Dhanggit's Kitchen

Double layered Dark Chocolate and Chestnut Cake

2009-11-02T10:06:00.024+01:00

Life is short.

“When we come face to face with death, we think of our life. Death is a picture of a life lived. That’s why when we go to wakes; we talk about how the person lived her life with you. We sit quietly and think about our own lives; how we live it. Living a life worth living is living a life with purpose.” I come across these lines as a sermon given by a priest on a wake's mass. It smashed me right into the face.

I used to see halloween and November 1 & 2 celebrations' as a joyful event where I see my cousins, we play costumes, we eat, we play cards, everything was just about fun. But since dad passed away last year this has metamorphosed into a solemn and reflective moment for me to remember him. I know dad wanted me to remember him on a cheerful note but this is so hard for me to do. For I terribly miss my dad and that there is no single moment of the day that I don't think about him.

Hope you all had a "happy halloween" and a memorable "all soul's day celebration"!

I am sending over a slice of this chocolate chestnut cake over at Haalo of Cook Almost Anything the new caretaker and this week's host of Weekend Herb Blogging. WHB is a delicious weekly event created by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen.

Ingredients:
(make a 20cm round cake)

4 eggs
100g of sugar
4g of salt
140g cake flour
30g salad oil
30g fresh milk

for the filling
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup of puréed sweetened chestnut

For the chocolate frosting:
2 1/2 cup sugar
1 ounce of dark chocolate
1/4 cup of butter
2 tablespoons of heavy cream

Procedure:

For the sponge cake

Start by sifting the flour, set aside. Grease and line a 20cm round pan, set aside. Pre-heat oven at 180degC. With an electric mixer, whisk eggs and sugar & salt on high speed for about seven minutes or until the batter doubles in volume and is ribbon-like texture. Turn to low speed and whisk for another 1 to 2 mins. Add sifted flour into the batter. With a spatula, gently fold in the flour until well blended. With a spatula, mix about 1/3 of the batter with the salad oil in a separate bowl. Fold in this mixture into the remaining batter. This will help ensure that oil will be fully blended and at the same time will not deflate the batter. Add in fresh milk and fold in gently. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 35 mins, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Unmold and cool completely.

For the filling
With an electric mixer, whip the whipping cream still stiff. Fold in the puréed sweetened chestnut and set aside.

For the chocolate frosting:
Start by melting chocolate in a bain marie. In a mixing bowl, cream confectioners' sugar, melted chocolate and butter. Beat in heavy cream. Add small amounts hot water or hot black coffee until desired spreading consistency is reached.

Assembly of the cake:

Slice the cake horizontally into 2 layers. Place one of the cake layers cut-side down on a cake plate. Spread the whipped cream with chestnut purée over the layer. Top with the second cake layer, cut-side up. Spread over your chocolate frosting and decorate with almond shivels.

Dinuguan "Pork Blood Stew"

2009-10-27T11:03:00.003+01:00

There has been an abrupt silence in my blogsphere. It is not because of my perennial indolence nor my blogging mood that picks up from time to time to be blamed for this. It is also not because that we are still enjoying a warm sunny weather here in the South that pushed me into quasi-hiatus. No nope, I was not sunbathing reading my favorite novel all this time.

I hope that was really the case, but no. My daughter was sick for a week. I think this is hardest part of being a parent. When you see them suffer and all you can do is to force them to take their medicine against their will. Every medication time is a non-stop wrestling, a pinch in parents' hearts and liters of tears from the little one.

She's doing great now and so are the parents. It is true indeed that on trying times like this we could seek comfort from our favorite dishes. It's been a decade seen I tasted a bowl of dinuguan (pork blood stew) one of my auntie's speciality. My version was still far from her but every spoonful of it was a bed of roses.

I am sending this to Laura of Spiced Life for her October Family Recipes, blog event. You have until October 31st to send in your best family recipes. I added up some of our latest Sunday promenade in the woods.

Dinuguan "Pork Blood Stew"

This Filipino dish normally uses pork innards and fresh pork blood. My version used only pork and Boudin Noir (pork blood sausage) we could find easily in French butcher shops.

half a kilo of pork tender part cut in small cubes
2 Boudin Noir (pork blood sausage)
2 garlic pounded
1 onion sliced
1 teaspoon of grated ginger
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of apple vinegar (you can use any type of light vinegar)
half a cup of pork broth

In a casserole, sauté garlic, onion and ginger with olive oil. Add you pork. Continue stirring until the pork has changed color. Peel your boudin noir, smash it with fork and add it in your casserole. Continue stirring. Pour your pork broth and let it simmer for fifteen minutes. Before turning off the fire, add your vinegar, pepper and salt to taste.

Chocolate Strawberry Tiramisu and Locked up Gummy Bear

2009-10-20T14:10:00.014+02:00

I know you love tiramisu enough to know that this recipe is not even close to the real thing. However, if you want to make good use of what's left in your kitchen and that will get your children's attention 100% this is the tiramisu for you.

I have been cleaning up the fridge and the kitchen cabinet when I suddenly had this "eureka" feeling of making this recipe, and the rest of the story was to attract my daughter's attention. I am sending up this easy to make tiramisu recipe over at Mansi of Fun and Food Cafe for her Sweet Celebration Recipe Contest. For more details please check the link.

Chocolate Strawberry Tiramisu
6 ounces (1 container of ) mascarpone
2/3 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar
half ounce of semi-sweet chocolate
1/4 cup of orange juice
24 ladyfinger cookies
1 jar of strawberry preserves
for decoration:
Dark chocolate shavings
some chocolate fingersticks( you can use Mikado even better)
some gummy bears

Preparation:

In a mixing bowl, beat the cream until soft peaks form then set it aside. In another bowl beat the mascarpone then add the sugar and the melted chocolate. When smooth, fold in about half of the mixture into the whipped cream. Arrange your ladyfingers in your glasses and drizzle with orange juice. Put some strawberry preserves then spread some of the chocolate mascarpone mixture. Top it up with the rest of the mascarpone mixture.Chill for at least 3 hours or until ready to serve. When ready to serve, decorate with your shaved chocolates, chocolate finger sticks and gummy bears in the middle.

Chocolate Almond Soft Caramel Muffin

2009-10-16T08:56:00.015+02:00

Would you ever believe that my passion for cooking emanated from childhood cleverness of sneaking into the kitchen for food behind my mom's watchful eye . Well you see I was always hungry and we weren't allowed to eat candies and junk foods in between meals so my only solution was to ransack what was chopped on the table. My parents discouraged us to be in the kitchen for simple reason that they find it dangerous for children. And I agree with that sans hesitation.

