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July 8th, 2010

Latest Inspired Creation – Chocolate and Basil Cake

A while back ago I ran across a blog article about chocolate and basil truffles from a London chef. The thought of a rich dark chocolate combined with bold, fresh basil immediately piqued my imagination and left me wondering, how to create a chocolate basil cake. When I started this morning, I wasn’t sure how much of each ingredient I would use.

The basil leaves are combined with white chocolate and considering the sweetness of white chocolate, I knew I would use less sugar in the cake.

The fresh basil leafs were blended into a melted white chocolate and cream mixture and then chilled completely.

I improvised, put it in the oven to bake and crossed my fingers. The resulting mix of flavours and level of sweetness are perfect!

The cake turned out so well that it’s on sale to the public at the Bubble T Café in Le Marais! So if you are in Paris and want to try it, make your way to :

……

Bubble-T Café
17 rue Quincampoix
Paris, 75004
……………….
The recipe is below the photos.

Chocolate and Basil Cake

Perfect texture on the outside...

Rich and ultra-moist in the center...

One more pic because it's so good

Recipe: Recipe (adjusted)

Ingredients

  • 200 g dark chocolate 70-85%.
  • 200 g unsweetened butter
  • 150 g white sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 4 rounded tablespoons of flour
  • 200 g white chocolate
  • 20 cl cream (30% fat)
  • 15 g fresh basil leaves (leaves only – weight of stems not included)

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 190°C
  2. Melt the dark chocolate with the butter over a bain-marie. Once completely melted remove from heat and whisk to completely combine the butter and chocolate.
  3. Stir in the sugar and mix well.
  4. Allow to cool for 15 minutes
  5. In a large bowl,whisk in the eggs, one at a time.
  6. The mixture will become lumpy, keep whisking.
  7. Add the flour and whisk the mixture until it is no longer lumpy. It should be smooth and glassy.
  8. Pour into non-stick 20 cm round baking dish.
  9. Bake for 23-25 (max!) minutes.
  10. While the cake is baking, melt the white chocolate with the cream over a bain-marie. Do not allow to over-heat! The white chocolate burns easily.
  11. Stir constantly.
  12. Remove from heat and allow to cool in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
  13. After cooled, chop the basil leaves (stems removed).
  14. Mix the white chocolate and basil leaves in the blender until completely blended.
  15. The white chocolate should turn green.
  16. Refrigerate the white chocolate basil mixture again so that it becomes more firm.

This cake should be eaten completely chilled! Allow the cake to cool for 30 minutes on the counter and then refrigerate for 2 hours. Refrigerate the white chocolate basil mixture as well. After the cake is chilled, spread the white chocolate basil mixture on top of the cake. Allow to cool some more or eat immediately. Normally this chocolate cake can be eaten warm but with the basil topping it taste best eaten very chilled

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June 30th, 2010

Apricot Tarte with Almond and Muscovado

I’m enjoying my last days of freedom before my schedule changes drastically due to work. Today was spent at a girlfriend’s beautiful apartment by the Seine. She’s one of the few lucky Parisians who has two balconies, one being a rooftop terrace. There is something about spending the entire afternoon on a terrace by the Seine that made me want to bake a tarte…it’s just oh, so French.

I baked the tarte and while it cooled we drank coffee, gave ourselves pedicures and talked about life, real estate, home renovation and how to prepare a perfect tarte crust as I have decided to make the crust myself next time. See? Women actually don’t sit around and discuss men all day. When you’re over 30 there’s not much left to say. Flaky, perfect crust on the other hand…

In French: Tarte aux Abricots et à la Crème d'Amandes

Recipe: Tarte aux Abricots et à la Crème d’Amandes

…………………

Ingredients

………

  • 1 ready made shortcrust pastry
  • 800g -900g apricots, halved & stoned & quartered
  • 1 cup ground almonds
  • 1/4 cup muscovado sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 150 ml cream
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 50g white sugar
  • 3 tablespoons of almond slivers
  • Icing sugar for dusting (optional)
  • Whipped cream, to serve (optional)
…………….

