madeleines

Madeleines

100 g beurre (butter)
2 oeufs (eggs)
1/2 cuillere de levure chimique ( teaspoon baking powder)
80 g sucre (sugar)
115 g farine (flour)

Battre 2 oeufs entiers avec le sucre jusqu'a ce que le melange blanchisse.
Beat 2 whole eggs and sugar until the mix whitens.

Continuer a battre et incorporer la farine avec la levure. Ajouter le beurre fondu et melanger avec soin.
While mixing blend in the flour and baking powder. Gently fold in the melted butter.

La pate ainsi faite doit remplir a moitie les moules a madeleines.
Put a teaspoon of batter into the madeleine pan, it should fill each spot about half full.

Mettre au four 210C pendant 10 a 15 min.
Bake at about 375F for about 10 to 15 min.

Too bad with my first two batches I forgot that they were in the oven and they are a bit... well... "cajun style madeleines..."

eggplant parmesan

Eggplant Parmesan

1 large eggplant
2 tomatoes
3 balls of fresh mozzerella
spaghetti sauce
1 egg
parmesan cheese

Slice eggplant into fairly thin round disks. Dip into beaten egg. Fry in olive oil until golden brown.

Slice tomatoes and cheese.

In a large pan pour 1/4 of the pasta sauce and layer eggplant/tomatoes/cheese alternating with the sauce until the pan is full or until the ingredients are used up. Sprinkle parmesan over the top and bake at 350F for about 30 minutes until brown and the sauce is bubbly.

I didn't like eggplant until I tried this recipe but now I'm a convert! :)

sweet potato pie

Sweet Potato Pie

1 lb sweet potatoes (des patates douces)
1/2 cup butter softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 unbaked pie crust

Boil sweet potatoes until soft, peel off the skin*

Mash the potatoes in a large bowl and add butter, mix well. Add sugar, milk, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. Beat until mixture is smooth. Pour into pie crust.

Bake at 350F (175C) for 55 to 60 minutes.

*I found a great tip for peeling any sort of potatoes if using them after boiling... After you clean the potatoes (with the skin on) slice a ring around the middle of the potato before placing it in boiling water. After it is cooked and cool to the touch rince with cool water and simply slide the skin off! It is a great way not to spend hours peeling potatoes...!

butternut squash soup

Butternut Squash Soup
6 to 8 servings.

1 med. butternut squash (approximately 1 lb.)
3 tart green apples, peeled & coarsely chopped
1 med. onion, peeled & chopped
1/4 tsp. rosemary OR marjoram
1 tsp. salt1/4 tsp. pepper
3 (10 1/2 oz.) cans chicken broth
2 soup cans water
1/4 c. heavy cream, half & half or milk
Chopped fresh parsley (garnish)

Peel squash and seed. Cut into chunks. Combine squash with apples, onions, rosemary, salt and pepper, broth and water in large heavy saucepan. Bring to boil and simmer uncovered for 45 minutes.
Puree soup in blender or food processor. Return mixture to saucepan and bring just to boiling point, then reduce heat. Before serving add cream. Serve hot with chopped fresh parsley sprinkled on top. Can be made 2 days in advance and reheated.


Fall is here and in France different pumpkins and squashes are getting more and more popular. On Sunday I bought a "booternoot squash" at the market and decided to give this soup a try. I modified a few things (I baked the squash with onions and a bit of butter) beforehand insead of cooking it all together, but I think in the end the result is the same. I hadn't planned on making a butternut squash-apple soup but when I did a search on the web it seemed to be a popular mix so I decided to give it a try. Yum. i really like the two flavors together and it is a creamy warm soup to have on a fall day. Especially today when accompanied by a slice of camembert and a glass of cranberry juice :-) How Franco-American am I??

banana bread

Banana Bread

I make this alllll the time! It is a wonderful way to use up bananas that have gone a bit brown, in fact its better with old bananas! If you have some but don't have time to make the bread peel the bananas and freeze them in a zip lock for future use!

