It “oat” to be done – Granola recipe

Okay so that is up there in the bad “dad jokes” category but I couldn’t help myself.

So we bought a house… Yeah!!!! no more rent, we can do what we want, a nail here, some paint on this wall, redoing the kitchen to what WE like…. and aparantly the bathroom (?!?!?) because the shower membrane is leaking….what the F*. Yep I am guessing the previous owner knew that and had no problems not telling anyone, a coat of paint and it looks like a new bathroom… Oh well add that to the list (and the mortgage?!?!)

The other thing with owning a house is you actually have to take care of it. No more gardeners paid by the landlord to cut the lawn. So here I am, a Parisian city girl try to figure out my garden: what kind of lawn mower do I buy? how to do you the edges? what do you mean botany council doesn’t have green bins? how much do you prune the edge? what kind of plant/tree is that? Why on earth does australia have so many garden spiders? How do you kill a spider whose web takes 1/2 of your garden and is the size of your hand?

aaaarrrgggg Can I have my TV show “I am a city girl get me out of that garden”?

Since it looks like I will need a lot of energy to maintain this house and I am way better in the kitchen, I decide to make my own granola.

This was a first try for me and I have to say what a success, I will never buy granola from the shops ever again. It’s so easy and tasty. The coconut oil gives it a real nice taste, and the oat will give you all the energy you need for a good morning. I added wheat bran, to help with digestion.

Almond and Vanilla Granola

Ingredients:

• 2 and 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 3/4 cup almonds sliced and while
• 100g pepitas
• 1/2 cup (120ml) pure maple syrup
• 1/4 cup (60ml) melted coconut oil
• 3 Tablespoon of wheat bran (optional)
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 150 degrees fan forced. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk the maple syrup, the vanilla extract, and coconut oil together until combined. Add the rest of the ingredients. Make sure all of the oats are moistened.

Spread onto the prepared baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, stirring at 15 minutes. It will get a nice crunchy texture when it cools down.

It will keep for up to 3 weeks in an air tight container.

Weekend Market: Brunch & Plums

 

I really miss french markets. They are full of colors, sounds and smells, everyone yelling to sell their products. Fresh products seem so much more appetising then the dull supermarket version. Let’s be honest going grocery shopping is a chore not a pleasure. On the other hand going to the market is a social experience, you take the time to choose your product, you have a taste of a sample, you talk to the cheese guy…

Markets in Sydney are mainly for handcrafted items and second hand stalls. You’ll find stalls selling food but food markets are rare. Eveleigh Market is one of them. Located just off busy King st, in newtown, it’s very popular but I found very limited. There is only a handful of people selling fresh products, plus a few people selling foods to eat there (although the website claims there is 70 stalls, I must admit I haven’t been there in 3 years. I really need to go back).

The most unusual is the one at the Entertainment Quarter (moore park)  . I mean there is no much happening other than this market during the day at the fox studio unless there is an event organise there. Surprisingly enough though there is some really nice food there, you’ll find some fresh organic fruits and vegetables, really nice bread, including sonoma bakery bread, and some stinky cheese (my favorite)

For a while I have been told Marrickville market is an absolute must and I should go. Turns out, from our new house, the market is only 15m away. So off we went with Paul and Amelia on a sunny sunday morning. We were not disappointed! I mean how good does these homemade donuts look like! There was some amazing croissant, the fresh fruits and veggies looked amazing and were very affordable. There is even a stand that sell you compost created from the market’s leftovers. For the french food lover, there is even a french stall La Planchette. They have a really nice selection of products but I find them a bit overprice.

   

So with our bags filled with good food and our belly full of amazing food (literally the best pork sandwich I have ever had in my life), we went back home.

 After a nice brunch made from the bread, eggs and avocado bought on the market, I was left with 2 giant boxes of gorgeous sugar plums and plums bought for 10$.

 

Believed me I got creative. First I made a jam. That was the best jam ever, on top of the sugar, I added 2 caps of cointreau in it and it was the most delicious thing ever.

 

900 g of sugar plums with 450 g of sugar and 2 caps of cointreau. I left them absorb the sugar and the alcohol for 3hours.  The goodness was oozing from them. 

With the jam, we did some little puff pastry chaussons. Just take a square of puff pastry, put some jam on half of the square, fold, put some egg wash on it and cook until golden brown.

We also did some tartelette with the jam, and added blue cheese and Jamon. You can not imagine how good that tasted. DELICIOUS!

 

At the end, we still had plums! So it was time to pull out the big guns

Plum and Almond tart

 

I am the kind of cook that is never ever happy with what they cook. this could use more/less salt, pepper, sugar, spice… or more/less time in the oven…. Let me tell you I would not have change anything to this tart! I had to physically stop myself from eating it. It’s so good that even people who say they will only have half a slice come back for seconds 🙂 not too sweet, not to sour, the fruit balance nicely the almond.

