Tomatoes a la Provencale

Posted September 27, 2015

Filed under deep flexipan, grande mold, Large round mold, Recipe with Demarle Cookware, vegetables, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

Hello readers, and everyone else. How are you?? I know, I know it has been a while. It is crazy how time passes and how I find it difficult to write my recipes and share them with you. Contrary to my lack of posts, I have been cooking. But my family and I have had so much family visiting recently that it is difficult to find time to allocate to my blog.

Any way here I am. Before you will have no more tomatoes in your backyard, I wanted to share this yummy and very very easy recipe of Tomates Provencales.

There are a million recipes out there, but really the best part of this recipe, is that you can pretty much use all that you have in your cabinets to flavor those tomatoes.

Indeed, the recipe calls for Bread crumbs, but you can substitute it with crackers, or bagel chips that you would have crushed. One day, I even used some white cheddar cheez-it because I did not have any more bread crumbs.

Ingredients for 4-6 people:
1-2 tomatoes per person, so about 8,
1/4 cup of italian bread crumbs,
1/2 cup of grated parmesan,
1 tbsp of garlic salt.
1 tsp of rosemary thyme seasoning from demarle

Place all the dry ingredients into a small bowl and mix well.
Cut the roma tomatoes in half.
Place them into a flexipan or a large round.
Sprinkle the bread mixture over the top of the tomatoes.
Drizlle some olive oil to wet the bread crumbs
Bake the tomatoes for 15-20 minutes.

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Strawberry Bruchetta

Posted June 16, 2015

Filed under appetizers, Recipe with Demarle Cookware, silpain, silpat, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

Ahh Summer, so much vegetables and fruits to eat!! Everything looks delicious, it is really difficult not to purchase all that looks appetizing and that smells so delicious…

I am lucky to live in a location where we have tons of farmers and tons of local produces. Though it is a tad difficult to go to the produce market during the school year, I have enjoyed going these past few weeks. Everything smells so good in that store, that it is very tempting to buy everything that is at your fingertips;-)

Last time I went there, a couple of days ago, I bought a few peaches, a cantaloupe, a few red tomatoes and a gallon of strawberries. Yes, a gallon… That is a lot I know, but I intended to use them in my morning shakes, eat them for a snack during the day, and give some away. I wanted to give some away to my mother-in-law, but when I went to here house, I saw that she, too, had purchased a gallon of strawberries … so I had to take mine back home and figure out what to do with them before they got spoiled.

Really, what can you do with strawberries?? especially a gallon of strawberries??? Of course you can make fruit salads, jams, tarts, cream, ice-creams and many, many more desserts!

I wanted to use them otherwise than as a dessert so I decided to make a Strawberry Bruchetta. It is actually quite easy to make, fast, inexpensive and it is beautiful to the eyes and your tastebuds;-) You would think that it is too sweet, but the tang of the goat cheese, and the fact that the strawberries are seasoned with vinegar, salt, and pepper, it makes them taste almost unsweetened. It was a delight for me;-) I dare you to try;-)

Ingredients to make 30-40 individual pieces:

1 French baguette sliced thinly,
1 log of goat cheese at room temperature ( about 6 oz.)
1 pint of fresh strawberries ( use local ones if you can, they taste so much better),
1 tbsp of basil olive oil, I used the Demarle Basil olive oil.
1 tbsp of traditional balsamic vinegar,
1 tbsp of fresh basil chopped.

Slice the baguette thinly, and place it on top of the silpain atop a medium perforated sheet. If you do not have either, place the bread onto a cookie sheet.
Cook the slices for 5-7 minutes or until they are crisp on both sides.
Meanwhile, prepare the strawberry topping. Chop the strawberries and place them into a medium-sized bowl.
Add 1 tbsp of olive oil, and balsamic vinegar, a dash of salt and of pepper, the chopped basil and mix well.
When the sliced baguette are crispy, remove them from the oven and let them cool down.
Spread the cheese over the baguette.
And spoon a bit of the strawberry mixture atop the cheese. Eat right away;-))) Miam.

