Summer + Hot = Salad

Everybody is dreaming of white sand beaches, a clear blue ocean with palm trees in the background. Personnaly, right now I'm dreaming of a landscape caped in white snow with an igloo in the middle where I can "chill" (excuse me for the very bad wordplay here). I don't know how summer is where you live, but here lately, it feels like I'm the one being baked for a change.

So in order not to make it worse, here is an almost non cooking recipe, that I enjoy on a hot day. This one makes me particularly proud, not so much because of the recipe itself, which is great but not so original, but because it features my very own cherry tomatoes, that I grew on my balcony! Who knew those would be so forgiving to my not so green thumb.

With those temperatures, I'm spending time indoors instead and catch up on movies and TV shows. I also had the chance to see a documentary called "Miss Representation", that I would recommand you all to see. Even if it's very american-centered, it does show how hard it is for teenage girls to find a positiv female role model on TV or in the media, someone successful they could look up to. Geena Davis, Rachel Maddow and Katie Couric are part of it, even if they are some of the very few that made it, they are a great inspiration. Let's just hope for some more in the future!

Couscous Salad

Serves 2

200gr of Small Grains Couscous
1 Cucumber
12 Cherry Tomatoes
1 Small Red Onion
3 Tablespoons of Fresh Parsley
2 Tablespoons of Fresh Minth
1 Tablespoon of Butter
Coarse Salt
Olive Oil

Mesure the volume of the couscous by putting it in a glass, then pour the couscous into a bowl and fill up the glass with water to the height the couscous was. Heat up the water with a bit of salt, once it's boiling, pour it on the couscous and place a lid on top of the bowl, wait for about 5 minutes, for the water to be absorbed. Then using a fork and the butter, separate the grains carefully.

Wash the tomatoes, the cucumber and the herbs. Cut the tomatoes into quarters, peel the cucumber and cut them to about the same as the tomatoes. Dice the onion quite thinly, do the same with the parsley and the minth. In a bowl combine the couscous, the vegetables and the herbs (still using a fork), also add some good olive oil and coarse salt. Taste for seasoning and place in the fridge for a few hours, enjoy it when it's really cold.

The architecture of an Eggplant

As a child I wanted to be a firewoman, a race driver, a baker, a mechanic, a special agent, a tennis player... than at some point I wanted to be a teacher, which stuck, even if there has been a few detours from the original plan.
I don't remember that I ever wanted to be an architect, though I had a summer job in an architecture office. Making this recipe, I think I took the right decision, there is enough with one Pisa tower in the world.

This is a reminiscence of my summer holidays, because I've done a first version while being in the south of France. The idea fetched from a magazine, but with all the ingredients I found on a local market.
Sometimes, making a recipe from your holidays again at home is a bit dissapointing, it never tastes quite the same, or it's just the surroundings that are missing, that makes the difference. But in this case, I enjoyed it just as much, maybe watching the olympics in the background helped a little.

I really loved this dish, the cooked eggplant, the hot goat cheese, the raw tomato, fresh basil and parsley, a touch of garlic... It all works for me! I believe changing the goat cheese to mozzarella could be a nice option too, for people who prefer less strong tasting cheese. And the assembling can start, have fun with it!

Eggplant Mille-feuilles

Serves 1

1 Eggplant
1 Fresh Goat Cheese
1 Tomato, sliced
1 Shallot
2 Cloves of Garlic
3 Tablespoons of Fresh Parsley, chopped
2 Tablespoons of Fresh Basil, chopped
2 Tablespoons of Bread Crumbs
Coarse Salt
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Wash the eggplant and cut 4 slices of about 1 cm thick, lined them in a oiled oven tray and cook them for 30 minutes, turn them around half way thru.

