North African Tabouleh

Very common in France, but much more difficult to find in the UK, a tabouleh is a (cold) fresh and summery salad with a base of couscous. Very easy to make, it has very fresh minty notes and can be easily taken to a party or a picnic.
In the middle east, boulghour is used instead of couscous grain.


You will need for 4:
- 300g couscous
- The same volume of boiling water as that of couscous grain.
- 4 tomatoes cut in dice
- 1 diced white onion
- 1 bunch of parsley chopped finely
- 1 bunch of mint chopped finely
- the juice of a lemon
- 10cl oil
- salt, pepper.

Mix the couscous grain with the oil, salt, then add the boiling water, and set aside for 1/2h.
Then add the other ingredients, then leave in the fridge for a while.

Serve cool.

Easy no?
North African cuisine is completely integrated in French cuisine and kitchens, and you will find the dishes cooked in French homes as well as in restaurants everywhere. It is a very fragrant, fresh and full of flavours.

Enjoy the tabouleh whilst the good weather lasts!

Source: Photography, me , and recipe, the one I tend to make.

Exotic summer cake (no baking )

Another dish inspired by mango, because they are very tasty at the moment.

And again, it is an 'on the spur of the moment' cake. It fits the bill as well: easy, very quick to make, and very tasty, refreshing in the summer...

It is based loosely on tiramisu and Charlotte.

You will need:
- 6-7 small brioches each cut in three pieces in the length (slices)
- 1 pot of mascarpone
- 1 ripe sweet mango cut in slices
- 3 heaped tablespoon sugar
- 2 big splashes of cherry alcohool (or another alcohool if you don't have any)
- 1 passion fruit

Lay on the bottom and sides of a medium sized dish the slices of brioche. sprinkle with a dash of the cherry alcohool.
Mix the mascarpone with the sugar, then pour half of it on the brioche as a flat layer.
Lay the mango slices on top as a layer.
Pour the remaining mascarpone on top as a layer again.
Sprinkle the passion fruit pulp evenly on the cake.
Place in the fridge for two hours.

Eat and Enjoy.

Recipe and photography: me

Sweet and sour cold summer soup & hot sweet grilled gammon on the side

You have never heard of this dish?
Me neither. I just invented it today, and it is definitely worth sharing. I had a very sudden burst of good inspiration. And once again, it is very quick to prepare and is very tasty, and the salad is very healthy.


Per person for the sweet gammon you will need:
- 1 slice of gammon
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- black pepper, coarsely ground.

Prepare the gammon first as it takes 18 minutes to cook.
Lay the slice of gammon on a flat over proof dish or plate, brush it with the maple syrup, sprinkle with the black pepper. Done.
Cook at 200 degrees (last 5 min with the grill on) in the oven for 18-20 min depending on your oven.

Per person for the cold soup you will need:
- 4 little tomatoes cut in quarters or 8/10 cherry tomatoes cut in half
- 1 mango, diced (use the juice too)
-1/4 lime juice
- fish sauce - same amount as the lime juice
- 1 small clove of garlic (optional)
- 1 slice of fresh ginger finely chopped
- a small handful of roasted peanuts
- 1 lemongrass stalk, sliced
- 1 kaffir lime leaf, fresh if possible
- 1/2 a chili pepper (less if you use the Birdeye type)

Mix all the ingredients. Done, how's that for easy!?

Serve the sweet gammon and the soup at the same time, and enjoy. It is very refreshing, very tasty in flavour, rich and satisfying. And there you are, you have your five a day...

The dish looks beautiful and colourful, so if you have guests to impressed and want to spare some efforts, that's the one.

On a funny note, I'd probably describe this dish as Thailando-Canadian!

I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I have!

Recipe and photo: me.

