Being just back from a trip to Paris, my hometown, we thought we had to share with you this address. Itineraires is a restaurant which is worth going if you do come and visit Paris. Sylvain Sendra is a talented young chef who has just been awarded for “Etoile Montante de la Gastronomie” which means Gastronomy rising star.

Here is an idea for a tasty yet easy made up from scratch dinner on a spring day’s evening!

For the Shortcrust pastry, I personally use my Magimix food processor:

Preparation: 5 min

Ingredients for 400g of pastry
 250 g plain flour
 125 g softened butter
 1 pinches salt
 50 ml water

Place the flour, salt and diced butter in the bowl with the dough hook. Switch the machine on and add the water via the feed tube.Continue blending and switch the machine off as soon as the dough forms a ball.Leave in a cool place for 1 hr.

For the Base Flan, here is my own recipe:

Preparation : 40 min Rising : 1 hrCooking : 40 min

Ingredients(for 4 serves)
 400 g shortcrust pastry
 3 eggs
 200 ml crème fraîche
 40 g grated Gruyère cheese
 salt, pepper & grated Nutmeg

For the main Ingredient of honour:
· 130g of French goat cheese (available in any supermarkets in the UK)

Line a quiche tin with the pastry. Prick the base with a fork and cover with a circle of baking parchment covered with beans (or rice). Bake for 10 min.Put the cream, eggs, salt, pepper & grated nutmeg in the bowl and whisk it until all blended.

Take the pastry case out of the oven, remove the parchment and beans. Arrange the chunks of Goat cheese on the bottom, then cover with the egg and cream mixture.Scatter with grated cheese and bake for 30 min.Serve piping hot.

All ready for you, serve with a fresh green salad drizzled with vinaigrette absolute Heaven!

Ingredients
1 large onion or 2 banana shallots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 red chili deseeded or keep half with seeds if you like it spicy
2 sprigs of thyme, leaves picked and roughly chopped
Olive oil, for frying
500g good quality beef mince
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp dried oregano
3 fresh tomatoes or 1 beef tomato, roughly chopped
400g chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato puree
100-200ml chicken or beef stock
3 tbsp tomato puree
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
400g kidney beans, drained and rinsed
Salt and pepper
Handful of chives, chopped
200ml soured cream
Boiled rice, to serve
Method: How to make Gordon’s chili con carne
1. Sweat the onion, garlic, chili and thyme in 2 tablespoons oil in a large saucepan. At the same time, brown the mince in a separate pan over moderate heat in a little oil.
2. Add the dried spices to the onion mixture and cook until they release their aroma. Then stir in the beef and mix well. Add the fresh and tinned tomatoes and leave to cook down a little for about 5 minutes.
3. Pour in the chicken or beef stock and stir in tomato puree to taste. Drop the cinnamon and bay leaf in then bring to the boil and leave to simmer.
4. Once the sauce is beginning to thicken add the kidney beans and leave to cook for another 5-10 minutes to allow the beans to soak up the flavours. Check for seasoning.
5. Mix the chives and soured cream together. To serve, spoon the chili into the centre of a mound of rice, with the soured cream and chives in a separate bowl on the side.

Gordon Ramsay’s Fast Food; recipes from the F Word published by Quadrille, £19.99, photography by Jill Mead.

Delicious! Enjoy…

The Observer Magazine has a fantastic Organic Allotment Blog which looks like a great place to start. Plenty of hints and tips to wet my appetite until I eventually get my hands dirty..!