Mini Carrot Cupcakes with Mascarpone and Lime Icing

Classes have been taking a lot of my time... which explains how spaced my posts have been. I have moved into an appartment which, while quaint and full of charm, has a kitchen the size of a doll house. The sink is so tiny it has been a real challenge to wash pots and pans in it. That being said, I have a lot to report. I am learning more and more everyday and it's such a treat to talk to professionals in the field of food on a daily basis. I have learned how to cut duck and chicken, how to fillet round and flat fish, and how to produce different intricate cuts of vegetables. The most important thing I have learned, however, is how to understand the concepts that surround cooking and food. I used to follow recipes and think about what flavors would complement each other but I didn't used to think about the concepts being used. A recent example includes using fish bones to make a stock or a sauce which will then enrich the flavor of the fish itself.

Having prepared mostly savory dishes in the past month, I wanted to make something sweet. Carrot cake has always been one of my favourite desserts so when I saw Jamie Oliver's recipe for carrot cake, I was tempted to give it a try. I also wanted to use the mini muffin pan I had recently purchased.. so the carrot cake was transformed into mini muffins which we adorned with thin lime wedges.



Recipe (for about 3 dozen mini muffins)

285g/10oz butter, softened
285g/10oz light brown soft sugar
5 large organic eggs, separated
Juice and zest of 1 orange
Juice and zezt of 1 lime
170g/6oz self raising flour, sifted
1 slightly heaped teaspoon baking powder
115g/4oz ground almonds
1 heaped teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
A pinch of nutmeg
12 oz young carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
115g/4oz shelled walnuts, chopped

Icing:
115g/4oz mascarpone cheese
225g/8oz cream cheese
85g/3oz icing sugar, sifted
juice and zest of 1 lime

Preheat your oven to 180°C / 350°F / gas 4. Cream together the butter and sugar by hand or in a food processor until pale and fluffy, then beat in the eggs and the orange juice and zest.
Mix in the sifted flour and baking powder, add the ground almonds, walnuts, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Stir and fold in the carrots. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff and then fold them into the carrot mixture. Pour into the buttered mini muffin containers and cook for about 10 minutes until golden and risen. The cakes are done when a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Once the muffins are cook, unmold and allow to cool. Mix and the ingredients to make your icing and top the muffins with the mixture. Enjoy!

Potato Gratin with Gruyere Cheese

The past couple weeks have been challenging but incredibly fulfilling. I have discovered the wonders of a professional kitchen and the many, many differences between cooking for family or friends and cooking for a paying customer. I have to say I'm not quite used to the hectic rythm of kitchen life. I wake up every morning with aching muscles and tired fingers which are discovering the joys of using a chef's knife for several hours a day. That being said, I can't wait to go back every day.

Last week, we dedicated a whole day to learning how to cook several classic French dishes using potatoes. Potato gratin (or gratin dauphinois) was a pleasure to make. My mom has been making this dish for years as a sunday lunch ritual so making it under the guidance of a chef only helped to increase my love for the dish. It's really easy to put together and is, in my mind, the ultimate comfort food. You can also infuse the milk and cream mixture with a sprig of thyme and some fresh rosemary for extra flavor.



Recipe (for 4)
125 ml of milk
125 ml of heavy cream
A knob of butter
1/2 teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg
2 Idaho patatoes cut in sliced (about 1/8 inch)
1/2 garlic clove
25 grams of grated gruyere cheese
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat your oven to 400 F. Take an oven-proof pan and rub 1/2 clove of garlic on the bottom and sides. Place on medium heat and add the butter. Once the butter is melted, add the milk, cream and nutmeg. Bring to a simmer and place the slices of potato evenly throughout the pan you should first create an even layer of potatoes at the bottom of the pan, and then layer the slices on top). Season with salt and pepper. Leave to simmer for 3 to 4 minutes stirring carefully to make sure that the potatoes are evenly coated with the milk and cream mixture. Add the gruyere cheese evenly on top of the patatoes.
Cook for 35 to 40 minutes or until the top of the dish is golden brown, the potatoes are tender and the cream and milk have a thick consistency. Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Pot de Creme

Moving is a lengthy process. It does not just include packing the belongings that you own, but also the immaterial baggage you know you are leaving behind. This is not the first time I have changed cities, but I find that it does not get any easier the next time around, no matter how much you are looking forward to the new experiences to come. That being said, there is little not to enjoy about New York, especially at this time of year. People seem to still be in the Christmas spirit (and by that I just mean that the city is a little more calm).

