New Year's eve 2015

I scrapped the initial dinner plan with roasted ham, after days of indulgence (hey, it's THE holiday). Instead, I chose a charcuterie board as our main, followed by a bowl of warming soup and rounded up with tiramisu. 

May 2016 bring you peace, joy and health. 

Charcuterie board with  pâté de campagne, saucisson slices, Manchego cheese triangles, celeri remoulade, radishes and gerkins.

Leek and potato soup with olive oiled croutons

Tiramisu

2015 Boxing Day

I know Boxing day should be the day of leftover but I have this nice piece of venison rack which has been beckoning to me. And yes Keevil and Keevil does not disappoint me. This 4-rack of venison I ordered is the most tender and flavorful of venison I've ever tasted.

Grilled venison with red wine jus

Roasted bell peppers, artichokes and green beans

Seville Christmas sweets

Not sure how to handle a rack of venison, I decided to treat it like a thick slice of steak. My venison rack is just over an inch thick. First, I seared the venison surface all over and roasted it in a 140C-fan oven for 20 minutes on a bed of golden onion wedges. Rest for 10 minutes (with the meat covered by foil) before slicing. Perfect.

To make the pan jus, I reduced half cup of red wine to 1/4 cup in the same pot which I seared the venison. Then I added 1/2 cup of stock, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and cooked for another 10 minutes. Add a splash of Balsamic vinegar. Taste to see whether you need to smooth the taste with some sugar (as I did). The acidity from Balsamic vinegar and the red wine provides a nice balance to the rich venison meat.

2015 Christmas

Starter

Smoked salmon pâté and toasted bagel slices

Main

Roast turkey with Marsala gravy

Roast potatoes

Brussel sprouts with pancetta and chestnuts

Buttered carrots

Cheese

Brie, Somerset goat cheese. Pié d'Angloys and St. Agur

Dessert
Passion fruit trifle

Happy Christmas 2015!

2015 Christmas eve

Starter

Platter of roasted peppers, grilled artichokes, cured meats, grilled courgette slices and Manchego cheese slices

Main

Paella with garlic prawns, white wined mussels and chorizo slices

Garlic braised green beans

Cheese course

Brie, Somerset goat cheese. Pié d'Angloys and St. Agur

Sweet

Christmas syllabub with passion fruit couli and mulled wine poached plums

Mince pies 2015

This is my mince pie recipe 2015, with shortbread-like crust and my favorite mincemeat from Nigella Lawson. I used my muffin tin to create individual mince pies. Have you started your holiday baking?

Mince pie 2015

Nigella Lawson's mincemeat with fresh cranberries

- 30 ml sherry + 30 ml rum (or 60 ml ruby port)
- 75 g soft dark brown sugar
- 300 g fresh/frozen cranberries
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- 75 grams currants
- 75 grams raisins
- 30 grams dried cranberries
- finely grated zest and juice of 1 clementine
- 25 ml marsala wine (or brandy)
- 3 drops almond extract
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons honey

For the crust for a 12-muffin tin:

- 100 g plain flour
- 100 g bread flour
- 50 g coarsely ground oat flour (or plain flour)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2-3 tablespoons caster sugar
- 100 g butter
- 40 g water

Frangipane filling:

- 50 g butter, melted
- 50 g sugar
- 50 g ground almond
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- The butter, sugar and ground almond can increase to 100 g each if more frangipane is required. There is no need to increase the egg or the almond extract.

First, make the mincemeat. Put everything in a pot except the last four ingredients (marsala, almond extract, vanilla and honey). Bring the pot to boil and reduce the heat to low. Cook with the lid on for the first 10 minutes. Stir occasionally to ensure everything well mixed. Remove the lid and cook for another 10 minutes or until all liquid has been absorbed. Crush the fresh cranberries gently with the back of the stirring spoon. Remove from the heat and allow to cool a while before adding the marsala, almond extract, vanilla extract and honey. Stir well with a wooden spoon to mash the mixture down into a paste.  Spoon the mincemeat into sterilised jars and, once cool, store in the fridge for up to two weeks.

