jeudi 18 novembre 2010

Wok concombre et saumon

Le temps d'une nouvelle recette est venu!
C'est Magali qui l'a trouvée sur "Marmitons", donc rien de très original! Mais c'est bon et facile. Donc merci Mag pour cette trouvaille. ;)

180 gr. de riz
300 gr. de saumon
1 concombre
1 grosse tomate
1 gros oignon
1 petit verre de vin blanc
15 cl. de crème fraîche allégée
Aneth
Oyster Sauce
Sel et Poivre

Cuire le riz selon les instructions du paquet.
Peler et émincer l'oignon, puis le faire revenir dans le wok avec un peu d'huile.
Peler, épépiner et émincer la tomate.
Peler, épépiner et couper le concombre en petits dés.
Ajouter la tomate et le concombre à l'oignon. Cuire quelques minutes avant d'ajouter le saumon coupé en morceaux.
Dès que le poisson est cuit, ajouter le vin et la crème. Puis laisser mijoter.
Ajouter l'Oyster sauce et l'aneth, selon votre goût. Saler et poivrer.

Mag avait directement mélanger le riz dans le wok. J'ai fait la même chose. Mais cela dépend de l'aspect que vous voulez donner au plat. Marmiton propose également de le servir avec des nouilles asiatiques.
Et comme dirait l'autre "Bonne appétite"! Virg*

mardi 9 novembre 2010

Coconut indulgence ;)

It all started with Halloween and celebrating it with pride :) when I think of Halloween, I think of costumes and candy, LOTS of candy! Good thing I got a very nice book about candy baking from cool friends for my Birthday! I love the book, it is beautiful! Candy can be rather difficult to bake though, but with Halloween at the door, I plunged my nose in the book and came out with a few recipes, not too difficult ;), to try out, posted them on facebook and got a vote on which ones I should try. Funnily enough, they were nearly all with coconut, YAM! :) The big winner was the one with the funniest name: Coconutty Shuku Shuku :-D but it being Halloween, I really wanted to try out the Coconut Marshmallow recipe :) so I did! and they were just DEVINE!!! and sooo easy to make! It is SO cool! :-D so Virginie, I know you said you weren't interested in the marshmallow recipe, but i still decided to post all my candy baking, as it is just way too much fun, not to try it out :) Here it goes:

Coconutty Shuku Shuku

What you need:
- 80g desicated coconut
- 60g caster sugar
- 3 egg yolks
- 60g self-raising flour (for rolling)
- 1/4 cup icing sugar (for dusting, after cooled)
(makes approximately 30 shuku shuku balls)

What you do:

Turn the oven up to 175°C and line a baking tray with greasproof paper (baking paper).

In a large bowl, mix together sugar, coconut and egg yolks until the mixture forms a firm, dough-like consistency.

Pick up a little mixture with a teaspoon and begin to form marble-size balls. Roll them through flour and drop on to your baking tray.

Put tray in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden.

Cool the balls on a wire rack, roll in icing sugar and keep in airtight container.

