Herriott Grace

for the love of pie: mimi thorisson

Nikole — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:20:52 +0000

If you’re anything like me,
~~you’ve dreamt~~ you dream of packing up
and moving to the French countryside.
Dream about the markets,
the pâtisseries
and the boulangeries.
About the kitchens,
the butter
and the copper pots.

If you’re anything like Mimi Thorisson,
the talent behind Manger
you’ve done exactly that.

I love her site for a bunch of reasons.
But mostly because it reminds me
that childhood dreams ~~can~~ do come true,
that there’s magic in the details
and that doing what you love,
with who you love
leads to great things.
xo, N

‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹
FOR THE LOVE OF PIE — a series that celebrates the simple things.
Today, Mimi Thorisson and her Potato Pie with Comté Cheese and Lardons.

WHO:
Mimi Thorisson

WHAT:
Potato Pie with Comté Cheese and Lardons

WHERE:
Médoc, France

WHY:
When I was 19, I often went on Saturdays to a small ‘salon de thé’ near the Bon Marché store in Paris with my mother. After a little shopping session, we always looked forward to a casual meal there – potato pie with salad. Ever since it closed down, I’ve thought fondly of that delicious potato pie, so I recreated it. It has become a family favourite, and for some reason I only make it on a Saturdays.

BEST SERVED WITH:
A mâche salad, for a late lunch on a Saturday!

ONE OR TWO THINGS:
I was an only child with a dream – to have a great big family with lots of dogs. I love adventure, taking chances and cooking huge meals for family and friends.

Potato Pie with Comté and Lardons

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

For the pastry:

500 g/ 4 cups plain flour
250 g/ 1 cup unsalted butter (cubed & at room temperature)
2 eggs
3-4 tbsp water
1 & ½ tsp salt

For the filling:

900 g/ 2 pounds potatoes, peeled and sliced into fine rondelles
120 g/ ¼ pound lardons/ bacon, sliced into small sticks
190g/ 2 cups Comté cheese, sliced (or any of your favorite cheese)
2 onions, finely sliced
3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
30 g/ 2 tbsp butter, cut into small pieces
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp fresh thyme
2-3 tsp olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper, for seasoning

For the eggwash:

1 egg yolk
1 tsp milk

Method

For the dough:

Mix all the ingredients together, start kneading until you get a soft dough. Make into a ball, cover with cling film and store in the refrigerator for 2 hours (for best results, leave to rest overnight).

For the filling:

In a skillet, heat 1 teaspoon of olive oil and fry the bacon. Set aside. In the same pan, add one or two teaspoon of olive oil, fry the onion until golden and season with salt and pepper. Add the garlic towards the end. Set aside and leave to cool for 5 minutes. Peel and slice the potatoes.

For the crust:

On a clean surface covered with parchment paper, add a dash of flour and roll out 2 pastry disk to fit your pie dish. Line the pie dish with the first disc, leaving 2 cm overhang. Place a layer of potatoes, onion/garlic, bacon and cheese. Sprinkle nutmeg and thyme all over. Scatter bits of butter and finish with a layer of potatoes. Season with sea-salt and pepper. Brush the edge of the base pastry with water and cover with your second pastry disc. Seal together by pressing firmly on the side of the dish with your thumbs. Cut off excess pastry dough and re-roll to create 5-7 leaves to decorate the pie (see photo). Brush pie with egg wash. Prick a small hole in the center of the pie.

To bake:

Bake in a preheated oven 210°C/ 410 F for 40-45 minutes. Cover with parchment paper if pie browns too much.

PHOTOS:
Oddur Thorisson

shop news: new bowls + spring broth

Nikole — Wed, 15 May 2013 10:57:05 +0000

A few weeks ago two very large boxes
arrived at my studio door.
I’d be expecting them
but their contents
were even better
than I’d imagined.

A while earlier the talented
Sue Paraskeva agreed to
make a round of bowls for HG (!!)
and so both bubble-wrapped boxes
were filled with those.