Instructions

………..

  1. Pre-heat oven to 200°c
  2. Wash, half, remove seed and quarter the apricots
  3. Fold out and form the pastry in a tarte dish
  4. Combine the ground almonds and muscovado sugar
  5. Weigh down the pastry with dried beans or pastry weights and bake in oven with bottom heat only for 10 minutes
  6. While the pastry is baking mix the eggs, cream, vanilla and white sugar in a large bowl
  7. Remove the pastry from oven (remove the dried beans or pastry weight)
  8. Adjust the oven heat to top and bottom heat
  9. Cover the base of the crust with the almond and muscovado sugar mixture
  10. Layer the apricots on top
  11. Pour the cream mixture evenly over the apricots
  12. Sprinkle some muscovado sugar over the apricots
  13. Bake for 35 minutes until the top just begins to brown
  14. If the bottom of your crust is not done enough, you can adjust the oven heat to bottom-only again, lower the oven rack and bake for an additional 5 minutes.
  15. Toast the almond slivers
  16. After the tarte has cooled sprinkle the toasted almond slivers over the top.
  17. Allow to cool completely and serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

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June 24th, 2010

Pear, Gorgonzola and Walnut Bruschetta

I was staying with a friend in Munich last weekend and typical for Munich, it was cold and rainy despite being June. This appetizer is normally more suited to Autumn but when it’s 10°c in Summer, Autumn food seems fitting.

Strictly speaking you couldn’t call this a bruschetta. Bruschetta is made with stale bread, I used a fresh Baguette à l’ancienne. You would also typically use olive oil but I chose butter to enhance the flavor of the pear.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Recipe

………………………………………

Ingredients

  • 12 slices of baguette
  • 1 large pear
  • 200 grams gorgonzola
  • Butter
  • 24 walnut halves

……………….

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 190°
  2. Wash and dry the pear.
  3. Slice the pear in paper thin slices
  4. Cut the bread into 12 pieces
  5. Crumble the gorgonzola
  6. Butter the bread
  7. Lay two slices of pear on each piece of bread
  8. Top with the gorgonzola and two walnut halves
  9. Toast until the cheese is bubbling and the edges of bread are lightly toasted

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June 14th, 2010

Homemade Salted Caramel Sauce

I wanted some caramel sauce with the banana nut loaf I made last month. I picked up my keys, headed towards the door, thinking I would run to the store and buy it there, when I remembered, “Oh, I can do this myself!”. Caramel sauce is so easy to make. Here is the recipe:

190 grams (1 cup) sugar
60 ml (1/4 cup) water
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
120 ml (1/2 cup) heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla

1 tsp sea salt

Place sugar in a small sauce pan and then pour the water evenly over the top. Set the stove to medium-high heat. Stir the mixture occasionally until sugar has dissolved. Cover pan, turn heat to high, and boil for 2 minutes. Remove lid and continue to boil, stirring occasionally, until syrup turns brown around the edges of the pan. Grab the handle, stir and swirl syrup occasionally until it turns a deep amber and begins to smoke.

Remove pan from heat and add butter. Gently whisk, until all butter is mixed in. Allow to cool for a moment and then slowly stir in the cream. If the cream is cold it could boil over.

If sauce become lumpy, set pan over low heat and stir until smooth then turn off heat again. Finally add the vanilla and sea salt.

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June 6th, 2010

Getting it Right the Second Time Around – For Pilot: Polenta with Chorizo and Prawns

Many meals tell a story and many great stories include a meal that weaves itself, inextricably into the plot. Today’s meal has a background story and due to it’s success, has now become part of the story of  My First Year Back in Paris.

Last year I met a man who loves food almost as much as I. Our first day spent together revolved around food and kissing. Not a bad combination. In fact, our first kiss was in the middle of Munich’s Viktualienmarkt, under the hot summer sun, standing next to a produce stand.