A light salad for the summer

When it's hot and sunny, I always crave for fresh ingredients, and a cooling and refreshing dish . Nothing better than a salad, like I've eaten all my youth, when I was living in France. Over there, people decline salad to infinite. today I would like to share a salad with you, my favorite in fact...:

For 2 people:
- 1 can sweetcorn
- 4 medium tomatoes
- Optional: rice, 100g
- 100g hard cheese (emmenthal, gruyere) diced
- 200g cooked (shallow fried or grilled) chicken breast in strips (OR diced surimi sticks OR a vegetarian alternative but you have been warned, chicken works best ...)
- optional: Cervelas (Swiss sausage) diced (Or cooked frankfurters sliced thickly but really not as good as cervelas)

For the vinaigrette sauce:
- 1 tblsp of honey vinegar or Xeres vinegar
- 2 tblsp of rapeseed oil or light tasting olive oil
- 1 tblsp of water
- 1 tblsp honey

Mix all the ingredients together,
Mix the vinaigrette
Pour the vinaigrette on top of the mix, and leave for 10-20 minutes to marinate, then serve.

This salad is rather sweet and sour, and is easy to take to work for lunch. It is balanced, tasty and light, colourful and takes minutes. what else could I say to convince you!?....

Bon Apetit!

Variation on the Charlotte theme

I have been eating lots of pomegranates, and I have been using it too cook as well. This came naturally to mind as I use raspberries for this charlotte, usually. Instead, I peeled 1 pomegranate (you can buy the seed ready but you've been warned, it's not cheap and possibly not as fresh..), half crushed the seeds, added a little bit of sugar (to taste) and used it instead of the raspberries in a can.

To peel the pomegranate efficiently, chopp the top and the bottom, and cut lines through the skin with your knife from the cut top to the cut bottom at the places where you see the white line of the separation membranes. Separate the quarters created, and peeling the seeds off will be a child's play!

Also, instead of using the sponge fingers, I used the 4 trifle sponge bits remaining from when I last made tiramisu for 2. They make nice portions if you use 2 per persons, and they present really well.
- Dip a trifle sponge like you'd do for my normal charlotte and place it in the desert plate sugar face up
- add on top a layer of total yoghurt beaten with a little bit of sugar (not much) and the juice produced when you crushed the pomegranate.
- add the pomegranate crushed

Then repeat the operation so that you get a double decker. Prepare one per guest.

Keep in the fridge for at least an hour, the longer the better the results. For the decoration (see main picture on the right), I used one of these glazed german little Christmas marzipan stars that I bought ready made, but intend to make myself one day.

It goes down a treat and looks fantastic! (and you hardly spent any time or efforts on it!)
Source: my improvisation

Raspberry mess

Dispose some meringues in a plate, open a can of raspberries, pour the liquid in a glass, then cover the meringues with raspberries, pour single cream on top, sprinkle with roasted almond flakes and a few slices of lemongrass. Could not be easier.
Et voila!

Pomegranate Raita

I've always been fond of raita, and I am obsessed with Pomegranate at the moment. I spotted this recipe on the BBC and thought I'd give it a go. The ingredients are very easy to find, fresh, and the recipe is incredibly easy as well as healthy. You can use the raita as a dip or as a side dish or salad.

You can either buy ready pomegranate seeds, or do it yourself: once you learn how to, it does not take that much time, and has the benefit to be fresher.

It tastes very fresh and could well help you to calm down theses curry burning sensations....

Ingredients
- 200g Greek yoghurt (I always use total yoghurt)
- ½ cucumber, grated, excess water drained away
- 1 pomegranate
- 1 tsp sugar
- salt, to taste
- handful chopped fresh coriander leaves

Preparation
Beat the yoghurt so that it becomes fluffy-ish
Grate the peeled cucumber and carrors. Make sure you squeeze the water out of the cucumber by pressing it in your hands.

Now add all the ingredients in the yoghurt

Mix together, then place in the fridge for a bit, it's ready to eat!
Bon apetit!


Source: BBC program Indian made easy

Tiramisu: Fast 'slow food'

Here's a great dessert, and so easy to make too..I got the recipe from a friend who's boyfriend was an Italian chef... and I reproduced it many times, it's so yummy!

For 2 hungry people
PREPARATION: 10 minutes maximum

INGREDIENTS:
- 1 pot of mascarpone
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon of sugar (the sponge fingers will bring the sweetness)
- 1 packet sponge fingers (for the small version on the photo I used trifle sponge):
- 100% cocoa powder (very important, do not use the odd cocoa powder: although you won't need much, the flavour will be very important)
- 1 espresso or strong coffee (but fresh, it wont be as good with granules coffee)
- Amaretto (or other alcohol that agrees with coffee and mascarpone)

MAKING IT:
Mix well the mascarpone with the yolk, put aside.