I think i left mine a bit too long in the oven, so they ended up a bit too hard i think, they were just like small coconut cookies, nice, but not amazingly special, but i think they're supposed to stay soft... i'll have to try again...
but anyway, I don't know if you noticed, but the shuku shuku recipe only asks for egg yolks... so, you will be left over with 3 egg whites... :-/ what do you do with 3 egg whites...? throw them away??? NO WAY! NEVER EVER waste food! I have got just the right recipe to use these egg whites in and with which you will have all your friends loving you for quite a while ;) The egg whites will be transformed into:

~~~

Coconut Chocolate Macaroons

Now these are not the popular french macaroons, but the 'rochers au coco' as we know them in french... unfortunately it is not the amazing recipe i have for these in Brussels, but an easier version I found on Dawn and Eric’s culinary notes (taken from 'Room for Dessert' by David Lebovitz) and adapted to touches of my recipe in Brussels and ideas of the moment and 3 egg whites instead of 4...

What you need:
- 3 large egg whites
- 1 cup sugar (just a bit less)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 7/8 cups unsweetened coconut (between 1 3/4 and 2... ;))
- ¼ cup almond meal (just a bit less)
- 1 tablespoon plain flour
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 60g bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

What you do:

In a large skillet, mix together the egg whites, sugar, salt, coconut, almond meal and flour.

Heat over low-to-moderate heat on the stovetop, stirring constantly, scraping the bottom as you stir.

When the mixture just begins to scorch at the bottom (starts to change colour from burning slightly), remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Transfer to a bowl to cool to room temperature.

(At this point, the mixture can be chilled for up to one week, or frozen for up to two months.)

When ready to bake, line a baking sheet with baking paper and preheat the oven to 175°C.

Form the dough into 3-4 cm wide little mountains with your fingers evenly spaced on the baking sheet. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until deep golden brown (don't bake too long if you want them to remain soft inside!) Cool completely.

For my chocolate decoration, melt the chocolate your favourite way and, in case you don't have the adequate utensils like me, put the melted chocolate in a ziplock/keep fresh bag, cut the tip of a corner off and drizzle it over your macaroons. Refrigerate 5-10 minutes, until the chocolate is set.

Enjoy with your friends or alone... ;)

Which leaves us with one more recipe, the coolest of all to be honest! So cool to make, like a magic trick! :-D and soooo nice to eat, hard to keep your hands or the hands of your friends out of the marshmallow container!

~~~

Coconut Marshmallows


What you need:

- 1 cup caster sugar
- 1 tablespoon gelatine in powder
- 2/3 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon coconut or vanilla essence
- 1 cup desiccated coconut

What you do:

Line a 20cm cake tray with greaseproof paper and lightly oil. Place sugar, gelatine and water into a medium saucepan and stir until dissolved. Pop on low heat and boil for 10 minutes without stirring. Take pan off heat and let it settle for 10 minutes. Add your choice of essence (I chose vanilla) and beat with electric beater until it becomes creamy and delicious (about 10 minutes) (magic magiiic :)). Transfer marshmallows mixture to your tin and let it set for a couple of hours.

Meanwhile preheat oven to 160°C. Put coconut on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper and allow to roast for a couple of minutes or until light golden brown. Keep an eye on your coconut because it can burn quickly.

Once set, cut your marshmallows into whatever shape you like and roll through toasted coconut. (run your knife under water before cutting, it will help stick less)

Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

That's about it for this time, all up to your candy baking and let your taste buds indulge in coconut heaven! :d
just don't forget to add a running session to the week you bake these! ;)

*Gg*

mardi 26 octobre 2010

THE Cheesecake aux spéculoos!

Ariane, je/nous ne te remercierai/ons jamais assez d'avoir découvert cette recette et de la transmettre aux générations futures! Les amis, il s'agit sans doute du meilleur cheesecake que j'ai jamais mangé!!! Peut être même LE cheesecake commandé par la voisine des Friends? Celui qu'ils finissent pas manger à même le sol, parce qu'il est malancontreusement tombé à terre. Oui, celui-là!!! (Je pourrais aussi comparer cela, à la quête de Marshall pour retrouver le meilleur hamburger de New York, mais là n'est pas la question!). Donc, préparez-vous à ne plus savoir vous en passer et surtout à prendre 5 kg. parce que cette recette n'est certainement pas light!!!

Les ingrédients :
- 500 gr. de faisselle égouttée (pour les "résidents belges", il y en a au Delhaize, de la marque du supermarché, fastoche!)
- 30 cl. de crème fraîche épaisse
- 100 gr. de Saint-Moret
- 150 gr. de sucre (blanc ou brun, au choix)
- 3 gros oeufs, jaunes et blancs séparés
- 250 gr. de spéculoos
- 100 gr de beurre demi-sel (ou, selon l'ingéniosité d'Ariane, 50 gr. de beurre doux et 50 gr. de beurre salé, parce que du beurre demi-sel ce n'est pas évident à trouver!)
- 1 càc d'extrait de vanille
- 1 càs de sirop d'érable
- 1 pincée de sel

Préchauffer le four à 180°.
Emietter finement les spéculoos et les mélanger au beurre (éventuellement un peu ramolli au micro-onde). Tapisser le fond du moule, sans trop tasser. Réserver au frigo.
Fouetter la faisselle, la crème et le Saint-Moret.
Ajouter le sirop d'érable, le sucre et l'extrait de vanille. Mélanger, puis incorporer les jaunes d'oeufs un à un en remuant bien.
Monter les blancs en neige avec une pincée de sel. Ajouter à la préparation très délicatement, à l'aide d'une spatule.
Recouvrir les biscuits de la préparation et enfourner 40 minutes.
Laisser tiédir dans le four, porte ouverte, puis mettre au frigo MINIMUM 2 heures.

