepper

Method:

Boil in salted water, steam dry in the same pot (strain and place the kumara back in the pot on the element for a min or so) add the butter and a little milk or cream back to the pot and gently warm.

Place the lot in a food processor add more milk if needed and blend until silky smooth.

Good Morning Show

 Check this link out, live this morning.
http://tvnz.co.nz/good-morning/video

Mark Gardner on "The Good Morning Show"

Check me out tomorrow on the Good Morning Show  two recipes one at 10.10am the other at 11.10am.
I'll put the recipes up tomorrow and hopefully a utube link if you missed them.
Laters

Wet Polenta with pork belly

I met up with a good chef friend of mine Bryn Lewis yesterday, we went on a little food odyssey around Gisborne collecting tasty products and fresh produce.Bryn is also a wine maker at Hi hi winery which is in Ormond, Gisborne. So I had the chance to sample their wide verity of old and new world wines straight from the barrel. The boys have done a fantastic job so keep your eyes out for the wine.

The following dish is the end result of our days gathering and a fairly large amount of wine. We wanted an Italian style dinner that we could all sit around and drink wine with. Perfect.

A fun way to serve and eat food this one...




































Wet Polenta with Pork Belly:
Pork belly
Chorizo sausage
Cacciatori hot sausage
Chicken stock
Wine
Bay leaves
Onion garlic
Olives
Basil
Oregano
Parsley
Eggplant
Roasted capsicum
Kamokamo
Portobello mushrooms
Parmesan

Method:
Gently simmer the pork belly in chicken stock, water, wine, onions and garlic for 2hrs until tender. Cool and cut into cubes.

Cut the veg into chunks and roast until soft and coloured.

Cut the sausages into chunks and grill with the pork belly, season.

Make the polenta by combining the chicken stock with some of the pork’s cooking liquor; we added raw corn kernels at this stage then rained in the polenta while stirring continuously. When cooked add a large knob of butter and plenty of grated Parmesan.

Spread the polenta out on a clean table and sprinkle over the pork cubes, sausage, roasted veg, herbs, olive oil and extra Parmesan.

Grab some plates and using a fish slice serve straight from the table. As the polenta cools it will start to set and is equally nice like that.

The wine best matched proved to be the Hi hi Merlot.

Mussels & Pipis

I was in the Bay of Plenty, Mt Maunganui last week. My timing was good and there where some fun little waves and great weather.
My buddy Tom was staying in a beautiful little beachfront home where i was lucky enough to cook this dish. Perfect setting for some bbq mussels and a cold beer I think. Cheers

Bbq Mussels & Pipis:

Green lipped Mussels
Pipis
garlic
lime
chili
corriander
grape seed oil


Method:
De-bead and clean the shell fish.
Place them on the flat plate of a bbq, drizzel a little oil over them. Add the sliced garlic, chili and limes.
Grill and turn while cooking, once the shell fish start opening add the choped corriander and some fresh lime juice. Serve with crusty bread and a nice larger or wine.

BBQ lamb leg

I made this lamb last night. It’s great for a summer night and it cooks fast, well faster than most lamb legs anyway.

I served it with a nice tatziki style sauce with cucumber, yoghurt, lemon and mint. Fresh corn, crusty bread and a big salad.

Method:

Lay the leg out trim excess fat and sinew. Butterfly out any extra thick pieces of meat then tenderise the whole thing with a meat mullet or your fist. Make sure the skin is still intact and the meat is around the same thickness.

Slice ginger, garlic, herbs, chilli, and lemon and add to the lamb with the olive oil.

Marinate for at least 2 hrs or up to a day.

Season with salt and pepper and bbq on a hot flat plate, turning only once. Reduce the heat to med once the lamb is cooking and turn after 8 mins.

When the lamb has cooked for 6 min on the second side turn the heat off and put the lid down. Let it finish for 5min like that. Then rest for another 10min in a warm place, saving any juices.

Slice the lamb against the grain. Add more salt, lemon juice, olive oil, parsley and the resting juices.

Will feed 4-6 people.

