Simply Nutella Mousse

Nutella, a junk food, or rather foodie's marvel, with a European pedigree? 

When I first tasted Nutella, I thought for a moment that I was in heaven, although to my disappointment, I was really sitting in my grandmother’s kitchen.  I was 6 years old.

Up until this day, I can’t forget the "oh my goodness" feeling I got when I ate that chocolate hazelnut spread. Is it better then chocolate? I'm not sure, but for something that was originally made to trick your mind and your taste buds into thinking it's chocolate, well, it's heavenly- so much so, to the point that it’s an obsession, a habit, or even an addiction. If you think this is merely a foodie’s making a mountain out of a molehill, you're just not among the privileged.

For those of you who would like to be initiated into the pleasures of this velvety chocolate hazelnut spread, why are you still here reading this blog? Run! Run to the nearest supermarket!  Fly, if you can! You will find it next to the peanut butter, jam, jelly, marshmallow spreads and several other chocolate hazelnut spread knockoffs that taste perfectly fine, but exist for the sole reason that Nutella is point-blank too good not to imitate. 


Nutella originally comes form Italy and was developed for Italy’s postwar era as a desperate affordable substitute for the chocolate that everyone wanted, but no one could afford to buy.

In 1946 an Italian pastry maker by the name of Pietro Ferrero, needed to find a way to stretch his postwar ration of cocoa. Having hazelnuts over flowing in the piedmont area, he mixed the cocoa he had with ground hazelnuts, cocoa butter and vegetable oil and created "pasta gianduja” or as we know it, gianduja. 
His first batch was said to be 660 pounds. Soon it became so popular that children were asking for a "smear" of pasta gianduja. 
Pasta gianduja had become so popular that it was renamed Nutella in 1964, and spread to the rest of Europe. In 1983, it crossed the ocean. Its following was so strong that it outsold all brands of peanut butter combined. Random; I think not!

In Europe, Nutella is very popular among children and adults. The French and Italians serve it on crackers or croissants as an after-school snack. Greeks spread it on bread and serve it for breakfast, and some even add a layer of butter beneath it to welcome a sweet and salty awakening of the taste buds.  I suspect, however, that most of us, regardless of our zip code, just eat it with a spoon straight from the jar. It's also a common ingredient in various desserts like tortes, layered cakes, and gelatos.

Nutella is not just a junk food with a European pedigree, but an indulgence that feeds the mind and senses.  And since sitting on a plane for 10 hours is not a requirement to indulge in heavenly Nutella, I want to share with you what it's capable of... Introducing Nutella Mousse:

Enjoy!

Nutella Mousse

250g Nutella 

175g Greek yogurt (Fage) 

2 tbsp cream cheese 

1 tsp espresso powder, blended with a little hot water 

2 tbsp chopped toasted hazelnuts (optional) 

1/2 cup whipped heavy cream

Little biscuits for dipping

Cherries and halved hazelnuts, to serve 

Directions

1. Mix the Greek yogurt , cream cheese, espresso powder and water mix, and the chopped toasted hazelnuts. Then mix in the Nutella. Spoon into 4 little pots and chill.

2. Serve with whipped heavy cream, little biscuits for dipping, topped with a cherry or any other fruit and halved hazelnuts if you like.

Great Mother's Day Gifts

Whether she's your own mom, the mom of your children, or just a mom you love and admire, be sure to tell her how important she is to you this mothers day. I've  assembled a selection of cookbooks that would make great Mother's Day gifts. This selection of books can make her time in the kitchen fun, and the food on your plate amazing.

Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours 

"Here's what the book isn't: It's not Escoffier. It's not Mastering the Art of French Cooking. It's not a by-the-rules book. It's not a textbook. It's too personal to be any of those things." Dorie Greenspan

Doris Greenspan Acclaimed writer and baking guru, and author of the James Beard Award-winning Baking, celebrates French home cooking in this memorable and visually stunning collection. Greenspan, whom has been a part time resident of the city of love for over a  decade, focuses on what French people really eat at home. Easy-to-prepare dishes that are full of flavor, yet suitable for just about any time of day. From Bacon and Eggs and Asparagus Salad to Chicken in a Pot to Veal Chops with Rosemary Butter, her offerings are hardy, mostly uncomplicated, and superbly appetizing. She also provides sidebars on a wide range of topics, including whether or not to wash raw chicken, several ways of cooking beets, mussels, and more. She offers variations on classic dishes such as Pot-au-Feu, including recipes for seafood and veggie versions that take minutes instead of hours. Recipes include advice on storing leftovers as well as serving information. The chapter on vegetables and grains is particularly welcome, with delectable gratins, lentil, and rice dishes as well as a baby bok choy and sugar snap dish that will make hard-core carnivores drool. A feast for the eyes and palate alike, this superb collection belongs in every foodie's kitchen. Photos. (Oct.) -and-easy weeknight meals.  " Publishers Weekly"