Voilà, mon petit cheesecake au chaud dans mon four :
... ou pas, parce que le blog ne veut pas télécharger la photo et que moi je n'ai pas que ça à faire!!!

ENJOY! ENJOY! ENJOY! (même par terre!!!) Virg*

Navets en vinaigrette à l'échalotte

Et pour cette semaine, ce sera 2 nouvelles recettes!!! Youpiiiieee!!!

Pour commencer, une salade chaude... que Gégé connaît très bien puisque la recette est extraite d'un livre de cuisine de chez ses parents (sur les légumes "oubliés" je crois)!!! Son père avait préparé cette salade et j'étais restée dîner à l'improviste... qu'est-ce que c'était bon! Je n'avais toujours pas eu l'occasion de l'essayer...

Pour 4 personnes, il vous faut :
- 900 gr. de navets jaunes
- 200 gr. de lard fumé
- 4 càs de persil plat ciselé
- 1 échalote
- 6 càs d'huile d'olive
- 2 càs de vinaigre de vin vieux
- Sel et poivre

Peler, rincer et éponger les navets. Puis les couper en rondelles de 0,5 cm. et les ébouillanter 5 minutes dans l'eau salée. Les égoutter ensuite dans une passoire.
Couper le lard en fins bâtonnets (ou être fainéant(e) et acheter tout de suite des bâtonnets de lard!).
Peler l'échalote et la couper en fines rondelles.
Mélanger 4 càs d'huile avec le vinaigre dans un bol. Ajouter du sel, du poivre et l'échalote.
Faire chauffer le reste d'huile dans une grande sauteuse et faire dorer le lard et le persil. Ajouter les rondelles de navets et mélanger pendant 5 minutes dans l'huile chaude (elles doivent devenir légèrement croustillantes).
Verser la vinaigrette à l'échalote dans la sauteuse, mélanger 1 minute et retirer du feu.
Servir chaud.

Quelques petites remarques...
J'ai préféré couper les rondelles un peu plus finement.
J'ai mis un peu plus d'échalote, parce que, na!!!
Je n'ai pas acheté spécialement du vinaigre de vin vieux et j'ai utilisé un bon vinaigre de framboises.

Bon appétit! Virg*

lundi 25 octobre 2010

Lentil salad with Flaked Salmon and Dill


So last time i said i first had a lentil salad to post, but then the dumplings jumped in! So here's the lentil salad :) (à ta demande Chloë, parce que je pensais plustôt mettre une recette un peu plus hivernale pour les européen... mais ça sera la prochaine ;) )

It is a recipe from this book we found in Melbourne with Virginie about the weekend-off diet. A diet consisting of dieting during the week with the motivation of being allowed to eat what you want during the weekend (Sat morning to Sunday evening). This of course combined with exercise and foods that boost your metabolism. It's quite interesting :)

but anyway, here's the recipe of this nice little salad, fresh and easy for a light dinner or lunch.

Preparation time: 30min, Cooking time: 30-40min, serves:4

What you need:
- 500 g salmon tail fillet
- 2 tbsp dry white wine
- 4 red peppers, halved, cored and deseeded
- 175 g Puy lentils, well rinsed
(i used green lentils)
- large handful of dill, chopped
- 1 bunch of spring onions, finely sliced
- lemon juice, for squeezing
- freshly ground black pepper


Dressing:
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
- large handful of flat-leaf parsley
- large handful of dill, roughly chopped
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 green chillies, deseeded and roughly chopped
(i used 2 small red ones)
- juice of 2 large lemons
- 1 tbsp olive oil


What to do:

1. Place the salmon on a sheet of foil, gather up the foil and spoon over the wine. Fold over the foil at the top to seal. Place on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven, 200°C (400°F), gas mark 6, for 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool before flaking.