In a shallow dish, put the espresso, a small dash of Amarett, and top up with water (it should not be too strong)

Dip one by one the sponge fingers in the espresso mix (quickly enough so that they are not soaked), and dispose them neatly and tightly one by one in the final dish to cover an area with half the packet (a bit less) of sponge fingers.

Cover this first layer with half the mascarpone, then cover again with the rest of the sponge fingers, then another layer of mascarpone.

Sprinkle the whole with cocoa powder to cover with a thin layer.

Keep in the fridge for a few hours, it gets better with time.

TIPS :
And remember: the simpler, the better. You might be tempted to add a few things: like vanilla flavour, etc… but try it like that first, you'll realise quickly adding more ingredients won't make it better.

Also, no sugar is required in the mascarpone because the sponge fingers arre already sweet enough...

Et voila!

Source: a friend who's boyfriend was an Italian chef taught me a few years ago

Summer tortilla wraps

Sometimes, and especially in summer - and i know some of you still have a gorgeous weather - , I fancy something fresh and easy and sloppy. the wraps provide me with the best answer for that.
They are great for using up what's in your fridge as well. They are also very healty.

I always have greek yoghurt,greens, tomatoes and herbs, balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and eggs or ham as far as proteins are concerned, so I can always manage something. They are different everytime of course

The wrap illustrated contained:
- 1 wrap
- Greek yogurt,
- 1 hard boiled egg,
- balsamic vinegar,
- tomatoes,
- gem lettuce,
- fresh chive,
- guacamole
- sliced mushroom

Source: my own imagination

Vietnamese spring rolls

One of the dishes I missed terribly when I first arrived in Britain was the Vietnamese spring rolls (also sometimes called summer rolls in English). You can find them everywhere in France. Most of the Chinese restaurants serve Vietnamese food over there.
So When I saw spring rolls on the menu of a Chinese restaurant in England I gladly ordered them; however I was in for a huge disappointment as I ended up with deep fried vegetable filled chinese rolls. Horror!! So there, I decided to make my own..
The other thing I miss is the Vietnamese nems, but these are deep fried so I won't be making them since I can't stand deep frying smells in my dear kitchen (which has no window)...

It's a healthy, fun, and tasty starter. You can get the guests to roll their own for fun if they have never tasted them before, They'll love that! And you don't need to cook anything, which is the super bonus. You can have them as a starter or as a main...

You will need:
Vietnamese rice paper

You will need for the filling:
- Prawns (pre-cooked and de-veined)
- Optional: dried Chinese Black mushrooms that you will have soaked earlier - I personally prefer without
- crystal noodles (also called vermicelli) that you will have soaked in warm water for 20 min.
- beansprouts (if you have time, cut the dry ends)
- lettuce leaves
- grated carrots
- fresh mint

You will need for the presentation and to eat with it
- more lettuce leaves and mint

For the dipping sauce:
- 1 tablespoon Nuoc Mam (the Vietnamese fish sauce, very different from the Thai one)
- 2 tablespoon lime
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- crushed peanuts
- a little bit of finely chopped garlic
- a little bit of finely chopped red chili
- some grated carrots for presentation

Dip the rice paper individually for 5 second in a plate of warm water. in another plate, fill on one side of the rice cake and as a line with: lettuce leaf, then mushrooms, noodles, 2 leaves of mint, beansprouts, and a bit of grated carrot; a bit further and parallel (in the middle of the rice paper in fact), place 2 prawns.
Start rolling from the filling (not the prawn side) side of the rice pape, roll tight, and when you reach the prawns. fold the sides of the cake perpendicular to the filling lines. When you have finished rolling, you'll notice that the roll stays in place since the rice cake is a little sticky.
Put aside and roll the next one.

Be careful when you roll as the filling (especially the beansprouts if they are fresh) can tear the rice cake as it is a little fragile. Make sure you don't dip the rice cake too long or it will become too brittle.

I did not take photos of how I rolled them, so you can see the live action in a video I found on youtube (In french but who cares, you don't need the sound).

Serve the rolls with the green leaves and the dipping sauce (just mix the ingredients).

