Well, I think the title sums up rather well what this dish is about: pasta with uhm, whatever you’ve got left in the fridge, that will make the most amazing yummy sauce. Tadaaaah

Anyway, from the top, you will need:

about 10 mushrooms, 1 little pot of crème fraîche, 1-2 bell peppers (preferably red, they are a little bit sweeter), 2 chicken breasts (or boneless chicken thighs) cut into bite-sized pieces, one small onion, a few garlic cloves (depending on the size and on how garlicky you want the end result to be, plenty of fresh, chopped parsley, pasta (I used tagliatelle), olive oil, salt, pepper, chilli flakes (for a spicy edge), 1/2 glass of white wine (you can use chicken broth instead, but I prefer it like this).

OK, for the actual cooking part: first, you need to chop all your ingredients nicely into small pieces. I highly recommend doing this at first, since the process is rather fast.

Put a big pan of water on the stove, with a lug of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice. When it boils, add a good pinch of salt, stir, add your pasta and cook it according to packet instructions.

Get yourself a large, deep frying pan (not a wok though, I am not sure it would work properly), add 1-2 good lugs of olive oil and let it heat up a bit. Add your onion (this one needs to be chopped more finely) and garlic (also finely chopped) and give them a good stir. When they start to get a little bit of colour, add your chicken bits and brown evenly on all sides. Add your mushrooms, peppers (maybe some zucchini if you like) and give everything a good stir. Add your wine and let the alcohol cook off. All in all the process should take around 10 minutes, in which time the chicken should be well cooked through.

Season everything well, with salt, pepper, chilli flakes (I think I added more than was needed but it was really nice and flavourful. I also added hot and smoky salt from Jamie Oliver’s range instead of regular salt, so that may also be the reason for the extra spiciness. After seasoning, all you need is to add the nice crème fraîche and give everything another stir. Add the parsley, taste, season accordingly. Strain your pasta and add it to the sauce, let he flavours combine for 2 minutes. Well, that’s it. Yumminess on a plate.

Bon appetit

So, the Swiss ‘traditional’ food I am presenting you now is fondue: bread and cheese and wine…all in one pot. I mean, you first put the cheese and the wine, then you dip the bread in it. Simple as that. Preparation time is virtually non-existent. You bring everything to a boil and..ta-daaah, you’ve got yourself a high calorie but oh so nice to look at dish. And if you are preparing it for two, it’s downright cute. I love my new caquelon!

With this weather, it works like a charm. And I am looking forward to making chocolate fondue as well. I need to get myself a gym subscription asap!

Yum!

P.S. That’s not champagne, it’s wine, but someone broke all of our wine glasses…

I dare you try it anytime you come to Swiss Romande (to visit me, of course:P)!

Well, since school here is an absolute nightmare, with more work that throughout the 3 bachelor years (or so it seems to me) I haven’t really had the time to cook very complex recipes. Usually when I arrive home I am already starving and my better half is staring into my eyes like a hungry (yet powerful) puppy. So I open the fridge, turn on the oven and try to make the fastest, most delicious lunch ever…again and again.

So here I was one of these days, hungry and tired and busy, trying to make a decent meal while juggling with I-don’t-even-know-how-many case studies and readings. I turned the oven on…and came up with my own adaptation of Garfield’s parmesan chicken. Yes, I do own Garfield’s cookbook, it’s really nice, you can check it out in my widget that will take you to amazon.co.uk.

Anyways, since I didn’t have breadcrumbs, I skipped that part of the recipe, and here is what I did instead:

I took two chicken breasts, cut them in half and let them sit in barbecue sauce +olive oil+herbs for a little while. I took out a bit of bacon from the fridge, as well as some parmesan cheese and mozzarella. I peeled some potatoes, cut them into wedges and put them in a bowl. I added olive oil, herbs, paprika, salt and pepper and tossed the bowl to coat the potatoes evenly.

I took half of the chicken breast, cut it into strips and rolled them in bacon. I heated the oven at about 200 degrees C and took out a pan. I put the potatoes in it, the chicken breast with bacon and the regular one. Popped them in the oven for about 25-30 minutes until the potatoes were tender.

Meanwhile, I cut some nice slices of mozzarella and parmesan cheese. When the food was nearly ready, I put them on top of the chicken and let them in the oven for another 10 minutes, until the cheese was nice and melted.

All I can say…yum!

Knowing there were going to be a few people from the UK, and since I had no baking powder at home (on Sunday, EVERYTHING is closed here!) I decided to go for shortbread. Yum. As I have recently purchased a nice book from Good Food called 101 Cakes and Bakes I decided to give the recipe in there a try. Very nice indeed.