Harvest to Heat: Cooking with America's Best Chefs, Farmers, and Artisans 

Now more than ever, Americans are giving careful thought to where their food comes from. And farmers, formerly anonymous suppliers of bounty, are proving an inspiration to chefs everywhere. This book celebrates the collaboration between farmer and chef—and the journey from land to table. Readers are invited along to visit the men and women who grow, herd, ranch, and create artisanal foods that supply the finest restaurant chefs in the country. Harvest to Heat explores this dynamic relationship and paints beautiful portraits of these often unheralded people, even while it offers up a bounty of never before published, easy to cook recipes—100 in all. It will encourage readers to think fresh first and buy food locally, as well as motivate them to cook with the confidence of a four-star chef. " Amazon"

Sarabeth's Bakery: From My Hands to Yours

From her modest beginnings selling fruit spreads, jams, and preserves in specialty shops and opening a bakery café "on what was then a distinctly inelegant Amsterdam Avenue on Manhattan's Upper West Side," the James Beard Award-winning pastry chef's star, like her dough, continues to rise. These days, Levine focuses on growing her brand and expanding into a number of other New York neighborhoods and Key West, Fla. Now, in her first cookbook, she gives a historical overview of Sarabeth's and offers scrumptious descriptions of the baked treats she and her staff regularly make. Chapters cover morning pastries, muffins, breads, pies, cakes, and cookies in great detail. Though recipes calling for homemade puff pastry or croissant dough may prove too complicated for the average home cook, they provide a challenge to the ambitious. Sections on spoon desserts like Crème Brûlée, chocolate and bread puddings, ice creams and sorbets, and spreadable fruits (the item that helped Levine launch Sarabeth's three decades ago) add to the appeal of this handsome volume. "Publishers weekly"

My Father's Daughter: Delicious, Easy Recipes Celebrating Family & Togetherness

Award-winning actress and mother of two, Paltrow pays posthumous tribute to her much-adored father who passed along to her a deep love and appreciation for good food. From an early age, she was his eager eating companion and developed a diverse palate that relished everything from egg creams to oysters to blue cheese. Their dining ventures morphed into joint cooking get-togethers where dad instilled the notion that a meal made for one's family is an expression of love. This is evident in the simple and mostly healthy recipes she shares, as prepared for family and friends, in this warm and inviting collection. Paltrow showcases a wealth of dishes, from soups to pastas to main courses and more. Highlights include fried rice with kale and scallions, sole à la grenobloise, and her mother's blueberry muffins. A helpful pantry section includes recipes for basics such as slow-roasted tomatoes and numerous types of stocks. While many recipes are vegetarian, Paltrow does include meat dishes, including cheesy stuffed burgers and cassoulet. Her chapter on side dishes is superb and appealing enough to take center stage, especially her sautéed greens with onions and soy sauce, maple-Dijon roasted winter vegetables, and crispy potato and garlic cakes. Filled with charming personal anecdotes, this book convinces that healthy food can be delicious as well as good for you—and that a father's passion can endure. " Publishers Weekly"

Tsoureki: The Greek Easter Challah Bread

 Call me biased, but when it comes to Easter, there's one country that really knows how to celebrate it, and that's Greece. It's not only a religious holiday, but also a religious festival, a party even. People celebrate the resurrection of Christ and with it the rebirth of spring; this is done with singing, dancing, eating delicious foods, and drinking extraordinary wine, all day long.

Easter is the one of the most significant religious holidays in the Greek Orthodox calendar. So much so, that everything comes to a complete standstill. People abandon the city and go to their village or island, and big cities like Athens become a ghost town. During this great escape, lambs are being prepared for the spit, eggs are dyed red, and the sweet smell of "tsourekia" (sweet breads) and "avgokouloura" (egg cookies) baking in the oven tickle your olfactory department at an almost menacing level.  And thus, all these preparations are for one Easter Sunday.

Wherever you go to Greece around Easter time, you will find the sweet scented tsoureki being baked and sold everywhere. Bakeries, pastry shops, and even super markets supply them. Tsoureki (pronounced tsoo-REH-kee) is a brioche style bread enriched with sugar and butter. It is traditionally home-baked on the Thursday before Easter Sunday. Embellished with red eggs, tsoureki is given as a gift to family and friends, a sort of gift or blessing for the festive season.

