Petit dessert pour un vendredi après-midi – Flan de tapioca au lait d’amandes, noix de coco et banane

Travels always leave you some special memories, flavors, and sensations…My trip to Japan left me with an incredible and delightful sweet sensation I will remember for the rest of my life…eventhough I prefer from far savory dishes than sweet ones, but desserts in Japan are probably like in the rest of Asian countries, light, fresh and not sweet, so for someone like myself, you’re in heaven. The thing is that you can barely taste the sugar in them and that’s exactly what I love most. In the US, everything is very sweet, in fact even the mouth fresheners are sweet. Isn’t it weird? probably because Americans have been used to sugar since their childhood.

The thing is after our western meals, it is almost impossible to eat traditional dessert pastries or cakes. I need to have a light meal to be able to enjoy my dessert. I think Japanese have understood this, and their traditional desserts have just the perfect light sweet touch you need to close a meal, it’s like the “THE END” after a movie.

Those beautiful pearls are what I tasted in Japan, they were served with a big green tea shaved ice huge bowl, and it was perfect for a hot and humid August summer in Tokyo.

I think we can accommodate those cute tapioca pearls with some exotic fruit compote. In France, weirdly enough, people used to eat those in soups I guess, it is somehow remained a “soup ingredient”.

I made a few times tapioca with raspberry purée a while ago, and it was excellent but I just wanted to try to get something that had the texture of a flan, and this is it.

Ingredients for 4 flans

• 5 tbs tapioca pearls
• 1 banana, pureed
• 2/3 cup coconut milk + 2 tbs 
• 1 cup almond milk + 3 tbs
• 3 tbs light brown sugar + 2 tbs
• 2 eggs

Preparation

In a pot heat the cups of coconut milk and almond milk and 3 tbs of sugar, when the liquid is almons boiling, add tapioca. Stir at low heat for about 15 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs with banana and the rest of the almond and coconut milks. Add the tapioca mixture and mix well.

Pour in silicon molds or individual ceramic molds previously buttered and cook in a preheated oven at 370F for about 20 minutes. Let cool and place in the refrigerator. Grill some slices of banana and decorate.

Desserts banana, coconut, flan, Recipes, tapioca

I gamberi e le zucchine si sono innamorati – Penne integrali con gamberi, zucchine, e pomodori al peperoncino

Yes, they are…they are a great match! I had wonderful gnocchi in Italy a long time ago with shrimps and small diced zucchini – Gnocchi were small, and the sauce absolutely divine. When I make this combination, I always think about those gnocchi. My sauce has less tomato, I don’t want to drown the shrimps in a tomato sauce but I like the moist texture you get when adding one or two tomatoes to the other ingredients.

I know some French people think pasta is boring and that Italians eat tons of it…The first one is false and the second one is true. All my Italians friends and relatives eat pasta almost every day. I don’t, but once a week or every two weeks is a must.

I remember once, a cousin of mine came to France to visit on his honeymoon, he is a great and sweet guy, but never went out of his country, always lived in a small Italian town called Fossombrone in the Marche region, and never been exposed to other cuisines other than his mothers, and the only think he would eat every day was spaghetti with tomato sauce (spaghetti al pomodoro). My mom was going crazy, I thought it was funny to not even want to try out French gastronomy. I guess when your palate has been used and trained to like certain flavors, everything else tastes weird. I remember some Indian friends as well who who put ketchup and chili on anything they would eat.

Anyway, if you like shrimps and zucchini, you would love this pasta dish, it’s simple but the flavors blend wonderfully.

Ingredients for 2

• 1/3 lb whole wheat penne or (160 g)
• 1/3 lb shrimps
• 3 zucchini, sliced
• 2 tomatoes, seedless and chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• hot chili pepper
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 tbs parlsey
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Heat olive oil in a pan, add garlic and stir for a few minutes to get flavor out. Add tomatoes and zucchini, salt and pepper. Cook for about 10 minutes until the tomato starts to thicken and zucchini to cook but still firm. Do not overcook the zucchini or they’ll get mushy. Add shrimps and chili. Cook until the shrimps are cooked.

