Gâteau pommes noix myrtille

Et voilà une belle combinaison.. la myrtille donne la couleur, la pomme le gout et la noix la texture croquante qui contraste si bien avec le moelleux du gâteau.

Comme tous les gâteux de voyage (j’adore cette expression française!) on peut s’amuser avec une belle décoration  sur la partie supérieure et bien sur on peut partir avec lui au bureau, à la plage, chez des amis…

Sa  texture et sa forme nous aide à en faire un joli paquet à emporter.. c’est à nous de sortir maintenant, bonne soirée !

Soufflé al cioccolato

Un grande classico della pasticceria parigina, morbido, goloso e sempre di grande effetto. L’ideale sarebbe servirlo appena sfornato ma non é la soluzione piu pratica se chi prepara il soufflé vuole cenare con calma a tavola. Il consiglio é di preparare i soufflé monoporzione il pomeriggio per la sera e prima di servirli passarli 30 secondi al microonde. Vi assicuro che il risultato é comunque ottimo.

Come funziona : preriscaldare il forno a 180°C. Imburrare e zuccherare 8 stampi da forno e metterli in frigo. Sciogliere al microonde 180g cioccolato 70% mescolando ogni 30 secondi. Dopo aggiungere 40g zucchero di canna, 40ml latte tiepido, 20ml panna tiepida, 40g cacao. Infine aggiungere 5 tuorli d’uovo e mescolare molto bene. Non ci devono essere grumi. Se invece i grumi ci sono e non riuscite a eliminarli perché la crema si sta solidificando passatela 30 secondi al microonde. Montare a neve i 5 bianchi d’uovo con 40g zucchero di canna. Unire le due preparazioni per qualche secondo con la frusta e poi con la spatola. Il tutto non deve durare piu di un minuto altrimenti il soufflé sarà una frittella. Mettere negli stampi e infornare per 15 minuti, non un minuto di piu.

Nota: potete servirlo con una salsa di mango o di frutti di bosco. Per dare un tocco messicano aggiungete un cucchiaino di cannella al cacao.

Salon international de l’agriculture

eh..eh Je suis le plus beau!

Salon de l’agriculture is a big event here in Paris. Every year you can meet a large variety of farm animals from all regions of France, taste regional French products (yesterday I dedicated myself to discover goat cheese, walnuts bread, Bretagne crêpes and cidre), watch cooking demonstrations and more. It's very interesting to see how many kind of cows exist and how big they are! I love animals, that’s why post of today is dedicated to them, authentic and unopposed stars of the event. Let’s start with a presentation of main activities that take place here at Salon de l’agriculture:

Now take a look to some examples of French regional food…

Ok, now that you are into the agricultural mood I want you to meet some lovely families..

Last part of this post is addressed to fashion girls.. we are always looking for the ultimate tendency, the glamorous haircut or the last lip-gloss.. and sometimes we get lost! In which direction should I go now? What kind of look for next summer? Don’t worry, yesterday I got “farm tendencies” for spring-summer season 2012.. here some ideas to be always a la mode!

Hang out definitely naked.. with long plait like “Roberta”

Refresh yourself in crystalline water..and

…sorry a fatal error occurred!:)

The best rice cake

I love this cake, the first time I eat it in Sologno, a small village in Emilia, a beautiful region of Italy close to Tuscany. Emilia is famous for good food.. some examples… Parma Ham, Parmigiano Reggiano, pumpkin ravioli..not many cakes but good and most of all made with local liqueur sassolino that gives a nice flavor, of course if you live out of Italy you can use rum, it works always well in pastry.

I'm having fun with pictures now!

How to do your rice cake: put in saucepan 1l milk, 200g rice, 100g sugar, zest of 1 lemon, 200g raisin, a pinch of salt and bring to boil. Boil for 10 minutes while stir. Out of fire put in 100g sassolino. In a separate bowl mix 6 eggs and 200g sugar, mix it with hot milk and pour in a 22cm diameter pan, bake it in the preheated oven 170°C for 45 minutes.

the color of cake after 45 baking

Waiting for cherry blossom

cherry blossom

Yesterday I discovered something nice. I was hanging around in the Japanese quartier of Paris with my friend Hitomi and we decided to have a tea in the most chic epicerie japonaise of Paris where you can find high quality products in an authentic and pleasant atmosphere.

sencha tea with snacks

We had a sencha tea with 2 kinds of snack: Japanese crunchy doughnuts made with muscovado sugar and sweet potato chips with black sesame seeds. Both delicate, good and perfect with our tea.

sencha kudasai!

