SC#38 | Tomato and mustard tart

Summer, yum.

This week I had some old friends stay over. The day started as one of the warmest we'd had recently so I got very eager for a welcoming and hearty summer dish, but it needed to be quite free of time constraints. My friends were coming back from a year living in Mexico (as you do) and I wasn't expecting them to be exactly on time... They were three hours late.



This is a long-time classic of mine (and probably the whole of Southern France). It's so easy and so tasty. All you really need is a sharp knife.

Well, and a few other things:
- one pack puff pastry
- 4-6 large tomatoes, nice and ripe
- 2-3 tbsp Dijon mustard
- some fresh basil
- salt and pepper

Method:
- First, preheat your oven to 180°C. Then plan what you will be serving your tart on. The size of the dish/tray will help you determine the size you should roll your pastry out. (I rolled mine way too big.) Then on a floured surface, roll out the puff pastry and transfer it to a baking-proof tray.
- Spread the mustard on the pastry, making sure you get right to the border. Add more or less depending how mustardey you like your food.
- Slice the tomatoes and arrange them on the pastry, leaving 1-2 cm on the sides. Then roll the sides in as to create a nice crust.
- Chop the basil and sprinkle on the tart, with some rock salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Cook for 40 minutes or until the crust is golden.



Serve it warm or cold, and accompany with some salad if you wish. Bon appétit !

SC#37 | Wholemeal English muffins

I love English muffins so bad. I tend to forget about them for months, then get an absolute craving and demolish a pack of six in 48 hours. Sliced, toasted, with a little butter and jam, they are the best. I love them even more when they're wholemeal; brown bread just tastes a little better (unless it's a Banette 1900 which is the Perfect Bread in all its white flour glory).

Anyway, long story short: I had a craving, so I made them. And I made them good:

It was my first time making something bready. I had a fun evening of covering everything in flour and sticky dough (thanks to my housemate Laura for her moral support/giggles) with many a crisis of 'they're not rising!', 'they're burnt!' or 'they're not cooking!' I'm pretty impressed they turned out alright.

Served with my mum's homemade quince jam, they were fab. Make them too. I used this recipe from Savory Simple. Worked a treat! 

I hope you enjoy a bite of these. Homemade brekkie is the best! x

SC#36 | Layered lemon and chocolate fudge cake

Mmmh, just typing up the title makes my mouth water. "Chocolate fudge" — there aren't many lovelier words than that. And look at this:



It was my friend Gamel's birthday the weekend before last, so I made him a cake. We used to work together, and Gamel's thing was stealing food. You would not be able to leave food unattended without it disappearing. I once brought in biscotti to prove the office I could actually bake (these were early days.) He devoured them all in about ten minutes. Long story short: he likes food.

This was also a sort of personal challenge. I've been on a massive cooking kick recently (more posts to come!) and wanted to get out of what I know. And I'd never made an iced layered cake before! So here goes.

I pretty much used this recipe from Love and Olive Oil, only cutting the icing by about half as (a) I only made two layers and (b) I had next to no butter and icing sugar left. Oopsie! I'd recommend keeping with the original proportions if you like a thick filling and icing, but half does nicely for thinner layers.

The cake was super moist and really nicely flavoured, and the icing was just the right amount of chocolate. I've always been big on chocolate + lemon (one of my favourite chocolate bar flavours) but Britain is used to orange being chocolate's citrus pairing. Well, friends, lemon is the way forward.

I unfortunately have no photos of the inside or my friends enjoying it, but the man did say it's the second best thing I've ever made (should I share no.1 soon...?), even topping my ultimate favourite cake recipe. That's one for the books... x

SC#35 | Asian inspired squash and carrot soup

This soup is another case of staring at my vegetable-filled fridge after getting my first Abel & Cole box and thinking "what the hell do I do now?"

Well, soup is my go-to when I'm not too inspired, so off everything went in boiling water! I also chucked a can of coconut milk in there to make it a bit special — hence why it's called Asian inspired. It's really me trying very hard to pretend I made Thai curry soup when really I didn't. Still tasty though!