Recipe:

1 Lamb leg – boned out but left in one flat piece

Ginger

Garlic

Chilli

Rosemary

Parsley

Coriander

Lemon

Olive oil

Sea salt

Cracked black pepper

Scallops with sweet corn puree, almonds and truffle oil

Scallops with sweet corn puree, almonds and truffle oil:
Ocean and earth flavours, make the most of the end of season sweet corn.

Scallops:
12 large scallops
50g butter

Corn puree:
2 cobs of corn
1 garlic clove
1 spring of thyme
150ml chicken stock
1Tlbs creme fraiche

Salad:
1Tlbs capers
2Tlbs roasted almonds, chopped.
1Tlbs finely chopped chives
1-2tsp white truffle oil

Sea salt
Cracked black pepper


Method:

Corn puree:
Bring a salted pot of water to the boil; cook the corn for 4min, strain, cool. Cut the kernels from the cob and place in a sauce pan with the stock, smashed garlic clove and thyme, Simmer for 5-7 min. Remove the thyme and place every thing in a blender with the creme fraiche, blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Drain the capers and wash under running water, dry & reserve.

Scallops:
Rub the scallops in olive oil, season with salt & pepper. Heat a thick-bottomed pan to a medium heat; add the butter then place the scallops in the pan while the butter is still melting. Cook for 1min then turn the scallops and cook for another minute, add the capers to the pan and remove from heat.

To serve:
Spoon some corn puree down the centre of a plate. Place three or five scallops (depending on size) on the corn puree. Spoon over some capers and pan juices then sprinkle with the almonds, chives and lastly a small drizzle of truffle oil.
This recipe will serve 4 people a starter sized portion.

Plumb Tart

 

Plumb and almond/ Frangipane tart:

Make this tart with any seasonal stone fruit you choose, plumbs, apricots, peaches, nectarines etc. In autumn choose classic apple or pear. It’s great served warm or just as good cold over the next day or two. Enjoy.

Fruit:
6-10 Plumbs (black Doris are my favourite)
50ml verjuice or fruity white wine
3Tlbs caster sugar

3Tlbs Plumb jam; use a jam that matches the fruit i.e. apricot tart, apricot jam.

Almond batter:
120g salted butter
150g caster sugar
200g ground almonds
2Lg eggs
1tsp pure vanilla essence
2Tlbs Golden rum or brandy

Pastry:
250g butter
200g icing sugar
1pinch salt
500g flour
1 lemon zest
1tsp pure vanilla essence
4 egg yolks
2-4Tlb cold water

Method:

Pastry:
Pre heat oven 200c.
Cream the butter, sugar, salt, vanilla & zest until pale and light.
Add egg yolks. Gently mix in the flour until the mix comes together, add the cold
water and mix to form a dough. Use as little movement as possible to form the
Dough.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hr.
Remove from the fridge and let warm slightly (almost room temp).
Roll pastry on a floured surface and line a greased flan tin, patch any gaps or
Holes with left over pastry.
Chill again for 30 min (freeze for 15 if hurried)
Blind bake the pastry at 180 c for about15 min, until slightly colored.
Cool and reserve.


Almond batter:
Cream the butter and sugar (whisk until fluffy and white) add half of the ground almonds then mix again. Whisk in one egg at a time then add the remaining ground almonds vanilla and alcohol. Mix.
This mix can be kept in the fridge for up two 5 days.

Plumbs:
Cut the plumbs in to quarters or if large fruit thirds, half’s if smaller sized.
If your fruit is already very ripe and soft skip this step.
Put the fruit wine and sugar in a pan and cook on high for 2-3 min, just to slightly soften, don’t over cook the fruit. Strain and reserve the cooking juices. Cool the fruit.

Assembly:
Spread the jam on the pastry base, warming it will make this easier. Spoon the almond mix in about 1/2 – 2/3 full. Arrange the fruit it a fan like style on top.
Bake at 180c for 30min.

Serve
Serve with a little ice cream, crème anglaise, fresh cream, creme fraiche or yoghurt. Drizzle the reserved cooking juices over the tart to finish it. Yummy!!
You will get at least 12 slices from this tart.