Spicy Little Devils - Singapore Rice Noodles

Singapore Rice Noodles

            2/3 cup chicken broth

            1 tbsp (càs) oyster sauce

            1 1/2 tbsp (càs) soy sauce

            1 1/2 tsp (càc) white sugar

            3 tbsp (càs) peanut oil

            1 1/2 tsp (càc) curry powder

            1 clove garlic

            1 tsp (càc) minced fresh ginger root

            1 red bell pepper

            1 small red onion

            4 green onions

            1 (12 ounce) package frozen cooked cocktail shrimp

            1 1/2 cups frozen baby peas

            8 ounce (200 g) package rice noodles, broken into 3 inch pieces and soaked

Directions

Combine chicken broth, oyster sauce, soy sauce and sugar in a small bowl, and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add curry powder, crushed garlic, and crushed ginger; stir-fry for 10 seconds. 

Add chopped peppers, onions, and scallions; stir-fry for 3 to 5 minutes. 

Stir in chicken stock mixture, and bring to a boil over high heat. Add shrimp and peas, and cook until hot. Add noodles, and cook until dish is heated thoroughly. Serve immediately.

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.

Northern Thai Green Curry

Northern Thai Green Curry
2 chicken legs and thighs with bones and skins
6 thai mini green eggplants
a large handful of fresh green beans
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 onion
A recipe of green curry sauce
1 can of coconut milk
Thai sticky rice

Brown the chicken. Add the onions until soft. Add all of the other vegetables chopped and the curry sauce and coconut milk.

Cook your sticky rice separately. Both pots should simmer for about 20 minutes.

Green Curry Sauce From Scratch
6 green chilis
1 stalk lemon grass
3 cloves garlic
1 inch chunk of galanga
1 tbsp shrimp paste or 2 tbsp fish sauce
1 kaffir lime
10 asian basil leaves
6 kaffir lime leaves
1 tsp coriander seed
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
salt & pepper

Chop the vegetables. Zest the lime. Simmer everything together.

Thai Mini Green Eggplants

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!

Crêpe Apéro

You'll need a batch of the World's Best Crêpes - Céline's Crêpes, but you can make them the night before. You can even eat a couple for breakfast and still have plenty to dress up your dinner.

smoked salmon
sour cream
chives (ciboulette)
cucumber

These are smaller than they look on the photo. The glasses they are in are actually expresso glasses, no more than two inches in height.

First you lay out a crêpe on a plate, fold it in half and roll it like an ice cream cone around the smoked salmon, cucumber and chives, and add a dollop of sour cream.

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!

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.

Only You Can Be You - Mediterranean Fish

Want to feel special? Fix this simple gourmet dish and flatter yourself. Want to make someone else feel special? Serve this dish to them and savor life together.

There are way too many providential circumstances in this cosmic universe for life to just happen by chance. You are a treasure. No one else sees the world the way you do, you are really that unique. You are intentional. You are caring. You are loved. And caring for your soul enriches all your relationships.

This is one of my all-time favorite dishes. As you can see, it's just gorgeous to serve to guests! It will make any first time chef feel like a Cordon Bleu. It's colorful. It's flavorful. And it's ohh, soo, healthy!

Mediterranean Fish
(serves four)
Two whole white fish
One red bell pepper
One green bell pepper
One-half onion
Grape tomatoes cut in half
One jar of whole greek black olives

Clean (gut) the fish. The fish monger or supermarket clerk will gladly do this for you. ;)
Lay the whole fish in a shallow baking dish.
Slice the peppers and onion super thin, cut the tomatoes in half.
Layer green peppers, red peppers, onion, tomatoes, and black olives. Drizzle with olive oil.
Bake at 400°F (200°C) for a half hour or until the onions and olives are blackened, and the fish flakes off the bone loosely.
Serve with red quinoa tossed with fresh Italian parsley.

Real Mediterranean black olives are the key to this meal. The non pitted ones have the best flavor. Here you can see that baking caramelizes the onions and olives. The olives get a bit wrinkly and the flavor changes completely. They are absolutely incredible! 

