Fais un voeu / Make a wish

A year older and I still love having chocolate cake on my birthday.

Don't be shy! Have a seat and join the party. I guess you wouldn't mind!

Mousse Glacee a l'Orange et au Miel / Honey and Orange Frozen Mousse

It is funny for a person who doesn’t like honey to make this kind of dessert. My parents have always been singing the praises of honey to make me eat it, but without success. I just couldn’t stand the smell, the texture, the taste and the sweetness of it. Even now, I can’t eat honey. But honey in a dessert, that's a different story. Especially if it’s in a mousse, a frozen mousse.
I found this recipe about a week ago in a Spanish cookbook while browsing the bookstore. If you are the author of this recipe and you are visiting my blog, I apologize if I didn’t mention your name. I just don’t remember the title of your cookbook. So don’t sue me, please!

Spain specializes in single-flower honey. Valencia is famous for rosemary, azahar (citrus blossoms) and thyme honeys. Lavender and thyme honeys are produced in the hills of Cordoba. Honey is traditionally served with fruit juice, or with almonds or figs, but also with unusual savory foods such as Bacalao (dried fish) and Sobrasada sausage.
When I saw this honey and orange frozen mousse, I knew this would be my entry for the HHDD #11 hosted by the talented and sweet Helen from Tartelette.
I used wild flowers honey for this mousse but any good honey would do.


Honey and orange iced mousse:

Recipe:
- 1 large egg + 3 egg yolks
- 2 tsp orange zest
- ½ cup wild flowers honey
- 1 ¼ cups heavy cream

Beat the eggs with the honey and the orange zest until fluffy and well incorporated. Beat the heavy cream to a soft peak. Fold gently the cream into the mixture with a rubber spatula. Freeze for 8 h in ramequins lined with plastic wrap. The mousse will never freeze completely, even if you let it for days in the freezer. Serve with orange rinds on top.

In francais please:
- 1 oeuf entier et 3 jaunes d’oeufs
- 2 c.c de zests d’orange
- 125ml de miel
- 280ml de crème liquide

Battre les oeufs avec le miel et le zest d’orange jusqu’a ce que le mélange devienne pale et leger. Battre la crème liquide en crème chantilly pas trop ferme et l’incorporer doucement a l’aide d’une spatule. Congeler pendant 8 h dans des ramequins tapisses de film plastic. La mousse ne se congelera pas completement meme si vous la laisser pendant des jours dans le congelateur. Elle restera onctueuse a l’interieur. Servir avec des pelures d’oranges confites au-dessus.

Un Bouquet d'Orecchiette / Orecchiette Bouquet

Few weeks ago, Lili asked bloggers to come up with a recipe that will complement her beautiful homemade Orecchiette. She was nice enough to let us choose between making our own pasta and buying it from the store. I opted for the second option. Not that I am lazy, It just that I couldn’t wait to try this pasta that I have never had before.
After thinking and looking for some inspiration in the market and in my archives, I decided to make Orecchiette with Swiss chard, bok choy, a sweet and lemony leeks sauce and some fried calamari rings to serve. What I loved about this pasta is how delicate it is and how the leeks sauce was able to coat the pasta without spoiling its shape.
Now tell me, in order to honor Orecchiette, how would you dress this cute little pasta?


Orecchiette with greens, leeks sauce and fried calamari rings:

Recipe: Serves 6
- 1 Lb orecchiette pasta
- 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 medium leeks, white parts only sliced.
- 3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon grated lemon zest
- 1 tbsp parsley leaves
- 8 large Swiss chard leaves, coarsely chopped
- 1 bunch of Bok Choy, leaves chopped
- 1 Lb squid, cleaned and cut in rings
- 1 tbsp diced ginger
- 1 tbsp of lime juice
- 1 garlic, diced
- 1 tbsp minced cilantro
- 1 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
- Salt, pepper
- Oil for frying
- Roasted hazelnut oil.