To make the pie crust, mix all ingredients together to form a dough. It helps when butter and water are lukewarm. Roll the dough out with a thickness of 0.3 cm (about a pound coin thick). Cut into 10-cm circles and press into the muffin hole to line the mould. The dough is enough to cover a 12-muffin tin. I find it helpful to lay a strip of 15-20cm baking paper on the bottom of each muffin holes and place the dough on top of it. It makes removing piping hot mince pies out a lot easier.

Preheat the oven at 180C. Mix all frangipane ingredients in a bowl. Put 1 tablespoon of mincemeat into each muffin hole and fill the pie to the brim of the crust with frangipane filling. I find it's better to go easy on the mincemeat filling (however delicious it is) to avoid pies tasting too substantial.

Bake at 180C for 25 minutes. Rotate half way through. Enjoy.

Weekend dinner - 05/12/2015

Anna Jones' Green Polpette is wonderful, unbelievably savory with very nice texture. I made it with Spring Greens and feta cheese. I served it with pesto yogurt sauce in the photo but I think the yogurt tahini sauce would go even better.

We had polpette with Alexander's No-Knead Thyme Dinner Rolls. Boy, the dough is maddeningly sticky but the taste is maddeningly good. Since it's a no-knead method, the very wet dough is not really an issue. I made it with rosemary. Simply divine.

A few nights ago, we had fish tacos for dinner. I know it's winter but it's so mild here. Roasted fish and avocado yogurt sauce still went down well for us.

Also, I've been on the savory muffin kick lately. It's such a nice change for a light lunch or quick dinner. My favorite recipe is by Claire Thomson.

Chive and bell pepper muffins

Courgette and cheese muffins, avocado and yogurt sauce, salami eggs

Weekend dinner - 21/11/2015

Banana thyme cake for afternoon tea

Pork cheeks braised in cider and mustard
(one of the best pork dishes I've made)

Potato wedges roasted in duck fat

Stir-fry cabbage and carrot slivers

Chocolate and sour cherry slice
(Mine turned out quite crumbly even with less baking time, but the taste is good)

Yes I continue to make bagels (flax seeds and spelt bagels)

I make - Banana Thyme Cake

This is one of the most elegant banana cakes I've tasted. The addition of fresh thyme leaves gives the homey banana cake a flare of mystery. Perfect for an afternoon tea party.

Banana Thyme Cake
adapted from Ruby Tandoh's Banana Thyme Cake with A Lemon Drizzle

2 medium ripe bananas, mashed
100g unsalted butter, softened
100-125g caster sugar
2 medium eggs
2-3 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
Zest of ½ lemon

150g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt

Mash bananas with a tablespoon of rum. Rum is optional. If you don't have it, just skip it.

Beat softened butter with caster sugar for three minutes. Add one egg to the butter mixture and beat thoroughly before adding the other one. Stir in mashed bananas, thyme leaves and lemon zest.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the butter mixture. Fold gently with a rubber spatula until everything is combined.

Bake at 180C in a 20-cm round cake tin for 30-35 minutes or a muffin tin (I got 9) for 20-25 minutes.

Weekend dinner - 07/11/2015

I cannot believe I can make bagels!

My short rib stew was very flavourful but let me tell you, I was actually wowed by my polenta tonight.

Creme fraiche polenta with parsley

1 cup of fine cornmeal

4 cups of water

1 teaspoon of stock powder

2 tablespoons of cream cheese

2 tablespoons of creme fraiche

5-10 stalks of parsley

Prepare polenta by mixing cornmeal, water and stock powder. Cook until it's thickened for 15 minutes.

Stir in cream cheese, creme fraiche and parsley. Blend everything together with an immersion blender. A great side dish for a rich stew.

Party!