Now that I am a mom myself seeing my little girl's antic for food in the kitchen is a deja vu situation! After all history repeats itself. I thought that since my daughter love being in the kitchen might as well teach her to participate in cooking simple stuffs. Yesterday, after her long day in school we spent a bonding moment of cooking and playing and we both loved it. I was planning only to bake a simple chocolate almond muffin but her playful move made a soft caramel candy she was chewing to fall innocently on the muffin pan. Well the result was amazing and we'll definitely doing it again.

Here's my entry to this month's Heart of the Matter: Seeds and Things a healthy food event created and hosted by Michelle of Accidental Scientist, and her co-host Ilva of Luccullian Delights.

Chocolate Almond Soft Caramel Muffin
for 6-8 muffins

Ingredients:
125 g of flour
100 g of almond meal
75 g of sugar
half a teaspoon of baking powder
a pinch of salt
1 egg
20 cl of milk
10 cl of peanut oil
1 tablespoon of cocoa powder
100 g of choco chips
soft caramel candies (any brand even home-made :-)

Procedure:
Preheat the oven at 210°C. In a bowl mix all the dry ingredients: flour, almond meal , sugar, salt , cocoa powder and baking powder. Then add the egg, milk and oil. Mix them well. Fold into the mixture your chocolate chips. Put soft caramel candies at the bottom of your buttered muffin pan and laddle your muffin mixture. Fill them only 3/4 the way if you want to have pointed tip muffin. Bake for about 20 minutes.

Pineapple Toasted Almond and Rhum Cupcake

2009-10-14T12:59:00.013+02:00

How do you cope up with creativity exhaustion?

For the past few weeks my jobs are filling up: marketing materials to make, FB application to develop, shots to take, articles to write, recipes to cook..sigh :-( my deadlines are ticking and I'm inching like a snail. I normally just listen to some upbeat music and eat a bar chocolate to give me some vigor and inspiration but it's not working lately.

I am hundred percent sure that I have some deep seated issues to deal with before getting back on my track. In the meantime enjoy this Pineapple Cupcake my entry to this month's Sugar High Friday Toasted edition hosted by Rivka of Not Derby Pie . SHF is that sweet event created by Jennifer the Domestic Goddess . For the round-up and details please check the link.

Pineapple Toasted Almond Rhum Cupcake

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup of toasted almonds
1 medium sized fresh pineapple( peeled and cut in cubes)
1 tablespoon of melted butter
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
1 jigger of white rhum
cream chantilly (for decoration)

Procedure:
In a pan caramelize the cut pineapple with butter and sugar, once you have that brownish golden color deglaze it with some white rhum. n a large bowl, combine baking soda, flour, sugar and salt. In a measuring cup or small bowl, beat together the eggs and oil. Add to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Fold in the cooked pineapple and toasted almond. Be sure to leave some for decoration. Preheat the oven at 180° celsius. Grease your cupcake pan. ake 15 minutes or until the cupcake looks "ready" and bounces back to touch. Cool on a wire rack. You can decorate your cupcake with some pineapple buttercream but I opted for a faster version I used some cream chantilly.

Tuna Lasagna Rocket Salad

2009-10-12T10:11:00.004+02:00

"Don't talk when your mouth is full"

If there were two things I have learned about food from my parents, that would be loving and respecting food. My dad was the type who would do anything in the name of food, a real gourmet that is. He would planned weeks in advance if there's a special recipe he's concocting and he wouldn't mind crossing rivers and mountains to get his hands on the freshest ingredients or food he's craving for. But oh boy, oh boy I dolefully admit that his excessive "amour" for food caused him his health. He eventually had diabetes, anyways anything that is out of proportion is definitely not good.

My Mom on the otherhand, is the type who doesn't care if the food is not as tasty as long as it is cooked well with nutrients still intact and chewed slowly appreciating every spoonful. Mom is not as a good cook as was Dad but she always reiterated the value of choosing well what we serve on our table. It is from her that I have learned loving vegetables. Believe me she looks young for her age.

Though I cannot blame my Dad for being so for who doesn't love food and eating? We are all guilty of that. But our society is now confronted with a growing number of overweight individuals and obesity issues. We cannot just neglect this for a lot of health problem stems from this. I know it goes beyond what we put on our plate for this involves a change of lifestyle too. But we can already start from something small, like preparing healthy meals everyday. And who said that healthy food are not always delicious. Believe me it just requires a little bit of imagination.

It's true that there's definitely a lot of factors that's fattening our society; our stressful environment, bad eating habits and a lot more. But I only have one solution to that: nothing beats a good sinful scrumptous but a good dose of exercise and happy thoughts! I definitely feel lucky to have grown up with such extremities of my parents when it comes to food for their difference gave me the balance in enjoying food to the right limit.

This is my participation to Hank Cardellos' Stuffed Nation October event on "STUFFED: An Insider’s Look at Who’s (Really) Making America Fat" a hand in hand event with Jenn the "queen" of FoodieBlog Roll. I also added up some photos of the my sister in law's green wedding, hope you like them!

Tuna Lasagna Arugula Salad
Ingredients (4 people):

8 sheets of lasagna noodles
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 zucchini, diced
1 red pepper, diced
400 g tuna in brine drained
65g rocket (arugula)
4 tablespoons home-made pesto sauce

Preparation:

Cook the lasagna noodles. Drain and put them in the covered pan to keep warm. Heat olive oil in a skillet and fry zucchini and red pepper. They must keep their color. Remove from heat and gently mix the tuna and arugula. Place a little of the tuna mixture on 4 plates and cover with a sheet of lasagne. Add the rest of the tuna mixture and cover the remaining lasagne sheets. Add pepper and garnish generously with pesto.

Home-made Calisson

2009-10-09T09:00:00.002+02:00

If you have never been yet to Southern France it is likely that you are not familiar with Calisson. These are actually candies or sweet treats that are made of candied fruit like melon, orange and apricot glazed with royal icing on the top and baked slowly in the oven. It is synonymous as the city of Aix en Provence for this has been invented in this place. It was created by the royal chef exclusively and for the first time served during the wedding of King Rene (when southern france was once a separate country under Italy) to the Queen Jeane after the royal dinner and it was an immediate success among the guests. Legend says that eating calisson also protected the kingdom and the villagers agains the great plague and that is the reason why on some areas they celebrate a feast for calisson.