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Strawberry Bruchetta

Servings: 8-10 people
Time: 5-7 minutes
Difficulty: Super easy
Print

Ingredients to make 30-40 individual pieces:

1 French baguette sliced thinly,
1 log of goat cheese at room temperature ( about 6 oz. )
1 pint of fresh strawberries ( use local ones if you can, they taste so much better),
1 tbsp of basil love oil, I used the Demarle Basil olive oil.
1 tbsp of traditional balsamic vinegar,
1 tbsp of fresh basil chopped.

Slice the baguette thinly, and place it on top of the silpain atop a medium perforated sheet. If you do not have either, place the bread onto a cookie sheet.
Cook the slices for 5-7 minutes, or until they are crisp on both sides.
Meanwhile, prepare the strawberry topping. Chop the strawberries and place them into a medium-sized bowl.
Add 1 tbsp of olive oil, and balsamic vinegar, a dash of salt and of pepper, the chopped basil and mix well.
When the sliced baguette are crispy, remove them from the oven and let them cool down.
Spread the cheese over the baguette.
And spoon a bit of the strawberry mixture atop the cheese.
Eat right away;-))) Miam.

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Meyer Lemon Granita

Posted August 2, 2014

Filed under dessert, ice-cream. sorbet, Recipe with Demarle Cookware, stainless steel cookware, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

Meyer lemon is my top favorite fruit. It is hard to explain what a Meyer lemon is, other that it has an exceptional taste. If I can describe it, it smells and tastes a bit like a mix of lemon and mandarin: tangy, subtle …yummy!!!

I am not fan of lemon, but love, love, love Meyer lemon. The problem is that they are very very seasonal and it can be difficult to find them. In fact, in our little town, only one grocery store carry them.

So no need to say that when they arrive on the stand, I purchase them … sometimes not even knowing what I am going to do with them.

Well, this time around I bought a few dozens and decided to make a lemon granita. I could have made sorbets but was too lazy to take out my ice cream machine.

For some of you who do no know what is the difference between a sorbet and a granita.

Here is the explanation:

A granita is a semi-frozen dessert made from sugar, water and various flavorings – no dairy is involved. Basic granita begins with a boiled sugar syrup which is added into a fruit juice. The granita is then placed in the freezer in a shallow pan and scraped occasionally with a fork which produces a course texture.

A sorbet, on the other hand, is a frozen dessert made from sugar, water and fruit juice or fruit puree, sometimes chocolate, and sometimes wine, and/or liqueur.* Sorbet also has no dairy ingredients, but is frozen in an ice cream freezer for a smoother texture .

So depending which freezing process you will be using,, you will end up with a granita or a sorbet. Whichever, it is delicious.

Ingredients for 4 cups of Meyer Lemon Sorbet or Granita.

2 cups of Meyer Lemon Juice ( which comes from about 11 lemons)
1 cup of water
1 cup of sugar
1 tbsp of Meyer Lemon zest

In a small saucepan, cook the water and the sugar to make a syrup.
Meanwhile zest about 2 lemons to get the zest that you need. Set aside.
Also juice all the lemons so that you will have about 2 cups of fresh juice.
Add the lemon juice and the zest to the syrup and mix well.
Either use an ice-cream maker to make the sorbet according to the machine , or fill a container with the mixture and place the container into the freezer so that it will freeze.
If you are making a granita, place the container in the freezer for several hours ( 5 hours at least).
With the spoon, scrape the frozen mixture. You will be making the granita.
Serve as a dessert, or in between meals to help with cleansing, and digestion.
Easy, Yummy and delicious:-)

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Meyer Lemon Granita

Servings: 2-4
Time: 12 hours
Difficulty: Super Easy
Print

Ingredients for 4 cups of Meyer Lemon Granita.

2 cups of Meyer Lemon Juice ( which comes from about 11 lemons)
1 cup of water
1 cup of sugar
1 tbsp of Meyer Lemon zest

In a small saucepan, cook the water and the sugar to make a syrup.
Meanwhile zest about 2 lemons to get the zest that you need. Set aside.
Also juice all the lemons so that you will have about 2 cups of fresh juice.
Add the lemon juice and the zest to the syrup and mix well.
Either use an ice-cream maker to make the sorbet according to the machine , or fill a container with the mixture and place the container into the freezer so that it will freeze.
If you are making a granita, place the container in the freezer for several hours ( 5 hours at least).
With the spoon, scrape the frozen mixture. You will be making the granita.
Serve as a dessert, or in between meals to help with cleansing, and digestion. Eh voila, Easy, Yummy and delicious!!!