Party of four 31/10/2015

Who: 

Me, resident food critique, our Greek neighbours

Place: 

Chez nous

Menu:

To start: 

Oysters and lemons,
Blini with smoked salmon and creme fraiche mixed with horseradish, roasted pepper and cream cheese with chives

Platter of olives, roasted artichoke hearts, roasted pepper, lemon-dressed rocket leaves with parmesan slivers

Main:

Seafood paella

Salad of beetroot, carrots and apples in Dijon mustard vinaigrette

Dessert:

Homemade chocolate cake from our lovely neighbors

I make - blini with smoked salmon

Blini are small, leavened buckwheat pancakes which are traditionally served with sour cream, caviar or smoked salmon. The singular for blini is blin. Russian style blini use bread yeast as a leavening agent while a more convenient way is to use baking powder. I chose the traditional Russian style since it's my first time. You will have to wait for one hour and that's pretty much the only difference between two methods of making blinis. This recipe below gives me 40 blinis, cute enough to serve as elegant canapes.

Russian style blini

- 100 g plain flour
- 70 g buckwheat or wholewheat flour
- 1 teaspoon fast-action yeast
- 1 egg, separated
- 250 mL lukewarm milk
- 1 teaspoon caster sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon of melted butter
- oil/butter to cook the blini

Mix two flour in one bowl. In another bowl, mix tepid milk, sugar and yeast. Mix the yeast mixture well and stir in one egg yolk with a folk. Gently incorporate the flour mixture into the liquid bowl until a smooth (and loose) batter is formed. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel (or clingfilm) and leave it in a warm place to ferment for one hour. The batter will be thicken up after a while. Don't ferment the batter more than one hour as it is likely to develop yeasty smell in the blini.

Right before the end of one-hour fermentation, beat the egg white in a clean bowl until hard peaks are formed. Fold the stiff egg white into the blini batter and then the melted butter.

Heat a flat skillet on medium heat with two tablespoons of fat (I use vegetable oil and butter). When the skillet is heated through, drop one tablespoon of the batter to the skillet to make small round blini. I can fit 5-6 blini in a 24-cm round skillet. When you see bubbles appear on the center of the blini, this means heat has come through to the top. Flip them over with a rubber spatula/fish slice/offset spatula and cook for another 30-60 seconds. Remove the cooked blini to a sheet pan. Repeat the same process for the remaining batter.

Serve immediately with toppings of your choice (smoked salmon and cream fraiche is a classic). Blini can also be made in advance and freeze.

I make - Smoker-less Smoked Salmon

I would have never thought that it's possible to make my own smoked salmon at home. Yes, I did it and it's not complicated at all. My friend, Stephanie, showed me some pictures of her recent kitchen discovery, home smoked salmon without smoke. What? Now I am listening. Stephanie uses smoky tea leaves to make the smoked salmon. I googled around and found that smoked salt or liquid smoke (which I happened to have one bottle at home) can be used to create the same effect. I am intrigued.

The basic curing mix is salt and sugar but the ratio varies wildly based on what I can find. Some uses equal amount of each. Others have more sugar than salt or vice versa. Traditional gravlax (gravad lax) seems to be heavy on the sugar side (and without the smoky ingredient) but that just sounds too weird to me (sweet raw salmon, anyone?). I opted for Daniel Gritzer's method and adapted from there. He tested three salt:sugar ratios and commented that 2:1 by weight is his and tasters' favorite. That sounds all right to me. I also quantified the salt in relation to the salmon weight so that I can adapt the following recipe to any amount of salmon I may have in the future. For each piece of salmon, start with amount of salt which is 5% of the salmon weight. My salmon was 750g so I used 37.5g of salt (you can round up to 40g) and half the amount of the sugar (19g). This will give you a mild tasting salmon after two days. Play with the curing mix and curing time to suit your taste of salmon.

