Mezna's Culinary Adventures

A beautiful get-together set by Saralia - http://saralia-managements.blogspot.com/

Also made some macarons that were arranged in a Tiffany box.

Delicious Lebanese dippppp goes well with practically ANYTHING! (Savory, not sweet!)

Ingredients:

• 2 cloves of garlic crushed with 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 cup of yogurt
• 1/4 cup of lemon juice
• 3/4 cup of Tahini (sesame paste)

Whisk in the yogurt to loosen it up a bit

Add in the Tahini

Aaaaaand the crushed garlic, and whisk it all up!

Add the lemon juice, and whisk again.

TA-DA!

You can always add more yogurt for a more loosened up consistency.

Grapefruit pavlova has got to be my favorite.

Easy & simple too.

Ingredients:

• 4 egg whites
• 16 tablespoons of sugar (yes I know. for each egg white = 4 tablespoons)
• 2 teaspoons of corn starch
• 1 teaspoon of vinegar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste/extract!

Whip up the egg whites, gradually adding the 16 tablespoons of sugar till firm like so!

Add the rest of the ingredients and fold in.

Till you get a shaving cream consistency!

Now, get a baking sheet with parchment paper on it. You can draw a circle on it to maintain a circular shape for your pavlova!

Put in your meringue… that’s it!

Hottttt oven at 350F and bake for 45 minutes and let it cool inside the oven gradually in order to stay chewy and marshmallowy from the inside!

Top it with whipped cream (make sure it’s very cool)!

Top it with practically any fruit you have…ANY FRUIT. But my absolute favorite is grapefruit and so, I topped it with so!

Bitter + sweet = fit perfectly.

Berries are great too. Or passion fruit and mango!

Aaaaaand tada!

Mint macarons. I accidentally over baked them *hides* they’re still pretty-looking though!

Drops of kelly leaf food coloring.. and a 1/4 teaspoon of mint extract AFTER I’ve folded in the almond and icing sugar mixture to the meringue!

(excuse the over-baking.)

Filled it with an extremely minty cream cheese filling and some fresh mint leaves as well.

(Notice how we can build a fort out of macarons?)

And tada!

I filled the Tiffany Blue macarons with this.

• Half a can of sweetened condensed milk
• 1 teaspoon of butter
• Vanilla bean paste/extract/pod
• 2 tablespoons of heavy cream

Put the sweetened condensed milk, butter, and vanilla in a pan over medium heat.

Keep on mixing till it comes off the pan just like so

Add the cream, and mix off the heat

And you’ve got this amazing spreadable, edible, liquid gold.

Tiffany Blue macarons

It was incredibly late at night when I made them, and I was sleepier than a person on that thing that sounds like atheist to put someone to sleep.

I used two colors to get the color right, since there’s no “tiffany blue/aqua blue” ready food coloring. Filled them with a spread that is somehow like Dulce De Leche, I’m not sure what it is honestly. But it’s similar to dulce de leche!

The non-circular shape shows how sleepy I was.

They were like droplets from heaven. Ignore the overbaked vanilla ones on the right. My heart still aches for accidentally overbaking them.

And tada!

Hi. How do you do? It’s been so long even time can’t remember the last time I logged in.

I FINALLY FINISHED THE FIRST SEMESTER OF MY SENIOR YEAR AND I HAVE MY WINTER BREAK RIGHT NOW AND I CAN’T BELIEVE IT AND I DON’T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO SAY IT’S LIKE I’M IN A DREAM OKAY? OKAY!

I’ve been on a macaron frenzy. (before my exams and till now) but I was too lazy to write any posts or upload pictures. So, here I start my macaron frenzy posts. I’m also on a profiteroles/eclairs frenzy. I can’t stop making them either!

But anyways.

P E A C H M A C A R O N S (& apricot)

I found Wilton’s Peach food coloring and it was too tempting not to get. I did get it, but I didn’t have any peaches or peach-like stuff to fill the macarons with, and so, I filled them with apricot jam!

Little feet like children <3

And tada!

When bored, bake macarons.

Pink macaron shells with blood orange filling that’s got a fuschia color.

EYE cardiovascular organ M A C A R ♥ N S

Now the recipe for this is a basic macaron recipe with a few drops of red food coloring! You can find the recipe in this old post I’ve written:-

http://mezna.tumblr.com/post/8615311841/francais

Now they’re a bit big in size than what a regular macaron should be!

But I also made baby macarons! (Even smaller than a penny lol)

For the filling, it was actually Chantilly creme (vanilla flavored whipped cream) with mascarpone, but I made it into “blood orange/grapfruit” creme with mascarpone!

Ingredients:

• 125g of heavy whipping cream (make sure its very cold)
• 3 tablespoons of icing sugar
• 125g of Mascarpone cheese
• 3 tablespoons of blood orange juice
• Zest of one grapfruit
• Red food coloring

1. Add the food coloring to the cream and mix to get the desired color. Then add the icing sugar and whip till stiff peaks and set aside.
2. Whip the mascarpone, juice, and zest together till creamy.
3. Fold the two together and set in the fridge for around 30 minutes then pipe them out on your macarons!

Triple the trouble = 3 kinds of chocolate in one cookie!

Now this is x10 better than a normal cookie especially if you’re the biggest fan of chocolate and cookies.

Ingredients:

• 125g of melted dark chocolate. (70%, I don’t understand humans who use milk chocolate in this. Just don’t.)
  
• 1 cup of flour, and two tablespoons extra!
• 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 125g of soft unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup of brown sugar
• 3 & 1/2 tablespoons of white sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1 cold egg
• 1 packet of chocolate chips! (A LOT, I KNOW RIGHT?)

As the base of probably any dessert, cream the sugars and butter together till fluffaaaaaay!

While the mixer is doing so, sift the dry ingredients all together (flour cocoa powder etc…) then sniff it. Yes sniff the cocoa. IT SMELLS SO GOOD RIGHT? PS: get the pure cocoa powder not that hot chocolate drinking crap that’s not even cocoa.

Add the melted chocolate to the butter mixture, make sure it cooled down (yet still of the same consistency = tempering. Keep mixing it while it cools so it doesn’t harden.) so the butter doesn’t melt while adding it!

Add the egg and vanilla extract then mix again.

Add the dry ingredients (it’s in the background of the photo, the batter was just too glorious to ignore.)

Add your glorious chocolate chips to your glorious cookie batter that seems like chocolate glorious mousse.

Use a spoon or a scooper to put on dollops of glorious chocolate chip cookies. I can’t stop saying glorious. Don’t forget parchment paper. Also don’t forget to space them out because they will expand during baking.

Bake at 350F for around 18 minutes!

Now this is how they’ll look like. Now smartie me forgot to take pictures of the whole batch because I gave those cookies away.

CHOCOLATE IS DELICIOUS OK? GO MAKE THOSE COOKIES.

Bai.

I have been on a semi-craze over muffins. I can’t stop making them, whether they’re those healthy stuff that I don’t believe in or double the trouble, chocolate oozing, orange scented muffins.

Well here are two varieties of simple blueberry muffins and raspberry muffins.

Ingredients:

• 6 tablespoons of softened unsalted butter. (1 tablespoon of butter = 14g, 14x6 = 84g)
  
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup sour cream (125ml)
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• Zest of an orange
• 1 & 1/4 cup of self-raising flour
• 1 cup of fresh blueberries, or raspberries! (for the raspberries, you might want to use a bit less and tear them apart because they’ll be a bit big in size.)

(Notice how incredibly soft the butter is?) Cream the butter and sugar together until really fluffy. The softer the butter the easier the process, you don’t even need a mixer if it’s soft enough.

Add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix

Now this looks incredibly disgusting I know, but anyway, add the sour cream and mix again! The sour cream (or buttermilk or yogurt or basically any kind of dairy product add moist to your cakes/muffins/cupcakes etc.. scintillating!)

Add one cup of the flour only, leave the 1/4 cup for the berries which I’ll show you what to do with next. Now mix them together.

Get your raspberries, add the 1/4 cup of flour, and coat them with the flour. This prevents the raspberries from sinking to the bottom of the muffins and getting burnt while baking!

Add to the batter and mix till everything is incorporated.

Now if you want to bake blueberry muffins, here’s what you gotta do.