The most popular flavoring for tsoureki is "mahlepi," even though cardamom and mastic are sometimes used. Mahlepi comes from grinding the seeds of the European cherry Prunus Mahaleb. It is such an aromatic spice that a small amount goes a long way. For the Greeks, Mahlepi is not just a spice with a slightly floral flavor, but a spice that evokes a nostalgic warm aroma of evoking thoughts of Easter.

A good tsoureki should be soft, moist and fluffy, yet stringy and chewy. It should have a light crumb; yet, it should be luxurious in taste and smell. If anything, it should be slightly under baked rather than over baked. It is considered a perfect snack to munch on after the midnight Church service on Easter Saturday.  In a way, it eases Greeks into the Easter Sunday’s feast of lemon-garlic-roasted potatoes, spanakopita (spinach pie with filo), tsatsiki (yogurt dill dip) and roasted lamb on the spit, especially after many weeks of lent.  

  

The shape of choice for the tsoureki is usually a pleated loaf or wreath; the wreath is the most common shape. The reason for pleated is not only for aesthetic reasons, but also because pleats create segments, so when served, the tsoureki can easily be pulled apart into pieces; therefore, slicing is not necessary. In addition, the ring shape, like the red eggs that embellish it, relates to Easter’s theme of renewal, making the bread ideal for breaking the long Lenten fast. Even though Greeks are known to carry on traditions and customs, it is not for this reason that the tsoureki has endured generations and continents.  I would say, with out a doubt, that it’s all in the taste.

Enjoy!

Greek Easter loaf

Makes 1 large or 2 small loaves

500g strong white flour (preferably organic, unbleached)

75g unsalted butter

2 eggs, & 1 lightly beaten

42g fresh yeast or 15 g active dried yeast

3/4 cup milk, warmed until tepid

1/2 cup + 2 tbs sugar

1/4  tsp salt

1/4  tsp mahlepi

1/4  tsp mastic

Grated zest of 1 orange (optional)

1. Place the yeast with the milk and a large pinch of sugar until and leave it till it starts to bubble. Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl then stir in the mahlpi, mastic, and orange zest, if using.

2. Melt butter with sugar till the sugar is melted.

3. Add the melted butter mixture to the flour, and then the yeast mixture. Start to knead the dough vigorously for 8-10 minutes, either in a machine with a dough hook, or by hand on a lightly floured surface. The dough is ready when it feels soft, springy and smooth and leaves a thumbprint when pressed.

4. Shape the dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a clean, damp cloth or lightly oiled clingfilm and leave to rise until doubled in size (this will take about 1 hour).

5. Knock back the dough on a clean surface by punching the air out and kneading for 1 minute. Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces then roll each piece into sausages, about 40cm long for a large loaf. (Divide into 6 pieces and roll into 25cm lengths, if making 2 small loaves.) Loosely plait the dough, tucking the ends under to secure.

6. Lift the plaited loaf onto a lightly greased baking sheet, cover with a damp cloth or oiled clingfilm then leave to rise for about 11/2 to 2 hours or until doubled in size.

7. Heat oven to 350 F, 180C/Fan, 160C/ Gas 4. Brush the loaf with the beaten egg. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped underneath. Cool on a rack before slicing.

Easter Note: If making the loaves for Easter, tuck one or more dyed red eggs into the loaves before brushing with egg and baking.

Ode To Sweet Spring

Knock knock! Who's that knocking on my door? Could it be the best looking season of the year? Could that be you Spring?

It's hard not to be excited about spring. After a long cold and snowy winter, spring has finally shown its green little head at our door. It speaks of warmer weather, spring dresses boasting their bright colors, new fresh vegetables, and the passing of a tyrannical winter. Hello beloved Spring! It's nice to see you again.

This is the time of year we start thinking more about lighter fare and more subtle flavors. It's a great time to find the best produce and preparing it simply by letting the ingredients sing on there on accord. Out go the heavy roasts and mashed potatoes, in come the lighter pork tenderloins and spring vegetables. Citrus is on its way out also, and in its path come tender baby carrots, sweet spring onions, peppery arugula, asparagus, artichokes, peas, rhubarb and strawberries. Let us not forget our herbs! Without herbs, there is no spring.

As the famous chinese proverb goes "spring is recognized sooner by the plants rather than men." So plan for some spring eating with family and friends and embrace what mother earth gifts us.

Enjoy!


