Saturday 12 September 2020

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness...

 

Ha ha! I have left it as late as I dare for this title, but since most of you have chickened-out I claim it as my own for the sixth time in six years. You have already had the Ceps, but now you have the quince tart made by me tonight, also from ingredients which were almost free.



For the filling: Two large quince, roughly chopped and boiled with a little sugar for a fucking age until they turn into something approaching spoon-friendly, having blunted your sharpest knife.

For the pastry: Select the finest flour available, gently rub in the butter until it can be formed into... Get a ready-made pastry base from the supermarket and shove the cold quince into it. Grate nutmeg over the surface.

Serving suggestion: Cover with double cream and eat. The 16th/17th century tastes of an English Autumn.

I was going to moan about Tony Abbot and Dominic Cummings, but let's have a weekend off.

Cut this post out and save it. A culinary one from me is rare.

35 comments:

  1. Ps The Ceps were served with pigeon breasts.

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  2. Now I'm really sorry there are no such mushrooms here.

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    1. Do you have any sort of edible mushroom, or do you import some from other countries?

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    2. There is only one type I know, the mushrooms that grow under the pine trees, the rest I buy.

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    3. I would like to see that mushroom.

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  3. Do you catch your own pigeons - I am sure there are plenty around where you are? PS Love the new format - big enough for me to read.

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    1. In town, the wood pigeons live alongside (but socially distanced) feral ones, but people go into the country to shoot them. I never did, even when I had guns. I think your computer must be embiggening things for you.

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    2. Your posts are showing as wide screen, easy to read, spaced out and big. On the mobile phone they show as normal. All is fine.

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    3. Really? I can't see any of that. Must be the new blogger.

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  4. I reread this 3 times to find the Blimp but you have missed it out of the list of your ingredients or come to that, the inspiration for this delicious sounding meal, or should that be post.

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  5. I absolutely hate the smell of any kind of mushrooms. I know I'm missing out, but I can't bring myself to buy, cook or eat them. Tart looks good .

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    1. A friend of mine hated mushrooms so much he had a recurring nightmare that they were growing out of his mouth. He ended up dying of throat cancer. I think his body was telling him something.

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  6. When I saw the mushrooms, I first thought that I had landed on Cro's page. I do love quince. When growing up, our neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Hirschmann, had a quince tree. They always gave my mother some fruit, and she made jelly out of it. One of my favorite flavors to this day.

    Completely unrelated to your post: I have just discovered and watched a British crime series called 'McDonald and Dodds', which is filmed in Bath. In the first episode they mentioned the peregrine falcon and in the second episode they went into the Bell! They show many glorious aerial shots of Bath, and I wish I could just transport myself there for a visit. What a golden city, indeed!!!!!

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    1. The filming kept me out of the pub all day, not that I wanted to go in. People tell me the series was crap.

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  7. I love quinces! The Japanese quince is a substitute, but not half as good..just as hard though!

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    1. I have discovered the secret of cutting quince. I'll tell you later.

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    2. A hatchet would be better but no, you peel it whole then cut the fruit away from the hard core without splitting it in 2 or 4 as you would a pear. It's taken me years to work that out.

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  8. Certainly looks good. I've never met a quince--I believe.

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    1. They are difficult to find in the shops here, because they involve a lot of work to cook. Friends of mine grow them.

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  9. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  10. A proper lifestyle blog today, with such manly recipes. I thought to try baking quinces last season for something sweet, in addition to the usual annual duck tagine, but they were awful. I don't know how to select a good one in the shoppes. They were riddled with hard pebbles in the flesh so it was like eating shot-filled game.

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    1. See my reply to Rachel's questions about saws. You cut the soft flesh away from the hard core then throw it away. Only the outer coating is edible without the hard lumps.

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    2. Ah, hadn't realised. So a bit like an artichoke whereby most of the fruit goes into the compost and you keep a toothscrape of deliciousness for the eating.

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  11. I won't say anything about those Cepes. I too cooked the last of my Quinces last night; just a simple compote to accompany some roast Pork. That makes it TWO that I've eaten this year, and the last one dropped yesterday.

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    1. I wanted to put an Opinel next to them just to rub it in, but couldn't find one. Only two pears from that huge crop? I think laziness may be involved...

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  12. You know my type of mushroom fr we have discussed it before.

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  13. I have a lovely 43 year old quince but it is a Bonsai and never fruits. That tart looks delicious.

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  14. I keep checking in on your blog and seeing the photo of mushrooms which I thought I’d commented on but it must have been Cro’s !!!
    Your quince tart looks absolutely delicious and to proceed it with pigeon and freshly gathered mushrooms sounds wonderful. You are a very good cook Tom. XXXX

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    1. No, I am just highlighting good ingredients. I wanted to put an Opinel knife next to the mushrooms.

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