February 2 the day of crepes in France!

In France, February 2 (yesterday) is the day of crepes.
They call this day "Chandeleur" (Candlemas in english) and it is linked to religion (commemorate the purification of Virgin Mary and the presentation of baby Jesus)
but practically, people are making and consuming lots of crepes. 
You won't believe the amount of Nutella, and rest of ingerdients that are consumed those days.
As this is the weekend the closest to the Chandeleur, here's a recipe reminder to succeed your crepes and here is one for pancakes if you are too lazy for crepes :)

Happy Chandeleur!!!

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French orangettes

Orangettes is a traditional french food gift during Xmas. It is actually candied orange peel stripes dipped in dark chocolate that if you like the combination of orange and chocolate you will get addicted to it!
I would like to thank the teacher of a school that I am a volunteer that proposed me to help with doing them this year in order to finance the school trip of their class by selling them to a Christmas market.

I have never done them before, so it was a challenge for me but also a heavy responsibility. So I had to make them first at home to be sure that I am well trained.
End of year period is very busy so I did not have enough time to get nice photos but I did my best given the circumstances. 

The result though was delicious !!!  but be prepared... it takes time too !!!

I can share the recipe with you and here it is the original recipe that we were based on.


Ingredients: (for about 500g of orangettes)
3 big oranges (organic, untreated)
250g white sugar
50cl of water
200g of good quality dark chocolate (around 60-70%)

Procedure

1. Wash well the oranges and peel them carefully cutting the skin in quarters.
2. Put them in a casserole covering them with cold water and boil them for 5 min. 
3. Drain and redo the last step once more.
4. Drain and let them cool.
5. Cut in thin strips of about 0.5cm getting the maximum of length possible.
6. Prepare the syrup with water and sugar. When start boiling add the strips and boil for 5 min. Allow to cool completely and repeat once more the whole step.
7. When completely cool, arrange them in a cooling rack and allow overnight to dry.
8. The next day, melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water (bain-marie).
9. Drop a handful of the orange peel strips and turn them with a fork to coat. 
10. "Fish" them one by one with the fork, allowing the excess to drip off. Arrange them in a tray lined with parchment paper. Allow them to dry completely in a cool place.
11. Once done (best the next day), make small decorated bags and offer them to your dear ones! 

Enjoy!!!   

  

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Happy 2018 !

Happy New Year to all !
Cook more, less war in this world ...

How about starting the year by making this delicious french Epiphany cake (Galette des rois)?
I think that my 2018 version is the best that I have ever done :)

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Cherry clafoutis (clafoutis aux cerises in french)

Cherry clafoutis (clafoutis aux cerises in french) is a classic french dessert for summer that is pretty easy to make. It has actually fresh cherries in a rich custard that you can serve warm or at room temperature.
Traditional clafoutis is made with cherries that have still their pits that french say that make a difference in taste. I have used ready-made cherries that have already been pitted and preserved in a light syrup, though. It's so easy to make and so summerish that I could not resist to add it to my blog that time of the year! And if you are among the lucky ones that have a cherry tree, here's how to use your extra cherries :)

Happy & tasty summer !

Ingredients
150gr all-purpose flour
100gr sugar
3-4 eggs
50cl milk
pinch of salt
vanilla
50gr butter
700gr cherries

Procedure

1. Preheat the over at 170 degrees of Celsius and fan.
2. Beat eggs with sugar, add flour, salt, vanilla, milk and finally the soften butter.
3. Butter a round baking dish, add the cherries and pour the custard over the cherries.
4. Bake for about 50min or until it gets a nice golden color.  

Note: If it starts to get burned too fast, cover it with aluminum and continue. It is normal also if it wiggles a bit when finished baking, let it cool and it will setup. It will also inflate a bit, do not worry, it will deflate when cooled.