I am starting my culinary adventure very soon (in a couple hours that is) and I am a bubbly mix of terribly excited and terribly scared. Yesterday, I attended my orientation where I was introduced to the curriculum at the school. "Not to worry, the local hospital is only a couple blocks away, and the doctors there are used to our students coming in, especially in the first weeks! They always seem to have very clean and clear cuts", I was told by one of the orientation speakers. I was waiting for the pause, and the grin. But there was none. This is no joke. The serious cooking has begun. I get my knife set tomorrow which is undoubtedly a sign that I have been initiated to the professional culinary world...

Before leaving I did get a chance to make a last dessert. While this it was no last supper, it did feel like it would be a while before I got to cook in my student kitchen again. We ended our meal with a sweet touch: dark chocolate pots de creme. It's really one of the easiest recipes I have ever made. You just have to prepare it a little bit in advance to make sure the concoction has the time to set. The chocolate was very rich, so serving it in small portions is a good idea.


Recipe (for 4) Adapted from the Plantation House Restaurant
4 oz. chopped dark chocolate
3/4 cups of whipping cream
2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
2 Tbsp. of granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. of vanilla extract
2 tsp of Grand Marnier
A dash of salt

Heat the chocolate in a double boiler, whisking until melted. Stir in the sugar and heavy cream, whisking until smooth. Beat a small amount of chocolate mixture into a bowl with the beaten egg yolks. Gradually add the egg-chocolate mixture back into double boiler pan. Whisk and cook for about 3 minutes over medium heat. Stir in the vanilla, Grand Marnier and salt. Strain through small sieve to remove any possible cooked egg lumps. Pour into small ramekins. Chill until firm (at least 2 hours) and top with a dollop of whipped cream and some chocolate shavings. Enjoy!

Pear and Chocolate Crumble

I just spent a few days in France to visit my family and friends for some early holiday catch-up. Paris is an amazing city for all things culinary and I had a great time looking for new kitchen ramekins and some new cookbooks. I was happily surprised to get an early christmas present from my friend Olivia.. a cookbook filled with countless crumble combinations!

I hear that North Americans enjoy their crumbles with oats. I have had a few apple and peach crumbles topped with oats here and while I do enjoy them, they are quite different from the crumbles I enjoyed growing up. I have also been exploring some savory recipes for crumbles featuring cheese, spices and herbs... so I wil probably be sharing some of those with you in the weeks to come.

This crumble was really easy to put together. The bubbly chocolate, the sweet pears and the golden brown crumble topping were also quite enjoyable as a breakfast treat for early morning jetlag..



Recipe adapted from Heloise Martel (for 4 individual ramekins)
1/2 cup of flour
1/4 cup of butter at room temperature
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
A pinch of salt
3 Bartlett pears
100 g semi-sweet good quality chocolate
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
100 ml of whipping cream

Preheat the oven to 410 F. In a pan, bring the cream to a simmer and add the chocolate in small pieces. Take it off the heat and stir until the chocolate is melted and add the vanilla. Set aside.
In a bowl, crumble the butter, flour, brown sugar and salt. The mixture should form tiny pieces of dough. Cut the pears into bite-size pieces and place an equal amount into the buttered-ramekins. Divide the chocolate between the ramekins and pour over the pears. Add the crumble pieces to each. Cook for 25-30 minutes, or until the crumble is golden brown. Enjoy!

