Romantic Dinner Step 1: Salmon Temaki
Posted on | December 3, 2010 | 2 Comments
When planning a romantic dinner, in my opinion, you need to make sure of the following:
You don’t make this every other day.
It looks fancy and yummy but it really isn’t that difficult to make.
It’s best to be able to make at least 2 out of 3 courses in advance. You want to spend your evening in the dining room, not in the kitchen.
The other guest at the table also likes whatever he/she’s going to be served.
Anything goes with champagne!
So my starter was just that: easy to make, though it looks complicated, light, elegant and above all, YUM!
What you need to know (that I didn’t) is that you make sure to buy as whole slices of salmon as you can find. If you can, go buy it and have the person selling it cut it into as robust (but fine at the same time) slices as possible, if not try to buy a package where the fish looks as whole as possible. You need slices, but you need your slices to stay together and not shred (like mine almost did).
So, you’ll need: smoked salmon – about 60 grams for 2 people as a starter – (see above), 100 mls of creme fraiche (or sour cream I suspect works well too), fresh dill, 1 lemon, freshly ground pepper, one avocado (be careful, not too ripe!).
The recipe comes from Table for Two, French Recipes for Romantic Dining – a book that I really like because it has great recipes for all seasons, labeled accordingly.
The method is quite simple: you separate (carefully!) the salmon slices. You-ll need a few pieces of plastic wrap prepared, about the size of your slices. Also, prepare your avcado – my luck was that I had two on hand, because one of them was waaay too ripe although it looked fine in the store. It was ugly and full of spots, you don’t need that. You need an “almost there” avocado, firm enough to be cut into slices. Cut the avocado in half, take the pit out and with a spoon, carefully remove the flesh from the skin without ruining its shape. Then, cut it in thin slices. In my opinion, if you have an avocado you had bought for guacamole but it’s not ripe enough…it’s exactly what you need for this recipe. You need to lay one salmon slice at a time on the plastic wrap (or, if you’re into sushi, maybe you have those special rolling mats – I don’t). Spread a teaspoon of creme fraiche on top, trying not to put too much as it will burst when you roll it. In the middle, put one or two avocado slices and a sprig of dill. Squeeze lemon juice over it and sprinkle some pepper. Now, we’re ready to roll. Carefully roll the salmon slice with the help of your plastic wrap. Then, use the same plastic wrap to…uhm…wrap the temaki tightly and make sure you’ve closed both ends. Repeat with all other salmon slices. Put them in the refrigerator for about one hour or until ready to serve.
When serving time comes, unwrap your temaki and, with the help of a serrated knife, cut it in 2 or 3 equal pieces. This sounds harder than it actually is. If your knife is sharp enough and the salmon have been in the fridge for enough time you’ll be just fine. Serve them on a plate standing, with some crackers or toast on the side. I had forgotten to buy toast 
So there you have it: one of the easiest and yummiest starters I’ve ever made.
Stay tuned for the rest of the romantic dinner!
Heart Warming Veggie Soup
Posted on | December 2, 2010 | 4 Comments
When it’s -3 outside you kind of wish you could stay indoors. It was snowing like crazy yesterday, it was probably one of the few days I was sort of glad I was unemployed. Something warm and cozy and yummy was needed. Soup…what else? Sorry, George.
So I looked in the fridge for whatever veggies were inside. I had some chicken stock made a few days before so I thought I would use it. And I got cookin’!
2 small potatoes, 1 chopped onion, 3 celery small stalks, 5 small carrots and half a bell pepper later…I peeled and chopped my veggies (fine chopped the onion) and put a pan with a lug of olive oil in it on the stove. Put in the onion first and let it become translucent. Then in went the other vegetables (I had some broccoli too, but, having had some unfortunate colour experiences in the past when I couldn’t bring myself to eat mud-coloured soup, I decided to pass) and about 1 liter of the stock, as well as a Knorr Marmite little pot (my stock wasn’t “strong enough”) and…let it simmer for 30 minutes.
I checked the potatoes and the carrots to make sure they were cooked through, then in the blender they all went and whizzed up real good. I put the soup back in the pan, added a bit (please, don’t ask how much, I’ll say a “lug” again!) of single cream and preheated my oven to 220 degrees. Seasoned with salt, pepper, thyme and tasted. Mmmmm, goodness in my pot!
Put in the preheated oven some pre baked buns I had on hand and served alongside the soup, not forgetting to add a dollop of sour cream and a pinch of pepper.
It was the best breakfast…ever!