Marinate the calamari rings with the limejuice, ginger, garlic, and cilantro, salt and pepper for 1 h. Toss the calamari in panko and fry until golden brown. Keep the calamari rings warm in a preheated 200F oven.
Heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil in a pan. Add the leeks and cook until softened, about 10 min. Add the chicken stock, lemon juice, lemon zest and parsley and bring to boil. Transfer the mixture to a blender and puree until smooth. Meanwhile cook the orecchiette pasta until it’s almost al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving ¼ cup of the cooking water. Set the pasta aside.
Heat the remaining olive oil in a pan. Add the Swiss chard leaves, the bok choy leaves; cook over high heat until wilted. Add the pasta, leek sauce and the reserved pasta cooking water, stirring and tossing until it all gets blended, About 5 min. Season to taste. Serve immediately. Top the pasta with fried calamari and drizzle with some roasted hazelnut oil.




Orecchiette avec herbes, sauce au poireaux et anneaux de calamar frits.

In francais please: Pour 6 personnes
- 500g d’ orecchiettes
- 4 c.s d’huile d’olive
- 3 poireaux moyens, coupes en morceau
- 225ml de bouillon de poulet
- 1 c.s de jus de citron frais
- ½ c.c de zest de citron
- 1 c.s de feuilles de persil
- 8 larges feuilles de cardes, ciselees
- 1 bouquet de bok choy (chou chinois), cisele
- 500g de calamar, netoye et coupe en anneaux
- 1 c.s de gingembre, hache
- 1 c.s de jus de citron vert
- 1 gousse d’ail hache
- 1 c.s de coriandre hachee
- 250g de panko (chapelure japonaise)
- Sel, poivre
- Huile pour frire
- L’huile de noisette

Assaisoner les anneaux de calamar de sel et de poivre. Les faire mariner dans le jus de citron vert, le gingembre, l’ail et la coriandre pendant 1 h. Enduire les calamars sans les rincer de panko et faites frire jusqu'à ce qu’ils soient dores. Garder les calamar au chaud dans un four chauffe a 100C.
Entre temps, faites chauffer 2 c.s d’huile d’olive dans une poele. Ajouter les poireaux et cuire jusqu'à devenir fondant, environ 10 min. Couvrir de bouillon de volaille, jus de citron, zest de citron, feuilles de persil et porter a ebulitions. Transvaser le tout dans un mixer et mixer le tout pour obtenir une sauce lisse. Entre temps, faire cuire les pates jsuqu’a ce qu’elles soient presque al dente. Recuperer 50 ml de l’eau de cuisson pour plus tard. Egoutter les pates et mettre de cote.
Faites chauffer l’huile d’olive restant dans une poele. Ajouter les cardes, les feuilles de bok choy et faites cuire sur grand feu en remuant sans arret, environ 5 min. Ajouter les pates, la sauce de poireaux et l’eau de cuisson des pates et melanger doucement pour bien impregner les pates sans abimer leur forme. Assaisoner selon le gout. Servir tout de suite avec les anneaux de calamr au-dessus et un filet d’huile de noisettes.

Une Douce Resolution / A Sweet Resolution

Last weekend, my husband and I decided to start a new Sunday tradition. We agreed to make Sunday the day when we would have the most special breakfast of the week. No more 8 minutes breakfasting, no more cold tartines and no more glass of orange juice on the go. We would have a nice and quiet breakfast full of goodies and giggles and packed with calories. So, I thought that the better way to start this tradition is to make crepes, my all time favorite.
When it comes to crepes, my husband and I have different points of view about how we like to eat them. I like chocolate crepes. He likes plain, vanilla crepes. I top my crepes with a little bit of sugar or orange jam. For him it’s definitely Nutella. I roll my crepes like a cigar and dunk them in my bowl of milk. He folds his crepes like a triangle and hates it when I dunk my crepes in my bowl. Basically, we are different but we both enjoy having crepes for breakfast anytime of the day.
I tried many, many plain crepes recipes since I was a teenager and this one is by far my favorite. For the chocolate crepe it’s adapted from the book Chocolate desserts by Pierre Hermes. The chocolate batter reminded me of hot chocolate. It was velvety and so dark. I wanted to have a sip of it right away. After cooking my crepes, the taste of cocoa was a little overpowering for me. May be because I forgot to add sugar to the batter. Seriously, I did! Other than that, it was really good and really chocolaty.
I think I have to give it another try to make sure that the bitterness of the cocoa was because of me omitting to add the sugar.
Well, looks like another day of breakfast bonanza is a must.

