Apricot Almond Ginger Confit Devils Cake

Apricot Almond Ginger Confit Devil's Cake

The Devil wears Prada.

I am pretty sure that most of you have read the book or saw the movie. Not that my post will talk about the plight of this helpless Fashion editor assistant, its just simply that I thought about this book as prepare this chocolate cake and that phone call I got few weeks ago. Well you see few weeks ago I received a call from Elle's magazine wishing to feature an article about my fashion brand and my creations. I was ecstatic naturally. But lots of things happened after that that phonecall that has derailed my thoughts and focus. Its been weeks that I am floating and I haven't started things that I needed to do. It is hard when its the brain that's draining up. I know I needed a break so badly. It won't be long it will be just for few days, enough for me to work on my creations and pending projects.

So for this edition of my Friday Dose of Chocolate, I'll be leaving you with a slice of this delicious chocolate cake and a quote from Arnold Schwarzenegger's famous line; I'll be back!


This will be my entry for this month's Royal Food Joust, hosted by Jen of Leftover Queen.

Apricot, Almonds, Ginger Confit Devil's Cake with hint of chili

4 eggs

120 g of butter
100 g of dried apricot (chopped)
150 g of almonds (chopped)
about 2 tablespoons of ginger confit (chopped)

80 g of flour

150 g of sugar
200 g of dark chocolate

for the chocolate ganache
150 g of dark chocolate
10 cl of fresh cream
half a teaspoon of chili powder

Start by melting the butter and the chocolate. Mix them well until it become homogenous. Beat the eggs with the sugar and flour. Fold in the butter-chocolate mixture and mix them well. Put the chopped almonds, ginger confit and apricot in the cake mixture. Grease a round baking dish of about 20 cm, and pour the cake mixture. Bake in the preheated oven at 180° celsius for 30 to 35 minutes. Let the cake cool before unmolding it.

For the chocolate ganache, melt the chocolate and blend it well. This helps your chocolate becomes brilliant and shiny. Pour your warm fresh cream and mix well. Add your chili powder.

How long can you resist?

Lasagna Mozzarella Ratatouille

Lasagna Mozzarella Ratatouille

"A failure is a man who has blundered but is not capable of cashing in on the experience."

"My reputation grows with every failure."

I still remember twenty five years ago, when the spelling bee master pronounced the word "mozzarella", It was the end of my dream to finish first place that year. I went down the stage, head bow avoiding all the looks of everybody because my tears were starting to flow. I literally cried a river that day losing to my greatest adversary, the first honor student of our class. It is always so hard to fail, specially when you think you've given your best. And for my child's heart, winning that spelling contest meant everything to me. I cried and I thought it was the end of everything. But of course, I realised eventually as I grow old that life is truly full of failures. Year after year I've known failures of all form. And year after I cry but I am still here. That is what counts.

Eventually I came to realise that mozzarella is a cheese and that it taste good. Eventually I realised that I am really poor in spelling. :-) Ratatouille used to be my password, but I always misspell it so I decided to change it. Anyways, when mozzarella and ratatouille are on my plate all forms of spelling are allowed.

I am sending this lasagna recipe to Hillary the lovely host of this week's Presto Pasta Night, a delicious pasta event created by Ruth.





Lasagna Mozzarella Ratataouille

1 pack of dry lasagna noodles

about half a casserole of your left over Ratataouille

3/4 pound mozzarella cheese

1 can of tomato sauce
salt and pepper

Bing a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook your lasagna noodles. Put your tomato sauce on your ratatouille to add liquid on it. Preheat your oven at 190° celsius. Assemble your lasagna by spreading a layer of ratatouille, a layer of noodles and mozzarella cheese. You can sprinkle the top with parmesan cheese if you want. Bake for 25 minutes covered with foil and another ten minutes without cover.