Dice the rest of your eggplant into small cubes. Dice the shallot, in a saucepan, heat up some olive oil and add the shallot with a bit of salt and cook for a few minutes before adding the diced eggplant. Keep stiring and maybe, add a bit more olive oil if it sticks, cook for about 10 minutes, at the very end, add the crushed garlic, the chopped parlsey and the bread crumbs, stir for a minute or two and set aside.

When cooked, take the eggplants slices out and set them aside. Slice the goat cheese in 3 parts and using the same oven tray, place the cheese in the oven for a couple of minutes.
Now starts the assembling: place a slice of cooked eggplant, place some goat cheese on top, and a tablespoon of the diced eggplant, now add a slice of the tomato and spinkle it with fresh basil. Do the same layers 2 more times and finish with a slice of eggplant with some basil.

If you have some diced eggplant left you can dress the plate with them. To finish, sprinkle some coarse salt, good olive oil and and a bit of balsamic vinegar. Now, serve it before it falls like a jenga tower!

Sugar Coma: Baklava

Remember how I told you I was craving for sweet things these days, well I found quite a remedy: Baklava! This has been on my "to-do" list for ages, even before I started this blog I think (Yes, I've been a list maker for a very long time). Phyllo pastry isn't that commum around here, so when I finally got my hand on some, I knew what I would use it for.

To me, Baklava is greek, because it's what I order in a greek restaurant for dessert. But I got to read about it a little, and it's a very commun dessert in the balkans, middle east and even in northern Africa. Obviously, there has to be as many variations as there are countries making it. The version I'm posting here is a mix and match of what I read, aswell of what I had at hand.

Beside the oh so satisfactory sugar high you'll experience with this dessert (please, nobody tells me how much calories this has), I like the fact that I feel like I'm somehow supporting Greece by making this dessert, which seems needed in those trouble times they're having.
Also while it's a very popular muslim dessert, it's also made (in it's greek version) with 33 layers of philo pastry, which represents the age of the Christ. This goes to prouve that around a good dessert, we can all get along.

Baklava (adapted from a recipe from Chef in you)

about 20 Baklavas

100gr Almonds, chopped
150gr Walnuts, chopped
75gr Pistachios, chopped
80gr of Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons of Ground Hazelnuts
2 Teaspoons of Ground Cinnamom
1/2 a Teaspoon of Ground Cloves
200gr of Sugar
200ml of Water
1 Stick of Cinnamom
1 Tablespoon of Lemon Juice
1 Pack of Phyllo Pastry (250gr)
200gr of Butter

In a bowl, combine the nuts with the sugar, cinnamom and cloves and mix until everything is well blended. Set aside.

In a sauce pan, put the water, sugar, cinnamom stick with the lemon juice and bring it to the boil while whisking it, then turn the heat down a little and let it bubble for about 10 minutes. Then, turn the heat off and leave it to cool.

Preheat the oven to 160°C.

Melt the butter over a medium heat or in the microwave. Using a brush, butter an oven dish (mine is 20x30cm), and start pilling up the phyllo pastry sheet: place a first one, brush it with butter, place the next one, brush it with butter... etc, make about 10 layers.

Spread now evenly the nuts, sugar and spices you have prepared in a bowl. Start again with the phyllo pastry sheet, butter each one and pile about 10 of them up. If the phyllo pastry sheet are a bit bigger than your oven dish, trim the edges, and with a sharp knife, cut the phyllo pastry in diamond shape.

Bake in the oven for 1 hour. While still hot, pour slowly the syrup you have prepared with sugar, water, cinnamom stick and lemon juice. Try to pour it slowly and evenly above the whole baklava. Now you have to wait for it to absorb the syrup, for about 6 to 8 hours.

Ricotta and Lemon Cake

I'm in a sweet tooth mood lately, not that I'm ever out of it, but I'm just finding myself looking for chocolatey/sugary things around the house these days. And the best way not to munch down everything that falls into my hand, is to have some cookies or cake in the house, so that I can reason myself with having just a slice (or at least I try...).