Spring Pea Ravioli
Serves 8 
Cooking Time Prep time 1 hour, cook 10 mins (plus resting) 

80 gm 20 gm (¼ cup) 2 tbs	unsalted butter grated parmesan heavy cream
8	sage leaves, coarsely torn
8	basil leaves, thinly sliced
Pasta dough
500 gm (3 ⅓ cups)	plain flour
5 (55gm each)	eggs, lightly whisked
1 tbsp	olive oil
Pea filling
240 gm (2 cups)	spring peas, (use frozen if cant find spring peas)
160 gm (2 cups)	finely grated Pecorino
100 gm (½ cup) 50 gm (1.75 oz)	ricotta prosciutto
40 gm (½ cup)	finely grated parmesan
1 (55gm)	egg

1.	For pasta dough, using a food processor, process flour and 1 tsp sea salt for a few seconds, add eggs and oil and process until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Turn onto a lightly floured surface, knead into a ball and shape into a log. Cover in plastic wrap and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
2.	Meanwhile, for pea filling, using a food processor, process peas until finely chopped. Add remaining ingredients and process until well combined. Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and set aside.
3.	Cut dough into 4 equal pieces. Working with one piece at a time and keeping the others covered, lightly flour and feed dough through the rollers of a pasta machine on the widest setting, folding sheet once or twice and feeding through rollers again until sheet is smooth. Reduce settings notch by notch, feeding sheet through until you reach the last notch and sheet is about 2mm thick. Place sheet on a lightly floured 3cm-square 24-piece ravioli tray cutter (see note), pressing lightly. Place a teaspoonful of filling in each cavity, brush edges with water and top with remaining pasta sheet, pressing gently around filling to seal. Using a rolling pin, start at the centre of the tray and roll in both directions until all ravioli are cut and sealed. To remove ravioli, invert tray and tap gently. Transfer to a baking paper-lined and floured tray and freeze. Repeat with remaining dough and pea filling until filling is used up. Makes about 80 ravioli. Ravioli will keep in a container in the freezer for up to a month.
4.	Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Remove ravioli from freezer, separate and cook until cooked through (6-8 minutes). Drain, reserving 1 cup of liquid.
5.	Add butter and sage to a frying pan and cook until butter foams (about 1 minute). Add reserved pasta water and bring to the boil. Add parmesan and cream.  Cook until reduced to a sauce consistency (about 3 minute), then add ravioli and toss gently to combine. Add basil, season to taste and serve.

Note: Defrost peas before if using frozen. It is easier to freeze the ravioli before cooking as they are easier to handle, but they can be cooked fresh, too. You’ll need to start this recipe a day ahead. 

Let's do dinner

It is a scary thing to invite a friend or friends over for dinner when, being called "the queen of the kitchen" was never in the list of endearments you have ever received. Especially if your friends are hard core foodies, that can make a 5 course dinner, wearing their 7 inch Jimmy Choo's and not breaking a sweat.

Cooking for friends should be about having fun. Being able to chat with them and drink a glass of Pinot as soon as they walk through the door. You don't want to worry about getting everything ready on time, or having to slave over the new induction top you recently installed for hours.


Simple combinations and stand out ingredients should be the way to go if you are lacking confidence in the kitchen. This way the food speaks for itself. Besides more complex an ingredient the more likely your guests pallet wouldn't be able to appreciate it.

So next time you invite friends over, dont worry so much and have fun. And when your friends tell you how delicious the food was simply smile and say " mmm it was nothing. Did you check out my new 7 inch Choo's.... Now that is something"!

Easy Rib Roast

one 7- to 8-pound beef rib roast (with four rib bones)
1/4 cup olive oil 1/4 cup smashed garlic cloves (about 10 cloves)
1/4 cup canned anchovy fillets
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup fresh thyme leaves (from about 10 sprigs)
1 spring of Rosemary
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 carrot, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 celery stalk, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup beef or chicken stock, or canned low-sodium beef or chicken broth, or as needed
1/2 cup red wine

Tie the roast with cooking twine between the rib bones (in three sections) so it will hold its shape while roasting, and allow it to sit at room temperature for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Place the olive oil, garlic, anchovies, chopped onion, rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a food processor and process until you have a smooth paste. (Alternatively, chop everything except the oil to- gether, then mash the mixture in a mortar and pestle until smooth; then incorporate the oil.) Set the paste aside.

Place the onion, carrot, and celery pieces in a roasting pan or a metal baking dish that is large enough to hold the rib roast. Using a flexible spatula, smear the paste on all sides of the roast. Set the roast on top of the vegetables and roast in the oven for 1 1/2 hours.

Continue to cook to desired degree of doneness, checking the internal temperature of the roast with an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part. It should read 125°F to 130°F for rare to medium- rare. If you would prefer the roast to be medium to medium-well throughout, add a cup of broth to the pan to prevent the vegetables from burning, and continue to cook up to 30 minutes longer.