Fast forward a couple of months and there we are,  a couple in Paris together and he’s making sure that I eat very well.  It goes without saying that, when you love food, being with someone who shares your passion is a delightful experience.

Of all of our meals together, my favourite one was on an October night in a very small, excellent restaurant. I ordered fish with polenta, chorizo and cépes. The dish was served in a shallow, wide bowl. The polenta and chorizo were hidden under the fish (not formed like my meal today). The fish was wonderful, the wine was perfect and I remember we smiled all evening and congratulated ourselves on having such great taste.

Life wasn’t as perfect as the meals we were sharing and by the middle of the following January we parted ways.

But not before I tried to recreate the dish. In my defense, you just shouldn’t cook a meal when you feel miserable. It doesn’t help if  both the cook and the guest are alternating between smiling and weeping. Such was the case on the evening I decided to cook for us. Instead of planning the meal with care, I went to the grocery store and quickly bought frozen fish and pre-cooked, pre-formed polenta. Big mistake…huge mistake. Pre-cooked polenta is hard and flavourless, rather like eating cardboard.

I began the meal with some trepidation. We were both under enormous emotional stress and had been for a while. The turmoil had caused me to lose my cooking mojo and I knew it. Losing one’s cooking mojo is serious business. My creativity, precision and passion for cooking was gone…whisked away as if by black magic.

That night I cried while cooking, we both cried while eating (and not just because the fish was over-cooked) and by January my Food-Loving Lover and I seperated. I never did cook a proper meal for him.

Lovers come and go but the things we love the most, the things we’re passionate about, stay with us. I may have lost my cooking mojo for a while but the talent, passion and deep love I have for food, was always there, under the surface…just waiting for me to heal from heartbreak and once again embrace my Love of Cooking.

Do the thing you love and everything else will fall into place.

Today I decided to re-create that meal on my own terms, in my own way. What I’ve done today, barely resembles my original inspiration. This is actually, what I prefer.

I bought mold forms at E. Dehillerin yesterday and went in search for the best chorizo I could find. Instead of serving in a bowl, I made forms and layered thinly sliced chorizo in the middle. Instead of fish, I used prawns. Instead of cépes with brown sauce, I made a chorizo cream.

And this time, instead of cooking for a lover I cooked for two of my best friends in Paris, Steve and Paul. Sitting at the table, I watched them closely as they first tasted the results of my work. Steve moaned slightly and barely spoke. He looked at me later and said, “It wasn’t just good, it was to die for!”

Mission accomplished.

My cooking mojo has been back for a while but today was especially important to me. I believe in not giving up on something until you get it right.

So this meal is for the man that kissed me at Viktualianmarkt, fed me well & with love, and ate the over-cooked fish I served him.

All’s well that ends well.

The recipe and instructions are here.

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June 4th, 2010

Parfait of Rose, White Peaches and Champagne

Parfait of Rose, Champagne and White Peach

For dessert last night, I originally planned to make some sort of fruit tiramisu and use the jasmine confit that I had bought the day before.

But then, yesterday afternoon I saw these adorable rose biscuits that made me changed my mind and my shopping list.

I drizzled the rose bicuits with champagne, mixed mascarpone with a bit of powdered sugar, diced up the white peaches and mixed them with rose petal confit.

Next, I built the parfait in layers in a form, garnished the plate with rose petals and a bit of powdered sugar and voila!

Easy, beautiful dessert.

The recipe is here in the recipe files under, “Desserts”.

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June 3rd, 2010

Garden Party on a Plate – Today’s Inspired Creation

What I made for lunch today: The edible flowers are Bleuets and Oeillet d'Poéte (Cornflowers and Carnations)

A creative cook looks everywhere and anywhere for inspiration.  Today’s lunch was inspired by Michel Bras.