Same thing as the raspberries, toss them in flour and mix it! Did I get you to think you were supposed to do something differently? ;) LOL

Now get your muffin tray and line some cupcake or muffin tins in them, scoop in the batter until 3/4 way full or basically one scoop of an ice cream scooper!

Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes.

Raspberry muffins.

Aaaaaaand the glorious blueberry muffins which were a bigger hit!

Look at the blueberry POP! Because of the intensive heat in the oven, which then it releases it’s juices and stuff. Yea. Delicious.

The awkwardness when you realize senior year isn’t like that everyone described it would be. IT’S INCREDIBLY EXHAUSTING!!!! It’s been over a month since I’ve last eaten properly or even cooked, I don’t remember the last time I actually entered the kitchen.

Thank God for cooking, it’s been so long since I last wrote I feel like I’m in a cave.

Let’s talk food!

Frittata is basically an Italian dish which has fried beaten eggs with a selection of fillings or flavorings then topped with cheese and finished up in the oven, also used in the Spanish cuisine. This dish is usually eaten for breakfast and brunch, but you can eat it at any time of the day!

A Frittata Cake is the same concept, yet stacked into several layers, between them are cooked up vegetables. Very easy to do and quick!

You’ll need

• A selection of vegetables, like mushrooms, bell peppers, tomatoes, courgettes, eggplants, etc..
• 6 eggs - each two in a separate bowl
• Around 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoon of grated parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup of Mozzarella cheese & 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese
• a tablespoon of butter
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

In a pan, add the olive oil, and begin with the veggies that take longer to cook. Like mushrooms/courgettes/eggplants/bell peppers

Towards the end, add your soft vegetables, which take less time to cook, like tomatoes! Then season with salt and pepper and set aside.

In a bowl with two eggs, add 1 tablespoons of chopped parsley and whisk it well.

Heat butter in a pan, with a touch of olive oil so it won’t burn. Cook the eggs like a normal omelet and try as much as you can not break it apart. You don’t need to fully cook it because you’ll be putting it in the oven later on. Set aside.

Now, repeat the same process with another two eggs and parsley.

Then, do the same thing BUT this time with the tablespoon of parmesan cheese! So in total you’ve got two parsley omelets and one parmesan omelet.

Assembling the Frittata:

In a cake tin or a baking sheet or whatever you want to use, set one parsley omelet.

Top it with the vegetables.

Repeat the process (Parsley omelet!)

Top it with the parmesan omelet, then with the cheese as a topping for all the cake!

Now I used two kinds of cheese (Parmesan and mozzarella) for the topping but you can use different kinds of cheese like pecorino (strong, so go slow), fontina, or even smearing some ricotta on top and topping the ricotta with mozzarella and leaves of basil (I wish I did that, I just got the idea lol!)

Now bake it at 375F for around 10 minutes till the cheese goes all golden and bubbly and delicious-looking! Wait till it cools before you slice it because all the vegetables will fall apart (just like it did in the photo because I was starving and couldn’t wait to eat it!!)

Happy cooking :-)

Bonjour, it’s been a while.

A poached egg is basically an egg dropped into simmering water that’s been shaped with no moulds, with runny egg yolk. Taking it out of the breakfast category (like eggs benedict) it can be used in raviolis, on top of salads, or any dish that needs some sauce to it since the egg yolk does that job, or it can also be used for presentation!

(it kind of looks like buffalo mozzarella!)

A perfect poached egg is cooked for 4 minutes, with the egg whites covering the egg yolk completely and has a perfect oval shape. Using the traditional french method of poaching an egg, I won’t be using any ring to hold each egg or whatever.

As for myself, it took me two tries to get a perfectly oval-shaped poached egg!

You’ll need a pot filled with about 3 inches of barely simmering water, and a slotted spoon to get any excess water from the egg.

Now for the 3 inches deep water, you’ll need around 1 tablespoon of vinegar because this helps the egg shape up!

Break the egg into a bowl, and put it slowly above the water and drop it in, gently and immediately push the egg whites onto the yolk with spatula or a spoon but be careful not to break the yolk. Keep the water simmering but not bubbling up, and cook for around 4 minutes.

After taking it out of the water, test the egg by touching it, the egg white must be set and firm yet the yolk a bit soft to the touch. Place the egg in very cold water, this stops the cooking and washes off the vinegar.

If wanted, season with salt and pepper and top it with any kind of dish you’d like!

When you cut into the poached egg, the yolk must be runny just like so, and this looks so unbelievably good I think I need to make some more.

Served with a creamy mushroom semi-quiche, it went PERFECTLY together!

I read everything about poached eggs (and eggs in general) from Julia Child’s book “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” which I highly recommend to whomever is interested in French techniques, cooking, and recipes. A book that says it all. BOTH volumes!

Banana bread. Probably the easiest thing to ever exist on this planet.

- You’ll need:

• 1 & 1/2 cups of flour
• 1 tsp of baking soda
• 1 tsp of baking powder
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
• 1 & 1/2 cups of mashed bananas (3-4 bananas)
• 1 tsp of vanilla
• 1 tsp of cinnamon (optional, but it’s great to add!)

The mashed bananas must be well mashed, just like so.

Beat the eggs & sugar until really frothy and pale yellow takes around 6 minutes

Just like so, then add the vanilla, oil, mashed bananas, and mix again!

Mix all the dry ingredients into the liquid ingredients until well incorporated

It’s better to use a spatula when mixing in the flour instead of an electric mixer.

Grease a rectangle pan (used for loafs of bread) and preheat your oven at 350F and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes on the TOP shelf.

Leave it to cool completely, if you cut it as it is still warm it will fall apart. Needs around 2-3 hrs to cool down. Slice as thin or thick as you want, you can also spread nutella/peanut butter/jam on it!

Happy baking!

EID MUBARAK! Though it’s the third and last day of Eid.

and no, not the toilet prank thingy that you do with your hair and you end up with a swirly top, but you do get a swirly top of a cupcake made of ganache!

Chocolate ganache is basically cream and chocolate, it’s very easy to make yet it might split in times if you’ve done it wrong, because it’s the combination of the cocoa butter from the chocolate and the water from the cream. If this goes wrong it will split, for example if the cream was too hot and the cocoa butter melts so fast and stuff..anyway i’ll talk all about this after giving you the recipe.

(it’s dark chocolate ganache, though it looks like milk chocolate ganache here!)

For the cupcake, I used to recipe for the red velvet cupcakes yet with no food coloring, so basically a red velvet cake with no red! & here’ the recipe -> http://mezna.tumblr.com/post/9473141668/velvety-red

As for the ganache, you’ll need:

• 1 cup of heavy cream
• 250g of dark chocolate of any percent, bittersweet, semi-sweet, milk chocolate, or white chocolate! I used 70% dark chocolate

& that’s all you’ll need!

Heat the cream until the boiling point yet do not let it boil over, put in the chopped chocolate for faster melting, let it sit for around 3-4 minutes and stir in well with a whisk until very well incorporated without stopping.

PS: ALWAYS heat the cream and put the chocolate in. Do NOT melt the chocolate and add the cream, this is one of the ways to get your ganache to split.

When you finish whisking it, you can immediately use it as a glaze on top of cakes, cupcakes, maybe cover biscuits with it. But if you leave it to set to get the the truffles texture you can use it for piping (Like I will!)

Now what happens to ganache when it splits?

First of all, the butter separates and rises to the top, very oily and horrible. The mixture turns grainy and hard to mix in and looks disgusting.

How to save split ganache?

1. Emulsify (blending two things that don’t naturally bind together, the butter and water in this case) the mixture by using an electric mix and whipping it for a minute or two. Comes back to life!
2. Adding around 7ml of liquid glucose (for this recipe) you can add a bit more, but it affects the texture. Then whisk, and 90% of the time it will come back to life as well!
3. This part is like how mayonnaise curdles when you’re making it fresh. Heat up some cream, about half of the amount of split ganache that you have. Pour the ganache into the cream (not the other way around) and stir as you do so.  Work slowly and do not rush, or it will split again. You probably won’t use all the ganache you have, so throw the rest out..but luckily you saved half of it!
4. If none of the above work, you made bad ganache, I’m sorry!

This is the consistency of the ganache that I’ll be using.

Used a star-shape tip #32. Set it in the fridge for around 30 minutes and it will harden if you want it to be so.

& that’s about it!

Happy baking.

