Tchouktchouka (shakshuka)

Tchouktchouka or shakshuka is a traditional North African dish. Every region has a slightly different pronunciation and every household its own version. Some recipes will include potatoes and/or cumin and paprika to create a main dish. But what they all have in common is that special smoky flavor of roasted peppers, which is the foundation of this dish. 

This dish reminds me of summer! The recipe I am giving here can be served as tapa, or cold as a first course with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, or hot as a main course to accompany BBQ meat. Top it with eggs and it will make a very good breakfast.

In this version, I used harissa, a Tunisian hot pepper paste used in North African cooking. It adds a little spice to the dish. If you can't find it, you can replace it with hot pepper flakes. I also used fresh basil, which is not traditional, but really my spin on this recipe.
The dish was topped with eggs to serve as a main meal for a light lunch.
I like using left over in pita bread as sandwiches.

Tchouktchouka is a simple dish but it requires some preparation: roasting the peppers. You can use jarred roasted peppers, but these are usually preserved in a brine which reduces the smoky flavor unless you find a less acidic brand.
Roasting your peppers is definitely the best way to get good results. The instructions are provided below.

By the way, you can use any color of peppers, but I like the red ones because they are sweeter.

Usually, during pepper season, when fresh peppers are not very expensive, I buy buckets of peppers and roast them on the BBQ. Then I freeze them in small quantities.

If I run out of frozen roasted peppers during winter, I buy a couple of fresh peppers and roast them in the oven under the grill.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon sliced garlic
• 8 peppers roasted, peeled, seeded and diced
• 3 tomatoes peeled, seeded and diced
•  ½ teaspoon harissa (the quantity is up to you. You may omit it all together)
• Salt, pepper to taste
• 6 basil leaves
• 3 eggs

Note: you can replace harissa with hot pepper flakes

Directions

1. Saute the garlic in olive oil around 2 minutes at low heat in a skillet.
2. Add the harissa and the tomatoes.
3. Cook the tomatoes until they start melting around 10-15 minutes.
4.  Add the peppers with their juice, salt and pepper. Mix, cover and cook on low heat until all the juices are absorbed, around ½ hour.
5. Add the basil and simmer another 2-3 minutes.

Variations

• If you want a complete meal like me add the eggs when the Tchouktchouka is almost cooked and let simmer until the eggs set.
• If you serve it as a tapa, don’t forget to have bread and olives to go with it.
• If you like cumin, add ½ teaspoon of ground cumin in step 2.

Before adding the eggs

Roasting the peppers

• If using the BBQ : place the peppers directly on the grill
• If using the oven broil: place the peppers on a cookie sheet covered with foil. Place the sheet very close to the broil.

1. Turn as soon as the skin turns black and blisters. It should take between 5-7 minutes on each side, but check them out more frequently. 
2. Place in a container and cover (pot, bowl, anything) for minimum ½ hour or until the peppers are cool enough to handle. The key is to cover to allow for the peppers to sweat and the skin to start separating from the flesh. 
3. Peel the skin off the peppers using your fingers, it should come off easily. Remove the stem and seeds. Dice the peppers and set aside. 

Gratin de Pommes de Terre (Creamy Potatoes Gratin)

This is a classic French dish that can be served as a main meal or as an accompaniment to any type of roast. We had some this Saturday night as a main meal with a large salad on the side, a mix of lettuce and radish greens from the garden, and of course French bread.
Gratin refers to the golden crust on top of a dish. There are as many recipes for this dish as there are regions in France. The recipe I chose today uses béchamel sauce. It is creamy and cheesy and easy to make. You don’t even need to pre-cook the potatoes. Slice the potatoes as thinly as you can so the cooking time will be shorter.
The only difficulty to this recipe is the béchamel sauce. Few tips: heat the milk and incorporate a little at a time into the flour and butter. If you still end up with a lumpy sauce, use a hand blender to thin it.
Serve the gratin potatoes in its baking dish.

This recipe should serve 3 if you have it as a main course.

Ingredients
2 lb. yellow flesh potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly
3 cups warm milk
3 tablespoons flour
¼ cup butter
Salt and pepper (optional: nutmeg to taste)
4 cups shredded cheese (Gruyere, Emmental or Jarlsberg)
2 eggs

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375F

Make a Béchamel sauce

1. Melt half the butter in a large saucepan.
2. Whisk the flour and cook few minutes on low to medium heat.
3. Remove from heat and gradually add the milk, continuously whisking until the mixture is smooth.
4. Return to heat and cook 3-4 minutes more, still stirring.
5. Add seasoning. Remove from heat, stir in 3 cups cheese and mix well.

