Saint-Agur Pasta

This is a little recipe I made about 3 times now. It has a little french twist since I used a French blue cheese called Saint Agur. It's a free style recipe, meaning I just added ingredients I like and it became how it is now :P
Being a cheese addict, cheesy pastas are one of my favorite dishes to make. It's easy, yummy and unhealthy T-T I've made this dish before for people who don't like blue cheese and they still liked it! :D
Must try at home!

Ingredients (for 4 nomsters)

• Pasta (any kind, in the photos I used 500g of fresh tagliatelle)
• 1 onion
• 1 courgette
• 1 pack of mushrooms (the quantity is really up to you, I just love mushrooms so used a lot :P)
• 3 cups of milk
• 3 teaspoons of flour
• Around 1 teaspoon of mashed garlic
• Saint-Agur (or any other type of blue cheese)
• Cherry tomatoes
• Wild Rocket

Preparation

1. Boil water for the pasta
2. Cut the onion into thin stripes and the courgette into cubes. Cut the mushrooms into stripes
3. With a little bit of oil in a pan, add the onions. When they start to become transparent, add the courgette. Once the courgettes start to soften, add the mushrooms and the minced garlic. 
4. Add the flour (to thicken the sauce), mix well so it covers the ingredients equally. Add the milk. 
5. When the milk starts to warm up add blue cheese little by little (I diced mine) and mix so it slowly melts :3 The quantity is really up to you. I love blue cheese so I like to put a lot of it in the sauce but some people don't like it when the taste is too strong. Best is to try the sauce as you go until you find the perfect taste! Little advice: the more cheese you add the less salt is needed as blue cheese already contains natural salt! :) It's also best to not let the milk boil as it gives a strange appearance (it becomes kind of grainy) and it's just better to let the cheese melt really slowly hehe
6. Cook the pasta, drain it well!
7. On a plate, place some rucola or rocket on a plate. It will be like a little bed for your pasta :3 Place the pasta in the center and add a generous amount of sauce and some pepper to taste. Place the cherry tomatoes on the side (I cut them in half) and it's ready! :D 

I think blue cheese and rocket goes together really well! I am not a fan to rocket usually as it's so bitter but I think it counters the strong taste of blue cheese really well! For this recipe I used french blue cheese called Saint Agur but of course gorgonzola is also great with it! You can also add more cherry tomatoes on the side (but can also just be little decorations) as it brings some freshness to this cheessy dish!

Enjoy! 

Gateau Breton

After being healthy with just a soup, I think now it is time to get onto a non-healthy recipe hehe.
This is a cake my mum makes and that I requested ^^ I made it myself before but as everyone knows, no matter how many times you make something the one your mum makes is always a bizillion times better. Yes, this is a fact ;) So yes the pictures of the cake you see here was made by Mama Rithuu! Mercii!

In any case, it is a pretty simple recipe and absolutely delicious as long as you like butter and the sweet and savory combination! :) This recipe is from my mum's region in Brittany and it's very similar to dutch boterkoek (also really delicious by the way). So if you like boterkoek, you will definitely like this recipe! A must try at home! :)
Recipe also available in French at the end of this post!

Ingredients:

• 300g of flour
• 240g of butter 
• 240g of sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 pinch of baking soda

Preparation:

Little advice: best to use Breton salted butter for this recipe like the one on the photo below. If it's not available where you are, just use salted butter (very important that it is salty!)

1. Melt the butter and mix the sugar. Then add the egg yolks (make sure the butter isn't too hot so it doesn't cook the eggs ><)
   
2. Add flour and mix well until it becomes dough-y.
   
3. Butter your mould and flatten the dough into it. 
4. Lightly brush with egg yolk so it becomes golden brown when baked! :) Use a fork to do the little design as shown on the photo and bake for 30min at 180 degrees!

And when it's ready... nom nom nom

So yeah as you can see it's a pretty straight forward recipe! It's really tasty and super delicious to have for breakfast or just as a snack :P or just anytime... hehe 

Just remember, it is important to use good quality salted butter for this recipe!

