tea time in London and the recipe of one blondie

 Aaaaah, small English patries served with tea... it's too cute to be ignored! 

Before I go on further, I would like to wink to my friends Angélique & Jonathan. They love London and not only because of Harry Potter or Peter Pan. Jonathan asked Angélique to marry him in London (how romantic is that!).

Anyway, I found a small book celebrating tea time! Pictures are fun and there is a few cute drawings around the recipes.

After going through the pages several times in search of THE recipe to try, I put aside the Christmas cake type (not in season) and the brownies or scones I already posted on this blog although I was mouthwatering in front of the scones recipes. After all, strawberries are in season! 

Anyway, my love for rock n' roll and of "caramel au beurre salé" has won the recipe game.
My blondie is a bit tanned 'cause I use whole sugar instead of white sugar. You do as you like but whole sugar is super good! 
Oh, and yes, as usual, I put a third less of the sugar quantity advised in the book. I could have divided it by 2 (for the blondie, not for the caramel... a sugar free caramel is just not meant to be!).

You need:

For the caramel:

100ml sour cream

1 tbsp maple syrup

75g sugar

25g butter in cubes

1/2 tsp salt

60g salted peanuts (chop them roughly)

For the blondie:

220g melted butter

200g sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

200g flour (I used 150g buckwheat flour and 50g whole wheat flour T110 - for the gluten-free version, mix buckwheat and rice or buckwheat and chestnut flours)

And now, to the stove:

Thee caramel:

Bring the cream and mapple syrup to boil. Set aside.
In a pre-heated pan, add 1 tbsp of sugar. When it's melted, add the rest of the sugar a little at a time. Turn the heat down and when all is melted, add the cream (still warm). Mix, add the butter while mixing. When the butter has melted add the salt and pour in a bowl. Mix in the peanuts and set aside.

Salted peanuts are IN-DIS-PEN-SA-BLES. This blondie wouldn't be as charming without them.

For the blondie dough: preheat the oven at 180°C. Add the sugar to the melted butter and whisk. Add the vanilla extract then one egg at a time until incorporated.
Add the flour and the salt. When the mix is smooth, pour in a 33 x 23 cm or 24 cm diametre mould. 
Pour the caramel mix here and there over the blondie mix and, with a knife, push the caramel in the dough. It has to be irregular.
Cook in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Don't overcook.

 Delicious! I recommand this to everyone even if you're not Angélique or Jonathan, even if you don't like London.

God save the Queen! and it's her Jubilee... things are just at the right place at the right time!

another brownie : Chloé's recipe

 VThe very feminine Chloé, who has a very English/American kind of pastry salon has written a book to share her recipes: cookies, whoopies, cupckes... I don't know if the book exist in English but if it ever does, it's perfect to offer to someone who loves pastry, kitsch, pink, and womanly women!

The name of each pastry is fun and easy to make and she thought about the intolerant with 2 recipes: Betty or the dairy-free cookie and Carla Brownie for the gluten sensitives. I tried the last one because I just bought rice flour and I had all the other ingredients on hand. Also it's super quick to make.

Verdict ? I did take some sugar off but the result was there. I wasn't disappointed so next time I might try the Betty cookie or the heartbroken bear.

told you it was for pink amateur!

 the recipe follows: 

6 to 8 persons

200g 70% dark chocolate

110g room temperature butter

100g brown sugar

3 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

65g rice flour

a few pistacchios

Turn on the oven at 160°C.

In a bain-marie (double broiler), melt the chocolate and butter.

Whisk the eggs with the sugar then add the melted chocolate. The meix should be shiny and smooth.

Add the rice flour with a spatula then pour in a rectangular mould (if not in silicone, line the tin with parchment paper).

Add a few pistacchios on top.

Cook for 40 minutes then leave to cool.

Yum!

thin galettes

Those cookies are really easy to make. They will taste like Brittany if you ever went there.

It's crucial to choose great ingredients. The list is simple and if you choose mediocre ingredients, you won't have anything to hide or cover the disaster.

The butter is the choice ingredient. Try to find raw butter for a better and true taste.

For the flour, choose half-whole organic wheat flour, if possible stone grounded.

Choose Guérande salt or grey sea salt.