As we are actually having something ressembling summer these days, I thought something with lemon would be nice. I didn't have enough time on my hands to make a cheesecake, but I remembered seeing a nice italian ricotta cake a while back and thought this was the right time to try it.

I loved the result, it's a nice moist cake, that I would serve with fresh raspberries next time I bake it. I read it keeps nicely, but it didn't survive long enough here for me to confirm that. So for a nice breakfast or to go with your tea time (watching the London olympic games, obviously) I would recommend this cake.

Ricotta and Lemon Cake (based on a recipe from BBC Good Food)

175gr Butter, softened
175gr of Sugar
2 Lemons
4 Eggs
250gr of Ricotta
125gr of Flour
2 Tablespoons Baking Powder

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Butter a 24cm springfrom cake tin and flour it aswell. Using the stand mixer, beat the butter with the sugar for about 2-3minutes. Add the zest of both lemons, aswell as the juice of one, then the ricotta and the egg yolks.

Whisk the egg white into a soft peak and fold them in gently into the ricotta mixture. Still gently, add now the flour and baking powder.

Pour the batter in the cake tin and place in the oven for 40 minutes. Let it cool in the tin before releasing it.

Daring Baker - July 2012 Challenge: Crackers

Our July 2012 Daring Bakers’ Host was Dana McFarland and she challenged us to make homemade crackers! Dana showed us some techniques for making crackers and encouraged to use our creativity to make each cracker our own by using ingredients we love.

This month's challenge at the Daring Baker was on the salty side, at least I choose to go that way, with homemade crackers. This is something I've never done before, as I'm mostly in charge of dessert, not appetizer.

It gave me the opportunity to try out a recipe from a book I got from some friends of mine, which is called "Back to basics" by Ina Garten, how fitting, isn't it! I read about the barefoot contessa before on a fellow blogger's website, but I've never read a book or seen one of her TV programs. This first recipe makes me want to try some more of her's.

Only little time and ingredients are needed, once more it's a proof that you can make it just as good as the store bought one, and here at least, you'll know what's in it!

Parmesan and Thyme Crackers (based on Ina Garten's "Back to basics")

for 24-28 crackers


110gr of Butter, at room temperature
110gr of Parmesan, freshly grated
1 Teaspoon of Fresh Thyme
1 Teaspoon of Dried Thyme
1/2 Teaspoon of "Fleur de sel" salt
1/2 Teaspoon of freshly ground pepper
160gr of Whote Wheat Flour

In the bowl of you stand mixer, cream the butter for a minute before adding the parmesan. While whisking, add the thyme, salt and pepper and combine well.
Now add the flour progressivly until it has a crumble-like consistency. Tip the dough on a floured worksurface to form a ball. Roll it than out to a 25cm log and wrap it in plastic to refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to  180°C.

Take the log out of the fridge, using a sharp knife, cut rounds of a bit less than 1cm thickness and place them on the oven tray lined with parchement paper. Place them in the oven for 22 minutes and let them cool on a rack before serving.

Sesame and Poppy Seeds Crackers (based on a recipe from "Sunday Hotpants")

for 70-80 thin crackers

190gr of Flour
35gr of Wholewheat Flour
40gr of Cold Butter
A pinch of Salt
12cl of Milk
15gr of Sesame Seeds
15gr of Poppy seeds
"Fleur de sel" Salt

In your standmixer, combine the flours, the butter and the pinch of salt with the paddle attachment until it has a crumble consistency. At this point, add the poppy and sesame seeds.
With the mixer still turning, pour in slowly the milk until it forms a dough. Tip the dough on a floured work surface and form a ball, cover and leave it for 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Roll out the dough as thinly as possible and using a wavy cutter, a knife or cookie cutter, cut the crackers to the wished size.
Place them on an oven tray lined with parchement paper. Sprinkle them with "fleur de sel" and prick them with a fork.

Place them in the oven for about 12 minutes, until they have a nice golden color on the edges. Leave them to cool on rack.