The recipe is actually rather simple, full of butter and sugar, obviously. You will need:

300 grams flour

200 grams butter (creamy, yummy, the best you can find)

100 grams caster sugar

a pinch of salt (I used Himalayan pink salt, but any good salt is ok)

First, you will need to blend the flour and softened butter together, preferably with a food processor. You have to pulse a few times until you get something resembling bread crumbs. You will then mix in the sugar and knead a bit the dough until it all comes together. If you feel it is too dry, you can add a teensy bit of water but be careful because you don’t want it too become too moist.

You then roll it on a lightly floured surface (I just patted it with my hands since I don’t have a pastry rolling pin yet) into a nice 28 cms disc and transfer it in a greased baking pan. You can now make some markings on the disc to help you cut the shortbread after it’s done. I cut it into 16 pieces and pricked it with a fork. Pop it in the oven (preheated to about 140 degrees C) for like 35-40 minutes (watch closely until the edges become light golden brown) and  when it’s done sprinkle some caster sugar on top and a teensy bit of salt.

For those of you wondering what the dark red thing on top is (no, it’s not blood, although I do come from Dracula land): it’s plum jam that I had made a few weeks ago and I just spread on top of the shortbread before sprinkling with sugar.

All in all, people raved about it and after tasting it, I must say it’s really awesome. Easy to make, would probably go amazingly with a cup of tea (yes, I am a tea lover, sorry). Definitely going to make it again.

Scrumptious!

225 grame de faina pentru prajituri
245 grame de faina pentru paine
o lingurita si un praf de bicarbonat de sodiu
o lingurita si jumatete de praf de copt
o lingurita si jumatate de sare grunjoasa (neaparat, foarte important)
225 de grame de unt nesarat
285 de grame de zahar brun
250 de grame de zahar normal
2 oua mari
2 linguri de extract de vanilie
450 de grame de ciocolata

In primul rand sa stiti ca dubioasa combinatie faina de prajituri+faina de paine e f importanta asa ca incercati sa va procurati din ambele feluri. Eu am facut cumparaturile la Mega image si am luat faina Titan. Worked like a charm. Din ce am citit eu pe net, sunt unii care ua folosit faina alba si gata, dar cred totusi ca e important sa avem din amandoua felurile. La capitolul extract de vanilie, n-am avut noroc. Am cautat pe unde am putut si n-am gasit. Asadar am inlocuit cu 2 fiole de esenta de vanilie de la Dr. Oetker si a fost totul ok. Sunt sigura inca ca extractul le-ar fi dat si mai multa aroma. Cand o sa ma mut la casuta mea (little time to go!) o sa-mi fac extract de vanilie homemade. Pana atunci insa, m-am multumit cu ce-am gasit.

Booooon, asa m-am apucat eu de treaba:

1) am amestecat intr-un bol faina, bicarbonatul, praful de copt, sarea si le-am invartit cu  o furculita in loc sa le cern. Le-am pus deoparte.

2) am batut bine untul moale cu zaharul, vreo 5 minute pana a devenit…cum sa spun eu…fluffy (nota: eu am cumparat zahar cubic brun ca n-am gasit altfel si m-am distrat apoi vreo 10 minute sa-l zdrobesc cu blenderul de mana. Sfat: don’t try this at home decat daca aveti ceva procesor de papa sau o rasnita mai mare sau blender normal). Am adaugat cate un ou, pe rand, si am batut bine dupa fiecare aditie. Atentie, folositi mixerul electric daca vreti sa va mai simtiti mainile dupa experienta asta.

3) am redus viteza mixerului si am adaugat ingredientele uscate. Cum imi tot sarea faina din castron, am pus mixerul deoparte si m-am apucat de amestecat voiniceste cu mana, pana s-a incorportat toata treaba uscata in cea umeda. Am purcas la taiat ciocolata bucati.

4) la taiatul ciocolatei am avut ceva de furca, dat fiind ca la noi nu se gasesc chocolate chips de niciun fel. Nu. Nicaieri. Asa ca am cumparat ciocolata de la Mega Image Del Haze si am taiat-o pana m-am umplut de ciocolata din cap pana in picioare. Charming. Oricum, la mine au iesit mai mult chunks decat chips pentru ca n-am avut rea multa rabdare, dar nu am primit nicio plangere in sensul asta.

5) am incorporat (tot cu mana) ciocolata in aluatul sus amintit, l-am ambalat bine in folie de plastic si l-am lasat sa se “odihneasca” 36 (ok, vreo 32) de ore in firgider.