Cook pasta al dente, drain and add to the sauce. Mix well. sprinkle with parsley and serve hot.

Express - Less than 30 minutes, Fish/Seafood, Pasta Add new tag, Recipes, shrimps, tomatoes, zucchini

Mon petit coeur fondant – Galettes de broccoli, avoine, au coeur de mozzarella, sauce harissa aux poivrons grillés

Don’t you love when your refrigerator is filled with vegetables? You open the door and all you can see is a bundle of colors. Unfortunately, today, I only had a bunch of broccoli left with a red bell pepper. The good thing is that tomorrow I am going food shopping with a friend of mine to the Berkeley Bowl! I am already excited about it. It will be her first trip there, I cannot wait to see her when she sees the fruits and vegetable section. Some girls enjoy going to the SPA or get a manicure, and I get the same excitement when I go to the Berkeley Bowl. How weird is that?

Since I only had broccoli and bell pepper, I figured I would combine the two. I love those galettes dearly. They’re tender, melt in your mouth and so light!  You can use any vegetables you like and substitute mozzarella with gorgonzola cheese as well. The vegetables just needs to have some consistency so you can mash them in a puree, so it’s better not to use any leafy vegetable. I mixed a little chopped spinach with it, but more would not have worked because of the liquid they tend to produce. Those galettes are a good way to have your kids eat veggies, in case you have fussy ones. They won’t feel they’re eating vegetables, and the melting mozzarella in the middle is a selling point!

I did not add too many ingredients to the galettes and lose the broccoli flavor, since the harissa sauce will enhance them. Harissa is a hot Middle Eastern sauce, served with couscous. You can buy it in tubes and delay it in water. I like to make mine with red bell peppers.

You can serve those with a light salad, and you’re all set for lunch.

Ingredients for 2

For the galettes

• 1/2 head of broccoli
• 6 tbs pre cooked oats or regular oats soaked in hot water
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 2 handful chopped frozen spinach (optional)
• a few basil leaves 
• 1 fresh mozzarella ball, cut in small squares
• 1 tbs plain breadcrumbs
• salt and pepper

For the harissa sauce

• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• tabasco
• 2 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the galettes

Heat olive oil and brown shallots, add broccoli cut in small florets, salt and pepper. When broccoli are cookded mash them with a potato masher. Add defrost spinach and add to the broccoli. Add basil and garlic. 

Add enough water to the oats to form a thick paste. Add to the broccoli, and mix well. 

Take a small quantity in your hand and place a piece of mozzarella in the middle, close the ball well so that the mozzarella will not leek when in the oven and make a patty about 2 inches wide. Dip each side of the patty in bread crumbs. Cook in a pre heated oven at 375F for about 15-20 minutes, or until both sides are golden.

For the harissa sauce

Broil red bell pepper in the oven until the skin get charred. Remove from the oven, let cool. When cooled, remove the skin, and the seeds and cut in pieces. In a mixer, add red pepper and all other ingredients and mix to a smooth texture. Adjust with salt and pepper and serve with galettes.

Appetizers, Vegetables, Vegetarian - dairy Appetizer, broccoli, galettes, mozzarella, oats

Quand on a des envies de Limousin – Clafoutis de myrtilles et rhubarbe au yaourt

When you feel like being in the Limousin, you make clafoutis. It’s a specialty dessert originally made with whole black cherries. Limousin is in the South-Western region of France (to me it’s more Central than West) where the porcelaine de Limoges comes from.

I love the sound of the word clafoutis, I think it could be a great name for a girl “Clafoutine”. Je m’appelle Clafoutine, don’t you think it sounds cute? 

This weekend I was all excited about making my first torta primavera, it’s basically an Italian chocolate cake stuffed with a strawberry mousse. It turned out a complete disaster. The mousse was too liquid. When I cooked the strawberries, I did not remove the liquid before mixing them, the mousse ended up being liquid, so when I tried to put the mousse on the first layer of the cake, it would go all over the place. I was ready to throw everything in the garbage, then I figured I would try to save it and it ended up thickening while in the refrigerator since I had put some gelatin, but in the meantime, the cake had a very messy appearance. Looked like someone had a fight with it. Taste was OK but really it did not look too appetizing.

