It’s quite a common knowledge that I’ve always had a soft spot for anything French, and their fabulous cooking is definitely up top among some other things. After spending some time in France, I very much enjoyed helping out in the kitchen to get a better essence of French cooking and take as much out of it, so I could later enjoy it myself or my family and friends. I had a wonderful friend Isabelle who has given a wonderful cookbook by France Loisirs called La Bonne Cuisine D’aujourdhui and this is also the book where I got my recipe for what better companion to go with your morning cup of coffee or tea than a moist and fragrant but very supple madeleine?
So, let’s get to it.
Ingredients
6 eggs
200g sugar
1 vanilla bean
zest from 1/2 of a lemon
200g flour
1 tbsp of baking powder
200g butter
Instructions
Mix eggs with sugar until nice and frothy, pretty much doubles in volume and turns nice pale yellow
Slice your vanilla bean open and scrape out all the seeds out and add into your mixture with zest of half of a lemon.
Combine flour with baking powder and then slowly start folding it in until well incorporated.
Add melted and cooled butter.
Fill in your madeleine pan about 2/3 in and then put into an oven for about 15-18 minutes at about 415F, or until they rise and get golden with slightly browned edges.
I am sure this little treat will make any start to a new day to be a better one.
Note: I had a madeleine with larger molds but if you have smaller ones, your baking time will reduce probably down to 10 minutes.
Tip: Madeleines’ recipe is very versatile, so you can change it up by adding different flavors, like replacing about 1/8 of flour with ground almonds, or add some coco powder, orange zest. Don’t be afraid and get creative.
I got invited to a Christmas party and was asked to bring a dessert. I have been baking quite a bit in the last few weeks, so I was ready to try something different, something I haven’t done before, like a Peach & Almond Cream Tart. So, let’s get to it.
Ingredients
3 firm pears
lemon juice
1 tbsp peach brandy or water
4 tbsp peach jam
Shortcrust Pastry (Pâte Brisée)
250 grams flour
125 grams of unsalted butter
65 grams of sugar
1 egg
Almond Filling
175 grams blanched whole almonds.
60 grams superfine sugar
5 tbsp butter
2 eggs
5 drops almond extract
Instructions
Start with making a shortcrust pastry by mixing all its ingredients together with your hands until a crumbly dough begins to form.
Wrap your dough into plastic wrap and put into fridge to chill for at least half an hour. Roll out your dough and use to line your pie pan, then place back to fridge to chill while you are preparing the filling.
Put the almonds and sugar in a food processor and pulse until finely ground; they should not be pasty. Add the butter and process until creamy, then add eggs and almond extract and mix well.
Place baking sheet in the oven and preheat to 375°F. Peel the pears, halve them, remove the cores and rub with lemon juice. Thinly slice the pear halves while keeping the slices together.
Pour the almond cream filling into the pastry shell. Slide a spatula or a wide-blade knife under one pear half and press the top with your fingers to fan out the slices. Transfer the fruit to the tart by placing them on the filling.
Place the tart on the hot baking sheet and bake for 55 minutes, or until the filling is well browned.
Cool on a wire rack.
Meanwhile, heat the brandy or water and the jam, then brush over the top of the hot tart to glaze.
With the cooling temperatures, without any doubt the summer is long gone. This is usually that time of the year when we find ourselves to long for comfort food, something that will warm us up on the inside & satisfy our taste buds as well. I enjoy cooking quite a bit as I find it therapeutic and relaxing. I like to try new things by testing out recipes of my friends or renowned chefs, or just make up my own based on what I have on hand at a moment.
Few weeks ago, after seeing Colly’s tweet, I got cravings for a nice hearty beef stew. Even though this has been a busy week at work, I made sure to find some time and unwind while doing the minimal prep required and then just let all the magic happen on its own. And I have to say, it turned out heavenly, so I figured I’d share my version of the winter stew with few different ingredients.
Ingredients
1 pound of beef
3 large carrots
3 parsnips
1 celery root
1/2 mushrooms
1 leek
1 onion
fresh rosemary
1 orange
3 tbs of Vegeta, or use vegetable or beef stock cubes
1/3 bottle red wine
fresh parsley
Instructions
Start with heating up a little bit of oil, add the meat in and keep steering preventing it from burning and sticking to bottom of your pan.
Keep steering for about 5 minutes till all the sides are nicely seared.
After the beef is nicely browned, add all chopped carrots, parsnips, celery root, as well as mushrooms, leek and onion, and continue steering. You’ll notice that the vegetables will start releasing juices, so you won’t need to add more oil, even though you might be inclined to do so.
While the meat and vegetables are cooking, get to do some more chopping. This time, chop up your fresh rosemary, which you add into your freshly made broth.
Pour the broth with rosemary over the meet and vegetables. I chose to add some red chili pepper flakes for some heat.
All there is left to do is to add red wine and zest of one orange before you cover the pot and let it cook for at least 3-4 hours, until the beef becomes flakey. You can use this time to just sit down and relax, watch a movie while either finishing that bottle of wine.
For a little punch of color, I like to garnish my serving with a little bit of fresh parsley. And that’s all there is to it! Hope you enjoyed it and maybe get creative and put your own spin on such a versatile recipe.