But if you have been to Southern France already, these are the lozenge shaped yellow and white overly priced candies for the tourists. I always get mixed reaction to people who tasted this food for the first time, some like it a lot while others think that they are overly rated. In our family we always have a box of calisson in the kitchen for we never know if someone drops by for a chit chat and good cup of hot tea or coffee, calisson is always very impressive.

I have three important tips to share when making your home-made calisson:

1. Don't ever plan to make one when your son/daughter is sick.

2. Do not start preparing them when your son/daughter is sleeping. Wrong again, they could wake up and you will end up in a mess.

3. Do not persist in making them if you lack one ingredient you assume is not really important in making the candy.

Now that my three tips are complete what rest for me to do is to send a box of this freshly baked Calisson over at Meeta and Aparna for the Monthly Mingle. Check out the link for my details.

Home-made Calisson
for about 50-60 pieces

Ingredients:
250 grams of sugar
300 grams of almond powder/meal
100 of melon confit or orange confit
100 g of apricot jam

Royal icing:
1 egg white of a large sized egg
150 g of icing sugar

three or more sheets of edible paper (azyme) you can find them in some special stores for patisseries and candies

Procedure:
Start by mixing the first four ingredients in a bowl. You can pass in a mixer the fruits before mixing with sugar and almond to be sure that it will be smooth and delicate. Put the mixture in a pan and continue mixing in a low fire to help the liquid evaporate for 7 minutes. When the mixture becomes dry, they are sticking to your wooden spatula turn of the heat. Spread it over evenly to your edible paper sheets using a rolling pin about 2mm thickness. Let it cool and dry for another hour. Prepare your royal icing by whisking the egg and adding the icing sugar. Spread over the glace and cut them the shape you want; heart , square, round, diamond, etc. Let it dry for another hour. Pre-heat the oven at 150° celsius and bake it for five minutes. Do not serve them immediately they get better as day pass. Perfect to serve them with hot coffees or teas.

If you want to have a perfectly shaped calisson do this with the edible paper, for they are really difficult to cut if you do them without.

Nectarine and Peach Salad

2009-10-07T08:47:00.001+02:00

It's good to be connected.

...... and one day you will be chatting virtually with friends that you haven't seen for fifteen years or more. If you are lucky probably even exchanging photos and happy memories of your long lost childhood. Laughing ridiculously in front of your computer, alone. You keep abreast each other by twitting up or hanging out in FB.

The next thing you know things get even better in being connected, you discover new friends never in your wildest imagination will cross your path. And these reel friends become real. Your friendship with them gets deeper, for they are genuine people. Next thing you know, you meet up, have lunch. And things get even better, you chat, you laugh but you are no longer alone.

Here's a glimpse to that colorful afternoon spent with my blogging friends Haze, Makis and Cathy. I'll be sending some of this delectable Nectarine and Peach Salad over at charming Susan the Well Seasoned Cook our host for this week's Weekend Herb Blogging, that event created by Kalyn now in the hands of Haalo of Cook Almost Anything.

From top left to right, table set up, red wine by Makis, a slice of decadent chocolate cake, my wire whisk still unwashed, pile of left-over rosemary pork barbeque and what's left of my famous rice artichokes salad.

Express Peach and Nectarine Salad
Ingredients:
3 yellow peaches
3 yellow nectarines
about 250 g of mache salad
about15 pieces of cherry tomatoes
one small block of feta cheese

vinaigrette sauce
3 tablespoons of olive oil
some salt and pepper
2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

Peel the nectarines and peaches. Cut them into bitesize pieces. In a salad bowl, toss the tomatoes, peaches, nectarine, feta and mache salad with the vinaigrette sauce.

There is always a beautiful rainbow after the rain

2009-10-06T09:56:00.023+02:00

The wind has finally slowed down, and the rain has stopped from falling. The typhoon is gone but leaving behind an unforgettable and painful experience to everyone. Lives were taken, some people are still missing, houses damaged, certain areas are still underwater but people's morale has never been so high. For the calamity has brought out the best in everyone. Help from all over the world pour out from different walks of life and it was really admirable!

I was extremely happy to get reassuring news from all my friends that they were fine although most were still fragile sharing their near death experiences. Kudos to my goodfriend and her staff for spearheding our own little outreach activity few days ago in one of the striken calamity area in Manila. Clothes, medicines, goods and some hot soup were distributed. Again we would like to extend our gratitude to all the donors and to all the people who contributed in their own little way in helping out the victims.

To my friend, I may not be there but thank you for making me a part of this.

When it rains it pours....

2009-09-29T14:44:00.008+02:00

When an awful something unexpectedly strikes us it is only human to feel miserable and devastated. I remember when I was a kid, everytime I was intensely happy I was always scared that something negative would happen anytime. As if somehow I feel subconsciously that I have no right to be enourmously joyful or else...

Two weeks ago, I was happy as a clam in a butter sauce; there was our unforgettable London trip and then the radiant wedding of my sister in law. Everything was doing well, until last Saturday when I received the phone call of my sister telling me about the recent catastrophe that hit Philippines. A strong typhoon striked and left lots of families homeless and the death toll still continues to rise. My family was luckily spared but there lots of others that are suffering. They need our love and prayers.

I will be back with my regular blogging in a few days. Please bear with me.

London, here and there

2009-09-17T13:16:00.066+02:00

I'm finally back from our one week London trip. I must admit that I was a bit skeptic on having a great weather there and was sad to leave the beautiful sun here in Provence. But much to my surprise we had a fantastic sunny blue sky during our London escapade while a gloomy wetty weather was unexpectedly waiting for us here in France.

Meanwhile hope you all enjoy this bunch of photos I took from my "still broken camera" to keep everyone entertained this weekend. As I told you last time that our vacation was sort of "last minute'ly" decided and purchased nothing was prepared which is not very me when it comes to travelling and vacation :-).

I have heard so many times about London and its attractions and I was really looking forward in enjoying them all and of course to have my picture taken in front of it! What I didn't expect was how beautiful and charming this city is. We took a low-cost plane between Marseille and London and arrived there around midnight. We rented a flat in a lovely 17th century Mansion few blocks from Gloucester Underground station. It was immaculately clean with a small kitchen and a balcony. And to top it all we had a chamber maid that' was like a magician in cleaning up all the mess behind us every single day we were there. I told hubby that I want one when will be back in France. :-)

With the short time we had we didn't waste a single moment to visit each of them running here in there with our baby pushchair. My daughter was really behaved during the entire trip and she loved museums! Hahahaha! Anyways London is not London without seeing Westminster Abbey, London Eye, the British Museum, Picadilly Circus and the Tower Bridge. I enjoyed the "yeoman guide" that were garbed in red costumes and tells theatrically all the juicy gossips of the royalties. I almost had a fight in the tower when was told I couldn't bring my daughter's baby puschair but having heard all those stories of heads chopped off and people tortured in that part of the castle I immediately listened to them. After all history repeats itself.

