Chouquette

This is my favorite pastry for breakfast when I can get my hands on a bag of them of course!
I first ate these at one my favorite bakeries in Portland - St. Honore. Since then, I've been obsessed with tracking down the best chouquettes every time I visit Paris...
It is made with choux pastry which is extremely easy and has a multitude of applications and I really need to start doing this more often.

Traditionally these pastries are sprinkled with pearl sugar which gives it the crunchy white bits I love but I used turbinado sugar I had at home. Surprisingly, they turned out really, really good! These are great plain but this time I served it with milk jam from my recent trip to Paris which made for a really great combination.

Ingredients:
for the choux pastry:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 stick butter
3 eggs
1 cup water
1 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
4 tbsp. turbinado sugar
2 tbsp cream or milk


Method:

Heat the water, sugar, salt, butter in a sauce pan until simmering. Remove from heat, add the flour, combine and return to the heat. Keep stirring with a wooden spoon until it is well combined and the dough forms a ball without sticking to the sides of the pan. This should really take less than a minute.

Remove the pan from heat and add the eggs, one at a time. After each egg is added, keep stirring vigorously until the egg is completely absorbed. The end result should be a very eggy, tacky pastry dough. Chill the dough in the fridge for 30 mins. to 1 hour.

Heat the oven to 400F. Pipe walnut sized portions of the pastry dough onto a parchment sheet leaving some space between them. Brush with the cream or milk and sprinkle with the turbinado sugar. Bake for 20 mins. until they are golden and risen into delicate puffs.

Butternut squash soup

This is a simple and satisfying soup for a cold, rainy day like today.
It is also one of my favorite ways of eating this squash. I've used a pinch of cayenne to cut down the sweetness of the squash, but you can always skip that or try chili oil as a variation.
I typically like to top this soup with crispy sage (love that combination!) but today, I used rosemary as flavouring and topped it with some grated sheep's milk cheese instead...the options are endless!


Ingredients:
Butternut squash - 4- 6 cups (cut, peeled and cubed)
1 cup diced onion
3-4 cups chicken or veg. stock
salt
pepper
1 pinch cayenne
2 tbsp. hard, grated cheese
1/2 cup milk or cream
Rosemary 1 sprig


Method:

Heat a tbsp of butter in a pot. Add the onions, salt, pepper, rosemary and cook until translucent.
Add the squash, chicken stock and simmer until the squash is tender and cooked through. Discard the rosemary sprig and puree with a hand-held blender until smooth and silky. Stir in the cayenne, milk or cream to give it extra creaminess.

Serve warm with the grated cheese on top.

Walnut loaf (pain aux noix)

This is a moist walnut loaf that is perfect for tea or delicious with fruit and cheese. Pain aux noix literally translates to "bread with walnuts" in french but this version is much richer than any walnut bread and is more like a tea-cake.


Ingredients:
1 3/4 sticks butter
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
3 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs at room temp.
1 3/4 cup walnuts, chopped coarsely and then pulsed in a food processor to a coarse meal
1 1/4 cups milk
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed tightly
Powdered sugar for dusting


Method:
Preheat oven to 350 ° F. Grease a loaf pan with butter and set aside.

Melt the butter, brown sugar and honey on low heat and then set aside to cool. Stir in the walnut meal. Whisk the eggs with the milk in a separate bowl and stir that into the pan that has cooled.

In a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients and add to the pan to combine. Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake for 30 minutes at 350 ° F and then for 30 minutes at 300 ° F or until when pressed the top of the cake springs back.

Cool completely on a wire rack and then store until next day, wrapped in foil and refigerated. Serve at room temperature with dusting of powdered sugar.

Hearty bread soup

This is a Portuguese inspired, hearty, bread soup. I used left over baguette from a day ago but you could use similar stale, crusty bread (not sourdough). I also served it with homemade piri-piri sauce for extra zing!

Ingredients:
1/2 baguette, torn into large pieces
a handful of rocket or arugula
4-5 garlic cloves, smashed
4 cups chicken or vege. stock
salt
black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 red onion, sliced
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh or dried rosemary

Method:
Saute the onion, bay leaf and garlic in hot oil until softened. Add the stock, bread, rosemary and simmer. Season with salt and pepper to taste. The bread should soften in a few minutes...you can additional water if needed. Now, add the rocket and stir until wilted.
Turn off heat, ladle into bowls and top with some piri-piri.

Salmon kebabs with yoghurt sauce

This is a middle eastern inspired dish and all started when I found this large, round, yeasty, sesame encrusted, Turkish lavash bread at the Farmer's market over the weekend! Who knew?! I also found some great salmon steaks, rocket and chives which I used to create this quick week night dinner recipe.

Highly recommend the lavash but you could always use a pita to recreate this dish. I also use Greek yoghurt to create this sauce as it gives it a creamy, sour cream like texture.

Ingredients:
1 lb salmon, cut into large strips
2 tbsp. tandoori or kebab masala
2 tbsp Greek yoghurt
2 tsp. dried mint leaves
1 tbsp. chives, chopped
1 lavash bread
Olive oil
rocket or favorite salad leaves
salt
black pepper


Method:
Mix the tandoori or kebab seasoning with the lemon juice, salt, black pepper and 1 tsp. olive oil. Marinate the salmon in spices for at least 30 minutes.
Mix the yoghurt with the juice of half a lemon, mint, chives, salt and pepper to taste. Set aside for the flavours to mix.

