On the 11th of November, our little group of foodies met again. This time, we didn't only have home cooks/bakers around the table, but also a few testers (we were eight) who came to eat our creations (we always have so much food that we desperately need mouths to feed; people whose aim is to indulge with us)!
Regarding the season at that moment, we decided that the theme would be related to autumn/fall. With such a vast and interesting subject, it was impossible for our imagination to fail...Kiriel (Australia) at "The Papillon Pantry" made a "Lobster Scented Potato Velouté" (see recipe) which was served in tiny porcelaine casseroles. Very cute! We ate it as an amuse-bouche and let me tell you that it was really wonderful and delicate tasting! The lobster oil came directly from Australia and added a really special tinge to the whole dish.
As main course, she prepared "Port & Fig Duck". That duck breast was very tasty and pleasing. The sweetness of the sauce was very pleasant and the combination of the dried figs with Port wine was amazing...
For dessert, Kiriel delighted us all with her "Pavlovas With Spiced Clementine Sauce, Macadamia Nuts And Cream" (see recipe). The leatherwood honey from Tasmania that she used for the sauce was also imported from Australia and it gave a gorgeous dimension to this ambrosial treat. I've never tasted a variety of honey like that. It tasted ever so gorgeous and was heavenly aromatic... Definitely a hammer!
Mike (Malaysia) made a starter which was marvelously exotic. His "Shrimp Sambar On Bread" was well-balanced flavor-wise and harmoniously spicy. Fusion food at it's best!
Corinne (Switzerland), our new member and friend, brought a delicious "Pumpkin Salad" as a side dish. It was made with a hazelnut oil, vinegar and roasted sesame seeds vinaigrette. Exquisite!
As main course, she delected us with her "Spicy Lamb Casserole" which was gently aromatised with fresh coriander and cinnamon. She also made some excellent "Chocolate Chip Muffins". Yummy!
I - Rosa (Switzerland) - brought a main dish which I particularly enjoy eating when October's around... I served my "Greek Pork Stew With Quinces" (see recipe) with a homemade "Wheat And Rye Sourdough Baguette" (The King Arthur Flour) which contained anise seeds, caraway seeds and ground cardamom. It matched the stew pretty well.
I also made an extremely hearty cream cheese-ladden "Pumpkin Cheesecake" (see recipe) which was accompanied by a "Cranberry Coulis". Mind-blowing!
As usual, our "Dinner Party" was a real success! We ate really well and tasted to so much good food. It was an unforgettable experience and I'm looking forwards to our next get together!
Our next rendez-vous is planned for December the 9th. The theme will be "Afternoon Tea", so I hope you'll stay tuned!
Finally, after a few months break, our international "Dinner Party" (see post 1 & post 2) foodaholics (not so anonymous!) group has met again for another of our gourmet celabrations. That was a relief. I had been looking forwards to our monthly meetings a whole lot!Since the sweet and very much missed Rai at "Ugly Fruit" has left Switzerland in order to go back to Iowa (USA) things have been very calm and our little foodie troop has shrunk consequently (also with the departing of Claudia for the UK). Before, thanks to Rai's social skills, our "Dinner Parties" were bustling with life and crowded with people who just came to have a good time while enjoying our wonderful food. Now things have mellowed down, so we are trying to get more people to come to our party as it lacks a little dimension with only a few participants...Anyway, Kiriel at "Papillon Pantry", our host, Hal & Al and myself had a lot of fun on the occasion of our last gathering on September the 23rd. The theme that evening was "Tea". The idea was to cook or bake something that would either contain or would be flavored with the tea(s) of our choice.Here is what we made:
Hal & Al (Norway & USA) brought a wonderful "Lapsang Souchong Velouté". It was made with pureed beans, rice, tomatoes and an infusion of this special tea from the Fujian province in China.
