Chandeleur's crêpes and caramel (with salted butter)

Last week-end I had the great pleasure to meet my friends for a lunch... once out of the restaurant Lil suggested a trip to the Pierre Herme shop that was not far away. Thanks to her I discovered how fabulous the "Emotion" are :-)

Next week-end should also be interesting (as far as food is concerned) since it's La chandeleur : the day to eat crepes!
My last experiment with crepes was for new year's eve. I had to prepare a dessert that could be light and yummy. I chose to make little crepes (10cm diameter) that one could fill with either safran honey or caramel with salted butter.
As I suppose all of you are able to make crepes without my recipe, I will just write the caramel recipe down.

Caramel au beurre salé

200g sugar
5 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons lemmon juice
2 tablespoon cream
1 tablespoon salted butter

Melt sugar and water together with lemmon juice. When it's golden-brown take out of the stove and add the butter in small pieces. BE CAREFUL there will be projections.
Add the cream.
Let cool down and fill crepes with the preparation.

Emergency scones

What a strange title for a food recipe!
I call them so because I make them mostly when I haven't been able to go food-shopping intime and I have nothing left for breakfast except carrots. This recipe was first given to me by my chat friend Mike, but as usual I modified it so I could bake something with what was left in my fridge... The god point of the recipe is that it's easy and quick to preapre and that it doesn't require to have an oven!!


Emergency scones

200g flour
1 yogourt
1 tablespoon cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder

Mix flour, baking powder and sugar, add yogourt and cream.
Separate the dough in 6 scones.
Bake in a pan, 5 min on each side.
Let it rest 5 minute in a napkin before eating...

Of course it's better if you eat them just out of the pan...

Post-holidays vegetables

Taking one week off and spending it to cook and meet friends ar various chocolate places was exactly what I needed at the end of the year. Unfortunately, cooking good things means eating them and even if chocolate is one of the best things on earth, hot chocolate and biscuits that come with tend to help you increasing you weight. Here is the terrible constatation : + 2.5 kg...
It's not that I'm particulary focused on my body mass, but I have to obtain a medical certificate soon and I don't want this medical doctor to tell me I should lose weight.
So these days recipes have to be healthy and low fat ones. My favorite recipe of the moment is a Vegetable curry.

Vegetable curry (4 servings)

- 2 carrots
- 1 parsnip
- 1 potatoe
- 2 onions
- 1 green capsicum
- 200g mushrooms
- 300g cauliflower
- 350ml water + stockcube
- 180ml apricot juice
- 40g grated almonds
- 1 teaspoon cardamon
- 1.5 teaspoons caraway seeds
- 1 teaspoon coriander (seeds)
- 1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper powder
- 2 teaspoons grated ginger
- 1 table spoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon fruit chutney (I used mango one)

Wash or peeled vegetable and chop them.
Pour olive oil in a saucepan, and lightly brow the onions. Add the spices and warm until the smell develops.
Add vegetables that take long time to cook (carrots, parnsip, potatoe...) and cook for 2 minutes. Teh add water and the stock cube and the apricot juice. Cookk for 20min.
Add then cauliflower, mushrooms and grated almonds. Cook for 10-15 min until all vegetables are cooked.
Serve hot with rice.

This recipe is really easy, and you can use any vegetable you want, as exemple I try it with zuchinis, sweet potatoe, brocoli...

Holidays Spaghetti

It has been a long time since I take holidays. I don't mean going somewhere far away, just taking time off... doing nothing... Well... almost nothing! I used my time to sleep and try new recipes. That's why I added so much things to the blog during the last days. So today's recipe is something quite simple I made to use leftovers of white wine.

For 2:
Spaghetti - depends on how hungry you are ;-)
200g shrimps (I took frozen ones already cooked)
20cl white wine
20cl tomato sauce
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
olive oil
tabasco
nutmeg


Peal and chop onion and garlic. Brown them in olive oil. Add tomato sauce and wine. Reduce a little and add shrimps. Add salt and nutmeg and few drops of tabasco.
Cook spaghetti and add them in the sauce.

Bonne Année 2008

I realize today that I forgot to wish you an happy new year yesterday...

So I wish you the best for this new year, lots of new exciting discoveries, fun with friends and many succesful recipes!

Happy new year!!!

Christmast duck

When looking for something nice to eat for christmast I realize I might have a problem to prepare most of the traditional meals since I don't own an oven (but you already now that). So I read again my cooking magazine but was unable to find something interesting to bake. I needed something good, not too expensive and that I can prepare without an oven. All this constraints lead me to think about duck.
That would be duck!
I decided to prepare it with spices and some safran honey I bought few days before during an explorative walk around Paris. To go with the honey and spice duck, I prepared a sweet potatoes purée.

Ingredients for 2
1 duck breast (magrets)
15g fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon sugar
10cl balsamic vinegar
10cl soy sauce
5cl water
1 sweet potato
1 tablespoon (or 2) of cream
salt & pepper

Prepare a light brown caramel with the sugar and 2 teaspoon of water. Take of the oven and add the vinegar, soy sauce and water. Add grated ginger and spices.

Draw crosses on the skin of the duck with a sharp knife. Pour the spicy caramel on he duck, urn it several times until duck is completely covered. Cover and "forget in the fridge for few hours (2-4h).

For the purée : peal and cut the sweet potato in pieces. Bake in a saucepan of hot water for 30min. Mash the potato and add the cream, salt and pepper.

Cook the duck : warm a pan. Take the duck out of the marinade, put in the pan, skin side on the pan. Cook for 7min, high heat. Then remove the fat, and turn the duck breast. Add the marinade in the pan, cover and cook for 7min (middle heat).
When cooked, remove the duck from the pan and let it rest for 5min.
Add the honey in the pan and reduce.
Cut the duck breast in slices, pour the sauce on it and serve with the sweet potatoes purée.