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When something is available for only few months you should rush for it; especially if it's fleur de courgette.
Fleurs de courgette, or courgette flowers are associated with provençal cooking in my mind because I don't know other ways to cook them that the way old grand-mères niçoises do.
But they're also linked with a memory of mine. The kind of memory you'd prefer to have forgotten. Though, this memory is thankfully soothed by the gorgeous courgette flowers. I suppose I'm not being very clear, so let me develop.

It is a hot summer day during the late eighties. My parents brought me on holiday along them and I am eager to discover the wonderful city of Marseille.
We go to the gorgeous beaches; we walk through attractive fruit/vegetable stalls at the farmers market...
It was all perfect. Perfect until the day my dad decided we should go at the grand place where the boule pétanque challenge takes place.
We sit here on a wooden faded-green bench and we watch.
It is so hot! But the high trees provide an enjoyable shadow, making the heat more bearable.
As usual, my chatty dad starts talking with the players and my name comes to the conversation.
'Fanny'
'In Provence there is a tradition. When a pétanque player looses 'il est fanny' [he's fanny]; meaning that he has to kiss the bottom of a girl called Fanny.'
I am there, sitting and unable to face my destiny. I am scared: I think the looser will actually try to kiss my bum (which is by the way prettily draped in a new-bought dress).
So as soon as the game reaches its near-end I press my parents.
'Maman, Papa! Allez on y va!' [Mum, Dad! Come on! Hurry up!]
Few minutes later we are – to my relief – quitting the grand place and heading towards a crique [creek] where friends of my parents are waiting for us.
As we are walking the air is getting packed with aromatic perfumes. 'On arrive bientôt!' [We're approaching!].
I can see the creek. A tiny little creek and a giant wooden tent! I rush inside the tent where Marcel is preparing the dinner.
I immediately spot the small basket filled with gorgeous yellow flowers. I ask Marcel what there are.
'Fleurs de courgette' 'J'aime pas les courgettes' [I don't like courgettes]
'Mais là, je suis sûr que tu vas adoré' [Maybe, but i can tell you that you're going to love this]
Indeed he was right. I loved it: a delicious combination of crispy batter and soft flower.
That night, Marcel also delighted us with a luscious bouillabaisse [fish soup].


Beignets de fleur de courgettes
These are, as suggested above, a pure treat: almost melting inside and dead-crispy outside.
Use male flowers for this and if you can, remove the stamens.
The batter I used here is a tempura wannabe though it's a little more thick.

Labels: favourites, make a meal of it, recipe inside

This summer, it seems that I cook more than I can reasonably eat and write about.
But this matter fact has shown me something: food and cooking hold a major place in my life.
I can't spend a day without:
1) cooking
2) thinking of interesting food / combination / recipe
3) buying things related to food (read: cookbooks, plates, placemats...)

However something quite strange is happening. I am literally bored of cookbooks. It seems I can't find one that really stands out.
For example, I love the design of Apples for Jam, but do I really need another recipe for beef pasta? I know I'll end buying this book because Tessa Kiros is such a great writer and inspiration, but what a strange feeling!
I tend to lean towards pastry chef cookbooks – such as my new favourite PH10.

Though, when I cook for myself I like to keep it simple and fresh. I love clean Asian flavours: lemongrass, soy sauce, coriander are high among my everyday favourites.
This was the simple comfort dish that I made at least once - if not twice - a week during the last few weeks.
It's pretty straightforward (as most of Bill Granger's recipes) but has that wow-factor that makes everyone sited at the table go wild.
I like to replace the linguine by egg-noodles, which adds a nice touch.

Anyway, I'd love to hear how you feel about recent cookbooks? What are your favourites and why?
Just a little parenthèse [parenthesis]: I'd like to buy some vintage cookbooks but I don't know where to start. So any suggestions would be appreciated!

Labels: cookbooks, favourites, make a meal of it, random sweetness

[A ruby-red soup - Gazpacho Andaluz]


It seems i am into colours at the moment. Pink, bleu-blanc-rouge, orange, green...
I reckon it might be because of the summer; I don't know about you, but when in summer i agree eating is only brightly coloured food.