Give A Man A Fish - Fish Tacos

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." - Maimonides

Fish Tacos

Tilapia. Cooked in olive oil and seasoned with chipotle seasoning.

Amazing Fish Taco Sauce. Half sour cream and half light mayonaise seasoned with chipotle seasoning.

Pico de Gallo. Fresh diced tomatoes, diced onion, and generous amounts of chopped cilantro drenched in fresh squeezed lemon juice.

Red Rice.

Lemon Bars

Lemon Bars
1 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flour

4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup flour
2 fresh lemons

SHORTBREAD
Blend the softened butter with 1/2 cup sugar and 2 cups flour. Press into pan, bake 15 minutes 350°F (175°C).

LEMON GANACHE
Whisk the last four ingredients and pour over the baked shortbread. Bake another 20 minutes. The ganache will firm as it cools.

Raspberry Roast

A light roast that says, spring is here! Let's all get twitterpated!

If you're feeling like mashed potatoes just won't do the trick tonight then try this nice potato gratin ; parboiled sliced potatoes, cheese, cream, white wine, nutmeg.

Raspberry Roast Sauce
1/4 cup black raspberry preserves
1/4 cup red raspberry preserves
1/4 cup honey
1/8 cup soy sauce
1/8 cup worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup wine/grape juice
1/2 tsp ginger

Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C) reduce to 325°F (160°C) when putting the roast in fat side up smothered in sauce. Cook 25 minutes for each pound (500g).

How To Prepare An Avocado

There is only one way to slice an avocado. - Surprised?

CHOOSE YOUR AVOCADO
You choose a ripe avocado the same way you choose a ripe peach. Don't let it's lizard-like appearance throw you off. The skin will be tough, but underneath the flesh should be soft to the touch, not soupy, not hard, just right, even peach-like.

CHOOSE YOUR KNIFE
Choose a sharp flat knife. I've noticed some of you do not have a knife like this in your kitchen, it's worth the investment because you'll have less mess during the preparation process, and prettier food to serve. Do not use a butter knife, not a steak knife. What you really want is a smooth non-serrated knife.

READY-SET-SLICE!
Flip your avocado over so you can see it's stem, which always grows crooked, so look it straight in the eye and look for it's seem. Hold your knife handle toward your belly button, and blade facing down. Slice straight in the stem and through the avocado until you feel you've hit the seed. Then, maintaining contact with the seed slice backward around the seed until you've made a complete circle. Remove your knife and twist the two halves of the avocado like an oreo cookie.



CARVE
Set the half of the fruit containing the seed on the table in front of you. Wielding your knife like a mini ax, you should be able to wedge the flat sharp blade of your knife into the seed with one flick of your wrist. As in the photo at the top of this post. With the blade embedded in the seed as your own personalized custom handle, twist the seed gently and it will dislodge from the avocado. Peel the skin off with your fingers starting at the stem and slowly undressing it. Slice as you like. Wrap unused avocado tightly in plastic wrap, or better yet, eat it immediately.

Amazing Quinoa and Roquette Salad

Four layers make the heartiest salad you've ever had!

Start by cooking & cooling your quinoa grains, mine is a mixture of red and white quinoa. Then prepare a generous pile of young roquette salad - these aromatic leaves look like baby dandelion leaves, but they taste nutty and are often called arugula in the Americas.  Layer equal quantities of roquette, quinoa and fresh parsley, topped with cherry tomatoes cut in half. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar, et bon appetite!

Tortilla Espagnole

One big giant omelette sliced like a tart.

Tortilla Espagnole

4 potatoes
6 eggs
3 cloves garlic
1 onion
4 tbsp (càs) olive oil
1 tsp (càc) fresh chopped parsley
Salt, Pepper

Choose white skinned potatoes, they keep their shape better after being cooked, some brown skinned potatoes crumble and loose their shape too easily. Peel the potatoes. Cut thick slices about 1 cm thick and boil them for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile in a large shallow saucepan heat the oil and add the sliced onions and crushed garlic.
When they're soft add the potato slices. Allow them to cook together for about 10 minutes, you do not want the potatoes to brown, so keep them moving.

