Chez Isabelle

Banana-Oat Smoothie

2010-03-19T14:10:00.000-07:00

I made this for breakfast this morning and loved it! It is very filling and tasted wonderful!

Ingredients:

- 1/2 rolled oats (not instant!)

- 1 cup plain yogurt

- 2 ripe bananas

- 1 cup milk

- 4 Tsp honey

- 1/4 tsp cinnamon

Combine oats, bananas, milk, honey and cinnamon in a blender and puree until smooth.

Serve immediately. Makes 2.

Adapted from Everyday food.

Cherry and chocolate chip cookies.

2010-03-14T09:30:00.000-07:00

The name of this recipe (from Kids in the Holiday Kitchen) is actually "Jolly Cookie Jar". My daughter and I made this over the holidays and gave the jars as a Christmas present to her teacher and crossing guard. We layered all the dry ingredients into a jar, decorated it and wrote the recipe on a little tag attached to it. It was very pretty but unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of them. Because they were so good I decided to make them again a couple of weeks ago.

Ingredients:

- 3 ounces (3/4 stick) softened butter

- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

- 1 egg

- 1/4 cup granulated sugar

- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

- 3/4 cup flour

- 1/4 tsp baking soda

- 1/4 tsp baking powder

- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

- 1/2 cup dried cherries

- 1/2 cup rolled oats (not instant)

- 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Set oven temperature to 375°F.

In a mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients.

Beat together the softened butter, vanilla extract and egg in another large mixing bowl.

Add the dry ingredients and stir or mix until well blended.

Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake until golden, 7 to 10 minutes. Last time I made them they still din't look fully cooked after 10 minutes so I let them cook for another couple of minutes which was a mistake! Don't let them cook more than 10 minutes!

Krusball ~ A Swedish Marshmallow Confection.

2010-03-07T14:20:00.000-08:00

I did not make those! They are from Ikea. I just had to share because they are so wonderful! They are coconut flavored, chocolate covered, soft and fluffy marshmallows. We've been back from Ikea for about an hour and I already ate three. At this rate they will be all gone by the end of the day! Oh well, I guess it's a good thing I only go to Ikea about once a year!

Snack mom of the week!

2010-03-04T12:26:00.000-08:00

Every Thursday in my daughter's class, a child must bring a snack for every student (the rest of the week, they bring their own snack). Because I can, I actually went to the school myself to help the teacher set them up. I already go there once a week as a volunteer in my daughter's class so it was no big deal. The name of the snack needs to start with the letter of the week. This week, the letter is U. I had the choice between ubi, udon, ugli, ukha, uku and other exotic fruits/foods that I have never heard of before. I could have done upside down cakes but that's a lot of work and I am not sure it would have been very appealing to the kids. So I talked to Maia -she always has great ideas- and she mentioned those little umbrellas that you find in cocktails. And I thought that it was exactly what I needed. I could stick them on anything and there I would have my "U" snack. I decided to go for cream cheese rolls as I thought most kids would be familiar with it and even the picky ones would probably like it.

You should have seen the kids' faces when they came back from recess and found those on their desks. They all looked like little kids discovering what's under the tree on Christmas morning! They ALL ate them and even the 10 extra ones I had made were gone by the end of snack time.

One of the little girls even asked me to give her mom the recipe so she could make it at home. That really made my day!

Toasted Coconut Marshmallows.

2010-03-03T11:15:00.000-08:00

I have a thing for marshmallows. Actually, let me rephrase that, I have a passion for marshmallows. Ever since I was little, I remember loving them. Nothing could get between me and my "Chamallows" as we say in France. It's a good thing Haribo Chamallows are not sold in the U.S. because if they were I can guarantee I'd be 20 pounds heavier! I have no self-control when it comes to marshmallows. American store-sold marshmallows are very good too, but they really can't compare to their French counterpart :-)

Marshmallows make me happy. They are soft, fluffy and flavorful. I find it hard to stop eating them once I have opened a bag (or made some in my own kitchen :-)

Another thing I am passionate about: coconut. I absolutely adore the way coconut tastes! Maia knows this and when she saw the recipe for toasted coconut marshmallows on a blog she follows, she immediately knew to send me the link. Thank you Maia!

Ingredients:

- 2 cups finely shredded unsweetened dried coconut

- 2 (1/4 ounce) envelopes unflavored gelatin

- 1 cup water

- 1 1/2 cups sugar

- 1 cup light corn syrup

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 2 tsp vanilla extract

- 1/2 tsp coconut extract (I could only find imitation coconut extract at the store I went to, I will have to find the real thing before I do this recipe again!)

Preheat the oven at 350° F.

To toast the coconut, put it on a baking sheet in the oven until golden brown, about 7 to 10 minutes. Stir it a few times during the process so that it toasts evenly. Be careful not to burn it, it can happen very fast! Once the coconut is toasted, set aside to cool down.

Lightly oil a 9-inch square baking ban. I used canola oil as it doesn't have any flavor. Sprinkle the bottom of the pan with 1/2 cup of the coconut.

In a medium mixing bowl (or the bowl of your stand-mixer, which I highly recommend since this requires to be mixed for quite a while!), sprinkle the gelatin over 1/2 cup of water and set aside.

Combine the sugar, corn syrup, remaining 1/2 cup of water into a heavy sauce pan and heat on medium-low until sugar has dissolved. Set a candy thermometer in the pan.

Bring to a boil over medium heat without stirring, until the temperature reaches 240°F (soft ball stage). Remove from the heat and let stand until the bubbles dissipate.

With the mixer on low speed, pour the hot syrup into the gelatin in a thin and steady stream trying to avoid the beater.

Increase the speed to high and beat for about 15 minutes, until it has become very thick.

Do you see something funny on this picture? Yes, it's me, tip-toeing on my daughter's step-stool to be able to get a picture of the inside of the mixing bowl :-)

Add the vanilla and coconut extracts and beat for another minute.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan.

Sprinkle the top with anoher 1/2 cup toasted coconut.

Now here's the hardest part: wait at least 2 hours. Let it stand, uncovered at room temperature. Put it in a corner of your kitchen and try to forget about it!

After that time, run a thin spatula between the sides of the pan and the marshmallow mixture.

Invert onto a cutting board and cut into 3/4 inch wide strips and then into squares. I used a pizza cutter and found that it worked great!

Put the rest of the coconut into a bowl and use it to coat the marshmallows on all sides.

You can store the marshmallows in an air-tight container (use parchment or wax paper in between layers) in a cool spot for up to a month. But if you're like me, they won't last more than a day or 2!

Mangoes!

2010-03-02T12:50:00.000-08:00

Mango is my favorite fruit at the moment! I just love its texture and exotic taste! And now that I know how to cut a mango properly (thanks to Maia!), I have been eating lots of them lately!

Here's how I do it:

Cut the tip where the stem is. It will allow you to see which way the pit goes.

Cut the mango lengthwise along the pit.

Repeat on the other side.

Cut a cross hatch patter through the mango's pulp, being carefull not to cut the skin.

Hold the mango with both hands and make the diced pulp "pop" out. Looks pretty, doesn't it? Repeat for the other part of the mango.

All you need to do now is to run a knife between the pulp and the skin and voila, your mango is ready to be eaten. Enjoy!

For breakfast tomorrow!

2010-02-27T21:45:00.000-08:00

Since the quiche was such a huge success, I made another one today. I think it has become a tradition to make some extra mini quiches for the next morning!

Julia has recently decided to rate my food with a star system and after taking her first bite of today's quiche she exclaimed that it was worth 100 stars! Aww, sweet girl, she knows how to make mommy happy!