Dark Chocolate Truffles
Posted on | December 1, 2010 | 4 Comments
48 chocolate truffles for 48 months of love. I know, I’m such a romantic sometimes, although it may mean the lovely boyfriend is now literally devouring my youth but that’s a whole other story…
Anyway, I got the recipe from the lovely Tartelette who makes the at Christmas time every year. Her recipe yields 35-45 truffles, but I needed 48, that is why some of them ended to be half the size of the others, since I was running out of ganache. But, all’s well that ends well and I managed to get all the truffles I needed. They are extremely rich and hopefully we’ll manage to finish them soon because I don’t really know what their “shelf life” is.
So here it goes, you’ll need:
250 g dark chocolate (I used 50% cocoa but I would recommend a higher percentage since mine turned out to be quite sweet)
115 g butter, softened to room temperature
2 large egg yolks
125 g powdered sugar
cocoa powder, for dusting (there’s a whole debate here, some people find that unsweetened cocoa powder is too bitter, I found it to perfectly balance the sweetness of the ganache. If you like them sweeter, use sweetened cocoa, like Nesquick or even powdered sugar. But I would definitely recommend the regular cocoa.)
Method: I was desperately in a hurry when making these, therefore they are not nearly as cute and round as Tartelette’s. But they were tasty anyway. Also, I found that 2 hours outside on the balcony (at what was probably -2 degrees) did what overnight in the refrigerator was supposed to do. So I managed to finish my truffles on time.
What you’ll need to do: gently melt the dark chocolate (broken into pieces) on a bain marie or just over very low heat. When it is smooth and melted, add the butter, one tablespoon at a time. Incorporate well. Add the egg yolks and the sugar, whisking until everything is well blended in and the mixture is smooth. Refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours in the fridge (or one hour on the frozen balcony).
When the batter is firm, take a teaspoon and scoop out balls of ganache that you will roll in your hands to form pretty truffles. Put them on a tray, on a baking sheet. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and refrigerate again, overnight (or 2 hours on the frozen balcony). Do not skip this step, because the cocoa powder will just blend in instead of just dusting the truffle. Believe me, I tried!
Finally, put a few tablespoons of cocoa powder in a shallow dish. Roll each ball of ganache in the cocoa powder until fully covered. I also wanted to try dipping some of them in white chocolate but ran out of time. Some prefer them rolled in nuts or shredded coconut, but my audience didn’t like any of those two. So I was left with the same old, same old cocoa powder. I don’t think I would’ve had the time to prep anything else anyway.
These are best kept refrigerated, because at room temperature they tend to soften really quickly. However, for tasting I’d say they should be out of the fridge for at least a few minutes.
And voilà: chocolate decadence in a few pretty truffles. Enjoy!
Teaser for a Fancy Dinner
Posted on | December 1, 2010 | No Comments
As I’m writing this I have a soup on the stove that will become blog material and the house smells so good. Well, it’s -3 outside and snowing like crazy so I’m thinking soup is the way to go, definitely.
But this is more about the dinner we had on the 25th of November, when, unlike a lot of people, we did not celebrate Thanksgiving (no pilgrims in Romania or Switzerland) but 48 months of being together. Yep, 4 years. It’s been quite some time and I’m happy to be able to say that although feelings have changed in their speed and roller-coaster ride-iness, although the craziness is maybe a little less crazy (but just as passionate) I feel that we have gone the distance (a small one, mind you) quite well. So here’s to that
As it was a special occasion, I needed to make something special to eat, right? So after twisting and turning and reading all my cookbooks 50 000 times, I decided on the following menu:
Salmon temakis with avocado and dill
Pan fried duck breast with spicy cherry jam and roasted baby potatoes
And crème brulée with tonka bean sugar topping
Now, of course I’ll post the recipes for every one of these, as well as for the dark chocolate truffles I am going to photograph now. So stay tuned, there’s yummy recipes coming
Food related…sort of
Posted on | November 30, 2010 | No Comments
I laughed so hard…sooo worth sharing!
Raspberry Bundt Cake
Posted on | November 30, 2010 | No Comments
Having (finally!) received some pretty, pretty silicone shapes from eboutic , I decided last night I needed to give them a try. I had a new bundt cake pan, two little flower shaped molds a spatula and some chocolate molds. Since I had a recipe in mind for a long time, a raspberry and almond bundt cake, I decided to give the pan a go. And boy, was it lovely. Not to praise Silicone Zone or anything, but I’ve never had a cake jump out of its pan so fast…really nice. No stickiness, no issues with leftover bits, and thanks to the handles, it made turning the cake upside down even easier. Also, bear in mind the pan was made for an 8 servings cake and I made about 4 servings, so it had to literally “fall” on the plate. Still, no issues there.