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Peach Espuma

Posted July 21, 2014

Filed under dessert, fruit, Mousses, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

Espuma is a a foamy dessert, a whipped concoction made of fruit. Unlike many other mousse, in the Espuma, air or gas is added to a juice or a broth to make a lighter texture.

“Natural flavors (such as fruit juices, infusions of aromatic herbs, etc.) are mixed with a neutrally-flavored gelling or stabilizing agent such as agar or lecithin, and either whipped with a hand-held immersion blender or extruded through a whipped cream canister equipped with N2O cartridges.”

An espuma or thermo whip is commonly used to make these foams through the making of a stock, creating a gel and extruding through the N2O canister.

I wanted to present you the Peach Espuma because I like to serve it along a peach tart.

Ingredients for 4 Espumas:

1 cup of water
2 peaches
1 tbsp of green tea leaves
1/8 cup of sugar and 2 tbsp of sugar
1/2 packet of gelatin

Fill a medium saucepan with water, and bring to boil.
When the water is boiling, drop all 2 peaches in the saucepan at the same time, and keep turning them around for a minute or so, so that they will cook evenly, and will be easy to peel.
Peel the skin of the peaches.
In another saucepan, fill 1 cup of water. Add the peaches that you would have quartered, 1/8 cup of sugar, 1 tbsp of green tea leaves, and bring to boil. Let it simmer for 5 minutes.
Remove the peaches from the water, and puree the peaches with a hand mixer.
Sieve this puree. Set aside.
In a small bowl mix 1/2 pack of gelatin with 1 tbsp of water and let it expand.
Place the puree back in a small saucepan, add 2 tbsp of sugar, and bring to boil.
Add the gelatin, and stir.
Remove the pan from the stove and let the puree cool completely.
When the puree is cool, pour it into a whipping container such as ISO. Follow the instructions to make the espuma. Fill small glasses with the espuma for each guest.
To serve your dessert, place the tart, the glass of Espuma, and a scoop of ice-cream on a plate.

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Grilled Asparagus Salad

Posted July 24, 2013

Filed under entree, vegetables, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

In the summer, we often grill because:

1. it takes no time to prepare dinner

2. it gets too hot in the house if the oven is on

3. i like to hang outside when the sun goes down.

For those same reasons, we grill last night. I had salmon and asparagus while the rest of the gang enjoyed some sausages and roasted potatoes. Because I always fix too much vegetables ( or I fix just enough but no-one else is eating them), I was left with quite a few extra asparagus today. What to do?

Personally I do not like to rewarm asparagus the next day because they don’t taste wonderful therefore I thought of making a salad with that this evening , and I was quite happy with their flavor.

Ingredients for 2-4 people:

1 asparagus bundle
1 tbsp of Demarle Mediterranean balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp of olive oil
1/8 tsp of salt
1/16 tsp of pepper
olive oil

If you have some left-over grilled asparagus, skip step 1-4.

Rinse the asparagus under running water and trim the ends.
Place the asparagus in a bowl, drizzle some olive oil over them, and with your fingers toss the asparagus so that they will be well-coated with olive oil.
Turn the grill to medium and grill the asparagus for 2 minutes on each side.
Let them cool.
Meanwhile, in a bowl mix the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.
Place the asparagus on a cutting board, and with a sharp knife cut them in small segments of about 1/2 inch.
Toss the cut-up asparagus in the vinaigrette, stir and enjoy.

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Apricot Tart

Posted June 30, 2013

Filed under dessert, fruit, Tarts and Pies, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

Fridges are fun to look into. By looking at someone’s fridge you can tell if that person cooks, loves to cook or just dine out. Generally a person who cooks will have an array of things to use at all times. Things like cheeses, pie crust, and raw ingredients.

I like to keep things like pie crust, puff pastry, phillo dough, wonton wraps because they are medium that can help you get dinner on the table quite fast. I love to use wontons to make fun appetizers. The pie crust of course can help you make tartlets, quiches and pies.

This past Friday, some friends of ours decided to come by unexpectedly to pick up some things at the house, and since it was close to diner time, I quickly ran to the store to get some meats to grill. We made a salad, some vegetable flan a tart for dessert. Not too bad for an unexpected dinner;-) Of course it is easy if you already have everything on hand.