Flavored Chocolates.

2010-02-27T18:14:00.000-08:00

My husband -who is in the Coast Guard- just left for a two-months deployment to the Arctic on the Polar ice-breaker on which he is stationed. Julia and I started a tradition last time he left. We bought a blue and white box (the Coast Guard colors, minus the orange) and every time he is deployed, we fill it with cards, books, movies, artwork by Julia, candy and other yummy things. He is only "allowed" to open the box once he is out of the Puget Sound and in the Pacific ocean.

One of the things he enjoyed the most the last time we made the box were heart chocolates that I made for him. I just used chocolate that I melted and put into heart molds. He said that every night he looked forward to having one of his chocolates.

This time I decided to try and flavor the chocolates! I used Wilton candy flavors and it worked pretty well. I can't wait to hear if he likes them! I used 3 different flavors: peppermint, cherry and creme de menthe.

What you'll need:

- good chocolate. I used semi-sweet chocolate chips

- candy molds. I bought these at Michaels

- candy flavorings (also from Michaels)

To melt the chocolate, use the double-boiling technique: place the chocolate into a heat-proof dish (I used a smaller mixing bowl) and set it over simmering water.

Stir the chocolate as it is melting and turn the burner off once the it has completely melted.

Add a few drops of the flavoring of your choice and stir well.

With a spoon, fill the molds with the melted chocolate.

Put the chocolate-filled molds in the fridge or freezer for about 20 minutes. The chocolate will easily pop out and are now ready to be savored!

Spinach and bacon quiche

2010-02-25T16:25:00.000-08:00

I am quite ashamed to say that I am French and I just now made my first quiche! Oh well, better late than never, right? For some reason, I always thought that quiches were difficult to make but I have been quite culinarily adventurous lately and as it turns out, it was very easy to make and oh so delicious! The only "difficult" part would be to make the pie crust but you can buy those already made so that's not a big deal at all. I had one in the freezer from last time I made some (I used this recipe.)

And ok, I just have to say that I know it doesn't look very well presented and you'd probably not guess by just looking at this picture but it was extremely delicious! All three of us absolutely loved it!

Ingredients:

- 6 large eggs, beaten

- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream

- salt, to taste

- freshly ground coarse black pepper, to taste

- 2 cups fresh baby spinach, chopped and packed

- 1 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled

- 1 1/2 cup shredded swiss cheese

- 1 (9 inch) refrigerated pie crust, fitted to a 9-inch glass pie plate

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

I baked the pie crust first -with rice as I didn't have beans- and I forgot that it shrinks when it's baking. I will remember next time!

Combine the eggs, cream, salt and pepper in a food processor or blender.

Layer the spinach, bacon and cheese in the bottom of the pie crust. I actually forgot this and mixed the cheese in the blender with everything else, that's why you can't see any cheese in the picture!

Pour the egg mixture on top.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the egg mixture is set. I think I baked mine about 5 minutes too many...

Cut into 8 wedges and serve. You can also eat it cold, it tastes very goo that way too!

I had a little extra egg mixture so I baked it in a ramekin and had it for breakfast the next day!

I used this recipe.

My 1st pain d'epices was messed up and I didn't even know!

2010-02-13T20:00:00.000-08:00

About a month ago, I made a pain d'epices for the first time. Well it wasn't until I made another one a couple of days ago that I realized I had completely messed it up the first time! I forgot to add a whole entire cup of water to the batter before adding the dry ingredients!

This time, with the water, the pain d'epice was much more moist and flavorful. Yum!

Here I was putting the dry ingredietns together and I thought it looked pretty:

And the result:

And I also wanted to show my new kitchen gadget, a bread keeper. Love it! It's expendable and has a cuting board.

Chocolate Mousse

2010-02-13T16:17:00.000-08:00

When I was a teenager, I used to make chocolate mousse very often. It had been at least 10 years since I had made some so I was a little nervous when I set off to make some a few weeks ago. I think the result was pretty good but in an effort not to "break" the eggs, I think I didn't incorporate the chocolate well enough witch resulted in some white lumps. Nothing dramatic, but it's definitely something I need to improve on next time I make it!

This recipe is from La Tartine Gourmande.

Ingredients:

- 150 g dark chocolate

- 1/2 cup (100 ml) cold heavy cream

- 10 g sugar

- 5 egg whites

Melt your chocolate using the bain-marie technique.

Heat the cream until boiling.

Add the cream to the melted chocolate and mix well. It should thicken.

Beat your egg whites firm.

Before they are fully firm, gradually add the sugar and continue to mix.

Then, very carefully, add the egg whites to the preparation, making sure not to "break" the eggs. Use a wooden spoon to describe large circular movements.

Place in individual cups or a large bowl.

Chill at least one hour before serving.

Such an inspiration!

2010-02-13T14:53:00.000-08:00

Today, I discovered a new cooking blog and I absolutely love it! Check out 17 and Baking. This young woman is 17 years old and so talented! Her writing, photography and recipes are amazing! And she lives in Seattle :-)

Fabulous pancakes!

2010-02-13T10:49:00.000-08:00

I recently discovered King Arthur Flour's "Guaranteed" recipes and I am very impressed with the results. So far I have made the pancakes, the shortbread and the banana bread and they were all so good that I doubt I will ever try a different recipe for them.

Here's the printable version from King Arthur website.

Ingredients:

- 2 large eggs

- 1 1/4 cups of milk

- 3 Tbsp melted butter or vegetable oil

- 1 1/2 cups flour

- 3/4 tsp salt

- 2 tsp baking powder

- 2 Tbsp sugar or 1/4 cup malted milk powder

Beat the eggs and milk until light and foamy, about 3 minutes at high speed of a stand or hand mixer. Stir in the butter or vegetable oil.

Whisk the dry ingredients together to evenly distribute the salt, baking powder and sweetener.

Gently and quickly mix into the egg and milk mixture. Let the batter rest for at least 15 minutes, while the griddle is heating; it"ll thicken slightly.

Heat a heavy frying pan over medium heat, or set an electric griddle to 350°F. Lightly grease frying pan or griddle. The pan or griddle is ready if a drop of water will skitter across the surface, evaporating immediately.

Drop 1/3 cupfuls of batter onto the lightly greased griddle. Bake on one side until bubbles begin to form and break, then turn the pancakes and cook the other side till brown. Turn over only once. Serve immediately.

Coconut Shrimp.

2010-02-10T15:30:00.000-08:00

This recipe is from The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook by Jaden Hair. My in-laws actually know her and they had her sign the book for me before sending it to me for Christmas. How cool is that?

I have always wanted to cook Asian food but had never tried before. I think I was a little intimidated by all the ingredients I had never used before and how different it is from the way I am used to cooking. I really like this cookbook because it really does make it look "easier" than I thought it would be to cook Asian dishes. For my first try, I decided to make some coconut shrimp.

We all thought it was very tasty and I can't wait to make it again!

Ingredients:

- 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

- 1 Tbsp high-heat cooking oil

- 1 lb (500g) raw tail-on shrimp, deveined and patted really dry

- 2 tbsp butter

- 4 green onions, cut into 2-in (5 cm) lengths

- 1 Tbsp finely minced garlic

- 3 Tbsp cognac (brandy or rum make good substitutes)

- generous pinch of salt

- 3/4 tsp sugar (omit if you are using sweetened shredded coconut)

In a wok or frying pan over medium heat, add the coconut and toast until golden brown. This should take 3 to 4 minutes. Don't burn the coconut! Once it is toasted, immediately remove to a plate to cool.