My other pasta recipes:

Spicy Fettuccine Prawn Curry
Beets, Basil, Riccotta Candy Ravioli in Orange sauce

Homemade Burger Buns

Home-made Burger buns

Yay, Its Wednesday again! Time for my Wordless Home-made Recipes although this time it won't be wordless.

Food sometimes intertwined with memories.

You open a box of chocolate it reminds you of your first kiss. You pour a glass of wine it recalls your first date. Savor your gelato and you’ll remember your last vacation to Italy. Food awakens our senses, comforts it, heals and nourishes it.


As my teeth greedily touch my burger last night, I couldn’t help but reminisce my first misfortunate encounter with this sandwich. You know, when we were kids my dad made a pact to bring each one of us every day of his payday to eat any food that we want. Let’s call this a father and daughter food tripping. His salary wasn’t enough to bring the three of us together so we really need to take turns. When it was my turn I thought so hard what I wanted and so I decided that day I wanted to have my favorite soft ice-cream. I don’t know what happened that day, but probably all my guardian angels were sleeping. That day there was a nationwide power interruption in Manila. We walked for hours desperately trying to find an ice-cream house that has generator. But it was in vain. Before the sunset, our feet and body ceded the crusade. I was crying on our way back home. My dad insisted that I choose another food that I would want to replace the ice-cream with. I was really stubborn on having ice-cream but as we passed by a small makeshift “cheapish” hamburger stall, my hungry stomach did not resist to its calling. It was so good from the first bite and the second one. And as I put the last bite of this burger the electricity went back.




Home-made Burger buns
for about 4 big buns or 8 mini-buns

350 g of flour (about 3 1/2 cup)
1 tablespoon of sugar
2 teasepoon of salt
5 cl of warm water
10 cl of milk
1 tablespoon of dry intstant yeast (about 10 g)
3 tablespoons of vegetable oil (I used colza oil)
some sesame seeds
1 egg for brushing the surface

Start by dissolving the yeast in the warm water. Let this mixture stand for about ten minutes. Then on your working table put your flour and make a small well put your milk, salt, sugar and add your dissolved yeast. Mix with your hands gently until its well mixed. Add your oil and continue working the dough. Knead the dough for about ten minutes until it becomes elastic and doesnt stick to your hand. Do not forget to put flower on your hands and on the table to help you kneading the dough. It is advisable to weigh your dough, in that case you will have even sizes for your buns. Cut the dough depending on the number of buns you want and size. Shape them like a buns by getting sides of the dough and tucking it under. Let this dough rise for about an hour and half. Cover them with a towel. Before baking brush them with egg white and sprinkle with sesame seeds on the top. Bake them at 200° celsius for about 15-20 minutes for the big ones and about ten minutes for the small one. Cool them in rack.


My other home-made recipes:

Home-made Apricot Cinnamon Jam
Home-Made Croissant
Home-made Yogurt
Home-made Walnut Wine

Rolled Turkey Escalopes in Walnut Parsley Pesto with Mango Orange Sauce

Rolled Turkey Escalopes in Walnut Parsley Pesto with Mango Orange Sauce


I have always been scared of dentist. Blame it on our school dentist that has frightened every grade school student of my school. I still remember her appalling face that has never known the word smile in her life. She has traumatized every one of us. As I wait for my turn inside the lounge of my German dentist yesterday, I had this gush of memories flowing out like water in the faucet. I was not scared at all, but I knew I was stressed. There was still one person before my turn. So I tried my best to distract my attention gazing around and up above. When I suddenly noticed the bunch of old women’s magazine scattered on the table. I took one, haphazardly but my hand still fell one a half naked woman’s cover, I thought probably It could be interesting inside. Immediately as I turn the pages, I noticed a small cuisine corner in the magazine. I checked on the recipes, and I couldn’t get it out of my head. There were three fabulous recipes that I was dying to do in my kitchen. I don’t have any ballpen or pencil with me to copy it. I tried to look around, I was alone. Shall I tear the pages? Shall I steal the magazine? Hesitation and conscience, which weighs the most. Or shall I just trust my photographic memory to memorize this recipe. Think again. And even before I could make my decision they called out my name.

