Finally enjoying some summer weather (and another gastronomy weekend)

Everyone is complaining about the miserable weather we had to date.  Sun was few and far between.  Then last week, while I had to clean to house before Nina & Damien arrive for the weekend, we had lovely hot sunny weather.  On Friday the temp went up to 35°+ - but I didn't complain, although I wished I could rather be outside than sweating inside getting everything ready.  The hot humid weather was interrupted by rain during the day, twice. But by the time JL arrived with N&D, we've decided the sun is back, we can take the chance to try out the new weber, that still had to be assembled. Alas, by the time JL&D finished doing that, the rain came down in full force and we had to put a chicken in the oven. Followed by a blueberry tart I've made for the first time, so easy and delicious (especially with the cream on top).
Blueberry tart:
1 sheet of puff pastry
3 eggs
3 tablespoons of castor sugar
200 ml cream (and more to serve - for that I've used a spray bottle of cream, easy and delicious)
1kg fresh blueberries (I've managed to find wild ones in the shop)
Butter the tart mould, fit it with the puff pastry and then with the blueberries. Beat the eggs with the sugar and fold the cream into the mixture. Pour it over the berries and bake for 25 min at 220°C.  Let it cool down a bit. Serve with more cream. Enjoy! (enough for 8 people, otherwise for 4, and you eat the leftovers the next day!)

Saturday the weather was not as hot, nor as sunny, but at least not too cold.  I've cooked my first rabbit, as it is JL's job to normally cook the 'poor little'.  And the result was not bad, even though I've realised at the beginning that I didn't have 2 of the ingredients. So here is my version (for those who might be lucky to find rabbit in a shop in SA):
Rabbit in red wine:
3 leeks
250g pork belly, cut into thin slices
1 rabbit, cut into 6 pieces
375 ml red wine
375 ml chicken stock
1 bouquet garni (if from a bottle, as you can buy it in a spice bottle in France, take about 3)
1 clove garlic, crushed
salt & pepper
Heat some olive oil in a pot and sauté the leeks until soft. Add the pork belly and fry until browned. While doing this fry the rabbit in another pan (unless if your pot is huge, then you add it to the fried pork belly & leeks) and add to the pot.  Add the wine and simmer for a short while.  Add the stock, bouquet garni, garlic, salt & pepper.  Simmer for about 1.5 h. Remove the rabbit from the pot and cover with aluminium to keep warm.  Reduce the stock until it is thick, then reintroduce the rabbit pieces to reheat.  Serve with potatoes. Bon appetit!

That was followed by another first time recipe, peaches cooked in a white wine syrup and served with roquefort cheese and montbazillac, a sweet white wine. An unusual combination, but pretty to serve and sure delicious to eat too!
375ml dry white wine
250g castor sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla flavour
6 peaches
roquefort cheese
Combine the wine & sugar in a pot and when it gently starts to boil, add the vanilla flavour.  Once the sugar has dissolved add the peaches (in one layer).  - Keep the skins of the peaches on, as it gives the syrup a lovely pink colour.  Simmer the peaches until they are soft (turn them around to ensure that they cook all around).  Remove the peaches and put them in the fridge.  Continue boiling the wine & sugar until it is a syrup. Remove the peaches from the fridge and peel them (the skins come of easily). Place each peach on a plate with 2 thin slices of roquefort and spoon some of the syrup over the peach and the cheese.

Then, happy days, yesterday we could celebrate summer! Doing a barbeque while enjoying an apéritif outside. And I had to try out the Christmas gift that the children gave us, a recipe book and little glasses and plates for apéritif! I'll give you both recipes, as both have ingredients that you'll easily find in SA.

The one I'll rather use as a starter in the future, as it is a bit too big for an apéritif:
1/2 onion
75g beef mince
10 g pine nuts
tablespoon of chopped italian parsley
4 green olives
1 egg
puff pastry
Cut the onion in small pieces and fry in oil. Add the mince, salt & pepper and fry for a few min. Add the pine nuts and remove from the heat, leaving it to cool down slightly.  Add the parsley (keeping the stems).  Cut the olives in small pieces and add to the meat mix.  Boil the egg and cut into 4.
In France the frozen pastry is always in a circle, unlike in SA where it is rectangular. Hence I've cut the circle in 4 and did a little basket, tying the pastry together with the parsley stem (not working well, I have to admit). But the original idea (suitable for the SA shape) is to cut the pastry in rectangulars, then put the mix onto it, add the 1/4 egg and roll it , tying the ends with the parsley stems, making it look like a sweety.  Bake it in the oven at 190°C for 12 min. (serves 4)
The other one, very good on toasted bread (see photo above), although it is also good with fish/seafood:
3 tomatoes
 shallot (if difficult to find in SA, try a red onion, but only 1/4)
juice of 1/4 lemon
1 tablespoon of black olives, pips removed
1 handful of basil leaves
Cut a small cross in each tomato, then pour boiling water over the tomatoes and leave for about 1 min (not too long, as tomatoes become a bit mushy). It should then be easy to peel of the skins. Cut the tomatoes in small pieces (removing the pips and juice). Cut the shallot in small pieces, as well as the olives.  Roll the basil leaves together and cut them in pieces. Mix all in a bowl, add the lemon juice, salt & pepper to taste and keep cold until you need it.