On our gastronmic escapade however we went beyond "fish and chips" and "potato jacket" menus. We tried several restaurants and one of my favorite was an authentic Thai Restaurant were both ambiance and food was really amazing. The chicken pandan really melted on my mouth and one of these days I will try to do this Thai dish. After enjoying some freshly made vegetable gyoza's at Japan Center on the second day I suggested hubby we try eating at Wagamama for some Ramen. But I was disappointed with their Ramen: the noodles were overcooked, the soup was not really boiling hot and I tasted some Ramen far better when I was in Japan. But my favorite of all was "fooding" at Camden market. The ambiance is vibrant and dynamic with different food stalls freshly made right in front of you for a not so hefty price. I had one dozen of freshly made donuts, a slice of dulche de leche tart, blueberry muffins and what else ahhh I had some Bagels that were really heavenly good!!

Sigh, some good things never last. Till here and I will be back with my regular blogging activities next week. Tomorrow is my sister-in-law's wedding where I am supposed to sing so you imagine my feelings right at this moment. I'll be sharing again some photos next week it's a promise and probably a youtube video of me singing ;-)

Banoffee in Verrine and a short Break

2009-08-30T10:43:00.014+02:00

Well after long years of service my camera is broken ...snif, snif

maybe it's just a message from up there telling me that I needed a short pause from blogging ;-)

Well friends I'll be in a short break probably somewhere in London, somewhere in Rome, somewhere in Greece...I don't know yet. That's the fun of this trip nothing is prepared LOL See you all soon!!

Banoffee in Verrine
I call this recipe of mine an express one!

Ingredients:
150 g of Speculoos or any biscuit of your choice (like graham)
50 g of melted butter
3 bananas
some lemon juice
4 tablespoons of Dulche de leche
30 cl of very cold fresh cream
3 tablespoons of icing sugar
some grated chocolate for decoration

Procedure: Crush your biscuits and pour the melted butter. Mix well. Spoon this as the first layer of your banoffee in your verrine glasses. Peel and cut your bananas to avoid discoloration add some lemon juice. Add them on your verrine glasses. Put the a layer of dulche de leche over the bananas. In a bowl, whisk your fresh cream and make a chantilly. Add the sugar little by little. Put this as a last layer on your glasses. Decorate with some grated chocolate on top.

Cold Minestrone

2009-08-24T08:47:00.021+02:00

My Mom Lied to us!!

Eat stringbeans and you'll grow intelligent but hey I still consider myself poor in Math. How about some carrots that she claims will make us grow taller, hello I still need to put some inches to be seen by others. Or her famous tomatoes that'll make our cheeks pinkish, that I discovered during teen age years that a blush-on can do the trick.

I don't remember how many casserole of lies she fabricated only to convince us to eat vegetables after all children have always aversion for them. The truth is, if not for those lies I would have never known vegetables: its' tastiness, its' nutrients, its' versatility and how it could be economical.

I am sending a bowl of this Cold Minestrone soup to talented Susan of the Well Seasoned Cook, the creator and the host of My Legume Love Affair # 15.

Cold Minestrone Soup
Ingredients:
250 g of any pasta (macaroni, tortillini)
300 g of white kidney beans
2 zucchini
2 carrots
1 onion
8 pieces of basil leaves
2 cloves of garlic
some olive oil
salt and pepper

Procedure:
Soak the beans in cold water for twelve hours. Clean the zucchini and cut them. Wash and cut the rest of the vegetables in bite size pieces. Crush the garlic and chopped finely the basil leaves. Warm some olive oil in a casserole and sauté briefly all the vegetables except the zucchini and the beans. Then add the beans, the basil leaves and the garlic, pour afterwards about one and a half liter of water. Let it boil, then lower the fire and let it simmer for about an hour. Ten minutes before the final part of the cooking, add the zucchini,the pasta, salt and pepper. Finish cooking, then let it cool, serve with ice.

Papaya Brioche with cheese and farm eggs omelette and french tarragon bearnaise sauce

2009-08-20T09:00:00.003+02:00

Are you promdi?

A few weeks ago, I got an eyebrow raising message from a friend telling me that I must be a "provenciana" now considering that I live in Provence which literally means province in french. And what is the big deal I just thought. It is so sad that the word province is often connotated with being naive, backward or ignorant. In Philippine lingo we have the term "promdi" to denigrate somebody coming from the province. I have been long time city dweller and somehow I understand this sort of rivalry. But honestly I really don't mind being coined as a "provenciana". Because this means living closer to the nature, breathing fresher air far from the hassle of the city and eating farm produced products. Yay isn't that better! Anyways I'm sure my friend meant no harm when she said that and besides France's Provençe isn't really that provincial.

And speaking of healthy food I just thought of conconting up this simple meal of fresh farm eggs omellette on home baked brioche with some tarragon bearnaise sauce for my Royal Food Joust entry.

My over burnt brioche......

My Papaya brioche before over burning ....

Papaya Brioche

Ingredients:
400 grams of flour
1 sachet of yeast (about 10 g)
85 g of sugar
one and a half teaspoon of salt
3 egg yolks
24 cl of milk
100 g of dried papaya
70 g of butter
1 egg yolk + some milk for brushing the brioche

In a bowl put the flour, yeast, sugar, salt and egg yolks and add the milk little by little and continue mixing until they become homogenous. Add the butter and continue kneading the dough until they dont stick to the hands. Let this dough stand for an hour. Flatten the dough to release the air and add your dried papaya. Continue kneading again and let it raise for another hour. Butter your brioche mold and put the dough inside. Brush it with egg yolk and egg mixture. Pre heat the oven and bake it for 20 minutes at 200° celsius.
Cheese and Farm Eggs Omelette

3 large eggs
half a cup of grated gruyere cheese
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons of melted butter
1 tablespoon of olive oil

Beat the eggs and fold in the grated cheese. Salt and pepper to taste. Warm up the pan and pour in the butter and olive oil. Lower the fire. Pour the eggs and cheese and cook it slowly.

French Tarragon Bearnaise Sauce

1 tablespoon of chopped tarragon leaves
2 egg yolks
100 g of butter
2 cl of wine vinegar
2 cl of white wine
1 small shallots chopped

In a casserole boil slowly the white wine, wine vinegar, shallots and tarragon leaves. Let them infused until the volume reduced. Let it cool then add the egg yolks beat them vigorously. Put back into the fire and continue whisking. Avoid making the eggs coagulate. Add the butter and continue whisking the sauce.