Anecdote: the squash I used for this soup really confused me when I dugged it out from my veg box. It was too orange to be a butternut squash, and I actually originally thought it wasn't even a squash at all (because I'm blind and somehow convinced myself its skin was sharon fruit-like. It wasn't. It was squash-like. Here's the beast:)

Asian inspired squash and carrot soup

4-5 servings

- 1 medium sized squash

- 5-6 carrots

- 1 medium union

- chilli flakes
- 1 can coconut milk
- vegetable stock
- salt and pepper

Peel and chop your squash and carrots into little pieces, set aside. Heat a little olive oil in a pot, and sweat the chopped onion. When translucid, add in the squash and carrots, give it a good mix and cook for about 5 minutes, mixing a few times.
Pour vegetable stock until it about covers the vegetables (note: my stock technique is to crumble the stock cube on my dish, pour boiling water and mix.) Add in chilli flakes to your liking. Bring it to a boil then let it simmer until the carrots are soft.
Take it off the heat, mix with a hand blender then bring to the boil again. Immediately lower the heat, season, add in the coconut milk, give it a good mix and serve!

Eat warm or give it a freeze for a lazy night! Not too sure when the next post will come as I'm off home soon... Just in case, merry Christmas!! x

SC#34 | Courgette and spinach frittata

More Abel & Cole stuff yay! In my box were a few courgettes and the LARGEST bunch of spinach I have ever seen. I figured all green things must fit well together... and would taste good with a bit of eggy protein... and cheese... hence the frittata! It was actually the first I made, and I'll be adding it to my lost of staples as it is a very good lunch box option, and tastes good both hot and cold.

Courgette and spinach frittata
Serves 4
- 2 courgettes
- a big bunch of spinach (it's difficult to know how to measure spinach...)
- half an onion
- 5 eggs
- cheese such as cheddar or gruyère, quantity to your liking
- salt and pepper
- nutmeg
- herbes de provence or italian herbs

First, preheat your oven to 180°C. rince and slice your courgettes and boil them in salted water until soft (10-15 mn.) While you do that, rince, drain and tear your spinach leaves in edible-sized pieces.

Once the courgettes are done, drain them and fry them in a pan on medium heat with a little oil and onions for a few minutes. Add the spinach and cook, mixing often, until the spinach has wilted.

In the meantime, mix your eggs with salt, pepper, nutmeg, herbs and half the cheese. Once the vegetables are done, transfer them to a greased ovenproof dish. Pour in the eggmix until it about covers your vegetables. Top with the rest of the cheese and cook in the oven until set and golden on top (check often, but it took about twenty minutes for me.)

Eat warm or let cool out to have as a packed lunch... Mostly, enjoy it!

SC#33 | The Greatest Mash Ever and Spicy Roasted Veg with Abel & Cole

So you know I like food. But, confession, I've been pretty lame on the food plan recently. As I mentioned a few days ago, I've had maaaaany a takeaway recently, eaten my fair share of pizzas and sandwiches (yum yum chicken bacon avocado) and probably devoured my weight in crisps — thus making me heavier; ahh, the infinite circle of crisp eating.

Fast forward to the weekend I decide to be healthy, go to the gym twice and order my first ever Abel & Cole box. Don't know Abel & Cole? They're an organic food delivery company: they pack up tasty veg and fruit from their partner farmers every week and drop off boxes of goodness on your doorstep. Bonus: they are actually a full-on online food shop, where you can order everything from bread to dairy, meat, washing up liquid and Christmas food hampers.

I got a free box thanks to my good mate Claudia. (Befriend food lovers, fellow food lovers! They'll treat you well.) Here are some of the stuff I did with it!

The Greatest Mash Ever, No Kidding (recipe pretty much taken from the Abel & Cole cookbook)
Serves 4-5
- 10 small to medium potatoes
- half a green cabbage
- Dijon mustard
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper
- butter
- half a lemon
- some form of liquid dairy

Peel and chop your 'tatoes and boil them in salted water until soft. While they're bubbling, rince and slice up your cabbage. Fry it in a little olive oil, season and add the lemon juice.
When the potatoes are done, drain then mash them with a knob of butter, milk to your liking, salt and pepper and a tablespoon of Dijon mustard. Add the cabbage in and serve!