Their autumnly tasting soup had a great smoked flavor and was very comforting. An excellent and delicious dish to start with!For dessert, they made a very wintery/Christmassy/Halloweenesque and slightly exotic "Tea Brack", a yeast-free cousin of the famous Irish "Barmbrack". It contained dried cranberries, chopped dried mango chips, raisins and sultanas. It was flavored with "English Breakfast" tea and cinnamon. Their bread was smooth, spicy, rich and gorgeously fruity. Scrummy!
Kiriel (Australia, see her blog), as inventive as ever, offered us Chinese-style "Tea Noodles", a delicious starter contained in dainty little aperitive spoons and cooked in tea-steeped water. Delicate...
As main course, she had the idea to prepare a kind of tea encrusted gravlax that she baptized "Salmon With Gunpowder Green Tea" (see recipe). To accompany her fish dish, she also made "New Potatoes With Green Tea Mayonnaise" and "Steamed Green Beans With Toasted Almonds". It w as just simply gorgeous and dazzlingly flavored!
Then, for dessert, she fulfilled our dessert cravings with a delightful and very cute dessert served in tiny leaf-shaped dishes. Those "Chai Tea Creams With sesame Praline" (see recipe) were pleasantly aromatized with star anise, vanilla and "English Breakfast" tea. Exquisite!
I (Rosa) (Switzerland/England) baked a batch of scrumptious "Chinese Char Siu Bao-Style Lapsang Souchong Flavored Meat Buns" (recipe soon to come) which were ovenbaked (contrarily to their steamed alter egos). I used a "Hot Dog Rolls" dough and made bun-shaped breads that I filled with a ground beef mixture consisting of bell pepper, chopped onions, chopped garlic and Cloud Ear mushrooms spiced up with chopped ginger, soy sauce, oyster sauce, Thai sweet chilli sauce, sweet soy sauce and Lapsang Souchong broth. I was really amazed to see how good my invention tasted and how enjoyable that smokey flavor was when coupled with those Chinese ingredients...
As it is my habit, I also brought a rich dessert. This time it was a drop-dead "Earl Grey Chocolate Mousse" (recipe soon to come, see my other "Chocolate Mousse" recipe) that tasted as if it was aromatized with "Orange Pekoe" tea (thanks to the bergamot). This mousse was a real sin of gourmandise with it's truffle-like taste and texture. It is decadently rich with butter, deliciously chocolatty, voluptuously light and unctuously deadly!!!
**********All in all, our "Challenge Dinner Party" was extremely entertaining and pleasurable! We ate exceptionally well and spent a lovely moment together chatting about food, amongst other things.
~ From left to right: Kiriel and Alison (Al). ~
~ From left to right: Alison and Halvor (Hal & Al). ~
For our last dinner party/foodie dinner in March (report soon to come), I wanted to make something rich and lemony. After having gone through piles of magazines, files, books and many sites/blogs, I came up with a great idea. Why not create a tart that would be made with my spiky lemon curd and topped with the most wonderful mascarpone filling? An idea and a recipe was born...
I've always loved the mascarpone filling that can be found in Tiramisù, so I decided to use it for my tart and, as my family recipe for "Lemon Curd" (see recipe) is to die for, I thought that it might be a good choice!
My instinct was correct, that "Tiramisù Mousse & Lemon Curd Tart" was incredibly delicious and the association of various recipes was perfect! The "Lemon Curd" added an acidulated edge to the tart that contrasted ever so well with the rich and creamy "Mascarpone Mousse" which was delightfully velvety, fluffy and light. Of course, the tart was calorific, but sprisingly, in no way was it sickly, all the contrary (although I would not recommend you to take too many slices, LOL). I would even say that it was refreshing!
A real scrummy and fabulous summery dessert that will make everybody go "oooohhhh", "aaaahhhh", "mmmmhhhh" as if in ecstasy...
~ Tiramisù Mousse & Lemon Curd Tart ~
Recipe by Rosa @ Rosa's Yummy Yums
Ingredients:1 Quantity Basic shortcrust pastry (see recipe)1 Quantity Lemon curd (see recipe)For the mascarpone mousse:500g Mascarpone cheese3 Eggs (~50g)100g Castor sugar1 Bio lemon, rinded
Method:
1. Roll out the shortcrust pastry and line a gresed pastry case (26cm/10 inches) with it.
2. Cut excess pastry from the edges and prick the base with a fork.3. Place a baking paper over the pastry and fill the base with enough pastry beans to fill the case.