Daube Provencal (Beef Stew in Wine and Olives)

2009-08-17T09:31:00.044+02:00

Digesting a bad news

The thing that I hate the most on watching news is that most of the time its only about bad news. As if we do not have too much trouble to worry about. But then again the scenario turns into a different perspective, when the news you get are the ones coming from your loved one. How I despise bad news. Yesterday, I felt so devastated after learning about a heart-breaking news from the email I got. You know that I'm so far away from my family, and the Internet always makes me feel so close to home--sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes it's really bad.

The best thing to deal with problem is to be not too anxious about them! So to make me feel better, hubby had an excellent idea to bring us to to see the 40th celebration of Photography Festival in the historical city of Arles. It is one of the largest and the oldest in the region. Au rendezvous where numerous photo exhibits from the renowned photographers all over the world of all genre showcased all over the city. The guest of honor is Delpire the talented artistic editor of Nouvel Observateur. Of course it was forbidden to take photographs so I just took some snaps of this beautiful city.

(From top left to right clockwise; bull graffiti, the main plaza, the window of an eccentric house close to the Mayors office and the church of Arles.)

(From top left to right clockwise; signage of a yellow hotel, a serving of daube provencal, a door knob and a photographer's graffiti.)

And on times like this nothing beats a comforting dish of Beef Daube Provencal. It's a family recipe that hubby's Grandmother taught me. It's a typical provencale meat dish slowly cooked in wine and olives. I'm sending this off to Family Recipes an event of family well loved dishes hosted by the The Spiced Life.

Beef Daube Provencale

Ingredients:

1 kilo of boneless beef bottom round or chuck cut into bite size
half a kilo of beef short ribs or flanken
4 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of flour
1 teaspoon of melted butter
2 cloves of garlic chopped
2 big onions chopped
2 big tomatoes, peeled, seeds removed and chopped
one cup of green and black olives
one cup of white wine (or red wine)
one cup of beef broth
salt, pepper, bay leaf, fresh rosemary and thyme

Procedure:
Start by putting 1 tablespoon of olive oil on your meat, add some salt and pepper. Put the flour and toss it until the flour are evenly distributed. Heat the pan and put your melted butter and the rest of the olive oil. Fry briefly the beef to have that brownish golden color, add the garlic and onion. Continue stirring. Put the tomatoes, olives and deglaze it with the wine. Add the broth and cook it slowly on a crackpot. Add all the fresh herbes, salt and pepper.

Pain au lait

2009-08-14T11:26:00.041+02:00

What I have to give up in the morning living here in France....

1. Those lousy morning perked up by the smell of strong coffee called Kapeng Barako that my dad used to boil over and over again...

2. The taste of hot pandesal buns freshly delivered by the neighbor spread with some Coconut jam, dunked into a hot coffee and ends up in my hungry mouth...

3. The delicious scent of (although this is subjective for in here they considered it stinky in the morning) dried fish served with garlic fried rice and sugar cane vinegar.... yummy..

4. The busy and noisy neighborhood that I grew up where people peddle breakfast in the morning; champorado (chocolate rice pudding), fried noodles, rice based pastries, newspapers or even freshly catched gossip from the corner...:-)

Sigh...I have to give up all of these for a sweet, simple and soothing mornings of bread and jam. I am not complaining, let's just say an over baked croissant skinned girl in Europe was just simply yearning. And I guess only home-sick gourmet could understand what I am talking about.

I'm sending over some of these bread to Lore of Culinarty for her Original Recipes event. Don't miss to check the round-up!

Pain au Lait au fleur d'orange
Small Milk Bread with orange blossom water
for about 10 to 12 pieces

Ingredients:
300 grams of flour (type 55) or about 2 and half cups
15 grams of fresh yeast
12.5 cl of milk (half a cup)
75 g of semi melted butter (about one stick)
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of orange blossom water
1 egg yolk for brushing

Procedure:
Dissolve the yeast on your warm milk, then add 100 grams of flour, mix them and let it stand for about 30 minutes or until the yeast activates. Add the rest of the ingredients: flour, butter orange blossom water and salt. Mix them well. Knead the dough to let the air enter into the dough and make the gluten act. Let it rise for about an hour and half. Form ten or twelve small balls then make that oval shaped of the bread. Let it rise again for thirty minutes. Brush them with the egg yolk. Pre-heat the oven at 210° and bake them for 15 to 20 minutes.

Nectarine Raspberry Ice-cream Meringue Cake

2009-08-11T09:00:00.001+02:00

Last week was intense. There were two birthday celebrations; a visiting Aunt's and my daughter's. Shopping list, cooking, baking and preparations were doubled for a twicer fun. Then there was death. Cory Aquino the Filipino influential political leader admired and respected by many passed away. Although I wasn't there to physically live the moment, the fang of sadness was all over me. In between these two emotions there were numerous last minute appointments before summer holidays begin, lots of paperwork to hand over to my boss and then there was also the Weekend Herb Blogging hosting. To make things even more challenging, Mayumi's nursery school is already in vacation since last week so I found myself juggling everything, hardly. (Whew.)

And ooops, I almost forgot. There was also my dad's presence whom I felt strongly at the eve of my little girl's birthday. Goosebumps, excitement or just simply burnout. I don't know how to explain it but I felt it. All that in a week of a roller coaster ride of emotions! This week just started. Hoping for a much sluggish phase but with Mayumi around that seems to be futile!
This is my entry to WHB this week is hosted by lovely Anh of Food Lover's Journey. For more details on hosting and guidelines check out Haalo's Cook Almost Anything Blog, the new mother of WHB created by talented Kalyn.

Nectarine Raspberry Meringué Ice-Cream Cake
Ingredients:

nectarine ice-cream
half a cup of nectarine purée
1 tablespoon of honey
half a cup of pounded praline (caramelized nuts)
3 big egg yolks
3 big egg whites
75 g of sugar
30 cl of heavy cream (very cold)

raspberry ice-cream
half a cup of raspberry purée
1 tablespoon of honey
3 big egg yolks
3 big egg whites
75 g of sugar 30 cl of heavy cream (very cold)

Procedure: It is the same preparation for the two ice-creams. First incorporat the honey on your purée. Then whisk the white eggs until they become stiff, you can add a pinch of salt to keep it stiff. In a separate bowl, beat your heavy cream until it forms a peak. Add the sugar little by little. Followed by egg yolks. Fold in the flavors (the purées, the praline). Mix altogether. Fold in the beaten egg whites delicately. For the nectarine flavored ice-cream add your meringué. Put this in ice-cream maker. If you do not have you can immediately proceed to assembly.

