Feta, Pepper & Sun-Dried Tomato Quiche

One flaky ready-made pie crust

4 oz (100 g) Feta cheese
1 red bell pepper
10 sun-dried tomatoes

QUICHE MIXTURE
9 eggs
3/4 cup (20 cl) heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup (10 cl) milk
2 shavings of fresh nut of nutmeg

Preheat your oven to 365°F (200°C)

Layer parchment paper in a flat bottomed quiche or tart pan (you can substitue a 9 inch round cake pan, but you won't get the best results with a pie pan). Lay out the ready-made pie crust on top of the parchment paper.

Whisk your eggs, cream, and milk. Rub the nutmeg with the edge of a sharp knife to create nutmeg powder over the mixing bowl. Whisk, Whisk, Whisk.

Toss the veggies; cheese, pepper and tomates, in the unbaked crust. Then whisk your quiche mixture and pour it over the solid ingredients and pop it into the oven on the middle rack. Remove it from the oven when it's golden on top and solid in the middle.

Valérie's French Cheesecake

CRUST
2 1/4 cups (200 g) shortbread cookies
1 stick (115 g) real salted butter

CHEESECAKE BATTER
5 cups (700 g) fromage blanc (use greek yogurt if you can't find real fromage blanc)
2 cups (200 g) of sugar
2 tbsp (càs) of flour
3 eggs
1 stick (115 g) real salted butter
1 tsp (càc) vanilla
1 tbsp (càs) fresh squeezed lemon juice

Melt the butter, crush the shortbread cookies. Remove the butter from the heat and mix the cookie crumbs with the butter in the pan. Pour this mixture into a round cake pan*, flatten with your palms, and chill while you make the filling.

For the filling Valérie melts the butter and mixes all of the remaining ingredients together with a whisk then she pours it into the chilled crust. Cook at 300 ° F (150° C) for 1 hour 15 minutes. Then she turns off the oven and allows the cake to cool slowly in the oven before refrigerating overnight.

* This pan is a nine inch (23 cm) straight sided cake pan. If you’re using a real cheesecake pan with a diameter of ten inches or more (25+ cm) you’ll want to double the recipe.

Some recipes are full of surprises - White Pesto Liguria

When I saw this recipe, I was like, WHAT!? I re-read it five times trying to determine where they typo ended and the insanity began. I'm not accustomed to preparing potatoes with pasta. If you're going for authentic, the original recipe should be prepared with Trofie pasta, but it's a bit scarce in Paris, so I'm substituting quinoa penne.

1/2 pound (500g) Trofie pasta (or penne pasta)
4 red potatoes
1/4 pound fresh green beans
1 tbsp (càs) olive oil
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/3 cup pesto
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Put the pasta on to boil.

Quarter the red potatoes, and trim the green beans. Sauté the veggies in the olive oil. Near the end add the crushed garlic.

Stir the sauce together : yogurt, pesto, parmesan. Toss with pasta and veggies.

Homemade Pesto

2 oz (50 g) fresh basil leaves
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp (càs) pine nuts
6 tbsp (càs) extra virgin olive oil
1 oz (25 g) Pecorino Romano*

Mix in a blender. Serve immediately, or store in the fridge.

* substitute fresh Parmesan if you like

Perfect Philly Cream Cheese In Paris

Many of you saw the video that channel six filmed about how I make my own cheese for my cheesecake. I started doing this out of necessity because Philadelphia Cream Cheese couldn't be found. And then, wouldn't you know it, one month after the Cheesecake episode aired on television, our Paris supermarkets start importing Philadelphia Cream Cheese!

Rob says he still prefers the homemade cheese, plus it is significantly cheaper. I said I would like to try my favorite recipe of all time with the real Philadelphia brand cheese - just once a year, to enjoy the original flavor. So, before the blueberries all disappeared from the fall harvest, I whipped up a batch of Blueberry crumble this week. I have these lovely mini Cheesecake pans so with one batch of cheesecake batter I could make three mini-cheesecakes: one for our church gathering, one for a dinner at a friend's house, and one to freeze for a rainy day ;)

So why is Philadelphia brand so much better? I mean, France is the land of cheese, and everyone knows it. Surely there's a cheese out there that we could use? Why do they need American imports?

There is a cheese that you can use called fromage à tartiner (spreadable cheese). While it makes a decent substitute in a pinch, it's not the same flavor or consistency, so it falls short as a main ingredient. Since I can't demonstrate the difference in flavor over the internet, the least I can do is show you the difference in texture. On your left, Philadelphia brand - creamy like ice-cream. On your right, fromage à tartiner - crumbly like a feta.

