Little Delights (Bniwen )

 No bake sweets, quick and delicious. 
Everyone just loves these pastries! I suggest that you make them when you are alone in the kitchen, otherwise you won’t have time to decorate them. They will disappear before. Another suggestion: double the proportion anyways, because you will have to taste at every step of the process to make sure they are good. My photographer tasted them for me!.. By the time I was done, I was lucky there were few left for the pictures.
See variations at the end.

Ingredients 
2/3 cup tea biscuits ground
2/3 cup almond meal
6 oz Turkish Halva (plain or chocolate)
6-8 tablespoons coconut cream

Preparation

1. Mix the first 3 ingredients in a food processor. Add 6 tablespoons of coconut milk to obtain a paste. Remove from mixer. If the paste is too flaky to hold together, add one tablespoon of coconut milk at a time and mix.
2. Make small balls with your hands and roll them in cocoa or
3. Flatten small amounts of paste on a parchment paper dusted with cornstarch so the paste doesn't stick to your working surface. Cut as many cookies as possible with the cookie cutter of your choice.

To decorate top with anything you have at hand: cocoa and colorful sprinkles, or shredded coconut.

Variations

1. Replace the tea biscuits with any leftover cookies
2. Replace the Turkish Halva with peanut butter

Pressure Cooker

I am sold to the pressure cooker. It saves my life day after day. I can’t imagine cooking without it!

My mother always used what’s called in French “cocotte minute”, literally meaning “minute casserole”. The name basically illustrates the speed at which it cooks. A recipe that would take 2 hours to cook in a traditional casserole would cook in 30 minutes or less in a pressure cooker.

I particularly like pressure cooking meat dishes. The meat comes out so tender and juicy! My favorites are stew meat: Beef Bourguignon, Beef Daube, Osso Buco and many more. Last year I posted a "Veal Sauté” cooked in 25 minutes.

In fact I rarely use the oven to cook meat. I remember the first time I bought smoked meat that needs to be cooked, the instructions on the package say to cook it in the oven. Since this was my first experience I followed the instructions. It took for ever (I am not a very patient person) but came out ok, I must say. The second time, I cut the big long chunk in two so it can fit in my pressure cooker. And O Miracle, within half hour, we had a flaky, juicy smoked meat to die for. Needless to say I never cooked it in the oven again!

Oh I almost forgot my infamous leg of lamb in the pressure cooker. I will have to post the recipe one day.

OK, now I have to admit the split peas gave me a hard time at the beginning. They make a lot of foam and this clogs the regulator. I figured out how to avoid it now: give them a boil while preparing the other ingredients then rinse thoroughly prior to cooking them in the Presto. This will eliminate the foam.
Bottom line, I use it almost every day. It is the fastest way to cook your meals. That’s how I am able to cook a Veal Saute and pea soup during weekdays.

Any other fan out there? Please share your experience, comments etc...

For those of you who might be interested, my pressure cooker is an older version of this Lagostina model.

Lemony Cottage Cheese, Pear and Chocolate Pie

What a miserable day in Montreal today: snow, wind, you couldn't see your facing neighbor and the temperature is supposed to fall from +3 degC this morning to -31 degC tomorrow morning. Should I be happier if I was in Australia with more than 45 degC and fires ravaging part of the country? Not sure...Anyway to beat the bad weather, I decided to bake. I had a recipe in my list that I wanted to try for a while, but when I opened the fridge to get the butter out, I saw the pot of cottage cheese that I bought 10 days ago and these 3 pears winking at me, as if to tell me "we are not going to last forever".... Since I always wanted to try a cheese cake with cottage cheese, this was a perfect opportunity, but I didn't have graham crackers. Always something missing!  I decided to make my  own crust. The rest is history...told below!.

Ingredients
Dough :
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ cup icing sugar
½ cup butter (softened)
1 tablespoon margarine
1 egg
2 tablespoons sour cream
Zest of half lemon

Topping :
3 pears
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
4 squares Baker’s style dark chocolate
1 lb cottage cheese
2 eggs
1 tablespoon sour cream
2 teaspoons corn starch
½ cup granulated sugar
Zest of half lemon

11 in (27 cm) pie pan with a removable bottom, if possible.