Each bowl is perfectly askew
and the loveliest blue grey.
They’re made from a mixture of stoneware
and porcelain which makes for
a beautiful beige dappling
and a slight sandy undertone.
Available in both small and medium
each is one of kind.

Around here
we’ve been filling them
with an easy spring broth.
Fish or chicken stock,
noodles,
steamed veg,
sesame seeds
and purple-shelled clams.

They’re perfect for that,
but I think
they’d be beautiful
with a couple scoops of
pastel-coloured summer ice cream as well.

Hope things are swell.
I’ll be back with those new pies soon.
xo, N

photos: michael graydon + nikole herriott

new work – bon appétit magazine

Nikole — Tue, 07 May 2013 20:07:22 +0000

Hello, happy spring!

Remember last year when I told you about
a trip Michael and I took
to the Hudson River Valley?
I didn’t mention it then
but we had travelled there to shoot
a story about April Bloomfield
for the current issue Bon Appétit.
If you haven’t picked up a copy, you should,
April’s Pot Roasted Artichokes are life-changing.

Anyway, more from me soon!
I’ll be back with
for the love of pie posts,
new things for HG,
and some fun bits of news too.

xo, N

Images: Michael Graydon + Nikole Herriott (that’s me!)
Page Layouts: Bon Appétit Magazine
Props: Amy Wilson

a shop preview

Nikole — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 16:59:21 +0000

We’re updating!
Watch for new items tomorrow, April 9, 2013 at 6pm EDT.
In the meantime, join us on pinterest, facebook
or via our mailing list.
xo, N

on the colour of clay

Nikole — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 16:53:55 +0000

Until a couple weeks ago
I’d never really thought about
the colour of clay before it’s turned to dishes.

It hadn’t struck me
that it might start as a solid soft grey.
And that once formed
and set to dry,
it’s colour would change each day.
Slowly, from one shade of grey to the next.
I think I’d imagined
that porcelain
would start out white.

So, when we found ourselves
at the studio of Atelier Make,
the potters behind a number of our pieces and our good friends,
and they told us that
while some clays do arrive white,
the specific types they use to produce our pieces
remain grey until their first firing,
I was a little amazed.

I’d known that potters’ studios
were handsome places.
I’d imagined the process of making things
from clay would be beautiful thing.
But after spending time in one
I like them even more.

There’s a fine dust that settles
over most things there.
Tiny bits of clay that dull almost every surface.
It takes the sheen from things
and leaves something of an enchanted calm.

xo, N

photos: michael graydon + nikole herriott
HG juicers, clouds and totes will be back in stock soon + we’re updating this monday
to stay up-to-date join us on facebook or via our mailing list

these shorts
this apron in natural
this photo from IG
these earrings
i can’t stop thinking about this cake
this egg, yes please
montreal notes: the bagels and the pistacho loaf here
these dapples
and this

honeycomb semifreddo

Nikole — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 18:17:11 +0000

There’s a small part of me
that’s always imagined I’d be a beekeeper someday.
It was a wide-eyed sort of dream, mind you.
The type that forms when you’re little,
before you know what something is really all about.
Before you realize that honey takes
a truck load of bees
and penchant for sticky.

My childhood friend George
always had bees though.
And that convinced me I wanted them too.
That and the stories he told of them.

He was some years older then me,
more a friend of my parents
than a friend of mine.
But he was ever-present throughout my childhood.

Looking back now,
it could have been
the tins he brought the honey in,
that I liked so much.
They were that antique-sort-of-beautiful variety.
You know the ones I mean.
The kind that a six year old
who really liked pretty things,
might just have been into.

It’s of course possible that my memory embellishes
the pretty they actually were.
But I remember that violet honey
that came inside
and I remember the magic
it all was to my little kid self.