Holiday Baking

Every season has it's up and down side, they might be different for everyone. For me, summer is mostly too hot and too much sun exposition makes me look like a lobster, but I get that those can be positiv to other people.
Now what I like most about summer (beside holidays), are all the fruits available, even if their season is short sometimes, like cherries, melon, blackberries and (for me specially) apricots.

All those fruits don't need much to be enjoyed, and quite frankly eating apricots just like that makes my day. But that's not a recipe and can hardly be posted on a blog, though I'm all for the "eat your 5 fruits or vegetables a day".
Using the oven on a hot day is not the best, so try making it ready early morning, or if you have an oven that can be programmed, cook it in the middle of the night and you'll wake up to this nice clafoutis. Could be worse, now couldn't it!

Peach and Apricot Clafoutis

Serves 4

2 Peaches or Nectarines
4 Apricots
4 Eggs
25cl of Liquid Cream (or milk for a lighter dessert)
150gr of Sugar
50gr of Flour
1/2 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
10gr of Butter
2 Tablespoons of Slivered Almonds

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Butter the oven dish you're going to use. In a bowl, combine the eggs with the sugar, add the flour and whisk everything well together.
Pour the cream slowly as you keep on whisking until you have something smooth, alike to a crêpes batter. Add the vanilla extract, whisk a little more and set aside.

Wash the fruits, cut the peaches in half to take the pit out and cut each half into 3. Place the fruits in the buttered oven dish.
Half the apricots to remove the pit and cut each half in 2, place the slices in between the peach and in the center.

Slowly pour the batter over the fruits, sprinkle the slivered almonds on top, and cook for about 35 minutes.
Serve at room temperature, just by itself or with some vanilla ice cream.

Holiday Cooking

While on holidays, I was trying to find something meaningful and deep to write about that special time of the year, where my schedule is not packed with appointment, where being lazy is acceptable and where the clock doesn't rule my day.
Well instead, the only thing stuck in my head was Madonna singing Holiday: "Holiday... Celebrate... Holiday... Celebrate...". Excuse me for being a child of the 80's.

Nevertheless, I did enjoy the change of scenery and all this time to do close to nothing. But holidays or not, I can't really stay out of the kitchen. I wouldn't be in it for hours either, to make a elaborate dish or dessert, like I would at home.
The joy of being somewhere else, is discovering the local products and traditions, experience recipe you wouldn't do at home. Otherwise, where's the fun of being on holidays!

I'm not used to cook whole fishes, I tend to find them intimidating. But my mum wanted to try gilt head bream, and what better occasion than when you're close to the mediterranean sea. A trip to a local farmer's market where the nice fishmonger gutted them for us.
Although I tend to go with Phoebe's rule of "no food with eyes", this recipe was worth the exception, it's easy to make, with a delicious result. Gilt head Bream has now the taste of holidays to me.

Oven Cooked Gilt Head Bream

Serves 2

2 Gilt-Head Bream
2 Big Tomatoes
1 Lemon
Fresh Thym
Fresh Rosemary
2 Tablespoon of Coarse Salt
Olive Oil

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

In an oven dish, sprinkle a bit of olive oil and coarse salt. Wash the tomatoes and cut them into about 1cm thick slices, place them in the oven dish.

Wash and scale the breams, place some fresh thym and rosemary in the cut the guts got taken out (ask your fishmonger to do it). Place the fishes on top of the tomatoes.
Cut 6 slices of lemon and place them on the fish, press the remaining lemon over the breams and add some rosemary and thym around the dish.
Add some more olive oil on top and a little bit of water in the dish. Place the dish in the oven for 30 minutes.

Take the fish out carefully, starting from the tail, you can peel the skin of easily. Than cut in the middle to remove the 2 filets, it should get away from the spine easily. Turn it over and start again with the other side.

Serve with the tomaotes it was cooked with, along with some pasta or rice.