Easy smoked salmon
adapted from recipes by Daniel Gritzer and Raquel Pelzel

To prepare the salmon before curing:

Plenty of cool salted water

1 (750-1000g) skin-on, sushi-grade salmon fillet, pin bones removed

1/2 cup vodka (optional)

Soak the fish in the salted water for 10 minutes. Strain the water and rinse the salmon with vodka (if using). Pat the fish dry with paper towels.

To cure the salmon:
40 grams kosher salt (4-5% of salmon weight)
20 grams brown sugar (half of the salt amount)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper or black pepper

2 large bunches dill (optional)

2 tbsps liquid smoke (alternatively you can use smoked salt or ground up smoky tea leaves such as Lapsang souchong)

Optional flavoring for the fish:

1 teaspoon caraway seeds, toasted and ground
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, toasted and ground

1 teaspoon onion powder

In a bowl, mix the salt, sugar and ground white/black pepper. If using other dry flavoring such as caraway, coriander or onion powder, add to the salt mix now.

On the worktop, overlapping several layers of cling film covering three times the size of the salmon. Sprinkle 1/3 of the salt mix on the cling film. Put half of the dill (if using) on top of the salt mix and the layer the salmon on top of the dill (skin down, flesh up). 

Sprinkle the liquid smoke on top of the salmon flesh. Use your finger to rub the liquid smoke into the salmon so that the liquid smoke is absorbed in. Scatter the rest of the salt mix on top of the salmon. Rub the mixture into the salmon flesh with fingers (cling filmed fingers work well). Finally cover the fish with the remaining dill.

Wrap the salmon up by gathering the cling film from all sides. Rest the salmon parcel in a container. Put some weight on top of the salmon parcel (I use cling film wrapped cans) and cover the whole container completely (I wrap the whole thing in layers of cling film). Refrigerate the salmon for 2-3 days. If you want and remember, turn the salmon parcel once or twice a day. I didn't and it still tastes great.

Note to self: I cured my first salmon for two days. It's pretty nice but I prefer the flesh a bit firmer and saltier. Next time will try 3:1 ratio for two days or the same 2:1 ratio with 3-day curing.

When the curing is finished, rinse the salmon under cold tap water to remove all the brine mixture. Pat the salmon dry and enjoy with rye bread or bagel with cream cheese.

Weekend dinner - 13/06/2015

Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic

As I halved the recipe for two of us, it's 20 cloves for us (still enough to deter vampires). The recipe is very easy to follow with just a few ingredients you probably already have. I can't wait tasting it.

Moroccan couscous

This dish was suggested by Ina Garten to accompany the aforementioned chicken dish. I was duly obliged. It's colorful fully of veggie goodness. What's not to like?

Multi-grain and honey loaf

My bread baking bug has come back this year. I've started baking my own bread almost weekly using my favorite baking book by Dan Lepard. Normally I bake his Simple White Loaf. So easy and tasty, and deeply gratifying, you should try it. Today I decided to adventure to this multigrain loaf. Watch this space!

No-stir granola

If you ever make granola yourself, you know the drill, stir the hot mix every 10 minutes during the entire baking time. It's not difficult but a bit fiddly. So far, I have resorted to the stove-up method, gently toast the granola mix in a large wok and stir as you go along.

That's until I saw what Alexandra shared with her granola. She recommended lower oven temperature and no stirring. No Stirring, now that's a culinary revelation. Why haven't I thought of that? And I tried it today and it worked brilliantly. This method now will be my only method to make granola. Thank you, Alexdanra's Kitchen.

No-stir sheet pan granola
adapted from Coconut oil granola from Alexandra's kitchen

2 cups of jumbo oat flakes
3 cups of mixed nuts and seeds
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 cup of dried fruit to add after baking (optional)

Preheat the oven to 140C/fan. Line a large sheet pan with a baking parchment.

Mix all dry ingredients (oat, nuts/seeds and salt) in a large bowl. In a pyrex jug, gently warm up the maple syrup and oil together (I use microwave). Drizzle the warm liquid into the dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly.