4. Place in the refrigerator and let it relax for 30 minutes.
5. Preheat the oven to 200° C (400° F).
6. Place the pastry in the oven and bake blind for about 20 minutes.7. Remove the baking paper and baking beans for the final 5-10 minutes to crisp up the pastry.
8. Cool the pastry (in the pastry case) on a wire rack.
For the Mascarpone filling/"Tiramisù Mousse":
9. Seperate the egg whites from the yolks.
10. In a big bowl, place the yolks with the castor sugar.
11. Beat (with an electric mixer) until the mixture becomes creamy and is lightened in color.
12. Add the mascarpone cheese, one tablespoon at a time while continuing to beat the mixture at medium speed.13. Once all the mascarpone has been added, add the lemon rind and beat until light and fluffy. Set aside.14. In another bowl, beat the egg whites (with a pich of salt) until they are stiff and peaks form.
15. Add the egg whites to the mascarpone mixture and incorporate very delicately. Set aside.
16. Spread the lemon curd over the pastry base.
17. Pipe the "Tiramisù Mousse" over the lemon curd in order to cover it entirely (like on picture).18. Serve.
Remarks:
The pastry can be made ahead and kept in the fridge overnight.
The baked pastry can also be made one day ahead.
Over-beating the mascarpone can cause the cheese to separate.
Don't over-beat your egg whites, otherwise they'll start weeping (forming water droplets that eventually collect in the bottom of the bowl).
You can keep the prepared tart in the fridge 1-2 hours before serving.
Serving suggestions:
Serve with strawberries (or any other seasonal berry of your choice) and a dessert wine (Sauternes or Muscat).
Do you remember the last time that you ate waaaaayyyy too much and how it felt? Goddamn awful, heh! Well, that's exactly what happened to me on our last "Dinner Party" organized by Rachel (see her blog)...On the 3rd of March, our congregation of foodaholics was invited to gather around the table for another of our memorable "foodathons" (a term used by Claudia) that lasted from 4pm till around 11pm. This time, we had to create dishes around the theme of "aphrodisiac food". Twelve people showed that day and the atmosphere was hotter than hell!!!
Boy, we ate so much that I thought I was going to faint! I have never felt so bad after having eaten and never had I swallowed so much good food in my whole life. Generally, I am reasonable, but here, I surpassed my limits! The leftover food turned my stomach which was already hurting, I felt slightly sick and I could not concentrate anymore. I guess that's the price to pay for all that shameless gluttony ...
It really keep on getting better and worse every time!!!
~ From left to right: Hedwig (Hal's Norwegian sister), Al, Maria and Claudia. ~
Here's what we ate:
Rachel (USA, see her blog "Ugly Fruit" for recipes and report) made wonderful "Brie Puffs" with phyllo pastry (starter) and they were all gone in a few seconds! She also made a very tasty "Tomato Soup" with cream and basil (starter). Delightful and aromatic! Another dish she made was "Oven-baked Green Asparagus" with garlic, lemon and olive oil (side dish). They were crunchy to please! Not to forget her gorgeous "Strawberry Cheesecake" (dessert) which's crackers (Mc Vites) and almond crust was exceptionally yummy. As usual, Rachel made gallons of her special "Raspberry Juice" from heaven!...
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Kiriel (Australia, see her blog "Papillon Pantry" for report) treated us with the most delicate steamed dish, a "Fish A La Chinese" which was marinaded in rice wine, soy sauce and ginger, and was served with fresh coriander leaves sprinkled over it's top. It was perfect, very light and succulent! The fish was not overcooked and the sauce was well-balanced. It was served with fragrant Thai "Jasmine Rice". She also brought cute "Ricotta Flans" (see recipe) which contained pistachio kernela and which were smothered in a sweet ginger sauce. Heavenly!