For dessert, I made an Apricot tart because it is easy to do and I had no other fruits than apricots on hand. Of course, you can do this recipe with pear, apple, plum and strawberry.

Ingredients for a tart for 8 people:

1 puff pastry dough thawed at room temperature for 15 mns.
about 24 fresh apricots
sugar

Turn the oven to 450.
Place the puff pastry dough onto the roulpat and with the rolling pin, roll the dough so that it will fit the flexipat ( 12 x 15in”).
With a fork, perforate the bottom of the pie.
Cut each apricots in 8 quarters and lay them out onto the phyllo dough.
Sprinkle some granulated sugar and cook the pie for 20-25 minutes.
Sprinkle more sugar so that it will caramelized the apricots a bit and cook for another 5 minutes.
Remove the tart from the oven and let it cool a bit before serving.
Serve cold, or warm with or without ice-cream. Et voila!

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Zucchini Butterfly- Papillon de Courgettes

Posted June 24, 2013

Filed under Fleximolds, Recipe with Demarle Cookware, vegetables, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

It is summer, and as such your garden or your grocery store should be filled with cheap but yummy summer vegetables: zucchini, Summer Squash, Corn, Tomatoes…

But what to do with them. Even me who eats lots of vegetables get tired of eating the same vegetable over and over again.

Zucchini is a prime example. How else can you eat it besides grilled, steamed and again grilled???

My sister-in-law makes zucchini muffins. They taste pretty good, but it is not something I want to fix with zucchini.

My sister shared this yummy recipe that make for great sides to any dish. Today I am using fresh zucchini, but you can certainly substitute zucchini with any other vegetables.

Ingredients for 8, which makes 2 trays of 12 butterfly.

4 medium-sized zucchini or about 2 lbs of fresh zucchini
4 eggs
3/4 cup of heavy cream, half & half or milk
1 cup of swiss cheese ( optional)
1 tbsp of corn flour
1 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of thyme, rosemary herb blend

Turn the oven to 350.
Using a mandoline, or a hand grater, grate the zucchini and fill a bowl with them.
Add to it, 4 eggs, 1 tbsp of corn flour, 1 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp of thyme, and mix well.
Scoop this content in the mold or container of your choice. Today i used the butterfly mold (on special this month), but your could use a big muffin tray or even bake the whole thing in one big mold such as the sunflower mold.
Cook for 30 minutes in small container, and 60 minutes in a large one.
Serve those yummy butterflies with a dinner of your choice. Et voila!!!

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Tomato, Bacon Sandwich

Posted June 1, 2013

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

Yesterday was the last day of school. Yeah!!! and once I finished everything and was allowed to go home, I went home, put on comfortable clothes and relaxed in the back patio. It was so lovely that I stayed there until the sun set which was almost till 9pm. Needless to say that at this time i did not really want to fix dinner so I let my family fix what they wanted while i decided to use the tomatoes I had purchased a few days ago from a local farmer,

Ingredients for 2 tomato sandwiches:

1 ripe tomato sliced in 5 slices
4 whole wheat toasts
1- 2 tsp of mayonnaise
salt and pepper
optional gorgonzola
6 bacon strips/ or about 3 tbsp of bacon bits

turn the oven to 400.
place the toast on a silpat and toast for 5 minutes. You may also use your toaster to toast the bread.
remove the toast from the oven and spread some mayonnaise on all toasts.
Place the bacon strips on 2 of the toasts, then the tomatoes slices.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
At this point you may want to add some fresh Gorgonzola. I do sometimes;-)
Place the final toast. Press with your hand, cut and enjoy. Yummy!!!

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Strawberry Cups

Posted May 18, 2013

Filed under cookies, dessert, fruit, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

I love summer because the fruits and vegetables are so yummy, and eating healthy is simple nature, not a task. Right now, here in the South, it is strawberry season. strawberries are sold everywhere, at the corner of intersections, at Farmer Markets, in stores and of course in Strawberry farms. Strawberries are so good and flavorful at this time of the year. They are so sweet that eating them by themselves is wonderful.

If you have guests however, presenting sliced or diced strawberries in a cup can be a bit boring so I suggest that you present them in an eatable cup instead. For this recipe, here, for example, I used the recipe of the Tuiles I presented a few posts ago and I molded them inside the large cupcake.