Since my last dessert was terrible, I decided to make another one I would not ruin this time. Why stop at a failure? Everyone can make a clafoutis, it’s very simple, you just need the right quantities. I had bought some rhubarb this weekend that kept looking at me anytime I would open the refrigerator door. So I decided to stop the staring game.

I added yogurt to the batter and palm sugar to enhance the flavor and I really liked it. I ate it still warm, so there was a little juice at the bottom, but was nonetheless delicious.

Ingredients for 6-8

• 1.5 lb rhubarb
• 1/2 pint blueberries
• 3 eggs
• 2.8 oz palm sugar
• 2.5 oz regular sugar
• 2 oz flour
• 5 tbs plain yogurt
• 2.5 oz milk
• 2.5 oz heavy cream
• vanilla powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbs sliced almonds

Preparation

First, wash rhubarb, peel and add 2 tbs sugar. Let sit for about 30 min. Remove liquid from the rhubarb. 

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs with sugar. Add yogurt, cream and milk. Add vanilla powder and extract, then add flour. Mix well.

Butter and oven dish, place rhubarb, and washed blueberries. Add batter on top. Sprinkle with sliced almond and cook for about 30 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 375F.

Desserts blueberries, clafoutis, Dessert, Recipes, rhubarb

C’est tiède, c’est plein de saveur, c’est une salade – Salade tiède de quinoa aux carottes, cocos, chou fleur et salsa aux quatres herbes

Today I said goodbye to my long time and faithful friend, my VW Golf I had for over 10 years, and that over the years turned into an old lady. I gave it to a charity and I have to admit that when the tow-truck came pick it up, I was somehow sad. I know it’s just a thing, and I should not get attached to material, but still, it was the first car I got in the US and I was somehow attached to it.  We went through some good and bad times together. I did not feel comfortable selling it, since the steering wheel was really hard to manoeuvre and I stopped driving it for a month, fearing it would break down in the middle of the street…and many other things were wrong with it, so I figured I would give it to charity.  C’est la vie, nothing lasts and things like people sooner or later quietly go. 

OK, let’s not dwell on this, it’s just a car after all! 

Let’s go back to the fun world of cooking, I love to play with quinoa, it’s delicious in soups, salads, taboule and any kind of side dishes. The great flavor comes from the herb salsa I made, which enhanced this whole salad.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1/2 cauliflower
• 2 carrots
• 1 cup  cooked cannelli beans
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 celeri stick
• 3 cloves

For the salsa

• 2 scallions
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 bunch parsley
• 1/2 bunch cilantro
• 1/3 bunch mint
• 5 tbs olive oil
• 1 tbs balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• a pinch chili powder
• salt and pepper

Preparation

If you are using dried cannelli beans, they need to be soaked overnight in water, if you didn’t have any and don’t have time, you can use canned beans, but they don’t taste as good as the dried ones.

Cook quinoa by steaming it, like you would make steamed rice. Add double its volume of water, bring to a boil, and reduce heat to a minimum and cover with lid. Cook for about 20 minutes.

If used, dried cannelli beans, cook them in water for about 30 minutes with 1/2 onion, 3 cloves, 1 celery stick, and 2 bay leaves. When cooked remove onion, cloves, celery, bay leaves, and drain beans.

Cut cauliflower in small florets, cut carrots in slices, then cut in half. Steam for about 10 minutes and set aside.

Mix the salsa ingredients in a mixer to make it into a smooth mixture.

When quinoa is cooked, place in a mixing bowl, add vegetables. Spoon salsa at the end and mix well.