Assembling the Gratin

1. Take an ovenproof gratin dish and grease it with a little bit of the butter.
2. Layer half the potatoes, slightly overlapping the slices, season with salt and pepper.
3. Pour half of the béchamel over the potatoes.
4. Add the remaining potatoes, season with salt and pepper.
5. Add the remaining butter in small pieces all over, and the remaining béchamel. 
6. Cover with foil and bake 50 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. 
7. Remove the foil. Beat the eggs with 2 tablespoons milk and remaining cheese (4th cup.) 
8. Pour the egg mixture evenly on top of the potatoes. 
9. Put back in the oven for another 30 minutes or until the top is crispy and golden brown.

Butternut Squash Gratin

This dish is perfect for a weekday light dinner. Quick and easy, it doesn't require any specific ingredient. As usual, my philosophy is to « use what you have in your pantry ». But first make sure to stock-up essential ingredients: spices, herbs, legumes and other non-perishable items to have them handy when needed. Other items that I stock-up for medium term include cheese. My favorite is Jarlsberg cheese. I find it's an all purpose cheese. This is what I used in this recipe.
"Herbes de Provence" is a mix of dried oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary, lavender, marjoram, sage and fennel seeds. You can make your own mix or simply use the herbs you have.
Believe it or not, the squash that I used here is from my garden from last year's harvest. This is a vegetable that can be stored for a long time!
OK, let's get to the cooking itself. I have said it in the past, I cook almost everything in a pressure cooker because it’s a big time saver. So for me it was easier to cut the squash in 2 lengthwise and throw it in the pressure cooker. It took 20 minutes total (5 minutes to bring to pressure and 15 minutes to cook). If you use a regular pot, I suggest that you peel and seed the squash. It will cook faster.
While it was cooking I made quinoa with turmeric to serve with my squash. 

Ingredients

For the butternut squash
1 medium butternut squash (2 pounds)
1 cup tomato sauce
Herbes de Provence
1 cup grated cheese
1/3 cup bread crumbs

For the quinoa
1 cup quinoa
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
Salt to taste
2 cups water
Fresh herbs to decorate (parsley, mint, or basil)

Directions
Prepare the squash

1. Cut off the top of the butternut squash near the stem, then cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds
2. Steam in a Presto cut sides up for 15 minutes, or until tender
3. Remove delicately from the presto and place cut sides up in a baking dish
4. Season with salt and pepper
5. Spread the tomato sauce over the squash
6. Combine the bread crumbs, herbes de provence and cheese and sprinkle on the top.
7. Bake for about 20 minutes at 400 degF or until the cheese begins to brown.

Prepare the quinoa

1. Rinse quinoa; drain
2. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onion. Cook until it starts to brown, about 10 minutes. Stir from time to time. 
3. Add garlic, turmeric and salt , and sauté 2 minutes. 
4. Add quinoa; mix well for 2-3 minutes. 
5. Add 2 cups water. Bring to boil; reduce heat to low. Cover; let it simmer until the quinoa is tender, about 20 minutes. All the liquid should be absorbed.

Garlic-Parsley Escargot Bouchees

Very tasty and garlicky amuse-bouche. Escargot is the french word for snail. This is a wonderful recipe that is quick and easy.
It's basically cooked escargots stuffed in mini buns with a lot of garlic-parsley butter!

Use the canned escargots from your supermarket. I do not recommend that you snatch live snails from your garden. It is such a hassle to prepare! In this recipe I am using homemade buns. Usually I make a bunch and freeze half of it. But you can use ready made puff pastry bouchees or simply mini hot dog rolls. The quantity below serves four (4).

Ingredients

1 can escargots (snails)

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

½ cup finely chopped parsley

2 tablespoons crushed garlic

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon Herbes de Provence (or a mix of thyme, oregano, bay leaf.)

2 dozens very small buns

Directions

1. Open the can.
2. Drain and rinse the snails thoroughly. I always discard the liquid from the can.
3. Prepare a court-bouillon: 1 cup water, the herbs, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil.
4. Add the snails and let simmer for 3-5 minutes on medium to low heat. Drain.
5. In the meantime, mix the butter, garlic, parsley, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
6. Cut the buns up to the center. Spread a generous amount of butter in each bun and stuff with 2 escargots. Close the bun and place in a baking dish.
7. Up to this step your bouchees can be prepared ahead of time (few hours before)
8. Just before serving, heat the bouchees in medium hot oven 10-15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Anise Seeds and Orange Blossom Water Buns

These buns are very popular in North Africa. They are sold in the streets and served for breakfast with jam.Usually these buns are sprinkled with sesame seeds. I had none left, so I used sugar instead.