This gazpacho andaluz is a great example = intense red soup sprinkled with emeralds, rubies, gold chunks and diamonds.
What a paradox for a soup that was originally made of stale bread, garlic, olive oil, salt and vinegar!
Though, a soup known as ajo blanco [white garlic] is still eaten in Andalusia.
Ajo blanco is a bread, almond and garlic soup served sprinkled with green grapes and drizzled of olive oil
This soup appears to be quite close from the original gazpacho and sounds very interesting.
I can't wait to try it so I can finally sample this intriguing taste!
But this is another story...

Gazpacho is a good hint of what summer food should be: straightforward, refreshing and stunning-looking.
I think that in general, Mediterranean food offers the greastest possibilities regarding summer food.
Rich in vegetables, fruits, nuts and fish. It doesn't only sounds good but is good in taste and for your body.

Straightforward – isn't Mediterranean food based on simple flavours combined in the easiest way and just relying on the quality of the produce?
Refreshing – vegetables and fruits are packed with water and vitamins.
Stunning-looking – beautiful vibrant colours. Think olive oil, peppers, red onions, fresh herbs...

Gazpacho andaluz
This soup is so easy to make and a real delight to eat. Very fresh it makes a great entrée but could also make a lovely light lunch if you add freshly cooked seafood to it just before serving.
I love the way Neil Perry makes it: instead of grinding the vegetables in a mortar and pestle to get a nice texture, he suggests making a smooth soup and then sprinkling over diced tomatoes and peppers.

Labels: make a meal of it, recipe inside

I have a great love affair with cheese. I love to eat it and even more, to make it.
So when Itay from Recipe asked me to write an article about cheese i couldn't help but say YES. I'm French after all and who can ignore that France is one of the leading countries regarding cheese produce.
Indeed more than 400 different cheeses are produced in France, 42 of these having a quality label called AOC (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée) and lots being made under the AB (Agriculture Biologique) laws.
This doesn't mean that all French cheese are necessarily good -- both in taste and quality.
But when you buy your cheese, try to know where it comes from: a farm or an industry.
And if you ever come to France, i deeply advise you to visit local farmers, to talk with them and eventually to buy their produce. That way you can't be wrong.



I have no idea on how people from other countries eat their cheese, but as a French, i can't imagine a weekend lunch without a well-furnished cheese platter.
Usually i like to keep it simple with 3 or 4 different cheeses. I try to serve big portions so the people don't get afraid to have a piece and i like to combine strong and mild flavours:
- a blue cheese (like Roquefort or Bleu d'Auvergne)


- a fresh goat cheese (now I've worked on a farm, making goat cheese, i can't live without this cheese. It is so versatile and delicious)
- a Corsican sheep's milk hard cheese served either with some fig jam or chestnut honey.
- a piece of Brie de Meaux: a soft mild-in-taste cheese

But a full cheese lunch could be a good idea as well if the flavours are well combined. That's what i tried to put together for this 4-course lunch. No main course! Just 4 small dishes, high in taste yet subtle.


Tarte fine aux asperges et au chèvre frais
[Asparagus and fresh goat cheese tart]
I made this for my birthday a month ago and everyone loved it. Three simple flavours: green asparagus, fresh goat cheese and fine puff pastry.
Actually this is far better if you make your own puff pastry -- i know it's time-consuming, but the difference is real: homemade puff pastry is so delicious.
The goat cheese should be 2-3 days old, as i think a fresher cheese would had more creaminess than taste.
(Recipe)


Soufflé au bleu d'Auvergne
[Bleu d'Auvergne soufflé]
I love soufflés because they're light and tasty at the same time. Don't be afraid to make them -- it's so easy. The only thing you have to keep in mind is: soufflés must be eaten straight away from the oven or they'll just fall.
An easy way to make soufflés without having to be in the kitchen during the lunch is to prepare the batter up to an hour before you start eating and to pop the small filled soufflé tins in the oven when you get the tart out of the oven.

These soufflés are nice served with some bitter leaves like rockets and a vinaigrette made with a nutty oil (like walnut oil).

Individual soufflés make for a highly rewarding treat!