2. Meanwhile, flatten the pepper halves slightly. Grill, skin side up, under a preheated hot grill for a few minutes until charred. Enclose in a plastic bag for a few minutes to allow them to soften, then peel away the skin and cut the flesh in to 2.5 cm (1 in) cubes, reserving any juices.

3. Place all the dressing ingredients except the oil, in a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Still processing, drizzle in the oil until the mixture is thick.

4. Place the lentils in a large saucepan with plenty of water, bring to boil, then simmer gently for 15-20 min. Drain and place in a bowl with the red pepper, dill, spring onions and black pepper to taste.

5. Stir the dressing into the hot lentils and allow to infuse. Add the flaked salmon and mix through. Squeeze over the lemon juice and serve.

~~ Bon Appetit! :) ~~
*Gg*

mardi 12 octobre 2010

Chicken and green tea dumplings

I originally had this nice little lentil and salmon salad to post, but then I decided to try out this dumpling recipe on Sunday with Rafa (staying over at mine for a few days) for his last night in Sydney before bringing him to the airport. I really enjoyed making my own dumplings and it's actually not even that difficult :) am even already thinking about what else i could put in the filling next time like maybe replace the chicken by prawns or try some veggie ones with mushrooms or so :-D

anyway, enough blabla, here's the receipe:
serves: 30, preparation time: 60min, cooking time: 15min

you need:
Dough:
- 2 tbs loose leaf green tea (i used green tea&jasmine in teabags...)
- 4 cups white plain flour, sifted
- vegetable oil for frying (once the dumplings are made)

Filling:
- 250g chicken thigh mince
- 1 spring onion, finely chopped
- 1 tbs finely chopped ginger (forgot to buy ginger, used ground ginger)
- 1 tbs finely chopped garlic
- 1 tbs light soy sauce
- 1 tbs sake (used Timirin: sweet cooking sake)
- 1 tsp rice wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves
- 1 tbs finely chopped chives

Chilli oil:
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 2 tbs sliced red chilli
- 1/2 spring onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves

Orange ginger vinegar:
- 1 orange, juiced, strained and reduced by half
- 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
- 1 small knob ginger, cut into thin matchsticks (again, no ginger, but did have pickled ginger, so used that :) )

Put your apron on:
1. Preheat oven to 65°C (if you're wondering, this is for chilli oil later...)

2. For the dough, put the sifter flour in a big bowl. Bring 3 cups of water to the boil, add green tea and leave to infuse for 5 minutes. Strain tea, bring back to boil, then add 2 cups of this hot tea to the flour. Bring together to form a dough and knead for about 5-10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Wrap in cling film and set aside to rest for 30 minutes.

3. For the filling, combine chicken mince with onion, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sake and vinegar, then add salt and pepper to taste, then mix in herbs.

4. For the chilli oil, gently heat oil in a small saucepan (that can go in the oven!), then add chilli, onions, garlic and a pinch of salt. Leave to infuse in the oven for 1 hour.

5. For the orange ginger vinegar, combine ingredients in a bowl and leave to infuse.

6. To make the dumplings, roll the dough into logs and then cut into 30g pieces. Roll pieces into 1mm thick rounds (I found our dough a bit too thick and too much, so i guess it is important to really roll it really thin and maybe use a bit less than 30g...). Place 3/4 tbs of filling in each (ok, i don't know how they calculated this, but there is way too little filling to do this! we put less than 3/4tbs in each dumpling and still we had half of the dough left over!). Crimp over the edges in a gyoza fold. You have your fresh dumplings now, off to the cooking and eating :-D

Heat little oil in a frying pan and colour the bottom of the dumplings until golden brown. When is is done, leave the dumplings in the pan and add boiling water to come up half way on the dumpling and cover with a lid on and steam for 2-3 minutes. Remove lid and cook until the water has evaporated. (I put the cooked dumplings on a plate in a low heat oven to keep them warm while cooking the others, worked fine :))


You have ready to eat dumplings! Serve with chilli oil and orange ginger vinegar. Enjoy and bon appetit! :d
*Gg*


lundi 11 octobre 2010

Quiche aux épinards et à la feta

Bon, pour être franche, je ne suis plus certaine d'avoir déjà ou non fait cette recette... Je sais que c'est ma mère qui me l'a donnée, même s'il ne s'agit pas d'une vieille recette familiale! Et si je l'ai déjà faite, c'était il y a très longtemps et une seule fois... Enfin, je crois surtout que j'ai déjà mangé celle de ma mère. Je ne sais plus! Mais c'est une bonne recette et j'ai envie de vous en faire profiter...