On shelves I found cherry blossom with salt, Hitomi explained to me that they use them in hot water like an infusion and they drink it in spring time waiting for cherry blossom, because in Japan cherry blossom is a big event and everyone wants to be a part of it.

with hot water

I like this idea, so today, a little bit like Mikage Sakurai, I drink my floral infusion looking out of the window, waiting for the most sparkling season of the year!

Panna Cotta with black sesame seeds

Usually I’m not a big supporter of fusion food and normally I’m not a Panna cotta‘s eater BUT this time I made an exception.. because is too good! Black sesame is used a lot in Japanese pastry, from now I will use it also in my Panna cotta, it gives a delicate alternative flavor to the cream and the color is so chic!

black sesame seeds

black sesame paste

At the end just add a little bit of black sesame seeds on the top to give a little bit of crunchy sensation to the creamy texture..

Almost Oreo cookies

Before coming to France I didn’t know Oreo cookies, at Cordon Bleu I met my Turkish friend Nur, 50% of her nutrition was made by Oreo cookies, soon she made herself a question.. how to keep a perfect shape eating all those cookies? Her answer: eat what I want but never eat after 6pm… well this easy solution didn’t work so much.. as usual it's better to moderate quantities instead of changing cookies agenda!:)

Today I made some homemade Oreo cookies, the result is still too far from the original, I’m working on the recipe.. in the meanwhile I’ll try to eat my almost oreo before 6pm!

the chocolate salami before the oven meeting

Toscana’s castagnaccio

Tuscany is my favorite region in Italy, there is everything there.. good food, fine wine, history, art.. and a perfect countryside that you have to discover hanging around with your cabriolet car stopping just to a have a glass of chianti.. and a slice of castagnaccio!

This is not a cake for everybody. It’s not sweet, not fat, taste healthy. Actually it is healthy, chestnut flour is very good for your body! I have to admit that for many years I avoided castagnaccio, but now I found a recipe that I like and I started to eat it, of course also some of my customers like it.. the ones who love carrot cake!

raisin

How to do it like a perfect Femme de Toscane: mix 500g organic chestnut flour, 125g milk, 550g water, 70g rum, 30g olive oil with macerated rosemary inside (one night is better), a pinch of salt. After add: 40g raisin and 40g pine nuts. Put in greased pans (2 squared pans of 22cm side) spread some rosemary oil on the top and put in preheated oven (180°C) for 35 minutes

Ah ah brownie pan works also for castagnaccio!

Vegan note: just replace milk with soy milk and it will be perfect, but don’t tell it in Tuscany!

how to come out in a great way from a tricky St Valentine’s day

Post of today is dedicated to those persons that «I don’t celebrate St valentine day because is a commercial event» to those couples who are not anymore in the phase «I don’t eat, I don’t sleep, I’m almost making goal to the final match of the world championship»,  because it’s too easy to speak to lovers in love who walk one meter from the ground, today I want to make it harder trying to convince those who take everything for granted that nothing is for granted and everything is a precious giftJ Its important to seize every opportunity to celebrate, smile and feel good no matter what it is. Frequently I hear words of disenchantment on the theme of Love, like “look how the world is going” or “everybody does like that” but you don’t have to care about what the others are doing or about cynic and sad reflections of the world. You, with your actions and your facts, you have the power to reverse trends, break negative spirals, plan and create positivism around you. I’m not talking about doing this just for one day, but about the need to develop an attitude finalized to live better. I could write entire days my thoughts on this topic, but this is not a poetry blog and I don’t want to bore you, so I will limit myself to some nice advices to put in practice immediately, which I could summarize in “how to come out in a great way from a tricky St Valentine’s day”J

-          It counts the thought. Its truth but there must be a thought. Note for Messieurs: Ladies love flowers, just one flower will make your beloved happy if fresh, scented and offered with a smile. We are able to pass 20 times in front of the roses bouquet offered by our beloved and smell it every time, smile and think “how lovely!”, we are like that. Note for Mesdames: just be beautiful and organize a candlelight dinner, light, or your Romeo will fall asleep before tasting the chocolate cupcake!

-          Try to substitute half of daily blames with praises

-          Never stop talking, remember that “we don’t have nothing to say to each others anymore” it’s a nonsense

-          Don’t lose visual and physical contact, a look, a kiss or hold the hand tight

-          Don’t be afraid doing the first step.. the only risk you take is to give a smile!