Rosti Potatoes

Posted February 26, 2015

Filed under deep flexipan, Large round mold, octogonal silpat, potato, Recipe with Demarle Cookware, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

If you have attended one of my cooking classes, you will have heard of my husband because I speak of him often.. Why? because he is the reason I have to fix two dinners each night, and why I love my demarle cookware so much because it allows me to cook everything so quickly and the clean-up is so fast!!!

This evening my husband wanted to eat Meat Salad and Rosti Potatoes. He fixed the meat salad himself and was going to grate the potatoes to fix his rosti potatoes, when I offered to make them for him. If you have never made Rosti Potatoes, you should try them. There are quite yummy. They are very crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. They are usually made in a frying pan, but made in the deep flexipan, or in a metal cookie sheet, will be a much easier and healthier option.

Ingredients for 8 people:

1 package of frozen hash brown of about ( 30 oz. ) to be found in the frozen aisle section
1 package of 6 cheese Italian cheese ( 8 oz. )
1 stick of butter melted completely ( in the microwave for 4 minutes)
2 tbsp of roasted garlic and chives spice from Demarle
1 medium size onion or two small ones diced thinly.
1/2 tsp of pepper
1 tsp of salt or more to taste

Turn the oven to 425.
To thaw out the frozen hasbrown, place them in the fridge the day prior to cooking the dish, or place the content of the package into the large round mold, cover the mold with the octogonal silpat and microwave it for 6 minutes. Set aside.
Cut the butter and place it into a small bowl. Cover the bowl with something so that it will not splash out.I am using my octogonal silpat😉
Pour the potatoes in a very large bowl, add the diced onion, salt, pepper, cheese, melted butter, the demarle spices and mix well.
Place the grande flexipan onto the large perforated sheet and empty the content of the bowl onto the flexipan. If you do not have this cookware, use a very large cookie sheet and spray it with olive oil. With a spatula, pat the potatoes down.
Place the pan into the oven on the top tier and cook the potatoes for 30minutes. They will be nicely crispy and brown on both sides:-)
Eat as a side to whatever you are fixing. At our house, it was Meat Salad ( only German can understand….), but I know you guys can come up with other sides;-) Yummy, simple, and cheap.

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Rosti Potatoes

Servings: 8 people
Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: Super Easy
Print

Ingredients for 8 people:

1 package of frozen hash brown of about ( 30 oz. ) to be found in the frozen aisle section
1 package of 6 cheese Italian cheese ( 8 oz. )
1 stick of butter melted completely ( in the microwave for 4 minutes)
2 tbsp of roasted garlic and chives spice from Demarle
1 medium size onion or two small ones diced thinly.
1/2 tsp of pepper
1 tsp of salt or more to taste

Turn the oven to 425.
To thaw out the frozen hasbrown, place them in the fridge the day prior to cooking the dish, or place the content of the package into the large round mold, cover the mold with the octogonal split and microwave it for 6 minutes. Set aside.
Cut the butter and place it into a small bowl. Cover the bowl with something so that it will not splash out.
I am using my octogonal silpat;-)
Pour the potatoes in a very large bowl, add the diced onion, salt, pepper, cheese, melted butter, the demarle spices and mix well.
Place the grande flexipan onto the large perforated sheet and empty the content of the bowl onto the flexipan. With a spatula, pat the potatoes down.
Place the pan into the oven on the top tier and cook the potatoes for 30minutes. Eat as a side to whatever you are fixing. Yummy, simple, and cheap!

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

If you like what you read or see, please share;-) Merci beaucoup!!!

Fruit Pizza

Posted February 8, 2015

Filed under Cakes, cookies, deep flexipan, dessert, fruit, large muffin, Recipe with Demarle Cookware, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

Looking for a fun dish to bring to a party, or for a quick treat to give your children?? This is it: Fruit pizza. Thank you Donna Waltz for giving me the idea. I would have never thought of it. But you are right, it is easy, fun to make, cheap and yummy!!!