For about 70 galettes.

285g organic half-whole flour

100g raw butter

100g sugar

1 egg

1g baking powder or baking soda

5g grey sea salt (de guérande if possible)

Melt half the butter.

In a stand mixer, mix the other half of unmelted butter with sugar. Add the melted butter, the egg, then the salt. Don't overmix.

Mix the flour with the baking powder or soda and add to the previous mix.

Leave to rest 30 to 45 minutes.

Spread the dough to get 3 to 4 mm thick and cut it with round cutter.

Cook in a pre-heated oven at 240°C on a tray covered with silicone or baking sheet.

Cook for about 7 minutes but take the cookies out as soon as they're golden.

You can freeze the raw dough as a roll and cut thin slices  that you'll cook a little longer.

You can make a gluten free mix by using buckwheat flour instead of wheat flour.

I'm afraid you won't get the same satisfying and authentic result by replacing the butter* with anything else.

*The butter is lactose free (all the lactose stays in the whey. Butter is very good for you health if it comes from a good source.

P.S. I'll give away those cookies next Saturday (may 19th 2012) in Huy for Jamie Oliver's FoodRevolution Day!

Chickpea, mint, and feta cheese

Drain 375g of chickpea and rince until there's no foam coming from it.

Heat 4 tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan on low heat and cook a minced onion until golden. Add 7 garlic cloves (peeled and minced) with 2 hot peppers (deseeded and minced). Cook for a few seconds until fragrant. Leave to cool.

Mix the chickpeas with the cold onion mix (and the cooking oil that go with it) and with 375g of crumbled feta (or cut in cubes), minced flat leaves parsley, ciseled fresh mint, the juice of 2 lemons. Add 2 tbsp of olive and toss.

You can make it without the feta and add olives instead.

Japanese cuisine

I got this book in French but in English you can get it too: "Japanese" ACP Magazines Ltd.

The book is super appetizing and about one of the best cuisine for me: Japanese cuisine. Well, of course, by now almost everyone knows syshi but Japanese cuisine is more then that: Japanese curry, tempura, sea weed, tofu, grilling, marinade...

To test the recipe from this book, I choose teppanyaki. I don't have a barbecue or a real teppanyaki but my cast iron skillet will do perfectly.

The recipe suggest using shrimp and chicken along side the beef but I only used beef.

Ingredients:

850g fillet of beef

60ml of Japanese soy sauce

2 garlic cloves, crushed and peeled

1 Thaï hot pepper, deseeded and minced

4 dry shiitake mushrooms

1 peeled and minced onion

1 red pepper washed and sliced

4 scallions, minced

3 young zucchini, cut in large lengthwise chunks

3 young leeks cut lengthwise

sauce:

125 ml soy sauce

1 tbsp mirin

1 tsp brown sugar

2 cm fresh grated ginger

1/2 tsp sesame oil

Mix the beef, soy sauce, garlic and hot pepper. Leave to marinade at least 15 minutes.

Rehydrate the shiitake mushrooms about 15 minutes in cold water then cut the foot. Slice.

Heat you skillet and add a little sesame oil (spread with towel paper). Grill  the peppers until soft, grill the zucchini skin side up until golden, melt the onions until golden, and do the same with the leeks.

                                     

Mix the ingredients for the sauce and heat slowly until sugar is mixed in.

Add the mushrooms and the scallions.

Take the meat out of the fridge 10 minutes before cooking so it stays tender after cooking. Grill the meat on the cast iron skillet, on the barbecue or teppanyaki.

 

 Serve the meat with the vegetables and the sauce in an individual bowl.

If you can't go without, serve with round Japanese rice.

If you have an electrical plancha/teppanyaki/grill, serve this with the shrimp and chicken (marinated with the beef) and let each guest cook as he/she wishes.

cured cod with beetroot and vodka

 This is a great recipe, easy to make but that you'll have to prepare well in advance.
We made it with mackerel at Christmas and ate it as a condiment with rye bread and sour cream. In this recipe, I made it with cod filets wich are thicker then mackerel and so not as salty.
I've found this recipe in Donna Hay's magazine. Donna Hay is Australian and has a way to make cooking simple.