I went back home happy and relieved. My dentist was nice and kind. And I also succeeded in getting the recipes I wanted. Can you guess what I did?

This is my entry for this month's Monthly Mingle, a blogging event created by Meeta. The pick of the Month is Mango.


Rolled Turkey Escalopes in Walnut Parsley Pesto and Mango Orange Sauce

4 turkey escalopes
Half a glass of mango juice
Half a glass of orange juice
One bunch of parsley

100 g of walnut
Salt and pepper

10 g of butter
2 tablespoons of white wine
Some olive oil
10 cl of fresh cream


Flatten the turkey escalopes. Brush the surface with mango juice and butter. Put some salt and pepper. In a blender prepare your parsley pesto by mixing the walnut, parsley leaves and some olive oil. Mix them well. Put the pesto on the surface of your turkey then roll them. Seal the edges using toothpicks. Set this aside. In a casserole put the orange and mango juice and reduce it over low fire. Once the juice has thickened add some butter (about 1 tablespoon), salt and pepper. Pour your fresh cream. Let it boil. Set aside the sauce. In a pan, put some butter and olive oil and fry each side of your turkey. Fry them slowly over medium fire about 5 to seven minutes per sides. You can add some fresh thyme and rosemary as your fry them. Deglaze the pan with your wine. Pour your sauce on the pan and let it warm up then turn of the fire. Slice your turkey and serve it with sauce on the side.


You can also try my other poultry recipes:

Chicken Supreme in Coconut Cream

Chicken Pizza Curry

Ensaimada : Almond Coconut & Honey Brioche


Brioche de Majorca, Almond Coconut & Honey Brioche


How good are in your french culture?

What day can we hear Serge Gainsbourg, David Gueta, or even Lorie's (the equivalent of Britney Spears in France :-) music played side by side in the street of France?

Every 21st of June, France celebrates its Fete de la Musique (Festival of Music) the day created by Jack Lang a socialist depute where any musician from nobody to wannabes, famous or international artist can play their music for free. In our city alone, imagine this:

On the main thoroughfare, bars have organized some acoustic and jazz music while few blocks away was a stage where they were performing country and cowboy music. And a little down was a group of young boy band serenading their own compositions hoping desperately to be discovered by a talent scout. In the main parking lot fronting the Mayor’s Office was another type of music, I didn’t had enough time to decipher what were they playing my ears were too tired and have no where to hide. And the best part of this was the small park fronting our house that they transformed into a techno party with house and techno music vibrating incessantly. And when the ambiance is like this it definitely puts me in the mood to make some brioche. If you don't like this Ensaimada, blame it on the techno music. :-)

Here's is my entry on Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging that she is hosting this week, a blogging event that she also created.


Ensaimada (Brioche de Majorca) Almond, Coconut & Honey Brioche

3 and half cups of flour
4 eggs

10 g of yeast
15 cl of milk

50 g of sugar
5 g of salt
3 tbsps of honey
180 g of butter (about two sticks)
150 g of almonds
100 g of shredded coconut

Decoration

50 g of icing sugar
1 tablespoon of milk

Start by dissolving the yeast with the milk. Put one cup of flour in a bowl and mixed the dissolved yeast. Add the salt, sugar and one egg. Once the mixture becomes homogenous put one cup of flour. Cover and let the yeast ferment. Normally after an hour you will notice that the flour covering the mixture starts to crack, this means that the yeast have started to work. Add another one cup of flour (which means you still have the remaining half a cup) , the honey and your remaining eggs. Mix them using your machine (I used my bread machine to mix and knead them). Continue mixing them for about five minutes, then add your butter that’s been cut in cubes and continue mixing for another five minutes. Add this point you will add your flour to check the consistency of your dough. It is very sticky and unmanageable at this point. Put some oil on a bowl and pour your dough in it. Cover it and put it in the fridge for minimum of seven hours. After this process you can be able to shape and handle your dough. As if you are handly a puff pastry you will need to make several folds on your dough. Add your coconut and half of your chopped almonds on the dough. Shape a ball form and flatten it a little bit. Grease your pan and put your dough brioche. Brush it with egg wash to give it a golden color. Top it with the remaining almonds. Bake it for twenty to twenty five minutes at 200° Celsius. Before mix one tablespoon of milk with 50 g of icing sugar. Pour this icing liquid on your brioche.