Grains, Side Dish, Vegan carrots, cauliflower, cilantro, garlic, herbs, parlsey, quinoa, Recipes, scallion, Vegan

Steak de thon grillé au poivre avec pesto de persil et citron – mélange de légumes et pois chiches

I don’t know about you, but I cannot get tired of eating fish and seafood. Ideally, I would like to become a complete vegetarian and stop contributing to the pollution of our planet by consuming animal based food, but I think I have not quite reached that level of dedication, maybe one day, hopefully soon. In the meantime, I will keep playing with fish and seafood and try to come up with wonderful ways to cook it.

Even if Ahi tuna tends to be more popular in restaurants, sometimes, I like the white flesh and lighter flavor of the albacore tuna. Ahi is fattier than albacore and is mainly used for sushis.

As you know, pesto can be made with all kinds of ingredients, this particular kind is parsley-lemon based, the lemon zest flavors the mixture wonderfully and you get this zesty-citrusy taste that goes perfectly well with the fish. You can use leftover pesto to serve with grilled chicken as well, or any white meat such as pork.

Ingredients for 2

For the tuna 

• 2 albacore tuna steaks
• 1 tbs coarse black pepper, grinded
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

For the parsley-lemon pesto

• 1 bunch flat parsley
• 2 garlic cloves
• zest of one lemon
• 3 tbs pine nuts
• olive oil 
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• salt and pepper

For the vegetable medley

• 1 fennel head, finely sliced
• 2 zucchini, sliced
• 1/2 can chick peas or 4 tbs of overnight soaked chick peas
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1/2 red onion, finely sliced
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• garlic powder
• 2 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the pesto, mix all ingredients together in a mixer, and add enough oil to get a smooth consistency. You can keep it in a air-tight container for a couple of days.

Char broiled the red bell pepper in the oven, close to the broiler, and when the skin is dark and grilled, remove from the oven and let cool. Remove peel, and seeds, then cut in strips.

In a grill pan, grill all other vegetables, and place in a container, add chick peas, and red pepper strips. Add lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Grind black pepper and coat the tuna steaks in it. Add salt and balsamic vinegar, then broil under broiler for a few minutes until the tuna is cooked but do not overcook or it will get dry.

Serve with a tbs of pesto on top of tuna and vegetables on the side.

Express - Less than 30 minutes, Fish/Seafood chick peas, fennel, lemon, parley, pesto, Recipes, red bell pepper, tuna, Vegetables, zucchini

Soupe glacée à essayer absolument – Gaspacho de pastèque et tomates au chèvre et basilic

Una zuppa fredda da fare assolutamente – Gaspacho d’anguria con pomodori, formaggio di capra e basilico

If you like regular gazpacho, you’ll like this one too. I promise. At first, when I heard a friend had a wonderful soup in a restaurant in Paris, a watermelon soup with goat cheese, I was all curious about it but did not ask too many questions since that was not the point of the conversation. After thinking about it, I figured it would obviously something cold, somehow similar to gaspacho but I was a little concerned about the watermelon sweetness. 

The other ingredient that would definitely go in this soup, was basil. I have this pot of basil almost ready to die on the balcony, so I decided to use the leaves that were still green and in shape. I don’t know why but anytime I buy a pot of basil, it does not last long, two weeks at best. It sits on the balcony with great sun exposure, I water it almost every day, and it just dies. Unfortunately, it seems like I am not a great gardener, in French we say ne pas avoir la main verte, literally translated by “not to have a green hand”. Even with the best of my intentions, plants die around me. 

The watermelon is a wonderful fruit perfect for those who want to keep their weight down, refreshing and summery, it reminds me of my Italian vacations growing up, where trucks filled with huge oval watermelons were sitting along the roads leading to the beach. I think we tend to forget how delicious and refreshing watermelon can be, and even if we privilege other fruits during summer, let’s not forget to add it in our diet. 

This soup tends to be a little on the sweet side, but enhanced with balsamic vinegar, tomatoes and goat cheese, it is “THE” summer soup and you need to try it. Make sure to chill it well, the chiller, the better.

