The Joy of Cooking

Recipe from Krollemol

Takes

20 min to make the dough + overnight in the fridge

20 min baking

Ingredients for 12 big cookies

125g butter

160g cassonade (light brown sugar popular in Belgium)

1 egg

250g flour

8g baking powder

35g almond flour (oops, forgot it!)

2 tsp ground cinnamon

half a teaspoon each of ground pepper, ginger, clove and nutmeg

Recipe

Beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add in the egg:

Mix the flour, almond flour, baking powder and spices.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.

Shape the dough into a cylinder and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat the oven to 180C. Cut the dough into 12 slice and make them into little balls.

Put the balls of dough on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and bake until golden on top but still soft (15 to 20 min).

Recipe from Nigel Slater, in the The Guardian

Takes

1h

Ingredients for 4

500g sausages

250g shallots (I used red onions)

200g seedless grapes

200g cherry tomatoes

250mL red wine

salt, pepper, sugar, olive oil

Recipe

Finely chop the shallots. Heat olive oil in a large pan and start frying them.

Cut the sausage in two, if they’re long, and add to the shallots.

Cut the tomatoes in two. Once the shallots and sausage are golden-brown, tip tomatoes and grapes into the pan. Season with salt and pepper.

 Once the tomatoes start to become mushy, add the wine and let it reduce by two third (about 15 min).

Taste and adjust seasoning. You can add a pinch of sugar if the wine is too sour.

Pearl barley salad with feta and beetroot

Recipe by me

Takes

24h to soak the barley + 40 min cooking

Ingredients for 1

1 medium raw beetroot

50g pearl barley

handful rucola leaves

handful hazelnuts

30g feta

olive oil

basalmic vinegar

salt, pepper

Recipe

Soak the barley overnight. (or don’t soak but the cooking time will be longer, around 1h)

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Cut the beetroot into thin slices, brush with olive oil and bake until cooked but firm (about 30 min). You can also use the oven to toast the hazelnuts for 5-10 min. Let cool and chop.

Meanwhile, cook the pearl barley for 25 min in boiling water.

Crumbled the feta.

Ultimate vegan burritos

Recipe from me

Takes

1h

Ingredients for 2

Coriander lime rice

100g brown rice

juice of 1/2 lime

handful of fresh coriander leaves

salt, pepper

Spicy crispy chickpeas

120g canned chickpeas, drained

olive oil

ground chili, paprika, cumin etc.

Others

2 larges or 4 small corn tortillas

cherry tomatoes

rocket

1 avocado

Recipe

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Cook the brown rice as instructed on the package. Once cooked, drain and stir in coriander and lime juice and season with salt and pepper.

Mix the chickpeas with a tablespoon of olive oil and your spices of choice. Bake until brown and crispy (30 min). Let cool 30 min before using.

Cut the tomatoes into two and the avocado into cubes.

Fill each tortilla with a portion of rice, chickpeas and fresh veggies. Serve immediately.

This a classic vol-au-vent recipe (chicken and mushroom). Making the puff pastry crusts yourself is actually quite easy.

You can prepare both the crusts and filling in advance, keep the filling in the fridge and the baked crusts at room temperature. When ready to serve, reheat the filling and pour in the crusts. The best thing about vol-au-vent is the contrast between the crispy pastry and the creamy filling so they have to be assembled at the last minute to avoid a soggy mess.

Chicken and mushroom vol-au-vents

Inspired by Marmiton

Takes

45 min

Ingredients for 2

2 portions puff-pastry (homemade lighter puff recipe here)

100g chicken breast

1 small onion

200g mushrooms (please no white mushrooms here, you need something with stronger taste such as a mix of shiitake, oysters, ceps, chanterelles etc.)

100g white wine

half a cube chicken stock

12g butter

12g flour

125g milk

mustard

salt, pepper

Recipe

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Roll out the puff pastry and cut it into three equal rectangles. Use two of them as the bottoms of the crusts: prick them with a fork so they don’t puff up to much.

Cut the third rectangle into 8 strips. With a little water, stick those strip to the sides of the two “bottoms”. Bake for 20-30 until the puff pastry is golden-brown and the sides have puffed up.

Meanwhile, chop the onion, chicken and mushroom. Sauté the onion and chicken on high heat until golden (~10 min) then lower the heat to medium and add the mushroom, wine and chicken stock. Season with pepper but not with salt (stock cubes are always very salty). Cook until there are only a couple of tablespoons of liquid left (~15 min).

Meanwhile, make a béchamel: melt the butter in a small pan, add the flour and cook until you’ve got a white paste. Add the cold milk in one go and cook on high heat, mixing constantly until the sauce thickens. It will go very fast because there is only a little milk. Season your béchamel with mustard to taste.