Ingredients
4 cups of flour
1.5 tablespoon instant dry yeast

2/3 cup granulated sugar
1cup warm milk
1/4 cup light olive oil
2 eggs
2 tablespoons orange blossom water
2 tablespoons ground anise seeds
1 tablespoon ground fennel seeds

Decoration
1 egg yolk, 1 teaspoon milk
Granulated sugar (or brown sugar)

Directions

I used a stand mixer with a dough hook to prepare the dough.

1. Put the flour in the mixer with the yeast and the seeds. Mix for few seconds
2. In a separate bowl, beat the 2 eggs, mix in the sugar, oil and milk. Add the orange flower water to this mix.
3. Pour the liquid mixture into the flour, with the mixer running. Mix until you get a very smooth dough. The sides of the bowl should be clean. It will take around 8 minutes.
4. Remove the dough from the food processor.
5. If you have time, put it into a slightly oiled bowl, cover and let it rise in a warm place for 30-45 minutes. Knock down the dough. If you are in a hurry, jump to the next step.
6. Divide the dough into 16-20 equal pieces. (I divided mine into 16, but I find they are too big)
7. Roll each piece into a ball. If you find it sticky, oil your hands slightly( I shaped a few like donoughts)
8. Place each bun on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Cover with a clean towel and let it rise until the buns have nearly doubled in size.
9. Mix the egg yolk with 1 teaspoon of milk to make an egg wash. Brush the buns with this mixture and sprinkle with sugar.
10. Heat the oven to 400 deg F.
11. Bake the buns for 15 minutes, or until they have a nice golden color on the top.

Mushroom Hard Boiled Egg

I have vivid memories about Easter time in my family. My mother used to make hard boiled eggs and decorate them as mushrooms for lunch. I was always so impressed because they looked like real mushrooms. She would make them while we were playing outside, so when we would come back for lunch, a beautiful plate with « mushrooms» decorating the center of the table was awaiting for us.

Ingredients

For 6:
6 hard boiled eggs
6 Italian tomatoes
Mayonnaise

Directions

1. Peel the eggs and cut a slice at the large end to enable them to stand up. This is what your egg will sit on so it doesn't roll away.
2. Cut tomatoes around 3/4 from bottom stem. Use the last 1/4 to make hats for the eggs. You may need to core those hats slightly to make them fit.
3. Use mayonnaise to make dots on the tomatoes to simulate mushrooms.

Tips 
Use toothpicks if necessary to stick the tomatoes to the eggs. Be careful to advise your guest.

Apple Chocolate Cake

Every now and then I tried to "clean-up" my fridge and pantry. It's like Ali Baba's cave. I always find something buried that I completely forgot about and should be used or else thrown away soon. So yesterday I ended up doing something completely different from what I had planned. I found 5 Red Delicious apples that weren't that delicious and this is why they were still in the fridge after 3 weeks. I also had 5 squares Baker’s style dark chocolate, left over from the 2 pounds bought at Christmas time. I knew I had to use them up! As you can see, the chocolate and layer of apples ended up in the bottom tier of the cake rather than in the middle. Nevertheless, the result was this simple and unpretentious cake to enjoy any time.

Ingredients
For the apples:
5 apples
3 tablespoons brown sugar

For the cake:
4 eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup corn starch
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons rum
4+1 tablespoons orange juice
5 squares Baker’s style dark chocolate

9 inch round pan

Directions

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

Making the cake

1. Heat your oven at 375 degrees F
2. Butter your mold and dust evenly with flour
3. Separate the egg whites and yolks
4. In a large bowl beat the egg yolks and sugar with an electric mixer. You should obtain a pale yellow color
5. Gradually add the oil, then the rum and juice, while still beating
6. Whisk the flour, corn starch and baking powder together and add to the sugar and egg mixture, mixing until well blended
7. Fold in half of the cooked apples into the batter
8. Beat the egg whites until firm and fold in delicately
9. Melt the chocolate with one tablespoon of orange juice in the microwave
10. Pour half of the batter in the mold
11. Spread the remaining apples evenly, then the melted chocolate
12. Cover with remaining batter
13. Bake at 375 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 30-35 minutes
14. 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.
Decorate with icing sugar.