The ingredients are changing slightly as we want them to be flavored with vanilla instead of almond:

Ingredients for about 12 cups:

2 egg whites at room temperature
100 gr. or about 1/3 cup and 1 tbsp of white sugar
35 gr. or about 2 1/2 tbsp of butter melted but cold
35 gr. or about 2 1/2 tbsp. of flour
1/2 tsp of of vanilla extract

Turn the oven to 330.
Place the butter in a microwavable bowl and cook for 30 seconds or until the butter is completely melted. Let it cool.
In a bowl, beat the egg whites and the sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved, and the egg whites get a bit foamy.
Add the butter, the flour and the vanilla extract and stir well.
Place a large silpat on a large perforated sheet.
Drop 2 tablespoons of the mixture on the silpat and with the back of the tablespoon spread the mixture out to make a circle of about 4-5 inches.
Repeat to make about 4 circles per silpat. Do not make more than 4 per batch or the tuiles will cool off and you will not have time to shape them all if you make them too many
Cook for 8-10 minutes or until the edges of the circles are becoming brown.
Remove the perforated sheet from the oven. Wait a few seconds to let the cookie cool a bit or they will tear as you lift them. Do not wait more than a few seconds or they will cool too much and you will not be able to shape them.
With the tip of a kitchen knife ( not sharp, You do not want to perfore the silpat), lift the side of the circle and pull it up carefully.
Place the circle inside the large cupcake mold and with your fingers press the cookie inside the cup to lay the cookie flat and be careful not to tear it. Let it cool completely before lifting them from cupcake tray
Repeat steps 5-10 until you have used the whole batter.
Keep the cups in an airtight container to keep them dry and crunchy.

You can use those cups with any fruits, but today I chose to fill them with fresh strawberries.

Ingredients for the Strawberry Salad for 4:

1 pint of fresh strawberries diced thinly
1 tbsp of fresh Meyer lemon juice
zest of one Meyer lemon
2 tbsp of sugar

Clean the strawberries under running water
dice them thinly, but cutting them in fourth and then in slices.
place them in a bowl
add the Meyer Lemon Juice, the zest and the sugar
stir well.
Decorate the plate by drizzling some strawberry syrup, spoon a bit of the strawberry salad in 4 cups. Sprinkle more lemon zest for decoration and serve right away.

Sunshine on a plate;-) Yum!!!

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Tomato and Tuna Salad

Posted April 26, 2013

Filed under entree, Recipe with Demarle Cookware, seafood, stainless steel cookware, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

Yesterday, I had a millions of things to do and I knew that I could not spend too much time in the kitchen so I decided to swing by the fresh market to pick up some sirloin steaks.
I knew I was not going to eat that ( I am not a red meat fan), but I still had not a idea of what I would eat when entering the store. I was not worried because I can always find something;-)

Well as soon as I walked in, I saw a beautiful display of bull tomatoes.

Tomatoes, unlike fruit never really picked my interest but those were so pretty that they looked that they would make a great dinner;-) Those tomatoes came in so many colors that I thought it would be fun to have a colorful salad for a change:-)

But what to eat with it???? Fish?? maybe.. as I looked into the fish display I saw some beautiful tuna steaks.
Tina sashimi had been so rare to find this past year that I decided that they too would become my dinner.

Dinner for me was set: Tuna and tomato salad:-)

Ingredients for 2:

1 red bull tomato
1 green bull tomato
1 yellow
1 tsp of chopped fresh basil
2 tbsp of olive oil
2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp of salt
1/8 tsp of pepper
1 tsp of Dijon mustard
olive oil or 1/2 tsp of butter

Rinse the tomatoes very well.
Cut them in their width and again in their length to make cubes. Set aside.
In a bowl, mix the mustard, olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper and mix well.
Add the tomatoes and the fresh basil and stir. Set aside.
In a small frying pan, warm up the 1/2 tsp of butter. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on both sides of the tuna steak.
When the butter is sizzling, add the tuna steak and sear it for 1 minute. Turn it and sear it for another minute. Cook it longer if you want it more done (I like mine rare).
Slice the steak in cubes and mix those with the tomato salad. Et voila!