And as it turns out,
honeycomb mixed with cream
and eggs and sugar
and frozen together
makes for its own bit of magic too.
xo, N

these paws (via)
this pot
this book
this video
these sandals
this swimsuit
this hotel (via)
currently reading
currently watching
cocktail cures
photos: michael graydon and me

Honeycomb Semifreddo by Donna Hay

Ingredients

3 eggs
2 egg yolks, extra
1 cup (220g) caster (superfine) sugar (I used 3/4 cup instead)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups (500ml) single (pouring) cream
100g honeycomb, chopped

Method

Place the eggs, extra yolks, sugar and vanilla in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and, using a hand-held electric mixer, beat for 6–8 minutes or until pale and thick. Remove from the heat and beat for a further 6–8 minutes or until cooled.
Whisk the cream until soft peaks form. Gently fold the cream through the egg mixture until well combined. Fold through the honeycomb. Pour into a 2 litre-capacity metal tin and freeze for 6 hours or overnight. Spoon into cones to serve. Makes 2 litres.
BY DONNA HAY

for the love of pie: rohan anderson

Nikole — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 12:20:04 +0000

I often miss the quiet of the country.
The ease and grace at which it feels
life happens.
The way a days work outside
can make you feel.

The way carrots and dirt smell.
And the way the barnyard comes to life
nearing spring.

Don’t get me wrong,
it’s been some time since
I lived on farm.
A long time since I mucked a stall
or fed animals at dawn.
A long time since roosters broke my sleep.
But even still,
there are some days I miss it.

In part though,
these are the reasons
I began following Rohan’s blog.
If a place on the internet can make you feel
even a fraction of what the wild and the farm can,
Whole Larder Love is the place.

And so, with the first savoury pie
in my FOR THE LOVE OF PIE series,
Rohan Anderson and his TWO DAY KANGAROO PIE!
Rohan is an author, (his book, Whole Larder Love is available now at Anthropologie)
he is a hunter, a family man and an all-round talented dude.
Find more about him and his recipe below.

xo, N
photos: rohan anderson

WHO:
Rohan Anderson of Whole Larder Love

WHAT:
Two Day Kangaroo Pie with Dunking Chips

WHERE:
Currently living in rural Victoria, Australia in the Central Highlands. I really hope to stay here for sometime, but life is never predictable. I lived my childhood in the country, but then moved to the city, tired of that lifestyle and just had to get back out where I felt at home.

Meat pies are almost the cornerstone of the Australian male diet, a staple if you will. For me though they are a treat, something that I prefer to make myself, in fact I even source the meat with these two hands. I hunt for my meat, and kangaroo is sometimes available, it makes a fresh change from eating rabbit or hare. For most people it’s a meat that can be purchased at a butcher. It’s a great red meat in terms of it’s environmental credentials as it’s evolved to live in tune with it’s environment. When the season is poor and the resources are limited a kangaroo pauses it’s breeding until conditions improve. A female kangaroo can even halt or discharge a pregnancy if things get tough, it’s a harsh country after all.

In regards to flavor, it’s a cracker. Tasting not dissimilar to beef, although cooking it requires more attention than a beef steak, but if you can’t get kangaroo you could use chuck steak.

This is a pie to fill the rumbling tummies on a bleak day. When the fire is roaring, Chet Barker on the stereo and glass or two of pinot. It not only quenches an appetite, it has a comforting effect on the soul.

WHY:
Wile meat is on my menu at home because I hunt all my meat excluding our home raised poultry. I left buying food behind as I did the city. Now I work harder for my meat, as as cliche as it may appear, it is true that a meal you’ve worked hard for by sourcing the ingredients yourself, pays dividends in the satisfaction department.

BEST SERVED WITH:
Pinot Noir and good company. And plenty of both.

ONE OR TWO THINGS:
I love the simple life. It’s been a long journey to live with less, but each day I seem to find one thing to make me smile. I have very little money, not real material ‘assets’ but I’m content. I find love in useful items, tools and skills that can benefit my D.I.Y. approach to living. My family, my home, my garden and my love of cooking with real food. It’s all I desire.