I’m having something beyond the craze over cantuccis! I can’t stop making them I can’t stop thinking about them and how to create new flavors and how to mix different stuff together and everything and I can rant about this till eternity! Anyway, I mixed dates with walnuts to this and it tastes SO GOOD! I don’t know why it reminds me of the desert and Arabic coffee yet it is of no relation LOL

- You’ll need:

• 2 & 2/3 cups of flour
• 1 & 1/2 cups of sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup of dates with no seeds
• 1 cup crushed walnuts
• 3 eggs
• 5 tbsp of vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract

Now I halved this recipe fearing it won’t be great and I didn’t want anything to go to waste, but you can use the full recipe!

Like the Cranberry cantuccini recipe, beat the oil, vanilla extract, almond extract, and eggs and set aside.

In another bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, date, walnuts and set aside.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the liquid ingredients while beating, until well incorporated. You’ll notice that the dates will blend in and give the batter a brown-ish color yet still got the taste.

You don’t need to flour a surface and knead, divide into 2 portions and immediately put it on a parchment paper on a baking sheet and shape it with your spatula or use your hands that have been dipped in water to prevent any sticking.

Bake for around 35 minutes on the first shelf in the oven and rotate the baking sheet 15 minutes through for even baking. Take it out of the oven once its cooked through and firm to the touch, cut in a sharp angle and place the cantuccis back on the parchment paper cut-side down, bake for around 7-8 minutes, take them out, flip them, bake for another 7-8 minutes. This process allows all the moisture from the biscuits to evaporate in order to have it’s crunchy signature texture which also makes it last a very long while! (approximately 2 months in an air tight container.)

Basic pizza dough recipe!

- You will need:

• 1/2 tbsp of active dry yeast
• 3/4 cup of warm water
• 1 & 3/4 cup of flour
• 1/2 tbsp of olive oil
• pinch of salt

that’s it!

Put the yeast into a measuring cup

Add the warm water, set aside for around 5 minutes till it bubbles and reacts with the water.

Add the salt and olive oil and mix them together!

As the mixture (with the dough attachment) is on, put in the yeast mixture slowly. If you don’t have a mixture you can use a wooden spoon or your hands!

Keep beating until it doesn’t feel sticky anymore

Oil a bowl and place the dough inside, and oil the top of the dough. Cover with a plastic wrap that’s been pierced and covered with a damp towel and set it aside for around 2 hours to rise.

Here’s where magic come when you leave, whimsical spells are set upon the dough and makes it rise and double in size while you’re gone!

Punch the dough down and knead it till it all comes together.

This dough makes around 6 small pizzas and 2 medium sized ones. Now I’m no pro in shaping the dough and stuff so I tried my best into making them circular, but practice makes perfect! Bake for around 15-20 minutes at 325F!

Homemade tomato sauce and top it with bell peppers and mushrooms and mozzarella! You can top it with whatever you want and enjoy the taste of Eatalia either way ;p enjoy!

On high demand, I’m finally going to write a red velvet cupcakes recipe!

What is a red velvet cake or cupcake?

It’s a Southern vanilla cake that is hinted with a touch of cocoa, topped with the creamiest, richest cream cheese frosting that’s been swirled with vanilla seeds. In the old days the reaction of the vinegar and acid in the cake is what made it get the velvety red-brown color. Yet in some recipes beet juice is used instead of vinegar and acid, so basically it’s what it gives it the color, but I’ll be using red food coloring instead!

- Things you’ll need:

• 1 & 1/4 cup of all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp of cocoa powder (good quality!)
• 1/2 tsp of baking soda
• 1/2 tsp of baking powder
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• 1/4 cup of softened unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 3/4 cup of buttermilk aka laban in Arabic
• 1 egg
• Red food coloring (no exact measurement!)

Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl

Mix them and set aside

Cream together the sugar and butter until it’s very fluffy and creamy, then add the egg and vanilla extract until well incorporated.

Add half of the dry ingredients mixture.

Add half of the buttermilk, mix until well incorporated. Repeat the process till you run out of buttermilk and dry ingredients.

You’ll get a beautiful cake batter just like so. Pretty pretty <3

Ps; make sure not to over-beat other wise the gluten in the flour is going get worked makes it all tough and bread-like!

Add the red food coloring, make sure it’s not flavored, and swirrrrrl into goodness! Make sure you don’t get any food coloring on your hands or you’ll look like you butchered someone! Haha!

(Just like so)

Now use cupcake cases onto a muffin baking tin/cupcake baking tin. I recommend using a ice cream scoop, you can also use a normal spoon. Fill the cases till they reach 3/4 of the cup. Bake at 350F for 18-20 minutes. Use a toothpick to check if done. Must come out clean, if not, then bake for 2 more minutes and keep checking.

- Frosting:

• 2 cups of icing sugar or powdered sugar
• 150g of room temperature
•  cream cheese (Get the 200g cream cheese, section it into 4 sections and use 3/4 of it :D)
• 2 tbsp of softened unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp of milk
• 1 tsp of vanilla bean paste (or extract)

Cream everything together till you get a very nice smooth consistency, and if you use vanilla bean paste you’ll see the seeds running through it which is so beautiful.

You can use an offset spatula or a regular spoon to spoon in the frosting or you can use a piping bag with the biggest star shape tip or a plain tip.

Let it set in the fridge for around 15-20 minutes in the fridge & you can enjoy later on :D

Hello there. It’s been almost a week since I wrote any posts.

I’ve been on a cantucci craze trying out lots of different flavors that I try to combine and create, some turn out horrible yet others were divine, that I’d like to share on other posts. Yet in this post I’d like to talk about something I spoke of before yet it is one of Italy’s gift to humanity!

Saffron Risotto, very simple and straight foward!

served it with ricotta stuffed roulades, another Italian recipe that I’ll share later on!

Serves 1 person:

• 1/3 cup of arborio rice (or risotto rice)
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1/2 tablespoon of minced shallots
• Around 4-5 cups of vegetable stock or chicken stock
• A knob of butter (around a tablespoon)
• 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese 
• Coarse black pepper to taste
• A few sprigs of the best saffron you can find

Make sure the stock is hot. Crush the saffron sprigs with your fingers and put it in the pot of stock and let it infuse.

Heat the olive oil and shallots, till it sizzles for around a minute, add the rice, let oil coat the rice for a minute for it is an important step called the Sparkling which enhances the starch release from the center of the grain of rice called La Pearla.

Add a ladle-full of the stock and start stirring a bit, till it evaporates yet not completely. Keep on repeating this process until you run out of stock.

Check the rice if it has been cooked perfectly, or it’s also known as “Al Dente” which is a chewy, fully-cooked bite. Also used in pasta cooking!

Add the butter, parmesan, and pepper. Taste and adjust seasonings and you might want to add a bit of salt but don’t forget that the parmesan is packed with salt.

Let the butter and parmesan melt, you can use pastry cutters to form any shape you like with the risotto or serve it scooped in on a plate! Garnish with sprigs of saffron or shredded parmesan or even some dried herbs on top like so.

Grazie for reading :D

You can say that this is the french version of an apple pie. Mistakenly created by the Tatin sisters, took this recipe from my pretty friend, Shaikha!

You can visit her blog here: http://aesushi.blogspot.com/2011/08/tarte-tatin.html

I added a little bit of a twist you can say to the caramel, while sauteing the apples.

I only added some Vanilla bean paste (Which I’m very excited about) and Star Anise and whole Cinnamon. The Vanilla overpowered the other elements in it yet was not so strong. Very delicious. I only used around 1 teaspoon of it.

Peel and chop the apples. you’ll need around 5 red apples for 7 ramekins.

Peel and chop the apples. you’ll need around 5 red apples for 7 ramekins.

In a pan, add as much as sugar as you want, and a little bit of water, not s much only a few of tablespoons, a knowb of butter, Vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract or even vanilla seeds.), Star anise, and cinnamon.

I LOVE Star Anise, you can say it adds a little bit of subtle spice to the dish.

When it bubbles, add the apples. Now be very careful because caramel is VERY hot. Extremely hot, worse than boiling water. I accidentally got some on my finger and it really hurt!

Let it sautee for around 5-7 minutes, until it softens and gains the caramelized color.

Place them into the ramekins, no need to butter your ramekins because the apples will slide off with the hot caramel.