Camembert aux fruits secs, aux noix et au miel
[Camembert with dried fruits, nuts and honey]
This is hardly a recipe. You should consider it as a reminder: camembert goes well with dried fruits and nuts which go well with runny honey.
For this 'recipe' you should choose a mild camembert: if it's too strong it will be overpowering and you won't get that soft 'longueur en bouche' (literally - length in mouth, which means great after taste).

Yum, runny honey. I love the contrast between the tenderness of the camembert and the crunch of the nuts.



Entremet mousseux au Manslois et fraises au vinaigre balsamique
[Manslois mousse with balsamic vinegar strawberries]

Manslois is a strange little cheese. It's cow's milk fresh cheese from Charentes, where it's used to make a delicious cheese tart called 'tourteau au fromage frais'. I could have taken the easy way and make this tart but i reckon it would have been a bit too heavy after that 100% cheese lunch, so i went for the cold mousse.
I think you might have troubles getting Manslois cheese. Anyway, you can replace it by any fresh cheese -- goat cheese would be a good option.



The mousse is served with balsamic vinegar strawberries. So refreshing!

Labels: cheese, favourites, make a meal of it, recipe inside, spoon desserts

[Happy Birthday - Fine Asparagus and Best-Goat-Cheese-in-the-World Tart]

My birthday was few weeks ago and as a foodie, i couldn't help but prepare the dinner myself.
Anyone would have been going to the caterer to order a 5-courses dinner. Or they would have bought a nice entremet from the finest pâtisserie.
But i had to make it. The starter, the main course and the dessert.
The most difficult part was to choose what to make.

The choice of the starter has been quite simple: i knew i wanted to use both asparagus (May = lots of lovely asparagus) and fresh goat cheese.
I really had to use goat cheese simply because i did my second training period on a farm -- milking goats and making cheese.
Actually the cheese from this farm are said to be the best of the French Riviera and i can only agree with this.
Bruno, the nicest farmer in the world, takes care of his goats with love. He deeply loves nature and developped a great range of fresh and 'affinés' organic cheese. Indeed most of the best restaurants of Vence, St Paul... buy their cheese from la Ferme des Courmettes.
I mean, look at this cute goat baby. What's not to love?


So you'll understand why i really wanted to use goat cheese -- i love good organic produce.

Tarte fine aux Asperges et aux Meilleur Chèvre Frais du Monde
Source: adapted from Martha Stewart's Asparagus Gruyère Tart
This tart is very easy to make and taste so good especially if you make your own puff pastry - which i always make, now.
Try to buy nice goat cheese from a local farmer instead of buying it from your local supermarket (though some good supermarket that have a great cheese counter, sell cheese from local farms).
The goat cheese should be 2-3 days old, as i think a fresher cheese would had more creaminess than taste.



The main course was - Marinated scallops with Citrus Risotto, but sadly i wasn't able to take some pictures.


The choice of the dessert has been quite a pain actually. Ever since i bought my-now-favourite-cookbook-ever PH 10 i decided it was THE book i had to make a recipe from for my birthday.
I read it again and again and said to myself i should make something simple -- who loves to fall in tears on her/his birthday? -- yet delicate and tasty.

As May was called the official strawberry month by Bea, i thought it would be great to use them. And suddenly i stumbled across the perfect recipe: Symphonie.

Symphonie is basically:
- an almond dacquoise
- a cream cheese mousse
- a strawberry 'compote'
- some cream cheese mousse again
All of this being surrounded by a raspberry 'biscuit joconde' and topped with some fresh strawberries and 'miettes de streusel'.

I was very excited about the joconde biscuit as it was the first time i had to make it. It's amazing how many eggs are in this biscuit, but it's so good and looks rather good.
When i tasted the cream cheese mousse, i was quite scared that it would be a little too heavy, but i was wrong. The whole cake was delicious. Very classy and subtle and not too sweet.
Symphonie was very easy to make though a bit time consuming, but i think it was worth the try.

Labels: cheese, entremets, make a meal of it, pierre hermé, recipe inside, tartes

[In my kitchen, Simplicity rules]


Ever since i was a child, i've been deeply in love with Italy and all the wonderful thing that this country offers.
Not only the Italian language is beautiful, but Italy is full of gorgeous things that deserve to be known.