Il vous faudra :
- 1 rouleau de pâte feuilletée
- 200 gr. d'épinards frais
- 200 gr. de feta
- 100 gr. de fromage blanc
- 4 échalotes
- 3 oeufs battus
- 15 feuilles de menthe (pas 14 ou 16, 15!!!!! :D )
- 2 càs d'huile d'olive
- 1 càc de vinaigre balsamique
- Sel et poivre
- Pignons de pin

Etaler la pâte dans un moule à tarte et la précuire pendant 10 minutes dans un four chaud (180°).
Émincer les échalotes et les faire fondre dans une poêle avec l'huile d'olive. Ajouter les épinards. Saler et poivrer.
Dans un saladier, bien mélanger les épinards, le fromage blanc, la feta coupée en petits cubes, les oeufs battus et la menthe hachée. Saler et poivrer. Ajouter le vinaigre balsamique.
Verser la préparation sur la pâte et ajouter les pignons.
Cuire pendant 20 minutes environ.

Enjoy! Virg*

jeudi 23 septembre 2010

dairy free chocolate pear birthday cake? no problem!


I told you September was a birthday month and that i was in the mood for baking... so sorry, but it is cake again ;) in turn for my birthday, I decided to treat my workmates to something sweet and as I had decided to follow a non-dairy diet for a few weeks, I went on the search for something plausible and i found this recipe and as it says it in the blog, this cake is the BOM! ;) we had it cold at uni with a glass of Cava (thanks Nick :) ), but I can only imagine it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream! YAHAAAM! :d

what you need:
-115 gr unsalted butter, softened (or non-dairy substitute)
-1/2 cup sugar
-4 eggs, room temperature
-115 gr dark chocolate, chopped (melted &cooled slightly)
-1/2 cup all purpose flour
-1/2 cup almond or hazelnut meal (finely ground)
-4 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
-1 1/4 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 4 Bosc pears, poached (sometimes, I use poached pears from a jar to save time)


Poach the pears: peel, cut in half and core the pears. Combine 2-3 cups of water and half a cup of sugar in a sauce pan on medium-high heat and stir until sugar is dissolved. Add the pears (add more water if needed to cover the pears), bring to a low boil and cook for 20-25 min or until fork tender. Drain and set aside.
(i poached the pears and i can only say yammm!)

Make the cake: Preheat oven to 175°C. Butter or spray a 25 cm round springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. (I did it in a baking tray of about 25x15 cm and it was perfect ;))

Melt the chocolate and set aside. Do this any way you like, in the microwave (on 20 second intervals), in a bain marie or the hot water trick. (I did bain marie, but i think all work)

Sift together the flour, almond meal, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Beat butter and sugar on a medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the melted chocolate, beat on a low speed until combined. Still on low speed, add the sifted flour mixture and beat for 1 minute, or until just combined.

Pour the batter into prepared cake pan. Arrange the sliced pears on top (i cut them in quarters). Bake the cake for 30 to 40 minutes. Do not overbake. When a tester is inserted into the center of the cake, it should come out with a few moist crumbs attached.
(I was scared i overbaked it as no my tester came out with no crumbs :( but it was perfect! :-D still bit moist inside, pfiu! ;))

blog i got recipe from: 'Confessions of a tart'
*Gg*

samedi 11 septembre 2010

Pumpkin Gnocchi

To begin again a recipe from the pumpkins cook book I bought in Sydney... I have to admit that it wasn't really wonderful! Maybe because the pumpkins here are not the same than in Australia...?

Anyway, you need :
- 1 kg pumpkin flesh, cubed (choose a dense-fleshed variety)
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 tsp salt
- 150-180 gr plain flour
- Parsley, chopped.