The recipe was from the Good Food series little books – 101 Cakes and Bakes (I just love these little books, full of great recipes, nice photographs all over and really good value) that I tweaked a bit because I didn’t have all the ingredients on hand and because I needed less cake. I will give you the original recipe though and you can double it, halve it to your fancy.
What you’ll need:
175 g butter (softened)
175 g caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs, lightly beaten
50 g flaked almonds (I used almond brittles that I toasted beforehand, because mine weren’t obviously going to blend in the cake, but more likely give it a nice toasty crunch)
grated zest of 1 orange (didn’t use any, I’m not a big fan of orange flavour)
200 g plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons of milk
200g raspberries, fresh or frozen (I used more than suggested, about 150 grams for half of the recipe but they were lovely)
Icing sugar for dusting
Method: I am going to tell you my method, because I only followed the one in the book, ahem, let’s say loosely?
So, first you need to preheat your oven to 180 – 200 degrees Celsius. Then, you cream the butter and sugar, add the vanilla extract (I used 1 teaspoon for half the recipe, but that is also because I omitted the orange zest and because I love everything vanilla-y). Gradually add the beaten eggs, beat the mixture a bit more (I did all of this with an electric whisk), beat in the flour, the baking powder and the salt. Add the milk. Fold in the toasted almonds and raspberries. I tried putting some raspberries beforehand in the pan hoping for a nice “crown on top” effect in the end, but, as you can see, it didn’t happen so I say it’s not worth bothering.
Put the mixture in the pan, pop in the oven, bake for 45 minutes (but I suggest you check on it at 30, too) or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean. Since all ovens are different, I strongly suggest you keep an eye on it. You should know anyway when the house starts smelling fantastic.
Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, unmold and dust with icing sugar. I like it best warm, but it was a great breakfast as well this morning, with tea.
Hope you like it as much as we did.
Later edit: thanks, Crazy Mother Cooker for the lovely reminder
Romanian lunch…
Posted on | November 29, 2010 | No Comments
Now I have no idea if this is traditional to my country or not, but I know I’ve never eaten something similar anywhere else. So I say it’s Romanian. I need to apologize for the picture. In no way does it do justice to the taste and creaminess and yumminess of the food. But we were hungry and we settled for what we had so we could dig in faster. Ah, I do recommend you try it though becasue it is absolutely delicious.
Method: my recipe was a combination of this one, plus what my granny always used to make (the roasted peppers bit) plus some leftover mushrooms in the fridge that needed saving. My definite advantage is that I didn’t need to make the chicken soup or sauté it in butter because I had some leftover roasted chicken that needed to be used. But I’ll write here what you should do, so the recipe is complete.
Step 1: the chicken – you can skip it if you, like me, have some leftover roast or boiled chicken. If not, you must make a soup. You need to fill up a pan with water, put in the chicken, some whole pepper, salt, 1 carrot, a bit of celery root, a small potato, maybe even a small onion. Let it boil for a while (I think 30 minutes or something, until the chicken is cooked through and the soup smells fantastic) and then take out the chicken pieces and sauté them in a pan with some butter and salt and pepper. Make sure you reserve the soup (strained though, please).
Step 2: the sauce. This is the tricky bit. I found that it is much easier and lighter to do it with cornstarch instead of flour. While here you can find “Maïzena” (apparently a trademark of Unilever and not just what the French call cornstarch) everywhere – probably because the Swiss use in the fondue, I am not sure it is readily available everywhere. You can just use all purpose flour instead, but you will need to whisk faster
So, you need to take a knob of butter and melt it in a sauce pan. One it’s melted, add 1-2 spoons of flour/cornstarch and whisk vigorously so that there are no lumps. Add the reserved soup (for 2 people, I used about 300 mls) and continue whisking so that you end up with a thicker sauce, no lumps though. The goodness comes in here: I like to use 2 spoons of sour cream but this time for example I used crème fraîche instead because I had some on hand. Other times, I used single or double cream. I like the more sour types because they give a bit of a “zing” to an otherwise more creamy preparation. You can try them all and decide which you like best or you can just skip it entirely if you’re lactose intolerant (and use olive oil instead of butter).
Yummy add-ons: My grandmother always added roasted peppers (pay attention, without the vinegar, you must use either roasted peppers from a jar that were not preserved in vinegar or make some from scratch) – I had mine reserved from here. As a bonus, I added some sauteed mushrooms that I needed to use as well. Add chicken, roasted peppers and mushrooms to the sauce and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Taste, season, serve with polenta.