Tip the mixture unto a sheet pan covered with parchment paper. Even out the mixture across the sheet pan and press gently with a rubber spatula. Bake the granola at 140C for 40 minutes. Turn the sheet pan half way if you want. When the toasting is done,  you will see the mixture pull away from the edge of sheet pan. Take the granola out of the oven and let cool completely in the pan.

Gently break up the granola into clusters for storage.

My favorite savory pie/tart crust

For a long time, C&Z's olive oil pie crust was my go-to recipe for any savory pie/tart. The dough is very easy to work with and it gives a good and tasty pie crust. If I want to nitpick, the texture can be quite hard if it's not rolled out thin enough and it's not flaky at all.

Then I discovered Nick Malgieri's olive oil dough. This is a game changer for me. The original recipe uses olive oil but also adds eggs and baking powder. And the latter two ingredients definitely give the subtle impression of flakiness in the final baked product. However, I did find the original two-egg recipe too rich to my taste so I reduce the eggs down to one and add some water instead. This is now my favorite savory pie/tart crust. It's a breeze to work with and the taste is excellent. We are never tired of it. I've tried both olive oil and melted butter versions. Both work equally well.

My favorite savory pie crust

- 1 1/2 cup plain flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried Italian herb (optional)
- 1/4 vegetable oil or melted butter
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 egg
- You also need a rolling pin and piece of parchment paper (big enough to cover your chosen bakeware comfortably)

Mix all dried ingredients (flour, salt, sugar, baking powder and dried herb if using) in a mixing bowl. In a measuring jug, combine oil (or butter), water and 1 egg. The total amount of liquid should be 3/4 cup. Gently mix the liquid part together with a fork. Pour the liquid into the flour mixture. Use a rubber spatula to combine. The dough should be fairly easy to come together as a ball. If it seems a bit wet, add some flour to adjust the consistency, one tablespoon at a time. As soon as the dough is formed and not sticky, tip it out onto a parchment paper for rolling.

Flour the parchment paper, rolling pin and the dough lightly. Roll the dough out to fit your chosen bakeware. This recipe is enough for a 25-cm pie dish with some pastry scrape. I like to roll out to cover a 32cm x 25cm sheet pan (roughly 13in x 9in) for a large tart. I like to fit the whole parchment and the crust unto a sheet pan (or pie dish). This makes clean up so much easier and no crust even stuck on the pie dish!

The pie/tart crust can be filled immediately with toppings. If I use it for a quiche, I usually blind bake it first before I add the fillings.

To make the courgette tart as shown above, spread the unbaked tart shell with ricotta (mixed with thyme, lemon zest and a pinch of salt) or garlic&herb goat cheese. Arrange on top thin courgette slices which have been lightly salted and blotted dried previously overlapping by half. Bake the tart at 180C for 50 minutes.

I make - Rugelach

Yes, I know, it's near the end of Spring and heading towards summer, but I only found time now to try Rugelach out. Rugelach is Jewish cookie typically eaten during December Hanukkah time, even though nowadays shops sell them all year round. I was first introduced by my friend in Manhattan who kindly offered me a box(!) of these delicious pastry while I visited her one Autumn. I could tell straightaway that it's going to be a very good thing because the smell of butter, sugar and dried fruits just permeated through the box while sitting in its carrier bag. Ever since that moment, I've marked Rugelach on my wish list to make! And that was years ago.

The recipe I used is based on Dorie Greenspan's version (you can never go wrong with Dorie!). And, yes, the result is utterly buttery deliciousness one could ever hope to create at home. This makes me think of S again and her kindness. I hope you are well.