My passion for Italy was born because my grand parents were from Italy and because my dad is always reminding us our origins - which is a great thing in my opinion.

The first thing i discovered about Italy was its stunning landscapes: laghi, montagne, valli...
I remember every single passegiata [walk] i made with my parents.

Then is started studying Italian at school (9h a week) for 7 years. There i was shown how beautiful was the Italian litterature. I fall in love with Giovanni Pascoli, the most divine poet.

And now, though i remain highly interested in letteratura, my interest in Italy has slightly changed from romanzi e poesie to cookbooks.
Indeed the last time i went to San Remo, we stopped in a bookshop where i bought a great book on all the greatest Italian food treasures: L'Italia da gustare, 101 città del cibo e del vino [Italy to taste, 101 cities of food and wine].

From the Italian cuisine, i keep the simplicity. I like the fact you use the best products available.
What is better that feeling every single taste in a dinstictive way? Good olive oil, good bread, good cheese... That totally does it for me.

So when i spotted this gorgeous ball of mozzarella di bufala, i knew i had to have it.
True mozzarella di bufala is divina in the simplest way; and though it is quite expensive, i would never buy the supermarket sort, even for a pizza.



Best mozzarella salad
This "salad" is for mozzarella lovers only. I won't say this is a recipe, but more a reminder: olive oil goes well with mozzarella goes well with pepper.
Have a good, preferably homemade, country-style crusty bread along this salad.

Just a short note on mozzarella: history and fabrication process (in Italian!)
"La mozzarella di bufala veniva prodotta già nel Duecento dai monaci di San Lorenzo di Capua, che la offrivano ai canonici giunti in processione al convento, e in Campania viene prodotta intensivamente dal Seicento. E un formaggio fresco di pasta filata che deve il nome al fatto che la pasta viene "mozzata", fatta a pezzi con un operazione molto delicata. Dopo la bollitura del latte infatti la pasta che si forma viene passata in un recipiente dove vienfatta fondere, viene spezzettata minutamente e poi lavorata per darle la carrateristica forma a treccia, o di sfera o bocconcino." (L'Italia da gustare, p.194)

Labels: cheese, make a meal of it, recipe inside

Labels: cheese, make a meal of it, recipe inside, tartes

Labels: chocolate, cupcakes and muffins, make a meal of it, recipe inside, sweet places

Labels: make a meal of it, sweet places

Then we headed off to London to see the Chinese New Year celebrations. China town was packed and I was only able to see the head of the dragon.
There were stands selling food and it must have been quite good because everyone had a something in the hands and eventually I the mouth.

As we were close to Tottenham court road we went to Foyles the greatest book shop in London.
The food section provides nearly as much cookbooks as in Books for Cooks (where I don't want to go anymore because you can't make a single step as it's always full of people).
There I bought a nice ring book simply called cupcakes! and written by Elinor Klivans.
My eyes have immediately been caught by the nice cover.
Foyles
113-119 charing cross road
London

Then we went to our favourite place ever in London – Knightsbridge.
It's so cosy.
I wanted to find a professional piping bag with fitted nozzles. So though that Divertimenti would be the great place but decided to have a look at Harrods first.
I love the cook shop in Harrods. There are so many items from Rosle tool range to Le Creuset cookware.
I finally found great piping bags and nozzles: a 14-inches and a 16-inches piping bags and n°1, 3, 5 and 22-star-shaped nozzles.
I think I might have to go to Jane Asher to find a bigger nozzle used for icing cupcakes.

After so much excitement we were happy to be back home and I prepared a comforting dinner – best cottage pie and pecan and milk chocolate chunks cookies.

Cottage pie
Serves 4

I made a small cottage pie for just the two of us and reserved the prepared meat to make some delicious meat fritters tomorrow)
This cottage pie is adapted from Just like my mother used to make by Tom Norrington-Davies.
We didn't have any vegetables at home so I made a very simple preparation for the meat.

1tsp oil
750g minced meat
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 OXO cubes
200ml water from a recently boiled kettle
1tsp tomato purée
750g potatoes boiled and then mashed with 4tbsp milk and 2tbsp butter
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 200°C.
First, heat a wide-bottomed pan with the oil. Fry the mince hard in this – it will seem very dry at first, but the meat will let go plenty of fat and juices, which will be used to cook the onion in a minute. When it has browned well, rain the meat over a large bowl trough a colander, catching all the juices.