Food isn’t just about flavour, temperature and texture…it’s also about aesthetic. A while back I saw pictures from Michel Bras restaurant in Laguiole, France

I had looked him up on the web out of curiousity. Not many rural French restaurants have gained and maintained three Michelin stars. The particular photo  that I saw made my eyes widen. It was vegetable plate covered in flora. My first thought was, “A Garden Party on a plate!”.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been daydreaming about creating a meal that looks so pretty I almost don’t want to eat. Last weekend while leafing through a brochure I picked up at Galleries Lafayette Gourmet, I saw another photo of brilliantly green soup.

The images in my mind started forming one cohesive idea. I already knew that I wanted to make a lemon risotto and add fresh basil to it. Fish is the perfect protein to accompany lemon risotto so the two main components of the dish were decided. But what about a green sauce?

A friend visited me last weekend and was with me as I left Galleries Lafayette Gourmet. In the taxi ride on our way to dinner I mused out-loud about how to do a bright green sauce that wouldn’t lose it’s brilliance when heated. She suggested nettles. She told me that she learned to cook with them, in an Italian cooking course. They never lose their brilliant green colour.

The thing about nettles is, they are violent little plants. I wasn’t quite ready to tackle them but I will in the future.

Instead I came up with a green sauce that is uncooked: baby spinach, fresh mint and garlic. The combination is fantastic with grilled fish!

I went out this morning to my local street- market and bought fish, fresh flowers, mint, basil and everything else I needed to create today’s meal:

Pan-Seared Cabillaud with a Mint, Spinach & Garlic Sauce and Lemon Basil Risotto – Garnished with Flowers

I took photos as I built my, “Garden Party on a Plate”. You can see the progression below.

You can find the recipes here in the recipe file, under Main Courses

Lemon Basil Risotto

Adding the flowers...

And now the fish. You will see from the first photo that I ate off part of the fish. This is because I accidentally got the sauce on top of the fish and didn't want to photograph it like that. I was also a bit hungry...

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June 2nd, 2010

Creative Condiment of the Week

The dried flowers in a jar that I found in my local candy shop. Dried Flowers are for more than garnish. You can use them in shortbread bisquits, homemade granola bars with white chocolate, fruits and dried flowers as well as a garnish on top of your salads.

When you strive to become a more creative cook, there will come a time when you must move beyond typical spices (those are must-haves in any case) and explore other sensory enhancers. Take for example, something as simple as salt. Most people could use a salt-upgrade in their kitchen.

I haven’t cooked with normal table salt in years. I use either himalayan salt or fleur de sel. In fact, when I sold all of my belongings and moved last year. The one kitchen item that made it in my bag was my Himalayan salt.

I’ve recently developed an avid interest in edible flowers. Not just for garnish but for the perfume and flavor. I’ve been imagining all that I could do with flowers and you will be seeing some interesting sorbets, beverages and sauces throughout the summer here on the website.

Stocking your kitchen with interesting condiments provides inspiration – you see it there and the ideas start to flow…or at least they should. If you feel blocked, just do some research for recipes on the web or the maker’s website. They often have recipes. I don’t often follow them but instead use them as a starting point for inspiration.

Jasmin petal confit, lavender syrup, rosemary syrup and dried, edible flowers

Which is what I will have to do for one of today’s finds: Rosemary Syrup. I already imagined using it for a sorbet but the shop keeper told me that despite the syrup’s sweetness, it can be used in savoury dishes.

Tomorrow I will be cooking again. Until then, here are my finds of the day and some ideas to inspire you.

Jasmin Petal Confit - for scones with clotted cream or make mini tiramisus in glasses with lady finger bisquits, marcarpone and jasmine confit. Garnish the top with pink rose petals to make it even more lovely

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May 24th, 2010

Latest Kitchen Experiment – Torte au Chocolat Blanc et Noix de Coco

I’m sure that I’m not the first person who, upon trying Trish Deseine’s Gâteau au Chocolat Fondant de Nathalie, thought, “I wonder what this would taste like with white chocolate?”. I’ve been mulling different ideas over in the past week.