Heat and film a pan with oil, add the salmon strips and cook on both sides until golden brown.
Open up the lavash bread with a serrated knife and cut in half. Or use a pita cut in half.
Place the rocket leaves on the bread to create a bed for the salmon. Place the salmon strips over it taking care to remove any bones, drizzle with the yoghurt sauce and serve immediately.

Blue cheese and chive pasta

This is a really simple, delicious pasta that I served here with spaghetti.
Use your favourite creamy, blue cheese for the sauce...the more pungent the better! ;)

I served this with a very simple, chickweed salad...yes, it is a weed! I actually stumbled upon it at the farmer's market today....tasted it and loved it! It is also extremely nutritious and high in vitamin C!

Ingredients:
2 servings pasta
2-3 cloves garlic, sliced
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp. creme fraiche
1 tbsp. chives, chopped
1 tbsp. olive oil
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Heat the oil, add the garlic and toss until softened. Then add the blue cheese, milk and whisk over low heat until the cheese is incorporated into the sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Turn off the heat, add the chives and creme fraiche.

Cook pasta until al dente, add to the cheese sauce and combine. Serve with a green salad.

Papardelle carbonara

It's really all about the pancetta! I was able to get some of Salumi pancetta, anise flavoured, a limited edition seasonal version, which just made this to-die-for!

Traditional versions of carbonara, in fact the first time I tried this was in Rome...is made with spaghetti but I like it with the flat pastas too like fettuccine and papardelle.

Ingredients:

1 slick slice of pancetta (Italian bacon), chopped

1/2 cup grated percorino

1 egg and 2 yolks

fresh pasta sheets, cut into papardelle (or whatever you like) to serve 2

salt

black pepper, freshly ground

olive oil

1 tbsp Parsley, chopped

Method:

Render the pancetta in a pan with a little olive oil until crispy, drain over paper towels to remove excess fat. Whisk the egg and yolks with the cheese, salt and pepper.

Cook the pasta until al dente, add to the egg and cheese mixture and toss immediately to coat. Add a few tablespoons of the pasta water as needed. Add the pancetta and toss again, garnish with parsley, drizzle with a little extra olive oil and serve with a simple, green salad of arugula or watercress.

Pannetone french toast

Pannetone is an Italian fruit bread that is common during the holidays but I was happy to find it at whole foods the other day. It has candied citrus in it, has a spongy consistency and is not too sweet. Perfect for luscious french toast!

Ingredients:

1 lb pannetone, sliced into 1" thick slices
6 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup milk
maple syrup
1 tbsp. butter


Method:

Whisk the eggs, milk and vanilla in a shallow pan and set aside to infuse for 30 minutes.
Heat a nonstick pan. Coat the pan with some butter.

Take a slice of pannetone, dip both sides into the egg mixture and place on pan. Flip when golden and place on serving plate. Repeat with the rest of the pannetone.

Serve immediately drizzled with maple syrup. Simply divine!

Andouille and fennel galette

Brunches are my favorite way to start a lazy Sunday. Sometimes, I simply like to head out but on other days when I have great ingredients at hand, it's time to get creative! Today, I was craving something savoury to go with the creamy pannetone french toast. So, started with some fresh fennel, great andouille and then topped it off with some really tangy Bulgarian feta (I am fan now!)

Ingredients:

1 small fennel bulb, sliced
2 links andouille sausage, sliced
1 small red onion, sliced
3-4 tbsp fennel greens, chopped
1 tbsp fennel seeds
4-5 garlic cloves, sliced
olive oil
2 tbsp. feta (I used a Bulgarian version that is really soft and extra creamy)
black pepper and salt to taste
1 pie crust - home made or store-bought

Method:

Film the bottom of a skillet with olive oil over medium flame. Add the fennel and garlic and toss around for a minute. Then add the sausage and saute until golden.


Now add the onion and cook until translucent. Finally add the sliced fennel, salt and pepper and cook until softened. Turn off the heat and then mix in the chopped fennel leaves.


Roll the pie-crust into a circle. Add the cooled sausage mixture on top leaving 2" around the edges. Now fold the edges inwards to make a rustic presentation. Spread the mixture evenly within the edges. Brush edges with an egg wash. Cook in a 375°F oven for 35 minutes or until golden.


Crumble the cheese over the galette and serve while still warm. I served it for brunch along with pannetone french toast. It would also be great with a simple salad for lunch.

Melktert (milk tart, South African style)

This is the original South African version of melktert but I used a store bought crust instead of doing that from scratch.

Ingredients:

1 cup milk
2 tbsp. butter, room temp.
4 tbsp. corn flour
6 tbsp sugar
2 eggs, yolks separated
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 cinnamon stick
1 ready made pie crust

Method:
Roll out the pie crust over the tart pan, line the tart pan with it and trim the edges as needed.
Preheat the oven to 375°C.

Heat the milk in a pan with the cinnamon stick.
In a bowl, cream the butter sugar and corn flour. Now add the heated milk in a thin stream and keep whisking until combined. Now transfer back to pan and heat for a few minutes until it thickens and forms a custard. Pour this through a sieve into a bowl to cool slightly.

Beat the egg whites until stiff. Add the egg yolks to the thickened milk mixture and whisk.
Fold the egg whites. Pour this custard into the prepared tart pan and bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes or until cooked and firm. Remove and sprinkle with cinnamon. Chill in refrigerator when cooled.

Cut into wedges and serve.