Recipe: Vanilla Crepes, for 6 to 8 people
- 14 ounces of all purpose flour
- 4 ounces of sugar
- 1 stick of salted butter
- 3 eggs
- 4 cups of whole milk
- 1 tsp of vanilla

In a saucepan, heat the milk and the butter just until the butter has melted. Put the flour, the eggs and the sugar in a blender. Blend until combined. Gradually add in the milk and butter mixture. Scrape down sides and blend for 15 sc more. Cover and let sit for at least 2 hours.
Heat a pan to medium high. Oil it very lightly. Drop about ¼ cup of crepe batter into the pan and tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the pan evenly. You want the layer of crepe to be as thin as possible. Cook each side until golden brown (about 2 min for the first side and one min for the second). Gently remove and place on plate.

Chocolate crepes: Pierre Hermes recipe
- 3 oz of all purpose flour
- 3 ½ tbsp unsweetened cocoa
- 1 ½ tbsp sugar
- 2 large eggs at room temp
- 1 cup of whole milk
- 3 tbsp orange juice at room temp
- 2 tbsp melted butter

In a saucepan, heat the milk just until warm. Put the flour, the butter, the eggs, the sugar and the juice in a blender and blend until all combined. Gradually, add the milk. Blend for another 15 sec. Cover the batter and set aside for 1 h.
For the cooking, follow the cooking instructions of the vanilla crepes.




In francais please: Crepes a la vanille, pour 6 a 8 personnes
- 400g de farine
- 110g de sucre en poudre
- 100g de beurre sale
- 3 oeufs
- 1 litre de lait entier
- 1 c.c d’extrait de vanille

Dans une casserole, faites tiedir le lait et le beurre jusqu’a ce que le beurre soit fondu. Retirez du feu. Mettre la farine, le sucre et les oeufs dans un robot menager et mixer le tout. Ajouter doucement le mélange de lait et de beurre jusqu’a ce que tout soit bien incorpore.
Couvrir et laisser reposer la pate au moins 2 h.
Faites bien chauffer votre poele a crepes. Graisser avec un peu d’huile. Etalez une petite louche de pate. Laisser bien cuire un cote avant de faire sauter la crepe pour la retourner et faire cuire le second cote. Vous devez obtenir une couleur bien doree et des crepes bien fines.

Crepes au chocolat: recette de Pierre Hermes
- 95g de farine
- 3 ½ c.s de cacao non sucre
- 1 ½ c.s de sucre en poudre
- 2 oeufs entiers
- 250ml de lait entier
- 3 c.s de jus d’orange
- 30g de beurre fondu

Mettre la farine, les oeufs, le jus, le sucre et le cacao dans un robot menager et mixer. Ajouter doucement le lait tiede. Couvrir et laisser reposer 1 h.
Proceder pour la cuisson selon celle des crepes a la vanille.

Une Surprise Individuelle / Individual Surprise

Pack your luggage, get your passports and be ready for a fascinating trip filled with exotic flavor. Be ready to be enchanted, because tonight we are invited to the Arabian Nights for a delectable feast, enjoyed around a cup of mint tea with Fairouz’s magical voice as musical background.
For this Monthly Mingle, I decided to go with an individual and more elegant version of the famous pie known as Bastilla.
Bastilla or Pastilla is a Moroccan dish made traditionally of pigeon or squab, cooked with spices and layered with almonds and a thin pastry known as Ouarka. However, ground chicken can be used as a substitute for the pigeon, and the Phylo pastry for the Ouarka.
Although the recipe calls to use meat, many versions are made throughout the world using only nuts with an egg filling and spices, or only nuts, honey and spices such as ginger, coriander and cinnamon. The filling can be made a day ahead and chilled overnight.
Everything has to be ready when assembling the pie. Don’t forget to always keep your phylo dough covered by a damp kitchen cloth otherwise it will dry out easily. All the ingredients have to be at room temperature before assembling, so the phylo dough will not tear up with the steam. To serve, dust the Bastilla with cinnamon and icing sugar, which I forgot to do.
You can either make an individual version of Bastilla like I did or the traditional version, which is to use a round pan. This dish is very versatile, so feel free to play with it.

