Once upon a time…

One of my very first cooking memories is baking the best oatmeal cookies with my Dad… Yes! It was a while away but it was such a great fun. We were baking a pretty huge batches of them for our small army of three kids. I don’t even know the exact recipe… I won’t event try to reproduce them. It would be a big disappointment for sure. Similar to my last attempt to remake my grand mummy’s crêpes with vanilla cottage cheese. Just impossible!

In addition, for instant I have to cope with no access to the oven… But what to do while the envy of a healthy and sweet goûter is stronger than anything?

Frying pan oatmeal cookies!

No exact measurements just 3 steps:

1. On a dry non-stick frying pan, toast a cup (or two) of chopped nuts and seeds (almonds, sunflower,flax,walnuts etc.) until crunchy and golden.
2.  Add one cup (or two) of oatmeals with raisins or muesli of your choice and mix everything.
3. Add a cup (or more) of a sweetened condensed milk and coat every little grain of your muesli with it… Than form little (or BIG) patties and coat them with some extra chopped nuts.

Enjoy with a cup of milk or tea 😉

 

L’été Indien…

Indian summer on the plate for a quick lunch between the classes?

My carefree holidays came to an end already over a month ago… Afresh my “crazy ‘n busy” lifestyle pushes me to wake up so early every morning. And the mornings tend to be the more and more cold…well let’s say it: freezing cold.

I do my best to reconcile all my duties, but I feel that finding some “stress-free” moments throughout the day is very important to stay healthy and keep on being active.

Even during my quick-50 minutes lunch break I try to enjoy nutritious food… Last time it was so full of colors and flavors that I couldn’t  stop myself to take few pictures and share with you…

Mixed salad with grilled duck gizzards…sounds odd, but if you don’t trust me that it can taste amazing look at these pictures 😉

… and obviously shared with your beloved it’s so much better!

 

ingredients for 2 people:

• mix of salads of your choice (I used: arugula, yellow and purple carrot stripes)
• 2 tomatoes or 200g of cherry tomatoes
• little handful of raisins
• little handful of walnuts
• 300g of grilled duck gizzards
• honey vinegrete (olive oil, honey, dijon mustard)

Just assemble your salad!!

And enjoy with a glass of red wine 😉

windy city

 

 

 

better choices ‘n halvah

So many times I’ve heard people say that yummy food is certainly unhealthy. I can’t really understand this conviction. It’s true that sometimes healthy eating involves a greater effort than eating junk food but definitely it’s not a rule.

Undoubtedly halvah is one of the most nutritious sweets in the world. Sesame seeds are extremely rich in protein and essential fatty acids as well as dietary fiber, Calcium, Magnesium, Iron, Potassium, Zinc, Sodium and Phosphorus. They also contain vitamin B1 and natural antioxidants.

But before you buy a can of halvah, remember that products manufactured on an industrial scale are highly processed and they’ve already lost most of its nutritional properties.The majority of halvah available on store shelves is a mix of cheap sugar and trans fats. Happily, there is a very quick way to prepare a healthy halvah, full of minerals and proteins in your own kitchen !

For the basic version you’re gonna need just TWO ingredients : tahini paste and honey. To get a more dense consistency, you can use icing sugar instead of honey. You can also add some pistachios, almonds or vanilla paste. You just need to combine all the ingredients and refrigerate your halvah for at least one hour before serving.

It’s cheap. It’s yummy. It’s actually very good for you… And I’m sure that once you give it a try you will never ever buy the sticky, oily stuff from your grocery store.

Bon app!

There’s a mole mound in my garden!

 

 

To prep this funny, holiday treat you will need just few basic ingredients. You can make it even if you live in a french student residence called ‘cité universitaire’ which is not equipped with the oven.

 

 

Ingredients:

• 400g of chocolate cookies
• 80g of butter
• 250g of mascarpone cheese
• 300ml of heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup of confectioner’s sugar
• 2 tsp of gelatin powder dissolved in water or milk
• zest and juice from 1 lemon
• 5 bananas

For the earthy, chocolate sand : crush the cookies and stir in the melted butter. Split it into 2 equal parts, then lightly press half of the cookies into your tin.

For the cream, pour cold cream into the bowl, add sugar and begin whipping.
Dissolve gelatin in two tsp of cold water. Wait for few minutes and add additional 4 tsp of hot water or milk. Remember to wait until it cools down!

When the cream starts to thicken, just before soft peaks form, add gelatin, mascarpone cheese, lemon zest and juice and continue to whip.

Now the most interesting part.

Let’s start  ‘assembling the cake’… (yeah!)

Place the bananas on the bottom of the tin then pour the cream mixture over and shape it in the form of a hill. 

Gently sprinkle the remaining cookie crumbs on top to cover the cream and refrigerate for few hours.

Before serving, decorate with flowers for an extra bloom… et voilà!

 

have you ever?

Have you ever thought about any place in the world like as if it’s your home?Sometimes I wish I could be a snail moving on with all my belongings on my back, but then I realize that all these things I thought I’m attached to doesn’t have any importance to me.

It’s weird but so true. I don’t really miss any places or things I’ve left behind me so many times already.

What I really would like to keep is too ephemeral to stay with me.

foto  by Anna A.

lemon lavender froyo !

 

Ingredients:

• 4 ripe bananas , frozen
• 1 cup of greek yogurt, frozen
• honey and lemon juice to your taste
• 1 cup of whipping cream
• zest of 1 lemon
• pinch of lavender flowers

Infuse your cream with lavender flowers and a lemon zest by heating up for few minutes, then let it cool and sieve.

Combine frozen bananas, yogurt, honey and lemon juice in a food processor and process until smooth. Add your cream and pulse until mixed in.

blooming twist on cranberry-vanilla cheesecake

 

 

There is no better dessert than a slice of this absolutely perfect, creamy cheesecake.

ingredients:

base:

• 200g of digestive or amaretto biscuits 
• 80g of melted butter

Crush the biscuits and stir in the melted butter, then lightly press into the tin with a spoon or fingers.

sauce:

• 200g of fresh or frozen cranberries or any other berries of your choice
• 4 tbsp of sugar

Puree the cranberries with sugar in a blender or with a handheld immersion blender and strain it through a fine sieve.

filling:

• 500g of cream cheese
• 250g of mascarpone cheese
• 2 vanilla pods, seeds scraped out
• 5 eggs
• 150g of sugar

For the filling, combine the cream cheese with mascarpone cheese. Using a hand whisk, beat your eggs with sugar and vanilla seeds until well blended then mix into the cheese.

Pour the mixture into the tin and make some fancy floral patterns with your berry sauce.

Preheat your oven to 170 °C. Bake the cheesecake in the water bath for about 90 minutes or until set with just the slightest hint of a wobble in the centre. Turn off the oven and leave to cool inside. Then refrigerate overnight or for at least 4 hours before serving.

 

 

Palavas

 

 

 

honey glazed, carmelized veggies and poached egg

 

Carmelized veggies with a poached egg and a lightly sweet honey ‘n mustard glaze are the perfect side dish to any meal of your choice. It’s embarrassingly easy to make and surprisingly delicious.

ingredients :

• any veggies of your preference
• poached eggs / grilled cheese

• 4 tbs of olive oil
• 1 tbs of honey
• 1 tbs of dijon mustard
• salt ‘n pepper
• pinch of chili flakes

preparation:

• On the pan drizzle olive oil over your vegetables for a tender, tasty saute. Add some honey and a touch of dijon mustard and carmelize your vegg for few more minutes. Sprinkle them with some salt, pepper and chili flakes.
• Serve with poached eggs, grilled cheese or anything you like.

 

 

A table !