Should I make a dense white chocolate torte with strawberries? Or a Torte Pina Colada with coconut and pineapple? I knew the recipe would have to be altered. White chocolate isn’t really chocolate. It has a different melting point, more sugar and will interact differently with flour and eggs, producing a texture very different from the Gâteau au Chocolat Fondant de Nathalie.

I decided to keep it simple and stick to white chocolate and coconut. I also wanted a fluffy torte, not too dense.

This is what I came up with:

  • 300 grams white chocolate
  • 150 grams unsalted butter
  • 125 grams coconut shavings (only 100 grams in the torte, set 25 grams aside to decorate cake with)
  • 150 ml heavy cream
  • 30   grams sugar
  • 4     eggs
  • 4     tablespoons flour
  • Powdered Sugar for decoration

Pre-head oven to 190°C (375°F)

Line 20cm pie dish with parchment paper

Melt the white chocolate and butter in a double broiler. Add cream, stirring continually. Remove from heat and allow to cool a bit. Add 100 grams of the coconut shavings (reserving 25 grams for decoration). Transfer mixture to large mixing bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing with electric mixer. Add the 30 grams of sugar and 4 tablespoons of flour.

Pour mixture into the lined pie dish. Bake for 24 minutes.

Allow to cool for 30 minutes. To serve, sprinkle with coconut shavings and powdered sugar.

The cake has a lighter and slightly spongy texture. It’s not overly sweet and would be perfect with coffee.

Tip: Be very careful when melting the white chocolate. I noticed that it burns more easily than authentic chocolate. So melt it very slowly and stir often!

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May 23rd, 2010

Quiche aux Poireaux – Leek Quiche

This Sunday's Quiche aux Poireaux

So far this morning: I’ve been shopping, baked a quiche, took and hour walk in Le Marais, had coffee on a terrace in the sun, discovered a great Vintage Boutique and bought some delicious baklava on Rue Rosier (Jewish District of Paris) and it’s only 2:00 pm…

I have to clean the house now before I meet a friend on Île Saint-Louis.

I cheated and used a pâte feuilletée toute prête – it’s a cross between a ready to bake phyllo dough & puff pastry. You simply roll out and form easily in a pie-dish.

So here’s is the simple recipe before I go:

  • 1 ready to bake puff pastry
  • 4 beautiful poireaux (Leeks)
  • 70-100 grams grated gruyère cheese
  • 30 grams lightly salted butter
  • 4 eggs
  • 20 cl milk
  • 20 cl crème fraiche – if you are in the USA, you can use a sour cream if créme fraiche is not available
  • salt & pepper

Wash and dice leeks.

Pre-heat oven to 180°C (350°F)

Grease pie-dish with butter, lay pastry in pie dish and form.

Sautée the leeks in butter until soft.

Beat eggs until yellow and white are completely mixed. Then add milk, créme fraiche, gruyère, leeks, salt and pepper.

Pour into pie-dish. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Allow to cool for about 20 minutes before eating. I took a photo of course – Click on it for an up-close and mouthwatering view!!

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May 22nd, 2010

Not Just for Salad – Olive Oil & Vinegars are for Desserts Too

Click on image to see higher quality photo

I had my precious cherries in mind today as I entered Oliviers & Co., a purveyor of olive oils from Haute-Provence. My original intention was to buy only a bottle of their Cherry Balsamic but then the Honey & Ginger Balsamic looked so good too, that I wished I had bought some earlier for the orange and sweet chili pepper salsa I made last week.

When the shop assistant noticed I was open to buying more she asked me if I have a good olive oil at home. I told her I did indeed need an olive oil, but I want the mildest flavour possible. She showed a bottle of extra virgin olive oil from Château du Vignal to me, asking, “Do you know the macaroons from Ladurée?

Cherries with Cherry Balsamic

Well they make one macaroon with olive oil and this particular oil is the one they use for their macaroon.” I’ve had that particular macaroon actually and it is delicious. She let me taste a teaspoon of the Château du Vignal which is classified as a Grand Cru Oil with the selection being limited to only 1000 liters. It was so delicate I could almost drink it. It definately belongs in desserts.

