plein comme un œuf: salad and mirabelle clafoutis

christian returned from the market the other day with a big baskey full of mirabelles (yellow plums!). they are just as delicious as delicious can be. ive been snacking on them. as all things around here do, they were turning rather quickly and so i decided to bake those bad boys. but what? i asked christian how he felt about pie. he started salivating. ah, but we didnt have enough butter for a crust. hmm, thought i, what can i make that does not require a trip to the market on this dark and rainy day? hmm... we've got eggs... milk... so something custardy.... ah HA! clafoutis! i asked christian what he thought and he strongly approved of the idea. then i confided in him that i had never made clafoutis in my life.  he said no matter what, im sure it will be delicious.  (and you know what? he was right. )

i did some reading and settled on the following batter measurements, cobbled together from a few recipes and altered for my personal taste:

3 eggs
1 cup milk
vanilla to taste
1/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt

the oven was turned to 175°/350°


i washed, halved, and pitted the mirabelles. then i sprinkled some sugar on 'em (i didnt pour--i sprinkled), and i then added a food good shakes of both powdered ginger and cardamon.

the rest of the ingredients were mixed together pancake style: dry ingredients combined, wet ingredients combined, all ingredients combined.


i settled on julia child's method of baking because she was a rad woman and i trust her. i buttered the casserole and then poured just a bit of batter on the bottom and baked it for 5 minutes--just until it was starting to set. then i took it out of the oven, and added the fruit. the rest of the batter was poured in and then it hung out in the hot oven for about 45 minutes.

the end result?  victory is mine!   the flavours really worked together well.  it wasn't overly sweet, or whoa-heavy, but satisfying.

earlier in the evening, i dined on salad. it was round 2 of a simple and delightful salad i had for lunch yesterday featuring roasted sweet potato, mango, and edamame (soybean)

i had a meeting to attend for work and i needed a lunch that was quick but fulfilling. it was going to be a long and intense meeting and i didnt wish for my stomach to start staging a protest in the middle. bad form.

in the morning, i prepped everything so i could just throw it together and go when the time came.


i peeled and chopped the sweet potatoes, then roasted them with a handful of fresh cilantro and oil.

i steamed the edamame, while the taters were roasting,


and sliced the mango.

and then i made the dressing.

the dressing was an easy mixture of honey, rice vinegar, olive oil, fresh chopped mint, and a pinch of cilantro.

everything was plunked on a bed of lettuce and spinach (spinach was ON SALE)

christian missed out. i made enough for him too, but he didnt have time to eat it. so that was my dinner tonight. again, poor fella, he missed out.

but he DID have dessert.