Wipe the wok or pan dry and set over high heat (if you are using a coated non-stick pan/wok, use medium to medium-high heat). Add the oil and swirl to coat. Add the shrimp to the wok, keeping them in a single layer. Fry for one minute, flip and fry for an additional minute until almost cooked through. Remove from the wok, keeping as much oil in the wok as possible.

Turn the heat to medium, add the butter and, once the butter starts bubbling, add the green onion and garlic. Fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Pour in the cognac and add the salt and sugar.

Stir and return the shrimp to the wok. Let the whole thing bubble and thicken just a bit- the sauce should lightly coat the shrimp.

Remove from the heat, sprinkle in the toasted coconut and toss well (I forgot to take a picture of that step).

Yummy!

Never EVER cut and seed jalapeño peppers without wearing latex gloves...

2010-02-07T19:49:00.000-08:00

...unless you want to be in tremendous and very long burning pain. Trust me, I speak from experience.

My husband had to spend the day at work on Superbowl Sunday so last night I thought it would be nice to make some jalapeno poppers for him and the crew to enjoy. The pioneer Woman has a great recipe for it in her cookbook so I thought I would give it a try. I bought about 30 jalapeno peppers. She does warn you that you need to wear latex gloves or you may have burning sensations on your fingers, but of course I didn't "listen". I thought it couldn't be so bad, and I could rinse off my hands if it bothered me.

I WAS WRONG. Ok, I may sound overly dramatic, but you have to understand that my hands ended up burning A LOT for about 15 hours before it started going away. At first it was just a little tingling sensation that started just about when I finished seeding the jalapenos. Then, within minutes, it felt as if I had stuck my hands onto a burning stovetop.

My husband tried to help me and did a google search on what might help to relieve the burning and I tried absolutely everything: baking soda paste, milk, orange juice, sour cream, rubbing alcohol, olive oil, aloe... Nothing worked! Some of those things helped for a few minutes, but then the burning would come back full force. I ended up sleeping only 2 hours last night. Around 4 or 5 am, the pain had subsided a little and I was so exhausted that I finally fell asleep (with both hands on an ice pack).

Needless to say, I stopped taking pictures when my hands started burning so there won't be any recipe today. My husband ended up finishing it for me while I rubbed my hands with baking soda. They cooked them and ate them this afternoon at work and he said that they tasted pretty good. It has been almost 24 hours since I cut those darn jalapenos and my hands are much better now. I still feel a little tingling sometimes, but nothing like it was last night!

The best tomato sauce ever!

2010-02-05T09:09:00.000-08:00

This sauce is very easy to make and tastes so wonderful! When I first saw this recipe on Smitten Kitchen, I could not understand how she made it sound so good. After all, there are only 3 ingredients to this sauce so I thought it was going to be sort of bland. I was so wrong! This is the best tomato sauce I have ever had! It reminds me of the pasta with tomato sauce my Italian grandmother used to make for me when I used to go eat lunch at her house in highschool. I had always wondered how she made it.

Zucchini Bread

2010-02-04T14:42:00.000-08:00

This was my first try at zucchini bread. I found the recipe in The Recipe Club, a book about a friendship between 2 women over the span of over 40 years. Their story is intertwined with great recipes that they shared during their life.

Ingredients:

- Butter or shortening for greasing pans,
- 3 cups flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
- 3 eggs
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 2 cups peeled, grated raw zucchini
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/2 cup raisins (I did without)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease 2 9x5x3-inch loaf pans.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs until light and foamy.

Mix in the sugar, oil, zucchini, and vanilla.

Slowly add the dry ingredients, stirring until just incorporated. Fold in the nuts and raisins.

Bake until golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour.
Let cool 5 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack and let cool completely.

Wonderful Pot Roast.

2010-01-30T09:03:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, I decided to make a pot roast for the first time. I saw the recipe in the Pioneer Woman Cooks and it looked fairly easy so I thought I'd give it a try. First thing first, I needed a dutch oven and since I do not own one, my friend Maia offered to let me borrow one of hers. More on that later.

Ingredients:

- 2 or 3 Tbsp olive oil

- Kosher salt

- One 3 to 5 pound chuck roast

- 2 onions

- 6 to 8 carrots

- pepper

- 2 to 2 1/2 cups beef stock

- 3 or 4 fresh rosemary sprigs

- 2 or 3 fresh thyme sprigs

Pre-heat the oven to 275 degrees.

Heat a large pot or Dutch Oven over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and let it get really hot. While it heats, prepare the other ingredients.

Generously salt the chuck roast on both sides.

Cut a couple of onions in half from root to tip. Then cut off the tops and bottoms and peel off the papery skin.

When the pot is very hot, place the onions in the oil and brown on both sides, about a minute per side. Remove the onions to a plate.

Next, thoroughly wash, but son't peel the carrots. Cut them roughly into 2-inch slices.

Throw the carrots into the same (very hot) pot. Toss them around until slightly brown, about a minute or so.

Remove the carrots from the pot and allow to get really hot again. Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan.

Place the meat in the pot and sear it, about a minute per side. Remove to a plate.

Now, with the burner on high, deglaze the pot by adding 1 cup of the beef stock, whisking constantly. The point of deglazing is to loosen all the burned, flavorful bits from the bottom of the pot.

When most of the bits are loosened, place the meat back in the pot.

Followed by the carrots and onions. Pour enough beef stock into the pot to cover the meat halfway.

Next, put in the thyme and rosemary sprigs. The fresh herbs absolutely make this dish. Tuck them in the juice to ensure that the flavors are distributed throughout the pot.

Now, cover the pot and roast in the oven for 3 to 5 hours, depending on the size of your roast. For a 3 pound roast, allow for 3 to 3 1/2 hours. For a 5 pound roast, allow for 4 to 5 hours cooking time. Don't disrupt the roast during the cooking process.

When the cooking time is over, check the roast for doneness, a fork should go in easily and the meat should be very tender. Remove the meat to a cutting board and slice against the grain.

I served my pot roast with broccoli and mashed potatoes. It was delicious!

Now, something terrible happened to Maia's Dutch Oven while it was in my oven. After we were done eating, I went back into the kitchen to put the left overs away and when I emptied the pot from the rest of the onions/carrots and the juices from the pot roast, this is what I found:

When I saw that, my heart sank, I was devastated. I had ruined Maia's pot. I sent her a very apologetic email and thankfully she answered back and told not to worry, that it was just probably a bad quality pot. Still, Maia, I am sorry I ruined your pot!

Pain d'epices.

2010-01-16T11:59:00.000-08:00

Pain d'epices can be translated as "spice-bread". It is a traditional French bread full of flavors and its main ingredients are rye flour, honey and spices. It is very dense and flavorful so one usually eats it by the very thin slice. Some like it by itself while others enjoy it with a bit of butter or jam. I love it with apricot preserves! This bread can be kept (in a dry cool spot) for more than a week and it actually gets better with time, as the flavors meld together.

I followed David Lebovitz' recipe and it came out great!

Today's Brunch!

2010-01-10T11:54:00.002-08:00

Today I decided to make a nice brunch to celebrate the start of my husband's 2 weeks vacation. It is still hard to believe that he'll actually be home for that long and I am expecting him to have to go back to work at any moment, but for the time being, he is here!