Now you can cut the puff pastry with a pastry cutter (I used wrinckled ones, from Shaikha <3)

Or you can cover it like so! But either way you need to use puff pastry for this.

Bake until it’s gold on top, usually takes around 10-15 minutes.

It’ll be easy to slide on to a plate because of the hot caramel, but again, BE. CARE. FUL!

You can serve it either hot or cold. Solitary or ice cream as a companion. All is perfect!

Bon nuit :-)

Farfalle means Butterflies in Italian, and this is the kind of pasta I used for the mushroom alfredo Farfalle I made today.

Very easy, very fast, and basic, same recipe used in my post about Italian sauces which you can find here:

http://mezna.tumblr.com/post/8048378746/eatalia-4

Yet, with the mushrooms, you need to heat some olive oil in a pan, cook the mushrooms for a couple of minutes till they brown then add the cream on it excluding the butter, then the parmesan, herbs and coarse black pepper!

You can also replace the mushrooms with chickens, or maybe another vegetable like broccoli and corn, maybe cauliflower goes well with it, or bell peppers..let your mind flow!

Garnished with shredded parmesan on top, with little sprinkles of dried parsley!

As I sit and stare at my screen, I see Gordon Ramsay tweeting, and suddenly I think “How about I tweet him something? I won’t lose anything and it would be incredibly amazing if he tweeted me back!”

& so I did it, AND GUESS WHAT??????

HE REPLIED TO ME! SO SURREAL! I never thought in a BILLION years that he would! It was such an amazing moment, being noticed by the world’s greatest chef and getting an advice from him. I tell you, MAGICAL!

As you all probably know, he’s an amazing chef, really incredible and very enthusiastic.

You may know him from Hell’s Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, or Gordon’s great escape.

Many shows, lots of food. He’s really one of my idols. & he’s only 44 years old! Mashallah!

He’s a winner of multiple michelin stars and owns many different restaurants around the globe, writer of many great cookbooks as well!

His first restaurant outside of the UK was opening in UAE, Dubai (My home!) called The Verre in Dubai creek! How awesome is that! Then he spread out to Tokyo, New York, LA, and many other places.

Such a great chef, he is. He may scream and be mean in the shows you’ve watched, but trust me, when it comes to food, no joking around!

Beautiful!

I came across an Italian book while I was at the library and I must say I fell in love at the first sight. This book is incredible.

I was going through it and found this recipe for “Potato Pizza”. When I first read the title I thought “Oh it’s probably some boiled or fried potatoes on top of pizza dough and bla bla bla…”

BUT NO. It’s probably the junior version of an actual pizza, not as crispy or bread-y, but combines the word yummy & pizza and takes them to a whole new level of yumminess!

Besides it’s very easy to make.

Things you’ll need:

• Around 2 large unpeeled potatoes, or 2-3 medium sized ones
• 100g of plain flour (maybe a little bit more)
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons of either butter or olive oil
• Tomato sauce, alfredo sauce, pesto or none!
• your choice of toppings (tomatoes, parsley, chicken, anchovies, bell peppers, olives, capers, sage, thyme, oregano, etc..)
• Mozzarella cheese
• Salt and pepper

Boil the unpeeled potatoes in salted water, covered, for around 20-30 minutes until tender, drain, let it cool slightly, and peel. Press the warm potatoes through a potato ricer into a bowl and set aside.

Add the potato, flour, butter or olive oil into a boil and mix until well combined

Add the egg, mix till well combined, and you might need to add more flour for it might be a bit too liquid, u want it to be a bit sticky yet not too dough-y.

Now, I tell you taking pictures and mixing dough at the same time is hard, so i couldn’t (and forgot) to take pictures of the next step

Oil the pan or tin you’ll be using with your hands, smooth out the mixture with your hands on the tin (with your hands since they’ll be oily and the mixture won’t stick and it will be easily smoothed out)

Add the tomato sauce or pesto or alfredo to the top, or none if you want it to be plain. Add your favorite toppings, sprinkle the shredded mozzarella cheese, add the dried oregano on top and salt and pepper to taste.

Bake for around 20 minutes at 425F!

~

The crust holds its shape, yet it’s not so crispy yet so delicious. You need to give it a try.

I couldn’t resist and had to take a bite!

Look at how thin the crust is *drools remembering the taste of it* YUM

Thank you for reading!

Buona Sera!

Let’s get straight into this, no introduction no whatsoever.

But I have to say this first

I LOVE FRENCH MACARONS!!!!!!!!!

Okay I’m done. Basically I’ll tell you about how to make a macaron, the mistakes and how-to-fix, and the fillings that go perfect with each type of macaron. I talked about the history of macarons and lots of other information in a previous post, that was pleasant. If you haven’t read that here’s the link: http://mezna.tumblr.com/post/6830238836/je-aimes-les-macarons

Now this is a basic recipe for every macaron, this is how it all begins. It’s either an Italian or French meringue folded in almond meal and icing sugar. For flavorings, it is mostly the fillings that make a macaron have a flavor, usually not the shell. But in some cases like Vanilla macaron, the vanilla seeds from the pods are added to the meringue as it is whipped.

For a basic macaron shells recipe with French meringue, here’s what you need:

• 2 egg whites
• 200g of ground almonds
• 200g of icing sugar
• around 4 tablespoons of sugar

- For chocolate macarons: add 3 tablepoons of cocoa powder to the icing sugar and ground almonds mixture

- For vanilla macarons: add the seeds of one vanilla pod to the meringue (beaten egg whites)

- For pistachio macarons: use 100g of ground pistachio and 100g of almonds

- For coffee or mocha macaron: add sifted instant coffee or freshly brewed coffee beans into almond and icing sugar mixture

- Use powder or gel food coloring to make any other kind of macaron, here’s where the filling takes the flavoring part of the macaron. Try to avoid using liquid food coloring because you will be adding it to the meringue as you whip in and you do not want to add any moisture to the meringue

(forming the skin)

Here’s how to make the macarons:

1. sift the ground almonds and icing sugar (and cocoa powder if you’re using any) in a bowl to get rid of the lumps and set aside
2. Use an electric mixer, beat the egg whites till it gets bubbly and add the 4 tbsp of sugar to it and keep beating till it gets glossy and the mixture holds it shape. This is a french meringue. A little trick to know if its done, hold the bowl above your head for 10 seconds, if it does not fall then it’s done!
3. MACARONAGE: Now gently fold half of the almond mixture and the egg whites together until its well incorporated. Do the same thing with the remaining almond mixture. You want the mixture to fall off spatula normally, not so fast and not so slow, nor do you want it to get stuck to your spatula, that would make souffle and you don’t want that, you want macarons.
4. Get some parchment paper and cover your baking sheet, use a piping bag to pipe perfect circles of macarons.
5. CROUTAGE: VERY important step. You need to set the macarons after they’re piped aside for around 20-30 minutes. They need to create the skin, so when it gets heated the feet can form under. You need to check if the macarons have formed the skin with lightly touching the shells and the sides, they must not stick to your hands at all.
6. Bake at 350F for around 10-12 minutes. and Tada! :)

Not a macaron?

Is this what you got?

* Cracks

1- The oven temperature might’ve been too high, after all everyone’s oven is different, try setting a lower temperature

2- You did not let the skin form long enough

* If there are oil stains on the macaron:

1- You might have used old ground almonds

2- You did not bake them long enough

3- You might have mixed them more than enough

* If you can not form feet:

1- You might have not mixed the batter enough, turned into souffle or something

2- Dried it way too much it became hard, which is hard for the heat to make the macaron puff up

FILLINGS:

1- Chocolate Ganache

• 1 cup of heavy cream
• 250g of white/milk/dark chocolate

heat the cream, pour onto the chocolate and set to melt then mix and put it in the fridge to cool for around 10-15 minutes but not to harden, spoon in or pipe on a macaron, and cover it with a shell.

2- Buttercream

for a basic vanilla buttercream:

• 200g of softened butter
• 140g of icing sugar
• seeds of 1/2 a vanilla pod

Beat the butter until soft, add the rest of the ingredients and beat well till it is very creamy

3- Caramel or Salty Caramel

• 250g of sugar
• 75ml of water
• 1/2 cup of heavy cream
• 200g of butter or salted butter for salty caramel

Heat the water and sugar on medium heat without stirring, watch the caramel forming an amber color, and as it does add the cream and stir in and switch off the heat. Stir in well and add the butter (or salty butter) and stir in till it melts. Leave it to cool in the fridge for around 1 and 1/2 hrs to thicken and set and pipe/spoon in the macarons!