Beat the eggs with the salt and pepper and parsley, and pour this mixture over the potatoes. Cover and allow to cook at medium heat for 20 minutes.

Slide the tortilla to a plate, cut like a pie and serve hot or cold on a bed of leafy green lettuce drizzled with Mamie's Dressing. Or cut into cubes and poke with toothpicks to serve as a starter!

My First Cake - French Yogurt Cake

This is the first cake that every kids learns to make during after school snack time. Great for generations and generations of sweet moments together.

So round the kids up and head to the kitchen. This is a recipe they'll never forget. All the measurements are in kid-friendly quantities, and don't worry about little hands accidentally allowing an extra splash of any of the ingredients ... it's pretty difficult to mess up this cake.

If you want a quick vanilla cake with coffee, this is a guaranteed hit. Race the cake baking against the drip coffee machine and I'll bet it will win every time! Let the kids experiment by squirting in some chocolate syrup! Or add bananas to sneak that extra fruit into their diet!

It all starts with a plain yogurt...

French Yogurt Cake
1 pot of yogurt (scoop out the yogurt with a spoon and measure the following ingredients with the pot)
2 pots of sugar
3 pots of flour
1/2 pot of oil
3 eggs
2 tsp of baking powder
1 drop of vanilla
* optional the zest and juice of one lemon

Add all of the ingredients in a salad bowl and stir with a wooden spoon. Bake 30 min at 400°F (200°C) until a toothpick comes out clean.

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

Fondant Parisien de Julien

You'll notice the cake is perfectly done when the chocolate is golden and blackened on top!

I left the original recipe in French because I love the personality that gushes out through all of the alterations...


Fondant Parisien de Julien

250 g de chocolat (8oz baking chocolate)
175 g de sucre (1/2 cup + 1/3 cup sugar)
125 g de beurre (1 stick of real butter)
30 à 35 g de farine
5 œufs (5 eggs)

Faire chauffer le four. Preheat the oven.

Faire fondre 250 grammes de chocolat dans très peu d’eau ou de lait, à feux doux. Melt the chocolate.

Quand il est fondu, ajoutez 125 grammes de beurre, 5 jaunes d’œufs un à un. Add the butter and the yolks to the chocolate. Puis 30 à 35 grammes de farine.

Mélangez bien et ajoutez ensuite 175 grammes de sucre. Once blended add the sugar. 

Pour terminer 5 blancs d’œufs battus en neige ferme MAIS PAS TROP. Incorporer A LA MAIN d’abord 2 cuillerées et battez fortement puis ajoutez le reste en soulevant la pâte. Beat the egg whites in a separate bowl to form soft peaks, fold into the batter.

Une fois le moule beurré, je le saupoudre de sucre cristallisé. Butter and sugar the inside of a round cake pan. 

Faire cuire à four modéré 180 degrés 210 °C environ 40 minutes les 15 premières minutes puis 180° Celsius les 15 dernières minutes. Bake at 410°F for the first 15 minutes, and 356°F for the last 15 minutes.

Cover the surface of the plate with english custard to create the 'pac-man' effect.
Bon appétit

Mamie's Dressing

Will The Real French Dressing Please Stand Up?
Despite what the Heinz would have you believe there exists no bright reddish-orange dressing in France. Does anyone out there know why they decided to call their ketchup based dressing French?

What I'm presenting to you is a true French dressing like Grandma used to make. Better yet, it's still the dressing choice of young people today. When I first moved to Paris I was taken aback by all the young twenty-somethings that only exclusively use a home-blend of herbs and spices. When I found out how simple it is I have never bought salad dressing again.

Some of you will recognize this as a variation called Dijon-Vinaigrette, but don't be surprised if the flavor is more subtle and refined than those of the supermarket variety pumped full of sweeteners and preservatives.

Mamie's Dressing

Three parts olive oil
One part wine vinegar
One part dijon mustard
Dash of provincial herbs (thyme, rosemary, majoram)
Fresh ground pepper corns, less than the herbs
Whisk! Voilà!

To be served immediately on salads, potatoes, carrots or to dip your fresh baked baguette in.