As I left the shop with my two balsamics and the olive oil I decided to use the oil and cherry balsamic to create a dessert with my remaining cherries.

Cherry Balsamic

Here is the recipe that formed in my mind as I walked back home:

1/2 cup of cherries that have been cut in half and   pitted

1 teaspoon Cherry Balsamic

1 teaspoon  olive oil (the absolutely mildest olive oil you can find) – try the Château du Vignal

1 tablespoon of orange & dark chocolate confit

1 almond wafer

Dark chocolate with orange shavings (from a bar of dark chocolate)

Toss the cherries in the olive oil and cherry balsamic. Sprinkly with white sugar. Put the dark chocolate confit on plate and insert the almond wafer (the confit should support the wafer so that it stands)

Arrange the cherries on the plate, against the wafer. Drizzle more oil and balsamic if you like. Sprinkle with shavings of dark chocolate.

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May 21st, 2010

I’ll Choose My Own Cherries, Thank You Very Much.

You can view this and my other food photography on Flickr - see left sidebar

I put all of my creations on Epicurious.com now. See the link below.

I’m having a picnic on the Seine with a friend tonight and decided to create my own version of couscous: Couscous with pan-seared duck breast, cherries, pine nuts and herbs. Knowing that I love photographing food as much as I do preparing and eating it, I contemplated the cherries at my local grocer with hesitation; half of the cherries looked pathetic.

When I explained to the shop-keeper, in French, that I only needed a few cherries and they must be beautiful, he smiled a “I-don’t-give-a-shit” smile and grabbed his large scoop to put some in a bag for me. “No, no!”, I stopped him. “I need to hand-pick these. Half of what you have looks rotten. I won’t pay for ugly cherries and I certainly won’t cook with them.” He refused to allow me to select the cherries of my choice. We had a “discussion” (argument).

Sir, I see you are stubborn but guess what, I’m even more stubborn – When it comes to being stubborn…this girl is EPIC.

At this point I regarded him calmly and tried to explain once more: I WANT TO CHOOSE MY OWN FUCKING CHERRIES.

“No? – OK, then. If you’re not flexible enough to allow a customer (it wasn’t the first time I shopped there) to choose the produce she wants, then I won’t buy any of the other things in my basket either.”

I shrugged my Parisian Shrug (I’m good at it), dropped everything on the counter and walked across the street to the other grocer.

Smiling and wearing my best sighing, eye-rolling “Oh, la, la” expression, I told the other grocer what an imbecile his competitor is and explained my plight.

“No, problem! That man is an idiot!” was his cheerful reply.

Pictured here is the result of my efforts . Of course, for the picnic I will place it into a Tupperware dish and it won’t look so lovely.

But what matters is: it taste delicious…and I got to choose my cherries.

I’ve put the recipe here, on Epicurious.com

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May 20th, 2010

The Banana Nut Loaf Cake Experiment

The coconut crumble topping with walnuts before going in the oven

Right now I look like a Mad Scientist Inventor. I’m standing over my laptop in the kitchen with flour on my face, in my hair and coconut in my bra. Not coconuts in my bra – I mean coconut shavings. All of this before lunch because I woke up with a burning desire to creat The Best Banana Nut Bread in the Universe. Or something close to that.

Over the years, some of the  best improvisations and creations in my kitchen have been a result of acute cravings. Craving one particular taste or combination of flavours and deciding to create a recipe the way I want it.

I’m a creme de marron addict. In my local grocery store they sell an apple sauce that is 60% apple and

Banana Nut Loaf with Coconut Crumble Topping

40% creme de marron. I love the stuff. Considering that I normally put one cup of apple sauce in my banana nut loaf (for moisture)…you can probably already see where I’m going with this.

Today’s creation is a banana nut loaf with a bit of applesauce/creme de marron, walnuts and topped off with a coconut crumble.

It’s in the oven right now. Here are some pictures to start with. When it’s done, I’ll photograph the results and give you my recipe.