Spicy roasted veg
Serves 4 as a side, 2 as a main
- 1 romanesco cauliflower
- 1 courgette
- 3-4 carrots
- 2-3 medium potatoes
- 3-4 garlic cloves
- half a lemon
- olive oil
- chilli flakes
- piment d'Espelette (or similar mild-but-flavoursome chilli powder)
- salt and pepper

Preheat the oven on 180°C. Peel the potatoes and carrots, chop 'em. Chop the garlic cloves into big chunks. Cut up the romanesco cauli in little florets (little enough to eat.) For the courgettes, I use my mum's technique of only peeling stripes off because, yes, it looks cool (but don't forget to rince it!) Place all that on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and the lemon juice, season and add spices to your liking.
Roast for 30-45 minutes, mixing the veg a few times, and I suggest serving them with couscous or quinoa topped with pomegranate seeds!


Ready, set, and cook! Will see you soon for more ad-veg-tures... hehe x

SC#32 | Couscous salad stuffed aubergine

Four months to the day since the last recipe posted on this blog, are you kidding me. It is true I haven't been in the kitchen much over the summer. I was away quite a bit, ate out quite a bit, and when I cooked it was rarely anything exceptional. I did whip up my favourite cake at some point for the man... but it was eaten too fast for photos.

So here we are, it's September, summer is over and my diet is full of veg in an attempt to get rid of what comes with a holiday in Italy: pizza-shaped hips. I've thus been eating a lot of tomato salads and tomato soup (turns out you can buy a LOT of tomatoes for £1 at the market) and other veg-ariations... Get it? Get it?! 

... Right, I'm out, but here's a tasty veg-ariation ;)

Couscous salad stuffed aubergine, serves 2

- 1 aubergine

- 2 small tomatoes

- 1 tbsp dry couscous (Ok I totally didn't measure that. Just adapt it to the size of your aubergine. Also you can make more couscous and just save it for another recipe. Couscous is GREAT.)

- Half an onion

- 2-3 tsp French mustard

- Cajun spice

- Salt, pepper

Preheat the oven on 180°C. Get your couscous ready by placing it into a bowl, covering with boiling water and letting to rest covered with a tea towel.

Rinse the aubergine, cut off the top, halve and carve into boats. Make ridges into the flesh to facilitate baking.

Chop up the onion and tomatoes, mix in with the couscous, and add mustard, Cajun spice and seasoning to your liking. It's difficult to precise how much; I like my stuff really mustardy but some of my friends enjoy the idea of mustard more than the actual thing... 

Fill the aubergine with the salad and cook 20 to 25 minutes.

This would be nice with some feta crumbs and sundried tomatoes as well. Whatever you choose, I hope you enjoy it!

SC#31 | Herby salmon bricks and couscous salad

Summer's here, peaches!

London has been drowning in endless sunshine for the past few days. It's unbelievable. A month and a half ago, I slept with two jumpers on and the fear of snowstorms and icy mornings remained.

A few weeks later, and I've bought sunscreen and got my sunglasses on constantly.

Naturally, food has been evolving and my meals have turned into colourful salads and pretty much nothing else. The other day, I felt adventurous, so decided to go for something a bit wilder. I'd been eying Jamie Oliver's crackin' crab briks ever since I got the 15 minutes cookbook, and figured it was just the right time... for a student-budget adapted version of this recipe.

Because, crabmeat, harissa, sundried tomato purée? God knows I love food and spending money on it, but I also love being able to afford transport, and clothes, and electricity. So here's a slightly cheaper version, with a few tips at the end on how to use leftover things!

Herby salmon bricks and couscous salad, serves 2-3
- Pack of filo pastry
- Tin of salmon (I used pink, cheaper than red)
- 1 tbsp ricotta cheese
- Half a bunch of fresh coriander
- Half a bunch of fresh mint
- 1 bulb of fennel
- 2 spring onions
- A handful of spinach
- Half the seeds of a pomegranate
- Couscous
- Tomato purée
- Some form of spicy spice (paprika, cajun mix, chilli, etc)
- Olive oil



First, get your pomegranate sorted. I use the wooden spoon method which is well demonstrated in this incredibly annoying but very helpful video.

For the couscous: put half a mug of couscous in a bowl, 2-3 tbsp tomato purée, a large pinch of salt and a couple large pinches of whatever spice you're using (I used paprika), cover with boiling water, then cover the bowl with a tea towel and set aside. In a food processor (or with a grater if you don't live with a real-life student housewife like I do—hi Laura!), chop the fennel bulb with the mint. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and set aside.