Rugelach with two fillings

For the dough:

- 100 g cream cheese, room temperature
- 200 g salted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup of plain flour
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-2 tablespoons of sugar
- Round pie dish or cake tin of 25cm diameter
- egg wash (one egg mixed with dash of water)

Marmalade filling:

- 2-3 tablespoons of marmalade at the consistency of easy spreading
- handful of dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup toasted pecan nuts, finely chopped
- cinnamon sugar (1 tablespoon sugar mixed with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder)

Nutella filling:

- 2-3 tablespoons of nutella
- handful of dark chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup toasted pecan nuts, finely chopped
- cinnamon sugar (1 tablespoon sugar mixed with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder)

Beat cream cheese and butter in a bowl until light and fluffy. Mix in flour, vanilla and sugar. Stir to combine to form a dough. Scrape the (sticky!) dough out of the bowl, dust some flour around if it's too sticky and quickly form a ball. Wrap it with the cling film and rest the dough in the fridge for at least one hour.

When you are ready to work with the dough, take it out of the fridge. Cut two big pieces of parchment paper (large enough to cover your sheet pan). Slice the dough in half horizontally (like a bagel). Wrap one half back with the cling film and put back to the fridge while you work the other one. Take one parchment paper, scatter some flour on top and generously flour the rolling pin and the dough (top and bottom). Rotate the dough by turning the parchment paper 90 degrees during rolling to help make a circle. Your aim is to roll out the dough into a big round shape, with a thickness of 0.3cm. Mark a perfect circle with a round pie dish on the dough and cut along the circle with a knife. Save the pastry scrapes.

Spread the marmalade onto the first pastry circle, leaving a border of 2-cm unfilled. Scatter cranberries, chopped pecan pieces and cinnamon sugar (you may not need to use all sugar). Now cut the circle into 16 triangles (think of pizza wedges). Starting at the base of each triangle, roll tightly the dough up so that each cookie becomes a little crescent. Arrange the roll-ups on one lined baking sheet, and refrigerate for one hour.

Repeat the same process with the other piece of pastry and fill with nutella.

Preheat the oven at 180C. Brush the chilled rugelach with egg wash and bake them for 20-25 minutes. Rotate the sheet pan 180 degree half way through the baking time. Cool them completely on a wire rack and enjoy.

One of the kind

Freddie Mercury, how can you not admire (and for me, love) someone who gave it all in? A Great Pretender maybe, but who isn't? With time, most of us have protective shells grown around us, even if some of us are smart enough to avoid the bad crowd. True talent is like fire in an active volcano, you know it when you see it. There is no way to hide it.

Yes he is flamboyant, outrageous, uncontrollable and perhaps some find offensive, but he is also exuberant, indomitable, innovative and pushing the boundaries. He's a first-rate composer, a spirited performer and a mysterious person of contradictions. That last bit matters nothing to me. I could enjoy his music as much with my eyes closed.  A rock star who loves opera, I found that out from the Documentary, A Great Pretender. That's why he wrote songs for Montserrat Caballé with whom he held highest esteem. Barcelona was born, what a groundbreaking and unforgettable album. It was the first time a rock star performing alongside with an opera singer. And it's truly magical. It feels powerful and yet so harmonious. The melodies are energetic, elegant and simply beautiful. It's my favorite.

Look beyond the exterior, if you could. Listen to his music with eyes closed, if you would. Let the unstoppable energy and sheer joy of his work flow through your inner self. I hope you would then appreciate Freddie's so much zest for life and truly one of the kind, inimitable talent, Freddie Mercury, the world is richer and less boring because of you. Thank you.

To PB

I visited my colleague in the hospital today. He had a stroke 10 days ago and he is 46. Forty-six(!), it's the age for mid-life crisis, a red sports car, Caribbean cruise or all kinds of crazy things! Rarely do you hear the word "stroke" being mentioned for a forty-something but it did and could happen. And it shocked many of us who know him, especially he's been known to be a fit person who exercises regularly and eats a very healthy diet.