Ingredients for a pizza for 8 people:

1 and 1/2 pack of sugar cookie dough
2 cups of fruit of your choice ( I used 3 kiwis, 6 large strawberries and a few chunks of pineapple).
1 container of mascarpone cheese ( italian cream cheese to be found in the Euopean section of the dairy product) or you can substitute with cream cheese.
1 cup of heavy cream
1/4 cup of sugar
1 tbsp of vanilla extract

Cut the sugar cookie dough in 1/3 or 1/4 of an inch. Place each slice inside the pan of your choice ( I chose the grande mold. If you choose the deep flexipan, you will need 2 cans of sugar cookies. )
Turn the oven at 350 and cook the cookie pizza for 15 minutes. It will be very soft at first, but let it cool completely and it will firm up.
While the cookie is cooling, prepare the topping. In a large mixer bowl, beat the mascarpone with the sugar, vanilla extract and whipped cream until you have a whipped cream.
Spread the cream over the cookie.
Decorate the pizza with fruit of your choice.
Eat up;-)

Fruit Pizza

Servings: 8-10 persons
Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: Super
Print

Ingredients for a pizza for 8 people:

1 and 1/2 pack of sugar cookie dough
2 cups of fruit of your choice ( I used 3 kiwis, 6 large strawberries and a few chunks of pineapple).
1 container of mascarpone cheese ( italian cream cheese to be found in the European section of the dairy product) or you can substitute with 8 oz. of cream cheese.
1 cup of heavy cream
1/4 cup of sugar
1 tbsp of vanilla extract

Cut the sugar cookie dough in 1/3 or 1/4 of an inch. Place each slice inside the pan of your choice tat you will have placed on a medium perforated sheet( I chose the grande mold. If you choose the deep flexipan, you will need 2 cans of sugar cookies. )
Turn the oven at 350 and cook the cookie pizza for 15 minutes. It will be very soft at first, but let it cool completely and it will firm up.
While the cookie is cooling, prepare the topping. In a large mixer bowl,
Once the cookie is cold, beat the mascarpone with the sugar, vanilla extract and whipped cream until you have a whipped cream.
Spread the cream over the cookie, and decorate the pizza with fruit of your choice.
Eat up;-)

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

If you like what you read, enter your e-mail on the box on the right of this post, and please share. Merci beaucoup!!!;-)

Soft Balls for the Superbowl;-)

Posted February 1, 2015

Filed under Cakes, dessert, mini muffin, petit four, Recipe with Demarle Cookware, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

To keep with the news, why not make soft balls for the Superbowl:-)

I am just kidding. But since this year Superbowl is all about soft and spongy balls, we decided to bring this time not a Super Bowl cake, but molten chocolate mini cakes.

Ingredients for 40 mini footballs:

5 eggs
2 sticks of unsalted butter
8 oz of good quality chocolate ( ghiradhelli)
1/2 cup of sugar
icing of your choice to make the lines on the cheese

Place the chocolate and the butter in a small bowl and microwave it for 90 seconds.
Meanwhile, beat the sugar and the eggs together a few strokes ( enough so you will not see the sugar any more.)
Mix the butter and the chocolate chips so that it will look like syrup.
Pour the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and stir.
At first it will be very liquid, but as you stir, it will become thicker and looks like goo.
Pour the mixture into the mold of your choice. I chose the quenelle mold, but you can use the mini muffin mold.
If you choose this mold, cook the cakes for 5 minutes for 400.
Let the cakes cool completely in the mold until they are cold.
Unmold them, and decorate them as you wish. I chose brown icing to make the lace of the balls. Enjoy!!!

Soft SuperBowls

Servings: 10-20 people
Time: 5 minutes
Difficulty: Super Easy
Print

Ingredients for 40 mini footballs:

5 eggs
2 sticks of unsalted butter
8 oz of good quality chocolate ( ghiradhelli)
1/2 cup of sugar
icing of your choice to make the lines on the cheese

Place the chocolate and the butter in a small bowl and microwave it for 90 seconds.
Meanwhile, beat the sugar and the eggs together a few strokes ( enough so you will not see the sugar any more.)
Mix the butter and the chocolate chips so that it will look like syrup.
Pour the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and stir.
At first it will be very liquid, but as you stir, it will become thicker and looks like goo.
Pour the mixture into the mold of your choice. I chose the quenelle mold, but you can use the mini muffin mold.
If you choose this mold, cook the cakes for 5 minutes for 400.
Let the cakes cool completely in the mold until they are cold.
Unmold them, and decorate them as you wish. I chose brown icing to make the lace of the balls.Enjoy!!!

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

If you like what you read or see, please share;-) Merci beaucoup!!!

Coconut Covered Shrimps

Posted February 1, 2015

Filed under appetizers, entree, Recipe with Demarle Cookware, seafood, shrimps, silpat, snacks, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

If you live around me, you know that i offer cooking classes all the times. Cooking classes to novice chefs and to more advanced cooks. I try to offer various dinner ideas so as to appeal to everyone. It can be learning to cook healthy quick dinner ideas, or to perfect a technique, or simply to learn a style of cooking that one is not familiar with. No matter the audience, no matter the menu, I am having fun because I am in a kitchen playing and teaching.