Remove the roast from the oven and cut the string.

To carve the roast, detach the entire section of rib bones by slicing along the side of the roast against the bone until it is separated. Turn the roast on its flat side and slice across the grain to the desired thickness. Alternatively, you can serve the beef without separating the ribs: turn the roast on its end (vertically), and while holding it steady with a carving fork, carve slices by cutting against the grain with a very sharp knife. Or (probably the easiest way to envision slicing), lay the roast on a cutting board, ribs down, and carve by slicing the ribs apart.

Strain the juices from the pan and serve on top of meat.

Yield: 8 servings


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

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Bruléed Apple Cinnamon Pots de Crème

Most novice foodies tend to shy away from making French desserts at home. They believe French desserts are a luxury enjoyed only when dinning out, or after a trip to the local patisserie. That the taste of sophistication that they carry is something that isn't quite achievable in your Ikea kitchen. Well your wrong!

Novice foodies rejoice. Some of the best French desserts are also the easiest to make and the most pleasing to eat. Lets take for instance Pots de creme, or "pots of cream." They are a rich marriage made from eggs, cream, milk, or half and half, and flavoring (typically chocolate). This mixture is then poured in tiny pots that are covered and baked in, that way ensuring that the custard will not develop a "skin"while baking. Also a water bath is used, allowing proteins in the egg to set slowly, resulting in a thick, silky, smooth texture.

When making Pots de creme, there are a few simple rules you should follow. First off, don't dump the sugar directly onto the eggs and let it sit; this causes the yolks to "burn". Yes eggs can burn. They turn into hard little lumps that interfere with your creamy custard goal, your trying to achieve. Rather then dumping your sugar directly onto the eggs try adding the sugar slowly while moving your whisk, this way, the sugar will be gradually incorporated into the eggs.

Second and most important rule is you must temper your eggs. Tempering is when you slowly add the hot liquid into the cold egg and/or yolks, adding only a little bit of liquid at a time. I bet your asking, Why is this so important? Tempering gradually brings the two mixture temperatures together and keeps you from making scrambled eggs. Think of it this way, would you jump into a bubbling hot jacuzzi or would you ease your way into the tube to slowly adjust to the temperature. The same theory applies to your eggs. Cold eggs need to adjust to the hot temperature, and if they dont then your eggs get shocked and you end up having a sweet scrambled egg soup on your hands.

Thirdly strain your mixture. Straining catches any unwanted burned or scrambled eggs and ensures a smooth, flawless custard, worthy of its French heritance.

So novice foodie next time you feel a craving coming on for French deserts, get out your whisk and set to work, cause with a little imagination, and some Pots de creme slipping across the tongue like satin, Paris not that far off! Enjoy!

Bruléed Apple Cinnamon Pots De Crème

yeilds 6 servings

Ingredients

1 medium to large Granny Smith apple,

peeled, core, and cut into cubes (about 1 cup)

1 1/2 tbls unsalted butter

2 tbls sugar

pinch of cinnamon

1 cup cream

1 cup milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 ground cinnamon

6 large egg yolks

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325F. Coat six 5oz ramekins lightly with non stick spray. Place ramekins in a large baking or roasting pan and set aside.

Melt butter in a medium skillet over medium high heat. Add apples and sauté for 2-3 min until they begin to soften. Sprinkle 2 tablespoon sugar and the pinch of cinnamon on top of the apples and continue to cook for another 4 minutes or until they begin to brown. Remove skillet from heat and divide apples evenly into the custard cups.

In a medium saucepan combine cream, milk, cinnamon and 1/4 cup of sugar. Bring to simmer over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat.

In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks and remaining 1/4 of cup of sugar until blended. Gradually whisk about one third of cream mixture into egg mixture. Whisk in remaining cream mixture. Add vanilla. Carefully pour custard mixture through fine mesh sieve into prepared rankings, dividing it evenly.

Place baking pan on oven rack and carefully pour enough hot water into pan so that it comes up the sides of the rankings. Cover pan loosely with aluminum foil and bake for 40-50 minutes, until custard jiggles slightly and are very shiny. Remove ramekins from the water bath and cool on wire rack for 30 minutes.

Refrigerate pots de crème for at least 3 hours.

Just before serving, sprinkle the top of each custard evenly with a heaping teaspoon of sugar. Using a household butane or propane torch, caramelize the top of each custard by heat the sugar until it melts and turns to a dark amber caramel. Let topping set for 5 minutes before serving.