Spring Adventures

I have children. Although we've been married for 8 months (feels longer than that!), I have two of them. They are kind that I keep for 6 hours and then give back at the end of the day. Two precious wee souls who sometimes I tuck into bed at night and sing songs to, and then leave for my own home where there are no toys to trip on or homework to be done. I pick them up from school the next day and listen to their stories of school life.

We decided to spend the day in the park, have a picnic lunch and to visit the menagerie, the little zoo. We packed the picnic, put on our hats and suncream and chose our special toys to bring for the day. The sun was shining, the flowers were out at last after a cold winter and I was full of expectation for a glorious day in the park amongst the blossom.

It started out like this; romantic flamingos, graceful on one leg, the giggles of contented children running in the sun and watching BIG animals.

And then we found the wild parts!  On my camera I ended up with more photos of savage animals than a flowery picnic in the sun.  We spent a long time watching the big cat from China and the crocodiles.  The animals were obviously happy with the sunny day and obligingly showed off their savageness with big displays of open mouths, wild grins and stealthy stares (thankfully all through very thick glass). 

The diversity of the world never fails to amaze me! It was a fabulous adventure on a spring day. Could I call it a savagely gracfeul outing? I'll leave you with the chinese big cat to decide for youself.

 

Vanilla Crème

It's warmer here now. I like that. I like the feel of the air on my skin and the sun on my face. I was born for such a time as this - summer.  I went out running the other day in the early morning. It's my favourite time of the day; when the world is waking up and birds have the parks to themselves.  Our closest 'park' has no grass so I'm not so sure it fits the bill as an official park, but it's a good place to run. I do feel a bit like a little mouse running his little plastic wheel in his cage as I do laps of the park to stretch out my exercise time, before heading for home. However, the trees are beautiful and the birdsong is enough to awaken my soul as well as my body. 

I made these petits pots de crème vanille the other day for friends who came over for dinner. They are perfect for warmer weather as they are a not-too-big and not-too-small kind of dessert. And one that doesn't leave your stomach sinking at the end of a dinner party. 

You don't need an excuse to make them. Quick and economical to make. They work perfectly well for a mid-week dinner in front of the tele if you can't wait for an official occasion. 

Vanilla Crème

serves 6

500ml full cream milk

4 egg yolks

120g sugar

35g cornflour

60g butter

2 vanilla beans (or 1 tsp vanilla essence)

Heat the milk with the vanilla pods until it reaches just below boiling point. Let it cool for 10mins, leaving the vanilla pods in the milk.

Beat the egg yolks with the sugar and cornflour.

Take out the vanilla beans from the milk.

Pour the milk into the egg mixture, beating well all the time. Once mixed, pour back into the pot.

Continue to stir the milk over a medium heat until the mixture starts to thicken. 

As soon as it begins to boil take off the heat immediately and pour into your ramekins.

Let the ramekins cool and then serve with a small delicate biscuit of your choice.

Lemon Curd

I was inspired by Joy the Bakers gorgeous banana bread. It had nothing to do with the fact she described it along the lines as 'healthy' and 'I'm getting my summer body ready'.  We LOVED the banana bread for breakfast and since we live in Europe we were culturally obligated to eat it with Nutella. I'm pretty sure that cancelled out any low-fat efforts we might have made in making this particularly delicious version of banana bread. But when in Rome....(we're not in Rome by the way, Paris actually, but just to clear things up). If you, like me, were wondering what to do with the 2 egg yolks left over, then make yourself happy with this little gem of recipe for light and zesty lemon curd.  It's perfect to spread on the banana bread, far less fattening than Nutella, and perfect for cheering up a sleepy Monday morning tomorrow. 

Lovely Lemon Curd

makes about 450g

Ingredients

3 lemons

200g castor sugar

115g unsalted butter

2 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

Wash the lemons, then finely grate the rind into a saucepan. Halve the lemons and juice all 3 lemons, adding the juice to the saucepan. Set over a low heat and add the butter and sugar. Stir until the sugar has dissolved and the butter melted.

Put the egg and yolks together in a bowl and beat together until well mixed. Pour slowly into the lemon mixture, whisking well as you go. 

Stir the mixture constantly over the low heat until the lemon curd lightly coats the back of a wooden spoon.

Remove from the heat and the curd into small, warmed sterilized jars. Cover, seal and label if you can resist not eating straight away.  Store in cool dark place. Use within 3 months. Once opened, store in the refrigerator. 

The proof is in the eating

Well - as they say - the proof IS in the eating. And what did the jury say?  They loved it! No sacrilege committed and the surprised worked a treat. Dad-in-law was suitable speechless when we knocked on the door at 11.30pm Friday night.  We had a great weekend with the family and came back to Paris feeling rejuvenated ready for another week at near break-neck speed. But that's why we love our life in a big city. Take a break and make some of these for yourself. 