If you go to this link, you will be able to view the times and menu of each cooking classes though this month, my availability has been limited due several elements.

Any way, at one of my latest cooking classes, we focused on Asian Cooking. On the menu, we had Coconut Covered Shrimps, Curry and Mint Chicken Kebabs, Organo Salmon Spring Rolls, and Sushi.

Today I would like to offer you the recipe of coconut covered shrimps. It is easy, fast, delicious, very inexpensive and most likely to please everyone at your house little and big.

Ingredients to make 50 coconut covered shrimps:

1 bag of uncooked frozen shrimps from Costco ( I like to shop there, the products are great quality, and very inexpensive compared to many other grocery store. Of course, you would not have to fix the whole bag)
1 bag of 14 oz of sweetened coconut flakes
3 eggs
2 cups of flour
salt
pepper
2 jars of sweet and sour ( unless you want to make your very own).

Defrost the amount of shrimps you wish to use. I had a whole crowd, so we used the whole bag.
Remove the tail of each shrimp.
Mount the shrimp on a small wooden skewer. Set aside, ad prepare your food station.
In a large bowl, place 2 cups of flour. In another bowl, beat the 4 eggs with 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/4 of pepper. Mix well. And in another bowl, empty the coconut flakes.
Dip the shrimps in the flour, then in the egg mixture, then in the coconut and place them onto the large silpat that you would have placed on a large perforated sheet. You will need 3 large silpats to cook them all.
Turn the oven to 400, and when the oven has reached its temperature, spray some olive oil, or coconut oil over the shrimps.
Bake the shrimps for 8 to 10 minutes or until the shrimps have turned pinkish and the coconut has become a golden brown.
Eat them as they come out of the oven with a bit of sweet and sour sauce. Yum!!! You will see that it is hard to stop at a couple;-)

Easy, fast, healthy and delicious, my motto!!!

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Coconut Covered Shrimps

Servings: 8-10 people
Time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Print

Ingredients to make 50 coconut covered shrimps:

1 bag of uncooked frozen shrimps from Costco ( I like to shop there, the products are great quality, and very inexpensive compared to many other grocery store. Of course, you would not have to fix the whole bag)
1 bag of 14 oz of sweetened coconut flakes
3 eggs
2 cups of flour
salt
pepper
2 jars of sweet and sour ( unless you want to make your very own).

Defrost the amount of shrimps you wish to use. I had a whole crowd, so we used the whole bag.
Remove the tail of each shrimp.
Mount the shrimp on a small wooden skewer. Set aside, ad prepare your food station.
In a large bowl, place 2 cups of flour. In another bowl, beat the 4 eggs with 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/4 of pepper. Mix well. And in another bowl, empty the coconut flakes.
Dip the shrimps in the flour, then in the egg mixture, then in the coconut and place them onto the large silpat that you would have place d on a large perforated sheet. You will need 3 large silpats to cook them all.
Turn the oven to 400, and when the oven has reached its temperature, spray some olive oil, or coconut oil over the shrimps.
Bake the shrimps for 8 to 10 minutes or until the shrimps have turned pinkish and the coconut has become a golden brown.
Eat them as they come out of the oven with a bit of sweet and sour sauce. Yum!!! You will see that it is hard to stop at a couple;-)

Easy, fast, healthy and delicious, my motto!!!

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

If you like what you read and see, please share. Merci Beaucoup!!!

Chinese Fortune Cookies

Posted January 24, 2015

Filed under cookies, dessert, Recipe with Demarle Cookware, silpat, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

A few Thursdays ago, I hosted an Asian Cooking Class for a fun group of women. Not only did we have a lot of fun, but we also learned to make many yummy recipes. Our menu consisted of Pot Stickers, Teriyaki Chicken, Sesame Infused Broccoli, Coconut Rice and Fortune Cookies. Yes, we made fortune cookies;-)

Did you know however not all Chinese restaurants offer Chinese Fortune cookies?!?! Yes. it is true. I learned the night of the cooking class that Fortune Cookies were An American tradition. Yep, it is true!!

According to Wikepedia, “Fortune cookies are often served as a dessert in Chinese restaurants in the United States and some other countries, but are absent in China. The exact origin of fortune cookies is unclear, though various immigrant groups in California claim to have popularized them in the early 20th century, basing their recipe on a traditional Japanese cracker. Fortune cookies have been summarized as being “introduced by the Japanese, popularized by the Chinese, but ultimately … consumed by Americans.

