Papaya Brioche with cheese and farm eggs omelette and french tarragon bearnaise sauce

Are you promdi?

A few weeks ago, I got an eyebrow raising message from a friend telling me that I must be a "provenciana" now considering that I live in Provence which literally means province in french. And what is the big deal I just thought. It is so sad that the word province is often connotated with being naive, backward or ignorant. In Philippine lingo we have the term "promdi" to denigrate somebody coming from the province. I have been long time city dweller and somehow I understand this sort of rivalry. But honestly I really don't mind being coined as a "provenciana". Because this means living closer to the nature, breathing fresher air far from the hassle of the city and eating farm produced products. Yay isn't that better! Anyways I'm sure my friend meant no harm when she said that and besides France's Provençe isn't really that provincial.

And speaking of healthy food I just thought of conconting up this simple meal of fresh farm eggs omellette on home baked brioche with some tarragon bearnaise sauce for my Royal Food Joust entry.



My over burnt brioche......



My Papaya brioche before over burning ....



Papaya Brioche

Ingredients:
400 grams of flour
1 sachet of yeast (about 10 g)
85 g of sugar
one and a half teaspoon of salt
3 egg yolks
24 cl of milk
100 g of dried papaya
70 g of butter
1 egg yolk + some milk for brushing the brioche

In a bowl put the flour, yeast, sugar, salt and egg yolks and add the milk little by little and continue mixing until they become homogenous. Add the butter and continue kneading the dough until they dont stick to the hands. Let this dough stand for an hour. Flatten the dough to release the air and add your dried papaya. Continue kneading again and let it raise for another hour. Butter your brioche mold and put the dough inside. Brush it with egg yolk and egg mixture. Pre heat the oven and bake it for 20 minutes at 200° celsius.
Cheese and Farm Eggs Omelette

3 large eggs
half a cup of grated gruyere cheese
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons of melted butter
1 tablespoon of olive oil

Beat the eggs and fold in the grated cheese. Salt and pepper to taste. Warm up the pan and pour in the butter and olive oil. Lower the fire. Pour the eggs and cheese and cook it slowly.

French Tarragon Bearnaise Sauce

1 tablespoon of chopped tarragon leaves
2 egg yolks
100 g of butter
2 cl of wine vinegar
2 cl of white wine
1 small shallots chopped

In a casserole boil slowly the white wine, wine vinegar, shallots and tarragon leaves. Let them infused until the volume reduced. Let it cool then add the egg yolks beat them vigorously. Put back into the fire and continue whisking. Avoid making the eggs coagulate. Add the butter and continue whisking the sauce.

Daube Provencal (Beef Stew in Wine and Olives)

Digesting a bad news

The thing that I hate the most on watching news is that most of the time its only about bad news. As if we do not have too much trouble to worry about. But then again the scenario turns into a different perspective, when the news you get are the ones coming from your loved one. How I despise bad news. Yesterday, I felt so devastated after learning about a heart-breaking news from the email I got. You know that I'm so far away from my family, and the Internet always makes me feel so close to home--sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes it's really bad.


The best thing to deal with problem is to be not too anxious about them! So to make me feel better, hubby had an excellent idea to bring us to to see the 40th celebration of Photography Festival in the historical city of Arles. It is one of the largest and the oldest in the region. Au rendezvous where numerous photo exhibits from the renowned photographers all over the world of all genre showcased all over the city
. The guest of honor is Delpire the talented artistic editor of Nouvel Observateur. Of course it was forbidden to take photographs so I just took some snaps of this beautiful city.




(From top left to right clockwise; bull graffiti, the main plaza, the window of an eccentric house close to the Mayors office and the church of Arles.)




(From top left to right clockwise; signage of a yellow hotel, a serving of daube provencal, a door knob and a photographer's graffiti.)


And on times like this nothing beats a comforting dish of Beef Daube Provencal. It's a family recipe that hubby's Grandmother taught me. It's a typical provencale meat dish slowly cooked in wine and olives. I'm sending this off to Family Recipes an event of family well loved dishes hosted by the The Spiced Life.


Beef Daube Provencale

Ingredients:

1 kilo of boneless beef bottom round or chuck cut into bite size
half a kilo of beef short ribs or flanken
4 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of flour
1 teaspoon of melted butter
2 cloves of garlic chopped
2 big onions chopped
2 big tomatoes, peeled, seeds removed and chopped
one cup of green and black olives
one cup of white wine (or red wine)
one cup of beef broth
salt, pepper, bay leaf, fresh rosemary and thyme

Procedure:
Start by putting 1 tablespoon of olive oil on your meat, add some salt and pepper. Put the flour and toss it until the flour are evenly distributed. Heat the pan and put your melted butter and the rest of the olive oil. Fry briefly the beef to have that brownish golden color, add the garlic and onion. Continue stirring. Put the tomatoes, olives and deglaze it with the wine. Add the broth and cook it slowly on a crackpot. Add all the fresh herbes, salt and pepper.