Most Parisians I know prefer to substitute yogurt. I even have several yogurt based cheesecake posts on my blog. Yogurt makes a lighter recipe for those watching their diet. It's a great creamy substitute and it's easy to find. But for those who attended our Pastry Night with all French recipes, you may remember that while the cheesecakes were delicious, you can't disguise the distinctive yogurt flavor.

Which brings us to fresh homemade soft cheese. My homemade cheese doesn't have any cultures added to it yet, so it's flavor is mild. It is never as creamy as it should be, it's just as crumbly as the fromage à tartiner. If I knew how to fix that I would, but for the time being it will have to do.

Blueberry Crumble Cheeesecake

CRUMBLE / CRUST
1 and 1/2 cups (200 g) flour
6 tbsp (80 g) sugar
1/2 tsp (1/2 càc) cinnamon
3/4 cup (175 g) butter

FILLING
6 pkg (40 oz / 900 g) Philadelphia Cream Cheese / Homemade Soft Cheese
1 cup (200 g) sugar
2 tsp (càc) vanilla
6 eggs
1 tub (16 oz / 50 cl) crème fraîche or sour cream

GARNISH
2 cups (250 g) fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 325°F

CRUMBLE CRUST
Mix flour, 6 tbsp sugar and cinnamon. Cut in cold butter with pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Save 1/2 cup for the crumble topping. Press remaining crumbs firmly onto bottom of pan. Bake 25 minutes or until the edge is lightly browned.

FILLING
Beat cream cheese, 1 cup sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs and sour cream, beating after each addition. Pour over baked crumble crust.

TOPPING
Top with blueberries and sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture.

Bake 1 hour 15 minutes. Turn off the oven, prop the oven door open with an oven mitt and let the cheesecake sit in the hot oven another hour. When you take the cheesecake out of the oven, you should allow it to cool completely before refrigerating it. If it chills too quickly it will crack. Let it refrigerate 24 hours before serving it. Cheesecake is always best after it marinates in the fridge for a while. Bon Appetit.

Bubba's Traditional Polish Pierogi

Bubba is Polish for Grandma. My Bubba was my Grampap's mother. She made homemade pierogis every week for the entire family, and extended family!

I loved my Bubba. She was a petit firecracker of a woman. She loved to play games, her favorite was Yahtzee - and she cheated at every game!

Bubba's Traditional Polish Pierogi

Makes about 8 dozen. Can be made ahead and frozen.

FILLING
8 to 10 potatoes
1 onion, finely chopped
6 tbsp margarine or butter
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
salt and pepper

Peel and cut potatoes into cubes. Boil until tender. Reserve cooking water for dough. (aha! That's why we had you make the filling first!)
Meanwhile, saute onion in butter, set aside to cool.
Mash potatoes, add onion with butter, cheeses, season to taste and mix well. Set aside.
This is our family's traditional filling. In the old country you just used whatever cheese was around the house. If you had cows, you made fresh homemade soft cheese. If you happened to have goats in the backyard, you'll use goat cheese. You can also use cottage cheese, or even sauerkraut in your mashed potatoes.

DOUGH
2 1/4 cups reserved potato water, cooled to lukewarm
2 eggs
6 T veg. oil
6 to 7 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 t salt

Combine potato water, eggs and oil; mix well.
In a very large bowl, combine flour and salt. Make a well in the center. Pour water/egg mixture into well and stir until mixture is smooth.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead several times.
Place dough in well greased bowl, turning once, and cover. Let rest for at least 20 minutes, 2 hours is better.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out to about 1/8 inch thickness. Cut dough into circles with a jelly glass.
Place dough circle in the palm of the left hand. Plop a teaspoon of potato filling into the center of the dough circle. Fold one half over the potato mixture and pinch the open edges together. Experienced Bubbas do this with a little twist. Be sure they are tightly sealed or the filling will ooze out during the boiling.

IF YOU ARE FREEZING SOME FOR LATER: Place on baking sheets lined with wax paper. Once frozen, place in a large zipper-style plastic bag to store in freezer.

COOKING: First bring a large cooking pot of water to boil. Cook pierogis in batches of 6 in boiling water. They are done when they rise to the surface.
Then fry them in butter and onions until golden.
Serve with a generous dollop of sour cream.

Pizza Soup

Pizza Soup

1 onion
1 green bell pepper
1 cup (12 oz) sliced fresh mushrooms
2 (8 in / 20 cm) zucchini / courgette
14.5 oz beef broth
14.5 oz tomatoes
16 oz can pizza sauce
1 lb (4 oz) fully cooked smoked sausage links
1/2 tsp herbs de provence (pizza seasoning)

GARNISH
shredded cheese
sour cream

In a medium saucepan, combine onion, sweet pepper, mushrooms, zucchini, and 1/4 cup of broth. Bring to boil. Reduce heat, simmer covered for 5 minutes.