Yes, you can do all the right things and still get struck by sh*t. That's just life and its capricious nature (or cruelty). As a mere mortal, I can only do what I could to stay healthy and hoping that I would have the strength and will to recover, should any unfortunate thing happens. I am also acutely reminded to enjoy the life while you can and let the loved ones know that you care. Every little thing matters in the end. A small pot of flowers you planted, a smile you give to a stranger, a kiss to your lover or a kind word to your mother. A little more "want to" and less "have to".

The good news is my colleague is responding well to the treatment and physiotherapy. His movement is almost smooth today despite a bit slow and the speech being a bit slurred. More importantly, he's talkative and in good spirits. It's only early days of rehabilitation and I have no doubt that he's on his way of steady recovery.

Best wishes to you, PB. Be courageous and humorous, as you always have been. I look forward to seeing you back and work together again.

Weekend dinner - 18/04/2015

Roasted whole sea bass on top of charlotte potato coins and fennel slices

Easy and satisfying dinner. I skipped the anchovies called for in the recipe and seasoned the fish generously with dill, thyme, black pepper and salt, inside and out. The finished dish looks just like the photo on the web!

You can't go wrong with roast fish but the roasted potato coins and fennel are the true star tonight. Will try to make more of this in the future.

Weekend dinner - 11/04/2015

Mushroom lasagna 

This is the most decadent and satisfying lasagna I've ever made. And it has no meat! Thank you, Ina.

Chopped salad

Coriander, cucumber and tomato is possibly my favorite salad combination (extra lettuce was added in the photo). The taste is just so enjoyable and refreshing. The only thing it needs is some black pepper.

Apple tart

I used store-bought pastry and it gave us a nice finish of Saturday night.

I make - Flammekueche

This is hubby's youth. I am glad that I gave it a go finally. I need to work on my yeasted dough in general but overall the taste is pretty good. I used two types of onions, one regular onion cooked to lightly golden and the other raw shallow mixed with black pepper. It was initially because I ran out of onions. As a last minute idea, I threw in some shallots which turned out brilliantly. Because shallots are sweeter than regular onions, when thinly sliced and cooked at high heat, it brings out their sweetness and particular oniony flavor. We both like it very much.

Flammekueche

- 1 portion of pizza dough or olive oil pie crust

- 1 medium onion, sliced and cooked in one teaspoon of butter until lightly golden

- 1/2-1 cup of lardon strips

- 1-2 shallot, thinly sliced against the grain (optional)

- 2 tablespoons of fromage blanc (or fromage frais or greek yogurt) 

- 2 tablespoons of creme fraiche

- dash of nutmeg

- freshly ground black pepper

- sea salt flakes

Heat the oven to 220C.

Roll out the dough of your choice on to a baking sheet.

If using shallots, mix shallot slices with fresh ground black pepper while separating each layer with your fingers. Set aside.

Mix together fromage blanc, creme fraiche, nutmeg, black pepper and pinch of sea salt flakes. Spread the white sauce onto the crust.

Scatter shallot slices onto the crust, followed by lightly golden onion slices and finally lardon strips. Season with black pepper if desired.

Put the sheet pan into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Enjoy while it's hot!

My new found love

You might have noticed that I have been under Ina's spell lately. Yes, I know I've come to the scene quite late. After all, Ina Garten is a well known multi-media personality in the culinary world. Quite an interesting career background she has, from white house nuclear physics analyst, business woman, writer and TV presenter. She is another self-taught chef I've come to admire and found to benefit greatly from.

I've got two of her books, Make It Ahead and Barefoot in Paris. This is probably the first time I devour a whole book in a week, cover to cover! I just couldn't put it down. Her books are not picture rich but each picture tells you exactly what you should know and expect about a dish she's going to show you. I like she always writes at the beginning of each chapter to prepare readers. I feel like Ina is talking to me! Reading her words one page after another, I couldn't put it down. I found her approach very pragmatic, her advice sensible, all with clear instructions. I just found connecting to her as an amateur cook myself, as if she understands exactly what I am going through and pointing out what I should do when I get stuck.