Cook the pumpkin in boiling salted water until just tender. Drain and let steam dry in the strainer. Mash or press the pumpkin into a bowl.
Add the egg yolks, salt, flour and parsley and work to a firm dough, adding more flour if necessary... So, it's absolutly necessary! A lot of more flour! And if you have finally a firm dough, please, call me!!!
I did "something" with the dough but normally you should divide the dough into 4 pieces and roll each into a long cylinder, about 2 cm thick. Cut each cylinder into 2 cm segments, like little pillows.
Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil, add the gnocchi in batches and cook for 3-4 minutes each or until they float to the top of the pan and drain.
Here my gnocchi looked like pieces of spicy chicken! So I decided to fry it on a pan. And then serve topped with shavings of parmesan, olive oil and freshly cracked black pepper.

If you can, enjoy! Virg*

jeudi 9 septembre 2010

2 for the prize of 1


I have been very inspired lately to bake, bake and bake more! If only I had the time to try out all these nice recipes I keep on seeing everywhere! Luckily September is a month of Birthdays and I will have more than one occasion :) but my first one actually started with a lost game of mini-golf (or crazy golf for some...) and a broken washing machine.

To make the story short, I owed Graham a Lemon Meringue pie and I had this recipe from a Chilean family i stayed with during my around the World trip I wanted to try out for ages and still hadn't! So here it is, my first lemon-méringue pie ever or pie de limón like they call it in Chile :) and I have to admit, I was quite happy with the result! :-D (and if I would have known it was that easy to make, it would have become my main desert i would bring to parties for ages! ;) )
what you need:

- 2 cups of flour
- 2 teaspoons of baking powder
- 4 eggs (separating egg white and yolk)
- 2 tablespoons of icing sugar
- 4 tablespoons of sugar
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- 75 grs butter

preparation: (the way Claudia wrote it in my travel diary, look at my comment in brackets and smaller for more info)
dough: Beat the butter and sugar together until it becomes white. Add the flour, baking powder and one whole egg, mix well. Put in the oven with the filling. Put it very thinly in a buttered pie base.
(The dough is quite a dry dough and won't be as elastic as the one you would make for bread or a pizza base, but still add some water, butter, other egg or flour depending on what you get.I added 1 more egg. You should be able to have a big ball of dough in the end and roll it out to put it thinly in a buttered&flour tart base.)
filling: 3 egg yolks with the condensed milk and the lemon juice. Mix it all until it's homogeneous. Poor into base. Add the meringue (beaten up egg whites) on top and put in the oven until golden. Preheat the oven at 280°C and lower it to 180°C when putting the tart in.
(I just realised that I used sweetened condensed milk, but in the recipe Claudia gave me it just says condensed milk... so... I guess up to you, if you like your tarts sweet or not ;)).
Also, she doesn't add the icing sugar anywhere... I added it in the whipped egg whites, to make a sweet meringue :) but thinking of it afterwards, it might have been to put with the nonsweetened condensed milk and the lemon juice... anyway, do it as you feel goes best ;)
and for the cooking, I wasn't sure what I had to do... I so I put it all together in the oven at once, but maybe it would have been good to pre-bake the base a little bit first...
to eat, even though it is nice a bit warm, it is even better the next day! gives the filling time to set and balancing out the strong sweetness and lemon tastes.
Gave a piece to several people and got yummm comments from all :-D so i'll be doing it again for sure soon! :)


Having made the lemon pie on Sunday, a small ball of dough was left over. With my plan of making muffins for Nick's birthday on the following Thursday being ruined (Nick apparently not being a big fan of muffins... good I subtly asked ;)), I had to think of something else! The leftover dough got me inspired and a Chocolate Cream Strawberry Tart is what came out :d

I took the same recipe for the base, halving Claudia's to have some more for this one. So base ingredients:

- 1 cup of flour
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1 egg
- 40 gr butter
- 2 tablespoons of sugar

Follow recipe above for the lemon pie. And pre-bake: put dough in base, prick it with a fork.Line the pastry case with baking paper and pastry beads or uncooked rice. Blind-bake for 8-10 minutes, then remove baking paper and beads and bake for another 5-10 minutes until golden.