Recipe:
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp butter plus 3 tbsp of melted butter for brushing.
- 3 chicken legs
- 1 onion, very finely chopped
- Good pinch of ground ginger
- Good pinch of saffron threads
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon, plus extra for dusting
- 4 tbsp coarsely ground or flaked almonds

- 1/4 cup of golden raisins, soaked in orange blossom water
- 1 bunch of fresh coriander, finely chopped
- 1 bunch of fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 3 eggs, beaten
- Phylo pastry sheets
- 1-2 tbsp icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
- Salt and pepper

Heat the oil and the butter in a large pan. Add the chicken pieces and brown for about 4 min. Add the onions, ginger, saffron, raisins, ½ tsp of the cinnamon and enough water (about 1 ¼ cups) so that the chicken braises, rather than boils. Season with salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer very gently for 45min or until the chicken is tender and completely cooked. Meanwhile, toast the almonds in a small pan until golden and set aside.
Transfer the chicken to a plate and discard the skin and bones and shred the flesh. Stir the chopped coriander and parsley into the pan and simmer the sauce until thickened. Add the beaten eggs and cook over a gentle heat until lightly scrambled. Add the chicken pieces to the sauce and stir to combine.
Preheat the oven to 350F. Oil the muffin pans generously. Cut the phylo sheets in two rectangles. Place 4 phylo sheets in the bottom of the muffin pan so that it is completely covered and let the edges of the pastry sheets hang over the sides. Brush lightly with the melted butter and place the chicken and eggs mixtures on top and spread evenly. Place a single layer of a round phylo sheet. Brush once again with some melted butter and spread the almonds over. Sprinkle with some cinnamon and icing sugar. Fold the edges of the filo over and wrap the edges as shown on the picture. Brush with some butter. Continue as before with the rest of the chicken mixture and phylo sheets and bake the parcels for about 20 min, until the pastry is crisp and golden brown. Remove from the pan and dust some cinnamon and icing sugar on top. Serve hot or warm.

In français please:
- 2c.s d’huile vegetale
- 25g de beurre, plus 30g de beurre fondu pour badigeonner
- 3 cuisses de poulet
- 1 oignon, finement hache
- Une bonne pincee de safran
- Une bonne pincee de gingembre
- 1c.c de canelle
- 40g d’amandes effilees ou grossierement hachees

- 20g de raisins secs. trempes dans de l'eau de fleur d'oranger
- 1 petit bouquet de coriandre, finement hache
- 1 petit bouquet de persil, finement hache
- 3 oeufs, battus
- Un paquet de filo
- 1-2 c.c de sucre glace
- Sel, poivre

Faites chauffer l’huile et les 25g de beurre dans une poele. Faites dorer les cuisses de poulet pendant 4 min. Ajouter les oignons, le gingembre, le safran, les raisins, ½ c.c de canelle et couvrir de 300ml d’eau. Saler, poivrer. Porter a ebulition, couvrir et laisser fremir sur feu doux pendant 45 min, jusqu'à ce que le poulet soit cuit. Entre temps, faites dorer les amandes dans une poele et mettre de cote.
Mettre le poulet dans une assiette. Jeter les os et la peau et emietter la chair du poulet. Melanger la coriandre et le persil a la sauce et laisser fremir jusqu'à ce qu’elle epaississe. Ajouter les œufs battus et melanger sur feu doux jusqu'à ce qu’ils soient legerement brouilles. Ajouter les morceaux de poulet a la sauce et laisser refroidir.
Prechauffer le four a 180C. Huiler les moules a muffin. Couper les feuilles de filo en deux rectangles et tapisser le fond des moules de 4 feuilles de filo. Prenez soin de laisser les feuilles deborder des moules. Les badigeonner de beurre fondu. Garnir le fond du melange de poulet. Ajouter un petit rond de feuille de filo badigeonne de beurre fondu. Mettre les amandes dessus. Saupoudrer d’un peu de canelle et de sucre glace. Rabattre les feuilles de filo sur les amandes et les fermer comme sur la photo. Badigeonner encore une fois l’exterieur de beurre fondu. Continuer comme il a ete montre precedement pour les autres moules a muffin restants et faire cuire pendant 20 min, jusqu'à ce que les petits sacs soient bien dores et croustillants a l’exterieur. Demouler, saupoudrer de canelle et de sucre glace et servir chaud ou tiede.