The drink is a Mimosa (Champagne and orange juice), it's our favorite brunch drink :-)

The fruit salad is not looking too hot, I know.... I forgot to buy more colorful fruits. Then there is maple sausage. And the best part: zucchini and cheddar frittatas. Maia made this not oo long ago and it looked so cool that I had to try it! Mine didn't puff out as much as hers but they tasted delicious nonetheless! Here's the recipe.

This is what they looked like before going in the oven.

Then, after about 20 minutes:

They were delicious and very easy to make!

Apple Crisp

2010-01-09T14:44:00.000-08:00

Apple Crisp is one of my favorite desserts. I have made many in the past few years. I have tried several recipes and the one I am sharing with you is a mix of all of them.

Ingredients:

- 4 or 5 apples, peeled, cored and sliced

- 1/2 cup sugar

- 3/4 Tbsp cinnamon

- 1 tsp vanilla (I forgot to include it in the picture)

- 1/3 cup sugar

- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

- 6 tbsp butter at room temperature

Preheat oven to 365 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl, combine the apples, 1/2 cup sugar, cinnamon and vanilla.

Put the apple mix into a 9 inch pie pan.

In a mixing bowl (I just use the same one, no need for more dishes!) combine the 1/3 cup sugar and the flour. Cut in the butter. You can use a pastry blender or your fingers. I usually use my fingers. It's messier but definitely more effective in my opinion.

Once it's all combined, it will be crumbly and homogeneous.

Spoon the mixture over the apples.

Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Serve by itself or with some vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Print this recipe!

Chili

2010-01-07T10:45:00.000-08:00

I had never made Chili until a few weeks ago. When my friend Josee came over one day and made a chili in my kitchen, I just fell in love with the taste of this delicious concoction! Since then, I have made three different Chili recipes and I am looking for more! If you have a favorite Chili recipe and would like to share it with me, I will be forever grateful! I have become slightly obsessed with Chili.

This recipe is from the Pioneer Woman Cooks. I love her cookbook; it has lots of wonderful pictures and stories as well as recipes.

Ingredients:

- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 tsp ground oregano
- 1 Tbsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
- 2 Tbsp chili powder
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 8oz can tomato sauce
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup masa (corn flour)

Optional ingredients:

- 1 can pinto beans, drained
- 1 can kidney beans, drained
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and finely diced
- 1 can diced tomatoes and chili (I use Rotel brand)

For serving:

- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Chopped onion
- Fritos

Place the ground beef in a large pot and throw in the garlic.

Cook the beef until brown and drain off the excess fat.

Pour in the tomato sauce, followed by the spices and the salt.

Stir together well, cover and reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. If the mixture becomes overly dry, add in 1/2 cup of water at a time as needed.

After an hour, place the masa in a small bowl. Add 1/2 cup water and stir together with a fork.

Dump the masa mixture into the chili.

Stir together well. Taste, adjust the seasonings, and add more masa paste and/or water to get the chili to your preferred consistency, or to add more corn flavor. Add the beans, jalapeño, and tomatoes if desired. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve with shredded cheddar, chopped onion, and Fritos.

PRINT THIS RECIPE!

Chocolate Ricotta Muffins.

2010-01-04T22:31:00.000-08:00

These have officially become my favorite muffins! They are just wonderful! I first tasted one a few month ago when Maia made them and have been wanting the recipe ever since. Well Maia has now shared it with all of us so I did not wait more than one day to make them. Here's the recipe. Thank you Maia!!!

Greek Shrimp Stew

2010-01-02T16:44:00.000-08:00

This shrimp stew is delicious! I like this recipe because it is easy to make and always yields good results. I make it once in a while and we all enjoy it :-)
This recipe is from Feeding the Whole Family, by Cynthia Lair.

Ingredients:

- 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 onions, chopped
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 cups chopped or diced tomatoes
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- 3 Tbsp snipped fresh dill or 1 Tbsp dried
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 pound cooked shrimp
- 1/4 to 1/2 pound feta cheese, crumbled
- 1 cup chopped parsley

In a large soup pot, heat oil, and then add onions, salt, and garlic. Saute until onions are soft.

Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, mustard, dill, and honey, simmer for 20 minutes.

Five minutes before serving, add shrimp, feta, and parsley. Stir well and serve.

Print this recipe!

Nutty Butter Balls

2009-12-29T13:28:00.000-08:00

I made these twice over the holidays, once for Phillip to bring to work and give to his colleagues, and once to share with Maia and Roshi (hi!), and apparently everyone loved them :-)

The recipe is from Williams-Sonoma's Cookies (love that book!)

Ingredients:

- 2 cups (8 oz/250g) pecans
- 1 cup (8oz/250g) unsalted butter at room temp
- 3/4 cup (6oz/185g) firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg, separated
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup multicolored coarse sugar cristals

In a food processor, finely grind the pecans. Measure out 3/4 cup (3oz/90g) for the batter. Reserve the remaining ground nuts for coating the cookies. Set aside.
I do not own a food processor so I used a knife (it took forever!), but the next time I made them I realized that I could use my blender!

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on high speed, cream the butter until fluffy and pale yellow.

Add the brown sugar and continue beating until the mixture is no longer gritty .

Add the egg yolk and vanilla and beat on low speed or stir until well blended.

Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder together onto a sheet of wax paper.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing on low speed or stirring with a wooden spoon until blended.

Mix or stir in the 3/4 cup (3oz/90g) ground pecans just until blended.
This is what your mix will lok like:

Preheat the oven at 350 degrees F (180C). Have ready 2 baking sheets. Lightly grease the pans or line with parchment paper, or have ready about 4 dozens miniature paper muffin liners. Spread the remaining ground pecans in a shallow bowl. Lightly beat the egg white in a small bowl.

With floured hands, shape the dough into 3/4 inch (2cm) balls. Bruh the balls lightly with egg white and roll in the pecans to coat lightly.

Place each ball in a paper liner, if using. Place the cookies about 1 inch (2.5cm) apart on the prepared pans.

Bake until the bottoms are lightly browned, 25-18 minutes. Let cool slightly on the pans on wire racks. Using a wide, flexible spatula, remove the warm cookies and roll them in the sugar crystals, or sprinkle the sugar on top if in paper liners. Let cool completely on wire racks.

PRINT THIS RECICPE!

My Christmas present!

2009-12-25T18:03:00.000-08:00

I am so happy :-)

Bolognese sauce.

2009-12-25T17:51:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to make Bolognese sauce for a while now so when I came accross this recipe I knew it would be the one I'd have to try. It's a great recipe, we all loved it! I really like Joy the baker. Her blog is very pretty, her recipes all sound great (this is the first one I've made) and I like her writing and photos.

If you'd like to make this recipe, Joy the Baker has a "Print this recipe" option on her blog, just follow this link!

Gingerbread Men.

2009-12-19T12:31:00.000-08:00

Last week I decided to start baking holiday cookies and I did Gingerbread Men, which I had never made before. I really loved the texture and rich taste of those cookies!

This recipe is from Cookies, by Williams-Sonoma.

Ingredients:

- 1cup (8 oz/ 250 grams) unsalted butter, at room temp.
- 1/2 cup (3 1/2 ox/ 105g) firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (4 oz/125g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (11oz/345g) light molasses
- 1 large egg
- 5 cups (25oz/780g) all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 Tbsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on high speed, cream the butter until fluffy and pale yellow.

Add the brown and granulated sugars and beat until the mixture no longer feels gritty.

Gradually beat in the molasses on low speed.

Add the egg and beat on low speed until the mixture is well blended.

Sift the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt together onto a sheet of waxed paper. (I had to do that in several batches because there was way too much flour to be able to do it all at once!)

Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing on low speed or stirring with a wooden spoon until well blended. For me, I have to say that this was really hard. As the consistency of the mixture became drier, I ended up having to use my hands to be able to blend the flour into the mixture because the wooden spoon just wasn't cutting it! I also had given up on using my hand-held mixer because it was not strong enough to be able to do the job. Maybe using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment would be the way to go?

Turn out onto a floured work surface and, with floured hands, form into a large, smooth mound.

Divide the dough into 4 equal portions, shape into disks and wrap each disk into plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.

Preheat oven at 400 degree F (200 C). Lightly grease 2 baking sheets or line with parchment paper. Working with one disk at a time, roll out the dough between 2 sheets of waxed paper to a thickness of about 1/4 inch (6 mm).

Using gingerbread cookie cutters, cut out figures.

Use an offset spatula to transfer t the prepared pan. Repeat with the remaining dough portions, then gather up the scraps, reroll them, and cut out additional cookies. If the scraps of dough have become sticky, refrigerate for 10 min before rerolling.

When you get tired of rolling the dough (it's pretty hard), ask for some help if you can. My husband did a much better job than me so I let him roll out/cut out the rest of the dough :-)

Bake the gingerbread figures until lightly browned on the bottom, about 6 minutes. Let sit on th sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Enjoy dressing up the cooled gingerbread cookies with icing, sugars, and other decorations!

Print this recipe!

Sucre à la Crème

2009-11-20T09:56:00.000-08:00

Sucre à la Crème is a traditional "fudge" from Quebec, Canada. I had never heard about it until a few days ago when my friend Josee (who is from Quebec) told me about it. It sounded so delicious that that same day I looked up a recipe for it and set to make some the next day.

Ingredients:

- 2 cups whipping cream
- 2 1/4 cups brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
- 2 Tbsp sugar

Put all of the ingredients in a large saucepan. If you are using a candy thermometer, set it on the pan now too.

Bring to a boil.

Be careful, it might boil over! This phase lasts about 2 minutes. I actually had to lift the pan up, otherwise it would have been a huge mess. After the 2 minutes or so, it will continue boiling but it will come down.

You shouldn't need to stir it at all but I wasn't sure so I stired it a few times.

Take the pan off the heat exactly when the temperature reaches 240 degrees F. (soft ball stage). It took me about 18-20 minutes to get there.

If you do not have a candy thermometer, you will need to do the following to find out when it has reached the soft ball stage: in a bowl of very cold water, drop some of the mixture. If it forms a soft, moldable ball (take it out with your fingers), then it is ready! Watch this video for a better understanding of the process.

Let the mixture cool for 10 minutes. Then, with an electric mixer on high speed, mix for 5 minutes, until it has thickened.

Pour into a lined 8x8 in pan.

Cover and let cool down for a few hours.

Once it is completely cooled down, take it off the pan and cut into bite-size squares.

What happened in the lower left corner you may ask? Oh, that was just me being impatient... I just had to taste :-)

And here are my little sucre au lait in candy boxes for my friends :-)

Not to sound too corny or anything, but the best part about making all these yummy things is sharing it with my friends!

I used this recipe :-)

Banana Coconut Muffins

2009-11-17T21:13:00.000-08:00

Last week, Maia made some banana coconut muffins and after seeing them on her blog, I just had to make some too! I love bananas and coconut so those muffins sounded very appealing! I made a few changes to the Epicurious recipe that she used.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 very ripe bananas, mashed (3/4 cup)
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/4 Tsp ginger
1/4 Tsp cinammon
1/2 cup chopped dates (optional)
1 Tbsp Orange blossom water (optional)

Set the oven at 375 degrees. Line muffin pan with muffin liners and spray with canola oil (this way the paper won't stick to the muffins - thanks Maia for the tip :-)

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, ginger and cinammon.

In another mixing bowl, whisk together the bananas, butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, 1/2 cup coconut, chopped dates and orange blossom water until well combined.

Fold in the flour mixture until the flour is just moistened.

Divide batter among lined muffin cups and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup coconut. Bake until muffins are puffed and golden, about 25 minutes. Transfer muffins to a rack and cool slightly.

Print this recipe!

Homemade Dog Food

2009-11-14T09:23:00.000-08:00

People are usually very surprised to hear that I cook my Boston Terrier Jade's meals. The truth is, it takes me less than 5 minutes to get her meals ready, twice a day. What does take a long time though, is when, every few months, I have to cook the vegetable and grains mix that I just store in the freezer. I made a batch last week and it took me exactly 4.5 hours from start to finish. It takes a long time because I have to wash, peel, cut and steam everything (well not the grains).

Here are the veggies and grains I used (I also had some zucchini but forgot to include them in the picture):

In this picture you can see the winter squash in the steamer in the background. Each batch of veggie required about 25 minutes in the steamer.

I mixed in some cranberries along with the couscous, lentils, rice, oats and quinoa.

Once everything was cooked, I used the immersion blender to make a nice and smooth "paste".

Then I just put it all in containers to go in the freezer!

Then, everyday, all I do is cook up some turkey (once in a while she gets beef, chicken, or even salmon), and add a tablespoon of the veggie mix.

I also add some steamed bone meal as a supplement for calcium (that really grosses me out, but you have to do what you have to do...)

Result: a happy dog!

I am sure Jade would be happy with kibble too if that's what she were used to, but I figured, why not? It doesn't cost me more to do this. I have not calculated yet but I am pretty sure that this is costing me less than a good quality kibble would!

Other result: dishes almost up to the ceiling! Oh well, that's why I love my dishwasher!

Brioche.

2009-11-07T18:13:00.000-08:00

Making Brioche has been my biggest baking endeavor to date. It is a very time consuming process but the result is oh so worth it! This sweet and buttery bread is to die for! Brioche is something that reminds me of my childhood. It is very common to have a brioche for breakfast in France, just like croissants and pains au chocolat (chocolate croissants). Brioche and cafe au lait (coffee and milk) go very well together. I love dipping my brioche in it!

I know there are going to be too many pictures but I don't want to leave anything out for those who are going to make this. I know that, for me, seeing lots of pictures along with a recipe helps me visualize the process better and makes it a lot easier!

The recipe is from Baking with Julia, by Dorie Greenspan. The stand-mixer is courtesy of Maia!

The first step is to make the sponge. For this, you will need:
- 1/3 cup warm whole milk

- 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

- 1 large egg
- 2 cups all purpose flour

Put the milk, yeast, egg, and 1 cup of the flour in the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer. Mix the ingredients together with a rubber spatula, mixing just until everything is blended.

Sprinkle over the remaining cup of flour to cover the sponge.

Set the sponge aside to rest uncovered for 30 to 40 minutes. After this time, the flour coating will crack, your indication that everything is moving along properly.

The dough:

- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 1/2 cups (approximately) all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature.

Add the sugar, salt, eggs, and 1 cup of the flour to the sponge.

Set the bowl into the mixer, attach the dough hook, and mix on low speed for a minute or two, just until the ingredients look as if they're about to come together.

Still mixing, sprinkle in 1/2 cup more flour. When the flour in incorporated, increase the speed to medium and beat for about 15 minutes, stopping to scrape down the hook and bowl as needed.

During this mixing period, the dough should come together, wrap itself round the hook, and slap the sides of the bowl. If, after 7 to 10 minutes, you don't have a cohesive, slapping dough, add up to 3 Tbsp more flour. Continue to beat, giving the dough a full 15 minutes in the mixer.