4- Nutella

basically piping in nutella or spooning it on a shell and covering it with another shell

5- Jam

Usually goes well with berry macarons. Raspberry blueberry strawberry, or even marmalade of any fruit.

Thank you for reading and have happy macarons :D

Can I tell you an obvious secret? I love Italian food. Especially Pasta.

Nowadays, I’m neglecting recipes and doing whatever pops into my mind once I enter the kitchen.

This recipe is really easy, what it only requires is the chopping.

All you’ll need is:

• Bell peppers, Julianne cut, a selection of all 4 colors.
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 finely minced garlic
• roughly chopped basil leaves
• Salt & coarse black pepper & dried herbs (oregano, parsley, basil, rosemary, thyme etc..)
• parmesan cheese

Like in Eatalia #4, you heat the olive oil, add the garlic, turn off heat, add the basil and bell peppers, add the herbs, toss in the spaghetti, grate, shred, slice, chunk, or whatever you want with the parmesan cheese on top! :D

Hello everyone. Happy Ramadan to whomever tumblers across this post, though I am 4 days late to say that but I had no idea what to cook or what to do.

My mind has been blocked since Ramadan began and I’m not quite sure what to cook. So I entered the kitchen today brainstorming, and then I told myself, what if I don’t write this post this time and narrate a story about how the ingredients got all together?

and I think, I SHALL! So here it goes:

——

Once upon a time, on a kitchen counter far far away, sat 2 cloves of garlic and a little bunch of parsley. As they were discussing how fresh they are and how their colors suit a beautiful Italian dish, olive oil came along and said “There’s a hot pot waiting for us, apparently there’s a girl out there not sure about what she wants to do and it’d be great if we assist her!”

The garlic cloves and parsley responded cheerfully, yet they thought tothemselves..If that’s all she’s going to have, that won’t even feed a child! We must have a companion that is fulfilling and delicious. & here’s where the called out a number 5 thickness spaghetti.

As the girl boiled the spaghetti, finely minced the garlic and roughly chopped the parsley, she heated the olive oil and added the garlic as it sizzled and the wonderful combination of aromas spread out in the kitchen. The garlic had no time to brown and immediately added the parsley and took it off the heat. The girl stared at her spaghetti and the oil mixture thinking “this is so lonely”.

She ran to the fridge and kept looking for another companion perhaps..then she found mushrooms. yes. fungi!

Washed it well, sliced it thinly. Yet there was no time to add it to the oil because the garlic shouldn’t brown or it would have a bitter taste. The spaghetti was still not even half cooked yet and she thought “How about I just throw them in?” and she did. She also decided to add some dried herbs and coarse black pepper to the oil mixture.

After the spaghetti reached Al Dente, they all got combined and tossed together into perfection, sitting on a plate, waiting for someone to dig in. Yet, the beautiful taste enhancer and something that an Italian dish should EVER be without came in. PARMESAN CHEESE!

Thinly grated, delicately sitting on the pasta. May look little, makes a great difference in taste.

They all sat together on that pearly white plate, whether it was solitary or all together, it was all in perfect harmony.

THE END!

——

So, what do you think? I hope you liked because I enjoyed imagining the conversation between them all! Haha!

SAUCES

One of the best things in Italy is the creation of sauces since the best and the freshest of vegetables and greens are located in Italy. This post will be an odyssey around 4 different sauces that are majorly known to be the companions of different types of pasta. The recipes in this post are very simple and the ingredients aren’t very hard to find, and I’ve searched a lot for the most authentic recipes for Italian sauces and this is the best I could find. I also realized that simplicity is what makes the authentic recipes, the best.

Tomato Sauce:

This sauce is useful in many different recipes and very easy to make. Aside from pastas, it’s used for pizzas, meatball tomato sauces, could also be derived into another type of sauce.

• Strained tomatoes or tomato puree, AKA Passata Di Pomodoro in Italian. It’s found in cans at grocery stores, yet you can also make it at home, and it’s very easy to make. Here’s how:

Drop around 6-7 fresh & ripe red tomatoes into boiling water for around a minute or a little bit more, you don’t want to cook them, you just want the heat to be transferred into the tomatoes in order to peel of the skin easily. Drop the boiled tomatoes into ice cold water for around the same duration, drain them, peel them, put them in a food processor or a blender. Then, put the juice through a wire sieve and extract the juices as much as you can & throw out the seeds. & there, you have fresh Passata Di Pomodoro!

This serves around 5-6 people. You can always double the amount or half it.

• 2 teaspoons of minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste (Also the amount of salt you add depends on the ripeness of the tomatoes you’ll be using)
• Few basil leaves, if not available then parsley is fine.

The Procedure:

1. Heat the olive oil, not so much. & add the garlic. Here’s a tip on garlic when it comes to tomato sauce, you do not want to brown or get any color on the garlic, because when it browns it gets this bitter, acidic taste that you don’t want in your sauce, so just sizzle for around a minute or so
2. Add the tomato puree, add the salt & pepper.
3. Stir everything together and add the fresh basil leaves, it’s preferable if you tear them apart in your hands than on a chopping board, because most essentials that are in the basil leaves. (besides, fingers will smell nice!)
4. As it gets to its boiling point, cover it with a lid, turn it down to a simmer or low and let it cook for around 15-20 minutes till it gets nice and thick. and that’s it! Your tomato sauce is done!

Pink Sauce:

This sauce is very easy to the power of infinity.

All you need is the tomato sauce, and cream!

Many people mistake pink sauce with tomato sauce mixed with alfredo sauce, yet it’s even simpler! You just add cream and it makes a HUGE different in taste!

For the same amount of tomato sauce we used you can add around half a cup, you can also add a little bit more after you stir in and check the color.

It’s called pink sauce, yet the color is orange. I’m not sure why, it’s still yummy though!

This is what you get after adding the cream! This sauce is usually eaten with penne pasta. You can also add Arugula (AKA rocket) or Spinach to it.

Alfredo Sauce:

AKA ‘white creamy sauce’. Now this sauce is very basic, can be eaten alone with Fettuccine pasta as it is traditionally served, yet people like to add mushrooms or chicken or broccoli and corn and lots of other things to it to add more taste.

All you’ll need is 1 cup of heavy cream, around 1/2 tablespoon of butter and half a cup of parmesan cheese. Very easy and straight forward!

Let the butter melt into the cream on medium heat.

Add the parmesan, let it melt and stir!

Add the seasonings, freshly ground pepper & dried herbs, a litttttttle tiny pinch of salt because the parmesan is already salty!

Mix in. (I think I put too much herbs but it’s still yummy!)

Serve it with Fettuccine for authentic Fettuccine Alfredo!

Pesto Sauce:

Now this sauce is eaten raw, it’s not cooked, so it’s better to find the best qualities of the ingredients we’ll be using.

• 3 cups of really clean and fresh basil
• around 1/4 cup of olive oil. The good stuff.
• 2 garlic cloves, roughly minced since we’ll be putting it in a food processor.
• around a quarter of a cup of pine nuts.
• 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese

Add the basil, pine nuts, garlic

Add the olive oil, and swshhhhhhhh! In the food processor!

Add the cheese and mix to blitz!

& the sauce is done. Basil is hard to find in winter, so it’s best picked in the summer. Many people make pesto in the summer and freeze it before adding the cheese in order to have in the winter, it can be kept in the freezer for around 3 months.

& I would like to dedicate my pesto recipe to my fellow chef, Shaikha!

Visit her amazing blog: http://whenninjascook.tumblr.com/

Our odyssey through the famous Italian sauces has ended. I hope you try this, and enjoy it as I enjoyed making them and writing about it.

Buona Sera!

This is probably one of the best tarts I’ve ever made in my entire life.

This amazingly smooth and silky rich dark chocolate tart originally had a hazelnut crust, yet due to not finding hazelnut in 3 grocery stores I gave up and used ground almonds. It would’ve been more than AMAZING if I’ve found hazelnuts, yet almonds aren’t bad.

If you love dark chocolate, this is the perfect recipe to fulfill your tastebuds with the richness of the darkest of them all.

Shall we begin?