6) la momentul adevarului am incalzit cuptorul la 180-200 grade C, am extras din frigider ceea ce era acum un mic monstru tare si greu, l-am taiat cu cutitul si facut bilute cam cat mingiile de golf (in reteta zice de facut bile cu chestia aia de inghetata, dar eu n-am avut asa ceva) si l-am pus in tava pe hartie de copt. Intr-o tava mi-au incaput cam 6 bile, la distante mari intre ele pentru ca se intind o gramada.

7) am bagat in cuptor, am stat vreo 18 minute si am scos minunile: mari cat palma, moi inca (nu va lasati pacaliti, se intaresc imediat ce se racoresc) si mirosind a ciocolata. Iata ce-a iesit:

Andrei (si toti cei care s-au mai infruptat din ele) au zis ca-s tare bune. Eu as adauga ca sunt si foarte satioase, drept pentru care data viitoare le voi face mai mici. In plus, cred ca voi modela aluatul de cand e moale in bilute si le voi pune la frigider ca atare. Am auzit ca se pot si congela si pune direct apoi la cuptor when needed, cu doar o mica crestere a timpului de baking. Am incercat, ca in reteta originala, sa pun cateva graunte de sare de mare pe fiecare cookie inainte de a le baga la cuptor. La prima tava am uitat, asa ca am avut termen de comparatie. Eu n-am sesizat mare diferenta . Ce e special la ele este faptul ca sunt crocante la exterior si ooey-gooey la interior, cu o aroma de caramel, vanilie si ciocolata… yummy. Ceva bataie de cap este, dar rezultatul e spectaculos. Nu prea merita insa sa va complicati cu toata treaba daca nu aveti prieteni sa vina sau mai stiu eu, pentru ca ies cam 24-30 de cookies mari. Adica vreo 4-5 tavi. Nu mai zic cate ies daca le faceti mai mici .

Dig in!

Edit: Imi pare rau ca a durat atata sa postez asta, dar ieri cand am apasat “Publish”, mi-a picat netul, pana acum. Eh, delectati-va acum

I decided to make chocolate chip cookies some time ago, when my friend Andrew was so kind to help me with the website and not accept any money for it. So I figured cookies would be the way to go . I started the quest for the perfect CCC, and found that others were ahead of me: The New York Times had already searched the best bakeries in town and gathered up all the secrets for the perfect cookies. All I had to do then, was follow the recipe. I will post it here directly, but with a few hints of my own

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces = 225 grams) cake flour

1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces = 245 grams) bread flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups = 225 grams) unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups (10 ounces = 285 grams) light brown sugar

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces = 250 grams) granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract

1 1/4 pounds = 450 grams bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (see note)

Sea salt.

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside. I didn’t sift them just mixed them nicely with a fork.

2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. I didn’t have any vanilla extract (couldn’t find it anywhere) and used the best vanilla essence I could find. Cookies were still awesome. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. I didn’t have chocolate whatever feves or disks so I chopped some bittersweet chocolate. Except the fact that I managed to cover myself in chocolate and got chunks instead of chips, nobody complained. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up (puh-lease!); it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Don’t be fooled by the fact that they still seem too soft to be ready. The ARE ready. I only baked them 18 minutes and they turned up awesome. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin. Amen to that!

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies (I got about 2 dozen 4 inch cookies). I am planning to make them smaller next time, so I must be ready for like 40 2 inch cookies. Be sure to put them on the baking sheet really far apart as they spread. A lot.

Note: Disks are sold at Jacques Torres Chocolate; Valrhona fèves, oval-shaped chocolate pieces, are at Whole Foods. Disks like that are not found in Romania. Regular bittersweet chocolate (40% cocoa) worked like a charm.

All in all, it’s a bit of work to do, but the results are quite spectaculat. Warm, toffee flavoured cookies with crunchy outside and ooey-goeey inside. Scrumptious, I say. Lookey here how they turned out

Later edit: I’m sorry it took me so long to post this, yesterday when I was about to press “Publish”, my internet failed. However, enjoy it now!

]]> http://chatdechocolat.eu/index.php/cuisine/the-chocolate-chip-cookie-saga-ii/feed/ 0 http://chatdechocolat.eu/index.php/cuisine/the-chocolate-chip-cookie-saga-i/ http://chatdechocolat.eu/index.php/cuisine/the-chocolate-chip-cookie-saga-i/#comments Fri, 19 Jun 2009 23:31:56 +0000 Bianca http://chatdechocolat.eu/?p=424 Yep, I did it. Perfection, I haz it, cum zicea Mazilique. Doar ca acum e 2:30 noaptea si mie mi-e taaaaare somn. Asa ca povestea si pozele, maine. Dar pot sa va spun ca au fost tare bune. Pe cuvant!

