MY SUMMERTIME CORNER

That's where you'll be likely to find me enjoying myself (reading, eating, relaxing, etc...) when it's hot!...

My balcony table.
Actually, my balcony faces the South, so it's hot like hell when the sun is shining! We generally can only sit out when the evening has come or very early in the morning when the sun is still hiding behind the Salève...

What we see from our table: strange lentil clouds play with the Salève...

PORTUGESE BREAD

Here is a picture of a bread called "Regueifa". I bought it in the store MANOR and it is made by a Portugese bakery here in Geneva...

That's what we eat on certain Sunday mornings when I have no homemade bread to offer. It is delicious with jam, Nutella, peanut butter, etc...!

-Isn't it pretty?-

If anybody knows a recipe for this bread, then I'd be very pleased if you could share it with me...

CREAM SALEE - SALÉE A LA CRÈME

A "Salée à la Crème" is a speciality from the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is in fact a "Cream Tart" made with bread dough.

I can remember eating "Salée à la Crème" when I was small while visiting my grandparents. It was fantastic! It is something that I'll always find delicious as it is loaded with memories...

There are many different recipes around, so this one is one example out of many others, but in taste, it is correct and is not very different from the one of my childhood. I have only made it in my own way and I hope that you'll reach the heavens with this "Salée"!

~ Salée A La Crème ~
Recipe by Rosa @ Rosa's Yummy Yums 2006.

Makes one 26cm (10 inches) tart

Ingredients:
1 Quantity pizza dough (see recipe), see remarks below (real dough)
150-170ml Double cream (min. 35% fat)
7-9 Tbs Castor sugar

Method:
1. Roll out the dough in order to get a 24-26cm (9-10 inches) round.
2. Place it in a greased tart pan lined with parchement paper for non-stick baking.
3. Press the bottom of the pastry with your fingers in order to make small depressions.
4. Cover with a towel and let rise for 15 minutes.
5. Pour the cream over the dough and sprinkle the sugar over the cream.
6. Set aside for another 15 to 25 minutes, or until puffy.
7. Preheat the oven to 230°C (450°F).
8. Bake the "tart" in the bottom part of the oven for 20-25 minutes.
9. Let cool on a wire rack, until the cream is set and the tart is warm, but not hot.

- Champvent, my grandparents' village and it's castle -

Remarks:
For the dough, you have to replace the water by milk, the olive oil by (30g) soft butter and add 2 Tsps castor sugar. You'll also have to use 1 1/3 Tsps (3.5g) dried yeast or 15g fresh yeast instead of the 1 Tsp that the recipe calls for. In that way you'll end up with a real "Salée A La Crème" dough.
You can also use chopped rhubarb, fresh grapes, blackberries, blueberries, fresh figs or any other seasonal fruits of your choice as filling. Just spread the fruits over the dough before you add the cream and the sugar.
You can even prepare this "tart" without any kind of fruit filling (only with cream and sugar); this is the original "Salée à la Crème".

Serving sugestions:
Eat this "tart" when still warm as a complete meal.

(Chateau de Champvent, Vaud -Pic by Vincent Bourrut www.trekearth.com)

WEEKEND CAT BLOGGING #53

It's time again for our weekly cat treat!!!

That's typically our little "Psycho" when he has his 10 minutes of total mayhem! When he's going nuts running around, Fridolin generally looks quite "bizarre"; he looks quite estranged, his "rabbit" leg knocks the floor with a "ra-ta-ta-ta" sound, his superior lip lets the right tooth show and his nerves shake his whole back! A real circus number which makes us laugh!!!...

You will also find this picture as well as others on the great Eat Stuff blog from Sydney, Australia where you can discover Kiri's weekly pictures... If you also want to participate to Weekend Cat Blogging, then just leave your blog name, URL and permalink in a comment on Clare and Casey's site.

EVENING SKIES

Here is a collection of various spring (April - June) sunsets for you to enjoy... We have such a spectacular view from our windows that if you take a picture of the sky on a daily basis, non of the photos will look quite the same!...

Spring sunset...

April nightsky (you can even see the moon crescent)...
Deconstructed sky...
A beautiful sunset after the rain...Magnificent sunrays...

CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Aaaahhh, cookies!!! This word nearly sounds like poetry to my ears! The quintessence of American bakery. An endIess quest for the ultimate taste Nirvana. A little piece of heaven...

It is no secret if cookies are very popular as their versatility is what makes them so interesting and attaching. It is for that reason that there are SO many different recipes and different ways of appreciating them. Some cookie lovers will claim that their recipe is the best, but although there's an immense choice of great recipes in circulation, everybody will have his/her own favorite cookie and his/her own vision of what the ultimate cookie should be like. But, what is THE perfect cookie? A chewy one? A crunchy one? A white chocolate one? With pecan nuts or walnuts? That's a difficult question to answer, because the search of the perfect cookie is a very personal one and is quite a task to undertake....

With this recipe, I will not try to assert that it is the one and only around, but I can at least say that it is indeed a very good one which I recommend you to test! Let me explain...