Lemongrass Pork Riblets

My most recent cook-book purchase (on the advice of fellow food-blogger Holybasil) is Andrea Nguyen's superb 'Into the Vietnamese Kitchen.' It's one of those rare cookbooks that you can read almost like a novel. She details the ordeals of her family leaving Saigon in 1975 and establishing a new life on the West Coast, and she talks about how her mom persisted in preserving and recreating authentic meals despite the limited American grocery supply. I like this book so much because it really underscores the crucial role that food plays in the maintenance of cultural heritages, especially in expat communities.

My paternal family also fled from Saigon, probably a few short months after Andrea's, and I grew up in a thoroughly Canadian culture. I don't speak the language, and I've never been to Vietnam. Food, and the family rituals that surround it, remain as my strongest link to my cultural inheritance and I've learned to treasure that.

These little riblets are a real treat and they were really fun to make. The key ingredient is lemongrass, a long-stalk, husk-like vegetable that has all the aroma and freshness of lemon without the acidity. A medium-sized bunch set me back 99 cents at the local asian market. The other secret ingredient is a wonderful caramel sauce called Nuoc Mau, that Andrea Nguyen explains how to make both in her book and on her blog here. In a pinch though, honey will work just as well. The riblets are marinated for 24 hours and then roasted in the oven. They weren't quite as tender as I thought they'd be (I think I will try adapting this recipe by braising them beforehand) but they were packed with flavour. A warning though: they are really messy to eat!



Recipe
1 rack of spareribs or babyback ribs, cut lengthwise into 2 inch pieces
1 cucumber, to serve

For the marinade
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 large shallot, chopped
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
2 tablespoons of honey or Caramel Sauce
1 tablespoon of fish sauce (nuoc mam)
2 tablespoons of canola oil
2 lemongrass stalks, trimmed and minced

To prepare the ribs, carefully peel off the tough white membrane along the back of the ribs. This will take a bit of force, so be careful. Cut between the bones into individual riblets.

For the marinade, mix the garlic, shallot, lemongrass and oil and blend them in a mortar and pestle or small processor. Add to a large bowl. Add in the brown sugar, black pepper, soy sauce, caramel sauce and fish sauce and mix. Add the riblets and, using your hands, coat the meat in the marinade, cover with plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge overnight.

30-45 minutes before cooking, take the bowl out of the fridge to let the meat get to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit and put a rack on the top shelf of the oven. Arrange the riblets on a foil-lined baking sheet with the meat side up. Reserve the marinade. Cook for about 7 minutes, remove from the oven and quickly brush with the marinade. Put them back in the oven for another 5-7 minutes depending on how big they are. Serve with sliced cucumber, some small chiles and some soy sauce for dipping. And, of course, a hefty supply of paper towels to clean up afterwards!

Walnut Torte with Rum Syrup

" I am looking for Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey please. I can't find it anywhere in the cooking section."
"Sticky... what? Are you sure it's in the cooking section? What a strange title!" The bookstore clerk was frenetically browsing the computer repertoire to find the book. "Ah, here it is - Sticky, Messy, Chewy, Gooey, you were right." Then, a man who I had seen look back at us a few times asked: "What kind of book is that? That just sounds too intriguing not to open." I'd like to think that in a couple days he will be getting his hands on a copy of the book too.

One of the great things about starting a food blog is being able not only to post about the recipes you've enjoyed, but meet, in a somewhat virtual way, a community of people who share your love for good food. Over at Taste and Tell, Deborah had mentioned this dessert book, and after looking up reviews on the internet, I knew I had to get myself a copy. The book really is a find: the pictures are decadent, and there is more chocolate and caramel recipes than I could every dream of making. I thought I'd begin with this walnut torte though, to try something a little different. My mother used to have this great recipe for a walnut tart, and it was one of the staples of my childhood eats. Going back to France in a few days for an early holiday family reunion, I will have to dig up the recipe. But since I have never been known to be the patient type, I tried this one out.

