My little croissant revelation

I have developed an opinion on what a proper croissant should taste and feel like. This opinion came form my sister, she is quit the expert. Lucky for me i got to test lots of croissants this past weekend while I was in Paris.

So for those of you that are interested in my croissant opinion here it is. To me, a good croissant needs to crumble, leaving lots of flakes all over your fingers, plate, table, lap. The taste should be slightly buttery and sweet but neither should be over powering. The croissant should leave oil stains on the paper bag its been in. Best of all you should always want another halfway through your first. A good croissant should not need any other accompaniment such as butter or jam, that doesn't mean you should have some with it, but it should be good enough on its own.

While in Paris I got the perfect opportunity to try an almond croissant. All I can say about this amazing creation is WOW.  To be more exact, this is a croissant stuffed with a mix of ground almond, egg and a little sugar. The outside is covered in flaked almond, and powder sugar. Yum, Yum, Yum, one of these babies and your set for half a day. Not recommended for anyone on a diet.

I noticed in Paris that the recipe (thus look, feel and taste) varies per bakery or rather patisserie. If your in paris, in the Montmartre area then you must try to almond croissant from this bakery on Rue Coustou.

If you want to have a go at making your own almond croissant, here is a good recipe: http://www.deliciousdays.com/archives/2010/10/27/almond-croissants-a-very-special-breakfast-treat/

I myself need to build up the courage to try it out, considering that by now, my expectations are so very high.

Finally, the right banana oat bread

Every food blog I have ever read and liked has thier own Banana bread recipe. Now my turn. I made an attempt at this a couple weeks ago and it was a big let down to say the least...Even my biggest banana bread supporter, my little sis, didn't love it....So I had to give it another try. My batch was so large that I put half the batch into cupcake forms (this weren't string enough to hold their shape so the cupcakes become more pancakes, so much for cheap cupcake paper holders) and a cake. 

My wish for this was not so much a fluffy but more of a oatey, breakfast bread/cake. Make any sense? Well to me and my cravings it did. 

Tzatziki - Greek yoghurt sauce

Tzatziki reminds me of my teens, it was a staple in our weekly dinner menu, easy, fresh, yummy. We ate it a lot simply with rice and chicken file, preferably fried on a griddle pan. its laos so good served with falafel, in a pita bread with some grilled/fried paprika/capsicum.

1 cucumber
3 dl greek yoghurt (thick)
salt
pepper
pinch dried chili flakes or 3-5 tabasco drops
0,5 tsp lemon juice

1. Half the cucumber, lengthwise,  so you can de-seed it (middle, soggy wet part)
2. Grate the cucumber, squeeze the waer out of the grated cucumber. I find it easiest to just take half the gratings and use my hands to squeeze it "dry" (it wont be dry but it will be less watery)

3. Put the "dry" gratings into a bowl, add the yoghurt
4. Add your seasoning. Taste. If needed add more seasoning.

Done! so easy, so good! This is also great with fresh bread, dipped into it.

Mid Week Detox Dinner

Ok, so this isn't really a detox dinner, but to me it feels like it. Maybe it more of a raw food dinner, love it, in moderation, once a week. My husband calls this food, rabbit food, I don't blame him. I must have been a rabbit in a past life, cause I LOVE this kind of food. I only recently started adding couscous or quinoa, again something I picked up from my Aussie friend.

I make many variations on this salad, sometimes I leave out the quinoa, sometimes I add canned (pole line fished/sustainably fished / dolfine friendly, hyper expensive) tuna, sometimes I add marinated tofu, sometimes I add roasted pumpkin and/or sunflower seeds. This week I had an overwhelming craving for feta, so the usual protein was replaced by that. I am very picky about my feta, surprise, I only want real greek goat or sheep's milk feta, strong taste, none of that fake cows milk mass produced tastes of nothing stuff. Bla. the feta I like also is pricey, so I don't often buy it but damn its worth it when I do have that craving for it.

Refreshing mid week pasta

This recipe is not mine, it comes from my husband. The first time he cooked it I was hooked, such a clever dish. Its the perfect mid week dinner dish; sharp, light and refreshing.

Winter Comfort Soup

This is inspired by my good Aussie friend, she calls it her blood bean soup. Basically its just lots of winter veggies and kidney beans. YUM! my kind of winter food. I froze half, which will be my lunch for next week.

My version of Guacamole

I could eat this all day long. Avocado is food from heaven. My version of guacamole is super simple, you can even skip certain ingredients if you don't have them at home.

1 ripe avocado
salt & pepper
1/2 garlic clove
1/3 fresh chili /4 drops tabasco/ pinch of dried chili (I like my guacamole slightly spicy, this amount can be Adjusted to your own taste)
Squeeze of lime
1/2 red or yellow onion - can be skipped
8 Coriander/Cilantro leaves- can be skipped but not recommended
4-5 cherry tomatoes/1 regular tomato - can be skipped

I use a bowl to mix everything in, an old mexican bowl from my parents time in Mexico. Somehow this bowl enhances the guacamole, for me.