Now for the fillings, chop the coriander, spinach and spring onions. Mix in a bowl with the drained salmon and ricotta. For the folding, nothing too complicated, but here's a little visual of how I proceeded:

Place the filling in the bottom middle of the filo sheet and press your thumb in the middle to make sure there's enough room for the filling to expand during cooking. Fold one side over, then the other. Fold the bottom over (it'll probably crackle and break, that's alright), then fold/roll until it looks like a little parcel. You're done!



Pour a little oil in a pan on medium-heat, and cook the bricks until they're golden on both sides. Serve with the couscous, topped with the mint fennel salad and half the seeds of the pomegranate.



I used the leftover pomegranate, spring onions and spinach in a salad with tomatoes, granny smith apple and feta, and I plan on making more bricks with the leftover ricotta, spinach and coriander. :) Easy peasy! Hope you enjoy x

SC#30 | Spicy sausage casserole

I don't really do hearty meaty meals. Like, at all. I just don't think about that. I never even buy meat, so getting these sausages was quite the achievement (and it took me forever to pick them—I knew the Brits enjoyed their bangers but would've thought they had so many types of them!) But with the snow turning London into flipping Siberia a few weeks ago, I decided I'd go for something that would make warm all over and give me some energy to fight the arctic winds. I got my inspiration from a dish my housemate made when I was over at hers for New Year's. Nothing crazy really, just some nice comfort food!

And then the weather got warmer, I almost thought I could see tomato salads and homemade spring rolls on my shopping list...

But no. Back to the cold, back to the flipping snow, and mostly back to hearty casseroles.

You'll need:
- one tin of beans in chilli sauce
- one tin of chopped tomatoes
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- sausages to your liking
- two red bell peppers
- olive oil
- salt, pepper
- if you like it really spicy, you could add half a red chilli (or a whole one if you know no fear)

Chop the onion and garlic and soften in a pan with some olive oil. Slice the peppers and cut the sausages in chunks. Add them to the pan and cook until the sausages are almost done. Add then the beans and chopped tomatoes and bring to the boil.

This is really nice with rice and makes for a more hearty meal with it, so if you're going to have some with, now is the time to make it.

Once the casserole's boiled, season and leave this to simmer for 5 to 10 mn (which should be about the time the rice takes.)

And now eat and feel the spicy warmth!

SC#29 | Apple thyme muffins with caramel drizzle

I made these muffins ages ago now and forgot to post about them! Terrible mistake, because they were delicious. And easy. They're the perfect treat for a snowy day, served warm and if you're very indulgent (and have awesome central heating), some vanilla ice cream...



I had a cook-off at my house with a couple friends, and decided it would be an interesting challenge to use only things I already had. I got lucky and realised I had all the ingredients to reproduce Spoon, Fork, Bacon's apple thyme cake recipe. The only thing that I did different was use French crème de caramel au beurre salé instead of making my own caramel.

I have no cake tin, so I turned them into muffins. They tasted just perfect like that!

Another thing I forgot to post about is this one time when I went to The BBC Good Food Show… for free… and got given free fancy gin from 9am… and tons of fantastic food… MOSTLY CHEESE. Also got to attend a Great British Bake-Off demo. So,  accept this picture of Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood baking together as my (late late late) Christmas gift to you.

SC#28 | Baked tuna arrabbiata

Some weeks all I want is a big hearty dish that I can make in advance, heat up quickly and carry around in tupperwares on days I have to be in uni. This baked tuna arrabbiata is the perfect thing. Plus, it's relatively healthy: lots of veggies in there, fish, and pasta for the energy. Then it all depends on how much breadcrumbs and cheese you decide to use...

I used this recipe from BBC Good Food—I followed it to the word, apart from the crushed dried chillies which are not student cupboard basics.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!


***


Il y a des semaines où tout ce que je veux c'est un bon gros plat bien consistant que je peux préparer à l'avance, réchauffer rapidement et transporter dans une tupperware les jours où je suis à la fac sur l'heure du déjeuner. Ce gratin au thon arrabbiata est le plat parfait. En plus, il est assez bon pour la santé : des légumes, du poisson, et des pâtes pour l'énergie. Après, tout dépend de la quantité de croutons et de fromage rajoutés...



