Sunday Lunch

Oh yes.. yesterday I spoke of how French takes meal time seriously. Et Voila! today we were invited to BIL and SIL's house to have Sunday Lunch. This is something we do regularly since Sunday in France is equal to nothing-to-do as shops are closed. Only boulanger (Bakery) and some super marts are open for half a day. Cinemas, cafes and restaurants are open though. Business would be better if more shops are open cause people would have chance to spend not that they have much to spend now since the economy in Europe is not looking great but it would help those who works. Most jobs have weekends off but for those who have a family, Saturday is the day where they spend time in the supermarket  faire les course (food shopping) to stock up food for the whole week. Sunday is reserve for church (which personally I think church goers are getting less and less), family and friends gathering.



So we started at 12.30pm with some aperitifs. Some Pinaud, Port, Campari for those who like sweet aperitifs but BIL took whisky. With some potatoes chips, peanuts, cherry tomatoes or little red radish. it's a way to warm up the body :) or Coupe faim.

After that, its the appetizer which in BIl's house is usually a salad. No wine at this moment because we are reasonable :) Next would be the main cause. Today it was a rôti de boeuf or roast beef with some Pomme de terre gratin which is sliced potatoes with melted cheese on top. Of cause baguette is a must at the table as well as a good bottle of Bordeaux. Eat and drink slowly with some conversation of politic, weather and also news of other family. Then it was time for the cheese platter. We had 4 types of cheese which is a minimum. Usually a hard/dry cheese, a Camembert, a goat cheese and a blue. Sometimes we do change another bottle of wine but we didn't as this is just another normal Sunday Lunch. Christmas would be more elaborate. After cheese, we change plates for dessert. Dessert is from me so here's what I brought.




 This is a french pear dessert very simple to make and pleases everyone every time. My french friend Isa introduced me this great dessert and since I have never fail to impress anyone with this tart.

Here's what you need:

• 2 Ripe pears peeled,  cored and quartered
• 100gm of brown sugar
• 150gm almond powder
• 125gm butter soft
• 2 Tbsp almond flakes
• 150gm chocolate
• 1 tsp of almond essence (optional, you can replace it with rum or vanilla essence)
• a pinch of salt

For the tart dough:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
• 1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 6 to 8 Tbsp ice water/ cold milk

Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add ice water 1 Tbsp at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready. Just gather all the crumbs and form a ball, wrap it in cling film and let rest in the fridge for an hour. If the dough doesn't hold together, add a little more water and pulse again. Note that too much water and kneading will make the crust tough.

Here's how to prepare the frangipane:

To prepare the frangipane beat together the almond powder and sugar. Beat in the butter. Mix in the eggs,  salt, and almond extract and beat until light and fluffy.  Don't worry if it seems like you didn't make enough as the frangipane will rise during baking.

Here's how:

















1. Roll out dough on a piece of parchment paper and place dough in baking pan. Then chill pan in freezer for 20min.  
2. Place some chocolate pieces all over the crust. If you are not as lazy as I am, you can melt the chocolate pieces with a little butter in a microwave at low, checking every 15seconds. Then spread it on the crust.
3. Pour in frangipane.
4. Place peeled, cored and quartered pears on frangipane.
5. Sprinkle some brown sugar and almond flakes all over tart.
6. Bake for 25min at 200C or until golden brown.  

Yes, I must admit that it is a little too cook cause I was busy washing up all the equipments (also I did a blind bake coz we like it crispy) and I must also admit that I used a store bought tart crust..laziness tsst tsst tsst.. ;P but it turn out very crispy :)