The frenchies I've made this for have gone, well, bananas! Although I would suggest translating it as a "gateau aux bananes" otherwise they get confused thinking its a savory bread...

2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter (room temp)
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 1/3 cups bananas (ripe & mashed)

Preheat oven to 350F (175C).

In a large bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl cream butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and banana.

Add the banana mix to the flour**, do not over mix. Pour batter into a greased pan.

Bake for 60-65 minutes, let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack.

**For a fun treat you can add 1 or more of the following: fresh or frozen blueberries (my favorite!!!), chocolate chips or nuts.

salsa couscous chicken

Salsa Couscous Chicken

While preparing couscous ahead of time brown slice almonds in an oven/frying pan.

Combine:

2-3 tbs white raisins
2 cups salsa (I prefer medium or hot as the other flavors reduce the spicyness)
2 tbs hot water
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tb honey

and set aside to plump raisins. Slice chicken (about 1.5 lbs) and saute in olive oil and crushed garlic, brown on all sides.

Add salsa mixture, cover and reduce heat. Cook for about 20 minutes until chicken is done. Serve over couscous and garnish with almonds or pine nuts.

tarte tatin

Tarte Tatin

1kg de pommes
50g de beurre
100g de sucre
50g de cassonade
1 rouleau de pâte feuilletée
le jus d'un citron
1 cuil à café de cannelle en poudre

Rincez, pelez et épépinez les pommes. Coupez-les en gros quartiers. Arrosez-les avec le jus du citron.

Faire fondre le beurre dans une poêle à fond épais puis déposez-y les quartiers de pommes bien serrés les uns contres les autres. Saupoudrez le tout de cassonade et de cannelle. Faites-les cuire sur feu doux en couvrant à moitié pendant 15 minutes.

Préchauffez votre four à th 6 (180°C). Mettez le sucre semoule dans une casserole, ajoutez 2 cuil à soupe d'eau et faites chauffer à feu doux. Ne remuez pas. Dès qu'il colore, versez-le sur le fond d'un moule à tarte préablement beurré.

Répartissez les pommes sur le caramel. Couvrez avec la pâte en rentrant bien les bords sur les côtés. Enfournez 25 min, jusqu'à ce que la pâte soit bien dorée.

Servez tiède avec une boule de glace à la vanille ou une cuillère de crème fraîche!

teriyaki sauce

My Mom's favorite teriyaki sauce

Korean Barbecue Sauce:

1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup sesame oil
2 garlic cloves minced
4 green onions, finely chopped
1 inch piece of fresh ginger root, peeled and minced

Combine in a sauce pan and bring to a boil to dissolve sugar and blend the flavors. Then cool and pour over chicken pieces in a glass or ceramic container (I use zip lock baggies). Marinate at room temp for 2 hours or in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours/or overnight. Grill the chicken or bake in a pan in the oven. Depending on the size of the pieces (wings vs thighs vs breasts) I bake them for 30 minutes or so at 350 degrees. The chicken turns out so tender, just falls off the bones...

*not my picture, when I can I'll use pictures I take, otherwise its google image all the way...

a new blog is born!

Following other bloggers I decided to share some of my favorite tried and true recipes with you as well as my experimentations with new ideas! As I'm an American living in France my recipes are now a real mix of metric and American mesurements. I'll post them as I have them written down, if you need conversions just ask!

To start off the blog I'll share my absolute favorite cookie recipe:

Chocolate-chocolate-craisin cookies

-Melt 8oz (1 1/4 cups) chocolate chips in the microwave or in a double broiler

While melting combine:
-3/4 cup brown sugar
-3/4 cup butter

Blend in:
-2 eggs
-1 tsp. vanilla

Combine and add the melted chocolate.
Then mix in:
-1 3/4 cups flour
-1/4 tsp. baking powder

Add:
10 oz chocolate chips
-1 1/4 cups dried cranberries (have found them at the Comptoir Irlandais, Monoprix and Carrefour in France)

Bake at 350F for 8 minutes. Better undercooked and fudgy in the middle ;-)