After showing you how to make your own puff pastry, today I will show you one of the hundreds of recipes that you can make with it: Mille-feuille, also known as Vanilla slice or Napoleon. This is a classic French recipe, that is known all over the world and has been adapted many times over. …
Home-made Puff Pastry
I am very excited about today’s recipe, as I will be showing you how to make puff pastry from scratch! For a while I have been debating whether or not to publish it on a separate post or just add it to my Techniques page where I share other basic dough recipes. The reason is that,…
Olive and Walnut Mini Madeleines
Today I want to share with you the recipe for a great appetiser: mini savoury madeleines made with walnuts and olives. I saw these in an Italian food magazine and I just HAD to make them. Actually, I made these for Christmas and served them as one of our appetisers, with blue cheese and honey. …
Peach Melba
Happy Australia Day to all my fellow Aussies! In honour of our National Holiday, I thought I’d share with you a special dessert: Peach Melba. This delicious and very easy to make dessert of peaches and raspberry sauce with vanilla ice cream was invented in the 1890’s by the French chef Auguste Escoffier at the…
PAIN AUX RAISINS
Remember that a few months ago I shared with you the recipe of how to make the perfect French Croissants? Well, today I am back with another French breakfast classic: Pain aux Raisins. During my frequent Parisian visits as a child, I would always have pain au chocolat for my breakfast, while my parents would…
CROISSANTS
In a “celebration” of past Daring Cooks and Daring Bakers challenges, Lisa challenged all of us to search through the Daring Kitchen archives and pick any one we’d like! The REAL challenge was picking which delicious recipe(s) to try! I must confess I was out-of-this-world-happy with this month’s challenge. And so much so as it…
OMELETTE TAHITIENNE
I am sure you remember that last Christmas my husband got me The Complete Bocuse as a present. It is a huge book full of recipes by Paul Bocuse which I am going to dig into. There are so many dishes I want to try, even more after making his Sole Meunière! It is one…
CHERRY CLAFOUTIS
Not too long ago I shared my recipe for Far Breton, a baked custard-like French dessert. I remember saying that it was quite similar to clafoutis, another classic French dessert… so here goes my Cherry Clafoutis recipe, so you can make them both and compare them, if you wish! 🙂 I like them both equally. …
SOLE MEUNIÈRE
Maybe not everyone knows this, but there is quite a bit of “rivalry” between Italy and France. We call them “our transalpine cousins”, but the truth is there is a lot of competition going on… and not only about soccer! Who has the best wine? Or cheese? Which cuisine is best? French people will tell…
FAR BRETON
Today I want to share with you the recipe of a French dessert: Far Breton. As you can easily guess from the name, it is a traditional cake from Brittany and it is quite similar to a clafoutis as it is an egg-and-milk custard with flour added. It is usually made plain, with raisins or…
Chicken Ballotine
A good roast doesn’t need to be complicated. This Chicken Ballotine is filled with sausage, prosciutto, and pistachios, bringing warmth and comfort to any meal.
LAVENDER AND JASMINE MACARONS
I have a few macarons recipes on the blog and I like them all, but to tell you the truth, today’s flavour combination is my new all time favourite. Yes, I like these even more than my Salted Caramel Macarons and my Mango and Passion fruit Macarons! I made these a little while ago to take…
HOME-MADE CHÈVRE
Sawsan from Chef in Disguise was our March 2013 Daring Cooks hostess! Sawsan challenges us to make our own homemade cheeses! She gave us a variety of choices to make, all of them easily accomplished and delicious! Yessss, you read that right: one of my best blogger friends was this month’s Daring Cooks hostess! I was…
Dulce de Leche Macarons
Light, chewy, and filled with soft caramel, Dulce de Leche Macarons are a joy to bake and even better to share with someone who loves sweet things.
TRUFFLE HONEY & VANILLA CRÈME BRÛLÉE
A little while ago, my husband and I went out to have dinner at a delightful restaurant called Chophouse. We ate really well and I was particularly impressed by their Wagyu Tartare with truffle aioli, pear, pine nuts & white soy dressing and by their Wagyu Striploin with harissa… divine! Also, I was pleasantly surprised…
MARRONS GLACÉS
Whenever I think of marrons glacés, I think of Christmas. They are not Italian, as you would have guessed by the name, but these delicious little chestnut sweets are a very common treat at Christmas time in Italy. I am big fan of chestnuts in general and I really enjoy chestnut sweets of all kind,…
CHESTNUT RUM MOUSSE
Yesterday I showed you how easy it is to make your own Chestnut and Vanilla Cream… now that you have such a yummy treat in your fridge, how about making something else with it, if you haven’t finished it off the spoon yet, that is! Desserts in a glass are my kind of treat and…
Creme de Marron (Chestnut and Vanilla Cream)
A jar of Creme de Marron makes winter mornings sweeter. Sweet chestnuts and vanilla create a simple cream that adds warmth to breakfast or dessert on cold days.
QUICHE LORRAINE
Today I am going to share the recipe for a Quiche Lorraine. I am saying A Quiche Lorraine because there are many variations of this classic French dish and I am not claiming this to be THE traditional one. Actually, it looks like the original Quiche Lorraine did not have any milk or cheese in…
CRÈME BRÛLÉE
Today I want to share with you the recipe of a popular French dessert: crème brûlée. It is one of those dishes that should be in every food lover cookbook as it is a classic, simple yet sophisticated dish that pleases everyone. I personally love it and it is one of my husband’s weaknesses. I…
MANGO AND PASSION FRUIT MACARONS
And here it goes… another way to use that delicious Passion fruit Curd you have in the fridge! I have made my share of macarons in the last few months, but this was the first time I filled them with a fruit based curd. I can tell you one thing: I loved them, and I…
GÂTEAU BRETON
Bretagne is the area of France I love the most (together with Provence). I went there only once, as a child, but it was so breathtakingly beautiful that I remember it clearly. I have the memory of eating a fantastic fish soup in a restaurant in the walled city of Saint-Malo, while it was raining…
PASSION FRUIT & COCONUT CRÈME BRULÉE
Crème brulée is one my favourite desserts. I love to break the thick and bittersweet caramel crust to find the silky sweet cream underneath. I love contrasting flavours and textures in food as you find that they all melt together when you savour them giving you ONE distinctive taste. It is a bit like all…
RASPBERRY AND WHITE CHOCOLATE MACARONS
This recipe is long over due! I made these macarons with my mum when my parents came over for Christmas! They were to be given to my mother’s work colleagues on her return to Italy and they were a success! I have also been asked for the recipe… so ladies, here it goes! Apologies for…
BOEUF BOURGUIGNON
Our May 2012 Daring Cooks’ hostess was Fabi of fabsfood. Fabi challenged us to make Boeuf Bourguignon, a classic French stew originating from the Burgundy region of France. The last time I have eaten bœuf bourguignon I was in Paris… 10 years ago. I remember it so well, it feels like yesterday. My husband and…
ONION SOUP
This dish reminds me of Paris. I often used to visit la ville lumière in winter and, believe me, it can be quite cold there. So we would often start our dinner with a warm soup and onion soup would be my first choice. I love it… well, if you are a fan of cheese…
GORGONZOLA SOUFFLÉ
Ok, I guess by now you all know how much I love gorgonzola… so I won’t bore you with that… suffice it to say that I often have some in my fridge. The other day, I just wanted to cook something new with it. There are certain dishes that I have always been scared to…
