Mangoes!

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!

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!

Spinach and bacon quiche

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!

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

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.