I finally baked the perfect chocolate chip cookies! However, I am really sleepy tonight and I’m going to bed. Pics and story and recipe tomorrow. Stay tuned

Da, e clar, se vede ca am de lucrat la licenta, am gatit zilele astea de n-am avut aer. Urmatoarele pe lista: muffins cu glazura de lamaie. Quite yummy. Aveam reteta de la o amica din UK de mai demult si am tot amanat s-o fac. Dar cum as fi facut orice in afara de lovemarks si marci de masini, here it goes (au iesit chiar bine):

250 g faina

3 lingurite praf de copt

1/2 lta sare

85 g zahar

1 ou

1 lta coaja de lamaie

90 ml ulei de floarea soarelui

240 ml lapte

1/2 lta esenta de lamaie

Purcedem:

1. Incepem prin a pregati formele/hartiile de muffins. Eu inca n-am gasiti n comert hartiute de muffins dar e adevarat ca nici chef sa ma mai duc in hypermarket n-am mai avut asa ca…poate exista dar mi-a fost mie lene sa caut. Asadar am folosit tavi de muffins in care acestea ies mai turtite, pentru ca au baza mai mare. Arata mai bine cu hartiute. E esential sa pregatim formele dinainte, pentru ca dupa ce mixam aluatul trebuie sa ne miscam re-pe-de ca altfel se lasa. Incalzim si cuptorul la 200 grade C.

2. Amestecam faina, zaharul, praful de copt si sarea.(again, cine are chef poate sa le cearna).

3. Batem fain frumos cu telul oul, adaugam uleiul, laptele, esenta si coaja de lamaie.

4. Turnam mixtura lichida peste cea uscata si amestecam repede cu telul, omogenizam rapid, apoi repede repede la cuptor cu ele. Acolo vor sta cam 20-25 de minute pana devin aurii si ies bine la eternul test al scobitorii.

5. Pregatim toppingul:

85 g zahar pudra

3-4 lingurite zeama de lamaie (eu am folosit ceva mai mult)

1/4 lta coaja de lamaie

Amestecam bine toate ingredientele pentru topping pana obtinem o pasta nu foarte tare. Imediat ce am scos muffins din cuptor turnam peste glazura si o lasam sa se prelinga.

Eu le-am pus langa niste capsunele, ca sa fie poza mai colorata. Enjoy!

As I am in no mood to write for my diploma, I decided to try a recipe a good friend of mine once gave me. Lemon drizzle muffins are quite light and make a nice breakfast or snack. How it’s made? Here goes:

9oz (250g) Plain Flour

3 Teaspoons (15ml) Baking Powder

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

3oz (85g) White Sugar

1 Egg

8 fl oz (240 ml) Milk

1 Teaspoon (5ml) Grated Lemon Rind

3 fl oz (90ml) Vegetable Oil

1/2 Teaspoon (2.5ml) lemon flavouring

1. Put muffin cases in your tin or on baking tray ready and preheat oven to 375-400 F (190-200 c). This is important because you need to get the muffins in very quickly. As soon as your mixture is ready it will start rising and you need it in oven asap else you might get flat muffins. I couldn’t find paper muffin cases so I used my trays. That is why they are a bit larger and flatter. If you use nice papers, they will get more of a muffin shape .

2. Stir in with a fork your flour, baking powder salt and sugar. You can always sift them, but I am usually to lazy to do it.

3. In  a seperate bowl beat your egg with a fork. Stir in the milk grated lemon rind, lemon flavouring and oil. Beat them all nicely until they are all together.

4. Pour all the liquid into your dry mixture. Stir just until combined. The batter should be just even and no dry flour should be seen. Mix it well and fast and then pour it quickly into the muffin cases/trays. Off in the oven they go for about 20-25 minutes. The tops shoulkd be lightly brown and bounce back when pressed.

5. While they are cooking prepare your topping.

3oz (85g) Icing Sugar

3-4 Teaspoons (15-20ml) Fresh Lemon Juice

1/4 Teaspoon (1.2ml) Grated Lemon Rind

Just mix it altogether and as soon as you take the muffins out drizzle the topping all over so it melts down them.

Quite yummy, I must say and pretty easy to do. I served them with fresh strawberries, for a bit of extra colour. Enjoy!