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Truffade auvergnate (sort of :)

Sometime ago, I was honored to accompany my son's class to a field trip in Auvergne (a french region), more precisely in Cantal a department in south-central France, with its capital at Aurillac.
We spent a dreaming week in a farm surrounded by animals, warm-hearted people and a beautiful, green scenery thanks to the volcanoes that the region is known for.
One of the last dinners, we had the chance to try one of their typical dishes, the delicious "Truffade Auvergnate" which is a sort of a thick pancake made with sliced potatoes, garlic and cheese (more precisely the variety called "fresh tomme" or Cantal jeune). For more information, search the web, for example wikipedia. After some scooping on the web, I've found that there exists also a similar recipe, "The Aligot", but I have never tried it yet. Maybe the next time that I will visit the region :)
Cheese is one of the typical products there, with Cantal cheese (one of the oldest in France, from the time of Gauls) but also Saint- Nectaire and Salers.
Cantal cheese is a firm (semi-hard) cheese, made from raw or pasteurized cow's milk from the Salers breed. According to the time of aging, it can be found in three varieties:

• Cantal jeune (1-2 months aged)
• Cantal entre deux (2-6 months)
• Cantal vieux ( more than 6 months)

In the recipe that I will provide you today (easy but so tasty!), I have used Cantal entre deux, that was the only one that I could find easily (sorry Celian for not being too concentrated the day that you proposed me to buy some when we were there, but I can now admit that I have some intolerance and that kind of cheese it always scares me :) 
Here it goes ....

Ingredients
1/2 kg of waxy potatoes (I have used Agatha variety)
250gr tomme fraiche de Cantal (I have used Cantal entre deux) 
2 toes of garlic 
some oil
salt, pepper

Procedure

Peel the potatoes, slice them thinly and cook them in a big saucepan (I have used my wok) using some frying oil like sunflower's (instead of goose fat that was used traditionally) until they are tender.  Smash them slightly using a fork.
Add the sliced garlic and season with salt and pepper. 
Cover all over with sliced cheese. Normally, you cover and let the cheese melt and then mix well with a wooden spatula. Given that I have used a harder version of cheese, I decided to put it in the grill and mix when it was well melt. The final result should give a thick pastry, a bit different from my version that was still very tasty.
Serve immediately in the table with the saucepan and accompany with a fresh green salad and some slices of ham.  
Whole family agreed that it was a nice way to remember those beautiful days spent in Cantal, sitting around a tasty dish, one warm evening in our garden... Thanks CM1-CM2! (even for the cooking recipes book that I got thanks to your tombola which included also this recipe...)

       

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King cake (Galette des rois in french)

Galette des rois is a traditional french cake that is made for Epiphany (6 of January). It celebrates the arrival of the Three Wise Men in Bethlehem to visit baby Jesus. 
It is composed of a puff pastry cake, and a small charm in china, the fève, is hidden inside. The person who finds it becomes the king or the queen of the day. It is usually filled with frangipane, a cream made from sweet almonds, butter, eggs and sugar but there are several other derivatives as well at modern times.
I would like to thank Vanille, a girl of my son's class that put a recipe in their class blog and I could not resist and did it! It is so easy to make actually, check it for yourselves...


Ingredients
2 ready-made disks of puff pastry 
125 gr softened butter
125 gr sugar
125 gr ground almond
1 vanilla
2 eggs 
1 beaten egg for the top

Procedure 

1. Preheat the oven at 220 degrees of Celsius and fan.
2. Prepare the "frangipane" cream by beating first butter with sugar to get fluffy and then add the rest and continue to beat until soften.
3. Put one of the puff pastry disk on a baking sheet and lay evenly the frangipane on it leaving 2cm of the edges. 
4. Add the charm ("feve"). It is very important not to forget this part!!! Otherwise kids will be disappointed
5. Cover with the second disk. Press the edges with a small fork to seal well. 
6. Using a knife, "draw" lightly patterns on the top. 
7. Brush the last egg on top to get a nice color.
8. Bake for about 20min or until it gets crispy and a nice golden color.

 

Enjoy! And let me know what you think if you try it :) 
Here's what was left a few hours later the same day ...