Care for a bite?

My other Filipino dessert recipes:
Mango Ginumis
Kababayan Muffins

You could also try my other brioche recipes:


Pandecoco or Coconut Brioche
Nutella Rolled Brioche

Friday Dose of Chocolate #2: Chocolate Saucisson


Slice them up, Chocolate Saucisson

Have you ever broke the law?

I am not proud of it but for the love of food I did. Most international airports normally prohibits bringging in and out of certain meat products and I cannot count how many times I violated this. You see french charcuteries and me are like inseparable lovers. Since the first time I tasted them I already fell in love with them. My favorite are the french saucisson! Those dry-filled sausages best eaten with cornichon (tiny cucumber) pickles. When we used to live in Tokyo, I see to it I bring back home some for a year's consumption. I would wrap them in socks or hide them in the middle of my clothes unnoticed. The latest stint I did was when we visited New York and to please our French friends based there we brought along some. I always succeed in passing probably because of my innocent look :-)

So why am talking about this? Well, Lore of Culinarty is hosting an interesting food blog event on
Original Recipes. And I am pretty sure you haven't seen nor tasted something like this before. And since its my second edition of my Friday Dose of Chocolate I'll be sharing this Original Chocolate recipe, my Chocolate Saucisson. Don't be deceived they are sweet. Kids will surely love them and adults as well. You can serve them right after a good meal with a cup of strong coffee.

(By the way, sorry for not visiting your blogs yesterday I wasn't at home. We had some family affairs to attend to.)



Chocolate Saucisson

125 g of dark chocolate
50 g of butter
150 g of chopped hazelnuts
12 pieces of Pims soft chocolate-orange cookies (you can replace it with genoise like chocolate cookies with orange marmalade fillings)
100 g of dried raisins
6 tablespoons of icing sugar
3 tablespoons of Amaretto or Cognac (optional)

Melt the chocolate in bain-marie or micro-wave oven. With the help of spatula mix well the chocolate to help it make shiny. Add the butter in the melted chocolate. Crush with your hands the Pim's soft cookies. Mix all the ingredients except the icing sugar. The alcohol is optional, omit it if it's for kids. Put them in the fridge for about thirty minutes. Check the consistency. It should be still a little bit soft and manageable for shaping. Put them in a parchment paper and roll as if you are shaping a long sausage. Once you have shaped them roll them over icing sugar. Wrap them with alluminum foils or parchment paper and keep in your fridge for minimum of seven hours. It is advised you cut them in front of your guests so they can still see the shape of your chocolate saucisson.

You can check my other chocolate recipes:

Chocolate Creme Brulée
Mini-Dacquoise cake in Chocolate Creme Chantilly
Profiterole with Lychee ice-cream and Cherry Chocolate Sauce

* For my French readers: you will find the french version of this recipe of "saucisson en chocolat" here: http://www.lesfoodies.com/hilda/recette/saucisson-en-chocolat

Chorizo, Cumin & Curry Bread

Chorizo, Cumin & Curry Bread


What's BUGging your mind lately?

The past few days there's something bogging my head and probably you can help me out. Well let me tell you from the start. When I went to the kitchen the other day and opened the cupboard I was literally received by a dozen squirming food bugs. Startled and disturbed by my presence, they flew in all direction giving a small spectacle on the curious eyes of my daughter and a horrified me. Naturally my daughter was so happy even shouting and clapping her hands. While I was desperately shooing them away towards the window and shouting "Cassez vous" (eng. translation: get the hell out of here!!). After that incident I cleaned the cupboard and dump every possible nesting place they could be hiding. My hubby advised me to put some fresh branch of bay leaves to drive them away.