Et voila, it's fresh and lovely, and easy to put in the bento or bring to work for a healthy tasty lunch!

The ones on the picture I made with some cooked chicken instead of shrimp for a friend who can't eat seafood, but it's honestly not as good!

I am expecting some great comments from Marjolaine to improve the recipe: she's a champion of Vietnamese spring rolls according to a gourmet spy friend of mine...

Source: many + my own experimentation with them...

Raspberry Charlotte

You are receiving friends last minute? Here's a pudding they'll love. It's a french classic, the Charlotte (of Russian origins I believe). A friend of mine at Uni showed me how to do this particular one, many moons ago.

It is based on the same principle as tiramisu (recipe to come soon on this blog), only I'd say it is more a summer pudding.

For 4 You'll need:
-500g 'Total' Greek yogurt, or fromage blanc in France if you can't get hold of it.
- A can of raspberries - yes I said a can, and they are surprisingly very good..
- Sponge biscuits (also called finger biscuits: biscuits a la cuillere in french)
- A dash of alcohol that suits raspberries (smell the bottles and decide which ones goes best is my best advice)
- My own secret weapon option: lemongrass, finely chopped
- 4 spoons of sugar
- A medium dish, square is easier, but round looks better I'd say. In the photos you'll see I I used a silicon mould.
There is no cooking involved, just 1/2h at least in the fridge, just the time to have the rest of the meal. longer is better of course, but since you are short of time and ravenous...

Drain the raspberry juice in a hollow plate and add the alcohol. Leave the raspberries in the can for now
Dip the biscuits one by one and lay them tight in a dish of medium size, so that the bottom and the sides are covered.
Mix directly in the pot of yoghurt the sugar and the lemongrass finely chopped, mix well, and cover the biscuits with half the yogurt.
Cover the yogurt layer with the raspberries, spread them evenly.


Then add the last layer of yogurt, make sure it is flush with the biscuits on the side of the dish.












Place in the refrigerator for at least 1/2h, and when comes the time, place a plate on top of the mould, reverse the lot quickly, and you should not have any difficulty to unmould the Charlotte. it should then look like that:


You can decorate it in whatever fashion you want if you have some spare time, but I must say I don't usually have enough time to fool around. In any case, the charlotte always goes down a treat and disappears in no time. When i have a little more time, I use fresh fruits:
- Ripe bananas that I heat up to a compote with a slither of butter and sugar. tend to use dark rhum for the biscuits
- fresh peaches heated up with a bit of sugar and lavender, with these , I dip the biscuits in Earl Grey tea.
- And of course, anything else that takes my fancy at the time!

I tend to use the 'Total' Greek yogurt for everything these days, It replaces advantageously sour cream, even when you heat it up a it does not separate like other yogurts. it makes dishes so much lighter, and of course, for me it has become to my fridge what the tinned chopped tomatoes is to my pantry...

And you can always have it in the morning with runny honey and fruits on it - or cheat and serve it like that as a desert -.

Source: Laurent Ganne who managed to drop the content of the whole can of raspberries on his boxer shorts one morning as he was showing me and another friend how to make this dessert of his....

The ultimate fast food, Le steak tartare....

And for very good reasons indeed: this dish does not require any cooking! Not everybody's taste of course, but one of my favorites. It's healthy, great provider of iron, vitamin B12 and folic acid for people whose blood type is O (type A abstain see www.dadamo.com). I am one these O type people, and I use this dish to prop me up when I am low in energy and tired.

For 1 person, take 200g lean mince beef, just bought at your favorite butcher's. Add a yolk, and the same volume of Dijon mustard, pepper - no salt - and capers and/or diced gherkins and/or diced pickled onions. Mix a bit, it's ready!

You can add pretty much whatever else you'd want with it, but I reckon that too many ingredients spoil the dish. Simplicity is best.

In France, the dish is often eaten with horse mince. I know it sounds horrible to you, but put it in perspective: horses are best eaten when either young or around 25 years old. Obviously they are not eaten young, but when they are old, which is the age at which they would have been put down because they are too old to be kept. And when you think of it in these terms, being eaten or not is hardly relevant to the fact that they would not have been kept alive anyway...