Voici pour la recette, traduite depuis BBC Good Food:
- 1 poivron rouge et 1 poivron jaune, épépinés et découpés en lamelles
- 2 gousses d'ail hachées
- 2 boites de 400g tomates en conserve
- 50g d'olives dénoyautées
- 250g de pâtes
- 2 boîtes de 200g de thon
- 25g de croutons de pain
- du parmesan
- de l'huile d'olive
- du sucre

Faites chauffer l'huile dans une grande poele. Faites frire les poivrons pendant 5 min jusqu'à ce qu'ils caramélisent. Ajoutez l'ail, cuire environ 30s, puis ajoutez les tomates et les olives. Assaisonnez, ajoutez une pincée de sucre, portez à ébullition puis laissez mijoter sans couvercle pendant environ 10mn.

Faites cuire les pâtes comme indiqué sur le paquet. Faites chauffer le grill. Egouttez les pâtes et ajoutez les à la poele avec le thon. Versez le tout dans un plat à gratin. Mélangez les croutons de pain et le parmesan et répartissez le tout sur les pâtes.

Faites griller le plat 3-4mn ou jusqu'à ce que les pâtes soient bien gratinées. A table, et avec du vert pour la santé !

SC#27 | Pesto-crusted trout

My friend Beth keeps telling me how bad she is at cooking. I get regular texts about her seemingly disastrous attempts at making food. Last time she swore she got that close to making the house explode because of a gas leak...

First, I'm pretty sure she's exaggerating. But mostly I've got one thing to tell her: I don't believe in 'I can't cook.' Because cooking simple things is SIMPLE. Just follow the recipe. And the recipe is super easy today.

You'll need fish, breadcrumbs and some nice pesto.



Here starts another story: I was very lucky to attend the BBC Good Food Show yesterday. There were dozens of exhibitors, every single one promoting products tastier than the others, and we tried them ALL (almost.) There was some really delicious cheese, we had nice ice-cream, there were some incredible brownies, and the choice of chutneys was fantastic... But what I loved most of all was the Little Pots of Well Seasoned. With the aim of promoting seasonal food, they make for each season some fantastic pesto. It was so good I got both the autumn pots.

So here you go, for one serving:
- one filet of fish, using trout here
- 2 tbsp breadcrumbs
- 2 tbsp pesto, using Well Seasoned roasted squash & sage

First preheat your oven on 200°C.
Then peel the skin off the fish. You can use your fingers to do this. Easy.
Mix the breadcrumbs and the pesto. Using a spoon (or you fingers! You don't want to get hurt using dangerous cooking tools), press the pesto on the top of the fish.
Cook for 10 mn, then turn your oven to grill and cook for 2-3mn more until the crust is golden & crispy. You can enjoy your easy peasy fish treat with some vegs for colour + healthiness.


***

Ma pote Beth n'arrête pas de me répéter à quel point elle est nulle en cuisine. Je reçois régulièrement des textos qui me racontent ses derniers prétendus désastres culinaires. Le dernier en date me jurait qu'elle était passé à ça de faire exploser la maison à cause d'une fuite de gaz...

D'abord, je suis à peu près sûre qu'elle exaggère. Ensuite, je n'ai qu'une chose à lui dire : je ne crois pas au "je ne sais pas cuisiner." Cuisiner des choses simples est simple. Il suffit de suivre la recette. Et la recette d'aujourd'hui est super simple.

Il vous faudra du poisson, des miettes de pain et du bon pesto.



Je vais vous raconter une autre histoire : hier, j'ai eu la chance de pouvoir aller au BBC Good Food Show. C'est un salon de la gastronomie et des vins organisé chaque année par la BBC, et c'est trop chouette. Il y avait des dizaines d'exposants, proposant des produits meilleurs les uns que les autres, et on a TOUT goûté (ou presque.) Il y avait des tas de très bons fromages, on a goûté une super glace, des brownies incroyables, et le choix de chutneys était impressionnant... Mais ce qui a retenu mon attention, ce sont les pestos de Well Seasoned. Ils ont pour but de faire connaître les produits de saison en créant des pestos à base d'ingrédients saisonniers. C'était tellement bon que j'ai acheté les deux saveurs.