With this agenda in my mind, I went immediately to my in-laws' garden to gather some branches. In the garden however, my attention was caught by the beautiful yellow blossoms of a mysterious plant. My mom in law told me that they are curry plant. I gathered some and went back home to bake this chorizo bread in the following hours. The bread was really delicious and the curry flavor perfumed my food bug infested kitchen.

The bread was delicious but the food bugs were still there. Any suggestions? :-)

I'll be sending this bread to Ruth for her weekly round-ups of Bookmarked Recipes.



Pretty aren't they?


Chorizo Cumin & Curry Bread
taken from 30 Bread Recipes by Lisa Mazieres

1 tsp of cumin seeds
1 tsp of fresh curry leaves 150 g of sliced chorizo 3 tablespoons of olive oil 350 g of flour 1 tablespoon of instant dry yeast 1 glass of milk 5 g of salt

On your working table, put the flour and make a small well in the middle. Add little by little the milk and the yeast. Mix them gently with your hand until it becomes homogenous. Add the salt and olive oil. Knead the dough for about ten minutes or until it becomes smooth and elastic. Continue kneading but this time try to add little by little your chorizo, cumin seeds and curry leaves. Make a small ball and let it rise on a bowl covered for an hour. After an hour dust your table with flour and work on the dough and shape the bread of your desired shape and size. Let it rise again for about two hours. Spray the surface with water. You can add some cumin seeds and curry leaves on the top. Preheat the oven for fifteen minutes at 210° celsius. Bake the bread for ten minutes at 210° celsius then another 20 minutes at 180° celsius. Bake the bread with a ramekin filled with water inside.


Here are my other bread recipes:

French bread (Baguette)
Caramelized onion and roasted tomato Foccacia
Mini Flute Bread with Cumin, Sesame and Poppy seeds


Home-made Apricot Cinnamon Jam

Apricot Cinnamon Jam

Vegetables are the food of the earth; fruit seems more the food of the heavens. ~Sepal Felicivant

In few days, France will officially enter summer season. And when summer comes, fruit comes too. Our market is once again flooded with all the colorful and delicious summer fruits. I can't hardly wait As I finish off today the last jar of Apricot jam I made last summer 2007 I am already imagining the taste of fresh apricots I will eat, yum!

It's Wednesday edition again of my Wordless Home-made Recipes.


Apricot Cinnamon Jam
makes about 5 jars

1 kilo of apricot (very ripe in preference)
1 kilo of sugar
1 teasepoon of cinnamon
1 vanilla pod

Start first by macerating the apricot with sugar. You will be needing a big salad bowl to put the sugar together with your apricots cut in halves and seed removed. Cut the vanilla pod into two and take the grains inside and put it in your apricot. Include also the vanilla pod. Let it macerate until the mixture gives out its own juice, thats about at least an hour. I always cook my jam in a crock pot but you can use any thick casserole. Pour the apricot-sugar mixture. Put your cinnamon powder and let it cook slowly over low fire for a long time (probably an hour). Some use thermometer to determine until when to stop cooking since I dont have I just check the consistency every now and then. Once it becomes a bit like a syrup. I remove it from fire. I pour it over my pasteurized jars, cover them and put them upside down. You can keep them normally for a year.