CRUST:

1. 1 cup of ground digestive biscuits or ground graham crackers
2. 3/4 cup ground almonds or hazelnuts if you found any
3. 1/4 cup of cocoa powder
4. 4 tablespoons of icing sugar, 5 if you want it sweeter
5. 5 tablespoons of melted butter

• Mix all the dry ingredients together, add the melted butter, make sure they’re all really coated well together and if you press it with your hands it shapes up.
• Press into a tart tin, bake for around 10 minutes at 350F so it hardens.
• Leave it to cool as  you make the filling

FILLING:

Basically the filling is slicable, silky, smooth, rich, baked chocolate ganache.

1. 1 & 1/2 cup of heavy cream
2. 250g of dark chocolate (Do not use 85% as it would be really bitter, 70% is fine.)
3. 2 eggs
4. 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

• Heat the cream, break the chocolate bar and add it to the cream and let it set for 5 minutes.
• Mix the chocolate and cream together, add the 2 eggs and vanilla and mix again!
• Bake for around 20-25 minutes at 350F.

(yum)

GLAZE:

1. 2 tablespoons of heavy cream
2. around 50g of dark chocolate
3. 1 tablespoon of honey or corn syrup to give it the shine
4. 1 tablespoon of warm water, add more if needed to be more liquidy.

• Heat the cream, add the chocolate, mix.
• add the honey, water, mix. My glaze was a bit thick, I did not add enough water so if yours get thicker add more as it is easier if you pour the glaze on the tart and tilt your pan in order to cover the top, yet I used a spoon.

Not so sweet, yet full of indulgence. I think It’d be nice if it were served with vanilla ice cream, yet solitary can be beyond perfection.

Hellaw!

Well, today we’re having a sweet tooth, a healthy sweet tooth. (not really lol)

Carrot cake!

Now, some people find it weird to use a vegetable in a dessert and especially in cakes, but carrots aren’t just any vegetables. They’re yummy, and besides, they’re full of sugar! Meaning, they’re suitable for desserts and caramelizing.

We’ll be baking a carrot cake and topping it with cream cheese icing. Yum.

The recipe is very easy and straight-forward. Fool-proof!

& You will need:

• 3 whole eggs
• 3/4 cup of light brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons of white sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• zest of one orange
• 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger powder
• 2 medium-size grated carrot.
• 1 and 1/2 cups of self-raising flour

Crack the eggs, add the 2 sugars, oil, and mix!

Add the orange zest, cinnamon, and ginger and mix again!

Add the grated carrots, mix again!

Mix (do not over beat, ever.)

Butter or oil the baking pan you’re using, or line some cupcake cases.

Heat the oven at 350F

For the cake bake for around 30-35 minutes and poke with a toothpick to check if done.

For the cupcakes back for around 15-20 minutes and poke with a toothpick to check if done.

Cream Cheese Icing:

You will need:

• 200g of cream cheese
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
• 3/4 cup of icing sugar (AKA powdered sugar)

The cream cheese must be at room temperature for easy mixing. Leave it out for several hours before usage.

Now as for decorating, you can use a piping bag and a tip of your choice and decorate it however you want. If you don’t want that, you can just spread the icing around the cake and have the “classic look” or you can also top it with walnuts, crushed walnuts, or slivers of almonds!

& thank you for reading :D

Good MOOrning everybody! It is yet the evening in Dubai yet the MOOrning in the other side of the world! How ya’ll doing?
If you’ve noticed it, yes, I’m mooing. Cows are cute. We shall cook’em!
STEAK!
We shall be cooking a piece of steak called Sirloin. It is a cut from the rear back of the animal.

Anymoo,

We’ll be sautéing the steaks, and trying out two different kinds of sauces along with it, one creamy mushroom sauce, and a thick sour one.

Rinse the piece of meat in cold water until the blood is gone. I added a teaspoon of vinegar in order to get rid of any unlikings on the meat. (Yes I’m pretty cautious when it comes to meat and poultry)
TIP: dry the meat or it will not brown. Use a kitchen towel or paper towel in order to dry it and make sure none of it stick.
Season the piece of meat on both sides with salt and pepper. I used white pepper on mine!

Heat one tablespoon of oil into a pan or skillet. Wait till it’s steaming hot and add your steak!

I cooked some pieces of steak before this one as you can see.
I sautéed the steak for 4-5 minutes on both sides. That’s medium-done.  You can cook it for for less time if you want to be medium-rare or for more time if you want it well done. Around 6-8 minutes for the well done, and 3-4 minutes for medium.
You can also use the thumb and finger tips trick I’ve written about in my previous post. Very helpful.

When you’re done cooking your steaks, transfer them onto a plate and seal with an aluminum foil in order to keep it heated.

For the creamy mushroom sauce:

In the same pan, add some sliced mushrooms.
TIP: do not crowd the mushrooms, I separated them AFTER taking the picture lol! If you do crowd the mushrooms, they won’t brown properly.

Now that the mushrooms are cooked, add half a cup of cream and let it cook for around 2 minutes and transfer into a bowl.

For the tangy thick sour sauce, which is reduced balsamic vinegar:

You will only need balsamic vinegar and a little knob of butter, around a teaspoon.

Here’s the ratio of balsamic vinegar to reduced vinegar:

1 cup of reduced balsamic vinegar = use 4 cups of balsamic vinegar.

1/2 cup of reduced balsamic vinegar = use 2 cups of balsamic vinegar.

meaning 1:4.

Towards the end, add the knob of butter. As it sets, you will notice that it thickens.

————-

are you ready?

————-

drums rollin’!

Topped the steak with the creamy mushroom sauce, and drizzled the balsamic vinegar on top!

:D

I can’t even begin to describe how delicious this dish is. Three elements in one dish, and doesn’t take much time to make!

Thank you for reading! :D

Hello everyone!

I have an unbelievable passion for food. From all aspects. Whether it is cooking, eating, reading about food, watching cooking shows, food art, whatever pops into one’s mind that revolves around or about food.

My major life dream is to become a chef, who is a winner of multiple michelin stars, which owns a chain of restaurants around the globe which are of different cuisines, owns a cooking school, a writer for several bestseller cookbooks.

I want the people to see what I see in food. Food is one of God’s gifts to the world, it changes one’s mood to the best. Yet it may also choke someone to death, either way, we shall enjoy it till the last bite.

I want to get my Grand Culinary Diploma from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, France. After I get my Grand Diploma, I’d like to travel across the world in search of authentic recipes from the hundreds of cuisines that are found in this glorious world. Japan, Korea, China, Britain, Spain, France, Italy, ALL OF THE WORLD! Most importantly, the Emirati cuisine. I’d love to know each and every Emirati dish ever made from the time human beings were alive. If a chef does not know one’s cultural food then what’s he a chef for?

As for the culinary school, I’ll open one in the future (En Shaa’ Allah), isn’t it just lovely to pass down your knowledge and spread it out to the world for others to benefit? Especially when it’s something you have passion in!

Julia Child, one of my favorite chefs in history. She passed down her knowledge in food to Americans. She taught them how to cook and how to eat. I can not tell you how much I am addicted to the movie “Julie & Julia”. Today was my 16th time watching it <3 beautiful movie.

Now that I’ve mentioned that, I shall pass down the culinary knowledge that I know to you my lovely readers!

“The universe is in order when your station is set up the way you like it.” - Anthony Bourdain.

I must say, VERY TRUE. When you’re planning to cook a dish, it is best if you pre-prep the utensils, ingredients, pots and pans.

Read the recipe before starting to cook, make sure you go through it and understand the procedure so you don’t get mixed up during cooking.

Let’s talk about fish:

When you’re looking for the freshest of fish, here are the tips that help you find the best of all:

• The fish smells clean, water-like scented, with no cuts or bruises.
• The fish scales should not be loose, if you run your fingers on the fish it shouldn’t separate easily.
• The eyes must be clear and clean.
• The gills should be bright pink or maroon, not deep red.

How to measure the doneness of your steak:

Steaks can be from different cuts of the animal, but the doneness of it is all measured the same way, it’s all summarized in this picture:

• Rare: it would be very pink from the inside, only seared from the outside, very soft to the touch and tender.
• Medium rare: slightly over cooked than rare, pink from the inside, with cooked edges.
• Medium: A slight touch of pink from the inside, well cooked edges, slightly soft to the touch.
• Done: Cooked all the way through, no touch of pink, tough to the touch with very slight bounce back.
• Let it set for a few minutes before cutting or slicing to seal the juices in.