As far back as the 19th century, a cookie very similar in appearance to the modern fortune cookie was made in Kyoto, Japan, and there is a Japanese temple tradition of random fortunes, called o-mikuji. The Japanese version of the cookie differs in several ways: they are a little bit larger; are made of darker dough; and their batter contains sesame and miso rather than vanilla and butter. They contain a fortune; however, the small slip of paper was wedged into the bend of the cookie rather than placed inside the hollow portion. This kind of cookie is called tsujiura senbei (辻占煎餅?) and are still sold in some regions of Japan, especially in Kanazawa, Ishikawa as the lucky items to start Happy New Year.Some said that it’s sold in the neighborhood of Fushimi Inari-taisha shrine in Kyoto.

Most of the people who claim to have introduced the cookie to the United States are Japanese, so the theory is that these bakers were modifying a cookie design which they were aware of from their days in Japan.

Makoto Hagiwara of Golden Gate Park’s Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco is reported to have been the first person in the USA to have served the modern version of the cookie when he did so at the tea garden in the 1890s or early 1900s. The fortune cookies were made by a San Francisco bakery, Benkyodo.[4][5][6]

David Jung, founder of the Hong Kong Noodle Company in Los Angeles, has made a competing claim that he invented the cookie in 1918.San Francisco’s mock Court of Historical Review attempted to settle the dispute in 1983. During the proceedings, a fortune cookie was introduced as a key piece of evidence with a message reading, “S.F. Judge who rules for L.A. Not Very Smart Cookie”. A federal judge of the Court of Historical Review determined that the cookie originated with Hagiwara and the court ruled in favor of San Francisco. Subsequently, the city of Los Angeles condemned the decision.[7]

Seiichi Kito, the founder of Fugetsu-do of Little Tokyo in Los Angeles, also claims to have invented the cookie.[8] Kito claims to have gotten the idea of putting a message in a cookie from Omikuji (fortune slip) which are sold at temples and shrines in Japan. According to his story, he sold his cookies to Chinese restaurants where they were greeted with much enthusiasm in both the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas. Thus Kito’s main claim is that he is responsible for the cookie being so strongly associated with Chinese restaurants.”

I felt a bit silly for proposing to make them, but we had much fun making them nonetheless;-)

Well, for fun, you certainly can make them too. They are much more yummy than the real ones served at Chinese restaurants.

Ingredients for about 16 biscuits:

2 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
8 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 teaspoons water

Turn the oven to 375.
Place a medium silpat onto a medium perforated sheet and set aside.
In a medium bowl, lightly beat the egg white, vanilla extract, almond extract and vegetable oil.
Add the water and mix well again.
In another bowl, mix all the dry ingredients ( flour, cornstarch, salt and sugar).
Add the flour into the egg white mixture and stir until you have a smooth batter. The batter should not be runny, but should drop easily off a wooden spoon.
Using 1 tablespoon drop the batter onto the silpat, that you would have placed on a large perforated sheet, and with the back of the spoon, spread the batter into an even 2 1/2 inch wide circle. Only make 3 to 4 cookies at a time because they will cool too quickly, and you will not be able to shape them if you make too many at a times.
Bake until the outer 1/2-inch of each cookie turns golden brown and they are easy to remove from the baking sheet with a spatula (between 8 and 10 minutes).
Working quickly, remove the cookie with a spatula and flip it over in your hand. Place a fortune in the middle of a cookie. To form the fortune cookie shape, fold the cookie in half, then gently pull the edges downward over the rim of a glass, wooden spoon or the edge of a muffin tin. Place the finished cookie in the cup of the muffin tin so that it keeps its shape. Continue with the rest of the cookies.
Repeat step 7-9 until you have used all the batter. Yum!!! The cookies will keep for a week in an airtight container.

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Chinese Fortune Cookies

Servings: 3 to 4 persons
Time: 15 minutes to 1 hour
Difficulty: Easy
Print

Ingredients for about 16 biscuits:

2 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
8 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 teaspoons water