Ingredients for 4

• 1/2 medium size watermelon (seedless)
• 3 tomatoes, seedless, chopped
• 1/2 green bell pepper
• 2 tbs balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 cups vegetable broth or more as needed
• 1 tbs chopped basil
• 4 slices goat cheese
• hot chili pepper powder
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Cut watermelon in cubes. Add tomatoes and all other ingredients except for the goat cheese. Let marinate for about one hour. Blend the mixture, and add a slice of goat cheese in the middle. Grind black fresh pepper on top.

Serve very chilled.

Express - Less than 30 minutes, Soups, Vegetarian - dairy basil, gazpacho, goat cheese, Recipes, soup, tomatoes

Quand on en a marre du brouillard – Gâteau aux amandes au sucre de palme et mirabelle – pêches grillées, crème fouettée à la vanille

What is better than a slice of moist and delicious almond cake with a cup of tea when you are looking through the windows and only see a white and grey sky? I don’t know about you, but I tend to have sweet cravings when I get into fall and winter type of weather. 

I brought mirabelle from France, it’s a hard liquor made with mirabelle fruits, they’re a kind of small and yellow plum that supposedly only grow in Lorraine region (where I grew up), don’t tell any Lorrains (people from Lorraine), but I have seen them in other parts of France too, I think they grow in iron-rich soil. Lorraine is famous for its mirabelles, and we pick them in late August or fall. They’re delicious in tarts, like tarte à la mirabelle which is a local specialty.

My parents have a huge garden with a bunch of mirabelliers (mirabelle tree) and they produce a lot of those pretty and sweet plums, so every year my dad, picks them and gives them to a friend who has the license to distill the alcohol…and here we go, he produces a lot of liters of mirabelle (I know he has over 100 bottles in his cellar). Every year when I go home, I bring back a few bottles which always remind me of home when I have a “coup de blues” (homesick).

The liquor is very flavorful and fruity, and I use it when I bake cakes like this one, it goes wonderfully with almond flavor, or if you have a tough mouth, you can sip some of it after a meal, it’s great for digestion. In my case, I can hardly drink it, it’s too strong. I have seen mirabelle at “Beverages and More” if you are interested.

I used palm sugar that is a healthy alternative to sweetener, it has a lower glycemic index than other sugars and only have 20 calories per 2 tsp. Palm sugar is produced from nectar of coconut palm trees, and it has a wonderful raw and nutty flavor.

Ingredients for 6-8 people

• 3 eggs
• 1/4 lb almond meal
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil or butter
• 1/2 cup palm sugar
• 3/4 cup white flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• Vanilla powder
• 2 tbs mirabelle liquor
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• white peaches (1/2 per person)
• Honey or agave nectar for the peaches
• Heavy whipping cream

Preparation

Mix eggs and almond meal. Add sugar and mix well. Add oil or butter and mix to get a smooth consistency batter. Add flours, almond extract, vanilla powder, mirabelle liquor. At the end, add baking powder and baking soda.

Bake in a pre heated oven at 370F for about 30-40 minutes. Let it cool before serving.

Cut white peaches in 6 quarters, and grill each side on a grill pan. 

Whip heavy cream, adding some vanilla powder and a little sugar.

Serve with a slice of cake, a few slices of peaches drizzled with honey or agave nectar, and serve with whipped cream on the side.

Desserts almond meal, grilled peaches, Recipes, whipping cream

Le saumon qui voulait être une aiguillette – Aiguillettes de saumon au sésame marinées au gingembre et soja, salade mixte à la vinaigrette de citron et coriandre

After coming back from New Orleans, I stuffed my fridge with fish and seafood, and it’s almost reaching to an end…I feel so much better when I have light lunches like this one, I get extra energy for the rest of the day.

San Francisco has been quite gloomy lately, the fog has a tough time disappearing and the wind makes you feel like you are in winter. We all know that San Francisco weather is what it is in summer, so I will stop complaining…but still I do enjoy the hot summer nights where you can wear tank tops and can sip a anything you want in a restaurant patio without worrying about the wind blowing your napkin away.

I used sockeye wild salmon for this salad, after reading that farm raised salmon has been injected with artificial color to get that orangey-pinky color, I got a little reluctant to get farm raised salmon. My dilemma is that by fishing in the oceans, wild species, we contribute to its extinction, and maybe one day there will be no more fishes in the oceans. Obviously wild salmon tastes much better and sockeye salmon has such a beautiful deep red color, but at what cost do we want to contribute to destruction the of the environment?

