French Chicken Casserole (Poulet Basquaise)

Chicken Basque

After my my bleeding post yesterday I feel a lot better now :-) And what I did not mentioned on my latest post was that I have been to France for a few weeks vacation. A sort of a moment to re-channel my energy , breath some fresh air and be ready to start a new.

I must admit that I felt really excited to be back for I have been away for a while. Seeing my families, friends and doing my usual "habitudes": buying french bread, baking cakes and eating a lot :-). Well just to share with you some photos of my recent trip in the picturesque region of Brittany in the northern part of France. Enjoy!

French Chicken Casserole
Ingredients:
Chicken cuts about a kilo
1 clove of garlic
1 small onion sliced
1 big tomato, peeled and seeded
3 bell peppers (1 yellow, 1 green, 1 red) cut in strips
thyme, salt and pepper
some olive oil
half a glass of white wine
1 tablespoon of flour
1 tablespoon of butter

Préparation:
On your casserole warm up the oil with some butter, put the chicken and fry until golden brown. Add the garlic, onion and tomates. Sauté over high temperature. Then add the bell peppers, put salt, pepper and thyme. Add the flour. Continue mixing. Deglace with white wine, cover and simmer over medium fire for about fifteen minutes. Taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary. Cook for another ten minutes. Serve with steam rice.



Small port of Auray


Beach of Carnak
Forgotten Bike?

Mountain of Saint Michel

Sweet Banana Flambée to heal that broken dream



Banana Raisins Rhum Flambée


It's been a long while I haven't been here. You must have been wondering what happened to my kitchen. I do apologize for this long inadvertent hiatus in the blogging world. My life in the past few months has been a rollercoaster ride of emotions; The move from my "tranquil" abode in the sunny part of France to the bustling city of Manila in South Asia. The reality of my childhood dream, the opening of my restaurant. And the hurtful decision to close it after few months of operation. We all make mistakes but what matters in life is seeing to it that we always try to bounce back everytime we fall. I know things happen for a reason. And if not for those failures that I made I will never realized how passionately in love I am with cooking.


My pasta restaurateur stint is over. I'm passing on the torn to it's dynamic new owner :-) and I can't wait to start my new cooking project only this time I see to it that neither my family nor my personal life is sacrificed in return.

Enjoy this easy and yummy dessert to make use of your overriped bananas in the kitchen!




Banana Raisin Rhum Flambée



ingredients:

overripe bananas (count two per persons)
1 tablespoon of butter
1 tablespoon of raisins
1 tablespoons of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
half a cup of Rhum
scoop of vanila ice-cream
preparation:

Heat your pan, add the butter, brown sugar and bananas. Cook them until it caramelizes. Pour the lemon juice. Add the Rhum and burn it on top. Serve with a scoop of ice-cream!