Mix the chicken filling and béchamel, taste and adjust seasoning.

Lentil salad with dried tomatoes and gorgonzola

Inspired by Ottolenghi

Takes

30 min (+ a couple of hours if you make the semi-dried tomatoes yourself)

Ingredients for 1 (main dish)

85g lentils (castellucio or Puy)

30g dried tomatoes or 60g fresh cherry tomatoes

1 small red onion

fresh herbs: spinach, parsley, chives etc.

40g gorgonzola or a stronger blue cheese if you fancy it

olive oil, balsamic vinegar

salt, pepper

Recipe

If using fresh tomatoes, cut them in half, drizzle with olive oil and bake at 130°C for 2h. You can prepare them the day before.

Cut the onion in two, drizzle with olive oil and bake at 200°C until browned and soft (about 30 min). Slice it thinly. You can also use the onion raw if you prefer it that way.

Meanwhile, cook the lentils according to the package instructions (about 20-30 min in boiling water).

Chop the herbs and crumble the cheese.

I already posted a recipe of the regular aubergine Parmigiana. But I prefer this Sicilian version. It is richer both in calories and in taste, which makes it perfect as a main!

Sicilian aubergine parmigiana

Recipe from Un déjeuner de soleil

Takes

1h prep (all but 15 min can be done in advance)

20 min baking

Ingredients from 2 portions (main)

1 and 2/3 aubergines

400g (1 tin) chopped tomatoes

1 clove garlic

1 small onion

60g mozzarella

100g tuma (fresh ewe cheese from Sicily): replace it with a soft ewe cheese or use more mozzarella

5g fresh basil

20g parmesan or pecorino

2 slices cured ham

1 egg, hard boiled

salt, pepper

olive oil

Recipe

The eggplant are traditionally fried but since this is already a rich dish, I simple roast them in the oven. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Cut the aubergine into slices (about 1 cm thick), brush them with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Place them on a baking sheet and bake for about 20 min (until tender).

Prepare the tomato sauce: chop the garlic and onion. Sauté them until golden and tender. Add most of the basil (shredded), a pinch of salt and pepper. Add the tomato sauce and let simmer for about 20 min. Adjust the seasoning and add remaining basil leaves (whole).

You can prepare the eggplant and sauce, as well as the hard boiled egg, the day before.

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Chop the mozzarella and tuma. Grate the parmesan. Chop the egg and ham.

In a large oven dish, put about a third of the tomato sauce, cover with half the egg and ham. Add a layer of aubergine (about half the slices). Cover with half the cheese. Repeat with a third of the tomato sauce, remaining ham and egg and remaining aubergine. Finally, have a last layer of tomato sauce with the leftover cheese on top.

Bake until the mozzarella/tuma on top is molten and the parmesan golden and crispy.

Mozzarella is a very simple fried sandwich. In its pure form, the sole filling is mozzarella but I like to add some chopped fresh herbs: spring onion, parsley, basil etc. depending on what I have.

Mozzarella in carossa

Recipe from Un déjeuner de soleil

Takes

20 min

Ingredients for 1

2 thin slices of white bread

60g high quality buffalo mozzarella

1 egg

milk

flour

salt

a tablespoon olive oil (you can also deep fry the sandwich, as is traditional, but it’s too much of a faff for one sandwich!)

optional: chopped fresh herbs

Recipe

In a bowl, beat the egg with a little milk. In another plate, mix a handful of flour with a pinch of salt.

Make a mozzarella sandwich with some fresh chopped herbs if you want to. Press the sandwich so it is as thin as possible.

Put the sandwich first in the flour then in the egg mixture, covering everything. Repeat once.

The colombier (dove cake) is a speciality from Marseille. It is served for Pentecost (the dove symbolises the Holy Spirit).

Like many desserts from the south of France, the colombier is rich in candied fruit and almonds: almost like a calisson-cake! The outside of the cake tastes like a light and soft almond cake while the inside is fudgy, like marzipan. It is a delicious cake that can be safely kept at room temperature and easily transported.

Colombier (dove cake)

Recipe from du miel et du sel

Takes

1h

Ingredients for a 20cm cake pan (8 slices)

200g candied fruit: the tradition would be to use half candied melon half candied orange peel. I didn’t have any melon so I used 150g mixed lemon and orange peel and 50g dried apricot. I think the fruit doesn’t matter so much as the quality of the candied fruit: supermarket candied fruit are tasteless so buy it from a quality shop or make them yourself. It takes time but is is very easy and cheap.