Thinly slice the sausage.

Stir in the remaining broth, the undrained tomatoes, pizza sauce, sausage, and seasoning. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes more or until the vegetables are tender.

Dollop sour cream on each serving and top with cheese.
Makes 6 servings.

Tastes Like Spring - Classic Risotto Italiano Alla Fungaiola

Risotto Italiano Alla Fungaiola
1lb (500 g) risotto rice (round Arborio)
olive oil
*optional splash of white wine
1 onion
1 branch of celery
1 clove of garlic
10 oz (300 g) mushrooms of your choice
6 cups natural chicken broth
3/4 cup (50 cl) sour cream (crème fraîche)
2 cup (150 g) fresh or frozen peas
1 or 2 sprigs of parsley (1 ou 2 brins de persil)
5 oz (150 g) fresh parmesan grated

In a large thick bottomed pot, soften the diced onion and diced celery and pressed garlic in olive oil. This is where you would add the splash of white wine if you want.

I used baby portobello mushrooms this time. Slice the mushrooms and cook them separately - Don't crowd the mushrooms!

When the onions are soft, add the rice to the pot and stir until rice has absorbed the oil and becomes transparent.

Add just enough broth to cover the rice. Allow it to boil uncovered until the rice has absorbed all the liquid. Continue adding broth to keep the rice moist until it is thoroughly cooked 15-20 minutes. The risotto should be slightly firm and creamy, not mushy.

Stir in the dollop of sour cream, peas, mushrooms and then add the grated parmesan. Stir well. Dress with sprigs of parsley, and serve steaming hot!

*I made this without broth the other day, I just used water. Turned out great!

Claire's Pizza

This is the easiest pizza ever! I think Claire was in junior high when she started making this wonderful recipe. It's an American-style pizza which means you can whip it up in ten minutes. No yeast means there's no need to wait for the dough to rise, you just throw it on the baking dish and put the toppings on right away. It's that simple.

Claire's Pizza

5 1/4 cups (520 g) of flour
4 tsp (15 g) baking powder (levure chimique)
3 tsp (15 g) salt
1 1/4 cup (300 ml) milk
1/2 cup (125 ml) vegetable oil or olive oil

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl. Wash your hands. Take off your rings. Mix with your bare hands, folding the dough over on itself until all the ingredients are absorbed into the ball of dough.

Split the dough into two balls, and press onto two pizza stones. *If you are using metal or glass baking dishes you'll want to oil the surface before pressing out the dough.

Spread tomato sauce on the surface of your dough, top with cheese and your favorite toppings!

Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 30 minutes.

Food Is Art - Pomegranate Salad

"You first taste your food with your eyes"

Dress up a simple meal. Serve your drinks in stemware and serve your salad in your juice glasses. Why not? Set out the nice tablecloth you rarely use and suddenly excitement will be teeming through your veins!

Pomegranate Salad
pomegranate fruit
granny smith apples
arugula leaves (roquette)
feta
white wine vinegar
*optional foie gras

How To Prepare A Pomegranate
Slice off the end at the navel. Immerse the fruit in a bowl of water. Gently peel the tough skin off revealing the fragile fruit. Harvest the unblemished fruit jewels for your salad. Eat any nicked jewels immediately. Store unblemished fruit jewels for several days in a sealed container in the fridge.

Quiche Lorraine

Quiche Lorraine is the most famous quiche in the world. THE classic quiche recipe. Every variation on quiche follows this standard... 1/2 lb (200g) meat, 1 small onion and 1 1/2 cups (200g) cheese. Smothered in this amazing egg, cream, milk and nutmeg mixture.

Quiche Lorraine

One flaky ready-made pie crust

TRADITIONAL LORRAINE FILLING
1/2lb (200g) lard (bacon or lardons)
1 onion
1 1/2 cups (200g) compté cheese (emmental or swiss)

BASIC QUICHE MIXTURE
9 eggs
3/4 cup (20 cl) heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup (10 cl) milk
2 shavings of fresh nut of nutmeg

Preheat your oven to 365°F (200°C).

LORRAINE FILLING
Start with one flat bottomed quiche or tart pan (you can substitue a 9 in round cake pan, but you won't get the best results with a pie pan). Cover your quiche / tarte pan with parchment paper. Lay out the ready-made pie crust on top of the parchment paper.