Tiramisu Bars (adapted from Cookie Magic by Kate Shirazi)

200g crushed amaretto biscuits

2 tsp instant coffee granules

80g butter melted

Mix the biscuit crumbs with the dry coffee granules and the melted butter. Press the mixture firmly into a lined 23cm square tin.

Filling

250g cream cheese

50g sugar

2 large eggs

60ml cream

55ml rum

1 tsp vanilla

In a large bowl beat together the cream cheese, sugar, eggs, cream, rum and vanilla. Pour the mixture over the biscuits base and back for 20-25mins at 180° C or until the centre is set. Leave to cool in the tin.

Make the topping by heating

100ml cream until nearly boiling point. Add

100gr dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids).

Stir until chocolate is melted and pour over the cheescake.

Leave to set for 30 minutes. Cut into squares and eat!

Late night baking

It's 10.40pm and the oven has just turned off. Sitting on the bench top, filling the apartment with warm rum scented smells, is my latest discovery. Tiramisu bars. Imagine a coffee biscuit base layered with rum and vanilla cheesecake, baked until just set in the middle, finished off with a layer of 72% dark chocolate. I'm so excited I haven't even taken photos of it yet. Literally - it's just out of the oven.

My mother-in-law is famous for her Tiramisu. My husband talks about it almost non-stop in the lead up to a visit. She makes it without fail each time we visit and it's revered as some sort of holy grail moment when we eat it on the last night of each visit. 

We're going to visit them tomorrow for the weekend. But shhhh...it's a surprise! For their birthdays. I can't wait to share this variation of their family favourite with them. I only hope they don't think I've sacrileged their holy grail of Tiramisu.

I keep dabbing my finger on the top to taste the cheesecake layer, addicted already but knowing full well that my fingerprints will be covered up with a layer of  chocolate in the morning.

But shhhh...don't tell anyone it was me.

Without (much) thinking...

I am normally the kind of person who takes a long time to make decisions. It's not that I don't like making decisions. Some decisions I like. I like to decide who I listen to, I like to decide between action or romantic comedy, for example. It's just that sometimes I like to take my time to make decisions; to know what I am buying, to what I am agreeing to. Réfléchir, the french say.

The gem of our Parisian quartier is the pedestrian zone. It's where bicycles, people, push-chairs and dogs mix on the street and attempt to do daily life - be it eating in a sidewalk restaurant, taking clothes to the drycleaners, shoes to the cobbler, buying a wine for dinner or picking up their daily bread at the boulangerie. Sometimes it's orderly, sometimes it's an urban obstacle course. 

I was walking past the gorgeously decadant moorish inspired salon du thé when I spied the window display. The épicerie was half price - everything was half or less the original price. How could I not go in and check it out? Everything tempted me. Everything seduced me. There were spices that I knew and bags of powders I had never heard of.  Everything went to my head and before I knew it...

...I was walking out of the salon du thé with two generously sized bags that I had very little idea what to do with. No consideration, (well not too much) and no matter that I didn't have a recipe in mind. 

Spices for vegetable couscous and zaatar. I've seen and/or heard about both of them before but they've never made an appearance in my cooking.

Well, I've started looking for some delicious ways to use my new spice mix and herbs. If you stick around, I'll share what I discover.

Croquettes de crabe

What better way to end the week than having good friends over for dinner. 

Wine, laughter, a bit of serious conversation and bit of not so serious conversation to balance out the evening. 

I have not cooked with crab with very often. In fact, never. Despite growing up on an island nation surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea, it never did feature on our childhood menu. 

I bought a tin of crab meat one day; I was having an adventurous moment at the supermarket!

And then I made these.

I think I'll buy crab meat again.

Croquettes de crabe

makes 12

200g crab meat

1 bunch of parsley

3 slices of bread

100 ml milk

3 tbsp mayonnaise

3 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp self raising flour

salt and pepper

for the dipping sauce

1 lime

3 tbsp creme fraîche

Dipping Sauce

1. Add the zest of the lime to the creme fraîche and mix well

2. Juice the lime and reserve for the croquettes

Croquettes

1. Drain the crab meat. Wash and dry the parsley and chop finely.

2. Remove the crusts from the bread and soak in the milk.

3. In a bowl, mix the crab meat with the mayonnaise, parsley, and lime juice.

4. Squeeze the milk from the bread with your hands and mix into the crab meat mixture along with the flour.

5. Season the mixture

6. Heat the oil in a fry pan. Drop teaspoonful lots into the pan and  cook for 2 minutes on each side.

Serve hot with the dipping sauce