Their center is nice and chewy, on the outside, they are slightly crunchy. Their taste is absolutely awsome (buttery, chocolatty, nutty with hints of vanilla), even if very classical, at the end. Those cookies are simply gorgeous and it is one of the recipes to which I cling!...

The following recipe was taken from the wonderful little cute book "Afternoon Delights - Coffeehouse Favorites: Cookies & Coffee Cakes, Brownies & Bars, Scones & More" by James McNair and Andrew Moore.

Makes about 12 large cookies

Ingredients:
188g (1 1/4 Cups) Plain white flour
1/2 Baking soda
1/2 Tsp Salt
120g (1/2 Cup) Unsalted butter, at room temperature
110g (1/2 Cup) Castor sugar
110g Light brown sugar
1 Egg (~50g), at room temperature
2 Tsp Pure vanilla extract
160g (1 Cup) Semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 Cup Walnuts, lightly toasted and coarsly chopped
1/2 Cup Peanuts, lightly toasted

Method:
1. In a bowl, combine sifted flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
2. In another bowl, combine the sugars and the butter and beat until light and fluffy.
3. Add the egg and vanilla extract. Blend well.
4. Add the flour mixture and incorporate it gently.
5. Stir in the chocolate chips and the toasted nuts.

6. Put the dough in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for an hour (not in the book, but an important step if you want them to be perfect).
7. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
8. Using an ice-cream scoop (1/4 cup), scoop up level portions of the dough and place them about 7cm (3 inches) apart on the lined baking sheet until it is full.
9. Cover the remaining dough tightly with plastic wrap to prevent from drying. Set aside until forming the next batch of cookies.
10. Place the rack in the middle of the oven and bake until the cookies are golden brown, about 15 minutes.
11. Remove the baking sheet to a wire rack to cool for a few minutes, then using a spatula, transfer the cookies directly to the rack to cool completely.
12. Repeat the forming process until the dough is used up.

Remarks:
You can also use white chocolate and any other nut of your choice (macadamia, pecans, brasil nuts, etc...) as long as they are toasted.
I used salted and toasted peanuts for this recipe.
Originally, this recipe called for 1 cup pecans or walnuts.
Instead of using an ice-cream scoop, shape the balls with the palm of your hands.
The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 6 days.

Serving suggestions:
Do I really have to tell you how to eat those cookies?!? Come on, sincerely, you don't think that we all know you'll be tempted to finnish the whole box within the next half an hour!!!!...

(Cookie Pot - Pic by www.giftsense.com)

THE FARMER'S MARKET - PART II

This is my second contribution to the "Farmer's Market" round-up that Melissa of COOKING DIVA and Elena of EL AMOR POR LA CUCINA have organized...

After having shown you how the "Marché De Rive" (see report) looks, it is now the turn of the "La Halle De Rive" to be exposed...

This covered market is also very intersting as it is a little more delicatessen-oriented and offers other kinds of food than it's neighbouring open air market (reachable when going out of this market).

To walk through those "halles" is a magnificent experience that one should live only after having eaten; we all know that going out to buy food when we are hungry is very "dangerous" as we might come back with more food than expected initially or needed!!! Nonetheless, even if you visit this place with a full stomach, you can be sure that you will buy a few little treasures as there is so much to choose from (cheese, meat, Asian specialities, Italian specialities, etc...).

Enjoy this virtual tour and if you are visiting Geneva, don't forget to pass through both markets!...

Entering "La Halle De Rive"... On the right side, there is a Lebanese delicatessen stall and on the very right, an immense cheese stall.
This beautiful cheese stall held by Mr & Mrs Müller is absolutely chock-a-block full with all kinds of cheeses. You can find a wide variety of Swiss cheese, French cheese, goat's cheese, sheep's cheese, blue cheese and also many varieties of Swiss products like honey, thick double cream from Gruyère, traditional meringues and "bricelets" from Fribourg, Bénichon mustard, "vin cuit" ("cooked wine"), wines, spirits, etc... They also specialise in delivering restaurants and hotels.
We bought some French "Maroilles" and "Munster" as well as a Swiss cheese called "Le Maréchal". Those cheeses were very fine, tasty and perfectly refined. Our choice had been well guided and we were very pleased with what we bought!!!
Here, you can see a selection of goat's cheese...
That's the other kinds of Swiss specialities they offer...
That's another stall selling ham, salami, etc...
This is a stall specialised in Italian specialities like raviolis, canellonis, pasta, etc...
A flower stall...
Strawberries, raspberries...
Fresh bread...

Marché de Rive & Halle de Rive
Boulevard Helvétique
1207 Genève
Switzerland

If you want to participate to the round-up, please check here...

WEEKEND CAT BLOGGING #52

This weekend, WCB is a very special one. For the one year anniversary of Weekend Cat Blogging, Clare has invited us all to submit a picture of our cat's favorite toy or a sound recording of his/her voice!

That'll surely be very interesting, I'm sure...