Assembly In a rectangulaire shaped mold cover it with plastic wrap. To facility un-molding the ice-cream cake. Pour the first flavor followed the second flavor. Put it in the freezer minimum 5 hours. Take out from the fridge twenty minutes before serving. Decorate it with some cream chantilly.

Enjoying her new fish...

Weekend Herb Blogging #195 the Round up

2009-08-10T08:17:00.040+02:00

My freshly picked herbs this morning

Yes, I'm finally doing this, the gorgeous round-up for Weekend Herb Blogging! But first of all I would like again to thank Haalo for kindly helping me out with this hosting and all the Food blogging community for all your love and generosity!

Our first entry comes from none other than the talented Kalyn the creator of WHB and If you are a Basil lover her entry is a must to read. Her post gives a useful information about Basil and conserving them. I bet this is an interesting read.

Our next dish is from Anna of Morsels and Musings she concocted us an interesting dish of Milk Braised Porc Cavolo Nero. She beautifully explained this amazing vegetable Cavolo Nero, if you want to know more about it go check her post.

Third on the list is a vitamin packed dish prepared by the charming Daphne of More than Words, Honey Roasted Spiced Pumpkin and Carrot. I am a great fan of her blog because she always comes up with interesting recipes!

And to beat the heat of the summer, enjoy this delicious Herb Marinated Mozzarella Salad all the way from Switzerland made for us by Myriam of Once Upon a Cakestand. And I should say she's a regular to WHB for she adores veggies, fruits and herbs go check out her blog to admire it for yourself!

You will never look at eggplant the same way again after seeing how gorgeously my sweet sweet friend Anh of Food Lover's Journey concocted a simple and yet appetizing dish of eggplants. I know she's busy but she still managed to send me one and I truly appreciate it. By the way she's the host of WHB this week.

Sandeepa from Bong Mom's Cookbook prepared us something soothing and relaxing, Lime Balm Tea. What is so different from her tea is that they were made lemon balm herb freshly plucked from her garden. Don't forget to check out her post!

Lovely Katie from Eat This send us over a simple, healthy and yet delicious recipe of Refrigerator Pickles and Banana Pepper. I bet that title made you drool. If you want to know more about this appetizer go check her blog!

Minu of Chettinad Fiesta believes that greens have always a special place in their cooking because of their health benefits. And I totally agree with her. And what a way to celebrate this week's WHB through this mouth-watering spinach Indian dish called Keerai Masiyal is such a great discovery. Don't fail to visit her post!

Here's another delectable salad for the summer Fresh Pea Salad whip up by Jerry from Jerry's Thoughts. His post talked about useful information on selecting, storing and using fresh peas, indeed a must read!
The simplest recipes are always the best! Anna of Anna's Cool Finds simmered us this beautiful Cream of Celery Soup. Isn't that title refreshing? And I tell you she even bakes her own bread, hmmm. Well to enjoy more of her dish don't miss her post.

The talented Pam of Sidewalk Shoes whip us up an impressive Roasted Fish on Fennel Fronds. In her post she shared about the story of her "mysterious fish", so if you want to know more about this what are you waiting for go read her post.

Seafood and Miso Sour Soup, I am definitely sure you haven't heard nor tasted something like this before. The lovely Iska of Iskandals concocted us a mouth-watering Filipino specialty dish of sour soup. She beautifully used some local greens and ingredients to make this dish even more exciting. Don't miss her post!

Time for a drool worthy dessert! Let's enjoy this decadent Mint Chocolate Chip Ice-cream superbly made by Winnie of Blog Healthy Green Lifestyle. Her blog is not only about delicious recipes but also about healthy green living, surely a blog to drop by. And a big round of applause for accepting this week's challenge!

Have you ever heard of Elder Berry Jelly before? Well our talented blogger from italy Brii from Briiblog shared with us her much treasured recipe for this jelly. And to know more about this fruit don't fail to check her out!

I am so honored that Haalo of Cook Almost Anything concocted us a yummy and unique dessert of Dark chocolate Sponge and blue cheese. Yes you are not mistaken, Chocolate and blue cheese are deliciously perfect together. For more WHB guidelines and hosting schedules or simply interesting posts and photography don't miss her out.

If you love italian dishes you should surely not miss this refreshing vegetable Italian dish Salsina Modenese prepared to us with love by Cinzia from Cindy Star. This is a special recipe of summer vegetables from her grandmother. If you are curious to know more about this don't miss her post.

And lastly but not the least is this mouth-watering Summer Pudding of chocolate and raspberries concocted by sweet Gloria of Canela's Kitchen. For more of her fantastic creations don't fail to drop by at her kitchen. Gracias ma hermana!
And another one last entry, prepared to us by talented Oggi of I can do that, Tomatoes, Apples and Hazelnut Crisp. Isn't that healthy, yummy and original. She is one of bloggers I truly admire for she can always make something special and unique. Don't miss her blog.

That’s all! These indeed are all colorful entries for this week WHB. It was such a busy week for me and took a bit of time to compile. I hope you enjoy reading them and inspired to cook something tonight! Thanks again and see you all next week for another edition of WHB, which is gonna be hosted by Anh of Food Lover's Journey.

Eggplant Caviar on a Sunday Lunch

2009-08-05T07:00:00.001+02:00

Sunday Lunch under an Acacia Tree

For folks who are regular to my kitchen you know that this is the first time I'm doing a Restaurant review. So hang on tight!!

It's been a while we have been planning up this Retirement Party for the folks. After long years of service as a judge and as a psychologist they deserve nothing but the best. And I tell you guys they are an adorable couple. When dad in-law is not garbed in his toga and armed with his gavel he is a very very funny man and with lots of interesting stories to tell. And Mom-in-law is a refined, sweet and a charming lady. We opted for a hassle free party so we chose a reputed laid-back style restaurant in the small lovely town of La Roque d'Antheron. From the outside the restaurant doesn't look that good but from the inside the small courtyard was charming. There were two big acacia trees that provided that peaceful provencal beauty we were looking for.
Seems like everything were reunited that day: bright sunny weather, magnificent ambiance , good humour, lots of chit chat and good food.