QUICHE MIXTURE
Whisk your eggs, cream, and milk. Rub the nutmeg with the edge of a sharp knife to create nutmeg powder over the mixing bowl. Whisk, Whisk, Whisk.

In the unbaked crust toss your solid ingredients. In this case : crispy bacon, onion and swiss cheese. Then whisk your quiche mixture and pour it over the solid ingredients and pop it into the oven on the middle rack. Remove it from the oven when it's golden on top and solid in the middle.

Try these other great QUICHES by me and my friends!!!

This one got a little crispy!

The day channel six came to my house - Cheesecake Video

Writing The Cheesecake Song

My bestie is a journalist who has a cheesecake blog. Every time she spots a new cheesecake in Paris, she'll write a juicy review. This month REAL Philadelphia Cream Cheese has just been released for sale in France at all your favorite grocery stores - Read more on Céline's blog! - oh yea, her blog is in French ;)

So, one fine day Céline gets a call from M6 asking if she would be willing to give them a tour of all the best places to find cheesecake in Paris, for one of their nationally syndicated television shows. Céline's response? No problem. She'll take them on a tour of all the best places to find cheesecake in Paris, but the BEST place to find cheesecake is at Nichole's house. So the show ends with a cheesecake party in my living room.



If you would like to learn to make the cheesecake shown in this film, you'll find the step by step guide here.

Let's Do Brunch - Kimm's Sunny Florida Quiche

My Aunt Kimm comes up with the most creative recipes!!! This crustless quiche comes out with a crispy buttery edge that is to die for! If you like this recipe you'll love Kimm's Festive Squash Gratin.

Kimm's Sunny Florida Quiche

2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 lb sausage
1/2 bag of fresh baby spinach leaves
1/2 onion
1 1/2 cups sharp cheese

QUICHE MIXTURE
9 eggs
3/4 cup (20 cl) heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup (10 cl) milk
2 shavings of fresh nut of nutmeg

Soften the butter and spread it evenly over a 10 inch flat bottomed tart pan (you can substitue a 9 in round cake pan, but you won't get the best results with a pie pan).

Cook the sausage.

Cut the thick stems off the spinach and wilt it in the microwave for 30 seconds.

Whisk your eggs, cream, and milk. Rub the nutmeg with the edge of a sharp knife to create nutmeg powder over the mixing bowl. Whisk, Whisk, Whisk.

Layer the sausage, spinach, diced onion and shredded cheese (I used sharp cheddar).
Pour the egg mixture over the toppings.

Bake for 35 minutes at 350°F (176°C).

After making the quiche I realized that I had exactly half of everything I bought left over so I decided to use the rest of the ingredients in a pie crust this time, just to demonstrate that it works just as well.

Ingredients layed out in a quiche crust.

Dreaming of Luscious Summer Vegetables

First grill the eggplant / aubergine, zucchini / courgette, summer squash and mushrooms with olive oil.
Then in a springform pan, layer grilled eggplant, zucchini, summer squash and portobello mushrooms followed by fresh heirloom tomatoes, pressed garlic and basil leaves. Then sprinkle bread crumbs and fresh grated parmesan cheese before drizzling olive oil over the whole dish. In the oven for 40 minutes at 400°F (200°C)

Baptism Cheesecake Buffet

Pastries have always had a magical effect in Paris - We already knew that cookies seduce everyone who tries them! This weekend we discovered Cheesecake makes an even bigger impact!!!

Cheesecake, for me, has always been a dessert reserved for big important celebrations, like weddings. So when my friend asked me to bake cheesecake for her baptism, I jumped at the occasion.

I started baking on Wednesday and when Friday rolled around I ran into two problems, and I had to call upon the kindness of my neighbors to pull me out of a pinch.

First the power went out and I couldn't boil my milk to make more cheese. So Rob visited all of our neighborhood friends to see who might have electricity - nobody did. But one neighbor has a restaurant with a gas stovetop that saved our day.

Later, I realized I was short a half a cup of sugar! Again, Rob started down the street and the first neighbor he found lent us a bit of sugar to finish the last cheesecake. phew!

Of course then we had to share our cheesecakes with the lovely neighbors that helped us out so generously! And, now I feel like a rock-star when I walk down the street and neighbors continue to shower complements on me about the amazing cheesecakes we thanked them with!

Check out my cheesecake recipes here.

Cheesecake Buffet

Caramel Cream Cheesecake

Chocolate Cheesecake

Red Velvet Ganache Cheesecake

Classic New York Style Cheesecake

Lemon Custard Cheesecake

Chocolate Ganache Cheesecake

Because eating should leave you feeling great! - Moussaka Allègée

Who knew a detox fitness retreat could taste so great!