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Hal & Al (Norway & USA) made our tastebuds sing with their delightful "Sizzled Spicy Beef Steaks" that were firstly sizzled, and then cut into slices and dipped into a hot Asian-style ginger sauce. Wow, that was in-cre-dible! We also tasted their "Pasta With Arugula Pesto" with dried cranberries and pine nuts. Very fine! Hal & Al's "Banana Bread Pudding" wasn't bad either! With it's butter rum sauce, it was very comforting and scrumptious.
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Mélanie (France) made an "Indian-style Vegetable Curry" with cashew nuts, cauliflower, zucchinis, leeks, onions, tomatoes, bell peppers and a mix of spices. I really liked this light vegetarian dish as it was exotic and flavorful...
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I (Rosa) contributed with my beloved "Caribbean Jerk Chicken" (see recipe) that was a hammer and with Tish Boyle's incredible version of "Death By Chocolate" called "Chocolate Intensity" (see recipe) served with a "Chinese Five Spice Crème Anglaise"...
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Claudia (USA) could not cook as she was/is in the process of moving, but she nonetheless made our heads a little lighter with her fine Champaign and classy red wine!
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~ From left to right: Kiriel, Rachel and Hal holding one of Rai's cute kitties. ~
Now you can understand why we were all exploding, because we overloaded our plates a little too much and had too many second helpings (wink)! I know that on that evening I thought to myself, "Well, I don't want to eat as much food anymore! Never again!!!", but I know that it'll happen again and again as there will be other food odisseys in the future and the food will again be more scrumptious than the preceeding time...
Please stay tuned as I will soon post my report on the "Secret Theme Dinner Party" we had on the 31st of March(we will soon be attending another dinner party this month)! I will keep you updated anyway.
(Dinner Party -Pic by www.voutsadakis.com)
The good side to being a foodblogger (apart from having to do more sport!) is that you get to meet new people and it’s exactly what happened to me lately…It all started a few weeks ago when the sweet Rai of “Ugly Fruit” contacted me in order to share a talk around a cup of hot chocolate. Although I was very nervous and stressed about meeting a total stranger, her request enchanted me. I really don’t regret my decision to kick myself in the butt, jump over my shadow and do something I had never done before!
Rai’s warmth and openeness enlightened me. We spoke and spoke and spoke for four hours about food-related subject and more!!! Being in the company of an interesting foodie like her really made me happy.So, as Rai organizes “Themed Dinner Parties” at her home, she naturally invited me to the next potluck that was going to take place on January the 21st 2007 with other food-obsessed fanatics that she knows…
This “Theme Dinner” was under the sign of booze (alcohol). Well, don’t get me wrong, we didn’t get drunken as it was not meant to be a binge party! The alcohol was supposed to be in the food we ate (although we did drink some fine sangria, champaign and wine)… Regarding that theme, it was open to interpretation and everybody was free to prepare the drink or food of their choice. There was no limitation.
Although our group of foodaholics was smallish, it was composed of a good mix of different cultures (American, Swiss, English, Malaysian, Norwegian), ages and horizons. What we all had in common was our love for food, eating, experimenting in the kitchen and at the table! I must say that I’ve had a very good time there, I met great and interesting people and ate as if there would be no tomorrow. We had a gargantuesque feast and sat at the table from 4pm till 9.30pm!!! We swallowed so much fine food that we were nearly exploding, could not move anymore and had to roll back home!....
Here's how it went:We started with Alison and Halvor’s “alien” starter, “Gin And Tonic Jello” which surprised us all with it’s interesting combination of sweet, strong, sour and bitter flavors as well as it’s fizziness. Every bite was like “woaw, that’s amazing and rather bizarre!!!”. I had never tasted anything like this before…
~ My "Beer Bread". ~
As a starter, I brought some homemade “Guinness And Rosemary Cheese Bread Buns” that were accompanied by a “Middle East Meets Italy Bean Spread” made with pureed cranberry beans, roasted garlic, cumin powder, paprika (smoked and normal), tahina paste, olive oil, ground black pepper and sea salt.