The lunch started off with a Kir Royal, a concoction of black currant liquor and sparkling white wine. We enjoyed this with a serving of caviar d'aubergine (eggplant caviar) as an amuse bouche. Recipe is at the end of the post.
This was followed by the first entrée of Verrine de Saint Jacques (Tartare of Scallops and tomatoes). The scallops were marinated in extra virgin olive oil and fresh herbs and spices.
The second entrée was Croustillant de Tomates et Mozzarella (Crispy Tomato-Mozzarella). This was served with a coulis of basil. Very refreshing.
There were two main courses, pan fried Espadon (Sword Fish) served on the bed of fresh vegetables and a cream of fennel and the other one is Veal with Asparagus Sauce served with roasted potatoes in thyme.
The dessert was also heavenly, a serving of chocolate cake nutella and a vacherin a dessert of home made lemon and raspberry ice-cream with meringue. Don't search for their photos for I have totally forgetten to take their pictures. I mean I prefer to savour and it them.:-)

Eggplant Caviar
Ingredients:
2 big eggplants
2 pieces of garlic
some thymes and basil
juice of half a lemon
salt, pepper
about 15 cl of olive oil (about half a small glass)

Procedure:
Start by preheating the oven at 200°C. Make some small cuts on your eggplant, not too deep not too shallow. Rub the surface with olive oil and insert some herbs on this slits. Wrap it with alluminum foil and put one garlic inside. Bake it for 40 minutes (this depends on the size of your eggplants. Let it cool down and peel it off and same for the garlic. Pass it on to the blender including the garlic that's been cooked. Add the lemon juice, olive oil,salt and pepper. Blend it until you have that smooth consistency. This is a perfect amuse bouche that you can serve with some baguette or bread sticks.

Weekend Herb Blogging #195 Hosting

2009-08-03T09:45:00.003+02:00

Taraaaaaaaaan!!!

It is the honor and pride of Dhanggit's Kitchen to host this week's Weekend Herb Blogging. This fabulous event that puts vegetables, herbs, plants and fruits into the limelight has gone a long fruitful way since Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen created it. WHB is now in the nurturing hands of Haalo of Cook Almost Anything but it still carries the same aroma and passion for anything green. Well actually color does not matter :-) The rules are simple, post about any herb, fruit, vegetable, flower or plant. The post can be informative, a spotlight of a particular ingredient and/or a recipe where your chosen produce is one of the primary ingredients in the recipe. The post should include about the event "Weekend Herb Blogging" with appropriate links and a link to this announcement. And to make this event even more exciting (but this is optional!) as my daughter turns 2 year old this week and she loves chocolate so anyone who wants to include chocolate in their post is highly appreciated!

Post your entries anytime this week but remember to send me your entries before the cut-off time.

To know more about hosting guidelines and scheduled host check-up the link here.

Send your entries to dhanggit AT gmail DOT com with WHB#195 in the subject and the following details:

Your Name
Your Blog Name/URL
Your Post URL
Your Location
A photo: 300px wide

We eat vegetables and fruits more than three times a day and we all love chocolate. So you have no reason not to send me your entry. Or if not I'll cast you my magic spell and turn you into a cute toad. LOL Just kidding. You have until this Sunday August 9 (American Time) to send me your delicious entries.

Melon Raspberry Ice-cream

2009-07-29T09:00:00.002+02:00

No day but today...

She was right! She was always right. When I was growing up my mom rarely talks because of her maladie, but I tell you during those flimsy moment that she speaks there is always wisdom in it. And even when she lambasts things around her, hilariously on her own way there is always wisdom hidden on it. "Go strong on things you really wanted!" , I could still hear her voice shouting at me. And I should have listened to her.

Well you see, hubby gave me of what I thought "here's something to make you busy" task last week. He made an excel file of three columns of what I wanted to be, I wanted to have and I wanted to do list that I needed to fill up. Not at all bad, but I felt like I was confronting and coercing myself at that instant. And oh gosh, after an hour of serious reflection my list ended up quite long. Hubby looked at it and smiled at me when he saw the line;
I want to sing in public

Serious?, he asked me.

I always tell myself that my life story could have been different had I not skipped those rehearsals and gigs of the band who recruited me long time ago. I have always loved singing but I didn't feel I was ready. All these years I have been performing in the bathroom as I take my shower. That same night, I finally accepted to sing in the wedding ceremony of my sister in law. What a heck, the die is cast and there's no turning back!

And a bunch of thanks to Nota, my friend, my guitar tutor and my singing coach for providing me an awesome list of songs to sing.

I'll be sending this home-made ice-cream before it melts and summer ends to National Ice-Cream Month, Ice-Cream Social Challenge a sweet blogging event concocted by Scott of Scotty Snacks hosted by Jennifer of Savor the Thyme and Mrs. Noodle of Tangled Noodle.

Melon Raspberry Ice-Cream
* recipe doesn't call for an ice-cream maker

Ingredients:
for the melon ice-cream
half of a melon, seeds removed, and diced
4 big egg yolks
20 cl of heavy cream (very cold)
150 g of sugar
1 vanilla pod

250 g of fresh raspberries
20 cl of heavy cream (very cold)
2 tablespoons of powdered sugar
krispy corn flakes or cereals (for decoration)

Procedure:
Start by making a purée of the melon. Cut the vanilla pod in half and take off the black grains inside with the aid of a knife and add it on your purée. In a bowl cream the egg yolks with sugar. Add the melon purée. On a separate bowl, whisk your heavy cream until it becomes stiff and fluffy. Fold in delicately the egg yolk-sugar-melon mixture. Pour the mixture in your ice-cream maker if you have if not pour it in a container that goes in the fridge and freeze it for about 3-5 hours. In another bowl make a cream chantilly, by whisking your heavy cream once it gains volume and texture add the sugar little by little. Do not over beat. Put it in the fridge and use later.

Assembling:
In a tall glass, scoop your freshly made melon ice-cream, put some raspberries and top it with cream chantilly. Decorate the top with some cereals or crispy corn flakes.

Moist Chocolate Cake

2009-07-27T08:43:00.017+02:00

Action speaks louder than words....

One lazy Sunday afternoon in southern France under the turqouise blue sky and probably hundreds of cicada singing; hubby requested for a moisty chocolate cake.
I browsed over the recipe books and found one easy to make. Off to the kitchen and started making it. Once it was ready, I thought about my blog. So I sliced a big part and went to the garden for some shots. But Mayumi was curious....

She went beside me and put her stuffs...
She pretended she was busy playing ....
She looks around and checked that nobody's looking..
Then she reached out.....
She started scooping....
Then off she steals my subject.... well I guess after all, Actions are much faster than a camera click :-)

So where's the rest of the cake? When I went back for another slice, they ate it all up. Good recipes sometimes is hard to blog :-)

Moist Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
200 g of dark chocolate
200 g of butter (about 2 sticks)
5 eggs
one tablespoon of flour
150 g of sugar (about one cup)

Procedure:
Melt your butter and chocolate in bain marie, then add your sugar, your flour and your eggs one by one. Mix them all together. Grease your pan, and bake it on a pre-heated oven for 20 minutes at 180° celsius.
Let's check your eyesight? Could you find Mayumi in the picture?