40g flour

125g almond flour

60g butter

70g powdered sugar

3 eggs + 1 white

5cL Grand Marnier or orange liqueur (optional)

almond extract (personal touch)

for decoration: candied fruit, marzipan, slivered almonds etc.

Recipe

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Toast the almond flour for about 10 min (until golden). Increase oven temperature to 200°C.

Melt the butter.

Chop the candied fruit very finely and toss them with the flour (this is to avoid them falling at the bottom of the cake).

Mix the almond, sugar and egg white. Add the eggs one by one beating energetically by hand or with an electric whisk. Then switch to a spatula and slowly fold the flour and fruit into the batter. Add the melted butter, alcohol (if any) or almond extract (a few drops to taste).

Grease your cake pan and pour in the batter.

Put in the oven and immediately lower the temperature to 180°C. Cook for about 25 min. The tip of your knife should go out of the cake just slightly wet (it needs to be a tad underbaked).

Wait a bit for the cake to cool before removing it from the mold.

I love salted duck egg yolk and wanted to try it in a baked bun. I used the same bread and cookie topping recipes as in the delicious pineapple char siu bun. For the filling, I picked a classical mix of pork meat, mushroom and spring onion.

Pork & salted duck egg yolk baked buns

Bread and cookie topping as in here

Filling from Daily delicious

Takes

Bread dough: 30 prep + 1h rise

Filling: 30min

Cookie dough: 20 min

Buns: 10 min shaping + 20 min baking

Overall 1h30

Ingredients

Bread dough (makes 8 buns)

80mL (1/3 cup) water

1.5 tablespoons flour

310g (2.5 cup) bread flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1.5 teaspoons fast action dried yeast (the kind you don’t need to proof first)

80mL (1/3 cup) milk

80mL (1/3 cup) coconut milk

2 tablespoons coconut cream (just skim it off the top of a can of coconut milk)

1 egg white

30g butter, softened

salt

Cookie dough (makes 8 buns)

55g butter, softened

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon coconut cream

80g (¾ cup) flour

50g (1/3 cup) powdered sugar

one pinch each baking powder and baking soda

Filling (makes 4 buns)

2 salted duck egg yolks

80g boneless pork cutlet

3 fresh shiitake

1 spring onion

1/2 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 tablespoon fish sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

pinch of cornstarch

sesame oil

Note: you can either double the filling to make 8 buns or choose another filling for four buns: I made 4 dessert bun with salted egg custard filling. There were also delicious!

Recipe

Make the bread: In a small pan, combine the 1.5 tablespoons flour, the water and a pinch of salt. Cook on high heat, stirring constantly, until you get a thick white liquid (like a roux). Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, mix the bread flour, a pinch of salt, the sugar and the yeast. Add the milk, coconut milk and cream then the paste, then the egg white. Knead for 5 min.

Knead the softened butter into the dough in three addition. Knead for a few more minutes to get a soft dough. Cover and let rise for 1h.

Make the filling: heat some sesame oil in a pan and grill the cutlet for 2 min on each side until browned. Set aside.

Finely chop the mushroom and fry them in the same pan on medium heat.

Finely chop the spring onion. Once the meat has cooled down a bit, mince it into as small pieces as possible.

Mix the meat, mushrooms and spring onion with the sauces, sugar and cornstarch. Cut the salted duck egg yolks in two. Set aside.

Finally, make the cookie dough (you can also prepare it hours in advance if you want). Cream the butter, then add the egg yolk, coconut cream and vanilla extract and beat the mixture until thick and creamy. Add the flour, powdered sugar, baking powder and soda. Mix with your hands until you get a ball of dough. It will be a bit sticky so wrap the dough in cling film and put it in the fridge while you preheat the oven and shape the buns.

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Divide the bread dough in half. Divide one half into four pieces. Roll out one piece and place a quarter of the meat filling on it. Put half a yolk of it. Pinch the bun shut and place it a baking sheet, seam down.

Divide half the cookie dough into 4 pieces. Quickly flatten them into circles, then place a circle of cookie dough on the top of each bun.

Using pork meat in curry is unusual but it pairs particularly well with coconut milk. I added beetroot for its sweet earthy tang and bright color.

Pork and beetroot curry

Inspired by Marmiton

Takes

1h10

Ingredients for 2

150g boneless pork cutlet (use a cut with some fat like the shoulder)

1 raw beetroot

100g coconut milk

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

200g canned tomatoes

salt

chili flakes

your favourite curry powder or mix: I used cumin, a bit of cinnamon and turmeric, and lots of garam masala

Recipe

Peel the beetroot and chop it into small cubes.

Heat a little olive oil in a pan an cook the beetroot for about 10 min on high heat.