Biscuit dough (pâte sablée):

• 250g flour
• 125 sugar
• 1 egg
• 100 g butter (room temperature not cold)

In a bowl, mix the egg and sugar. Add the flour, the butter (soft but not liquid) diced in cubs. Work with your finger to incorporate everything. Sablée means sand like, so you need to create this texture with your fingers. Keep going until you reach an uniform dough. Let to rest for 1 hour in the fridge. Cook for 10 m before adding the filling.

Tart filling

•  100 g butter
• 100 g sugar
•  2 eggs
•  100 g almond meal
• 25 g flour
• 2 caps of cointreau
• Plums (raspberries works well, as well as pear and apple. you might need to poach the pear and apple)

Mix the soft butter and sugar until the mixture is white and fluffy. Add the eggs, the almond meal, the flour and the cointreau.

Add the filling on the pre cooked dough. Add the plums. Cook for 25m at 180C

 

Enjoy with some ice cream or cream

The Crepes from my childhood

2014 was full of joy and pain.. We’ll remember the joy of having our baby girl Amelia, and the pain of losing Jim.

2015 is the year of changes, getting use to being new parents, and finally settling in our house. So once again I’m trying to fill up my blog. With the renovation of our kitchen starting in a few, I am really excited to be cooking in a kitchen build to suit Paul and I. In the meantime, I’ll post update & recipes.

Most of my friends are in the recent years either getting married or having babies. My own niece and nephew are growing like weeds, my own little one is already 10 weeks. So I recently took some time to look back on my childhood. Unfortunately, my mum and grandma who were the two pillars of my childhood, passed away. But I like to think their wisdom live through me and my sister. At least, I really hope so. I think I reach an age where you are supposed to be well and truly an adult and a responsible person. I remember being a teenage rolling my eyes at the all knowing adults, who knew better then me. Turns out I really think they did.

Overall, I find this quite scary actually. Does this wealth of knowledge and experience comes with parenthood? Because from my point of view, I feel as stupid as I was 10 years ago. Sure I know more things now that I did then, but I don’t feel wiser… Oh well I guess I can ask Amelia in 20 years!

Thank god I can also look back at my childhood and have a “madeleine” of Proust moment. My childhood is filled with good food memories.  My nonna (Italian grandma) was looking after me and my sister when we were kids, and let’s face it, she could cook. But she didn’t pass on to me just the love of cooking, she also taught me how to choose the best ingredients. I guess her cheesiest, and yet truest statement was “the secret of a good receipt is love. If you cook with love, it will always taste good”. It is the corniest thing ever, yet try to cook a dinner for people you don’t really care about or dislike… For me, it’s always a disaster.

So when frustration knocks on your door in the kitchen, it’s time to go back to the classic, to a bullet proof recipe. Since I was a kid, we had this 70’s looking cooking book. It’s all beaten up, following apart, and most of the recipes ask you to put a kilo of butter, because nobody cared about their cholesterol back then! Nevertheless, this book has my childhood bullet proof crepe recipe. I have been doing it for 25 years and it never disappointed me.

Crepes are one of this wonderful french dish, that never go out of fashion. Whether you like them with a few strawberries and a dash of sugar, or with Nutella and coconut (my all time favourite), or even if you are more on the savoury side (but the batter should be a little different either with buckwheat floor and get ride of the sugar or just get ride of the sugar), crepes are loved by everyone, especially kids!

The Bullet proof Crepe recipe: 

 Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 20g melted butter

Melt the butter. Whisk the flour and the eggs together in a large mixing bowl. Slowly stir in the milk. Add the salt and (cool down) butter, and beat the mixture until smooth.

The best thing to use is a crepe pan. They are quite cheap and easy to source. Alternatively you can use any pan you want, it will just be harder to flip your crepe. Heat pan to medium. Put a tbsp of butter on a piece of paper towel. Fold to create a little bundle, and quickly go over the pan. This will help the crepe sliding off the pan, especially if you want to flip them.

Drop the crepe mixture onto the heated surface, right in the middle of the pan. You want to put one ladle of batter for each crepe. Really quickly tilt the pan with a circular motion to cover the entire pan. if you have any hole you can either leave it like that or use the back of the ladle to fill them. Crepes are not pancakes!!! Therefore you want them nice and thin

Cook each side until the golden brown brown, if you’re dared, bring the crepe at the edge of pan, letting a small amount hang outside the pan, then flip the crepe in the air. It should land on the other side (or on your rangehood depending on your skills).

This will make 8 crepes, so 2 crepes per person (that is if you are reasonable). You can divide the batter in 2 batches one savoury, one sweet.

 

Enjoy!!!

Arrancini yummy gooey balls

I read somewhere that Arancini Balls were a classic Italian appetizer. I got raised by an Italian grandmother and visited my family regularly in Italy, I had never heard of Arancini balls until a few years back. But who really cares? They’re so yummy and quite easy to do. You can make them in advance and freeze them, ready to be fried when you have people over… They’re the perfect nibble to share with friends around a nice bottle of wine. Turns out that is exactly what we are doing tonight!