It's very different from most recipes for I've made before mostly because of the rum syrup that is dowsed over the cake straight when it comes out of the oven. It gives the cake an amazing texture and fills the batter with rum and sweet goodness. This cake was really a treat to make. I did find it a little too sweet though, and will test the recipe using less sugar when I make this again.



Recipe adapted from Jill O'Connor
(Will satisfy 10 hungry people)
3 cups of very finely chopped toasted walnuts (laid out evenly on a cookie sheet in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes)
1/2 of unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
A pinch of salt
6 large eggs at room temperature
1 1/2 cups pf sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
A pinch of cream of tartar
For the rum syrup:
1 3/4 cups of water
2 cups of sugar
2 or 3 tablespoons of dark rum

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large bowl, mix the walnuts, flour, baking powder and salt. Place the egg yolks in another bowl and the whites in a large stainless steel bowl mixing bowl. Whisk the egg yolks, gradually adding 1/2 cup of sugar, until the mixture is creamy (about 2 minutes). Whisk in the vanilla. Add the walnut mixture to the beaten egg yolks. The mixture will be very thick.
Using an electric mixer on low speed, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar together until frothy. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Increase the speed to high and add the remaining 1 cup of sugar (1 tablespoon at a time). Beat until all the sugar is incorporated and the whites form stiff, glossy peaks.
Add a large dollop of the egg whites to the walnut mixture and fold in to loosen the batter. Carefully fold in the remaining egg white mixture.
Lightly grease a round springform with some butter. I used individually-sized springforms which cook for about 30 minutes, but if you are using a 10-inch round springform, bake for 45 minutes. Be careful to only fill the mold 3/4 of the way up as the torte will rise in the oven. The torte is ready when a skewer is inserted in its center and comes out clean.
Wile the torte is baking, make the syrup. Combine the water and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat and cook until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat to high and bring to a rolling boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until the mixture has the consistency of maple syrup (about 15 minutes). Remove from the heat and add the rum. Let the syrup cool slightly.
Transfer the bakes torte to a wire rack and pierce with a wooden skewer to allow the syrup to penetrate the torte. Pour the syrup over the warm torte. Let it cool before you remove the springform. The cake might be a little difficult to move because of the syrup, so you might have to keep the base of the spingform under the cake. Enjoy with a glass of milk or scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Cocoa Wafer Cookies with Mint Icing

It's that time of the year again: the snow has just started falling, the city has become quiet and the trees bear a thick white blanket. All I need now is a cosy fireplace, a wool blanket and a mug of hot chocolate... I wouldn't say no to good food either though!

As I mentioned a few days ago, I have been in a bit of a cookie-obsessed mood lately. Maybe it's the holidays, or maybe just the need for someting sweet, but either way I have been looking for new recipes to try out. I made these wafer cookies yesterday and they were such a wonderful treat. I had fun decorating them and could only wish I owned more cookie cutters. The ones photographed here are cocoa wafer sandwiches which worked well because the wafer cookies are pretty thin and delicious with the sugary icing.




Recipe:

Wafer Cookies:
3/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cupof icing sugar
6 tbsp of Dutch process cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp milk
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
A pinch of salt
A pinch of baking powder
Icing sugar, for garnish

Filling
1 egg white
1 cup of icing sugar, sifted
2 drops to 3 drops of peppermint extract for a mint taste

To Assemble
Beat the butter until smooth and fluffy. Sift together the icing sugar and the cocoa powder over the butter and beat in. Stir in the vanilla, egg yolk and milk. Add the flour, salt and baking powder to the cocoa mixture and blend until incorporated. Shape the dough into a flat circle, wrap and chill for 20 minutes to harden it.
Preheat your oven to 325° F. On a surface lightly dusted with icing sugar, roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thick. Cut it into 1 ½-inch circles (or any shape you like!) and transfer carefully to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the cookies can be lifted easily away from the parchment. Allow to cool on baking sheet.
For the filling, put the egg white in a bowl and beat in the icing sugar, a few tablespoonfuls at a time, until a soft dough forms. Decorate as you want!