It’s something that has been bothering me and I will have to do more research on the subject. 

Anyway, if you are anti-wild salmon for environmental reasons and feel comfortable consuming farm raised salmon, it’s up to you, I don’t want to eat artificial coloring if no need to.

Ingredients for 2

For the salmon and marinade

• 1/2 lb of salmon fillet
• 1 tbs shoyu or soy sauce
• 1 tbs balsamic vinegar
• 1 small piece ginger, grated
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tbs sesame seeds
• sichuan pepper

For the salad

• 1 carrot, cut in strips
• 1/2 lb cherry medley tomatoes
• 6 radishes
• 1/4 red onion, finely chopped

For the vinaigrette

• 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• Juice of one lemon
• 1 tbs cilantro, finely chopped
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Marinate salmon in marinade ingredients for about 4 hours. Cut in thin strips, add sesame seeds and broil in oven for a few minutes.

For the carrots, you can use a potato peeler to get those thin strips, if the strips are too wide, cut them in half lengthwise. Slice radishes in thin slices. Mix the rest of the ingredients all together. Add vinaigrette and toss. Keep some vinaigrette to sprinkle on top of the salmon.

When salmon is cooked, plate with some salad in the middle of the plate and salmon strips on top. Sprinkle with remaining vinaigrette.

Appetizers, Fish/Seafood, Salads carrots, cilantro, fish, radishes, Recipes, salad, salmon, sesame

No come alla Nuova Orleans – Fettucine integrali con gamberi, fave e pomodori secchi

After a little trip to New Orleans, I have to admit I was really looking forward to coming back to San Francisco, and I think I had legitimate reasons.

First of all the weather, it was incredibly hot and humid, then the food, it was even more incredibly greasy, very unhealthy (almost no vegetables) or the few ones served in restaurants were fried. “Fried” is the magic word in New Orleans. Actually I knew many Southern food dishes were fried but I was was not expecting it to such an extent. You can find dishes such as shrimp or crawfish étouffée but the poor seafood is swimming in the heavy brownish sauce and you end up not tasting the delicate flavor of seafood at all.  I certainly did not spend enough time to appreciate the great things about New Orleans or try the “other” cuisine, but I have to still talk about my experience, and unfortunately that was it.

Overall, it was quite an interesting experience and as any experience it enables you to really appreciate things better, you never know how much you like and miss something until you no longer have it.

One thing I appreciated so much was the hospitality of the people, everyone was just unbelievably charming, helpful and so polite. Quite a change from California.

As soon as I came back home, I had some pasta and seafood cravings, so to indulge myself, I made this delicious and flavorful pasta dish. Shrimps and fava beans mix beautifully together and the wholesomeness of the pasta combined with the other ingredients makes it a perfect lunch.

Ingredients for 2

• 5.3 ounces (150 g) whole wheat fettucine
• 1/2 shrimps
• 1/2 lb fava beans
• 2 tbs sundried tomatoes
• 2 tbs plain bread crumbs
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 pinch hot chili powder
• 1 tbs parsley, chopped
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Peel the shrimps and devein. Remove fava beans from pods and cook in boiling water for about 3 minutes, depending on the size of the beans ( if the beans are big, would need a little more cooking time). Drain the beans and remove the skin. Set aside.

Cook fettucine in boiling water for about 7 minutes or until al dente, do not over cook pasta.

Heat olive oil, add shrimps and cook for a few minutes, then add sundried tomatoes, salt and pepper. Stir well and add garlic, chili powder and bread crumbs. Cook until the bread crumbs turn brown.

Add cooked fettucine to the shrimps and fava bean mixture. Mix well all the ingredients and add parsley. Mix again fettucine and serve hot.

Express - Less than 30 minutes, Fish/Seafood, Pasta fava bean, fettucine, Pasta, Recipes, shrimps, sundried tomatoes