Meanwhile, chop the onion and garlic and add it to the pan. Season to taste with salt, chili and spices.

Cut the pork into cubes and add it to the pan. Stir on high heat until the pork has browned and the onion softened.

Add the canned tomatoes, lower the heat to medium and simmer for about 20 min. Add the coconut milk and cook for 10 more min.

Check that the pork meat is cooked through and beetroot tender.

For Fat Tuesday, I made my favourite donuts: Bostom Cream! The donuts were still warm when I filled them with cream which is why it is leaking out in the picture. You should wait until the donuts are completely cool to fill them but warm donuts are so nice...

Boston Cream donuts

Donuts and chocolate frosting from Sally’s Baking Addiction

Pastry cream from here

Takes

30 min for the cream + 2-24h cooling

30 min to make the dough + 1h30 rise

30 min to deep fry

10 min for the frosting

Ingredients for two huge donuts

Dough

60g (1/4 cup) warm milk

1 teaspoon dry yeast

12g (1 tbsp) sugar

20g butter, melted and slightly cool

1 egg white

a few drops of vanilla extract

120g (1 cup) flour

pinch of salt

vegetable oil (for frying)

Vanilla pastry cream

125g whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

25g sugar

1 egg yolk

10g flour

Chocolate frosting

30g chocolate: either a not too bitter dark chocolate (50% cocoa) or a mix of dark and milk

7g butter

1 teaspoon glucose syrup (neutral honey is probably ok too)

1 teaspoon water

Recipe

Prepare the pastry cream. In a bowl, beat together the egg, sugar and flour. Bring the milk and vanilla extract to a simmer. Pour the hot milk on the egg-sugar mixture and mix well. Pour everything back into the pan and cook on high heat, stirring constantly, until the cream thickens. Let cool to room temperature then put into a piping back (with the tip blocked by some tape so it doesn’t leak out) and refrigerate.

Dissolve the yeast into the milk. Add the sugar, egg white and melted butter. Add the flour and salted. Knead until you get a slightly stick dough. Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1h30.

Punch the dough. Divide into two disks about 2cm thick (a little under 1 inch). Let the dough rest while you heat the oil to 190°C.

Fry the donuts one or two at the time until they a deep golden colour of each side (a few minutes, watch closely). Remove from the oil and pat with kitchen roll to remove excess oil.

Pierce each donut with a chopstick and move it carefully inside to make a large hole. Let cool completely (or not).

Prepare the frosting: mix all the ingredients and melt carefully on stove at the very low heat or in the microwave by 20s increments.

Fill the donut with cream then dip the top in frosting.

This dish is not a tajine as I do not have a tajine earthenware dish or the hours needed to prepare one after work. But it packs a lot of classic tajine flavours: the sour tang of the lemon pairs particularly well with the sweetness of the figs.

Stovepot chicken with chickpeas and chard

Recipe from spontaneous tomato

Takes

1h

Ingredients for 2

200g chicken breast

1 onion

4 cloves garlic

ground pepper, paprika, cumin, ginger and cinnamon

half a cube of chicken stock

120g chickpeas (cooked)

200g chard

1 small unwaxed lemon (or 1/2 big)

5 dried figs

vegetable oil

Recipe

Heat some oil in a pan and pan-fry the chicken on high heat until browned (about 3 min on each side). Set aside.

Finely chop the onion and garlic. Fry them on medium heat (I just reuse the same pan) for about 10 min until softened. Add the spices to your taste.

Meanwhile, finely chop the chard stalks and tear the leaves into big pieces.

Add the cube of chicken stock, a glass of hot water, the chickpeas and chard stalks to the pan. Cook for about 10 min until the chard stalks are cooked but firm.

Meanwhile, chop the chicken and figs into cubes. Zest and juice the lemon. Add the chicken, figs, juice, zest and chard leaves into the pan. Add a bit more water if needed to cover the chicken.

Let simmer until the chicken is cooked through. Taste and adjust spices.

I added smocked mackerel to this couscous but I think it would be just as delicious with grilled halloumi.

Kale and orange couscous 

Recipe from BBC Good Food

Takes

30 min

Ingredients

50g couscous or quinoa

1 unwaxed orange

1 red onion

handful of raisins

100g kale: you can also use spinach but I prefer kale here as it stays nice and crispy

salt, pepper, olive oil

smoked mackerel or halloumi

Recipe

Prepare the couscous or quinoa according to the package instructions. Five minutes before it is done, add the raisins so they soak up some moisture.

Finaly chop the onion and the kale stems. Separe the kale leaves into small bunches.