Turn the oven to 375.
Place a medium silpat onto a medium perforated sheet and set aside.
In a medium bowl, lightly beat the egg white, vanilla extract, almond extract and vegetable oil.
Add the water and mix well again.
In another bowl, mix all the dry ingredients ( flour, cornstarch, salt and sugar).
Add the flour into the egg white mixture and stir until you have a smooth batter. The batter should not be runny, but should drop easily off a wooden spoon.
Using 1 tablespoon drop the batter onto the silpat, and with the back of the spoon, spread the batter into an even 2 1/2 inch wide circle. Only make 3 to 4 cookies at a time because they will cool too and you will not be able to shape them if you make too many.
Bake until the outer 1/2-inch of each cookie turns golden brown and they are easy to remove from the baking sheet with a spatula (between 8 and 10 minutes).
Working quickly, remove the cookie with a spatula and flip it over in your hand. Place a fortune in the middle of a cookie.
To form the fortune cookie shape, fold the cookie in half, then gently pull the edges downward over the rim of a glass, wooden spoon or the edge of a muffin tin. Place the finished cookie in the cup of the muffin tin so that it keeps its shape. Continue with the rest of the cookies.
Repeat step 7-9 until you have used all the batter. Yum!!! The cookies will keep for a week in an airtight container.

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Caramel Rice Pudding

Posted January 24, 2015

Filed under breakfast, Large round mold, Recipe with Demarle Cookware, sunflower, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

If you were to close your eyes and think of childhood dishes, what would it be? For me, it would have to be crepes and Caramel Rice or Polenta Pudding. I still see my mom boiling the rice, or the polenta in the vanilla flavored milk. I still see her stirring the caramel and pouring the polenta or the rice pudding in the caramel. It would bubble up and almost spill over the dish. It smelled so good and looked so yummy then, that it was hard to wait another 10 minutes for the dish to bake in the oven.

Though I dreamed of this dish for ever, I never prepared it because it was made with rice or polenta and because it is not exactly a light dessert. At my age, I tend to gravitate to lighter dessert. Those that are not so heavy on your stomach, and those that not do so much damage to your waste line;-)

This weekend, however, in light of stepping up my diet and including more starch in my diet ( i have been having problem of low blood pressure, and hypoglycemia), I decided fix Caramel Rice Pudding.

As i was fixing the various steps, I found it really difficult not to devour the rice pudding before it was completely finished….

Ingredients for a dish for 8-12 people:

250 gr. or 1 cup of rice
1 liter or about 4 cup of whole milk
100 gr. or about 1/2 cup of sugar
2 tbsp. of vanilla extract
5 yolks
100 gr. or about 1/2 cup of raisins
100 gr. or about 1/2 cup of sugar

Place the rice, sugar, vanilla extract and milk in a large pot. Mix well and cook over a medium-high heat until it comes to boil.
Then turn the oven to 400, and when the temperature has reached its temperature, place the pot in the oven and let the rice cook for 15 minutes.
While the rice is cooking, place another pot over the stove, add 100 gr. of sugar, and turn the heat to medium-high. DO NOT STIR!!!
When the sugar is starting to melt and becoming golden amber color, start stirring. Let the sugar melt completely into a golden caramel.
Either pour the caramel into a dish of your choice, or leave it into your pot if you don’t want to present your dessert. I used the scalloped Square mold from Demarle because the caramel does not stick in it and it makes a beautiful cake!!!
Add 100 gr of sugar, the raisins and the 5 yolks to the rice pudding and stir well.
Pour in the rice pudding a top the caramel. Do not stir.
Place the pot, or the dish back into the oven, in a water bath of about 1/2 inch, and cook the rice for another 10 minutes. YUM!!!! Try not to eat all at once when taking it out of the oven;-).
Before eating, invert the cake to show off.

Caramel Rice Pudding

Servings: 6-8 persons
Time: 25 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Print

Ingredients for a dish for 8-12 people:
250 gr. or 2 cups of rice
1 liter or 4 cups of whole milk
100 gr. or about 1/2 cup of sugar
2 tbsp. of vanilla extract
5 yolks
100 gr. or about 1/2 cup of raisins
100 gr. or about 1/2 of sugar

Place the rice, sugar, vanilla extract and milk in a large pot.
Mix well and cook over a medium-high heat until it comes to boil.
Then turn the oven to 400, and when the temperature has reached its temperature, place the pot in the oven and let the rice cook for 15 minutes.
While the rice is cooking, place another pot over the stove, add 100 gr. of sugar and turn the heat to medium-high. DO NOT STIR!!!
When the sugar is starting to melt and becoming golden amber color, start stirring. Let the sugar melt completely into a golden caramel.
Either pour the caramel into a dish of your choice, or leave it into your pot if you don’t want to present your dessert.
When the rice has cooked for 15 minutes, add the sugar, vanilla extract, raisins and yolks and mix well.
Pour the rice pudding mixture atop the caramel. Do not stir. Place the pot, or the dish back into the oven and cook the rice for another 10 minutes. YUM!!!! and try not to eat all at once;-)

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

If you like what you see and read, please share;-) Merci Beaucoup!