Donc voilà, pour une personne, il vous faut :
- un filet de poisson, j'utilise ici de la truite
- une poignée de miettes de pain
- deux cuillères à soupe de pesto, j'utilise ici le pesto Well Seasoned au potiron rôti et à la sauge

Commencez par préchauffer le four à 200°C.
Enlevez la peau du poisson. Ca peut se faire avec les doigts. Facile.
Mélangez le pain et le pesto. En utilisant une cuillère (ou vos doigts ! Faudrait pas se faire mal en utilisant des ustensiles dangereux), pressez le mélange sur le poisson.
Faites cuire environ 10mn, puis passez le four sur grill et faites cuire 2-3mn de plus jusqu'à ce que la croûte soit dorée et croustillante. Vous pouvez déguster votre poisson avec des légumes pour la couleur + la santé.

Train rides this year/Voyages en train cette année : 20.

Last TV show episode watched/Dernier épisode de série regardé : Parks and Recreation SE506. Whatever happens, one can always rely on Parks&Rec to be GOOD.

SC#26 | Roast red pepper soup for winter days

I've been slacking on recipes recently, haven't I? Nothing but brownies in almost a month... Not that I stopped cooking—never. I just 'forgot' to take pictures of all my meals. Some of them were so good I will have them up on the blog at one point or the other, though.

But for now, let's make some soup.

Roasted red pepper soup, adapted from skinnytaste
- 4 red bell peppers
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 700ml chicken stock
- Parmesan
- herbes de provence
- salt and pepper
- olive oil

Start by roasting the peppers. I stuck a fork in each, placed them directly on the stove (we use gas so there are flames), and turned them until almost all of the skin was black and blistered. Then place them in a bowl, cover with cling film and let rest for about 10mn.

While they rest, chop the onions, garlic and make the chicken stock.

Back to the peppers: peel the skin off (it might be a bit difficult despite that super technique, but it's ok if there's a bit ok skin left, just make sure the black bits are off.) Cut them in two and remove seeds.

Heat a tsp of olive oil in a large lidded saucepan. Saute the onion, garlic and herbes de provence for 5mn on medium heat, until the onions are soft. Then add the chicken stock and peppers. Bring to the boil, then cover and let the soup simmer on low heat, stirring occasionally, for 30mn.

When that's done, blend the soup, season, and serve with some grated Parmesan... and it's even better with a garlic & coriander nan.

***

J'ai été un peu nulle côté recettes récemment, hein ? Un mois et rien que des brownies... Non pas que j'ai arrêté de cuisiner—jamais. J'ai juste "oublié" de prendre des photos de tous mes repas. Enfin, j'ai cuisiné certains plats tellement bons que je vais être obligée de les refaire pour les poster sur le blog !

Mais en attendant, c'est l'heure de la soupe.

Soupe aux poivrons rôtis, inspiré de skinnytaste.

- 4 poivrons rouges

- 1 oignon, haché

- 2 gousses d'ail, hachées

- 700ml de bouillon de poulet

- du parmesan

- des herbes de provence

- de l'huile d'olive

- sel & poivre

Commencez par rôtir les poivrons. J'ai planté une fourchette dans chacun des miens, et je les ai fait rôtir sur la plaque électrique (on a le gaz, donc il y a des flammes) jusqu'à ce que la peau soit presque entièrement noire et couverte de de cloques. Ensuite, placez-le dans un bol, couvrez de film plastique et laissez reposer pendant 10 mn.

Pendant ce temps, hachez l'onion et l'ail, et préparez le bouillon.

De retour aux poivrons, pelez la peau (il est possible que malgré tout elle ne s'enlève pas bien, pas grave du moment que tous les bouts brulés sont enlevés.) Coupez les en deux et retirez les pépins.

Faites chauffer une cuillère à soupe d'huile d'olive dans une grande casserole avec un couvercle. Faites y dorer l'oignon, l'ail et les herbes de provence pendant 5mn, jusqu'à ce que les onions soient tendres. Ajoutez alors le bouillon et les poivrons, et portez à ébullition. Après cela, couvrez et laissez mijoter à feu doux pendant une demi-heure.

Quand c'est fait, il ne reste qu'à mixer la soupe, à l'assaisoner et à la servir avec un peu de parmesan rapé... et c'est encore meilleur avec un nan à l'ail et à la coriandre.

SC#25 | Cooking ratatouille with Great British Mag

Here's a nice little story.