Le Pain d'épices

When I am on a diet, I can go for days without eating chocolate, for weeks without eating pasta and for months without buying ice cream. But there are two things that I can't spend a single day without: My breakfast; which I take with cereals or tartines and a bowl of milk, and my afternoon snack; with a slice of cake or cookies and a cup of mint tea or milk. I was raised that way. My mother always told us that a nourishing and well balanced breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But for the afternoon snack, it's a different story. It is more like a family ritual than a biological need to fuel my body. As far as I can remember, we always had tea or coffee with some kind of pastry after coming back from school. We usually wait until everyone gets home to gather around a hot mint tea and some fresh baked sweets. If for some reason one day, there was no tea and no sweets on the table, we would feel lost. My mother and I share the same feeling about this particular meal: I think it is more about the family getting together than the snack itself.
When I think about those baked sweets, four of them come to my mind: Beignets, Yoghurt Cake, Torno (kind of sablé with icing on top) and Pain d'épices...Ahh Pain d'épices, the whole house smells like the Islands when my mother makes this fragrant cake. Pain d'épices, which translates "bread of spices" is a french cake whose ingredients contain honey and many spices.
I made this cake many times but had never been satisfied with the result. It was too dry, not fragrant enough... in a word nothing like how Pain d'épice should be. Last week, while browsing my friend's blog, I came across a recent post she had about pain d'épices; or what was supposed to be Nonette (like Pain d'épices but with an orange marmalade filling) turned into a mini-Pain d'épices. Just looking at the picture made my mouth water. I was sold, I had to try the recipe. I took a bet with Lili that I will be able to make the marmalade slip into the dough to become a filling like Nonette are supposed to be. Infortunatly, I lost my bet but I had the pain d'épices of my childhood in my kitchen and it was so worth the loss. I even told my mother about it. She was happy that I won't have to ask her every time:"how come I can't have the same result as yours" and every time she tells me:"c'est l'experience ma fille!" (it's the experience my daughter!).




Recipe:
-5.82 oz all purpose unbleached flour
-1.60 oz light brown sugar
-2 oz honey (you can go until 4 oz)
-1/2 cup fresh orange juice
-3 tbsp butter
-1/2 tsp baking soda
-1 star anise
-1/4 cinnamon stick
-1 tbsp candied orange rinds roughly chopped
-1/2 tsp ground cardamom
-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
-1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
-1/4 tsp ground ginger
-Pinch of ground cloves
-Pinch of salt
-Orange marmalade or jelly (1/2 tsp for each baking cup)

In a bowl, mix the flour with the baking soda, salt and the ground spices. Set aside.
In a saucepan, heat the butter with the orange juice, the cinnamon stick, the star anise and the orange rinds. Once the butter melts and the liquid reaches a boiling stage, remove the saucepan from the stove, discard the cinnamon stick and star anise and pour the liquid over the dry ingredients while whisking vigorously, until all gets blended. Let it cool a little bit, then spoon the batter into mini-muffin cups or standard muffin cups. Top each cup with the orange marmalade and press gently. Bake in a preheated 400F oven for 12-14 min in mini-muffin cups and for 15-18 min in a standard muffin cups. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container and serve until the following day. Your patience will be rewarded.

In francais please:

Pour la recette en francais , cette fois-ci je vous invite a visiter le blog de Lili pour une explication tout en détails de la recette. Les seuls changements que j'y ai apporté sont: l'utilisation de pelures d'oranges confites que j'avais coupé en dès et non pas râpé, et puis j'ai préparé mon propre mélange d'épices pour le pain d'épices, vu que je ne l 'ai pas trouvé ici. Je vous conseille de consommer le pain d'épices le lendemain de sa cuisson pour avoir un goût authentique et bien parfumé.