Hope you try making it! :D

Recette en Francais:

Ingredients: 

• 300g de farine
• 240g de beurre
• 240g de sucre
• 3 jaunes d'oeufs. 

Preparation:

1. Faire fondre le beurre et y ajouter le sucre. Ajouter les jaunes d'oeufs.
2. Ajouter la farine et mélanger le tout
3. Mettre dans un plat beurré. 
4. Dorer le dessus au jaune d'oeuf.
5. Faire cuire pendant 30minutes a 180 degres. 

Voila! :D

Chez L'Ami David

Chez L'Ami David is a French restaurant in West London, and really one of the best ones you could find around concerning price and quality of the dishes. I've been to that restaurant quite a few times (like 5? :P) and it was delicious every time. The chef makes all the dishes himself so there isn't a vast amount of choice. BUT, my parents always say that the smaller the menu, the better the restaurant because it means they make everything themselves and that it is not microwaved food. One of my favorites, for example is the smoked salmon as a starter. You might say 'Smoked salmon isn't really French -_-' but the chef smokes that salmon himself and I can tell you its just ... nom nom nom! Worth trying! ;)

In this restaurant, you can eat simple but tasty french food. This is actually the restaurant where I had my first frogs legs! ^^ The menu also changes depending on the season which is why my parents and I have been a few times (to discover the new dishes hehe :P). This restaurant is a nice way to discover traditional French food, the one eaten during every day life.
Price wise it's pretty affordable (I mean some French restaurants are super snobby -expensive and little food on your plate-) with more or less 18£ for a 3 course menu.

Anyways, the best way to is to check the photos below of some of the dishes my parents and I had :)

Starters:

Avocado  with prawn cocktail salad 

Duck salad

Smoked salmon

Frogs legs

Pate made by the chef himself! With some caramelized onions

Main course: 

Rabbit with a mustard sauce, served with tagliatelle

Had tartare for the first time in a restaurant and I absolutely loved it! Raw meat (something I was a bit skeptical about) but at the end I didn't get sick so it's all good :P

Steak Tartare!

Spinach risotto

Some fish (forgot which :P) with courgette, potatoes and creamy sauce

Pot au feu

Creme brulee

Creme caramel

Somehow, I didn't have many photos of desserts... They had chocolate mousse, citron tart, profiteroles, etc. Good desserts as well :P
Anyways, I say you should definitely try this restaurant out if you are in London and EVEN if it's a bit away from the center.

I will leave their Facebook page over here so you can check more photos and the address if needed :)
https://www.facebook.com/ChezLamiDavid

A French Christmas

I wanted to make a post on what is typically munched in a French Christmas. Despite being French-Japanese, for christmas my parents always tried to keep it European, if not French. This is probably because the ingredients are obviously easier to find and also because Christmas is more of a European tradition :P.

Anyways, so almost every year we start with…. FOIE GRAS. If you've never tried it then you definitely should. It's goose liver that is extra fat (foie gras literally means fatty liver). It has become illegal in some parts of the US but we won't go into the debate of whether this is right or not. Foie gras is part of the French culture and I am definitely not giving that up. Imagine it is like pate but a billion times more delicious. And expensive. Which is why you only eat it on special occasion. The best is to eat it with toast or toasted brioche (my fav *drool all over keyboard as I write this*). I know you can also make foie gras yourself but since I don't know how, I will only talk about the already prepared ones.

 You drink sweet wine called sauterne, it really goes perfectly with foie gras!

Christmas is also associated to sea food and French people eat a lot of oysters, langoustines (scampi in English), etc. We don't usually have this at home since we don't live in France. 

Next, poultry is served with some stuffing (a mash of turkey, raisins, chestnut and some spices).

