29 February 2012

Boiled Yolk Cookies

hey!
The other day, working for a hotel coffeebreak, we made these cookies which I loved and can be adapted in so many ways!
The recipe is super easy, with only 4 ingredients. We made it with 30 eggs but I'll give you the recipe with only 4 eggs that I made yesterday and it yields around 30-40 cookies.


4 eggs
80 gr sugar
130 gr softened butter
230 gr plain flour


Boil the eggs, put them in an ice bath, peel them and take only the boiled yolks.
Mash the yolks with a fork until they form a paste.
Add the sugar and mix with the hand - very important!! - if you use a machine you won't get the same texture
Pour in the butter, mixing, and finally add the flour in 3 - 4 batches until the dough absorbs all the flour.
The perfect texture is crumbly.


Form little balls and press your finger on them, so they're prettier.
Sprinkle a baking tray with some flour, accommodate your little cookies in there (they won't grow too much so you can fit them almost together!)
They bake in a 180ºc/350ºf for about 15 min, until they're golden 


(mine were a little more tanned but it depends on your taste!)


I couldn't shoot my cookies but I took a picture of the box I wrapped them in, to offer this evening when I went to have dinner at a friend's house (by the way, the dinner was great! Penne with shrimp and tomato and coriander sauce, really portuguese and comfy!)






Have a good night
jo

28 February 2012

The Place | Frenchie



Today I want to tell you about Frenchie, most of you have probably already heard of it, since it's becoming more famous as time goes by and as "bistronomy" is becoming more and more popular.






Frenchie is one of my favourite restaurants, and I dream of working as an intern there (I actually will send my resume but with very low expectations of being accepted, once Chef Gregory Marchand works practically alone)


The name of the restaurant, as explains its chef and owner, comes from when being called "Frenchie" at Jamie Oliver's 15, where he worked before returning to the city of lights, after working in both western continents (Gramerci Tavern in New York, Fifteen in London).


This restaurant is located in the belle city of Paris, since it opened it is busier and busier and reservations are hard to get (but possible!)






The chef has as motto the very known "less is more" and in his case, that's the true. His philosophy is fresh food straight from the source, fresh ingredients in to-die-for combinations in a 29-seat restaurant where the menu changes weekly.








I'm quite certain you're now drooling over your keyboard.. but please do! Here's some sites where you can see more (but please go get a napkin...)



  • http://weareyoungandhungry.blogspot.com/2011/06/aix-en-provence-market.html

  • http://www.thepariskitchen.com/2011/06/frenchies-wine-bar/

  • http://www.hotels-paris-rive-gauche.com/blog/2009/10/01/frenchie-restaurant-paris-rue-nil/
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qhy1wQ62NWM
Hope you liked the post :)
jo






pink!

A quick post letting you know that yesterday I cooked my pink tagliatelli! Here''s a picture I took from other blog, my bb seams to don't remember he took pictures yesterday and it didn't save anything for me..
Do I have to start carrying my camera?! noo!!

from: http://www.citronetvanille.com/blog/


In classes we learned a lot of sandwiches from classics like Club to delicious mediterranean bruschetta! I'll talk about it when I have the time.

I'm rushing to school now!!

27 February 2012


Good Morning!
At this time in the morning I'm almost leaving to school, which starts at 8h45 everyday. 
Today we'll be taking Cold Kitchen class until 5pm. It may seem a lot of hours but the time runs in these classes!

I just wanted to show you this.
Here's one of my typical breakfasts:

- large cup of delicious black coffee (caffeine never did anything for me, but I keep my hopes high and almost every morning there I am, at home or at the school cafeteria, asking for a strong black coffee to wake me up a little bit)
- Oeuf à La Coque, like les francius say, a soft boiled egg, which takes 3 to 4 minutes to be ready, depending if you like your white runnier or creamier. It's really quick to make in the morning and definitely gives you strength for the upcoming morning! Put salt and pepper and (if you're not on a diet!) eat it with toasts and butter, or soldiers as they say in Australia!
- Tomato and Basil salad. This one I make while my egg is boiling. You cut one tomato with any cut of your choice (come on, it's Monday MORNING! Can't ask for more!), slice some basil leaves to your taste, add some "fleur de sel" and olive oil 

you're ready!



If you still don't know the greatness that is Fleur de Sel, it is found in the top of the salines (salt mines), those big mounts of salt near rivers near the sea. Fleur de Sel is, literally, the Flour of the Salt, the thin, crumbling top part of the salt mines, full of beautiful crystals that melt in your mouth. For me, this is the best salt you can get, and is pretty easy to find in my city in Portugal hehe (I hope in your homes too!)


Salt mines / salines


Men working during salt harvesting

Jars and sackcloth bags to keep the Fleur de Sel moist

its final aspect!

26 February 2012

fresh pasta from scratch !

Here goes my pasta recipe, although most of the times I like to add the flour little by little, seeing the consistency I want.


  • 455gr flour (no yeast!)
  • 4-6 eggs, depending on their size
  • 50gr water at room temperature
  • 6gr salt


To make it easier, I do it in the food processor.


  1. Pour in the eggs, water and salt, add about 1/4 of the flour and mix. 
  2. After this is incorporated add more flour while checking the consistency of the dough.
  3. At some point, the dough will form a ball and we tend to think that it's ready. But it's not! Add the rest of he flour.
  4. The dough is ready when it looks crumbled, like sand.
  5. Then, you take it out to the board and start kneading it until it forms a ball in your hands and has the consistency of play dough.
  6. Now, wrap it in cling film and put in the fridge at least for 30min, being 1h the ideal time to let the dough rest.
The dough can be kept in the fridge for 2-3 days max. After the fridge, it's time to stretch and cut the pasta!


1 - Cut the pasta in portions (about 6 or more to make it easier) and start to stretch the pasta. For this you'll need the machine, they sell it super cheap in Amazon.com or in your regular kitchen equipments supplier.



2 - Start passing one piece of dough through the machine, using the handle. The first 3 times, fold the dough while passing it through the same position. 
3 - Do this repeatedly while setting the machine regulator thinner and thinner. Don't forget about adding flour in the middle of these procedures, otherwise the dough may break!
With this, you can make spaguetti, tagliatelli, lasagna sheats, tortelini, ravioli, etc etc etc!




I hope this was useful :)
good night!



Hello, Olá, Bonjour et bienvenue

As my first post I just want to say to anyone who's reading that this blog is a place for me to share recipes and food articles but not only.
Since I'm studying Culinary Arts, I can have the excuse of also publishing some things regarding arts! (and since almost everything nowadays is/can be considered art, this will be just a place for me to post my ideas and what I see daily!)

I did pink pasta yesterday, a simple fresh pasta recipe with ground beets as my natural dye. Today I'll tend it and probably make tagliatelli! I'll show you later..



I leave you with a picture I took with my blackberry (yes! that's it! I named my blog after my phone because a lot of times, specially during classes, I take photos of what we make thanks to my bb). A pic of the firt time I made pasta at home and cut it with the pasta amchine I got for Christmas



Have a nice weekend