Directions

1. Mix the flour and baking powder. Make a well in the center and add the sugar, butter and margarine. Rub to obtain a sort of crumble. 
2. Add the egg, sour cream and zest. Mix well. You should have a nice and soft dough. 
3. Roll out and transfer to the pan pressing up the sides. Refrigerate.
4. Pre-heat the oven to 400F (200 C), with the rack in the middle position. 
5. Peel, core and slice the pears not too fine. Add the 2 tablespoons of sugar and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the pears are tender and the juice evaporated. Remove from the heat. Let cool.
6. Meanwhile put the cottage cheese into a large mixing bowl, add the 2 eggs, sugar, sour cream, corn starch and zest and blend until smooth. 
7. Bake the crust without the filling for 10 minutes. This ‘pre-cooking’ will prevent the crust from being soggy. 
8. While it’s cooking, cut the chocolate in small pieces. By now your crust should be ready. 
9. Fill the tart shell: spread evenly the pears first, then the chocolate and finally cover with the cheese mixture. 
10. Bake until set around 40 minutes. Let cool completely then dust with icing sugar and follow your imagination to decorate.

Notes:

1. The professionals will tell you to refrigerate the dough before rolling it out. I have tried both methods and I didn't see any difference. So I roll it out and then put it in the fridge, this way I can clean the counter and get over with the dough.

Salade Niçoise

Each year, the first day back to work after the holiday season, you can hear people saying “please don’t talk to me about food, I am still stuffed! OMG, I ate so much...” 
The holiday season with its rich dishes, too many sweets, and alcohol is a perfect occasion to overeat. It’s an opportunity for all the family to get together around a nice meal, so it’s not time to think about your diet. However, when it’s all over, we need to help the body recover from this overindulgence!
Here is a lunch that helps. It’s a simple vegetable dish to which you can add canned tuna. The recipe below is for a very light lunch. Read the Note section if you have a bigger appetite!

Ingredients (Serves 4)
Few green leaves (lettuce, spinach, or endives)
2 tomatoes sliced
½ Lb green beans steamed
½ Lb grated carrots (around 2 cups)
½ Lb grated celeri root (around 2 cups)
4 hard boiled eggs sliced
12 Kalamata olives
Chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
For the dressing
1 tsp dijon mustard
2 Tbs lemon
2 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp water
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Arrange the vegetables on a plate 
2. Whisk all the ingredients of the dressing and drizzle the salad.

Notes
You may add boiled potatoes, cooked beets sliced or grated, and/or tuna to make this salad more filling.

Moules Marinières : Mussels my Way

Moules Marinières is a traditional dish from Belgium and Northern France. In Belgium moules-frites is a popular dish served in most restaurants. We had moules-frites for the first time in Brussels (Belgium) years ago while on vacation. The mussels were served in a huge bowl with the French fries on the side and fresh baguette. It was a real treat. I ate almost half a baguette by dipping in the sauce.
(Note : moules is the french word for mussels, frites for french fries.)

Needless to say when we were back home, we had to try and perfect the recipe. It proved that there was not much to perfect, the recipe is so simple !
I must confess, I never made it. My husband tried it the first time, and it came out so good that we figured it best if he kept doing it.
When we want to spoil ourselves without spending a lot of time in the kitchen we plan a moules-frites supper. He takes care of the mussels and I make the french fries and a salad. We cut the potatoes in thick fries (half an inch) then deep fry them until golden brown and slightly puffed. Oh I almost forgot the french baguette of course. It is the greatest gourmet "fast" food that you can make.

This recipe is slightly different from the traditional one since white wine is replaced with a mix of port and rum, and coconut cream is used to give even more structure to the sauce.

Get ready to make your own moules marinières and enjoy.

Ingredients
2 Lbs mussels
2 Tbsp butter
1 big onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic crushed
1/4 cup port
1/4 cup rum
2 Tbsp. coconut cream
1 Tbsp chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Wash the mussels thoroughly in the sink or in a large bowl full of cold water. Scrape any seaweed or limestone stuck to the shell with a knife. Remove any beards by pulling on them. We discard any mussel that does not close when tapped against the sink because it means that it is dead. Let them sit in water for few minutes to allow the dirt to fall to the bottom, then scoop them into a bowl. Rinse again until the water comes up clear (no more sand.)Your mussels are ready to be cooked.

1. In a large pot or sauce pan, sauté the onion with the butter on medium high heat until soft but not brown, around 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for another 2 minutes.
2. Add the mussels, port, rum, coconut cream and half the parsley.
3. Cook over high heat about 4-5 minutes, stirring the mussels gently, until they are open.
4. Discard any unopened mussels.
5. Sprinkle the remaining parsley and serve immediately.