Keep the meat to one side, but return the juices to the pan. Bubble them fiercely for about a minute before throwing in the onion. Crumble two OXO cubes over the onion and when it begins to get brown, add 100ml of water. When it has softened (10 minutes), return the beef to the pan with the tomato purée and the remaining 100ml water in which you have dissolved the last OXO cube. Now simmer for 10 minutes or so.
Season to taste.

Transfer to a baking dish and over with the puréed potatoes. Cook for 20 minutes and eat. Make sure you allow the cottage pie to cool a little when out of the oven or you'll burn your tongue.

Labels: make a meal of it, sweet places

Labels: make a meal of it, recipe inside

As my mother knows i love to cook she enjoys when i'm at home because she gives me a TO-MAKE list. Today she wanted me to make a pissaladière for supper.
And i'm not going to blame her for this since as soon as i'm back from my daily occupation - taking care of a hundred of goats and making goat cheese (post on his way) - i think of what i'm going to cook. Sometimes i even wonder why i'm not in a culinary school at the moment; maybe i'm not confident enough(but that's another story, let's rewind back to the pissaladière).
A pissaladière is a provençal onion pie, originally from Nice (or Nissa in provençal language- as the saying goes "if you're going to get wet"). It has a kind of breadish dough base, topped by and anchovy paste spread and slowly-cooked onions, anchovies and black olives.

My recipe for Pissaladière
serves 4

The bread dough is from Nigella's How to be a domestic goddess but i find 1 tbsp of salt was a little too much so next time i'll reduce to 1/2 to 3/4 tbsp. She also stipulates to use 300ml of water but you don't need that much - around 250-275ml would be just fine.
The onions take long to cook (they must be VERY VERY cooked but not couloured), to be frank i didn't check the cooking time, but i'd say something like 25min. It may occur that yours cook faster. I saw in a book they used 3kg of onions for the same quatity of dough, but i think 800g were enough.
Using butter is not conventionnal but i do think it helps the onions to soften.

500g strong white flour
7g (1 sachet) easy action yeast
1/2 to 3/4 tbsp salt (see note above)
300ml warm water
5 tbsp olive oil, plus more
800g yellow-skin onions, finely cut
a clove of garlic
2tbsp butter
2tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp anchovy paste
some anchovies
some black olives

To make the dough: mix the flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. In a jug, pour the water and olive oil. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry and knead to a smooth dough. Coat with extra olive oil. Leave to rise for an hour or until doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 200°C. While the dough is rising, heat the butter and olive oil in a large pan. Lower the heat and add the onions and a crushed clove of garlic. Try to set the heat on the lowest possible. Clamp a lid on and leave for 30min, stirring from time to time.
Take the dough and divide between 2 or 4 balls. With your hand form 2 (or 4) 1,5cm thick circles. Spread evenly the anchovy paste and make a few holes in the dough circle with your finger.
Divide the onion mixture between the dough bases and sprinkle with anchovies and olives.
Bake for 30min.

Labels: favourites, make a meal of it, recipe inside, tartes, yeasted treats

Yesterday night we have celebrated my little sister 12th birthday. I already had in mind what i wanted to make : a kind of mezze with a dip or two, polpette (meatballs) and blinis with caviar and creme fraiche and for la piece de resistance, i thought a piece montee would be quite impressive.
For the mezze i made :
blinis with caviar - i love my recipe for blinis; they're soft, dense and light at the same time. Just one tip, i always add 2 tbsp of creme fraiche in the batter (for approx. 25 mini blinis).
aubergine, yogurt and mint dip - i used a recipe from the great Nigella's Feast. It's really good. I'll definitely make this again. The pinenuts really adds something
polpette (meat balls) - the recipe is from Feast -again- "aromatic lamb meatballs", but as i don't like lamb i used beef and the result was great. I think this are good with some bitter leaves like cresson alienois.