Look at those two couch potatoes shamelessly lying in their comfy bed! When I see them having some good time doing nothing and sleeping all day long, I tend to feel "jealous". Why could we not be cuddled all day long, served like a pasha, fed, sleep as we wish and above all not be worried by anything in particular (apart from the time when we get supper as that's a very important event in a cat's life, isn't it?)? Heh, I ask you why? It's not fair at all, but only God knows why some have the right to live for pure pleasure while others are doomed to serve and "suffer"......
Let's meditate on that, shall we (grrrrrr...)!!!
Regarding the toys, well our cats get very fastly bored by them, so they only have a big tree which is soon falling to pieces, a living room as playground and a cat toilet in which they like to toy around for many long minutes, moving the sand from one side to another and at the end, spreading it everywhere around and as far as possible (mmmffff *@%&*%...)!!! Otherwise, they love to get combed, so we have a brush and a glove that they like to mistreat (you have to be careful not to lose you hand while doing it!) whenever we use them on them little monsters...

You will also find this picture as well as others on the great Eat Stuff blog from Sydney, Australia where you can discover Kiri's weekly pictures... If you also want to participate to Weekend Cat Blogging, then just leave your blog name, URL and permalink in a comment on Clare and Casey's site.

ORANGE CORNMEAL CAKE

As I already love cornmeal bread, I wanted to test a cornmeal cake, so I googled a little bit and came across a recipe for "Orange cornmeal cake" by Martha Stewart ("Everyday Food") which was featured on the interesting "Simply Recipes" blog...

This cake is very aromatic, light and moist. It is a pleasant cake which is ideal for afternoon teas or served as a dessert., because it's not too sweet nor too rich. In fact, it is a perfect spring- or summertime cake as it's refreshing taste and airy texture makes it a delightfully attaching treat!...

Ingredients:
120ml (1/2 Cup) Sunflower oil
2 Eggs (~50g)
220g (1 Cup) Castor sugar, plus 70g (1/3 Cup) for the topping
130ml (1/2 Cup) Dry white wine
The zest of one orange, finely grated or 1 paket Dr.Oetker orange zest
190g (1 1/4 Cup) Plain white flour, sieved
153g (1/2 Cup) Yellow cornmeal
2 Tsp Baking powder
1 Tsp Salt

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F).
2. In a big bowl, mix together the flour, cornmeal, salt and baking powder.
3. In pouring recipient whisk together the oil, eggs, sugar, zest and wine until smooth.
4. Make a well in the center.
5. Slowly pour the liquid mixture into the well and gently fold all the ingredients together until well combined.
6. Spoon the batter into the prepared round pan.
7. Sprinkle the top with the reserved sugar.
8. Bake for about 30-35 minutes until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remarks:
You can also substitute the sunflower oil by olive oil, and the white wine by orange juice.
Don't over mix or you'll end up with a heavy cake.

Serving suggestions:
Serve this cake with orange segments.

(Zest -Pic by www.zestfoodtours.co.nz)
(White Wine -Pic by www.liquorbargains.com)

MY MAMMOTH PIZZA

Like most of you, I love pizza and could eat it on a weekly basis. It is one of those classics that kids and grownups enjoy alike and are never tired of it's fulfilling and satisfactionary taste!...

But, when I make my own pizza, it generally ends up in an orgy as it tends to take IMMENSE proportions and could be called as a "monolithic pizza"!!!

You see, I love my pizzas to be very tasty and very generous, so I pile up as much as possible. It means that I have to cover my pizza with as many different ingredients as it can take!...

Of course, this can lead to problems like the overflowing cheese running out everywhere, the oven getting dirty and a bad black smoke invading my kitchen!!!

But, this time I was very happy. I didn't go wild and overmake my pizza, so everything went for the best. In fact, this very pizza was my most successful so far. It was super-tasty, their was enough garnishing to please my greedy self, the bread dough was fabulously crusty and the overall look of it was very pleasant...

Needless to say that we were in food paradise!........

Makes enough for 2-4 people

Ingredients:
One quantity pizza dough (see recipe)
One quantity quick tomato sauce (see recipe)
1 Tin (230g) sliced Parisian button mushrooms (drained)
200g Ham, sliced
300-350g Mozarella, sliced
60-100g Gruyère cheese, grated
1/2-2/3 Red or green bell pepper, thinly sliced
30g Anchovy fillets (from a tin and without the oil)
4-5 Tbs Capers
5-6 Tbs Green olives, pitted and halved
Herbs/Italian herb seasoning of your choice or fresh basil

Method:
1. Roll out the dough in order to get a 26-30cm (10-12 inches) round.
2. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchement paper for non-stick baking.
3. Spread the tomato sauce.
4. Cover with the mushrooms, then the ham, the mozarella and Gruyère, the bell-pepper, the anchovies, capers, olives and herbs.
5. Bake in preheated oven at 220°C (440°F) for about 40 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the crust is baked through.
6. Serve hot.

Remarks:
Once the dough has been rolled out and that you have spread the tomato sauce, you are free to place all the ingredients in the order you wish.
If you don't have any Gruyère cheese underhand, then any other similar cheese (quite strong, salty and medium hard) is fine as long as it contrasts with the mildness of the Mozarella.

Serving suggestions:
Sprinkle your slice of pizza with virgin olive oil, pepper and red Tabasco, if desired. As accompaniment, a salad is ideal.

(Mozarella -Pic by www.hormel.com)