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French pear tart (Tarte bourdaloue ou tarte aux poires et frangipane)

My husband's favorite dessert is a french tart with pears and almond paste that in french is called "tarte aux poires et frangipane" or "tarte bourdaloue" or "tarte aux poires normande" as it's origon is Normandy in north of France.
I just made a great version of it and all family got excited ! As always, I will note it down in my blog to never miss it again :) As one thing is sure: I am going to make it again soon !
Here it goes...



Ingredients
Base: (or just buy the french short pastry called "pate sablee")
100 gr butter cut in small cubes
1 spoonful of sugar
1 cup of flour
a bit of salt
1 egg

Frangipan cream (almond paste): 
80 gr of ground almonds
80 gr of sugar
80 gr soften butter
1 egg
1 spoonful of flour
vanilla or few drops of almond extract

a big can with pears in syrop

Procedure

Mix well the ingredients for the base to make a small ball and leave it in the fridge for about an hour.

Take it out of the fridge and roll the pastry in a round dish for tarts to cover all the base and a bit the surroundings.

Preheat the oven at 175 degrees of Celsius and fan.

Beat well the ingredients for the frangipan cream and empty it on the pastry.

Put evenly the half pears on top and press a bit to the frangipan. Decorate if you wish with some sliced almonds.


Bake for 30min and let it cool down before serving.
Optionally, you can warm a bit of honey and jam and brush the pears to make them look shiny.

To hubby with love !!!

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Croziflette, savoy specialty!

Croziflette today, a traditional french recipe and special tribute to the french region known for the Alpes mountains, Savoy! It's a twist from "tartiflette" that is made with potatoes, while this one is made with a special type of pasta that is called "crozet" that has the shape of tiny squares. It is not a dish that is low in calories, but it is a perfect dish for apres-ski after spending a full day in the slopes. So, ski maniacs all around the globe, this is for you :)
If you cannot find crozets, you can replace it with any small pasta.


Ingredients
400 gr crozets (better to mix half natural and half buckwheat)
1 big onion finely sliced 
200gr cured ham ("lardons")
300ml fresh butter cream
reblochon cheese
salt, white pepper, olive oil


Procedure
Boil the crozets in a big quantity of water as indicated in the box. Drain and empty in a medium pyrex.

Fry the onion with some olive oil and in the middle add the ham and continue until they all get a nice color.

Pour over the crozets, add the creme, the salt and the pepper and mix with a spoon.

 Cut the cheese in thick sliced and put evenly on top. Put in the oven in 180 Celsius for about 10min or until the cheese will create a nice crust on top. Serve with a green salad. Bon appetit!

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Beef "bourguignon", french touch!

Special tribute today to the country that hosts me for almost 20 years ...
A classic dish with beef that in french is called "boeuf bourguignon" and a recipe that if you like cooking you should not miss :)
You will need good red wine, and depending on how fanatic you are with wine, adjust the quantity that you will use. I am not so, so I do not put much, but feel free to adapt to your taste! 
You will need...





Ingredients
1 kg beef (cut in big cubes)
1 cup of good red wine (best would be from bourgogne :)
mushrooms (parisian mushrooms)
1 onion
2 garlic toes
bacon
carrots
olive oil
salt, pepper, thyme, 1-2 laurel leaves, parsley
1-2 spoonfuls of flour
2-3 spoonfuls of tomato sauce
3-4 potatoes (cut in big cubes also)

Procedure

In a pressure cooker, add some olive oil (or butter if you are french :) and start frying the meat.
After a few minutes and before the meat is done, add the onion, the mushrooms and the bacon, all sliced.

 

 In parallel, prepare the wine, cut the carrots in slices and chop the parsley.

 When all is done with frying, add the flour and fry 1-2 more minutes.

Add the wine, the tomato sauce, and the rest of the ingredients apart from the potatoes. Add enough water to cover everything and cook in pressure for about 20min. Then, open the cooker, add the potatoes and let them cook for 10 more minutes.

Your beef bourguignon is ready!
Even the next day can be more delicious, so keep it as a recipe to prepare in advance for a nice dinner that you will be fresh to enjoy it.
Serve it with a glass of the same wine that you used, of course!

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