Yumminess on a plate
Home reminder…
Posted on | November 28, 2010 | 3 Comments
Well, to be honest I’ve never really missed much of the Romanian food. More often than not, I find it too heavy, too much pork, too much fat, not flavourful enough. Oh well, that is me. Most people I know love Romanian food. However, there are a few dishes I just love and craved every time I went home. I found them to difficult to replicate here, not because of the lack of ingredients, but more like because of my laziness and fear of failure.
But when my potential mother in law sent us roasted red peppers – frozen and roasted eggplant – frozen, I decided it was time to make one of my all time favourites: roasted eggplant salad with roasted red peppers.
Of course, most of the hard work (especially for the eggplants) was already done. They had been roasted, peeled, salted, drained, cut and ready for me. Peppers? Likewise. So dinner was ready in less than 30 minutes (that is if you don’t count the 3 hour bread-making in the machine: warm wholegrain bread with sunflower seeds in it, yum, I tell you). I thought the cherry tomatoes and goat cheese were the perfect addition to it all and believe me, there was nothing left.
Thanks to lovely Ina‘s help, I was able to make the eggplant salad. I put the thawed eggplants in a bowl, added salt, lemon juice and a bit of oil and started mixing (can be done with a wooden spoon or an electric mixer, in my case). And you keep adding bit by bit oil until they fluff up and become pale (I recommend using sunflower seed oil, not olive because it has less taste). Give a little taste, season, add some minced onion and voilà: goodness on a plate
For the red peppers I just put them in the bowl with balsamic vinegar, salt and oil. They vanished so quickly…
So, if you ever run out of ideas on what to make for dinner, this “rustic” platter is a great idea. Fast to assemble if everything is prepared beforehand (or thawed, in my case) and truly delicious.
Bon appetit!
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and Cherry Pies
Posted on | November 26, 2010 | 2 Comments
Well, I finally got to see The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and I thought I should make something to nibble on, you know, worth of the occasion. These mini cherry pies were supposed to have that magic feeling, so I cut some snowflakes (given the lack of star shaped cookie cutters) out of the dough to make them look more magical. I thought they were cute! Unfortunately there were no fresh cherries or sour cherries available but I did find in the local Coop a cherry compote and a mixed sour cherry – cherry one that I cannot find online 
.
The recipe is here with the only difference being I made these into mini pies, in muffin tins. They were super easy to take out of the tins, to my surprise. I was expecting them to shatter or something, but they came out really pretty. Sprinkled with cinnamon sugar from Globus and tadaaaah, the perfect little snacks. Even better served with some vanilla custard which I made from a package with some added vanilla paste (by the way, for those of you in Switzerland who can’t find vanilla paste, the MMM Migros were the only place I could find it) I know, shame on me, but it was gooood.
The movie? Worth watching, cute, really well known actors (Nicholas Cage and Monica Bellucci to name a few) and a really nice cameo of the original Sorcerer’s Apprentice short film within Disney’s Fantasia (which, by the way, is out of the vault so get your hands on it while it’s still out there!).
Bon Appetit!
Whooga Ugg Boots Giveaway
Posted on | November 18, 2010 | 4 Comments
Yes, I know I said I would write more about food and recipes etcetera, but I’m a girl, and what’s a girl without fashion anyway? So when the opportunity to advertise a Whooga Boots giveaway presented itself, I jumped right at it.
Now, just to make clear, I researched the internet a bit. Apparently, contrary to my initial feel, ugg boots are not necessarily UGG Australia (produced by the Deckers brand) boots. Ugg boots are just a style of boots produced from merino wool, that are thicker, warmer (and cuter) than other boots. And given the fact that Deckers UGG are produced in China by an American company, I wonder why they are able to use that brand anyway. The Whooga ones have a distinctive ThermoFleece™ technology that makes them even warmer and, thanks to the natural materials do not make your feet sweat. Looking on their website, I see they have quite a few colours and styles to choose from. Most reviews I read were great so I am definitely looking forward to getting a pair
Anyway, to get to the point. Whooga Boots are running a giveaway every month and all you need to do to enter is sign up to their newsletter or follow them on Twitter.
If you don’t want to wait until the end of the month and let the important fact or whether or not you have these brilliant boots on hand for upcoming winter to the hand of destiny, you can still get 10% discount on their website using the code 935CHOC for the following week.
Personally, I really want a pair but I am really having issues with picking the colour. Which one do you like most? Which style?
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