Back in the last week of September, I went to the Fresher's Fayre of my university. I spent almost two days sitting before that very sexy banner you saw in the previous post.

At some point, I got bored. I wandered around the stands for a while and found a stack of copies of a little magazine called Great British Mag. This magazine is aimed to foreign students studying in the UK. It's got lots of tips on British life, anecdotes, advice on student life and much more. I liked it.

Which is why, back home, I checked their website and found out about a thing they did called Taste My Life. It's a series of videos they do with foreign students who teach the viewers how to make a dish from their home country.

So, guess what?

...

If you guess I made a video with them, hurray, 10 points for you! Here it goes, and this is the link to the recipe. Hope you enjoy it. :)

***

Je vais vous raconter une chouette petite histoire.

Pendant la dernière semaine de septembre avait lieu le forum des associations de ma fac. J'ai passé deux jours assise devant la bannière super sexy que vous avez pu voir dans l'article précédent. 

Au bout d'un moment, j'en ai eu marre. Je me suis promenée entre les stands et je suis tombée sur un tas de petits magazines appelé Great British Mag. Ce magazine s'adresse aux étudiants étrangers au Royaume-Uni. Il contient plein de tuyaux sur la vie en Angleterre, d'anecdotes, de conseils à propos de la vie étudiante et plein d'autres trucs. J'ai bien aimé.

Et donc, de retour à la maison, j'ai jeté un oeil à leur site et trouvé un projet du nom de Taste My Life (Goûte ma vie.) C'est une série de vidéos qu'ils font avec des étudiants étrangers qui enseignent aux lecteurs comment cuisiner un repas de leur pays.

Et donc, devinez quoi ?

...

Si vous avez deviné que j'ai fait une vidéo pour eux, woo, 10 points pour vous ! Vous la trouverez plus haut. Elle est en anglais, mais si un français est intéressé par une traduction, je peux faire ça sans problème—laissez juste un commentaire ! Et voici le lien vers la recette sur leur site. J'espère que ça vous plaira !

SC#24 | No fail brownies

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Just realised the blog turned one a few days ago! woo! yay me! Thanks to all of you for reading and commenting and not being put off by all this food talk. Hope the year to come is going to be twice as great! 
Je viens de réaliser que le blog a fêté son premier anniversaire il y a quelques jours ! woo ! Merci à tous d'avoir pris le temps de lire et de laisser des commentaires, et d'avoir supporté toutes mes obsessions culinaires. J'espère que l'année à venir sera encore meilleure !
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I call this recipe 'no fail' because I came VERY close to failing them. I had a craving for brownies, went to the shop, started cooking as soon as I got back, everything went smoothly, I put the the tin in the oven...

And then I noticed the butter on the table. The whole of the tub of butter. And if it was on the table...

That means it wasn't in the cake.

Luckily I was quick enough to spot my mistake, got the tin out, mixed the butter to the batter in the tin (it looked so gross) but in the end, it turned out to be delish!

I can never stress this enough, so I'll say it once again: basic cooking is ALL about following the recipe. (Oopsie.)

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J'ai appelé cette recette "brownies inratables" parce que j'ai été à ÇA de les louper. J'ai eu vraiment envie de brownies, j'ai filé au supermarché, je me suis mise à la cuisine dès que je suis rentrée, tout s'est bien passé, j'ai mis le moule au four...

Et là j'ai remarqué le beurre sur la table. La plaquette entière. Et si le beurre était sur la table...

C'est qu'il n'était pas dans le gâteau.

Heureusement je me suis rendue compte de mon erreur rapidement, j'ai sorti le brownies, j'y ai mélané le beurre (ça avait l'air vraiment affreux), mais au final c'était délicieux !

Je ne peux être assez claire sur ce point, donc je le dis une fois de plus : cuisiner des choses simples repose ENTIÈREMENT sur la bonne lecture de la recette. (Oups.)

No fail brownies, serves 8 normal people (but really it serves 4)
- 125g chocolate (55 to 70%)
- 225g butter
- 4 eggs
- 125g brown sugar
- 125g caster sugar
- 50g flour
- 20g unsweetened cocoa powder
- 100g chopped pecan nuts

Preheat the oven on 170°C. Line a 20x20cm baking tray with baking paper.