Chicken:

• Never over cook chicken. It will be very tough to the bite and very dry. Whether it is roasted in the oven, grilled, or pan-seared.
• Cover with aluminum foil to seal the heat until it is served. If served immediately, let it set for a few minutes before slicing in order to keep the juices in.
• The control the cuts and portions of cuts, you must let the bird set for a while.
• The difference between the thighs and breasts of a chicken in texture is that the thighs are more frequently moved by the chicken when it’s alive, so it’s exercised more and it’s been tenderized unlike the breasts.

♥♥Butter♥♥

I love butter. A lot. I don’t care if it’s fattening. I still love it. It’s one of those flavors that dishes can be dead without.

• Softened butter for baking. You can keep the butter out for several hours in order to get it to be really softened, or (the easy way) put it in the microwave for around 10 seconds! Magic!

• While you’re cooking with butter, make sure it doesn’t get burnt. You either have to be fast or cautious with it, or you can drizzle a little bit of oil over it so it does not burn!

Now, seriously. Do you trust cows or scientists more? It’s always butter over margarine! As for myself, I do trust cows more!

Eggs:

• to check if the egg is fresh and clean, fill a bowl with water and put the egg inside. If it sinks in and stays there, it’s good to go. If floats up, it’s no good.

It is incredibly phenomenal how you can work with food, and create a luscious dish from the most simple ingredients found from different elements in the world, whether it’s from the sea, mountains, and Earth.

One can also enjoy an extra ordinary flavor that’s been untouched by humans and found on trees. Strawberries or nectarines, oranges or grapes. It all fits your palate into perfect harmony, containing the best of nutritious substances that can change your mood to beyond the best and magical.

Thank you for reading. I wish you magical, magical dreams.

BUON GIORNO!

Polenta. Ohhhh sweet, sweet Polenta. (yet not sweet in taste!)

Basically, polenta is boiled corn meal. It can be finely ground or coarsely ground depending on the region it was taken from in Italy, but I do prefer the finely ground. It’s a grain mush, like porridge almost, commonly eaten in the Roman times and after. Back in the 1940’s and 1950’s it was usually eaten with anchovies or herring. Polenta is classified as peasant food, and I came to realize most Italian food is considered peasant food. Maybe because it was commonly found and not so pricey and any one can afford it? Well, just an interpretation!

Shall we cook?

Now Polenta is very easy to make. No, it’s REALLY very easy. If you can boil water, you can make Polenta.

Now the ratio of Polenta is 1 cup to 3 cups of water. So that’s 1 cup to 750ml of water.

Salt and black pepper (or white pepper) to taste, rosemary, oregano, and around 1/4 of shredded/grated parmesan cheese. You can replace the parmesan with pecorino cheese but go easy on it because it’s strong.

Here’s how it’s done:

You boil the water, add the polenta, keep whisking, but be careful because it’s going to go all volcano lava on you and it’s HOT. It’s preferable to wear oven mittens or something that covers your hands. Now keep cooking it for around 30 minutes. (Yes, that long.)

Add your seasonings and cheese towards the end. As it cools, it will start to harden. It goes well with bolognese, or meatballs, or even tomato sauce on its own. Some people add cream or milk while cooking to make it more creamy.

(I don’t know why it seems good for baby food too, but I’m just saying so don’t take it seriously LOL)

You can also put it in a container and wait for it to harden, cut it into squares or circles and fry it or grill it! You can also use it as a base for pizza, spread it circularly and wait for it to harden, add some tomato sauce with your favorite toppings and mozzarella and voila!

Gracias for reading!

Buona Sera!

Hello there, my name is Matilde Vicenzi. Today I will be teaching you the recipe of one of the best desserts ever made in history, we shall go back to the 1500’s, where all we wore was gowns, eat the finest of food, and most indulgent desserts.

I want to live in Italy. One of the reasons is because of this recipe I’ll be sharing with you right now.

Who doesn’t love coffee-flavored desserts? ESPECIALLY this one! Beautiful lady fingers soaked in rich coffee covered in creamy indulgence, covered in beautiful-smelling cocoa!

Tip: never get your phone to the kitchen, because this happens.

There are multiple stories considering the time or how the creation of Tiramisu started, 3 different views, yet they all are about a similar idea. The idea is the combination of espresso and cocoa. They both are mood boosters, or “cheers” people up.

Tiramisu literally means ‘pick-me-up’, a metaphor for ‘cheer me up’, hence the combination of espresso and cocoa.

This is the easy version of Tiramisu, meaning no need for egg yolks or egg whites.

YOU WILL NEED:

• 250g of Mascarpone cheese. This is what is mainly used to make Tiramisu, but some like to replace it with cream cheese because it is cheaper in price. Yet, it won’t harm to get a perfect taste if you spend a little more!
• 1 teaspoon of Vanilla extract
• 1/2 to 1 cup of instant coffee/espresso dissolved in cooled water, it also depends on the amount of lady fingers you’ll be using.
• Another less than 1/4 of a cup of instant coffee dissolved in water.
• 150ml of heavy cream
• 4 tablespoons of icing sugar
• Around 20 biscuits of Laduy Fingers, depends on the container. Maybe less or more.
• Last but not least, one of the most important ingredients in this, COCOA POWDER!

To start this beautiful creation:

1. Whisk in the mascarpone, less than a 1/4 cup of coffee, vanilla together.
2. Whisk the cream with the icing sugar.
3. Fold those two mixtures together gently.
4. You’ve got yourself the beautiful mascarpone and cream mixture. Amuse your eyes!

Next step:

1. Soak the lady fingers in 1 cup of coffee, individually. BE QUICK! Because those biscuits are like sponges, they soak reallllly fast and they get reaaaaallllyyy moist and might break apart. Place it in the container, individually.
2. Cover it with a layer of the mascarpone and cream mixture. Be generous.
3. Here’s the thing about layering. If you place the biscuits in the first layer horizontally, you place them vertically in the next layer and so on.

First layer.

Cover it completely with the cream.

(See what I did thurrrr?) Yup, here it is. The beautiful second layer.

Now cover it with another layer of the mascarpone and cream.

Then GENEROUSLY sprinkle a beautiful amount of cocoa powder.

clean the sides, and leave it in the fridge to set for a around two to three hours.

I am severely obsessed with this dessert. Fool-proof. I can’t stop talking about it, reading about it, making it, and most importantly eating it. Yum yum yum.

thanks for reading!

Shalom everybodaaay.

I don’t know if you’ve figured it out yet, but we’re making braided Jewish egg bread. It’s called Challah bread. It’s traditionally baked braided, eaten during Jewish holidays. In general, 3 strands of dough are used to braid, yet people tend to use more strands and some even go up to 12 strands. That’s pretty hard to braid, so I stuck with three strands!

You will need:

• 4 cups of All Purpose Flour
• 1/3 cup of sugar
• 1 and 1/4 cups of warm water
• 2 teaspoons of active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup of vegetable oil
• 3 eggs used for the bread dough, 1 for the egg wash.
• and one teaspoon of salt

(I’ve made mini ones out of extra dough, and topped it with sesame seeds!)

1. In a large bowl, add the yeast, water, and 1/4 cup of the flour. Let this stand for 15-20 minutes. Watch the yeast ‘explode’, it’s a very nice scene! lol
2. After it’s set for the time it needs, whisk in the sugar, oil, eggs, and salt.
3. Then, add the flour gradually and kneading through it out with your hands. You may need a little more flour if it’s too sticky, continue kneading for five minutes. Place it in a clean bowl, cover it with a plastic wrap and let it rise for 2 hours in a warm clean place.
4. After two hours, punch the dough down and transfer to a floured surface, kneading for five minutes, and divide the dough into three equal parts and roll it out till you get three equal strands. 
5. Braid the dough, don’t forget to pinch the ends! Put the bread on a greased baking sheet, covering with a kitchen towel/dish cloth, and let it rise again until it has doubled in size.. that’s around an hour. (the dough should stay dented when you poke it, instead of bouncing back into its place)
6. Preheat your oven at 325F, beat the remaining egg and brush it on top the bread, add sesame or poppy seeds in top. Bake for 30->40 minutes.

TIP: If the bread browns too fast, cover it with aluminum foil.