The fish is pink because of the beetroot.
It's crucial to choose well the ingredients:
-raw and organic beetroot, firm

-coarse grey sea salt (rich in minerals)
-very fresh fish. Make this recipe the day of your purchase.

 Ingredients:

2 tbsp of black pepper in grains, lightly crushed
1 bunch of flat leaf parsley
600g coarse sea salt
220g of sugar
1 beetroot, peeled and grated
60ml of vodka
1200g of cod filet with skin on
250g of cour cream
1 tsp wasabi powder
1 tsp grated horseradish

1 bunch of cleaned watercress
rye bread (sourdough is better)
freshly grounded pepper
olive oil (cold pressed)

Mix the pepper grains, parsley (chopped), sea salt, sugar, grated beetroot, and vodka.
Put 2 pieces of plastic film on a cutting board. Spread half the salt mix on the film, place the fish filet on top and cover with the rest of the salt;
Wrap the fish tightly and put on a plate. On top, put a smaller plate with heavy objects.
Leave in the fridge for 36 hours, turning the fish upside-down every 12 hours.
Unwrap the fish and brush the salt. Rince well, dry with some paper towel.


To serve:

Cut the fish in thin slices.
Mix the sour cream with the wasabi and horseradish. Taste and add some more wasabi or horseradish if you like but don't add salt as the fish is salty enough.
Serve the fish with the cream, watercress, rye bread slices, freshly ground pepper and a few drops of olive oil.


It's delicious in or with a salad of beetroot, kohlrabi and lamb's lettuce seasoned with grilled sesame oil.

lamb and eggplant crumble

 This recipe is inspired vy a new cookbook I got recently: La Tartine Gourmande. I will write about this book later, but first: the recipe! The quantities are for 8.

For the crumble:

170g flour of your choice (wheat, buckwheat, chestnut)

1 tsp caraway freshly grounded

80g walnuts

60g hazelnuts

20g pumpkin seeds

2 tbsp minced flat leaf parsley 

60g grated goat or sheep's cheese

salt, pepper

170g butter or coconut oil at room temperature

Tchop the walnuts, hazelnuts and pumpkin seeds.

Mix all the crumble ingredients with your fingers or a pastry blender to get a sandy mix. Refrigerate.

The lamb and the aubergines / eggplants:

800g minced lamb (it works with beef, poultry, veal or pork but lamb has a special taste that comes greatly in this dish)

1 small minced peeled onion

2 stick of celeri, minced

2 tsp of reshly grounded caraway

2 garlic cloves peeled and minced

2 cans of tomatoes (cubes)

1 small can of tomato paste (about 3 tbsp)

4 eggplant, cleaned and cut in dices

10 minced sage leaves 

salt, pepper

Turn on the oven at 200°C.

Heat a little olive oil in a sauté pan on medium heat.

Cook the onion, the celeri and the caraway for about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, leave to melt for 2 minutes while mixing.

Add the grounded lamb and let it brown for about 5 minutes while turning so it's not too chunky.

Add the tomatoes (cubes and paste) and leave on high heat for 3 minutes. Add the aubergines and the sage, lower the heat and leave to simmer 30 to 35 minutes.

Salt, pepper, taste.

Oil an oven-proof dish and pour the meat mix in then add the crumble on top.

 Cook in the oven for twenty minutes until the crumble is golden.

 Serve with a salad: young leaves mix + thinly sliced radishes + cherry tomatoes cut in half and this vinaigrette:

1 tsp mustard

1 tsp frehly ground caraway

1/2 garlic clove (peeled and crushed)

2 tbsp of vinegar

olive oil

Mix all of it except the oil that you'll pour a little at a time while whisking.

This meal is great as you can prepare it in advance. you could even freeze it. It's so delicious, it's really comforting.

The book "La Tartine Gourmande" is written by a blogger: Béatrice Peltre. Béatrice is French but she lives in the US and wrote the book and the blog and English. She's also the photographer.

I tested several of her recipes and there are still a lot that are waiting for some time to get tested!

The pictures, as the recipes, are very fresh.

I think anyone who loves cooking should have this book!

But you can start by visiting Béatrice's blog:

http://www.latartinegourmande.com/