Quick and Light Brioches with Chocolate

Brioche is definitely my favorite breakfast. At least once a month I would make one type or another. These ones are quick, easy to make. This time I had leftover truffles from Christmas in the fridge, so I thought why not use them? At the second rise I had to go out for a small errand. When I came back the brioches were overflowing from the pan! The result was very tasty.

Ingredients
1.5 tablespoon instant dry yeast (or regular dry yeast)
3- 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
3/4 cup milk
¾ cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened, plus more for the bowl and molds
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
Orange zest
Your favorite chocolate: Nutella, Baker style chocolate or chocolate chips
I used left over truffles from Christmas.

Directions

1. If you are using regular dry yeast: dissolve the yeast in 4 tablespoons warm milk in a small bowl and let it sit for several minutes to start to bubble.
2. Put the remaining milk, sugar and butter in a bowl and heat in microwave just enough to dissolve the butter.
3. Add the eggs and mix well.
4. Put the flour and salt in the bowl of the food processor, and run the machine for a few seconds to blend.
5. With the food processor running, add the instant dry yeast or the dissolved regular yeast.
6. Add all the liquid and process for 30 seconds or so. The dough should be very soft.
7.  Cover and let it rise until it doubles (around 1 hour).
8.  Butter the muffin pan.
9. Deflate the dough, and cut it into 24 equal pieces.
10. Roll each piece into a round, and place it in the mold. Add a piece of chocolate in the center. Cover with another piece of dough to fill the mold up to two-third. Try to seal the 2 pieces together.
11. Let the brioches rise again 30 minutes or more.
12. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
13. Mix the egg yolk with 1 tablespoon of milk to make an egg wash. Lightly brush the brioches with this mixture and sprinkle with sugar.
14. Bake the brioche for 20 minutes, or until they have a nice golden color on the top.

Cheese Soufflé

Cheese soufflé has a reputation of being a difficult dish to make successfully, so most of the people are too intimidated to try it. I can assure you it is not! Basically it's a Béchamel sauce to which you add egg yolks, cheese, spices and stiff egg whites. Et voilà, your soufflé is ready to bake.
If you follow some basic rules you will never fail it!
1) The egg whites are what make the soufflé to rise, so it's critical the whites are very stiff.
2) Wait until the egg mixture is cooled a little bit before adding the whites. Add them in 2 steps as explained in the recipe
3) It is absolutely forbidden to open the oven door while the soufflé is cooking.
4) Prepare the table and be ready to serve the soufflé immediately right from the oven if you want to impress everyone around the table. The French word "soufflé" means "blown". Its elegance lasts only for one moment, after that it collapses. Make sure it is still "blown" when you serve it and your dinner table will be blown away!
My photographer was ready to capture that moment, and to eat the soufflé of course...

The history of soufflé: It is said that king Louis XIV had such a bad dentition that he had to feed on soups most of the time. A cook had the brilliant idea of adding eggs to the Béchamel sauce to turn it into a more attractive soup for the king, creamy and elegant.

The step by step pictures below are not great, my photographer was not available during the preparation. Since I wanted to show you what the soufflé looks like at each step of the process, I took the pictures. You can tell I am not an expert.

Ingredients
¼ cup butter
½ cup flour
1 2/3 cup milk, hot
4 cups grated Gruyere or Emmenthal
4 eggs, separated
Generous pinch of ground nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste

Souffle dish (8in diameter, 3in deep) or 6 ramequins

Directions 

1. Use 1 tablespoon butter to brush the inside of the soufflé dish(es). 
2. Melt remaining butter in a large saucepan. Whisk the flour and cook few minutes on low to medium heat.

3. Remove from heat and gradually add the milk, continuously whisking until the mixture is smooth.





4. Return to heat and cook 3-4 minutes more, still stirring. Add seasoning.
5. Remove from heat, stir in the cheese and mix well.









6. Add the egg yolks.



7. Pre-heat the oven to 400F.
8. Whip the egg whites until they form peaks and look firm.
9. Add 1/4 of the egg whites to the cheese mixture and mix in.





10. Continue to add the whites gradually, folding gently, and lifting the batter.
11. Spoon the batter into the prepared dish(es). The mixture should fill up to 3/4 of the molds





12. Bake 25-30 minutes or until the top is golden brown. 

Cheese Soufflé (Soufflé au Fromage)

I like to serve it with a leafy greens salad as an elegant start to a special meal.

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