In order to incorporate the butter into the dough, you must work the butter until it is the same consistency as the dough. I used the back of a large spoon. When it's ready, the butter will be smooth, soft, and still cool. Not oily or greasy.

With the mixer on medium-low, add the butter a few tbsp at a time. This is the point at which you'll think you made a huge mistake because the dough that you worked so hard to make smooth will fall apart. Carry on.

When all of the butter has been added, raise the mixer speed to medium-high for a minute, then reduce the speed to medim and beat the dough for 5 minutes or until you once again hear the dough slapping the sides of the bowl. Clean the sides of the bowl frequently as you work, if it looks as though the dough is not coming together after 2 to 3 minutes, add up to 1 Tbsp more flour.

First rise: Transfer the dough into a very large buttered bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let it rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

Second Rise and Chilling: Deflate the dough by placing your fingers under it, lifting a section of dough, and then letting it fall back into the bowl. Work your way around the circumference of the dough, lifting and realeasing.

Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough overnight or at least 4 to 6 hours.

This is what my dough looked like in the morning:

Your dough is now ready to be used in any brioche recipe. I decided to make into 2 braided loaves and I used the directions from the King Arthur baking blog. Scroll down to about the middle of the page for the braided loaf version and follow the directions. They omitted the oven temperature/time. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes, tenting with foil after 15 to 20 minutes.

This is how much my loaves rose after 2 hours 45 minutes. They could have used another half an hour or so, I am sure, but I was getting too impatient!

Scotch Shortbread (biscuits sablés pour les francais!)

2009-11-03T10:51:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, when Maia went on a trip to Honk Kong, she let me borrow her Kitchen Aid stand mixer! I immediately fell in love with it and was very sad to relinquish it when she came back from her trip! I can't wait to have my own! I used the stand-mixer for this recipe but it can easily be done with a regular hand-held one!

I have always loved shortbread. Its buttery and crumbly texture is simply delicious! This recipe is from Wiiliams-Sonoma Cookies.

Ingredients:

-1 cup (8 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature

- 1/4 cup confectioners' (icing) sugar

- 1/4 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 tbsp for sprinkling

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

- 1/4 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Have ready an ungreased 9-inch square baking pan.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on high speed, cream the butter until fluffy and pale yellow. Add the confectionners' sugar and the 1/4 cup of granulated sugar and continue beating until the mixture is no longer gritty when rubbed between your fingers. Beat in the vanilla.

Sift the flour and salt together onto a sheet of waxed paper.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix on low speed or stir with a wooden spoon just until blended.

Using floured fingertips, press the dough evenly into the pan.

Sprinkle evenly with the 1 tbsp of granulated sugar.

Bake the Shortbread until the edges are golden, about 1 hour.

Remove the pan from the oven and immediately use a thin, sharp knife to cut the shortbread into strips 3 inches by 1 inch. Use a toothpick to decorate the shortbread with a pattern of dots. Let the strips cool in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes before transferring them to the rack to cool completely.

Flan Patissier (Sweet Custard Tart)

2009-10-24T16:19:00.000-07:00

Flan patissier is another favorite of mine from the boulangerie/patisserie in France. I don't recall seeing this in the US but I am sure there must be an equivalent.
I had to make the recipe twice before getting it right. The first time I made it, I misread the recipe which ended in a complete disaster (more on that later in the post).

First thing first, the shortcrust pastry (pâte brisée). Here are the ingredients:

-2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp granulated white sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1/2 to 1/2 cup ice water

In a food processor (I just used a mixing bowl and a pastry blender), place the flour, salt and sugar until combined. Add the butter and process until the mixture looks like coarse meal:

Pour 1/4 cup water in a slow and steady stream until the dough just holds together when pinched. Add the remaining water in necessary. Do not process more than 30 seconds.

Turn the dough onto your work surface and gather into a ball.

Divide the dough into two pieces, flatten each portion into a disk, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 mins to one hour before using.
If your dough doesn't look so pretty (mine looked rather ugly!), worry not! When you roll it out, it will be just fine!

For each disk of pastry, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the chilled pastry to fit into a 8 or 9 inch tart pan. Since you are only using one disk, you can freeze the other one, tightly wrapped for up to one month.

To prevent the pastry from sticking to the counter and to ensure uniform thickness, keep lifting up and turning the pastry a quarter turn as you roll (always roll from the center of the pastry outwards to get uniform thickness). To make sure it's the right size, take your tart pan, flip it over, and place it on the rolled out pastry. The pastry should be an inch larger than you pan.

Gently lay the pastry in your pan and press into bottoms and sides. Cut out the excess pastry and prick the bottom of the dough to prevent it from puffing as it bakes. Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

And now, for the Flan! You will need:

- 4 cups whole milk
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup corn startch
- 2 eggs + 1 yolk
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Keep 1/2 cup of the milk aside. Heat up the rest of the milk with the sugar on medium-high.

While the milk/sugar is heating up, mix the 1/2 cup of milk that you had set aside with the cornstarch, the eggs and the vanilla extract.

When your milk/sugar just starts boiling, gently pour it over the cornstarch/eggs/milk/vanilla mixture while mixing with a whisk.

Put your mixture back into the pan and onto the stovetop on LOW! This is where I meseed up the first time I made this recipe. I didn't set it to low (it was still on high).
Now, you need to stir it gently with a wooden spoon (while on low heat) until it becomes thick. This may take a while (between 5 and 10 minutes). Be patient! Do not stop stirring gently and do not take it off the heat until it has thickened!

When it is thick enough (like in the next picture), pour it into your tart pan and into the oven set at 355 F for 35 to 40 minutes. At the end, you can use the broiler for a minute or so (watch it carefully!) if you'd like the top of your flan to darken.

Let it cool on a cooling rack and then in the fridge until it is completely cooled down.

And just so you see what happened the first time (when I put it on high heat for a few seconds rather than on low heat for 5 to 10 minutes):

It was all hard at the bottom and all liquidy at the top... not at all what a Flan Patissier is supposed to be!

But, perseverance pays off and I ended up with a perfect flan the next time I made it so I am very happy :-)

The shorcrust pastry recipe was adapted from here. The Flan recipe from here.

Crêpes!

2009-10-18T13:55:00.000-07:00

I am proud to say that I can still flip Crêpes up in the air! I had not done this in years! It's lots of fun :-)

Ingredients:

These ingredients are for about 3 people (about 10-12 Crêpes)

- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 eggs
- 2 cups milk
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (if you are making savory Crêpes, omit the vanilla)

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and the salt.
Add the eggs one by one while whisking.

Gradually add the milk until well combined. Lumps are practically inevitable so don't worry about it too much, they will disappear when the batter in cooking.
Add the sugar and vanilla and stop whisking once the batter is nice and smooth.

Let the batter rest for 30 minutes to an hour.

If you have 2 pans, it will go more quickly :-) Here was my set-up:

Lightly oil the pan (do this before cooking each crepe):

Set the burner on medium heat.
Scoop about 1/4 cup of batter onto the pan and with a circular movement of the wrist, tilt the pan until the batter coats the surface evenly.
The first Crêpe is often a test one. Adjust the burner temperature after the first crepe if you think it needs to.

Cook the crepe until the edges start lifting off the surface and the bottom is light brown (about 45 seconds), then, with a spatula, make sure the crepe is not sticking to the pan at all. At this point, you can either flip it in the air or use your spatula to flip it. Cook until the other side is done.

You can use a variety of fillings for crepes: savory (grated Gruyere cheese is a good one) or sweet. My favorites are chestnut spread, nutella and strawberry preserves. Yum!