Daca e s-o spun pe aia dreapta, sorbetul din acest smoothie sau shake sau cum vreti voi sa-i spuneti e de fructe de padure, nu de capsuni, pentru ca se pare ca in Romania sorbetul nu prea e la mare cautare. A trebuit sa ma descurc cu ce-am avut. Rezultatul insa a fost delicios!

Asadar, se ia o mana buna de capsuni taiate si curatate (reteta pentru un singur pahar, dublati cantitatile pentru 2 portii ), se adauga o inghetata intreaga Nestea (da, ati auzit citit bine, o inghetata pe bat Nestea cu fructe de padure. Daca aveti noroc si gasiti sorbet de alt fel la cutie, il puteti folosi cu spor…cam 2 cupe mici la un pahar), 2-3 cuburi de gheata, o jumatate de pahar de suc de capsuni sau merisor sau zmeura (eu am avut de fapt sirop de merisor cu apa, merge perfect). Punem totul la blender si mixam bine. Decoram paharele cu zahar (stiti voi, se inmoaie gura paharului in putina apa sau zeama de lamaie si apoi se da prin zahar) si cu capsuni intregi. Servim cu cirese reci reci reci.

Ce sa mai, racoritor!

To be honest, this strawberry smoothie doesn’t have any strawberry sorbet in it as I couldn’t find any, but I found it works like a charm with the berry one. The result is absolutely delicious anyway.

What you have to do (for one glass) is take a few nice strawberries (5-6), washed and chopped, add a few ice cubes (3), a whole Nestea berry ice cream (the one that’s on a stick; if you’re luckier than me and find real sorbet, you can use about 1-2 small scoops of ice cream) and 1/2 cup of cranberry juice (I used cranberry syrup and some water). Blend all of these really well (I used a hand mixer but a blender does the job so much better) and serve. You can decorate the glass wth some sugar (you need to dip the glass in some water or lemon juice and then quickly dip it in crystal sugar…looks really pretty) and whole strawberries. I served them with fresh chilled cherries. Yum!

Later edit: se pare ca baietii de la Mega Image au sorbet. E un zvon doar, dar il voi confirma cat de curand.

Apparently, you can find sorbet at Mega Image. It’s just a rumor, but I’ll test it really soon

Cum a fost? Fain, dupa cum am tras noi concluzia la sfarsit: dinner and a show, and fireworks and Bon Jovi (and a pin! as adauga eu).

Dinner: Foarte mult si foarte bun (ne-am rasfatat cu niste portii monstruoase de salata, burgeri si deep fried stuff foarte nenorocite pentru dieta pentru mare pe care “cica” o tin)

Show: Ceva prezentare de moda a magazinului Time Out cu niste hainute dragutele foc pentru zi si unele mai cah pentru seara (kitsch would be the word). S-au plimbat printre noi niste modele si niste modei si ne-au aratat design vestimentar. Cute.

Mai tarziu putin pe lac cineva a dat cu artificii, foarte frumoase si au si durat cateva minute bune. Nu am idee cine le-a comandat si pentru ce anume, noua ne-a facut placere sa le privim.

Tot in contextul “paradei de moda” ne-au prezentat tricourile cu semnaturi Bon Jovi, Shakira si Green Day disponibile de cumparat la Rock Shop. Aici le-am luat-o inainte: am tricoul cu Bon Jovi din ianuarie, de cand a aparut (multumesc Ove, Miruna, Lucian!). S-au mai plimbat deci niste domnisoare si domnisori sa ni le arate si pe acelea pe muzica de…Bon Jovi si Green Day, of course.

La plecare ne-am zgait stanga dreapta sa vedem si noi ce au expus prin restaurant (statusem afara pana atunci) si am descoperit cu incantare una bucata ochelari de soare ai lui Michael Jackson, o jacheta a sus numitului, poze cu autograf de la o gramada de staruri rock si haine tot de la starurile amintite. In Rock SHop, cam saracacios as spune eu, aveau doar multe feluri de tricouri, cateva pinuri si brelocuri. Mi-am luat si eu pin, ca nu se putea altfel si am admirat si blugii Shakirei, expusi, dar care nu erau de vanzare. Bummer.

Ca si epilog, as spune ca fu tare fain (no pun intended!!!), atmosfera placuta si prietenoasa, muzica exact pe gustul meu, servire impecabila si portii monstruoase (pe masura la pret, ce-i drept) si suveniruri la sfarsit. Un fel de mini vacanta, ce mai! Foarte placut, asa ca probabil vom reveni, dar la ziua de salariu ca nu prea merge vizitat foarte des daca n-ai si veniturile rock-star-urilor expuse acolo. Si, oricum, te faci cat usa

Enjoy!