Pain au lait



What I have to give up in the morning living here in France....

1. Those lousy morning perked up by the smell of strong coffee called Kapeng Barako that my dad used to boil over and over again...

2. The taste of hot pandesal buns freshly delivered by the neighbor spread with some Coconut jam, dunked into a hot coffee and ends up in my hungry mouth...


3. The delicious scent of (although this is subjective for in here they considered it stinky in the morning) dried fish served with garlic fried rice and sugar cane vinegar....
yummy..

4. The busy and noisy neighborhood that I grew up where people peddle breakfast in the morning; champorado (chocolate rice pudding), fried noodles, rice based pastries, newspapers or even freshly catched gossip from the corner...:-)

Sigh...I have to give up all of these for a sweet, simple and soothing mornings of bread and jam. I am not complaining, let's just say an over baked croissant skinned girl in Europe was just simply yearning. And I guess only home-sick gourmet could understand what I am talking about.

I'm sending over some of these bread to Lore of Culinarty for her Original Recipes event. Don't miss to check the round-up!


Pain au Lait au fleur d'orange
Small Milk Bread with orange blossom water
for about 10 to 12 pieces

Ingredients:
300 grams of flour (type 55) or about 2 and half cups
15 grams of fresh yeast
12.5 cl of milk (half a cup)
75 g of semi melted butter (about one stick)
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of orange blossom water
1 egg yolk for brushing

Procedure:
Dissolve the yeast on your warm milk, then add 100 grams of flour, mix them and let it stand for about 30 minutes or until the yeast activates. Add the rest of the ingredients: flour, butter orange blossom water and salt. Mix them well. Knead the dough to let the air enter into the dough and make the gluten act. Let it rise for about an hour and half. Form ten or twelve small balls then make that oval shaped of the bread. Let it rise again for thirty minutes. Brush them with the egg yolk. Pre-heat the oven at 210° and bake them for 15 to 20 minutes.


Nectarine Raspberry Ice-cream Meringue Cake


Last week was intense. There were two birthday celebrations; a visiting Aunt's and my daughter's. Shopping list, cooking, baking and preparations were doubled for a twicer fun. Then there was death. Cory Aquino the Filipino influential political leader admired and respected by many passed away. Although I wasn't there to physically live the moment, the fang of sadness was all over me. In between these two emotions there were numerous last minute appointments before summer holidays begin, lots of paperwork to hand over to my boss and then there was also the Weekend Herb Blogging hosting. To make things even more challenging, Mayumi's nursery school is already in vacation since last week so I found myself juggling everything, hardly. (Whew.)

And ooops, I almost forgot. There was also my dad's presence whom I felt strongly at the eve of my little girl's birthday. Goosebumps, excitement or just simply burnout. I don't know how to explain it but I felt it. All that in a week of a roller coaster ride of emotions!
This week just started. Hoping for a much sluggish phase but with Mayumi around that seems to be futile!
This is my entry to WHB this week is hosted by lovely Anh of Food Lover's Journey. For more details on hosting and guidelines check out Haalo's Cook Almost Anything Blog, the new mother of WHB created by talented Kalyn.



Nectarine Raspberry Meringué Ice-Cream Cake
Ingredients:

nectarine ice-cream
half a cup of nectarine purée
1 tablespoon of honey
half a cup of pounded praline (caramelized nuts)
3 big egg yolks

3 big egg whites

75 g of sugar

30 cl of heavy cream (very cold)


raspberry ice-cream
half a cup of raspberry purée
1 tablespoon of honey

3 big egg yolks

3 big egg whites

75 g of sugar
30 cl of heavy cream (very cold)

Procedure: It is the same preparation for the two ice-creams. First incorporat the honey on your purée. Then whisk the white eggs until they become stiff, you can add a pinch of salt to keep it stiff. In a separate bowl, beat your heavy cream until it forms a peak. Add the sugar little by little. Followed by egg yolks. Fold in the flavors (the purées, the praline). Mix altogether. Fold in the beaten egg whites delicately. For the nectarine flavored ice-cream add your meringué. Put this in ice-cream maker. If you do not have you can immediately proceed to assembly.