Instead of poultry you can also have boudin blanc with truffles in it (alleged truffles, the black dots on the little sausage are supposed to be the infamous truffles. Could also be pepper. Who knows :P). I prefer this boudin more (It's not made of blood and milk and some bread is also added) as it feels lighter than the normal one. Here we have it accompanied with rosti (it is originally swiss and it consists of potato and it's super yummy :P)

Then you ALWAYS finish a french meal with a plate of CHEEEESE. This is my favorite part (not only am I a nomster but also a cheese addict T.T). So here are a few of the cheeses we had for Christmas… What to drink with cheese? Good red wine, of course. Usually, cheese comes accompanied with a nice refreshing salad.

Then you finish your dinner with a buche de noel, which is the typical desert you have for christmas. It looks like a log! Only have a picture from a few years ago… We don't always eat this since it's pretty heavy (lots of cream and what not) even if my mum's is the light version of it! How to end your night? Drink some champagne! Yey!

Hope you have a better idea of what French people eat for Christmas. What do you have in your country? :) 

Madeleines

They reminded me of a submarine when I was small :P

Madeleines, are small vanilla flavored French cakes. They are very easy to make and very tasty. The shape of these small cakes are very crucial to their identification. They look a little bit like sea shells. The mold you should use for this recipe resemble like this:

One important thing for this recipe is to have the appropriate mould. I’m sure you could make them in a non madeleine shaped one but I feel like it would lose something and they wouldn't be madeleines anymore :P Up to you to try though! 

My mum used to make them for me as an afternoon snack for when I came back from school. I remember drowning them into my chocolate milk until no more bubbles would appear on the surface (yes I was an evil child). 
They are simple to make (20min preparation and cooking time) and delicious to eat so I decided I would try making them myself with my mama’s recipe.

Here is my mum's recipe! :)

Ingredients for 8 madeleines:

•          1 egg
•          40 g sugar
•          60 g flour
•          30 g of butter
•          1 pinch of salt
•          1 pinch of baking powder
•           Few drops of vanilla extract

 Preparation:

1. Preheat the over at 200-210 degrees
2. Beat the egg with the sugar
3. Add a pinch of salt and a few drops of vanilla extract
4. Add flour and mix
5. Add the melted butter and mix until you get a homogenous paste
6. Fill the moulds and immediately bake it in the oven for 10 min!

What my mum told me to do is use the back the spoon to make sure that the mixture is filling the molds so you get a nice madeleine shape J  

Make sure your little madeleines tan a lot and become golden brown! The first time I made them I didn't bake them enough and they looked rather pale and unhealthy :( 

Personally, I think the madeleines are best when they are fresh out of the oven. The smell of warm madeleines is just amazing and they feel extra soft! *drool*

フワフワ！so sooooft!

I used salted butter when I made them the first time and you could feel bits of salt in them. In case you don't like the savory-sweet mix, you can use regular unsalted butter as well :)

The preparation time is so short that it is also perfect to make them when you have unexpected guests and no snacks to offer!

This is how they look like underneath! 

Recipe also available in french and spanish! :)

Recette pour environ 8 Madeleines

Ingrédients:

• 1 oeuf
• 40 gr de sucre
• 60gr de farine
• 30gr de beurre
• 1 pincée de sel
• 1 pincée de levure
• quelques gouttes de vanille

Préparation:

1. Préchauffer le four a 200-210C.
2. Battre l’oeuf avec le sucre
3. Ajouter le sel et les goutes de vanille
4. Verser la farine et mélanger
5. Ajouter le beurre ramolli
6. Remplir les moules et faire cuire immédiatement pendant 10 min

A déguster tiède ;)

Receta para 8 madeleines:

Ingredientes:

• 1 huevo
• 40 g de azúcar
• 60g de harina
• 30g de manteca
• sal
• algunas gotas de vainilla

Preparación:

1. Calentar el horno a 200-210 grados
2. Mezclar el huevo con el azúcar
3. Agregar la sal y la vainilla
4. Agregar la harina y mezclar bien hasta obtener una mezcla homogénea
5. Agregar la manteca ablandada
6. Llenar los moldes y meterlos en el horno inmediatamente durante 10 minutos.

Para que tengan una linda forma de madeleines, se puede usar una cuchara para llenar el molde.

A disfrutar cuando todavía están calentitos y/o con un vaso de leche!