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An extremely simple recipe transformed into a scrumptious dessert: an easy challenge with the wonderful silicon molds from the Spanish brand Lekué. Their "imperial" molds (hence the name of my post) are awesome. The idea comes from april-may issue of “Régal” magazine and it was a perfect timing for me, since I had bought this mold a month before and had no idea what to do with it ! (I often buy fancy utensils that I never use). As for their lemon mousse recipe, I have changed almost everything since I wanted... [Lire la suite]

Some roast chicken leftovers? No inspiration? Super Froggy comes to your rescue! I can bring you to the Mediteranean shores with this cozy risotto or, if you feel in an adventurous mood, to the Far East with a Chicken and Coconut milk Loaf. A total improvisation for me: I have just added the ingredients, which, for me, symbolize Thaï food at its best: coconut milk, lime, lemongrass, ginger and cilantro (I hesitated a long time between that and fresh mint).Coconut milk is a good trick to obtain a nicely moist cake.  This... [Lire la suite]

Not another Crumble !! Well, I am very sorry for this sudden crumble-mania but, hard to believe, I had never made this dessert until last month !! When I realized how easy it was to make it, I behaved like a child with a new toy : once the basic rules understood, I had a lot of fun imagining new possibilities. Today, I thought of a new version with unsalted pistachios.Mango and Cardamom are quite a « common » pairing, but the introduction of pistachio into this perfect match seemed interesting to me…and it worked like a... [Lire la suite]

Chestnut Velouté with Cep flavored Poached Meringues, Velouté de Châtaignes et Meringues pochées aux Cèpes I really need to get back to reality ; my brain is still in heaven after all the nice comments and emails I received about my Starry Lemon Meringue Pie ! Thanks a bunch for all those lovely words ! So, what’s up today ? A shift of dessert into a savory dish !! Sorry, I can’t help it, I love to do that. Remember my savory Cheesecake with Salmon and Beetroot Coulis ? Well, my craziness has... [Lire la suite]

Green tea and Chocolate Party Cake, English custard Gâteau de Fête au Thé Vert et au Chocolat, Crème anglaise Perfect ? That’s what Dorie Greenspan says. But for my part, I consider mine as totally un-perfect. From what I understood reading the recipe and seeing some great pictures from other Daring Bakers, it was supposed to be…high…I don’t know what happened but my cakes did not rise enough. One of the circles was so flat that I could not cut it thickwise, so I found myself with three circles instead... [Lire la suite]

Date of lunch : march 2008. Résumé en français Un restau grand comme un mouchoir de poche, des clients un peu entassés à la « va comme j’te pousse », mais c'est assez amusant. On ne vient pas ici pour le confort mais pour se régaler et de ce côté, le contrat est pleinement rempli : une cuisine créative mais pas trop, et surtout très fine et goûteuse. Chaque plat est parfaitement exécuté, les cuissons et les assaisonnements très bien maîtrisés. C'est un nouveau Chef, Denis Sabarots, qui est aux fourneaux depuis fin janvier... [Lire la suite]

Ma, you don’t know « caserecce » ? Mamma mia, non e possibile !  Caserrecce are a variety of long, slightly curled pasta. They are particularly good with meat-based sauces. I bought them last year in Italy, but I am quite sure that you will be able to find them at Wholefoods, Trader Joe’s or your local Italian grocery shop. What about the origins of pasta ? Let me take advantage of this post to “kill a myth” : No, Marco Polo did not import pasta from China. Actually, maybe he did, but pasta were not... [Lire la suite]

…And a great way to celebrate Macaron Day ! For those of you who do not know about « Macaron Day », let me explain it briefly : it is an annual event created by Pierre Hermé 3 years ago to celebrate the arrival of Spring, on March 20th. At his flagship boutique as well as at a hundred bakeries (“relais-dessert” affiliated bakeries) in France, anyone can have a free macarons tasting session. But the most important is that a special red macaron is created for this occasion, at the price of one euro, and the money goes... [Lire la suite]

First, sorry for the bad-quality pictures. When I take pictures when it is dark outside (and sometimes I have no choice), I have to use artificial light and the result comes out…ugly. My favorite kind of cheesecake is the white, creamy, soft one. You know, when the top is not golden, it even seems it has not been baked at all. Indeed, I was very surprised when I found out some years ago that they were actually baked, and more than 45 minutes !! But it seemed that the oven low temperature was enough to set the filling ... [Lire la suite]

Friday evening update : out of town for the week-end, see you on tuesday ! Each time I go to the USA (and you know now that I cross the Atlantic Ocean at least once a year, twice on lucky years), I love to bring back American food magazines. They are so different from their French « counterparts »: while we favor gorgeous pictures, the US foodzines have so many articles to actually read. It takes me a week to go through an issue of “Bon Appétit” or “Food&Wine”, while I am finished with my “Elle à Table” or “Régal”... [Lire la suite]