Assembly
In a rectangulaire shaped mold cover it with plastic wrap. To facility un-molding the ice-cream cake. Pour the first flavor followed the second flavor. Put it in the freezer minimum 5 hours. Take out from the fridge twenty minutes before serving. Decorate it with some cream chantilly.
Enjoying her new fish...

Weekend Herb Blogging #195 the Round up

My freshly picked herbs this morning

Yes, I'm finally doing this, the gorgeous round-up for Weekend Herb Blogging! But first of all I would like again to thank Haalo for kindly helping me out with this hosting and all the Food blogging community for all your love and generosity!

Our first entry comes from none other than the talented Kalyn the creator of WHB and If you are a Basil lover her entry is a must to read. Her post gives a useful information about Basil and conserving them. I bet this is an interesting read.


Our next dish is from Anna of Morsels and Musings she concocted us an interesting dish of Milk Braised Porc Cavolo Nero. She beautifully explained this amazing vegetable Cavolo Nero, if you want to know more about it go check her post.

Third on the list is a vitamin packed dish prepared by the charming Daphne of More than Words, Honey Roasted Spiced Pumpkin and Carrot. I am a great fan of her blog because she always comes up with interesting recipes!


And to beat the heat of the summer, enjoy this delicious Herb Marinated Mozzarella Salad all the way from Switzerland made for us by Myriam of Once Upon a Cakestand. And I should say she's a regular to WHB for she adores veggies, fruits and herbs go check out her blog to admire it for yourself!


You will never look at eggplant the same way again after seeing how gorgeously my sweet sweet friend Anh of Food Lover's Journey concocted a simple and yet appetizing dish of eggplants. I know she's busy but she still managed to send me one and I truly appreciate it. By the way she's the host of WHB this week.


Sandeepa from Bong Mom's Cookbook prepared us something soothing and relaxing, Lime Balm Tea. What is so different from her tea is that they were made lemon balm herb freshly plucked from her garden. Don't forget to check out her post!


Lovely Katie from Eat This send us over a simple, healthy and yet delicious recipe of Refrigerator Pickles and Banana Pepper. I bet that title made you drool. If you want to know more about this appetizer go check her blog!


Minu of Chettinad Fiesta believes that greens have always a special place in their cooking because of their health benefits. And I totally agree with her. And what a way to celebrate this week's WHB through this mouth-watering spinach Indian dish called Keerai Masiyal is such a great discovery. Don't fail to visit her post!

Here's another delectable salad for the summer Fresh Pea Salad whip up by Jerry from Jerry's Thoughts. His post talked about useful information on selecting, storing and using fresh peas, indeed a must read!
The simplest recipes are always the best! Anna of Anna's Cool Finds simmered us this beautiful Cream of Celery Soup. Isn't that title refreshing? And I tell you she even bakes her own bread, hmmm. Well to enjoy more of her dish don't miss her post.


The talented Pam of Sidewalk Shoes whip us up an impressive Roasted Fish on Fennel Fronds. In her post she shared about the story of her "mysterious fish", so if you want to know more about this what are you waiting for go read her post.


Seafood and Miso Sour Soup, I am definitely sure you haven't heard nor tasted something like this before. The lovely Iska of Iskandals concocted us a mouth-watering Filipino specialty dish of sour soup. She beautifully used some local greens and ingredients to make this dish even more exciting. Don't miss her post!


Time for a drool worthy dessert! Let's enjoy this decadent Mint Chocolate Chip Ice-cream superbly made by Winnie of Blog Healthy Green Lifestyle. Her blog is not only about delicious recipes but also about healthy green living, surely a blog to drop by. And a big round of applause for accepting this week's challenge!

Have you ever heard of Elder Berry Jelly before? Well our talented blogger from italy Brii from Briiblog shared with us her much treasured recipe for this jelly. And to know more about this fruit don't fail to check her out!


I am so honored that Haalo of Cook Almost Anything concocted us a yummy and unique dessert of Dark chocolate Sponge and blue cheese. Yes you are not mistaken, Chocolate and blue cheese are deliciously perfect together. For more WHB guidelines and hosting schedules or simply interesting posts and photography don't miss her out.


If you love italian dishes you should surely not miss this refreshing vegetable Italian dish Salsina Modenese prepared to us with love by Cinzia from Cindy Star. This is a special recipe of summer vegetables from her grandmother. If you are curious to know more about this don't miss her post.


And lastly but not the least is this mouth-watering Summer Pudding of chocolate and raspberries concocted by sweet Gloria of Canela's Kitchen. For more of her fantastic creations don't fail to drop by at her kitchen. Gracias ma hermana!
And another one last entry, prepared to us by talented Oggi of I can do that, Tomatoes, Apples and Hazelnut Crisp. Isn't that healthy, yummy and original. She is one of bloggers I truly admire for she can always make something special and unique. Don't miss her blog.