This recipe is so versatile, you can add almost anything to the risotto base like sun-dried tomatoes, pancetta, mushrooms, coriander, different cheeses…

A lot of people are scared by the idea of making a risotto, thinking it’s way too complicated. Turns out to make a risotto you certainly do not need to be an Italian chef!  All you need is some Arborio rice, some wine (2 glasses, one for you, one for the recipe), and some stock! I swear it’s that easy.

Step 1: The Risotto

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp of butter
• 1 finely chopped onion (optional)
• 1 glass of white wine
• 2 cup of Arborio rice
• 1 L of chicken stock (or more if your rice isn’t cook enough or creamy enough)
• 1/2 cup of Parmesan
• 1 garlic clove

In  a pan, melt the butter and add the onion if desired. Add the rice and stir until the rice absorbs the butter and becomes transparent. Add then the glass of wine and do not stir! Let the wine be absorb by the rice.

Once that’s done, Add two ladles of hot stock to the rice and let it absorb. Once the liquid reduces, add more stock one or two ladles at the time and stir the risotto. Then leave it to absorb the liquid. Repeat until the rice is cooked and is giving this creamy look.

Turn off the heat, and add the Parmesan cheese. If you just want a risotto, serve immediately while hot and creamy.

Step 2: Making the Arancini balls

Ingredients:

• the risotto
• 125g of cheddar
• 1 cup of flour
• 3 small eggs
• 1 cup of crumbs
• dry herbs (herbes de provence)

Let risotto mixture cool down in the fridge for at least 2 hours. I usually make the night before. Cut the cheddar in small cubs.

Wash your hand and keep them wet. Use a spoon and your hand and shape a ball with the cub of cheddar in the middle.

In order to help with making the balls, keep your hands wet.

Use 3 bowls. In the first one put the flour, in the second whisk the eggs, and the third mix the dry herbs of your choice, the crumbs, salt and pepper.

Roll the risotto balls in the first, the second and the third bowl. Repeat for all the balls.

Use a pot and put enough veggie oil to cover the ball. I usually deep fry 4 to 5 in one go. As soon as they have a nice golden colour, they are ready to be taken out. Let them rest on a paper towel to cool off and get rid of the excess oil.

 

Serve hot with a little sauce on the side. I used a herb mayonnaise.

La Galette des Rois / Kings’ cake

So the holiday season is over. Most of us have eaten too much, and a lot of fatty food. While drinking and eating, we all swore we’ll go on a diet as soon as the new year starts.

That was without counting the French’s Epiphany celebration. Since we think any opportunity is good for a nice cake and a glass of champagne, the Christian celebration, of  the revelation of the Son of God Jesus Christ, is no exception.

La Galette des Rois ( also called King’s Cake especially in New Orleans) is a simple and yet so tasty pastry goodness with an almond filling… “A figurine, la fève, which can represent anything from a car to a cartoon character, is hidden in the cake and the person who finds the trinket in their slice becomes king for the day and will have to offer the next cake.” The person who finds the figure is the king or the queen and gets to picks his/her king/queen. Usually served with a glass of champagne it’s a nice Sunday afternoon indulgence

Ingredients:

• 2 pieces of puff pastry
• 2 cups of Almonds meal
• 3 small eggs
• 1 egg the puff pastry
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar
• 3 tablespoon of softened butter
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Lay down your puff pastry and cut it in a circle

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Spread on the puff pastry leaving 1 cm on the edge

Mix the remaining beaten egg with some cold water. Using a brush, spread the egg mixture on the edge. It will seal the second piece of puff pastry to the initial one. Cover with the second piece of puff pastry, press down on the edge. Using a knife draw crossing lines and make 2 small holes on the top (mine were a little bit too big.). Brush the rest of the egg mixture on top of the pastry. Cook for 30 m at 180 C

Et voila!  the end results…

The Potatoes Gratin

The traditional french gratin can be harder to cook then most people think. When I first started my gratin used to be either too runny or uncooked.

Ingredients (for 8):

• 2Kg potatoes
• 2 garlic cloves
• Salt
• Pepper
• If you like it a touch of nutmeg
• 2  1/4 cups of liquid cream (I use light cream)
• 3/4 cup of milk
• 250g of parmesan (or shredded gruyère ) (I like to add to slices of Raclette cheese to add so nice cheesy taste to the gratin)

Preheat the oven at 190 C (375F)

Peel the potatoes, wash them and cut them in thin slices.

In a bowl mix the milk, the cream, the garlic, the salt and pepper (and the nutmeg).

In a gratin plate, start laying down the potatoes slices. Once the bottom of the plate is covered, pour 1/4 of the mixture. Add 1/4 of the cheese. Keep layering the potatoes,  the mixture and the cheese until you reach the top of the plate.  When you reach  the middle layer, if you wish, put the raclette cheese to give it a melting cheesy taste.

At this stage it’s will look very runny. The secret is to put in the oven at 190 C for 1h30 to 1h45, to give it time to thicken.

Et Voila!