Rachel made a delicious “Sangria” which we gulped down greedily.
~ Rachel's "Sangria" and my "Bean Spread". ~
Next came Rai’s trademark dish, an “Onion And Croutons Soup”. It had a very pleasant homely taste and was remarkably flavorful.After having eaten that soup, we were very lucky to savor Mike’s uplifting “Fusion Duck” marinated in red wine and spiced with 5 spice powder and malt sugar. Delicious and very harmonious! We ate that dish with Rai’s two wonderful creations: “ Indian Spice Rice” which had a round taste, was perfectly balanced spice-wise and was awesomely perfumed, as well as a fresh and heavenly “Madagascar Salad” made with fresh pineapple, mango, green peppercorns, rum and orange juice. Yummy!
~ Mike's "Fusion Duck". ~
By then, we were getting extremely full, but we still had space for dessert and the sugar tooths that we are craved for a sweet treat. A real foodie would NEVER leave without having eaten dessert!!!
Alison and Halvor baked a superb “Stout Cake” which’s ingredients were better kept secret lest you'd have a heart attack, since the quantities used were astonishing (1 kilo sugar, 500g double cream, 500g chocolate and so on… The list was long.)!!! It was rich, evil and "dirty" to please, moist, fudgy and hyper scrumptuous. Of course, this cake had to be paired with vanilla ice cream, for added pleasure!
~ Alison and Halvor's "Stout Cake". ~
To close our feast, we ended this supper in beauty with a very last course made by myself, a “White Wine Tart” (a speciality from Vaud) …
~ My "Wine Tart". ~ In conclusion, this “Dinner Party” was astonishing! The people were all very friendly, interesting and good cooks/bakers. We had a jolly good time blabbering, eating and drinking (not so much, though) 'till we were not able to move anymore. I think that I never ate so much in my whole life!!!!!!I am now already looking forwards to our next dinner which sounds very promising! I’m glad that such people exist and made/make me discover new specialities as well as new horizons…
A special thanks goes to you Rai for having created such a great event and making things possible!!!
On the 11th of November, our little group of foodies met again. This time, we didn't only have home cooks/bakers around the table, but also a few testers (we were eight) who came to eat our creations (we always have so much food that we desperately need mouths to feed; people whose aim is to indulge with us)!
As main course, she prepared "Port & Fig Duck". That duck breast was very tasty and pleasing. The sweetness of the sauce was very pleasant and the combination of the dried figs with Port wine was amazing...
For dessert, Kiriel delighted us all with her "Pavlovas With Spiced Clementine Sauce, Macadamia Nuts And Cream" (see recipe). The leatherwood honey from Tasmania that she used for the sauce was also imported from Australia and it gave a gorgeous dimension to this ambrosial treat. I've never tasted a variety of honey like that. It tasted ever so gorgeous and was heavenly aromatic... Definitely a hammer!
Mike (Malaysia) made a starter which was marvelously exotic. His "Shrimp Sambar On Bread" was well-balanced flavor-wise and harmoniously spicy. Fusion food at it's best!
Corinne (Switzerland), our new member and friend, brought a delicious "Pumpkin Salad" as a side dish. It was made with a hazelnut oil, vinegar and roasted sesame seeds vinaigrette. Exquisite!
As main course, she delected us with her "Spicy Lamb Casserole" which was gently aromatised with fresh coriander and cinnamon. She also made some excellent "Chocolate Chip Muffins". Yummy!
I - Rosa (Switzerland) - brought a main dish which I particularly enjoy eating when October's around... I served my "Greek Pork Stew With Quinces" (see recipe) with a homemade "Wheat And Rye Sourdough Baguette" (The King Arthur Flour) which contained anise seeds, caraway seeds and ground cardamom. It matched the stew pretty well.
I also made an extremely hearty cream cheese-ladden "Pumpkin Cheesecake" (see recipe) which was accompanied by a "Cranberry Coulis". Mind-blowing!
Our next rendez-vous is planned for December the 9th. The theme will be "Afternoon Tea", so I hope you'll stay tuned!