That’s all! These indeed are all colorful entries for this week WHB. It was such a busy week for me and took a bit of time to compile. I hope you enjoy reading them and inspired to cook something tonight! Thanks again and see you all next week for another edition of WHB, which is gonna be hosted by Anh of Food Lover's Journey.







Eggplant Caviar on a Sunday Lunch

Sunday Lunch under an Acacia Tree

For folks who are regular to my kitchen you know that this is the first time I'm doing a Restaurant review. So hang on tight!!

It's been a while we have been planning up this Retirement Party for the folks. After long years of service as a judge and as a psychologist they deserve nothing but the best. And I tell you guys they are an adorable couple. When dad in-law is not garbed in his toga and armed with his gavel he is a very very funny man and with lots of interesting stories to tell. And Mom-in-law is a refined, sweet and a charming lady. We opted for a hassle free party so we chose a reputed laid-back style restaurant in the small lovely town of La Roque d'Antheron. From the outside the restaurant doesn't look that good but from the inside the small courtyard was charming. There were two big acacia trees that provided that peaceful provencal beauty we were looking for.
Seems like everything were reunited that day: bright sunny weather, magnificent ambiance , good humour, lots of chit chat and good food.

The lunch started off with a Kir Royal, a concoction of black currant liquor and sparkling white wine. We enjoyed this with a serving of caviar d'aubergine (eggplant caviar) as an amuse bouche. Recipe is at the end of the post.
This was followed by the first entrée of Verrine de Saint Jacques (Tartare of Scallops and tomatoes). The scallops were marinated in extra virgin olive oil and fresh herbs and spices.
The second entrée was Croustillant de Tomates et Mozzarella (Crispy Tomato-Mozzarella). This was served with a coulis of basil. Very refreshing.
There were two main courses, pan fried Espadon (Sword Fish) served on the bed of fresh vegetables and a cream of fennel and the other one is Veal with Asparagus Sauce served with roasted potatoes in thyme.
The dessert was also heavenly, a serving of chocolate cake nutella and a vacherin a dessert of home made lemon and raspberry ice-cream with meringue. Don't search for their photos for I have totally forgetten to take their pictures. I mean I prefer to savour and it them.:-)

Eggplant Caviar
Ingredients:
2 big eggplants
2 pieces of garlic
some thymes and basil
juice of half a lemon
salt, pepper
about 15 cl of olive oil (about half a small glass)

Procedure:
Start by preheating the oven at 200°C. Make some small cuts on your eggplant, not too deep not too shallow. Rub the surface with olive oil and insert some herbs on this slits. Wrap it with alluminum foil and put one garlic inside. Bake it for 40 minutes (this depends on the size of your eggplants. Let it cool down and peel it off and same for the garlic. Pass it on to the blender including the garlic that's been cooked. Add the lemon juice, olive oil,salt and pepper. Blend it until you have that smooth consistency. This is a perfect amuse bouche that you can serve with some baguette or bread sticks.

Weekend Herb Blogging #195 Hosting


Taraaaaaaaaan!!!

It is the honor and pride of Dhanggit's Kitchen to host this week's Weekend Herb Blogging. This fabulous event that puts vegetables, herbs, plants and fruits into the limelight has gone a long fruitful way since Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen created it. WHB is now in the nurturing hands of Haalo of Cook Almost Anything but it still carries the same aroma and passion for anything green. Well actually color does not matter :-)
The rules are simple, post about any herb, fruit, vegetable, flower or plant. The post can be informative, a spotlight of a particular ingredient and/or a recipe where your chosen produce is one of the primary ingredients in the recipe. The post should include about the event "Weekend Herb Blogging" with appropriate links and a link to this announcement. And to make this event even more exciting (but this is optional!) as my daughter turns 2 year old this week and she loves chocolate so anyone who wants to include chocolate in their post is highly appreciated!

Post your entries anytime this week but remember to send me your entries before the cut-off time.

To know more about hosting guidelines and scheduled host check-up the link here.



Send your entries to dhanggit AT gmail DOT com with WHB#195 in the subject and the following details:
  • Your Name
  • Your Blog Name/URL
  • Your Post URL
  • Your Location
  • A photo: 300px wide
We eat vegetables and fruits more than three times a day and we all love chocolate. So you have no reason not to send me your entry. Or if not I'll cast you my magic spell and turn you into a cute toad. LOL Just kidding. You have until this Sunday August 9 (American Time) to send me your delicious entries.