1. Mash up the avocado with the back of a fork.
2. Add the lime juice.
3. Salt & Pepper
4. Add the finely chopped onion
5. Add the chopped and de-seeded tomato
6. Add the chopped coriander
7. Taste! Add more lime, salt, pepper & the chili.

addictive, yes.

Hot Chili con carne

Chili con carne, not much to say other than it's a crowd pleaser every time during every season. This recipe is adjusted from a 'BBC food' recipe.

Puttanesca

Another quick & easy dish for during the week.This is one of the many recipes that I learned from my mother, my original cooking inspiration. It is an old Italian pasta recipe, and as per usual I have adapted it to my own liking. 'Puttanesca' in Italian means "whore's pasta".

for 2 people

2 tbsp black olives (I use kalamata - Greek, you need strong tasting olives)

1 tbsp capers

2 garlic cloves

1 tinned tomato

6 achovy files

optional - 3-5 sun dried tomatoes

pepper grind

1. Chop up the olives & anchovy, use some of the oil from the anchovy's to fry with. Fry this on a low heat for about 5min, till the anchovy melts.
2. Then add the capers, sun dried tomatoes and garlic and fry for another 2-3min, on low heat.
3. Add tinned tomato. Allow to cook for another 15-30 min, depending on how much time you have. no salt needed! A little parmesan or piccorino will not hurt. 

Tip, if you have some fresh basil, add a couple of chopped/ripped leaves, when the sauce is done. 

Mushroom Risotto - one of my favs

Many people think risotto is really complicated, actually it really isn't, it just needs attention and love. Don't we all...For me risotto is the ultimate comfort food, oozy, creamy, and slightly chewy, never stodgy. You can skip the mushrooms in this recipe and instead just add peas, lemon zest, and shrimps or a salmon file, or go all veggie and use asparagus and lightly sautéed sugar snaps. Another option could be adding chevre (soft goats cheese) or pecorino instead of parmesan, the goats cheese paired with rosemary and lamb is sooo good, while pecorino would do best with smoked salmon or smoked chicken.

Blinis to start 2011!

To me blini's are just soooo luxurious. The moment I think if blinis I think, caviar and champagne. Yum!

Making your own Pesto

Pesto is just so simple and just so satisfying. You can make many varieties of pesto by simply changing the nuts in it, usually pine seeds (until recently I called them pine nuts but apparently since they done have a shell they can not be called a nut), walnuts, almonds, pistachios.

I usually roast the nuts slightly, but its not necessary. However, in my opinion the roasting brings out a nuttier taste. The real secret is salt, the salt will bring out that special pesto flavor so don't be shy with it. taste your way through the process.

CAT - Chicken Avocado Tomato

I can not get enough of avocado. To me its the best ingredients for any sandwich, salad, or other cold dish, warm avocado doesn't really do it for me, not sure why..

This sandwich is perfect when you have some left over chicken from a roast, or even if you have some left over chicken breast or leg. I also love to use smoked chicken breast for this as it brings that slightly smokey taste, almost making it BTL-ish, thus my in-genius name for this sandwich CAT.

All you need is
2 slices of good bread, I love mine toasted but it's not necessary at all.
1 tomato
1 tbsp mayo
1/2 avocado
salt & pepper

Toast your bread, or don't. Slice or rip[ your chicken to small pieces. Slice half the avocado into about 5 slices (too thick slices will make it difficult to eat). Slice your tomato, you need about 3 slices. Then assemble, adding salt & pepper and the mayo to both top and bottom bread slice. If you really want to go crazy, you can also add a little dijon mustard.

tip, if you have some salad, especially ruccula I recommend adding it as it brings another textural highlight to the eating experience.

yum!

It doesn't get much better than salted French butter

Meet my favorite friend for my Sunday toast. I grew up with salted butter and to me unsalted butter is not worth the calories...Yes, I am picky. So for the past 5 years, living in The Netherlands, I have skipped butter on my toast, until my husband and I found Amsterdam's best cheese store, literally around the corner form our apartment! This cheese store caters to all the top restaurants but the owners are so down to earth, so happy to go into the details of the taste difference between their all their goat cheeses, soft, hard, fungus infested, fresh, sour, creamy..I love them, I love their passion and knowledge. Back to the butter, they carry this butter along with some awesome wine, olives, brilliant chewy bread and micro brewery beer, yes you guested it I only go for those beers..picky indeed. Lucky for me my husband so totally accepts my pickiness, Hey, it gives him good food, drink and butter for his Sunday toast!