Filling: I filled the base with a chocolate ganache. What you need for that:
- 145 gr dark chocolate
- 125 ml cream
- 35 gr butter
What you do: Combine the butter and cream in a bowl over simmering water until the butter has melted and well combined. Add the chocolate and stir until the chocolate has melted and all is well combined and it looks nice smooth and shiny. Poor into base. I then left it to cool.

Decoration: Having strawberries in the fridge, it was quite obvious to use these :) I just cut them in slices and placed them around the tart alternating with lightly sweetened whipped cream.

And that was it, nice and easy :) but still goodlooking and goodtasting! :-D Plus you could make the chocolate tart quite sugar free, using no sugar for the dough and sweeteners for the whipped cream or no whipped cream at all. It is all up to you to take the recipes, make it your own style and let me know how it turned out! :) thanks,*Gg*

samedi 27 février 2010

Chocolate and Ricotta Cake

Made by my lovely Marloes over the Christmas holidays, this cake was so nice i had to try it out myself! :p so I asked Marloes the recipe and did it here in Sydney for a friend's bbq. The cake was still a bit warm when we ate it, mmmmmh, delicious! and so did think the others!
The ricotta really gives a light and soft touch to the cake and the chocolate & hazelnuts make it smell amazing! perfect for dessert, snack or breakfast :)

Ingredients (for a 10in cake pan long):
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour (250 grams)
- 3,53 oz ricotta (85 gr)
- 3,52 oz chopped hazelnuts (85 gr)
- 3,52 melted pure chocolate (85 gr)
- 7/8 cup sugar (175 gr)
- 1/4 cup melted butter (55gr)
- 2 eggs
- 1 pinch salt
- 3 teaspoons bakink powder
- milk if necessary

- icing sugar to sprinkle (optional)

Method:
Beat the eggs with sugar until frothy. Add melted butter, ricotta, salt and flour and baking powder sifted together, mix well (if the mixture is too hard, add a little milk, I have added two tablespoons). Add chopped hazelnuts and chocolate, mix well. Transfer the mixture into a buttered and floured cake pan and bake in the preheated gas oven at 300-335°F for 55 minutes about (do the toothpick test). Remove it from the cake pan and let cool on a rack. Sprinkle with icing sugar if you want, serve and Enjoy! :d

mardi 23 février 2010

Crumbed bocconcini & grilled tomato salad


OK, I got a bit delayed (although i did my first receipe weeks ago), but here I am! ready to rrrumble, chop, scoop and sizzle! and make our tummies feel nice and satisfied :)

My first receipe, I found in the free magazine you get at Coles Supermarkets, but I have to admit I did change it a bit as it is an alergy-free receipe and I didn't have all those alergy-free ingredients. so i'll just write down the receipe with my changes immediatly, ok? :) Here it goes:

Serves 6 * perparation 20min * cooking 10min


180g little bocconcini cheese (drained) --> mini mozarella
1/3 cup plain flour, sifted
1 egg, beaten
1 1/3 cup breadcrumbs
1/3 shredded parmesan
oil for cooking

SALAD
250g mini roma tomatoes, halved
4 thin slices prosciutto
100 g rocket leaves
basil leaves for garnish (note: i forgot the basil, so i just did it with rocket&spinahs leaves)

DRESSING
1/2 cup basil leaves, shredded (note: i did without this)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp brown sugar, or to taste

1. Pat bacconcini with paper towel. One by one, dust in flour seasoned with salt and pepper to lightly coat and dip in egg. Place in a bowl containing combined breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese and roll to coat. Press coating on well. Place on a plate and chill for 30mins.
2. To make Salad: Preheat oven to 180°C or 160°C fan. Arrange tomatoes vut side up and prosciutto on two baking trays. Bake for 10-15mins, until prosciutto is crisp and tomatoes have collapsed slightly. Break prosciutto into pieces and toss together with rocket and tomatoes. Set aside.
3. To make dressing: Whisk together dressing ingredients, until combined.
4. Heat enough oil in a frying pan to shallow fry crumbed bocconcini. Fry in 2 batches until crunchy and golden. Drain on paper towels. Scatter bocconcini over salad, toss gently and drizzle over dressing. Garnish with basil.