Chop the chocolate and melt it in a bain-marie with the butter (students, it's not that difficult, but I guess you could also just melt it in the microwave.) Mix it slowly with a spatula. Aside, whisk the eggs fastly with both sugars until the batter is thick and foamy, then add it to the chocolate-butter prep.

Add the flour and cocoa powder (sifted id possible) and the pecan nuts. Mix with the spatula so that the nuts are evenly distributed.

Pour the batter in the tin and bake for about 30min, until the blade of a knife comes out clean, but make sure you watch the baking. You don't want dry brownies!

Brownies inratables, pour 8 personnes normales (mais en fait c'est plutôt pour 4)

- 125 g de chocolat amer (55 à 70 % de cacao)

- 225 g de beurre

- 4 œufs

- 125 g de sucre roux 

- 125 g de sucre en poudre

- 50 g de farine tamisée

- 20 g de cacao en poudre non sucré tamisé

100 g de noix de pécan concassées 

Préchauffez le four à 170°C. Tapissez un moule carré de 20x20 d'une feuille de papier sulfurisé.

Hachez le chocolat et faites-le fondre auu bain marie avec le beurre. Mélangez délicatement avec une spatule souple. A part, battez vivement les œufs avec les 2 types de sucre jusqu'à ce que la préparation épaississe et soit mousseuse, puis incorporez le tout au mélange chocolat-beurre.

Ajoutez ensuite la farine et le cacao tamisés ainsi que les noix de pécan concassées. Mélangez bien à la spatule.

Versez cette préparation dans le moule et faites cuire au four pendant 30 minutes, jusqu'à ce que la pointe d'un couteau plongée au cœur du brownie ressorte sèche. Surveillez la cuisson pour qu'il ne devienne pas trop sec ! Pour moi, de bons brownies doivent être super moelleux et presque coulants.

SC #23 | Three way salads: lettuce

This is part two of my Three Ways Salads series! Part one was watermelon. I thought including salad-based salads would be a good idea ;)

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Voici la seconde partie de ma série Salades en Trois Façons (y'a des choses qui se traduisent bien, d'autres non...) On a mangé de la pastèque en première partie. Je me suis dit qu'inclure des salades dont l'élément de base était la salade pourrait être une bonne idée ;)

1. Japanese inspired salad | Salade d'inspiration japonaise

Dispose some lettuce in a plate. Add halved cherry tomatoes, pieces of smoked trout and beansprouts. For the dressing, you can either use basic soy sauce, or mix it with some honey for a more tangy taste!
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Déposer quelques feuilles de salade dans une assiette. Ajouter des tomates cerises coupées en deux, des morceaux de truite fumée et des germes de soja. En guise de sauce, on peut utiliser soit de la simple sauce soja, soit en mélanger avec un peu de miel pour un goût plus acidulé !

  

2. The Classy One with honey roasted figs, Pata Negra ham and Parmesan | La Salade Classe aux figues rôties, jambon Pata Negra et Parmesan

My parents bought a whole Pata Negra ham off Groupon a few weeks back. I decided to use it in a salad! It tastes like what I'm sure ham tastes like in Heaven.
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Mes parent ont acheté un jambon Pata Negra entier sur Groupon il y a quelques semaines. Je me suis dit qu'il serait sympa de l'utiliser en salade. Je suis sûre que son goût est celui des jambons au Paradis.

For the figs, I roasted them 5-10mns in an oven on 180°C drizzled with honey. I didn't want them too roasted, but just enough for the taste of honey to sink in.
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Pour ce qui est des figues, je les ai rôties 5-10mns au four à 180°C, avec un filet de miel. Je ne les voulais pas trop rôties, juste assez pour qu'elles prennent le goût du miel.

Then I disposed all that on a plate with lettuce, and added big ol' chunks of Parmesan on top. Delicious!
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J'ai ensuite tout disposé sur une assiette avec de la salade, et ajouté des beaux copeaux de Parmesan. Délicieux !

  

3. Cheesy tomato salad | Salade fromagère aux tomates 

That's the easiest one! On a bed of lettuce (how cute), dispose a few slices of red, yellow and orange tomatoes, some mozzarella and crumbled feta and pine nuts. Done!

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Celle-là c'est la plus facile ! Sur un lit de salade (mignon, hein ?), disposer des tranches de tomates rouge, orange et jaune, de la mozzarella et de grosses miettes de feta, et des pignons de pin. Fini !