Heat the olive oil and fry the onion on medium-high heat until golden and soft. If using halloumi, cut it into slices and fry it with the onion.

When the onion is almost done, add the kale and fry it until crisp (about 3 min).

Add to the pan the couscous and raisins as well as the zest and juice of the orange. If using mackerel, separate it into flakes and add it in as well.

A very very easy cookie recipe. The oil gives the biscuit a very dense and almost powdery texture but I really liked it.

The original recipe for these Spanish cookies uses lard and I’m excited to try making them with it.

Mantecados

Recipe from Marmiton

Takes

15 min prep

20 min baking

Ingredients for 12 cookies

200g flour

75g sugar

100g oil

flavourings: I used a tonka bean and 2 teaspoons cinnamon but you can also use lemon zest, vanilla, cocoa... Next time maybe I will try to combine lemon zest with some olive oil?

ground cinnamon for sprinkling

Recipe

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Mix the ingredients.

Make 12 balls of dough and put them on a baking sheet.

Bake for about 20 min: the cookies are ready when the bottom is golden. The top of the cookies should remain white. Mantecados harden when they cool so if you overbake them, you will end up with Hagrid’s rock cookies.

This is a delicious and quite impressive vegetarian main dish.

Rice timballo with aubergine

Recipe from The Guardian

Takes

40 min prep + 30 min baking

Ingredients for a 20 cm diameter cake (4 portions as a main)

1 onion

100g mushrooms

400g canned tomatoes

Fresh basil or other herbs

300g risotto rice

1 large aubergine

150g fresh Italian cheese (mozarella, ricotta etc.)

50g parmesan

1 egg

salt, pepper

olive oil

Recipe

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Finely chop the onion and mushrooms.

Heat a little olive oil in a large pan. Sauté the onion until soft and golden. Add the mushrooms, tomatoes, fresh herbs and salt and pepper. Simmer for about 20 min.

Meanwhile, bring a large volume of salted water to a boil then cook the rice until al dente (about 15 min).

Cut the aubergine in thin slices and place them on a baking sheet. Rub with olive oil, season with salt and pepper then bake until tender (about 20 min).

Drain the cooked rice and add to the pan of tomato sauce. Cook for 5 more min.

Cut the mozzarella into cubes and grate the parmesan. Add half the parmesan to the tomato sauce.

Grease a cake pan then cover the inside of it with aubergine slices. Pour half the rice in then add a layer of fresh cheese (if you have two much aubergine, cut them into cubes and add them there). Fill the pan with the second half of the rice and top with remaining fresh cheese and parmesan.

Bake for about 30 min at 180°C. The cheese on top should be melted and bubbly.

After removing the cake from the oven, wait 10 min then carefully reverse it on a plate and remove the mold.

This is an updated version of the Italian torta caprese, a chocolate and almond cake. Dark chocolate is replaced by white and lemon zest and olive oil give extra flavour to the cake. I was really wary of the olive oil so I used half olive half neutral oil but the taste was so subtle that I will use only olive oil next time.

The white chocolate icing is a personal addition. White chocolate has such a subtle flavour that its taste is not felt if you only put it inside the cake and, as I love white chocolate, I wanted it to have a stronger presence. If you dislike white chocolate, just skip the icing and sprinkle the cake with powdered sugar.

White chocolate and lemon torta caprese

Recipe from Un déjeuner de soleil, modified by Mercotte

Takes

45 min prep + 30 min baking

Ingredients for a 20 cm diameter cake

3 eggs

30g sugar

120g almond powder

50g icing sugar

100g white chocolate

zest of 1 big organic lemon

35g flour or cornstarch

50g olive oil

1 tablespoon Limoncello or lemon juice

Icing: 100g white chocolate, 40g cream (30% fat)

Recipe

Preheat the oven to 150°C and toast the almond powder for 5-10 min.

 Increase the oven temperature to 165°C.

Grate 100g white chocolate. It is messy work but you can easily create chocolate flakes with a potato peeler.

Zest the lemon.

In a large bowl, mix the almond powder, icing sugar, chocolate flakes, lemon zest and olive oil.

In another bowl, beat the sugar and eggs together for at least 5 min using an electric whisk. They should become very fluffy.

Carefully fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture.

Grease a 20cm diameter pan and pour the batter in. Bake for about 30 min at 165°C, until the tip of a knife inserted in the cake gets out dry.

Let cool then sprinkle with icing sugar or prepare a quick ganache for icing: melt 100g white chocolate. Bring the cream to a simmer and add one half of it to the chocolate. Mix well then repeat with the second half of the cream. Pour the ganache on the cake then cool it down in the fridge a bit so it becomes solid.