On a side note, if you are looking for a good Crêpe pan, this is the one I have and I love it!

Delicious mashed cauliflower.

2009-10-16T19:10:00.000-07:00

I hardly ever eat cauliflower. No reason in particular, it's just not something I usually get when I am browsing the produce department. Last week I decided to try and make mashed cauliflower with salmon. We really liked it so I will buy more cauliflower from now on!

Ingredients:

(The picture actually also shows ingredients I used for the salmon but I won't be talking about those)

- A head of cauliflower
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup cream cheese
- salt and pepper to taste

First, I steamed the cut cauliflower until it was soft, about 15-20 minutes

Then I got rid of the steaming water and put the soft cauliflower back in the pan.

I added all the other ingredients:

I used my immersion blender but you could use a potato masher.

And voila!

Chicken-Coconut Curry.

2009-10-10T14:14:00.000-07:00

I made this recipe a few days ago and I can say that it has become an instant favorite! The recipe is from Maria Sinskey's Family Meals.

Ingredients:

- 1 small yellow onion
- 2 lemongrass stalks
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1 can (14.5 oz) coconut milk (I used light coconut milk and it tasted great!)
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 2-3 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 lime leaves
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup firmly packed freas basil leaves
- 1 cup thinly sliced fresh mushrooms
- 2 tbsp lime juice

Peel and thinly slice the onion. Trim the lemongrass to the white bulb only and slice it in half lengthwise and crush it with the side of your knife:

Heat a saucepan on medium-high and add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the onion, lemongrass, ginger, and garlic. Sautee until the garlic is golden (1-2 mins).

Add the cumin and brown sugar, and cook until the sugar bubbles, about 30 secs.
Add the coconut, chicken stock, fish sauce and lime leaves and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low ans simmer for 15 mins to blend the flavors.

Add the chicken, basil, mushrooms and lime juice and simmer until the chicken is opaque, about 10 mins longer.

On a side note, this is how I got my chicken breast to be nice and flat. I used my "meat hammer". Yes, I know that's not how it's called, but I don't know the right word and don't feel like looking it up right now. Meat hammer will have to do!

Remove and discard the lemongrass stalks and the lime leaves.

Serve over jasmine rice and garnish with cilantro sprigs and lime wedges. Serve right away.

Don't hesitate to squeeze much lime juice on top of your curry. Julia and I loved the added flavor which went so well with the coconut!

Applesauce.

2009-10-06T19:45:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, Maia gave me a whole bunch of apples from her trees and I thought it would be a good idea to make some homemade applesauce as both Julia and I like it and it's a great desert for the fall season.

I found the recipe online but I changed it a bit so here goes:
- 3 to 4 lbs of apples (peeled, cored and cut in small pieces)
- 3 Tbsp lemon juice
- a cinnamon stick (I used 2 because I love cinamonn)
- 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup white sugar (if you are using apples that are naturally very sweet, use less sugar. Mine were a little tart and the sugar amount was just right).
- 1 cup of water
- 1 Tsp of salt

Put all the ingredients in a large pan.

Stir and bring to a boil.

Lower heat, cover and simmer for 25 minutes.

Remove from heat. Remove the lemon peels and cinnamon stick.

If you like your applesauce chunky, use a potato masher to mash them, or if you're like me and prefer it to be smooth, use an immersion blender.

It made enough to fill 2 1/2 16 oz jars.

And because I had time, I decided to decorate the jars :-)

Julia thought it was pretty good!

Chaussons aux Pommes (Apple Turnovers)

2009-10-04T10:41:00.000-07:00

I have great memories of eating chaussons aux pommes when I lived in France. It was definitely one of my favorites from the Patissier (bakery). The soft, sweet aplles surrounded by the buttery puff pastry is just a wonderful combination.
I won't lie, making the puff pastry dough (it was my first time), was not easy. It's a very involved and delicate process. But I found a youtube video that shows how to do it and it makes it much easier to understand and execute. There is also the recipe to go along with it. I decided to do the apples caramelized in sugar/butter rather than the raw apples shown on the video.

The first step is to make the "detrempe" dough. This is very easy. No need for a stand mixer or anything, just use a spatula at first to mix the ingredients, and then your hands!

Here's the detrempe. This took less than 5 minutes to make.

Just like it is explained in the video, you have to roll out the sides of the detrempe to make it look like a cross:

Now, from what I have read, one of the keys to succeeding at making a puff pastry is the type of butter that you use. It needs to have a high percentage of fat and low moisture. In France, it's called "beurre sec" but good luck finding such a thing in the US! What you need to do is to find a butter with more than 83% fat. I found this one, and it's just perfect, as it has 85% fat!

The butter needs to have been out of the fridge long enough so that its consistency will be about the same as the detrempe dough... but not too soft! It still needs to be somewhat cold!

Mine was too hard/cold the first time I put it on the detrempe so I had to re-do the whole thing...

Here is the "little package" of butter. Make sure that the dough is well sealed around the butter otherwise it will come out when you roll out the dough.

Roll out the dough very carefully:

Fold in thirds and put in the fridge to chill for 10 minutes.

While the dough is in the fridge, start preparing your apples. Peel them and cut them into small cubes.

In a pan, on medium high heat, melt some butter and sugar. Add the apples.

Add some cinnamon and vanilla extract on the apples.

The result is nice sweet buttery apples that will melt in your mouth.

Let the apples cool down and get back to your dough. Do all the turns (don't skip!) described in the video/recipe.
This is the dough after the final turn and ready to be cut:

I recently purchased a pastry cutter that worked wonders but you could use a number of things, like a round cookie cutter, or even a cup. I made my circles about 4 inches in diameter.

Put them on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet and press each one of the only in the middle to make them oval:

Distribute the apples evenly in the middle of the dough:

Wet each one in a semi-circle, it will help to stck together:

Make sure they are well sealed otherwise they will pop open while in the oven.

Brush some egg white:

The recipe says 10-12 minutes in an oven set at 375 F but that did not work for me. I had to up the temperature to 395 F and they were in the oven for a good 20 minutes. If the oven had been at 395 F from the start, I can see how it could have been 10-12 minutes though. I was surprised because I used an oven thermometer so I know the temperature was not off.

All done! I was very happy with the result! It tasted just like I remembered them from France. Not too bad for a first try at puff pastry :-) Maybe it's not as hard as people think!

Gougères and soup.

2009-10-03T21:38:00.000-07:00

Last night, I made some Gougères, a French savory choux pastry with cheese (I used a French Gruyère from Trader Joe's). I got the recipe from my friend Maia.

Here are all my ingredients (minus the salt).

Here, we have the milk, butter, flour and salt after they've been cooked, stirred and turned into a ball.

Then, we add the eggs and the cheese.

Then comes the part when Julia can help: "paint" some eggs and add more cheese on top! She really enjoyed doing that!

And here they are out of the oven, in all their deliciously cheesy goodness!

The only issue I had is that they kind of deflated a bit after they were out of the oven for a few minutes. Maia and I are looking into this and I will make them again soon until I get it just right!

Here is the soup I made to go with it. It was a simple vegetable soup with potatoes, corn, leeks, onion and celery.

Julia said that it was very yummy if you dipped it in the soup!

Chocolate Macarons!

2009-10-03T21:37:00.004-07:00

On Sunday, I decided to make more macarons. I was not quite satisfied with the ones I made on Saturday (hollow shells) so I decided to try again. This time I added some cocoa powder to the concoction to make them chocolate flavored.