Jamming with Apricot jam

Caramelized Onion Roasted Tomatoes Foccacia Bread

Caramelized Onion Roasted Tomatoes Foccacia Bread


During my foreign student’s life in Tokyo I still remember well one of the incident that shocked the entire class when one of our Japanese professor confessed something in front of the class. He said that he would never wish to live a longer life. It definitely shocked us because it is contrary to the norm were people would do anything to search for this elixir that will give us the eternal youth. But eventually, of course we understood what he meant. You see his already on his 60’s and apparently he is the youngest in their siblings and everyone else is still alive including his parents and grandparents. (Don’t ask me how old they were? :-)


Japanese indeed surpassed almost any human being when it comes to life’s longevity. Imagine, in the average Japanese ages between 50-60 years old a truly aging society. I am not an expert but I do believe that food plays an important role in prolonging one’s life or cutting it short. But then again science has contributed a lot in making our life easier and longer to live. I know that science has its own evils too but we cannot eliminate the fact on how science saved lives a million times.

One fascinating aspect of it is the organ transplant: from heart to skin grafting we have come to perfection this technology that dates back before Christ. In some big hospitals in a lot of developed nations operating organ transplant comes to a banality that operation is just simple a routine. The great problem that’s confronting organ transplant is the lack of organ donors. The worst story of this is that desperation has given way to international traffic of organs from poor countries selling their precious organs for for few hundred dollars. I witnessed how in Sri Lanka, were each member of the family were forced to sell their kidney due to poverty. And this is just but one example.

I believe that there is only one solution to all these problems that we have and that is love. It may sound so pathetic but it is the truth. If we could only love and care the same value for everyone else, whether we know them or not, whether they are poor or rich, whether they are white or black, whether they are ugly or pretty, fat or thin. Giving would be a lot easier. After all we all weight the same value in the eye of the Great Creator.

This delicious and definitely a very healthy recipe of Foccacia bread is my entry to Equal Opportunity Kitchen's Tried, Tested True Take 2 blogging event. That first one was so succesful that they are doing it the second time around. There are prizes at stake and you have until the 21st to send in your entries. This event also aims to rasie awareness on the importance of organ donation.


Roasted Tomatoes, Caramelized Onion Foccacia Bread

Serving for 4-6 persons

2 big onions sliced
3 big red tomatoes
Some olive oil
Herbes de provence: fresh thymes and rosemary

For the bread: 350 g of flour (type 45 all purpose)
20cl of water

5 g of salt
4 tablespoons of olive oil

10 g of dry yeast

Place the tomatoes in a baking dish, shower with a little bit of olive oil (about 2 tablespoons) and herbes de provence and roast in the oven at 200° Celsius for about 20-25 minutes. This will depend on your oven, tomatoes needs to be beautifully roasted and that skin is easy to remove, the tomatoes are done. Once it’s cooled off remove the skin and seeds. Chop the roasted tomato, set aside. Heat a pan and place olive oil and onion. Cook for about ten minutes over low fire or until onions are soft and golden, set aside. For the foccacia bread, put the flour on your working table and make a well in the middle and pour ¼ of the water that you have (you will have to control it depending on the consistency of your dough later). Dissolve your yeast in a tablespoon of water and add it in the middle of the well. Add the salt, as much as possible avoid direct contact with the yeast. Start handling your dough, add more water if needed. Knead the dough for about five to ten minutes or until the dough becomes elastic and does not stick to your hands anymore. Add about one tablespoon of herbes de provence directly to your dough. I love to do this because the flavor of the different herbes gets even better when cooked inside the bread. Over a parchment paper, put directly the dough. Make a square shape depending on the size of your baking dish. Cover it with a towel and let the dough rise for minimum of an hour. Preheat the oven at 200° Celsius. Brush the surface with olive oil and put your roasted tomatoes and caramelized onion on the top. Sprinkle more herbes de provence. Bake for about 30 minutes. It will be ready when the top becomes golden brown. Let it cool and cut the edges to have a perfect square. You can cut it the size and shape you want eventually. You can serve it perfectly accompanied by arugula salad or a simple carrot soup.


Introducing The Recipe Muncher


If we would rate the magnitude of my excitement level at a Ritcher's Scale at this moment, It would definitely perceive a very strong intensity. Guess why? Because after days of hardwork I am finally presenting to the public my very first web project, THE RECIPE MUNCHER.

