Apricot and Blackberry Clafouti to Celebrate Julia Child

“If you’re afraid of butter, use cream.”  This is one of my favorite quotes from Julia Child, and I appreciate her message of enjoying food, and life, whole-heartedly.  She knew how to live!  Julia Child has inspired generations of us to start cooking, copies of Mastering the Art of French Cooking gracing our kitchen counters with its familiar fleur-de-lis pattern.  This week would have been her 100th birthday, and what better way to celebrate her than to cook!

To honor her, I wanted to do something quintessentially French, like a soufflé or quiche.  As I turned the yellowing pages of Mastering the Art of French Cooking (my copy comes from a used book shop), past omelettes and gratins, quenelles and terrines, I knew I’d found what I had in mind when I arrived at the clafouti, or fruit flan.

Clafouti reminds me of a lovely French exchange student, Lise, that we became close with a number of years ago.  She made one with apples for a potluck that was simply stunning (and scrumptious).  A traditional clafouti is made with cherries, but Julia Child shares other fruit variations, including one with blackberries. Blackberries are in abundance here right now and I had a few apricots in the fruit bowl, so I paired them together.  A clafouti is quick to prepare, just a whiz of ingredients in the blender to create a pancake-like batter, which is then poured over the fruit before baking.

When I pulled the clafouti, puffed and beautiful, from the oven I let out a happy sigh.  Taking my first bite made me sigh again.  Thank you, Julia.  The thick, tender flan is studded with fruit, warm and soft and slightly sweet.  The blackberries and apricots evoke summer, and come fall I plan to make it again with apples.  I can tell you, clafouti is also delicious straight from the fridge for breakfast!  I showed enormous restraint in saving some for Bob and Sam when they returned from their weekend of fly fishing.  Isaac is still away at camp until tomorrow, though...I don’t think I can last that long.  Perhaps I’ll welcome him home with a blueberry clafouti.

Bon Appetit!

Apricot and Blackberry Clafouti
Adapted slightly from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1
By Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck
Serves 6-8

1 1/4 cups milk
1/3 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 1/4 pounds fresh blackberries
3 apricots, sliced in half and pits removed
Powdered sugar for serving

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 7-8 cup pie dish or baking dish (I used a quiche pan).

In a blender, whiz the milk, sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt and flour together on high speed until smooth, about 1 minute.

Pour a 1/4 inch layer of the batter into the prepared baking dish and pop in the oven for 2 minutes.  Remove from the oven and scatter the berries evenly over the batter.  Lay the apricot halves, cut side up, over the berries.  Pour the remaining batter over the fruit and smooth.

Bake for close to 1 hour, until it is puffed and golden brown.  Dust with powdered sugar and serve warm for dessert or brunch.

Avocado and Apricot Rye Berry Salad

Rye berries are something new for me.  I recently discovered them through Bluebird Grain Farms, in Winthrop, WA.

Last fall we bought a small cabin in Winthrop, and we now head over the mountains from Seattle to enjoy the Methow Valley whenever possible. Besides totally fulfilling my Little House on the Prairie dreams, spending time in Winthrop has exposed me to the Valley’s incredible food scene. We are not far from the Bluebird Grain Farms, and their organic, heirloom grains are one of my happy finds.  Given my love of whole grains, this is not a surprise!  In particular, I appreciate the chewy texture and hearty, earthy flavor of rye berries.

When I first cooked up a pot of rye berries, I ate some for breakfast with maple syrup, blueberries and a spoonful of thick yogurt – a delicious diversion from my usual morning oatmeal.  I then began thinking of other dishes I could create ...

Creamy avocados and fresh apricots were sitting on the kitchen counter so I began chopping.  From there, I added a bit of crunch with pistachios, a hint of sweetness from maple syrup and some mint and lime to brighten the salad up.  These flavors and textures are truly delightful together.

The salad makes a lovely light lunch or side dish for a barbecue. You could even add a dollop of yogurt for breakfast!

Avocado and Apricot Rye Berry Salad
Serves 4-6

1 cup rye berries
3 cups water
2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 large avocados, diced
3 apricots, diced
3 tablespoons fresh mint, finely chopped
1/4 cup pistachios, toasted and roughly chopped

Combine the rye berries, water and 1 teaspoon kosher salt in a medium sized sauce pan. Bring to a boil, cover and lower heat. Simmer for about 25 minutes, until rye berries are soft. Drain any remaining water and set aside to cool (can be made ahead).