Notes:

1. If you don’t want to eat a lot of bread, try to use half of a mussel to spoon the sauce.
2. You may use 35% cream instead of coconut cream.
3. You may also replace the port and rum with 1/2 cup of white wine.

Tuna Rice Salad

This is a perfect recipe for leftover cooked rice. Simple and quick to make, it’s an ideal substitute for a tuna sandwich. You can keep it in the fridge for few days (when it’s not gone right away!). I am giving the bare essential ingredients here, but you may add others such as corn, or make it more Mediterranean style by adding roasted red pepper and hard boiled eggs.

Ingredients
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon wine vinegar
4 tablespoons of mayonnaise
2 small tomatoes (or 1 big) diced
2 cans tuna drained and flaked (around 12 oz)
3 cups cooked rice
12 pitted Kalamata olives cut in 2
1 tablespoon capers
3-4 lettuce leaves
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Combine the mustard, vinegar and mayonnaise
2. Add the tomatoes and tuna, and toss
3. Add the remaining ingredients except the lettuce and toss to coat
4. Decorate with the lettuce and serve

Notes:

1. You may replace the capers with sliced pickles
2. You may use green olives or a mix of both
3. If you are using canned tuna in oil, you may want to reduce the amount of mayonnaise.

Chestnut Log

Make ahead no cooking festive dessert. I like to serve it with red seasonal berries. 

The "Bûche de Noël" (the Christmas log) is the traditional Christmas dessert in France. It's a sponge cake type filled with chocolate buttercream, rolled in a log shape, frosted and decorated. There are hundreds of recipes that you can choose from, and as many flavors and decorations for this dessert. Since Christmas is passed, I chose a less traditional "bûche". This one is a flourless chocolate and chestnut, no cooking, quick and easy to make. I like it because it is not too sweet nor too heavy.

Ingredients
1 pound canned chestnut purée
4 squares Baker’s style dark chocolate (around ¼ lb)
¾ cup 35% cream
¼ cup unsalted butter
1 cup + 2 tablespoons icing sugar (confectioners's sugar)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. Melt together the chocolate, butter and cream over low heat.
2. Mix in the chestnut purée, 1 cup of sugar and vanilla. Blend to make it smooth.
3. Prepare a sheet of aluminum foil folded in two and pour the mixture in the center to form a cylinder.
4. Roll it using the foil to help you form a nice log.
5. Refrigerate overnight until the log is firm.
6. Remove the foil gently and turn on a serving plate.
7. Using a fork, sculpt lines lengthwise to imitate tree bark patterns. Cut a diagonal slice off one end of the cake and use it to decorate the cake.
8. Dust with confectioners' sugar on top to simulate snow.

Notes:

1. You may put more decorations preferably edible such as meringue or marzipan mushrooms, or fruits such as raspberries, strawberries, pomegranate, etc… 
2. If you want the cake to be ready for the same day, just put it in the freezer for 2 hours then transfer to the fridge. It has to be soft enough for serving.

Melt-In-Your-Mouth Apple Cake

Very light and soft. The only downside to this cake is it disappears too quickly! 

Ingredients
For the caramel:
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons water

For the apples:
5 apples
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon unsalted butter

For the cake:
3 eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup corn starch
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons rum
3 tablespoons orange juice

9 inch round pan

Directions
Making the caramel

1. Get ready : the caramel gets very hot and needs to be handled very quickly when it's done. So have the mold that you will be using next to you and oven mitts to handle it.
2. Heat 1/3 cup sugar and 3 tablespoons water in a saucepan over medium heat.
3. Stir with a wooden spoon. When the sugar begins to melt in the water it will form crystals. Swirl the pan to collect all the sugar that may be stuck to the sides. You want to make sure all the crystals melt at the same time.
4. As soon as the crystals melt, it will turn from white to amber. From now on watch it carefully, as it will turn darker very quickly. You want it to be slightly golden.
5. Immediately remove from the heat and pour it very carefully into the mold. Handle the mold with the mitts as it gets very hot.  Swirl the mold to coat the bottom and the sides evenly.

Cooking the apples
Peel, core and slice the apples around 1/3 inch thick. Place in a saucepan with the brown sugar and butter. Mix gently and cook over medium heat, stirring from time to time, until the apples start to caramelize.