The piece montee
Actually i had never made choux buns before but i thought it would be easy - just follow the recipe. I had three recipes : one from Feast, another from my chocolate desserts from Pierre Herme and the last from a french pastry book of mine. These three recipes were identic so i used Pierre Herme's. But for my first attempt, i didn't read the recipe till its end: i added the flour off the heat and ended up with a liquid batter; so i put my pan back on the heat while stirring. I got a nice smooth batter. The choux buns were right, but as i thought they weren't i just throw away the excess batter and whipped up another - this time following closely the recipe. But the result was awful; if my buns rose high in the oven they took less than 1 minutes to fall once out of the oven. I was dissapointed. But my dad told me tu ne devrais pas rester sur un echec (you must keep going and try to do another batch); and so i did. I made another batch of buns. OK, my choux buns aren't that high, but they're good. I'll try again when i'll be a little more relaxed.
For the toffee sauce i prefered to make a soft caramel rather than an hard one. I think the toffee-ish side of the caramel brings lusciousness to this already luscious pudding.
Just one more thing : the filling is a simple vanilla creme patissiere.

Labels: cakes of all kind, make a meal of it

As i haven't buy my D-ingredient i thought it was time to go for the E. And i've chosen Eggs as for me E is for egg as C is for chocolate. I couldn't do without. I mean eggs are one of the ingredients i use most. I love a simple fresh "oeuf à la coque" (soft-boiled egg) with some good baguette and emmental for a great homey supper as much as i love a sophisticated poached egg with blanched asparagus and sauce hollandaise as much as i love cakes (and you know i love cakes). The combinations using eggs are endless as you can see. They are so versatile; you can go from fancy cooking to laid-back casual cooking.
I can't live if i don't have any eggs in the fridge; and no, i'm not exagerating. For me an egg represents life. Firstly because it's oval-shaped and beautiful as the life is and then because some eggs contains embryos. OK, i see your face now saying "and then i'm eating live being"I even sometimes have periods when i think to myself "i can't eat anymore eggs, that's disgusting!"; but you know if you buy your eggs from the supermarket, most of them aren't fecondated and don't have that red spot, which is the embryo. Anyway i like to buy my eggs from a lovely farm market where you can get some extra fresh, extra large eggs. Actually my motto about the eggs is "the fresher they are the best they are".

Another thing i love about eggs is their colours and by that i mean the differents shades of their shell but also the different shades of the yolks : i love to see how red they seem to be in Italy compared to the pale white-like egg yolks in England and the perfect yellow in France.

Now let me tell you a word about the recipe i've chosen. Ever since i met David, my English boyfriend, i've been introduced to the English kitchen and all my (wrong) ideas about English food vanished : it is indeed all the opposite of what is said in France; good, homey, tasty, exotic cooking.
One of my favourites is the Yorkshire pudding. It may be my n°1 dish ever. I think i could eat an etire plate of Yorshire pudding along with some good chicken gravy. I could have this every day, for every meal. I am a Yorkshire pudding addict and definitely proud of it. When i first have those it was very satisfying and then i asked my boyfriend's mother the recipe and was very surprised there was no raising factor: sometimes the alchemy of food gives us wonderful things.


THE RECIPE : YORKSHIRE PUDDING
makes 6 and serves 3 or 1 if you're like me (fanny : delia says it is enough for 8 as i've already doubled the quantities to feed my Yorkshire puds (as i friendly call them)

150g plain flour
2 eggs
150ml full-fat milk
100ml water
salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tbsp beef dripping for the pan (fanny : i use olive oil and a 6-buns muffin tin)

Preheat the oven to 220°C and place the greased tin in it to get a pipping hot oil. In a bowl sift the flour, make a well in the center and gradually incorporate the eggs, milk and water. Stir until you've got a smooth batter; add seasonning. Divide between the 6 buns muffin tin and bake for 20-25min or until golden-brown and puffy. Eat straight from the oven or don't eat at all.