Whisk together the syrup, olive oil, lime juice and remaining 1 teaspoon of salt. Spoon the rye berries into a serving bowl. Add the avocados, apricots, mint and pistachios. Drizzle the dressing over and toss gently. Serve immediately.

Apricot, Plum and Strawberry Slab Pie at Hood Canal

We are currently enjoying a marvelous visit at Hood Canal (an hour and half southwest of Seattle) with our dear friends from Australia, Chris and Cheryl, and their amazing kids Nick, Carly and Lucy. Originally from Seattle, our friends have a lovely cabin on the water and every July they come back to visit family and friends here. I can’t remember how many years our families have been gathering here... at least twelve or thirteen? Our children have grown up together visiting the canal house and every summer we can’t wait for this time together.


Our days are spent boating, water skiing, wake boarding, shooting BB guns, swimming, lounging in the sun, inner tubing, shooting baskets, paddling in the kayoo (half kayak, half canoe), reading trashy magazines and chatting about the past year. There is always so much to catch up on! Seals pop up to cautiously watch us, folks wave from their boats as they float by, and a generally lazy atmosphere takes over as the day progresses. Late afternoons involve cocktails and nibbles, and this leads into delicious dinners on the barbecue, bottles of wine and more talking and laughing. We spend evenings around the fire pit, roasting s’mores and watching the sun set over the mountains. Sometimes we watch a movie on an outdoor screen, with the canal and disappearing sun as our backdrop.


While the sun is dropping behind the mountains, we start thinking about pie and ice cream. Every year I bake a couple of pies to bring with us, and at this point I don’t think we’d be allowed down the driveway if we didn’t come bearing pies! This year we have a fun crowd at the canal with Chris and Cheryl’s extended family and an 88th birthday to be celebrated, which means lots of pie and special memories.


Knowing we have a big group for dessert, I think about the slab pies I’ve been seeing lately. These are pies baked on a rimmed baking sheet that can feed a larger crowd than one baked in a traditional pie plate. Now, what kind of pie to make? Ah, deciding this is one of summer’s joys when we can choose from peaches, cherries, plums, apricots, berries and more. My kitchen is filled with the scent of strawberries from our berry stand and plums and apricots from the farmer’s market. I see a pie forming!


Apricot, Plum and Strawberry Slab Pie
Serves 24
Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food

Crust:
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled
2/3 cups ice water

Filling:
2 pounds fresh apricots, sliced into eighths
2 pounds plums, sliced into eighths
2 pints strawberries, hulled and sliced into halves or quarters depending upon their size
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
Cream for brushing on crust

Cover the bottom and sides of a 10x15 inch rimmed baking sheet with foil. In a food processor, pulse the flour, salt and sugar together to combine. Cut one stick of butter into tablespoon sizes and add to the mix. Pulse until just incorporated. Repeat with remaining three sticks of butter. The mixture should resemble a coarse meal. With the machine running, add 2/3 cup ice water. Pulse until the dough is crumbly and holds together when squeezed. If necessary, add more ice water one tablespoon at a time. Do not overmix.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead lightly to make a smooth dough. Divide in half. On a sheet of parchment paper, roll the first ball of dough into a rectangle just larger than the baking sheet. Transfer the dough to the baking sheet by lifting and flipping the parchment paper onto the pan and peel off the paper. Press dough into the bottom and sides of the pan. Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator to chill until ready to use. On another sheet of parchment paper, roll out the second ball of dough. Place this in the refrigerator to chill (can lay on top of the baking pan).

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine the fruit, sugar and cornstarch. Let sit for 15 minutes. Remove the sheet pan from the refrigerator and spoon the fruit and juices onto the bottom crust and spread evenly. Flip the top crust onto the top and peel off the paper. Press the edges of the top and bottom crust together and crimp. Brush the top of the pie with cream and cut slits on the top of the pie to vent. Place the pan in the oven on top of two pieces of foil spread out (to catch any drips) and reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees. Bake for about 45-50 minutes, until the top is a bit golden and the juices are bubbling thickly through the steam vents. Cool for one hour before serving.