This time, the consistency of the shells was much better! But, they did not rise as much as the ones I made the day prior. Maybe I ought to try one more time to make them just right? Either way, they were delicious (I was told so :-), so it doesn't really matter if they were not exactly as they are supposed to be!

Step one: make the Italian meringue. Beat the egg whites and sugar while cooking some sugar/water that you later beat into the eggs/sugar.

This is the almond flour/icing sugar mix that took me an hour to sift together on Friday night! Next time, I will look for a different brand of almond flour. That one was just too coarse.

I forgot to take a picture of the next step. I had to incorporate 50 grams of egg whiltes to the almond/sugar mixture to make it into a smooth paste and then added some cocoa powder for flavoring.

Then is the most important/difficult part. You have to incorporate the Italian meringue into the almond/sugar/egg mix with a certain movement of the hand (I found a youtube video that showed how to do it right).

You have to stop once you have a "magma-like consistency where the batter falls off either sides of the spatula like a ribbon" or something like that. This didn't talk to me at all! I mean, how am I supposed to know what the consistency of magma looks like?

I use ziplock bags (the freezer ones, they are thicker) as piping bags. They work great!

Macarons!

2009-10-03T21:37:00.003-07:00

A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a blog post about macarons. I remember eating some with Nathalie last time I was in Paris a few years ago. We went to the very famous Laduree shop and had the most excellent macarons!
I decided to make some myself but little did I know how hard and time consuming it would be. I researched recipes and web sites for the past couple of weeks and almost gave up on the idea after finding out that most people have to try several times before finally making macarons worthy of their names.
Well, I did make them. They look good, very good. They do taste good too. But, and yes, there had to be a but... it couldn't be so easy... the shells are a disaster. They look perfect from the outside, but they are almost completely hollow :-)

Here is the recipe I followed.

I will spare you the pictures of what led to this. I spent hours last night, making chocolate ganache and vanilla buttercream. The hardest part was sifting the confectionner's sugar and almond flour together, as the almond flour was much thicker than the sugar. Just that took me more than an hour.

Then, today I had to make the batter, which was a feat in itself (well, for me it is!) My kitchen is now a huge mess. I am even afraid to step in it!

Homemade Marshmallows!

2009-10-03T21:37:00.001-07:00

Last weekend Julia and I made marshmallows from scratch. I love marshmallows so when I saw the recipe in my new cookbook I thought it would be fun to make my own!

Ingredients:

-1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
- 11 by 9 inch baking pan
- aluminum foil
- Canola oil for pan
- 1 1/2 tsp unflavored gelatin
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp Cream of Tartar
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp light corn syrup
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

In a bowl, sift together the cornstarch and confectioner's sugar.

Line the pan with foil and lightly oil it. Sift 1/4 cup of the sugar mixture into the pan and tilt to cover all sides.

Dissolve the gelatin: Pour 1/2 cup water into the bowl of a stand mixer (unfortunately for me, I don't have one so I had to use a hand-held one). Sprinkle the gelatin over the water, whisk together and let stand for 5 mins to soften. Whisk in the salt and cream of tartar.

Put the whisk attachment on and beat on high speed until fluffy, 2-3 mins.

Put 1/2 cup of water into a saucepan. Stir in the granulated sugar and the corn syrup. Place over medium-high heat, bring to a boil and cook without stirring until the mixture turn pale tan, about 250 degrees F on a candy thermometer.

Turn the mixer on medium speed and drizzle the hot sugar syrup into the gelatin mixture, aiming between the side of the bowl and the beater. Be careful!
Increase to high speed and whip the mixture until it's white and thick, about 5 mins. Ad the vanilla and beat until the mixture cools, about 20 mins.

Pour into the prepared pan.

Dip a palette knife in cold water and smooth the surface.

Let a skin form on the surface, about 1 hour. Dust with 1/4 cup of the sugar mixture and let rest overnight at cool room temperature.

Line a pan with parchment paper and dust with the sugar mixture.

Cut the marshmallows into desired shapes. I used a pizza cutter and it worked wonders!

We were finally able to taste our marshmallows! We both loved them! They have nothing to do with their jet-puffed counterparts and I'd much rather eat my own marshmallows than the Kraft kind any day of the week! Mine may not be "jet-puffed" but they are most definitely fluffy!

Cover tightly and store at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Yes, I did have a marshmallow in my coffee! Delicious!

Lentil, spinach and bacon stew.

2009-10-03T21:36:00.001-07:00

I love my new cookbook! It has lots of wonderful recipes and photos. Last week, I made a lentil, spinach and bacon stew that turned out very delicious!

Ingredients:

-3slices bacon, diced
- 2 carrots, cut in 1-inch chuncks
- 1/2 small yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 celery stalk, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, pressed
- kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- 2 cups green French lentils
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
-1 bay leaf
-6 cups baby spinach leaves

Heat a large saucepan on medium heat. Sautee the bacon until most of its fat is rendered and is golden brown (about 5 mins.)

Add the carrots, onion, celery, garlic and saute until tender (2-3 mins). Salt and pepper to taste.

Add the lentils and stir to coat with the fat.

Raise the heat to medium-high, add 3 cups of water and the stock, thyme, bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, add 1 tsp of salt and simmer, uncovered until the lentils are tender, about 35-40 minutes.

Stir the spinach into the lentil mixture and cook until welted (about 4 mins.) Season to taste with salt and pepper and transfer to a warm serving bowl. Serve right away.

Season to taste with salt and pepper and transfer to a warm serving bowl. Serve right away.

Granola!

2009-10-03T21:32:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Maia's recipe, I made my very own granola and I will shamelessly say that it's the best I've ever had! Truly addicting!

Here are most of the ingredients before I put them together. On the left: rolled oats, barley flakes, oat bran, sunflower seeds, almonds. On the right: maple syrup, canola oil and vanilla extract.

Here's the granola before it went in the oven.

And here it is out of the oven, in all its fabulous crunchiness!

Oh, and I also roasted some coconut shavings that I added to the granola once it was cooled down :-)

And here's the finished product! Granola with yogurt (homemade too) and some maple syrup on top. YUM!

Apricot Bars.

2009-10-03T21:31:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Maia, I now have the recipe to her yummy apricot bars. Julia and I made some and they were so good!

I think I put too many chocolate chips and not enough cranberries :-)

Chez Isabelle

2009-10-03T20:58:00.000-07:00

Please don't take the title of this blog too seriously! The truth is, I am not a good cook at all! I am completely lost without a recipe.
Here I am, in my early 30's and only now am I discovering the joy of cooking! I am quite ashamed to say this, but in the past, I have been feeding my family extremely basic dishes. You could say that I am culinarily challenged. My husband, on the other hand, is very talented in the kitchen but alas, has very little time to cook.
What is funny is that I remember, way back then, when I lived in France (I lived there for the first 24 years of my life), and especially when I was a young teenager, I used to make deserts all the time. My favorite was a pear or apple clafoutis. I also made chocolate mousse, meringue, and other baked goods rather often. But then, I went away for college and ate at the Cite-U cafeteria most of the time and practically never cooked for the next 6 years. Then, I came to the USA a became an au-pair for an American family whose kids wanted to eat basically the same thing every day (mostly Kraft Mac&Cheese with a side of frozen peas and sliced fried potatoes and ham or chicken). I was never asked to make anything else and the girls would have probably not even touched any other food...
After that, I never got back into cooking. I can't explain why but it just never happened.
Now for some reason, almost all of a sudden, I have a passion for cooking. I think that what motivated me the most is my friend Maia. She is such an inspiration, and I think she passed her love of cooking on to me.