Cooling at the window

Update: It’s finished. Is it the best banana nut loaf in the universe? – probably not. Is it super-moist, with just the right balance of banana flavor to contrast the roasted coconut and walnut topping? Yes. Now I just need to share it with or I’ll eat the entire thing myself…

Click on the photos for a much higher quality picture with detail.

Update: I entered the Epicurious 15th Anniversary Recipe Contest! Please rate my recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/50083588

Recipe

* 1/4 cup whole milk
* 2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour (do not use self-rising flour!)
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 2 large eggs
* 1/2 cup applesauce/creme de marron mixture (if you do not have creme de marron, vanilla apple sauce)
* 3 very ripe medium bananas
* 3 oz walnuts, chopped (1 cup)

For the Coconut Crumble Topping

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup light brown(muscovado)sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) of VERY cold unsalted butter,
cut into small pieces
1 cup unsweetened coconut shavings
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Pre-heat oven with rack at a lower-center position -you don’t want the crumble topping to burn)

Grease a 9- by 5-inch loaf pan and line bottom of pan with parchment paper

Mix butter & sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer until it reaches a pale yellow &fluffy consistancy, about 90 seconds. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until combined, then beat in the mashed bananas and applesauce/creme de marron mixture.

Add the flour, baking powder, & salt and beat mixture until everything is well-integrated.

Crumble Topping:

In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar. Add the cold butter; pulse until large crumbs form, about 30 seconds.
Add the coconut shavings and walnuts: pulse the mixture just until combined.
Spread topping evenly over the loaf & bake until a wooden pick or butter knife inserted in center of bread comes out clean, about 1 hour.
Allow to cool for 30 minutes.

For the Caramel Sauce
* 190 grams (1 cup) sugar
* 60 ml (1/4 cup) water
* 8 tblsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces
* 120 ml (1/2 cup) heavy cream
* pinch of salt

Instructions

Pre-heat oven with rack at a lower-center position -you don’t want the crumble topping to burn)

Grease a 9- by 5-inch loaf pan and line bottom of pan with parchment paper

Mix butter & sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer until it reaches a pale yellow &fluffy consistancy, about 90 seconds. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until combined, then beat in the mashed bananas and applesauce/creme de marron mixture.

Add the flour, baking powder, & salt and beat mixture until everything is well-integrated.

Crumble Topping:

In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar. Add the cold butter; pulse until large crumbs form, about 30 seconds.
Add the coconut shavings and walnuts: pulse the mixture just until combined.
Spread topping evenly over the loaf & bake until a wooden pick or butter knife inserted in center of bread comes out clean, about 1 hour.
Allow to cool for 30 minutes.

For the Caramel Sauce
* 190 grams (1 cup) sugar
* 60 ml (1/4 cup) water
* 8 tblsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces
* 120 ml (1/2 cup) heavy cream
* pinch of salt
Place sugar in a small sauce pan & then pour the water evenly over the top.

Set the stove to medium-high heat. Stir the mixture occasionally until sugar has dissolved.

Cover pan, turn heat to high, and boil for 2 minutes.

Remove lid and continue to boil, stirring occasionally, until syrup turns brown around the edges of the pan.

Stir and swirl the caramel occasionally until it turns a deep amber.

Remove pan from heat and add butter. Gently whisk, until all butter is mixed in.

Allow to cool for a moment and then slowly stir in the cream.

If the cream is cold it could boil over.Serve as a dessert with the caramel sauce drizzeled on the plate (or more according to your taste)and a piece of the banana nut loaf on top of the caramel.

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May 19th, 2010

Make Breakfast Beautiful

A sesame baguette with egg, Boursin, rucola, lardons and sun-dried tomato

I don’t normally eat breakfast but this morning I woke up with a craving for three things: bacon, rucola and garlic. Yeah, I know…that latter two are not your normal breakfast flavours. I also wanted it to look pretty. It’s the first meal of the day so why not start the day off on a visual high-note?