Labels: make a meal of it, recipe inside

My boyfriend's dad, Peter, went food-shopping to Valbonne today and brought me back some lovely and juicy raspberries packed in a sweet green paper case. The thing is that i deeply love the pink on green look. I love it so much i decided to take some pictures. Then a wonderful idea came to my mind : i could do an alphabet featuring all my favourite ingredients. But the word "raspberry" starts by an "r" and the first letter of the alphabet is an "a". I had to find my favourite-beginning-by-an-a ingredient. And after a minute or so i chose riso Arborio (yes i am an Italian speaker) or less fancily Arborio rice.
The principle of Fanny's Food Alphabet was born: each day or so i will pick up a new ingredient, take a picture of it , describe it and make a recipe using it.Since i was a child, i've always loved pearls, their lovely satiness... And i now love Arborio rice for the same reasons i used to love pearls. Arborio rice grains are round, pearly looking and soft. But as you can't make necklace with them they must have something else. Hum, let me think, it might be their high-startch level. It is indeed. And this point is crucial because it allow to make the most delicious risottos.
I've come across risottos relatively late in life as my mother always said that risottos were hard work and also because i wasn't so fond in rice. But then i discovered a way to cook rice i loved and crispy basmati rice became one of my classics. As the saying goes you may as well go swimming : I had to try a risotto, tried it and became a risotto addict; i mean they're dead easy to make : just add some stock when there nearly isn't anymore and so on until you've got a smooth, al dente, lovely risotto.

THE RECIPE : MUSHROOM RISOTTO WITH GARLIC, THYME AND PARSLEYFrom The Naked Chef (page 170-171 & 175
serves 6

255g mushrooms (one type or a mixture - fanny : i used half field mushrooms, half girolles)
3 tbsp olive oil
1 small handful of thyme, picked and chopped (fanny : i used a tsp of dried thyme instead)
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
salt adn freshly ground pepper
1 handful of parsley, rougly chopped
1 pinch of chilli powder
a squeeze of lemon juice

Slice the mushrooms thinly, but tear the girolles, chanterelles and blewits in half. Don't cook all the mushrooms at once - do them in 2 or 3 batches. In a very hot pan heat a tbsp of olive oil and add the mushrooms and thyme. Cook for about 1min, toss them, then add the garlic and a pinch of salt. Cook for another couple of minutes and then taste - if they're nicely cooked add some parsley, a very small pinch of chilli poxder and a squeeze of lemon juice. Toss again, taste again - by now they should be pretty much perfect. Chop half the cooked mushrooms.
At basic recipe (fanny : below) Stage 2, after the first ladle of stock has been added, add the choped mushrooms, and add the remainder at Stage 3.

1L chicken stock
1 tbsp olive oil
3 finely shopped shallots, or 2 medium onions
1/2 head celery finely chopped (fanny : i didn't use any)
maldon sea salt and black pepper
2 cloves galic, finely chopped
400g Arborio rice
100ml dry white vermouth (fanny : i just used a bottle of dry white wine i had in the fridge)
70g butter
85-100g freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Stage 1. Heat the stock. Then in a separate pan heat the olive oil, add the shallot or onion, celery and a pinch of salt, and sweat the vegetables for about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and after another 2 minutes, when the veg have softened, add the rice. Turn up the heat now. At this crucial point you can't leave the pan, and anyway this is the best bit.
While slowly stirring, continuously, you are beginning to fry the rice. You don't want any colour at this point. You must keep the rice mooving. After 2 or 3 minutes it will begin to look transluscent as it absorbs all the flevours of your base. Add the vermouth or wine, keeping on stirring as it hits the pan - it will smell fantastic! It will sizzle around the rice, evaporating any hash of alcohol flavours and leaving the rice with a tasty essence.
Stage 2. Once the vermouth or wine seems to have cooked into the rice, add your first laddle of hot stock and a pinch of salt. Turn down the heat to a highish simmer. Keep addind ladlefuls of stock, stirring and allowing each ladleful to be absorbed before adding the next. This will take about 15 minutes. Taste the rice - is it cooked? Carry on adding stock until the rice is soft but with a slight bite. Check seasonning.
Stage 3. Remove from the heat and add the butter and the Parmesan, saving a little of the latter to go on the top if you like. Stir gently. Eat as soon as possible while it retains its moist texture.
This risotto is all i love about risottos : it's creamy, earthy and delicious. I heart the slight taste of Parmesan that adds a little extra earthyness. It is definitely a wonderful dish for a cold wintry day. Indeed it is just what you need when it's freezing cold outside : an easy but warming thing to make ... and to eat.

