London Thanksgiving

I used Herta pastry crust for my pies this Thanksgiving.  I stock up on Herta pastry every time I get to Paris.  It is delicious, easy to use and very cheap(around a Euro) and is sold in everywhere even small groceries.

The cornmeal Madeline's I made,  seemed to be a hit, the girls especially loved them.  The recipe I found in an old edition of Victoria magazine 2002 which called for rosemary.  I decided to make them the night before Thanksgiving since I don't have a very large oven but I had forgotten to buy rosemary.  I took a chance and substituted Za'atar (an Israeli/Lebanese thyme & herb mixture with seseame seeds and spices).  I think it worked better since rosemary can be quite over powering because it is tricky to mix evenly.  Well here is the recipe if your interested.


Cornmeal (Cornbread) Madeline’s

6 tablespoons softened unsalted butter

½ cup sugar

1 large egg, beaten lightly

1 cup, plus 2 tablespoons cornmeal

1 ¼ cup all purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ tablespoon finely chopped garlic

1 tablespoon za’atar (if you can’t find za’atar add 1 TBS finely chopped rosemary

1 cup buttermilk

1.    Preheat oven to 350*F

2.    Spray two Madeline tins with non-stick veg spray

3.    In a bowl with an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until combined.

4.    In another bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, garlic and za’atar .

·      za’atar is an Israeli/ Lebanese mix or thyme, marjoram, oregano, sesame seeds, salt and  spices. It’s  sold in Middle Eastern shops

5.    Alternatively add the dry ingredients and buttermilk to the butter mixture, scraping the sides and bottom of the  bowl occasionally.

6.    Fill the Madeline molds halfway with the batter.

7.    Bake for  5 to 7 minutes or until golden.  Let cool for 5 minutes and invert onto racks.  Continue making Madeline's using up the batter.  Makes 48

I also used quite a few recipes from one of my all time favourite cookbooks, Ottolenghi The Cookbook.  Ottolenghi is a fabulous food emporium, specializing in a fusion of Israeli/Middle Eastern/ Western flavours.