This is what I came up with: a breakfast baguette with egg, lardons, Boursin with garlic, rucola and sundried tomato with just a bit of fresh herb sprinkled on top.

It’s quick and simple and there are endless variations on the breakfast baguette. Breakfast doesn’t have to be boring. Click on the picture to see a higher quality photo with more detail.

Tip: To give some extra to your breakfast, try a baguette with olives or sesame or any other interesting addition you find in your neighborhood bakery. I took a sesame baguette this morning.

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April 26th, 2010

Back to Your Roots

Roots: carrots, turnips and parsnips (copyright notice: This photo is courtesy of shared content on Flickr. It is not my own)

Alain Passard may  have brought a new fascination with vegetables to France but us Southern Americans have always placed vegetable dishes high on the culinary ladder. No Southern meal is ever complete with at least two vegetable dishes on the table.

So the French are focusing more on vegetables and less on beef and heavy sauces, congratulations to them. They could also learn a thing or two from Americans. Oh, I can hear the French cringing from their universal and all-encompassing, short-man complex…”how dare any other country think we could learn something about food from them!”. Au contraire dear Frenchy, your country’s great chefs have looked everywhere but France for inspiration in the past eight years. Ever since Alain Ducasse declared that French cuisine had lost it’s international prestige, the up-and-coming French chefs have looked outside of France for inspiration. As well they should

Ironic that the name of this blog is Snob on a Budget, as nothing irks me more than nationalistic food snobbery.

My step-brother looks like bona fide  redneck, most likely he would tell you,  “that’s because I am a bona fide redneck”.  He’s not actually, but he doesn’t take himself too seriously, he’s laid-back and kind. He’s also quite the foody. In his little country house located in the woods of South Carolina you won’t find trucker magazines, rather a collection of culinary literature ranging from American classics like Julia Child’s, The Art of Cooking (absolutely French influenced), to books from modern whizz kids like Jamie Oliver, various culinary magazines and even the Michelin Guide.

His authenticity and passion for food warms my heart. Never judge a book by it’s cover and yes, that also apply to cookbooks and southerners in t-shirts.

I began this article with the intention of sharing a root-based recipe that my step-brother prepared for our Christmas dinner back home last year: Sauteed Parsnips and Carrots with Pancetta, Rosmary and Honey. But in the process, the title has taken on a double meaning for me.

I do love France and yes, I still believe that most of the time, you can eat better in France than anywhere else in the world. But France is not the “Be All, End All” that many people, French or not, like to claim it is.

Food is like spirituality. Your perception and experience of it, is beyond personal. It is no wonder that last year, amidst the emotional turmoil and insecurity I experienced after making drastic life changes, nothing I cooked turned out right. For a food lover, the soul participates. If the soul suffers, so does this evening’s lasagna or fish (of which I over-cooked).

Food is home. On some days it might be a dish prepared by a chef who operates with a super-human precision. In other moments it could be the comfort dish from home that, no matter where you eat it, always takes you back to your roots.

I believe it is this understanding of the transcendent quality of food that has driven certain chefs to give back Michelin stars or never aim for them in the first place.

I saw this in my step-brother last Christmas. As he stood over the stove in his t-shirt only a proud redneck would wear and drizzled clove honey over slowly sauteeing parsnips I realized that the place I come from is as multi-dimensional as I have evolved to be.

Life in Europe is an experience no doubt. I enjoy the simplicity and the occasional moment of glamour I am exposed to, but my roots offer those things too.

Standing with my step-brother it struck me, it’s not where you are that matters, it’s who you are. Like they say, “Wherever you go, there you are.”

Inspiration is to be found around any corner.

Thank you for the recipe Dale. It was wonderful.

  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • sliced pancetta
  • 1 pound carrots (about 4 large), peeled, cut into sticks
  • 1 pound large parsnips, peeled, halved lengthwise, cored, cut into sticks
  • Coarse sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons honey (such as heather, clover, or wildflower)

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