Labels: make a meal of it, recipe inside

I've been craving for these for months and months. Actually i've never had fish and chips in England, but the first i ate were in Ottawa (Canada) in a local English pub.
As my boyfriend's family is English, i thought it was the good moment to try and make them.
I used Jamie Oliver recipe. I love Jammie's Dinners. I will always remember the day i bought this book; my boyfriend (who lives in Kingston) and I decided to spend one day in London to look for a cake stand (i can't find one in France, if anyone knows...). But at the end of the day, the rain started to fall and i still didn't have my cakestand; so as soon as i saw a Waterstone, i rushed into it. And guess what did i see on the shelf : Jamie's dinner at just 14£95... I had my treasure for the day. In the train back towards Kingston, i couldn't help thinking about this beautiful pink and green (my 2 favourites colours) book. Weither it was raining or not, weither i had my cakestand or not, i had this book and was so happy for it

Here is the beautiful story and here comes the recipe
FISH, CHIPS AND MUSHY PEAS
serves 4

Good fish and chips are becoming harder to find these days, but there are still some good boys out there making the real deal. However, if you want to make your own at home, here's the recipe I use. Unless you've got a really big fryer I'd say it's not really worth trying to make fish and chips at home for more than 4 people - otherwise it becomes a struggle. Other things to have on the table are some crunchy sweet pickled gherkins, some pickled onions (if your other half isn't around!) - and pickled chillies are good too. Then you want to douse it all with some cheap malt vinegar and nothing other than Heitz tomato ketchup.

sunflower oil for deep-frying
1/2 tsp sea salt (fanny : i used 2 tsp)
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper (fanny : i used 4 tsp)
225g nice white fish fillets, pinbonned (fanny : i thought 225g weren't enough for 4 so i bought 800g and there was nothing left on the table...I used cod fish.)
225 flour, plus extra for dusting (fanny : 420g were a little too much as i had loads of batter left, but i can make some onion rings tomorrow and who's gonna blame me for that?)
285ml good cold beer (fanny : i used 460ml of a french beer called 1664)
3 tsp baking powder
900g potatoes, peeled and cut into chips

for the mushy peas
a knob of butter
4 handful of podded peas
a small handful of fresh mint, leaves picked and chopped
a squeeze of lemon juice
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

To make your mushy peas, put the butter in a pan with the peas and the chopped mint. Put a lid on top and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add a squeeze of lemo juice and season with salt and pepper. You can either mush the peas up in a food processor, or you can mash them by hand until thay are stodgy, thick and perfect for dipping your fish into. Keep them warm while you cook your fish and chips.
Pour the sunflower oil into your deep fat fryer or a large frying pan and heat it to 190°. Mix the salt and pepper together and season the fish fillets on both sides. This will help to remove any excess water, making the fish really meaty. Whisk the flour, beer and baking powder together until nice and shiny. The texture should be like semi-whipped double cream ( i.e it should stick to whatever you're coating). Dust each fillet in a little of the extra flour (fanny : i forgot to do this, but nothing went wrong), then dip into the batter and allow any excess to drip off. Holding one end, lower the fish into the oil one by one, carefully so you don't get splashed - it will depeend on the size of your fryer how many fish you can do at once ( fanny : mine is about 30cm diameter and i can do 3 fillets at once). Cook for 4 minutes or so, until the batter is gloden and crisp.
Meanwhile, parboil your chips in salted boiling water for about 4 or 5 minutes until softened but still retaining their shape, then drain them in a colander and leave to steam completely dry. When all the moisture has disappeared, fry them in the oil that the fish were cooked in at 180°C until golden and crisp (fanny : as you can see in the pic, i was so in a hurry to taste at this gorgeous fish and chips, that my first batch of chips wasn't cooked enough...). While the chips are frying, you can place the fish on a baking tray and put them in the oven for a few minutes at 180°C (fanny : mine stayed in the oven for about 30 minutes!) to finish cooking. When they are done, drain them on kitchenpaper, season with salt, and serve with the fish and mushy peas.

Labels: make a meal of it, recipe inside