TWO DAY KANGAROO PIE WITH DIPPING CHIPS (make the sauce & pastry one day ahead & refrigerate overnight)

Ingredients

SAUCE

1.5 kg kangaroo meat, diced (I used leg) [or chuck steak]
750 ml passata
1 bottle pinot noir
6 onions
4 carrots, diced
20 cherry tomatoes, halved
6 garlic cloves
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tsp whole cloves
4 bay leaves
flour (for dusting)
fresh thyme
olive oil
water
salt

Method

Place the meat in a mixing bowl and toss with a handful of flour to coat. Set aside.
In a large oven pot heat some olive oil on medium and sweat out the onions and carrots for about ten minutes until soft and the onion is translucent.
While the veg is cooking, heat some olive oil on high in a large frypan and brown the meat chunks to seal. You don't want to cook it too much, it's just a matter of sealing the meat. When you've finished, transfer it into the large pot with the cooked vegetables.
Deglaze the meat frypan with half cup of the red wine, transfer the juice into the large oven pot.
In a mortar and pestle, crush the black pepper and cloves until fine, then add into the pot with the passata, cherry tomatoes, garlic and bay leaves to the pot. If the meat isn't toallty covered add some water. Bring to the boil.
Pre heat the oven to 100°C, and when the liquid is bubbling transfer the oven pot with the lid on into the oven for 9-10 hours. Check after 5 hours, add water if needed.
When the meat collapses when pushed with a fork and it's texture is soft then remove pot from the oven. Add the fresh thyme, stir through then using a wooden spoon push down on all the meat almost separating its form itself to make a more consistent sauce without chunks. Allow to cool and transfer into refrigerating safe containers and store for another day.
To make the pie, spoon out the cold kangaroo sauce into ramekins and cover with a SHORT CRUST PASTRY pastry and bake 180-190°C fan forced until the pastry is brown and crisp.
Serve with CRUNCHY OVEN ROASTED POTATO WEDGES, perfect as cutlery when the pastry has been demolished!
Will serve 6 hungry men.

photos + recipe: rohan anderson

bloglovin Bloglovin

on orange trees and citrus cake

Nikole — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 13:05:03 +0000

I often wish I lived someplace warmer.
Or more specifically, a place where orange trees grow.
I can imagine the scent of the blossoms in spring.
And the way walking
through a grove,
heavy with citrus, might feel.

In Italy, this past October
we stood on our tiptoes to see oranges over walls.
And in California a couple months later
we slowed the car for lemon trees.

But I’ve never actually been to a citrus farm.
I’ve never seen them picked
and processed and ready for market.
I haven’t seen rows and rows of orange fruit
or short grass between the trunks.
But it is something
I’ve always wanted to do.

For now I’m sticking to cake.
And this Cream Cheese Pound Cake by Cakes & Ale
for Bon Appétit
is especially good.

xo, N

this shop
these onions
these
this kettle
this photo
why weight? (via)
these food illustrations
these numbers
this looks like a fun place to be
photos & styling: michael graydon + nikole herriott

Cream Cheese Pound Cake - by Cakes & Ale - for Bon Appetit

Ingredients

Cake

1 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup cream cheese (5 ounces), room temperature
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Glaze

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
1/4 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Method

CAKE

Preheat oven to 350°. Coat loaf pan generously with nonstick spray; line bottom and long sides with parchment paper, leaving about 1 1/2-inch overhang. Coat paper with nonstick spray.
Sift flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda into a medium bowl; set aside. Combine 1 1/4 cups sugar and all zest in another medium bowl; set aside.
Using an electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese in a large bowl until blended and smooth, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in sugar mixture; beat on high speed until very light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Reduce speed to low; add eggs one at a time, beating to blend between additions and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. (Make sure mixture is completely incorporated so flour won't clump when added.) With mixer on low speed, gradually add dry ingredients; mix just to blend (do not overmix or cake will become tough). Scrape batter into prepared pan; smooth top.
Bake cake until top is golden brown and springs back when gently pressed with your fingertips and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 60-70 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cake cool in pan for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, stir lemon juice and 1/4 cup sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved for lemon syrup.
Using parchment-paper overhang as an aid, remove cake from pan; peel off and discard paper. Place cake top side up on a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet. Using a skewer, pierce top of cake all over, inserting skewer about halfway through cake (this helps the lemon syrup to soak in).
Using a pastry brush, baste with lemon syrup. Use all of syrup plus any that may have dripped onto baking sheet. Let cake cool completely.