That's it, enjoy! I was the only one eating my try-out, but did like it. Even took a little pic (it's not the best, but gives you an idea :))

vendredi 19 février 2010

Triangles croustillants à l'agneau

Une recette idéale pour une soirée ou un plateau télé, inspirée d'un des livres des chefs de Mmmmh!.
Pour 20 triangles :
- 400 gr. de viande d'agneau hachée
- 10 feuilles de brick
- 1 poivron jaune, 1 poivron vert et 1 poivron rouge
- 2 oignons
- Quelques branches de persil
- 1 bouquet de coriandre
- 1 càc de gingembre moulu
- 1 càc de paprika doux
- 3 càs d'huile d'olives
Hacher finement les oignons, peler et couper les poivrons en petits dés et hacher le persil et la coriandre.
Dans une casserole, faire fondre les oignons dans l'huile. Faire ensuite revenir les poivrons, puis ajouter la viande, les épices et les herbes. Bien mélanger et laisser mijoter jusqu'à ce que la viande soit cuite. Saler et poivrer. Egoutter le mélange dans une passoire.
Couper les feuilles de bricks en deux et faire les triangles... Alors! Pour les triangles... Faites comme vous pouvez! Plier la demie feuille de brick (ronde) en deux dans le sens de la longueur, placer une bonne cuillère de farce dans un coin, laisser suffisament d'espace pour pouvoir replier le bord sur la farce, replier le reste de la bande en triangle... je sais ce n'est pas très clair... essayez, vous verrez bien! et prévoyez peut-être 2 paquets de feuilles de brick la première fois! ;)
Faire dorer les triangles des deux côtés dans un four préchauffé à 180°.
Enjoy! Virg*

lundi 8 février 2010

Soupe aux carottes et aux lentilles

Une petite recette toute simple, inspirée de plusieurs autres... Le seul et unique testeur, moi!, a bien apprécié sa p'tite soupe!
Dans une casserole, faire bouillir 1 litre d'eau avec un bouillon cube aux légumes, du curry en poudre, du cumin en poudre, de la coriandre en poudre et du gros sel (doser selon ses goûts).
Ajouter un oignon émincé, de l'ail, 500 gr. de carottes coupées en rondelles épaisses d'un centimètre environ et 150 gr. de lentilles crues.
Couvrir et laisser mijoter environ 1/2 heure (si je me souviens bien!).
NE PAS MIXER et ajouter 4 cuillères à soupe de fromage blanc.
Enjoy! Virg*

samedi 30 janvier 2010

Crumble aux aubergines

Pour cette première recette j'ai beaucoup pensé à ma p'tite GG : tout ce qu'elle aime! Malheureusement, j'ai oublié de prendre des photos... La recette de base est tirée d'un livre de recettes de crumbles sucrés et salés (oui, oui!), prêté par un ami ;) qui m'en a déjà fait goûter quelques-uns, dont celui-là. J'ai un peu modifié la recette...

Pour 4 personnes :
200 gr de chair de tomates,
120 gr de jambon de Parme,
4-5 aubergines,
3 boules de mozzarella,
1 bouquet de basilic,
6 petites biscottes,
60 gr de beurre,
Ail, sel, poivre.

Faire LE crumble en écrasant les biscottes (si vous êtes l'heureux propriétaire d'un checker Jamie Oliver c'est le moment de s'en servir! Si ce n'est pas le cas, aux doigts et à la fourchette). Couper le beurre en petits morceaux et mélanger avec les miettes.
Eplucher les aubergines et les couper en fines lamelles. Les faire cuire (mode de cuisson au choix) avec de l'ail, jusqu'à ce qu'elles soient bien tendres. Saler et poivrer.
Dans un plat à gratin, étaler la chair de tomates, saler et poivrer. Recouvrir avec les aubergines. Ajouter le jambon de Parme coupé en lamelles, puis la mozzarella coupée en fines tranches. Parsemer de basilic ciselé et du crumble.
Mettre au four préchauffé à 180° pendant 25 minutes.

Nous avons mangé cela avec une petite salade... C'était bien réussi selon mes "testeurs" MAIS franchement je ne suis pas certaine que le jambon de Parme soit nécessaire et la prochaine fois je ferai un peu plus de biscottes/beurre.

Enjoy! Virg*