Some freshly cut lavander drying up in the garden...

Mango Apricot and Walnut Strudel

2009-07-24T09:34:00.016+02:00

FLICKRing thoughts...

Days, months and years may have gone by but everytime I look at myself in the mirror there seems to be something that has never changed in me. Of course, I will always be a little girl inside of me who enjoys watching herself in the mirror but I'm always perplex on how people really sees me. For when I go out on the street, there will always be somebody who will approach me and ask me for something or would just simply strike a friendly conversation. And again I emphasize the word "always". People on all walks of life, of all ages and of different nationalities have one way or the other crossed my path and touched my life. A blind old woman lost at the station, or a bunch of tourist who needed assistance, some motorists who want directions or some young kid who lacks a cent to buy herself a sandwich. Without counting the jerks in the list I encounter from time to time. Sometimes, I even imagine myself bumping into a famous personality incognito in need and I'll be there to the rescue.

I look again at my impression on the mirror and asked myself what do I reflect? Is it an angelic gentle good samaritan spirit with caring hands or a gullible naive gal who is a sucker to these tricks?

Well whatever it is, I suppose life is just simply nice to me.

Here's my entry to this week's Weekend Herb Blogging , a blogging event created by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen. I'm sending this off to Haalo of Cook Almost Anything our lovely host and the new the caretaker of this delicious event.

Mango Apricot Walnut Mini Strudel

Strudel dough
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus 1/4 cup for kneading
1 cup very warm water
4 tablespoons oil
Pinch salt
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, melted
Confectioners' sugar for dusting

Procedure:
Combine 2 cups flour, water, oil and salt. Mix well and let stand 10 minutes. Knead in remaining 1/4 cup flour until smooth and elastic. Place in oiled bowl, cover and let rest 1/2 hour. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Cover table with cloth and sprinkle lightly with flour. Turn dough out onto tablecloth. Work your way around the table, stretching dough as thinly as possible. Remove the thick edges. Roll your dough and make small individual rectangular shape. I made mini strudels so it depends on your choice for the size.

Apricot Filling:
Ingredients:
home-made apricot jam (recipe here)
mango jam
one cup of chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder
some butter for brushing
some brown sugar

Brush your dough with butter and powder with brown sugar. Place your apricot jam filling, chopped walnuts at the edge of strudel dough. Then roll them gently from the side with the filling. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden. Bake them standing and top them with some chopped walnuts .Dust with confectioner's sugar when cool.

Flambéed Banana Tart Tatin

2009-07-22T15:18:00.009+02:00

Pricking someone's conscience................

I know someone who know someone that knows someone who told me about this someone who cannot speak about thyself without romanticizing it. A little bit of it can be acceptable but when it becomes habitual and when is often blown out of proportion to purposely show-off to others is another story. I was raised to be always modest and honest to others and to myself but my path unfortunately always crosses with these kinds. My classmate in grade school, my friend in high school, our neighbor when I was growing up, my list is so loooooong. And I don't wanna be the one to cast the first stone but self gratifying cocky attitude is a crime.

But come to think of it, I've always loved the word respect, and so be it. Obviously, I think I just have to wait that time can heal this arrogance. Or well, I could probably just try to be an "adult" who minds my own business and accept things for they are. Or maybe an adult who loves these kinds of childish games :-)

I didn't grow these bananas but these are Fair-trade bananas cultivated from a small farm in Madagascar sent by a friend. I'm sending this over Amy of Playing House, our lovely host for this week's Grow Your Own, a delicious backyard and garden grown recipe event created by Andrea of Andrea's Recipes.

Banana Tarte Tatin

Ingredients:
4 to 5 bananas
200 g of sugar (about one cup)
1 pastry dough (recipe of Pate brisé here)
100 grams of butter (half a stick)
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of white rhum

Procedure:
In your baking dish, put the butter (cut in small cubes), the lemon juice and sugar and make a caramel over low fire. Once the caramel thickens add your bananas. Remove from heat and let it cool. Put your pastry dough on the top and cover the entire banana caramel. Be sure that the edge are rightly tucked on the sides. Bake it in a pre-heated oven at 200° celsius for 20 to twenty five minutes. Once it's golden brown slowly turn of the oven. Unmold the tarte delicately on your plate. Drizzle it with the rhum and flambée it infront of your guests.

And my little girl is doing well now, thanks for all your wishes and prayers :-)

Apricot Bread (Abricotine)

2009-07-20T09:33:00.009+02:00

Get well soon....

Sleeping has become my enemy. For days, I guess maybe weeks, I have forgotten now, how many hours I have really slept. You know, that good night sleep without having to count how many sheeps have jumped over the fence nor scribbling blank thoughts on the ceiling. That good night sleep that makes you dream, that makes you travel, that makes you wonder that gives you happiness the day after. I dread bed. I wish to get out from this loop but I couldn't. This is the price we have to pay for being a nurturing parent.

The picture of my sick daughter's desperately haunt me, intensely. Medicines, warm milk and blanket are not as powerful as my loving arms to appease her. Oh my poor angel, she cries for me, she clamors for me. I symphatize her. Everytime I close my eyes, I dream that this is just a dream. And that tomorrow will be a better day.

This is one of my daughter's favorite bread. I feel like color orange; the color of the sun. Hoping for a better days for my little girl. I am sending off this to Nithya of A Culinary Odysssey the host for this week's Foods in Color: Express Your Mood that creative event created by Sunshinemom of Tounge Ticklers.

Apricot Bread (Abricotine)

For the bread dough see the recipe here:
for this vegetarian recipe I took off the eggwhite needed for brushing the dough.

Ingredients:
half a kilo of fresh apricots cleaned, halved
half a cup of sugar
one vanilla pod
10 g of melted butter
3 tablespoons of almond shivels

Procedure:

Start by macerating your apricots with sugar and vanilla in a small casserole. Let it stand for two hours or until apricot gives off some juice. Cook it slowly over low fire for about five minutes. Set aside. Once the dough is ready, roll them on your floured surface. Cut small rectangular shapes and brush it with your butter. Put your apricot and make the two sides of your dough meet in the middle. Drizzle with sugar and almond shivels. Bake in a pre-heated oven( 180° celsius) for about 15-20 minutes.