And most importantly, her recipes work. I've tried mustard roasted fish, cape cod chopped salad, salmon with lentils, goat cheese mashed potato, provencal roast lamb. People, I just got her books less than three weeks. Do you know how many times hubby praised the dishes I cooked from her books? Four out of five, ladies and gentlemen. Four out of five! That's unheard of and I call it very good results indeed!

With almost one hour late for St. Valentine's day, I wish all of you here a good and happy day. Do something which pleases you, with or without valentine. To borrow Ina Garten's sage words, take something ordinary and make it really special.

Dîner chez moi 07-13 February 2015

We've been sick for a while. Hubby started first, then, yes me (typical cycle). The cold we got is not serious (knock on wood!). It's just general fatigue and lots of sneezing and blocked nose. Luckily, we both are on the mend. The appetite is there, albeit sometimes drastically reduced. Tonight I have the energy and the desire to work in the kitchen. So here we go, our weekly menu:

Saturday: Grilled sirloin steak with caper mustard sauce, roasted potato wedges, Cape Cod chopped salad. Dessert: Salted caramel chocolate mousse

Sunday: Spanish meatballs and pasta, blanched green beans.

Monday: Mustard roasted fish, mushroom and pea pilaf

Tuesday: Ham and potato casserole, chopped salad.

Wednesday: Grilled salmon and lentils (yes, I am having a Ina Garten kick this week)

Thursday: Spanish meatballs and pilaf

Friday: Wildcard

Dîner chez moi 17-23 January

Saturday - Vietnamese inspired pulled pork with pan-crushed potatoes and minted peas

Sunday - Scallop, prawn and mussel pasta, blanched green beans

Monday - Pan-fried haddock, garlic greens and basmati rice

Tuesday - Black pepper chicken with basmati rice, spinach and peas in a light cream sauce

Wednesday - same as Saturday

Thursday - same as Tuesday

Friday - wild card

I make - Almond Nougat

For the past few months, I am having fun with candy making and especially with Lorraine Pascale's marshmallow fudge recipe. It's easy, highly adaptable and tastes wonderful. I've made several times for work and for home. Everyone keeps telling me that they couldn't believe how good fudge can be.

I have had almond nougat in mind since I made my chocolate and sour cherry fudge, as both have similar texture. Almond nougat is something I adored a lot when I grew up. Unfortunately, I don't find any here which I like. So, with Lorraine's base recipe, I decided to give it a go. The result did not disappoint. It's sweet just enough to make you smile and crunchy to remind you there are healthy nuts inside. I couldn't help but adding sour cherries again, my favorite dried fruit, which is just there to bring out the flavor contrast. I am very pleased with the outcome. I hope you like it too.

Almond Nougat/Fudge

25g butter
125g white sugar
125g evaporated milk
200g marshmallows
1 teaspoon almond extract
200g white chocolate buttons
1-1/2 cup whole almonds, toasted
50-80g dried sour cherries

Grease a 24cm/9in square cake tin with vegetable oil, then line with baking parchment paper. Cut another piece of baking parchment which is as big as the cake tin bottom. Set aside.

Choose a pot which is at least 20-cm deep for making the nougat as the mixture can rise quite high when sugar boils. Put the butter, sugar and evaporated milk in a pan over a low heat and melt gently. Once the sugar has dissolved, add the marshmallows and turn up the heat. Boil the mixture for 6 minutes. Use a rubber spatula to scrape from the pot bottom regularly as caramel may be forming.

Take the pan off the heat and add the chopped chocolate. Leave for one minute, then stir the mixture together along with toasted almond and dried sour cherries. You will have to work fast with this recipe as the mixture cools down quite quickly which may become harder to mix.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Put the other piece of baking parchment paper on top and roll the nougat surface smooth. A mini rolling pin or back of the spoon both does a fine job. Leave to set for a couple of hours. Once set, remove from the tin and cut into as many squares as you like.

A belated happy year to you all.