Making the cake

1. Heat your oven at 375 degrees F
2. Separate the egg whites and yolks
3. In a large bowl beat the egg yolks and sugar with an electric mixer. You should obtain a pale yellow color
4. Gradually add the oil, then the rum and juice, while still beating
5. Whisk the flour and baking powder together and add to the sugar and egg mixture, mixing until well blended
6. Arrange some of the cooked apple slices decoratively on top of the caramel in the mold
7. Fold in the remaining cooked apples into the batter
8. Beat the egg whites until firm and fold in delicately
9. Pour batter onto the apples slices in the mold
10. Bake at 375 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 30-35 minutes
11. Let the cake cool in pan for about 10 minutes. Run a thin spatula or knife around the edge of the cake to loosen the sides from pan and shake to unmold. Invert the cake over on a plate and let it cool completely.

Variations for simpler versions: skip the caramel making and

1. Add your favorite chocolate frosting, or
2. Just dust the cake with icing sugar once it's cooled down.

Pear Charlotte with Chocolate Sauce

Make-ahead, very refreshing, no cooking. This is a simple and quicker version of the famous pear Charlotte.

Ingredients
For the Charlotte
1 can of pears in syrup (796ml/28 oz)
1-½ cup 35% cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 gelatin sheets
2 pkgs Lady fingers (around 40)
½ cup rum

For the chocolate sauce
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate (4 squares of Bakers)
1 oz butter (small piece)
1 cup of milk
1/4 cup cream 35%

A mold 6.5 inches diameter, 4 inches deep (if you don’t have any use a deep pan around the same size or pyrex dish).

Ingredients

Prepare the filling:

1. Soak gelatin sheets in 5 cups of cold water for 5 to 10 minutes.
2. Put aside 2 pear halves for the decoration. Dice half of the remaining halves and put on paper towel to absorb any excess juice. Reserve the syrup.
3. Blend the remaining pears. Remove gelatin sheets from the water, press to remove excess water and add to the blended pears. 
4. Heat while stirring gently until gelatin melts completely.
5. Put the mixture in the refrigerator.
6. Whip the cream. Add the vanilla and continue whipping a little more. 
7. Remove the pear mixture from the fridge and mix in the diced pears. Fold in the whipped cream.

Make the Charlotte:

1. Combine the rum and reserved syrup in a wide bowl.
2. Dip one side of the ladyfingers briefly in the syrup mixture and line the sides and bottom of the mold, sugar side out. Cut them as needed to fit, making sure not to leave any gap.
3. Pour the pear mixture inside, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight, until set.

Finishing the cake:

1. Unmold the Charlotte.
2. Slice the reserved pears and decorate the top.
3. Keep in refrigerator until serving.

Serving:
Serve the Charlotte with a chocolate sauce made by melting together the chocolate, butter, milk, and cream.

Note: You may use fresh pears
Cook 7 pears peeled, halved and cored with ¾ cup sugar and 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Cover with water, bring to a boil and simmer gently around 20 minutes. Turn after 10 minutes.

Spinach and Feta Spinrolls Appetizers

Simple and tasty make-ahead appetizers for your parties. I will post more recipes separately.

Ingredients 
½ lb frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 pack of frozen spinach
¼ pound feta cheese crumbled
1 egg yolk beaten with 3 tbsp of milk
¼ tsp nutmeg
Salt, pepper to taste

Directions

1. Thaw frozen spinach in microwave or by dipping them in hot water. 
2. Drain and squeeze the excess liquid. Chop the spinach. 
• Note: You can also cook a bunch of fresh spinach and use ice to cool them quickly!
3. Add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, and crumbled feta cheese.
4. Flour a working surface generously (table or counter top). 
5. Drop the dough on your surface, and flour the top of the dough as well so it won't stick to the rolling pin.
6. Roll out the puff pastry into a 12"x20" rectangle around 1/8 inch thick. Add flour as needed if the dough sticks to the pin. 
7. Spread the spinach mix over the pastry, making sure to leave an inch with no mixture on one side of the dough (to stick the end of the roll). 
8. Roll up the rectangle (like a jelly roll!) and seal with water. 
9. Wrap each roll in plastic wrap or parchment paper and freeze for one hour. 

Cook the Rolls

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
2. Cut each roll into 3/8"-1/2" slices, place cut side up, on the baking sheet
3. Brush with the beaten egg yolk and milk 
4. Bake at 375°F for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.