Recipe Muncher is a site that will gather all the best food blogs that exist. A place where blogger or just normal readers could get cooking inspiration. An interesting site for foodblog sighting geared at increasing food bloggers viewership and exposure. Once you opened your account and it gets approved it will
automatically publish the picture of your latest post with a direct link to your blog, that way it is convenient for all of us.

I can't wait to see all gorgeous recipes out there. This is an invitation for all of you!
Kisses,
Dhanggit

ps,
Some of your favorite bloggers have already signed up, you can check them out.

Cannelloni Diablo


Cannelloni Diablo, really really spicy!


Call this culinary masochism or whatever term you want but I do love eating spicy food. The hotter the better. It makes you sweat all over, makes you feel numb and gives you that strong sensation to reach out for a glass of water (although people highly advise to avoid drinking water and to chew a piece of bread instead if we want to rinse out that spicy taste in our mouth).
My strong affection for spicy food was nurtured at a young age for my parents adore hot chili pepper. It is always served on the table freshly cut from the backyard. Certainly that liking for spicy food is an acquired taste. Although I have lots of friends who abhor anything spicy I always encourage them to try it to appreciate not only the sensation but also chili's health benefits.

When I used to live in Japan, I never fail to have lunch at my favorite Ramen House not far from where I live, because it is the only place I can eat noodle soup at their different degree of spicyness. And it's been quite a long time I haven't had that culinary sensation.

So I thought why not with my favorite pasta dish. After all I am masochist, slave to my culinary cravings.

I hope Joanna (Joanna's Food) loves spicy food too for I am sending her this Cannelloni Diablo , for Weekend Herb Blogging that she will be hosting this week. This is a wonderful blogging event created by Kalyn.

Canneloni Diablo
4 persons

Ingredients:
about 300 g of pre-cooked lasagna pasta (or Canneloni pasta)
3 red onion chopped
3 cloves of garlic crushed

1 red bell pepper cut in cube
200 g of canned whole tomato (chop them using your cutting knife)
125 ml of Sangrita (spicy tomato)

1 tsp of cayenne powder

2 to 3 pieces of hot chili pepper
400 g of ground meat

Salt and pepper

Start by cooking your pasta. I normally use lasagna pasta when I do canneloni because its easier to fill them up and just roll them to form the canneloni shape. In a large casserole boil water with salt and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Put the pasta and cook depending on the cooking instruction. Once the pasta is cooked start by preparing the stuffing. Heat a pan with oil, start by sautéeing the garlic, onion and pepper. Afterwards add the meat. Cook for about four to five minutes or until the meat has changed color. Add the salt, pepper and cayenne powder. Put this stuffing inside the canneloni. Arrange the canneloni in a baking dish and pour over the chopped tomatoes and sangrita. Bake in a preheated oven at 180° celsius for 20 to thirty minutes.

Some like it hot, some like it really really hot

Friday Dose of Chocolate: Chocolate Creme Brulée

Creamy and chocolatey: Chocolate Creme Brulée

Friday the thirteenth, goodluck or badluck?

I was so much inspired by the Cookbook project of Barbara (Taste & Tell) and I have been pondering for a while to do the same thing considering the tons of cookbooks that I have. But I wanted to do something that best speaks of me. And I guess there is no other way to do this but to share with you my love for chocolate. From this day on, I'll be sharing with you my chocoholism through my Friday Dose of Chocolate, a weekly post on the chocolate recipe I enjoyed that week. Considering the number of chocolate cookbooks that I have prepare for something really different and delicious. I warn you this could be sinfully addicting.

And no other better date to debut my very first Friday dose of chocolate but on this lucky(unlucky) day of Friday the thirteenth.

Allow me to tell you some of my chocolate trivia:


* When I was a kid, I'd love to do errands for others in that way the I could buy my favorite Choc'nut bars through the centavos I get paid.