A friend of mine came back from her detox fitness retreat, pumped and ready to live healthy. We talked late into the night about the great friends she met; real quality people who are seeking healthy lifestyles. And we talked food! Menus, calories, and most of all recipes!

Here's her favorite recipe direct from the nutritionist's desk, but you'll never believe it...

Moussaka Allègée
serves 6

2 lb (800g) ground chuck (beef 5%)
3 (9 inch) eggplant / aubergine (750g)
2 tbsp (càs) olive oil
1 large onion
1 tbsp (càs) corn starch (maïzena) ***
1 cup (8 oz / 250g) yogurt 0% fat
3 large tomatoes (375g)
fresh grated nutmeg
1 oz fresh grated parmesan
1 whole egg + 1 egg white
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

Slice 2 of the eggplants into centimeter thick slices and salt them so that they start to give off their juices.

Poke the other eggplant with a sharp knife and boil it whole in salt water for 10 minutes. This just gives them a good head start while you're busy grilling...

Grill the sliced eggplants brushing both sides with olive oil.

Soften the diced onion on medium high heat in a thick bottomed pot with no oil, but a spray of water to keep them from drying out as they soften.

Mix the cornstarch into 1/2 of the yogurt.

Peel the whole eggplants and cook the flesh with the onions until it becomes sauce-like.
Peel the tomatoes and add them to to this sauce. When they boil down to sauce add the ground beef. Then when the beef is browned, add the yogurt-cornstarch mixture and grate the nutmeg directly into the pot, add just a pinch of salt and ground black pepper.

Layer your baking pan with grilled sliced eggplant. Cover with the sauce, and sprinkle fresh grated parmesan on top. Repeat as necessary.

Beat the egg, plus the egg white, plus the other half of the yogurt. Pour this over the entire dish, grate fresh nutmeg directly over this cream layer, and sprinkle with fresh parmesan cheese.

Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 20 minutes.

***Nichole's variation - If you don't have cornstarch you can thicken the sauce any way you want. Lite : 1 tbsp of rice flour. Less light : 1 tbsp of instant potato flakes.

Lasagnes à la Béchamel - French Lasagne

Lasagnes à la Béchamel
Family sized recipe for 6-10

1 batch of Simply Mouthwatering Homemade Sauce
1 box of lasagna noodles
1 onion
1 carrot
1 branch of celeri
olive oil
5 oz (150g) ground pork
8 oz (250g) ground chuck (beef 5%)
2 batches of Sauce Béchamel
fresh basil

First get your Simply Mouthwatering Homemade Sauce ready and stewing on the stove.

Then soften the diced onion, carrot and celeri in the olive oil. To these sumptuous vegetables, do add the ground pork first, and after five minutes add the ground chuck.

Meanwhile, prepare a double batch of Sauce Béchamel recipe.

When the meat is thoroughly cooked add 1/2 of the Sauce Béchamel.

Boil your lasagna noodles 8 minutes.

Layer noodles, tomato sauce, meat sauce, and basil leaves. Repeat until you run out.

End by pouring the rest of your reserved Sauce Béchamel sufficiently smothering the lasagna with a perfect smooth finish that will become golden and bubbly in cheese during the baking process.

Bake at 356°F (180°C) for 35 min.

Sauce Béchamel

Sauce Béchamel

4 tbsp (50g) unsalted butter
1/4 C (50g) flour (gluten free - replace flour with 1/4C corn starch (40g maïzena))
2.5 C (60cl) milk
fresh grated nutmeg
pinch of salt pepper

Melt butter in a thick bottomed pot. Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens, don't allow it to discolor.

Add the milk progressively, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens. Grate the nutmeg directly into the pot, lots of nutmeg, a splash of fresh ground black pepper and just a wee bit of salt.

Winter Party Salad

This is my favorite salad. I make it for every gathering from February straight through April.

Nothing in this recipe is by accident. The flavor pairings are beautiful, each ingredient bringing out the flavor of its neighbors in its own special way.

Winter Party Salad
1 Frisée (sweet kinky-curly green lettuce)
1 Ruby Red Grapefruit
3.5 oz (100g) Feta Cheese
Olive Oil
Raspberry Vinegar

It really is as straight forward as it looks, but there is one technique I would like to illustrate that makes all the difference. First peel the rind off of the grapefruit, then insert your thumb into the navel and gently separate the citrus segments. The fragrant pulp should be the first thing you you taste not the bitter skins. To remove the skin from the segments treat the segment like an envelope and your super-very-sharp-knife like a letter opener, slice the skin membrane without pricking the fleshy part of the fruit. Then peel the skin down and it should tear off very easily. TaDa! You have naked grapefruit segments.