GLAZE

Whisk all ingredients in a medium bowl; strain, if desired. Pour over cake. Scoop up any glaze that may have dripped into sheet and spread over top and sides of cake. Let cake stand at room tempera-ture until icing is set, about 30 minutes. DO AHEAD: Cake can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.
Cut cake into 1/2-inch-thick slices.

on winter weather and the weekend past

Nikole — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 18:16:17 +0000

We went to Muskoka this past weekend.
It snowed big beautiful flakes for near two straight days.
Those ones that just seem to hover there.
The kind that remind you that winter
is still at least a little bit,
magic.

The kind
that make you
crave crackling fires and wool socks.
That make you think of homemade bread
and bowls of soup.

We saw wild turkeys,
and waterfalls that had turned to ice.
We walked on frozen lakes,
on snowy paths
and
saw fishing huts lined up in a long straight row.
It was nice.

The photos you see here are unrelated
but beautiful I think.
They’re from a day I spent with Martine & John
almost two years ago now.
Amazing how time passes.
xo, N

PS:
this image
these sandals
this necklace
this table
this bird
these are back in stock

AND:
Photos: John Cullen
Props: Martine Blackhurst
Food: Nikole Herriott

for the love of pie: tim robison

Nikole — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 16:02:51 +0000

If you don’t know Tim from his blog
you may know him from Instagram.
And if you don’t know him from either,
I think maybe you should.
He’s just one of those guys whose photos
bring a smile to your face.

We’ve not met in person,
but I’ve always sorta assumed we’ll pull up a chair someday.
Probably on an old veranda someplace
with biscuits and sweet tea
and the company of Tara O’Brady.
xo, N

‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹
FOR THE LOVE OF PIE — a series that celebrates the simple things.
Today, Tim Robison and his French Silk Pie.
Tim lives in Asheville, NC with his fiancé Amanda.
He’s an illustrator, photographer
and a regular contributor to Kinfolk Magazine.

———————-

WHO?
Tim Robison

WHERE?
Ashville, NC

WHAT KIND?

French silk pie with pecan shortbread crust. The original recipe calls for a standard pie crust. I found that a shortbread crust works much better. We also switch it up sometimes and divide the pie into 4 small tarts. To me it’s chocolate in its finest form. Rich, dense, smooth with a subtle salty bite at the end. It’s the best.

BEST SERVED WITH?
I enjoy it best on its own with a good strong cup of coffee. However, a dollop of fresh whipped cream wouldn’t hurt.

ONE OR TWO THINGS?
Good people and good food! (preferably together)

French Silk Pie by Tim Robison

Ingredients

Crust

3 sticks (1 ½ cups) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup sugar
¼ cup PURE maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup pecan pieces, toasted

Filling

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter--room temperature
3oz unsweetened chocolate melted and cooled
1-1/2 teaspoons good vanilla extract.
3 eggs

Method

For the crust:

Mix together butter, sugar and maple syrup until well blended. Add the vanilla and stir to combine. Add flour one cup at a time, mixing entirely after each cup is added. Stir in salt and pecans. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Press dough evenly to 1/4" thick into a prepared 7"-9" pie tin (or four 4" tart shells) Remove any excess dough around edges of tin (depending on your pans, you may have extra batter left over --bake those as you would a standard shortbread cookie). Bake for 18-20 minutes, until lightly browned all over. Set aside and let crust cool completely. Dough freezes well or can be stored in the refrigerator for several days.

For the filling:

Using a steel blade food processor, process sugar and butter until very smooth and light in color (about 5 minutes on high). Slowly add chocolate while processing. Process for a few minutes more, scraping sides often. Add vanilla and then eggs one at a time. Process on high until incredibly smooth (another 5 minutes). Pour filling into cooled pie crust and chill over night.
*Note -- You want to process the filling longer than you think. Check it often to make sure it achieves its 'silky' like consistency. If not processed long enough the pie will feel grainy when served.

Keep refrigerated. Serve cool or at room temperature.