*Growing up as teenager I enjoy spending time in my cousin's place specially in the afternoon when my auntie prepares our afternoon snack. Our all time favorite is her chocolate rice pudding out of left over rice. Ihough I never succeed in discovering her secret.


* Eversince I met my husband I'm having strong heart-palpitations. Well there isn't any romantic explanation to this , the only culprit is my higher pure cacao consumption since we lived together.

* This is my minimum daily chocolate consumption: 2 full scoops of chocolate powder for my cold milk in the morning, 3 spoonful of Nutella chocolate spread for my croissants, a slice of chocolate cake during lunchtime (this could vary though: muffins, pie but always chocolate flavored), a bowl of chocolate cereals for my afternoon snack and a bar of chocolate caramel in the evening.

Everybody loves chocolate. And I do hope to satisfy your cravings with my Friday Dose of Chocolate.
Chocolate Creme Brulée
source: Accro au chocolat by Cyril Lygnac
4 ramekins

Ingredients:
4 egg yolks + 2 whole eggs

20 cl of heavy cream

125 g of chocolate
40 g of sugar
20 g of brown sugar for the caramel topping


Beat the egg yolks and two whole eggs with the 40 grams of sugar. Blend them well until them become creamy. Place the cream in a saucepan, over low heat allow it to simmer for about three minutes. The add your chocolate and let it melt. Turn of the fire and let it cool down before adding the eggs-sugar mixture. Pour this chocolate cream on your ramekins. Place your ramekins in a baking dish and fill the baking dish with enough water to come halfway up the sides of the reamekins. Place the dish in a preheated oven 180° celsius and bake for 20 minutes. We have different ovens so the cooking time and temperature could vary depending on your oven just be sure that the custards are justly cooked; still creamy and yet firm. After their cooking time refrigerate for minimum of one hour the ramekins. Just before serving sprinkle the top with brown sugar. Put ice cube in a tray around ramekins and place try under a preheated hot grill for about one minute or until sugar melts and is golden.


I want some more...

Home-made Croissants

How about some Home-made Croissants?

"Everyone is kneaded out of the same dough but not baked in the same oven."

There are moments that we prefer to talk less. There are moments we prefer not to talk at all. Simply because our mouth is full of delicious food :-) Well after all sometimes silence speaks a thousand words. I have just decided that every Wednesday it will be Wordless but I'll be sharing all my priced Home-made recipes. And to start the ball nothing best describes French than their famous morning bread, Croissant. Bon Appetit!

Croissants
(makes 8 large or 12 small)


300 g of flour
12 g of dry yeast

18 cl of water
30 g of sugar

8 g of salt
200 g of butter
1 egg for the brushing the croissant

You can use the machine or your hands in doing the first part of this recipe. If you have big muscles enough then, put the flour on your working table make a hole in the middle. Put the water, yeast, sugar and salt. Mix them well. Work this dough for at least ten minutes until it becomes smooth, elastic and does not stick to your hand. After this stage get a rolling pin and you are ready to put the butter. It is advisable to cut in cubes your butter. Flatten your dough with the aid of your palm then roll smoothly your rolling pin from the center outward. Put your butter in the middle and close it like a pocket using the two sides of your dough to make a rectangular shape. Turn the dough counter clockwise. The dough will now be horizontal. Roll again the rolling pin from the center outward trying to make a rectangular shape that is vertical. Close again like pocket the two sides and turn again the dough counterclockwise. Repeat this process like making your puff pastry dough. This helps to make the layerings inside your croissant. Cut them into triangle shape, then brush it with egg. Fold the triangle from the largest part towards the angle to make the croissant shape. Pre-heat the oven and bake it at 200° celsius for twenty minutes for the large one and about ten to fifteen minutes for the small one. Put them out of the oven and let it cool down before devouring them.

Waking up with freshly baked Croissants will never be the same again

For my french readers, the french version of these croissants recipe is here: http://www.lesfoodies.com/hilda/recette/croissants-2