Cardamom Lemon Chocolate Marble Cupcakes

My daughter made these cupcakes for a weekday get together with friends. They came out just beautiful with swirls of chocolate. That was perfect, no need to top them for decoration which would take a bit longer.

Ingredients 
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup cocoa powder
Zest of one lemon
2 tsp ground cardamom

Note: If you don't have buttermilk, you can make a great replacement by mixing a tablespoon of white vinegar per 1/2 cup of milk and leaving it on the counter for 20 minutes.

Directions 

1. Preheat oven to 325 degF. Line a muffin pan with paper cupcake liners. 
2. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
3. In another bowl, mix the cocoa powder with 2 tablespoons of hot water until it forms a smooth liquid paste.
4. Beat the butter and sugar together in a stand or hand mixer until smooth and airy.
5. Add the eggs one at a time, and the vanilla, and beat until the mixture is well combined.
6. Add the flour mix and the buttermilk little by little, each time beating the batter until it is smooth.
7. Put 1/2 of the batter in a separate bowl and add the cocoa to it. Mix well until well combined.
8. Add the lemon zest and the cardamom to the other 1/2 of the batter and combine.
9. Put one spoonful of the lemon/cardamom batter in the bottom of each mold and top it off with a spoon of the chocolate mixture.
   
10. Cook for 12 minutes for small cupcakes, and 16 minutes for muffin-sized ones.
11. Let cool fully in the pan before removing.

Pineapple Sorbet

So easy you won't want to think twice about making it. The hardest part is not eating it before it freezes!  And you don't even need a ice cream maker! Here is the step by step recipe in pictures.

Ingredients
2 * 19 oz cans of pineapple chunks in juice
2 oz of white rum (optional)

Directions
Blend the two cans of pineapple until they are slightly fluffy

Add the rum. This helps the sorbet to stay smooth and stops crystallization. Mix.

Put in the freezer and mix every hour or so until frozen.

Easy Cherry Sponge Cake

Another easy and quick recipe : 10 minutes to make, 20-25 minutes to bake. This cake contains almost no butter. I have used cherries but it can be made with any other fruit, whatever you have in your pantry. Because I didn’t use a lot of cherries (not everyone in the family is a big fan), I added a crème pâtissière (pastry cream) to be served on the side to add more moisture.

Ingredients
Sponge Cake
2 eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoons corn starch
½ teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons luke warm water
1 tablespoon dark rum
9 inch savarin mold (or a regular pan)
Butter for the pan
2 tablespoons icing sugar for decoration
½ Lb pitted cherries

Crème pâtissière (optional)
1-1/4 cup milk
1 egg
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons corn starch (or flour)
1 tablespoon cocoa
1-2 tablespoons of rum (or more)

Directions
Sponge Cake

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F;
2. In a large bowl (or a stand-up mixer) beat the eggs to obtain a pale yellow color.
3. Gradually add the sugar while still beating. Add the water and rum and mix few more seconds.
4. Mix the flour, starch and baking powder together then gradually add to the egg mixture while still beating. The batter is just a little bit thicker than the pancake batter.
5. Butter the mold and pour in the batter.
6. Add the fruits on top.
7. Bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 5 minutes, then turn down the oven to 375F and continue cooking for another 20 minutes.
8. Poke the middle of the cake with a skewer to check if it’s done. If it comes out clean, the cake is ready.
9. Let it cool, transfer to a plate and dust the surface with sifted icing sugar.

Please have a piece!

Crème pâtissière
While the cake is cooking, heat the milk in the microwave. Whisk the egg and sugar in a saucepan until thick, then stir in the corn starch or flour. Pour the hot milk onto the egg while still whisking. Put the saucepan over medium heat and stir until it the cream thickens. Remove from the heat, add the rum and cover. Serve the cake warm or cold with the crème pâtissière on the side.

Pâte de Coings (Quince Paste)

Quince paste is one of the delicacies for which each woman in my family prides to have the best recipe. For me my Auntie was always the winner. The criteria for best quince paste are simple: translucent and pale yellow paste. As you can see I am not there yet!...
The quince has a green/yellow color and a very delicate fragrance. I don’t know any other way to eat it other than sweet in marmalade, jam or jellied like in this recipe.
Sorry I forgot to take a picture of the fruit before cooking it, but you can google it and you will find a lot of pictures. 

Ingredients
3 quinces
1-1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions

1. Wash the quinces and scrub with paper towel. Remove any stems. 
2. Steam until soft. I steamed mine in a pressure cooker for 35 minutes. Let the quincies cool a little bit then peel, remove the seeds and any fibrous parts. It’s preferable to do it while they are still warm.
3. Weigh, then puree in a blender or hand mixer.
4. Use the same weight in sugar (around 1-1/3 cup).
5. Combine the pureed fruits, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan.
6. Stir continuously until the until the sugar is dissolved and the paste comes off the sides of the saucepan.
7. Pour in a shallow dish (1/2 inch or so) and leave it to dry for few days in a dry area. After one week it should be dry enough.
8. Cut into pieces the size and shape you want and roll in granulated sugar.

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.