To test it if it’s done, knock on it from the back with your knuckles, if it sounds hollow, then it’s ready! Wait for it to cool so you can cut into slices.

Enjoy!

Short yummy post.

What’s better than fruits & chocolate? Especially dark chocolate! I don’t want to hear any “eww” and “yuck”. If you do not like or haven’t tried any of that, you haven’t tried indulgence yet.

You’ll need around 200g of dark chocolate, milk chocolate, or white chocolate. You can use all three! & around 200g of strawberries.

In some recipes, they add vegetable shortening or vegetable oil to add a shine to the chocolate as it solidifies on the berry. I don’t in mine, but if you do, for the same measurements add a tablespoon of shortening or oil to the chocolate as you melt it.

* Wash your strawberries REALLY well, preferably with cold water. First, let the berries sit in a big bowl of water, drain them, and repeat this process till the water comes out clean. (3-4 times) Then wash each berry individually.

TIP: do not wash then refrigerate the strawberries to use later on, it will turn all mushy.

* Leave them to dry, or use paper towels to dry them out. Keep the leaves on. “The crown of the berry.”

* Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie. Which is a double-boiler. Basically it’s a pan of simmering water that is topped with a heat-proof bowl. The water does not touch the bowl, the steam does all the work. It is used for stuff that are of low burning point, like chocolate.

* Dip the strawberry in the chocolate yet do not cover it all. Then, put it on a parchment paper. Do the same thing for all the berries and refrigerate uncovered for around 30 minutes.

& voila!

Bonsoir des amis!

comment-allez vous?

je suis bien, merci O:)

This isn’t a post about a macaron recipe, but this is how much I love macarons written down in a post. With a little bit of history of course.

There are different kinds of macarons, the coconut macarons and the french almond macarons. “Macaroons.”

FEET:

I’ll be talking about the french macaron that is filled with joy and happiness sandwiched between two almond cookies. Luscious, beautiful, astounding. I don’t know what else to say.

The french macarons are known for their distinct look, which carry ‘feet’. How are feet formed?  When the almond mixture and the egg whites are folded in together, the macarons are piped out and are set to dry. When the shells dry out, to form the ‘skin’, this is where the process of the feet start. As the macarons are baked, the heat makes it go all crazy and produce this beautiful wrinkly feet yet still stay unbelievably chewy from the inside with a crunchy outer layer.

I’ve made those macarons earlier. Pistachio flavor filled with milk chocolate ganache, topped the shells with shredded almonds.

HOW ALL THE DELICACY AND INDULGENCE  BEGAN:

The origin of the name:

The English derived the name ‘Macaroon’ from the French word ‘Macaron’ which was also derived from the Italian word ‘Macheronne’  meaning ‘Fine dough’.

From Italy to France:

I’ve read several articles about the origin of the macaron, nobody knows exactly how it all started, but this is the most common one.

They say, it was brought from Italy to France in the 1500’s by the pastry chefs of Catherine de’ Medici. She was an Italian noblewoman who married King Henry the second of France, and became the Queen consort of France as she was his wife.

It wasn’t really famous back then, it got all the fame from the two nuns during the French revolution. Back when they did it, it was simply an almond cookie, no filling at all. They sold the macarons in order to gain money and support themselves, and then they were known as “The Macaron Sisters.”

Time has passed, and it was the 1900’s in the time-line of the world. Here’s where Laduree came in and decided one day to sandwich two macaron cookies with ganache, and here is where it all began.

No longer a normal cookie that is almond flavored, it has a variety of flavorings and colors.

(Nutella Macarons = chocolate shell filled with nutella)

MACARON ANATOMY:

1- Almond cookie

2- luscious filling including: jam, caramel, lemon curd, ganache, or even nutella!

3- seal the beauty with another almond cookie.

You got a beautiful French almond macaron.

Bonne nuit ma cheries!

Hello there hungry people, need some tummy satisfaction with an Italian touch? Continue reading this post!

REE-ZOT-TO

Which is the name of the dish we’ll be making today, Risotto. It’s made from Rizo (Ree-zo) which is rice. There are more than 100 thousand varieties of rice from all over the world, yet Arborio rice is the one that is used to make Risotto.

Risotto is different than most types of rice, it’s short and somehow oval in shape, and has a high starch content, which is necessary for making risotto.

You see the white little part in the middle of the grain? This is called La Pearla. This part contains the starch which is released slowly in the process of cooking, which gives it it’s creamy texture, and al dente chewy bite.

What you’ll need for this beautiful invention:

- 400g of Arborio rice. (this serves around 6-7 people)

- 2 tablespoons of minced shallots or onions

- 2 tablespoons of olive oil

- a little knob of butter

- Around 7-8 ladles of chicken broth or vegetable broth

- half a cup of grated parmesan cheese. Please please please grate your own.

- The main ingredient or flavor, if you’re making cheese risotto you add your cheese towards the end (besides the parmesan.) If you’re making mushroom risotto like I am, add it at the beginning of the process for it takes more time to cook.

Make sure your stock/broth is hot by the way.

heat the olive oil, add the onions/shallots and wait for them to sweat and turn translucent, do not brown them.

Add the rice, coat it with the oil and roast it for about a minute, keep stirring during the process.

Usually, they add enough white wine to cover the rice and wait till it cooks off. Yet, I don’t use alcohol in mine, so I immediately add a ladle of the broth. Slowly cook it and stir it till it somehow evaporates and add another ladle of the broth. Repeat this for around 15 minutes, taste the rice, is it cooked? If yes, then add your cheese and knob of butter. Season with coarse black pepper and a little bit of salt, don’t add a lot of salt for the parmesan is already salty. Add some dried or fresh herbs, I added oregano and rosemary to mine.

Make sure to mix everything well after you add the cheese.

Garnish with whatever you like, I added some basil on top :-)

(Oh and I added some chicken by the way.)

Anyhoo, eat this as soon as possible, while the risotto retains it’s beautiful texture and creamy lusciousness.

Happy cooking!

Hello lovely tumblers. (sp?/typo?)

Anyhoo, how do you do my pretty ones?

Here, I carry a scrumptious and very light and a lovely beautiful chocolate cake recipe that goes perfectly with chocolate ganache. (& tea in the afternoon.)

I will amuse your eyes with photos & amuse your mind with the words.

Straight forward.

Simple.

Easy.

Go make it. Right now. I’m not just saying.

The list of ingredients:

- 125g of  softened butter, that’s half a cup. (leave it out till it gets soft)

- 125g of light muscovado sugar

- 2 eggs

- 100g of self-raising flour, wholemeal if you’d like. That’s around a cup.

- 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder. Make it 3 if you want it darker and richer in taste.

- 2 tablespoons of milk!

(What’s life with no butter?)

Now, the butter HAS and MUST be at room temperature for the batter to be well incorporated and mousse-like. You don’t need to use any electric beaters or stand mixers unless you’re lazy like I am, but make sure your butter is soft so you can work with it.

Cream together your butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Gradually break in the eggs and mix till well incorporated.

Sift the dry ingredients into the creamed butter mixture, and add the milk. Now for this part, it’s preferable if you fold in instead of beating to prevent the batter from being all tough and bread-like. Folding instead of beating (ESPECIALLY OVER-BEATING!) makes it all fluffy and moist.

The cake batter is mousse-like and oh so yummy looking.

Next step: Take your spatula, and lick it. Yes, lick it. I don’t care if there are uncooked eggs in it and you’re terrified to death that you’re going to get salmonella. LICK IT I TELL YOU. You’ll taste something beyond magnificent.

Now after you’ve indulged yourself with being uncivilized and licking your spatula,

(omg I forgot to tell you that you should preheat your oven at 400F or 200C before doing all this magic.)

Butter/oil your cake pan (or you can also bake it as cupcakes! Line 12 paper cases, and scoop in a tablespoon of the batter or a little bit more) and bake it for 35-40 minutes, or if you’re baking cupcakes, for 15-20 minutes.

Leave it to cool for 5 minutes in the pan then transfer the cake onto a wire rack and leave it to cool completely, then you can go all whimsical and being a magician with the  icing you want. I love dark chocolate ganache with it. Makes you melt. and Evaporate after you’ve melted.

I hope you enjoyed :-)

and please. Bake this cake happily for your energy is transferred to whatever you bake/cook. Trust me, it’s no myth. You’ll see the difference.